Herbert W Armstrong

   You're not quite there at the time when this event happened in the year, which generally is the sign of the month of December. We generally have had a study related to the matter. This is the story of what took place in the 2nd century B.C. And the struggle of the Jewish community, which was the remnant of the congregation of Israel. In the days of Antiochus Epiphanies, who was an example of a ruler who is yet to come. Without any doubt centered in Europe. This man of course Antiochus Epiphanes who did some remarkable deeds, the like of which have no parallel in history since. Did those deeds between the years 167 and 164 B.C.

   I would like to mention a few things by way of background to tell us the importance of such an event as this. Most of us, of course, realize that we are in continuity with the congregation that God founded through Moses at the foot of Sinai. The exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. Most people do not realize that Christianity as a whole, as we know it, is not in continuity with that. But in the traditions that developed in Mesopotamia and Greece and Rome. Christianity as the world has known it, as reflected in the Christian nations who have warred for 16th centuries since Rome came to be converted to this form of Christianity, takes its roots from the Gentile nations and their customs. And uses biblical material to cover those customs with an illusion that it is of God.

   We are entering that point in time as an illustration, by the way, that we call All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, which is a custom that entered into Christianity when Christianity spread its roots to Northwestern Europe in particular, the British Isles. Such customs are never given anywhere in scripture. The ministry is not asked to manufacture broom handles for you to ride. Nor are we told to tell you to grow pumpkins and how to cut them. Or all the other foolish things that are commonly done at this time of year that we simply take for granted in the world around us.

   And so it is important sometimes when we realize that we are in the continuity of the church that God called in the Old Testament to look at some of the experiences of that church. And to give thanks for the events that reflect their deliverance in terms also of our own files and problems.

   I would like also before I go further and tell a story which many of you have heard if you've been in one of the Bible studies in times past. In an effort to clarify this difference because it is important. It is helpful for us to realize that the Church of God is in continuity with the congregation that Jesus founded in A.D. 31 in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost of Firstfruit. Which was an annual holy day, as you know. We do those things that are characteristic of the church that was established there at Jerusalem. We do it in the manner that is described also in Act 15 in terms of customs not expected. We do not pertain to a temple or a Levitical priesthood, but to those laws, that scripture that God gave to reveal right from wrong. As Paul said, he give heed to all that is written in the law and the prophet.

   Recognizing that there were certain things that were given ancient Israel that had no promise of the Holy Spirit. But, we are the successors of those who were promised the Holy Spirit. And that church was not destined to be a great church any more than the nation Israel was destined in this world to be a great nation. The great and powerful nations that were destined then to rule like Egypt, Syria, Babylon, Persia and Greece, and later Rome, have their parallels religiously in the great and the powerful religions that have dominated this world. But God no more called Israel to be that kind of great nation to rule others then, then he has called the church today to rule over the nations and to determine the character of civilization. That comes in the world tomorrow we are here for training.

   But it was some time ago that I explained what we do to a Jewish scholar, Leon Quarry who sometimes teaches in the United States, otherwise lives in Israel. He is an author of the best work on the Karaite Jew. After I explained to him in the student center where we stand in terms of the law of God, he instantly concluded that we must be heirs, as he says, or said to the Jerusalem church. Most people today, of course, would never have made such a perceptive deduction. But he was right. You should know because he is a historian of the Greek and Jewish world. And he recognized immediately that those characteristic practices of the New Testament Jerusalem Church and the congregations that were in Judea, which were copied by the Greeks and others who were converted, represents the same thing that the churches of God have practiced and taught through time.

   With this in mind, it is therefore much more meaningful to read what happened to those people whom God chose to give his law to and the message of the prophet. See what occurred to them, even though God was not promising them eternal life at that time, as he, of course, did promise a few of the prophets and kings and individuals in the nation. Paul said at a later time that their example and experience is a lesson for us.

   And so I should like to read now from Daniel chapter 8. The background to a prophecy and then to see how that event that fulfilled it worked out. This is quite a story that we should know more about. Many of us, of course, may.

