1/19/13

Mirror, Mirror...




Yesterday, I spent quite a bit of time on my older "Windows" computer, adding notes to my Composite Bible database.  Once in awhile, I would glance at my mouse pad and notice the picture of Linda and I taken at Niagara Falls in 1988.  I love that picture, because we were at a high point in our lives.  We seemed to have everything going for us and there just seemed to be absolutely no limits as to what was possible!!!  Then, this morning, I awoke about 6:30 am and looked in the mirror.  I had gotten old.  What a letdown!!!  Then, when I sat down to write my daily blog I came across both the picture and the video and two passages of Scripture came to mind.  You be the judge as to their relevance...

Genesis, Chapter 17
 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.  2 I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 

  3  Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying,  4 “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations.  5 Neither will your name any more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.  6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you.  7 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you.  8 I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.” 

  9  God said to Abraham, “As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.  10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.  11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you.  12 He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed.  13 He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.  14 The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.” 

  15  God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah.  16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.” 

  17  Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” 18 Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 

  19  God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.  20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.  21 But my covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”

2 Corinthians, Chapter 10
1 Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ; I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.  2 Yes, I beg you that I may not, when present, show courage with the confidence with which I intend to be bold against some, who consider us to be walking according to the flesh.  3 For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh;  4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds,  5 throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ;  6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full.  7 Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again with himself, that, even as he is Christ’s, so also we are Christ’s.  8 For though I should boast somewhat abundantly concerning our authority, (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for casting you down) I will not be disappointed,  9 that I may not seem as if I desire to terrify you by my letters.  10 For, “His letters”, they say, “are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.”  11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such are we also in deed when we are present.  12 For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding. 13 But we will not boast beyond proper limits, but within the boundaries with which God appointed to us, which reach even to you.  14 For we don’t stretch ourselves too much, as though we didn’t reach to you. For we came even as far as to you with the Good News of Christ,  15 not boasting beyond proper limits in other men’s labors, but having hope that as your faith grows, we will be abundantly enlarged by you in our sphere of influence,  16 so as to preach the Good News even to the parts beyond you, not to boast in what someone else has already done.  17 But “he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” 18 For it isn’t he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends. 

After reading these portions of the Bible, I felt much better!!!  Abram must have been overwhelmed at what God said to him.  He was a very, very old man and was told he was going to be a father.  Ninety nine years a father!!!  Paul, author of the majority of the New Testament, was undergoing critism; his brethren in Corinth did not recognize how God was using him.  The Corinthian letters straightened them out, but the thought occurred to me that if people as great as Abraham and the apostle Paul had problems, then why shouldn't I.  Bottom line- its not what I consider great; rather, its what the God of all the Earth plans to do with me.  Whether its a great thing or the most miniscule of uses, I will be happy, for God loves me.  I know I will never be among the top four in the first picture and I never could be as flexible as the girl in the video, but God has a plan for me- young or old. I think that the next time I look in the mirror, I will laugh, because life isn't over till its over!!! The best may be yet to come!!!!!

