Run for Your Lives! (Mark Sermon 73)

Turn in your Bibles to Mark 13. I can hardly imagine a more terrifying scenario than running for your life with some powerful, violent men chasing you, seeking to capture you, seeking to bring you in for questioning, to interrogate you, seeking to imprison you, to torture you, perhaps ultimately even to kill you. I can hardly imagine a more terrifying scenario than that.

It was a scene that was played out again and again in the dark days of World War II. Nazi troops would win battles and conquer territories, and on their heels would come the SS and the Gestapo who would seek to weed out every Jewish person and every perceived threat to the Nazi state, including Christian leaders. Refugees would have to flee in the middle of the night, breathlessly waiting under bridges while their Nazi pursuers would travel over them, so close they could hear their conversations.

Others fled by train using falsified travel permits. They had to endure the suspense of Gestapo agents moving systematically through the rail cars, checking papers, asking questions. Others fled through mountain passes into Switzerland, avoiding Nazi roadblocks only by scaling forbidden mountain sides in the snow and during freezing temperatures. Some hid among baggage and crates on freight ships, their hearts beating wildly and beads of sweat forming on their brows as Nazi guards with German shepherds were inspecting the cargo holds where they were hiding, getting closer and closer to their secret positions.

All of these refugees were fleeing because of terror, fleeing the might of the most sinister and powerful force of evil the world had ever seen up to that time. But I believe all of those experiences of fleeing are as nothing compared to the days that will come right before the end of the world, the days when the Antichrist will be ruling the world by the direct power of Satan himself, seeking to exterminate anyone who refuses to worship him as God.

Brothers and sisters, I don’t know if that day will come in our lifetime, but this text implies that we are to get ready for those days. We are to get ready for what is coming. When Jesus says, “I have told you everything ahead of time,” that implies a certain weight of responsibility on us; on me as a teacher of the Word of God, on me as a father, on me as a discipler and as a preacher. All of us as Christians, take seriously these themes, to immerse ourselves in them and to study them. Jesus’s mentality is, forewarned is forearmed.

I have carefully studied this text, Mark 13:14-23, and compared it with the parallel texts of Matthew 24:15-26. They’re almost completely identical with just a few simple differences, so I’m going to weave the two together where needed, but my home base is Mark 13.

Let’s talk about context. Context is Jesus’s statement of the destruction of the temple. Look at Mark 13:1-2, “As he was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Look, teacher, what massive stones, what magnificent buildings.’ ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down.'” Then the disciples came to Jesus in private. Fuller version’s in 24 Matthew. “‘Tell us,'” they said, in Matthew 24:3, “‘Tell us, when will this happen?’” Not one stone left on another, “‘And what would be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?'” It’s pretty clear that Jesus’s answer soars far above the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple, and go right to the end of the world. It’s very clear if you read Mark 13 and Matthew 24.  In this section of Mark 13, in verses 5-13, we have the nature of the ministry of the Word of God and the progress of the Word of God between the First and Second Comings.  That’s what unifies those verses, Mark  13: 5-13. The focal point is us being witnesses to Him by the power of the Spirit and the ongoing persecution that will happen as the gospel spreads. That’s been the story for 20 centuries. But then at verse 14, as we saw last week, there’s a decisive break in the narrative and an event that’s unique to people living in a certain place at a certain time.

When you see the “abomination of desolation”, and we talked about that last time, in a nutshell, it’s a two-fold answer, both the desecration of the Temple by Roman forces in the year AD 70, and I believe going out to the end of the world, the desecration of the Temple at the end of history by the Antichrist, are in view in this phrase.  Last week we walked through all that. We saw how God has four times allowed the Gentiles to trample on His holy place. We talked about what that holy place was, how we understand that. And we saw it in the time of Eli when he allowed the Ark of the Covenant to be captured by the Philistines. Again, when the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s temple, burned it to the ground. In 162 BC when the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes sacrificed pig’s blood in the temple that Haggai had rebuilt, desecrating it as predicted in Daniel 8 and Daniel 11. Then again in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed Herod’s temple four times.

But I also believe that it points ahead to that eschatological principle, “as it was so it will be”, to one last time, all of those being dress rehearsals for a final desecration. I believe that implies, based on 2 Thessalonians 2, a rebuilt temple, rebuilt by the Jews, in what I consider to be an open defiance of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The themes clearly articulated in the Book of Hebrews, the ending of the old covenant based on animal sacrifice and the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. All of that finished at the moment that Jesus died.  But an unbelieving Jewish nation with veils over their hearts and minds, unable to see in Jesus the consummation of the old covenant, and unbelieving, reestablishing the curtain in the Temple that was torn into from top to bottom, showing a motive and a movement toward temple sacrifice, which went on for another generation after Jesus’s death in defiance of His finished work.

Jesus’s counsel to His people, His lasting counsel, I didn’t even finish. I kind of did last week. I preached on a fragment of a verse: “When you see the abomination of desolation…” This sermon is the rest of it, but I said it last week, and it’s in the title of this sermon: Run For Your Lives.. What it openly says is, “When you see the abomination that causes desolation, standing where it does not belong, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” And it goes on from there. In other words, run for your lives.

