Max Lucado Daily: THE ANTICHRIST - September 25, 2024
The Antichrist is the warmonger of the end times, the enemy of God, and the nemesis of the Jews. He will be the pawn of Satan in a final, fatal, and futile attempt to overthrow the kingdom of God. He will enter a pact with the state of Israel. Israel will either continue or begin the construction of the temple. The world will sigh with relief at the appearance of peace in the Middle East. Yet, midway through the seven-year treaty, the Antichrist’s true nature will be disclosed. He will tear up the agreement and seize the rebuilt temple, install his image, and demand universal worship. This period of time is called the Tribulation.
Jesus Christ spoke of this moment. “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel…then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16 NKJV).
What Happens Next
Ezekiel 40
Measuring the Temple Complex
1–3 40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year on the tenth of the month—it was the fourteenth year after the city fell—God touched me and brought me here. He brought me in divine vision to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain. To the south there were buildings that looked like a city. He took me there and I met a man deeply tanned, like bronze. He stood at the entrance holding a linen cord and a measuring stick.
4 The man said to me, “Son of man, look and listen carefully. Pay close attention to everything I’m going to show you. That’s why you’ve been brought here. And then tell Israel everything you see.”
5 First I saw a wall around the outside of the Temple complex. The measuring stick in the man’s hand was about ten feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall: about ten feet. The height was also about ten feet.
6–7 He went into the gate complex that faced the east and went up the seven steps. He measured the depth of the outside threshold of the gate complex: ten feet. There were alcoves flanking the gate corridor, each ten feet square, each separated by a wall seven and a half feet thick. The inside threshold of the gate complex that led to the porch facing into the Temple courtyard was ten feet deep.
8–9 He measured the inside porch of the gate complex: twelve feet deep, flanked by pillars three feet thick. The porch opened onto the Temple courtyard.
10 Inside this east gate complex were three alcoves on each side. Each room was the same size and the separating walls were identical.
11 He measured the outside entrance to the gate complex: fifteen feet wide and nineteen and a half feet deep.
12 In front of each alcove was a low wall eighteen inches high. The alcoves were ten feet square.
13 He measured the width of the gate complex from the outside edge of the alcove roof on one side to the outside edge of the alcove roof on the other: thirty-seven and a half feet from one top edge to the other.
14 He measured the inside walls of the gate complex: ninety feet to the porch leading into the courtyard.
15 The distance from the entrance of the gate complex to the far end of the porch was seventy-five feet.
16 The alcoves and their connecting walls inside the gate complex were topped by narrow windows all the way around. The porch also. All the windows faced inward. The doorjambs between the alcoves were decorated with palm trees.
17–19 The man then led me to the outside courtyard and all its rooms. A paved walkway had been built connecting the courtyard gates. Thirty rooms lined the courtyard. The walkway was the same length as the gateways. It flanked them and ran their entire length. This was the walkway for the outside courtyard. He measured the distance from the front of the entrance gateway across to the entrance of the inner court: one hundred fifty feet.
19–23 Then he took me to the north side. Here was another gate complex facing north, exiting the outside courtyard. He measured its length and width. It had three alcoves on each side. Its gateposts and porch were the same as in the first gate: eighty-seven and a half feet by forty-three and three-quarters feet. The windows and palm trees were identical to the east gateway. Seven steps led up to it, and its porch faced inward. Opposite this gate complex was a gate complex to the inside courtyard, on the north as on the east. The distance between the two was one hundred seventy-five feet.
24–27 Then he took me to the south side, to the south gate complex. He measured its gateposts and its porch. It was the same size as the others. The porch with its windows was the same size as those previously mentioned. It also had seven steps up to it. Its porch opened onto the outside courtyard, with palm trees decorating its gateposts on both sides. Opposite to it, the gate complex for the inner court faced south. He measured the distance across the courtyard from gate to gate: one hundred seventy-five feet.
28–31 He led me into the inside courtyard through the south gate complex. He measured it and found it the same as the outside ones. Its alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule were the same. The gate complex and porch, windowed all around, measured eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. The vestibule of each of the gate complexes leading to the inside courtyard was forty-three and three-quarters by eight and three-quarters feet. Each vestibule faced the outside courtyard. Palm trees were carved on its doorposts. Eight steps led up to it.
