In His most detailed prophecy of the end time, Jesus said, "...
When you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken
of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place ..., then
let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains" (Matthew 24:15-16). What was He talking about?
The longest and most precise prophecy of the Bible, Daniel 11,
recorded in advance what would occur in the empires and nations
that would vie for control of the Holy Land for centuries to come.
It describes, in astounding detail, rulers and other peoples who
lived long after Daniel's prophecy and several centuries
before Christ (as spelled out in chapter 3 of this booklet).
For much of the prophecy these kingdoms were Syria to the north,
ruled by descendants of Seleucus, one of the generals of Alexander
the Great, and Egypt to the south, ruled by descendants of another
of Alexander's generals, Ptolemy.
An evil ruler arises
Eventually the prophecy describes a Seleucid ruler named Antiochus
IV, also known as Antiochus Epiphanes. Daniel 11:21 states, "And
in his [Seleucus IV's] place shall arise a vile person, to
whom they will not give the honor of royalty." Most Syrian
officials, tired of the excesses of the Seleucid rulers, backed
the usurper Heliodorus, who had poisoned the previous king.
