In those days there appeared in Israel men who were breakers of the law, and they seduced many people, saying: “Let us go and make an alliance with the Gentiles all around us; since we separated from them, many evils have come upon us.” The proposal was agreeable; some from among the people promptly went to the king, and he authorized them to introduce the way of living of the Gentiles.
Thereupon they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem according to the Gentile custom. They covered over the mark of their circumcision and abandoned the holy covenant; they allied themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves to wrongdoing. Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, each abandoning his particular customs. All the Gentiles conformed to the command of the king, and many children of Israel were in favor of his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath.
On the fifteenth day of the month Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-five, the king erected the horrible abomination upon the altar of burnt offerings and in the surrounding cities of Judah they built pagan altars. They also burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets. Any scrolls of the law which they found they tore up and burnt. Whoever was found with a scroll of the covenant, and whoever observed the law, was condemned to death by royal decree.
But many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die. Terrible affliction was upon Israel. (1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63)
Every now and then we read from 1 Maccabees to hear about the “horrible abomination and terrible affliction” attributed to the ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes. According to John Gregory Drummond (Biblical Archaeological Society May 2021):
(begin) “…When Antiochus IV came to power c. 170 B.C.E., the Jewish people did not readily fit into the vision he had for his new empire. Embracing a form of imperial colonialism, Antiochus sought to bring about a sense of cultural uniformity in the hope of creating more socioeconomic stability. This included embracing the Hellenistic way of life and the worship of the Greek pantheon, especially Zeus. By taking the epitaph Epiphanes (“God Manifest”), Antiochus even claimed to be Zeus incarnate. Many of the pagan nations embraced and welcomed these policies, but in the land of Judea they caused a cultural civil war, notably among members of the high priestly families. In the midst of this turmoil, according to the books of Maccabees and the Jewish historian Josephus, Antiochus plundered the Jerusalem Temple and carried off the sacred vessels—to help finance his campaigns.
Following stories of intrigue, bribery, and military coups among the Jewish ruling class that could rival any on television these days, Antiochus arrived in Jerusalem to find the people in an open state of revolt against him and each other. The chaos he found in Judea immediately followed a humiliating defeat in Egypt, and the ruler took out his frustrations on the Jewish people. Antiochus took control of the situation by slaying many innocents and brutally enforcing his cultural and religious policies on the population.
A time of great tribulation occurred as traditional practices such as circumcision were outlawed, sacred scriptures were burned, and violators were brutally punished even unto death. Having already laid siege to the Temple Mount and destroying many of its fortifications, Antiochus built a new fortress known as the Acra (literally, “the Citadel”) to consolidate his power over Jerusalem and strengthen his political agents. As a culmination, he proceeded to profane the Temple of Yahweh by erecting idols within it and even going so far as to sacrifice pigs upon the altar, presumably to Zeus.
By these actions, Antiochus Epiphanes effectively stepped into the role of the “Little Horn” of Daniel’s visions and became the Apocalyptic Supervillain Archtype that remains within the psyche of the Christian belief system to this day. One could argue that, if Antiochus hadn’t existed, neither would the popular conception of the Antichrist prevalent in certain circles of eschatology. (end)
There we have it – the origin of the Christian term “Antichrist.” Of special note, the Jewish 8-day celebration called Hanukkah is the story of the Jewish revolt against Antiochus. Hanukkah - the Festival of Lights - begins on November 28.
Deacon David Pierce
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