(Malachi) Malachias 3:1-4
The True God alone created His creation and He alone redeemed it.
1 Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way
before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the
testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith
the Lord of hosts.
My angel, viz.
John the Baptist, the messenger of God, and forerunner of Christ. Ch. Temple temple of Zorobabel
2 And who shall be able to think of the day of his coming?
and who shall stand to see him? for he is like a refining fire, and like the
fuller's herb:
Coming. This may
be explained of the Baptist, (Lu. iii. 7.) and of the second coming of Christ;
though his first coming shewed the hypocrisy of the Jews. They would not
acknowledge him, but sought his death, and brought on their own condemnation.
C. --- Fuller's. Sept. "washers' herb." Borith is
found in all the low places of Palestine
3 And he shall sit refining and cleansing the silver,
and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and shall refine them as gold, and as
silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice.
Justice. This is
spoken of the Christian priesthood which belongs to all the faithful, which far
excels that of Levi and totally replaced the Old Testament dispensation which
is no more nor ever shall be again, Heb. v. and vi. and vii. &c. C. ---
Many Jewish priests embraced the gospel. Acts vi. 7. H.
4 And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem
The sacrifice of
Christ is the perfect and final sacrifice known to God and predetermined before
all time and creation by God the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Who created all of
creation and offers salvation to fallen man in Our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ alone.
(Malachi) Malachias 4:5-6
5 Behold I will send you Elias the prophet, before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Elias. Sept. add,
"the Thesbite;" and S. Jerom (in Mat. xvii.) says, that Elias shall
indeed come and restore all things. --- Dreadful. Christ's first
coming was in all meekness; but he will judge in terror. Hence the prophet's
meaning is not that S. John, but that Elias shall come before the great day of
the Lord. W. --- Yet we may understand it of Christ coming into the world to
preach, and again to judge. His first coming proved terrible to the perfidious
Jews, whose ruin presently ensued and will never be retracted from that
apostate nation. The destruction of Jerusalem St. John
the Baptist. The Fathers explain this as the spirit of Elias was given to St. John
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the
children, and the heart of the children to their fathers: lest I come, and
strike the earth with anathema.
Those who believe from
the heart and confess with the mouth will be saved. The wicked will perish on a
sudden, not expecting it, in everlasting fire.
THE
OLD TESTAMENT
OF
THE HOLY CATHOLIC BIBLE.
GENESIS
THE
BOOK OF GENESIS.
GENESIS
1
CHAPTER I.
God createth Heaven and Earth, and all things therein,
in six days.
1
In the *beginning God created heaven and earth.
2
*And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep:
and the Spirit of God moved over the waters.
3
And God said: *Be light made. And light
was made.
4
And God saw the light that it was good: and he divided the light from the darkness.
5
And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night: and there was evening and
morning one day.
6
And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it
divide the waters from the waters.
7
*And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the
firmament, from those that were above the firmament. And it was so.
8
And God called the firmament, Heaven: and the evening and morning were the
second day.
9
God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together
into one place: and let the dry land appear.
And it was so done.
10
And God called the dry land, *Earth: and the gathering together of the waters
he called Seas. And God saw that it was
good.
11
And he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed,
and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself
upon the earth. And it was so done.
12
And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according
to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to
its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13
And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14
And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide
the day and the night,* and let them be for signs, and for seasons and for days
and years:
15
To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done.
16
And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day, and a lesser
light to rule the night: and the stars.
17
And he set them in the firmament of heaven, to shine upon the earth.
18
And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the
darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19
And the evening and morning were the fourth day.
20
God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life,
and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.
21
And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which
the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl
according to its kind. And God saw that
it was good.
22
And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the
sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.
23
And the evening and morning were the fifth day.
24
And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind,
cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their
kinds. And it was so done.
25
And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and
every thing that creepeth on the earth, after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26
And he said: *Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have
dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts,
and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.
27
And God created man to his own image: *to the image of God he created him: male
and female he created them.**
28
And God blessed them, saying: *Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and
subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and
all living creatures that move upon the earth.
29
And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth,
and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:*
30
And to all the beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all
that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed
upon. And it was so done.
31
*And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth
day.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 1, A.C. 4004.
2: Acts xiv. 14. and xvii. 24.; Psal. xxxii. 6.
and cxxxv. 5.; Eccli. xviii. 1.
3: Heb. xi. 3.
7: Psal. cxxxv. 5. and cxlviii. 4.; Jer. x. 12.
and li. 15.
10: Job xxxviii. 4.; Psal. xxxii. 7. and
lxxxviii. 12. and cxxxix. 6.
14: Ps. cxxxv. 7.
26: Infra v. 1. and ix. 6.; 1 Cor. xi. 7.; Col.
iii. 10.
27: Wis. ii. 23.; Eccli. xvii. 1. --- ** Matt.
xix. 4.
28: Infra viii. 17. and ix. 1.
29: Infra ix. 3.
31: Eccli. xxxix. 21.; Mark vii. 37.
====================
THE
NEW TESTAMENT
OF
THE HOLY CATHOLIC BIBLE.
JOHN
THE
HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST,
ACCORDING TO S.
JOHN.
JOHN
1
CHAPTER I.
The divinity and incarnation of Christ. John bears witness of him. He begins to call his disciples.
1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2
The same was in the beginning with God.
3
All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.
4
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5
And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6
*There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7
This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men might
believe through him.
8
He was not the light, but was to bear witness of the light.
9
*That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this
world.
10
He was in the world, *and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not.
11
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12
But as many as received him, he gave to them power to be made the sons of God,
to them that believe in his name.
13
Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of will of man, but
of God.
14
*And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us: we saw his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15
John beareth witness of him: and crieth out, saying: This was he of whom I
spoke, He that shall come after me, is preferred before me, because he was
before me.
16
*And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace.
17
For the law was given by Moses, grace and truth by Jesus Christ.
18
*No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of
the Father, he hath declared him.
19
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests
and Levites to him, to ask him: Who art thou?
20
And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ.
21
And they asked him: What then? Art thou
Elias? and he said: I am not. Art thou
the prophet? And he answered: No.
22
They said therefore to him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them
that sent us? What sayest thou of
thyself?
23
He said: *I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way
of the Lord, as the prophet, Isaias, said.
24
And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees.
25
And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not
Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?
26
John answered them, saying: *I baptize with water: but there hath stood one in
the midst of you, whom you know not.
27
* The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the
latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.
