Daniel's Last and Greatest Vision (Part 5)

We've been looking at Daniel's spectacular vision, at least that's how I named it, termed it.

And so we've kind of gotten to the vision itself, haven't we? We've spent a lot of time in some of the preparatory information given to us, which involved, by the way, some vision.

Daniel had a vision of the Lord himself. And now we're into the vision itself, the prophecy, maybe would be a better term to use. Because so far we've seen the prophecies concerning Persia. Remember, that's how it starts.

And then we saw the prophecies concerning Greece or the Greeks. And then the prophecies concerning Egypt and Syria, the king of the south, king of the north.

These two, two of the four divisions of the Greek empire after the death of Alexander. So we had the Ptolemaic kingdom, really be better to term it as a kingdom because it's part of the empire of Greece.

But the Ptolemaic kingdom, which is the king of the south, that's Egypt and surrounding area there, including Palestine, which includes Israel.

And then the other king, king of the Seleucid kingdom. So these two divisions or two of the four divisions of the Greek empire.

And so we've had the prophecies concerning those two places. We ended with that last time. And so now we're ready for, well, there are actually two more parts to the prophetic vision.

And what we'll look at tonight are the prophecies concerning Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies. By the way, epiphanies is a title that he gave to himself.

You know, he's basically calling himself God, the most high. And then we'll finish up with, and we'll not get to this until next time.

And this is kind of the part we all really want to see. And that is the prophecies concerning end times, end times. Remember what I said last week, that when we get to verse 36 of chapter 11, the author, well, the vision leaps forward.

We're way out into the future in accord with God's prophetic timetable. And leaps forward to a time that is still future for us today.

All right, so tonight then, we're going to look at number four under Daniel's spectacular vision. And that is, again, the prophecies concerning Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies, verses 21 to 35.

Now, I've given you some of this in your notes as well, because I want you to understand that these verses, 21 to 35, which is a pretty good block of scripture there.

These verses concerning the prophecies of Antiochus, they really serve as the climax. This is kind of the climax in this prophetic vision.

It's the climax. Because we need to understand that all of the prophecies leading up to this section of the vision, and I mean those concerning Persian Empire, those concerning the Greek Empire, those concerning the Ptolemaic and Seleucus Empire or kingdoms, all these prophecies were meant to set the stage.

The stage is now set. And what is this stage? It's the stage that's set for the infamous eighth ruler or Greek ruler of the Seleucid Kingdom.

The eighth ruler. And that's Syria, all right? And his name is Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies. I don't know how many times I'm going to say, I guess I just like him.

I don't like him. There's nothing other about him that we should like. But I don't know, it's just kind of the way it rolls out of the mouth, you know. So Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies, it's interesting.

And we don't have names like that today, do we? It's probably a good thing. All right, now the question is, why is this the climax? Because, you know, from our perspective, as we look at this vision, this prophecy, for us, the climax would be the prophecies concerning the end times, because that's what we're interested in.

But there's a reason why, really a couple of reasons, why the prophecies concerning Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies, love to sit in. Why these prophecies are the climax?

Two reasons. First of all, because of his coming will profoundly affect Israel. Remember, we need to look at this prophecy from Daniel's perspective.

And Daniel's perspective is limited, or the context of it is his own people, Israel. And so, you know, we've been leading up to set the stage for this coming ruler that will profoundly affect Israel.

And then I might just remind you that God has already given a warning to Daniel, a warning concerning this wicked king.

We studied it, actually. It was the prophecy of the coming of Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies. That was the purpose of Daniel's second vision.

See, this is the third vision we're in now, third and greatest, last and greatest. But Daniel's had three. He had the first one and the second one. The second one, the very purpose of that second vision, which we find in chapter 8, we studied it a long time ago, was to warn Israel to prepare them for this coming ruler, Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies.

Okay. Now, even though it's going to be nearly 400 years before he comes, but the prophecy is intended to give Israel a heads up so that they'll know what's going to happen when he does come.

And hopefully, when he does come, they will be standing with God at the time. And actually, we're going to find in the prophecy here that gives us a whole lot more detail about this ruler.

