Will you take your Bibles and turn to the book of Daniel, We return again to Daniel chapter 11. We're going to be looking at verses 21 through basically 35 this morning.

I might say to preface our time together, as you know, last week you weren't here because of the snowstorm. I was here. Actually, I was here on Saturday, and it was recorded. And so I was pretending like I was speaking to you trying to look in the silly little camera. But I was joining in with, I guess, about 5000, plus pastors all around the United States, who were preaching on sexual morality, joining together with our brothers in Canada, to protest the law that they have implemented, that forbids you from basically proclaiming the truths of scripture regarding homosexuality and transgenderism, and all of those types of things. And I just want to say, folks, never underestimate the privilege we have to come together and hear the truth. Because this time, I believe is short. Nancy and I were reading from John 15, this morning, where, you know, Jesus reminds us that the world is going to hate you because it hated me and because you're not of this world. And certainly we see that, in fact, my friend John MacArthur, who also spoke on this issue, had his sermon removed from YouTube, perhaps you heard, because he violated their hate speech policy. And it's because of primarily the following statement. John said, quote, simply stated, "There is no such thing as transgender. You are either xx x or x, y. That's it. God made man male and female, that is determined genetically that is physiology, that is science, that is reality. This notion that you are something other than your biology is a cultural construct, intended as an assault on God." Indeed, amen. That is the truth. But people don't want to hear the truth, do they? And unfortunately, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. And sadly, we live in a world that is basically ruled by fools. They need the gospel, they need Christ, because to the natural man, the things of the Spirit are foolishness, we are told, and they cannot understand them. And so the only way they are going to understand the truth is to be saved by the truth. And it is our responsibility to do all we can to present the truth and to preach the truth, which we will continue to do this morning by looking into Daniel.

So we return to Daniel's fourth and final vision, revealed in chapters 11 and 12, where probably the angel Gabriel, the angelic messenger, comes to Daniel and proceeds to give him predictive revelation pertaining to Israel's future, especially as it relates to Gentile dominance over Israel and the return of the Messiah King, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Daniel 11, verses two through 35. We have approximately 135 detailed prophecies that were fulfilled accurately and literally, which I believe gives evidence that prophecy yet unfilled, will also be fulfilled in the same literal manner. I've given you an outline, I think maybe you even have it in your hands today. Last week, we looked at the kings of Persia, the kings of Greece, the kings of the south and north, referring to Egypt and Syria. And now we come to verse 21. And we will look at Antiochus IV Epiphanes. And as I put in my notes for you, his intense persecution of the Jews fueled the Maccabean revolt, resulting in heavy Jewish casualties and the temple defiled and this became the precursor to the final Gentile ruler, the Antichrist.

An so Antiochus IV Epiphanes typifies the coming Antichrist, as we will see this morning. Now by way of quick review, because I realize this is a bit complicated. Most of us, most of you are probably not up on your ancient history in the Near East, and especially what it has to say in this passage in Daniel 11. So if we go back to verse 17, we read that he referring to Antiochus, will "set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace, which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it." And this speaks of Antiochus now, who was the father of Antiochus that we're looking at today, but he wanted to gain control over Egypt, but not through military invasion. And he was planning on attacking Rome. And the last thing he needed was for the Egyptians to cause him any trouble. So he sends his daughter Cleopatra I to marry Ptolemy V. This happened in 197 BC. This was part of a peace treaty that he did with the Egyptians, but he also wanted her to spy on them, and help him promote Syrian interest in the Ptolemaic family.

