Part Two

DANIEL’S HANUKKAH PROPHECY - A TYPE OF THE ANTICHRIST

Chapter 2 - The Uprising
2:1 In those days arose Mathathias the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem, and he abode in the mountain of Modin.

2:2 And he had five sons: John who was surnamed Gaddis:

2:3 And Simon, who was surnamed Thasi:

2:4 And Judas, who was called Machabeus:

2:5 And Eleazar, who was surnamed Abaron: and Jonathan, who was surnamed Apphus.

2:6 These saw the evils that were done in the people of Juda, and in Jerusalem.

2:7 And Mathathias said: Woe is me, wherefore was I born to see the ruin of my people, and the ruin of the holy city, and to dwell there, when it is given into the hands of the enemies?

2:8 The holy places are come into the hands of strangers: her temple is become as a man without honour.

2:9 The vessels of her glory are carried away captive: her old men are murdered in the streets, and her young men are fallen by the sword of the enemies.

2:10 What nation hath not inherited her kingdom, and gotten of her spoils?

2:11 All her ornaments are taken away. She that was free is made a slave.

2:12 And behold our sanctuary, and our beauty, and our glory is laid waste, and the Gentiles have defiled them.

2:13 To what end then should we live any longer?

2:14 And Mathathias and his sons rent their garments, and they covered themselves with haircloth, and made great lamentation. See Daniel 11.31-32


Mathathias and sons refuse to give in
2:15 And they that were sent from king Antiochus came thither, to compel them that were fled into the city of Modin, to sacrifice, and to burn incense, and to depart from the law of God.

2:16 And many of the people of Israel consented, and came to them: but Mathathias and his sons stood firm.

2:17 And they that were sent from Antiochus, answering, said to Mathathias: Thou art a ruler, and an honourable, and great man in this city, and adorned with sons, and brethren.

2:18 Therefore come thou first, and obey the king's commandment, as all nations have done, and the men of Juda, and they that remain in Jerusalem: and thou, and thy sons, shall be in the number of the king's friends, and enriched with gold, and silver, and many presents.

2:19 Then Mathathias answered, and said with a loud voice: Although all nations obey king Antiochus, so as to depart every man from the service of the law of his fathers, and consent to his commandments:

2:20 I and my sons, and my brethren will obey the law of our fathers.

2:21 God be merciful unto us: it is not profitable for us to forsake the law, and the justices of God:

2:22 We will not hearken to the words of king Antiochus, neither will we sacrifice, and transgress the commandments of our law, to go another way.

This faithful remnant decide to not give in and determine to fight against Antiochus Epiphanes. After this Mathathias died and his son Judas Machabeus became the leader. The story continues:

Chapter 3

3:1 Then his son Judas, called Machabeus, rose up in his stead.

3:2 And all his brethren helped him, and all they that had joined themselves to his father, and they fought with cheerfulness the battle of Israel.

3:3 And he got his people great honour, and put on a breastplate as a giant, and girt his warlike armour about him in battles, and protected the camp with his sword.

3:4 In his acts he was like a lion, and like a lion's whelp roaring for his prey.

3:5 And he pursued the wicked and sought them out, and them that troubled his people he burnt with fire:

3:6 And his enemies were driven away for fear of him, and all the workers of iniquity were troubled: and salvation prospered in his hand.

Judas Machabeus called the people back to Torah and the ways of God. Many responded and joined with him. They defeated and overthrew Antiochus Epiphanes. The overthrow of the Anti-Christ will take place when the Lord returns on the last day and the dead are resurrected. Rev 19.11-20.7; 1 Thessalonians 4.15-18

Chapter 4 Cleansing and Restoration of the Temple - Hanukkah Celebration Established
4:36 Then Judas, and his brethren said: Behold our enemies are discomfited: let us go up now to cleanse the holy places and to repair them.

4:37 And all the army assembled together, and they went up into mount Sion.

4:38 And they saw the sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burnt, and shrubs growing up in the courts as in a forest, or on the mountains, and the chambers joining to the temple thrown down.

4:39 And they rent their garments, and made great lamentation, and put ashes on their heads:

4:40 And they fell face down to the ground on their faces, and they sounded with the trumpets of alarm, and they cried towards heaven.

4:41 Then Judas appointed men to fight against them that were in the castle, till they had cleansed the holy places.

4:42 And he chose priests without blemish, whose will was set upon the law of God:

4:43 And they cleansed the holy places, and took away the stones that had been defiled into an unclean place.

4:44 And he considered about the altar of holocausts that had been profaned, what he should do with it.

4:45 And a good counsel came into their minds, to pull it down: lest it should be a reproach to them, because the Gentiles had defiled it; so they threw it down.

4:46 And they laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, till there should come a prophet, and give answer concerning them.

4:47 Then they took whole stones according to the law, and built a new altar according to the former:

4:48 And they built up the holy places, and the things that were within the temple: and they sanctified the temple, and the courts.

4:49 And they made new holy vessels, and brought in the candlestick, and the altar of incense, and the table into the temple.

4:50 And they put incense upon the altar, and lighted up the lamps that were upon the candlestick, and they gave light in the temple.

4:51 And they set the loaves upon the table, and hung up the veils, and finished all the works that they had begun to make.

4:52 And they arose before the morning on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month (which is the month of Kislev) in the hundred and forty-eighth year.

4:53 And they offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of holocausts which they had made.

Three years to the date of the first sacrifice of a pig on the altar, the temple was completely cleansed and sacrifices according to the Torah were reestablished. This took place 1150 days after the abomination was set up. In Daniel 8.11-14 it mentions 2,300 evening and morning sacrifices--that is two per day. If we divide 2,300 by 2 = 1150 days or 3 years and two months. (Jewish sacrifices were probably stopped 45 days earlier before the Greek sacrifices began.) The date of Hanukkah was then set to begin on 25 Kislev forever thereafter.

Hanukkah Established
4:54 According to the time, and according to the day wherein the heathens had defiled it, in the same was it dedicated anew with canticles, and harps, and lutes, and cymbals.

4:55 And all the people fell upon their faces, and adored, and blessed up to heaven, him that had prospered them.

4:56 And they kept the dedication of the altar eight days, and they offered holocausts with joy, and sacrifices of salvation, and of praise.

4:57 And they adorned the front of the temple with crowns of gold, and escutcheons, and they renewed the gates, and the chambers, and hanged doors upon them.

4:58 And there was exceeding great joy among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was turned away.

4:59 And Judas, and his brethren, and all the church of Israel decreed, that the day of the dedication of the altar should be kept in its season from year to year for eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month of Casleu, with joy and gladness.

4:60 They built up also at that time mount Sion, with high walls, and strong towers round about, lest the Gentiles should at any time come, and tread it down as they did before.

4:61 And he placed a garrison there to keep it, and he fortified it to secure Bethsura, that the people might have a defence against Idumea.

Hanukkah
Hanukkah is an eight day celebration of the cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem. It is called the Festival of Lights. Jesus said we are to be the light of the world. He celebrated this feast in John 10.22. Jesus was most likely conceived during the Feast of Hanukkah as His birth took place nine months later during the Feast of Tabernacles. This celebration is also symbolic of the cleansing of our “temples” by the Holy Spirit.

Tradition says that the menorah that was lit for the restoration of the temple only had enough oil for one day’s light until they could make more. Miraculously, the menorah stayed lit for eight days until the additional oil was made. Thus Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days. The Jews do not celebrate the war--they celebrate the miracle of the oil.

Our lights stay lit if we abide in the Lord and continually receive His oil.


Tomorrow: The Seventy Weeks of Daniel - Understanding God's Calendar