Midweek – The Blank Page In Your Bible Part 3

400 years of history is a long time!  From the time when the exiles return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the city to the advent of Christ in the New Testament we have 400 years of Biblical silence.  This series looks at what happened in those years and how they shape the time into which Jesus comes and how that impacts our faith today.

In part 3 we look at Daniel chapter 11 and how he prophesied about the events that would take place in the second century BC.  The Kings of the North and the Kings of the South try to out do each other at every point for control of the other’s territory.  Behind it all Rome is building in strength to come onto the stage as the most powerful empire that ever existed.  The scene is being set for the society and culture into which Jesus will come to bring the good news of the kingdom of God.

Transcript

Part three of the blank page in your Bible is getting a little bit deeper and as we’ve been going through this, I guess one of the things you’ve been saying to me is the connection with Daniel. And I always knew that one of the weeks was going to be looking a little bit deeper into Daniel.

Basically, Daniel chapter 8 right through to the end of Daniel is really looking at a particular focus in history. With the tail end of chapter 12 looking us beyond what is the blank page in our Bible. Of course, looking to Christ and looking to that salvation fulfilled in Him.  And so this evening, we’re going to really look at Daniel chapter 11 to see what it has to teach us about this particular time in history.

But before we do, we’re gonna think a little bit about Old Testament prophecy.  Now, there’s two ways of looking to the future in Scripture.  One is prophecy, and the other is what we call apocalyptic literature. And if I was to give you an idea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel would all be prophetic because they’re mainly speaking for their time and their place,  but ever revealing the full nature of God, whereas Daniel, and certainly parts of Daniel, and certainly Revelation from chapter 7 onwards.

It’s apocalyptic, which means end times it’s really telling the story of the times in which we’re living getting ready for Christ’s return. But yet that’s where Daniel actually finishes this evening by looking to the end of time.

Prophecy is not fortune telling. The culture that we lived in before coming down along, that’s what prophecy was. Prophecy was able to tell you your future.  That’s not what prophecy is about.  Whenever you get down into the nitty gritty of the prophets, particularly Isaiah and a lot of the minor prophets that we’ve already looked at, as you’ll see there in that first paragraph,  they were to bring messages of challenge, rebuke, punishment, and restoration.

That, that’s what the prophets were to do. They were to speak in their time to God’s people, that if they did not change, then this is what was going to happen. So yes, it was in a way foretelling the future that God had said would happen, but at every stage there was always opportunity for people to repent and come back.

And even though in some of the Prophets they will say of Edom’s success or another Assyria’s success, they’ll always challenge those who oppose God’s people as well. They’ll bring condemnation on them that they may rise for a little while, but then they will be punished for their abuse of God’s people.

Whenever we get into Revelation then, and we’re starting to see a little bit of that in John’s gospel in the evenings.  And I did say that it’d be five years and before I would ever touch Revelation this November’s number four, so we might extend that to 10 years. I’ve actually already started preparing a sermon series on Revelation.

That’s how much work needs to go into Revelation. I’m not gonna say we’re starting it on year five, but  I’ve already started preparing that.  Because the first books, or the first chapters of Revelation that talk about the seven churches are very much prophetic because it’s to the church in the age, and of course the church in the age that we know as well.

But the remainder of Revelation is apocalyptic, because it’s talking about the end times. And what Revelation does, really, from chapter 8 onwards is say the same thing three times.  But it’s like a corkscrew.  You have the first cycle, and then it gets a little bit deeper to the second cycle, and then it gets deeper still to the final section.

But each time it’s the same thing being said only to a deeper level so that we will fully understand what are the last days, what are the end times from the perspective of God’s people as God has revealed it through that vision to John.  So that’s a little bit about Old Testament prophecy and just how maybe dipping into what we have maybe assumed to be New Testament prophecy.

It is there, but whenever we get to the tail end of Revelation, it is apocalyptic rather than prophetic.  And so why was prophecy there? Prophecy was there to communicate God’s Word. The prophets were the preachers, and if you read in any detail, you’ll know that Jeremiah had to be put in a pit Elijah or Isaiah was very much abuse hurled at him in the public square.

