Lesson 35: Repeating History Explained

As we read in the first lesson of this study, history is God’s way of teaching us things, because history repeats itself. When we take the time to learn what God teaches us from past events, we have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes others made so we do not have to “repeat” them ourselves.

This author lived on a farm as a child, and I watched my father train horses. The early stages were all done in a corral, a limited space where he could limit the horse’s choices and actions, and a post in the center served many functions in keeping the horse going in circles until the lessons my father was teaching were learned. God teaches us as mankind in much the same way, teaching us the same lesson over and over. One such lesson God teaches us is that we can never make ourselves better without Him.

In the verses from last lesson, we find a man whom the Bible describes as a “contemptible person” (verse 21) who will destroy many. In our history books we find this man’s name – Antiochus Epiphanes, one of the last powerful rulers of the Grecian empire. But in verse 36 we see this man suddenly shifted to a person who is still future for us. Antiochus Epiphanies becomes a prophetic picture of the Antichrist described in greater detail in Revelation. Verse 37 says that he will “pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women.” Most prophecy scholars believe that the “one beloved by women” was the Messiah – Jesus – because every Jewish woman wanted the honor of being the mother to the promised Messiah. While not all these details are given to us, we know that the end of the Great Tribulation will be marked by terrible conflict (described more fully in Revelation 16-18), and Jesus Himself will come to earth to destroy the Antichrist and his armies.


Remember the stone from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 that crushed the statue into dust and then grew to fill the whole earth. Every human kingdom and government will be destroyed by Jesus when He returns to earth, and He will become the only truly Just and Righteous ruler this earth has ever known.

Why does Jesus give us such detailed prophecies of the future? Jesus answered that question Himself to His disciples in John 13:19 and 14:29. He described the details so that when they would see the events happening, they would believe Him. To Daniel and even John (writing the Revelation), some of the meanings were not explained. God specifically told both these men that they were recording these visions for those living in the end times – and these people would be able to understand. Today we, who are living in the last days before these Great Tribulation events will happen, are understanding as we read the Bible and watch with open eyes the things happening around us.

*Memorize Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.”