Stretching Forth His Hand Upon Countries - Daniel 11:42

In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how Gabriel told him about the king of the north, and said, “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon”, and in chapter eleven and verse forty-two of his book Daniel shared how Gabriel said, “he shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries” where we read,

He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

The verse reads, “He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries:” Daniel began with the words, “he shall stretch forth his hand” or “he, the king of the north, will extend and direct his, the king of the north’s, hand of authority, might and power” “also upon the countries” which means “even so and indeed on the regions, territories and districts”. Daniel shared how Gabriel told him the king of the north will extend his hand of power, might and authority on more regions, territories and districts. 

The verse continues, “and the land of Egypt shall not escape.”  Daniel added the words, “and the land of Egypt” or “and the territory, region, district and country belonging to Egypt whose name means land of the Copts and is a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows” “shall not escape” which means “will in no way or manner be delivered”. Daniel shared how Gabriel told him the king of the north would also exercise his power over the country of “Egypt”, and they would not be delivered from him.

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel how Gabriel informed him that the flattering “king of the north” would continue to attack other “countries” including the nation of “Egypt”. Once again his conquering would be complete, and not even the people of “Egypt” would be delivered from him. Matthew Henry wrote, “He did not put these countries under contribution, because they had joined with him against the Jews. But especially the land of Egypt shall not escape, but he will quite beggar that, so bare will he strip it. This some reckon his fourth and last expedition against Egypt, in the tenth or eleventh year of his reign, under pretense of assisting the younger brother of Ptolemaeus Philometer against him.” Though this royal leader from the north (Antiochus) thought his exploits were victorious, God was aware of them. This too would be used in God’s plan to bring salvation and redemption to mankind. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (See Romans 3:23), and those sins lead to death. (See Romans 6:23) For this reason God sent His Son Jesus into the world to be crucified on the cross for the sins of everyone, and He raised Him from the dead after three days so when we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and provide us with the assurance of His Holy Spirit that He has every leader and nation under His control. 

Next time Daniel shares how Gabriel says, “he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver”, 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".