What's his name? Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies. We're going to find out because of the detail in this third vision that many of God's people, the Jews, were not standing with God at the time.

And actually, we could clearly make the case that that's why he did what he did to Israel. God used him to judge the apostasy of his people.

But anyway, so in chapter 8, that whole prophecy, the whole purpose of it is to give a prophetic timetable for the coming of this very infamous ruler.

You remember the prophecy. I want to remind you of it a little bit, or at least the main points of it. Daniel was given a vision of a ram, remember? A ram, which represented the Persian Empire.

And then a vision of a goat, which came next. The goat representing the Greek Empire. And then, remember, a notable horn was, this goat had a notable horn, which represented Alexander the Great.

The first and great ruler of the Greek Empire really made it the empire that it was. And then, remember, as the vision went on, this notable horn was broken off and replaced by four horns.

And so, Alexander dies. And those four horns represent the four divisions of the Greek Empire after his death, remember?

All this is building up to a climax, too, in this vision. Because then, out of one of those horns came a little horn.

You remember? In fact, they called it a little, little horn. Because when he first came on the scene, he was really nothing. But he grew in great power.

In fact, that's what the text said. Little horn which grew exceedingly great. And, of course, that represented the ruler Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies. All right. So, first of all, the prophecies concerning Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies, is the climax of Daniel's vision.

Because his coming will profoundly affect Israel. But second, because his coming will prophetically, prophetically affect the world.

At least the world of people who are alive when this prophecy is fulfilled. Because Antiochus is an Old Testament type. You know what that means, a type.

We might use the word foreshadowing, though it's really a stronger word than that. Like David was a type of Christ. Antiochus, Epiphanies, was an Old Testament type of what notable person?

Antichrist. Antichrist. Who will come in the end times. And so the prophecy, after we get done with Antiochus, Epiphanies, then will leap way out into the future.

To the coming of the one that Antiochus was a type of. That would be the Antichrist. We don't know his name. There are some who like to guess that and speculate on that.

But we don't know his name. Alright, so. Let's look at the prophecies concerning Antiochus, the fourth epiphanies. Notice, first of all, his corruption.

His corruption. This aspect of his life. Not his being corrupted, but the corruption of his life. Verses 21 and 22. And verse 21 states it pretty clearly.

And in his place shall arise a vile person. Vile person. This is referenced to Antiochus, Epiphanies. A vile person. The Hebrew word for vile is baza.

Baza. That's an interesting word. It refers to someone who's so corrupt that this person is looked upon with contempt.

And looked upon with disdain. This describes how we would describe, how we would feel about Antiochus, Epiphanies if we knew him.

And we do know him. Because he's described for us here. And history also gives us a whole lot more information about him that makes him, you know, be even more contemptible.

All right. So he's vile. He's despicable. Although, you know, I don't know if you've seen the cute movies, Despicable Me. He, that's kind of, for me, has softened the, because those are really cute movies.

Have you seen those? Despicable Me, you know, animated. You know what I'm talking about? All right. Some of you are shaking your head. But, you know, unlike the character on those movies, this guy, Antiochus, was truly a despicable person.

All right. And his name. What's his name? Antiochus, the fourth, Epiphanies. You're going to be going home at night. And you won't be able to get that name out of your head.

And you'll be waking up in the middle of the night speaking that name. No, probably not. Okay. So let's look at this part of the prophecy concerning his corruption.

Because, first of all, it tells us something about how he will come to power. How he will come to power. Verse 21 again. And in his place shall arise a vile person.

In his place. Whose place? Well, in the place of his father. Actually, in the place of his father's son.

His brother's brother. His brother's older brother. Because after the death of Antiochus the Great. That's Antiochus the Third. The Great. All right. That's different than Epiphanies.

He's the Great. And he was great. Because he was a great ruler. He conquered. He conquered a huge territory that had become the Seleucid Empire.

But after his death. His oldest son. Seleucus the Fourth. Philippator. He also had a kind of a title.

He became king of the Seleucid Kingdom. And we actually see that in verse 20. We looked at that last week. Talked about that.

