SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/19/2015
8:55 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 of Introduction to Rev. 13
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation 13:1-10
Message of the
verses: “1 And the dragon stood on
the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having
ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads
were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and
his mouth like the
mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great
authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the
whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 4 they worshiped the
dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the
beast, saying, "Who is like
the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?" 5 There was given to him
a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for
forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies
against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell
in heaven. 7 It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to
overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation
was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose
name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life
of the Lamb who has been slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If
anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with
the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the
faith of the saints.”
We continue to look at who the Antichrist is by looking
at different verses from the book of Daniel.
We will begin this SD by looking at Daniel 8:23b-25 which gives us
another glimpse of the Antichrist and his reign of terror: “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.” We can see the character of the Antichrist in
these verses, but we must remember that this happens “not by his own power” as
stated in verse 24, for his power comes from Satan. We also see his doom when we read that he
will “oppose the Prince of princes” which is the Lord Jesus Christ and when
this happens we read that “he
will be broken without human agency.”
The Lord will take care of his demise.
Next we will look at Daniel 9:26 which speaks of the 70
week prophecy or as we have mentioned before the verse means seventy sevens so
that makes the total prophecy 490 years, and in verse twenty-six we will see
that the Antichrist is the “prince” to come.
“"Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and
have nothing, and the
people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the
sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be
war; desolations are determined.” Let us
also look at verse 27 “"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he
will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of
abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete
destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes
desolate."” This shows that
Antichrist is the prince to come and that he will make a covenant with Israel
for seven years (one week) and in the middle of the week, or after three and a
half years he will then begin to show his true colors and that portion is
called the “Great Tribulation.” It
begins with him going into the rebuilt Jewish temple and actually will go into
the “Holy of holies” and perhaps will sacrifice a pig of something showing that
he believes himself to be God.
Now we have to look at another important passage from the
book of Daniel and it is perhaps the most difficult chapter to understand, that
is chapter eleven, but we will look at verses 36-45 “36 “Then the king will do
as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will
speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the
indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 “He will
show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will
he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. 38
“But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not
know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39 “He
will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign
god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them
to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price. 40 “At the end
time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North
will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he
will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. 41 “He will also enter
the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out
of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42 “Then he will
stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not
escape. 43 "But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and
silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians
will follow at his heels. 44 “But rumors from the East and from the North will
disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate
many. 45 “He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and
the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help
him.” My Spiritual Diaries on this
section can be found by looking at Jan. 7, and Jan. 9, 2014.
John MacArthur writes the following “According to this
prophecy, Antichrist will have absolute power; he ‘will do as he pleases.’ As the leader of the worldwide false
religion, he ‘will exalt and magnify himself above every god…He will show no
regard for the gods of his fathers…nor will he show regard for any other god; for
he will magnify himself above them all’ (vv. 36-37). Worse, his arrogant pride will lead him to
blasphemy, and he ‘will speak monstrous things against the God of gods.’ Like his evil master, Satan, Antichrist will
be blasphemous, profane, and proud. But
also like his master, ‘he will come to his end, and no one will help him.’”
We have more places to look in the Bible about
descriptions of Antichrist and we will do that in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am thankful
that the Lord has shown us in different places about who the Antichrist is and
also what he will be doing, but most of all I am thankful for the promise that
the church will not have to go through the time when he rules as we will be in
heaven.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and to live in the love of the Lord by showing mercy to
others, who like me do not deserve it.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Joshua” (Joshua 6:26).
Today’s Bible
question: “Where did Stephen say Abraham
was when God called him?” I will give
you a hint by saying that the meaning of the answer is “land between the
rivers.”
Answer in our next SD.
6/19/2015 9:36 AM
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