   A vision was given to the father of Nabonitis, the last king of, sorry, to the son of Nabonitis, the last king of Babylon. That is incorrect, let me say it correctly. In the reign of the son of the last king of Babylon Nabonitis, a vision was given to Daniel. After which he wrote this story that gave him as much shock as any in any of the visions he had. He says that when he completed the writing, he was overcome and lay sick for some days, verse 27 (Daniel 8:27). Then I rose and went about the king's business, and I was appalled by the vision but didn't understand it. He saw more than words, he saw activity in his vision. It was so shocking as to be unbelievable.

   As it starts out in the story, he said, I saw in the vision. And when I saw I found myself in Sousa, the capital, which is in the province of Eland, this is modern Southern Persia. And I saw in the vision a ram. This ram had two horns. A great prominence. One more powerful and significant than the other. This particular creature charged westward and northward and southward. I'm reading from the revised standard version. The sense of it is that it was a power centered in the east. And it moves northward into southern Russia. It moved westward through the area of modern Turkey or Asia Minor. And southward, which meant through Syria, Palestine, and into Egypt. And no other beast, a beast is a symbol of a nation. Doing the things that wild animals often do, preying upon one another. No other nation could stand before this one. There was no one who could rescue any nation from this nation's power. And this ram or nation did as he pleased and magnified himself. The explanation comes later.

   Daniel is still having the vision. While he was considering this, a goat came from the west. And this goat marched eastward. Crossed the face of the earth, which meant in various directions, without touching the ground that moved so fast. And the goat had a conspicuous singular horn between the eyes. He came to the ram with the two horn which Daniel had been seeing in his vision on the banks of the river. This would be of course the River Oli or the Euphrates, the Tigris rather. I saw him come close to the ram and he was enraged against him, and he struck the ram and broke his two horns. And the ram had no power to stand before him. But he cast that creature down to the ground and trampled on him and no one could rescue the ram from this. The hand so the he-goat magnified himself very greatly. And when he was strong, the great horn was snapped or broken. And instead of it there came up for conspicuous ones. Governing the various directions of the compass.

   What is important now is to note what follows that out of one of them came forth a little horn, which I will not further discuss, but to give you background. Let us move on to verse 18 (Daniel 8:18), which is the explanation Daniel received. He had been in a deep sleep with his face to the ground as if he in a sense had fallen unconscious. And the angel Gabriel said to him, I will make known to you what will be at the latter end of the indignation. Because all of this really pertains to the appointed time of the end. Now in being in reference to the appointed time of the end, we will often discover that there will have been parallels in the interim. Written for our learning.

   As for the ram, which you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media, the lesser horn, and Persia, the greater. The he goat is the king of Greece to the west, Javan, Javan of course, is the son of Japheth, was an ancestor of the Greeks and other people. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king, that is Alexander. And as for the horn that was broken, that great horn, in place of which 4 others arose, 4 other main kingdoms should rise from his nation, but not with his power. They would be lesser, they'd divide his realm. And at the latter end of their rules, when the transgressors have reached their full measure, a king of bold countenance, one who understands riddles shall arise. His power shall be great. He shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does and destroy mighty men and the people of the saint.

   Now we won't go on with this explanation because I'm picking up the story where I left it off in verse 9. Of the 4 divisions, there was one that was centered north of Palestine. This one centered north of Palestine, we call modern Syria, ancient Arum governed by a Greek family descended from Seleucus. And we speak of this as the Seleucid Empire as we do the Egyptian realm as the Palmaic Empire named after the Greek general Palmy, and both of them were involved in the support of Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire, somewhere in the realm of 332 to 331 as the empire was destroyed step by step.

   So out of one of the divisions, there came forth a little horn which grew exceedingly toward the south, verse 9 of Daniel 8 (Daniel 8:9). The movement of this power centered in Syria brought it southward. Toward the east, that is through Babylon to Persia. Toward the glorious land, that is Palestine, now toward the south certainly would have reference to Egypt most expressly because Egypt was commonly called the land of the South. So it is a reference to a power that will spread from Syria through Mesopotamia eastward into the Holy Land and through the area of the Sinai into Egypt proper.

   It grew great, even to the hosts of heaven. And some of the hosts of the stars had cast to the ground. That's what Daniel saw in this vision. And trampled on them. Now, of course, we shall learn what the meaning of this is when we look at the explanation later in the chapter. Said this power, the leader of it magnified himself even to the prince of the hosts. He put himself in the place of the one who is the prince of the host.