Verse 17, again, "But she will not take a stand for him, or to be on his side." And indeed, this is what happened. She did not go along with his plan, and she actually simulated in with the Egyptian family and assisted them. In fact, she even helped the Egyptians assist the Romans, when Antiochus fought against them. Verse 18, "Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many." And this happened--Antiochus launched a very successful campaign along the Aegean region, the country surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, especially the islands that were their portions of Asia Minor and Greece. Again, verse 18, "But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him' moreover, he will repay him for his scorn." And we know historically, this is exactly what happened. The commander was a Roman general Lucius Cornelius Scipio. And he was commissioned by Rome to stop Antiochus, which he did. So in 188 BC, in utter humiliation, Antiochus was forced into a peace treaty with Rome, and he had to relinquish all of his holdings in Asia Minor to the Romans. Verse 19, "So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be found no more." This is what happened. He returns to his own land, having lost all that he gained even though he still ruled over Syria and Palestine and the Mesopotamian region, Babylonia, Iran, which is was Medo-Persia. But as prophesied, he stumbled and fell and was found no more and he was killed. We know while seeking to rob the Temple of Bel in Elam, Persia.

Verse 20, "Then in his place, one will arise who will send an oppressor," referring to one who forces others to pay taxes, "through the Jewel of his kingdom," referring to Palestine, "yet within a few days, he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle." This is a reference to Seleucus IV Philopater, who ruled from 187 to 176 BC. He was the son and the successor of Antiochus the Great and because his father had drained all of the Treasury and in all of his warring to try to conquer other places and because they owed Rome 1000 talents, he, annually, had to get money. So, he sent a guy named Heliodorus to seize the funds of the temple treasury in Jerusalem. And as we read the last time, we were together, according to Second Maccabees three this attempt was thwarted by an appearance at the temple of a divine apparition. So Heliodorus returned home empty handed and later he assassinated Seleucus IV Philopater as prophesied consistent with the end of verse 20. Yet within a few days he, referring to Seleucus IV Philopater, will be slaughtered, though not in anger nor in battle. So after just a short 11-year reign Seleucus died mysteriously, they believe through poisoning. And then we come to verse 21, where we're going to start today.

"In his place," in other words in the place of Seleucus IV Philopater, "a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue." And this brings us to the fourth point in our little outline, Antiochus IV Epiphanes Now, mind you, these things are occurring some 300 years after Daniel has them revealed to him through the angelic messenger.

Dave Harrell

Now, a little history here, following the death of, Seleucus IV, his brother, Antiochus IV, seized the throne illegally from the son of his murdered brother, Demetrius Soter, who was held hostage by Rome. And so the new king adopted the name Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and he's going to rule just from 175 to 164 BC. By the way, "Epiphanes" means glorious. He liked that name. I'm Antiochus IV, the glorious one. By the way, the Jews hated that name so much that they nicknamed him Antiochus Epimanes-- "Epimanes" meant "madman." Now he was previously alluded to as the "little horn" in Daniel eight, nine through 14 and 23 through 25, as we will see. So indeed, as prophesied, "a despicable person will arise on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue." An interesting term in the original language-- "intrigue" can literally be translated "slippery places." In this context, it refers to slippery actions, he was a slippery character, a person who is cunning and deceptive and evasive and untrustworthy, who equivocates with words and deals. Remember, we had a president who was nicknamed Slick Willy, this is the concept, this is who this guy was. And history reveals how he would do this with intrigue. He flattered Eumenes, King of Pergamum, along with other key leaders in Syria, promising them prominent positions if they helped him gain the throne. And Rome even fell for his flattery and all of his promises. And they backed him for a while. They wanted him to help them maintain peace in the east. This is the age-old political strategy of quid pro quo, right? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. This is the grease that basically makes the machinery of power run smoothly and wickedly.

