A layman's commentary on Matthew 24 verse 15. The Abomination of Desolations.

 The NASB entitles this next section,

The Abomination of Desolation.

As a standalone statement, this makes no sense to me, and thus, we begin a deep dive into Matthew 24:15 and beyond.

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso reads, let him understand:).” 

Matthew 24:15 KJV 

When I was young, one of the first Bibles I received was the King James; in time, I became more accustomed to it and would mentally change the “these and thous” to those and you. The KJV has many known issues, as do all the translations or transliteration, so pick a translation you feel comfortable with, and don’t be afraid to integrate other versions into your Bible study time. As you will see below, I used the New Living Translation. This particular version was the project of a father who wanted something simplistic that his children could understand. The NLT has been updated to a modern version of English, so tread lightly.

If something should concern you, it should be this statement, 

“The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about.” 

I say this in this manner because you need further explanation to know if it applies to you. Since the church must be extracted from Earth before the antichrist can be revealed - We can find evidence for this in at least two places. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and 7,8. 

2 Thessalonians 2:3 is one of those places that have issues. The terminology was changed in the 1500s, from departure to apostasy, principally to appease the State church – the Catholic church. They did this because people were leaving the Catholic church and migrating to Protestantism; then it applies to those who will become the tribulation saints - Saints are all those who come to a personal acceptance and knowledge of Jesus Christ; however, there are many who think they are part of the church that will be caught up but they will not. Paul said they were not of us. So, after the rapture, many will come to Jesus and lose their heads for their faith, witness, and testimony. These, too, are called saints. In other words, they must die for their testimony and witness. Let’s stop here for a moment and then move on. 

What did Daniel understand and, therefore, speak about? 

Taken as a Jewish captive to Babylon, Daniel advanced relatively quickly within the Babylonian empire. Assuming that Daniel had hopes and dreams, many of those dreams may have been around the idea of what God would do with his life. Daniel may not have known, but God was about to use him to deliver a message that Daniel may never understand or experience, as many of these events were for the time, over two thousand years later, a time that concerns us. 

“Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I (Daniel) said, "My lord, what shall be the end of these things?" And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” 

Daniel 12:8-10 NKJV

In the second chapter of Daniel, we see a young Daniel appealing for the lives of himself and three other Hebrews who were brought into captivity with him. Daniel not only tells Nebuchadnezzar his dream but interprets the dream (up to a point) for the king. You will see the details of that dream in Daniel chapter two. 

Dake’s Bible notes/commentary indicates that “The time of the vision was at the end of the reign of Belshazzar which corresponds to the time of the handwriting on the wall of Dan_5:1-31, for he only reigned a little more than two years.” 

“Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” 

Daniel 8:13 KJV

What Daniel saw explained the transgression of desolation as the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot, and it gave the time frame.

“He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.” 

Daniel 8:14 NAS95

So, the temple will be held in abhorrence for three and one-half years.

The Dake’s Bible notes indicate that it is at the end of the 2,300 evenings and mornings (3 years, 2 months, and 10 days; Dan_8:11-13, Dan_8:26) that the sanctuary shall be cleansed of the abomination of desolation.

If you don’t know, the sanctuary is the final temple to be built. The host is the Jewish people in Israel.

The generalized idea is that the antichrist plays a massive role in the destruction of Israel and the temple, but that may not be correct.

“The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 

Matthew 24:15 NLT

Even though we can know through scripture that the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot are a part of the transgression of desolation, there is one more thing, and that is the desolation of the temple, and that is the unholy/unclean object that is either placed on the altar, or it is standing there in the holy place.

Abomination is the Greek word bdelugma and is defined by the following sources: 

• Strong's From G948 indicates a detestation, that is, (specifically) idolatry: - abomination; 

• The Word Study Dictionary suggests that this means to turn away through loathing, disgust, or abhorrence. Abomination: 

• Thayer's definitions tell us that this means a foul thing, a detestable thing, of idols and things pertaining to idolatry. Thayer's, as you can see, uses the word detestable. I suspect that this is an offshoot of the phrase detestation, which has synonyms like this: abhorrence, loathing, odium, hatred, and disgust.

The Word Study Dictionary defines desolate as the act or the process of making desolate.

If you let your mind ponder the possibilities of what this might be, all you do is remind yourself how suddenly we have had artificial intelligence thrust upon us. 

