Daniel 11 - Antiochus IV Epiphanes (1 set 175 ano antes da era comum – 1 dez 163 ano antes da era comum)

Descrição:

Daniel 11
21 In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22 Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant. 23 And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people. 24 Without warning he shall come into the richest parts[e] of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers' fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time. 25 And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him. 26 Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. 27 And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for the end is yet to be at the time appointed. 28 And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land.
29 “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before. 30 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.
31 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. 32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. 33 And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. 34 When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, 35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.

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Versebyverseministry.org by Stephen Armstrong

The passage begins with “In his place...” speaking of the murdered king, Seleucus IV Philopater. In his place, comes a man who is a truly evil person
_Gabriel says he will be despicable, which means someone who is despised
_He will be despised by the Jewish people for his cruelty
_In fact, it’s likely this man shares another key quality with the coming antichrist
_He was almost certainly indwelled by a demon, and perhaps by Satan himself, for reasons I’ll explain later

Antiochus IV was not the rightful heir of Seleucus IV Philopater
_He was able to seize control of the throne because Seleucus IV Philopater’s oldest son was being held captive in Rome
_After convincing the leaders of Syria to allow him to rule in place of the captive son, Antiochus IV quickly consolidated power
_In v.21, we see his illegitimate rise to power described

He was a ruthless man
_As we learned in Chapter 8, Antiochus IV declared that he was a god in the form of man
_He took the name Antiochus Epiphanes, which means “a manifestation of God”
_But he was prone to unpredictable and strange behavior
_This led his subjects to call him Antiochus Epimanes, which means “madman”
_Further evidence that he was likely demon possessed

The statements in vs.22-23 are an overview of the passage that follows. We’re told this king will push aside an overfowing force
_He will also depose a prince of a covenant
_And he will gain power over his adversary with a minimum of forces because he relies on deception

It begins in v.24, as Antiochus collects riches from among the vassals of his kingdom
_He doesn’t use these riches for himself
Instead, he uses them to buy allegiances in preparation for war against the Ptolemaic Kingdom
_In this way, he will achieve a victory his fathers never achieved, namely invading the heart of the Ptolemaic Kingdom

Antiochus IV’s campaign against Egypt began in 170 BC, when he marched a large army southward into the Nile Delta without detection. Ptolemy VI responded by sending a much larger army to oppose Antiochus
_But as we read in v.23, Antiochus was able to defeat Ptolemy VI’s forces with his smaller force
_Antiochus IV managed to capture the Egyptian city of Memphis

As v.25 reports, Antiochus succeeded in part through deception
_The deception came in two ways, as described in v.26 and v.27
_In v.26, we learn that two of the king’s counselors who shared his table deceived him
_These two counselors wanted to undermine the young king and replace him
_So, they convinced Ptolemy VI to make bad military decisions, leading to his defeat and the loss of many lives

The second deception came when Ptolemy VI and Antiochus IV sat down to negotiate a peace, as described in v.27
_Antiochus had Memphis, but could not capture the key Egyptian city of Alexandria
_So Antiochus told Ptolemy VI that if he surrendered Alexandria, then Antiochus would allow Ptolemy to continue ruling
_Meanwhile, Ptolemy agreed to let Antiochus have the city and vowed loyalty to Antiochus, but he was lying too

These were all lies, of course, as we read in v.27
_Antiochus IV kept Ptolemy prisoner under guard while he attacked the city
_And despite Ptolemy’s assurances, the city of Alexandria did not surrender
_When Antiochus tried to take the city, the inhabitants fought back and named Ptolemy VI’s younger brother king instead
_Antiochus eventually left for home, his battles for Egypt awaiting another day

Finally, in v.28, we’re told Antiochus IV returns to Syria with much plunder taken from Memphis. Along the way, he passes through Israel again
_While he’s in town, a Jew named Jason decided to take opportunity for his ambition
_Jason desired to be made high priest of Israel, so he bribed Antiochus IV to install him in place of the real high priest, Onias III
_Seeing Jason’s success, a third man, Menelaus, also bribed Antiochus IV to be made high priest
_Always a one for personal gain, Antiochus agreed to install Menelaus over Jason
_Later, Onias III protests against these moves and the Jews begin to align their support behind one man or the other

