#10—Types of the Anti-Church, False Prophet, Antichrist, Church, and Abomination of Desolation in the Old Testament?
Perhaps our most fundamental contention, the concept at the core of our ideas, is the typological nature of history. What were shadows and mysteries in the Old Testament were revealed in Christ through the New Testament. And likewise, the New Testament itself contains many types that the Fathers of the Church frequently observe are fulfilled in the life of the Church—the wheat and the chaff, the fishes gathered in by the nets and sorted out by the Fisherman at the end, etc. There are countless examples.
When it comes to the end times, we contend Our Lord’s Passion is a type of the Passion of His Mystical Body, the Church, prior to His return. This is confirmed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church (pars. 675-677). As He in His individual body was mocked, tortured, and killed, only afterward to resurrect, His Mystical Body will experience something similar prior to Her own final resurrection to meet Her returning King. As the Passion of Our Lord was instigated by an alliance of those seemingly among His own people (the Anti-Church) with the forces of the world, so will the Passion of the Church.
Our theory of the typological nature of history thus accounts for patterns such as these throughout Church history, as well as the final and most cataclysmic form of it in the end times. In other words, the typological nature of history means we see not only final fulfillments of prophecy, but “mini” fulfillments throughout history.
Francesco Hayez, Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (1867)
A Type of the End Times in the Book of Maccabees?
It is with these ideas in mind that we present a fascinating incident in the Old Testament that seems pregnant with the possibility of typological significance.
Without delving into all the details about their nature, we know Scripture provides numerous prophecies about the False Prophet, the Antichrist, the Church, and the Abomination of Desolation in the end times.
What is fascinating (and perhaps ominous) is that a series of incidents in the books of Maccabees showcases types of each of these—the False Prophet, the Antichrist, the Church, and the Abomination of Desolation—and as such could perhaps present a picture of what the final climax of the end times will be like.
To state up front the case we will unfold below, we see in the books of Maccabees a terrifying event in which apostate Jews (type of the Anti-Church) ally with Greek pagans (type of the world) to persecute faithful Jews (type of the True Church). It culminates in a “mini-fulfillment” of an event prophesied by Daniel called the “Abomination of Desolation,” which Christ Himself appears to apply to the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in AD 70, as well as an event to take place in the end times.
In brief, this type of the Abomination of Desolation occurs when the False High Priest Menelaus (type of the False Prophet) escorts Antiochus Epiphanes IV (type of the Antichrist) into the Jerusalem Temple (type of the Church) where he conducts a pagan ritual or sacrifice (type of the Abomination of Desolation), thereby desecrating the Temple. This, in turn, leads to the cessation of the Temple sacrifices for a season (prophesied by Daniel), and the spread of paganism throughout the land of Israel as Antiochus conducts perhaps the worst persecution of faithful Jews up to that point (a type of the Great Tribulation).
But while this incident takes place in the books of Maccabees, it begins in the book of Daniel.
Prophecies in Daniel
The prophet Daniel predicted many things related to not only the kingdoms of his day, but the establishment of God’s kingdom in the earth (the Church), and the climax of history in the end times. For the sake of this post, we will briefly focus on what he says about two things: Antichrist, and the Abomination of Desolation.
Daniel prophesied the coming and activities of Antichrist in a variety of places, especially in chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 11, and chapter 12. Because of the sheer number of details in each of these chapters, we will prescind from examining all of them. We will only state that one of the figures who is widely recognized to be a “type” of Antichrist is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, given that many of his actions precisely align with many of Daniel’s prophecies. We will come back to him.
Daniel also prophesies an event that will take place at the behest of Antichrist known as the Abomination of Desolation. It is first mentioned in the eighth chapter (Dan. 8:11):
[T]he continual burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. [Emphasis added]
It is mentioned again in the ninth chapter (Dan. 9:27):
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” [Emphasis added]
It is again mentioned in the eleventh chapter (Dan. 11:31):
31 Forces from him [Antichrist] shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. [Emphasis added]
Its final appearance is in the twelfth chapter (Dan. 12:11):
11 And from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. [Emphasis added]
Many of the Church Fathers specifically link Daniel’s prophesies with many of the events in the books of Maccabees, as well as the end times. St. Jerome, for example, confirms this link when he observes in his Commentary on Daniel:
The books of Maccabees relate the great sufferings the Jews endured at the hands of Antiochus and they stand as a testimony of their triumph; for they endured fire and sword, slavery and rapine, and even the ultimate penalty of death itself for the sake of guarding the law of God. But let no one doubt that these things are going to happen under the Antichrist, when many shall resist his authority and flee away in various directions. [Emphasis added]
The Deplorable State of God’s People Before “Antichrist’s” Persecution
We now proceed to the books of Maccabees.
