The King of the South: Third Maccabees, Chag Yeshua and the Last Days
In the midst of the conflicts between the King of the North and the King of the South Daniel 11 reads as follows:
11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him--even with the king of the north. And he shall set forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand,
12 And the multitude shall be carried away. And his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.
(Daniel 11:11-12 HRV)
This was fulfilled by Ptolemy IV who defeated Antiochus II retaking the land of Judah. The events are recounted in 3rd Maccabees as follows:
1 Now Philopater, on learning from those who came back that Antiochus had made himself master of the places which belonged to himself, sent orders to all his footmen and horsemen, took with him his sister Arsinoe, and marched out as far as the parts of Raphia, where Antiochus and his forces encamped.
2 And one Theodotus, intending to carry out his design, took with him the bravest of the armed men who had been before committed to his trust by Ptolemy, and got through at night to the tent of Ptolemy, to kill him on his own responsibility, and so to end the war. 3 But Dositheus, called the son of Drimulus, by birth a Jew, afterward a renegade from the laws and observances of his country, conveyed Ptolemy away, and made an obscure person lie down in his stead in the tent. It befell this man to receive the fate which was meant for the other.
4 A fierce battle then took place; and the men of Antiochus prevailing, Arsinoe continually went up and down the ranks, and with dishevelled hair, with tears and entreaties, begged the soldiers to fight manfully for themselves, their children, and wives; and promised that if they proved conquerors, she would give them two minae of gold apiece.
5 It thus fell out that their enemies were defeated in hand-to-hand encounter, and that many of them were taken prisoners.
6 Having vanquished this attempt, the king then decided to proceed to the neighbouring cities, and encourage them.
7 By doing this, and by making donations to their temples, he inspired his subjects with confidence.
8 The Jews sent some of their council and of their elders to him. The greetings, guest- gifts, and congratulations of the past, bestowed by them, filled him with the greater eagerness to visit their city.
9 Having arrived at Jerusalem, sacrificed, and offered thank-offerings to the Greatest God, and done whatever else was suitable to the sanctity of the place, and entered the inner court,
10 he was so struck with the magnificence of the place, and so wondered at the orderly arrangements of the temple, that he considered entering the sanctuary itself.
(3Maccabees 1:1-10)
This is the opening of the events recounted in 3rd Maccabees. One of the most important things to know about 3rd Maccabees, is that it is wrongly named. 3rd Maccabees when, in fact, this book has nothing to do with the Maccabees. 3rd Maccabees actually deals with a totally separate oppression that took place in Egypt around fifty years before the Channukah story took place.
None-the-less 3rd Maccabees does in fact fit the pattern of typifying Last Days events foreshadowed by the Channukah story. The Channukah story foreshadows events of the tribulation, and events of 3rd Maccabees took place not long before the Channukah Story. Therefore the events foreshadowed by 3rd Maccabees are events that take place not long before the tribulation.
After the Battle of Raphia in 217 B.C.E. Ptolemy IV sought to enter the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, but was miraculously repulsed (3Macc. 1:1-2:24). Upon returning from Egypt he seeks to punish the Jews there for his humiliation. He lowers their political status and seeks to impose paganism on them (3Macc. 2:25-33) and tortures and seeks to kill those that refuse to renounce Judaism (3Macc. 3:1-5:51) An elder priest named Eleazar prays for the deliverance of his people (3Macc. 6:1-25), YHWH intervenes bringing about the repentance of the king and the deliverance of the Jews (6:16-7:23) The Jews declared an annual festival called “The Feast of Deliverance” (Chag Yeshua) as an annual celebration of the salvation of the Jews in Egypt at this time.
This festival was enacted from the 8th to the 14th of the Egyptian month of Epeiph. The Egyptian calendar was a Solar Calendar and these days correspond to 19 August 217 BCE on the Julian Calendar and this was 12th Elul 3544 on the Hebrew calendar. This festival known as Chag Yeshua (The Feast of Delivereance) should be observed for seven days beginning on the 12th of Elul each year.
Chag Yeshua is a festival which was not celebrated from the time the Apocrypha were removed from the Scriptures, until now. For centuries this important holiday laid dormant. It will be celebrated again for the first time in centuries for seven days beginning Aug. 22, 2010.
The Chag Yeshua story of 3rd Maccabees has much to teach us typologically about last days events some time before the tribulation. The conflicts between the King of the North and the King of the South represent conflicts between the Seleucid Empire based in Syria and the Ptolemaic Empire based in Egypt. You will also recall that In a past blog (http://nazarenespace.ning.com/profiles/blogs/now-it-can-finally-be-...) I showed that the King of the North also typifies last days Babylon, i.e. Christendom, and that the last days King of the South therefore typifies Islam.
Now in the Chag Yeshua story, Ptolemy IV, the “King of the South” seeks access to the Holy Place of the Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount. When he finds himself unable to access the Holy of Holies, he becomes very angry, and seeks to kill all of the Jews. In order not to be transparent about his hatred, he allows any Jew who will reject Judaism in favor of the King of the South’s religion to live.
Now in the Last Days sometime before the events of the Great Tribulation, the King of the South, Islam seeks access to the Holy Place of the Temple Mount. When he cannot get it, he becomes very angry and seeks to kill all of the Jews, though he allows any Jew who will convert to the religion of the King of the South (Islam) to live.
These are the events that are transpiring today, we are living in the time period of the oppression under the King of the South (Islam), but this is not the final conflict. This is only a prelude to the coming oppression of the Great Tribulation and the oppression under the King of the North (Christendom).