28
These things were done in Bethania beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29
The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith: Behold the lamb of
God, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world.
30
This is he of whom I said: After me
cometh a man, who is preferred before me, because he was before me.
31
And I knew him not, but that he may be made manifest in Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with
water.
32
And John gave testimony, saying: *I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from
heaven, and he remained upon him.
33
And I knew him not; but he, who sent me to baptize with water, said to me: He
upon whom thoiu shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, he it is
that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34
And I saw: and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God.
35
Again, the following day, John stood, and two of his disciples.
36
And looking upon Jesus, walking, he saith: Behold the lamb of God.
37
And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38
And Jesus turning, and seeing them following him, saith to them: What seek
you? They said to him: Rabbi, (which is
to say, being interpreted, master) where dwellest thou?
39
He saith to them: Come and see. They
came, and saw where he abode, and they staid with him that day: now it was
about the tenth hour.
40
And Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who had heard of
John, and followed him.
41
He first findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith to him: We have found the
Messias; which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
42
And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus
looking upon him, said: Thou art Simon, the son of Jona: thou shalt be called
Cephas, which is interpreted, Peter.
43
On the following day he would go forth into Galilee, and he findeth
Philip. And Jesus saith to him: Follow
me.
44
Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45
Philip findeth Nathanael, and said to him: We have found him of whom *Moses in
the law, **and the prophets did write, Jesus, the son of Joseph, of Nazareth.
46
And Nathanael said to him: Can any thing of good come from Nazareth? Philip saith to him: Come and see.
47
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him: and he saith of him; Behold an Israelite
indeed, in whom there is no guile.
48
Nathanael said to him: Whence knowest thou me?
Jesus answered, and said to him: Before that Philip called thee, when
thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.
49
Nathanael answered him, and said: Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the
king of Israel.
50
Jesus answered, and said to him: Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the
fig-tree, thou believest: greater things than these shalt thou see.
51
And he saith to him: Amen, amen, I say to you, you shall see the heaven opened,
and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
____________________
*
6: Matt. iii. 1.; Mark i. 4.
9: Infra iii. 19.
10: Heb. xi. 3.
14:
Matt: i. 16.; Luke ii. 7.
16: 1 Tim. vi. 17.
18: 1 Tim. vi. 16.; 1 John iv. 12.
23: Is. xl. 3.; Matt. iii. 3.; Mark i. 3.; Luke
iii. 4.
26: Matt. iii. 11.
27: Mark i. 7.; Luke iii. 16.; Acts i. 5. and xi.
16. and xix. 4.
32: Matt. iii. 16.; Mark i. 10.; Luke iii. 22.
45: Gen. xlix 10.; Deut. xviii. 18. --- ** Is.
xl. 10. and xiv. 8.; Jer. xxiii. 5.; Ezec. xxxiv. 23. and xxxvii. 24.; Dan. ix.
24. and 25.
====================
The Word through Whom all was created became flesh and dwelt among us.
Christmas Eve Night Vigil
Palestine Cry: Christmas, Palestine, St. Judas Maccabeus and the abomination of desolation - the Jews in Palestine
Palestine Cry: Christmas, Palestine, St. Judas Maccabeus and the abomination of desolation - the Jews in Palestine
Before anyone mentions feeding habits of sheep go here: Palestine Cry: The Date of Christ's Birth
Christmas in winter and sheep. It takes a perfidious Jew to lie like a rug and tell the tall tale that that sheep have a problem with winter cold, whether during the day or night. God designed sheep specifically to do extremely well in the coldest of winters - outside night and day. Why do you think we use wool to stay warm in winter? Even when wool gets wet from snow melting close to a human being's skin of a person who is wearing wool - the wool will keep you warm.  |
| Domestic sheep bred for market in Western Massachusetts in Mid Winter Snow Storm - sheep warm as can be in the midst of very cold winter. |
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Icelandic Sheep in Winter,
|
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40 Icelandic sheep found alive after being buried in snow for 19 days.
|
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| Sheep in Iceland in Winter |
Notice all the domestic sheep, including the ones buried in snow for nineteen days and nights, which do perfectly fine in Iceland in Winter - far, far to the North.
Christmas is on December 25
Christ was born on Christmas. It was the very early church that preserved this date, not some invention later in the time of Constantine or whatever. The ridiculous idea that sheep could not have been outside at that time of year in the low hills and the Mediterranean latitudes is laughable. Sheep in the Rocky Mountains of the United States survive quite well outside night and day in the very middle of winter - farther to the North in latitude and much higher in elevation, not to mention Massachusetts and Iceland in winter. What do we think the wool coats of sheep are for or why do we use wool for our warm outside winter clothing? Because it keeps you warm day and night in the coldest winter. Pagan feasts were every day of the year. Obviously Our Lord Jesus Christ's birth would coincide with one of them - so what?! That absolutely obviously was not the reason that God would choose the day He chose for God the Son to to be born. The pagan Romans elevated a very minor Roman pagan feast - the Saturnalia, to compete with the Christian celebration of Christmas. Christmas was the birth of Christ. It was originally called and is still called the Feast of the Nativity or the Natal Day of the Lord. All the complaints concocted by Talmudic JudenRatz Protestant Freemasonic Pharisees are meaningless.
(See Link:) Palestine
The lie that shepherds and sheep could not be outside in winter at night is as big a lie as "there are no Palestinians." Another lie by the Perfidious Jews. Of course there are Palestinians!!!, who do you think the Jews are committing genocide against?! It is Newt Gingrich who doesn't exist.
See
Palestine - YouTube: - the Apartheid South Africa
Free Palestine
Viva Palestine
see:
MEP Costello welcomes UN vote for Palestinian Non-...
FINAL TRIAL OF CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS TOGETHER - THE ONLY TRUE ISRAELO-CHRISTIANS THE PALESTINIANS
FINAL TRIAL OF CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS TOGETHER - THE ONLY TRUE ISRAELO-CHRISTIANS THE PALESTINIANS
St. Judas Maccabeus and the abomination of desolation - the Jews in Palestine
Now lets dispense with this Hanukkah nonsense. Judas Maccabeus is a Catholic Saint. All faithful Catholics from the first Adam to the last Saint are Saints of the Catholic Church of whom Jesus Christ is the Head. Judas Maccabeus did all he could to fight against an abomination in the temple that defiled it (the first was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king and his profanation of the temple, who died in 164 B.C.). Judas Maccabeus, if he had been alive during the Apostolate of Christ on earth, would have been Christ's disciple, same as St. Simon Zealotes. Christ revealed Himself to the Jews as the Messiah on His birthday as an adult in the temple on the feast of lights. It was Jesus Christ who warned of the two final abominations of the temple -
1) the 18 temple benedictions which blasphemed God and His Christ and caused the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.
