Hello friends, I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to listen to the following Bible teaching message by Paul Scharf. Paul is a Church Ministries representative for the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, serving in the Midwest. You'll find all of his ministry resources at sermonaudio.com slash pscharf, where he provides new content on a regular basis, including a weekly column that he writes, along with news and updates. Right now, we encourage you to follow along as we open God's Word for today's presentation. It's our prayer that the Lord God will use this teaching to bring glory to Himself and to work faith in each of our hearts. Here now with the sermon is Paul Scharf. We're going to get into our topic for the remainder of the morning, which is Hanukkah. And Pastor Mike said I am free to try to implore with you to please stay through the morning And stay through the potluck if you can, OK? Because the potluck is just an add-on. That's just for free, OK, at the end. But the morning is going to be all about Hanukkah. And both hours are going to be about Hanukkah. And if you leave after this hour, you're really not going to know the end of the story. And there's no good way of doing this without kind of doing it in order. And if you miss either end, you're going to miss a vital part of what we're talking about. So I would certainly invite you to stay with us through Sunday school this morning when we'll really hit the points of why we're talking about all these things that we're dealing with, that we're beginning in this hour. But we are discussing Hanukkah, light in the darkness. Let me say this, the word Hanukkah is from a Hebrew word that means dedication. It's about being dedicated. And Hanukkah, as I believe I can show you this morning, is a message for our time. in many different ways, not just for this season, but for this time in which we live. I believe it's vitally important that we understand these issues surrounding Hanukkah. as they come to us in God's holy word. Now this year, Hanukkah, well, before we get to this year, Hanukkah falls on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar, which is a lunar calendar, so much like Passover or like our Easter, it travels in terms of our regular calendar, as we'll see in a moment. But Kislev is roughly equivalent to December on our calendar. 25th of December, does that ring a bell with anyone? So, a lot of interesting things here about Hanukkah we're going to be talking about. I'm going to be quoting from a number of highly accessible resources, some of which you may have on your laps right now. And like study Bibles, like here's the ESV Study Bible, which has excellent Bible background information, although it's not really dispensational in its theological basis, but it has lots of tremendous helpful information within it. And here it has a note. that sort of summarizes everything about Hanukkah. As I quote from these resources, I hope they'll have a secondary purpose of causing you to realize that part of our goal here this morning is to give you a foundation that you can build on, maybe even during this holiday time as you have an afternoon where it snows again or you want to sit next to the fireplace and you can go back and you can search the scriptures and see if these things are so. And read the text in your Bible, read the study notes, remembering just that the notes beneath the line are not inspired like the text above the line. But consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all these things. Because there's so much more than we're going to be able to cover exhaustively this morning. And so you can go home and take what you've learned this morning, search the scriptures, read the text, read the notes in your study Bible, or a good commentary, or Bible encyclopedia, or a good trusted online source. But notice what this says, the eight-day feast of dedication, Hanukkah's dedication, the feast of dedication, or it's also called the Festival of Lights, as we'll see. Here's what it celebrates. The rededication of the Jewish temple in December of 164 BC. Now let me say a couple of things about that right off the top. First of all, you're going to see two dates in our slides today. You're going to see 164 and you're going to see a year earlier 165 BC. And that is because the chronological issues like this are very difficult as we go back. into these times, and sometimes among conservative Bible-believing scholars there are differences. And so we have some, even very close to us, scholars who believe these events happened in December 165. Probably the majority say 164. Let the scholars sort that out. We're not going to try to deal with that this morning. Just don't stumble over that, please, when you see that in the slides. Remember that we're talking about these basic events happening, and we'll normally go with 164 BC, that it was in the Jewish temple in December of 164. Now, 164, where is that in our Bibles? Well, it's in those pages between Malachi and Matthew, isn't it? What do we know about what happened during that time? Those, as we call them, the 400 silent years between the Hebrew Bible and the giving of the New Testament or the events beginning of the New Testament age, beginning with the birth of our Savior that we celebrate at this time. Well, sadly, we probably know very little about them. Someone once told me that in our sector of the Christian world, as dispensationalists, as strong conservatives, our weakest area of knowledge is church history. When you think of the four major areas, Old Testament, New Testament, theology, church history, our weakest area by far is church history. Thankfully, we know often much