There is a lot of craziness going on in the world right now, especially in the Middle East. There are some really big things happening over there that you might not be hearing about, even if you know there’s a war going on.
Iran is in shambles, although it’s still sending missiles. It is attacking its Muslim neighbors, and some of those neighbors are starting to fire back. There were videos of Tehran where it was just dark — there was so much smoke and debris in the air that even the sun was having a hard time coming through during the day. The Straits of Hormuz are being shut down. Ships aren’t crossing, and that’s 20% of all the oil in the world right there. Ships are afraid they’re going to get bombed, and that’s going to push the price of oil up — and oil and gas move everything. Diesel moves everything. So we’re going to see those prices go up. I don’t think dramatically to the point where we can’t handle it, but we’re all going to feel it, and the thing is, we’re already feeling it with this economy.ut here’s the thing I want to point out. The Bible tells us of a time that is going to be so chaotic that someone comes on the scene and brings peace. It’s going to be a false peace, but it’s going to be a peace. And it’s going to come at a time where everybody is willing and ready to go for it because they are just tired — tired of the missiles flying, tired of all the craziness. And as believers, we really need to be aware of that and pay attention to when things like that start happening.
Hypocrites — You Know How to Read the Sky
One of the things I want to look at is Luke chapter 12. Jesus is getting on to the people around him because they want a sign. And Jesus is basically saying, wait a minute — you know how to interpret the signs. You’re not going to get a miracle dropped in your lap. You know how to read the sky. You know how to read what’s going on around you.
Luke 12, verse 54 to 55: “He also said to the crowds, When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say a storm is coming. And so it does. And when the south wind is blowing, you say it’s going to be a scorcher, and it is.”
And then strong words: “Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this time?”
Jesus is getting on to them about the time. He is the Messiah. He showed up. This is a big deal — the first coming — and they’re not able to interpret the sign. He’s saying, you know how to interpret everything else, but the Messiah is right in front of you and you can’t see it.
I don’t want to be caught in that kind of situation. We have the Bible. The Bible tells us what’s coming. The Bible tells us what to look for in the future. And if we are so caught up in our own world that we’re not paying attention to the signs, we could end up in that class of people Jesus calls hypocrites — who can pay attention to all the other things, but not to the signs of the times. I don’t want that, and I don’t want that for anybody else either.
We don’t understand it all. Some of it we will understand only as it begins to unfold. But there is an understanding. There are pieces of it we can interpret and pieces of it we can start to see. So when things are going crazy over in the Middle East, we should be paying attention. The Bible prophecy community is going crazy right now with everything that is happening.
Daniel Chapter 7 — The Big Picture of History
We’re going to be in the book of Daniel quite a bit, looking at Daniel chapter 7 and Daniel chapter 9. What I love about how God does this is it’s not necessarily chronological, but you get a snapshot — and then you zoom out. You get a snapshot of what’s happening, maybe another summary, and then you zoom out.
Daniel 7, verse 1 to 3: “In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream with visions in his mind as he was lying in his bed. He wrote down the dream, and here is the summary of his account. Daniel said, In my vision at night I was watching, and suddenly the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea. Four huge beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.”
You’ve got to remember — when Jesus was on the earth in his earthly ministry, he referred to Daniel as a prophet. Daniel didn’t even see himself as a prophet at that time, but Jesus called him one. Daniel got to see things that nobody else got to see. He was looking at stuff way, way in advance.
So he sees these four beasts, four kingdoms rising up from the sea. Now I’m going to jump to verse 7 because I want to get to the fourth beast, which is the one Daniel really zeroes in on.
“While I was watching in the night visions, a fourth beast appeared, frightening and dreadful and incredibly strong with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and it trampled with its feet whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns. While I was considering the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. There were eyes in this horn like a man’s, and it had a mouth that spoke arrogantly.”
This fourth beast was different from anything that came before it. It had this little horn with eyes like a man’s and a mouth that just ran arrogantly. And Daniel wanted to understand more about it because this one was very frightening to him.
We continue in verse 9: “As I kept watching, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white like snow, and the hair of his head like whitest wool. His throne was flaming fire, its wheels were blazing fire, a river of fire was following, coming out from his presence. Thousands upon thousands served him, 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. The court was convened and the books were opened.”
So here you’ve got a judgment seat. You’ve got thrones set up. The Ancient of Days sits down — his appearance is white as snow. Thousands are serving him, tens of thousands are watching. The court is convened. The books are opened.
Verse 11: “I watched. Then because of the sound of the arrogant words the horn was speaking, as I continued watching, the beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to the burning fire.”
This little horn is just mouthing off to the Ancient of Days, mouthing off to God the Father. And then the beast gets killed, the body is destroyed, and it’s thrown into the burning fire. Verse 12: “As for the rest of the beasts, their authority to rule was removed, but an extension of life was granted to them for a certain period of time.”
Then verse 13 to 14: “I continued watching in the night visions, and I saw one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.”
What we’re seeing here is Jesus being enthroned, given the throne that he is supposed to take up. Jesus was a descendant of David, and God told David that his descendants would reign forever. Jesus in his first coming never reigned. So he’s got to reign here on earth to fulfill the promise God made to David. Jesus will reign for a thousand years — what we call the millennium reign of Christ. And during that reign, there will be people here on the earth. That’s why those other kingdoms were given an extension of life — there are going to be people populating the earth during those thousand years. We, as believers who are saved, will come and help rule as well. But then after the thousand years, Jesus continues to reign once and for all — not just here on this earth, but forever and ever in all eternity.
So in just 14 verses, we see the history of time — a short history. Four beasts, four kingdoms. The fourth beast is the wild one that everyone’s concerned about. But he gets taken care of. And we get all the way to the millennium and then to when Christ is ruling forever and ever. We’re caught up with him in eternity.
Don’t Freak Out — We Know How This Ends
Daniel keeps pushing. He wanted some more explanation of what he was seeing. Verse 15: “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was deeply distressed within me, and the visions in my mind terrified me. I approached one of those who was standing by and asked him the true meaning of all this. So he let me know the interpretation of these things.”
And then the angel gives him two sentences. You know when you ask someone for a summary and they give you this little two-sentence summary? That’s exactly what happens here. Verse 17 to 18: “These huge beasts, four in number, are four kings who will rise from the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever. Yes, forever and ever.”
The angel is basically saying, hey Daniel, let me just break this down for you. Four kingdoms, yeah — but the holy ones of the Most High receive the kingdom and possess it forever and ever. Don’t worry. You’re seeing some crazy stuff, but at the end, the people of the Most High will possess it forever and ever.
That is so, so important. When we look at the world we’re in and when we look at the last days, so many people get freaked out and start to worry and panic. What you need to know is we get to the end and everything is set. Those who are holy ones of God, they will reign forever and ever. Don’t let it scare you. Bible prophecy should be an encouragement of where everything ends up.
Daniel keeps pushing, wanting more details about the fourth beast — that terrifying beast with iron teeth and bronze claws. And in verse 21 to 22 he gets this: “As I was watching, this horn waged war against the Holy Ones and was prevailing over them, until the Ancient of Days arrived and a judgment was given in favor of the holy ones of the Most High. For the time had come, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom.”
So Daniel is getting it all laid out. This beast is going to win out for a little while. It looks like he’s going to prevail — until the Ancient of Days arrives. Verse 23 to 25: “The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it. The ten horns are ten kings who will rise from this kingdom, another, different from the previous one, will rise after them and subdue three kings. He will speak words against the Most High and oppose the holy ones of the Most High. He will intend to change religious festivals and laws, and the holy ones will be handed over to him for a time, times, and half a time.”
A time, times, and half a time — that is a year, two years, and half a year. Three and a half years. But the court will convene, and his dominion will be taken away to be completely destroyed forever. And then the kingdom, the dominion, the greatness of all the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the holy ones of the Most High.
It was a scary thing for Daniel to see all this play out. And even knowing how it all ends, the process of getting there was enough to turn his face pale. But we know — the people of the Most High, they get the kingdom, and they will rule with him.
Zooming In — Daniel Chapter 9 and the 70 Weeks
What we saw in Daniel chapter 7 is a very high-level view. The span of years from the first through the fourth beast — we’re talking thousands and thousands of years. Now we zoom in. In Daniel chapter 9, God gives Daniel a tighter picture of how things go down.
Daniel 9, verse 20 to 27. Daniel is praying, confessing sin, and Gabriel shows up:
“He gave me this explanation. Daniel, I have come now to give you understanding. At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God. So consider the message and understand this vision.”
“70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to bring the rebellion to an end, to put a stop to sin, to wipe away iniquity, to bring everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.”
Gabriel comes down and tells Daniel: 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and the holy city — the Jewish people. That’s really important because the 70 weeks deal with the Jews. To bring the rebellion to an end — the rebellion that man started back in the Garden of Eden when they thought they could be like God by listening to Satan. To put a stop to sin, to wipe away iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up visions and prophecy — to button it up, put a nice little bow on it — and to anoint the most holy place.
Verse 25: “Know and understand this. From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.”
The starting point is when the king of Persia said, hey Jews, go rebuild the temple. From there, seven weeks, then 62 more weeks — 69 total weeks. Then Jesus, the Messiah, is cut off. He dies on the cross. He resurrects. He ascends to heaven and is waiting for the next step.
The people of the coming prince — and this is interesting — they destroy the city and the sanctuary. We know the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans. So a lot of people look at this passage and say the Antichrist has got to come out of Rome or Europe — a reconstituted Rome. But the ancient Jewish historian Josephus points out that the Roman legions targeting Jerusalem at that time were not made up of Romans. They were made up of Arabs and people from Syria who had been conquered and put into those legions.
So you can look at it two different ways. And my philosophy in all of this is to understand and to know — I don’t want to be so tied into one view that I can’t see all the other views. But this is where the idea of an Islamic Antichrist comes from, because the people who were actually destroying the city weren’t Romans. That’s really, really interesting.
Then verse 27: “He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.”
