Daniel 11:20

 Daniel 11

Prophecy: Seleucus IV Philopator; Heliodorus

Daniel 11:20

Have you ever laid claim to something that belongs to another person?

We have seen the cowardly massacre that Hamas perpetrated on October the 7th, 2023 in Israel. It has prompted the war of Israel against Hamas, with the purpose of the total eradication of the abominable terrorist organization. Whereas all decent people support Israel and its goal, many deranged souls are protesting and calling for a ceasefire. Nobody would call for a ceasefire after Pearl Harbor, or in the war against ISIS. But the pro-Palestinian stance is the result of several decades of political propaganda from the Palestinian Arabs, who lay claim to the land of Israel (which was colonized by their Muslim Arab ancestors in the Middle Ages and then lost to several empires, especially to the Ottoman Turks who ruled it for four centuries). To the deranged souls defending that position, the fact that Jews are the real indigenous people in the Holy Land, or that this land has been a state only three times in history, and always a Jewish state, is not so important. Their hate of Jews is bigger than their human reasoning. 

The verse for this message is found in Daniel 11:20. It is a prophecy about two men who laid claim to something that wasn't theirs. The first one tried to confiscate the treasury of the temple in Jerusalem, and the second one, the throne of the Seleucid Empire. Both of them failed in their intentions, because God is adamant about this. He told us in Deuteronomy 5:21: 

"You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male slave or his female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor". 

The men in this prophecy could think, "well, this verse is not about temple treasuries or thrones, is it?" and the Hamas terrorists could think as well, "it is not about a country, is it?". Besides, none of them were Jews or Christians, so they could even think that the Bible doesn't apply to them. But if this is your way to interpret the Bible, I really urge you to reconsider. The Creator of heavens and earth and Judge of the whole universe is not in favor of seizures of any kind, and His moral laws, even when given for the people of Israel, apply for all mankind. Let's read about how He punished those who coveted another's possession. 

The word of God we read today is in Daniel 11:20:

"His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor. In a few years, however, he will be destroyed, yet not in anger or in battle"

The original Hebrew is this:

ועמד על־כנו מעביר נוגש הדר מלכות ובימים אחדים ישבר ולא באפים ולא במלחמה

Which sounds like this:

"Veamád al-kanó maavír nogés héder malxút, ubeyamím axadím yishavér veló beapáyim veló bemilxamá"

The translation of NIV, even when it is not a literal one, conveys the meaning in a more simple way. More literal translations, as NASB or KJV, adopt a different approach, but the outcome of the prophecy is the same anyway: after Antiochus the Great, a ruler would arise who would try to collect taxes - "in the Jewel of his kingdom", meaning the Holy Land (NASB); or "in the glory of the kingdom", meaning that the tax collector would be conceded royal position (KJV). 

The one who succeeded Antiochus the Great in 187 BC was Seleucus IV Philopator his son. He sent Heliodorus, one of his officers, to collect taxes from the temple in Jerusalem, by 178 BC. But he didn't succeed. 

We can read about this event in the 2nd book of Maccabees, chapter 3, where we read that Heliodorus was very well received in Jerusalem, and when he declared the reason of his visit, the High Priest told him that the money in the temple was assigned for widows and orphans, and that a certain deposit belonged to Hyrcanus son of Tobias. Nevertheless, Heliodorus insisted in confiscating money from the temple, and went there with his guards. The book of Maccabees shows us how God Himself answered to Heliodorus profanation: 

"He had already arrived with his bodyguard near the Treasury, when the Sovereign of spirits and of every power caused so great an apparition that all who had dared to accompany Heliodorus were dumbfounded at the power of God, and were reduced to abject terror.

Before their eyes appeared a horse richly caparisoned and carrying a fearsome rider. Rearing violently, it struck at Heliodorus with its forefeet. The rider was seen to be accoutred entirely in gold. Two other young men of outstanding strength and radiant beauty, magnificently apparelled, appeared to him at the same time, and taking their stand on either side of him flogged him unremittingly, inflicting stroke after stroke.

Suddenly Heliodorus fell to the ground, enveloped in thick darkness. His men came to his rescue and placed him in a litter, this man who but a moment before had made his way into the Treasury, as we said above, with a great retinue and his whole bodyguard; and as they carried him away, powerless to help himself, they openly acknowledged the sovereign power of God".

2nd Maccabees 3:24-28

Heliodorus was restored to health by the intercession of the High Priest later, and desisted from his mission. Back in Antioch, he killed Seleucus IV in 175 BC - that's why he "was destroyed after a few years, yet not in anger or in battle" - to proclame himself as regent of the Seleucid Empire. His regency was very brief; he was deposed in the same year by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the Great, and died 170 BC. It is said that Antiochus IV got him assassinated. 

There is a reason God thwarted the purposes of those unprincipled men, and has thwarted the purpose of the antisemites who've been trying for more that 70 years to deprive the Jews from their land. He says that you shall not covet "anything that belongs to your neighbor". God is not in the business of "social justice", "wealth redistribution", Socialism, antisemitism, anti-Zionism or any ideology that justifies to take someone's property by force or by governmental decree - but I repeat myself. "Tax the rich" and "free Palestine" are both abominable things to say before the Lord our God. Every working person in a civilized country pays taxes, and there is no Palestine to set free, because such a country has never existed, let alone a "Palestinian people" before 1964, with "Palestinian" kings, generals, religious leaders, scientists, artists or whatsoever called "Palestinian" persons. Palestinian is the word that describes the persons living in the British Mandate of Palestine between 1923 and 1948, disregarding if they were Arabs, Jews or Armenians; and disregarding if they were Christians, Jews, Muslims, or believers in the Climate Change Religion. 

If you have not yet received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are still able to do it. The only One who can save your soul from eternal condemnation is calling you and wants you to be free from your sins, declared holy and righteous by the power of His blood and having your name written in the book of life. All you need to do is to confess your sins to Him, ask Him for forgiveness, and receive the abundant blessing which will come with your salvation. 

In the love of Christ, your brother

Israel Leonard

PS. Jesus is coming soon!