The first thing to note is that prior to the appearance of any of the types we mentioned—the False Prophet, the Antichrist, etc.—the people of God are in a deplorable condition. Many faithless Jews were, themselves, calling for the covenant and the traditions of their fathers to be abandoned (1 Macc. 1:11-15):
11 In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying, “Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us.” 12 This proposal pleased them, 13 and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles. 14 So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, 15 and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil. [Emphasis added]
These Jews sought to abandon two things: the dogmatic distinctiveness of their religion (the only true one), and its moral rigor (the gymnasium was often a place of sexual license).
This precedes the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes (“Antichrist”), who was the king of the Seleucid empire that controlled the land of Israel at the time. This empire was one of the four empires that succeeded the empire of Alexander the Great (another event prophesied by Daniel).
Once he came to power, Antiochus found many allies among the Jewish people (the “Anti-Church”). However, he would also be aided and abetted by none other than a False High Priest—a type, we could argue, of the False Prophet of the Apocalypse.
This doesn’t seem random, for St. Pope Gregory the Great likewise predicted the Church would be in a deplorable state—perhaps the worst of its history—before the appearance of the Antichrist, as we showed in Katechōn #5.
A False High Priest
Prior to the rise of Antiochus, the Jewish High Priest was a man named Onias. However, his office was “stolen” from him by his brother, Jason, who bribed Antiochus (2 Macc. 4:7-8):
7 When Seleucus died and Antiochus who was called Epiphanes succeeded to the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias obtained the High Priesthood by corruption, 8 promising the king at an interview three hundred and sixty talents of silver and, from another source of revenue, eighty talents. [Emphasis added]
As is common throughout history, and prior to Our Lord’s own Passion, money is often involved in the betrayal of the Anti-Church.
Jason, the new False High Priest, was quick to adopt worldly ways, and his ascendancy marked the beginning of the process by which many of the Jews allied themselves with the pagan world (2 Macc. 4:10-12):
10 When the king assented and Jason came to office, he at once shifted his countrymen over to the Greek way of life. 11 He set aside the existing royal concessions to the Jews, secured through John the father of Eupolemus, who went on the mission to establish friendship and alliance with the Romans; and he destroyed the lawful ways of living and introduced new customs contrary to the law. 12 For with alacrity he founded a gymnasium right under the citadel, and he induced the noblest of the young men to wear the Greek hat. [Emphasis added]
Scripture explicitly informs us that Jason was “no High Priest,” and thus did not truly hold the office. His depravity resulted in a period of unprecedented apostasy among the priesthood itself (2 Macc. 4:13-17):
13 There was such an extreme of Hellenization and increase in the adoption of foreign ways because of the surpassing wickedness of Jason, who was ungodly and no High Priest, 14 that the priests were no longer intent upon their service at the altar. Despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hastened to take part in the unlawful proceedings in the wrestling arena after the call to the discus, 15 disdaining the honors prized by their fathers and putting the highest value upon Greek forms of prestige. [Emphasis added]
Thus, under this False High Priest, the alliance between the Anti-Church (faithless Jews) and the world (the pagan Greeks and Romans) was solidified. The results were predictable (2 Macc. 4:16-17):
16 For this reason heavy disaster overtook them, and those whose ways of living they admired and wished to imitate completely became their enemies and punished them. 17 For it is no light thing to show irreverence to the divine laws—a fact which later events will make clear. [Emphasis added]
But as bad as Jason was, he would not be the only, or even the worst False High Priest. That role would be reserved for Menelaus, who, as Jason had usurped the High Priesthood from Onias, would in turn usurp it from him (2 Macc. 4:23-26):
23 After a period of three years Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the previously mentioned Simon, to carry the money to the king and to complete the records of essential business. 24 But he, when presented to the king, extolled him with an air of authority, and secured the High Priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. 25 After receiving the king’s orders he returned, possessing no qualification for the High Priesthood, but having the hot temper of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage wild beast. 26 So Jason, who after supplanting his own brother was supplanted by another man, was driven as a fugitive into the land of Ammon. [Emphasis added]
Menelaus was a False High Priest for two reasons.
First, as Scripture made clear, Jason did not actually possess the office, because he had obtained it by bribery (what the Church today would call the sin, even heresy, of “simony”). Thus, Menelaus could not obtain a real office from a man who did not possess it. Also, Onias—the valid High Priest from whom Jason had “stolen” the office—was still alive.
