CHAPTER 6
THE MACCABEES
There are several ancient books that were once in the King James Bible, called the Apocrypha, these books are considered both Biblical and authoritative by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, these ancient books were removed from the King James Bible in the nineteenth century. The Books of Maccabees I and Maccabees II are two books that have been excluded from the King James Bible and I believe it was a very grave error, or possibly demonically inspired. Actually, the books of the Apocrypha were included in the original King James version of the Bible for several hundred years prior to their removal.
First, I am not Roman Catholic and neither am I Eastern Orthodox. I was also not familiar with these ancient texts because they were removed from the King James version of the Bible. I believe the King James Bible is the best English translation of the Old and New Testament. However, after becoming more familiar with the Maccabean books it became very obvious to me that these books dealt with a subject of the utmost importance to the end times Church. Namely they dealt with a man who was a “type” of the antichrist named Antiochus the IV.
Many Protestant Christians are probably only slightly familiar with the story of the Maccabees. The Maccabean story deals with the Greek Emperor Antiochus Theos Epiphanes IV, who is probably one of the most important allegorical portraits of the antichrist in all of history. Although, neither Maccabees I or Maccabees II are ever mentioned by Jesus or his Apostles in the New Testament books, they were without a doubt very familiar with the story and the Books. Jesus celebrated the feast of dedication, or Hanukkah, in the Gospel of John, which was a holy day first established by Judas Maccabee according to the Book of II Maccabees. See John 10:22.
2 Mac 10:6 And they kept the eight days with gladness, as in
the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore
they had held the feast of the tabernacles, when as they
wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts.
The story of the Maccabees was so very close to the prophecies in the Book of Daniel that many Bible scholars actually believed they fulfilled the Book of Daniel’s prophecy. Although the Book of Maccabees may be a “type” of Daniel’s prophecy, we know it is only a “type” because Jesus specifically mentions Daniel’s prophecy as a sign of the end times:
Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
In 175 B.C., Antiochus (IV) Theos Epiphanes became the king of the Seleucid Empire, which ruled over Judea and most of the Middle East. He named himself Antiochus after his father Antiochus (III) and added “Theos Epiphanes” to his name which means “God Manifest”. He believed he was the incarnation of the Greek god Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. He acted in such a bizarre manner that people privately called him Epimanes, “The Mad One”. I believe he was actually possessed by Satan.
According to the Bible, Satan has possessed people in the past and he will surely possess a specific man in the future. The Bible calls this future world leader: the son of perdition or the man of sin, and he will someday rule the entire world and will be possessed by Satan himself.
Judas Iscariot, who Jesus also called the son of perdition, also may give us clues about the coming antichrist:
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Why did Jesus call Judas Iscariot the son of PERDITION (apolia)?
Perdition: G684, 
From a presumed derivative of G622; ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal): - damnable (-nation), destruction, die, perdition, X perish, pernicious ways, waste.
Where have we seen this word before?
The Book of Revelation mentions an angel that ascends from the bottomless pit named Apollyon.
Rev 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Apollyon: G623, 
Active participle of G622; a destroyer (that is, Satan): - Apollyon.
We learn from the Strong’s concordance that Apollyon is actually Satan and the Book of Luke helps to confirm his identity. Judas is called the son of perdition or the son of apolia (Satan) in the Greek.
Luk 22:3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
Therefore, the son of perdition is the son of Apollyon or the son of Satan. Just as Jesus Christ and the sons of God are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the son of Satan is indwelt by Satan’s spirit.
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE ANTICHRIST
The Apostle John shows us how to identify the antichrist in the Book of I John:
1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1Jn 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
The antichrist will be a liar and will specifically deny that Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah. I believe he will deny that Jesus is the Christ because the antichrist will claim that he himself is the true Jewish Messiah.
1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
The antichrist spirit may say Jesus was an arch-type, or a mythical figure, or a false messiah, or an imposter, or simply a man imbued with the Christ consciousness but the antichrist spirit cannot confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who has come in the flesh, who died for the sins of the world and rose from the dead on the third day. If Jesus is the savior of the world, there is no need for a new savior, namely the antichrist. The antichrist spirit will persecute and eventually seek to kill all true believers in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul calls the antichrist the mystery of iniquity. The mystery of iniquity is the exact opposite of the mystery of Christ.