I. The Desolation Leading to the Flight

Let’s talk about it. Let’s begin with the desolation that leads to the flight. It is the spiritual desolation of Israel, consummated in their rejection of the Son of God, the incarnate Son of God, and their murder of Him. Israel’s rejection of Jesus as their Messiah is the essence of their spiritual desolation. As Jesus says at the end of 23 Matthew 38-39, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again.”  It’s pretty simple. If you put that together, two and two together, “The essence of the desolation is you’re not going to see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'” In other words,  until you recognize me by faith, that I was the one sent by Almighty God as your Savior. So until you say that, you’ll be desolate, empty. Desolation means emptiness.

That spiritual desolation then leads to a physical desolation, a city of slaughter left with no inhabitants. Above that or behind all that is the demonic side, a satanic and a demonic side that we need to understand. It comes very clearly in the Book of Revelation, chapter 12. There is a dragon, clearly identified as Satan, that ancient serpent. This dragon is standing by the sea in Revelation 13, and he calls from the sea a beast, a clear connection with Daniel 7, where up out of the sea come a succession of four beasts that represent empires, represent human political governments, empires with military power, with economic power, et cetera. That’s Daniel 7.  We get the consummation of that in Revelation 13. It is the dragon, it is Satan that calls the beast from the sea.

Jesus spoke about demons. You know that Jesus drove demons out effortlessly, exorcism after exorcism. People were stunned. They were amazed at His power. Even the demons are subject. In his name, easily, Jesus sent out His disciples and gave them the power as well to drive out demons. The demons were on the run, but they didn’t cease existing, they didn’t cease hating. They were just pushed back for a time. Jesus warned that they’re going to come back.  He makes this very plain. In Matthew 12: 43-45, He says this, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and doesn’t find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.” Unoccupied sounds like desolate to me. Empty. Finds a house unoccupied, swept clean, put in order. “Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” AJV says famously, “The last shall be worse than the first.”  “That is how it’ll be with this generation.” I thought we were talking about a man and then we’re talking about a house. Now we’re talking about a whole generation. It’s the same, the same, the same. When the demon goes out, it’s going to come back. If the individual, if the nation is not filled with God, filled with the spirit of God, filled with light, the darkness is coming back. We’ve already said that the nation of the Jews is desolate, empty. Not believing in Jesus, it’s ready to be reinvaded by demons.

The image that I have here is of an individual in the deep woods of Alaska or Siberia or Canada, and a ravenous pack of wolves is chasing this individual. He’s been able to start a bonfire and push all the pack of wolves back, but he can see their eyes surrounding his campfire. They’re still out there in the darkness and they still want his blood. When that fire goes out, they’re going to come flooding back in, ravenous.

We Christians, we’re not secularists, materialists. We actually believe in a spiritual realm, and we believe that the events that happen with nations and with politics and with invasions has a demonic backing, though we cannot see it. I believe that it is demonic force that pushes the Romans in, and it’s going to be overtly a satanic, a demonic kingdom at the end of the world. “As it was, so it will be.” We get these dress rehearsals.  It says it twice in Luke, in Luke 17:26, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” And again, Luke 17:28-30, “As it was in the days of Lot, so it will be on the day when the Son of man is revealed.” “As it was, so it will be.” It’s a repeated principle, an eschatological interpretive principle. We get things happening again and again, dress rehearsals.  The overt statement of this is in 1 John 2, “You have heard that Antichrist is coming and even now many Antichrists have come.” Lots of dress rehearsals on that Antichrist theme. But there is one coming. So as it was in the days of the Roman desecration of Jerusalem, so it will be in the days before Christ returns. As it was in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes of Daniel 8 and Daniel, 11, so it will be in the days before Christ returns.

The destruction of the Jewish Temple in the city of Jerusalem in the year AD 70 by the Romans is a dress rehearsal for the end of the world, I believe. The signal to Jewish Christians living in Judea, Jewish Christians living there in Jerusalem, is you have to watch what’s happening in current events. When you see certain things, get out of the city, get out of that area, run for your lives. He says it openly in Luke  21: 20-22. It’s just as clear as anything. You don’t have to wonder about it. “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that this desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those in the city get out. Let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment and fulfillment of all that has been written.”

There’s a Jewish Christian Church in Jerusalem, the very ones that Paul raised money for and brought [in Romans 15] money back to Jerusalem and Judea, the Pentecost. Those were Jewish Christians that came to faith in Christ. They lived there. It was a Jewish church of Jesus Christ. Those people are living there, followers of Christ. He’s telling them what to do.

Let’s talk about what actually happened at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Josephus, a contemporary of those events, wrote a history, and we’re able to read that history and find out what happened. Rome was the dominant world power at that point. Judea at that time was ruled by Roman procurators, most of whom knew little or nothing about the Jewish religion, which resulted in continuous provocations to the Jewish people, continuous irritations to them concerning religious issues.  A group within the city of Jerusalem, within that area of Judea, called Zealots, were very active at that time, very patriotic about the Jewish heritage and about the promised land, et cetera. They wanted the Romans out, and they convinced the general population there to rise up against Rome and rebel.