Anyway, after his death. After Seleucus the Fourth's death. Antiochus the Fourth. Epiphanies. The younger son of Antiochus the Great.

Became king. All right. So that's just simply a matter of history. So the prophecy is saying in his place. In the place of his brother. After his brother died. Antiochus became the king.

And then it goes on to say. To whom they will not give the honor of royalty. And that just simply means that the. Really the throne did not rightfully belong to him.

He took it by deceit. It didn't belong to him. The rightful heir to the throne. Should have been the son of Seleucus the Fourth. That would be Demetrius the First.

At the time when Antiochus the Third was ruling. His son Antiochus the Fourth was in Rome. He had been sent there.

And his son Demetrius was there with him. In his kingdom. But for some reason. He needed Antiochus.

I think most historians say that Antiochus the Fourth. Was a shrewd leader. And he kind of needed his power there.

And so he sent Demetrius to Rome. And brought Antiochus back to his kingdom. Which set the stage for Antiochus. To take over.

All right. And he shall come in peaceably. It says. And seize. All these words very important. And again if we didn't have a good historical record.

We wouldn't really know. You know. Be able to connect these things. With anything. But we know that Antiochus. Came to the throne.

Of the Seleucus Empire. Peaceably. But we know that he seized it. Because it didn't rightfully belong to him. He seized the kingdom. By intrigue. All right.

So. Since Demetrius the First. Was in Rome. Remember. Because his father sent him there. Antiochus the Fourth. Took advantage of his absence.

After the death of his father. Took advantage of his absence. And seized the throne. And he took the throne. Peaceably. Rather than by military coup.

All right. So. Peaceably just means. He didn't. He didn't have to kill anybody to do it. Though there. Some indication. He may have. Used a little poison. To. Help.

Help it along the way. But he did it. Peacefully. And he came to power. Through the use of intrigue. And from the Hebrew word. That. That would be better translated.

Flattery. And this was one of. Antiochus. Great strengths. He flattered people. And he knew how to influence people. How to get them on his side.

You know. With words. And also through. Bribery. And other things. He's a very shrewd. Shrewd leader. And so. Through flattery.

Through. His word means smoothness. You know. Through fine promises. And so. He took. He took the throne.

While his brother. Who's the rightful heir. Is. You know. Long. Long. Long way away. All right. Second. How he will. Control the priesthood.

Now we're getting to Israel. Here. Briefly. And then we'll. You know. Kind of the. Kind of Israel. Figures into the story. You know. Kind of. Kind of. In and out.

And in and out. And ultimately. All the way in. Because. The prophecies. Concerning Antiochus. Epiphanes. Are all about. Remember. All about. The profound effect.

It had upon Israel. All right. So he. He's going to control the priesthood. Verse 22. With the force of a flood. They shall be swept away. From before him. And be broken.

And what in the world. Could that mean? Well. Historically. It's all matter of record. After Antiochus. Took the throne. Ptolemy. The fourth.

Or. The sixth. Rather. King of Egypt. Ptolemy. Attempted. To regain. The lost territories. Of Palestine.

And Phoenicia. Remember. Last time. We studied that part of it. The. The Syrians. Under Antiochus. The third. The great. Conquered.

The lands. That belonged. To Egypt. Egyptian kingdom. And that would be. Palestine. Israel. And Phoenicia. Ptolemy. He wants to take that.

Property back. But. His forces. Were. Swept away. From before him. Before. Antiochus.

The fourth. With the forces. Of a flood. All right. In fact. Historically. Ptolemy. Had a much larger. Force. Than did Antiochus.

The fourth. And yet. Antiochus. The fourth. Was able to. Gain the victory. So the forces. Of. The Egyptians. Were. Swept away. As if a flood.

Had come. And also. The prince. Of the covenant. There is some. Disagreement. About who that person is. And. So I've given you. What I think it is. The prince of the covenant.

Is reference to. The high priest. In Israel. At the time. Onius. The third. He's high priest. And very loyal. To. To. To the Lord.

And to the law. And. He opposed. The Syrians. Opposed. Antiochus. He was actually. Pro. Ptolemy. And he was.