more about some of the other areas. But not thankfully, we often know even much less about church history than many of our brothers and sisters in Christ in other areas of the Christian world. We're just incredibly weak on church history. Lord willing, as God gives me opportunity, you know I try to counteract some of that from time to time. But if we're weak on church history, our knowledge of intertestamental history, I'm afraid it's just sort of a black hole. We know almost nothing about it at all. And that's so sad because during these 400 years, these 400 silent years as we call them, God was at work in the world. He was working all things after the counsel of his will. Ephesians 1.11, he was working all things for good to those who love him. Romans 8.28, how was he working? He was working all things to bring history specifically to that very point when in the fullness of the time he would send forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem us as our Savior. He was working to move history according to the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel that Daniel received from the angel Gabriel in Daniel chapter 9 to bring history to that exact, precise point when, according to Luke chapter 3, 15, all the people were in expectation, wondering what was going to happen next. And God was at work in the world for those 400 years, really in a way that we can learn from for our time, because we believe that we're nearing the second coming of Christ, and we're watching God setting the stage for the second coming of Christ. And here for 400 years, he was setting the stage for the first coming of Christ. And yet we know almost nothing about any of these times that are so prophetically important. December of 164 BC after its desecration by the Greek Syrian Seleucid ruler Antiochus Epiphanes IV in 167. Antiochus will meet this morning on the pages of Holy Scripture in Daniel chapter 8 and Daniel chapter 11. A type of the future Antichrist. The worst ruler who ever plagued the Jewish people ever until this time. Sadly, not the worst one who will ever plague them. But here he is in 167, desecrating, committing the abomination of desolation in the temple in Jerusalem. Well, we might think of this verse, even though it's not written about the events behind Hanukkah. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. Micah 7, verse 8. A beautiful reminder of the light of God in the world, working in the world, which, of course, is remembered at Hanukkah. Now, this year, Hanukkah begins next Sunday evening at sundown going into Monday through the 26th. It's just perfect this year. For us, it's given us time. I've already spoken several times this year about Hanukkah. We have time to plan and prepare, to think, to teach about Hanukkah before it happens, to remind ourselves, to think about reaching out to our Jewish friends during Hanukkah, this most festive time of the year for them like it is for us. Interestingly, Jewish people around the world, the two major holidays they celebrate are Passover and Hanukkah. Even though Hanukkah is not a biblically mandated festival. It's not in Leviticus 23 as one of the seven feasts or anywhere in the law. Because obviously it didn't happen. The events that are commemorated didn't happen until the intertestamental period. And part of the reason for it has become so popular is because it falls at this time of the year when we're celebrating the holidays. But it's a wonderful thing for us as Christians to be aware of. And I think, again, by the time we're done this morning, you'll agree with me that we can easily, without any cause of strain to our conscience, say to our Jewish friends or to anyone else, Happy Hanukkah. And we're going to think about that today. Hanukkah, the festival of lights. Did you know, and I'll just share this now in case for you who do leave, you'll know what you're going to miss during the second hour, Jesus celebrated Hanukkah. Did you know that? And we're going to see about that this morning. In fact, at the Friends of Israel, we like to say this, there wouldn't be Christmas without Hanukkah. gave a message that resonated with the people in Jerusalem. We'll see he didn't say this at Hanukkah, but it was on their minds when he came back for Hanukkah in John 10. He had said in John 8, I am the light of the world. And we're going to, in fact, see in John chapter 10, before we close out the morning, Jesus is in essence saying to the people of Jerusalem, I am the Hanukkah man. I fulfill Hanukkah. So you stay and you'll see that. Bruce Scott has an excellent book, one of three books through the history of the Friends of Israel. I'll quote from all three this morning on the feasts. His book called The Feasts of Israel, the most recent, recently re-released. And it has, of course, a chapter on Hanukkah. And he's talking about John chapter 10, where we'll be at the end later. And he says, it was not an accident that Jesus chose Hanukkah as a time to proclaim, to explain his deity, when he said, I and the Father are one. Now we go back to an older resource. This is a really interesting quote, Alfred Edersheim, the 19th century Jewish Christian scholar. He said that he who purified the temple, of course, speaking of Christ, and was its true light and brought the great deliverance Now this is interesting, it's not our topic this morning, but he says that he spent the last anniversary season of his birth, he spent his last birthday, which is, he believed, around Hanukkah. A lot of interesting evidence that points to the fact that just maybe Jesus was born at this time of year when we celebrate it. But again, that's not our purpose this morning. But I just am fascinated with Edersheim's