There were three stages then to the Roman response and the conquest of Judea and Jerusalem in the 1st century AD. Stages one and two resulted in the Jews surviving and even winning marginal victories. That led to the Jews having a sense of being unconquerable by the Romans, a false sense of being unconquerable. But they weren’t. Shortly before Passover in April of the year 70, a powerful Roman general named Titus arrived at Jerusalem with legions, to finally put an end to the Jewish revolt and crush the insurrection. Titus encircled the city to prevent help from reaching the Jews and began this final stage, the very thing Jesus was talking about.

During this time, those who attempted to flee were either prevented from doing so, killed by the Jewish Zealous factions within the city, or captured by the Romans, tortured and crucified outside the city as a warning to those still inside the city. The Romans built an embankment, or rampart, around the city just as Jesus had foretold they would do. Titus’ soldiers breached the third outer wall of Jerusalem on May 25th of the year 70 and captured the newer portions of the city of Jerusalem.

By June, the siege had progressed into the second walled area and the Jewish people retreated behind that last wall that protected the city. The Fortress of Antonia was taken by Titus on July 22nd, followed by the Romans setting fires to the gates of the temple, against the desires of Titus, their commanding general. During the attack, a soldier threw a firebrand through a window into one of the Temple’s side chambers, followed by a second firebrand being thrown into the holy place, which set the whole sanctuary ablaze. All Jewish resistance in the city was quelled by September 26th in the year 70.

According to Josephus, 1.1 million Jews were killed during that campaign, a staggering number.  97,000 Jews were taken into captivity by the Romans. Over the next three years, the temple stones were dismantled entirely. Every stone involved in the Temple was leveled to the ground, which Josephus describes, saying, “It was so thoroughly laid even to the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation that there was nothing left to make those that came later believe there had ever been a building there.” That’s complete fulfillment of Jesus’s prophecy.

Caesar eventually gave orders to level everything else, with the exception of what we can still see today. Part of one of the external walls, not directly connected with the Temple but near it, was left to demonstrate what kind of city the Romans had defeated and as a display of Roman power. That is the famous Wailing Wall that Jews from all over the world go pray in front of, and many of them, I believe, are praying for a rebuilding of the temple.

Given those horrors that were coming, Jesus gave his people living in Judea a prophetic warning: when you see the indications, run for your lives. Mark 13 is Jesus’s warning for them to flee when they see the city surrounded by soldiers. There is no record at all in church history or by Josephus of Christians in Judea and what happened with them. We have no record. However, we have to imagine that many of the church did in fact heed Jesus’s warning and ran for their lives. When the time was right, they fled from Jerusalem. Now, that would have been the exact opposite of what many of the Jews would have been doing when they heard that the Roman legions were marching in. They’re going to run to the fortress for the preservation of their lives. That makes perfect sense. The Christians are running the opposite direction.

And as I said, the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70,  was just a dress rehearsal for the final desolations, the end of the world, because of their ongoing rejection of Jesus as the Christ, the spiritual desolation of Israel has continued in every generation since. Every generation there’s been a small remnant within that generation of Jewish people who believe in Jesus. The are called  Messianic Jews or Completed Jews, et cetera. In every generation, there’s been some, as predicted in Romans 11.  But the general population of Jewish people have not received Jesus as Lord and Savior, and so the desolation continues. The rebuilding of the Temple would be a consummation of that desolation. It’s a direct affront to God and to Jesus, saying, “You’re not the Messiah, your death means nothing. We want to reestablish the old covenant, animal sacrifices.” They yearn to obey the law of Moses. They are able, I believe, by reading the 70 weeks prophecy and other predictions in the Book of Daniel and other places, to rebuild the Temple. They’re able to get what they want. How that would be, with the Dome of the Rock and all that is hard to see. But it seems like the Antichrist, the ruler of the people who is to come, in Daniel 9:26, will, in Daniel 9:27, “Confirm a covenant with many for one seven,” a seven-year period. In the middle of the seven, three and a half years in, he’ll put an end to sacrifice and offering.  That implies sacrifice and offerings going on for the first half of that last seven-year period. “And on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” Those are the predictions that we look through, et cetera.

II. The Danger That Causes the Flight

Let’s talk about the danger that causes the flight. The basic concept is Christ’s people must run because we can’t handle the temptation of that moment.  Consistently in the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” You’re to avoid temptation. You’re not to show how powerful and strong you are by stepping right into the fire of temptation and resisting it. No. Run, get out of there. A very clear example in parallel of this is found the night that Jesus was arrested. In John 17,  Jesus prays to the Father concerning the Elect.  He said, “I have not lost any of all that you have given me.” He prays specifically that. As you read that in John 17, you know He’s not lost them spiritually. They still believe in Him, they still are trusting in Jesus. He’s not lost any of them, and He won’t. But then in John 18, as the detachment of 600 soldiers comes and they’re there to arrest Jesus, Jesus goes out and confronts them and asks them who they’ve come to arrest. He takes the initiative. “Who are you looking for?” “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus says, “I am.” And at that moment they draw back and fall to the ground. That’s His name, He’s God. And He says, “I am,” and they fall on the ground.  Again, Jesus asked them a second time, “Who are you looking for?” They pick themselves up off the ground and answer like robots: “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said, “I’ve told you that I am. If you’re looking for me, then let these men go,” speaking about His apostles. Then John comments, John 18: 9, “This happened so that the words that Jesus had spoken would be fulfilled. ‘I have not lost any of all that you have given me.'” Do you realize the significance of that? If they were arrested physically, they would have been lost spiritually. They weren’t ready to be tortured, they weren’t ready to die, they weren’t ready to be crucified, they weren’t ready. And they would’ve been lost. So Jesus makes a way of escape for them to get out. They all ran away at that moment, all of them, including Peter.  Jesus knows that there are some trials so great our faith can’t handle it.