   Now, since those who are saints are pictured as stars shining in the resurrection, since Paul speaks of the resurrection in terms of the host of heaven. The implication from this is that as the Creator God created, of course, the universe and all the starry realm we see. So also, the Prince who in this case could be none other than the Messiah Jesus Christ, who is over the saints or the church, who are to shine like the stars of heaven composed of spirit and the resurrection. Paul defines that clearly in I Corinthians 15. This person magnifies himself even to the level of God who is Jesus Christ.

   Now this man, as we will see, was Antiochus Epiphany. Epiphanes means the manifestation of God. The family often took this name. They had such names as Epiphanes and Thaos, the manifestation and God. So Antiochus Epiphanes put himself in a place as if he were the manifestation in the flesh of deity. And it says the continual burnt offering was taken away from him, the prince, against whom Antiochus in symbol in an earlier time stood up. And the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. The host was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through transgression.

   Now, what we are seeing here is a picture that already was sufficiently muddled in Daniel's mind that he simply didn't understand it. For on the one hand, it was the story of something to take place in the latter days, as we shall see. And in another hand, it had its parallel in times past. And if I have presumed at this point to give a historic background to it we shall read the story in support of that. We shall also see parallels in the future. Here was a man who once did, and there shall be a man who again shall fulfill this.

   The Jews, of course, with the temple had a continual offering in the morning and in the evening. It was a morning sacrifice and an evening sacrifice. This sacrifice was presented to God, but in this case, Yahweh, who is not the one in this point who is the father, but the one whom we know as the Son Jesus Christ, who was in the tabernacle and then also his presence was in the temple. And the continual burnt offering was presented to him and so it was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. That is the temple area was overrun and the building was dismantled. And the host that is in this case, the physical host were the children of Judith, the remnant of all of the tribes of Israel, because the other tribes had long since abandoned the faith and been driven into Assyrian captivity. The host was given over to it. That is through this horn, this man whom we know historically as Antiochus Epiphany, together with the continual burnt offering, all this happened through transgression. Not only was the nation overrun, but the burnt offering seat.

   Truth was cast to the ground. And the horn acted and prospered. It happened because there was transgression. That is a very important point to note. Then I heard a holy one, an angel, speaking in the vision one to another and asked how long is the vision concerning the continual burn offering. The transgression that makes desolate, the giving over of the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot. And it was reported to him for 2300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.

   I will pause here for a moment to explain the Seventh Day Adventist. Who once held fellowship before they adopted that name of the churches of God. In the middle of the last century, had rised among them a prophetus Ellen G. White. Whether she received her visions from God can be examined briefly by noting her conclusions pertaining to verse 14. These were this prophecy, these words of verse 14 represented 2300 day and a day for a year. She assumed an evening and the morning here were in reference to a date. And today prophetically might be a year and they concluded that it was 2300 years from 457 B.C. to 1844 A.D. And this was originally thought to be the time when the sanctuary and certain practices of the Jewish law pertaining to the temple would be restored, which proved not to be the case.

   And those who were then Adventists that had no knowledge of the Sabbath, recognized that there was something wrong with what they had accepted from William Miller. But it was not many years later, having learned of the Sabbath and many Adventists, fellowshipping with the remnant of the Church of God in the middle of the last century, that there arose a prophetess, Ellen G. White, the wife of their editor, Mr. White. And she concluded that all of this pertained to heaven and not earth. That somehow heaven would have all this happened for 2300 years. That's from 457 B.C. all that we have read here of God thrown in heaven being overthrown and uh you can imagine the unreality of it, but the bulk of the people believed it.

   There's nothing here that would indicate that we are describing the state of God's government and his throne in heaven, nor was there anyone around 457 B.C. who played any such role as this because the king who then ruled was the king of Persia not Grease. And this prophecy is clearly the story of what happened after Alexander came on the scene and the four divisions that followed his death. Yet the Adventists accepted as a prophecy of God what clearly was not. And they assumed it began at a time when the king of Persia was Artaxerxes and they dated it to the year in which the decree of Artaxerxes was given to Ezra to refurbish the temple and to restore the center of worship and government at Jerusalem. A man who by no means did anything like this.

   The churches of God saw through the folly of the prophecy that she had given immediately. And the reason why the churches of God have never maintained fellowship with the Seventh Day Adventist is that they knew that her conclusion was wrong. I want to make that very thing because most of us have never understood it, maybe never have had to understand it. But when anyone makes a claim to represent God, you better go to the scriptures to find out the validity of the claim. Very plain.

