God’s Word for You

Daniel 11:29-30 Providence

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, January 19, 2026

29 “At the time appointed he will return and come into the south, but this time it will not be like it was before. 30 For ships of Kittim will sail against him, and he will lose heart and withdraw. He will be enraged and act against the holy covenant. He will turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.

This campaign against Egypt, either the second or third by Antiochus Epiphanes, happened “at the time appointed.” What does that mean? Since it is spoken by the Angel of God, it can only mean that this would be according to God’s plan, and for God’s sovereign purpose. The details of the adventure might not be of interest to some readers, but as briefly as possible, this is what happened: Egypt was asking for support from Rome, which is what is meant by “ships of Kittim.” Kittim in the Old Testament has at least three of four meanings. Kittim was the name of one of Japheth’s grandsons (Genesis 10:2). It is used generally as a word for people who sail from the western part of the Mediterranean, but also from the island of Cyprus over here on the eastern end (Numbers 24:24). Cyprus is the island that is closest to northwestern Palestine, and only about 70 miles from the coastal city Seleucia Pieria, the port used by the Seleucid kings near their capital city of Antioch (Acts 11:19, 13:1). “Kittim” can be used of the islands of Greece (in the apocrypha, 1 Maccabees 1:1), but also from other nations “over there,” on the far-flung sea, on which “the winds of all the corners kiss’d their sails,” as in this case in Daniel 11:30, which here means Rome.

In a fury over being unable to conquer or at least plunder Egypt, Antiochus turned on Jerusalem. But this time he went with the ancient equivalent of a clip board. He took notes and approved of those people who had turned away from the Old Testament Hebrew faith, with the traitorous high priest Menelaus at the top of the list. Such people were now in his good books, both figuratively and literally. The verses that follow will give more details about this attack on the Jews of Jerusalem.

But let’s return to the beginning of verse 29 and the words, “At the time appointed.” This touches directly on the doctrine of God’s providence. This word, providence (Greek πρόνοια ), means God’s actions in two things: foreseeing (knowledge of all creation, including its future), and also caring (management of the creation). For God does not simply know, he also does; he acts.

This chapter mainly shows God’s foreknowledge, the act of his divine intellect, according to which he is acquainted ahead of time with (1) what will be, (2) what is needful for his creatures and creation (“he knows that you need them,” Matthew 6:32), and (3) what is useful for his creation and creatures (Genesis 3:21; Acts 15:18). God knew all along what these Greeks, the Seleucids and Ptolemies, would do to one another and to God’s people.

Second, this chapter also shows God’s purpose, the act of his holy will, through which he carries out what he knows will be beneficial for his creatures (Isaiah 14:27; Acts 17:31). But this is not particularly about man’s salvation, the way that Romans 8:28 teaches. Rather, providence in general is about God’s love for all living creation, even without regard to salvation, since it also applies to the inert things (mountains and hills, the moon and the stars, and so forth, Psalm 8:3), to the plants and flowers (Isaiah 40:7), and to the animals and birds (Psalm 104:17-18). But he is also concerned with the basic needs of unbelievers, since his desire is that they would be brought to faith (Acts 17:27), or, if they fail to do that, that their labor might benefit his holy church (Proverbs 28:8).

Does this even apply to evil actions of human beings? Of course it does. There have been many things that unbelievers have done that have benefitted believers. The simplest examples of Scripture are doubtless also the clearest: Caesar Augustus ordered a census of all of the (Roman) world (Luke 2:1), which brought Mary and Joseph down to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. And the Roman soldiers crucified Jesus under the influence of the priests of Jerusalem, which brought about the sacrifice of Christ’s body for the forgiveness of our sins (John 19:15-16). There are other examples, such as Cain becoming the first one we know of to ever offer a sacrifice or an offering to God (Genesis 4:3), and later on the same Cain is the first man to build a walled city (Genesis 4:17). Both, useful things. Does God not permit these things for the advantage of his dear people? Of course he does. “A sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous” (Proverbs 13:22); that means that what a wicked man does will benefit believers, but it won’t do the wicked man any good with regard to his soul. Luther liked to cite Augustine, who said, “God allows nothing evil to happen unless he wants to bring good out of it.” We might have trouble understanding how certain horrors that have taken place in the world have brought any good, but the understanding of mankind is clouded by many things. But perhaps this is also as good a place as any to list the points that Martin Chemnitz provides for the doctrine of God’s providence. This is a simplified list. The fuller version is in Hoenecke’s “Evangelical Lutheran Dogmatics” Volume II, p. 244-246:

1, God knows everything that is and happens. Psalm 34:15-16.
2, God establishes the order of nature so that his creatures have the power, instincts and activities that are appropriate to them.
3, God has special concern even for the things “which [seem] unimportant.”
4, God preserves the order of the things he has established.
5, Providence extends to all creatures, but not in the same way (1 Timothy 4:10).
6, Providence preserves both immediately (without a creature’s activity) and also mediately (by their working, Matthew 6:26).
7, Not only rational creatures, but also brutes and other creatures are watched over by God (Psalm 147:9, 104:21,27).
8, God is not bound by the order he established, but his will is to aid his church and to punish the unjust.

May God be praised for everything he does, and that he preserves us as we confess in the Small Catechism. We say in the First Article: “God preserves me by defending me against all danger, guarding and protecting me from all evil.” And also: “God preserves me by richly and daily providing clothing and shoes, food and drink, property and home, spouse and children, land, cattle, and all I own, and all I need to keep my body and life.”

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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