“You’re to avoid temptation. You’re not to show how powerful and strong you are by stepping right into the fire of temptation and resisting it. No. Run, get out of there.”

Peter, in his arrogance that night, did a U-turn and followed at a distance. You saw what happened to him. Within a short amount of time, Satan had maneuvered it so that Peter denied ever even having heard of Jesus. That’s hours later. Don’t think you’re so mighty, so strong in your faith as so you can handle anything. Jesus says to His people, “Run for your lives. Run for your souls. Get out of there.” How much greater will the trial be when Antichrist is ruling the world through the direct power of Satan, and the secret police and the ones chasing are directly demonically instructed? Where are you going to hide? It’s a time of utter carnage, of martyrdom like has never been seen before. That’s what it’s going to be like. The beast of Revelation  13:1, it says, “The dragon stood on the shore of the sea and I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.” Revelation 13:2, “The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.”

We’ve seen in multiple places, the beast, the Antichrist, is able to do great signs and wonders. “To deceive,” Jesus says, “the elect, even the elect, if that were possible.” The Antichrist will rule the earth and conquer the saints physically. It says in Revelation 13: 5-8, “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for 42 months.” That’s three and a half years. “He opened his mouth to blaspheme God and to slander His name and His dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them.”

That’s exactly what’s taught in Daniel 7 as well. What does that mean? There’s going to be dead Christians, lots of believers, saints, slaughtered by the beast. He was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. That’s the one world government ruling every nation on earth, one guy. All the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast. That’s the consummation of wicked government, and it’s the consummation of wicked religion focused on this one person.  All the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast. All whose names have not been written in the Book of Life, belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world; so the non-elect. Basically then, one world government and one world religion at that point, far too powerful for any person to resist.

The  Antichrist’s specific enemies at that point are Jews and Christians. This deception leads to the final destruction, and so we must run. Revelation 14: 9-12 says, “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he too will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He’ll be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the lamb, and the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.'” Revelation 14:12, “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commands and remain faithful to Jesus.”  In other words, that’s a call to patiently endure that temptation.  The temptation is to receive the mark of the beast and worship him as God for the preservation of your life. Therefore Jesus says in verse 13, “He who stands firm to the end will be saved.” 

III. The Desperation That Characteristics the Flight

That’s the danger, the desperation that characterized the flight. We’ll look at the verses, verses 14-19, “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it would be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that this will not take place in the winter because those will be days of distress unequal from the beginning when God created the world until now and never to be equaled again.”

There’s a sense of immense urgency in these verses — do you get it? — as you read it, there’s a breathless pace here. No earthly possession’s worth your soul. You won’t have time — you think about the flat roofs back then — you wouldn’t have time to go down from that flat roof, down into the first floor of the house to get anything out. There’s not time for that.  Someone working out in the field doesn’t have time to go back and get a garment, a cloak. There’s not time for that. And it’s dreadful, says Jesus, for those who can’t run fast, pregnant women or nursing mothers. It’s all about running for your lives with murderous enemies nipping at your heels. Pray for an easement of circumstances. Pray that it won’t take place in the winter when it’s harder to run, or in the Sabbath, Matthew adds, because it would be harder to travel at that point.  Anything that would slow down the flight would be a detriment.  He says, unequal distress. Those would be days of distress, unequal from the beginning when God created the world until now, never to be equaled again. KJV, ESV, NSB all use the words “great tribulation.” That’s where you get the expression “the great tribulation”; it comes right from that verse.

IV. The Destination of the Flight

The destination of the flight, verse 14, “Then those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” The mountains, perhaps caves, crags, hiding places.  Luke 23:30, “Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us into the hills. Cover us.'” Looking for a hiding place from the forces of Antichrist, the forces of the desolator that sets up the abomination of desolation. Whether the Romans in 87 AD or Antichrist at the end of the world, looking for mountain hiding places in Judea.

You think about Masada, it was a mountainous area. The Jews held out for a number of years after the fall of Jerusalem, probably another two or three years. It’s very hard to get to, and so a place where you can hide. The purpose at that point, at the end of the world, is to wait for the Lord’s coming and to count the days.

V. The Duration of the Flight

What’s the duration of the flight? “If those days”, verse 20, “had not been…”, “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has shortened them.”  It’s a terrible time. You have to read the whole of the Scripture to understand how terrible it is. You have to read the Book of Revelation. You have to read the trumpet judgments in Revelation which has ecological disasters unlike anything that had ever been seen before. The trumpet judgments and then the bowl judgments. It’s going to be hard to live on planet Earth. A third of the drinking water, polluted. A third of the seas, polluted. A third of the living creatures, dead. Trees burned, grass burned. It’s an ecological horror show which leads, I think, to the one world government. That’s the cause of it, I believe.

It’s so bad, and the slaughter focused on believers in Jesus is so bad, and the martyrdom, the machine of martyrdom is so great, Jesus has to ask, “Will there be faith on Earth when He returns?” There have to be some believers left when He comes back. So the days are counted out, and He says, short. And if they continued on even a few more days or weeks, no one would be left.

