Was Antiochus Epiphanes a type of the Antichrist?
Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian dictator, is presented as a type of the Antichrist in Daniel’s prophecy. He defiled the temple by sacrificing a hog on the altar, and the coming Antichrist will do much the same, performing the abomination of desolation.
Les explains that Antiochus Epiphanes was the little Syrian dictator he personally considers a type of the Antichrist in Daniel’s prophecy, and also referred to in Isaiah. Though a pipsqueak in history, he is a big deal in Scripture because he defiled the temple by sacrificing a hog, a sow, on the altar; the swine’s blood was the abomination. Les expects the Antichrist to do much the same. In the middle of the seven-year treaty, this man will cause sacrifice and oblation to stop, come into Jerusalem and the temple, and defile it, performing the abomination of desolation by sacrificing an old hog on the rebuilt temple altar. Jesus refers to this midpoint defilement in Matthew 24, speaking strictly to Jews.