2) the final Abomination of Desolation which is the Jews invading Palestine and trying to rebuild their accursed temple.
If St. Judas Maccabeus were alive today he would be leading an army to free Palestine from the Jews. You think Titus was harsh in 70 A.D.? St. Judas Maccabeus would enact the Biblical ban on the Jews in Occupied Palestine - all their forces would be destroyed and they would be driven from the land with no mercy. Their crimes against the Palestinians are secondary though very real. The crime of the nation of the Jews is Deicide and Perfidy and these are the worst crimes that exist. The nation of the Jews, by God's command do not have any right or business being in the Holy Land which is the home of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
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| Jesus, Mary and Joseph |
The Point
Edited Under Fr. Leonard Feeney M.I.C.M. — Saint Benedict CenterDecember, 1956
This Christmas men are looking to the Holy Land, and they are listening — not for the strains of “Glory to God in the Highest,” but for the sounds of war upon earth. And we might say: It is just. God long ago crashed the Temple of Jerusalem to the ground, and cursed its people, the Jews, to be forever homeless and wandering. If the world has defied this Divine judgment and supported a Jewish return to Palestine, then let the world bear the consequences of God’s righteous anger.
But this leaves a greater part unsaid. For the Holy Land is infinitely more than a geographical locality which God has forbidden to the Jews. It is, for all time, the precious countryside where God became the Child of a Virginal Mother, and where God as Man walked and taught and died for us. It is, indeed, God’s Land.
If, therefore, we are anxious this Christmas, our concern is this: The leaders of our nation have proposed that Christian boys be ready to shed their blood in order to make the Jews secure within the borders of the Holy Land. But should this happen, should Christian lives be spent to keep God’s Land in the hands of His crucifiers, the price of such betrayal will not be confined to the deserts of the East. We will be paying, in kind, on bloody Main Street, U. S. A.
THE ENEMIES OF CHRIST AT CHRISTMAS
Soon, the Jews of America will be trying once more to jostle Christmas from its place as the nation’s chief interest in late December. As elbow for this endeavor, the Jews will rely again on their festival of Chanukah — once a minor holiday but recently seized on because of its timely Yuletide occurrence and now celebrated with all the blare and bluster the Jews can produce.Though originally set up in 165 B. C., the observance of Chanukah (Hebrew for “Dedication”) has long since lost its holy, Old Testament meaning. Thus, when Jewish leaders decided a few years back to revive and exalt the holiday, they found it expedient also to invest it with a fresh and acceptable significance. They have, accordingly, made it an annual practice to hire the principal halls in the principal cities of the country for the staging of special Chanukah pageants. These loudly-trumpeted extravaganzas (“Inspiring — Breathtaking — Spectacular”) oppose the Birth of the true Messias by dramatizing, with the solemnity of religious ritual, the birth of their own messianic empire: the Jewish state of Israel.
It is, of course, true that the Jews would have been eager to exploit any one of their festivals that was opportune in order to affront the beauty and singularity of Christmas. Yet Chanukah is especially suited for such a use — because it was on that day that Our Lord revealed Himself to the Jews as the Messias, and, for doing so, was almost stoned. The story is told in the Holy Gospel of Saint John (Chap. 10, v. 22-39):
“And the Dedication was in Jerusalem: and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Salomon’s porch. The Jews therefore compassed him round about, and said to him, How long doest thou hold our soul in suspense? If thou be Christ, tell us openly. Jesus answered them, I speak to you: and you believe not, the works that I do in the name of my Father, they give testimony of me, but you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them life everlasting: and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. My father, that which he hath given me, is greater than all: and no man can pluck them out of the hand of my father. I and the Father are one. The Jews took up stones, to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works I have showed you from my father, for which of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered him, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because thou being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, that I said, you are God’s? If he called them God’s, to whom the word of God was made, and the scripture can not be broken: whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, say you, That thou blasphemest, because I said I am the son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, and if you will not believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father. They sought therefore to apprehend him: and he went forth out of their hands.”Because it is reckoned by the Jewish calendar, the day on which Chanukah falls may vary from year to year by as much as a month. This year it is due to fall on its earliest possible date. But Jews have never been ones to let liturgical niceties stand in the way of more vital considerations, and so, the Jews of Boston (the only segment of whose plans we have heard) are making an adroit adjustment in their schedule. Their annual Chanukah pageant at the Boston Garden will be held this year, not when the calendar says Chanukah should occur, but some three weeks later, on December the twenty-third — just a stone’s throw from Christmas.
“In its attempt to create a better world, the kibbutz has found that it faces considerable opposition, and it has come to view this opposition with an intense hatred. Indeed, it is not unfair to say the kibbutz hates almost everybody, since it views almost everybody as an opponent. Outside of Israel, all the ‘bourgeois’ countries are hated, and only the Soviet Union and ‘People’s Democracies’ are ‘loved.’“As for marriage, they believed — and still believe — that a union between a man and woman was their own affair, to be entered into on the basis of love and to be broken at the termination of love; neither the union nor the separation were to require the permission or the sanction of the community. Today, for example, if a couple wishes to marry, the partners merely ask for a joint room; if they wish a divorce, they return to separate rooms.”
“All things which He had made, bore witness that their Maker was come ... And yet, up to this very hour, the hearts of the unbelieving Jews will not acknowledge that He, to Whom all nature gave testimony, is their God. Being more hardened than the rocks, the Jews refuse to be rent by repentance.”This is but one instance of what the Jews would term the “anti-Semitism” of the Church’s Advent and Christmas Season liturgy. With the possible exception of Holy Week in Lent, there is no period in the whole liturgical year which more emphasizes the bridgeless chasm separating Christian faith and Jewish infidelity.
