Signs Of The Second Coming Of Jesus
8-17-2011 Vol. 5 Part 4
Psalm 40:9-11 NKJV I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly. Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. Father we praise your name, we give you all the glory. Thank you for the glorious weather we had today. We pray that you be with and bless all that read this message. In Jesus name we pray! Amen!
Matthew 24:15 – 21
Matthew 24:15-21 NKJV "Therefore when you see the 'ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
The "abomination that causes desolation" is a time when the world will be forced to worship the anti-christ. Daniel prophesied about that day coming in the future, Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11. The word “abomination” is a Greek word which means "disgust" or "repulsion." In Scripture, it is primarily used to describe things associated with idolatry or gross ungodliness. The Hebrew equivalent was often used to refer to pagan rites and ceremonies. In the book of Revelation, the word is used to represent immoralities and spiritual uncleanness of false religion.
There have been many times of trouble in past history, but there is coming a time in the future that Jesus tells us that we don’t want to be around. In fact He warns that the time will be so bad to go hide in the mountains and don’t even go into your home to take provisions.
The whole 7 year period of the Tribulation is bad, the first 3 ½ years will appear that peace has come to the Middle East around Israel, but the last 3 ½ years is really dreadful. What kicks this off is when the anti-christ takes his place on the throne and requires all in the world to worship him. Revelation 13:8 NKJV All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
When you read and think about the following, and then read what Jesus says about how bad things will be during the Great Tribulation (The last 3 ½ years.), I don’t think we can even come close to wrapping our minds around the events that will take place. The following events that have been recorded in history are terrible, but there is a holocaust coming of a greater magnitude. Luke 21:22 NKJV For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
“Six million Jews were killed by Adolf Hitler's evil regime, and the holocaust still haunts us. Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Prize-winning author who has devoted his life to making sure no one forgets what happened to his people, said that his first night in a concentration camp cost him his faith. As he stood and watched his mother and little sister burn in the ovens, his dreams, his faith, and even his desire to live also went up in smoke. Recalling that night, he wrote, "Never shall I forget those moments which murdered God and my soul ... the child that I was had been consumed in flames. There remained only a shape that looked like me."
Antiochus Epiphanes
Nearly every Bible scholar identifies that prophecy as a sacrilege committed by a man named Antiochus IV, or Antiochus Epiphanes. He was a Syrian king who ruled over Palestine from 175 to 165 B.C. as a surrogate of the Greek empire. His name means "Antioch the Great," but he began referring to himself as Theos Epiphanes, which means "The Manifest God." He apparently believed himself to be God, though the people referred to him with the play on words "Antiochus Epimanes" which means "Antioch the Mad." Indeed, he was crazy. He died in 163 B.C. totally out of his mind, outraged to the point of madness due to the defeats he experienced at the hands of Jewish rebels. Daniel 11:31 foretold a time when a king would pollute the sanctuary, take way the daily sacrifice, and perform an act of total repulsion inside the temple.
History records that Antiochus, unsatisfied with his pillage and slaughter in Jerusalem after a difficult siege, forced the Jews to dissolve their laws. He kept them from circumcising their children, making it a capital crime. Mothers caught with a circumcised child were thrown over the city wall to their deaths. Antiochus stopped the daily sacrifices, and then he himself sacrificed a pig on the altar of God. He slaughtered both male and female Jews, looted
the temple of anything of value, and ordered the compulsory Hellenization of Israel. Eventually he had the temple rededicated as a shrine to Zeus and replaced the usual sacrifices with the sacrifice of swine, forcing the Jews to eat the meat sacrificed to a pagan god. Any Jew who refused to eat pork or who was found possessing the Book of the Law was to be jailed or killed; and the book itself was to be burned. All synagogues and Jewish schools were closed. Those who refused to work on the Sabbath were arrested. Antiochus attempted to put an end to all visible expressions of the Jewish faith.
All it did, however, was give the Jews a cause. The Greeks were shocked to find a group willing to hold so strongly to their faith. Many Jews fled into the mountains or lived in caves. Many were martyred for their faith. This all served to create a stronger Jewish state with a more intense devotion to the Law. Antiochus Epiphanes wanted to destroy the Jews, but he ended up doing exactly the opposite. The fact is, if he had left them alone, they probably would have been assimilated into Greek culture automatically. The people had lost their sense of identity and religious roots, but when they were oppressed, they rediscovered their Jewish ethnicity. It was the salvation of the nation. Still, it was a terrible time of suffering and pain.