Elon Musk's scientists have successfully installed the Neuro-Link device in a volunteer's head, and now that person can control a computer mouse merely by thought. In previous posts, I have alluded to the Mr. Lincoln exhibit that may still be there in Disneyland; if you have gone on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, there is an overload of animatronics. And, even though it has been explained multiple times, I am still mesmerized by the head in the crystal ball or the tiny little woman who thanked you for coming at the end of the Haunted Mansion ride. The attraction is filled with holograms that look so real that you may struggle to maintain a focus on reality.

We are told that “He” will make an image of the beast, cause it to speak, and everyone – though perhaps regionally, will be forced to accept this image as god, give their allegiance to it, and worship it. So when we talk about an image, are we talking about one that exhibits the face of the antichrist, as he is referred to as the beast, or are we talking about an image of Allah, the false god followed and worshiped by Islam, that should be interesting merely because Allah is a demon – a fallen angel representing himself as something to be worshiped; and never been seen.

For those who want to fight about what I just said by saying, no one has effectively seen Christ in about two thousand years. Well, that is true, but Jesus said that when you have seen Me, you have seen the Father, and we know the Father through His word, and yet we love Him. And then, there are those from the Middle East, and Jesus has appeared to them in their dreams. How odd they recognized Him. Perhaps He demonstrates the scars that helped bring about His death, or maybe He tells them, convincingly, who He is; I don’t know the answer. Most will tell how they just knew.

Now, will the antichrist place the detestable thing there, or is this the job of the mouthpiece of the antichrist, the false prophet?

As Daniel sought answers to this vision of the abomination, he apparently heard two angels talking about this very thing.

“Then I heard a certain holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, "How long shall the vision last, concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression that causes desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?”

Daniel 8:13 AFV

Sometime later, Daniel got this piece of information.

“And forces from him will stand up on his part, and they will profane the sanctuary, even the stronghold, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.” 

Daniel 11:31 AFV

The reference to “him” is the antichrist; the fact that he has forces would mean that he has control of a military force. Never does it say these are not Islamic forces, so don't close the door to that idea. 

According to Webster, profane is the act of violating sacred things or treating them with contempt or irreverence. 

In the “civilized” world, an army would refrain from doing something like this. The problem with such naive thinking is that we (Americans) have moved down the bar a few rungs and have done horrid things to churches. So, there will be a purposeful violation of the sacred things in the temple. This sounds more like Islam as we progress. As evidence for my argument, consider the horrors that transpired on October 7th as Hamas attacked Israel and its citizens that day.

The AFV translation uses the term stronghold, but others consider it a fortress or a part of the temple/sanctuary. We may be talking about Israel's defense forces and their bases. Missiles fired from Lebanon seem, for the most part, to be aimed at military posts, making this a reference to end times events.

Forces, on behalf of the antichrist, will “take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.” So, it seems inevitable that we put the blame on the antichrist for the abomination. 

I have heard the whining about how some will not accept anything extra-biblical, and yet we do it all the time, and many have been living most of their lives by un-biblical information, so spare me. 

With that being said, Islam has its own set of demonic prophecies, and they understand that a man of the lineage of Aaron will be the final priest in the last temple. This man will flop, give his allegiance to the Mahdi, the antichrist, and will set up this detestable thing in the temple. He will become the enforcer of Sharia law. And will enforce the worship of Allah and the beast – the antichrist, by beheading those who choose to ignore his demands. 

It is no wonder God comes crashing down upon these two when Jesus returns to rule for a thousand years. 

He will force the world to take the mark.

 Considering how peculiar this “beast” is, what kind of image would you make for it?

Perhaps you could make a portrait of it and focus on the “eyes”; since scripture tells us that “it” is given a mouth, then maybe that is a good starting place.

There is a problem, as I recall, and that is that Islam detests all expressions of art. Evidence for this could be seen as the United States, under the direction of “President” Biden, tucked its tail and abandoned Afghanistan and many of the people who had allied with us. The Taliban swooped in, or maybe they were already there, waiting for their opportunity to emerge. Well, emerge they did, and one of the first things they did was to destroy music schools, crush musical instruments, and beat the youths that were there to learn.

Did you actually believe that they would allow expressions of art, a symbol of American influence and freedom, to flourish?

