The middle of the tribulation is when the Antichrist is going strong, but what is happening? This devotion looks at the middle of the three-year period of the tribulation.
Nuggets
- Resurrecting the Antichrist will provide a miracle Satan will need.
- I don’t see Satan wanting God worshiped in any way, shape, or form.
- Everyone will be expected to worship the Antichrist – no one is going to be exempt.
Devotions in the What I Believe series
Devotions in the End Times category
End Times Churchy Words Focus
What Happens in the Middle of the Tribulation?
The tribulation is a three-year period that can be divided into two halves. It has a very defined middle. Let’s take a look at the middle.
Let's Put It into Context
According to Compelling Truth, the tribulation “… is the period during the end times wherein God judges Israel and the world for their unrighteousness and prepares to establish Jesus as the King of the world.”
Resource
The tribulation will last for seven years. It can be divided into two halves with a identifiable middle in between.
An Assassination Attempt
“One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. It also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people. It deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived” (Rev. 13: 2, 12-14 CSB)
It is not going to be all rainbows and unicorns for the Antichrist. There will be an assassination attempt.
Oh, the attempt will succeed — sorta. The Antichrist will die.
He just won’t stay dead.
I know. That kind of seems strange. Satan is finally in control, and his dictator dies.
But then it isn’t. I am sure Satan is thinking, “Whatever God can do, I can do better.” Resurrecting the Antichrist will provide a miracle Satan will need.
God raised Jesus from the dead. Satan will think he has to at least match that.
Aren’t miracles what most want to see? “Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want to see you perform a miracle’” (Mt. 12: 38 GNT). Seeing is believing, right?
And what better miracle for Satan to perform than one dealing with death. We associate Satan with death. He would probably want to show that he can control it.
However, Satan doesn’t. “When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look — I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Rev. 1: 17-18 CSB). Jesus does.
But it is going to look good when the Antichrist comes back to life. It will probably win a lot of people over.
No matter how powerful the Antichrist becomes, he will always be a minion of Satan. Thomas listed some of Satan’s that the Antichrist embodies.
- “Blasphemy
- “Deception
- “Destruction”
Being aligned with Satan will only bring defeat to the Antichrist. Thomas wrote, “His mission will ultimately prove self-ruinous. In every act the devil performs, he is forming a link in that adamantine chain that shall bind him, not merely for a thousand years, but for ever.”
No matter how high the Antichrist soars, he — and Satan — will eventually crash and burn.
Defiling the Temple
“So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place …” (Mt. 24: 15 CSB)
We talked about the “… abomination of desolation …” before. We went back to what Daniel had to say. “The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.” (Dan. 9: 27 NLT).
The Antichrist will “… set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration …” (Dan. 9: 27 NLT). He is going to have to set up something somewhere. Normally, I would say this would be on the altar where the sacrifices are offered to God.
This is just my take (which could be right or wrong). The Antichrist firsts allows us to worship the One true God, then outlaws worshiping Him all together. To me, if he stops sacrifices and offerings, he is going to try to stop all worship.
We talked before that, if we are to be a living sacrifice, we don’t sacrifice at an altar. We sacrifice our hearts and minds. The only way that is stopped is outlawing worshiping God all together.
But if we look at the tribulation as it will focus on Israel, wouldn’t the Temple be rebuilt? Walvoord wrote, “On the basis of Matthew 24:15 with supporting Scriptures from Daniel, 2 Thessalonians 2, and Revelation 13, it may be concluded that Scriptures anticipate a future temple with a sacrificial system which will be under way at the time ‘the prince that shall come’ exercises his authority, desecrates the temple, and establishes himself as the object of worship.”
Maybe it will be a combination of both. I don’t see Satan wanting God worshiped in any way, shape, or form. Isn’t he going to want the whole world to worship him?
Whole World Worship
“The beast was given a mouth to utter boasts and blasphemies. It was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It began to speak blasphemies against God: to blaspheme his name and his dwelling — those who dwell in heaven. And it was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered” (Rev. 13: 5-8 CSB)
Well, yes he is. “… authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation” (Rev. 13: 7 CSB). Everyone will be expected to worship the Antichrist – no one is going to be exempt.
At least the Antichrist is going to try to make no one exempt. “… everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered” (Rev. 13: 8 CSB). There will be those who are God’s remnant.
I know. This sounds like predestination again. Predestination, in a biblical sense, is being given salvation without choosing it and without repenting. Someone else has made the decision, and it can’t be prevented or changed.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Just because God is all knowing doesn’t mean He didn’t give us the free will. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
Thomas said it so much better than I did. He wrote, “ The things that are to happen in the universe in the most distant future are to God as facts already accomplished.”
But the Christian Standard Bible has the words in a different order than other translations. It totally changes the meaning.
Let’s look at this one. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13: 8 KJV).
The phrase from the foundation of the world was originally modified Jesus. Not us — those whose names are written in the book.
Jesus was always going to be our Savior because sin was always going to enter the world.
Verse 7 says the Antichrist will “… wage war against the saints and to conquer them …” (Rev. 13: 7 CSB). He is going to win.
Sorta. Burkitt addressed that. He wrote, “A war proclaimed; the beast makes war upon the saints, by bloodshed and persecution, and by the force of those weapons overcomes them; that is to outward appearance and in the opinion of the world. But really do the saints overcome him by their patience under sufferings, and by adhering to the truth.”
Yep, we would rather skip the persecution, but that isn’t an option. Jesus said we would be persecuted. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Mt. 24: 9 NLT).
But think what we are gaining when we overcome.
- Evidence of our obedience to the Father
- A character that imitates His
- A witness that shows His love for us
Run!
“‘So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place’ (let the reader understand), ‘then those in Judea must flee to the mountains’” (Mt. 24: 15-16 CSB)
Jesus advised us to run when we see the Antichrist has desecrated the Temple. When he thinks he has won over God, Jesus tells us not to fight for Him.
Jesus is going to do that for Himself.
It makes sense. We are just to put on the armor of God. God fights for us.
To read devotions in the Armor of God series, click the appropriate button below.
Making the Connections
A thought that keeps running through my mind is that worldview people think that things would be so much better if they were just allowed to have their way. Basically, God is going to allow them to do that. God is going to allow Satan to have free reign — for a while.
And things will get really bad.
What is the saying — be careful what you wish for.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
When the tribulation begins, non-believers will see that prophecy is true. Convincing some before they see the horror will be challenging.
But we have to witness to them. We want them to know the loving God we do.
We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.
Our questions should still serve us to determine on what we need to focus.
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Father. We read about what will happen in the future. Lord, You have every right to judge us. We pray that all come to ask Your forgiveness. Unfortunately, we know that will not happen. Still, we pray that You will use us to boldly speak of Your love to those around us so that they can admit their sins, believe in Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, and confess You as Sovereign Lord. We await for Jesus’ return. Amen.
What do you think?
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