All right, it's good to have you here this morning. If you wouldn't mind us turning off the back lights, you can leave the ones on directly above the pulpit, just so that we have a little bit more of a clear view of the screen there, that'd be great, thank you. All right, if you have your Bibles this morning, please turn to the book of Daniel chapter 11, please. Daniel chapter 11. Daniel chapter 11. We're getting towards the close of our series in the Book of Daniel. I've said that several times but we seem to find an extra message in there somewhere. But I'm hoping that by slowing the pace a little bit as we go through that these truths will sink in a little bit deeper. We could do a quick hurried overview of some of these chapters. But there's so much wonderful truth there concerning the future that I believe it would be profitable for us just to spend a day on the remainder of Daniel chapter 11. So what we're going to do this morning, we're going to do a brief review of last night's, last Sunday night's sermon, where we went through that whole suite of Kings of the North and South. We won't spend too long on that, but then we want to get into Antiochus, Epiphanes, who was a type of the Antichrist. And then tonight, Lord willing, Antichrist himself. All right, and we can learn a lot about the Antichrist from the book of Daniel. That's a very important subject and people point to different ones in history and say was he the Antichrist or maybe even in present day. Well the book of 1st John makes it clear. It says that we know that Antichrist shall come, that's the Antichrist, but there are now many Antichrists. All right, so down through history there have been Antichrists, okay, and even today there are many Antichrists. All right, the Pope is an Antichrist. Other religious leaders that deceive millions are Antichrists, but that is distinct from the Antichrist who is to come. So this morning we're going to look at a historical figure who was a Antichrist. He wasn't the Antichrist, but he was a Antichrist, and he's specifically placed within the Word of God as an example for us, as a picture, as a prototype of Antichrist who was to come. So we can learn a lot about the Antichrist by looking at this man, Antiochus. And we're going to read this morning from Daniel chapter 11. And verse 21 down to verse 45. Let's just follow along there as I read. Reading from verse 21. And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom, but he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him and shall be broken. Yea, also the prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him, he shall work deceitfully, for he shall come up and shall become strong with a small people. He shall enter peaceably, even upon the fattest places of the province, and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his father's fathers. He shall scatter among them the prey and spoil and riches, yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds, even for a time. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the King of the South with a great army. And the King of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for they shall forecast devices against him. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow, and many shall fall down slain. And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table, but it shall not prosper, for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. Then shall he return into his land with great riches, and his heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall do exploits and return to his own land. At the time appointed, he shall return and come toward the south, but it shall not be as the former or as the latter. For the ships of Chittim shall come against him, therefore he shall be grieved, and return and have indignation against the holy covenant, so shall he do. He shall even return and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant, and arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place, key phrase here, the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries. But the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many, yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help, but many shall cleave to them with flatteries, and some of them of understanding shall fall to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end, because it is yet for a time appointed. And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god. Just a quick note here, from verse 21 to 35, we're dealing with a historical figure. And now from verse 36, we're dealing with a future figure, the Antichrist to come. And he shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished, for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any God, for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces, And a God, whom his fathers knew not, shall he honour with gold and silver, and with precious stones and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange God, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory, and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end, key phrase, shall the king of the south push at him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships, and he shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the, what's that phrase? Glorious land, that's Israel, isn't it? And many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east, different location now, and out of the north shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word this morning. We thank you for those who know you as Saviour, that we have the Spirit of God indwelling each one of us who is able to aid us and assist us in the study of the Word of God. Lord, we pray that you might make this time together of great benefit to each one of us. Lord, that you would enlighten us, illuminate us, give us understanding, help the preacher this morning to be clear. Lord, help those who hear to understand. Lord, we pray that you would just set apart these moments together, that Satan would not find any entrance into this message today. Lord, or a way to disrupt the message, but we pray that, Lord, you would guide and direct and that you would move in our hearts. We pray particularly for any this morning who know not Christ as Saviour. We pray that they would choose Christ. rather than the Antichrist that they would come to thee Lord and would embrace you as their Lord and their Savior. So we commit these moments together now into your hands asking for your blessing in Jesus name. Amen. All right, just a couple of introductory points this morning. The prophecy before us is divided into two main sections. The first one is in verse 1 to 35. And this pertains to the Greek kingdoms of Egypt, that's the Ptolemy kings, and Syria, the Seleucid kings in the north. Okay, you remember that after Alexander the Great had conquered the known world, he died suddenly at the age of 33 and his