Alright, please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 11. We're going to begin reading in verse 29. Daniel 11, 29. At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south, but it shall not be like the former or the latter, for ships from Cyprus shall come against him. Therefore he shall be grieved and return in rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant, and forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress. Then they shall take away the daily sacrifice and place there the abomination of desolation." Just thus far. All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Title of my sermon this morning is, The Ships from Kittim. We saw last time that the Syrian king, Antiochus IV, had invaded Egypt and defeated Ptolemy VI. We saw that some of the Egyptian leaders had fled to Alexandria with the king's brother, that's the Egyptian king's brother, and crowned him king in Alexandria. The Syrian king had been unable to conquer Alexandria as well. And so he made an agreement with the king of Egypt that he had just conquered and reinstated him as king of Egypt. And so he was now, we had two kings on the Egyptian throne. The idea was that the Syrian king and the former Egyptian king were in alliance to defeat the king in Alexandria, the other Egyptian king, and then restore this Egyptian king to the throne. Obviously, these two kings, as the text told us, were lying to each other at the negotiating table because the Syrian King Antiochus had no intention of allowing Egypt to remain under the Ptolemies and his support for one of the kings was to get them to fight each other and tire each other out and wear each other's forces down so he could just walk in and take the whole of Egypt as his own. Now, some period of time had passed from that event when he had gone into Egypt, defeated Egypt, and then returned home, slapping Israel around a little bit, Judah, before settling home. Now, some time had passed, it's verse 29. At the appointed time, he shall return and go toward the south, but it shall not be like the former or the latter. The appointed time here is that which the Lord had ordained. The appointed time. All the affairs of life, including the movements of powerful kings, are governed by the Lord. It is God who ordains whatsoever comes to pass, and everything comes to pass at exactly the right moment that God ordained it to happen. It's neither early, and it's never late. God is the Supreme Lord. His timing is always perfectly exact. Antiochus IV was again stirred up about something. And although Daniel doesn't tell us what was agitating him, other histories tell us what was going on. Why did he suddenly rise up in fury and go and attack the guy that he had made this alliance with? Why? Livy in the history of Rome says that Ptolemy VI, once Antiochus had left Egypt, he was able to convince his brother Ptolemy VII, said, hey guys, us being at war with each other here and fighting for this kingdom is bad news. We need to sort this out because we know what a snake that Syrian king is. Ptolemy VI was able to convince his brother about the intentions of Antiochus, and thus they made peace between themselves and joined forces against Antiochus. They said, we have to remain united, we have to stay strong in order to defend ourselves, otherwise we're going to be overrun. And so they agreed this. They had a sister, these two Ptolemy brothers had a sister whose name was, you guessed it, Cleopatra. And she was involved in the negotiations as well, helping them. There were lots of Cleopatras. in that line. And so these developments angered Antiochus, it's still Livy in his history of Rome, these developments angered Antiochus who in the spring of 168 BC again headed south with his army with the intention of crushing Egypt once and for all. Polybius in his histories says the same thing. Now the historian Polybius was a contemporary of these events. He was 32 years old, thereabouts, when these events were taking place. So he's an eyewitness historian. And although Polybius was a Greek, he became very friendly with the Romans and became a good friend of another Scipio, the grandson by adoption of Scipio Africanus, the great Scipio Roman general. Now, this other Scipio, Aemillennius was his name, to try and distinguish between them. He also became a great general and he And Scipio, his grandfather had conquered Carthage, maybe had beaten Hannibal in Carthage. This other Scipio becomes a great general and also reconquered Carthage at some stage. So anyway, this was a close friend to Polybius. So Polybius, the historian, had insights into lots of stuff that we no longer have access to except through Polybius' writings. The second part of the verse in Daniel is translated somewhat clumsy by my translation, the New King James. In essence, what is being said is that this next expedition against Egypt would not turn out in the same way as the previous one had. Antiochus had come out of that previous engagement on top, taking great spoils from Egypt and going to his, returning to his home victorious. But something different was going to transpire in this next venture into the