One week is equal to seven years. So he makes a covenant with the Jews for seven years, allows sacrifices to go on in a newly constituted temple, but then three and a half years in, he breaks the covenant. He stops the sacrifices and sets himself up as God.
Jesus himself makes reference to the abomination of desolation. It actually happens twice in history. The first time was Antiochus Epiphanes during the intertestamental period — between the Old and New Testaments. He hated the Jews, tried to wipe them out, and came in and offered up a pig on the altar. That is when the Maccabees revolted, took back the temple, reconstituted it, and anointed it. Every Jew understood what the abomination of desolation meant when Jesus referenced it. And this Antichrist figure will do the very same thing again.
The Man of Lawlessness
Paul talks about this Antichrist figure in 2 Thessalonians 2, and I think it gives us a better picture of who we’re dealing with. Let’s look at that.
2 Thessalonians 2, verses 1-12: “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the day of the Lord has come.”
There were already people in Paul’s day saying the rapture had already come. Paul is saying, no, no, no, that hasn’t happened yet. Verse 3: “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For the day will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.”
Deception is a very big piece of the end days. We really need to make sure we don’t get deceived.
Now, understanding the timeline matters here. We have the 69 weeks of Daniel completed. The Messiah is cut off — Jesus dies, ascends to heaven. And then there is a gap, what we call the church age. This is where we are right now. But then the 70th week kicks in. And the 70 weeks, remember, are all about the Jews. The 70th week is that last seven years.
When that kicks off, the Antichrist is revealed. He brings a false peace, fosters that peace, enters into a covenant with the Jews. Three and a half years in, he breaks that covenant. Sets himself up as God. And then things get very, very dark for three and a half years until Jesus comes back.
Now, there are different views on when believers are raptured in all of this — pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and pre-wrath. If you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, we are raptured before the Antichrist ever shows up and we watch all of this unfold from heaven. That’s great — I’m all for that, I’d love that, more power to it. Some believe mid-tribulation, that we go through the first three and a half years and are raptured before things get really bad. And then there’s a smaller group — pre-wrath — who say we’re raptured right before God unleashes the bowls of wrath. Regardless of which view you hold, believers are taken out before things get truly, truly catastrophic. But the man of lawlessness Paul is talking about is revealed at the beginning of that final seven-year period.
Back to 2 Thessalonians: “He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God.”
After that first three and a half years, after everything has been good, after the Jews have been sacrificing and experiencing peace in Israel — he breaks the covenant. He sets himself up as God. He sits on the throne like he is God.
Verse 5 — and I love this: “Don’t you remember that when I was still with you, I told you about this.”
Paul was telling new believers about all of this. He was letting them know how things were going to happen. And yet we don’t talk about this type of stuff in churches because it freaks people out. Instead of helping people understand — don’t freak out, things are going to be okay, we know what’s coming — we just don’t talk about it. But Paul was like, I already told you how this goes down.
“And you know that currently what restrains him so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.”
That lawlessness has been at work since Jesus ascended. And right now, it’s getting crazier and crazier. It’s working overtime. But the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed.
“The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will bring him to nothing with the brightness of his coming.”
Verse 9: “The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders.”
When the Antichrist shows up, people are going to think he is the real deal. He is going to bring a lot of deception, a lot of delusion. Verse 10: “And with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing — they perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved.”
They didn’t want to accept Jesus Christ. They didn’t want to understand the truth. They just wanted to live their own lives — and then they get deceived.
Verse 11 to 12: “For this reason, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they will believe what is false, so that all will be condemned who did not believe the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness.”
God is saying, you don’t want to know about me? I’ve given you all these opportunities and you keep turning your back. Fine — go believe what you want to believe. And I’ll make it a little crazier for you. People don’t like hearing that. But the fact is, people turn their backs on God, they don’t want to know more about God, and God gives them over to what they want. That’s a sobering thing to sit with.
Stand Up and Lift Your Heads
As believers, we need to understand this stuff. As things are happening over there in the Middle East, we need to have our eyes open. And it is really easy in this world to get so caught up in the life we live — going to work, paying bills, doing all the things. And we need to do all of that. We need to be good citizens, good believers, sharing the good news, making disciples. All of that needs to happen. But at the same time, we need to be paying attention to what is happening, paying attention to the signs, and not closing ourselves off to it.
We are called to be ready. We are called to be watching. And we get to have a seat in this time in history to see it all kind of transpire right in front of us. We might not have all the details, but we know exactly what’s going to happen. We know how it all ends.
Luke 21, verse 25 to 28: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring seas and waves. People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that are coming on the world, because the celestial powers will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, stand up, lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”
As these things start to happen, we should be paying attention more and more and looking forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The Lord has not left us in the dark. He’s given us understanding of the way things go down. We don’t have all the details, and that’s okay, but we have the way things are going to progress, and we can pay attention. Not everything that happens is Bible prophecy. Not everything that happens in the news is something found in scripture. But we are called to discern. We are called to be watchmen.
We don’t need to live in fear. We don’t need to live in worry. Whatever happens here on this earth is very temporary compared to all eternity. We know how it ends. And that’s not something to be afraid of — that’s something to look forward to.
Peace,
Todd