kingdom was divided into how many parts? four parts. Now in Daniel chapter 11 he mainly focuses on the northern division of the Greek Empire and the southern. Does anybody remember why he focuses on those two parts and not the other two in Daniel chapter 11? because Israel, it concerned Israel, okay? Daniel is concerned about Israel and God is revealing truth to him concerning the nation of Israel. So that's why we don't have the East and West kingdoms brought into this prophecy. So in verse one through 35, we have those verses pertaining to this tug of war battle between the North and the South. But there's particular emphasis as we're going to see this morning on the reign of one of those Greek kings from the North, by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes. We now know him from history as Antiochus Epiphanes. Now the events that occur in this chapter occur exactly as written between 301 and 168 BC. Now understand this morning, as I mentioned last Sunday night, we have the advantage of looking back on this first section being fulfilled. But we need to try and rewind as it were in our minds and place ourselves at Daniel's time and Daniel's standpoint and understand the impact and the significance here that when Daniel received this prophecy, all of these events that are now history were not yet fulfilled. All right, so it's a wonderful testament, and I think Daniel 11 is perhaps a passage that's often overlooked that is a wonderful testament to the inspiration of Scripture. Just amazing, about 130 to 135 prophecies from verse 135 can be traced in history and seen to have been fulfilled. In fact, it is so accurate, as I've mentioned, the critics pounce on this chapter relentlessly trying to discredit it, saying it must have been written after the event. Well, for us who know the Lord, we know it is not a big thing for the Lord to predict the future. The God who spoke the worlds into existence can speak about things that are to come with absolute accuracy. And by the way, if you're concerned about the arguments of the sceptics, there's plenty of evidence to prove that Daniel was the historical Daniel who wrote this book and that it is prophecy. Right, that brings us into the second section of the prophecy, which is in verse 36 to 45. And this pertains to Antichrist. And premillennial scholars are pretty well unanimous on this, because when you get from verse 35 onwards, nothing can be seen in history, really, that fits what is predicted. And we have the key phrase introduced in verse 35, the time of the end. Okay, there it is in verse 35, because unto the time of the end. So this is not unusual in prophecy for there to be a jump or a gap where the prophet fast forwards as it were even further into the future. We see that illustrated for us in the gap that's between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel. Okay, we have the 69 weeks and then there's a big gap and we're still waiting for that final seven years to be fulfilled. So the prophecy fast forwards at this point at verse 35 to the time of the end and to the future Antichrist. So we have a historical Antichrist, then we have the future Antichrist coming later on. Now in our last message we looked at verse 1 through 20 and we looked at the kings of the north and the kings of the south. Now if you're like me I've forgotten some of the names of the kings but this diagram here hopefully will just help summarize it for us. Do you remember last Sunday night we rattled through all sorts of names? Well here's a good summary, we have the kings of the south, Okay, and their names running down the left-hand side here. And then we have the Kings of the North. And these are some of the names we were running through last week. And as I said, these were all, these events were predicted. We now can trace the hand of God in history. Today, we're down to this man here, Antiochus Epiphanes. Then we have this gap we're talking about there. And then the last ruler, Antichrist, who is still future. So this is just a diagram that helps summarize that. Now, if you wanna just have a look at this little diagram here, it helps to illustrate what we're talking about with this North, this struggle between the Northern Kingdom, the Seleucid Kingdom and the Ptolemy Kingdom of the South. So looking at a map there, there you have Israel and Jerusalem right there as the meat in the sandwich, or as sitting between the anvil and the hammer, as one commentator puts it. Then you have the Seleucid Kings of the North here, and you have the Southern Ptolemy Kings centered around Egypt and Northern Africa. Okay. And that's what we have been, we looked at last Sunday night. You remember there's this, there's constant reference to the King of the South, verse 5, 9, 11, 14, and the King of the North. Do you remember that? Okay, and you've got this tug of war situation going on. The King of the North attacks the King of the South, the King of the South retaliates, and Jerusalem is in the centre. Okay, so again, looking at that diagram, we have the Kings of the South running down here. the Kings of the North and we saw, didn't we, in last week's Sunday Night's Message, just the precision of the Scriptures in outlining the events that would take place and these things that we now know as history. All right, so bear that little diagram in mind because Antiochus was from the Northern Kingdom and we're going to see reference to his assaults on the South. So we have the same sort of back and forth situation occurring, but Antiochus is singled out for more detail in this prophecy than any of the other Kings, because he in particular assaulted and attacked the, the Jewish people in a very vicious way. So in this sermon this morning we're going to study verse 21 down to verse 35 and look at this reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, this Greek king of the north who is a prototype of the Antichrist and tonight We'll go through verse 36 to 45 and look at the Antichrist who is yet future in the end times. But really the overall theme for today is the Antichrist because we learn much from the type and then much from what is predicted about the future. So what we're going to do is we're going to divide the chapter under two headings this morning. Hang on before I get to that and jumping the gun. All right, here's a quote by Dr. Charles Feinberg on Daniel 11, just summarizing there. In Daniel 11, it, Daniel 11, is truly a manual of divine inspiration. The events prophesied in this chapter are traced as accurately as one who would have expected from a history of those times written after the fact. M. A. Butler states, as we stop and pause at verse 35, we're not quite there yet, but if you stop and pause at verse 35, we realize that there have been over 130 specific prophecies accurately fulfilled thus far in this chapter alone. The remaining verses of the book of Daniel deal with the prophetic future of