insight on that, that we, again, won't develop right now. But he says he spent his birthday at that feast in the sanctuary, shining into their darkness. And it seems most fitting. Well, where we're going to be for this hour mostly is Hanukkah in the Old Testament. And how can Hanukkah be in the Old Testament when it hadn't happened yet? Well, of course, it's by way of the prophetic scriptures revealed particularly to the prophet Daniel. In fact, Daniel gives us such a complex history of the events behind Hanukkah, written in advance, that liberal critical scholars say there's no way this could have been written by Daniel. It has to be a pious forgery. It has to be a second century fraud because no one could have written these things four centuries ahead. But, of course, we believe that Daniel did write them as predictive prophecy inspired by the Holy Spirit as he received prophetic revelations beginning in Daniel chapter 8 that relate specifically to the events that will happen that will lead to the celebration of Hanukkah. Now all of this is rooted in the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel chapter 2 of a magnificent statue representing the rule of man glistening in the sunshine. The amazing power of man to rule the earth, a head of gold, Babylon, chest and arms of silver, Medo-Persia, belly and thighs of brass, bronze, Greece, and legs of iron, Rome, and finally our future revived Rome of iron mixed with clay. Daniel sees the same vision in Daniel chapter seven, where he sees the same entities, but this time pictured as natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed from God's heavenly perspective. And he sees them as a winged lion, a bear raised up on one side, a winged leopard, finally an indescribably horrible beast that will rule till the time of the end. And then Daniel sees them again in Daniel chapter 8 in a separate distinct dream. He sees them this time as a ram and a he goat. And we want to zero in on that goat in just a moment, which is the Greek empire, which is ruling under Alexander the Great as a background to what's going to happen before the events behind Hanukkah. Just a couple of important reminders though first that John sees these same beasts reappear in his vision in Revelation 13 verse 2. And he tells us that the final world ruler, the final Roman kingdom has aspects of all the other kingdoms. The indescribably horrible beast takes on some of the characteristics of the leopard and the bear and the lion before it. They sort of live on. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, each lives on in the next empire. It's like pulling out a telescope. As Daniel said in verse 12 of chapter 7, their dominion is taken away, yet their lives are prolonged for a season and a time. The greatest illustration of this is how Jesus and the apostles in the first century are walking on Roman roads, but they're speaking and writing the Greek language. And so the characteristics that have been there before continue on in the kingdoms that follow. Now, why is that important for us? Because we're going to see a Greek king, Antiochus, who is a foreshadowing, a type of the future Roman Antichrist. He's also directly a foreshadowing of the future Greek king of the north at the end of history during the future tribulation. So, we're going to look at Daniel's prophecy here, which he speaks of. In Daniel chapter 8, verse 5, there was this male goat. This is Alexander the Great, the Greek empire, moving so fast across the surface of the whole earth, he didn't even touch the ground. And he grew very great, and he became strong. Verse 8 says, and his large horn was broken. This is Alexander the Great who died at 33. There's a poem about that. Christ and Alexander each died at 33. Alexander by age 33 had conquered the whole world and he sat down and wept. Why? Because there were no more worlds to conquer. and he died a broken man. Well, many decades after the death of Alexander the Great and the launch of the third Greek kingdom here in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, these four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven. Notice verse 9 takes us down to the mid-170s, 175 BC, and the launch of the rule of Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiochus IV, who wanted to reconstitute the worldwide dominion of Alexander. He wanted to be the ruler of the world. He was insane. He was a tyrant. He believed that he was a manifestation of the Greek god Zeus, embodied here and living on the earth, and he wanted to bring about a worldwide rule But he didn't have the wisdom or the skill of Alexander. Alexander, one of the things he had done was he allowed the various countries and nations that he conquered to continue on to have their own culture. and to try to keep them all content and happy. Antiochus thought the only way he could ever rule the world would be to have, to bring total subjugation to the people that he conquered, to totally obliterate all their culture, religion, language, traditions, in such a way that he was in absolute control over them. And so notice what he did as we come in verse 9. Out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south. So Antiochus is the king of the north. the Syria Seleucid Empire of the four, the northern aspect of the Greek kingdom, the King of the North. Then there's the King of the South, which is important both in Antiochus life and also in future Bible prophecy at the end of time. There'll be a King of the North and a King of the South. And we won't be covering all of that today, but it's important to know that. The King of the South is the King of Egypt, the Ptolemaics. So there's a little horn toward the, from the