Daniel 9:27 “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”
Before we discuss the event of the anti-Christ standing in the temple, we first need to discuss when this event will take place. We have already seen that the anti-Christ will negotiate a seven year non-aggression pact with the various nations of the world, including the nation of Israel. Nevertheless in the above quoted passage of scripture the angel tells us that in the middle of the week the anti-Christ will bring an end to sacrifice and offering. So what does that statement mean? The middle of the week represents the mid-point of the seven year non-aggression pact, i.e. three-and-a-half-years. The sacrifice and offering mentioned in this passage refers to the sacrifices that the Israelis will be offering to the Lord in the Jewish temple at that time. And so we see that half way through the seven year non-aggression pact, the anti-Christ will bring an end to the sacrifices in the Jewish temple. Therefore this event will obviously coincide with the start of the final three-and-a-half years of the anti-Christ’s reign.
Revelation 13:1-14 “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. (2) Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. (3) And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marvelled and followed the beast. (4) So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" … (11) Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. (12) And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. … (14) And he deceives those who dwell on the earth--by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.”
And so we come to the event that will be used as the catalyst for the destruction of Jerusalem. We have seen previously that it is highly probable that the al-Mahdi and the prophet Isa will be invited by the Israeli government as dignitaries, to attend a feast in the Jewish temple. Because this will be such a significant geopolitical event, it will be televised live by all the international media organizations. We have also seen that our Lord Jesus has warned the church in Judea to flee to the mountains the moment they see the sign of the anti-Christ standing in the temple. And so clearly something will take place on that occasion which will place the saints in mortal danger if they choose not to flee immediately. The above quoted passage of scripture reveals to us exactly what will transpire on that occasion, for we see that the anti-Christ will be mortally wounded because of an assassination attempt. This passage goes on to say that the anti-Christ will be wounded with a sword; and so it is more than likely that a zealous Jewish priest will use his sacrificial sword in an attempt to kill the al-Mahdi as he stands in the temple. Nevertheless as we have already mentioned, because the anti-Christ is immortal, his deadly wound will be miraculously healed in front of everyone. Because all of this will take place on live TV, the whole world will witness this attempted assassination, which is why this passage declares that the entire world will marvel when they see the anti-Christ being mortally wounded and then being miraculously healed.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, (4) who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
So what will be the outcome of the failed assassination attempt on the anti-Christ? Before we discuss its outcome, we need to understand that this will be a staged event orchestrated by the anti-Christ working together with Satan. Knowing that any assassination attempt would fail because of the anti-Christ’s immortality, Satan will influence the “would be”” assassin to carry out his plot to kill the al-Mahdi. And so they will stage this whole event as a false flag operation to pin the blame on the Israeli government; charging them for setting up the al-Mahdi for assassination. Because the Israeli government would have been set up, this event will take them completely by surprise, for until this event Israel would have supposedly enjoyed friendly diplomatic relations with the al-Mahdi and by extension, the Muslim world. And so we see another example of the anti-Christ’s cunning and deceit, as he uses this false flag event for a pretext of what will come next. As declared in the above quoted passage of scripture, it will be at this point that the anti-Christ will sit as God in the temple of God, showing himself the he is God.
Michael E.B. Maher
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