Jeremiah prophesied that Judah would return after seventy years

(Jer 25:11-14 NIV)  This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. "But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever. I will bring upon that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands."


(Dan 9:2 NCV)  During Darius' first year as king, I, Daniel, was reading the Scriptures. I saw that the LORD told Jeremiah that Jerusalem would be empty ruins for seventy years.


(Isa 45:18-19 NIV)  For this is what the LORD says-- he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited-- he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob's descendants, 'Seek me in vain.' I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.

(Isa 45:21-23 NIV)  Declare what is to be, present it-- let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.

(Isa 46:8-11 NIV)  "Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.

Angelic activity continued during the time of the captivity of Israel and Judah as we have already seen and afterward as the Jews returned to their own homeland. Daniel prophesied concerning the countries that would control Jerusalem until the time of the first coming of Jesus Christ and then also jumps forward to the future and predicts the world conditions at his (Christ’s) second coming 2000 years later. Daniel’s prophecies and their fulfillment’s leading up to the restoration of the Jews will be reviewed now, those concerning the Greek and Roman empires later in this chapter, and those concerning the end times in a future chapter. 

As we shall see from the prophecies in the book of Daniel, angels were continuously intervening in human events during the time from the captivity until the birth of Christ. They were working behind the scenes to prepare the way for the first coming of Christ.


It was God’s will to punish the Jews for seventy years and he did so by the rule of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who came to power by God’s permission through the angels. Following that God gave the kingdom to the Medes and the Persians and inspired Cyrus and Darius to permit the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. This again was initiated in the unseen realm of angels as we have seen in the record of the handwriting on the wall to king Belshazzar on the night his kingdom fell. After this Alexander the Great and the Kingdom of Greece was given power by God to rule over the Holy Land. This was done so that the Greek language would be in place for the writing of the New Testament in Greek, the language of the Gentiles, for whom the New Testament was primarily given. Following the establishing of the Greek language as the premier language of communication in the area the Messiah Jesus Christ would be born, God permitted the Roman Empire to come to power. The Roman empire built the roads throughout the world at that time which would be used to spread the gospel to all nations. Everything was always under the control and planning of God.

God did not give Daniel the prophecies concerning the future kingdoms merely to give Daniel something to write about. The Lord was showing Daniel how he would set up world events for the coming of the Messiah and for the spreading of the Gospel to the Gentiles and the world.

Although the kings in the world think that they are performing all of their own ideas and thoughts as they rule and reign, ultimately they are under the control of God through the angels to accomplish his purposes. They (the kings) are allowed to do many things on their own, both good and evil, for which they will be judged, but the major events in their reigns are determined by God and caused to happen through angels, in order to fulfill his word and his will.


(Dan 2:19 NCV)  During the night God explained the secret to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.

(Dan 2:26-28 NCV)  The king asked Daniel, who was also called Belteshazzar, "Are you able to tell me what I dreamed and what it means?" Daniel answered, "No wise man, magician, or fortune-teller can explain to the king the secret he has asked about. But there is a God in heaven who explains secret things, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen at a later time. This is your dream, the vision you saw while lying on your bed:

(Dan 2:29-30 NCV)  O king, as you were lying there, you thought about things to come. God, who can tell people about secret things, showed you what is going to happen. God also told this secret to me, not because I have greater wisdom than any other living person, but so that you may know what it means. In that way you will understand what went through your mind.

(Dan 2:31-36 NCV)  "O king, in your dream you saw a huge, shiny, and frightening statue in front of you. The head of the statue was made of pure gold. Its chest and arms were made of silver. Its stomach and the upper part of its legs were made of bronze. The lower part of the legs were made of iron, while its feet were made partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were looking at the statue, you saw a rock cut free, but no human being touched the rock. It hit the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold broke to pieces at the same time. They became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summertime; the wind blew them away, and there was nothing left. Then the rock that hit the statue became a very large mountain that filled the whole earth. "That was your dream. Now we will tell the king what it means.


(Dan 2:37-38 NCV)  O king, you are the greatest king. God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. Wherever people, wild animals, and birds live, God made you ruler over them. King Nebuchadnezzar, you are the head of gold on that statue.

King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire that was at it’s zenith at that time is explained to be the head of gold in the dream.

(Dan 7:1-4 NCV)  In Belshazzar's first year as king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream. He saw visions as he was lying on his bed, and he wrote down what he had dreamed. Daniel said: "I saw my vision at night. In the vision the wind was blowing from all four directions, which made the sea very rough. I saw four huge animals come up from the sea, and each animal was different from the others. "The first animal looked like a lion, but had wings like an eagle. I watched this animal until its wings were torn off. It was lifted from the ground so that it stood up on two feet like a human, and it was given the mind of a human.

King Nebuchadnezzar was also the first animal. His wings being torn off represent his time of insanity recorded in Daniel where the king lived like an animal for a period of time and then his mind was restored and he regained his kingdom. This is not guesswork. Daniel’s vision was explained to him by the angel Gabriel and another angel.


(Dan 7:16-17 NCV)  I came near one of those standing there and asked what all this meant. "So he told me and explained to me what these things meant: 'The four great animals are four kingdoms that will come from the earth.


(Dan 2:39 NCV)  "Another kingdom will come after you, but it will not be as great as yours.

(Dan 7:5 NCV)  Then I saw a second animal before me that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, 'Get up and eat all the meat you want!'

Following the Babylonian empire the Persians and the Medes came to power under Cyrus and then Darius.

(Dan 10:1-6 NCV)  During Cyrus' third year as king of Persia, Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, received a vision about a great war. It was a true message that Daniel understood. At that time I, Daniel, had been very sad for three weeks. I did not eat any fancy food or meat, or drink any wine, or use any perfumed oil for three weeks. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was standing beside the great Tigris River. While standing there, I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothes with a belt of fine gold wrapped around his waist. His body was like shiny yellow quartz. His face was bright like lightning, and his eyes were like fire. His arms and legs were shiny like polished bronze, and his voice sounded like the roar of a crowd.