Daniel was the intellect as it were. He was the one working in the court of the enemy, and that’s where his prophecies came from. The visions were given to him in Babylon.  But yet, they all have one purpose, and it’s what Paul really tells us in Romans chapter 8 and verse 28. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

What we’re looking at now in the prophecy of Daniel  is about human history.  And human history has to run its course according  Whether it be the human history we’re looking at tonight, or whether it be the human history in which we’re living, it all has to work its course so that God’s purposes can be fulfilled.

Whatever they may be, but we can be sure of one thing,  that God’s purposes are always loving towards his people. I recently took part in, I haven’t seen it yet, it may be a Bible study resource we’ll use, but I was videoed for some teaching for a PCI Bible resource,  and one of the things I said in that was,  one thing we can be sure of,  God has his best for us.

We may not understand why, but this is the great dress rehearsal, you’ve heard me say that before. This is the dress rehearsal of what is to come because there’s better to come for God’s people because of his great love towards us. But everything that happens in life, in human history, is all according to his purpose.

And so we must look to him and we must trust him.  And so as we’ve seen in parts one and two already, and remember, if you do miss or you have to, or you want to go back, if there’s something you have missed in the night or you’ve missed the whole night, those are available not only on YouTube, not only on a podcast, if you subscribe to the Advent one we did two years ago or Christmas a year ago.

But there’s now a page on the website that has it all there easily for you to access as well, including the ability to download the handout. One thing I would say don’t print it out. Don’t worry, we’ll get you a copy. Save your ink because we will have multiple copies here for you whenever you do come back if you happen to miss.

So do find all those resources there.  But Daniel, as we’ve seen in parts one and two, has a lot to teach us. Although we’re talking about a blank page between Malachi and Matthew, it’s actually Daniel who helps fill that blank page for us. We may not have the written details, but it’s looking at what world history teaches us, or ancient history, as well as what Daniel says that we can plot, as it were, what this period in history was like.

Now Daniel does have this vision 90 years before the completion of the walls in Jerusalem.  And so really Daniel’s prophecy starts at that point, 90 years really after he, he dies however many years prior to that he got the prophecy. So you’re talking 90, 100 years before any of this  takes place. And as I say, that latter part of Daniel, chapters 8 through to chapter 12.

is looking at that period the second century B. C. That, through around the 300s or so that’s where the majority of his prophecy is focused.  It’s a long chapter. We’re not going to read it because the bulk of the stuff we’re going to look at  is in the first 19 verses, but we will look at the latter verses as well.

So I thought we’ll read verses 1 to 19. It’s a little bit different from how we’ve been doing it. We haven’t normally started with a Bible passage. We normally finish with one, but we’ll start with one this evening. And so if you have your Bible there, do turn to Daniel chapter 11, and I’ll read verses 1 to 19.

And there we read, As, and as for me, in the first year of Darius the maid, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.  And now I will show you the truth.  Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia,  and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.

Then a mighty king shall arise who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven,  but not to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.

Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he, and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority.  After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times.

And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place.  He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the King of the North, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail. He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the King of the North.

Then the latter shall come into the realm of the King of the South, but shall return to his own land. End  His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall keep coming and overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress.  Then the king of the south, moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north, and he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand.

And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude greater than the first, and after some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.  In those times many shall rise against the king of the south and the violent sorry, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall feel.

Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siege works and take a well fortified city and the forces of the south shall not stand or even his best troops for there shall be no strength to stand. But he who comes against him shall do as he wills and none shall stand before him and he shall stand in the glorious land with destruction in his hand.

He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom but it shall not stand or be to his advantage.  Afterwards, he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them.

But a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed, he shall turn his insolence back upon them. Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall and shall not be found.  Amen. This is the Word of God. Now the first thing I should say is  We’re not going to go through this passage verse by verse with a pen and figure out who’s who and who’s talking.

We don’t first of all, we don’t have time to do that.  Secondly, I don’t have the intelligence to do that. And thirdly, we don’t have the history to do that. And so what we’re going to do is we’re going to look at quite a chunk of it, but not at all, because there’s just some things we can’t explain.