Antiochus would go into a synagogue and jamming pieces of pork down the throats of the Jewish rabbis, choking them to death. Yet in spite of this dreadful persecution, the people began to see themselves as a nation again.
Judas Maccabeus
One of the most amazing pieces of Jewish history happened as a result of Antiochus Epiphanes' oppression. A Jewish zealot by the name of Judas Maccabees was not about to sit down and let this madman destroy his country. He put together a little army that lived like beasts in the field, feeding on whatever they could find to eat.
They would hide in the hills, and every once in a while descend upon a town, pull down the pagan altars, circumcise the children, and kill any Jews who were going along with the Syrian king. When word got back to Antiochus Epiphanes, he sent a well-equipped army of mercenaries to destroy the Jewish force. Judas Maccabeus' guerrillas met them at the pass of Emmaus and, though poorly equipped and trained, routed the professional soldiers. The next time, Antiochus sent a larger army with orders to capture the guerrillas and sell them as slaves. But Judas Maccabeus again defeated the larger army, this time capturing the city of Jerusalem in the process. He removed all the pagan altars, cleansed and rededicated the temple, and restored orthodoxy to the Jewish faith. That event is why Jews today celebrate “Hanukkah” the reinstatement of their religion under Judas Maccabeus.
That's the story of the abomination of desolation. It was a time when all the Jewish sacrifices were stopped, a pagan image 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 the sacrifices ceased, and that was the very day Daniel had prophesied hundreds of years earlier.”
Ref.: Signs of the Second Coming, Study Guide, Dr. David Jeremiah. 2011
Just as Antiochus Epiphanes created an abomination of desolation, so will the anti-christ create one in the Tribulation. The prophet Daniel tells us that in; Daniel 9:27 NKJV Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."
Daniel’s week is translated as seven years. In the middle of the week/seven years is when the anti-christ will bring an end to Jewish sacrifices and offerings, and require people to worship/idolize him. The Antichrist will place himself in the temple and demand to be worshiped as God, unlike Antiochus, who put a statue of himself in the temple. This will stir the minds of many and will cause a great time of trouble and turmoil when anti-christ exalts himself as god 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.
You ask, “Where is this temple that these offerings and sacrifices are to be made in?” I’m glad you asked that question, because I have an answer for you. It just so happens there is an Islamic Mosque right on the spot where Herod’s temple was, and that, according to Scripture, is where the abomination of desolation is to take place. Is this the temple? Absolutely not, so how can it take place if there is no temple there?
According to, “U.S. News & World Report (December 11, 1994) carried a feature article on the subject of the rebuilding of the temple, and it said as follows:
The rebuilding of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem's old city has been so important to Jews that they have prayed for it for centuries, and they end each wedding with the breaking of a glass to remind participants of the temple's destruction, first by the Babylonians over 2,500 years ago, and then again 656 years later by Rome after it was rebuilt. Its reconstruction is unthinkable because it stands on the same location as the Dome of the Rock Mosque, the site believed by Muslims to be where Mohammed ascended to heaven in the early Seventh Century. While stressing that they have no plans to displace the mosque, a small group of these zealot Jews believes that if proper preparations are made, a miracle will occur enabling the temple to be rebuilt.”
With the turmoil that is going on in the Middle East, that mosque could be destroyed and a temple erected. If the mosque was destroyed at the beginning of the Tribulation, I believe a chain of events would occur resulting in a temple being built in 3 ½ years.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth,
Unless you are Born Again, you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."
Bill
Last Week’s Trivia: What did God use a rotten loin cloth for?
Answer: It was for Jeremiah to take to the Israelites and use as an example to demonstrate what God thought of when they followed their own desires and pray/worship any person, place, or thing other than God. Jeremiah 13:8-10 NLT Then I received this message from the LORD: 9 "This is what the LORD says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. 10 These wicked people refuse to listen to Me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth—good for nothing! Do you follow the Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s customs when it comes to prayer and worship?
This week’s Trivia: God helps those who help themselves. What is you thought about that statement?
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