Not a chance; and so I do not see how they would be thrilled with this “Jewish high priest” making an image and commanding everyone to worship it; but then there are those miracles that the false prophet, or as the Muslims will call him – Jesus, performing the same miracles that the two witnesses performed.

Everyone who is still alive (I say this because there has been a prolific and deadly onslaught against people, in addition to the outpouring of God's wrath from above. It would probably be safe to say that half the population could be dead by this time.) and aware of what has been going on would know that you can't do things like the false prophet has done unless you are empowered (Ah, but by what?). To the Muslims, it will seem as if this “high priest” turned Muslim is empowered by Allah.

Not so clear, is it?

Whatever this convert to Islam decides Allah should look like, he will make an image of it and will demand that all the inhabitants of earth worship this thing that now talks.

Let's assume that many of you have never been to Disneyland. There, they have a place called the Haunted Mansion. As you walk to the “doom buggy” that will take you through the attraction, paintings follow you with their eyes. In a short distance, you come into a room with a ladies head in a glass ball, and she talks eerily to the audience; tombstone heads come alive, sort of, and sing; graves open and characters sing to you; and, there is a grand ballroom where ghostly characters dance in a classical style to some organ music. Every time I go through it, I try to figure out how they did that. It's really not much different from an illusionist's act, where misdirection keeps you from seeing the apparatus that makes it all work.

He will force the entire world to take the mark and worship the beast.

Back in 2017, I could see how Islam might have dominion over the Middle East, but you would never be able to enforce this nonsense over a Modern nation.

But what have we seen in the last couple of years?

I used to think that it would be impossible to effectively force the world to worship a man or an image and take some form of a mark, but the years 2020 through 2022 have demonstrated that most of the population can be herded like sheep and made to believe that they have to comply with the demands of some cackling governing body, and inject multiple versions of some poison into their bodies without question.

We also experienced an Islamic invasion, first in the European nations, and then President Barack Obama (he was the President in 2017 when I wrote this) took multitudes of them into this nation. Thousands of people, many of whom we know, were interspersed among veteran Jihad fighters, and this invasion is a form of Jihad/warfare. Combine that with Islam's gradual and intentional infiltration of our governing bodies, like school boards and congress (another form of Jihad), where they are making quiet inroads into establishing Sharia law as the law of the land (consider Detroit, Michigan, and a few others). Once they establish a strong foothold, they will, under Sharia law, give themselves free rein to slaughter outsiders – infidels; and it will be the unified call from the Mosques that directs them.

Assuming that the rapture has happened, what has been going on in Jerusalem?

God sends his two witnesses.

Let me point something out that most do not catch.

“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days, some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.” (Revelation 11:3-12 ESV)

There is speculation on who they are, but is it important that we know that?

What is important is what they do, what they say, and when they get here. I happen to believe they show up right after the rapture, and here is the significant reason – they stop the rain.

Why is that a big deal?

Because this second beast, the false prophet, causes the rain to come back again, and that buys him notoriety. They also perform signs, and the false prophet mimics those also.

So what do the two witnesses do?

• The first and most important thing they do is, as Revelation 11:3 tells us, “they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days."

  Look up the word prophesy in your concordance, and you will find the Greek word prophēteuō; it means to foretell events, or as the Word Study Dictionary conveys, it means “to declare truths through the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit.” If you are NOT a follower of Jesus Christ, this probably means nothing to you. I am, therefore, I can see these two telling the Jews directly and subsequently, thanks to the 24-hour news, the whole world that Jesus is coming and His return is attached, now, to a clear and definite timeline.

  Nobody is telling them the ABCs of salvation. The message is to align yourself with Jesus and NOT the antichrist. Followers of Christ, during this time, will be martyred; that may look like an Islamic sword coming down upon your neck, but there are guillotines and the brutality of other humans who will hate you.

• “if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes.”

  No doubt that is impressive, but there is more.

• “They have the power to shut the sky so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying.”

  Ah, there is that no rain thing. Not quite as impressive as the fire, but the economic aspects are devastating to an agrarian society.

• “ they have power over the waters to turn them into blood.”

  Oh, this sounds familiar, as Moses turned Egypt's waters to blood.

• “ and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they desire”

  Every kind of plague?

