Daniel 11:14-16 - The invader will do as he pleases

11:14

So far we have just had an outline of historical events. This continues, but in this verse we have mention of the reaction of some of the Jews. With the events described in this chapter to a large extent it seems that Israel is just caught in the middle, they are a victim of events. There will be a general revolt against the South (Egypt). Some violent Jews will rebel “in fulfilment of the vision”. It isn’t clear what this means. It could be that they were seeking to fulfil the promises about Israel through their own strength. This is something that has happened at various points in Israel’s history, and is something that occurs in the church as well. “But without success”. Trying to fulfill God’s promises by our own strength is never a good idea. Abraham and Sarah discovered this back in Genesis 16. 

11:15,16

The North will then have success against the South, building up siege ramps to capture “a fortified city” (possibly Sidon). The South will try to resist this but will be unable to. So here the invader will be successful and seem to be able to do what he wants. This will involve establishing himself in the “beautiful land”, that is Israel.

Why is God telling Daniel all this? Why is He telling us all this? Israel, like most of us, expected and wanted God’s plans to be fulfilled in a nice linear fashion, with minimal suffering for them. This is not the way His plans are fulfilled! The path would be very difficult, but God is showing that He is in control of events, and He knows exactly what is going on, and what He is doing. So in our own circumstances, whether we are talking about very personal things, or the national and international events that go on in our lifetimes, we can be confident that God knows what He is doing!