the Jewish people, skipping over 2000 years of the mystery church age between verse 35 and 36. Thus, if the first 35 verses have been fulfilled in every minute detail, the remainder of this prophecy, too, will one day be history." All right, so we know for a fact when we're talking about future events that God has prophesied, when the Bible talks about an antichrist, when the Bible predicts a rapture of the church, when the Bible speaks about future tribulation events, we should be in absolutely no doubt as to the certainty that those events will happen. You say, how do you know that? Well, because God said it would, first and foremost, and we trust the Word of God. But the fulfilled prophecies give us such tremendous ground for faith that God will continue to do as he has predicted. So our outline for today, in this morning's message, we're going to look at number one, Antichrist prefigured. Alright, Antichrist prefigured or Antichrist pictured and we're looking at this historical Antichrist, this man who is a picture of Antichrist to come, then tonight we will look at Antichrist predicted. Okay, so simple two-part outline this morning, Antichrist prefigured looking at Antiochus, Antichrist predicted looking at the future Antichrist this evening. So number one this morning, Antichrist prefigured, and we're looking at verse 21 down to verse 35. And I have, I believe it's five, five points about Antichrist prefigure that I'm going to give to you as we look at this historical man who teaches us much about Antichrist, the type or the forerunner or the prototype we could say of Antichrist. So we're going to look at this man Antiochus Epiphanes and firstly this morning his description, verse 21, his description. Look at verse 21. It says, vile person, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom, but he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. He's described as a vile person. John Phillips says, various ancient historians agree that young Antiochus was indeed vile or contemptible, as the text declares. Often his behavior was eccentric, if not actually mad. He was given to the most degraded and unnatural vices. He was unscrupulous, cruel, of a savage temper, and fond of the company of the lowest of men. He was erratic and cunning, but not devoid of courage. Now remember again, as we look at this historical man, this Antichrist man, he's not the Antichrist but a Antichrist, he tells us a lot about who Antichrist will be like in the future and he will be a vile person. It's interesting, we'll cover this tonight in brief, but one of the predictions about Antichrist to come is that he will not regard the desire of women. Now, the historical figure here, Antiochus, was a man given over to unnatural vices, unnatural lust. And it's interesting that the Antichrist to come is described as not acknowledging the desire of women. I can't say for sure what that means, but I do wonder whether he will be a Sodomite. He will not acknowledge the desire of women. So Antiochus was this way. He was given over to all sorts of depraved lusts. John Gill, another Bible commentator, says he is called vile, being a very immoral man, given to drunkenness, lasciviousness, uncleanness, and unnatural lusts, and a violent persecutor. The word signifies despicable. Gill goes on to state that he lived a lascivious and foolish lifestyle, quote, drinking with strangers and people of low life, revelling at merry bouts with young people, putting on strange habits, throwing away his money among the rabble. So Antichrist to come will have a similar bent towards sinful things. He will be an evil man, but we can see the way the world is just going in its depraved direction. We can see how people will willingly accept a vile person to be their leader. So we have his description. Next point this morning about Antichrist prefigured, this historical man, Antiochus Epiphanes, who pictures Antichrist, we see his deceptions. and deception lay at the heart and soul of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. Verse 21 through to verse 24. We single out a few words there. Verse 21, in his estate she sent up a vile person. It says that he would obtain into the verse the kingdom by what? Flatteries. Verse 23, and after the league made with him, he shall work what? Deceitfully, for he shall come up and shall become strong with a small people. He shall enter what? Peaceably, is this true or false peace? False peace, there's an agenda behind this false peace and so on. So there we see the Bible makes it clear that this man, Antiochus, we now know as Antiochus from history would be a deceptive man. He was deceitful in two areas. He was deceitful in his ascension to the throne, because the Bible tells us that he would obtain the kingdom by flatteries. History bears this out, that the nobles and the people did not actually want to give the throne to this man Antiochus. They preferred Demetrius, who is the son of the previous king, but he was being held as a hostage in Rome. Rome was an up and coming empire with some power. And so to gain the throne, says Cloud, Antiochus made flattering speeches to the nobles, made false promises and gave gifts to the citizens. So the people initially did not want him as their emperor, but through clever manipulations, he was able to gain the throne from the other man who rightfully should have had it. So he would obtain the kingdoms by flatteries. Now, as we think about flattery, just pause here for a moment. When someone flatters you biblically, this is a principle the Bible bears out, they have an ulterior motive. they have a hidden agenda. I looked up every verse I could find on the subject of flattery in the Bible and it bears this out, this principle very clearly, if someone flatters you, they are masking a hidden agenda. What is flattery? It's insincere praise. Okay, there's a difference between paying somebody a genuine compliment, something that is genuine from the heart, and flattery. When someone flatters you, they have an evil desire underneath. That's why Proverbs says in Proverbs 29 verse five, a man that flattereth his neighbor, notice, spreadeth a net for his feet. So this was how Antiochus was. Now deception is the devil's trademark, isn't it? Deception is the devil's trademark, and it's the key weapon that he uses to his advantage. Satan is principally a deceiver. He is a liar, the Lord Jesus said, and the father of it. He doesn't generally present himself in his true colors. He does occasionally, but more often than not, he prefers, doesn't he, to present as an angel of light. Now, Because Satan is that way, it should be no surprise to us then that his men are also master deceivers. And it should be no surprise either that the coming Antichrist will be a master deceiver. He will. You know, our world is very open to deception. and there are satanic powers behind deceptions and people today more and more are being