That’s what I think brings, for me, the full understanding of the mystery in Revelation 11 and 12. From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. Because Revelation 12 is talking about the general resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, as it says in verse 2 and 3, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake,” [that’s the Second Coming]. “Some to everlasting life. Others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens and those who lead many to righteousness light their stars forever and ever.” It’s the end of the world.

Then the counting of the days, 1,290 days and 1,335 days, goes ahead. It’s not talking about Antiochus. It’s not talking even about the Romans. It’s talking about a general resurrection to heaven or hell and the end of the world in Daniel 12. At that time of the Antichrist, when God’s people are hiding in caves, trying to survive, demonically instructed and led Gestapo-type folks are searching them out to martyr them. In the midst of that, when they’re counting the days, Jesus returns for His bride. He returns to rescue her and protect her, so that there will be faith on earth when He returns.

Who are the Elect Jesus had in mind, “For the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened”? Elect are people chosen from Jews and Gentiles to believe in Him. I believe this is the consummation of the whole story of the Jewish nation. It’s the consummation of their salvation. It’s been a long journey, a long journey between Jesus and the sons and daughters of Abraham, the biological descendants. That consummation, I believe, is revealed in a mystery in Romans 11: 25-27,  “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brother, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn godlessness away from Jacob.” Those are incredibly important words. He’s going to drive godlessness, atheism, unbelief from the Jewish nation. What’s there instead? Faith in Christ, just in time. Again, Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and supplication. And they will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves her first-born son.”  This is directly quoted by the apostle John in the account of Jesus. “In his death, they will look on him whom they have pierced.” But they haven’t looked yet, have they? Not by faith. At the end, in Revelation 12:10, God is going to pour out a spirit of grace on them and they will look finally to Jesus and trust. Those are the people Jesus is coming back to rescue, among others.

VI. The Destiny Beyond the Flight

What is the destiny beyond the flight? Verses 24-27, “But in those days following that distress, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time, men will see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory, and He will send His angels and gather His elect, from the four winds from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.”  More next week, that’s the Second Coming.

VII. Application

This morning as I was thinking about application, I wrote out some, and at the top I wrote two words. “So what?” So what? Run for your life. The overwhelming majority, if not every single person sitting here, will probably not have to run for your life, unless you’re planning a move to Judea. If you’re going to go live in Judea, then you might want to pay more special attention to this injunction and run for your lives. But it would have to be at the time when the abomination of desolation is set up. So how do we take this to heart?

First of all, salvation is a fleeing. Salvation itself is a fleeing, but the fleeing of far greater terror than anything Satan or the Antichrist could ever orchestrate. John the Baptist said to his enemies, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” What’s the wrath to come? It’s Almighty God, the omnipotent God, pouring out His wrath on His enemies. Where are you going to hide from God?  It’s one thing to try to hide from Satan and from demonically instructed agents. How do you hide from an omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient God? There is a refuge, and that refuge is Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ is the refuge. That’s where you flee, but you got to do it now. You got to do it today. Today is the day of salvation. Now’s the time to flee the wrath to come.  When it comes, it will be too late. Therefore, look again to the cross of Christ. Understand what was really going on there. Look with eyes of faith and say, “The reason Jesus died on the cross is to forgive a sinner like me.” Repent of your sins, trust in Him and you’ll find forgiveness. He will be your refuge. As the Book of Proverbs says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run and are kept safe.” Run to Christ, flee to Him while there’s time.

“Salvation itself is a fleeing, but the fleeing of far greater terror than anything Satan or the Antichrist could ever orchestrate. …” What’s the wrath to come? It’s Almighty God, the omnipotent God, pouring out His wrath on His enemies.”

Second of all, understand where world history is going. We’re going to an orchestrated, planned out, scripted destination. Enough information has been given in the books of the Bible. So understand, we’re going somewhere. Understand, Revelation 13 says, “The beast from the sea will rule the whole earth.” So even if you don’t live in Judea, the same force that’s hunting our brothers and sisters down in that geographical region will be ruling the whole world., and he will hate your faith as much as he hates theirs.  The mark of the beast is worldwide, not just for Judea or those living in Jerusalem, and no elect person will ever receive it. Why not? Because we know what it is, and we know not to do it. The essence of it is that we will not bow our knee to a creature and worship that creature as God. We’re not going to worship and serve the Antichrist as God, which will make us his enemies.

Know where all this is heading. His government is going to rule the whole earth. It says in Revelation 3:10, “I will keep you from the hour of testing that’s going to come on the whole Earth.” It’s not just Judea, it’s coming all over the whole world. So understand, just understand where that’s going.

Third of all, you could say, “Why should I care what happens to those living in Judea and Jerusalem?” Because you’re part of the body of Christ, and it says in 1 Corinthians 12:26, “If one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers with it.”  We should care what happens to people who are being persecuted in other parts, even today, even now. The spirit of the Antichrist is at work now, whether the Antichrist is on Earth now. We are a unity, we as the body of Christ, we should care what happens to those that are being persecuted. Though it may not be that it will happen in your lifetime, it may well happen in your children’s lifetime. It may well happen in your grandchildren’s lifetime or your great-grandchildren’s lifetime.  Someone will be alive who needs to know this information in order to save their lives and their souls. Paul says, concerning these eschatological details in 2 Thessalonians 2,“Don’t you remember that when I was with you, I kept telling you these things?” Paul thought this was important enough to teach as part of his body of doctrine and part of body of teaching that he taught to the Thessalonians. I think it’s important for you all as well.

