“What has been will be again; what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
In the days of Judah Maccabee, there was an attack on the Jewish people by the Greeks. Not just on the Jewish people themselves, but on everything the God of Israel had covenanted with them, commanded them, and promised them in the Hebrew Scriptures. Everything –– Jewish.
Every king, emperor or leader throughout history who has promoted antisemitism has been considered an enemy to Israel and the Jewish people: Pharaoh of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, Haman in Persia, Caligula and Nero of Rome, Miguel de Morillo and Juan de San Martin of the Spanish Inquisitions, and Adolf Hitler in Germany. Each of these leaders set themselves up as gods and tried to snuff out the lives of God’s chosen people. There is still one more wicked leader to come: the ‘man of lawlessness’ who will oppose every that is of the God of Israel. Everything ––– Jewish.
“The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. … And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him” (Daniel 9:26-27).
“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16).
Today, the same battle rages and those who stand against it could be considered part of a modern Maccabean revolt. Since the first century, Greek and Roman ideologies have created a religious system contrary to Biblical commands. This religious system teaches the Torah is nullified, the Temple and its services are unnecessary, the Levitical priesthood has become obsolete, the dietary laws were cancelled, circumcision became a legalistic observance, the Sabbath was changed to Sunday, and the Jewish people have been rejected by God. Everything –– Jewish.
These many doctrines transform the worship of the God of Israel an institutionally designed god focused on replacement theology – the transition of the covenants and promises given to Israel now belonging to ‘the church.’ Jesus is misrepresented as a Greco-Roman-based three-in-one god rather than the unique son of the One God, Yeshua, the King of the Jews, the Messiah of Israel. Many who would come to acknowledge Yeshua as Messiah are alienated through these false and misguided teachings. Those leaders who proclaim these teachings do not give the lost and dying world the complete good news of salvation. They twist the Truth of the complete Word of God and give the “father of lies” a platform on which to propagate lawlessness. These subversive doctrines are the work of the Adversary, the antichrist, the ‘man of lawlessness’ prophesied by Daniel, Yeshua, and Paul.
“Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day [of the LORD] will not come until after the Apostasy [falling away from the apostles’ teachings] has come and the man who separates himself from Torah has been revealed, the one destined for doom. He will oppose himself to everything that people call a god or make an object of worship; he will put himself above them all, so that he will sit in the Temple of God and proclaim that he himself is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
According to King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:9, there is nothing new under the sun. There will always be lawless nations and individuals who want to destroy the Jewish people, their Biblical heritage, and take their Land. There will also be men and women, Jews like Judah Maccabee and his father and gentiles that stand on the faith of the patriarchs, who will fight against the destruction of Truth. They will stand against syncretism and mixing the profane and holy; they will distance themselves from the pagan practices around them. These unique people will show a solidarity with the God of Israel and His chosen people. They will learn the history of Hanukkah and will choose to place a Hanukkah menorah in their window to show their ‘oneness’ with the chosen people. They will light the eight candles on the hanukkiah each night to proclaim to those around them that they will not assimilate into an antisemitic Hellenized-Roman religious system that advances the theology of the ‘man of lawlessness.’
The Syrians didn’t win the war against the small Maccabean army; Antiochus Epiphanes didn’t destroy the Jews or the Torah. The priesthood through Judah Maccabee returned to Jerusalem. They cleansed and rededicated the Temple back to the God of Israel sacrificing the prescribed offerings on the Altar and witnessed the miracle of oil.
The remnant royal priesthood will stand against the lies and deceptions established through centuries of antisemitic church fathers. The modern-day Romans in Vatican City can’t stop the “Torah from coming out of Zion and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem” in the Millennial Kingdom (Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2). The battle remains in Yeshua’s hands, and he will stand on the Mount of Olives returning to Jerusalem as King and High Priest. He will restore all things: the Torah, the Temple described by the prophet Ezekiel, the covenanted Levitical priesthood, the Altar of Sacrifice, and even circumcision to enter the Sanctuary. Everything –– Jewish.
Who do you follow? Where do you stand?
©2013 Tentstake Ministries Publishing, all rights reserved. No copying or reproducing of this article without crediting the author or Tentstake Ministries Publishing. An updated excerpt from Journey with Jeremiah: Nourishment for the Wild Olive.