South. The English Standard Version puts it this way, at that time, at the time appointed he shall return and come into the South, but it shall not be this time as it was before. This is how most Bibles translate it. The text moves on and explains why things went badly for Antiochus in the next invasion. As verse 30 says, for the ships from Cyprus, or the ships from Kittim, shall come against him, therefore he shall be grieved and return in rage against the holy covenant and do damage. Okay, so what stopped Antiochus' invasion were ships from Kittim. which is the actual Hebrew word translated as Cyprus in my translation. Lange's commentary on Daniel says, the term Kittim is very broad and indefinite in its application. It denotes all the islands and coastlands along the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. So if you can picture that, the whole northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, including Italy, are included in this term that was used in these days for Kittim. That's where things would come from. Lange's commentary continues. So the coastlines along the northern shore, beginning with Cyprus and extending as far as Spain, and therefore might appropriately be employed to designate Rome or Italy in particular. The Septuagint translation, which was made, I don't know exactly when it was made, but it was made at least 130 years before Christ, it was translated, they translate this word as Roman, which is exactly what the Hebrew text was predicting. This was predicted by Daniel's prophecy, what would happen. We know from historical accounts that as Antiochus was marching towards Alexandria, he was coming in, he was going to conquer the hottest city to conquer first, that he was met by the Roman commander Popilius, Gaius Popilius Lianus. Okay, so Popilius met him. Some commentators suggest that he was, these two people had known each other. Remember, Antiochus had been raised in Rome. He had been taken as a captive and held in Rome. And suggestions are that these two men got to know each other. He was about 14 years in Rome, growing up. under the overall eye of the Roman government, and so he would have had access to the high echelons, and it's possible he knew this. That's arbitrary, by the way. But it's possible that they were friends. The historian, the way they recount the story kind of gives the impression that they knew each other. Because we're told, as these leaders met, Antiochus put out his hand in greeting, but the Roman command, instead of taking his hand, he thrust into his hand a tablet with writing on from the Roman Senate. And he said, read that first. The Roman Senate basically was ordering Antiochus to remove himself from Egypt. After reading this tablet, Antiochus requested time to consider its contents, whereupon the Roman commander, who was holding a stick in his hand, he marched around Antiochus and drew a circle, encircling Antiochus in a circle, and he said, you give me your answer that I can return to the Senate before crossing that line. And Antiochus now, in front of his offices, and everybody watching on here to make a decision, because he said, can I consider this, take some time to consider, he said, give me your answer before you step out of that circle. And Antiochus knew he did not want to take on Rome. And so he said, I will agree to withdraw. But he had been greatly humiliated. And he was utterly shocked by these proceedings. And the Roman commander then extended his hand and said, we can be friends, because he agreed, I will remove myself. About this prophecy given to Daniel, Calvin says, all these events were as yet unperformed, okay, when Daniel received it. But God set before the eyes of the pious what was entirely concealed and contrary to the expectation of mankind. How could they have known that? The angel therefore states the reason why the expedition of Antiochus should be quite unlike the last one. Paul said to Timothy, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by Him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the Word of God. God had revealed something to Daniel. And those events for the contemporary people that were living at the time that these events were happening with Antiochus, they had revelation before them. And we are always commanded, study to show thyself approved, so that you might be wise. In other words, the word translated as study, to show yourself approved, is to do something with intense effort and motivation. David said that he had hidden God's law in his heart, and that God's law made him wiser than his enemies. This is not mystical. To be wiser than our enemies because we know, we've studied, we've memorized, we've understood the word of God. It's not a mystical thing, it's dusty. It makes us effective in this world, on this realm, in advancing the cause of Christ. When we know how to respond, when to respond, where the boundaries are, what the purpose is, what the goal is, and all that we are expected with our responsibilities. If we don't know our responsibilities, then we don't know what to do, when to do it, how to do it. We don't have the courage to do it. For those in Judah in