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forebode. In the words of a great and deep writer in our day,
"internal politics, the world over, are resolvable into some form of
the Eastern Question. It haunts the history of civilised mankind"'.
We now approach what is perhaps the most difficult and intricate
chapter in prophecy, viz., Daniel 11. One of the chief elements of
difficulty is due to the blending together of type and antitype and of
history and prophecy. The problem is to determine the point at which the
division occurs, to find the verse at which we may say, Here history ceases
and prophecy begins. Chapter 11 contains a number of sections which we set
out below for the clearer understanding of our problem:
(1)
2 -4
Persian and Greek kings, ending in the 'mighty king'
Alexander the Great.
(2)
5 -9
The division of Alexander's empire among his
generals. The introduction of two kings named the 'king of the north'
and the 'king of the south'.
(3)
10 -20
The alternating histories and policies of these kings
of the north and south.
(4)
21 -45
The vile person and the wilful king.
The antichrist and the beast.
The little horn of Daniel 8:9.
The first section of this prophecy (verses 2 -4) establishes a link
with earlier visions, and particularly with that of chapter 8. So that,
although we have already considered this chapter, we must go back to it here,
in order to establish the close association that is intended between the
history of Persia and Greece and the future antichristian king:
The Ram of Daniel 8:3 is interpreted as being Media and Persia (8:20).
The He-goat of Daniel 8:5 is interpreted as being the king of Greece
(8:21).
The Great Horn between the eyes of the he -goat represents the first
king of Greece, and the Four Notable Ones that arose toward the four winds of
heaven, are interpreted as four kingdoms that shall stand up in his stead
(8:21,22).
The angelic interpreter of Daniel 11 makes a fuller reference to these
two great powers. We now learn that there were to stand up three kings in
Persia, and that the fourth, richer than they all, would, by his strength
through his riches, stir up all against the realm of Greece. Alexander is
spoken of as a mighty king who shall rule with great dominion, and do
according to his will, whose kingdom shall be divided toward the four winds
of heaven. So far, the chapters are parallel. Returning, however, to Daniel
8, we find that here we immediately leave the fourfold sub -division of
Alexander's kingdom for a consideration of the yet future dominion of the
beast of the Apocalypse:
'And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding
great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant
land' (8:9).