(Dan 10:7-10 NCV)  I, Daniel, was the only person who saw the vision. The men with me did not see it, because they were so frightened that they ran away and hid. So I was left alone, watching this great vision. I lost my strength, my face turned white like a dead person, and I was helpless. Then I heard the man in the vision speaking. As I listened, I fell into a deep sleep with my face on the ground. Then a hand touched me and set me on my hands and knees. I was so afraid that I was shaking.

(Dan 10:11-12 NCV)  The man in the vision said to me, "Daniel, God loves you very much. Think carefully about the words I will speak to you, and stand up, because I have been sent to you." When he said this, I stood up, but I was still shaking. Then the man said to me, "Daniel, do not be afraid. Some time ago you decided to get understanding and to humble yourself before your God. Since that time God has listened to you, and I have come because of your prayers.

Daniel prayed and as a result an angel was sent to him to answer his prayer for understanding.

(Dan 10:13 NCV)  But the prince of Persia has been fighting against me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the most important angels, came to help me, because I had been left there with the king of Persia.

The angel was detained because he was busy holding back the demonic forces that were empowering the king of Persia and his army. It was not yet God’s time to let the Medo-Persian empire conquer the Babylonians. The angel was holding the invaders back until the night when the handwriting would appear on the wall to Belshazzar and then Cyrus would be permitted by God to conquer Babylon for the purpose of releasing the Jews from captivity.

Notice the demonic and human armies were so strong that Michael the archangel had to be sent to help this angel otherwise he would not have been able to hold them back. Since one angel destroyed 185,000 human troops just think how powerful the Persian army was. Satan is constantly trying to prevent the prophecies God has given from coming to pass in order to make God into a liar. Had the Jews been released to go home even one day before the seventy years were completed God would be a liar and a sinner. Satan however will never succeed because God is all powerful and cannot lie.

(Dan 10:14-21 NCV)  Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people, because the vision is about a time in the future." While he was speaking to me, I bowed facedown and could not speak. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, so I opened my mouth and started to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, "Master, I am upset and afraid because of what I saw in the vision. I feel helpless. Master, how can I, your servant, talk with you? My strength is gone, and it is hard for me to breathe." The one who looked like a man touched me again and gave me strength. He said, "Daniel, don't be afraid. God loves you very much. Peace be with you. Be strong now; be courageous." When he spoke to me, I became stronger and said, "Master, speak, since you have given me strength." Then he said, "Daniel, do you know why I have come to you? Soon I must go back to fight against the prince of Persia. When I go, the prince of Greece will come, but I must first tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. No one stands with me against these enemies except Michael, the angel ruling over your people.

Only Michael was assisting the angel against the Persians, so two angels was enough to withstand that mighty army. Notice that the angel told Daniel that after the Persians came to power that the prince of Greece (Alexander the Great) would come. The angel would have to hold back the Grecian powers from conquering the Persians until the proper time on God’s itinerary. This angel also stated that Michael is the angel who rules over the Jewish people.

Contrary to what some may think, the angels are not all sitting on clouds playing harps and singing. The are busy ensuring that God’s word and prophecies come to pass exactly as he has specified. Other angels are guarding the heirs of salvation, which is us if we belong to Christ. Being an angel is not necessarily an easy job. Some are indeed surrounding the throne of God and singing, praising and worshipping him continuously, as that is their job.


(Dan 2:39-40 NCV)  Next a third kingdom, the bronze part, will rule over the earth. Then there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. In the same way that iron crushes and smashes things to pieces, the fourth kingdom will smash and crush all the other kingdoms.

After the Medo-Persian empire Alexander the Great came on the scene and Greek culture was implemented upon the holy land by Alexander and his successors. The Roman empire followed the Grecian empire and became the greatest power the world had known up until that time.

This was a thumbnail overview of world history given to Daniel through the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzars dream. Daniel was given more details concerning these empires later by an angel. 


(Dan 5:24-28 NCV)  So God sent the hand that wrote on the wall. "These are the words that were written on the wall: 'Mene, mene, tekel, and parsin.' "This is what the words mean: Mene: God has counted the days until your kingdom will end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found not good enough. Parsin: Your kingdom is being divided and will be given to the Medes and the Persians."

(Dan 5:29 NCV)  Then Belshazzar gave an order for Daniel to be dressed in purple clothes and to have a gold chain put around his neck. And it was announced that Daniel was the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

(Dan 5:30-31 NCV)  That very same night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonian people, was killed. So Darius the Mede became the new king when he was sixty-two years old.

(Dan 6:28 NCV)  So Daniel was successful during the time Darius was king and when Cyrus the Persian was king.


(Isa 44:24-26 & 28 NIV)  "This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, 'They shall be built,' and of their ruins, 'I will restore them,' who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid."'

(Isa 45:1-5 NIV)  "This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains ; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,

(Isa 45:6-9 NIV)  so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. "You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it. "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands'?

(Isa 45:11-13 NIV)  "This is what the LORD says-- the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty."

Josephus Book 11 - Chapter 1

How Cyrus, King Of The Persians, Delivered The Jews Out Of Babylon, And Suffered Them To Return To Their Own Country, And To Build Their Temple; For Which Work He Gave Them Money

In the first year of the reign of Cyrus, which was the seventieth from the day that our people were removed out of their own land into Babylon, God commiserated the captivity and calamity of these poor people, according as he had foretold to them by Jeremiah the prophet, before the destruction of the city, that after they has served Nebuchadnezzar and his posterity, and after they had undergone that servitude seventy years, he would restore them again to the land of their fathers, and they should build their temple, and enjoy their ancient prosperity; and these things God did afford them; for he stirred up the mind of Cyrus, and made him write this throughout all Asia:—"Thus saith Cyrus the King:—Since God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of the habitable earth, I believe that he is that God which the nation of the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets; and that I should build him a house at Jerusalem, in the country of Judea."

This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies; for this prophet said that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision:—"My will is, that Cyrus , whom I have appointed to be king over many and great nations, send back my people to their own land, and build my temple." This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished.  Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the divine power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written; so he called for the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and said to them, that he gave them leave to go back to their own country, and to rebuild their city Jerusalem, and the temple of God, for that he would be their assistant, and that he would write to the rulers and governors that were in the neighborhood of their country of Judea, that they should contribute to them gold and silver for the building of the temple, and, beside that, beasts for their sacrifices.