But we’re going to look at the ones that have significance.  in the great story that leads us up to the birth of Christ. And I’m giving you a map there, and if you’re savvy enough, you will have noticed that it looks the same map, but it’s not.  The maps that I’ve given you are slightly different.

So this map, I think, is there in part one in your handout, but it’s not in part two, because this is more to show you  The fluidity of all of this, because if you listened or read, you’ll see there’s a wee bit of to ing and fro ing between the north and the south.  But I want you to notice what’s at the center of all of this,  and it’s right here.

It’s Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is going to be the city that is going to come backwards and forwards between the north and the south.  This is the significance in for the culture and the society into which Jesus came.  This is its melting pot, even though Jesus came into a melting pot. But really this is the crucible where it’s all worked out as we’ll see tonight.

By what we see the real shaping of the society into which Jesus comes.  And so we will see how Jerusalem is fought over and comes backwards and forwards. And so it would be so easy to get lost in all of the detail of this that we are going to try and have that overview. And one thing that I hope will be helpful for you is there on page two.

It’s the rulers of Syria, Judea, and Egypt after Alexander the Great. It’s basically a great big family tree. Now, I put it there you needed it on a full page because making it any smaller you couldn’t see it. And I would encourage you that at certain points in time, Maybe get a pen and circle some of these so that you can see.

We’re not going to look at every single one. I’m going to throw you some wonderful little facts of trivia in there that I just think are amazing. Elizabeth Taylor appears, okay? So watch out for Elizabeth Taylor.  Our Elizabeth Taylor, by the way, not someone called Elizabeth Taylor from all those years ago.

There’s no point even looking at the screen unless you’re looking at it on a really big television at home.  But you’ll see two sides here to this story. On the left hand side, you have the Ptolemies. These are the rulers of Egypt. These are the Pharaohs. They still use the name Pharaoh.  The Ptolemies, spelt with a P.

On the right hand side, you have the Seleucids.  And they’re ruling Mesopotamia. They’re ruling really Babylon right across to where Greece was really coming in. So we’re not looking at the four parts to this kingdom anymore. It’s really between these two houses. The Seleucids and the Ptolemies. And the Seleucids come around and head down from Syria down to what we now know as Biblical Palestine.

But in those days it was just all called Syria.  And they really fight over one part of it as we’ll see as we move in. Now, I will say for the sake, every map and every chart comes from this book. I know it’s the Bible, but it’s the ESV Study Bible. They have allowed free reproduction of their maps, and they’re available on their website.

So that’s where they’re all coming from. And generally when you see a map in church, that’s where it’s come, comes from. Organization leaders, please don’t use those maps in your organization, they’re mine, okay? We’re going to go down this We’re not going to go through it all, we’re probably going to get halfway down it.

We will look at some of the names at the bottom just to pick up on a few of them. But really where we’re going to start is this to ing and fro ing between the kings of the north, who are the Seleucids, and the king of the south, which is the Ptolemies.  Sometimes they’re helpful and they call themselves Ptolemy the whatever number and Seleucus Seleucus the whatever number, Seleucus the whatever number sometimes they don’t.

So that’s why it’s going to be helpful to circle this. So it might be handy to have your page like this so that you can see both at the same time.  So let’s go to our first passage and see where we’re picking up. And we’re reading from Daniel chapter 11 and verse 6, and you have it there on your page.

And so Daniel says, after some years they shall make an alliance, that being the king of the north and the king of the south, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not retain the strength of her arm.  And he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times.

So we left off last week with this guy, Ptolemy II Philadelphus. And he fought a number of wars. He fought what we call the Caesarean Wars.  And really his major war was the second Syrian war between 260 and 253 BC.  And at the end of that he does what is the common practice he really makes his wife an ambassador.

Sorry, his daughter an ambassador. By the way, his wife is also called Bernice. That’s why whenever you look at the chart there, and the third box down on the left hand side, you have Ptolemy sorry, Ptolemy II, Philadelphus his daughter then is Bernice,  And he, she is given, you can’t really see your line there but as you know a family tree, his son is Ptolemy III, his daughter’s Bernice.