Don't Quit


Spending Time with Jim McGuiggan

Don't Quit

Someone wrote me just recently wanting to know if it’s really possible to live a holy life here in this world. I may have misread the note but she sounded tired, worn out and weary because she’s been trying so hard to please God and not making a very good job of it. I tend to think that people who write the kind of note she wrote are losing a lot of battles and have begun to wonder if a war against sin is winnable. And what’s worse, they begin to doubt if God is willing to put up with them if they don’t make any better progress than they’re making.
In their worst moments they tell themselves that they can’t really be trying to be Christians, and they have the record of continued wrongs to make a good case for that view. Isolated verses fly through the air that their sensitive and rubbed-raw consciences pick up on. Passages like, "Produce fruit worthy of the name of repentance" and they’re back at grinding self-examination. "Are you truly repentant if you do the same things over and over again?" they ask themselves and they feel sure the answer’s "no". So, if they don’t truly care about sin and holiness what’s the point of pretending? Quit! "Turn from Christ because he wouldn’t want you anyway in that state." That last sentence is a profound lie!
It seems like a thousand years ago but I remember it vividly. I was wrestling with life and with sin and was sure I was being swallowed up by it. The same ugly, cheap and dishonoring sins over and over again. We lived in a little terrace house then and our backyard was a walled in, five by eight feet area of paved space with an outside toilet. I went out there to be alone, burdened terribly by my guilt and I talked to God about it. When I was done I promised him, "I won’t ever do it again." He didn’t speak audibly to me but I heard his gospel assurance that it was okay. But I was back again, repeatedly in the next weeks and months that followed, making even more vows in blood-red earnestness (vows I’d break with monotonous regularity) and God listened patiently and spoke forgiveness in words like those of Christ’s, "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37). This was fine for a while but then the emotional and psychological lift I got with such assurances wore thin and I told myself such verses were not for me.
I clearly remember heading out one evening to the little paved square, looking up at the sky and telling God I was done, that sin had got the best of me and that not even his assurances worked any more. I was certain that he couldn’t want me in my morally pathetic state and in light of the seemingly ceaseless wrongdoing. I found myself arguing with him. Not angry with him, angry with me! I heard myself telling him that the comforting scriptures whirling around in my mind had to apply to someone other than me, someone trying harder than me, someone more successful than me. Maybe it was a whining session but I don’t recall it as that. I hated my evil, hated myself for enjoying my evil even while I hated it. The loving fellowship of the Holy Father wasn't for someone like me. The little dialogue (or something so close to it as makes no difference) between God and I went on in my head that evening as I leaned up against the whitewashed wall in that tiny backyard.
"I’m thinking of quitting."
"I see, Jim, was there ever a time when you didn’t care for me at all?"
"Yes, of course."
"Did I love and want you then?"
"I know you did."
"Suppose you turned away from me and sank like a stone and lived the vilest life of sin imaginable? Would I want you back?"
"I’m sure you would."
"Well, if you quit and go off into a life of sin, not caring whether you please me or
not and I would want you back, why would you bother quitting in the first place?I said, "Who’s quitting?"
(I have a little book called The Power to See it Through and I’ve heard some people say they’ve found it very helpful.)

Bible Reading, Jan. 19


Jan. 19
Genesis 19

Gen 19:1 The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth,
Gen 19:2 and he said, "See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you will rise up early, and go on your way." They said, "No, but we will stay in the street all night."
Gen 19:3 He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Gen 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter.
Gen 19:5 They called to Lot, and said to him, "Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them."
Gen 19:6 Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him.
Gen 19:7 He said, "Please, my brothers, don't act so wickedly.
Gen 19:8 See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don't do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof."
Gen 19:9 They said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!" They pressed hard on the man Lot, and drew near to break the door.
Gen 19:10 But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.
Gen 19:11 They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
Gen 19:12 The men said to Lot, "Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of the place:
Gen 19:13 for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it."
Gen 19:14 Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, "Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking.
Gen 19:15 When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, "Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city."
Gen 19:16 But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and his two daughters' hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.
Gen 19:17 It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, "Escape for your life! Don't look behind you, and don't stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!"
Gen 19:18 Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my lord.
Gen 19:19 See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can't escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die.
Gen 19:20 See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn't it a little one?), and my soul will live."
Gen 19:21 He said to him, "Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
Gen 19:22 Hurry, escape there, for I can't do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Gen 19:23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
Gen 19:24 Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky.
Gen 19:25 He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.
Gen 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Gen 19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh.
Gen 19:28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
Gen 19:29 It happened, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
Gen 19:30 Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.
Gen 19:31 The firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.
Gen 19:32 Come, let's make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed."
Gen 19:33 They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn't know when she lay down, nor when she arose.
Gen 19:34 It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed."
Gen 19:35 They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn't know when she lay down, nor when she got up.
Gen 19:36 Thus both of Lot's daughters were with child by their father.
Gen 19:37 The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.
Gen 19:38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.


