SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
10/13/2013 4:50 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Antichrist
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel 8:23-27
Message
of the verses: 23 “In the latter
period of their rule, When the transgressors have run their course, A king will arise,
Insolent and skilled in intrigue. 24 “His power will be mighty, but not by his own power,
And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his
will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. 25 “And through his shrewdness He will cause
deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will
destroy many while they
are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency.
26 "The vision of the evenings and
mornings Which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For it pertains to many days in
the future." 27 Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days.
Then I got up again and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at
the vision, and there was none to explain it.”
A couple of things before we begin
to comment on these verses: First of all
I remember when I was a very young believer that I studied this passage and the
commentator that I was using to help me understand this chapter stated that
beginning with verse twenty-four Daniel began to speak of the end times, times
that are still future to our day, but much closer than when Daniel received
this vision. Second I mentioned in an
earlier SD that Daniel was not known by this Babylonian king, and I still don’t
believe he was, but in the last verse of this chapter he states that he was
carrying out the king’s business. He
surely could have been working for the king and the king did not know him for
we see that in government today as people work for the president but do not
know him personally.
Verse seventeen speaks of “the
transgressors have run their course,” and also speaks of the time of the end,
and all of this is speaking of the tribulation period which is the last seven
years of history on planet earth as we know it, for after that the Lord Jesus
Christ will rule for 1000 years, and things will be different than they are now. When we look at this period from the way the
OT speaks of it, it is called “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” and that surely
will be true for Israel will be in great trouble at this time of history. “The day of the Lord” is another name for
this time period. This will be the time
when the Antichrist will oppose God’s chosen people, Israel.
Dr. Wiersbe compares the Antichrist
with Antiochus which we looked at in verses 9-14.
·
Both begin
modestly but increase in power and influence.
·
Both blaspheme
God with mouths that speak great things.
·
Both persecute
the Jewish people.
·
Both claim to
be gods and put images in the temple.
·
Both impose
their own religion on the people.
·
Both are
opposed by a believing remnant that knows God.
·
Both are
energized by the devil and are great deceivers.
·
Both appear to
succeed marvelously and seem to be invincible.
·
Both are
finally defeated by the coming of a redeemer (Judas Maccabeus and Jesus
Christ). (Quote from Warren Wiersbe’s
commentary on Daniel.)
When we read about the Prince of princes in verse
25, Daniel is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ who will defeat the Antichrist
and send him, along with Satan and the false prophet directly into hell.
It is no wonder that Daniel became ill after seeing
this vision, for he was not the only prophet to have this kind of
experience. Daniel did not know when
“the little horn” (the antichrist” would rule, and this must have been
difficult for him and may have caused his illness. Daniel knew nothing about the mystery of the
Church age, and knew nothing about the fact that the Messiah would come to
first of all die for our sins and then return to heaven waiting to take His
bride (The Church) back to heaven with Him before this “little horn” would be
revealed. Knew nothing about the return
of Jesus Christ to destroy him either, and so this made it very difficult for
him.
10/13/2013
5:17 PM
We will conclude this portion of
this Spiritual Diary with a quote from Warren Wiersbe: “Daniel is a good example for students of
prophecy to follow. He asked the Lord
for the explanation (Dan. 8:15) and allowed the Lord to instruct him. But his investigation into God’s prophetic
program wasn’t a matter of satisfying curiosity or trying to appear very
knowledgeable before others. He was
concerned about his people and the work they had to do on earth. He so identified with what he learned that it
made him ill! Too many ‘prophetic
students’ don’t wait before God for instruction and insight, nor do they feel
burdened when they learn God’s truth about the future. Instead, they try to display their
‘knowledge’ and impress people with what they think they know. The whole exercise is purely academic; it’s
all in the head and never changes the hearts.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: This
quote from Dr. Wiersbe has kind of stepped on my toes a bit for I must confess
that there have been times when this has been true in my life. In the book of Revelations, Revelations 10:9
it says “So I went to the angel, telling
him to give me the little book. And he *said to me, "Take it and eat it;
it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as
honey.’” John the apostle was told to eat a little book, and the book would be
sweet in his mouth, but sour in his stomach, but why was this true? Well the little book contained prophecy which
was good to learn about but when he began to think about it and all of the
people the prophecy would affect it began to make him sick, and this is what happened
to Daniel. Knowing prophecy and its
meaning should put a burden in your heart for those it will affect, and not
make one puffed up for knowing it.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Allow the
Word of God to change my life, to humble me and cause me to know the Lord
better.
Memory
verses for the week: 2 Peter 1:1-8. Before I quote these memory verses I have to
say that this morning’s sermon was all about these verses from 2 Peter one and
it surely challenged me and also blessed my heart.
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and
apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as
ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has
granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His
precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by
lust. 5 Now for this very reason also,
applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your
moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your
self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your
godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are
increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible Question: “In
Joppa” (Acts 10:5).
Today’s
Bible Question: “Who was the beggar who
was laid at a rich man’s gate?”
Answer
in our next SD.
10/13/2013
10:26 PM
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