These abhorrent new rules were enforced throughout the land. Altars were built by the doors of homes, and those who refused to offer the prescribed sacrifices were thrashed and then killed. It was like a taste of what the end-times will be like under a harsh and despotic ruler.
The turnaround began when an older Jewish priest in a small town northwest of Jerusalem decided it was time to act. He slew both the Syrian official who had come to his home to enforce matters and a Jew who was going to comply with the orders. Then he fled to the hills with his five adult sons, where they were soon joined by others, and the revolt had begun. When the aging priest died, his middle son Judas took over leadership and proved quite skilled at guerrilla tactics. He was called Maccabeus, meaning “The Hammerer.” Eventually Jerusalem was retaken, and the temple was purified with the pagan elements being destroyed. Jewish people still celebrate these events in December during Hanukkah, or the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22).
More to the point, this horrendous time lasted from June, 168 B.C. to December, 165 B.C., or almost exactly 3½ years. So for all practical purposes, that period of time has been stamped in the Jewish mind as one of terror, suffering and martyrdom.
When the term “42 months” (3½ years, 1260 days or time, times and half a time) appears, this refers to a period of intense hardship and persecution, as in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes. There may also be passages where a precise 3½-year period is intended as well.
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