PURIFIED BY A VILE KING

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on September 22, 2024 under 2024 |

Bethany Bible Church Sermon Message from September 22, 2024 from Daniel 11:21-35

Theme: God permits times of oppression to fall upon His people in order to refine them for Himself.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Daniel is the most important book we could ever read about politics.

That might surprise you. And you might even question it at first. After all, you’ll look in vain for anything in that Old Testament book that will tell you who to vote for. But the reason it’s the most important book on that subject is because it tells us authoritatively Who is ultimately in control of the outcome of politics. And what’s more, it tells us what He has already decreed that outcome to be.

As we have been finding in the section of Daniel that we’ve been studying most recently—Daniel 11—it’s God, our sovereign heavenly Father, who is ultimately in control of the politics of this world. We’ve been able to see this from verses 2-20; where the prophet Daniel was given a vision of 350 years of history before it occurred. He was shown a picture of the battles that would be fought, from his time forward, between the northern kings of Syria and the southern kings of Egypt in remarkable detail—all of the details of which had been fulfilled in actual history just as God had decreed. The great lesson that this teaches us is that the nations and kingdoms of this world are absolutely under His sovereign control—even with all of the deceit and dirty dealings of earthly politics that we see going on around us today; and those kingdoms end up doing exactly as He has decreed from the beginning. That’s not to say that it doesn’t matter what we do. We, of course, still have our responsible parts to play in it all. It’s just that all of it—even our responsible parts; and even the parts over which we have no control—is ultimately in His sovereign hand for our good and His glory.

And as we’ll see later on at the end of this vision, the outcome of it all will be that God’s Son Jesus Christ will return to this earth bodily—in power and great glory—and will absolutely reign over the kingdoms of this world as King of kings and Lord of lords from His throne from the city of Jerusalem. We will see this especially in verses 36-45 and on into Chapter 12. This vision shows us that there’s a world ruler who will arise in the end times—the Antichrist—who will mislead many into worshiping him, and who will cause great tribulation in this world and harassment of the Jewish people. But he will only come in the time that God has decreed; and his destruction will be followed by the glorious reign of Jesus on this earth. And the great lesson that that section of Daniel’s vision will teach us is that—no matter what else may transpire in this world, and no matter what human political powers may try to make happen, and no matter what even the devil himself may try to do to thwart it—King Jesus will reign just as God has promised.

Truly, Daniel is the most important book we could ever read about politics. It tells us things about the political flow of things—in terms of God’s ultimate plan—that we would never know otherwise. And being well-instructed by this book will give us hope in seemingly hopeless times.

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And that’s what brings us to our section this morning. It’s found in verses 21-35. It mainly tells us the story of one king. At the time that Daniel was given this vision, this king would not arise in history for another three-and-a-half centuries. But he eventually did arise—and reigned from 175 to 164 B.C. His time was only a relatively short period of a little over 11 years; and he really wasn’t very important in terms of the larger story of world history. But with respect to God’s prophetic plan for His chosen nation Israel, this particular king was the most significant king of the period between the Old and the New Testament. We know him from the history books as Antiochus IV Epiphanes—the king of the northern kingdom of Syria.

We’ve already encountered him in our study of the Book of Daniel. Do you remember how, in Chapter 8, Daniel was given a vision of two animals in conflict with each other? One was a ram that had two horns; with one horn having grown larger than the other. This, we were told, represented the Median-Persian empire; which was the kingdom in power at the time when Daniel was living. The other animal was a he-goat with one prominent horn. This represented the Grecian empire; and that one horn represented that empire’s greatest king—Alexander the Great. He came with mighty force against the Median-Persian empire and trampled it.

And do you remember how, afterward, that one horn became replaced by four? After Alexander died, his kingdom was divided among his four generals—two of them were Ptolemy I who reigned over Egypt, and Seleucus I who reigned over Syria. In the passage that we looked at in our last time together, we learned about how God promised that those two kingdoms—and their successive kings—would do battle with each other for almost three-and-a-half centuries. The prophetic story of it all was told to us in verses 2-20; and it all happened in history just as God promised.

Well; in Daniel 8:8-12, we read these words concerning those four Greek horns—and specifically concerning the horn of the Seleucid kings of the north;

“And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered” (Daniel 8:9-12).

This wouldn’t be a ‘great horn’; like Alexander was. This would just be a little horn—not significant in history as a whole. But his destructive impact upon the people of Israel would be horrific beyond proportion to his overall place in history. The little horn described in Daniel 8:9-12 was the monstrous tyrant Antiochus IV Epiphanes; and his story is told to us in Daniel 11:21-35.