Eventually, Antiochus, now back in Syria, tires of the political maneuvering within Israel
_So he has Onias III killed, along with those who schemed with the various men
_He then decides to pursue a vendetta against the Jewish people in the city of Jerusalem
_His army entered the city in 168 BC and killed 80,000 Jews and desecrated the temple

Back in v.27, Gabriel told Daniel that this king wouldn’t prevail against his enemy in the south until the appointed time, and now in v.29, that time has come. In the same year that Antiochus rampaged Jerusalem, he also decided to continue southward to attack Egypt again
_Upon his arrival, he discovers the Roman consul Popillius Laenas had sailed from Cyprus to secure the territory for Rome
_In v.30, we’re told that ships from Kittim will bring this army to Egypt
_Cyprus is the modern name of Kittim

Faced with a superior army, Antiochus IV had no choice but to return home
_Antiochus was prevented from entering Egypt as he had hoped, as v.29 reports
_His return trip took him once again through Israel

As v.30 explains, he’s enraged by his loss to Rome and so he decides to take the loss out against the Jewish people
_The reference to “holy covenant” is always a reference to the Old Covenant by which the Jews received the Law and the temple service
_Opposing this Covenant meant opposing the practice of the Law and temple service
_Similarly, Antiochus IV showed favor for any Jew who would likewise oppose practice of the Mosaic Law

To stop the Jews from practicing the Law, the king used deception to gain entry into the city with his force of 22,000 men. Once inside the city walls, he attacked the Jews on a Sabbath, when they were reluctant to !ght back
_His general, Apollonius, killed many in the city and took many Jews captive as slaves
_He plundered the temple of its gold and set the city on fire
_Antiochus set his mind on exterminating the Jewish people and ending Jewish religious practice forever

So, in addition to the destruction done by his general, Antiochus banned the Mosaic Law, including temple services and the feasts
_He burned all copies of the Law that he could find
_He set up a statue of Zeus, his god, inside the temple along with an altar, where he made burnt offerings
_And for good measure, he sacri!ced a pig on the Jewish altar and demanded that Jews continue to sacri!ce swine there on Antiochus IV’s birthday
_Pig blood in the temple prevented the Jews from using the temple until such time that it had been properly cleansed

...this event was so ignominious that it was given a name: the abomination of desolation, as mentioned in v.31
_The abomination refers to all the steps Antiochus took to desecrate the temple in December 168 BC
_Here, we !nd a very speci!c parallel to the antichrist of Tribulation

Antiochus convinced many faithless Jews to participate in Zeus worship. He was expert at pitting various Jewish factions against one another in order to gain what he wanted
_He first gained the defection of the progressive elements of Israel who were already apostate and were quick to obey his demands
_Once he had their loyalty, Antiochus IV turned to the conservative elements in Jewish society
_He offered to help them root out the progressive elements within Israel if they pledged their loyalty to him

The conservative Jews were so threatened by the progressives that they agreed to Antiochus IV’s terms
_They adopted the view that the enemy of my enemy is my friend
_So in the end, Antiochus was able to take both groups into idolatry through his manipulation

Because of Antiochus IV’s atrocities, a Jewish revolt broke out, as v.32 alludes.
_A priest named Mattathias and his sons rose up in Ephraim and led an army of conservative Jews against Antiochus IV
_Eventually, the movement pushed the Seleucids out of Israel altogether
_In the battle, Antiochus IV’s general, Apollonius was killed

Interestingly, the Maccabean revolt didn’t please every Jew in Israel. The apostate progressives feared the rise of the conservatives within Judaism.So they didn’t favor the revolt and didn’t !ght against Antiochus
_Meanwhile, Antiochus IV retaliated by killing many of those who had opposed him by both sword and burning
_Though he inflicted great losses upon Israel, he wasn’t able to retake the land
_Within a few years, Antiochus IV died insane in Persia, probably the result of a lifetime indwelled by demons

Eventually, the success of the Maccabees won over all Israel.
_The progressives eventually united with the conservatives
_And after their victory, the Maccabees founded a new conservative Jewish kingdom
_In fact, the Jewish culture swung hard to the right