She is given off to the Seleucids as an ambassador. Her mother was also called Bernice, not to be confused. But the interesting thing is she is given off to Antichus II,  who calls himself Theos.  Now, if you’re familiar with Latin Deo,  If you know any Greek, Theo, Deo, Theo, that’s God. Theos, God. He basically calls himself  God.

He calls himself  Antiochus the second,  God. And the reason why he does this is in the second Syrian war, he goes to Milita  and he basically saves the people of that town and they turn around and worship him as a god.  And they continued that practice right through the generations.  And so he took on himself not just the title, but also the practice of divinity.

How you can practice that, I don’t know. And so he became worshipped just as the pharaohs would be worshipped in Egypt. He became a god amongst his own people because of what he created for himself, but also what was told about him. So anyway, this marriage between Bernice and Antiochus the second. God, was supposed to be one that would work,  but it didn’t,  because Antiochus II was married already to Laodice,  and her name crops up again later because she regains the throne.

She executes Bernice. So Bernice was there to be the power of Ptolemy.  , but she’s executed quite soon. A after an Kayas II dies and le Le or Le Dice  gets the throne then back to her line she was to be done away with. So that the line would be the ome line, it would be Bernice’s line, that it would be Bernice’s children would be recognized as the future kings of the  sous empire.

But what did Daniel say?  An alliance would be made,  a daughter would be given,  but her arm would not be strong.  What happens, Bernice and her son?  They’re executed.  And so here Daniel is prophesying what is going to happen to these great empires who think that they control the world, but they don’t. And it is God who is very much.

in control.  And so where Daniel says that she shall not retain her strength, that her arm will not endure, it does not. And her father dies and his strength is gone, she dies, and her husband Antiochus II dies, and so any form of strength that Ptolemy thought he could get from that alliance is gone, just as Daniel prophesies in verse 6.

So let’s move on to verses 7 and 8. And here we read the next bit that Daniel prophesies. By the way, I’ve left a bit of blank space in between just in case there’s anything you do want to write with each section before we move on.  And so in verses 7 to 8, Daniel says, And from a branch, from her roots, again, that’s Bernice, One shall arise in his place.

He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the King of the North. Remember, the Seleucids are the kings of the North, the Ptolemies the kings of the South. And he shall deal with them and shall prevail. So there’s going to be a twist here.  The King of the South is going to come up and beat the King of the North.

He shall also carry off to Egypt, so there’s going to be a return journey home, their gods with their metal images. And they’re precious vessels of silver and gold,  and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the King of the North.  So after Anus II is or dies in 247 bc, this is when Ladis fights over the succession with Bernice.

Her forces win and she’s victorious at Antioch and Bernice and her son are executed.  The new king, though of the Lucius empire is Lucius ii otherwise known as Linus,  and he becomes the new king of the north, the new king that will be attacked.  So this new king of the North,  he now.  He now comes into play because Ptolemy the III wants to avenge the death of his sister Bernice.

And it is now Ptolemy III who is the king of the South,  who attacks the new king of the North. And it’s a very successful campaign against Assyria,  and, or against Syria. And this is now known as the third Syrian war. In case you’re interested, there’s five in total. So they’re halfway through, but it’s also known as the Laodicean war because obviously they’re fighting against the family line of Laodice.

And it was known at the time as a Laodicean war. It’s only after the fifth Syrian war that they are numbered like the way they are. And so the new king is then taken Ptolemy The third goes deep into Mesopotamia, really goes into that hole beyond towards the Euphrates and beyond to capture.

And by 241 BC there was once again peace thanks to Ptolemy the third. And that’s what Daniel says for us in the second half of verse 8. And for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north. He didn’t need to because he’d brought it all under control. He may not be completely in ruling of it, and he may have allowed the Seleucus kingdom to maintain their own authority, but he’s gotten rid of whatever threat was against him in Egypt.

And he is Ptolemy III, otherwise known,  they’re so complicated, not only do they call themselves Ptolemy, but they’ll also call themselves Eugetes, and there’s II, all called Ptolemy as well. They really need to think of a new way of naming their family, it really is not helpful. But he reigns from 247 BC right down to 222 BC.