But the remarkable thing about his story is that—throughout the vision that was given to Daniel regarding him—it’s made very clear that his coming, the time of his wicked activities, and the outcome of it all, were constantly kept in God’s sovereign hand and under God’s sovereign control. And the outcome of this wicked king’s brutal activities against the Jewish people would be that they would be refined, and purified, and made white before God through the trials they would suffer.

And this gives us the great lesson of this passage. It’s a lesson that has great significance to you and me—living as followers of Jesus in the midst of the seemingly chaotic and out-of-control politics of this world. It’s that the mighty God who is in complete control of history permits times of oppression to fall upon His people in order to refine them and purify them for Himself.

And that’s an important lesson on politics that you can only learn from God’s revealed word—and particularly from this great book on politics—the Book of Daniel.

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So; let’s see how this important lesson is taught to us through the prophetic vision God gave Daniel regarding Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The first thing that we see is …

1. HIS APPEARANCE IN HISTORY.

The story begins where we left it off in our last time together. We were told how one of the kings of the northern kingdom of Syria—Seleucus IV—died in 176 B.C. He was murdered by his double-crossing prime minister and tax collector Heliodorus. After the death of Seleucus IV, the kingdom should have rightfully gone to his son Demetrius. But it didn’t. While Demetrius was in captivity in Rome—at a time when there was a false sense of security in Syria brought about by Seleucus’ murder—it was then that Demetrius’ uncle Antiochus stepped in to take over. Verse 21 tells us;

“And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue” (Daniel 11:21).

And notice how the angel described him. All the kings that preceded him were very wicked—with all their murders and immoralities and double-dealings. But this king was particularly called out as “a vile person”; so he must have been an extraordinarily wicked individual. And indeed he was!

The name he gave himself was Antiochus Epiphanes; which meant “Antiochus the Resplendent One”. He actually thought of himself as a god on earth. But behind his back—in careful whispers—people referred to him as Antiochus Epimanes; which meant “Antiochus the Madman”. But he was a clever madman; and he used the opportunity to seize a throne that didn’t belong to him through intrigue.

Antiochus ended up marrying his brother’s widowed wife in order to secure his place on his brother’s throne. And his acts of intrigue seemed remarkably successful. This vision goes on to tell us about …

2. HIS ACQUISITION OF POWER.

Verse 22 tells us about how the forces of the southern kingdom would rise up to oppose him; but …

“With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken” (v. 22a).

How could it be that this madman was able to acquire the throne of power, and conquer all opposition, so easily and so quickly? It would have to be because the sovereign God of heaven—who decrees the end from the beginning—ordained that it would be so long before it happened. Verse 22b even tells us that, among those who were swept along by him, was the new king of Egypt himself—King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. He’s who the prophecy mentions in the later half of verse 22;

“and also the prince of the covenant” (v. 22b).

You see; the wife of King Ptolemy in the south just happened to be the sister of King Antiochus in the north. So; after having defeated Ptolemy V, it was easy for Antiochus to talk him into forming a covenant with him—an agreement by which they would be in union with one another. Ptolemy V was “the prince of the covenant” with whom Antiochus forged this agreement.

But Antiochus was a truly devious ruler. Verse 23 tells us;

“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” (v. 23).

By his deceitfulness in this phony league with Ptolemy V, Antiochus was able to expand his opportunity to seize power over the south—and all while having just a small force at his disposal. And while this was going on in the south, he managed to expand his power and influence in the northern regions through …

3. HIS CLEVER POLITICS.

Verse 24 tells us;

“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” (v. 24).

Notice how we’re told that his expansion of power and influence was limited by the sovereign hand of God. It was “only for a time”; and it could go no further than God decreed. But we’re told that, during that time, he would enter—without force or conflict—into a program of consolidation of the northern regions under his power. He went into the richest portions of the north and engaged in a program that neither his fathers nor his predecessors had engaged in. It would involve three things: (1) the seizing of the finest products of the richest parts of his kingdom for his use; (2) the redistribution of the “plunder, spoil and riches” among the poorer parts of his kingdom in order to win universal favor; and (3) the devising of his plans “against the strongholds” of his own nation in order to weaken them and eliminate any resistance to his power. And he did it all “peaceably”. This ingenious plan of his sounds all too familiar; doesn’t it? Other tyrants have used it since. But he was the first to do so.

