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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“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.
He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been
determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his
ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will
exalt himself above them all. Instead of them, he will honor a god of
fortresses; a god unknown to his ancestors he will honor with gold and silver,
with precious stones and costly gifts. He will attack the mightiest fortresses
with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge
him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at
a price.”
“At the time of the end the king of the South will engage
him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with
chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries
and sweep through them like a flood. He will also invade the Beautiful Land.
Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be
delivered from his hand. He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt
will not escape. He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and
all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Cushites in submission. But
reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a
great rage to destroy and annihilate many. He will pitch his royal tents
between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end,
and no one will help him.”
“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your
people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened
from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone
whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep
in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame
and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of
the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever
and ever. But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the
time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”
Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two
others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. One of them
said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How
long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”
The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the
river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him
swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half
a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these
things will be completed.”
I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord,
what will the outcome of all this be?”
He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are
rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made
spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the
wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”
“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the
abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed
is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.”
“As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and
then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted
inheritance.”
Daniel 11:36-45 and chapter 12
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we began to look at Daniel’s final vision in Chapter 11
yesterday, we took a look at more than 365 years of history that happened
afterwards, a history that occurred exactly in accord with the prophecies. It
was an amazing confirmation that the promises and plans of God always come true
in the way He says they will.
Today, we finish the study of this book by looking at the
final eleven verses of Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 in its entirety. Within this
text, we look at matters that still have yet to happen, a look at what’s still
to come through events that range out the very end of time. Look again at these
verses here:
“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. He will be successful until the time
of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. He will
show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women,
nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. Instead of
them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his ancestors he will
honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He will
attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly
honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and
will distribute the land at a price.”
“At the time of the
end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North
will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of
ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. He
will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab
and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. He will extend his
power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. He will gain control of the
treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and
Cushites in submission. But reports from the east and the north will alarm him,
and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. He will
pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he
will come to his end, and no one will help him.”
“At that time
Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a
time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until
then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the
book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will
awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those
who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead
many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. But you, Daniel, roll
up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go
here and there to increase knowledge.”
Then I, Daniel,
looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and
one on the opposite bank. One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was
above the waters of the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing
things are fulfilled?”
The man clothed in
linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his
left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever,
saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the
holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”
I heard, but I did
not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”
He replied, “Go your
way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the
end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will
continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are
wise will understand.”
“From the time that
the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is
set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches
the end of the 1,335 days.”
“As for you, go your
way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise
to receive your allotted inheritance.” Daniel
11:36-45 and chapter 12
While it seems that this scripture passage is seamless,
there is a dividing point when we get to verse 35. There, the king who does as
he pleases and the descriptions of what he does is not indicative of what we
know Antiochus Ephiphanes did, the focus of the preceding verses of this
passage.
So who is the new king coming on the scene here?
It is none other than the antichrist coming into view and
wreaking havoc in the world. Note that when he comes, he will successfully
exalt himself above every god and make unprecedented verbal attacks against the
Lord God Almighty, the God of all gods. The antichrist will only honor a “god
of fortresses”, a god previously unknown, paying tribute to this deity with “gold
and silver”, “precious stones and costly gifts”. With the help of his god, the
antichrist will attack the mightiest of fortresses and recruit those who place
their trust in him, making many of his followers “rulers over many people”
while distributing “land at a price”.
His attacks on fortresses and disregard for other powers
will bring him into political conflict with other kings as kings from the North
and South will engage him in battle, both to no avail for the antichrist will “invade
many countries” and “sweep through them like a flood”. Many countries will fall
but the scriptures tell us that “Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be
delivered from his hand”. Egypt would not be as fortunate as the antichrist
extends “his power over many countries” and in the process, gains “control of
the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans
and Cushites in submission.” He will then “set out in a great rage to destroy
and annihilate many” after receiving “reports from the east and the north” that
“alarm him”. Finally, “he will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the
beautiful holy mountain.”
There is little question from this prophecy. When the
antichrist comes, he will dominate for a period of time. There is also little question
that he will not endure for the scriptures assure us this about his future:
“He will be
successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined
must take place.”
and
“Yet he will come to
his end, and no one will help him.”
This last verse, the final verse of chapter 11, ushers us
into the last chapter where we find the archangel Michael burst into the
prophecy, the archangel who “protects the people of God”. He will precede the
great return of Jesus who will come after an unprecedented “time of distress”
to judge the world and set things straight once and for all. When He returns, “everyone
whose name is found written in the book” (the Book of Life) will be delivered
into the salvation God promised through His Son, heirs to the new heaven and
earth that will emerge after the final judgment. On that day, “multitudes who
sleep in the dust will awake” with those who placed their trust in Jesus moving
onto “everlasting life” while those who rejected Jesus move onto “eternal
contempt”.
This was the vision of what is yet to come that was given to
Daniel, a vision that has still to be fulfilled. We don’t know the day or time
it will come. Countless people have tried to calculate Christ’s coming and
indeed, there are numbers included toward the end of chapter 12 but let’s not
get as caught up in the math but rather devote our energy to carry out the
Great Commission that Jesus gave us, to make disciples of all nations, to
baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to teach all to
obey what Jesus commanded.
For when we place our focus on these things, we add pages to
the Book of Life and grow the kingdom of heaven here on earth, increasing the
number of people who will receive the gift of eternal life when Jesus returns
and decreasing those who will experience utter destruction in the lake of fire.
It’s how we can give people hope that cannot be taken away
and an assurance that all will be fine because they are victorious in Christ
Jesus, no matter what’s to come.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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