It is complicated, immerse yourself in it. Flee to Christ. I could do other things right now and say, “Flee temptations,” and all that. That would be a good preaching point, but it doesn’t line up with the eschatology we’re talking about today. But if you want to take that, good. Flee sin this week, that’s a good idea. But foundationally to eschatology, learn these facts. Teach them to your kids and grandkids. Let’s be ready.

Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the depths of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God as revealed in scripture. It is not easy to follow these things, not easy to understand. Father, I pray that you would please press to our hearts the truth that we’ve heard today. And even if it doesn’t directly apply to us so that we ourselves have to run for our lives physically in fulfillment of these words, help us to understand these words so that they have the right shaping effect on our theology, our understanding of history, our understanding of government, of Satan, of brothers and sisters in Christ, of the Jewish nation, of all of these themes that we’ve addressed. Thank you for Christ. Thank you that Jesus died to take the wrath of God so that we would not have to. It’s in His name we pray. Amen.

I can hardly imagine a more terrifying scenario than running for your life with some powerful and violent men chasing you… seeking to capture you… to bring you in… to interrogate you… to imprison you… to torture you… and perhaps ultimately to kill you

It is a scene that was played out again and again in the dark days of World War II;  Nazi troops would win battles and conquer territory;  on their heels would come the S.S. and the Gestapo, who would seek to weed out every Jew and every perceived threat to the Nazi state, including Christian leaders

Refugees would flee in the middle of the night… breathlessly waiting under bridges while their Nazi pursuers would travel over them, so close they could hear their conversations

Others fled by train using falsified travel permits… they had to endure the suspense of Gestapo agents moving systematically through the rail car, checking papers, asking questions

Others fled through mountain passes into Switzerland, avoiding the Nazi roadblocks only by scaling forbidding mountainsides and enduring freezing temperatures

Some hid among the baggage and crates on freight ships… their hearts beating wildly and beads of sweat forming on their brows as Nazi guards with German shepherds inspected the cargo holds where they were hiding and got closer and closer to their positions

All of these refugees were fleeing because of terror… fleeing the might of the most sinister and most powerful force for evil the world had ever seen

But all of these experiences of fleeing are as nothing compared to the days that are to come… the days when the Antichrist will be ruling the world and seeking to exterminate anyone who refuses to worship him

Brothers and sisters, I don’t know if that day will come in our lifetime… but we are required by Scripture to GET READY for what is coming

This is precisely why Jesus gave us this instruction to us in Mark 13… forewarned is forearmed

NOTE: I have carefully compared Mark 13:14-23 and Matthew 24:15-26. They are almost completely identical, with just a few simple differences. I will weave the two together where needed.

Context:

o   Jesus’ statement about the destruction of the Temple

Mark 13:1-2  As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”  2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

o   The disciples’ private question (fuller version in Matthew 24)

Matthew 24:3 “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

o   Mark 13 and Matthew 24: Jesus’ teaching on the end of the world

o   Mark 13:5-13 The nature of life between the first and second comings of Christ

o   Mark 13:14 The “abomination of desolation” (last week)

§  In a nutshell… two-fold answer… both the desecration of the temple by Roman soldiers in AD 70 and the final desecration of the temple at the end of history by the Antichrist are in view in this phrase

§  Last week: we saw how God has four times allowed Gentiles to trample on His holy place—in the time of Eli, when the ark was captured by the Philistines; when the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s temple; in 162 BC, when the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes sacrificed pig’s blood in the Temple that Haggai had built; then in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed Herod’s Temple

§  I believe this points to a final act of the same drama… “As it was… so it will be”

§  The Jews will rebuild the temple in defiance of the finished work of Christ on the cross; the Antichrist will desecrate the temple one final time, and Jesus Christ will return

Today: Jesus’ prophetic counsel:

Mark 13:14  “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong– let the reader understand– then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

In other words, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

I. The Desolation Leading to the Flight
A. The Spiritual Desolation of Israel:  Rejection of Christ

1. Israel’s rejection of Jesus as their Messiah is the essence of their desolation

Matthew 23:38-39  Behold, your house is left to you desolate.  39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'”

2. Spiritual desolation leads to physical desolation… a city of slaughter, left with no inhabitants

3. The demonic side: Jesus predicted that, because Israel had rejected Him, when He left to return to His Father’s throne, the demons he had cast out would return with a vengeance

Matthew 12:43-45  “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.  44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.  45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Notice:  this “wicked generation”… He was speaking of the whole nation of Israel… the demonic powers that Jesus banished from Israel would come flooding back with a vengeance… part of that vengeance would be the total destruction of Jerusalem

Picture a scenario in which a ravenous pack of wolves is surrounding a man in the woods… it’s nighttime; he has built a roaring fire, the wolves are afraid of the fire, but still intent on devouring the man. He can see their eyes glowing in the dark, surrounding him, licking their chops. That’s what the demons were like when Jesus was driving them out… they were waiting to rush back in like a flood. The Roman invasion represents that in the physical realm.

