This is the 5th study in our series entitled ‘The Greatest Mystery’.

In this session, we continue to explore the incredible way God engineered to bring the Jews back into their homeland after almost 2000 years in accordance with His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

May you be blessed, challenged and amazed as we stand back in wonder, considering all that He has done!

The post The Greatest Mystery – Part 5 first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.

In our verse-by-verse journey through the Gospel of Mark we are reviewing the Olivet Discourse – the private briefing that Jesus gave to Peter, James, Andrew, and John on the Mt of Olives on the Tuesday before His crucifixion.

In this study, we look at what Jesus meant when he warned of the coming ‘abomination of desolation‘ – spoken of by Daniel the prophet!

Obviously, the place to go to discover what this means is the book of Daniel!

In chapter 8, Daniel received a vision from the LORD that showed him the coming world empires, with the Medo-Persian Empire eventually falling to the strength and lightning speed of Alexander’s Greece. But after Alexander’s untimely death, Greece was divided amongst his four generals. Daniel prophetically recorded:
“Therefore the he goat (Alexander) waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken (Alexander died at the age of just 32); and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven”. Daniel 8:8
Within a year of Alexander’s death, the empire was divided up between his four generals, Antigonus took Babylon (later to be conquered by Seleucus), Ptolemy took Egypt, Cassandra took Macedonia and Lysimachus took Asia Minor.

But then Daniel records the rise of ‘another’:

“And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land”.

We are now introduced to a ‘little horn’ that comes out of one of the ‘4 horns’ that arose after the death of Alexander the Great. So this horn is to come out of the remains of the Greek Empire; and we are told that he ‘waxed exceeding great’ toward the south, east and the pleasant land – Israel.

As Daniel chapter 8 continues we have described (prophesied) for us an event that occurred in 167 B.C.  at the hand of one of the Seleucid kings, Antiochus Epiphanies. Antiochus was a part of the Seleucid Empire and according to the book of 1 Maccabees in the Apocrypha, and other historical records, Antiochus IV was the 8^th king of the Syrian dynasty, reigning from 175 – 164 B.C. He ascended to the throne after the death of his father and imprisonment (by Rome) of his elder brother, Seleucus Philopator. Yet Antiochus was not the rightful heir, for Seleucus had a son. However, by flattery and bribery, Antiochus succeeded in becoming king. He invaded Egypt and defeated Ptolemy VI, but on his way back he stopped of at Jerusalem. Jerusalem was situated right in between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires and acted as a ‘buffer zone’ in between the two rival kingdoms. As you can imagine, the Jews were not very enamored by this, and upon hearing a false report of his death, started to celebrate. This met with swift and decisive action and Antiochus appointed a new high priest in an attempt to assert his authority.

However, following a further (and this time ill-fated) battle with Egypt, Antiochus wanted to vent his anger and frustration so again turned on the Jews. This time he plundered and desecrated the temple and even went as far as sacrificing a pig on the altar. He tried to do everything he possibly could to offend the Jews as can be seen from the following record from 1 Maccabees:

“And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah: he directed them:                     

                      –     to follow customs strange to the land,

• to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary,
• to profane Sabbaths and feasts,
• to defile the sanctuary and the priests,
• to build altars in sacred precincts and shrines for idols,
• to sacrifice swine and unclean animals, and
• to leave their sons uncircumcised,

They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, so that they [the Jews] should forget the law and change the ordinances. And whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die”

Antiochus put an idol in the temple (and ‘abomination’) and stopped the daily sacrifices.

Here we see a model of what Antichrist will do, and this is what Jesus refers to as the ‘abomination of desolation’. That which Daniel recorded prophetically was just the dress rehearsal! The real event will soon be enacted on the world stage as a cunning political leader will come to the fore, agree a ‘covenant’ with Israel to allow them to resume their Temple sacrifices, only to turn on Israel after 3 1/2 years. The fact that the ‘model’ happened just as Daniel had prophesied, and with such incredible detail, we can be absolutely certain that the ‘fulfilment of the model’ will happen just as Jesus said.

We are living now in the countdown to the Tribulation. Israel will have to endure the Tribulation, although God will protect them and bring them through. The Church, however, are promised a way of escape before the Tribulation begins.