32–34 He then took me to the inside courtyard on the east and measured the gate complex. It was identical to the others—alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule all the same. The gate complex and vestibule had windows all around. It measured eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. Its porch faced the outside courtyard. There were palm trees on the doorposts on both sides. And it had eight steps.
35–37 He brought me to the gate complex to the north and measured it: same measurements. The alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule with its windows: eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. Its porch faced the outside courtyard. There were palm trees on its doorposts on both sides. And it had eight steps.
38–43 There was a room with a door at the vestibule of the gate complex where the burnt offerings were cleaned. Two tables were placed within the vestibule, one on either side, on which the animals for burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were slaughtered. Two tables were also placed against both outside walls of the vestibule—four tables inside and four tables outside, eight tables in all for slaughtering the sacrificial animals. The four tables used for the burnt offerings were thirty-one and a half inches square and twenty-one inches high. The tools for slaughtering the sacrificial animals and other sacrifices were kept there. Meat hooks, three inches long, were fastened to the walls. The tables were for the sacrificial animals.
44–46 Right where the inside gate complex opened onto the inside courtyard there were two rooms, one at the north gate facing south and the one at the south gate facing north. The man told me, “The room facing south is for the priests who are in charge of the Temple. And the room facing north is for the priests who are in charge of the altar. These priests are the sons of Zadok, the only sons of Levi permitted to come near to God to serve him.”
47 He measured the inside courtyard: a hundred seventy-five feet square. The altar was in front of the Temple.
48–49 He led me to the porch of the Temple and measured the gateposts of the porch: eight and three-quarters feet high on both sides. The entrance to the gate complex was twenty-one feet wide and its connecting walls were four and a half feet thick. The vestibule itself was thirty-five feet wide and twenty-one feet deep. Ten steps led up to the porch. Columns flanked the gateposts.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Today's Scripture
Proverbs 3:1-12
Don’t Assume You Know It All
1–2 3 Good friend, don’t forget all I’ve taught you;
take to heart my commands.
They’ll help you live a long, long time,
a long life lived full and well.
3–4 Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.
Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.
Earn a reputation for living well
in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.
5–12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
a father’s delight is behind all this.
Insight
When she faced “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9, 17), Eve saw that its fruit was “desirable for gaining wisdom” (3:6), so she took it. The wisdom humans gained in their rebellion set them in opposition to God. Now they could decide for themselves what was good and bad, but that didn’t mean they had an accurate perception of the world.
The book of Proverbs—especially chapter 3—reorients humanity, telling us that human wisdom is never enough. In verses 5-6, the author emphasizes that we’ll find the correct path when we trust God and not our own understanding. Trusting Him alone will make our way straight. In Eden, we gained worldly wisdom; it’s only in trusting submission to God that we can learn to use it well. By: Jed Ostoich
Mind-Blowing Teaching
My son . . . keep my commands in your heart. Proverbs 3:1
Sophia Roberts witnessed open heart surgery for the first time when she was around eleven years old. While that might seem a bit young for a child to view such a medical procedure, you need to know that her dad, Dr. Harold Roberts Jr., is a heart surgeon. In 2022, Sophia—now thirty years old and a surgery resident physician—teamed up with her dad to perform a successful aortic valve replacement. Harold said, “What can be better? I taught this kid how to ride a bicycle. . . . Now, to get to teach her how to operate on a human heart is pretty mind-blowing.”
While few of us will teach surgery skills to a child, Solomon describes the importance of instructing something else to the next generation—to honor God and His ways. The wise king passionately shared with his child what he’d learned in his relationship with God: “My son, . . . trust in the Lord with all your heart” (Proverbs 3:1, 5), “fear the Lord” (v. 7), “honor the Lord” (v. 9), and “do not despise the Lord’s discipline” (v. 11). Solomon knew that God “loves” and “delights in” His children who willingly receive His correction and guidance (v. 12).
Let’s teach the next generation what it means to trust, revere, honor, and be humbly molded by our awesome, amazing God. To partner with Him in doing so is a vital privilege and, well, pretty mind-blowing! By: Tom Felten
Reflect & Pray
Why is it vital for you to share what you’ve learned about God with the next generation? What will you pass on today?