B. “As it was, so it will be…”

1. Twin statement in Luke

Luke 17:26  as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

Luke 17:28-30  as it was in the days of Lot… so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

2. Dress rehearsals… history repeats itself

3. As it was in the days of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, so it will be in the days before Christ returns

4. AND as it was in the days of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (of Daniel 8 and Daniel 11), so it will be in the days before Christ returns

C. A.D. 70 a Dress Rehearsal for Final Desolation

1. The signal to Christian Jews: get out of Jerusalem

Luke 21:20-22  “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.  21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city.  22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written.

2. Josephus:  The horrors of the destruction of Jerusalem

Rome was the dominant world power. Judea, at this time was ruled by Roman procurators most of whom knew little or nothing about the Jewish religion which resulted in continuous irritations to the Jews from the Romans. A group within the city of Jerusalem known as the Zealots were active at this time. The Zealots convinced the Jews living in Jerusalem to rebel against Rome.

There were three stages to the Roman conquest of Judea and Jerusalem in the first century AD… stages one and two resulted in the Jews surviving and even winning marginal victories. This led to the Jews having a false sense of being unconquerable. They weren’t.

Shortly before Passover in April, AD 70, a powerful Roman general named Titus arrived at Jerusalem with his legions to finally put an end to the Jewish revolt and crush the insurrection. Titus encircled the city to prevent help from reaching the Jews and began his final siege. During this time those who attempted to flee were either prevented from doing so, killed by the Jewish factions inside the city, or captured by the Romans, tortured and crucified by the city wall so that all could see. An embankment or rampart was constructed just as Jesus had foretold in Luke 19:43-44.

Titus’ soldiers breached the third (outer) wall of Jerusalem on May 25th and captured the newer portion of the city. By June the siege had progressed into the second wall area and the Jewish people retreated behind that last wall that protected the city. The Fortress of Antonia was taken by Titus on July 22nd followed by the Romans setting fire to the gates of the temple. Against the desires of Titus, during the attack a soldier threw a firebrand through a window into one of the temple side chambers followed by a second firebrand being thrown into the Holy Place which set the sanctuary ablaze. All Jewish resistance had been quelled in the city by September 26, AD 70

According to Josephus, 1.1 million Jews were killed in the attack on the city and 97,000 were taken into captivity. Over the next three years the temple stones were dismantled and leveled to the ground which Josephus describes saying, “it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was nothing to make those that came there believe it had ever been inhabited.” Caesar eventually gave orders to level everything with the exception of what we can still see today. Part of the wall was left standing to provide a camp for the soldiers and other parts to demonstrate to the world what kind of city it had been that the Roman valor had subdued. That is the famous “wailing wall” of Jerusalem… one of the holiest sites in the world for Jews.

GIVEN THESE HORRORS THAT WERE COMING….

3. Jesus’ prophetic command: run for your lives!

a. Jesus knew that some of His precious people, His church, would be in Jerusalem at that time

b. In Mark 13, he is warning them to flee for their lives when they see the city surrounded by soldiers

c. There is no record of the Christian church of that time and how they fared during this onslaught by the mighty Roman empire

d. However, we have to imagine that the church HEEDED this warning when the time was right and fled FROM Jerusalem when most other Jews would have been fleeing INTO the walled fortress of Jerusalem for protection

4. The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was just a dress rehearsal for the final desolation

D. The End of the World:  The Final Desolation

1. Because of their ongoing rejection of Jesus as the Christ, the spiritual desolation of Israel continues to the final generation

2. The Rebuilding of the Temple: evidence of this desolation

a. They reject the work of Christ on the cross

b. Yearn to obey the Law of Moses, including animal sacrifice

c. They rebuild the temple… with the permission of the Antichrist according to Daniel 9 and 11

3. The Antichrist’s Final Desolation

Daniel 9:27  He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

II. The Danger that Causes the Flight
A. Basic Concept:  We Must Run Because We Can’t Handle the Temptation

1. Consistent biblical precept:  flee temptation

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

B. Key Parallel:  The Night Jesus was Arrested

1. Physical danger could have resulted in the loss of their faith

John 18:8-9  Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.”  9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

2. Christ made a way of escape

3. Christ did not LOSE them spiritually because He did not LOSE them physically to a trial greater than they could bear

Jesus knows there are some physical trials that are too difficult for us to face spiritually… there are temptations too great for us to bear

Peter, in his arrogance, followed Jesus at a distance, thinking he could handle whatever was coming his way… before the evening was done, he had denied Jesus three times.

How much greater will the trial be when the Antichrist is in his glory… setting himself up as god in the flesh, desecrating the temple, doing signs and wonders, accepting worship from people all over the world!

C. Antichrist:  Indwelt and Empowered by Satan

1. The “Beast” of Revelation 13

Revelation 13:1  And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.

2. Given direct power by Satan himself

Revelation 13:2  The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

3. Able to do great signs and wonders

Matthew 24:24  For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect– if that were possible.