cajoled into just accepting whatever is dished up to them and not thinking for themselves and Satan will capitalise upon that. So we see in Antiochus, this historical figure, a man who was very deceitful and used deceitful means to accomplish his ends. He pictures who? Antichrist, who will be the same. He will be a master deceiver. The whole world will wonder after the beast. Say, who is like unto the beast? And so on. He was also deceitful in his agreement. So he was deceitful in his ascension to the throne, but he was also deceitful in his agreements. He made agreements with the Southern King, okay, but they were false peace agreements, which he broke. Harry Ironside says, at the beginning, he made a league both with the Jews and with Ptolemy Philometer, but proved false to each as God had declared he would. Okay. So here we have Antiochus, he makes a false peace treaty with the southern king, Then he goes back on that treaty and with a relatively small army comes and gains territory. He shall enter peaceably upon the fattest places of the province, so he's after the rich areas, and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his father's fathers. He shall scatter among them the prey and spoil and riches. So what he did is he took over these different areas within the southern kingdom and plundered the riches and then used those riches. He did something that his forebears had not done. He actually took those riches and used them as bribes, spreading them amongst his soldiers and keeping them on side and keeping them loyal through financial manipulation. And he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds even for a time. Alright, one of the main reasons for Antiochus' victory in this first battle against the King of the South was that he used a very clever espionage behind the scenes and he seduced key men within the southern king's inner circle to work for him. That's why it talks about them forecasting devices against him. Alright, there were those within Philometers, Ptolemy Philometers circle, his inner circle, his military commanders and other key people who were deceived into helping Antiochus. Alright, so we have his deceptions. Number three, his destructions. Verse 25 to 26. Verse 25 to 26, and he shall stir up his power and courage against the king of the south with a great army. And the King of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army, but he shall not stand. And here's the phrase I was referring to before, sorry, I jumped the gun a bit. Therefore they shall forecast devices against him. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him and his army shall overflow and many shall fall down slain. So you have Antiochus' inner circle, those that fed of the portion of his meat, okay? Destroying him, they were his undoing. Sorry, not Antiochus, the King of the South. because Antiochus very cleverly got them on his side. So reading the note here on the screen, one of the main reasons for Antiochus' victory against the King of the South was his clever espionage behind the scenes where he seduced key men within Philometer's inner circle to work for him. These men are referred to as they that feeded the portion of his meat. So again, we see his deception, his ability to be a master of intrigue and pulling strings behind the scenes. Josephus, the Jewish historian, said that Antiochus, quote, circumvented Ptolemy Philometer by fraud. So again, we get an amazing sense of the inspiration of scripture. This was all predicted in the text here by the Lord, through the prophet Daniel, that this man would come, this king of the north, we now know him as Antiochus Epiphanes, and he would do all these things. He would seduce these key men within the southern kingdom. and then bring destruction. So he attacks the southern kingdom and prevails, as documented there in verse 25 to 26. This is the second battle that's seen in the verses here. And he prevails because of his clever deception of keeping people on the other side. That's the way Satan works, doesn't he? Satan loves to get enemies on the inside, as it were. It's a satanic principle, and use them to his advantage. Then we come, fourthly, to his desecrations. And this is where we now focus in upon his desecrations of Jerusalem. And there are a couple of key events that brought about these attacks upon Judea. And this is where the prophecy now focuses in verse 27 to 32. And in verse 27 to 32, we have two attacks of Antiochus against Judea. Okay, two attacks, and they both followed on the hills of failed attempts to gain power over the Southern Kingdom. So he tries to get power over the Southern Kingdom yet again, and then he fails, and then he turns his rage on Israel on the way back. Do you remember that diagram we looked at at the beginning of the message? Israel's right in the middle. Okay, so he makes an attempt against the South, and he fails, and then on his way home, turns his rage upon Israel. So Israel was going to come under the hammer of Antiochus. So let's look at these two attacks of Antiochus upon Israel. The first one we have, number one, is a failed covenant. So he tried to form a covenant with the King of the South. So this was a nonviolent attempt to get power. That failed and he attacks Israel. The next time he tries conquest, that fails and he attacks Israel. So look at this first one. There's a failed covenant with the King of the South and Israel is then attacked. Verse 27 says, and both these kings, so if it's talking about both kings, what kings are we referring to? The king of the North and the king of the South. Both of these kings' hearts shall be to do what? Mischief, okay? And they shall speak lies at one table. So here we have a meeting at one table between the king of the North and the king of the South. All right, and it really gives an insight into human nature and even world leaders. You have two men sitting there as a show of peace across the table from one another, all right, and they both outwardly pretending that they want peace, but inside the Bible unmasks that they both have their own agenda. I think of that sometimes, you see powerful leaders of nations get together and it's all over the cameras and they're shaking hands and smiling, what's going on in both of their hearts and minds? Very often they both have a different idea about what is actually the purpose of such a meeting, okay. That's just human nature. So they both, both Antiochus and Ptolemy, the southern king, meet at one table and they pretended to be friendly to one another. But in reality they both had their own secret agenda and were both planning to deceive one another, deceive the other. John Gill says though they seemed to carry it very friendly to one another, yet at the same time they were contriving in their minds to do as much mischief to each other as they could. So there was a failed covenant. This covenant didn't work out. Both of these men had