I might add. It's important to remember that God has always been true to his promise in judging wicked nations, and don't you see this constantly, all through all of these prophecies and even to this day? And I might add that throughout the Old Testament, one of the things that we see is that that he destroys these wicked nations because they practice idolatry and immorality, especially homosexuality and bestiality and all manner of abominations. And we see this, again, happening throughout the history of all these things that we're reading. But one of the key components, one of the key methods of God's destruction in these nations is the removal of qualified men from leadership. By the way, he does the same thing today in the church. He removes qualified leaders. In Isaiah three he described for example, his judgment on Judah and Jerusalem. Verse four, he says, "and I will make mere lads, their princes. And capricious children will rule over them, and the people will be oppressed each one by another, and each one by his neighbor. The youth will storm against the elder and the inferior against the honorable." In other words, the young who are typically ruled by their emotions rather than by integrity, rather than by truth, will be the ones in charge. Verse 11, of Isaiah three, "Woe to the wicked, it will go badly with him for what he deserves will be done to him. O my people. Their are oppressors are children and women rule over them. O my people, those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths." This is exactly what we see when we examine the fall of these ancient empires. And I might add, this is exactly what we see in the United States of America today. Exactly. Immoral, ungodly, undiscerning, incompetent leaders that are ill suited to be in authority over anyone. And the results are always catastrophic, because that's exactly God's intention. This is one of the ways that he judges the wicked. And it's not an exaggeration to say that many of our leaders today are not only intellectually challenged, challenged to the point of just being downright stupid, but they are delusional. They believe things that have no basis in reality. The whole transgender thing is one example of that. So dear friends when you see and you feel this incredulity in your heart, these, these babbling fools in leadership over us, know that this is an evidence of God's judgment upon those who mock him, who mock his word. Those who literally criminalize those things that he deems holy, those that legalize those things that he deems an abomination.

So Antiochus Epiphanes was just another pagan fool ruled by his depraved heart, evil to the core with no regard whatsoever for the one true God that would eternally damn him, as well as damn all those who follow Him. And this will also be the fate of those who follow the satanic deceivers who rule our country. So indeed, a despicable or a slippery person arose and seize the kingdom by intrigue. But the angel also made another prediction in verse 22, "The overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered." That phrase, "overflowing forces will be flooded away before him," could literally be translated "arms of the overflow shall be overflowed." And this is what happened. The invading forces that sought to conquer Syria, were themselves conquered. This was true historically, especially with respect to the Egyptians described later on in verse 25.

Dave Harrell

Now, let me give you a little background here. Antiochus' father, Antiochus the Great promised to give Coele-Syria, "coele" in Greek meant meant hollow. And Coele-Syria was basically the Beqaa Valley that was kind of a hollow area, you might say, in between Mount Lebanon and what was called Anti-Lebanon. Those mountains in that region. Well anyway, his father had promised to give Coele-Syria, as well as Palestine the Land of Israel today, to Egypt as a dowry with his daughter Cleopatra, upon her marriage to Ptolemy Epiphanes. So when Antiochus Epiphanes comes to the throne, comes to power and takes his father's place, he is going to pretend like he is going to go along with his promise, but in his heart, he's thinking, no, no, no, I want all that for myself. And so, in order to keep peace between the two empires, he decides he'll go along with this. But surprise, surprise, in 170 BC, five years after he ascends the throne, he leads a military campaign down through Coele-Syria, down through Palestine, and comes up against Egypt, as we'll see in verse 25. He's determined to claim all of these areas for himself, and later since Ptolemy VI Philometor of Egypt, when he sees that Antiochus is going to do this, and he's not going to make good on the promised land, he decides he's going to attack him. So that's a little bit of the history here. And when Antiochus Epiphanes catches wind of this coming invasion in 170 BC, he goes out to meet him and utterly defeats them on the southeast sea coast of the Mediterranean halfway between Gaza and the Nile delta.

Dave Harrell

So, verse 22, fulfilled precisely, "The overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered and also the prince of the covenant." I believe here that the prince of the covenant is probably referring to Ptolemy VI Philometor because he agreed to be an ally with Antiochus if the Syrians would help him gain the throne to Egypt, which had been taken away from him by his younger brother Ptolemy VII Euergetes, whose nickname was Physcon. In Greek, it means fatty, or fat. So it literally means potbelly. Okay. So this is his fat little brother. All right, that might be easier than saying Ptolemy VII Euergetes, all right? So I'm gonna call him fatso here's that we kind of keep all this in mind. So Ptolemy VI Philometor is fatso's older brother, all right? You with me? It's his older brother. Their mother was Cleopatra. All right? And she is also the sister now of Antiochus Epiphanes. So both Ptolemy VI Philometor and Ptolemy VII Euergetes, or fatso, are his nephews. Alright, so you got one big happy family here. We got one big happy family; quality leaders are there brimming with integrity. We've had families like this lead us in our country as well. Now remember earlier, and 169 BC, Ptolemy VI Philometor had launched an attack against Antiochus Epiphanes' forces, as I mentioned a minute ago to regain those territories of Palestine lost to the Syrians. But he was defeated. Not only was he defeated, but he was captured by his uncle and held hostage. And that's when the people of Alexandria and Egypt put fatso on the throne. Okay, so this is what you got going on here.

