Wed.’s Devo - The End of the Antichrist

Read: Daniel 11:36-12:13; 1 John 4:1-21; Psalm 123:1-4; Proverbs 29:2-4
The king who does what he pleases is Antiochus who typifies the Antichrist in the end. He is the seventh head of the seven-headed and ten-horned beast of Rev. 13:1-18. He is also the “beast of Armageddon (Rev. 16:13,16; 19:19). The man who is Pope at that time will be the false Messiah or the false prophet who will exalt himself above every god.
Antiochus proclaimed himself to be Jupiter Olympius (Satan) and gave this god in him the credit of all his accomplishments and spoke horrible blasphemies against God. Antiochus forbade the worship of Jehovah or any other god. He attacked the temple of the Syrian Venus which was worshipped by the women.
To honor his “God of forces,” -Jupiter- he began to erect a temple at Antioch. This Jupiter had other guardians or saints that were his followers of whom Antiochus honored with gold.
With the help of this god - Jupiter, Antiochus was able to be successful against Jerusalem, Sidon, Pelusium and Memphis.
In verse 40 “the king of the south” referred to the Arabs who stopped the Greek emperor, Herclius from taking Egypt and Syria. But, the Turks from the “north” destroyed the Greek empire. They rode on horses and they had the greatest naval power of their times. They "overflowed" Western Asia, and then "passed over" into Europe, making Constantinople their capital, under Mohammed II. Antiochus marched against Ptolemy, stopping to wreak havoc on the Jews, but did not meddle with Edom, Moab, and Ammon on the side of Judea. The Turks under Selim entered Jerusalem on their way to Egypt, and retain "the glorious land" of Palestine to this day. They never could conquer the Arabs, who are a type of Edom, Moab, and Ammon.
At the end of Antiochus’ reign, (representing the end of the Antichrist’s reign) Michael, Israel’s guardian angel arises on the scene.
Like Antiochus, Satan will unleash unhindered and evil like we have never seen before on the earth. God’s people will be delivered and those who refused to worship the antichrist will be spared.
The dead will rise from their graves and those who knew the Lord and followed him will live on the earth for the thousand years. The unbelievers who had died will continue to sleep until the judgment at the end of the millennium.
Daniel then sees two angels and asks them how long will this suffering last. He is referring to his time but the angels are referring to both his day and the last day. They answer “times, times and half a time” which is prophetically three and a half years.
Three and a half years represents the idea of a spiritual trial. It is 1260 days. In the natural world, Satan plays out this copy of what God was doing. Mohammed came out of his cave to take the world the same year that Phocas was made the next Pope and called himself the “Universal Pastor.” This was a picture of Satan putting this feet on the East (Mohammed) and the West (the Pope in Rome). For three and a half years the world power will be ruled by earthly kingdoms. The two witnesses prophecy for 1260 days and remain unburied for three and a half days. The woman in the wilderness is there for three and a half times (Rev. 11:3,9 11, 12:6, 14).
We are given two other numbers 1,290 and 1,335. From the day that Antiochus profaned the temple to the day that Judas Maccabee restored worship to Jerusalem was 1290 days. Forty-five days later, making it 1,335 days - Antiochus died ending the Jews calamities.
In John we learn the litmus test of a true and false prophet. A false prophet will deny that Jesus came in the flesh. The world sees from their perspective and can only see that way but a spiritual Christian sees from God’s perspective and knows truth. Another test of a true Christian is their love for one another because Christ’s spirit lives in them.