battle fields of the contending nations.... The nations around
are eager for the possession of a country thus situated....
From remote antiquity Syria was in the condition just
described. By its position it formed a kind of meeting place,
where most of the military nations of the ancient world were
bound sooner or later to come violently into
collision."--_"Struggle of the Nations," chap. 1._

It is not strange, therefore, that one of the great outlines of historic
prophecy should deal with events centering around this pivotal region.
The prophecy of Daniel 11 does so, outlining the course of history from
ancient times to the final solution of the Eastern Question amid the
scenes of the end.


Rise and Fall of Ancient Empires

The prophetic outline of Daniel 11 begins with Persia, in the third year
of Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon. (See Dan. 10:1.) The angel of God
appeared to Daniel, and in the longest and most detailed single prophecy
in all the Bible, told the story of events connected with this region of
the Near East for the centuries to come, until the end. Putting the word
of prophecy and the record of history side by side, we see how exactly
history has fulfilled prophecy; and we may know certainly that the brief
portion of the prophecy yet unfulfilled will surely come to pass.


Persia

_Prophecy._--"Now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand