12: From North and South to the Beautiful Land – Teaching Plan

Key Thought: Daniel 11 shows the nature of the repeat and enlarge prophecies of Daniel 2,7, and 8. This focuses on Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and ensuing kingdoms of the north and south..
March 21, 2020

1. Have a volunteer read Daniel 11:5-14.

Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
Who are the kings of the north and south mentioned in these passages?
(Note: Syria in the north under Seleucus and Egypt in the south under Ptolemy are mentioned here. The Syrian king sent his daughter Bernice to marry Ptolemy to keep the two from fighting, but it didn’t work.)
Personal Application: How can we be sensitive to other people’s feelings, yet not compromise on the role of Rome in the last days? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your relatives states: “Why did God reveal wars between kingdoms like Syria and Egypt? How would you respond to your relative?
(Note: These wars affected Israel and impacted the assault and capture at times of God’s people. Most nations are not mentioned until and unless they come in contact with God’s people)

2. Have a volunteer read Daniel 11:16-22.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
How do we know that Rome is taken the place of Syria as the king of the north here?
Note: In 63BC Rome conquered both Syria and the pleasant land – Palestine.)
Personal Application: How can God’s foreknowledge strengthen your personal faith? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your friends states, “This all seems like speculation to me. How can you pinpoint anything in these verses that can verify any people or events? How would you respond to your friend?
(Note: In verse 20 – the raiser of taxes would be Augustus Caesar – see Luke 2:1. In verse 17-19 describes the king before Augustus – Julius Caesar who married Cleopatra and conquered the Bosphorous Isles, came home and was killed by Brutus and his own Senate. After Augustus we see Tiberius Caesar who was ruling during the time of Jesus – see verse 22 – the prince of the covenant. Tiberius was proclaimed by Augustus to be too “vile” to wear the purple of Rome. See Luke 3:1, 21,22)

3. Have a volunteer read Daniel 11:29-39.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
What gives us a clue that verse 29 thru 35 are speaking of the Papacy?
(Note: He does away with the daily corresponding to Daniel 7 and 8 concerning Papal Rome. Rome killed the Protestants and others during the Dark ages between 50 to 150 million. Rome rule until 1798 when Berthier marched into Rome and took the Pope captive. This date is called the time of the end.)
Personal Application: How do we deal with presenting the Roman Church as the antichrist and cause of many souls being lost instead of saved as a viable option in today’s society where any talk of negativity toward another church or faith is treated as unacceptable? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “Why do people say that the Roman Church didn’t regard any God and honored the God of forces and how did Papal Rome divide the land for gain in the time of the end?” How would you respond to your neighbor?
Note: After Rome’s 1260 years, France rose up in the French Revolution – abolished the Bible, raised up the Goddess of Reason, and divided the land into small parcels…This was the time of the end – 1798. This was the understanding of Uriah Smith. Most Adventist scholars today reject this idea. They say this refers to Papal Rome still, although Rome was not rising up in 1798 – it was being destroyed. Those who say this is still the Papacy show that Rome doesn’t allow priests to marry, magnifies himself as God, and is a rich church with gold, silver, and precious stones. So there are two threads that divert from each other.

4. Have a volunteer read Daniel 11:40-45.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
The time of the end was 1798. The French Revolution. Was there a power that came as a whirlwind across France, Syria, and Egypt but did not enter the lands of Edom, Moab, and Ammon areas?
Note: Turkey and their whirling dervishes conquered like madmen and placed the Dome of the Rock – A Muslim Temple – in Jerusalem where it stands today. Adam Clark predicted that if Turkey was the king of the north in these verses, that there would be a war between Turkey, France, and Russia in the future. He wrote that in the early 1800’s. In 1856 The Crimean War took place between Russia, Turkey, and France. Others expound that this refers to Papal Rome and its placing replacing the Spiritual aspects of the gospel and replacing them by placing his temple up instead of God’s heavenly temple. Two different understandings of these verses. , but both have their positive applications.
Personal Application: We were told that Jesus could have come in 1888, but His people weren’t ready. We were also told that the prophecies of Daniel 11 have almost reached their complete fulfillment in the late 1800’s. What makes you think we are more ready now than then? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!