(Ezra 1:1-4 NCV)  In the first year Cyrus was king of Persia, the LORD caused Cyrus to send an announcement to his whole kingdom and to put it in writing. This happened so the Lord's message spoken by Jeremiah would come true. He wrote: This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me, and he has appointed me to build a Temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. May God be with all of you who are his people. You are free to go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the Temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, who is in Jerusalem. Those who stay behind, wherever they live, should support those who want to go. Give them silver and gold, supplies and cattle, and special gifts for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.


(Ezra 2:1 NCV)  These are the people of the area who returned from captivity, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken away to Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each going back to his own town.

(Ezra 2:64-65 & 70 NCV)  The total number of those who returned was 42,360. This is not counting their 7,337 male and female servants and the 200 male and female singers they had with them. All the Israelites settled in their hometowns. The priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and Temple servants, along with some of the other people, settled in their own towns as well.

(Ezra 3:1-3 & 6 NCV)  In the seventh month, after the Israelites were settled in their hometowns, they met together in Jerusalem. Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests joined Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and began to build the altar of the God of Israel where they could offer burnt offerings, just as it is written in the Teachings of Moses, the man of God. Even though they were afraid of the people living around them, they built the altar where it had been before. And they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD morning and evening.On the first day of the seventh month they began to bring burnt offerings to the LORD, but the foundation of the Lord's Temple had not yet been laid.


CYRUS The third king of Anshan, Cyrus (the Great) assumed the throne about 550 B.C. According to the best histories Cyrus was reared by a shepherd after his grandfather, Astyages, king of Media, ordered that he be killed. Apparently, Astyages had dreamed that Cyrus would one day succeed him as king before the reigning monarch's death. The officer charged with the execution instead carried the boy into the hills to the shepherds.

As an adult, Cyrus organized the Persians into an army and revolted against his grandfather and father (Cambyses I). He defeated them and claimed their throne. The Babylonian Empire next stood in his path, an obstacle which appeared to be insurmountable. Engaging the Babylonian army at Opis, Cyrus' troops routed them and moved on Babylon. The people in the capital welcomed Cyrus with open arms, seeing him as a liberator rather than a conqueror. All that remained was Egypt, which he left for his son, Cambyses II. Cyrus truly was the ruler of the world.

Cyrus' military exploits have become legendary. However, he is best remembered for his policies of peace. His famous decree in 539 B.C. (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4) set free the captives Babylon had taken during its harsh rule. Among these prisoners were the Jews taken from Jerusalem in 586 B.C. They were allowed to return to rebuild the Temple and city. Along with this freedom Cyrus restored the valuable treasures of the Temple taken during the Exile. Since the Jews had done well in Babylon financially, many of them did not want to return to the wastes of Judah. From these people Cyrus exacted a tax to help pay for the trip for those who did wish to rebuild Jerusalem.

His last years are obscure. Cyrus was killed while fighting a frontier war with the nomadic Massagetae people. His tomb is in Pasargadae (modern Murghab). l


DARIUS King of Persia (522-486 B.C.) Successor to Cambyses II in the Persian Empire, Darius spent his early years as king putting down revolts in Media, Persia, and Egypt. After solidifying his power in the Middle East, he set out to reconquer the Scythians and Greeks who had rebelled under his predecessor. He was successful in this venture until the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. From that time the kingdom began a gradual regression until finally conquered by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C.

Darius brought a new sense of unity to his empire. He enlarged on the policies of Cyrus the Great in making restoration to those disenfranchised by the Assyrian and Babylonian dominations. The Jews received additional financial aid for finishing the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 6:8-9).  l


(Zec 1:7-12 NCV)  It was on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in Darius's second year as king. The LORD spoke his word to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, who was the son of Iddo. During the night I had a vision. I saw a man riding a red horse. He was standing among some myrtle trees in a ravine, with red, brown, and white horses behind him. I asked, "What are these, sir?" The angel who was talking with me answered, "I'll show you what they are." Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, "They are the ones the LORD sent through all the earth." Then they spoke to the Lord's angel, who was standing among the myrtle trees. They said, "We have gone through all the earth, and everything is calm and quiet." Then the Lord's angel asked, "LORD All-Powerful, how long will it be before you show mercy to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have been angry with them for seventy years now."

(Zec 1:13-17 NCV)  So the LORD answered the angel who was talking with me, and his words were comforting and good. Then the angel who was talking to me said to me, "Announce this: This is what the LORD All-Powerful says: 'I have a strong love for Jerusalem. And I am very angry with the nations that feel so safe. I was only a little angry at them, but they made things worse.' "So this is what the LORD says: 'I will return to Jerusalem with mercy. My Temple will be rebuilt,' says the LORD All-Powerful, 'and the measuring line will be used to rebuild Jerusalem.' "Also announce: This is what the LORD All-Powerful says: 'My towns will be rich again. The LORD will comfort Jerusalem again, and I will again choose Jerusalem.'"

(Zec 1:18-19 NCV)  Then I looked up and saw four animal horns. I asked the angel who was talking with me, "What are these?" He said, "These are the horns that scattered the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusale m."

(Zec 1:20-21 NCV))  Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. I asked, "What are they coming to do?" He answered, "They have come to scare and throw down the horns. These horns scattered the people of Judah so that no one could even lift up his head. These horns stand for the nations that attacked the people of Judah and scattered them."

(Zec 2:1-5 NCV)  Then I looked up and saw a man holding a line for measuring things. I asked him, "Where are you going?" He said to me, "I am going to measure Jerusalem, to see how wide and how long it is." Then the angel who was talking with me left, and another angel came out to meet him. The second angel said to him, "Run and tell that young man, 'Jerusalem will become a city without walls, because there will be so many people and cattle in it. I will be a wall of fire around it,' says the LORD. 'And I will be the glory within it.'