the days of Antiochus IV, who were diligent and studying to show themselves approved, they would have read this and said, here we go, brethren. Here we go. Because what does it go on to say, that verse? They would have been ready for that next step. They would have anticipated what was going to happen, because the book of Daniel had told them what was going to happen. The rest of verse 30 says that Antiochus IV shall be enraged, and you can understand why he's enraged. He shall be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay heed to those who forsake the holy covenant. The student of scripture would not have been taken by surprise by the next move that Antiochus made. His hatred was going to be poured out on God's people. Thought he was going to do. They would have still needed wisdom to know exactly how to respond to their circumstances. But as he rose up, they would have realized he's gonna come, he's gonna slap us around after his first Egyptian campaign, and he's gonna go back home. And then he's gonna come again, he's gonna rise up and go to the south again. Okay, they're gonna see him march past them. There he's going, his armies are moving to the south. And they're gonna hear word, the Romans have just rebuked him, and he's turning around and coming back. And somebody reading Daniel's gonna say, guys, we're in trouble. He's coming back to slap us again. We know the Lord. by knowing his truth. Do you know me? That's how we know him. And verse 32 says, which we will deal with at another time, they that know their God will be strong and do exploits. How do we know him? You see, we know Him and we know His truth, because when we know His truth, we know where we stand, we know what the objective is, we know what the goal is, and we say, sorry, there's a line here that I can no longer cross, or this is what my responsibility is, this is what I'm going to do. Oh, those are the people that know their Lord. We don't need to have prophecy about our specific circumstances in order to know what we are to do. For all of scripture, including fulfilled prophecies in Daniel, are speaking to us and giving us wisdom how we might know what our responsibilities are and how we should respond in our circumstances. This whole package is thoroughly equipping us for every good work. We know how we are to act. This is what Paul wrote to Timothy. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for instruction, for reproof and correction, for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient and equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. And Paul summed up the same idea when talking to the Corinthians. about Old Testament history, saying these things happened to them to serve as an example. They were written down to instruct us, 1 Corinthians 10 and 11. This is why it's there. This is why we have Daniel. We have some people who foolishly say, if Daniel has been fulfilled, what use is it to us today? And it's of every use. That's why they approach the book of Revelation and say, everything we're waiting for, because it's got to be relevant to us in that way. Fulfilled prophecy is as powerful as the prophecy spoken to these people waiting for Antiochus to return from Egypt. So Antiochus IV humiliated and feeling very vulnerable now. Rome has suddenly manifested its interest and its protection in this part where he thought he had free reign. And so he found comfort where immature people always find comfort. Where do immature people find comfort? In their vice. Anger and rage were the vices of Antiochus, and they revealed his lack of character. Sulkiness and moodiness are also manifestations of immaturity. You're a sulky person? You're immature. The behavioral responses we choose in the different circumstances we find ourselves in reveal our maturity level. They don't reveal the stupidity of that person that made me angry. They reveal my maturity level. People don't lose their temper. You don't lose your temper. People don't make you lose your temper, do they? You made me lose my temper! Oh no. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. That was completely in your control. You lost it yourself. You decided to lose it. You decided to throw it away. You gave it up. Because when you lose your temper, you lose control. And when you lose control, what are you manifesting? Your level of maturity or immaturity. That's what you're manifesting. Oh wow, that made you lose your temper. Imagine that. That little thing. Whoa! You lack self-control. And that's what it should be speaking to us. Whoa! Am I that immature? Do I have that level of no control? That's a wake-up call. It's me. It's not them. It's me. And self-control is central to maturity. That's what you're teaching your children. Oh, you can't control yourself in this room. Okay, fine, you can't be in this room. You can't control yourself in this environment. You can't be in that environment. Self-control, that's what it's about. That's what we're training our children all the time. Self-control. Liberty and responsibilities. If you're not able to control yourself, you're not getting the liberty. Simple as that. It's not complicated. How