Sun.’s Devo - The Antichrist

Read: Daniel 11:2-35; 1 John 3:7-24; Psalm 122:1-9; Proverbs 29:1 As Daniel continues his vision of the future it becomes very detailed. He describes to a tee the next kings and the rise of the Antichrist. *** The narrative shifts to only the part that includes Israel and tells of the battle between Egypt and Syria. Israel was sandwiched between them and became a battlefield of many of their wars. *** When Antiochus Epiphanies of Syria comes to reign he has a definite hate toward the Jewish people and their capital. He attacked Jerusalem on one of his expeditions killing 50,000, taking another 40,000 prisoners and selling another 40,000 as slaves. He also entered the sanctuary shouting blasphemies and took the gold and silver vessels. He sacrificed a pig on the altar and sprinkled the altar with pig broth throughout the Temple. *** They cleaned up the Temple but the high priest at the time was very evil. He stopped the practice of circumcism and the holy days. He instigated the worship of Greek idol worship. All of this was to please Antiochus Epiphanies. Antiohus had a temple to the god Jupiter Olympus constructed where the temple once was and claimed to be Jupiter. He had planned that the worship of himself would become the one world religion. *** But, God always has a remnant and they were the Maccabbees. They prevailed against the Antichrist of their day and won. Many were persecuted and Jerusalem eventually fell to the Romans. *** John makes it very clear that a Christian cannot practice sinning because God’s life or DNA is now in them. IF they do, they show that they are the children of the devil. *** He gives us the example of Abel and Cain. Cain was a murderer from the beginning. Abel blessed God and was righteous. If we love God, the world will hate us. *** We prove we love God by loving our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We act this out with acts of compassion and generosity. *** Lord, we believe that you sent your son, Jesus Christ to die for us and save us for your glory. May we love one another in a way that pleases you.