   The ram was overthrown. The he-goat overthrew it. The first king was dead, the horn was broken. 4 arose, and out of one of them came a power that did this. Alexander came on the scene and finally overthrew the Persian Empire in 331 to 330. It was the final battle, but 331 is really the demise of the realm. Alexander died in 323. We are down when we come to the real story of when this happened in history to 167 to 164, yet.

   Those who followed that woman as a prophetess placed this prophecy in 457. That's why if anyone has judgment, it would be impossible to conclude that her revelations came from God. Nor is there any indication in heaven or on earth that anything happened in 1844. But we will dismiss it, but I think it is important for you to know.

   We'll drop down to the later explanation that Daniel received of some of this. I've already read that in the latter end of the indignation. For it pertains to the appointed time at the end, verse 19, we have now an explanation given. God is going to step in. Man is in a state of rebellion against God. That is the picture. This is long after ancient Media and Persia. It shows that the divisions of the Greek world will have come down to a time leading to the presence of the Messiah against.

   The Greek world was swallowed by the Romans. The Roman Empire has had its revivals continually through history. One in our lifetime for the many who are over 35 was Mussolini's revival in the Mediterranean and Adolf Hitler's revival north of the Alps. You had Napoleon's revival. The northern division that we think of Syria was followed by Rome. And if you were to look in Daniel 8, you would see how the Empire of Rome has continued a government up and down. Till the final conclusion of events in the 11th chapter that lead to the coming of Christ. Set up the government of God.

   And here we have an indication that one of the divisions of this horn of this beast continues and in the latter end of the rule. We have some interesting thoughts. Now in the latter end of the rule of the 4th divisions. As Rome was approaching to swallow them up. There was a man in Antiochus Epiphany. And in the latter end of Rome, the Roman Empire, with Napoleon [inaudible]. And we have the clear indication yet that the prophecy is for the end of human experience.

   As it says, the man who rises. I will pick it up at the end of chapter 8, verse 23 of Daniel (Daniel 8:23). He understands little. Unusual dark pain. His power will be great. He will cause fearful destruction. He will succeed in what he does and destroy mighty men and the people of the saints. By his cunning, he shall make defeat prosper under his hands. And in his own mind, he shall magnify himself. Without warning, he shall destroy many. Without warning, he shall destroy many. What happened, of course, in January 1979 had its parallels without warning. And he shall rise up against the prince of princes. And he shall be destroyed, but by no human hands.

   In other words, this final man who does this, of whom Antiochus Epiphanes was an example, rises up and meets Christ Himself, who descends from heaven, and no human hand but the hand of deity bring about his end. You will be flung into a lake of fire in the valley of Hinnom around Jerusalem. Peace will be restored. And the vision of the evenings and the mornings, which has been told is true, but Daniel was said to seal up the vision for it pertains to many days hence.

   Now we'll go back a moment to take a look at the rest of the story. What did happen? I will read here basically from Maccabees, but I would tell you that the background of its fulfillment. It's found in the book of Daniel chapter 11. Within that time, verse 20 (Daniel 11:20) that the king of Sirius sent someone to exact taxes, that was Heliodorus. He didn't last very long. In his place, there arose and Antithesis Epiphanies, a contemptible person to whom Royal Majesty has not been given. And he came in without warning and obtained the kingdom by tannery. The death of the father.

   Through him armies were utterly swept away. And there was a problem that involved the prince of the covenant. This prince pertained to the leader of the tribe of Levi of the family of Aaron this is speaking of the king of the high priest. And from the time that an alliance is made with him, he would act deceitfully. He shall become strong with a small people without warning. He shall come into the richest part. Did you notice that he does this without warning. We turn back and it says in verse 25 of Daniel 8 (Daniel 8:25), without warning. The man who is going to stand up against Christ suddenly does what he does without warning. There are no preliminary expectations. It suddenly happened. We have plenty of warnings in the world today. What's going on in Iraq and Persia and elsewhere. These are plenty of warnings for what is going to happen will occur without warning, absolutely unexpectedly.

