The Future of Israel Daniel 11:14-28 Part 2

Review Daniel wanted to know what would happen to Israel God is answering him with a detailed prophecy about the future as it would touch on Israel Only 2 of the 4 Greek empires would play any direct role To the South, the Ptolemaic empire To the North, the Seleucid empire For the first 100+ years, the Ptolemies controlled Israel Around 198 BC control was taken by the Seleucids

Trouble in Egypt Daniel 11:14 Ptolemy V, 203 -181 BC, came to the throne as a boy 3 generals fought a civil war over who would be regent Which led to Antiochus III being able to easily take Judea and Arabia in 198 BC Ptolemy V was declared a god, which decree was put on stone tablets (the Rosetta Stone) Then an usurper declared himself Pharaoh The civil war lasted from 197 – 183 BC, many Alexandrian Jews chose the usurper The usurper finally surrendered and was executed

A holdout Dan 11:15-16 One Egyptian general, Scopas, managed to secure and fortify the city of Sidon Antiochus had to send back part of the army to besiege the city Ptolemy sent his elite troops (choice troops) to relieve the city, but they failed Scopas surrendered the city when his food supply failed As stated before, Antiochus was then in total control of Judea (the Glorious Land)

An alliance Dan 11:17 Antiochus III, after Scopas’ surrender, wanted to invade Egypt A part of the Jewish people (“the upright” – a sarcastic designation) volunteered to help This part was led by Jason, a brother of the high priest Onias, who wanted the king to depose his brother Instead, Ptolemy V was forced to marry the daughter of Antiochus III, Cleopatra I, to secure peace The wedding didn’t take place until 193 BC when Ptolemy V was 16 and Cleopatra I was 10 He probably hoped she would turn Egypt over to the Seleucids in time But when she had opportunity as regent for her son, she stayed firmly with Egypt

The coastlands Dan 11:18 After securing Judea and Arabia, Antiochus III sent the majority of his army to invade Greece The idea was Hannibal’s, the Carthaginian general, who had fled to Antioch after his defeat by the Romans At first the war went well, even though Greece had allied with Rome Most of the Greek islands and large portions of the mainland fell to Antiochus

A ruler A Roman general Scipio jealous of his brother, the famed Scipio Africanus, who had defeated Carthage in Africa and received many honors Volunteered to lead the Roman armies to stop Antiochus III He did so with great skill and removed the reproach from Rome He turned the reproach upon Antiochus III, forcing him to pay huge war debts, regular tribute, heirs as hostages, and to surrender his war elephants He received equal honors to that of his brother, including the name Scipio Asiaticus

A humbled death Dan 11:19 Because of the huge debts he owed to Rome Antiochus returned to his own cities and began plundering them for gold At one such city, Elymais, when he entered the temple, the people revolted Antiochus III and his soldiers were killed by the enraged citizens

The raiser of taxes Dan 11:20 When Antiochus III died in 187 BC, he was succeeded by his son, Seleucus IV Seleucus still had to pay the huge debts to Rome so he raised taxes to extremes In Judea, the people split into 2 parties . . . Those who favored paying the tax for peace, led by Jason Those who felt it would be sacrilege to pay such high taxes (forcing the temple to receive lower offerings) led by Onias, the High Priest Seleucus solved the dilemma by sending an armed party to seize the temple treasury The general who led the raid, assassinated Seleucus when he returned home in 175 BC

The vile person Dan 11:21 The general, Heliodorus, claimed to be acting as regent for the younger son of Seleucus (the older son, the heir, being a Roman hostage) Seleucus’ brother, Antiochus IV, overthrew Heliodorus Both Heliodorus and the infant son of Seleucus died in the fighting By friendships, politicking, and bribes, he got Rome to accept him as king, rather than return the true heir to the throne

The vile person Antiochus IV proclaimed himself to be Epiphanes “god manifest” Yet he was known to get drunk in the lowest taverns To behave as a lecher in the public baths To sit on balconies and throw stones at passers-by So his people called him Epimanes, “the mad one”

More wars Dan 11:22-24 While Antiochus seemed preoccupied with securing his kingship The new ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy VI, sent an army to repossess Judea Ptolemy VI was the son of Ptolemy V and Cleopatra I, the covenant that had made peace Rather than retreat, Antiochus was able to lead an army to push back the Egyptians Then he swept through all of Egypt with a relatively small army and captured Ptolemy VI

The deceiver After capturing Ptolemy VI, Antiochus IV announced he was actually helping the young king, who was his nephew Retaining a small force in Egypt, Antiochus was able to gain entrance to some of the richest cities and temples A thing his ancestors had never been able to do The spoils were given to his armies Antiochus began to plan to capture the last few Egyptian strongholds and secure the land Then the Romans sent word that he was to leave Egypt or be considered an enemy of Rome

Withdrawal Dan 11:25-27 Antiochus left Egypt in the hands of Ptolemy VI as a vassal, appeasing Rome But Antiochus immediately began gathering a large army to reinvade Ptolemy VI, gathered a large army to defend But the people of Egypt proclaimed Ptolemy VIII, the brother of Ptolemy VI (who eats the portion of his delicacies), as their king After a brief civil war in which the large army was destroyed, the brothers agreed to rule jointly with their sister (who was married to Ptolemy VI)

Other problems Dan 11:28 To add to his problems, Antiochus received news that the Jews had been told he had died The Jews had taken to the streets in celebration Shortly after his coming to the throne, Jason had offered Antiochus a huge sum if he made Jason the High Priest Antiochus deposed Onias, who fled to Egypt, and made Jason high priest On his way to Egypt, Antiochus was in need of money to pay his troops A man named Menelaus offered a huge sum if he could be high priest So Antiochus deposed Jason and installed Menelaus of the tribe of Benjamin

Other problems On hearing Antiochus was dead, Jason returned to Jerusalem and forced Menelaus out as high priest, reinstalling himself So Antiochus IV took his army to Jerusalem Removed Jason and reinstalled Menelaus Plundered the temple treasury, needing more funds for this new larger army Though there was not much after his brother had done the same 6 years earlier And Menelaus had been pilfering treasures to pay his bribes to Antiochus Deciding he couldn’t afford to invade Egypt that year, Antiochus returned home

Conclusion Again the main lesson is the foreknowledge of God He was able to foretell the actions and reactions of various nations and kings Daniel wanted to know what would happen to Israel But what happened to Israel was about more than just Israel And we begin to see Israel’s demise as the priesthood becomes “for sale”, the temple gets violated and robbed, and the people are punished