Jan. 19, 20
Matthew 10

Mat 10:1 He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.
Mat 10:2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother;
Mat 10:3 Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
Mat 10:4 Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
Mat 10:5 Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, "Don't go among the Gentiles, and don't enter into any city of the Samaritans.
Mat 10:6 Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Mat 10:7 As you go, preach, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!'
Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give.
Mat 10:9 Don't take any gold, nor silver, nor brass in your money belts.
Mat 10:10 Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food.
Mat 10:11 Into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy; and stay there until you go on.
Mat 10:12 As you enter into the household, greet it.
Mat 10:13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it isn't worthy, let your peace return to you.
Mat 10:14 Whoever doesn't receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet.
Mat 10:15 Most certainly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
Mat 10:16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.
Mat 10:18 Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.
Mat 10:19 But when they deliver you up, don't be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say.
Mat 10:20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
Mat 10:21 "Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22 You will be hated by all men for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.
Mat 10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man has come.
Mat 10:24 "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!
Mat 10:26 Therefore don't be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known.
Mat 10:27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.
Mat 10:28 Don't be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
Mat 10:29 "Aren't two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father's will,
Mat 10:30 but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31 Therefore don't be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.
Mat 10:32 Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 10:33 But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 10:34 "Don't think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn't come to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I came to set a man at odds against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Mat 10:36 A man's foes will be those of his own household.
Mat 10:37 He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn't worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 He who doesn't take his cross and follow after me, isn't worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
Mat 10:40 He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.
Mat 10:41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.
Mat 10:42 Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you he will in no way lose his reward."

Daniel: The Vision Of The Time Of The End (II), Mark Copeland

                          "THE BOOK OF DANIEL"

            The Vision Of The Time Of The End - II (11:2-35)

INTRODUCTION

1. In the tenth chapter, we saw the beginning of the final vision
   recorded by Daniel...
   a. A vision that pertains to what will affect Daniel's people (i.e.,
      Israel) - Dan 10:14
   b. Describing what will occur "in the latter days, for the vision
      refers to many days yet to come" - Dan 10:14
   c. Its words were to be closed and sealed "till the time of the end"
      - Dan 12:9
   -- For such reasons this vision has been called "The Vision Of The
      Time Of The End"

2. In the introductory remarks of the vision, we were given a glimpse
   of the spiritual warfare that was going on "behind the scenes"...
   a. With angelic forces withstanding each other - Dan 10:13a,20
   b. With angelic forces helping each other - Dan 10:13b,21; 11:1

[Beginning with Dan 11:2, "The Vision Of The Time Of The End" begins in
earnest.  The "glorious man" proceeds to tell Daniel what will happen
"in the latter days" (Dan 10:14), beginning with...]

I. THE PERSIAN-GREEK CONFLICT

   A. FOUR PERSIAN KINGS WILL ARISE...
      1. Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth - Dan 11:2
         a. The fourth shall be far richer than them all
         b. By his strength and riches, the fourth shall stir up all
            against Greece
      2. As confirmed by history, these kings who followed Cyrus (Dan 10:1) were:
         a. Cambyses
         b. Smerdis
         c. Darius Hystaspis (Darius the Great)
         d. Xerxes (called Ahasuerus in the book of Esther - Es 1:1)

   B. A MIGHTY GREEK KING SHALL RISE AND FALL...
      1. A mighty king shall arise - Dan 11:3
         a. He shall rule with great dominion
         b. He shall do according to his will
         -- This was Alexander the Great
      2. His kingdom shall be broken and divided into four pieces - Dan 11:4
         a. This was also prophesied in Dan 8:21-22
         b. The kingdom will not be given to his posterity, nor will
            the dominion be as great
         c. As confirmed by history, Alexander's empire was eventually
            divided between his four generals after he died in 323 B.C.
            1) Seleucus I - who began the Seleucid (Syrian) empire,
               from Turkey to India
            2) Cassander - who took over Macedonia (Greece)
            3) Lysimachus - who took Thracia (between Greece and
               Turkey)
            4) Ptolemy I - who ruled over Egypt

[At this point, the "glorious man" begins to describe an extended
conflict between "the kings of the North" and "the kings of the South"
which will have a big impact upon the people of Daniel (Israel)...]