11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him--even with the king of the north. And he shall set forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand,
12 And the multitude shall be carried away. And his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.
(Daniel 11:11-12 HRV)
This was fulfilled by Ptolemy IV who defeated Antiochus II retaking the land of Judah. The events are recounted in 3rd Maccabees as follows:
1 Now Philopater, on learning from those who came back that Antiochus had made himself master of the places which belonged to himself, sent orders to all his footmen and horsemen, took with him his sister Arsinoe, and marched out as far as the parts of Raphia, where Antiochus and his forces encamped.
2 And one Theodotus, intending to carry out his design, took with him the bravest of the armed men who had been before committed to his trust by Ptolemy, and got through at night to the tent of Ptolemy, to kill him on his own responsibility, and so to end the war. 3 But Dositheus, called the son of Drimulus, by birth a Jew, afterward a renegade from the laws and observances of his country, conveyed Ptolemy away, and made an obscure person lie down in his stead in the tent. It befell this man to receive the fate which was meant for the other.
4 A fierce battle then took place; and the men of Antiochus prevailing, Arsinoe continually went up and down the ranks, and with dishevelled hair, with tears and entreaties, begged the soldiers to fight manfully for themselves, their children, and wives; and promised that if they proved conquerors, she would give them two minae of gold apiece.
5 It thus fell out that their enemies were defeated in hand-to-hand encounter, and that many of them were taken prisoners.
6 Having vanquished this attempt, the king then decided to proceed to the neighbouring cities, and encourage them.
7 By doing this, and by making donations to their temples, he inspired his subjects with confidence.
8 The Jews sent some of their council and of their elders to him. The greetings, guest- gifts, and congratulations of the past, bestowed by them, filled him with the greater eagerness to visit their city.
9 Having arrived at Jerusalem, sacrificed, and offered thank-offerings to the Greatest God, and done whatever else was suitable to the sanctity of the place, and entered the inner court,
10 he was so struck with the magnificence of the place, and so wondered at the orderly arrangements of the temple, that he considered entering the sanctuary itself.
(3Maccabees 1:1-10)
This is the opening of the events recounted in 3rd Maccabees. One of the most important things to know about 3rd Maccabees, is that it is wrongly named. 3rd Maccabees when, in fact, this book has nothing to do with the Maccabees. 3rd Maccabees actually deals with a totally separate oppression that took place in Egypt around fifty years before the Channukah story took place.
None-the-less 3rd Maccabees does in fact fit the pattern of typifying Last Days events foreshadowed by the Channukah story. The Channukah story foreshadows events of the tribulation, and events of 3rd Maccabees took place not long before the Channukah Story. Therefore the events foreshadowed by 3rd Maccabees are events that take place not long before the tribulation.
After the Battle of Raphia in 217 B.C.E. Ptolemy IV sought to enter the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, but was miraculously repulsed (3Macc. 1:1-2:24). Upon returning from Egypt he seeks to punish the Jews there for his humiliation. He lowers their political status and seeks to impose paganism on them (3Macc. 2:25-33) and tortures and seeks to kill those that refuse to renounce Judaism (3Macc. 3:1-5:51) An elder priest named Eleazar prays for the deliverance of his people (3Macc. 6:1-25), YHWH intervenes bringing about the repentance of the king and the deliverance of the Jews (6:16-7:23) The Jews declared an annual festival called “The Feast of Deliverance” (Chag Yeshua) as an annual celebration of the salvation of the Jews in Egypt at this time.
This festival was enacted from the 8th to the 14th of the Egyptian month of Epeiph. The Egyptian calendar was a Solar Calendar and these days correspond to 19 August 217 BCE on the Julian Calendar and this was 12th Elul 3544 on the Hebrew calendar. This festival known as Chag Yeshua (The Feast of Delivereance) should be observed for seven days beginning on the 12th of Elul each year.
Chag Yeshua is a festival which was not celebrated from the time the Apocrypha were removed from the Scriptures, until now. For centuries this important holiday laid dormant. It will be celebrated again for the first time in centuries for seven days beginning Aug. 22, 2010.
The Chag Yeshua story of 3rd Maccabees has much to teach us typologically about last days events some time before the tribulation. The conflicts between the King of the North and the King of the South represent conflicts between the Seleucid Empire based in Syria and the Ptolemaic Empire based in Egypt. You will also recall that In a past blog (http://nazarenespace.ning.com/profiles/blogs/now-it-can-finally-be-...) I showed that the King of the North also typifies last days Babylon, i.e. Christendom, and that the last days King of the South therefore typifies Islam.
Now in the Chag Yeshua story, Ptolemy IV, the “King of the South” seeks access to the Holy Place of the Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount. When he finds himself unable to access the Holy of Holies, he becomes very angry, and seeks to kill all of the Jews. In order not to be transparent about his hatred, he allows any Jew who will reject Judaism in favor of the King of the South’s religion to live.
Now in the Last Days sometime before the events of the Great Tribulation, the King of the South, Islam seeks access to the Holy Place of the Temple Mount. When he cannot get it, he becomes very angry and seeks to kill all of the Jews, though he allows any Jew who will convert to the religion of the King of the South (Islam) to live.
These are the events that are transpiring today, we are living in the time period of the oppression under the King of the South (Islam), but this is not the final conflict. This is only a prelude to the coming oppression of the Great Tribulation and the oppression under the King of the North (Christendom).
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