Daniel 11

With Alexander’s premature death in 323 BC, the Grecian Empire was broken into four separate divisions under the control of four former generals who became kings sixteen years later, after considerable political wrangling and the murder of all of Alexander’s heirs.

Seleucus I - who began the Seleucid (Syrian) empire, from Turkey to India
Cassander - who took over Macedonia (Greece)
Lysimachus - who took Thracia (between Greece and Turkey)
Ptolemy I - who ruled over Egypt

Ptolemy I ruled over Egypt and the land of Israel for 38 years and Seleucus I ruled over Babylonia, adding extensive territories both east and west. Ultimately, Seleucus I united three of the four kingdoms under his control as king of the North.

Ptolemy Ceraunus, younger brother of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC), killed Seleucus I. Antiochus I Soter (280-261 BC) succeeded his father Seleucus I and was succeeded by his son Antiochus II Theos (261-246 BC). Berenice II, daughter of the king of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC), married Antiochus II. Ptolemy II died and Antiochus II restored Laodice and put away Berenice II. Antiochus II was then poisoned by Laodice, and placed her son Seleucus II Callinicus (246-226 BC) on the throne. Afterwards, Seleucus II killed Berenice and her son at Daphne near Antioch.

The death of Berenice resulted in war between Seleucus II Kallinikos “The king of the north” and Berenice’s brother Ptolemy III Euergetes “king of the south” (246-221 BC), who became the king of Egypt after the death of his father. He attacked Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Babylonia, and Mesopotamia, capturing each. Ptolemy III overtook Antioch and/or Seleucia, the port of Antioch, where he recovered 2,500 Egyptian gods and 40,000 talents of silver which had been carried off to Syria by the Persian king Cambyses, when he conquered Egypt in 525 BC.

Seleucus III Ceraunus (226-223 BC) and Antiochus III Magnus “The king of the north” (223-187 BC), respectively, succeeded their father Seleucus II. Ptolemy IV Philopater (221-203 BC) succeeded Ptolemy III as king of Egypt, and, he was attacked by Antiochus III, who beat the army of Ptolemy IV near Berytus. Fighting with an army of 78,000 men, Antiochus III (the Great) took the battle as far as the fortress of the city of Raphia in southern Palestine.

The historian Polybius recorded that during the battle for Raphia in 217 BC, the raging defensive forces of Ptolemy IV, “The king of the south,” which numbered 75,000 men defeated the attacking forces of Antiochus III, “The king of the north,” and killed 10,000 infantrymen. However, subsequently, a force of Egyptians fought internally against Ptolemy IV who was puffed up with pride and living in luxury after his victory over Antiochus III. The civil battles resulted in the death of 60,000 Egyptian citizens.

After the death of Ptolemy IV, he was succeeded by his son Ptolemy V Epiphanes (203-181 BC), who proceeded to battle with Antiochus III over Syria and Phoenicia. Jews from the land of Israel joined the forces of Antiochus III in the battle against Ptolemy V, but were defeated by the Ptolemaic general Scopas in 200 BC.

Antiochus III was in command of a very large army, easily conquering the land of Israel, and obtaining the voluntary loyalty of the Jews without any resistance. While preparing for war with the Romans, Antiochus III came to the city of Raphia on the border of Egypt and made peace with Ptolemy V. In an effort to gain control in Egypt, Antiochus III offered his daughter Cleopatra I in marriage to Ptolemy V in 194 BC, however, after the marriage Cleopatra I became loyal to her husband, who sustained his control over Egypt.

The following year, Antiochus III turned his attention to Asia Minor and mainland Greece where some Grecian cities were under Roman control. The fleet of Antiochus III was twice defeated at sea by the Roman fleet near Phoceia and near Ephesus. Ptolemy V and Cleopatra I then sent an embassy to Rome to congratulate the Romans on their victory and to encourage the Romans to press on with the war in Asia. According to 1 Maccabees 1:10, during the war, Epiphanes, son of Antiochus III was captured and was taken to Rome as a hostage. Ultimately defeated in 190 BC by the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus in the battle of Magnesia in Asia Minor, Antiochus III retired to the remainder of his kingdom and was killed three years later by the Persians, as he was robbing the temple of Jupiter Belus in Elymais, to raise money to pay the tributes imposed by the Romans.

