June 29: THE ONLY REAL HOPE (part 2)
But tidings from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. Daniel 11:44
The study of God’s word strengthens, uplifts and renews. Spiritual stamina and strength of character play essential roles in overcoming deceptive strategies. As the time of Christ’s return grows near, the great Deceiver is working through the king of the North with a strategic agenda designed to lure everyone.
Isaiah wrote about the coming of the Lord Jesus; both comings in fact. In reference to the second coming, he wrote: Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, And made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, As driven stubble to his bow? (Isaiah 41:2) These words prophetically allude to Cyrus as a deliverer of God’s people—to prefigure the work of Christ as the ultimate Deliverer (see also 44:26-45:3). Isaiah also wrote: I have raised up one from the north, And he shall come: From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name; And he shall come against princes as through mortar, As the potter treads clay. (41:25) Malachi wrote this of the Lord’s return: But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow like stall-fed calves. (Malachi 4:2) Glad tidings from the east and the north are directly connected to the sealing angel (Revelation 7:2) and the return of Jesus! Those who proclaim these glad tidings are troublesome to the evil one and his agenda.
Therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. This is in agreement with John’s vision in Revelation. By the Holy Spirit’s leading, John expands upon the writing of Daniel. Daniel’s king of the North is the beast rising out of the sea (Revelation 13:1-10). Just as he is going down with a deadly wound, another beast rises out of the earth (remember how the earth helped the woman in 12:16?). This second beast which starts off like a lamb (13:11) eventually becomes the political, economic, and military power that aids the first (sea) beast in its relentless quest for the world’s worship. 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… telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Revelation 13:12,14b,15) In seeking the worship of the world, he will attach his plan to a cause that people will get excited about: an agenda with a luring message of a “thousand-year golden age” upon the earth. Both the beast and his image will push this agenda. But the Bible tells us that this world will only get worse and worse, and Jesus will return to rescue His people and take them to heaven.
The death decree issued by the antichrist is nothing to fear for those who are in Christ. Our main concern must line up with God’s plan to restore His image in us!
Do not lie to one another; since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. Colossians 3:9-10 (see also Romans 8:29; 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:24)