THE EXPLOITER RETURNS

Because of all his exploits, Antiochus III came to be called Antiochus the Great.  Of him, the angel said:  "The king of the north must return and set up a crowd larger than the first; and at the end of the times, some years, he will come, doing so with a great military force and with a great deal of goods." (Daniel 11:13) These "times" were 16 or more years after the Egyptians defeated the Syrians at Raphia.  When young Ptolemy V became king of the south, Antiochus III set out with "a crowd larger than the first" To recover the territories he had lost to the Egyptian king of the south. To that end, he joined forces with Macedonian King Philip V. 

The king of the south also had troubles within his kingdom.  "In those times there will be many who will stand up against the king of the south," said the angel. (Daniel 11:14a) Many did not "stand up against the king of the south." Besides facing the forces of Antiochus III and his Macedonian ally, the young king of the south faced problems at home in Egypt.  Because his guardian Agathocles, who ruled in his name, dealt arrogantly with the Egyptians, may revolted.  The angel added:  "And the sons of the robbers belonging to your people will, for their part, be carried along to try making a vision come true; and they will have to stumble."  (Daniel 11:14b) Even some of Daniel's people became 'sons of robbers,' or revolutionaries.  But any "vision" such Jewish men had of ending Gentile domination of their homeland was false, and they would fail, or "stumble." 

Jehovah's angel further foretold: "The king of the north will come and throw up a siege rampart and actually capture a city with fortifications. And as for the arms of the south, they will not stand neither the people of his picked ones; and there will be no power to keep standing. And the one coming against him will do according to his will, and there will be no one standing before him. And he will stand in the land of the Decoration, and there will be extermination in his hand." -Daniel 11:15, 16. 

Military forces under Ptolemy v, or "arms of the south," succumbed to assault from the north, at Paneas (Caesarea Philippi), Antiochus III drove  Egypt's General Scopas  and 10,000 select men, or "picked ones," into Sidon, "a city with fortifications."  There Antiochus III 'threw up a siege rampart,' taking that Phoenician seaport in 198 B.C.E. He acted "according to his will" Because the forces of the Egyptian king of the south were unable to stand before him. Antiochus II then marched against Jerusalem, the capital of "the land of the Decoration,"  Judah. In 198 B.C.E., Jerusalem and Judah passed from domination by the Egyptian king of the south to that of the Syrian king of the north. And Antiochus III, the king of the north, began to "stand in the land of the Decoration." There was "extermination in his hand" for all opposing Jews and Egyptians.  For how long would this king of the north be able to do as he pleased?   

Next time: ROME CONSTRAINS THE EXPLOITER

From the book: PAY ATTENTION TO DANIEL'S PROPHECY! 1999