Give examples of riddles or enigmas found in the Scripture. How did Jesus use them? 516 - 7 - 2

John 16:25, “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.” Jesus also spoke in parables most notably after being accused of having a demon(s) by the temple leaders. A few examples follow.

Signs of the times:

Antiochus IV and The Abomination of Desolation was referred to by Jesus dealing with the “Signs of the end” on at least two occasions. Once on the Mount of Olives dealing with the Jews during Jacob’s Troubles and a future Abomination of Desolation and also in the temple warning the Gentiles to escape before the fall of Jerusalem 70 AD.

 Mount of Olives:

Matthew 24:3, “And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

Mark 13:3, “And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,”

Matthew 24:4, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.”

Matthew 24:16, “Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:”

To the Gentiles in the Temple:

Luke 21:37-38, “And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him”

As in the days of Noah:

Matthew 24:37, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Fallen angels, did Jesus talk to His brother Jude about fallen angels? Jude 1:6, “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

The Holy Spirit:

John 16:13, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”

The Bronze Serpent:

John 8:28, “Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” This harkened back to Numbers 21:8, “And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”

The last few chapters of the Book of Job are a tour de force of God's omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. 

Who was Antiochus Epiphanes? What does he have to do with future events?

Both Luke and Matthew recorded the “Beginning of sorrows” when referring to the Olivet Discourses. These included False Christs, Wars, Famines, Pestilence and earthquakes and were also mentioned in the Book of Revelation. All three Books refer to the Abomination of Desolation, however, in Luke it was the earlier desolation occurring in the time of Antiochus, king of Syria (175-164 BC). Antiochus was an evil tyrant who added “Epiphanes” to his name meaning “the god who appears or reveals himself.” Antiochus wanted to eradicate the Jewish religion and replace it with polytheism. He outlawed the practice of circumcision, under pain of death. Antiochus offered a swine sacrifice in every village and erected an idol to Zeus in the Holy of Holies. This lead to the Maccabean Revolt.
Matthew’s account concerns an event that occurs after the "beginning of sorrows"; that is, a future "abomination of desolation." Here Jesus is referencing an event that happened two centuries earlier but will be repeated in the future. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains. (Matt. 24:15-16). Jesus is warning the Jews to flee to the mountains (Petra?) as the Great Tribulation is beginning.

Antiochus was prophetic of the Antichrist who will come to power in the 70^th Week of Daniel. This coming prince will hold his own Abomination of Desolation in the midst of the 70th Week. He, too, will set up an idol-an image of himself-to be worshipped in the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem. Just as Antiochus tried to wipe out everything Jewish, after the Abomination of Desolation the antichrist will have contaminated the Holy of Holies and will kill and torture them. Ths will also be known as the "Time of Jacob's Trouble."