big do you want the circle drawn around you? You show me. By your maturity, by your self-control, I know how to behave in this big circle. Oh, I can draw it bigger. Now I know how to behave in this bigger circle. If you don't know how to behave in a small circle, it's mindless thinking you're going to behave in a big circle. Likewise, people don't make you moody. That person didn't make you a sulker. Nobody's forcing you to be moody. You choose to be moody. You choose to respond to your circumstances in a certain behavioral way, an immature way. And you justify it in your mind by saying, that person caused this response from me. Do you know what moodiness is? Have you ever seen in a supermarket, that little toddler who suddenly saw this bright colored box of something and wanted that? And mom said no, and he's writhing around on the floor kicking and screaming and stamping his feet. That's what moodiness is, just a quiet form of a tantrum. Moodiness is a tantrum. A different manifestation of having a tantrum. You see, because a tantrum is an immature response to some situation, we have to learn to be mature in all our dealings. In every communication act, maturity, kingdom, advancing, building. That's how we have to respond. That's what maturity looks like. And we have to learn to be mature in all of these, which means acting maturely in every circumstance that the Lord, remember that, that the Lord brings our way. You see, this individual didn't decide to do something against me that suddenly was kind of out of God's hands, and therefore my anger turned upon this person who's now messing up my life. I can justify, because this is just God's behind this, you have to respond to it in a mature way. That's what God is expecting. And so when you keep reacting against the person, God says, fine, we have to do this again, and again, and again. You see, when you lose your temper or when you shut down, when you suck, you're not responding with sound reasoning. You're allowing your emotions to replace wisdom. And releasing yourself from what? Your responsibilities. What is my responsibility in this situation? How does God expect me to respond? in terms of his truth, with his kingdom view as the goal. And when you do not respond in that way, you are acting irrationally, against reason, contrary to reason. It's an irresponsible response to your circumstances, to your situation. And so you haven't learned yet. You haven't learned the lesson. This chance event didn't come into your life, this was God. And so Antiochus jumps to his vice, his mom had never trained him, his dad had never trained him, in dealing with his passions, in controlling himself, And so he jumps into that and all his hatred pent up from the failed thing, the humiliation and all the stuff, he turns it and channels it in the way that he's accustomed to challenging it. With anger and hatred. And so he hides behind his rage. But ultimately, he made a disastrous decision. His actions would be disastrous to him. Not immediately, but he sets in motion a sequence of events that he's never gonna recover from, and will probably lead to driving him mad and him killing himself, or dying somehow. And he's acting utterly irrationally. He's been humiliated by Rome. He knows Rome is now a threat in this area. Jerusalem and Judah was a buffering city. It was a very strong city. It was a good position to hold if an enemy was trying to invade you and defeat your land because it's very hard to beat that city. And then there's always a pocket of attacking his supply lines or whatever. You're just in his face all the time. So what does he do? Turns his attention and hatred upon Judah and seeks to destroy them. But don't look for rationality when your emotions are in control. Reason goes out the window at that point. Hatred and rage are irrational. Antiochus believed that crushing the faithful followers An external expression of the covenant, that's what they were, would make his nation more secure. Crush them. So he returned in rage against the holy covenant and did damage. The word damage in my Bible is an italics because it's a suggestion supplied by the translators. What the Hebrew says is that he will return and act. act out his rage, act out his anger. He will do. Translate it like that. He will do. He'll act in accordance with his character. We know that he had a policy of Hellenizing his domain and so the resistance to that that many of the Jews would have continued to exert would have upset him. However, the text shows us that the issue is really spiritual. His hatred of God lay behind his actions against the faithful in Judah. He went and punished those who were being faithful to God. He rewarded those who had despised the covenant. And there were many Jews who had despised the covenant. And he protected them. He supported them. He rewarded them. And he judged the faithful followers of the covenant. So this is a spiritual battle that's going on here. We have spiritual battles in our day. Spiritual. But it has very dusty manifestations of what that spirituality is doing. It's people who hate Christ and love his enemies. The text doesn't tell us that