So he was against. Antiochus. And. Primarily because. See Antiochus. Wanted to. Hellenize. All of his territory.

Wanted to. Hellenize. Israel. And what does that mean? He wanted to force. Greek culture. And religion. Upon the people. Within his kingdom. So.

Israel. You know. Basically. He did not want them. Worshipping Yahweh. He wanted them. Worshipping Zeus. Or one of the other. Of the pantheon of gods.

Of the Greek gods. And. So. Onius was against that. And. And so. Antiochus. In the process. Of. Gaining this great victory.

Over the. Southern kingdom. He. He killed Onius. Got. Got him out of there. So. The prince of the covenant. Is a reference. To Onius the third.

And. In his place. Jason. A guy by the name of Jason. Who was the brother of Onius. He was pro-Hellenization. And so.

He used. Bribery. To obtain. The office of high priest. And. Antiochus. Helped him along. With that. And. All right.

So. He was successful. In converting. Many Jews. To his cause. And because they were so. Pro-Antiochus. They. Were. Refer to themselves. As. Antiochians. All right.

So. His corruption. Next. His cunning. His cunning. Verse 23. And 24. And after the league.

Was made. With him. He shall. Act. Deceitfully. Now this could be a league made with. The prince of the covenant. Seems to be logical. Grammatically. But.

But that would identify the prince of the covenant. As someone else entirely. Actually. The covenant. Or the league. The. Not the covenant. The treaty. Or league.

Was made. With. Ptolemy. The sixth of Egypt. All right. Just remember Antiochus. And his forces. They're defending the territory. They had. Gained.

They had conquered. They would be Palestine. And Phoenicia. Ptolemy. Wanted all that back. So the forces come together. And Antiochus wins a great battle. Great victory.

And so great. Apparently. That Ptolemy. Was willing to make. Kind of a little treaty with him. A little treaty of peace. And so Antiochus. Shrewdly.

Made this treaty. With. Very young. And inexperienced. Ptolemy. The. The. Sixth. Later. He broke that treaty.

And took control of a large portion of Egyptian territory. He shall. Enter peaceably. Even. Into the richest places of prophets. Now what we're talking about here.

The prophet is talking about. Antiochus. Winning a great victory to keep the territory he once had. Palestine. But also going further than that. And beginning to take control.

Of key cities. In Egypt. And. Doing it. Actually very. Peaceably. Now the idea is. He made this treaty.

With. Ptolemy. And yet. Through. Deceit. He's. Actually gaining. Bit by bit. Control. Of. The land of Egypt.

Without. Without. Military force. Doing it peaceably. Even into the richest places of province. And how did he do it? Well. He shall do what his fathers have not done.

Nor his forefathers. He shall disperse among them. The plunder. Spoil and riches. That's pretty true. So he's. You know. He's influencing the common people.

Even some of the leadership. Within. Egypt. By. Giving. Giving. Giving things to them. All right. All right.

So he's gaining ground. It seems like he's being very successful. All this is going to be short lived. Because it goes on to say. He shall devise his plans. Against the strongholds.

But only for a time. All right. So he's taking over. Good. Good bit of. Kind of. The. Eastern. Part. And southern part of Egypt.

Gaining control. Gaining influence. But it's only for a time. Now he's got these big plans. Devised to conquer the strongholds. Of Egypt. You know.

That would mean taking over the entire country. The entire kingdom. But. Only for a time. All right. So Antiochus. The 40s. Filled with pride. I mean. You can kind of catch this.

Got plans. Conquest. All of Egypt. But they never will be fulfilled. Not. Not completely. And the phrase. But only for a time.

Refers to the time. A time. Decreet by God. So who's. Who's actually. In charge of all of this. God is. God's orchestrating all this.

As one scholar put it. Regardless of his wealth and power. His military prowess and cunning. Antiochus would not exceed the limits allotted him. By the Lord of history. And actually.

You can make a pretty good case. That. You know. If God were to allow him to completely take over. All of the Egyptian empire. Then.

It would all be one big empire. And. And. But God has a plan for Israel in all of this. Israel is the buffer state.