Dave Harrell

Verse 23, "After an alliance is made with him," referring to Ptolemy VI Philometor, who I believe is the "prince of the covenant," he will practice deception. So here's what happened. Good ol uncle Antiochus professed friendship with his hostage nephew to gain assistance against the new ruler of Egypt, which would have been Ptolemy's chubby little brother, Ptolemy VII. And he's basically saying, Look, you help me against your brother, I will help you. I'll see to it that you get your throne.

Verse 23, again, "and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people." And indeed, at this stage in Antiochus' reign, his nation of Syria was small in comparison to what he had before; he had to give so much back to Rome, with their rise to power. So as predicted, as the angel has said here, he "practiced deception," and he went up against Egypt and gained power. Verse 24, he did this, "In a time of tranquility," it could be translated "without warning." "In a time of tranquility, he will enter the richest parts of the realm." And this is what he did, he seized the finest products of the most fertile and prosperous areas of his domain. These areas included, of course, Egypt and Judea and other provinces, where Syrian forces were successful. 24, in the middle of the verse, it reads, "and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his ancestors, he will distribute plunder booty and possessions among them and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time." And this is what he did. He was kind of a Robin Hood type of a guy. He would rob from various areas and give to other areas to make them all unite behind him. And by doing this, he also kept some of the areas that he ruled over a bit weak, he didn't want them to rise and have too much power, otherwise he would have to deal with them. But as the text says, he would only do this quote "for a time," which means for as long as God will allow it, which wasn't long because again, he only ruled 12 years. He died in 164 BC.

Verse 25, "He will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large an mighty army for war; but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him." This is what happened. Antiochus amassed a great army to invade Egypt. In fact, in first Maccabees 1:17, we read that Antiochus, quote, "entered Egypt with an overwhelming multitude with chariots, elephants and cavalry." So indeed, the king of the south now mobilized an extremely large army. And although Antiochus' army was smaller, and even though they marched all the way from Syria, all the way down to the borders of Egypt, nevertheless, they defeated Ptolemy Philometor. And how did they do this? Verse 25. It says that "he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him." Interesting schemes devised against him. Verse 26 clarifies this, "Those who eat his choice food will destroy him, and his army will overflow but many will fall down slain." And this is what happened. Historically, the king had treacherous advisors at court, trusted counselors who convinced him to attack knowing that he probably would not be successful. In fact, the Hebrew literally reads, quote, "his army shall be overflowing in size, but still, many of its numbers shall fall in death." And this is what happened, as I say, Ptolemy attacked, he was defeated and he was taken captive by Antiochus.

Verse 27, "As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on evil, and they will speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed for the end is still to come at the appointed time." You see Antiochus, as well as Ptolemy, were both very selfish. And both kings were in, you might say a chess match, to try to manipulate the other one to their own advantage. And both are making promises they had no intention on keeping. And they did this it says "at the same table." In other words, at the table where there should be the table of hospitality, where there should be honesty and integrity, that should have been the highest priority, but it wasn't. So they both dealt treacherously with one another, both speaking lies in place of the truth in order to gain ground.