And having secured and significantly expanded his power in this way, he once again set his sights on the south in order to break the phony league he had formed with a new king to the south—King Ptolemy VI Philometer—the son of Antiochus’ own sister. Verse 25 tells us;

“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” (v. 25).

Ptolemy VI Philometer of the south responded with a great army—but he couldn’t stand and was defeated by Antioch because someone very close to Ptolemy VI turned against him. The southern king’s own brother—Ptolemy VIII Physkon—conspired with Antiochus against him. (This, as you can see, was a very dysfunctional family!) Verse 26 tells us;

“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” (v. 26).

The reference to “those who eat of the portions of his delicacies” may have been a particular reference to Ptolemy VIII Physkon. ’Physkon’ was the word for “bladder”—a nickname that history tells us that this scheming brother Ptolemy VIII was given because, apparently, he spent a considerable amount of time eating “delicacies”. If this is so, then just think of the amazing accuracy of God’s prophetic promises in this vision!

So; the army of the southern king Ptolemy VI Philometer was ‘swept away’ and couldn’t stand against Antiochus Epiphanes of the north. But Antiochus proved to be even more cunning and clever still; and he entered into a pretend friendship with the overthrown king. This is where we see …

4. HIS TREACHEROUS NATURE.

To be “treacherous” means to be unstable, unreliable, and unexpectedly dangerous. And if there had been a Webster’s Dictionary in those days, then next to the word “treacherous” would have been a picture of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Verse 27 tells us;

“Both these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table …” (v. 27a).

So; after Antiochus’ defeat of Ptolemy IV Philometer, Antiochus would nevertheless sit at the same table with him. Antiochus was pretending to befriend him and to help restore him to the throne. After all, Antiochus was his relative by marriage through his sister. But Antiochus was really only doing so in order to seize control of Egypt. Meanwhile, Ptolemy was secretly planning to unite with his brother to overthrow Antiochus. In ancient cultures, deceit at the table of hospitality was considered an immoral thing. Both of these kings were evil in their plots against each other;

“…but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time” (v. 27b).

Consider carefully those words, “at the appointed time”. They speak of God’s absolute sovereignty over the events. That’s important to remember. After all, just think of how it must have been for the people of Israel as all of this was going on. They were stuck in the middle of this mess. Would they have been watching this wicked man Antiochus grow in power and have wondered why God was letting it all happen? Do you ever think the same kind of thing as you watch what goes on today? And yet, all things were happening according to God’s sovereign decree.

Now; it was at this time that—in the outflow of that sovereign decree—that distressing times came upon Israel. A rumor had reached the Jewish people that Antiochus had been killed; and they made the mistake of publicly celebrating the news. And though Antiochus was returning to Syria with great riches from Egypt, the celebration of the Jews over rumored death outraged him greatly. And so, verse 28 tells us;

“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” (v. 28).

On his way to Syria, this wicked, crazed king marched into Jerusalem and slew 40,000 persons in just three days. He entered into the sanctuary of the temple and took the golden altar, the lampstand, all its utensils, the table of showbread, the cups for drink offerings, the bowls, the golden censers, the curtains, the crowns, the gold decorations in front of the temple, the silver, the gold, any other treasures he found—and basically stripped God’s holy house bare. And even this would not be as horrible as the things he would do later.

Truly, Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a dangerously treacherous and wicked man. And this leads us to the story for which he is most infamous in history; and that is …

5. HIS DESOLATIONS UPON JERUSALEM.

A contemporary historian of the time wrote that Antiochus returned to his kingdom with a completely elated view of himself. He wrote that Antiochus thought that he could ‘sail on the land and walk on the sea’. But he was still only a puppet whose strings reached up to heaven; and God pulled those strings according to His will. And so; the angel who gave this vision to Daniel went on to say;

“At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage.” (vv. 29-30).

God decreed that, in Antiochus’ arrogance, he would return to Egypt and once again try to conquer it. But things didn’t go so well this time. The king of the south had already sought the protection of the growing Roman Empire; and when Antiochus arrived, he found that ships had come from the west to meet him. Antiochus never even had a chance to fight. The Roman ambassador—Popilius Laenas—met him with a letter from the Roman senate that ordered him to leave and cease his plans against Egypt. Antiochus hesitated; and so the Roman ambassador drew a circle in the sand around him and told him to give him an answer before stepping out of it. And so; because he was unwilling to get into a conflict with Rome—Antiochus left in humiliation.

And in his humiliation and outrage, he had to pass through Jerusalem. And so, he poured out his fury upon the Jewish people who he had come to so deeply hate and despise. Verse 30 tells us;

“So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 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” (v. 31).

