Someone online is asking this question on another popular Question & Answer website. I would like to try to answer it for him or her.
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Jesus was God. Daniel 8:19: "And he said, 'Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.'" Observe carefully two "ends" are in view here: 1. Historically, the end of the third, or Grecian empire of Alexander out of the divisions of which the little horn of verse 9, (in this chapter, Antiochus) arose. 2. Prophetically, the end of the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24; Revelation 16:14), when the ''little horn" of Daniel 7:8, 24 - 26, the Beast, will arise -- Daniel's final time of the end. See Daniel 12:4: "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Notice the future tense of the words. This is what my Bible says, Authorized King James Version. I believe that Jesus had to face the crucifixion in order to save all willing before the end of the age. He knew that the way had to be opened for the gentiles to be included in God's (Jesus') plan.
We need to remember whenever we read that GOD is always viewing us from the perspective of 'eternity' which is a perspective that has no 'time,' (past, present, or future). When GOD speaks of 'beginnings' or 'endings' He is describing 'ages' (Biblical Greek: 'aion'), which are 'event flows' that start, create patterns, and then cease. GOD describes it all like a 'Garden' with seeds that developed into shoots, then trees, then forests full of trees, unless GOD specifically puts a stop to the pattern before it fully develops. Our entire experience here is part of an 'age' whose beginning is described in the first verse of Genesis. We are briefly introduced to the end results of a previous 'age' without further descriptions. By the New Testament we are being given descriptions of a coming 'age,' including how different 'humans' will be then. In that context, we should understand that your question involves a 'pattern' called the 'antichrist' pattern. It is only called this now because of New Testament descriptions of it, but those are the 'trees and forests.' In the Old Testament we see the 'seeds and shoots.' The 'pattern' actually began with Cain, the son of Adam, (the first human), who killed his brother Abel and became the first human murderer in history. You will see familiar things in descriptions of Cain like his famous 'mark' which you find much later in New Testament descriptions of 'antichrist.' In between, this same pattern gave rise to a pagan king named Antiochus Epiphanes who proclaimed himself 'supreme god' and profaned the Temple of Yahweh, setting off a Jewish revolt and an eventual cleansing of his idolatrous system of worship still celebrated by devout Jews to this day. This was an 'abomination' to GOD but His people still managed to cleanse it. The 'pattern' recurred again under the Romans, resulting in another profaning of the Temple and another Jewish revolt, only this time it also caused a great 'desolation' to occur in 70 A.D. that resulted in the complete destruction of the Temple. The famous 'Wailing Wall' is all that remains of it to this day. From GOD's perspective, this is all one unfolding manifestation that isn't done yet. The 'abomination of desolation' will have one final recurrence before the pattern is permanently cut off. However, where is the 'Temple' needed for this pattern to recur? Also, if the last pattern was the 'trees' what does the 'whole forest' look like? It must be quite 'supersized.' Scripture has our answer: "Do you not know that you are a Temple sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). GOD destroyed and did not rebuild the Jerusalem Temple because WE His Church are now that Temple. The next 'antichrist pattern' and 'abomination' will threaten us and our Lord will come to our direct rescue. What is it, exactly? Now at the consummation of the pattern we get to see what the 'abomination of desolation' REALLY is. The words literally mean, 'lawlessness of sterilization.' To become 'desolate' was to be sterile and unable to produce any children or continue a legacy. The Philistines once raided and sacked the Tabernacle and they became filled with tumors and sterile. They returned Yahweh's holy ark and priestly implements, (an earlier recurrence of this same pattern). What is currently threatening the holy Church and the rest of the world's population with total sterility and lawlessness? Nuclear weapons. Nothing could describe 'radioactivity' better than 'sterilizing lawlessness.' Evil trapped us inside of an inescapable arms race that 'forced' us to produce this abomination and now no 'human' has the resolution to the pattern...except for one Man. Jesus Christ. "...that lawless one will be revealed—whom the Lord Jesus WILL SLAY WITH THE BREATH OF HIS MOUTH and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:8). GOD Himself must end this evil and ancient 'pattern,' personally.
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