Page 274 - New English Book L
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of the Maccabees and their bloody struggles with the
armies of Antiochus Epiphanes until the death of John
Hurcanus in 110 B.C. This method of interpreting the
vision is totally erroneous, and reduces the value of the
whole book to nothing. That an antediluvian Prophet or a
Seer should illustrate the history of the human race from
a religious point of view, beginning with Adam (pbuh) ,
under the symbol of a White Bull, and ending with John
Hurcanus or his brother Judah Maccabaeus (Maqbaya)
as the Last White Bull, and then leave the flock of the
“Believers” to be devoured again by the Romans, the
Christians, and the Muslims to this very day, is ridiculous
and shocking! In fact, the wars of the Maccabees and
their consequence are not of such great significance in the
history of the religion of God as to be the terminus of
its development. None of the Maccabees was a Prophet,
nor the founder of the so-called “Messianic reign” which
the Gospels name the “kingdom of God.” Besides,
this interpretation of the vision is inconsistent with the
characters represented in the drama under the figurative
symbols of the master of the flock, sceptre in hand, the
Ram, and the White Bull; and then with the large sword
given to the shepherds with which they kill or drive away
the impure animals and birds. Furthermore, this Christian
interpretation of Enoch’s Apocalypse does not explain
the mystical transplantation or the transportation of the
terrestrial Jerusalem into a country farther to the south;
and what meaning can be given to the new House of God
built on the spot of the old one, larger and higher than
the former sacred edifice, to which flock not only the
believing sheep -the faithful Jews- but also the various
pagan nationalities that have embraced the religion of the
Son of Man who destroyed the enemies with his Sceptre
or Rod! For all these particular acts and representations
are seen and described in this dramatic vision. The chain