Antiochus stopped at Jerusalem on his return from Egypt. It doesn't say that. The secular historical record that we have talk about him sending a leader to Jerusalem to carry out his will there. But they do not talk about Antiochus himself going to Jerusalem and carrying this art. And I'm happy to follow those historical records since there's no contradiction between them and what the text is saying here. So I'm quite happy to say, okay, they've got it. They've got it right. He's not necessarily needed. He will return and he will do, he will act. There were many Jews in Judah that had embraced this Hellenizing campaign and had been introduced, that Antiochus had introduced, but also that high priest Menelaus was totally corrupt. He was forcefully pushing this agenda to Hellenize. Destroy your culture, you destroy your people. Undermine their faith. I'm talking about the true faith, not some foolish ideas of some madman writing in a book. undermine their faith and you destroy the nation. We have refugees trying to get into the country whose worldview produced the fruit they're living under. And they are not changing their worldview. They're wanting to come in here and continue with their worldview and have complete liberty to do that. It's only people who have forsaken the Scriptures that think that that's even possible. We might all be equal as people in God's sight, but worldviews are not equal. They're not. Some are grossly perverse. They're all against God, the different ones, but some are more heinous than others. And if you have a worldview that fundamentally says, I hate Christianity, and we say that that worldview should have a footing, and a place to be protected in our country. That's madness. That's not ignorance. That's sinister. So Menelaus, the high priest, was this thoroughly corrupt Jewish leader who was pushing the Hellenizing agenda. And Antiochus encouraged and rewarded those who had forsaken the true covenant so that they could continue to undermine the true faith. He gave them preferential treatment and worked in league with them to abolish the Mosaic religion. Verse 31 says, if I can find it, And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress. Then they shall take away the daily sacrifice and place there the abomination of desolation." So Antiochus, after having returned to his capital and while remaining in his capital, put together a force with instructions about what they should do in Jerusalem. And this force was set out for that city, and we pick up the account from other sources. In 1 Maccabees 1 and verse 29, it says, two years later, the king sent to the cities of Judah a chief collector of tribute, and he came to Jerusalem with a large force. This two years, by the way, is referring back to the last time Antiochus had slapped Jerusalem around. That was in 169. This is now after he had returned. He went 168 back to Egypt for the second time. He had now returned home. It's now 167 BC. And he's sent this force now to Jerusalem. 2 Maccabees puts it this way, Antiochus sent Apollonaius, the captain of the Masians, with an army of 22,000 and commanded him to kill all the grown men and to sell the woman and boys as slaves. 2 Maccabees 5 verse 24. Here we are given the name of the commander of the force that was sent to Jerusalem. And we're also given some of the details of the plan that Antiochus had put into gear. 2 Maccabees continues, When this man arrived in Jerusalem, he pretended to be peaceably disposed and waited until the holy Sabbath day. Then, finding the Jews not at work, he ordered his troops to parade under arms. He put to the sword all those who came out to see them. Then he rushed into the city with his armed warriors and killed great numbers of people. That's 2 Maccabees 5, 25 and 26. 1 Maccabees tells us how this commander of Antiochus forces presented himself to the Jews. It said, deceitfully he spoke peaceable words to them, and they believed him. But he suddenly fell upon the city, dealt it a severe blow, and destroyed many people of Israel. We continue in 1 Maccabees. He plundered the city, burned it with fire, tore down its houses and its surrounding walls. They took captive the women and children and seized the livestock. Then they fortified the city of David. That's kind of the defense of Citadel. the city of David with a strong wall and strong towers, and it became their citadel. They stationed there sinful people, men who were renegades. These strengthened their position. They stored up arms and food and collected the spoils of Jerusalem, which they stored there, and became a great menace, for the citadel became an ambush against the sanctuary, an evil adversary of Israel at all times. On every side of their sanctuary, they shed innocent blood. They even defiled the sanctuary. Because of them, the residents of Jerusalem fled. She became a dwelling of strangers. She became stranger to her offspring, and her children forsook her. Her sanctuary became desolate like a desert. Her feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into a reproach, her honor into contempt. Her dishonor now was as great as her glory. Her exaltation was turned into mourning. First Maccabees 1.31-40. Second Maccabees adds, but Judas Maccabees. with about nine others got away to the wilderness and kept himself and his companions alive in the mountains as wild animals do. They continued to live on what grew wild so that they might not share in the defilement." 