From Advent through the Epiphany Octave, the texts of the Mass and the Divine Office resound repeatedly with that theme which is at once the fulfilled expectation of the Jews of the Old Law, and the indictment of the deicide Jews of today:
“Behold, O Israel, your king ... Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, for the day of the Lord is nigh ... It is the birth of the Christ, O Jerusalem ... The Savior of the world will be our King ... He shall sit upon the throne of David His father.”These are the tidings of great joy which plague the Jews as sorely this December as they did more than nineteen hundred years ago. And among these tidings there is, for the Jews, no more hateful information than the exultant shouts that the Baby of Bethlehem is the true Son of David, inheriting a royal title from His foster father, Saint Joseph, and royal blood from His Spotless Mother, the Virgin Mary. It was precisely to attack this central truth of Christmas that the rabbis of the early Christian centuries concocted that unprintably-filthy version of the Birth of Christ which is now found in the Jews’ “holy” book, the Talmud. We have determined never to reprint, in direct quotation, these blasphemous assaults against the purity of the Mother of God. But that they were invented by the rabbis, for the express purpose of challenging Our Lord’s title to the Throne of David, is abundantly admitted by Jewish authorities. The Jewish Encyclopedia, for example, blithely states, in its article on “Jesus,” that, “For polemical purposes it was necessary for the Jews to insist on the illegitimacy of Jesus as against the Davidic descent claimed by the Christian Church.”
At no point in the Christmas liturgy, however, does the Church’s consciousness of Jewish perfidy becloud her joy at the Birth of the Messias. In this spirit, therefore, we anticipate the coming gladness, and leave our readers with that jubilant exhortation from the Third Mass of Christmas:
“Come ye Gentiles and adore the Lord, for this day a great light hath descended upon the earth!”God and His Messiah Jesus Christ our Lord - our right and duty to witness to Him: Food for thought
The prophets of the Old Testament so exactly predicted the coming of the Messiah that Herod knew within two years time that it was Jesus (Yeshua) at His birth. Anyone, especially Jews who know their Torah of Moses and the Prophets from Moses to the time of Jesus Christ, Yeshua ha Maschiach, should avail themselves of the Book of Isaiah, Chapters 52 and 53 and the Book of Daniel, Chapter 11 in order to show some of the more important proofs to themselves of the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ promised to the Jews and Gentiles alike. Faith in Him is salvific.
Jews called in Christ: St. Isaiah
Jews called in Christ: The way out of the 18 temple benedictions
The Jew false prophet Maimonides (Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon), in order to hide the fact that the Jews KNEW that the Prophet Daniel had prophesied the time of the Messiah's Incarnation and He of course was Jesus Christ, said: "Daniel has elucidated to us the knowledge of the end times. However, since they are secret, the wise [rabbis] have barred the calculation of the days of Messiah's coming so that the untutored populace will not be led astray when they see that the End Times [the appearance of the Messiah - Jesus Christ] have already come but there is no sign of the Messiah" (Igeret Teiman, Chapter 3 p.24.)
",,,the End Times have already come..." 2,000 years ago with the coming of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who only is the Messiah. "... but there is no sign of the Messiah" means that Maimonides and the rest of the Perfidious Jews unlawfully and out of utterly unrepentant evil hearts knowingly reject the true Messiah, who is Jesus Christ, and the Jews' nation are therefore damned for the unforgivable sin, forever.
The seventy weeks of Daniel's Prophecy makes it absolute that the only time the Messiah could come in history is the time when Jesus Christ, who alone is the only Messiah and the only one who could be the Messiah, came.
The seventy weeks are weeks of years. Hence 490 years.
The Messiah is the Christ.
The seventy weeks begins in the Old Testament, at that time, with the "going forth of the word to restore and to build
69 weeks or 483 years, takes us to the beginning of Christ's public life.
The Messiah is "cut off" - Crucified, for our sins (Isaiah 53:8) in the midst of the "week." That is after three and one half years.
DANIEL 9:24-27
CHAPTER IX.
Daniel's confession and prayer; Gabriel informs him concerning the seventy weeks to the coming of Christ.
24 *Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the Saint of saints may be anointed.
25 Know thou, therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ, the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and the street shall be built again, and the walls, in straitness of times.
26 And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his. And a people, with their leader, that shall come, shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end.
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*
1: A.M. 3467, A.C. 537.
2: Jer. xxv. 11. and xxix. 10.
4: 2 Esd. i. 5.
5: Bar. i. 17.
11: Deut. xxvii. 14.
15: Bar. i. 1.; Ex. xiv. 22.
18: Jer. xxv. 29.; Ps. xlviii. 2. 9. and ci. 8.
21: Supra viii. 16.
24: Mat. xxiv. 15.; John i. 45.
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Ver. 24. Seventy weeks (viz. of years, or seventy times seven, that is, 490 years) are shortened; that is, fixed and determined, so that the time shall be no longer. Ch. — This is not a conditional prophecy. Daniel was solicitous to know when the seventy years of Jeremias would terminate. But something of far greater consequence is revealed to him, (W.) even the coming and death of the Messias, four hundred and ninety years after the order for rebuilding the walls should be given, (C.) at which period Christ would redeem the world, (W.) and abolish the sacrifices of the law. C. — Finished, or arrive at its height by the crucifixion of the Son of God; (Theod.) or rather sin shall be forgiven. Heb. "to finish crimes to seal (cover or remit) sins, and to expiate iniquity." — Anointed. Christ is the great anointed of God, the source of justice, and the end of the law and of the prophets, (Acts x. 38. and 1 Cor. i. 30. Rom. x. 4. C.) as well as the pardoner of crimes. These four characters belong only to Christ. W.