Verse 27, goes on to say, "But it will not succeed, for the end, or literally it can be translated "the goal," the goal "is still to come at the appointed time." In other words, God's predetermined appointed time to accomplish his goals during the end of the age. And although Antiochus pitted brother against brother in the end, it's interesting, none of them are able to control all of Egypt. It is important to note that when Antiochus went into Egypt, he was able to conquer the region of Memphis, kind of in the center of Egypt, upon which he did put Ptolemy Philometor on the throne, thinking that eventually he would dethrone him, but he needed his help there for a time. So that did happen, but his younger brother, his chubby younger brother was able to repel Antiochus, and he was able to maintain rule over the region of Alexandria. So Ptolemy Philometor's little brother still ruled Alexandria.

However, here dear friends, the plot thickens, as they say, shortly after Antiochus returned from Syria, the Ptolemy brothers decided that they would come together and form an alliance to rule jointly. And Ptolemy accomplished this by marrying their common sister, who now is Cleopatra II named after her mother, and she became queen. Eventually, by the way, she would marry the other brother, but that's a story for another time, okay, lots of incest that went on during those days. Then verse 28, "he," referring to Antiochus, "will return to his land with much plunder." Again, the word of God is always accurate. That's precisely what happened. We read in the histories, found in first Maccabees 1:19, "Thus they got the strong cities in the land of Egypt, and he took the spoils thereof." But in Daniel's prophecy, in verse 28, it goes on to say, "but his ,heart will be set against the holy covenant the holy covenant referring to all things religious in Judaism, the whole system of the Mosaic Law and so forth, "and he will take action," the text says, "and then return to his own land." So fueled by wounded pride, he decided to vent his anger on the Jews that he despised. And so, on his way back north to Syria, he stops in Palestine, he plunders the temple, destroys some of the religious personnel and he puts a stop to the ceremonial and sacrificial systems of Judaism. Now, by the way, Satan is already helping to accomplish all of this, under the authority of God's sovereignty. One historian tells us that "the occasion of the action," referring to Antiochus now coming into Jerusalem, "involve the Jewish reaction against the high priests, Menalaus, who has catered to the favor of Antiochus in the past days. Antiochus now sought to assist Menalaus and put down a minor revolt." So you've got an apostate here, that's the high priest, the Jews are rebelling against him, but he's with Antiochus. So Antiochus comes up, Menalaus says, hey, I need a little help here, I've got some problems with these guys. And so they decide to put them down. So this was all the excuse, that Antiochus needed to unleash his fury upon God's covenant people. We read about this historical event in first Maccabees, chapter one, beginning in verse 20. "And after that entire cause had smitten Egypt, he returned again in the 140 and third year, and went up against Israel in Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the table of the shobread and the pouring vessels and the vials, and the sensors of gold, and the veil and the crown and the golden ornaments that were before the temple, all which he pulled off. He took also the silver and the gold and the precious vessels. Also, he took the hidden treasures, which he found, and when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having made a great massacre, and spoken very proudly. Therefore, there was a great mourning in Israel in every place where they were, so that the princes and elders mourned the virgins and young men were made feeble, and the beauty of women was changed. Every bridegroom took up lamentation. And she that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness. The land also was moved from the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was covered with confusion."

Now, let's go back to Daniel 11, in verse 29. "At the appointed time" referring to God's appointed time, "he will return and come into the South." Another amazing prophecy and that's what Antiochus did. Two years after his moderately successful campaign in Egypt, he decides to go back, because he learns about this coalition between his two nephews and their sister. And so he decides to go back down there with his armies to punish them and gain the land. But Daniel 11:29 says, "this last time, it will not turn out the way it did before." Remember, his first conquest into Egypt was moderately successful. But the prophecy here is that the next one will not be and here's why. For ships of Kittim will come against him." Kittim is a reference to to the Cyprians, the islands and coastal regions off the Northeast Mediterranean Sea area. And this included the regions west of Palestine, all of the the northern coast of the Mediterranean. And this is where the Romans had come with their ships. And what Antiochus didn't realize is the Romans had formed an alliance with the Egyptians and their ships were harbored off of these coasts. So what happens historically is Antiochus is going to come down now, he thinks he's going to take over Egypt, but the Romans, now working with the Egyptians, sent an emissary out to meet him. His name was Popillius Laenas and he was sent from the Roman Senate, and he had a letter that basically told Antiochus to go home and leave Egypt alone. Well Antiochus didn't like that. And history records how he paused and he was furious. Here, he's got his armies come all the way down here and now, here's the Romans. And he wasn't wanting to give an answer, so the emissary of Rome takes a stick, and he draws a circle in the sand around Antiochus and says that you must give me an answer before you step out of the circle. And basically, he knew that he didn't have a choice. So in utter humiliation, he had to agree and go back home.