(Hag 1:1-12 NCV)  The prophet Haggai spoke the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. This message came in the second year that Darius was king, on the first day of the sixth month: "This is what the LORD All-Powerful says: 'The people say the right time has not come to rebuild the Temple of the LORD.'" Then Haggai the prophet spoke the word of the LORD: "Is it right for you to be living in fancy houses while the Temple is still in ruins?" This is what the LORD All-Powerful says: "Think about what you have done. You have planted much, but you harvest little. You eat, but you do not become full. You drink, but you are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but you are not warm enough. You earn money, but then you lose it all as if you had put it into a purse full of holes." This is what the LORD All-Powerful says: "Think about what you have done. Go up to the mountains, bring back wood, and build the Temple. Then I will be pleased with it and be honored," says the LORD. "You look for much, but you find little. When you bring it home, I destroy it. Why?" asks the LORD All-Powerful. "Because you all work hard for your own houses while my house is still in ruins! Because of what you have done, the sky holds back its rain and the ground holds back its crops. I have called for a time without rain on the land, and on the mountains, and on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, the plants which the earth produces, the people, the farm animals, and all the work of your hands." Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the rest of the people who were left alive obeyed the LORD their God and the message from Haggai the prophet, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.


(Hag 1:13-15 NCV)  Haggai, the Lord's messenger, gave the Lord's message to the people, saying, "The LORD says, 'I am with you.'" The LORD stirred up Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the rest of the people who were left alive. So they came and worked on the Temple of their God, the LORD All-Powerful. They began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year Darius was king.

(Ezra 3:8-9 NIV)  In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work, appointing Levites twenty years of age and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD. Jeshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah ) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers--all Levites--joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

(Ezra 3:10-11 NCV)  The builders finished laying the foundation of the Temple of the LORD. Then the priests, dressed in their robes, stood with their trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, stood with their cymbals. They all took their places and praised the LORD just as David king of Israel had said to do. With praise and thanksgiving, they sang to the LORD: "He is good; his love for Israel continues forever." And then all the people shouted loudly, "Praise the LORD! The foundation of his Temple has been laid."


(Ezra 6:15-16 NCV)  The Temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year Darius was king. Then the people of Israel celebrated and gave the Temple to God to honor him. Everybody was happy: the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the Jewish people who had returned from captivity.

(Ezra 6:19-21 NCV)  The Jewish people who returned from captivity celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. The priests and Levites had made themselves clean. Then the Levites killed the Passover lambs for all the people who had returned from captivity, for their relatives the priests, and for themselves. So all the people of Israel who returned from captivity ate the Passover lamb. So did the people who had given up the unclean ways of their non-Jewish neighbors in order to worship the LORD, the God of Israel.

(Ezra 7:1-6 NCV)  After these things during the rule of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra came up from Babylon. Ezra was the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the high priest. This Ezra came to Jerusalem from Babylon. He was a teacher and knew well the Teachings of Moses that had been given by the LORD, the God of Israel. Ezra received everything he asked for from the king, because the LORD his God was helping him.

After the temple was completed there was a time of peace and learning for the Jews under Ezra the scribe. The Medo-Persian empire lasted from 550 BC beginning with Cyrus and Darius and ending in 331 BC with a descendant of Darius, also named Darius on the throne.

(Dan 11:1-2 NCV)  In the first year that Darius the Mede was king, I stood up to support Michael in his fight against the prince of Persia. "Now then, Daniel, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will rule in Persia, and then a fourth king will come. He will be much richer than all the kings of Persia before him and will use his riches to get power. He will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

Darius had three successors to the Persian throne and then came Alexander from Macedonia to conquer the Persian kingdom and was spoken to the prophet Daniel by the angels. This latter Darius was defeated by Alexander the Great and the Grecian empire began, just as the angel Gabriel had foretold to Daniel.


(Dan 2:39 NCV)  Next a third kingdom, the bronze part, will rule over the earth.

(Dan 7:6 NCV)  "After that, I looked, and there before me was another animal. This animal looked like a leopard with four wings on its back that looked like a bird's wings. This animal had four heads and was given power to rule.

(Dan 8:1-7 NCV)  During the third year of King Belshazzar's rule, I, Daniel, saw another vision, which was like the first one. In this vision I saw myself in the capital city of Susa, in the area of Elam. I was standing by the Ulai Canal when I looked up and saw a male sheep standing beside the canal. It had two long horns, but one horn was longer and newer than the other. I watched the sheep charge to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stand before him, and none could save another animal from his power. He did whatever he wanted and became very powerful. While I was watching this, I saw a male goat come from the west. This goat had one large horn between his eyes that was easy to see. He crossed over the whole earth so fast that his feet hardly touched the ground. In his anger the goat charged the sheep with the two horns that I had seen standing by the canal. I watched the angry goat attack the sheep and break the sheep's two horns. The sheep was not strong enough to stop it. The goat knocked the sheep to the ground and then walked all over him. No one was able to save the sheep from the goat, so the male goat became very great.


(Dan 8:15 NCV)  I, Daniel, saw this vision and tried to understand what it meant. In it I saw someone who looked like a man standing near me. And I heard a man's voice calling from the Ulai Canal: "Gabriel, explain the vision to this man."

(Dan 8:20-22 NCV)  "You saw a male sheep with two horns, which are the kings of Media and Persia. The male goat is the king of Greece, and the big horn between its eyes is the first king. The four horns that grew in the place of the broken horn are four kingdoms. Those four kingdoms will come from the nation of the first king, but they will not be as strong as the first king.

Josephus Chapter 8

About this time it was that Philip, king of Macedon was treacherously assaulted and slain at Egae by Pausanias the son of Cerastes, who was derived from the family of Orestae, and his son Alexander succeeded him in the kingdom;

After the death of his father Philip, Alexander the Great came on the scene and Greek culture was implemented upon the holy land by Alexander and his successors. Alexander was the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the king of Greece who would overthrow the empire of the Medes and the Persians.


Alexander III, king of Macedonia, the first king to be called "the Great," conquered the Persian empire and annexed it to Macedonia.  The son of Philip II and Olympias, he was born in 356 BC and brought up as crown prince.  Taught for a time by Aristotle, he acquired a love for Homer and an infatuation with the heroic age.  When Philip divorced Olympias to marry a younger princess, Alexander fled.  Although allowed to return, he remained isolated and insecure until Philip's mysterious assassination about June 336.