Between these two kingdoms. Now. Antiochus. Or the Syrians. Have control of that region. But if they had gone on. To take complete control of Egypt.

Then. Some things would have never happened. That would have caused Antiochus. To be so angry with Israel. To come back. And do such dastardly things to them. And you say. Well. Why would God allow that?

Well. Because Israel had. Turned from him. And you can go. Back through history. And find nearly. All of the. Major. Battles. And.

Conquests. And. Conquering of countries. All of it's been tied. In some way to Israel. It all. That all comes back to Israel. And. You know. You can almost.

Say. That you can't interpret history. Without. Knowing something about God's plan for Israel. Because it's all tied together. So God. Put a limit. On how far Antiochus.

Would be able to go. Because he had a plan. To use Antiochus. To deal with Israel. And indeed. He did. All right. So. Next. His conquests.

Verses 25. 27. And. This is just. Kind of some history. That. God is. Prophesying. Things that will take place. But.

Really. These things. Are going to occur. To set the stage. For what Antiochus. Is going to do to Israel. All right. So. Verses 25.

26. Tell us about how he entered the Egyptian kingdom. So. Some of this is kind of a digression. He's already kind of. Mentioned. The prophecy is mentioned.

Some of the. Some of the things that. Antiochus. Is going to be able to do. Against Egypt. But now. We're going to get more detail here. And so. In verse 25. He shall stir up.

His power. And his courage. Against the king of the south. That's Egypt. With a great army. And the king of the south. Shall be stirred up to battle.

With a very great and mighty army. But he shall not stand. All right. So. What is this? It's a matter of historical record. He lost. That is the king.

King of the south. Ptolemy. He's bringing an army. Well. Antiochus bringing an army. Ptolemy is going to respond. With a great force. In fact. Even greater force.

Than Antiochus had. But he's not going to prevail. And so. He lost. At. Pelusium. And you see that on the map. Where that is. That's to the. Extreme east.

Of. The empire of Egypt. He lost there. Lost Memphis. Those are just two. Places that. Maybe are recognizable. Not Memphis.

Tennessee. By the way. Even though there is a pyramid there. Of course. And. He lost battles. For most of the southern part of Egypt. Really.

A greater part of Egypt. Really. All but. The region of. What's known today. As Alexandria. And then it goes on. For they shall devise. Plans against him.

Yes. Those who. Eat of the portion. Of his delicacy. Shall destroy him. His army. Shall be swept away. And many. Shall fall down. Slain. This is referring to.

How successful. Antiochus was. In gaining influence. Among some of the soldiers. Who by the way. Formed. The bodyguard. For Ptolemy.

King. And. And so the result was. Ptolemy was captured. By Antiochus. King was captured. He wasn't a very popular king. Anyway. Verse 27.

Then tells us. How he entertained. The Egyptian king. Both these kings hearts. Shall be bent on evil. These kings. Two kings. Who.

Who are they? Ptolemy. The sixth. And Antiochus. The fourth. These kings hearts. Shall be. Bent on evil. That is. They're. They're. They're deceitful. And they shall speak lies.

At the same table. As they're going to sit down at the table. And speak lies to one another. So historically. While Ptolemy. The sixth. Was the prisoner.

Of Antiochus. Ptolemy. The seventh. Was made king. And. Primarily. Because he was very popular. Among the people. Remember about the only major city.

That was not conquered by Antiochus. Was Alexandria. And. The forces were led there. By Ptolemy. The seventh. And he was able to. Retain the city.

So he was very. Very famous. And also very popular. So he's made king. Meanwhile. Antiochus the fourth. And Ptolemy the sixth. Sat down.

At the table. And made plans. To recapture. Israel. As well as. Mutual promises. They made to one another. And neither of them. Intended to honor.

Okay. So they're deceitful. Their hearts. Bent on evil. That's the idea there. But it shall not prosper. That is their plans. Will not prosper. Prosper. Even their lies.

For the end. Will still be. At the appointed time. That means God. Has. Plans. For his apostate people. Israel. And. No matter what. These two kings.

Decide they're going to do. Whatever they accomplish. Is going to be according. To God's plan. And be done. According to his appointed times. All right. So his corruption. His cunning. His conquest.

