"Hanukkah - Part 1"
How does the celebration of Hanukkah, a festival NOT found in the Old Testament, provide greater insight into biblical themes such as the Messiah? How is Hanukkah handled in the New Testament?
Go to "Hanukkah - Part 2".
Download or email Part 1(~238k)
Download or email Part 2 (~222k)
The Historical Aspect
Daniel is the only book of the Bible containing all three original languages: Aramaic (or Chaldee), Hebrew, and Greek. It has Greek words for certain things like musical instruments and so forth that would have been brought there by Macedonian mercenaries most likely.
The portions of Daniel that focus on the prophetic purposes of God specifically for the Jews are in Hebrew. The portions of Daniel focused on the prophetic purposes of God for Israel, relative to the nations, are in the lingua franca of the time, which was Chaldee (Aramaic).
The Rise and Fall of Assyria
When you read the book of Daniel, remember that the Last Days are like Daniel’s days. The Jews were terrified of Assyria. They were the bad guys, the ones that took the ten northern tribes into captivity. These were the cruelest and most powerful Pagans. Nobody imagined that Assyria would one day implode. Once it did, there was a false sense of peace that lasted a very short time. They were confronting Babylon and its meteoric rise, which was far worse than Assyria. And it had ancient roots (certainly spiritually) going back to the Tower of Babel.
The Rise and Fall of Media-Persia
Babylon went down the tubes overnight. And as Daniel prophesied, Media-Persia rose in its place. The Persians aligned with the Medes all the way until the late 20th Century during the rule of the Shah of Iran. Going back to Isaiah’s prophecies, the Persians (the Iranians) always favored the Jews even though it was an Islamic country, all the way until the fall of the Shah in the 1970’s. He claimed to be a descendant of the Peacock Throne of Cyrus the Great (“Kowresh”), who was prophesied about twice by Isaiah. (Is. 44:28; 45:1) And all the way until that time the Iranians favored the Jews. Their culture and languages were not Arabic, nor was the culture. They were “Zoroastrian,” monotheists who traced their monotheism in part back to Zoroastor, but were influenced by the Jews.
The Magi were Media chaplains to the kings of Media-Persia. That was the origin of the Magi. And because of the monotheistic influences they had from Zoroastor and from the Jews in the captivity (who influenced Nebuchadnezzar), they journeyed to see Jesus. You always had this link with the Persians and the Jews that lasts until the Last Days.
The Socratic Greeks in the West had the most light about monotheism, but in the East it was the Zoroastrians who had the most light about monotheism The Socratic Greeks were in the West much later, but the Persians – Zoroastrian Persians – had the most light.
The Rise and Fall of Greece
But the Persian Empire did not last long due to the conqueror Alexander the Great. But then Alexander the Great did not last long. He reached the desert of Belushistan, conquered most of the known world, and then at the age of 36 he got sick and died. His empire fragmented and was divided between four of his generals. The two most important of these were Seleucus, who got Syria, Lebanon, Galilee, and central Israel – and Ptolemais, who got Egypt and southern Israel. They are the two most important of the four, historically, but also in the Bible.
The Seleucids were Syro-Phoenician Greeks, Greeks who lived in that area of Phoenicia – of Lebanon and around Alippo in Syria – down to the area of Tyre and Sidon. Luke the apostle was a Syro-Phoenician who converted to Judaism.
Antiochus Epiphanes is one of the most important types – or foreshadows – of the Antichrist in the Bible. He came from the line of Seleucids called the dynasty of Antiochus. There were Antiochus I, II, III, and IV. Antiochus IV is Antiochus Epiphanes. The Greek speaking Jews would ridicule him by changing it to “Epimanus”, meaning “the mad one.”
You had this historical situation with the kings of the north and the kings of the south. Assyria goes, then it’s Babylon. Babylon goes, then it’s Media-Persia. Persia goes, then it’s the Greeks. Then there’s a worldwide chaos among the known world, and out of the chaos Rome comes to power. And in the middle of all this, Jews are going back to their land. In the Last Days, the same thing happens.
This is Page 3 of 10
Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.