disciple dwells during this space age will not be destroyed. He will dwell forever, because he will have shown practical wisdom in harmony with the perfect will of God. His making practical wisdom succeed, his using practical wisdom to success, will be to his everlasting advantage in Jehovah’s endless new world.

Part 26—“Your Will Be Done on Earth”

As foretold in the eleventh chapter of Daniel’s prophecy, Alexander the Great, after establishing the Grecian or Macedonian Empire (the fifth world power in Bible history), died at Babylon in 323 B.C. For a time his empire was broken up into four Hellenic empires, ruled by generals of Alexander the Great. General Seleucus Nicator secured Babylon, Media, Syria, Persia and the provinces eastward to the Indus River, and the line of royal rulers from him through his son Antíochus I came to be known as the “king of the north” because of ruling from Syria north of Jerusalem. General Ptolemy Lagus secured Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Palestine and Coele-Syria, and the line of royal rulers from him came to be known as the “king of the south” because of ruling from Egypt to the south of Jerusalem. Because of rivalry and lust for territory war raged between the “king of the north” and the “king of the south.” In 217 B.C. Antíochus 111 as king of the north found himself ranged in battle against Ptolemy IV of Egypt as king of the south, in fulfillment of Daniel 11:10, JP.

30. Where did the king of the south meet him for a Fight, and what was given into his hand?

³⁰ Jehovah’s angel showed that the tide of battle would turn, saying: “And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north; and he shall set forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand.” (Dan. 11:11, JP) Embittered, the king of the south, Ptolemy IV Philopator (or Tryphon), moved north with 70,000 troops against the advancing enemy. At the coastal city of Raphia, about twenty miles southwest of Gaza and not far north of Egypt’s border, they met. Syrian King Antíochus III had raised a “great multitude” 60,000 strong, but it was given into the hand of the king of the south.

31. How was a multitude carried away at that battle, what were the terms of the peace treaty signed, but why did the king of the south not prevail but have his heart lifted up?

³¹ “And the multitude shall be carried away, and his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.” (Dan. 11:12, JP) The king of the south, Ptolemy IV, carried 10,000 enemy Syrian troops and 300 horsemen to their death and took 5,000 more as prisoners, a big loss for the king of the north. The two kings now signed a peace treaty, and Antíochus III was obliged to give up Phoenicia, including Tyre and Ptolemais, and Coele-Syria, that he had conquered. But he still held on to his Syrian seaport of Seleucia. This peace was to his advantage, for the king of the south did not follow up his victory, to “prevail.” He turned to a life of dissipation in Egypt and left no successor to take up an aggressive lead against Syria, only his five-year-old son, Ptolemy V, as successor to Egypt’s throne. This was many years before his Syrian opponent, Antíochus III, himself died. Jehovah’s angel had foretold: “He shall not prevail.” Over this victory his heart did get “lifted up,” but specially against Jehovah God. Judah and Jerusalem still continued under his domination, but he worked himself up to an attitude against Jehovah’s people.

32. How did this defeated king of the north go on to greatness, and how did he run into conflict with Rome disastrously?

³² The king of the north, Antíochus III, after being defeated at Raphia, retired to his Syrian capital at Antioch. Unlike his victorious opponent, he went on to earthly greatness, gaining his title Mégas, the Great. He directed his military genius eastward and defeated the Parthians in 209 B.C. The following year he carried his expedition still farther eastward, against the Bactrians deep in Asia. These successful expeditions earned for him the title “the Great.” Turning now westward, he captured Ephesus in Asia Minor and made it his capital. He crossed the Hellespont (the narrow strait of the Dardanelles) into Europe. There he rebuilt the city of Lysimachia that had been founded by Alexander’s general Lysimachus. At this point Rome asked him to quit interfering in Europe. In 191 B.C. the Romans formally declared war upon him. He was finally defeated at Magnesia in Asia Minor, not far from his capital, Ephesus. When settling for peace with Rome, he yielded up everything on the Roman side of the Taurus Mountains of Asia Minor and also paid a fine. He became the father of Cleopatra, whom he engaged in marriage to the king of the south, Ptolemy V. From then on Cleopatra became the regular name of Egypt’s queens in the Ptolemaic line.

33. How did this king of the north come at the end of years with a well-supplied army and take territory from Egypt?

³³ With regard to the northern King Antíochus III the Great, Jehovah’s angel further prophesied: “And the king of the north shall again set forth a multitude, greater than the former; and he shall come on at the end of the times, even of years, with a great army and with much substance.” (Dan. 11:13, JP) The “times” or years here foretold turned out to be twelve or more years after the battle of Raphia, where he had suffered defeat at the hand of Ptolemy IV. After that lapse of years, the victor of the battle of Raphia died and his five-year-old son became the king of the south, bearing the name Ptolemy V. Taking advantage of this tender age of the king of the south, Antíochus III set out to reconquer all the territories he had lost. To this end he leagued himself with Philip V, king of Macedonia, against young Ptolemy V. He then invaded Phoenicia and Syria and captured the coastal city of Gaza near Egypt. He had a great army with substantial supplies.

34. What troubles did the young king of the south have?

³⁴ The times had to become hard for the king of the south according to the further prophecy of Jehovah’s angel to Daniel: “And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south; also the children of the violent among thy people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall stumble.” (Dan. 11:14, JP) Besides Syrian King Antíochus III and his Macedonian ally, King Philip V, the young king of the south had other troublemakers to contend with right at home in Egypt. As his guardian, Agathocles ruled in the king’s name, but he dealt arrogantly with the Egyptians. On this account many Egyptians revolted.

35. How did some of Daniel’s people become disturbers but stumble in failure to establish the vision?

³⁵ According to the prophecy, even some of Daniel’s people became disturbers. They were “children of the violent,” or were men of violence, revolutionists in some sort of way. The “vision” that they may have had from Jehovah’s Word they tried to establish before the time in harmony