Antiochus III was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV Philopator (187 - 175 BC). As a tributary of the Romans, Seleucus IV sent his tax collector, Heliodorus, to rob the temple of Jerusalem to obtain money, however, Heliodorus engineered a conspiracy against Seleucus IV and killed him. Shortly before the death of Seleucus IV, he sent his son Demetrius to Rome in a hostage swap for his brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC), who succeeded him.

According to 2 Maccabees 3:1, Jerusalem was in complete peace under Seleucus IV who provided kingdom revenues in support of the daily sacrificial services. After the murder of Seleucus, Heliodorus, treasurer of the kingdom, assumed interim leadership. Antiochus IV who was in Athens at the time of his brother’s death, negotiated directly with the Romans, convincing them to keep Demetrius, rightful heir to the throne, in Rome as hostage. Through the Romans, as a part of a private friendship agreement with the king of Pergamus, who was given a portion of the kingdom of Antiochus III in return for assisting the Romans, it was determined that Antiochus IV would become king, in return for annual tribute to the Romans and the king of Pergamus. The king of Pergamus expelled Heliodorus and placed Antiochus IV on the throne.

Not the direct heir to the throne, Antiochus IV distinguished himself, as more of a commoner, by stealing from the palace treasury, rambling around town in Roman officer disguise, and drinking and carousing with people of the lowest rank. Taken for a madman by many in Syria, he deposed Onias the Jewish high-Priest, and sold the priesthood to Jason, the younger brother of Onias for 440 talents of silver. Onias was subsequently killed by Andronicus, deputy to Antiochus IV in Antioch. While Antiochus IV was away in Egypt, a false rumor spread that he was dead, sending Judea into revolt. Antiochus IV returned to Jerusalem with his vast army and indiscriminately killed 80,000 Jews from young to old, and sold another 40,000 Jews into slavery.

Antiochus IV exacted tributes from the Palestinian nations, advanced the Grecian ideals and worship of pagan gods throughout his kingdom, appointed his cronies to positions of power as tribute collectors, allowed his friends to plunder the temple wealth, and he set his sights on capturing all of Egypt. He allowed the position of Jewish high-Priest to be bought and sold by the highest apostate bidder, and, according to 2 Maccabees 4:30, he gave the peoples of Tarsus and Mallus to his mistress, as a gift.

Upon the death Antiochus’s sister Cleopatra I, the eunech Eulaeus, personal governor of Cleopatra’s son, claimed Phoenicia and Coelosyria from Antiochus IV as a dowery for the young boy king. In 170 BC, Antiochus IV attacked and overtook the Egyptian army between Pelusium and the mountain Casius. Capable of destroying the whole Egyptian army, Antiochus IV spared many as a friendly gesture, and, soon after, he captured all of the Egyptian cities, which he also befriended. Antiochus IV blamed the war on Eulaeus, personal governor to Ptolemy VI Philometer (181-146 BC), so as to make friends with the young boy king.

Antiochus IV entered into an outward, sycophant uncleship with the young king Ptolemy VI and let him assist with affairs of the kingdom, from the Egyptian city of Memphis. Egyptians in the city of Alexandria, seeing that Ptolemy VI was in the custody of Antiochus IV, declared Euergetes, younger brother to Ptolemy VI, to be the next king of Egypt. Pretending to establish Ptolemy VI on the Egyptian throne, Antiochus IV made war upon Euergetes and beseiged him and Euergetes’s sister in Alexandria, defeating the Egyptian navy at sea. At the same time, the Egyptians in Alexandria sent emissaries to Rome to request assistance.