Verse 30, "Therefore, he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant" again, Judaism and its religious system. This you might say, the Jews, you might say, we're the most available dog to kick, right? He's got to go through that region again, and he's just furious. So "he will be disheartened will return to become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those whose forsake the holy covenant." Again, now remember, this guy is Satan's man. Satan hates the Jewish people. He hates the God of Israel, our God; he hates all that God has promised with respect to the return of the King of kings. And so he's going to do all he can to thwart the purposes of God. And this has been true down through history. So what happened? Well, on his return trip home, he stops in Palestine, Vents his fury on the Jews and he was especially mad because there was a rumor going around that he had been killed. But he wanted to let them know that I am not dead. So he came to Jerusalem. And as the text says, "He will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant." So what does he do? He finds some of the Jewish apostates who were willing to side with him and help him eradicate every vestige of Judaism and all of the observances of the mosaic ceremonies and so forth. And of course, the leader of that group was that same apostate high priest, Menalaus, who fully cooperated with Antiochus.

If I can pause for a moment. Dear friends, the greatest threat to the church today, has been and always will be, apostates within the church, apostates within the church. I fear professing woke believers far more than I fear godless pagans. You know, Paul tells us in Acts 20, speaking to the elders there in Ephesus that "savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves, men will arise speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them, therefore be on the alert." This is why we are told for example, in Second Corinthians six to come out and be separate. We have no fellowship with these kinds of people. This is why judgment is to begin with the household of God, as we read in first Peter 4:17. And there is a purging dear friends, it's going on in the church today. A purging. And the fires of persecution are always purifying fires for the church. For God chastens those that he loves. And this was the same type of dynamic that went on when Antiochus now comes to Jerusalem.

Back to verse 31, "Forces from him will arise." "Forces" could also be translated "arms." Arms "will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice." Now bear in mind Antiochus wanted to force Grecian customs on the Jews. Remember, he had spent a great deal of time in Athens before becoming king of Syria. So he fully embraced all of the mythological gods and goddesses. And so what does he do? He does away with the regular sacrifice. In other words, he outlaws all of the mosaic ceremonies, and then it says "and they will set up the abomination of desolation." The prophecy was true, Antiochus sets up a statue of the Olympian Zeus. They believe even with the features of Antiochus--sets that up in the Holy of Holies.

Verse 32, the prophecy says "By smooth words, he will turn to godlessness, those who act wickedly toward the covenant." In other words, he's going to use flattery as he has before; he's slick, he's going to make promises he knows he could never keep, but you're going to promise them wealth and power, if you will join me. So "by smooth words he will turn to godlessness, those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action." Folks, there will always be a remnant of the faithful who will stand firm. Come what may. And that's what you had back then. In fact, in first Maccabees one, verse 61, we read, "How be it many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing. Wherefore they chose rather to die, that they might not be defied with meats, and that they might not profane the holy covenant." And indeed, many of them did die. It's estimated that some 80,000 were killed or enslaved at this time.

