Mon.’s Devo - The Glorious End

Read: Daniel 1136-12:13; 1 John 4:1-21; Psalm 123:1-4; Proverbs 29:2-4 Antiochus made himself to be the god of gods and forbade the worship of Jehovah and even the women-worship of Venus. He honored those who agreed with him and attacked any nation who didn’t. Strangely, he defended those who believed in saint worship. *** He appointed his men to rule over Israel and divided up its land for his purposes. He died in the Persian town Tabes in 164 B.C. *** Daniel sees the last battles that bring down the Greek empire and bring the rise of the Roman empire. Antiochus battles till the end but will not be able to stop his own death. He dies never having accomplished world dominance. *** Then Michael stands up to defend Israel. It will be a great and terrible time, but all whose names are written in God’s book will be rescued. People will awaken out of their stupor and either come to repentance or choose everlasting contempt. Those that are wise will choose Christ. *** Daniel was told to seal up the meaning of this prophecy until closer to the time. Then, people’s awareness would increase. God will have his angels on both sides of the equation and in between. The one in the middle above the waters answered the question to how long this oppression would continue. He said it would be for times, times and half a time. Then the shattering of the holy people would finally come to an end. *** Many would be cleansed through all their trials and many would remain wicked. From the time Antiochus offered the pig on the altar until Judas Maccabeus restored the worship of God was 1,290 days. Forty-five days later, Antiochus died making it 1335 days. *** Daniel was told to rest and at the end of the days, he would rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for him. *** John tells us how we can know if a person is a false prophet. A true prophet must claim Jesus was God’s son sent to save the world through the death and resurrection. If they can’t claim that, then they are false prophets. They have the spirit of Antichrist. That spirit is coming again in the end. *** Those who belong to God have already won a victory because the Spirit lives inside of us. Those that belong to God listen to the truth and it resonates with them. *** We are to occupy until Christ comes and we do that by loving others as Christ loves us. God is love and He is in us so we can love others through Him. *** Lord, may we be aware of the times we are living in and stay awake and aware. Thank you for people who have risen to bring us truth and clarity. Thank you for putting clues for us in your Word and giving us hope and encouragement. You never leave us or forsake us.