   We move along in the account. He comes into the richest parts of the province. We will do that which neither his fathers nor his father's fathers had done, scattering plunder, spoil, and goods in order to gain reputation and prestige. He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South that is Egypt. With a great army and I will skip the preliminaries there, having gotten not what he expected at that point, he returns to his own land. And his heart is set against the holy covenant, verse 28. And so there came a time appointed, which turns out to be 2 years later, that he returned to the Holy Land and comes into the South. But it was not like the previous time and the Romans ordered him not to do certain things. And he became very angry.

   I should say I didn't get the picture quite clearly that there was an earlier event. Then in 169, he comes into the South and the Roman armies do this. And he was quite concerned. He turned back and was enraged and took action against the holy covenant. And it was 2 years later that he came down between 169 when the Romans were there and stopped him in Egypt in 167. He shall turn back and give heed to those who forsake the holy covenant.

   Now what is interesting is that he listened to those who became enemies within Judas. Within Levi of the covenant and the laws of God. He listened to those who had departed from God's law, those who had their own ideas, who had forsaken the holy covenant. Forces from him then shall appear, and he profanes the temple and the fortress and shall take away the continual burnt offering. That's exactly what we had already in Daniel 8. And they will set up the abomination that makes desolate, and he will seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant. But the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. This was the story of the Maccabees till 164 and of course later. And those among the people who are wise shall make many understand though they fall by sword and flame and captivity and plunder for some days. When they fall, they shall receive a little help. And we won't go any further than the explanation here because we proceed through time.

   What is significant and what I want to read here, perhaps at this particular time, it is very important to realize that there is a man who does what he does on the political scene without warning. He also, when dealing with Judas, listens to those who have abandoned their responsibility. And have turned their back on the holy covenant. There were remarkable parallels because in the problem which we faced in the end of 1978 that we did not know about and in the beginning of 1979 that we suddenly learned of without warning, the Attorney General's office of the state of California and those under him, the deputy in reality was the primary figure in it. He listened to those who forsook the holy covenant. He gave heed. And they thought that the church was small enough to take. And rich enough to be worth it. Just like they thought that Judah was small enough as it was and wealthy enough to be worth the effort. But that was only again, just a sample or a parallel.

   I'd like to read, however, the story because there are other factors in it, not alone recorded in Daniel that might be of interest in seeing how events like this may suddenly occur. That they occurred in the congregation Judas. In the church that God had then, they could easily also occur at some later time. And the original events in 167 to 164 would necessarily in the Bible sense have a parallel well into the future, the same as the events that affected us in 1979 that have their parallels in the future again. Do not assume. And however, we may give thanks for this occasion as the Jews gave thanks in 164, the problems will not recur.

   I read now from the first book of the Maccabees. The Maccabees was this Jewish family. This is a part of that literature which is labeled apocryphal. It means not false or untrue, it merely means that which was hidden or not normally shown as a part of canon on the Sabbath day. It was not a part of canon. Even in the traditional Christian denominations, it is considered Duro, canonical, or secondary. It is not a part of that literature which was preserved in the synagogue for the church as a part of scripture. It does, however, have historic importance, as also the works of Josephus or Herodotus, the Greek historian.

   There came a time after the death of Alexander and the lineage of the Seleucid. So the sign of the stock of the Seleucid family. A rose, a wicked man. Antiochus Epiphanes, the son of King Antiochus. He had been a hostage in Rome. The Romans were often ones to do that. Before he succeeded to the throne in the year 137 of the Greek era. That is 175 B.C. At that time, there appeared in Israel a group of renegade Jews who incited the people. I can say that one could conclude also that in the Church of God in the middle of this past decade there appeared a group of renegades who incited the people and who spread rumors from headquarters. In fact, they were spread from the 4th floor of the Hall of Administration.

   Now, the conclusion of these Jews was, let us enter into a covenant with the Gentiles round about. Because disaster upon disaster has overtaken us since we segregated ourselves from them. Which was of course unproved. The disasters were yet to come. But every group of people has its ups and downs. The disasters always come from sin or transgression of God's law. Those among us wanted to be like the Gentiles round about. Beginning of celebration of birthday parties, just as an illustration, begin to do the things that people around us commonly do with the same friend. The people thought this a good argument, and some of them in their enthusiasm went to the king and received authority to introduce non-Jewish laws and tests. They built a sports stadium in the Gentile style in Jerusalem. They removed their marks of circumcision through minor operations and repudiated the holy covenant. They intermarried with Gentiles and abandoned themselves to evil ways.