II. THE EGYPTIAN-SYRIAN CONFLICT

   A. THE CONFLICT WILL BEGIN...
      1. The "king of the South" will gain in strength - Dan 11:5a
         a. This king is Ptolemy I
         b. Who ruled Egypt (306-284 B.C.)
      2. As well as "one of his princes", who will gain power over the
         other - Dan 11:5b
         a. This is thought to refer to one of Alexander's princes
            (generals)
         b. In which case it is Seleucus I, who ruled Syria (312-280
            B.C.)
      -- Caught in the middle between Syria and Egypt, Israel will bear
         the brunt of much of the conflict between these two empires

   B. THERE WILL BE A FAILED ALLIANCE...
      1. The "daughter of the South" will go to the "king of the North"
         - Dan 11:6a
         a. The event occurred in the reigns of Ptolemy Philadelphus
            (284-246 B.C.) and Antiochus Theus (261-246 B.C.)
         b. Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus was given to
            Antiochus, upon the condition that Antiochus divorce his
            wife Laodice
         c. Hoping to make peace between Egypt and Syria
      2. But the "daughter of the South" will not retain her authority
         - Dan 11:6b
         a. Two years after the marriage, Berenice's father (Ptolemy
            Philadelphus) died
         b. Antiochus put her away and restored his first wife Laodice
         c. Laodice killed Antiochus, and Berenice fled, but was later
            put to death along with her children and attendants

   C. THE SOUTH WILL RISE IN ANGER...
      1. A "branch of her roots" will come with an army - Dan 11:7
         a. This was Berenice's brother, Ptolemy Euregetes (246-221
            B.C.)
         b. Who failing to save his sister, attacked Syria to avenge
            her death
      2. The avenger (Ptolemy Euregetes) will succeed - Dan 11:8
         a. Euregetes took their gods, princes, and precious articles
            to Egypt
         b. Euregetes ruled longer than the next Seleucid king,
            Seleucid Callinicus (246-226 B.C.)

   D. THE CONFLICT WILL ACCELERATE...
      1. The "king of the North" (Seleucid Callinicus) will try to
         invade the kingdom of the South - Dan 11:9-10
         a. He does not succeed, though his sons (Seleucid Ceraunus and
            Antiochus the Great) shall stir up strife
         b. One son in particular, Antiochus the Great (225-187 B.C.),
            does succeed in overwhelming Egypt (actually, regain Syrian
            land taken by Egypt)
      2. The "king of the South" will respond in rage - Dan 11:11-13
         a. This king of Egypt is Ptolemy Philopator (221-204 B.C.)
         b. Angry that Antiochus the Great regained control of Syrian
            territory, he gathered a great army and defeated Antiochus
            at Raphia
         c. His victory was short-lived, for Antiochus returned with a
            better-equipped army in 203 B.C.
      3. Others will contribute to the war against the South - Dan 11:14
         a. This included Philip, king of Macedon, who aligned with
            Antiochus
         b. Also some violent Jews, prompted by what they perceived as
            the fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall
      4. The "king of the North" shall prevail against the South, but
         then fall - Dan 11:15-19
         a. Again, this is Antiochus the Great
            1) The forces of the South were not able to resist him
            2) He stood in the "Glorious Land" (Israel) with
               destruction in his power
         b. He tried to strengthen his kingdom by giving his daughter
            in marriage
            1) His daughter Cleopatra, given to Ptolemy Epiphanes (204-
               180 B.C.)
            2) But she came to favor the purposes of her husband rather
               than her father
         c. Antiochus then turned his attention to the coastlands
            (Mediterranean)
            1) Making war with the Romans
            2) But was defeated by Scipio Asiaticus, a Roman military
               leader
         d. Defeated by the Romans, Antiochus the Great returned home
            and died soon after

[At this point our attention is focused on one leader of the Seleucid
(Syrian) empire, who would have a powerful impact upon the people of
Daniel, Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.)...]