Second, Menelaus was a False High Priest because he was not from the tribe of Levi, as the Torah required. As verse 23 above says, he was “the brother of the previously mentioned Simon.” This Simon was mentioned in the previous chapter, and is identified as belonging to the tribe of Benjamin (2 Macc. 3:4), which could not validly exercise the priesthood.
Once in power, Menelaus was even worse than Jason. He engaged in multiple sacrilegious acts, including pawning off the spiritual and temporal inheritance of the Jews to pagan rulers, and arranging for the murder of the still-living legitimate High Priest, Onias (2 Macc. 4:32, 34-5, 39, 50):
32 But Menelaus, thinking he had obtained a suitable opportunity, stole some of the gold vessels of the temple and gave them to Andronicus; other vessels, as it happened, he had sold to Tyre and the neighboring cities…34 Therefore Menelaus, taking Andronicus aside, urged him to kill Onias. Andronicus came to Onias, and resorting to treachery offered him sworn pledges and gave him his right hand, and in spite of his suspicion persuaded Onias to come out from the place of sanctuary; then, with no regard for justice, he immediately put him out of the way. 35 For this reason not only Jews, but many also of other nations, were grieved and displeased at the unjust murder of the man…39 When many acts of sacrilege had been committed in the city by Lysimachus with the connivance of Menelaus, and when report of them had spread abroad, the populace gathered against Lysimachus, because many of the gold vessels had already been stolen…50 But Menelaus, because of the cupidity of those in power, remained in office, growing in wickedness, having become the chief plotter against his fellow citizens. [Emphasis]
All of this was before the type of the Abomination of Desolation even took place. The violations of the covenant caused an uprising among the Jews—the Maccabean Revolt—and this in turn led to even greater sacrileges.
The Abomination of Desolation: The “False Prophet” Escorts “Antichrist” into the “Church”
Facing a revolt, Antiochus decided to suppress it. He began by desecrating the Temple itself (1 Macc. 1:20-24):
20 After subduing Egypt, Antiochus returned in the one hundred and forty-third year. He went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force. 21 He arrogantly entered the sanctuary and took the golden altar, the lampstand for the light, and all its utensils. 22 He took also the table for the bread of the Presence, the cups for drink offerings, the bowls, the golden censers, the curtain, the crowns, and the gold decoration on the front of the temple; he stripped it all off. 23 He took the silver and the gold, and the costly vessels; he took also the hidden treasures which he found. 24 Taking them all, he departed to his own land. [Emphasis added]
Antiochus would later destroy much of Jerusalem, and murder many of its inhabitants (1 Macc. 1:29-40). After being courted by faithless Jews, his initial desecration of the Temple, and his attacking Jerusalem, Antiochus sent a letter to all his subjects, calling on them to abandon their national and religious distinctions and become “one people” (1 Macc. 1:41-43):
41 Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, 42 and that each should give up his customs. 43 All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath. [Emphasis added]
The “Antichrist” Antiochus thus made clear that he intended to destroy the Jewish religion, and amalgamate it into his own—he was an ancient “globalist,” as it were. But the manifestation of his intent to do so was preceded by an apostasy among the Jewish people themselves. Antiochus would indeed find many accomplices God’s own—the Anti-Church of the time.
The sacrilege only got worse from there (1 Macc. 1:54-64):
54 Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year, they erected a desolating sacrilege upon the altar of burnt offering. They also built altars in the surrounding cities of Judah, 55 and burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets. 56 The books of the law which they found they tore to pieces and burned with fire. 57 Where the book of the covenant was found in the possession of anyone, or if anyone adhered to the law, the decree of the king condemned him to death. 58 They kept using violence against Israel, against those found month after month in the cities. 59 And on the twenty-fifth day of the month they offered sacrifice on the altar which was upon the altar of burnt offering. 60 According to the decree, they put to death the women who had their children circumcised, 61 and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers’ necks.
62 But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. 63 They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die. 64 And very great wrath came upon Israel. [Emphasis added]
We have more details in 2 Maccabees, in which the False High Priest, Menelaus, himself escorts Antiochus into the Temple to carry out the Abomination of Desolation (2 Macc. 5:15-21):
15 Not content with this, Antiochus dared to enter the most holy temple in all the world, guided by Menelaus, who had become a traitor both to the laws and to his country. 16 He took the holy vessels with his polluted hands, and swept away with profane hands the votive offerings which other kings had made to enhance the glory and honor of the place. 17 Antiochus was elated in spirit, and did not perceive that the Lord was angered for a little while because of the sins of those who dwelt in the city, and that therefore he was disregarding the holy place. 18 But if it had not happened that they were involved in many sins, this man would have been scourged and turned back from his rash act as soon as he came forward, just as Heliodorus was, whom Seleucus the king sent to inspect the treasury. 19 But the Lord did not choose the nation for the sake of the holy place, but the place for the sake of the nation. 20 Therefore the place itself shared in the misfortunes that befell the nation and afterward participated in its benefits; and what was forsaken in the wrath of the Almighty was restored again in all its glory when the great Lord became reconciled.
