22 “With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 “And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people. 24 “He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time. 25 “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 devise plans against him. 26 “Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. 27 “Both these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time. 28 “While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land. 29 “At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. 30 “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. 31 “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.”
11:22
“With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant.
Antiochus IV overwhelmed the Egyptian king Ptolemy VI militarily. Antiochus Epiphanes first befriended Ptolemy by deceit and then later defeated him in war.
Antiochus “swept away” the Jewish high priest Onias III, the “prince of the covenant” around 172 B.C.
11:23
“And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people.
Antiochus made an alliance with Ptolemy VI in 170 B.C. in a plot to advance his power in Egypt by aligning with Ptolemy VI against his rival for the Egyptian throne.
11:24
“He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time.
Antiochus Epiphanes pillaged the provinces to bribe others to cooperate with his plans. He extended his influence by plundering the wealth and giving it to his followers (1 Macc 3:30).
11:25
“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 devise plans against him.
The “king of the South” in this verse is Ptolemy Philometer (181-145 B.C.). After Antiochus gained power, he marched against Ptolemy VI in 170 B.C. He went as far as the Nile Delta before the Egyptians discovered his presence. He defeated the Egyptian army at Pelusium. Antiochus took Ptolemy VI prisoner. After Antiochus withdrew from Egypt, Ptolemy VI and his brother VIII ruled as co-regents.
Antiochus pretended to be an ally to gain influence in Egypt. He used deceit as a basic mode of operation, as this text asserts. He was clearly a precursor of the Antichrist of the latter-day, as this text asserts.
11:26
“Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.
Those who ate Ptolemy’s delicacies destroyed him. They were those whom he trusted.
11:27
“Both these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.
Antiochus claimed to fight for Ptolemy against a usurper in Egypt. Antiochus and Ptolemy sat down at a banquet after the battle pretending peace.
11:28
“While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land.
The king in this verse is the king of the North, Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus returned to Syria after the peace conference with much plunder. He then turned his hatred toward Israel.
A Jew by the name of Jason offered Antiochus a bribe to depose the high priest Onias III. Antiochus agreed. Another pretender, Menelaus, tried the same tactic against Jason. Antiochus again agreed. After Jason attempted a coup, Antiochus entered Jerusalem and killed 80,000 men accompanied by Menelaus and desecrated the temple in 168 B.C.
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.
Antiochus tried to attack Egypt in the same year. The Roman consul Popilius Laenas met him at Alexandria, preventing him from attacking Egypt in 168 B.C.
11:30
“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.
The “ships from Cyprus” refers to Roman armed forces led by Gaius Popilius Laenas. He challenged Antiochus in Egypt and demanded that Antiochus withdraw from Egypt. When Antiochus, as for time to consider the issue, Laenas drew a circle in the sand around Antiochus and demanded that he answer before he stepped out of the circle. Antiochus returned home rather than declaring war on Rome. He again vented his frustration on the Jews “in rage against the holy covenant.”
11:31
“And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
Antiochus came to Jerusalem on an apparent peace mission but ordered General Apollonius to attack the Jews on the Sabbath with 22,000 soldiers. They killed many Jews and took women and children captive. They pillaged the temple and burned the city.
Antiochus wanted to Hellenize the Jews, so he prevented them from following the Mosaic Law. He burned copies of the law. He did away with the sacrifices, festivals, and circumcision (1 Macc. 1:44-54). As the greatest insult, he mounted an image of the Greek god Zeus on the altar of burnt offerings (2 Macc 6:2). He sacrificed a pig, an unclean animal, on the altar on December 16, 167 B.C. Antiochus compelled the Jews to offer a pig on the 25th of each month to celebrate his birthday. This act was “the abomination of desolation” (12:11) because it violated the sanctuary.
PRINCIPLE:
Antiochus Epiphanes anticipates the Antichrist.
APPLICATION:
Jesus predicted another similar sadism would befall the Jews in a day future from His day. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 by the Roman general Titus does not fulfill this prediction.
Mark 13:14, “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not’ (let the reader understand), ‘then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.’”
The book of Revelation dates decades after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 predicts an Antichrist that will do similar things to Antiochus but on a larger level (Re 13).
I beleive that this man was the worst man in History and the coming anti christ will do the same but worst