ROME CONSTRAINS THE EXPLOITER

ROME CONSTRAINS THE EXPLOITER

Jehovah’s angel gives us this answer: “He [the king of the north] will set his face to come with the forcefulness of his entire kingdom, and there will be equitable terms with him; and he will act effectively. And as regards the daughter of womankind, it will be granted to him to bring her to ruin. And she will not stand, and she will not continue to be his.”—Daniel 11:17.http://biblize.com/search?q=Daniel+11:17&q_scope=

The king of the north, Antiochus III, “set his face” to dominate Egypt “with the forcefulness of his entire kingdom.” But he ended up making “equitable terms” of peace with Ptolemy V, the king of the south. Rome’s demands had caused Antiochus III to change his plan. When he and King Philip V of Macedonia leagued against the Egyptian king of tender years to take over his territories, the guardians of Ptolemy V turned to Rome for protection. Taking advantage of the opportunity to expand its sphere of influence, Rome flexed its muscles.

Under compulsion by Rome, Antiochus III brought terms of peace to the king of the south. Rather than surrendering conquered territories, as Rome had demanded, Antiochus III planned to make a nominal transfer of them by having his daughter Cleopatra I—“the daughter of womankind”—marry Ptolemy V. Provinces that included Judah, “the land of the Decoration,” would be given as her dowry. At the marriage in 193 B.C.E., however, the Syrian king did not let these provinces go to Ptolemy V. This was a political marriage, formed to make Egypt subject to Syria. But the scheme failed because Cleopatra I did “not continue to be his,” for she later sided with her husband. When war broke out between Antiochus III and the Romans, Egypt took the side of Rome.

Referring to the reverses of the king of the north, the angel added: “And he [Antiochus III] will turn his face back to the coastlands and will actually capture many. And a commander [Rome] will have to make the reproach from him cease for himself [Rome], so that his reproach [that from Antiochus III] will not be. He [Rome] will make it turn back upon that one. And he [Antiochus III] will turn his face back to the fortresses of his own land, and he will certainly stumble and fall, and he will not be found.”—Daniel 11:18, 19.http://biblize.com/search?q=Daniel+11:18,+19&q_scope=

The “coastlands” were those of Macedonia, Greece, and Asia Minor. A war broke out in Greece in 192 B.C.E., and Antiochus III was induced to come to Greece. Displeased because of the Syrian king’s efforts to capture additional territories there, Rome formally declared war on him. At Thermopylae he suffered a defeat at Roman hands. About a year after losing the battle of Magnesia in 190 B.C.E., he had to give up everything in Greece, Asia Minor, and in areas west of the Taurus Mountains. Rome exacted a heavy fine and established its domination over the Syrian king of the north. Driven from Greece and Asia Minor and having lost nearly all his fleet, Antiochus III ‘turned his face back to the fortresses of his own land,’ Syria. The Romans had ‘turned back upon him his reproach against them.’ Antiochus III died while trying to rob a temple at Elymaïs, Persia, in 187 B.C.E. He thus ‘fell’ in death and was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV, the next king of the north.

THE CONFLICT CONTINUES

As the king of the south, Ptolemy V tried to gain the provinces that should have come to him as Cleopatra’s dowry, but poison ended his efforts. He was succeeded by Ptolemy VI. What about Seleucus IV? In need of money to pay the heavy fine owed to Rome, he sent his treasurer Heliodorus to seize riches said to be stored in Jerusalem’s temple. Desiring the throne, Heliodorus murdered Seleucus IV. However, King Eumenes of Pergamum and his brother Attalus had the slain king’s brother Antiochus IV enthroned.

The new king of the north, Antiochus IV, sought to show himself mightier than God by trying to eradicate Jehovah’s arrangement of worship. Defying Jehovah, he dedicated Jerusalem’s temple to Zeus, or Jupiter. In December 167 B.C.E., a pagan altar was erected on top of the great altar in the temple courtyard where a daily burnt offering had been made to Jehovah. Ten days later, a sacrifice to Zeus was offered on the pagan altar. This desecration led to a Jewish uprising under the Maccabees. Antiochus IV battled them for three years. In 164 B.C.E., on the anniversary of the desecration, Judas Maccabaeus rededicated the temple to Jehovah and the festival of dedication—Hanukkah—was instituted.—John 10:22.http://biblize.com/search?q=John+10:22.&q_scope=

The Maccabees probably made a treaty with Rome in 161 B.C.E. and established a kingdom in 104 B.C.E. But the friction between them and the Syrian king of the north continued. Finally, Rome was called upon to intervene. The Roman General Gnaeus Pompey took Jerusalem in 63 B.C.E. after a three-month siege. In 39 B.C.E., the Roman Senate appointed Herod—an Edomite—to be king of Judea. Ending the Maccabean rule, he took Jerusalem in 37 B.C.E.

How thrilling it is to see the first part of the prophecy of the two kings in conflict fulfilled in detail! Indeed, how exciting to peer into the history of some 500 years after the prophetic message was delivered to Daniel and identify the rulers occupying the positions of the king of the north and the king of the south! However, the political identities of these two kings change as the battle between them continues through the time when Jesus Christ walked the earth and down into our day. By matching historical developments with intriguing details revealed in this prophecy, we will be able to identify these two contending kings.