If you are not yet part of the Church, please come along one Sunday morning soon, or visit another Calvary Chapel or Bible-believing (and teaching!) Church.

Brexit, Syria, Iran, Russia, an economic collapse etc. are just the rumbles in the distance that warn of something much greater to come!

to be continued…

As usual, the Audio recording and Powerpoint slides used for this teaching are available for free download.

Every blessing,

Pastor Barry.

The post The Gospel of Mark 13 14-20 first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.

The events that led to this Jewish celebration were recorded in advance in the book of Daniel,  hundreds of years before 167 B.C. when the Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanies desecrated the Jewish Temple, leading to the Maccabean revolt, and the miracles commemorated by this feast.

It is worth pointing out that there are a staggering 135 fulfilled prophecies from Daniel 11:2-35. Bible critics hate Daniel chapter 11 because it offers irrefutable proof that the Bible is the Word of God; for no man could accurately predict, with such detailed precision, the rise and fall of world empires, the political manipulating and deception of successive kingdoms, and the battles that would be fought. We need to remind ourselves, that all of this was recorded hundreds of years before the prophesied events actually took place.

The Apostle Peter talks about the ‘more sure word of prophecy’ that we can depend upon, far more so than any emotion or feeling. Throughout scripture, prophecy confirms the Word and shows it to be true. Sceptics will continue to doubt these things, yet with each archaeological discovery, they are forced to withdraw their theories and accusations as the evidence continues to mount in support of the Word of God. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

In this study, Adrain explains that Antiochus Epiphanies (whose name means ‘the shining one’) was a part of the Seleucid Empire that had come to power following the death of Alexander the Great. According to the book of 1 Maccabees, and other historical records, Antiochus IV was the 8th king of the Syrian dynasty, reigning from 175 – 164 B.C. He ascended to the throne after the death of his father and imprisonment (by Rome) of his elder brother, Seleucus Philopator. Yet Antiochus was not the rightful heir, for Seleucus had a son. However, by flattery and bribery Antiochus succeeded in becoming king. He invaded Egypt and defeated Ptolemy VI, but on his way back he stopped off at Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was situated right in between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires, and acted as a ‘buffer zone’ in between the two rival kingdoms. As you can imagine, the Jews were not very enamoured by this and tried to resist. In response, Antiochus plundered and desecrated the temple and even went as far as sacrificing a pig on the alter. He tried to do everything he possibly could to offend the Jews as can be seen from the following record from 1 Maccabees:
“And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah: he directed them:
– to follow customs strange to the land,
– to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary,
– to profane Sabbaths and feasts,
– to defile the sanctuary and the priests,
– to build alters in sacred precincts and shrines for idols,
– to sacrifice swine and unclean animals, and
– to leave their sons uncircumcised,
They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, so that they [the Jews] should forget the law and change the ordinances. And whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die”

Antiochus (in a dress rehearsal of what the coming Antichrist will do) put an idol in the temple and stopped the daily sacrifices.

A Jewish priest, by the name of Mattathias, was so incensed by the desecration of the temple and the erecting of an idol in the holy place that, not only did he refuse to worship this idol, but also started killing the Hellenistic Jews* who did. (*Jews that had adopted the
Greek culture and lifestyle). As a result of this, he and his five sons were forced to flee into the wilderness. After Mattathias’ death about one year later, his son Judas Maccabeus (whose name meant ‘hammer’) formed an army and led a revolt against Antiochus IV, which in 164 B.C. was eventually successful in overthrowing the Seleucid control of Israel. When the Jews finally entered the temple they found only one days supply of the consecrated olive oil that was needed to maintain the light on the great seven-branched lampstand called the ‘Menorah’. According to the Law of Moses, this was to be kept continually burning. The Jewish Talmud records that the priests poured the oil into the seven lamps and lit them to bring forth light. Miraculously, the one day supply of oil burned for eight days – which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate new oil!

To commemorate this event the Jews added the Feast of Chanukah, also called ‘Festival of Lights’ or ‘Festival of Rededication’ to their annual feasts. The scriptural endorsement of this feast is confirmed in John 10:22: “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.” (John 10:22-23).

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

The post The Feast of Chanukah first appeared on Calvary Chapel Portsmouth.