Matthew 24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
Yeshua (Jesus) gave a remarkable parenthetic instruction in the middle of His Olivet discourse on the time of His coming and the end of the age. While it is unlikely that He himself said this, He certainly inspired Matthew to insert, “..let the reader understand”, concerning this critical event prophesied by Daniel, the Abomination of Desolation. His exhortation intended us (the readers of Matthew’s gospel) to learn what this means.
Many people have approached me over the years and asked, why do you believe we are in the last days? My response is to point to Yeshua’s words, “When you see ALL of these things” … [Matthew 24:33] Many of the signs He pointed to are nearly everyday occurrences in our world, yet this Abomination of Desolation is unquestionably a critical crossroad in human history, as indicated by this unique parenthetic exhortation. What exactly are we intended to understand?
The Feast of Chanukah is instructive about it. A Greek monarch named Antiochus Epiphanes “sacrificed a great swine at the image of Moses, and at the altar of God that stood in the outward court, and sprinkled them with the blood of the sacrifice. He commanded likewise that the books, by which they were taught to hate all other nations, should be sprinkled with the broth made of the swine’s flesh. And he put out the lamp (called by them immortal) which burns continually in the temple. Lastly he forced the high priest and the other Jews to eat swine’s flesh,” according to the ancient Greek historian Diodorus of Silicy.
His intention was to eliminate the worship of YHVH, the Jewish Sabbath, and Biblical worship, by desecrating the altar and destroying the Torah scrolls in the temple, so as to erect an altar to Zeus, the king of the Greek pantheon. This act of desecration has been historically referenced as an “abomination of desolation”, thus becoming a type of the future event prophesied by Yeshua in Matthew 24.
The Maccabean revolt recounts the virtually miraculous victory over Antiochus by a small but relentless army of zealous Jews. Many are familiar with this narrative, yet there are events that took place during Chanukah that aren’t widely spoken of. A recently published book written by a reader of Worthy News, “The Last Days Pride Parade” [The Last Days Pride Parade|eBook] details some of the strange cultural shifts taking place today which reflect the times of the Maccabean revolt. There are elements and seasons in history which seem to repeat. We should take note of this…
May we suggest that “let the reader understand” points to this prophetic/historical parallel between Antiochus and the coming Man of Sin who will perform the final Abomination of Desolation? The signs of this eventuality are growing by the day. Yeshua wants us to learn what this means, to grow in the exciting realization that we’re living in the last paragraph of this age and that the Lord’s return is at the very door. This understanding shouldn’t paralyze us with fear, or cause us to hide away, but rather to ‘light a fire’ (pun intended since its’ the festival of lighting candles) with a sense of divine urgency about the hour in which we are living! Daniel said, “And the wise among the people shall make many understand”. Prophetic parallels provide an excellent opportunity to do just that.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]An interesting parallel exists between these two passages of scripture: Isaiah 53:9 and Acts 3:15. Isaiah renders the “death” of the messiah in the plural form, “deaths” (“motav”). Acts renders the life of the Prince of Life as “lives” (“chaim”). Some scholars suggest that the plurality of the word death indicates a violent death this servant would suffer, and that making the noun plural is a way of emphasizing the terrible intensity of his experience. Jewish counter-missionaries suggest that the “death” in plural shows that the suffering servant is not an individual man, but a group of people, specifically the nation of Israel, thus denying that the passage refers to an individual messianic figure.
Proverbs says the “highway of the upright is to depart from evil”. It’s a highway — a way of life so to speak. And this proverb coincides with the central teaching of Yeshua (Jesus) — “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” What does it mean to repent? The Greek Word is “metanoia” which simply means to change your mind about sin or to depart from evil.
D.L. Moody has been influential in my personal life as I study and read about his life and ministry in the 1800’s. I remember reading a story about how D.L. Moody was preparing to lead a revival throughout England to which an elderly pastor protested and said, “Why do we need this ‘Mr. Moody’? He’s uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?”
If these really are the “Days of Noah,” we would expect to see a world filled with increasing violence. The Hebrew for “violence” is , by coincidence, the name of the terrorist organization Israel has been fighting for decades. And simply perusing my news briefs in recent years gives abundant evidence for the conclusion that this terrible season is well underway. Noah’s day was filled with violence and also false witness, which is a second meaning for the word “Hamas” [e.g., ; ]; violence and lies, then and now…
As Israel braces for retaliation from Iran, Hezbollah, and its terrorist proxies following the assassinations of two terrorist leaders in Tehran and Beirut last week, many are praying through these tense times as Tisha B’Av begins tonight (Monday night).
Tonight, Jewish people around the world will mourn through Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the fifth month on the Hebrew calendar. This day has been marked by numerous tragic events throughout history. It began with the spies returned with an evil report of Canaan, the Promised Land, as recounted in Numbers 13 and 14. This day marks the destruction of both the First and Second Temples, which occurred on the same date, separated by hundreds of years. The Crusades were launched on Tisha B’Av in 1095. In 1290, Jews were expelled from England, and in 1492, they were expelled again from Spain and Portugal on this very day. In the modern era, World War I began on the 9th of Av, and the call for the “Final Solution,” which led to the Holocaust, was announced on this date. To say that Tisha B’Av commemorates a series of horrific events is an understatement.
The Bible tells us that the last days would be like the days of Noah. As the mass of humanity witnesses the signs of increasing violence and evil manifesting in ways that seemed incomprehensible even just a decade ago, we are focusing on the peace that faith brings through the present storm. Though the ark he built for the flood was perhaps not the most luxurious boat ever made, Noah and his family were able to abide in God’s rest through the most terrible weather in human history.
Continuing from yesterday concerning storms; not sure we can place Noah’s flood, a worldwide conflagration, in that category, but if there really is such a thing as a “Perfect Storm”, that was…and Noah and his family were, anyway, prepared. And it’s been said that we are in the recapitulated, “Days of Noah”; [Matthew 24:37].