4. Antichrist will rule the earth and conquer the saints

Revelation 13:5-8  The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.  6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.  7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.  8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast– all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

5. Far too powerful for any person to resist

D. Antichrist’s Specific Enemies:  Jews and Christians

E. Deception Leads to Eternal Destruction… so We Must RUN!!!

Revelation 14:9-12  A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand,  10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.  11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.”  12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

Or as Jesus said in Mark 13:

Mark 13:13  … he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

III. The Desperation that Characterizes the Flight
Mark 13:14-19  let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  15 Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out.  16 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.  17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!  18 Pray that this will not take place in winter,  19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now– and never to be equaled again.

A. Immense Urgency… Breathless Pace

B. No Earthly Possession Worth Your Souls

1. There isn’t even time to go down from the flat roof to get anything out of the house

2. So also, someone working in the field won’t even have time to go get a cloak

C. Dreadful for those Who Can’t Run Fast… pregnant women or nursing mothers… it’s all about running for your lives

D. Pray for an Easement of the Circumstances

1. Jesus counsels that His people pray for some easement of the circumstances of their flight

2. That it wouldn’t take place in the winter (or on the Sabbath, Matthew adds)

3. Anything that would SLOW DOWN the flight is a detriment

E. Unequalled Distress… and Thankfully Unrepeated

Mark 13:19 those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now– and never to be equaled again

The “GREAT TRIBULATION”… (KJV, ESV, NASB)

IV. The Destination of the Flight
Mark 13:14 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

A. The Mountains… Perhaps the Caves and Crags and Hiding Places

Luke 23:30  Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”‘

1. Looking for a hiding place from the forces of the Romans in AD 70 and from the Antichrist at the end of the world

2. The mountains of Judea will be the place for the people in that region to hide when the time comes… mountainous Masada fell three years after Jerusalem

B. The Purpose: To Wait Upon the Lord and Count the Days

V. The Duration of the Flight
A. The Shortening of those Days

Mark 13:20  If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.

B. The Counting of the Days

1. The trial of that time will be so extreme that life itself will be hanging in the balance

2. Jesus says those days have already been counted, weighed and measured out by the Lord himself

3. If those days had been any longer, no one would have survived

C. Full Understanding of Daniel 12?

Daniel 12:11-12  “From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.  12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.

Many commentators have given their conjecture on the mysterious 1290 days and 1335 days of Daniel 12:11. My thoughts are that, since Daniel 7 refers to the second coming of Christ, and Daniel 12:2-3 speaks of the general resurrection from the dead of both the righteous and the wicked, and the fact that the righteous will shine refers to the end of the world:

Daniel 12:2-3 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.  3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

… it could very well be that the 1290 days and the 1335 days refer to the very end of the world… the time of the Antichrist, when God’s people will be in caves and hiding places counting the days until Christ returns

Daniel was told to seal up the words of his prophecy because it was for a future generation.

At some point, Jesus will say “Let the reader understand” and all uncertainty about Daniel’s prophecy will disappear

D. Who are the Elect Christ had in mind?

1. Jesus said:

… for the sake of the ELECT, those days will be shortened

2. WHAT elect?  Could it be that at last, the Jews who still survived will turn to Christ and trust in Him

a. God has chosen that final generation to turn to Christ & trust in Him

b. Their trust in the animal sacrifices has at last been shattered by the Antichrist

c. Perhaps this is the exact time when they will finally hear the gospel with faith

Romans 11:25-27   I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.  26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.  27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

Zechariah 12:10  “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

VI. The Destiny Beyond the Flight
Mark 13:24-27  “But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;  25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’  26 “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.  27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

More next week

VII. Applications
A. Come to Christ!

1. These dreadful days are coming, and nothing that earth has ever seen will compare with them

2. However, nothing on earth will compare with the horrors of hell

3. Flee the wrath to come!!!

4. Flee to Christ crucified!!

5. Christ is coming back to destroy the antichrist and establish His own Kingdom

6. We either enter that Kingdom NOW by faith, or we will never enter it at all

B. Flee Temptations

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

1. Christ makes a “way of escape” for us

1 Corinthians 10:13  No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

2. Learn to avoid tempting situations

C. Study the End Times

Matthew 24:24-25  For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect– if that were possible.  25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

Why did Christ tell us ahead of time except that He wanted us to KNOW these things… so the elect would NOT be deceived

1. Concerning the Book of Daniel, Jesus said, Let the reader understand

2. For Christians who do NOT live in the final generation (how can we ever know that for sure until we die), we are challenged to study the Book of Daniel and all the issues of the end of the world

3. Full understanding is on a NEED TO KNOW basis

Daniel 12:4 But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.

Daniel 12:8-10  I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”  9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.  10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.

4. For the final generation, Jesus will enlighten those who need to know

Luke 24:45  Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

D. Prepare Your Children for the Coming of the Antichrist

1 John 2:18  Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.

2 Thessalonians 2:5  Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?

The Apostle Paul “KEPT telling them” about the coming of the Antichrist… he mentioned it many times

No, this was not the most important issue of theology…

1 Corinthians 15:3-4  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

BUT just because the Antichrist is not the MOST IMPORTANT topic of theology doesn’t mean we should never teach on it

Prepare your children to be the final generation

E. Know Your God

1. The only remedy to the power and temptation of the Antichrist is to KNOW YOUR GOD

Daniel 11:32  With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.

2. The more you can know God through Bible reading, prayer, and courageous obedience, the more able you will be to stand firm to the end