Let me take just a few minutes here and give you the history of what the ancients describe with respect to what happened then first Maccabees one beginning in verse 29. "And after two years fully expired the kings in his chief collector of tribute into the cities of Judah, who came unto Jerusalem with a great multitude, and spake peaceably words unto them, but all was deceit. For when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people of Israel. And when he had taken the spoils of the city, he set it on fire and pulled down the houses and walls thereof on every side, but the women and children took the captive and possess the cattle. Then builded they the city of David with a great strong wall and with mighty towers and made it a stronghold for them. And they put therein a sinful nation, wicked men and fortified themselves therein. They started also with armor and victuals. And when they had gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem, they laid them up there and so they became a sore snare. For it was a place to lie and weighed against the sanctuary, and an evil adversary to Israel. Thus, they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary and defiled it, insomuch that the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them. Whereupon the city was made and habitation of strangers and became strange to those that were born in her and her own children left her. Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feast were turned into mourning, her Sabbath into reproach her honor into contempt. As had been her glory, so was her dishonor increased, and Her Excellency was turned into mourning. Moreover, King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people, and everyone should leave his laws. So all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king, yay, many also the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed on the idols and profaned the Sabbath. For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem in the cities of Judah, that they should follow the strange laws of the land, and forbid burnt offerings and sacrifice and drink offerings in the temple, and that they should profane the Sabbaths and festival days and pollute the sanctuary and holy people, set up altars and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine’s flesh and unclean beasts, that they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable, with all manner of uncleanness and profanation. To the end, they might forget the law and change all the ordinances. And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, he said, he should die. In the self-same manner, wrote he to his whole kingdom and appointed overseers over all the people commanding the cities of Judah to sacrifice city by city. Then many of the people were gathered unto them, to wit, everyone that first took the law and so they committed evil to the land, and drove the Israelites into secret places, even wheresoever they could flee for Sucher. Now, the 15th day of the month, Kiselev live in the 100 and 40th and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idols throughout the cities of Judah on every side, and burnt incense at the doors of their houses and in the streets. And when they had wrent in pieces, the books of the law which they found; they burnt them with fire. And whosoever was found with any of the book of the testament, or if any committed to the law, the king's commandments was that they should put him to death. Thus did they by their authority unto the Israelites every month to as many as were found in the cities. Now the five and 20th day of the month, they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God. At which time according to the commandment, they put to death, certain women that had caused their children to be circumcised, and they hanged the infants about their necks and rifled their houses and slew them that had circumcised them. How be it, many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing. Wherefore they would rather die, that they might not be defiled with meat that they might not profane the holy covenant. So then they died in there was a very great wrath upon Israel." So there you have the history. Beloved, this demonstrates Satan's absolute contempt for the Most High God, and his covenant people, and all of the promises that God has given to all of his people down through the ages. And again, bear in mind that this guy is merely the type of the coming antitype, the Antichrist. So what I've just read is a harbinger of that which is to come, which will be far worse.

Back to our text, and Daniel 11:33. "Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many." In other words, during this time, there will be godly people with discernment, who will instruct the naive and instruct the ignorant. Yet it goes on to say "they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days, that when they fall, they will be granted a little help and many of them will join them in hypocrisy." This is a reference to the Maccabees, you may remember that Mattathias Maccabeus, who had five sons refused to offer sacrifice to the Greek gods. And so he killed the king's representative, rather than to do this. And he along with his sons fled to the mountains, and they began to gather their own army and they enlisted others to join the revolt. And they were successful for a time but at the end, they were defeated. It says, "and many will join them in hypocrisy." It can be translated, "joined them by intrigue." And that's what happened. Out of fear of reprisal from some of the Jewish rebels, a lot of the Jewish people decided to join the uprising, but there were others that joined just to sabotage the efforts, because they were, they were still loyal to Antiochus and feared him. You may recall when we studied Daniel eight, that vision there, I give a lot of exposition on this whole period, because it speaks of this as well. In fact, in Daniel eight, verse 12, we read "on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice, and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper. Then I heard a holy one speaking and another holy one and said to that particular one who was speaking, 'How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?' And he said to me, 'For 2300 evenings and mornings, then the holy place will be properly restored.'" Now while we can't be dogmatic about the precise dates, we can go to first Maccabees four beginning in verse 52, through 59. There we read that "The Holy Place was properly restored on the 25th day of the ninth month of the year, 164 BC." And if you work backwards, 2300 days from that date, you come to the fall of 170 BC, which again, is absolutely astounding. And this is why so many historians say there's no way that this could be prophetic. This has to be some forgery written by some phony guy in the second century, who is basically recording history and saying it was prophecy. In chapter eight and verse 25, it says, "And through his shrewdness, he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; and he will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princess, but he will be broken without human agency." That is he will be destroyed without human intervention. And that's exactly what happened.