   The interesting thing, of course, is to realize that there were those who had left the church or were leaving the church spiritually and hadn't yet been dealt with, who went to this world government and presented some ideas that ultimately ended in the hands of the office of the Attorney General.

   When he was firmly established on his throne, Antiochus made up his mind to become king of Egypt and so to rule over both nations. Now I will skip that. This is the story of how he came to the South. On his return from Egypt, in the year 143 of the Greek era, which was 169, Antiochus marched with a strong force against Israel. The Jews had the name Israel then and Jerusalem. In his arrogance, he entered the temple and carried off the golden altar, the lamp stand with all its equipment, the table for the bread of the presence, that's where the 12 loaves were that represented Israel, the 12 pride, the sacred cups and bowls of golden sensors and curtains and the crown.

   Now, you see what he does in his arrogance, he enters the temple and carts away what he had no right to do. There were interesting parallels when the Hall of Administration, which was in a sense the administrative center of the various institutions making up this work was seized on that Wednesday in the first week of January, the 3rd of January. And they tried to cart off and in fact did cart off things. But legally, we are still going to see are properly returned and the copies they have in their possession which they first tried to take are ultimately in ours as well as the original documents.

   He stripped off all the gold plating from the temple front and seized the silver, gold and precious vegetables, sorry, precious vessels. And what, uh, my mind must have slipped onto my wife's garden. Whatever secret treasures he found and took them all with him when he left for his own country. He caused much bloodshed. 2 years later, the king sent to the towns of Judea, a high revenue official who arrived at Jerusalem with a powerful force. His language was friendly and full of guile. For once he had gained the city's confidence, he suddenly attacked it. He dealt with a heavy blow and killed many Israelites, plundering the city and setting it ablaze. He pulled down houses and walls on every side and men, women and children were made prisoners and the cattle were seized. The city of David was turned into a citadel. They walled it around.

   Then the king issued a decree throughout his empire. His subjects were all to become one people and abandon their own laws and religion. The nations everywhere complied with the royal command and many in Israel accepted the foreign worship, sacrificing to idols and profaning the Sabbath. Moreover, the king sent agents with written orders to Jerusalem and the towns of Judea. Ways and customs foreign to the country were to be introduced. Burnt offerings, sacrifices, libations were forbidden. Sabbath and feast days were to be profaned. The temple and its ministry defiled. Altars, sacred precincts to be established, swine and another unclean beast to be offered in sacrifice. The sons to be left uncircumcised. They must make themselves in every way abominable, unclean and profane, and so forget the law and change all their statutes.

   The penalty for disobedience was death. Such was the decree which the king issued to all his subjects. He appointed superintendents over all the people and instructed the town to Judea to offer sacrifice town by town. People fallen to their side in large numbers. Every one of them a traitor to the wall. Their wicked conduct throughout the land drove Israel into hiding in every possible place of refuge.

   Now what is important in this story to realize is that the event that first led to the seizure of the temple and the taking of things that this king had no right to when they without warning did this occurred in 169. It was only later, not earlier, that he issued a decree and came back and did the evil things that I am now reading. It was earlier that those who had forsaken the covenant entered into an agreement to go to the king. It is interesting to note that in this story is a twofold situation. So that whatever parallels there are that start out with renegades among the Jews who incite the people and the seizure of God's then property. As a later event which follows. In this case, it was 2 years later. It was the same man who was involved, by the way. It was all in his lifetime. He's an example. It does not mean the same individual in a future series of events would be the same. But I draw to your attention that it was two separate events.

   The first event. That occurred separately from the story of the 2300 evenings and mornings. I haven't even gotten to that yet. It is the first event that has its unique parallels with us, the talk. What happened now, two years later. It's a very tragic case, which we have all some knowledge in our reading if we have read of this period and tried to understand Daniel 11. The sacrifices were forbidden. The temple the decree could be defiled. Superintendent. We're placed everywhere town by town. And Israel that would be obedient had to go into hiding. This would bring us into the month of Kislev, let us say, in 167. So on the 15th day of the month Kislev, history would have been the month corresponding with our August September, and in September the sacrifice is ceased.