III. THE RISE OF ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES

   A. PRECEDED BY A TAX COLLECTOR...
      1. One who will impose taxes on the "glorious kingdom" (Israel?)
         - Dan 11:20
         a. This is Seleucus Philopator (187-175 B.C.)
         b. Oldest son of Antiochus, and his immediate successor
      2. Whose reign will be short-lived
         a. Compared to his father, who reigned thirty-seven years
         b. Who died, not in battle, but was poisoned

   B. THEN WILL COME A VILE MAN WITH NO HONOR...
      1. Held in contempt, the people will not give him honor - Dan 11:21
         a. His official name was Antiochus "Epiphanes" (the
            Illustrious)
         b. His people refereed to him as Antiochus "Epimanes" (the
            Insane)
      2. He shall take the kingdom peaceably, but with intrigue - Dan 11:21-24
         a. This may refer to his dealings with the Egyptians (or
            perhaps Israel)
         b. After making a league with them, he will act deceitfully
            and become strong with a small number of people
         c. Through peaceful means he will plunder the riches places of
            the province
      3. He will provoke the "king of the South" - Dan 11:25-28
         a. Two times Antiochus invaded Egypt
         b. The Egyptian king, Ptolemy Physcon, sought to oppose him,
            but was betrayed by his own people
         c. Both kings were deceitful liars, but their plotting was
            subject to the times and manner appointed by God
         d. On his return home, Antiochus passed through Israel, and
            was moved against the holy covenant (the institutions of
            the Law of Moses)

   C. HE WILL BRING BLASPHEMIES AGAINST ISRAEL...
      1. Once again Antiochus Epiphanes will head toward the South 
         - Dan 11:29-30a
         a. This was his third invasion
         b. But he was not as successful as before
         c. For Roman ships from Cyprus (Kittim) threatened reprisal 
      2. Frustrated, he will take out his rage against "the holy
         covenant" - Dan 11:30b-32a
         a. By showing regard for those who forsake the holy covenant
         b. By defiling the sanctuary fortress (i.e., the temple)
         c. By taking away the daily sacrifices
         d. By placing there "the abomination of desolation"
         e. By flattering those who do wickedly against the covenant
      3. In the years 169-167 B.C., Antiochus Epiphanes:
         a. Took the city of Jerusalem and plundered the temple
         b. Commanded the Jews to worship the Greek idol which he set
            up in the temple
         c. Put an end to daily sacrifices and polluted the altar by
            offering swine flesh on it
         d. Forbid circumcision, the observance of the Sabbath, and
            possession of a copy of the law

   D. THOSE WHO KNOW GOD WILL RESIST VALIANTLY...
      1. They shall be strong - Dan 11:32b-33a
         a. Carrying out great exploits
         b. Instructing many 
      2. When they fall, they shall receive aid - Dan 11:33b-34
         a. For many days they shall fall by sword, flame, captivity
            and plunder
         b. They will receive a little help, even from many through
            intrigue
      4. When those of understanding fall, it will be to refine them
         - Dan 11:35
         a. To purge them, and make them white
         b. Until "the time of the end; because it is still for the
            appointed time."
      -- The events described here were fulfilled during the Maccabean
         period, which began in 168 B.C. with the revolt of Mattathias
         (an elderly priest) and his five sons

CONCLUSION

1. Up to this point, there is little controversy over the content of
   the vision...
   a. It describes the conflict between the Persians and the Greeks,
      followed by the conflict between the Syrians and the Egyptians
   b. The latter described in detail, because Israel was caught in the
      middle
   c. Israel in particular would suffer the blasphemies of one Syrian
      king, Antiochus Epiphanes

2. From Dan 11:36 on, there is quite a diversity of opinions...
   a. Some believe Antiochus Epiphanes is still the subject
   b. Others suggest that a Roman emperor is being described
   c. Still others believe it refers to someone yet to come

We shall examine the remaining portion of this chapter and the final
chapter in our next study...

Note:  The historical information in this lesson was taken from Albert
       Barnes' commentary on Daniel.

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011