Alexander was at once presented to the army as king.  Winning its support, he eliminated all potential rivals, gained the allegiance of the Macedonian nobles and of the Greeks and defeated the neighboring barbarians.  Then he took up Philip's war of aggression against Persia, adopting his slogan of a Hellenic Crusade against the barbarian.

After organizing Egypt and founding Alexandria, Alexander crossed the Eastern Desert and the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and in the autumn of 331 defeated Darius's grand army at Gaugamela (near modern Irbil, Iraq). Darius fled to the mountain residence of Ecbatana, while Alexander occupied Babylon, the imperial capital Susa, and Persepolis. Henceforth, Alexander acted as legitimate king of Persia, and to win the support of the Iranian aristocracy he appointed mainly Iranians as provincial governors. 

In the autumn of 324, at Ecbatana, Alexander lost his boyhood friend Hephaestion, by then his grand vizier. The loss was irreparable. After deep mourning, he embarked on a winter campaign in the mountains, then returned to Babylon, where he prepared an expedition for the conquest of Arabia.  He died in June 323 without designating a successor.

Alexander at once became a legend to the peoples that had seen him pass like a hurricane. Greek accounts from the start tended to blend almost incredible fact with pure fiction (for example, his meeting with the Queen of the AMAZONS). The only clear features that emerge are Alexander's military genius and his successful opportunism: his unequaled eye for a chance and his sense of timing in both war and politics.  The only clear motive is the pursuit of glory: the urge to surpass the heroes of myth and to attain divinity.  The success of his ambition, at immense cost in human terms, spread a veneer of Greek culture far into central Asia, and some of it--supported and extended by the Hellenistic dynasties--lasted for a long time.  It also led to an expansion of Greek horizons and to the acceptance of the idea of a universal kingdom, which prepared the way for the Roman Empire. Moreover, it opened up the Greek world to new Oriental influences, which prepared the way for Christianity. Alexander's influence had long-lasting effects. The Greek culture and language pervaded the region for centuries afterward. The New Testament was written in Greek.   The Software Toolworks Encyclopedia


Alexander the Great lived only about 33 years, from 356 to 323 B.C., but during that time he became one of the most successful military commanders in human history. Alexander's tactical genius, front-line bravery, and paradoxically, his often short-tempered recklessness (his troops had to rescue the young king a number of times after he had charged too far ahead of them in battle), enabled him to rapidly overrun a vast region that had been occupied by earlier empires - Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian.  Alexander was the son of King Philip II of Macedon. In 336 B.C., at age 20, he assumed command of the Greek army. After putting down a rebellion in Greece, he began an eastward military campaign that quickly made him the ruler of the earth from Greece to India (see map below), where, according to some accounts, he sat down and wept because he had "run out of world to conquer." He died suddenly at age 33, from an unknown illness.


The Jewish leaders and their priests refused to be disloyal to Darius the King of Persia whom they were subject to during the time when Alexander the Great was coming into power but before he had defeated Darius. They had refused to provide Alexander’s army with food when he had been nearby and Alexander had vowed revenge upon them. After Alexander conquered Darius Judea was in great fear of Alexanders’ wrath coming upon them. God worked a miracle to prevent that from happening.


Josephus Chapter 8

Now Alexander, when he had taken Gaza, made haste to go up to Jerusalem; and Jaddua the high priest, when he heard that, was in an agony, and under terror, as not knowing how he should meet the Macedonians, since the king was displeased at his foregoing disobedience.  He therefore ordained that the people should make supplications, and should join with him in offering sacrifices to God, whom he besought to protect that nation, and to deliver them from the perils that were coming upon them; whereupon God warned him in a dream, which came upon him after he had offered sacrifice, that he should take courage, and adorn the city, and open the gates; that the rest appear in white garments, but that he and the priests should meet the king in the habits proper to their order, without the dread of any ill consequences, which the providence of God would prevent. Upon which, when he rose from his sleep, he greatly rejoiced; and declared to all the warning he had received from God according to which dream he acted entirely, and so waited for the coming of the king.

And when he understood that he (Alexander) was not far from the city, he went out in procession, with the priests and the multitude of the citizens.  The procession was venerable, and the manner of it different from that of other nations. It reached to a place called Sapha; which name, translated into Greek, signifies a prospect, for you have thence a prospect both of Jerusalem and of the temple; and when the Phoenicians and the Chaldeans that followed him, thought they should have liberty to plunder the city, and torment the high priest to death, which the king's displeasure fairly promised them, the very reverse of it happened; for Alexander, when he saw the multitude at a distance, in white garments, while the priests stood clothed with fine linen, and the high priest in purple and scarlet clothing, with his mitre on his head having the golden plate on which the name of God was engraved, he approached by himself, and adored that name, and first saluted the high priest. The Jews also did all together, with one voice, salute Alexander, and encompass him about: whereupon the kings of Syria and the rest were surprised at what Alexander had done, and supposed him disordered in his mind. 

However, Parmenio alone went up to him, and asked him how it came to pass, that when all others adored him, he should adore the high priest of the Jews?  To whom he replied, "I did not adore him, but that God who hath honored him with that high priesthood; for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at Dios, in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and would give me the dominion over the Persians; whence it is, that having seen no other in that habit, and now seeing this person in it, and remembering that vision and the exhortation which I had in my dream, I believe that I bring this army under the divine conduct, and shall therewith conquer Darius, and destroy the power of the Persians, and that all things will succeed according to what is in my own mind." And when he had said this to Parmenio, and had given the high priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him, and he came into the city; and when he went up into the temple, he offered sacrifice to God, according to the high priest's direction, and magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests. 


Josephus Chapter 8

And when the book of Daniel was showed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended; and as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude for the present, but the next day he called them to him, and bade them ask what favors they pleased of him: whereupon the high priest desired that they might enjoy the laws of their forefathers, and might pay no tribute on the seventh year. He granted all they desired: and when they entreated him that he would permit the Jews in Babylon and Media to enjoy their own laws also, he willingly promised to do hereafter what they desired: and when he said to the multitude, that if any of them would enlist themselves in his army on this condition, that they should continue under the law of their forefathers, and live according to them, he was willing to take them with him, many were ready to accompany him in his wars.
   

