TEXT: Matthew 24:15-31
SUBJECT: Joyful Anticipation of the End Times,
Part IV
INTRODUCTION:
This is the first part of
a two part message from the above text. Our goal in this message is to define “the
abomination that causes desolation” that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:15. This
will be critical in understanding the timing of the Rapture and Second Coming
of Jesus.
Therefore, I will answer
four important questions about this significant event. They are:
1.) Where, in scripture,
do we first find “the abomination that causes desolation?”
2.) What is it?
3.) When does it occur?
4.) What is its relevance to the
Rapture and Second Coming?
By having a Biblical
understanding about “the abomination that causes desolation,” the church will
be better equipped to embrace the end times with a joyful anticipation!
Prayer: “Father God we humbly ask for the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Your Word that we might be the people that
we need to be in these amazing days that are leading to the end of the age and
the beginning of the New Creation in Christ Jesus. It is in His strong Name
that we pray, amen.”
I. Question one: Where,
in scripture, do we first find “the abomination that causes desolation?”
A. Daniel 9:24-27
1.) Verse 24
“Seventy sevens (490 years) are decreed for your people (The Jews) and your
holy city (Jerusalem) to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone
for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and
prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.”
It is my conviction that
the end times cannot be properly understood without an understanding of the
importance of Israel in biblical prophecy. To that end, may the Holy Spirit
remove the veil that has been over the Church’s eyes concerning Israel and the
end times!
In verse 24, there are six
things prophesied that the Jewish Messiah (Jesus Christ) will fulfill. Although
Daniel doesn’t make a distinction between the first and second coming of the
Messiah in this text, it is clear that
Jesus fulfilled part of the above six things at His first coming and will
fulfill the rest at His second coming. But that is not our subject in this
message. Our focus here is to see how that this text lays the groundwork for
discovering and understanding “the abomination that causes desolation.”
Keep in mind that the
“seventy sevens” or 490 years is connected to the Jewish nation and the Jewish
city of Jerusalem. (The Hebrew as well as the context of the prophecy makes it
clear that this means years and not days).
2.) Verse 25 “Know
and understand this: from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until the anointed one, the ruler, comes, there will be seven sevens (49 years)
and sixty two sevens (434 years). It (Jerusalem) will be rebuilt with streets
and a trench, but in times of trouble.”
This prophecy reveals that
from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the
coming of the Messiah (Jesus), there would first be seven sevens and then sixty
two sevens.
First, let’s do the math:
49+434= 483. That would be 483 years from the issuing of the decree to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah would come. The question then is this:
when was that decree issued?
II Chronicles 36:22-23 “In
the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia, in order to fulfill the Word of
the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia
to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: This
is what Cyrus King of Persia says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me
all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for Him
at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of His people among you may go up, and may the Lord
their God be with them.” Note: the seven sevens (49 years) were fulfilled when
Ezra led a company of Jews back to Jerusalem from captivity to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 7:11-26).
According to historical
sources, that decree was issued in the year 445 BC. Now if you go forward 483
years, you come to the year 38 AD. History shows that Jesus had to be born
between 6 and 4 BC because Herod the Great who was alive when Jesus was born
died in 4 BC. And remember that Herod, trying to kill the child Jesus, ordered
that all male children who were two years old or younger (from the time that
Jesus would have been born) should be killed. Therefore, this would put the
birth of Jesus at 6 BC. So if you subtract 6 from 38, you get 32 AD! This would
be the approximate year of when Jesus was crucified. And that leads us to
Daniel 9:26
3.) Verse 26 “After
the sixty two sevens, the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing…”
The “Anointed One,” that
is the meaning of “Christ” in the Greek, was rejected and crucified. He was
“cut off,” and as far as Israel was concerned at that time, He “had nothing.” The rejection and
crucifixion of the Messiah was a huge event for the nation of Israel and the
world!
As I alluded to
previously, like so many other prophets, Daniel did not make a distinction
between the first and second coming of the Messiah. He did not account for the
time period between the two events. That was not an uncommon practice in the
Old Testament prophets.
So what you have in verse
26 and verse 27 is the event of the first coming of Messiah and His crucifixion
followed by the coming of the antichrist and his beast kingdom at the end of
the age and prior to the second coming of Jesus. Verse 26 “. . . the
people of the ruler who will come (the antichrist) will come and destroy the
city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the rebuilt Jewish Temple). The end will
come with a flood: war will continue until the end and desolations have been
decreed. Verse 27 He (the antichrist) will confirm the covenant with many for
one seven (7 years). In the middle of the seven he (antichrist) will put an end
to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the Temple he will set up an abomination
that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out
on him.”
In the final seven years
of the 490 years decreed for the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem, the
Antichrist will enter into a covenant with Israel only to violate that covenant
after three and one half years (or in the middle of the seven) by ending Jewish
sacrifices and offerings that have been restored for the first time since 70AD,
and by doing something in the Jewish Temple that will be “the abomination that
causes desolation.”
Before I move forward, I
need to make a very important point here.
Someone may be saying, “a rebuilt Jewish Temple?” “The restoration of Jewish animal
sacrifices”? “It will never happen!”
May I remind you, this is
exactly what people were saying prior to 1948 when Israel became a nation again
for the first time in almost two thousand years! It will never happen!
And that is exactly what
most people were saying prior to June 1967, when for the first time since 70AD,
the Jews retook control of the holy city of Jerusalem!
Beloved, just as sure as
Israel became a nation again in 1948, and just as sure as the Jews retook
Jerusalem again in 1967, there will be a rebuilt Jewish Temple and there will
be the restoration of animal sacrifices by the Jewish people!
O how the devil hates the
Jewish people! Why? Because they are God’s symbol and witness to the world that
God exists! And that is why that there will always be a Jewish people!!
II. Question two: What
is the abomination that causes desolation?
A. II Thessalonians
2:1-4
“ Concerning the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ (Second Coming) and our being gathered together to Him
(Rapture), we ask you brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by
some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the
Day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for
that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness
(the Antichrist) is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and
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.”
According to this text,
“the abomination that causes desolation,” which must come before the Rapture
and Second Coming of Jesus, is when the Antichrist or man of lawlessness( they
are one and the same) goes into the REBUILT JEWISH TEMPLE and sets himself up
and proclaims himself to be God! In the simplest terms, this will be “the
abomination that causes desolation.”
So then, thus far, we have
seen that “the abomination that causes desolation” first occurs in the book of
Daniel, Daniel 9:24-27, and we have also seen what it is from II Thessalonians
2:1-4. Now let’s go to our next question.
III. Question three:
When does it occur?
A. Revelation 13:5
“The Beast (Antichrist)
was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his
authority for forty two months.”
Forty two months is three
and one half years and 1260 days based on the Jewish calendar.
These 42 months will be
the last three and one half years of the Tribulation period—also known as the
Great Tribulation. So that means that “the abomination that causes desolation”
will occur in the middle of Daniel’s Seventieth Week or the final seven years
of this age.
Daniel 9:27 “He (the Antichrist) will confirm the covenant with
many for one seven. In the middle of the seven (3 ½ years; 42 months; 1260
days) he will put an end to sacrifice and offering and on a wing of the Temple
he will set up the abomination that causes desolation, until the end
that is decreed is poured out on him.”
In simple and plain
language, “the abomination that causes desolation” occurs at the midpoint of
the seven year tribulation period.
Before I answer the fourth
and final question in this message, I need to say one more thing about what
“the abomination that causes desolation” is. First of all, it is called the
“abomination” because it will be an abomination to God when the Antichrist goes
into God’s Jewish Temple and proclaims himself to be “God.”
Secondly, the “desolation”
occurs because the Antichrist will begin attacking and making war against
anyone who opposes his claim of being God (this is the purpose of the mark of
the beast); on the other hand, God will declare war on all of those who do
worship the Antichrist and receive the mark of the beast!
The “abomination that
causes desolation” will mark the beginning of what is known as the Great
Tribulation. In Matthew 24:21-22, Jesus said this about this time period on the
earth: “For then there will be great distress, UNEQUALED from the beginning of
the world until now—and NEVER to be equaled again. If those days had not been
cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will
be shortened.”
Beloved, “the abomination
that causes desolation” will be the most intense time that this world will ever
know! And that leads to our last question in this message.
IV. Question four: What
is the relevance of the abomination that causes desolation to the Rapture and
Second Coming of Jesus?
The answer to this
question will set up our second message to you from Matthew 24:15-31 that will
come next week.
In verse 15 of Matthew 24,
Jesus said this, “So when you see standing in the Holy Place (the Holy of
Holies in the Temple) the abomination that cause desolation, spoken of through
the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand” (those alive at that time).
In the following verses,
Jesus goes on to tell the people living in Israel at that time—especially those
living in Judea where Jerusalem and the Temple are located—to flee!
Then down in verses 29-31
Jesus tell us what will happen at the END of the Great Tribulation[1]
which began at “the abomination that causes desolation” in the middle of the
Tribulation period or Daniel’s Seventieth Week ( the last seven years of the
490 years).
Verses 29-31: “Immediately AFTER the distress of those days,
the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, the stars will
fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. AT THAT TIME,
the Son of Man (Jesus—the Messiah) will appear in the sky, and all the nations
of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
the sky and with power and great glory. And He will send His angels WITH A
LOUD TRUMPET CALL and they will gather His elect[2]
from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
Beloved, according to
the above scripture, Jesus will return and rapture His Church at the END of
the Great Tribulation period that begins in the middle of the final seven years
of this age with “the abomination that causes desolation.”
And as it is in I
Thessalonians 4:13-18 and I Corinthians 15:50-58, this will be the fulfilment
of the Feast of Trumpets. Matthew 24:31 “And He will send His
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
We will take a closer look
at this stunning event next week, but I will close this message to you with
these thoughts.
1. Where does the
abomination that causes desolation first appear in scripture? In Daniel
9:24-27—Daniel’s Seventieth Week (The last seven years of the 490 years decreed
for the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem).
2. What is the abomination
that causes desolation? II Thessalonians 2:1-4. It is the Antichrist
proclaiming himself as “God” in the rebuilt Jewish Temple.
3. When does it occur?
Revelation 13:5. In the middle of the seven year tribulation period—in the
middle of Daniel’s Seventieth Week—at the three and one half year mark, 42
months, or 1260 days.
4. What is its relevance
to the Rapture and Second Coming of Jesus? Matthew 24:15-31. It tells us that
Jesus will return and rapture the Church at the end of the Great Tribulation
period that began with “the abomination that causes desolation.”
Now, these four questions
may have left someone with this question: Where is the joyful anticipation in
all of this?
Beloved, when we see on
the news that “the abomination that causes desolation” has taken place in the
rebuilt Jewish Temple, in the city of Jerusalem, by the man who signed a seven
year covenant or agreement with the nation of Israel, we will KNOW that we are
only three and one half years away from the Feast of Trumpets—the Rapture and
Second Coming of Jesus. . .
. . .only 42 months away
from being reconciled with our loved ones who are in heaven and who Jesus will
be bringing with Him. . .
. . . and only 1260 days
away from receiving a new and glorified body as the fulfillment of being a new
creation in Christ Jesus. . .
. . . and best of all, 3 ½
years, 42 months and 1260 days away from seeing the face of the Lord Jesus
Himself!!!
ALTAR/PRAYER
Father God, we humbly ask
you to fill us with joyful anticipation of what it will mean to know that we
are so close to the Feast of Trumpets—and all that that will mean! Amen!
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