2 Maccabees 5.27. Judas Maccabees becomes an incredibly important player in the unfolding of God's plan at this time. We're not going to get to it today, but we will get there and understand what he has did. So this fleeing away One is not told the exact time when he fled away, but if he was diligent in the Scriptures, that would have given them a heads-up warning what was going on and what was happening. And so he becomes a player in God's hand. And we haven't fully dealt with verse 31 in this sermon, but we will cover more details next time, Lord willing. Antiochus IV. is an antichrist. Anyone who opposes Christ and God's kingdom is antichrist. When such antichrists turn their face upon God's visible people with the purpose of destroying them, they usually have corrupt people who claim to be God's people assisting them. It's common. There were many powerful people in Jerusalem helping Antiochus, many powerful. Menelaus, the high priest, was a staunch supporter of the Syrian king. And this strategy is still used against Christ in our days. And thus we ought not to be shocked when people with significant standing in the church promote false ideas and side with those who are at war with Christ and His righteousness. That should not shock us. That should not remove our faith. We should expect it, anticipate it, and respond appropriately to it. Antichrists always solicit the support of the false prophet, so to speak, the person who speaks God's words, but falsely so. Those who claim to be members of God's people and have standing in the visible institution of God's people. These antichrists, people who hate Christ ultimately, and our leaders, they have the false prophet at the right hand, didn't Hitler have his puppet church in Germany? He had his puppet church. There was a church in the USSR which made Billy Graham infamously proclaim there was no persecution in the Soviet Union after his return visit. Oh, I saw the church they freely worship. Robert Mugabe has his many priests that support him, promote his worldview, defend him. It's always there. And many influential people in the visible church in the USA will and do uphold and defend wicked practices. Wicked objectives. Foolish objectives. You have the false prophets. proclaiming and supporting it. So we must not be surprised. We ought not to be dismayed by this, but rather informed by scripture and history about these things so that we might stand strong and be faithful in our days. God is working out his perfect plan. The rise of ISIS is his perfect plan. He didn't mess up. He wasn't sleeping on the job. We ought not to be afraid. He gives us our own unique situations as opportunities to advance His cause, to grow in maturity, to grow in wisdom, to grow in our manifestation of His wisdom in this world, as we apply His truth to our circumstances. He gives us opportunity to grow in sacrificing ourselves for others. That's what He gives us opportunity to do. He gives us an opportunity to leave behind a legacy that others can build upon, that can strengthen and encourage others after us. Hey, we talk about past heroics, whether biblical or extra-biblical, and we're encouraged by the example. I want to learn what he said that, I want to learn that quote. Inspired by his life, we have opportunities. If we're living in cotton candy and marshmallows, we're not gonna have the opportunities to inspire anything. But we won't be able to do this if our focus is upon ourselves, if our little world is around us. We need to lift up and see, understand, and possess with confidence We need to have our eyes upon the Lord and His kingdom and trust that He is advancing His perfect plan through the details that make up our lives. And we need to be asking Him, Lord, show me how I am to be effective. Give me the grace and the strength and the courage, the belief that the victory is ours. The kingdom has come. Let's pray. O Lord and our God, we thank You that You are the King of kings. We thank You for the truth. We thank You for preserving this truth in Scripture for us, and in giving us the Holy Spirit to help us understand it and apply it. I pray, Lord, that we would be strong in our days, that we would have eyes to see, and that indeed Your Kingdom would be at the forefront of all that we See and do. So we pray for our nation, Lord. We pray for ourselves in this nation, that we would be a faithful generation, and that our legacy indeed would have substance to it and be part of your building blocks that others will stand upon and recognize. We ask this, Lord, not so that we would be remembered, but so that your glorious name would be exalted, that your power would be known, and that your great wisdom would be demonstrated to the world. So we do pray that you would help us to engulf all of our thinking and all of our acting. We ask this in the name of Christ alone, amen.