Ver. 25. Word, &c. That is, from the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, when, by his commandment, Nehemias rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, 2 Esd. ii. From which time, according to the best chronology, there were just sixty-nine weeks of years, the is 483 years, to the baptism of Christ, when he first began to preach and execute the office of Messias. Ch. — The prophecy is divided into three periods: the first of forty-nine years, during which the walls were completed; (they had been raised in fifty-two days, (2 Esd. vi. 15.) but many other fortifications were still requisite) the second of four hundred and thirty-four years, at the end of which Christ was baptized, in the fifteenth of Tiberius, the third of three years and a half, during which Christ preached. In the middle of this last week, the ancient sacrifices became useless, (C.) as the true Lamb of God had been immolated. Theod. — A week of years denotes seven years, as Lev. xxv. and thus seventy of these weeks would make four hundred and ninety years. V. Bede. Rat. temp. 6 &c. W. — Origen would understand 4900 years, and dates from the fall of Adam to the ruin of the temple. Marsham begins twenty-one years after the captivity commenced, when Darius took Susa, and ends in the second of Judas, when the temple was purified. This system would destroy the prediction of Christ's coming, and is very uncertain. Hardouin modifies it, and acknowledges that Christ was the end of the prophecy, though it was fulfilled in figure by the death of Onias III. See 1 Mac. i. 19. Senens. Bib. viii. hær. 12. and Estius. From C. vii. to xii. the changes in the East, till the time of Epiphanes, are variously described. After the angel had here addressed Daniel, the latter was still perplexed; (C. x. 1.) and in order to remove his doubts, the angel informs him of the persecution of Epiphanes, as if he had been speaking of the same event. We may, therefore, count forty-nine years from the taking of Jerusalem (when Jeremias spoke, C. vi. 19.) to Cyrus, the anointed, (Is. xlv. 1.) who was appointed to free God's people. They would still be under the Persians, &c. for other four hundred and thirty-four years, and then Onias should be slain. Many would join the Machabees; the sacrifices should cease in the middle of the seventieth week, and the desolation shall continue to the end of it. Yet, though this system may seem plausible, it is better to stick to the common one, which naturally leads us to the death of Christ, dating from the tenth year of Artaxerxes. C. — He had reigned ten years already with his father. Petau. — All the East was persuaded that a great king should arise about the time; when our Saviour actually appeared, and fulfilled all that had been spoken of the Messias. C. Diss. — Ferguson says, "We have an astronomical demonstration of the truth of this ancient prophecy, seeing that the prophetic year of the Messias being cut off was the very same with the astronomical." In a dispute between a Jew and a Christian, at Venice, the Rabbi who presided...put an end to the business by saying, "Let us shut up our Bibles; for if we proceed in the examination of this prophecy, it will make us all become Christians." Watson, let. 6. — Hence probably the Jews denounce a curse on those who calculate the times, (H.) and they have purposely curtailed their chronology. C. — Times, &c. (angustia temporum) which may allude both to the difficulties and opposition they met with in building, and to the shortness of the time in which they finished the wall, viz. fifty-two days. Ch.
Ver. 26. Weeks, or four hundred and thirty-eight years, which elapsed from the twentieth of Artaxerxes to the death of Christ, according to the most exact chronologists. C. — Slain. Prot. "cut off, but not for himself, and the people of the prince that," &c. H. — S. Jerom and some MSS. read, Christus, et non erit ejus. The sense is thus suspended. The Jews lose their prerogative of being God's people. C. — Christ will not receive them again. S. Jer. — Gr. "the unction shall be destroyed, and there shall not be judgment in him." The priesthood and royal dignity is taken from the Jews. Theod. — The order of succession among the high priests was quite deranged, while the country was ruled by the Romans, and by Herod, a foreigner. C. — Leader. The Romans under Titus. Ch. C.
Ver. 27. Many. Christ seems to allude to this passage. Mat. xxvi. 28. He died for all; but several of the Jews particularly, would not receive the proffered grace. C. — Of the week, or in the middle of the week, &c. Because Christ preached three years and a half: and then, by his sacrifice upon the cross, abolished all the sacrifices of the law. Ch. — Temple. Heb. "the wing," (C.) or pinnacle, (H.) the highest part of the temple. C. — Desolation. Some understand this of the profanation of the temple by the crimes of the Jews, and by the bloody faction of the zealots. Others, of the bringing in thither the ensigns and standard of the pagan Romans. Others, in fine, distinguish three different times of desolation: viz. that under Antiochus; that when the temple was destroyed by the Romans; and the last near the end of the world, under antichrist. To all which, as they show, this prophecy has a relation. Ch. — Prot. "For the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation; and that determined, shall be poured upon the desolate." H. — The ruin shall be entire. C.
Traditional Catholic Prayers: The Rebuilt Temple of Remphan in Jerusalem and the Armour Bearer of the Antichrist, the False Prophet
DANIEL 11
CHAPTER XI.
The angel declares to Daniel many things to come, with regard to the Persian and Grecian kings: more especially with regard to Antiochus, as a figure of antichrist.
1 And from the first year of Darius, the Mede, I stood up, that he might be strengthened, and confirmed.
2 And now I will shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be enriched exceedingly above them all: and when he shall be grown mighty by his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.
3 But there shall rise up a strong king, and shall rule with great power: and he shall do what he pleaseth.
4 And when he shall come to his height, his kingdom shall be broken, and it shall be divided towards the four winds of the heaven: but not to his posterity, nor according to his power with which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be rent in pieces, even for strangers, besides these.
5 And the king of the south shall be strengthened, and one of his princes shall prevail over him, and he shall rule with great power: for his dominion shall be great.
6 And after the end of years they shall be in league together: and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make friendship, but she shall not obtain the strength of the arm, neither shall her seed stand: and she shall be given up, and her young men that brought her, and they that strengthened her in these times.
7 And a plant of the bud of her roots shall stand up: and he shall come with an army, and shall enter into the province of the king of the north: and he shall abuse them, and shall prevail.
8 And he shall also carry away captive into Egypt their gods, and their graven things, and their precious vessels of gold and silver: he shall prevail against the king of the north.
9 And the king of the south shall enter into the kingdom, and shall return to his own land.
10 And his sons shall be provoked, and they shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and he shall come with haste like a flood: and he shall return, and be stirred up, and he shall join battle with his forces.
11 And the king of the south being provoked, shall go forth, and shall fight against the king of the north, and shall prepare an exceeding great multitude, and a multitude shall be given into his hand.
12 And he shall take a multitude, and his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many thousands: but he shall not prevail.
13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall prepare a multitude much greater than before: and in the end of times, and years, he shall come in haste with a great army, and much riches.
14 *And in those times many shall rise up against the king of the south, and the children of prevaricators of thy people shall lift up themselves to fulfil the vision, and they shall fall.
15 And the king of the north shall come, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take the best fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, and his chosen ones shall rise up to resist, and they shall not have strength.
16 And he shall come upon him, and do according to his pleasure, and there shall be none to stand against his face: and he shall stand in the glorious land, and it shall be consumed by his hand.
17 And he shall set his face to come to possess all his kingdom, and he shall make upright conditions with him: and he shall give him a daughter of women, to overthrow it: and she shall not stand, neither shall she be for him.
18 And he shall turn his face to the islands, and shall take many: and he shall cause the prince of his reproach to cease, and his reproach shall be turned upon him.
19 And he shall turn his face to the empire of his own land, and he shall stumble, and fall, and shall not be found.
20 And there shall stand up in his place one most vile, and unworthy of kingly honour: and in a few days he shall be destroyed, not in rage nor in battle.