He did everything that his wicked, devil-inspired heart could imagine to defile the people of God. He sought to stamp out the laws and ceremonies that God had given them through Moses. He gathered up the Jewish people that he could persuade to rebel against the covenant of God, gathered up an army of Greeks who would force the faithful Jewish people to embrace pagan customs, polluted the holy altar by offering up a pig on it and pouring pig broth around the sanctuary, brought in prostitutes to perform immoral acts in holy places, forbade the daily sacrifices, killed those who circumcised their sons, ordered the Jewish people to stop worshiping God, and even erected an image of Zeus in the temple. And this was a foreshadowing of the “abomination of desolation” that our Lord Jesus later said would be set up in the temple one day—in the end times—by the Antichrist.

Now; all of these atrocities—horrible as they were—were still only allowed to occur under the sovereign permission of almighty God. Antiochus was guilty for having performed them; but God allowed Antiochus to perform them in order to refine His people. And that leads us to …

6. THE RESISTANCE FROM THE JEWS.

In fact, it led to one of the most famous periods of heroism in the ancient history of the Jewish people. In verse 32, the angel told Daniel;

“Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (v. 32).

Antiochus was able to flatter those who defied God’s holy ordinances. But the reference to ones who would “be strong, and carry out great exploits” spoke of those who willingly laid down their lives rather than allow themselves to be corrupted from the covenant of God. Many did in fact die; and their stories are recorded for us in the books of 1, 2, 3, and 4 Maccabees in the Apocrypha. But others organized a resistance movement to overthrow Antiochus—the most famous of these being the resistance movement headed up by the family of the Maccabees. They established the Hasmonean dynasty and established Jewish independence in their time. The Jewish people still celebrate this event—even today—in the annual holiday known as Hanukkah.

Verse 33 also goes on to tell us;

“And those of the people who understand shall instruct many …” (v. 33a).

A class of Jewish people arose who set themselves apart to restore, study, teach, and reinforce the commandments of God. In those days, those who taught the people sought to remind them of God’s promises concerning the coming Messiah. And in many respects, God used those times to prepare the Jewish people for the day when the Messiah—Jesus—would at last come to them and present Himself to them as their King.

But these times were hard, and the battle was long. Verse 33 goes on to tell us;

“yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering” (v. 33b).

The process of refinement was long and hard. And that leads us to one more observation we can make from this passage about Antiochus. It may surprise you. It’s …

7. HIS USEFULNESS TO GOD.

Verses 34-35 tell us this about the Jewish people who resisted Antiochus’ evil acts of oppression;

“Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue. And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time” (vv. 34-35).

Now; what happened to Antiochus is still a little bit of a mystery. But the ancient Jewish historian Josephus wrote that, after a failed attempt to raid yet another nation’s treasures, Antiochus fell into a long period of anxiety and illness from which he couldn’t recover. Apparently, he believed that his illness was a divine judgment for what he had done to the Jewish people. Antiochus the Madman died in 164 B.C.

And as for the Jewish people, there were many setbacks in their long resistance against this tyrant. There were times when they fell and stumbled along the way. But as you can see from the vision that the angel gave to Daniel, their seeming defeats and setbacks would—in reality—be God’s way of refining them and purifying them for Himself. It all remained in God’s hand and under His sovereign decree; and it illustrated the principle that the testing of God’s people through times of persecution results in their purification before Him.

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; this is a lesson that God our Father would have you and I take to heart today—living as we do as followers of Jesus in a seemingly chaotic world of political disorder. It may be that God will allow the cultural and political situation around us to become an oppressive one in which we—as Jesus’ faithful followers—will have to suffer times of persecution. But if that happens, it all remains in His control; and it will all flow out according to His good purpose.

The apostle Peter spoke of our hope in the glory of the Lord’s return and said;

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:6-9).

The refinement of our faith in Jesus—and our whole-hearted devotion and obedience to Him—is much more important to God than our peaceful circumstances. Peter later wrote;

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy(4:12-13).

Our heavenly Father calls us to look ahead to our joy when Jesus returns for us. Peter wrote;

But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (5:10-11).

And so; let’s learn from this important Old Testament book on politics. Let’s make sure that our response to the times—even trying times—is to keep our trust in our sovereign heavenly Father; and to allow Him to use those times to purify and refine us for His cause—making us holy for His use—and helping us to keep our focus upon the salvation that is destined by Him to be ours at the return of our Lord.

He can even use a madman like Antiochus to purify us.

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