north, which grows exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land, that's the land of Israel. And it grew up to the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground. Stars picture the Jewish people, the people of Israel, from Genesis, from Joseph's dream, all the way through Revelation chapter 12. And in the end times, the Jewish people who have wisdom, who serve the Lord valiantly, will be like stars that shine, Daniel 12.3 tells us. So he's going after the stars, the hosts of heaven, trampling them. And notice, he even exalts himself as high as the Prince of the Host. MacArthur's Study Bible says he's going to blaspheme Christ, in essence, by his horrendous, abominable actions that he will commit. He will cast down some of them to the ground, trample them, exalt himself as high as the Prince of the Host. Notice by him, the daily sacrifices were taken away. This is from 170 to 164 BC. And the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifice. And he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered. Notice ESV study Bible summarizes what Antiochus did. He was a tyrant. who tried to unify his kingdom by forcing all of his subjects to adopt Greek cultural and religious practices. The technical term for this is Hellenization, to Hellenize the people, make them Greek, Greekify them. Notice what he did. He banned circumcision, ended sacrifice in the temple, deliberately defiled the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar. That's the abomination of desolation. December 167 BC. He placed an object sacred to Zeus in the Holy of Holies. He burned copies of the scriptures and slaughtered those who remained true to their faith in God. So as we continue in the text, he did all this and prospered, verse 12 says. Verse 13, then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, how long will the vision be concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot? And he said to me, for 2,300 days and the sanctuary shall be cleansed. Just over six years, 170, 164 BC. Now, Daniel, who by the way is receiving here a vision from an angel, the angel Gabriel, the first time in the scriptures that an angel is ever named. Verse 16, and he receives this vision. I just want to point something out to you that verse 17, Gabriel reassures Daniel, the vision refers to the time of the end. Verse 19, at the time appointed, the end shall be. These kinds of phrases, which we'll see more of in Daniel 8 and 11. are sort of the Hebrew prophetic way of saying, again, God is working all things after the counsel of his will. He's working all things for the good of those who love him. It looks like everything is falling apart, but actually, as my friend Dr. Andy Woods likes to say, they're just falling, how? Into place. He has this whole sorted arrangement, God does, under his absolute sovereign control. He's administering the whole process. It's all planned. It's all prepared. It's all going according to his will. It will take place in accord with his divine prerogatives for how he is undertaking to bring his plan to pass for the purpose of bringing glory to himself and bringing the Messiah into the world. Notice what the message specifically tells us. beginning in verse 23. This is the inspired interpretation now from Gabriel to the vision Daniel has just seen as we've looked at it. And by the way, the details regarding Antiochus are so interconnected to the details surrounding the man that he typifies in the future, the future Antichrist. They're so closely interwoven that many times among our pre-trib camp Bible interpreters, some will say, well, this verse relates to Antiochus. And others will say, no, I think this relates to the Antichrist. And so I differ from some. I take the position here today that verse 23 through 26, this interpretation is relating to Antiochus. but they're so close together that words that are spoken about one can almost apply to the other. Notice that it's in the latter time of this Greek kingdom, verse 23, Gabriel tells Daniel, when the transgressors have reached their fullness. Now let's stop there for just a moment. How many of you feel after the last three years, sort of like transgression is reaching its fullness? You know, the leaders of our culture, the cultural influencers, many of them before us today, are, sad to say, are political leaders, are Hollywood actors, oftentimes are sports heroes. If you listen to them talk, what do they want? They want all the restraints off. They just want a car with an accelerator and no brake. They just want to go forward at full speed. into the world of the unknown, into the fullness of transgression. That's what it seems like in our culture, doesn't it? What is the restraint right now? You and I right now get to be the restraint, don't we? If you read 2 Thessalonians 2, right now the Holy Spirit is restraining evil through the influence of the church on earth. We're the only thing holding it back, friends. And there'll come a day at what we call the rapture of the church, When the church is removed from the earth, the Holy Spirit still being God, still being omnipotent and omnipresent, he'll still be here, but he'll leave in the sense that he came in a special way to show his presence among his people in the church on the day of Pentecost to gift his people. He'll leave only in that sense. And the Bible says the restraint will be taken away. And there'll be no restraint, and the culture will have its wish. There'll be no restraint at all. Someone said, can you believe, isn't it hard to believe right now we're living in the restraining time? What will it be like then? I don't even want to imagine it to you. But back in this day, before the first coming of Christ, for that time, transgressors had reached their fullness. This was the most awful thing that had ever happened to the people of Israel, to the Jewish people, until that time. As I said before, sadly. And this doesn't have to be the case for any individual, whether Jewish or Gentile. But sadly, it's not the worst thing that will ever happen in Judah. We'll get to that later. But a king will arise having fierce features who understand sinister schemes. He's a brilliant blasphemer. This is Antiochus IV. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power. He shall destroy fearfully. He shall prosper and thrive. He shall destroy the mighty and also the holy people through his cunning. He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule. And he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the prince of princes by committing the abomination of desolation. Notice, but he shall be broken without human means. He will die in the most indescribably horrible manner, stricken as it were, seemingly directly by God, and in total insanity. He'll be broken without human means. And the angel tells Daniel the vision of the evenings and mornings, which is told is true. Therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future. Now, when we come to Daniel chapter 11, we see the second major passage about the events behind Hanukkah. And again, this is so incredibly intricately precise in its description of these events that will occur, that will bring about the celebration of Hanukkah, that liberal critics say it can't possibly be written as prophecy. It's written like a history of what actually happened. But we believe it's written according to inspiration of God and by predictive prophecy and totally true. We begin with verse 20 in the context. I call this one of the great politician verses of the Old Testament, verse 20. Its background, before we get to Antiochus in verse 21, but I just have to point out, there shall arise in his place, Daniel says in verse 20 of chapter 11, one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom. If you have the old King James Version, it says, I believe that there's going to come a razor of taxes. How many have met the razor of taxes? Okay. Well, that kind of gives you a flavor of where we're heading here. In his place, verse 21, shall arise a vile person. That's Antiochus IV. To whom they will not give the honor of royalty, but he shall come in peaceably and seize the kingdom by intrigue. He's a manipulator. He's a deceiver. Antiochus Epiphanes. Some of you come from a church background where on January 6th you celebrate what? Epiphany, the coming of the Magi, the wise men. Epiphanies means the manifest one. He thought he was Theos, Epiphanies, God manifest. God in the flesh. Zeus in the flesh. And he had that imprinted on Jewish coins. And the Jewish people called him Antiochus Epimenes, the madman. He's a tyrant and he's insane. Verses 22 through 26 describe, I'm going to let you read those and I trust you will. I hope you'll in fact start with a blank page this morning and start writing some references if you haven't already. I want you to read those verses and again read the notes in your study Bible or trusted other commentary or other source. They talk about Antiochus making three attempts to strike the king of the south, the king of Egypt, the Ptolemies. He's successful at first in 170 through 169 BC and his success intoxicates him and he makes two more attempts to finish the job and God won't let him do it. And that's all described there. His devious plans are laid out, verses 22 down through 26. Now we come to verse 27, and we're right about the second attempt that Antiochus is going to make for all this. And we read about a meeting that he has with the Ptolemies. And verse 27 is the next great political verse of the Old Testament. Are you ready for this one? It says, both these kings shall be bent on evil and they shall speak lies at the same table. That's the next great politician verse, all right? But it shall, notice this, it shall not prosper. Notice the next phrase, for the end will still be at the appointed time. What do we think when we read that phrase again? that God is working all things for good to those who love Him. He's moving all history to the point where He is going to bring His Son, the true one, God in the flesh, into this world to be our Savior. In the fullness of time, He's going to send forth His Son. The message of Hanukkah, the message of Christmas, The message we proclaim here today, if this message is new to you, it's the greatest message you could hear this Christmas season, that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who became also man, who died on the cross in your place, bore the load of sin that you could never pay for, died in your place for your sins so you could have the forgiveness of sin. And not just a wonderful Christmas, but eternal life in heaven with him forever. You can be saved and be related to him for all of eternity if you trust in Jesus Christ alone and by faith alone you'll be the recipient of his grace and you'll be saved by his grace alone. That's the message of Hanukkah. God is in control of all these events. And so verse 28 says, while returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant. That's a really bad place to be in, isn't it? To move your heart against the holy covenant. Pity such a man. He's going to do damage and return to his own land. And at the appointed time, he shall return and go toward the south, but it shall not be like the former or the latter. The Jeremiah Study Bible summarizes here. Antiochus IV attempted to invade Egypt with much loss of life. He's unsuccessful. On his way back