21 And there shall stand up in his place one despised, and the kingly honour shall not be given him: and he shall come privately, and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud.
22 And the arms of the fighter shall be overcome before his face, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
23 And after friendships, he will deal deceitfully with him: and he shall go up, and shall overcome with a small people.
24 And he shall enter into rich and plentiful cities: and he shall do that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers' fathers: he shall scatter their spoils, and their prey, and their riches, and shall forecast devices against the best fenced places: and this until a time.
25 And his strength, and his heart, shall be stirred up against the king of the south, with a great army: and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with many and very strong succours: and they shall not stand, for they shall form designs against him.
26 And they that eat bread with him, shall destroy him, and his army shall be overthrown: and many shall fall down slain.
27 And the heart of the two kings shall be to do evil, and they shall speak lies at one table, and they shall not prosper: because as yet the end is unto another time.
28 And he shall return into his land with much riches: and his heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall succeed, and shall return into his own land.
29 At the time appointed he shall return, and he shall come to the south, but the latter time shall not be like the former.
30 And the galleys and the Romans shall come upon him, and he shall be struck, and shall return, and shall have indignation against the covenant of the sanctuary, and he shall succeed: and he shall return, and shall devise against them that have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.
31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice, and they shall place there the abomination unto desolation.
32 And such as deal wickedly against the covenant shall deceitfully dissemble: but the people that know their God shall prevail and succeed.
33 And they that are learned among the people shall teach many: and they shall fall by the sword, and by fire, and by captivity, and by spoil for many days.
34 And when they shall have fallen, they shall be relieved with a small help: and many shall be joined to them deceitfully.
35 And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be tried, and may be chosen, and made white, even to the appointed time: because yet there shall be another time.
36 And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify himself against every god: and he shall speak great things against the God of gods, and shall prosper, till the wrath be accomplished. For the determination is made.
37 And he shall make no account of the God of his fathers: and he shall follow the lust of women, and he shall not regard any gods: for he shall rise up against all things.
38 But he shall worship the god Maozim, in his place: and a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall worship with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and things of great price.
39 And he shall do this to fortify Maozim with a strange god, whom he hath acknowledged, and he shall increase glory, and shall give them power over many, and shall divide the land gratis.
40 And at the time prefixed the king of the south shall fight against him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with a great navy, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall destroy, and pass through.
41 And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many shall fall: and these only shall be saved out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the principality of the children of Ammon.
42 And he shall lay his hand upon the lands: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 And he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt: and he shall pass through Lybia, and Ethiopia.
44 And tidings out of the east, and out of the north, shall trouble him: and he shall come with a great multitude to destroy and slay many.
45 And he shall fix his tabernacle, Apadno, between the seas, upon a glorious and holy mountain: and he shall come even to the top thereof, and none shall help him.
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14: Isai. xix. 1.
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DANIEL 11
CHAPTER XI.
Ver. 1. Confirmed. Gabriel assisted Michael to comply with God's orders. C. x. 21. C. — The angel continues his speech, and informs us that he had prayed for Darius after the fall of Babylon, seeing that he was well-inclined towards the Jews, as his successor Cyrus (who liberated them) was also. W.
Ver. 2. Three, &c. Cambyses, Smerdis magus, and Darius the son of Hystaspes. Ch. W. — Cyrus had been mentioned before. C. x. 13. 20. Smerdis, or Artaxerxes, (1 Esd. iv. 7.) was the chief of the seven magi, and usurped the throne for six months after the death of Cambyses. C. — He had been declared king before (H.) by Patizites, his own brother. The news excited the fury of Cambyses, who mounting on horseback gave himself a mortal wound in the thigh. Herod. iii. 21. See Ezec. xxxviii. 21. H. — Fourth: Xerxes. Ch. — He invaded Greece with an immense army, forcing those on the road to join him. Just. i. 10. Herod. vii. and viii. C.
Ver. 3. A strong king: Alexander. Ch. — The sequel clearly points him out. Before fifteen years had elapsed, his mother, brother, and children were slain. Arideus, his brother, was declared regent till it should be seen what Rozanna should bring forth. After the death of those who might be heirs of Alexander, four general took the title of kings. Others governed in different places, but were destroyed by degrees.
Ver. 4. These four; Ptolemy, Seleucus, Antigonus, and Antipater, kings of Egypt, Syria, Asia, and Greece. C. vii. 6. and viii. 22. Besides the other generals, (C.) foreigners began to erect new kingdoms in what had formed the empire of Alexander. S. Jer. Livy xlv. C.
Ver. 5. South: Ptolemeus, the son of Lagus, king of Egypt, which lies south of Jerusalem. Ch. —S. Irenæus (iv. 43.) observes, that all prophecies are obscure till they be fulfilled. History shews that this relates to Ptolemy. The kingdoms of Egypt and of Syria are more noticed, as they had much to do with the Jews. W. — Ptolemy took Cyprus (C.) and Jerusalem. Jos. Ant. xii. 12. — His princes (that is, one of Alexander's princes) shall prevail over him; that is, shall be stronger than the king of Egypt. He speaks of Seleucus Nicator, king of Asia and Syria, whose successors are here called the kings of the north, because their dominions lay to the north in respect to Jerusalem. Ch. — Nicator means a "conqueror." H. —This king was master of all from Media and Babylonia to Jerusalem. Appian, &c. C. —Philadelphus was more powerful than his father. W.
Ver. 6. South. Bernice, daughter of Ptolemeus Philadelphus, given in marriage to Antiochus Theos, grandson of Seleucus, (Ch.) and king of Syria. She brought a great "dowry," and was therefore styled Phernophoros. Antiochus agreed to repudiate Laodicea; but he soon took her back. Fearing his inconstancy, she poisoned him, and slew his son by Bernice. This lady in a rage mounted her chariot, and having knocked down the cruel minister of such barbarity, trampled upon his body. The rest pretended that the infant was still living, and delivered up a part of the palace to Bernice, yet slew her as soon as they had an opportunity. S. Jer. Usher, A. 3758. V. Max. ix. 10. &c. C.
Ver. 7. A plant, &c. Ptolemeus Evergetes, the son of Philadelphus. Ch. — Three of Bernice's maids of honour (H.) covered her body, and pretended that she was only wounded, till her brother Evergetes came and seized almost all Asia, Callinicus not daring to give him battle. S. Jer. &c. Vaillant. A. 79. Lagid. C. — He laid waste Syria. W.