Antiochus IV returned to Syria in the spring of 169 BC, leaving Ptolemy VI to rule from Memphis. During the winter, Ptolemy VI and his brother Euergetes reconciled and were reunited in Alexandria, where Ptolemy VI assumed the role of the king of Egypt. While in Judea on the way to Syria, Antiochus IV directed his captains to make spoil of the Judean and Jewish wealth, capturing 1,800 talents of gold and silver, including the gold altar from the temple in Jerusalem, to be taken to Antioch. He ordered Apollonium, a captain of 22,000 men, to enter Jerusalem on the Sabbath in a parade of arms, killing grown men who came out to see them, taking young men and women captive, and selling them as slaves for money.

Returning to Egypt in the spring of 168 BC to besiege Alexandria and the two young boy Egyptian kings, Antiochus IV was met by the Roman ambassadors, Popilius Loena, C. Decimius, and C. Hostilius. Prior to accepting a kiss on the hand from Antiochus IV, Popilius gave written tables to Antiochus IV upon which the Roman Senate had issued a decree of support for Egypt. Popilius drew a circle on the ground around Antiochus IV, and directed him to immediately offer his decision regarding his intentions toward the Egyptians, before leaving the circle he was standing in. Shocked by the approach of Popilius, Antiochus IV acknowledged the Roman demands and then he kissed the hand of Popilius, with the agreement to retreat to Syria. Antiochus IV returned to Syria, sulked at his treatment by the Romans, and vented his anger on his subjects the Jews by setting up the worship of heathen gods in all Judea, and, he killed those who would not worship his gods.

According to 1 Maccabees 1:44-57, Antiochus IV sent word to Jerusalem to stop all burnt offerings and sacrifices. He ordered an end to circumcision, burned the books of the Law, erected altars in the sacred precincts of the temple of Jerusalem for the sacrifice of hogs and unclean cattle, erected a dreadful desecration upon the altar in the temple of Jerusalem, erected pagan altars in all Judean towns, and ended the burning of incense. And, according to 2 Maccabees 6:2 - 6:6, the forces of Antiochus IV forbade Sabbath worship, covered the altar of the temple in Jerusalem with abominable offerings, amused themselves by lying with prostitutes in the sacred precincts of the temple, and renamed the temple as Zeus Olympius. The dreadful desecration, known as the abomination that causes desecration, set up in the location of the altar in the temple of Jerusalem in 168 BC, was an altar and statue to the pagan god Jupiter (Zeus Olympius).

The Jews were forced underground in order to keep the Sabbath and Antiochus IV openly rewarded apostate Jews with positions of responsibility. In 2 Maccabees 6 & 7, the stories of the deaths of Eleazar, a leading scribe, and a mother and her seven sons are told. Eleazar set an example for others by refusing to eat pork and voluntarily submitting to the torture wheel. The mother and her seven sons each refused to submit and were skinned alive, dismembered, and boiled in a hot pan. Despite attempts by Antiochus IV to convince the youngest son with flattery and promised riches, the son set an example for other youths to follow the laws of their fathers and forefathers, even unto death.

Observing the cruelties of Antiochus IV, Judas, who was called Maccabeus, and his followers secretly entered the villages of Judea and called on their kinsmen to join them in revolt. By enlisting those who had clung to the Jewish religion, they mustered 6,000 men, and were joined by the Hasideans, who were war-like Israelite volunteers. At the same time, Judas selected Eupolemus and Jason to go to the Roman Senate as emissaries to request assistance. The Roman Senate was sympathetic and sent brass tablets to Jerusalem with a written testimony of Roman support for the Jews.

The story of the death of the elderly scribe Eleazar in 2 Maccabees 6, is the most poignant story regarding the willingness of the wise to stumble under the Law. Given the choice of violating his conscience by eating pork to extend his natural life, or violating Jewish law by submitting to obvious suicidal death, Eleazar went straight to the torture wheel and ordered his oppressors to send him down to Hades at once. As he was dying, he said, “The Lord, in his holy knowledge, knows that, though I might have escaped death, I endure dreadful pains in my body from being flogged; but in my heart I am glad to suffer this, because I fear Him.” Similarly, one of the seven tortured sons, at the point of death, said to his oppressors, “Do not be falsely deceived; for we suffer these things because of ourselves, for we sin against our own God, so these amazing things have happened. But you must not suppose that you will go unpunished for having attempted to fight against our God.”

Daniel 11

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