Col 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
Col 4:3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
Col 4:4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
When we identify with Jesus Christ by faith and confess that he is LORD, we apprehend his character by faith: his righteousness, his salvation, and his eternal life. Those who identify with the antichrist will also apprehend his character: his lawlessness, his rebellion against God, his pride, and eventually his eternal damnation in the lake of fire.
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
There has been much speculation about who or what withholdeth the antichrist from being revealed. I believe the Church (the true body of Christ), indwelt by the Holy Spirit, is withholding the manifestation of the antichrist. However, the Church is NOT going to be raptured out of the earth…the Church is going to physically Exit the World system because of the express commandment of God. There will be a mass Christian Exodus just before and right after the antichrist reveals himself, most likely fleeing from increasing world persecution.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
During the time of Antiochus IV, the saints of God also fled their homes because of persecution. We know that Antiochus IV made at least two attacks on Egypt. The first attack probably occurs in the spring of 169 B.C. and after he plundered Egypt, Antiochus IV stops on his return home to plunder the Jewish Temple.
1 Mac 1:19-25 And he made war against Ptolemy king of Egypt, but Ptolemy was afraid at his presence, and fled, and many were wounded unto death. And fled, and many were wounded to death. And he took the strong cities in the land of Egypt, and he took the spoils of the land of Egypt. And after Antiochus had ravaged Egypt in the hundred and forty-third year, he returned and went up against Israel. And he went up to Jerusalem with a great multitude. And he proudly entered into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition, and the pouring vessels, and the vials, and the little mortars of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden ornament that was before the temple: and he broke them all in pieces. And he took the silver and gold, and the precious vessels; and he took the hidden treasures which he found. And when he had taken all away, he departed into his own country. And he made a great slaughter of men, and spoke very proudly.
Approximately two years later in 167 B.C. Antiochus’ chief tax collector enters peacefully into Jerusalem and then suddenly springs a surprise attack upon the city:
1 Mac 1:30-34 And after two full years the king sent the chief collector of his tributes to the cities of Juda, and he came to Jerusalem with a great multitude. And he spoke to them peaceable words in deceit, and they believed him. And he fell upon the city suddenly, and struck it with a great slaughter, and destroyed much people in Israel. And he took the spoils of the city, and burnt it with fire, and threw down the houses thereof, and the walls thereof round about: and they took the women captive, and the children, and the cattle they possessed.
It was about this time that Antiochus sets up a statue of Zeus in the Temple on Casleu 15 of 167 B.C., which is called the abomination of desolation in the Book of I Maccabees. Ten days later on Casleu 25, 167 B.C., a pig is offered as a sacrifice on the altar.
1 Mac 1:57 On the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred and forty-fifth year, king Antiochus set up the abominable idol of desolation upon the altar of God, and they built altars thought all the cities of Juda round about.
I believe that the statute of Zeus was probably an image of Antiochus himself because he believed he was the incarnation of Zeus, the father of the gods. Not long after the setting up of the idol in the temple of Jerusalem, men were sent to the city of Modin by Antiochus, where Mathathias the priest and his family lived. The men sent by Antiochus asked Mathathias to offer sacrifice and to burn incense to an idol. Mathathias refuses to make sacrifice; however, another Jew offers to make the sacrifice. Mathathias promptly slays the Jew and he also kills the man Antiochus sent to compel him to sacrifice to the idol.
1 Mac 2:25 Moreover the man whom king Antiochus had sent, who compelled them to sacrifice, he slew at the same time, and pulled down the altar, and showed zeal for the law, as Phinees did by Zamri the son of Salomi. And Mathathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: Everyone that hath zeal for the law, and maintaineth the testament, let him follow me. So he and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all that they had in the city.
One day in the near future everybody in the world will have to make a similar choice. They will either have to willingly take the mark of the beast and worship his image or they must flee into the wilderness and totally depend on God to escape persecution and death.
He also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice of
offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years and six months. See The Wars of the Jews, Book 1, Ch. 1, Sect. 1, by Flavius Josephus.
Here we have the three and one half (3 and ½) years mentioned by Flavius Josephus. Do you believe in coincidence? I don’t.
If we count from the date the idol was first set up on Casleu 15, BC 167 to the Spring of BC 163 when Antiochus IV dies, we arrive at approximately three and one half (3 and ½) years. Perhaps the time is not exactly 3 and ½ years but I believe it is close enough to be another “type” of the antichrist.