Let’s look at the Abomination of Desolation in the Gospels. Matt 24.15 will give us a key piece of information. We are told that this idol will be “standing in the Holy Place.” That is called the Heichal, the room in the Sanctuary where the Menorah, the Altar of Incense and the Table of Showbread (“Shulchan Ha Lechem Ha Pannim” or “Bread of the Faces”) stood. In the coming Temple, the Abomination of Desolation will stand there. In reality, there will be several different images at several locations within the Temple during the Birth-pains. But, this will be the primary location.
In Matt 24.16-22, Yeshua instructs the Jews to flee into the wilderness when they see the Abomination of Desolation set up. These are the “elect” of verse 22. We know that this will be at the half-way point of the Birth-pains. In our passage in Daniel, it says, “And from the time the regular sacrifice is abolished , and the abomination of desolation is set up, 1290 days.” Why does it say 1290 days? We will get into all of that and explain it, and it will be related to Dan 9.24 to the phrase “to anoint the most holy (Holy of Holies).”
Rev 12 tells us about this flight into the wilderness (see also Isa 42.10-11, 16.1-5; Jer 48.28; Dan 11.41). In Rev 12, the “woman” is Israel. She flees into the wilderness and will be nourished on “eagles wings” which is the same term used in Exo 19.4, the First Redemption. The “dragon” (Satan) persecutes the woman, and we have seen this in Dan 7 and 2 Kings 21.16, when he makes war on the tzaddikim (saints). It not only had an ancient application with Antiochus Epiphanes and Manasseh, but will also have a future application in Rev 12.
By going back, we can be instructed about future events, it is just that simple. This also tells us that the Jewish believers are Torah observant and will be protected for three and a half years. So, theses verses tell us they will believe in Yeshua for at least three and a half years of the Birth-pains. By understanding this, we have just added to our pool of information. Is there a picture of this in the Tanak? Yes, with Elijah who fled for three and a half years during a famine and from Ahab, who is a picture of the False Messiah (1 Kings 19.1; James 5.17). So, we hope you are getting the idea of how to find and develop out various scenarios and shadows of the False Messiah. Now we are going to look at the four beasts in the Book of Daniel.
What do we have so far? We know that the False Messiah is the “prince who is to come.” The False Messiah will be from the people who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. He will make a military treaty with Israel for seven years. In the middle of those seven years, the False Messiah will place a statue called the Abomination of Desolation (Sikkutz Somem) in the Heichal (Holy Place) of the Temple, and he stops the sacrificial offerings (Korbanot). When the Abomination of Desolation is seen standing in the Heichal of the Temple by the Jews in Israel, they are instructed to flee into the wilderness. This wilderness is understood as being the Jordanian-Moabite wilderness, stretching from Pella in the north to at least Petra in the south, possibly to Mt. Sinai. The False Messiah will send an army after them (“river”) like Pharaoh did in Exodus, but the Lord destroys the army. The time in the wilderness will be exactly 1260 days, or three and a half years or 42 months. That means they flee on Nisan 10, and 1260 days later it is exactly Tishri 10, or Yom Kippur. These Jews in the wilderness are Torah observant and believers in Yeshua (Rev 12.17). The False Messiah makes war on the Jews around the world who did not make it into the wilderness. Many non-Jews who believe in Yeshua and follow the Torah will also be persecuted. Manasseh set up the first Abomination of Desolation in the Temple and he made war on the tzaddikim, and he is a picture of the False Messiah. There is a Rabbinic opinion that Manasseh set up more than one idol in the Temple.
So, let’s go to Dan 7.1-2. This vision comes during the time that he was a captive in Babylon. He will also be held under the Medes and Persians. In Dan 7.3-4 we have the first beast, the “lion” and this is Babylon. In Dan 7.5 we have the second beast, the bear, and this is Medo-Persia. In Dan 7.6 we have a third beast, a leopard, which is Greece, and in Dan 7.7-8 we have a fourth beast, which is Rome. This fourth beast had ten horns (power) and this will be repeated. Another “little horn” came up among the ten horns, and this is the False Messiah. He has “no power” at first. Three of the ten horns will be “pulled out” by the roots. This little horn had the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts. In Dan 9.26 “the people of the prince who is come (False Messiah)” will destroy the city and the sanctuary. This would be the Romans. Now, remember, this was written after the First Temple was already destroyed, so he is talking about a future Temple.
In Rev 13.1-2 we have a beast rising out of the sea and it had ten horns. On his head were “blasphemous names.” We need to remember that. It also says that Daniel’s fourth beast is a combination of the previous three kingdoms. This fourth kingdom (Rome) has the majesty and riches of Babylon, the size and strength of the Medes and Persians, and the speed and agility of Greece. This beast is also compared to a seven-headed beast that rises out of the sea in our verse in Revelation 13.1. This “beast” is also known as Leviathan, and we are going to take a look at him later. Dan 7.12 says, “As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.” In other words, Babylon, Medo-Persia and the Greek empires, even though destroyed and physically dead, will not be judged until the end of the Messianic Kingdom. In Dan 7.17-18 we learn about a “fifth” kingdom, and that is the Messianic Kingdom which will be forever.
Let’s go back to Dan 7.7-8, where we find the “little horn” taking power over the ten horns at some point during the first three and a half years. Three of the ten horns rebel against the little horn and are removed. These men and the authorities behind them are destroyed. The Hebrew word means to be “plucked out by it’s roots.” In Dan 7.24 we learn that the ten horns are ten kings, and three are subdued. Rev 17.12-13 says, “And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour (a short time).” The False Messiah will come out of the “old Roman Empire.”
The empire was divided into the eastern and western Empire later, after Revelation was written. But, at the time of Titus in 70 A.D. there was only the “western” empire in Rome, and they had armies in the east. These passages are talking about the west, in Europe. The False Messiah will not come from Islam, as some teach, or the eastern Roman Empire. Specifically, he will come out of the area that comprised the western European empire. Remember, when this was written there was only the Roman Empire that was centered in Rome and Europe, with armies in the east. Now, when we talk about Europe we have England, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Italy and more. It is not feasible that these countries will give all their power to one man through their representatives as stated in a meeting unless something cataclysmic has happened.
During the Roman Republic, before the Empire, they had what is called the “Decem Viri” which means “Ten Men.” The Romans used it to designate any ten-man commission. There were different types of “Decem Viri” in areas of writing laws with consulate power; adjudging litigation; making sacrifices and distributing public lands. There is a book called “The Prophecies in the Book of Esther” by Joseph Good, p 86-88, and it has a good description and discussion on the Decem Viri. In time of an emergency, the Republic would appoint a Decem Viri, ten rulers, who could act quickly without going through a prolonged debate in the Roman Senate. These ten rulers would select a “Dictator” for the duration of the crisis. When the crisis was over, then all of this was disbanded. That is what is being described here. We have some great crisis that has occurred in Rev 17.12-13. That is why they are so scared that their survival is at state. As a result, they must act quickly to save England, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Italy and the others.
In Part 5, we will pick up here and discuss what will happen in this meeting and how the False Messiah will be there. We will also need to find out what is causing this panic.
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