(Dan 8:8 NCV)  But when he was strong, his big horn broke off and four horns grew in place of the one big horn. Those four horns pointed in four different directions and were easy to see.

(Dan 11:3-4 NCV)  Then a mighty king will come, who will rule with great power and will do anything he wants. After that king has come, his kingdom will be broken up and divided out toward the four parts of the world. His kingdom will not go to his descendants, and it will not have the power that he had, because his kingdom will be pulled up and given to other people.

(Dan 8:20-21-22 NCV)  "You saw a male sheep with two horns, which are the kings of Media and Persia. The male goat is the king of Greece, and the big horn between its eyes is the first king. The four horns that grew in the place of the broken horn are four kingdoms. Those four kingdoms will come from the nation of the first king, but they will not be as strong as the first king.

The angel Gabriel explained to Daniel that kingdom of Alexander The Great would be divided up into four weaker kingdoms after his passing from the scene. The kingdom did not pass to a descendant of Alexander as was the custom of kings.

1Mac 1:1-9  And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece, And made many wars, and won many strong holds, and slew the kings of the earth, And went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth was quiet before him; whereupon he was exalted and his heart was lifted up. And he gathered a mighty strong host and ruled over countries, and nations, and kings, who became tributaries unto him. And after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he should die. Therefore he called his servants, such as were honourable, and had been brought up with him from his youth, and parted his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive. So Alexander reigned twelve years, and then died. And his servants bare rule every one in his place. And after his death they all put crowns upon themselves; so did their sons after them many years: and evils were multiplied in the earth.

Ancient Empires - Greece - From “The Daily Bible Study CD

After Alexander's death, his empire was taken over by four of his generals. Syria went to Seluecus and Egypt to Ptolomy The land of Israel, situated between them, was first held by Syria, and then by Egypt from 301 B.C., and then back to Syria when Antiochus the Great took it in 198 B.C. Amazingly, an account of Alexander's conquests, premature death, and succession by four of his generals was recorded in The Bible - over 2 centuries before they happened! The prophecy, written over 200 years before Alexander was even born, is found in all of Daniel chapter 8.


(Dan 8:9-11 NCV)  Then a little horn grew from one of those four horns, and it became very big. It grew to the south, the east, and toward the beautiful land of Judah. That little horn grew until it reached to the sky. It even threw some of the army of heaven to the ground and walked on them! That little horn set itself up as equal to God, the Commander of heaven's armies. It stopped the daily sacrifices that were offered to him, and the Temple, the place where people worshiped him, was pulled down.

(Dan 8:23-26 NCV)  "When the end comes near for those kingdoms, a bold and cruel king who tells lies will come. This will happen when many people have turned against God. This king will be very powerful, but his power will not come from himself. He will cause terrible destruction and will be successful in everything he does. He will destroy powerful people and even God's holy people. This king will succeed by using lies and force. He will think that he is very important. He will destroy many people without warning; he will try to fight even the Prince of princes! But that cruel king will be destroyed, and not by human power. "The vision that has been shown to you about these evenings and mornings is true. But seal up the vision, because those things won't happen for a long time."

After the division of Alexanders kingdom it was prophesied that a fierce king would arise who would persecute the Jews. This king was known in history as Antiochus Epiphanes. The term "epiphany" comes from a Greek word which means "appearance" or "manifestation." Antiochus gave himself the name Epiphanes, which come from the root epiphany. Antiochus considered himself to be God manifested in the flesh, and wanted to be worshipped as such, which is just what Antichrist will do when he arrives on the world scene. What Antiochus does to the Jews the Antichrist will do on a worldwide scale to all who worship the true God, but only for a short season and then he will be destroyed.


1Mac 1:10 & 16-19
And there came out of them a wicked root Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been an hostage at Rome, and he reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks. Now when the kingdom was established before Antiochus, he thought to reign over Egypt that he might have the dominion of two realms. Wherefore he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy, And made war against Ptolemee king of Egypt: but Ptolemee was afraid of him, and fled; and many were wounded to death. Thus they got the strong cities in the land of Egypt and he took the spoils thereof.

Antiochus attacked Egypt and took spoils but he could not rule over them completely because the Roman empire, which was getting stronger and stronger during that time threatened to make war on him if he did not leave Egypt. Antiochus left Egypt for fear of the Romans, just as Gabriel the archangel had foretold to Daniel, but he was so angry he attacked Jerusalem on his way back to Antioch.

(Dan 11:42-45 NCV)  The king of the North will show his power in many countries; Egypt will not escape.  The king will get treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt. The Libyan and Nubian people will obey him. But the king of the North will hear news from the east and the north that will make him afraid and angry. He will go to destroy completely many nations. He will set up his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful mountain where the holy Temple is built. But, finally, his end will come, and no one will help him.


Now Antiochus, upon the agreeable situation of the affairs of his kingdom, resolved to make an expedition against Egypt both because he had a desire to gain it, and because he condemned the son of Ptolemy, as now weak, and not yet of abilities to manage affairs of such consequence; so he came with great forces to Pelusium, and circumvented Ptolemy Philometer by treachery, and seized upon Egypt.  He then came to the places about Memphis; and when he had taken them, he made haste to Alexandria, in hopes of taking it by siege, and of subduing Ptolemy, who reigned there.  But he was driven not only from Alexandria, but out of all Egypt, by the declaration of the Romans, who charged him to let that country alone.
   
King Antiochus returning out of Egypt, for fear of the Romans, made an expedition against the city Jerusalem; and when he was there, in the hundred and forty-third year of the kingdom of the Seleucidae, he took the city without fighting, those of his own party opening the gates to him. And when he had gotten possession of Jerusalem, he slew many of the opposite party; and when he had plundered it of a great deal of money, he returned to Antioch.


1Mac 1:20-25  And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he returned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, And entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, And the table of the shewbread, and the pouring vessels, and the vials. and the censers of gold, and the veil, and the crown, and the golden ornaments that were before the temple, all which he pulled off. He took also the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels: also he took the hidden treasures which he found. And when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having made a great massacre, and spoken very proudly. Therefore there was a great mourning in Israel, in every place where they were;


(Dan 8:12 NCV)  Because there was a turning away from God, the people stopped the daily sacrifices. Truth was thrown down to the ground, and the horn was successful in everything it did.