   And then on the 15th day of the month Kislev, the 9th month that corresponds, that's not the 9th Roman month. This was the 9th month of the Hebrew calendar. In the year 145 of the Greek era, that is 167 B.C. The abomination of desolation was set up on the altar. Pagan altars were built throughout the towns of Judea. Incense was offered at the doors of houses and in the streets. Scrolls of the law were torn up and burned. Anyone discovered in possession of a book of the covenant or conforming to the law was put to death for the king's orders. Thus month after month, these wicked men used their power against the Israelites whom they found in their town. And on the 25th day of the month they offered sacrifice on the pagan altar which is on top of the altar of the Lord. They put the deaf women who have their children circumcised, their babies and families, and those who have circumcised them, they hanged by the neck.

   Yet many in Israel found strength to resist taking a determined stand against eating any unclean food. They welcome death rather than defile themselves and profane the holy covenant. Now it is significant to note that what I am reading here has many parallels in what Jesus calls the Great Tribulation. When you have religious persecution leading to death in the name of religion. We've had no such thing in our experience. But you do know the interesting thing that you have an event which has many parallels to our own experience, and then it is followed here also by another event that has its parallel with the Great Tribulation. And so we have to realize that there is coming a time when there will be a fulfillment of what is called in Matthew and Mark and Luke in Revelation a time of tribulation such as has never been since man was on the earth. If you think what was done by the Roman Empire to Christians and heretics, Jews. You If you think of what was done in the name of Christianity in the Middle Ages, what is done in the name of religion elsewhere in the world, what was done in the name of the German Aryan nation in the last war. With terrible. Jesus said that there is coming one last time such that nothing that has ever happened is like it and never will be again. But not even what Antiochus did, where he fried the children in the eyes of their mothers because they had been circumcised. And cut out the tons of people, you can read that in a second Maccabee.

   Well, some of the Jews did stand up especially the Maccabean family. I will skip all of that because that is better read and I'll read you the conclusion here. It is important that we look at the end of the story in our brief period of time that we have. Judith detailed troops to engage the garrison of the citadel, which was the city of David, while he cleansed the temple. This is the first Maccabees in chapter 4. In verse 41, it's divided like the Bible. I happen to have the new English Bible because it has it here. In the common Bible, you would also find it used, these are Bibles that are used. Broadly speaking, throughout the Protestant world, where the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church also use the same Bible where they share. The mutually the apocryphal along with the Hebrew scriptures of the New Testament, that's why it's here and I'm just using it instead of some separate translation.

   He selected priests without blemish, devoted to the law that purified the temple, moving to an unclean place of stones which defiled him. Cleansed all the area. They rebuilt the temple, restored its interior, consecrated the temple courts. They renewed the sacred vessels and the lampstand and brought the altar of incense and the table into the temple. They just simply made new ones in accordance with the law. They burnt incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lampstand to shine within the temple. And then they put the bread of the presents on the table. Thus early on the 25th day of the 9th month. The month Kislev in the year 148 of the Greek era, which is 164, sacrifice was offered as the law commands on the newly made altar of burnt offering. It was the anniversary of the day when the Gentiles had proclaimed it with their sacrifices, and it was rededicated with hymns and thanksgiving, and they kept the rededication, which is the festival of Hanukkah, for eight days.

   Now, of course, the time from the 25th day of the 9th month, that's in December 167 to 164, that's the time when the pagan sacrifices. And the fultnation of the altar had occurred, but the sacrifices had ceased even before for the simple reason that we already have heard that on the, I, I'm turning back on the story here. That on the 15th day of the month, the abomination was set up on the altar and previous to that, the Israelites had been driven into the cap. Into caves and wherever they could find some respite. And this had occurred. As that I already read to you month after month. Until you come to the events at the end of Kislev.

   So we're really dealing with the fulfillment of that prophecy of Daniel 8 which says 2300 evenings and mornings, there would be no sacrifice and it's really speaking of evening and morning sacrifices because when referred to quite often, the word sacrifice was not even used. Evening and mourning may mean evening and morning of the day or it may mean when pretending to sacrifices, the evening and morning sacrifice. And so you really have 1150 sacrifices, sorry, 2300 sacrifices on 1150 days. That is, since two occur today, you divide 2300 by 2 and you get 1150. So there were 1150 days. This would take us essentially to the end of the month of Kislev in 167 or the end of September and would bring us to the end of December in 164. And there were then during that period, 1150 days during which the altar had no sacrifices, which the people were persecuted and abomination was then set up.