north, he's going to vent his anger on Israel, the people of the Holy Covenant. Do you sort of get the sense he's just poking his finger in the eye of God? By the way, there's another world empire on the scene that also has designs on world domination. Who is that? Rome. And we come to them in verse 30, ships from Cyprus. are going to intercept Antiochus' forces and make it impossible for him to achieve his goal of overtaking, dominating the King of the South. Because in less than 100 years, Rome's going to be on the scene. And Rome is going to be the great superpower. You see, God's plan is moving forward. It's not time for a Greek to overtake the world and stay in power. It's going to be time for Rome to come along according to Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel's visions and interpretations. The times of the Gentiles are moving forward all the way until the end of history. Jerusalem is being trampled by Gentiles until that day when they receive their Messiah and he comes to rule the world from Jerusalem. Ships from Cyprus shall come against him, therefore he shall be grieved, notice, and return in rage against the Holy Covenant and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the Holy Covenant. He's a manipulator. He's a deceiver. What is he doing in Jerusalem? Well, MacArthur studied Bible. He struck Jerusalem's temple, profaned the sacrificial system, massacred 80,000 men. This sounds like the beginnings of the Holocaust, doesn't it? Took 40,000 prisoners, sold 40,000 as slaves, squelched a Jewish bid to depose his own designated priest, Menelaus, who he anoints and puts into the temple to serve the god Zeus. ESV study Bible. He dealt ruthlessly with the Jews, destroying 80,000 men, women, and children, plundering the temple. But MacArthur's study Bible says, a Roman fleet from Cyprus sided with Egypt, thwarting Antiochus' attack, backing down from engaging Rome in war. Antiochus left Egypt, taking out his rage on Israelites in his path. The first book in the Friends of Israel, on the Feasts of Israel, Dr. Victor Buchspazin, a brilliant godly man, early leader and longtime leader of the Friends of Israel, a wonderful book, The Gospel and the Feasts of Israel. He says, to crown his infamy, Antiochus invaded the Holy Temple, carrying away the golden altar, the candlesticks, the golden vessels, and other sacred treasures. Moody Bible Commentary says, he prefigures the future Antichrist by doing away with the regular sacrifice, committing the abomination of desolation, dedicating the Holy Temple to Zeus, and offering a pig on its altar. Notice what happens. He's going to show regard for those who forsake the Holy Covenant, the end of verse 30. Now, here's what I said when we began this morning. Hanukkah is a message for our time. Hanukkah speaks of what? Dedication. It's the Hebrew word dedication. Are you dedicated or are you compromised? Are you dedicated or are you undecided? Are you dedicated or are you half-hearted? Are you dedicated or are you uncertain? Well, by the way, when 80,000 men are carried off to their deaths and so forth, that sort of has a way of hitting at your dedication, doesn't it? And that's Antiochus' hope. Let's bring more and more people into this middle, this undecided realm. And then we can manipulate them, deceive them, pick them off. Notice verse 31. Forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress. Then they shall take away the daily sacrifices and place there the abomination of desolation. December 167. And here's where we'll end this morning in this hour. Verse 32. Those who do wickedly against the covenant, he shall corrupt with flattery. Manipulation. Are you dedicated or can you be corrupted by flattery? Those who do wickedly against the covenant, he shall corrupt with flattery. Now notice the rest. This is what I hope you want to be like. Notice the next part of the verse 32. The people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits. I hope that's what you want to be like at this pivotal time in history in which we live, in which God is setting the stage for the second coming of Christ. Who are these people who are strong? Dr. Whitcomb said this is clearly a reference to the Maccabean Revolt. You see, Antiochus went a little too far one day and he messed with a little old elderly priest named Mattathias. And boy, is he ever gonna be sorry he messed around with him by the time it's all done. And this man has five sons and the middle son is named Judas. And by the time he's done with the Syrians, every Jewish household for hundreds of years to come is going to want a son with the honorable name of Judas. Judas Maccabeus, Judas the Hammer, and his other sons, which eventuated the spectacular cleansing of the temple in 165 BC. There's another possible reference to the issues of Hanukkah in Zechariah. I'll let you read that and decide if you think it relates to these issues or to future issues at the end of history. Zechariah said, I will stir up your sons of Zion against your sons of Greece and wield you like a warrior's sword. Zechariah 9.13. And that's where we'll end for this time before we turn to think about what did happen in history to bring about the celebration of Hanukkah. We'll pick up right there and we'll see what Jesus had to say about Hanukkah and what it means for the prophetic future in history yet to unfold. And so, Father, we thank you for this hour. We thank you for this time to look into your word. Lord, we thank you for this church and each one here, and pray that you will use your word today in our hearts to increase faith in our hearts and minds and to bring glory to yourself, for we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.