  Moses and Aaron hit Egypt with a number of plagues, including one in which their firstborn would die. This terminology, “as often as they desire,” also sounds like God is giving them free rein to follow their emotions. I am sure that many will try to tell me no, but those last five words are telling.

Remember that I said that prophecy to the Jew is a pattern.

How many patterns do you think the Jewish readers are seeing?

In the days of Abram, God struck Pharaoh with plagues.

“But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.” (Genesis 12:17 NASB)

What happened immediately after Moses brought each plague upon Egypt?

In Exodus chapter eight, God struck the Egyptians repeatedly with plagues until Pharaoh finally let God's people go. The bizarre part of this story is that the sorcerers in Pharaoh's court replicated what Moses and Aaron did.

So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the LORD had commanded, and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. For each one threw down his staff, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. (Exodus 7:10-12 NASB)

Sorcerers - the Hebrew word is kâshaph and means those who practice or use witchcraft or sorcery. The Word Study Dictionary tells us that it is a verb meaning to practice magic, to practice sorcery. While the exact meaning of the word is obscure, it involved the use of supernatural powers that hardened hearts against the truth (And that is exactly what you see happening when you read this story.)

Magician is the Hebrew word ḥarṭōm. The Word Study Dictionary states that it is a masculine noun meaning engraver, a writer associated with the occult. (Perhaps this might be easier to grasp if you think about Ouija boards. These things are eerily associated with the occult.) These people seem to have had knowledge of astrology or divination and were commonly associated with the magicians of Egypt in Pharaoh's court. (Keep in mind that) Pharaoh could not find any magicians to interpret his dream, so he called Joseph (Gen_41:24). Moses caused plagues to come upon Egypt, which the magicians could not reverse (Exo_9:11). (Emphasis mine.)

The false prophet will follow the two witnesses to the stage (so to speak), just as Pharaoh's sorcerers followed Moses. It only makes sense that he repeats what the two witnesses just did. Odd, but it occurs to me that while many will stand in awe of the two witnesses and their message, others will see it as a circus sideshow; they will not perceive that these two are legitimate and from God, and that is why they are doing these signs (which, are an aspect of God's wrath and mercy.) It is these signs and the trustworthiness that got this man the position as high priest, to begin with, and it is those very signs that promote the deception that will convince many of Israel's religious elite.

• It (the false prophet) performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people.

• and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on the earth, 

Nonetheless, it is Pattern!

If I have lost you and you don't know where these bullet points came from, let me remind you. Revelation 13:13. I strongly suggest that you reread Revelation 13, starting from verse 11, as it tells us that the false prophet is the guy who makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast.

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But let me show you how verse 12 ends in the NASB.

“whose fatal wound was healed.”

We have well-known Bible teachers who should know better, trying to tell you that a “world” leader will take a bullet to the head, die, and rise again. If you have bought into that fairy tale, then you are scoffing at me now. But let me show you something.

“And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; ...”
(Revelation 13:2-3 NASB)

• The beast is not a singular entity but a multi-headed monster. While many will attribute this to the “revived” Roman empire, it also fits the description of the Caliphate rule of Islam.

  Are there many sects within Islam? The answer is yes, and they are all butting heads with each other.

• “The dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.”

  This is all happening within one paragraph and applies to a multi-headed beast; yet, Jesus refers to this thing as him and then speaks in the singular about his throne and authority. We have been watching leaders within Islam struggle for power, and one, in particular, kept decreeing himself to leader of the reborn Ottoman empire. Where did that get off to?

• “ I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed.”

  
  So as you picture some freakish mutation with many heads, imagine one of those heads,
  equivalent to perhaps a sect of Islam or a Caliphate, and it appears to have been killed; that could happen in so many ways. We are watching such a thing happen in real time with Ukraine. But the sentence does not say it died; it says “as if,” and in a sense, the Ottoman empire played possum as well. (This happened in 1924 when the British, with a bit of help, crushed and dismantled the Ottoman Empire. Although the world thought they were dead, like flickering embers from a wildfire that are thrown across vast regions by the wind, remnants from this empire, like the Muslim Brotherhood, continued to pursue their global domination.)

If I have opened your eyes and prompted you to study, then my job here is done.