The Mosaic Law returned with far greater zealousness, which is described in v33.
_Those who knew God’s law began to spread its practice and understanding among the largely apostate Jewish population
_Some of those leading this revivalist movement later became the Pharisees of Jesus’ day
_Others became the Essenes, who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls
_And many of those who were opposed to the revolt in the beginning later joined in support of the Maccabees, which is the hypocrisy mentioned in v.34

Many in Israel fell during these battles, yet it served a godly purpose. Notice in v.35, we’re told that those who have insight will fall. Gabriel says that it must happen in order to refine, purge and purify the rest until the end.
_“The rest” refers to the rest of Israel
_So the death of some of the faithful was intended to push out apostasy in Israel
_It caused the apostate within Israel to come into line with the conservatives
_This purge was so powerful that it kept Israel orthodox until the end times

Then the end time Gabriel mentions in v.35.
_One clue that we’ve moved to events of the last days is found in the final mention of an appointed time in v.35
_That reference is a clue that we’ve jumped ahead in time, starting in v.36

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Wikipedia contributors. (2022, May 16). Syrian Wars. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:54, November 24, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Syrian_Wars&oldid=1088174153

In 170 BC, Ptolemy's [VI] younger sibling Ptolemy VIII Physcon was declared a co-ruler as well in order to bolster the unity of Egypt; the three siblings ranged from 10 to 16 years of age. While the causes are still not entirely clear, Ptolemaic regents Eulaeus and Lenaeus seem to have instigated the formal declaration of war on Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus IV had gotten word of Egyptian preparations for war and was in Tyre in July and August 170 BC preparing his forces, and reached the important strategic town of Pelusium in November 170 BC. Just as the Ptolemaic army moved out of Pelusium to begin its invasion of Coele-Syria, the Seleucids defeated the Ptolemaic army in the Sinai desert, perhaps due to Egyptian surprise at the Seleucids being ready to fight immediately. Ptolemaic losses mounted as they retreated to Pelusium, but Pelusium quickly fell with little loss of life and a surrender of the Ptolemaic army. Pelusium was the gateway to the rest of Egypt; with it under control, Seleucid supply lines were secure, and Egypt was in grave danger. Antiochus took Naucratis and camped near Alexandria, potentially threatening a siege.

The Egyptians suffered internal unrest over the poor progress of the war… Envoys were sent to negotiate a peace treaty. Antiochus took Ptolemy VI (who was his nephew) under his guardianship, perhaps with the intent of making Egypt a client state subordinate to Seleucid power. Archaeological records show that even Thebes in the southern part of Egypt were occupied by a foreign army (surely the Seleucids) in October 169 BC. However, this occupation was unacceptable to the people of Alexandria who responded by proclaiming Ptolemy [VIII] Physcon as sole king. Antiochus besieged Alexandria but he was unable to cut communications to the city so, in late autumn of 169, he withdrew his army, leaving Ptolemy VI as a rival king in Memphis. Antiochus possibly withdrew to deal with problems in Phoenicia at home.

In Antiochus's absence, Ptolemy VI and his brother Ptolemy [VIII] Physcon were reconciled, possibly after a brief civil struggle. Antiochus, angered at his loss of control over the king, invaded again in 168 BC. The Egyptians sent to Rome asking for help and the Senate dispatched Gaius Popilius Laenas to Alexandria. Meanwhile, a Seleucid fleet seized Cyprus, and Antiochus's army took Memphis again. While at Memphis, he even issued an official decree as Egyptian king. The Ptolemaic armies failed to offer any major field battles, instead staying fortified in garrisons. Antiochus was now prepared to march on the capital of Alexandria again. At Eleusis, on the outskirts of Alexandria, he met Popilius Laenas, with whom he had been friends during his stay in Rome. But instead of a friendly welcome, Popilius offered the king an ultimatum from the Roman Senate: he must evacuate Egypt and Cyprus immediately. Rome had only just recently defeated the Macedonians at the Battle of Pydna, potentially freeing up armies with which it could credibly threaten the Seleucids with.[6] Antiochus begged to have time to consider but Popilius drew a circle round him in the sand with his cane and told him to decide before he stepped outside it. Antiochus chose to obey the Roman ultimatum to avoid a new Roman–Seleucid War, a retreat that Polybius described as personally humiliating for Antiochus. The "Day of Eleusis" ended the Sixth Syrian War and Antiochus' hopes of conquering Egyptian territory.

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