Dear God, please help me to share Your loving ways with both young and old today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
The “Go” of Relationship
If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. — Matthew 5:41
The demands our Lord makes in the Sermon on the Mount are impossible for us to meet—unless he has done a supernatural work inside us. Not only does Jesus Christ demand that his disciples go the second mile, he also demands that there be no trace of resentment inside them when they come up against tyranny and injustice because of their commitment to him: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad” (Matthew 5:11–12). There’s no enthusiasm, no natural human quality, that can withstand the strain that Jesus Christ places upon his workers. The only thing strong enough is a personal relationship with him. This relationship must be put to the test until the disciple has just one purpose remaining: “I am here for God to send me wherever he will.” Everything else in a disciple’s life may get muddied, but this relationship to Jesus Christ must remain perfectly clear.
If I am going to be a disciple of Jesus, I must be made one supernaturally. As long as I’m dead set on being a disciple, I can be sure I am not one. Discipleship isn’t a matter of my determination, but of God’s: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). This is the way the call to discipleship begins. I can ignore God’s call, but I can neither generate it nor decide how to answer it. When our Lord makes disciples, he doesn’t ask them to do things they’re naturally cut out for. He asks them to do things they’ve been supernaturally cut out for by his grace.
The Sermon on the Mount isn’t some unattainable ideal. It’s a statement of what will actually happen in me when Jesus Christ has changed my disposition and put into me a disposition like his own. Jesus Christ is the only one who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount.
Song of Solomon 6-8; Galatians 4
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.
The Place of Help, 1032 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Making Each Other Mighty - #9838
It was at a point where we were crossing this long bridge across the Arkansas River. The bridge was long because the river was wide. My wife made an interesting comment about the river. She said, "Now, we've seen how it got that way." Wide, she meant. Actually, we've seen the Arkansas at its headwaters where it's a very unimpressive little stream. And as we've driven across the western United States, we've seen many creeks and streams that feed into the Arkansas. They take that dinky little stream and make it into a wide and mighty river.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Making Each Other Mighty."
Tributaries: that's what creates great rivers. From all directions, those tributaries contribute to a river, feeding it, enlarging it. That's not just the way rivers grow. It's the way people grow, too, if they're open to the contribution that people in their life can make. And to the contributions they can make, as well. In a sense, you're supposed to be a river, you're enlarged and you're improved by the people in your world, and you're supposed to be a tributary, building and enlarging the lives of the folks around you.
Paul models that in Romans 1:11-12, our word for today from the Word of God. He says to the believers in Rome, "I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong - that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." Now, he doesn't use the words, but Paul seems to get this tributary thing. His purpose in wanting to be with these people is so he can give them some help, some encouragement, something that will make them stronger. But he also says he looks forward to how they're going to feed his stream, too, enlarging his spiritual life.
This is a pretty exciting way to view the relationships in your life and the people in your life. You are with those people both to give and to receive. I wonder if your coworkers, your family members, your friends, the folks at church feel richer because you just keep depositing good things in their life. You're supposed to be one of God's designated tributaries to help them become the mighty river that He's designed them to be. You wouldn't be there with them if He hadn't decided they need someone like you, and that you need someone like them.
Because you're also a river. What you are today; isn't that because of some human tributaries who have marked your life in the past: parents, teachers, spiritual leaders, friends, someone who listens to you, even those who've confronted you about things you didn't want to hear about? Maybe it's time to call or write or email or text some of the tributaries who've enlarged the river of your life, and just tell them what they mean to you. It's time to say "thank you" - to encourage them. Don't wait for their funeral to say all those nice things. Say it to them while they can still hear them.
And then, about those tributaries God has put in your life right now. Would you listen to them, would you open yourself up to them, even to those who are critical? Even to those who don't say it with the right words or the right tone, sometimes even with the right motive? Sometimes those people are God's mirrors to help us see things that are in our blind spot, things we haven't seen and we might not see otherwise, and things that might be limiting us or tripping us up or displeasing God. A river with no tributaries is going to remain small, and it's going to remain stagnant, and so will you.
Mighty rivers become mighty because they are fed and enlarged from many sources that feed into them. You and I are like that, too. So, would you be a tributary every day for other people, and let them help you become a mighty river.