Pig Sacrifice
G 112 Sully 1st floor Campana Gallery room 39 showcase 8 This ceramic plate by the Epidromos Painter, from the beginning of the 5th Century BC, shows a pig sacrifice.
The temple of Jerusalem was profaned
with a pig sacrifice by Antochius
In 167 BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the King of Syria, carried out a similar sacrifice on the pagan altar erected above the great altar in the Temple of Jerusalem and dedicated this temple to Zeus. This desecration provoked a Jewish uprising under the leadership of Maccabees. After three years of battle, Judah Maccabee re-dedicated the Temple to Yahweh and instituted the Feast of Inauguration or Hanukkah. AR76 We shall note that this celebration is mentioned in the Gospels and that Jesus probably took part in it. “At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.” - John 10:22, 23. (NASB)
This is the only Jewish festival that has no biblical origin. In fact, the Book of Maccabees, which traces its historical context, was not included in the canon of the Bible. The Hanukkah ritual has less bearing on the commemoration of these episodes of Jewish history than on the Miracle of Oil, which is consigned to the Talmud.
The feast of Hanukkah or the inauguration
is mentioned in the Gospels
Jewish tradition applies the prophecy of Daniel (9:27) regarding “the wing of disgusting things (and) the one causing desolation” to this desecration of the Temple by Antiochus IV. A similar expression is found in the apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees 1:54 (Jerusalem, King James Version) and is applied to this event. AR77 Jesus Christ demonstrated the inaccuracy of this interpretation when he gave this warning:
One of the most striking declarations made by Jesus concerns the second Temple, an architectural masterpiece and the pride of the Roman Empire: “They will not leave a stone upon a stone in you.” (Luke 19:44; 21:6). Contrary to the original intentions of Titus, the entire city and its temple were demolished with the exception of three towers and a section of the Western Wall.
“Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place, (let the reader use discernment,) then let those in Ju·de´a begin fleeing
to the mountain.” Matthew 24:15, 16.
The ' disgusting thing '
was not something belonging to the past, but to the future. Complete desolation took place in the year 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the city and the Temple of Jerusalem. The Destruction of the Second Temple, view by Francesco Hayez. Venice
Cestius Gallus invested Jerusalem in 66 AD but lifted the siege when the capture of the city was imminent. The strange turn of events enabled Christians who had paid heed to the words of Jesus pronounced thirty years earlier to flee the condemned city.AR73 "Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. Those in Jerusalem must get out, and those out in the country should not return to the city. " - Luke 21:21 (New Living Translation)
"Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. Those in Jerusalem must get out, and those out in the country should not return to the city. " Luke 21:21
‘All the members of the Church of Jerusalem fled to a city located beyond the river Jordan, by the name of Pella.’ Eusebius AR74 View of Pella in the Décapole
A genuine historical lesson in survival! And remarkable proof that the predictions of the Bible are not founded on human interpretations of circumstances or inclinations existing at the time they were issued and that ‘you are doing well in paying attention to it’. - 2 Peter 1:19-21