He (meaning Jesus) is coming sooner than you can imagine, and He is coming for those who are waiting for Him. This is the rapture of the Church I am talking about. Should you miss that bus and then choose to follow Him, sorry, but you will die a martyr – for your testimony. On the plus side, Jesus will meet you on the other side, and you will be welcomed into the arms of the Father.

Do not think for a minute that you get to bring any selfish, foolish, and hateful attitude with you, as you will be changed, just as the church will be changed. Since the sinful nature is clearly attached to the body, then it might be safe to say that this body will experience death, no matter who it referred to when it comes to being in heaven.

And yes, many are dying as martyrs as we speak, so it is not an exclusive club, and whatever they are going through will come to your neighborhood sooner than you think.

I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, and it spoke like a dragon.

This bit about the lamb is another one of those images that gives people grief.

Some information that might help you understand is that the Apostle John is NOT writing mysteries meant to be hidden from the church. I mention this because a previous Pastor told the audience that day that John wrote in code to get this letter - the Revelation, past the prison guards. Sometimes all you can do at the time is moan. The mysteries are only hidden from those that chose not to ask what things mean; the “mysteries” also tend to remain hidden from those who do not understand that John's target audience was Jewish converts. 

I will prove my point.

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.' "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. "'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." (Revelation 2:7-9 ESV)

The Holy Spirit has him writing to churches. 

You do not need to have a conversation about Jews and their traditions unless they are a part of the equation, and in Smyrna, they were central to the equation. The IVP Bible Background Commentary states, “The strength of the Jewish community in Smyrna is well attested.”

Another example comes from the book of James and demonstrates how widespread the Jewish converts were. Here in James 2:2, the mystery is cloaked thanks to the translator's choice of terminology, and we, with our stacks of Bibles and no motivation to find out the alternate meaning of simple words, like assembly.

James 2:2 ESV "For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,"

Translated for the Gentile reader, we see nothing wrong with the word assembly. People assemble themselves together frequently. However, when this was written by James, he actually wrote the Greek word for synagogue. He did not do that inadvertently, thinking that in time it would be filled with Gentile believers. He, too, was writing to Jewish converts.

sunagōgē - an assemblage of persons, the majority of which are Jewish in origin. Now, isn't that something?

If they are calling it a synagogue, then what do they expect to find there?

Jewish converts, of course, but not only that, converts that are integrating the richness of their newly found Messiah into the heritage that makes them special (and we ignore that.)

Who were the two Apostles that seemed to be called to the Gentiles?

Peter – who seemed to end that mission shortly after going to the Centurion's home. The other evangelist to the “Gentiles” turned out to be Paul. Paul, for almost 15 years, we are told in the book of Acts that in every town, he entered into the synagogues.

So, it is safe to say that in the beginnings of the church, the evangelistic impact was toward the Jewish community, but the Gentiles still came. When the traditionalists came around demanding that Gentile converts be circumcised and follow Jewish traditions, Paul withstood them and finally took his arguments straight to the church council of elders in Jerusalem, where several of the original disciples still sat (Peter was one of them), for a decision.

And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth, the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between them and us, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
(Acts 15:7-9 ESV)

Notice the terminology Peter uses as he distinguishes between the Jew and the gentile. Years later, Peter is still referring to them (the gentiles) and us (the Jewish community). It may not mean anything to you, but the statement is dripping with prejudice. There, in the Jerusalem council, the decision was made to acknowledge their freedom but command the gentiles to stay away from blood:

Acts 15:19-20 ESV Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God (20) but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

The synagogue of Satan?

Pastor John MacArthur says this of the - synagogue of Satan. “With the rejection of its Messiah, Judaism became as much a tool of Satan as emperor worship.”

Think about this for a moment. You should be able to see how Judaism could become a tool of Satan. It was the thing (a zeal for the law) that motivated young Saul/Paul to chase down converts, then beat, imprison, and in Stephen's case – stone them to death.

When Paul had trouble on his missionary journeys, where did most of it come from?

The Jewish community, but not just any Jews, synagogue leaders.

Look at this.

(Act 14:2) “But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.” (Acts 14:5 NASB) “And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to stone them,”

This is not the act of people who merely cannot understand. They are choosing not to buy into this Messiah message that Paul preached.

How many of them were around when Jesus spoke of God as his Father?

