In our study today Jesus makes reference to a prophecy from the book of Daniel in regard to the end times. Daniel foresaw a day in which there would be a third temple and a sinful man who would desecrate it. This man has not yet been made manifest to us, but he is the one who will be known as the Antichrist.
"When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong---let the reader understand---then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now---and never to be equaled again." (Mark 13:14-19) This time of distress cannot be a reference to the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Although that was a time of great tribulation, it was not the Great Tribulation---the days of distress that are going to be worse than anything that has ever happened since the beginning of the world. Jesus has to be talking about the end times, and His use of a phrase from the book of Daniel proves it.
The prophet Daniel spoke of something that would desecrate the temple and make it unfit for use. Some critics have attempted to assert that the book of Daniel wasn't written by Daniel or even during Daniel's lifetime. They claim the book was written by an unknown Jew during the lifetime of the tyrannical Antiochus Ephiphanes, the King of Syria who conquered Jerusalem in 167 BC. He viciously persecuted the Jews, set up pagan idols in the land, and forbade the Jews to observe the rituals of their religion. In order to prevent them from bringing offerings and sacrifices to God, he desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar. There is, however, no credible evidence to support the book of Daniel being written outside of Daniel's own lifetime, or of it being written in reference to Antiochus Ephiphanes. Jesus could not have quoted from the book of Daniel if this were so, for Jesus was crucified more than 130 years before Antiochus took control of Jerusalem. We can plainly see that the book of Daniel had long been considered holy Scripture by the time Jesus was born.
Antiochus Ephiphanes was an evil man and his hatred of the Jews could be compared to that of Adolf Hitler. As we noted when we did our study of the book of Daniel, both these wicked men were a type of Antichrist, or "little antichrists" if you will. Any king or dictator who hates and persecutes the Jews can be considered a "little antichrist". But Daniel foresaw the end times and had a vision of a man who will be the Antichrist, and this is what he said of him, "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 at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." (Daniel 9:27) It is believed by a number of reputable and well-respected Bible scholars and students of prophecy that the man who will be the Antichrist will broker a seven-year peace treaty in the Middle East. It may be that the two-state solution between the Jews and the Palestinians will finally come to pass and that the Antichrist will engineer a seven-year cease fire, with one of the conditions of this cease-fire being that the Jews are allowed to rebuild the temple, possibly right beside the Dome of the Rock. We can accept it as fact that a third temple will be built, for there must be a temple in Jerusalem in the last days in order for it to be desecrated.
The Antichrist will pretend to be a friend to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. He will deceive many into thinking he is a man of religious tolerance who wants everyone to have the freedom to practice his or her religion in peace. But because he is indwelt by Satan himself, the only god he recognizes is himself, and the only worship he truly finds acceptable is the worship of himself. Daniel warns, "The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods." (Daniel 11:38a) The Apostle Paul caught a prophetic glimpse of the Antichrist, the one he refers to as the man of lawlessness and the man doomed to destruction, and in that glimpse he understood what both Daniel and Jesus meant by the "abomination that causes desolation". Paul tells us, "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." (2 Thessalonians 2:4) After ensuring that the temple is rebuilt, at the midpoint of the seven-year treaty he will declare himself the only god and will forbid people to worship anyone but him. He will put a stop to all sacrifice and offering to the one true God, and in order to prevent God from being honored in His own temple, he will desecrate it. When Paul says this man will set himself up in God's temple, this is likely a reference to an image of himself being placed on the altar.
Satan has always wanted to be worshiped in place of God. If he cannot entice mankind to worship him in place of God, he will try and coerce mankind to worship anything else but God. In ancient times, and in some countries even today, men and women are bowing down to pagan idols instead of bowing down to the one true God. In other areas of the world Satan has managed to tempt men and women to bow to less tangible idols, which is why so many types of addictions exist. Anything or anyone we value more than we value God is an idol. If Satan can't persuade a person to bow their knees to him, he wants to keep them from bowing their knees to Almighty God. In the end times he will finally have his opportunity to be worshiped literally through the man known as the Antichrist. Anyone who does not willingly give him worship will be threatened with death. He thinks that at last he is going to have his moment in the sun, the desire of his heart, which Isaiah tells us is this, "I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:13-14)
Lest these images strike terror in our hearts, Isaiah says of the one who exalts himself, "But you will be brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit." (Isaiah 14:15) Lest we fear evil will win in the end, the Apostle John assures us, "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur...tormented day and night forever and ever." (Revelation 20:10) Christ will throw down Satan once and for all. Christ will set up His eternal kingdom, and we who have trusted in His name will behold His face forever, and we will enjoy eternity with Him in an Eden-like world where no wickedness will ever enter. "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever." (Revelation 22:3-5)
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