their own agendas. And on the way home, on his return to Syria, so he's now travelling from where? From south back up to north. Who's he going to pass by on the way? Israel. Okay. On the way home, he attacks Israel. Historians say that the reason he attacked the Jews and the nation of Israel was he had heard rumours that the Jews had revolted against him. And there seems to be some, history seems to bear this out, that the Jews wrongly had heard that Antiochus had died. And so there was some things going on in Jerusalem, and there was some internal strife going on with people wanting to take over the reins of power. And he caught wind of this, these rumors at least, Antiochus, and so He came to Israel on the way home enraged on account of these rumors and poured out his wrath against them. But the Bible actually singles out the real reason for this, okay? History tells us it was on account of rumors, but the Bible actually highlights the real problem. Because if you look in verse 27, sorry, verse 28, it says, then he shall return into his land with great riches, and notice here, and his heart shall be against the holy covenant. So outwardly, history records he was enraged on account of the rumours he heard. The Bible gives us a window into this man's heart. It was actually a deeper issue. His real motive, his real heart motive was that he had a hatred for the Jewish people. His heart was against the Holy Covenant. We know that's a reference to Israel. God had made special covenants, hadn't he, with Israel. And so he came with this desire in his heart to bring destruction to God's chosen people, those with whom God had made a special holy covenant. Let me read you a historical note here from the book of 2nd Maccabees chapter 5 verse 11 and 14. It says, when these happenings were reported to the king, that's these rumours, he thought that Judea was in revolt. Raging like a wild animal, he set out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm. He ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses. There was a massacre of young and old, a killing of women and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. In the space of three days, 80,000 were lost, 40,000 meeting a violent death, and the same number being sold into slavery. Now, as we think about Antiochus as a type of Antichrist, we can see the picture very clearly. Like Antiochus, the Antichrist will feign outwardly that he wants peace. In fact, he will be seen as the peacemaker of the Middle East, the peace broker for Israel. He's going to sign a covenant, isn't he, Daniel 9, with many for one week, that final seven-year period. But just like Antiochus, underneath the Antichrist will be an anti-Semite. He will have a special hatred for the Jewish people. By the way, anti-Semitism has its roots in Satan. Anti-Semitism is satanic and Satan has always had a special hatred for the Jewish people. Why? Because it was through the Jewish people that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus came. And so you can see even down through history there have been anti-Christs, as it were, men who were inspired of Satan like Hitler to wreak devastation against the Jewish people. By the way, don't get caught up in some of these preachers today who try and get into this conspiracy theory that the Holocaust didn't really happen. All right? And I'm surprised how many people have filled that idea with me in today, including, I won't say, but yeah, people that you think would know better. All right? Just understand that Satan has always had a special hatred for the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism is satanic. You can read in Revelation. You can see the picture of the dragon standing before the woman about to give birth. And that woman's not the church. It's quite clear by the symbolism. She's standing with the moon and the sun under her feet. She has the 12 stars. Okay. And the man child that she brings forth is the one who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron and is caught up to God and his throne. That's the Lord Jesus. All right. So there you have the, but there you have the dragon standing there to try and devour her child as soon as it was born. That happened, didn't it? You remember? Herod tried to slaughter all of the, he slaughtered all of the children in Bethlehem, age two and under. Revelation shows us the behind the scenes of that. Herod was just a puppet for the dragon. The dragon there was trying to devour and trying to destroy the Christ child. So Satan has always had a special hatred for the Jewish people. And so Antiochus is one of these, but this is the cleverness of Satan. He comes, he pretended to be the Jew's friend, but then in time, his true heart motive was revealed. Antichrist will be the same. All right, he will break his covenant in the middle of that seven year period. And that's where the Lord Jesus warned. He said, don't even come down to get your clothes, escape into the mountains. because there would be such terrible persecution against the Jewish people. So we have a failed covenant. There was an attempt to come and meet at the table to make a false covenant. He had his own agenda there, but it didn't work out, so he then unleashed his rage and vengeance against the Jewish people on the way home. Then we have the second attack against Israel. We have a failed conquest. and then Israel is attacked. So he comes to attack the southern king again. They like to attack each other, these kings of the north and the south. They weren't very good friends, even though they're all Greeks. And so we have a failed covenant. Israel was attacked as a consequence of that, and then a failed conquest, and Israel is attacked yet again by Antiochus. So verse 29 to verse 32, let's read it there. At the time appointed, he shall return. Where's he returning to? Back to the South again. All right, he shall return and come toward the South. So try and keep that picture in your mind. He's coming from North Syria, down past Israel to Egypt at the South, the Southern kingdom. But it shall not be as the former or as the latter. Something's changed. Because when he arrives to attack the city of Alexandria, I think it was, the ships of Shittim were waiting for him. And this was the Roman fleet, and they had a new formed alliance with the Southern King. And the Southern King put out a plea of help from their new found ally, the Iron Kingdom, the Roman Kingdom that was beginning to wield tremendous power in the world at that time and tremendous strength. And so when Antiochus attacked the Southern Kingdom again, whereas in the past he had had some great successes at plundering and getting riches and things, he would have to turn back because the Romans were there to meet him. It's an interesting story from history. In fact, it's probably where we get our term, draw a line in the sand. because the representative from the Roman Senate demanded, in