A statement of this nature would have been blasphemous in their hearing if it was not true.  But it was true, and yet they still wanted to kill Jesus. They chose to be unbelieving Jews and, therefore, combative in their resistance to truth and change.

Since I have told you this, you now need to start thinking like a Jew – A person that has a reasonable comprehension of the Old Testament (something that would have been required of a Jew.)

Are you beginning to grasp that our absence of examining the scriptures has hurt us and left us open to deception?

Now maybe we can understand what John was trying to convey because virtually everything alluded to in the Revelation came out of previous prophetic words found in the Old Testament.

Revelation 20 does not answer this question, what became of the fallen angels?

 Before we move on, I need to talk about something that is bothering me. What became of the fallen angels?

Revelation 20 does NOT answer the question, although some think it does.

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.”
(Revelation 20:1-3 NASB)

A thousand years later.

“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.”
(Revelation 20:7-8 NASB)

Pastor Don Stewart refers to Rev 20:10 when he says, “The lake of fire has been prepared for the devil and his evil angels.” The problem is, I see no reference to the fallen angels, unless you are foolish enough to think that the word “they” includes more than what is listed in the passage.

Just what exactly does verse 10 tell us?

And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
(Revelation 20:10 NASB)

It tells us that only three persons are indicated, the devil, the beast (which is the antichrist,) and the false prophet. To go beyond that without substantiating evidence is pure conjecture. 

So, where then are the fallen angels?

The short book of Jude tells us in verse six.

“that those that did not keep their domain have been kept in eternal bonds under darkness, where they await judgment of the great day.”

There is only one great day, and that is the day on which the white throne judgment takes place. Unfortunately, many of us believe this verse only applies to those angels who somehow had sex with the women and produced the Nephalim.

Also, I have nothing to suggest that this indicates all the angels, and the word domain seems to cry out for definition.

If the statement applied to all the angels, what demon horde has been carrying out Satan's orders and manipulating the world since then?

Satan, being a solitary unit could not possibly torture everyone at the same time, only God can do that.

In the book of Job, chapter four tells us that God charges them with error.

“He puts no trust even in His servants; And against His angels He charges error. 'How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!” (Job 4:18-19 NASB)

Why would God charge the angels with an error unless an error was committed? 

He wouldn't. We don't expect an angel to “sin.”

The apostle Peter validates what Jude conveys.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
(2 Peter 2:4 NASB)

Again, this does not tell us that ALL of the fallen have been condemned to hell, and since Satan has been dancing upon the heads of believers all over the earth, we know that there are still an uncountable number of angels following Satan’s lead.
In Matthew chapter eight, there is an encounter with demons – fallen angels who had possessed a man. The demons spoke to Jesus and said, “Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" (Matthew 8:28-29 NASB)

Torment is the Gk word basanizō and means torture, torment, to vex with grievous pains (of body or mind.)

Obviously, they were aware that their time was coming. The phrase, “the time?” is the Greek word kairos. It means a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, or the decisive epoch waited for.

These demons knew that there was an appointed time and were content to wait for it. One of the most significant issues we, as believers, face is when this appointed time will come. As I watch, not only are events unfolding, but I am hearing the globalists tell us that the time has come for their great reset and how they will make it happen.

If I wanted to do an adequate search for angels, I might have to expand my vocabulary because the phrase “the sons of God” also references angels. One of the prominent places we find this is in Genesis 6 where the chapter conveys the idea of angels breeding with humans. (There is much controversy over this, but maybe it is time for you to get over the shock.)

that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. (Genesis 6:2 NASB)

Beautiful is the Hebrew word tob. It means pleasant, agreeable, good, and beneficial. Webster’s dictionary defines beneficial as: Advantageous; useful; profitable; contributing to a valuable end. 

Ah, but what was that end?

The creation of a race of Hybrid humans that would destroy the gene pool and end God's plan of redemption through mankind.

Why do you think God had to have this conversation with us?

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9 KJV)

It sounds so benign and innocent, but it is not.

We are told that they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.

Took is the Hebrew word lâqach and means to fetch, lay hold of, seize, acquire, snatch, and take away.

