God recently honored me with an invitation to speak at a church on the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24).
Last week, I shared my understanding on the “beginnings of sorrows” (the Jewish name; equivalent to the Church Age; a preparation or stage-setting for the birth pangs also known as the Tribulation Period, Seventieth Week of Daniel, etc.).
I want to give you more from the presentation this week and let our readers know that I will be away from my computer several days in the next two weeks (visit our son and his family; then have surgery).
I am telling you this because I am preparing the articles ahead of time, and to let you know that I do intend to get back to current events soon.
Anyway, Jesus mentioned an event in the Olivet Discourse that will happen after the beginnings of sorrows (Matt. 24:6-8).
He said, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matt. 24:15-16).
The Jewish Temple will have to be rebuilt for the abomination of desolation to stand in the holy place (also called the Holy of Holies).
The Holy of Holies was behind the veil that tore in two when Jesus was crucified.
In Old Testament times, God dwelled behind that veil in the Holy of Holies.
The only person allowed behind that veil was the High Priest, and he could only go behind it once a year on the Great Day of Atonement after taking a bath, putting on a clean High Priest’s robe, offering a sacrifice and having his sins forgiven.
The Jews put little bells on the hem of the High Priest’s robe so other priests could hear him moving around behind the veil.
They tied a rope around the High Priest’s ankle so they could drag him out if the bells stopped ringing and they decided that he had died in the presence of God.
The abomination of desolation is mentioned 5 times in the Bible (3 in the book of Daniel, once in the book of Mark and once in the book of Matthew).
It refers to an image (or a statue) of the Antichrist that will be set up in the Holy of Holies in the rebuilt Jewish Temple at the middle of the Tribulation Period.
The root word for abomination means to make foul or to stink.
The Antichrist will be a Satan worshiper from the Bottomless Pit.
Paul said he will sit in the Temple and say that he is God (that is blasphemy; II Thess. 2:3-4).
John the Revelator said the False Prophet will command people to worship the image of the Antichrist (that is idolatry; a violation of the Second Commandment; Ex. 20:4-6).
Putting an image of a Satan-worshipping, blasphemer and idolater in the Holy of Holies where no one but our Holy God and the cleansed and forgiven High Priest are supposed to be will be a repugnant, foul, stinking insult to God and the Jews.
It will be so repugnant that it will cause the Jews to abandon the Temple and let it become desolate.
In the gospel of John, we read that Jesus was in a controversy with some Jews.
He said, “I come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not, if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (Jn. 5:43).
Some prophecy teachers believe Jesus was telling those Jews, “You rejected me as your Messiah, but you will accept the Antichrist as your Messiah.”
The Antichrist is being restrained today by the Church and the Holy Spirit.
The Antichrist can’t appear while the Church is here.
After the Rapture, the Antichrist will confirm or sign a peace treaty that will give Israel permission to rebuild the Temple.
At the middle of the Tribulation Period, the Abomination of Desolation will be set up in the Holy of Holies.
That will be a turning point for Israel.
The sight of that repugnant, foul, stinking image of the Antichrist in the Holy of Holies will cause the Jews to finally realize that the Antichrist is not their Messiah.
It will ultimately contribute to the salvation of many Jews.
Jesus said when you see that, let them that be in Judea (not all Israel, some on the West Bank) flee into the mountains.
The Book of Revelation says the Jews in Judea should flee into the mountains because the Antichrist will try to kill them during the last half of the Tribulation Period.
Today, there is a great effort by some Jews to rebuild the Temple.
A rebuilt Temple will pave the way for the Abomination of Desolation to stand in the Holy of Holies.
We are literally witnessing the beginnings of sorrows (preparations for the birth pangs, also called preparations for the Tribulation Period, the Church Age, etc.).
Praise God for the Rapture.
Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com