And then his cruelty. Verse 28. While returning. To his land. With great riches. His heart. Shall be moved. Against the holy covenant. That would be.

Primarily the people. Of the holy covenant. So he shall do damage. And return. To his own land. All right. So. Antiochus. Has made these plans. Sat down at the table.

With Ptolemy the sixth. They've got plans. But. Meantime. Antiochus. Returns. To his own country. But. On the way. He has to go through Israel. All right.

That's the buffer state. Between these two. Kingdoms. So he goes through that territory. And on his way home. From these victories. Antiochus. Passed through Israel. And the rumor has been.

Been. Circulating. Among the people. In Palestine. Israel. That Antiochus. Is dead. And killed in battle. So. You can kind of picture this.

You know. He walks into the city. Comes into the city. And they're having a big. Walks right in the middle. Of a big celebration. And they're. Celebrating. Praising the Lord. That Antiochus. The fourth epiphanies.

Is dead. But he's not dead. Because there he stands. And so. In a fit of rage. Antiochus. Had. Forty thousand Jews. In the city.

Slaughtered. And another forty thousand. Sold into slavery. He also plundered the temple. Of its gold. And silver. All the objects. That were made of gold. And silver there.

And there would be a lot of that. And to kind of add to his. Riches. His plunder of Egypt. All right. But this. That sounds cruel. And bad. And was bad.

But this is just the beginning. Of what he's going to do to Israel. And so then finally. His crimes. His crimes. Verses twenty nine and thirty five. Takes us through to the end of this. Portion of the prophecy.

Antiochus returned home. But he was not through with Israel. Antiochus. Was a very vindictive person. And he's going to have his day.

He never will forget a wrong. That's done to him. And so. Prophecy begins with. His rebuff. His rebuff. Let me explain.

Verses twenty nine to thirty. At the appointed time. He shall return. And go toward the south. And he's going to return. Go back to. Toward Egypt. Meaning he's going to bring a big army.

But it shall not be like the former. Or the latter. For ships from Cyprus. Shall come against him. All right. So. Antiochus. It's all matter of historical record.

Antiochus returns to do battle against the Egyptians. Remember he had plans to do that. He and Ptolemy have put these plans together. So he's come back with his forces to Egypt.

The intent of completely conquering the king of the south. Things did not turn out like they did the first time he attacked them. And as well as the second time. Not mentioned in the prophecy.

Egyptians. In the meantime. Had called for help from Rome. There's a Roman connection there. Anyway. And called them to come and help.

They're tired of this Antiochus guy. And so when Antiochus and his forces arrived. Ships had already arrived. From Cyprus actually. It's the word chitum.

Chitum. Some pronounce it kitum. Kitum. Probably is kitum. Which meant that the Romans had arrived. Romans had come to aid the Egyptians.

All right. So. Goes on in the prophecy. Therefore he shall be grieved. That's putting it mildly. He'll be humiliated.

And he'll return. Return to his. Go. Go home. As the story goes. Guy by the name of Gaius. Papilius. Lanus.

Representative of the Roman Senate. Met Antiochus. Four miles from Alexandria. So here's Antiochus. He has his army and he's headed to Alexandria.

Going to conquer them. And so this representative of the Roman Senate. Meets him there. Four miles outside the city. And he issued to him an ultimatum.

From Rome. That essentially said. Leave the friends of Rome alone. And go home. Basically is what he said. I'm sure. That it was worded a little differently than that. When Antiochus tried to use a delay tactic.

Basically he said. Well I will consult with my. My cabinet. And we'll. We'll give you a decision. Well when he did that. Then. The. Papilius. Took a stick.

This is a famous story. From which we get a very famous saying. By the way. He took a stick. Drew a circle. Around Antiochus.

And then he said. Before you step out of that circle. Give me your answer. Answer to Rome's demands. Now what's the expression we use? Crossed. The line.

Ha ha. Drew a line in the sand. You ever heard. That's right. Drew a line in the sand. That's where this comes from. And so Antiochus. Withdrew. And.