There was no love, no romance, and these women were merely taken and used to propagate this new, corrupted breed. When you examine the words used to define Noah, you get,

Perfect. The mind conjures up images of Jesus, who never sinned, even when He intentionally made a whip and drove the sellers and money changers out of the temple courts. No other man stands up to Jesus' image. The truth is, we know little about Noah. He followed God's lead and built the ark, having no concept of rain and knowing that this vessel was much too far to move to the ocean. We have two things that are telling about the man, and that is the fact that he preached righteousness to those who would listen; no one received his message, and we are shown that he knew how to make a sacrifice to the Lord when the floodwaters receded.

In most translations, the Hebrew word used here and defined as perfect is tâmı̂ym.  It conveys the idea that the generations of Noah were whole, sound, and unimpaired.

While we might want to brag about some descendant who signed a founding document or saved hundreds from invaders, these words don’t tell us that; they tell us his generations had no disability – they were not impaired. Ah, but by what?

The Word Study Dictionary tells us the word is “an adjective meaning blameless, complete; and, in over half of its occurrences, it describes an animal to be sacrificed to the Lord,”

Why would God use a word that describes a lamb that was to be intensely scrutinized for any flaw? Flaws, by the way, would EXCLUDE that lamb from being used as a sacrifice.

Was Noah sacrificed?

No, but his lineage was scrutinized by God to find out if these fallen angels had polluted Noah’s genetics or their wives. But, of course, the sad part of this conversation is the religious zealots who are screaming right now about how foolish my assertions are.

Really, what is the context of Genesis chapter six?

The context has everything to do with fallen angels and the arrival of the Nephalim through the rape of women.

The story's details in Genesis six tell us that almost every genetic line became infiltrated and polluted, except for Noah’s family and the families of these young ladies that Noah’s sons chose.

Genesis six also tells us that the attempt to corrupt the human lineage continued after the flood. That can mean only one thing, that the fallen angels were unaffected by the flood and that they tried it again with Noah’s descendants.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:4 NASB)

According to the Word Study Dictionary, the word came reads in this manner. It is used with the preposition ’el and means to have intercourse. There are two examples of this, and Genesis 6:4 is one of them.

After what?

The flood wiped out all air-breathing land mammals on earth, except for Noah’s extended family. With no place to land, birds would have died from exhaustion.

So, what did I manage to determine about angels and the fate of the fallen?

With statements from the demons like this. “have you come here to torment us before the time,” I can ascertain that,

• They already know their fate.

  There is no book of life for them. The angels were created to be messengers for God and the followers of Christ. To break rank and do their own thing or follow after Satan was unthinkable. I can only assume these boundaries were set up when this relationship was initiated.

• The NASB, like many others, used the term torment.

  In actuality it leans toward torture or to vex with grievous pains; and they knew it was coming.

• The Revelation does not tell us anything about the fate of the fallen angels.

  It should not be that much trouble to include them in the narrative about being thrown into hell alongside Satan. Since the demons brought up the subject and demonstrated their knowledge and acceptance of said torment, then, as I said above, we can ascertain that the angels will stand before that same white throne, be judged, and cast into eternal torment. Consider that I have pointed out how Matthew 25 demonstrates mercy being given to some. The fact that the “demons” understand their fate tells us that NO mercy is available to them.

• God will hold the fallen angels guilty for their foolish choices.

  The religious assumption is that angels are merely robots that only do what God tells them. The problem with that thinking is; that first, you seem to forget that Lucifer is an angel and led a rebellion against God and His throne. Secondly, Lucifer/Satan was able to deceive one-third of the angels into following his madness. It is this, above all else, that tells us that angels have free will to serve with loyalty or not.

  “... And against His angels He charges error.” (Job 4:18 NASB)

  Jude tells us that those who participated in the Genesis 6 orgy are locked away,

  “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,” (Jude 1:6 NASB)

  Maybe it is not so much that an angel could turn their back on God, but more in how they committed such an act. Think about what they did, they seized humans, made in God's image, with the sole purpose of destroying those beings, all of them, and it almost worked.

If you are perplexed why I included the Nephalim narrative of Genesis 6, this is one of the worst and most apparent indiscretions that we are aware of when it comes to fallen angels – or demons, if you wish. Genesis 6:4 indicates that their efforts to destroy anything that looked like God continued after the flood. So, whether they are invading your physical human space or tormenting your life otherwise, they are real and active. If they don't control you, I can guarantee you that they control that other person who walks around without the protection of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of the believer. I am telling you, you need Jesus.