And so there’s peace. The North and the South, however, will battle again for control over what is known as Kholel, Syria.  And really this is the portion of land that I was talking about. I did bring a red pointer this evening. This bit here that stretches from the Euphrates River with that little jagged line down here.

That is Syria. or Qalis, Syria, because this whole area is known as Syria.  And so  that’s the bit of territory that they’re fighting over. But if you get this territory, you get Jerusalem as well. That’s the significance of it all. And so backwards and forwards, they’re fighting over this piece of land.  And this portion of land will be taken from the Ptolemy kings, the kings of the South, and put into the hands of the Seleucus kings, the kings of the North, around 200  BC.

They’ll lose it. And so the Seleucids will come into Jerusalem around 200, we’re getting closer to Christ, and they will very much mark Jerusalem and influence Jerusalem as their own. Now, circle that, underline it, because that’s significant. for how we’ll move through the rest of the evening.  So, I did have a wee map to, to view, look that in.

So basically that whole area from the top of the Euphrates down to here is all that area of Coleo or Coeli Syria.  But we come to this fella,  Antiochus the third, the great. He’s the one that takes control. He’s the one that eventually wins back Jerusalem from  the Ptolemies, and really he’s the one that cripples the Ptolemy kingdom.

And so gradually the Egyptians lose control of everything because of this guy, Antiochus the Third, the Great. And what he does is, his campaign really goes in three parts. In 219 BC, the Third, He is defeated at Raffa. Raffa is in the Gaza Strip, so he gets the battle to Gaza. He comes back then 17 years later in 202 BC and is partially successful.

He gains more territory, but it’s not until 200 or 199 BC that he defeats the Ptolemies at Panion, near the source of the Jordan River. That’s the Fifth Syrian War, and he finally takes control of Coal El Syria and the city of Jerusalem.  And this is what Daniel says about this in verses 15 and 16. Then the king of the north, Antiochus III, shall come and throw up siege works.

So Daniel is describing a full out war. Siege takes time. How long did it take him? It took him the guts of 20 years. But he will throw up siege works, and he will take a well fortified city, and the forces of the south shall not stand. He defeats Egypt, or even his best troops, that is the best troops of the south, for there shall be no strength to stand.

Antiochus III is almost a, in his day, a modern Alexander the Great. But he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand before him. He shall stand in the glorious land with destruction in his hand.  The glorious land?  Jerusalem.  That’s the city of God.  It’s the only part of that territory that we would ever imagine being called glorious, because it is there where God is worshipped.

And he gets it.  And so Daniel prophesies it in 15 and 16 and what happens, Antiochus III takes Jerusalem.  But he does more than just take it because he now needs to consolidate his power and his strength and his position. And so the time tested method of doing this was, as we’ve seen already, was to arrange a marriage.

And he arranges for his daughter Cleopatra to marry the current pharaoh and king of Egypt, which is Ptolemy V. And we’ll come and look at Daniel 11 in a moment, verse 17. But go back to page two, and as you go halfway down, you will see 1, 2, 3, 4, fifth, the fifth block down on the left hand side. You will see Cleopatra the first as you move across to the center.

This is not Elizabeth Taylor.  Elizabeth Taylor comes to the second line from the bottom.  Whenever you see Elizabeth Taylor playing  Cleopatra, it is actually Cleopatra the 7th, because her connection is with Julius Caesar,  when Julius Caesar was emperor in Rome.  But the significance of Cleopatra the 1st, Cleopatra is a Seleucid name, it’s not an Egyptian name.

She is a Seleucid who marries into the Ptolemy dynasty, and because of that, her name is kept, but it’s also given as a title.  So every queen from Cleopatra I will be called Cleopatra.  It becomes an Egyptian name, but it is not Egyptian. It is a Seleucid name. But Daniel tells us this in Daniel 11 verse 17, because there he says he shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement, that’s Cleopatra the first, and perform them.

