ame horn made war
with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Aged One came, and
judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the fixed time came
that the saints possessed the sovereignty.

[Sidenote: Dan. 7:23-27]
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which
shall be different from all the kingdoms; and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the ten
horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise; and another shall arise
after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall put
down three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High, and
shall continually harass the saints of the Most High; and he shall think
to change the fixed times and the law; and they shall be given into his
hand until a time and times and half a time. But the judgment shall be
set, and they shall take away his kingdom, to consume and to destroy
finally. And the sovereignty, and the dominion, and the greatness of the
kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall surely be given to the people
of the saints of the Most High; his sovereignty is an everlasting
sovereignty, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

[Sidenote: Dan. 12:1-3]
And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands for
the children of my people; and there shall be a time of affliction such as
there never was since there was a nation, even to that time; and at that
time thy people shall be delivered, every one who shall be found written
in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt. And they who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament; and they who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever
and ever.

I. The Uprising Led by Mattathias. The persecutions of Antiochus

Epiphanes had at last reached the point where patient submission and even
martyrdom ceased to be a virtue. His agents had successfully carried the
merciless, hellenizing campaign throughout practically all the territory
of Judea. It was not until they reached its extreme northwestern border
that they met the first open opposition. The little town of Modein lay out
on the edge of the great plain where the central hills of Palestine break
down into low foot-hills. These are intersected by rushing brooks and
clear, crystal streams that descend from the height