2007-02-17 - Daniel

Chapter 11: Part 7 ~ Installment 90

Editor's Note: Last week, I inadvertently sent an installment of this series, out of sequence. I apologize. We've had a very ill family member, and I've been distracted in recent weeks. Thanks for understanding.

Sometimes it seems difficult to draw an application from a specific passage. Leupold states in his book under the Homiletical suggestions section,

"This chapter might be treated in Bible classes. We do not see how it could be used for a sermon or for sermons." ₄

We have observed that Antichrist exhibits no respect for anyone other than himself. He is in direct opposition to the Lord. His bottom line is self-deification, or as Hocking puts it, "selfism." Not only will he want to be the center of his own world, but he will want to be the center of all mankind's. This was what brought down Satan.

"Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "In the pride of your heart you say, 'I am a God; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.' But you are a man and not a God, though you think you are as wise as a God."'" (Ezekiel 28:2).

... and this is what will bring him down.

We can certainly see thatthe world is being prepared for the coming of this individual, not just by the willingness to accept anyone who appears to be able to bring some kind of peace - peace at any price - but by an ever-growing acceptance of the selfism kind of philosophy. Most of the cults seem to teach, one way or another, that you can become your own god.

All over the world, the focus is moving to man as being considered the center of the universe, in the belief that man can accomplish anything. This is why people react so strongly to earthquakes, because, as in other natural catastrophes, they see that there are situations in which they are totally helpless. It seems as though even here, where God is mentioned, it isn't in a positive way. After all, according to insurance companies, disasters are "acts of God,."

So according to current thinking, we must become gods. And so the ultimate "human being," the Antichrist, will certainly be accepted as the proof of the death of the Gods.

This is why the Gospel message is so offensive to the world at large. It places man in the proper place, as a creature of God - and a fallen one at that. Instead of being the center of the universe, man is totally unable to do anything for himself, and has to depend on the mercy of God in order to have any hope.

⁴ Leupold, H. C., Exposition of Daniel, Baker Book House, 1969, p. 525.

To be continued.

Comments or Questions?
Geoff

GKragen@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org

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