Uh. Withdrew. Enraged. Uh. By his. Public humiliation. And he's not going to. Just let that go. Uh.

And so that. Leads to his revenge. The remainder of the prophecy. So he's humiliated. And because he's humiliated. Antiochus.

Vents his rage. Against. Poor little. Land of Judah. Poor little Judah. Israel. And so first he invaded the city.

The holy city. He invaded the holy city. Therefore he shall be grieved. And return in rage. Against the holy covenant.

Do damage. So he shall return. And show regard. For those who forsake. The holy covenant. So in 167 BC. Antiochus entered Jerusalem.

On the Sabbath day. I think by design. He did that. Massacring. Thousands. And plundering the city. The city of Jerusalem. And from the prophecy.

And from history. We know that he was aided. By many Jews. Who were living in the city. Jews who had. Who were apostates. Jews who had. As the prophecy says.

Forsaken the holy covenant. So he had some allies inside. And through their aid. He plundered the entire city. So he invaded the holy city. Next he insulted.

The holy God. The one and only holy God. Verse 31. And forces. Shall be mustered by him. And they shall defile. The sanctuary. Fortress.

Now we're getting into the temple here. Then they shall take away. The daily sacrifices. And place there. That's in the temple. The abomination.

Of desolation. And so we know from history. The Antioch is forced. To everyone. Not just in Jerusalem. But this. Initially he did. And then all of history.

It was to force everyone. To honor the worship. Of the Greek. Greek gods. Worship. According to Greek religion. He ordered the cessation.

Of Jewish sacrifices. So no. No more sacrifices. He ordered the cessation. Of Jewish. The Jewish observance. Of the Sabbath. They could no longer.

Observe the Sabbath. I mean that's. That's a killer. The Jews. He ordered the cessation. Of all Jewish feasts. And celebrations.

In fact. Replaced many of those feasts. With pagan feasts. And ordered that it be done. And even destroyed copies. Or scrolls. Of scripture. Of scripture.

And he desecrated the temple. By erecting. An image of Zeus. In the temple. This is the desolation. The abomination. That causes desolation.

So he insulted. The holy God. I mean. This is a time period. When you know. All of these things. That he. He ordered. That the Jews.

Cease doing. Were all part. Of God's law. Basically. It was an affront. To God himself. And then finally. He inflamed.

The holy people. The holy people. Not all of the Jews. Would be considered holy. At this time. There were a bunch of apostates. But there were. Those who were very committed. To the Lord.

There will be those. Who deify him. Remember. There are those. Who are not following. The Lord. It's put this way.

In verse 32. Those who do wickedly. Against the covenant. He shall corrupt. With flattery. So. There will be those. Who will. Honor Antiochus.

And. Flatter him. And then there will be. Those who defy him. Defy him. And that. Takes us through. Several verses here.

But the people. Who know their God. Shall be strong. Carry out great exploits. And those of the people. Who understand. Shall. Instruct many.

Yet. For many days. They shall fall. By sword and flame. By captivity. And plunder. Now when they fall. They shall be aided. With a little help. But many. Shall join with them.

By intrigue. And some of those. Of understanding. Shall fall. To refine them. Purify them. And make them white. Until the time of the end. So it's really. Just basically. There's a mixture here.

Of those who will. Defy. Antiochus. And will fight against him. Many of them will die. This is a period of time. That's going to take place. God's also going to use this.

To refine. Many of them. Through this great persecution. Until the time of the end. Because it is still. For the appointed time. This is all. According to God's. Time table. Here. You know.

We don't have time. To really go through. All of the history. Of the Maccabees. That's. Basically. What. What. In history. Is the fulfillment. Of this prophecy.

Starting with. Matthias Maccabee. And then. Later. His son. Jacob Maccabee. And Maccabean wars. And that ultimately.

Led to the. Cleansing of the temple. The rededication. Of the temple. That is today. You know. On the Jewish. Calendar. Hanukkah. And.

So. That will bring about. A great victory. It kicked the Syrians out. Of course. It won't last long. Because. Pretty soon. The Romans. Are going to come in. And. They'll take. Take over.

All the known world.