   And the 1150 days pertain to the events in the days of the Maccabi. They are a type of things to come. 1150 days or the 2300 evening and morning sacrifices pertain to the circumstances that were imposed on the Jewish community. 167 to 164 B.C. They followed, remember a time when the church of Israel, the congregation of Israel had already found men. Who had betrayed the covenant and their responsibility, wanted to be like the Gentiles, had gone to the king. And where the temple had and its contents been seized. The problem of the 1150 days and that terrible period of persecution was the event that followed later. This is what I want to emphasize.

   That what Daniel was describing. It is not altogether clear, but what Daniel is describing are events in the 2nd century B.C. and events. That are going to happen at the close of this age. As they unfolded, interestingly enough, from the book of Daniel chapter 11. We see the two distinct events that he went to Egypt. Went to Palestine and funded it. And then came back. So that what we have to recognize and what I want to leave you with is that we may rejoice today in 1980. Of the fact that the political problems that we have had to deal with in court. In terms of whether the decisions and spending of money. Sums of money, direction of the sums of money rests with the state or rest with the church. But that the real crisis that befell ancient Judah. The church whose successors we are. Have yet to come. In the same way that whatever problems we have had. Trials, we shall call them. The tribulation. It was not. The tribulation is yet to come.

   What is yet to come is then defined also in the book of Daniel chapter 12. As well as the end of Chapter 11. But I think it's important to realize that very specifically, we have denied it before because we really didn't realize it, but when you carefully read the book of Maccabees, the story in Daniel chapter 8 of the 1150 days is the story of what really did happen then. And it is very important to realize that that was a type of the great tribulation to come. The events to come have different numerations in Daniel chapter 12. 1260 days, 1290 days, 1,335 days are all mentioned. That's another subject, we don't have time for it. But I want to make it clear that we really have the evidence laid out sufficiently in Daniel 8 and in the book of Maccabees to know we were dealing with the fulfillment of the 2300 evening and morning sacrifices. From near the close of Tishri to near the close of Kislev, these are the Jewish months, over a 3 year and 2 month period, nearly. That's the 1150 days, half of 2300.

   It was preceded by a trial where there were enemies in the church. They tried to destroy the church of that day by contacting the king and telling him the wealth that was in the temple, like it was said that this was a wealthy church. And there were some who thought they could plunder it. But the remarkable thing is, that if we have had it, have had parallels to that early event in 169 B.C. We shall have to reckon with the fact. They're coming yet. Other events that will lead to the great tribulation and will lead to international crises of proportion far beyond anything we have imagined, because what is to come is a religious crisis in the whole Western world. What we have now at this moment is a crisis in Islam. What we have in this world is a crisis between state and church in the United States and in other areas and in Poland for that matter. In Eastern Europe, and it is going to be a worldwide crisis between Christianity and Islam and Judaism and atheism and faith and church. And the whole world is going to be angry and people and nations angry with one another.

   And we who have thus far been given grace and favor. We can say that we have been given grace and favor of the nations of the world wherever we have gone. It is said of the church before it is all over, that we shall be hated of all nations in the same way that the United States. Especially in Britain's secondarily had given many things to the world, this country above all. To enable them to get back on their feet after World War II. And the nations that once acknowledged us and wanted the dollar. Could hardly resist taking the dollar from you in 1955 when I was in Europe. I remember in Denmark. You owed $1 you had a $5 bill. I didn't want to give you $4 in change. Now they could suck it down our throat as far as they're concerned. And our people are held hostage. It's something you couldn't imagine. That President Eisenhower ever would have stood for in 1955. But this is a different world.

   I hope brethren in that as I finish the story here today, you will realize that there is a lot to Daniel 8 and 11 at this point in the book of Maccabees in support. The show that a crisis that may have passed. It really a prelude to one of such proportion that it will not only affect us but ultimately the whole world and the world will have to give an account. And that is why God must intervene to save the world from its own anger and folly. We have passed one trial. We have yet to face the crisis to come. Jesus spoke of that one in terms of Revelation chapter 12. That some will be delivered. And others will endure it. But give thanks for what thus far has happened. Sufficient, you know, for each day it's its own evils.