Scripture Daily

Context No. 1421 of 4322 · Daniel (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Daniel (Greek) 11:25-30: in context

25“He will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south will wage war in battle with an exceedingly great and mighty army; but he won’t stand, for they will devise plans against him. 26Yes, those who eat of his delicacies will destroy him, and his army will be swept away. Many will fall down slain. 27As for both these kings, their hearts will be to do mischief, and they will speak lies at one table; but it won’t prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time. 28Then he will return into his land with great wealth. His heart will be against the holy covenant. He will take action and return to his own land. 29“He will return at the appointed time and come into the south; but it won’t be in the latter time as it was in the former. 30For ships of Kittim will come against him. Therefore he will be grieved, and will return, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and will take action. He will even return, and have regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.

This part of the long prophecy describes two kings at war, the king of the north and the king of the south, with their vast armies and shifting fortunes. In the middle of the account of battle and betrayal comes a striking line: as for these two kings, their hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at one table, but it shall not succeed, for the end is still to come at the appointed time. The passage traces their intrigues, their wealth, their rage against the holy covenant, all of it unfolding, the prophet insists, within a time God has already fixed.

The image worth pausing on is the two kings speaking lies at one table. Here are two rulers seated together at a shared meal, the ancient sign of fellowship and trust, each smiling across the table at the other while both are plotting, both lying, both bent on doing the other harm. It is a portrait of the hollow alliance, the relationship that wears the appearance of friendship, even shares the table, while underneath it is nothing but mutual deceit and self-interest. Such arrangements are common enough, in politics and beyond: people who dine together, exchange warm words, present a face of fellowship, while each is calculating against the other. And the prophet's verdict on it is quiet but sure: it shall not succeed. Nothing built on mutual lying prospers in the end; an alliance that is all deceit at the table has no foundation and cannot hold, and the appointed end will come regardless of the schemes. There is a warning in it against the hollow relationship that keeps up the forms of fellowship over a foundation of deceit, and a reminder that such things do not last. The table is meant for honesty and trust; a table where lies are spoken by both sides is a picture of a fellowship already rotten, however cordial it looks, and it will not stand.

Are any of my relationships hollow alliances, keeping up the appearance of fellowship over a foundation of self-interest and quiet deceit, and do I believe the prophet's verdict that what is built on lies at the table, however cordial, will not stand?

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