a meeting with Antiochus, that he take his army and leave Egypt. And Antiochus, being the master deceiver, said, well, I need to consult with my military leaders or whatever. I need some time. And the Roman senator, very wisey, got a stick and drew a line, a circle, in the sand around Antiochus and said, you are to make a decision before you step outside of that circle. Okay, so that I can inform the Roman Senate of your decision. Well, he was forced, and Antiochus did not like being forced to do anything, he was forced to make a decision and he said, I will leave. But on the way home, he was full of rage, full of rage, and so he attacked Israel, who were very vulnerable to him. So he attacks Egypt, But the ships of Shittim were waiting for him, this was the Roman Navy and representatives. They demanded he leave Egypt at once and he had no choice on account of their military power and might to leave. He left in a diabolical rage and on his way home unleashed his revenge against Israel. And it says that, look at the verse, verse 30, therefore he shall be what? Grieved and return and have indignation against what? the Holy Covenant. He shall be grieved, shall return on his way home, and he's going to have indignation against the Holy Covenant. And we know that's a reference to Israel with whom God had made special promises, special covenants. So shall he do. He shall return and have intelligence with them that forsake the Holy Covenant. This is interesting. Here we see this whole matter of those working on the inside for the enemy on the outside. Again, There were apostate Jews who had forsaken the Holy Covenant. They had forsaken the Lord and they willingly cooperated on the inside to bring destruction to their own people. And we learn a lot about the workings of the enemy and the workings of Satan. If Satan can get an ally on the inside through whom he can work, it brings devastating damage, doesn't it? To the people of God. Verse 31, and the arms shall stand on his part. So he had the upper hand, he had the military hardware on his side, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. Right, now, you remember this is not the first time he's attacked Israel. This time though, there's something different that happens. He now actually desecrates the temple, okay? Previously, he had just attacked the Jewish people, but now he takes it one step further and he actually attacks and desecrates the temple. He pollutes the Sanctuary of Strength, that's a reference to the temple, and he takes away the daily sacrifice, so he forced the Jews to stop practicing their daily sacrifices, and then he sets up an abomination, an idol, probably of Zeus or Jupiter, and therefore making the temple desolate. Now, fast forward to the New Testament, who spoke in the Gospels about the abomination of desolation? Yeah, Matthew, but he was recording the words of? The Lord Jesus, was he talking about a past abomination of desolation or a future one? Future. So can you see how Antiochus pictures Antichrist? So what has been done in the past will be repeated in the future. This Greek king, the little horn, the little Greek horn that we looked at in Daniel 8, he desecrates the temple, Okay, he sacrificed a pig on the Jewish altar, absolute abomination to the Jewish people. And he sets up an idolatrous image in the temple. And that idolatrous image was not merely intended to bring honor to the pagan God, Jupiter, but it was also proclaimed as being an image, a godlike image of Antiochus himself. So he proclaimed himself essentially to be deity. So we have a failed covenant, then a failed conquest in 168 BC. Interestingly, that very same year, he struck a coin with his image on one side and the God Jupiter on the other. Okay, so here's a coin that he struck to commemorate this desecration of the temple. Now look at, interestingly, here's the ancient Greek writing, as indicated by the arrow, and this reads, here's a translation, King Antiochus, image of God, bearer of victory. So he wasn't just setting up a pagan idol in the temple, it was more than that, he was claiming himself to be deity. So this arrow here points to that phrase, theos means God, epiphanies, declaring him to be God manifest. So we can see how he's a picture and a prototype of the Antichrist. What is the Antichrist going to do in the future with the rebuilt Jewish temple? He will set up an idolatrous image, okay? But that image is intended to represent him and his claims to be God. He will set himself up as God. And Antiochus forced the worship of this image and forced the Jewish people to, or tried to force them to forsake their faith. Now, it's interesting that the Antichrist in the end times will also force the world to worship an idolatrous image of himself that's been set up in the temple. Let's read these verses here. In Revelation 13, 11 through 18, it says, Interesting. Here we have a beast who claims to be like a lamb or appears even to be like a lamb, but when he speaks, it's the voice of the dragon. That's the false prophet. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. He's going to do signs and wonders. and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image, aha, to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did live. And he had power to give life under the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be what? Killed. Notice, and he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 600, three score and six, or, as we would say, 666. Now, can you see from the verses that the Antichrist in the future will control the world both religiously and economically? Okay? Both religiously and economically. Why? Because they're going to make an image to the beast and there's going to be enforced worship. If you don't worship the image of the beast, you'll be killed. Now this image of the beast is going to be a satanically inspired image. The false prophet Okay, this is just an artist's impression of this. We have the unholy trinity, but the false prophet who has horns like a lamb, but speaks as a dragon, will give power to the image of the beast. The image of the beast will be able to speak. So how can an image speak? I don't know, but obviously with Satan's power, it can, okay? Now, in the illustration here, we have the artist's impression. We have the unholy trinity. We have the dragon symbolizing Satan. We have this beast coming up out of the sea. This is all in Revelation 13, by the way, who is the seven-headed beast resembling his master, the seven-headed dragon with the crowns on his head. And this is the Antichrist. So we have the unholy trinity. We have Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet. Can you see that's an unholy trinity? What's the godly trinity? Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Here we have Satan's trinity. It's Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet. And the people of the world will be compelled to take the mark of the beast in their right hand or in their forehead. You say, surely you don't believe in conspiracy theories. Listen, it's not a conspiracy theory. When the Lord predicts something in his word, it is going to happen. And, by the way, we're living in a day today where it's becoming quite common to microchip people and in their hands or in their bodies. Sometimes it's for medical reasons, but now there are even companies in certain countries, and it's not a conspiracy theory, you look this up, where they actually microchip their employees so they can It's all in the name of benefit for them. They can pay at the cafe with a swipe of the hand. They can log in and out with this chip in their hand. And the employer can know everything about them, how many toilet breaks they have and so on. Make sure they're getting as much productivity out of their robots, I mean people, that they can. So the Antichrist will force the world, just like Antiochus did, or he endeavoured to force the world to worship an idolatrous image of himself. Okay, so you remember Antiochus did that. struck this coin, set up an image, a pagan image in the temple, and proclaiming himself to be God manifested this image was supposed to represent him as a God. Antichrist in the future is going to do the same. That brings us to our next point this morning. And the final one, his devastation. So we're looking at Antiochus Epiphanes, historical man, a Antichrist from history, who is a picture of the Antichrist who is to come. Now, Antiochus desecrated the temple, but he went one step too far. In desecrating the temple, setting up this idolatrous image, and seeking to force the Jews to worship idols, he provoked a uprising that is now known in history as the Maccabean Revolt. Now, is anyone too warm with the heater? Yes, no? There's nothing like the heater on a cold morning to put everybody into a blissful sleep, okay? That's just what the Antichrist wants, all right? For you not to listen. So maybe we'll just turn that down. If nothing else, I'll feel less cooked up here, okay? Hot air rises, and I'm in an elevated place, so the heat from the heater and the heat from you is affecting me, okay? All right, here's devastation. Antiochus comes to an end, or at least his power on the holy land was broken through the Maccabean Revolt. Now, I want you to see that there were two, this resistance against this evil that was going on took two very important forms. Verse 32 there says, But the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. There was a godly remnant within Israel who said enough is enough and we're going to stand up against this tyrant and his evil. And this resistance took two important forms and I think there's a lesson for us here this morning. The first one was education. Education, verse 33 tells us, And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be corrupt by flatteries. But the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. And verse 33 says, and they that understand among the people shall what? Instruct many. What was the answer of the godly remnant to this terrible influence of this ungodly king? He would lure the young people into sin, get them drunk, get them all bound up in the idolatrous festival. So we have a flood tide of idolatry and wickedness spreading across the land. How did the godly remnant stand against that? Well, the first thing they did was those who had understanding of the word of God instructed many. That's an important form of resistance, by the way, against the evil of our times, is to be instructed in the Word of God. Now, a new class emerged, says John Phillips, called the Masculine or the Wise, men who knew the Word of God and who struggled to keep the true faith alive in the midst of persecution. It says, "...yet they shall fall by the sword." Many of these godly people within the remnant of Israel perished by fire and by sword or were enslaved, the word captivity there. Verse 33, "...yet they shall fall by the sword." by flame, by captivity, and by spoil many days. So many of these godly men perished as they sought to instruct others in the word of God. It is very possible that the list in Hebrews 11 verse 35 to 37 is drawn from this dark period of history where it talks about them wandering about in sheepskins and goatskins and being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. So that was the first important form of resistance against the evil influence of Antiochus was education, instruction in the word of God. Then contention, they would be strong and do exploits. The Maccabees war against Antiochus and the Greek Seleucid Empire lasted from 167 to 160 BC. And they were called the Maccabees and interesting because The word Maccabees in the Hebrew means hammer. And they were called hammer or referred to like that as a hammer because of their unexpected hammer-like attacks on the Greeks. So they would attack by surprise and slam into the enemy there. And so a mighty resistance was stirred up against this ungodly Antiochus and his desire to enforce essential idolatrous worship upon the nation. Here's a quote from David Cloud's commentary on this. He says, And the story goes that Mathias killed a Jew, Mathias, sorry, killed a Jew who stepped forward to perform the sacrifice as well as Antiochus' representative. So this representative of Antiochus came, tried to force Mathias and his family to do homage to the Greek idol. And there was another Jewish man present who just acquiesced. He just went along with it for the sake of keeping his head. And Mattathias was so enraged against this wickedness, he killed the compromising Jew and also killed Antiochus' representative. Then he, along with his five sons, Judah, Eliezer, Simon, John, and Jonathan, fled to the wilderness to escape Antiochus' wrath. Calling upon their fellow Jews to revolt, they attracted a large following. Mattathias died in 166 BC, and his son Judah led the Jewish forces to victory, but they had many defeats and setbacks, and many Jews died. The text indicates that there. Verse 34, now when they shall fall, they shall be hoping with little help, but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. Verse 35, and some of them of understanding shall fall to try them and to purge and to make them white even to the time of the end. Okay, reading the quote again, Mattathias died in 166 BC and his son Judah led the Jewish forces to victory, but they had many defeats and setbacks, okay, and many Jews died. In 164 BC, the Maccabees cleansed the temple and restored Jewish worship. This event is celebrated in the annual Jewish Feast of Hanukkah, or it's referred to as the Feast of Dedication in John 10, 22. And so that's what the Bible is referring to there, but the people that do know their God, verse 32, shall be strong and do exploits. Now, I think there's a challenge, sorry, before we get to that, there's just a little map or