It Just Doesn’t Get Any Worse Than This TDD#29
The Daily Devotion #29
It Just Doesn’t Get Any Worse Than This
We have all seen those crazy beer commercials "It just doesn't get any better than this..."
Well yes it does. And I have heard it asked in this COVID crisis the reverse: "Can things get any worse?" The answer is for sure it can and will!
Today’s reading is from Matthew 24:15-19
Our key verse is found in Matthew 24 verse 15: “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
We are seeking to understand the abomination of desolation. Why? Because it gives us great insight into the tribulation. If you missed yesterdays little history lesson, I encourage you to go back and look at devo number 28 and watch it.
There was a time when in the past when the Jewish sacrifices were stopped, pagan images took God's place in the Temple, and everything sacred to the Jews was desecrated.
If you tried to think of a way to offend Israel, you probably could think of nothing worse than sacrificing a pig on the altar of God. That was the day sacrifices ceased, and that was the very day Daniel had prophesied hundreds of years before.
So let me direct your thoughts today to the tribulation and The Antichrist.
Turn back to Daniel 9:27. The prophet reveals that a coming evil leader will “confirm a covenant with many for one week,”
Daniel tells us that this very thing is going to happen again. Keep in mind that these are weeks of years. One week spans 7 years. In the middle of the week that would be 3 ½ years.
NIV Daniel 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
That is the prophecy that relates to the Antichrist. So just as Antiochus created an abomination that causes desolation in his time, there will be coming in the future another man who will do it again, and who will usher in the Great Tribulation.
The reason I know Daniel's prophecy does not just stop with Antiochus is because Christ used it as an example to point to the anit-christ!
In Daniel 12:11 the precise chronology is given.
NIV Daniel 12:11 "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
This again is approximately 3 ½ years. And the statements in the book of Daniel are very plain. Approximately 3 ½ years before the Second coming of Christ, the Jewish sacrifices will be stopped and a desecration, or as Jesus said an abomination will be committed against the Jews in the temple.
That will began a time of severe persecution for Israel. Unlike Antiochus who put the statue of himself in the Temple, the Antichrist will place himself in the Temple and demand to be worshiped as God. He will go into the temple physically, and he's going to set himself up not as a god but as God.
Paul says this and 2 Thessalonians. NIV 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
He will decree that everyone in the world will worship him, and he will replace the true God. If you want to study further read Revelation 13:8. He will set up what is a false religious system, Revelation calls this church, a harlot.
NIV Revelation 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast-- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.
The Antichrist and the false prophet will join and preform great signs and wonders to promote the worship of the Antichrist. Please understand that it is a religious event that starts the time of trouble, not a military or economic event. Literally all hell will be unleashed upon the earth. It is a religious event.
This son of destruction who opposes God exalts himself above everything else. He takes his seat in the Temple and it will begin such a terrible day that Jesus encourages people to flee to the mountains and hide. It will be such a terrible day that Jesus says don't go home verse 17 let no one go in the field to get his cloak verse 18. It is such a terrible day that Jesus says it will be dreadful for women to be pregnant and he says pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
Jesus says in this day the distress will be unequal and the world has not known such terror. And Jesus said if those days were not cut short no one would survive. It is the worst day ever imaginable.
It Just Doesn’t Get Any Worse Than This
We have all seen those crazy beer commercials "It just doesn't get any better than this..."
Well yes it does. And I have heard it asked in this COVID crisis the reverse: "Can things get any worse?" The answer is for sure it can and will!
Today’s reading is from Matthew 24:15-19
Our key verse is found in Matthew 24 verse 15: “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
We are seeking to understand the abomination of desolation. Why? Because it gives us great insight into the tribulation. If you missed yesterdays little history lesson, I encourage you to go back and look at devo number 28 and watch it.
There was a time when in the past when the Jewish sacrifices were stopped, pagan images took God's place in the Temple, and everything sacred to the Jews was desecrated.
If you tried to think of a way to offend Israel, you probably could think of nothing worse than sacrificing a pig on the altar of God. That was the day sacrifices ceased, and that was the very day Daniel had prophesied hundreds of years before.
So let me direct your thoughts today to the tribulation and The Antichrist.
Turn back to Daniel 9:27. The prophet reveals that a coming evil leader will “confirm a covenant with many for one week,”
Daniel tells us that this very thing is going to happen again. Keep in mind that these are weeks of years. One week spans 7 years. In the middle of the week that would be 3 ½ years.
NIV Daniel 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
That is the prophecy that relates to the Antichrist. So just as Antiochus created an abomination that causes desolation in his time, there will be coming in the future another man who will do it again, and who will usher in the Great Tribulation.
The reason I know Daniel's prophecy does not just stop with Antiochus is because Christ used it as an example to point to the anit-christ!
In Daniel 12:11 the precise chronology is given.
NIV Daniel 12:11 "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
This again is approximately 3 ½ years. And the statements in the book of Daniel are very plain. Approximately 3 ½ years before the Second coming of Christ, the Jewish sacrifices will be stopped and a desecration, or as Jesus said an abomination will be committed against the Jews in the temple.
That will began a time of severe persecution for Israel. Unlike Antiochus who put the statue of himself in the Temple, the Antichrist will place himself in the Temple and demand to be worshiped as God. He will go into the temple physically, and he's going to set himself up not as a god but as God.
Paul says this and 2 Thessalonians. NIV 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
He will decree that everyone in the world will worship him, and he will replace the true God. If you want to study further read Revelation 13:8. He will set up what is a false religious system, Revelation calls this church, a harlot.
NIV Revelation 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast-- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.
The Antichrist and the false prophet will join and preform great signs and wonders to promote the worship of the Antichrist. Please understand that it is a religious event that starts the time of trouble, not a military or economic event. Literally all hell will be unleashed upon the earth. It is a religious event.
This son of destruction who opposes God exalts himself above everything else. He takes his seat in the Temple and it will begin such a terrible day that Jesus encourages people to flee to the mountains and hide. It will be such a terrible day that Jesus says don't go home verse 17 let no one go in the field to get his cloak verse 18. It is such a terrible day that Jesus says it will be dreadful for women to be pregnant and he says pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
Jesus says in this day the distress will be unequal and the world has not known such terror. And Jesus said if those days were not cut short no one would survive. It is the worst day ever imaginable.
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