‘Who then is a faithful and wise servant?’

Swanwick 2015

Who, then?

When ye shall see . . .

‘Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles’

‘They shall fall by the edge of the sword’

‘The abomination of desolation’ •  ‘The transgression of

desolation’ (Daniel 8:13) •  ‘For the overspreading of

abominations he shall make it desolate’ (Daniel 9:27)

•  ‘The abomination that maketh desolate’ (Daniel 11:31)

•  ‘The abomination that maketh desolate’ (Daniel 12:11)

Three terrible fulfilments •  Antiochus Epiphanes—the Jew-

hater with delusions of divinity (176-164 BC)

•  The Romans—who held the Jews in contempt (AD 67-132)

•  The final, greatest desolation which ushers in the end of the world, and the coming of the King

‘The transgression of desolation’ Daniel 8:13

•  The goat of Greece overpowers the ram of Media and Persia (8:3-7 cp 8:20-21)

•  The goat’s notable horn is broken, and replaced by four notable horns (8:8 cp 8:22) –  The four kingdoms of Alexander’s successors

•  A little horn springs out of one kingdom, and grows great (8:9 cp 8:23-24)

•  Two parallel interpretations emerge—or should it be three? –  (1) Antiochus Epiphanes (168-165 BC) –  (2) Rome in the East (from AD 70)

‘The transgression of desolation’ Daniel 8:13

•  The host and stars of heaven trampled (8:10 cp 8:24) –  The Jewish people persecuted (Ex 12:41; Isa 14:13-14)

•  Turned upon ‘the prince of the host’ (8:11 cp 8:25) –  The high priest Onias removed from office, later murdered; a

political appointee (Menelaus) installed

•  The daily sacrifice taken away (8:11) •  The sanctuary cast down (8:11) •  Reason? ‘Transgression’ (8:12)

–  Widespread abandonment of godly distinctiveness, particularly among the wealthy priests

Antiochus Epiphanes •  175-164 BC •  “Mad, bad and dangerous”—thought himself divine

(‘Epiphanes’ = ‘the manifestation of God’) •  Obsessed with enforcing Greek culture on Jewry,

incensed by Jewish resistance •  Frustrated by Rome in his invasion of Egypt •  Turned in fury on the Jewish communities of Syria (=

Israel) •  Draconian restrictions, vicious persecution

–  Copies of the Law destroyed –  Circumcision, Sabbath-keeping prohibited –  Sacrifices of pigs enforced –  Penalty: death

•  Maccabean revolt

The Maccabean revolt •  Certainly foretold in Daniel:

–  ‘The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits’ (11:21-35)

•  Recorded in 1 Maccabees (less reliably in 2 Maccabees)

•  Possibly referred to in Hebrews: –  ‘Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that

they might obtain a better resurrection’ (11:35)

The Romans

•  The host and stars of heaven trampled (8:10 cp 8:24) –  The Jewish people persecuted

•  Turned upon ‘the prince of the host’ (8:11 cp 8:25) –  Jesus Christ executed by the Romans (AD 33)

•  The daily sacrifice taken away (8:11) •  The sanctuary cast down (8:11) •  Reason? ‘Transgression’ (8:12)

–  Legalism gone mad, culminating in the judicial murder of Jesus Christ

The third—and greatest—application •  God’s history repeats itself!

–  The cycles of the Judges –  The return of the exiles –  The many types of the Old Testament—interpretations

divinely endorsed!

•  Stand-out clues in the text: –  Daniel cast into a deep sleep (8:18) –  ‘What shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at

the time appointed the end shall be’ (8:19)—is it over yet?

–  ‘Broken without hand’ (8:25 cp 2:34, 45)

Common factors

•  Desolation of Jerusalem and of the Jewish people, because of their transgressions

•  Forceful cessation of worship •  Nevertheless, a challenge

to God Himself •  Always time-limited: there will be

an end or consummation

What is the abomination? “A succession of desolating powers . . . What then is the “abomination”? It is men’s religion and men’s power allowed to dominate the Land and desecrate the sanctuary as a judgment of God upon His people.”

(The Gospel of the Son of God)

An unsurpassed time of trouble A.D. 70 •  ‘In those days shall be affliction, such as was

not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be’ (Mark 13:19)

To be repeated on an even greater scale •  ‘There shall be a time of trouble, such as

never was since there was a nation even to that same time’ (Daniel 12:1)

Warnings and exhortations •  Flee without delay! (v 21-22)

–  Winter and Sabbath difficult times: any delay might be fatal

–  ‘Pray for an opportunity to leave’ (Matt 24:20-21) –  Jesus’ followers fled to Pella

•  Woe to those with children! (v 23) –  Horrific scenes

•  Great tribulation, but for a limited time only (v 24) –  Endure to the end

•  ‘Do not be seduced by false Messiahs’ (Matt 24:23-28) –  The coming of the true Christ will be unmistakeable

A traditional house

Warning heeded! “The members of the ecclesia in Jerusalem were instructed to leave and relocated to a city of Perea called Pella, in accordance with an oracle uttered before the war revealed to the approved there.”

Eusebius

Flee!

An awful cataclysm “When they went in numbers into the lanes of the city, with their swords drawn, they slew those whom they overtook, without mercy, and set fire to the houses whither the Jews were fled, and burnt every soul in them, and laid waste a great many of them . . . They ran every one through whom they met with, and obstructed the very lanes with their dead bodies, and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fire of many houses was quenched with these men’s blood.”

Josephus

An awful cataclysm ‘When they were come to the houses to plunder them, they found in them entire families of dead men, and the upper rooms full of dead corpses, that is, of such as died by the famine; they stood in horror at this sight, and went out without touching anything.’

Josephus

Vultures attack the dead

‘Signs in the sun, moon and stars’ •  Characteristic apocalyptic symbols

of a time of trouble (Isa 34:4, 8; Ezek 32:7; Micah 3:6; Rev 6:12-13; 8:10, 12; 9:1; 12:1)

•  Often relate to Israel (Gen 37:9-10; Isa 13:10, 13; Joel 2:10, 31 cp Acts 2:20; Joel 3:15; Amos 8:9)

•  The powers of heaven shaken (Hag 2:6-7, 31 cp Heb 12:26; Isa 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet 3:5, 10; Rev 20:11; 21:1)

‘In the clouds’ ‘Clouds both veil and reveal the glory of God in manifestation, making its presence evident yet tempering it to human needs’ (The Gospel of the Son of God) •  Pillar of cloud enfolding fire (Ex 13:21-22; 14:19-20, 24; 33:9) •  Around Mt Sinai (Ex 19:9, 16; 34:5) •  Above the mercy seat (Lev 16:2) •  Filled the house (Ex 40:34-38; 1 Kg 8:10-11; 2 Chron 5:13-14; Ezek 43:4-5)

‘In the clouds’ •  At the Lord’s transfiguration (Matt 17:5) •  At his ascension (Acts 1:9) •  A multitude of glorious beings who

accompany him to receive his kingdom (Dan 7:13) and return (Matt 13:39, 41, 49; 16:27; 26:53; Mk 8:38; 14:62; Lk 9:26; 2 Thess 1:7; Rev 1:7)

•  ‘So shall we ever be with the Lord’ (1 Thess 4:17)