diagram, a map I should say, showing the campaigns of the Maccabees in the land of Judea against the Greeks. So I hope, again, this highlights to you that the Bible deals with real people, real places, real history. It is not a collection of fairy stories. Now, a challenge I think we can take from the Maccabees In this, and these godly people who were strong and did exploits in these dark times, like the godly remnant during the dark reign of Antiochus, we need to keep faith alive by diligent education in the truth and by a spiritual contending for the doctrines we hold dear. Jude 1.3. What were the two forms of resistance? Education and contention. Now, the education part, that's important. We live in a day that's very evil. There are many Antichrists, the spirit of Antichrist is here and there is a flood tide of wickedness that is sweeping the globe. How are we going to keep faith alive? Well, we need to instruct one another, we need to instruct our children in the Word of God and resist the evil that way. For many of us, we're just allowing the currents of the world to move us. That's a problem, isn't it? The contention aspect, we know in the church it is not for us to take up arms, we're not proposing that. Within the Jewish nation that was appropriate for them to defend their land and to actually physically fight. We know in the church we are not national Israel and we are not We're not to take up the sword in the church age, but we can take the principle of contending for the faith. And so both those things, instruction and contention in the spiritual realm, are important if we're to keep faith alive in these dark times. times. And I like what our Church Covenant says, by the way, wouldn't hurt to read it occasionally and remind yourselves, there's a lot of good things in there. We actually have covenanted together as a church, and this means we're making a promise to one another that we're going to try and we're going to endeavor to do this, to maintain family and secret devotion and to, notice this, religiously educate our children. That's important, isn't it? What did the godly remnant in Judah do? They knew God, they were strong, did exploits at that evil time. When just wickedness was sweeping the land, spiritually, morally, and otherwise, well, they instructed many. They went back to the teaching of the Word of God, and then they stood up and fought against those evils. So we need to do the same, don't we? And so we've looked at Antiochus, this historical picture this prototype of Antichrist. Now in verse 35 we have an interesting note there, it says, and some of understanding shall fall, notice this, to try them and to purge and to make them white. And you say, Pastor, what's the whole point? I mean, this whole passage so far, this historical section from verse 1 to 35, there's this, okay, we get it. There's the North King, there's the Kings of the North, Kings of the South. There's this tug of war and Israel's getting hammered, slammed. They're in the pincers. They're between the anvil and the hammer. What is the purpose of God as far as the nation of Israel is concerned in all of that? Well, it's found in verse 35, to try them and to purge and to make them white. God was actually in his overall providence allowing Israel to go through those grievous times to purge them and to make them white, to bring about refining and purging in the nation. And as grievous as persecution is, it does often have a way of purifying the people of God. And history bears that out. Someone said the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. And very often persecution is used of God to refine and to purge. And that's what God had in mind for Israel as far as his purpose in it all. He was allowing the land to be dealt with on account of compromise and wickedness. And it was part of God's purpose there. So challenge this morning for you. If you're not saved, who will you choose? Christ, son of God and eternal life, or Antichrist, son of perdition and eternal damnation. You know, there's a warning in 2 Thessalonians 2, 7 through 12, says, This is a key passage on the Antichrist. See the capital W? that's the Antichrist, be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after what? The working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. We read about that in Revelation 13, didn't we? And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And here's the warning for you if you're listening this morning and you haven't repented and trusted Christ. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. As I understand this verse, if you reject the gospel, and the church is raptured, it's not going to be like a lot of the movies portray, that you're all of a sudden going to fall on your knees and get saved. There will be many people saved in the tribulation period, a great multitude. Revelation brings that out through the witness of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. There will be many people saved in the tribulation period, but if you have consciously rejected the gospel, this side of the rapture, and you miss the rapture, then you will not be one of those who get saved. The Bible says that God will send you strong delusion, that you will believe a lie. What lie? The lie of Antichrist. Why? That they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but a pleasure in righteousness. Listen, this is a sobering truth. But when God determines that you are to be damned, there's absolutely no hope for you. No hope. When God himself says, you've gone too far, now you will believe the lie and you will be damned. If God determines your damnation, nothing can save you. Now, you say, does God want to damn me? No. What's the context here? Those who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in righteousness, that they had an opportunity. It's not that God said, I'm just going to damn you because I hate you. Uh-uh. God loves you, and he gives men an opportunity to repent and to believe the truth. But if you reject the truth, and you are left behind, you miss the rapture. In the tribulation period, this verse indicates that you will believe you will be deceived by Antichrist and you will ultimately then be damned. So the time to repent and trust Christ is now, isn't it? 2 Corinthians 6.2, behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation. See the word now there. Revelation 22, 17, right at the very end of the Word of God, we have God's final invitation to man, and the spirit and the bride say, come, and let him that heareth say, come, and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, that means you, doesn't it? Anybody, let him take the water of life freely. So we have Antichrist prefigured, Antiochus pictures Antichrist. Tonight we will look, Lord willing, at the Antichrist predicted and the prophecies that relate directly to that future man of sin who is yet to come. Let's bow for prayer, shall we?