21 So Antiochus carried off eighteen hundred talents from the temple, and hurried away to Antioch, thinking in his arrogance that he could sail on the land and walk on the sea, because his mind was elated. [Emphasis added]
The “Great Tribulation”
With the desolation of the Temple, the daily sacrifice ended, as Daniel had prophesied. Indeed, after these abominable acts, something like a “Great Tribulation” took place in Israel—perhaps a type of the three and a half years of the Great Tribulation under the last and final Antichrist (2 Macc. 6:3-6):
3 Harsh and utterly grievous was the onslaught of evil. 4 For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts, and besides brought in things for sacrifice that were unfit. 5 The altar was covered with abominable offerings which were forbidden by the laws. 6 A man could neither keep the sabbath, nor observe the feasts of his fathers, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew. [Emphasis added]
The reasons given for this chastisement are provided—God is punishing His people for their sins (2 Macc. 6:12-17):
12 Now I urge those who read this book not to be depressed by such calamities, but to recognize that these punishments were designed not to destroy but to discipline our people. 13 In fact, not to let the impious alone for long, but to punish them immediately, is a sign of great kindness. 14 For in the case of the other nations the Lord waits patiently to punish them until they have reached the full measure of their sins; but he does not deal in this way with us, 15 in order that he may not take vengeance on us afterward when our sins have reached their height. 16 Therefore he never withdraws his mercy from us. Though he disciplines us with calamities, he does not forsake his own people. 17 Let what we have said serve as a reminder… [Emphasis added]
Thus, in the books of Maccabees—books whose events are widely linked with Daniel’s prophesies, and thus likely reveal a type of the end times—we have:
A False High Priest, Menelaus (the “False Prophet”), escorting
Antiochus (the “Antichrist”) into
The Jerusalem Temple (the “Church”) to
Desecrate it (the “Abomination of Desolation”); which in turn leads to the
Cessation of the daily sacrifice prophesied by Daniel (what many Church Fathers and Catholic theologians argue will be the cessation of the public sacrifice of the Eucharist in the mass), and arguably
The worst persecution of faithful Jews up to that time (the “Great Tribulation”) on the part of
Apostate Jews (the “Anti-Church”) who are
Allied with pagan Greeks (the “world”) in order to persecute
Faithful Jews (the “True Church”).
A most revealing series of incidents indeed.
St. Athanasius on the “Abomination of Desolation”
We conclude with a segment from the History of the Arians, by St. Athanasius the Great, written during the Arian crisis of the fourth century. In one section, he writes about a heretic bishop named Costyllius, who had taken over a diocese, presuming to rule it as a valid member of the Catholic hierarchy (Part VIII, §74):
He has thought to change laws, by transgressing the ordinance of the Lord given us through His Apostles, by altering the customs of the Church, and inventing a new kind of appointments. For he sends from strange places, distant a fifty days’ journey, Bishops attended by soldiers to people unwilling to receive them; and instead of an introduction to the acquaintance of their people, they bring with them threatening messages and letters to the magistrates. [Emphasis added]
But St. Athanasius had none of it, and uses the example to assert a very clear idea of what he believes the “Abomination of Desolation” will be in the end times—the takeover of much of the visible Church by heretical and apostate bishops (Part VIII, §75):
Terrible indeed, and worse than terrible are such proceedings; yet conduct suitable to him who assumes the character of Antichrist. Who that beheld him taking the lead of his pretended Bishops, and presiding in Ecclesiastical causes, would not justly exclaim that this was “the Abomination of Desolation” [Dan. 9:27] spoken of by Daniel? For having put on the profession of Christianity, and entering into the holy places, and standing therein, he lays waste the Churches, transgressing their Canons, and enforcing the observance of his own decrees. Will anyone now venture to say that this is a peaceful time with Christians, and not a time of persecution? A persecution indeed, such as never arose before, and such as no one perhaps will again stir up, except “the son of lawlessness,” [2 Thess. 2:8] do these enemies of Christ exhibit, who already present a picture of him in their own persons. [Emphasis added]
His instincts, therefore, would seem to be in line with the types manifested in the books of Maccabees.
—Ignatius de Montfort
Gustave Doré, The Punishment of Antiochus (1866)