Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

2. Tuesday June 17, 2014Daniel: Daniel 11:32-The Prophecy of Unfaithful Jews Being Deceived by the Flattery of Antiochus Epiphanes IV and Faithful Jews Opposing HimLesson # 349

3. Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 11:29.

4. Daniel 11:29 “At the appointed time, he will return in order to wage an attack against the south. However, it will by no means turn out like the first or the last 30 because ships of Kittim will come against him. Consequently, he will be intimidated so that he will retreat.

5. Then, he will vent his anger against the holy covenant so that he will take action. When he returns, he will also show partiality for those who abandon the holy covenant.

6. 31 Even military forces will be mustered by him in order to cause the holy place, the place of Refuge to be defiled. Specifically, they will cause the daily sacrifice to be abolished. They will even erect an abomination resulting in desecration.

7. 32 Also, those who violate the covenant, he will pervert with flatteries. However, those who know their God experientially will resist so that they will take action.” (My translation)

8. Daniel 11:32 “By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” (NASB95)

9. “Those who act wickedly toward the covenant” is composed of the verb rā·šǎʿ (רָשַׁע) (raw-shah´), “those who act wickedly toward” and then we have the noun berîṯ (בְּרִית) (ber-eeth´), “the covenant.”

10. The verb rā·šǎʿ means “to violate” since it pertains to violating a good and proper standard with the result that one is justly chargeable with a crime or responsible for a crime and deserving of punishment.

11. Here it refers to the despicable king ruling the north causing some of those who belong to the holy covenant Israel to act wickedly toward the holy covenant.

12. It denotes that this king will cause these individuals to violate the holy covenant in the sense that they will violate God’s holy standards by disobeying His laws which reflect these holy standards so that they were chargeable with a crime and deserving of punishment from God.

13. The noun berîṯ means “covenant” referring to the Mosaic system of worshipping Yahweh.

14. “He will turn to godlessness” is the verb ḥā·nēp̄ (חָנֵף) (khaw-nafe´), which means “to pervert, corrupt” indicating that this wicked king will pervert some of the people belonging to the holy covenant in the sense that he will cause them to turn aside or away from obedience to the holy covenant.

15. “By smooth words” pertains to words that promise but are not fulfilled with emphasis on the flattering quality of the promises indicating the means by which this despicable king ruling the north will cause some of the people belonging to the holy covenant to act wickedly toward the holy covenant.

16. “But the people who know their God will display strength and take action” expresses a contrast between those who are unfaithful to the holy covenant and those who are faithful.

17. “The peoplewho know their God” refers to those Jews who were personally encountering the God of Israel through the process of fellowship as He is revealed by the Spirit in the various prohibitions and commands appearing in the Mosaic Law and being affected by this encounter.

18. This results in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more godly character.

19. “Will display strength” is the verb ḥā·zǎq (חָזַק) (khaw-zak´), which means “to resist” since it pertains to exerting oneself so as to counteract or defeat another indicating that those who know the God of Israel experientially will “resist” the despicable king ruling the north.

20. “And take action” presents the result of the previous prophetic statement and is referring to those who know the God of Israel experientially taking military action against the despicable king ruling the north.

21. The actions of the despicable king of the north recorded here in Daniel 11:32 have all been fulfilled in the person and actions of Antiochus Epiphanes IV.

22. He promised unfaithful Jews great reward if they would be disloyal to Yahweh and worship Zeus who was the god of Greece.

23. Many Israelites were persuaded by the flatteries of Antiochus Epiphanes IV so that they worshipped this false god.

24. The adversative clause in Daniel 11:32 has also been fulfilled in history since a remnant of Jews remained faithful to the Lord and refused to worship Zeus.

25. They refused to take part in the desecration of the temple.

26. They remained faithful to the Lord by continuing to observe the Mosaic Law and obey their Old Testament Scriptures.

27. These faithful Jews also resisted Antiochus and waged military action against him.

28. History records that these Jews were the led by the Maccabees.

29. Therefore, the adversative clause in Daniel 11:32 is a reference to the Maccabean revolt, which attempted to establish Jewish independence in the second century B.C.

30. The Maccabean revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes IV in the second century B.C. was precipitated by a priest named Mattathias who resisted the decrees of Antiochus Epiphanes IV with success for a brief time.

31. Mattathias was the father of Judas Maccabeus and his four brothers (1 Maccabees 2:1-5), and son of John, and grandson of Simeon.

32. He belonged to the priestly order Jehoiarib and is described as a Jerusalemite who settled in the village of Modein.

33. While in his old age, Mattathias took the initiative to oppose by force of arms Antiochus Epiphanes IV (1 Maccabees 2:15ff.).

34. In the year 166 B.C., when a Syrian military force arrived at Modein and ordered the population for a pagan sacrifice, Mattathias killed a Jew who was ready to perform the sacrifice.

35. He then killed the Syrian officer.

36. He then fled to the mountains, where he was joined by supporters, among them a group of Hasidim.

37. The revolt under Mattathias was typical guerrilla warfare.

38. Its objectives were to oppose those Jews who favored Hellinization.

39. Their objective was also to destroy pagan altars, and to enforce the Jewish law whenever possible, especially the circumcision of children, which was prohibited by Antiochus.

40. In the year 166 B.C., a short time after the beginning of the revolt, Mattathias died (1 Maccabees 2:69).

41. After the death of Mattathias, his son Judas Maccabeus became the leader of the revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes IV.

42. He employed guerrilla warfare and won some significant battles, which manifested that he was in fact an outstanding military strategist.

43. Wisely, he took the warfare beyond the borders of Judea and entered into diplomatic relations with Rome.

44. These two activities became major lines of policy in the development of the Hasmonean house later on.

45. Judas was chosen to be the leader of the revolt after Mattathias’ death either because of some former military experience or because of the talent he showed in the exploits during the earlier stages of the revolt.

46. He was a son of an important family, which opposed Hellenization and its supporters.

47. 2 Maccabees indicates that Judas Maccabeus was forced to leave Jerusalem at the beginning of the persecution, which indicates that he was staying there at that time (1 Maccabees 5:27).

48. Thus, he was not residing in his hometown of Modein.

49. His military career is referred to in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees.

50. His first battle was against Apollonius, who he defeated somewhere on his way toward Jerusalem.