A Man from the Past Reminds Us of a Man in the Future

This past week I have had the privilege of spending time studying the eleventh chapter of Daniel. Now I realize that chapter is not a favorite of too many people. It is very confusing, unless you have an ancient history text lying next to the biblical text. Beginning with verse 2 and continuing through verse 35, it is an accurate portrait of much of the history we know as Intertestamental. In fact, it is so accurate that many believe it could not have been written by the sixth century BC prophet but only by someone writing after the fact. Sadly those people have forgotten that God is the writer of history and the book is already completed...believe it or not, that book was already completed before God even created the world. So, God was just giving Daniel a "heads-up" on what was to happen.

But what I found intriguing was the lengthy description Daniel gives to a man we know as Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who ruled the Syrian Empire from 175-163 BC. He possessed an innate hatred for the Jews, punishing them twice while returning from defeats in Egypt. In 167 BC he entered Jerusalem, not content with just taking a few trinkets as he had done in 169 BC, and went into the Temple where he erected an image to his god, Zeus - for he was a Greek and Zeus as a Greek god - and then offered a sacrifice of pig's broth upon the altar. For the Jews this was an unheard of abomination, later called "the abomination of desolation." He then instigated a series of laws that prohibited the practice of every vestige of Judaism - from circumcision to dietary laws. The penalty for such practices was death. Antiochus sought the complete strangulation of Judaism. But, as you might remember, an old Hasidic priest named Mattathias resisted Syrian law and urged others to do so as well. We know this as the Maccabean Revolt.

Then, beginning with verse 36 and continuing through the remaining verses of Daniel 11, there is an account of a king. There is debate among Bible scholars as to exactly who this person is, but most take this passage as a reference to a yet-future king we know as the Antichrist. If you read this portion of the text carefully you will discover the following traits of this man. First, he casts aside all forms of religion, offering homage to no god at all except the one of his creation. So, he is very anti-God. Second, he aggressive opposes Jesus Christ, cited as "the desire of women," referring to the hope of every Jewish woman that she would be the mother of the Messiah. So, he is very anti-Christ. Third, he puts his confidence in military might believing that with sufficient military strength he can rule the world. Finally, he will turn against the Jews, seeking to forever destroy them.

This is the person who will come and dominate our world. Yes, I believe there is a coming one-world government with its diabolical leader. And, if my understanding of the signs of the times is correct, we are closer to that one-world government now than at any time since those days of the Roman Empire.

But this is all part of God's book of history. The events transpiring now were transcribed in His book before the world was born. And I believe we are getting nearer to those final pages.