Ver. 8. Gods. He took back what Cambyses had conveyed out of Egypt; and it was on this account that the people styled him "benefactor." S. Jer. C. — North. Seleucus Callinicus. Ch. — If Evergetes had not been recalled into Egypt by civil broils, he would have seized all the kingdom of Seleucus. Just. xvii. — As he passed by Jerusalem (v. 9.) he made great presents, and caused victims of thanksgiving to be offered up. Jos. c. Ap. ii.
Ver. 10. His sons. Seleucus Ceraunius and Antiochus the great, the sons of Callinicus. Ch. — The former was poisoned after three years' reign, as he marched against Attalus. Just. xxix. — Antiochus the great reconquered many provinces from Egypt, but was beaten at Raphia, on the confines, and lost Cœlo-syria. C. — He shall, &c. Antiochus the great. Ch. — He prosecuted the war, as his brother was prevented by death. W.
Ver. 11. South. Ptolemeus Philopator, son of Evergetes. Ch. — He was an indolent prince; but his generals gained the victory. C.
Ver. 12. Prevail. Many fell on both sides. H. — But Antiochus did not prevail; (W.) or rather Philopator neglected the opportunity of dethroning his rival, (C.) as he might have seized all his dominions, if he had not been too fond of ease. Just. xxx. — He followed the suggestions of his proud heart, when he attempted to enter the most holy place of the temple; and though he was visibly chastised by God, he would have vented his resentment on the Jews, if Providence had not miraculously protected them. 3 Mac. C. See Eccli. l. H.
Ver. 13. Times, seventeen years after the battle of Raphia. When Philopator was dead, and his son Epiphanes not above five years old, Antiochus and Philip of Macedon basely attempted to divide his dominions. Scopas engaged Antiochus, but lost the battle, and all that Philopator had recovered. C. — Many revolted in Egypt on account of the arrogance of Agathocles, who ruled in the king's name. v. 14. S. Jer.
Ver. 14. Vision. Many Jews, deceived by Onias, erected a temple in Egypt, falsely asserting that they fulfilled the prophecy of Isaias, xix. 19. W. — This Onias was the son of Onias III. who was slain at Antioch. C. ix. 25. H. — The temple of Onion was called after him. All allow that he transgressed the law, by offering sacrifice there after God had pitched upon Jerusalem. But this was done (C.) under Philometor, forty-seven years (Usher) or longer after those times, when Epiphanes fought against Antiochus. The rebellion of the Jews against Egypt may therefore be meant. It was decreed that they should by under Antiochus, that his son might cause them to fall, (C.) and punish them for their crimes. H.
Ver. 15. Cities; Sidon, Gaza, and the citadel of Jerusalem, &c. C.
Ver. 16. Upon him. Antiochus shall come upon the king of the south. — Land: Judea. Ch. — Consumed, or "perfected." Antiochus was very favourable to the Jews; (C.) invited all to return to Jerusalem, and furnished what was requisite for the sacrifices. Jos. Ant. xii. 3.
Ver. 17. Kingdom, viz. all the kingdom of Ptolemeus Epiphanes, son of Philopator. Ch. — The Romans interrupted Antiochus, who resolved to lull the young prince asleep, till he had subdued these enemies. C. — Of women. That is, a most beautiful woman, viz. his daughter Cleopatra. — It, viz. the kingdom of Epiphanes; but his policy shall not succeed; for Cleopatra shall take more to heart the interest of her husband than that of her father. Ch. — He came with her to Raphia, and gave her Judea, &c. for her dowry, reserving half of the revenues. Heb. and Gr. have, "to corrupt her;" (C.) Vulg. eam; as he wished his daughter to act perfidiously, that he might seize the whole kingdom. H. — Epiphanes and his generals were on their guard, and Cleopatra took part with her husband. S. Jer.
Ver. 18. Islands, near Asia. He also went into Greece, and was master of that country when the Romans declared war against him. C. — Of his reproach. Scipio, the Roman general, called the prince of his reproach, because he overthrew Antiochus, and obliged him to submit to very dishonourable terms, before he would cease from the war. Ch. — Prot. "for a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease, without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him." H. — Being defeated at Magnesia, he chose the wisest plan of avoiding fresh reproach, by making peace, though (C.) the terms were very hard. Livy xxxvii. — He jokingly observed, that he was obliged to the Romans for contracting his dominions. Cic. pro Dejot.
Ver. 19. Found. Antiochus plundered the temple of the Elymaites to procure money; but they, (S. Jer.) or the neighbouring barbarous nations, rose up and slew him. Just. xxxii.
Ver. 20. One more vile. Seleucus Philopator, who sent Heliodorus to plunder the temple; and was shortly after slain by the same Heliodorus. Ch. — He reigned about twelve years; and had sent his own son, Demetrius, to be a hostage at Rome instead of Epiphanes, whom he designed to place at the head of an army to invade Egypt. Heb. "one who shall cause the exactor to pass over the glory of the kingdom," the temple. 2 Mac. iii. C.
Ver. 21. One despised; viz. Antiochus Epiphanes, who at first was despised and not received for king. What is here said of this prince, is accommodated by S. Jerom and others to antichrist, of whom this Antiochus was a figure. Ch. — He lived and died basely; as the origin and end of antichrist will be ignominious. W. — All that follows, to the end of C. xii. regards Epiphanes. He had no title to the crown, which he procured by cunning, and held in the most shameful manner. He canvassed for the lowest offices, so that many styled him Epimanes, "the madman." Diod. in Valesius, p. 305. C.
Ver. 22. Fighter. That is, of them that shall oppose him, and shall fight against him. Ch. — Heliodorus, who had murdered his brother and usurped the throne, and Ptolemy Epiphanes, were discomfited. The latter was making preparations against Seleucus, and said that his riches were in the purses of his friends, upon which they poisoned him. S. Jer. C. — Covenant, or of the league. The chief of them that conspired against him; or the king of Egypt, his most powerful adversary. Ch. — This title belongs to antichrist, who will join the Jews, and be received as their Messias. S. Iren. v. 25. S. Jer. &c. Jo. 543. W.
Ver. 23. People. Ephiphanes pretended to be tutor of Philometor. But the nobles of Egypt distrusted him; whereupon he came to a battle, near Pelusium, and the young king surrendered himself. His uncle thus took possession of Egypt with surprising facility. Yet the people of Alexandria crowned Evergetes, which occasioned a civil war. C.
Ver. 24. Places. Theodot. reads, "Egypt," omitting the b, (H.) which gives a good sense. — C.