Let me give you the history. Again, according to the second book of Maccabees, he was horrifically injured in the following manner which eventually led to his death. We read, "But they all sing, Lord, the God of Israel struck him with an incurable and invisible blow. As soon as he stopped speaking, he was seized with a pain in his bowels, for which there was no relief, and with sharp internal tortures. And that very justly, for he had tortured the bowels of others with many and strange inflictions. Yet he did not in any way stop his insolence, but was even more filled with arrogance, breathing fire in his rage against the Jews, and giving orders to drive even faster. And so it came about that he fell out of his chariot as it was rushing along, and the fall was so hard as to torture every limb of his body, as he who only a little while before, had thought in his superhuman arrogance, that he could command the waves of the sea, and it imagined that he could weigh the high mountains in a balance, was brought down to earth and carried in a litter, making the power of God manifest to all. So the ungodly man's body swarmed with worms. And while he was living in anguish and pain, his flesh rotted away. And because of the stench, the whole army felt revulsion at his decay."

Later on, on his deathbed, he learned that the armies of Israel had gone into the land of Judah and that he had been routed. And again, according to first Maccabee six, beginning in verse 18, "When the king heard this news, he was astonished and very much shaken, sick with grief because his designs had failed. He took to his bed, there he remained many days assailed by waves of grief where he thought he was going to die. So he called in all his friends and said to them, 'Sleep has departed from my eyes and my heart sinks with anxiety. I said to myself into what tribulation have I come, and into what floods of sorrow am I now, and I was kindly and beloved in my rule. But I now recall the evils I did in Jerusalem when I carried away all the vessels of silver and gold that were in it, and for no cause gave orders that the inhabitants of Judah be destroyed. I know that this is why these evils have overtaken me. And now I am dying in bitter grief in a foreign land.'" And according to what is called the "Scroll of Antiochus," we read that he drowned himself in the sea. Dear friends, in all of this, God was at work. And as we close this morning, we see in verse 35, that he was refining, he was cleansing, he was purifying his people through the fires of suffering. There we read, "Some of those who have insight will fall in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time." And indeed, the persecution of Israel will continue until Christ returns, referred to here as the end time, a time of Daniel's 70th week, the time of the Great Tribulation, the pre kingdom judgments prior to our Lord's return. And this phrase, "until the end time," really serves as a transition to the events that are, as it says, still to come at the appointed time. And these are events pertaining to the person and the work of the Antichrist that's described in verses 36 through 45. The coming willful king of whom Antiochus Epiphanes was merely a type. Verse 36 describes him, "Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done."

Although American forces were warned about the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, they ignored the warning. And you know what happened? And dear friends, even with what you have heard today, you are being warned that a Day of Judgment is coming, Jesus is coming again. And when you see him, he will either be your Savior and Lord, or your judge and your executioner. And right now there is an ark of safety available to you in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I plead with you to come to Christ in repentant faith. Enter into that ark before the deluge of judgment encompasses this earth. For those of us who know and love Christ, let's celebrate the fact that our Savior and our King reigns supreme; that he has ordained the end from the beginning and that he is coming again in power and great glory. Amen? Amen.

Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the truths of your word that are so profound. But Lord, they are meaningless to those who are dead in their sins. So I pray that you will breathe life into those that are lost and dying, that they might be raised from the dead spiritually speaking, that they might repent and come to faith in Christ. And for those of us who know and love Christ, who are debtors to his grace, I pray that what we've heard this morning will just encourage our hearts knowing that yes, difficult times are coming. But we serve the King of kings and eventually, all of this will be over as promised. We thank you, we give you praise, in Jesus name and for his sake. Amen.