He shall give them the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom. It’s exactly what she does, her influence weakens  the Ptolemy empire because of her lucid influence.  But it shall not stand to be, or to be, to his advantage.  So  ultimately the Seleucids will go, and that’s why we come to what was significant.

About the, so  they become too far stretched. And in the background at the whole of this time, we must take note of the emerging power of Rome. We haven’t mentioned it yet, but we’re 200 years from Christ. So Rome’s bound to come into the story at some point while they’re already building  because whenever an kayas whichever one we were on the third the great  at Melita.

Sorry, no, Antichrist II at Melita, who was called God Theos, that was the beginning, the birthing of Rome.  His attack there would see, out of that, the early stages of the Roman Empire,  by a group against him, who take themselves in retreat.  But far away they start to build their own empire. And so while the Antiochus is now moving closely to Antiochus the fourth,  Rome is starting to build.

But they’re so spread right across Mesopotamia, Syria, and now down towards Egypt,  that they’re not covering their western border. And before they know it, Rome will be in. And even though he has now got Cleopatra into the house of Ptolemy.  It turns out Antiochus and the Seleucids will not stand.  It will not be to his advantage  because despite his achievement in taking over Egypt, Antiochus III was actually defeated by the Romans in 195 BC at Magnesia.

They make great milk there if you’re interested.

Must be too young an audience for that one.  These are the dad jokes.  So while Judea was now under Seleucid rule, any understanding of the wider context must  take the emerging Roman Empire into account. They’re coming.  Melita may have been the start of it,  but Magnesia  is going to be where they will do their damage.

So from a biblical perspective, the next major Seleucid ruler  who we need to look at, remember with Rome bubbling in the background, is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, just normally known as Antiochus Epiphanes. If you want to know of the man who did the most damage  and actually started the most amount of hatred amongst the  it’s this fella.

Antiochus Epiphanes ruled from 175 right down to 164 BC. We’re getting closer. And in Daniel 11, this is the bit we didn’t read, verses 29 to 32, this is what we read.  At the time appointed, he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before.  For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the Holy Covenant.

He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the Holy Covenant. Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce the flat with he shall seduce with flattery, those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

An kayas, epiphanys thought he was the man.  He thought he was the one who was gonna be taking over the world, but he went to the coast and he was defeated by the armies that would come from former Greece.  but really from Rome and he got his tail put between his legs and he went back home and as he went back home he took out his fury and his rage on Jerusalem.

But do you notice what Daniel says there?  Daniel prophesied that this is going to happen  because of those who forsake the Holy Covenant.  What did all the other major and minor prophets teach? If you forsake God, you’re going to be punished.  They’ve now had the walls dedicated, the temple rebuilt. It was supposed to be a place of worship from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah and the bringing back of the law and the reforms.

But we’re now 200 years,  nearly 250 years from that point.  And yet they’ve gone back into their old ways and once again God warns them because you forsake the Holy Covenant, you’re going to be punished.  Now,  there’s a term in there that you probably will be very familiar with, the abomination that makes desolate.

What is that? There’s two things to understand here.  This fella, Antichaius Epiphanes, calls himself Epiphanes. What does it sound like? Epiphany. When does epiphany happen? Epiphany comes after Christmas. Epiphany simply means manifest of God. Epiphany is that telling from God, it’s that revealing from God,  but epiphanies means the manifest of God.

He was putting himself, much like his predecessor, in the place of God, putting himself up as God. He was Antiochus IV. the manifest of God. He was  God  by his own profession.  And what does this self professed manifestation of God do? The abomination to which Daniel refers to is most likely what we have here in that picture.

It’s the statue of Zeus.  Because what Antiochus Epiphanes did was, he rededicated the temple in Jerusalem,  and he made it a temple of Zeus, and right in the center of the temple he placed a statue of Zeus. Now this isn’t the one, this is just one of many statues of Zeus from around that time,  but he completely desecrated the temple by placing in it a false god.

That’s what the abomination that makes desolate. It’s a false image, it’s a false God,  and what this does is, this is really the spark that will ignite what happens for the next 150 years  that will impact the life into which Jesus comes. Not socially alone, we’ve looked at the social aspect with the Greek culture coming in, and But what these wars have done is they have built up a hatred, but they’ve also built up a zealous nature to the Jews.