(Dan 8:13-14 NCV)  Then I heard a holy angel speaking. Another holy angel asked the first one, "How long will the things in this vision last--the daily sacrifices, the turning away from God that brings destruction, the Temple being pulled down, and the army of heaven being walked on?" The angel said to me, "This will happen for twenty-three hundred evenings and mornings. Then the holy place will be repaired."

Antiochus IV Epiphanes reigned for 11 years. In the 143rd year of the Grecian empire, the 5th year of his reign he stopped the sacrifices in Jerusalem. The temple was cleansed and the sacrifices began anew in the year that he died, which was the 149th year of the Grecian kingdom. Just as the angel told Daniel, the sacrifices were stopped for about 6 years and 4 months, or 2300 days.

Josephus Book 12

Now it came to pass after two years in the hundred and forty-fifth year, on the twenty-fifth day of that month which is by us called Chasleu, and by the Macedonians Apelleus, in the hundred and fifty-third olympiad, that the king came up to Jerusalem, and, pretending peace, he got possession of the city by treachery: at which time he spared not so much as those that admitted him into it, on account of the riches that lay in the temple; but, led by his covetous inclination (for he saw there was in it a great deal of gold, and many ornaments that had been dedicated to it of very great value), and in order to plunder its wealth, he ventured to break the league he had made. So he left the temple bare, and took away the golden candlesticks, and the golden altar [of incense], and table [of shewbread], and the altar [of burnt offering]; and did not abstain from even the veils, which were made of fine linen and scarlet.  He also emptied it of its secret treasures, and left nothing at all remaining; and by this means cast the Jews into great lamentation, for he forbade them to offer those daily sacrifices which they used to offer to God, according to the law.  

1Mac 1:29-31  And after two years fully expired the king sent his chief collector of tribute unto the cities of Juda, who came unto Jerusalem with a great multitude, And spake peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city, and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people of Israel. And when he had taken the spoils of the city, he set it on fire, and pulled down the houses and walls thereof on every side.

1Mac 1:41-50  Moreover king Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people, And every one should leave his laws: so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king. Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the sabbath. For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda that they should follow the strange laws of the land, And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the sabbaths and festival days: And pollute the sanctuary and holy people: Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts: That they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation: To the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances. And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, he said, he should die.


(Dan 11:31 NCV)  "The king of the North will send his army to make the Temple in Jerusalem unclean. They will stop the people from offering the daily sacrifice, and then they will set up the destroying terror...

(Dan 11:31 NIV)  "His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.

(Mat 24:15 NIV)  "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the reader understand--

1Mac 1:54 & 59  Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;... Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God.

Two years after stopping the sacrifices Antiochus returned and performed the ultimate insult to the Jews. He sacrificed a pig on the altar of God in the temple at Jerusalem.

The prophecies about the “abomination that causes desolation” are thought by some to have all been completely fulfilled. I was once told by a denominational minister that everything in the book of Daniel has already happened long ago, and in a sense he was correct. Antiochus did fulfill Daniel’s prophecies, but as we see from the words of Jesus in the new testament, long after the end of Antiochus’ reign, there is a greater fulfillment of Daniel’s’ words yet  to come. We study the past in order to know what the future holds, and many of the prophecies that were given to Daniel by Gabriel and the other angel may very well occur again in the near future, in our lifetimes. Watch for another “Abomination of Desolation” to occur, perhaps in our lifetimes.


1Mac 1:55-58  And burnt incense at the doors of their houses, and in the streets. And when they had rent in pieces the books of the law which they found, they burnt them with fire. And whosoever was found with any the book of the testament, or if any committed to the law, the king's commandment was, that they should put him to death. Thus did they by their authority unto the Israelites every month, to as many as were found in the cities.

1Mac 1:60-64  At which time according to the commandment they put to death certain women, that had caused their children to be circumcised. And they hanged the infants about their necks, and rifled their houses, and slew them that had circumcised them. Howbeit many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing. Wherefore the rather to die, that they might not be defiled with meats, and that they might not profane the holy covenant: so then they died. And there was very great wrath upon Israel.

Josephus Book 12

And when the king had built an idol altar upon God's Altar, he slew swine upon it, and so offered a sacrifice neither according to the law, nor the Jewish religious worship in that country.  He also compelled them to forsake the worship which they paid their own God, and to adore those whom he took to be gods; and made them build temples, and raise idol altars, in every city and village, and offer swine upon them every day. He also commanded them not to circumcise their sons, and threatened to punish any that should be found to have transgressed his injunction. He also appointed overseers, who should compel them to do what he commanded. And indeed many Jews there were who complied with the king's commands, either voluntarily, or out of fear of the penalty that was denounced; but the best men, and those of the noblest souls, did not regard him, but did pay a greater respect to the customs of their country than concern as to the punishment which he threatened to the disobedient; on which account they every day underwent great miseries and bitter torments; for they were whipped with rods and their bodies were torn to pieces, and were crucified while they were still alive and breathed: they also strangled those women and their sons whom they had circumcised, as the king had appointed, hanging their sons about their necks as they were upon the crosses.  And if there were any sacred book of the law found, it was destroyed; and those with whom they were found miserably perished also.


1Mac 6:1-4  About that time king Antiochus traveling through the high countries heard say, that Elymais in the country of Persia was a city greatly renowned for riches, silver, and gold; And that there was in it a very rich temple, wherein were coverings of gold, and breastplates, and shields, which Alexander, son of Philip, the Macedonian king, who reigned first among the Grecians, had left there. Wherefore he came and sought to take the city, and to spoil it; but he was not able, because they of the city, having had warning thereof, Rose up against him in battle: so he fled, and departed thence with great heaviness, and returned to Babylon.

