June 8: THE HOLY COVENANT
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:16:17 (see also Jeremiah 31:33-34)
When Jesus answered His disciples regarding their inquiry about His second coming and the end of the age (Matthew 24:3), He remnded them of Daniel’s book (v.15). Not even Daniel understood all of what he wrote (Daniel 12:8). But recent history has afforded great clarity regarding Biblical prophecy. With the Holy Spirit’s aid (plus 20/20 hindsight of those things which have now been fulfilled), previously mysterious prophetic visions come into sharp focus. Though there is still more to unfold before Jesus returns, His Spirit is doing a work among believers to fully restore His truth—all truth (John 16:13)—among all who receive the love of the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10).
Chapter 11 of Daniel is challenging. It adds detail to information provided in chapters 2,7, and 8. There is an emphasis toward the end of chapter 11 about the attitude of the Antichrist power regarding the aforementioned covenant. This attitude was already an active spirit in the days of the apostolic church (see 1 John 4:3). Daniel wrote that this power would amass great riches [and] his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant (Daniel 11:28). The temporal power that accompanies these riches emboldens his heart to go against God’s covenant. Ships from Cyprus symbolize a developing western economy that was not automatically supportive of the Antichrist power as expected. This only deepened his rage against the holy covenant. As a strategy, he cultivated active friendships with anyone willing to forsake the holy covenant (v.30). Special rewards would go to those who do wickedly against the covenant; he shall lavish flattery in order to corrupt his allies even further. Developing unholy alliances worldwide is a specialty of the Antichrist power. Thus, we have four mentions of this power that works against God’s holy covenant. The number four often symbolizes the world and/or worldliness.
One of the keys to understanding Daniel 11 is to understand the nature of God’s covenant. It is His pledge to place His law within the hearts and minds of His people. This is the same unchanging law that He wrote in stone with His own finger after He saved Israel from slavery in Egypt. The resurrected Christ became the Mediator of a better covenant, established on better promises (Hebrews 8:6). His law is alive within the hearts and minds of His people, by the power of His Spirit. We have a spiritual enemy who hates God, His law, and His people. This enemy works to block our spiritual view of God’s marvelous, transformational plan of salvation.
Another key to understanding Daniel 11 is gaining a handle on the teaching method of “repeat and enlarge.” The nations that have had a direct impact upon the saints of the Most High (7:27), are chronologically lined up in Daniel 2,7,8, and 11. These kingdoms arose in a specific prophetic sequence, and the last one will continue until the second coming of Christ, our Rock. He is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands.
Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. Daniel 2:45