Because what’s going to happen is the Maccabean revolt,  and what’s going to happen is the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and they’re going to have 150 years to work themselves out,  and the Essenes, and they’re going to become key players into the culture in which Jesus comes. The real melting pot of Israel that Israel itself thinks it’s becoming political, that Israel itself believes it can do better with the law of Moses,  but actually what they leave out is worship of God.

And so Jesus comes in at just the right time,  in the fullness of time, to tell the people of Israel that they’ve got it all wrong.  And this is where we’ll finish this evening, by reading Daniel chapter 12 and verse 13,  where he says right at the very end of his vision,  everything that he says regarding the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, whether they’re called Ptolemy or whether they’re called Antiochus,  he says to his people, God says, but go your way till the end.

And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.  God says to his people, stand firm.  He says whatever’s going to happen, stand firm.  Because whenever we go to the very end of Scripture, whenever we go to the Revelation of John, this is how John finishes. He says in Revelation 22 verses 20 to 21, he who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming soon.

Jesus says, because he’s the one testifying to this vision, I am coming soon. And what’s John’s response? Amen! Come Lord Jesus!  You say you’re coming soon? Come!  Because we want to be with you.  And he says, the grace, until that time, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with  all. Daniel says to his people, stay strong, or to God’s people, stay strong.

God is still with you. And it’s how  John finishes his revelation to the church in this time,  by saying,  Stay strong,  because Christ is coming back.  Everything that happens now, just as everything that happened back in that intertestamental period, is for a reason. It’s shaping God’s people  for the advent of Christ.

Christ’s first advent, and of course on Sunday we will see him riding into the city of Jerusalem.  But for his second advent, that we as his people, whether he comes in our lifetime or we will rise from the grave to join him, he is coming.  And so whatever we face in this life is worth it  because he is coming soon.

See, history teaches us whenever we see it in the light of Daniel.  That God is ruling and reigning and everything in history is for His purpose. That’s why we started in Romans 8 and 28, that we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

And so if life is feeling a wee bit tough right now,  keep going by looking to the Savior. Here,  whatever annoyances.  Be they here in Antelope, be they on the world stage. If your stomach’s in knots or you’re sick to your pit,  if there’s trouble coming and you’re just fed up, don’t give up hope because Jesus says, surely I am coming soon.

And our response is to say, Amen,  which in English means, and let it be.  Come,  Lord Jesus.  The people in Daniel’s time were pointed to God.  We, as the Church today, are pointed to look to Jesus, that we would know His grace for whatever lies ahead. Whenever we come back to this in a few weeks time,  We’re now looking at the last 150 years.

In the three final parts of this, we’ll be looking at the formation of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, how they, as it were, get into bed with the Romans, and how Rome takes control, the most barbaric of all the nations in the world, who have the most humiliating and cruel ways of execution, where we will see our Savior on a cross,  but we will know Him as the risen Lord.

That even the greatest kingdom that ever existed will never be able to put down. That’s why we’re looking at this, so that we can be confident that God works both in time and out of time,  so that we will know the fullness of his love for us.  But for tonight,  may you know grace from our Savior, so that we can say, may it come soon, Lord Jesus.

as we continue to trust in you. So let’s pray.  Our Father God, thank you  that we can look at this and perhaps enjoy some of it. But thank you that we’re seeing here prophecy fulfilled for your purpose, that you were working at all to show to us that the kingdoms of this world will never stand and will never last.

Even our own once mighty empire  has come and it has gone.  Because you are Lord over all,  and you are not constrained by empires.  In fact, you are the one who controls and uses empires for your good and glory.  And so just as you’ve  pointed your people of old to you and to know your salvation,  So help us to look to Christ and be assured of our salvation in Him, that no matter what we face, as John tells us in the Revelation, Christ, excuse me, is coming soon.

And so may we declare, Amen,  that we will be eager for His coming  and know His strength each day. So be with us, we pray, as we live this word. And as we continue to seek Christ, in Jesus name,  Amen.