In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how Gabriel told him about kings of the north and south, and concerning one of the final kings he said, “the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done”, and in chapter eleven and verse thirty-seven of his book Daniel shared how Gabriel said about the king of the north, “neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women” where we read,
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god:
for he shall magnify himself above all.
The verse reads, “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god:” Daniel began with the words, “neither shall he regard” or “no and not in any way will he, the flattering king of the north, discern, understand or consider” “the God of his fathers” which means “the Supreme Deity belonging to his, the flattering king’s, male progenitors and ancestors”, “nor the desire of women” or “no and not in any way the pleasantness, preciousness, goodliness and delight belonging to female human beings”, “nor regard any god” which means “no and not in any way discern, understand or consider any other deity”. Daniel shared how the flattering king of the north will not discern or consider the Supreme Deity that his forefathers knew, nor the pleasantness and delight of “women”, nor any other god that might be worshiped.
The verse continues, “for he shall magnify himself above all.” Daniel added the words, “for he shall magnify himself” or “because, since and on account that he, the flattering king of the north, will make important and powerful, promote and praise his own self” “above all” which means “over and beyond each, every, the whole and everyone else”. Daniel said the flattering king of the north would praise himself, make himself important and exalt himself to be better than everyone else.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel how this flattering king of the north will not give his affection or consideration to the “God” his forefathers worshiped, nor will he give attention to women nor any other deity for that matter because he will exalt himself to be greater and better than anyone else. Matthew Henry wrote, “He shall impiously dishonor the God of Israel, the only living and true God, called here the God of gods. He shall, in defiance of him and his authority, do according to his will against his people and his holy religion; he shall exalt himself above him, as Sennacherib did, and shall speak marvelous things against him and against his laws and institutions. This was fulfilled when Antiochus forbade sacrifices to be offered in God's temple, and ordered the sabbaths to be profaned, the sanctuary and the holy people to be polluted, etc., to the end that they might forget the law and change all the ordinances, and this upon pain of death, 1 Mac. 1:45. He shall proudly put contempt upon all other gods, shall magnify himself above every god, even the gods of the nations. Antiochus wrote to his own kingdom that every one should leave the gods he had worshipped, and worship such as he ordered, contrary to the practice of all the conquerors that went before him, 1 Mac. 1:41, 42. And all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king; fond as they were of their gods, they did not think them worth suffering for, but, their gods being idols, it was all alike to them what gods they worshipped. Antiochus did not regard any god, but magnified himself above all.” God was aware of all the thoughts, acts and deeds of Antiochus well before he was born, and He easily relayed these events to Gabriel who gave them to Daniel. Daniel wrote them down, and we are reading them today. God was intentional in His efforts to make us aware of His omniscience, and because He knew in advance that we would be separated from Him forever if redemption of our sins was not accomplished, He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. God raised Him from the dead after three days, and when we yield our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will help us to always be aware that He is in control even when it does not appear so by what we see and hear.
Next time Daniel shares how Gabriel says, “in his estate shall he honor the God of forces”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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