1Mac 6:5-9  Moreover there came one who brought him tidings into Persia, that the armies, which went against the land of Judea, were put to flight: And that Lysias, who went forth first with a great power was driven away of the Jews; and that they were made strong by the armour, and power, and store of spoils, which they had gotten of the armies, whom they had destroyed: Also that they had pulled down the abomination, which he had set up upon the altar in Jerusalem, and that they had compassed about the sanctuary with high walls, as before, and his city Bethsura. Now when the king heard these words, he was astonished and sore moved: whereupon he laid him down upon his bed, and fell sick for grief, because it had not befallen him as he looked for. And there he continued many days: for his grief was ever more and more, and he made account that he should die.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes - From “The Daily Bible Study CD

The greatest outrage committed by Antiochus occurred in 167 B.C. when he entered The Temple of God in Jerusalem, erected an altar to the pagan god Zeus, and sacrificed a pig on it. That desecration, dated as the 25th of Kislev according to the Bible Calendar, triggered a rebellion by a group of Jews led by the priest Mattathias and his five sons. When Mattathias died in 166 B.C., the leadership went to his son Judas, who was nicknamed "the Maccabee" which means "the hammer." The name Maccabee was also used for other members of the family who took part in the uprising. With bravery, military genius, and no doubt much help from God, the Maccabees achieved an amazing series of victories through the land. By 164 B.C. they gained control of The Temple and rededicated it to The God of Israel. Their eventual victory and purification of The Temple is today commemorated by Jews with the annual festival of Hanukkah.


Josephus Book 12

About this time it was that king Antiochus, as he was going over the upper countries heard that there was a very rich city in Persia, called Elymais; and therein a very rich temple of Diana, and that it was full of all sorts of donations dedicated to it; as also weapons and breastplates, which, upon inquiry, he found had been left there by Alexander, the son of Philip, king of Macedonia; and being incited by these motives, he went in haste to Elymais, and assaulted it, and besieged it.  But as those that were in it were not terrified at his assault, nor at his siege, but opposed him very courageously, he was beaten off his hopes; for they drove him away from the city, and went out and pursued after him, insomuch that he fled away as far as Babylon, and lost a great many of his army; and when he was grieving for this disappointment, some persons told him of the defeat of his commanders, whom he had left behind him to fight against Judea, and what strength the Jews had already gotten.  When this concern about these affairs was added to the former, he was confounded, and, by the anxiety he was in, fell into a distemper, which, as it lasted a great while, and as his pains increased upon him, so he at length perceived he should die in a little time; so he called his friends to him, and told them that his distemper was severe upon him, and confessed withal, that this calamity was sent upon him for the miseries he had brought upon the Jewish nation, while he plundered their temple and condemned their God; and when he had said this, he gave up the ghost. 

1Mac 6:10-17  Wherefore he called for all his friends, and said unto them, The sleep is gone from mine eyes, and my heart faileth for very care. And I thought with myself, Into what tribulation am I come, and how great a flood of misery is it, wherein now I am! for I was bountiful and beloved in my power. But now I remember the evils that I did at Jerusalem, and that I took all the vessels of gold and silver that were therein, and sent to destroy the inhabitants of Judea without a cause. I perceive therefore that for this cause these troubles are come upon me, and, behold, I perish through great grief in a strange land. Then called he for Philip, one of his friends, who he made ruler over all his realm, And gave him the crown, and his robe, and his signet, to the end he should bring up his son Antiochus, and nourish him up for the kingdom. So king Antiochus died there in the hundred forty and ninth year. Now when Lysias knew that the king was dead, he set up Antiochus his son, whom he had brought up being young, to reign in his stead, and his name he called Eupator.


(Dan 2:40 NCV)  Then there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. In the same way that iron crushes and smashes things to pieces, the fourth kingdom will smash and crush all the other kingdoms.

The Roman empire followed the Grecian empire and became the greatest power the world had known up until that time.

Ancient Empires - Rome  - From The Daily Bible Study

The ancient Roman empire spanned the time period from about 145 B.C. to 476 A.D. At its peak, centered on Rome, and connected by a vast system of Roman Roads, it was one of the most extensive and powerful in all human history. Roman Legions conquered and ruled a vast region throughout northern Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

The term Caesar originated with the family of Gaius Julius, better known to history as Julius Caesar (102-44 B.C.). After his assassination on the Ides of March, the imperial title of Caesar was assumed by the Roman emperors who succeeded him. It was also adopted by later rulers of other nations - the German Kaiser and the Russian Tsar (or Czar) are derived from Caesar.

Unlike the other empires (Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek) that affected the course of events of The Holy Bible, the Roman empire isn't done yet. Although the ancient Roman empire "fell" long ago, it didn't die - it's going to make a big come-back. But then, so is Jesus Christ. See what The Rock Of Ages is prophesied to do with Daniel's Statue and its Feet Of Iron And Clay.


(Dan 2:41-42 NCV)  "You saw that the statue's feet and toes were partly baked clay and partly iron. That means the fourth kingdom will be a divided kingdom. It will have some of the strength of iron in it, just as you saw iron was mixed with clay. The toes of the statue were partly iron and partly clay. So the fourth kingdom will be partly strong like iron and partly breakable like clay. You saw the iron mixed with clay, but iron and clay do not hold together. In the same way the people of the fourth kingdom will be a mixture, but they will not be united as one people.

The Roman empire gradually collapsed and broke up into the separate countries of Europe and the areas outside of Europe regained their autonomy. The Roman empire is gradually voluntarily uniting again in the form of the European union, but they do not have a strong central government as existed in the time of the Caesars, just as Daniel predicted.

(Dan 2:44 NCV)  "During the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up another kingdom that will never be destroyed or given to another group of people. This kingdom will crush all the other kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will continue forever.

During the time of the voluntarily united Europe Jesus Christ will return and set up a kingdom that will last forever.


(Dan 2:45 NCV)  "King Nebuchadnezzar, you saw a rock cut from a mountain, but no human being touched it. The rock broke the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold to pieces. In this way the great God showed you what will happen. The dream is true, and you can trust this explanation."

The rock (Christ) will break apart the Last world empire, that of Antichrist. His empire will consist of the land areas of all of the previous empires. You can look on a map in the back of most bibles and see what areas constituted the various empires of iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold to see what the Antichrist’s empire will consist of. Many countries are seeking to join the European union today and many will until the final alignment is completed and Christ returns and destroys it.

This concludes a thumbnail overview of world history as it pertains to the Holy Land, given to Daniel by the angels at the command of God for our benefit. I