What does Daniel 11:33 mean?
Daniel's prophecy looks centuries ahead of his own life (Daniel 10:1) to the atrocities of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Recent verses predicted events which history has confirmed. In the second century BC, Antiochus brutally persecuted faithful Jews, outlawing virtually every aspect of their faith. In an act of incredible spite, he built an altar to Zeus over the true altar in the temple of Jerusalem and used it to sacrifice unclean animals such as pigs. This "abomination that makes desolate" (Daniel 8:13; 11:31; 12:11) also served to foreshadow the end-times actions of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:14–15). Jesus used the prophecy from Daniel in this way (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20–21).In this context, to "stumble" means to experience death or extraordinary suffering. Those who obeyed Antiochus's prohibitions of Judaism were spared from harm. Jews who "wisely" (Proverbs 1:7; Daniel 11:35) remained faithful to God experienced heinous violence. This included being force-fed unclean foods, torture, being sold as foreign slaves, and brutal death.
As is often the case, this attempt to stamp out worship of the One True God backfired. Antiochus's actions inspired a full-fledged guerilla war: the Maccabean Revolt. The outcome of that conflict became the basis for the Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah. The various groups who resisted Antiochus's demands eventually became groups who interacted with Jesus, such as the Pharisees and Essenes.