Ver. 25. The king. Ptolemeus Philometor. Ch. — Epiphanes came under the pretext of restoring Philometor, and gained a victory over Evergetes; but returned in Syria, that the two brothers might weaken each other, (C.) while the Syrians formed designs against both. H.
Ver. 26. Slain. This was the perfidious policy of Epiphanes, who expected that the two brothers would destroy each other, so that he might easily seize Egypt, of which he kept the key, retaining the city of Pelusium. They were however reconciled, and reigned together. The Scripture often represents that as done which is only intended.
Ver. 27. Two kings: Epiphanes and Philometor. — Time. Epiphanes, vexed that he should thus be duped, returned again into Egypt. v. 29.
Ver. 28. Riches, taken in Egypt (C.) and in Jerusalem. H. — The people had refused to receive Jason; and Epiphanes treated them in the most barbarous manner, profaned the temple, &c. 1 Mac. i. 23. and 2 Mac. vi. 21. C.
Ver. 30. Galleys. Heb. "ships of Chittim." H. — The ambassadors probably came in vessels belonging to Macedonia, (C.) which they found at Delos. Livy xliv. — Romans. Popilius and the other Roman ambassadors, who came in galleys, and obliged him to depart from Egypt. Ch. — He was only four or seven miles from Alexandria, and went to meet the ambassadors, who gave him the senate's letter, ordering him to desist from the war. He said he would consult his friends: but Popilius formed a circle round him with his wand, requiring an answer before he went out of it. Hereupon the king withdrew his forces. Polyb. xcii. V. Max. vi. 4. — Succeed. Apollonius massacred many Jews on the sabbath. 1 Mac. i. 30. — Against. Heb. "respecting." Prot. "have intelligence with them," &c. H. — These wretches prompted him to make such edicts, for he was attached to no religion. 2 Mac. iv. 9.
Ver. 31. Arms, (brachia) or strong men, Apollonius, Philip, &c. (2 Mac. vi.) and likewise the senator from Antioch, who executed his decrees. C. — Abomination. The idol of Jupiter Olympius, which Antiochus ordered to be set up in the sanctuary of the temple, which is here called the sanctuary of strength, from the Almighty that was worshipped there. Ch. — Other idols were set up, and the people were compelled to sacrifice. C. — Yet even in the hottest persecutions some remained faithful. W.
Ver. 32. Dissemble. Thus acted the officers and apostate Jews. — Know. Such were the Assideans, Eleazar, and the Machabees.
Ver. 33. Learned; the priests, Matthathias, &c. Mal. ii. 7.
Ver. 34. Help. The victories of the Machabees were miraculous. — Deceitfully, like those who took the spoils of idols, and were slain. Heb. may imply, "secretly." C.
Ver. 35. Fall, or became martyrs. H. — Such were Eleazar, &c. C. — Another time, after death; (H.) or the perfect deliverance shall take place later, v. 27.
Ver. 36. Every god. "He plundered many (C. or most; pleista. H.) temples." Polyb. Athen. v. 6. — The Samaritans, and even the priests of the Lord, obeyed the impious decree; so that the king looked upon himself as a sort of god. — Accomplished against the Jews, when Epiphanes shall be punished.
Ver. 37. God. He laughed at religion, yet sometimes offered splendid presents and victims, which shewed his inconstancy. C. — Women. He kept many concubines, (Diod.) and committed the greatest obscenities publicly: mimis et scortis. S. Jer. — Heb. may have quite a different sense. He had no regard for the sex, (C.) killing all indiscriminately. Grot.
Ver. 38. The god Maozim. That is, the god of forces or strong holds. Ch. — Mahuzzim denotes "strong ones," (H.) guardians, &c. Dr. Newton (Diss.) explains, the king (v. 36.) of the Roman state; and supposes that here the guardian saints and angels are meant, whose worship he shews "began in the Roman empire, very soon after it became Christian. This exposition seems far preferable to that which interprets" Jupiter or the heavens, and understands the idol set up by Epiphanes. See Univ. Hist. x. Parkhurst. — If these authors speak of the inferior veneration shewn to saints and angels in the Catholic Church, it had a much earlier commencement, being coeval with religion itself. But only the blindest prejudice can represent this as idolatrous, and of course this system must fall to the ground. H. — Others suppose that Mars, Hercules, Azizus, or Jupiter, may be designated. Heb. "He will rise up against all, (38) and against the strong God (of Israel. v. 31. C. viii. 10. C.) he will, in his place, worship a strange god, " &c. Jun. — None of the ancestors of Epiphanes had ever adored Jupiter on the altar of holocausts. C. — He and antichrist adore either the great Jupiter or their own strength. W.
Ver. 39. To. Heb. "in the most strong holds, with," &c. H. — He built a fortress near the temple, styled Maoz, (Ezec. xxiv. 25.) on account of its strength. C. — Glory. He shall bestow honours, riches, and lands, upon them that shall worship his god. Ch. — He will entrust the strong places to them.
Ver. 40. Fight. Epiphanes made war on Egypt, till the Romans forced him to desist. The prophet explains his preceding attempts, to which he only alluded. v. 29, 30.
Ver. 41. Land; Egypt, or rather Judea. C. — Ammon. He will not divide his forces. S. Jer.
Ver. 43. Ethiopia. Heb. "the Lubim and Cushim shall be at his steps." Theodot. reads, "in their fortresses." He had troops from these nations, or Egypt was guarded by them.
Ver. 44. North. Judas continued victorious. Armenia (C.) and Parthia rebelled. Tacit. v. 8. — Many. Epiphanes left three generals and half his army to destroy the Jews. C.
Ver. 45. Apadno. Some take it for the proper name of a place; others, from the Heb. translate it, his palace. Ch. — He fixed his royal tent between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. W. —Porphyrius explains this of the march beyond the Euphrates, which S. Jerom does not disapprove. Apadno may denote Mesopotamia, which is styled Padan Aram. — Glorious. Heb. Zebi, C. or Tsebi, (H.) may allude to Mount Taba, where the king perished, without help. 1 Mac. vi. 11. and 2 Mac. ix. 9. S. Jerom and many others explain all this of antichrist, and no doubt he was prefigured. The final events will take place again towards the end of the world. The particulars are summed up in the Church Fathers, see below: The Antichrist. Here we have adhered to the history of Antiochus. C.
The Antichrist
And the Second Coming of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, see:
Parousia of Jesus Christ Our Lord
