Good Morning! - Daniel 7:13-14 - The Legal Transfer of World Power - 2009.12.11

Good Morning!

 

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man

 

came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days,

 

and they brought him near before him. And there was given him

 

dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations,

 

and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting

 

dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that

 

which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14).

 

Rembrandt's version of the ascension reminds us of something very important.  When Jesus was taken up, an angel made an announcement:

 

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.  (10)  And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:9-11).

 

Artists have preferred painting Jesus' being taken up over painting His return to earth. This may be because for hundreds of years the prevailing theology couldn't agree with itself about the passages dealing with Christ's return and all the end-time passages that we call "eschatology," the doctrine of last things. In all other matters, theologians have insisted on careful analysis of words and the Biblical languages they are translated from.

 

But in matters of Christ's return, theology in general slipped into all manner of allegorical license with end-time passages. I believe it was Dr. John Walvoord who said in one of his several books on end-time themes that he had read over 60 theories of what end-time systems of thought could mean. No wonder the whole crowd that followed such foolishness just gave up and stopped writing about the return of Christ to the earth and no wonder the artists did not choose to paint about His return to earth. But if the end-time passages are interpreted in a literal sense unless the passage is clearly a figure of speech, then the number of variations of interpretation are immediately limited—severely.

 

Let's read today's text carefully and not read something into it that is not there. As we shall see several times in this study, Christ is going to come back to the earth and reign on the throne of His earthly father: David, in Jerusalem for one thousand years. In the above passage, Jesus is not yet coming to the earth. He is coming before the Ancient of Days, the Father in the Trinity. This is the legal transfer of power of the earth from the Gentiles into the hands of Christ. This takes place before Christ comes in the clouds to the earth with His saints. Thus, this scene is NOT about Christ coming back FOR the saints—the rapture.

 

When Jesus was on trial before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Supreme Court) we have these recorded words:      "… Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Mark 14:61-62).

 

Obviously this is a compressing of time in that He is sitting and at the same time coming in the clouds of heaven. I understand today's text above to be like that. Nebuchadnezzar's big image was also a compression of a time line in that he saw the whole thing at one time. Here we see Christ "coming" with the clouds of Heaven but He is coming to the Ancient of Days. I am assuming that He is on His way to the earth but that He is stopping off at the throne of the Ancient of Days to pick up his legal authority to continue on to the earth.

Notice that in the following verses, there is a transfer of kingly power to the Son: "shall give."

 

Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession (Psalm 2:6-8).

 

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David"(Luke 1:32).

McGee comments: "Jesus Christ is going to take over the kingdom. How will He do it?—"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (Psa_2:9). When He comes to the earth, the Millenium will not be there waiting for Him. He will put out all rebellion, and those who are obedient will enter into the Kingdom."

The short New Testmanet book, Jude, has this to say:   And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,  (15)  To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him (Jude 1:14-15).

 

 

Memory Verses for this week:

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.  (31)  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.  (32)  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:  (33)  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).

 

This article can also be viewed at www.bibleliving.blogspot.com.

 

To be removed from this mailing list, please click here. In the subject line type "remove."  ●To subscribe to this and other Encourager mailings, click here. In the subject line, type "subscribe." Please give your name and email address. ●Please set your spam system (contact list) to accept encourager@biblewalking.com. and  dan@dancarr.org.   ●Thank you for accepting our mail and passing it on. Rembrandt's painting of Christ's Ascension is taken from Wikepedia.

 

 

 

 

 

Good Morning! - Daniel 7:11-12 - The Stone and the Beast - 2009.12.10

Good Morning!

I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. (Daniel 7:11-12)

Repeatedly, God has revealed "The Kingdom of God is coming!" Our text today is about the transfer of power when the kingdoms of this world are taken from the Gentiles and Jesus establishes His world kingdom. God said it several different ways. Through Nebuchadnezzar (chapter 2) He told of a smashing stone that would strike the feet and ten toes of the image. In chapter 7 God gives Daniel a dream of four beasts. The fourth beast, which apparently was the Roman Empire, sprouted ten horns which corresponded to the ten toes of the image. Out of the ten horns came another horn that displaced three horns. This is the anti-Christ that is yet in our future and he will be permanently removed. The text above speaks of the "great words" of the anti-Christ. Mr. Smart Mouth.

All the kingdoms of the world have left their mark and influence upon the world. Their dominions are removed but their influence remains "for a season and time." The Apostle John continued in Revelation chapters 13 and 17. There is not room here to display the writings of all the prophets that addressed this subject.

Isaiah addressed God's coming Kingdom over all the earth this way: (A Christmas verse.)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this (Isaiah 9:6-7).

To Joseph God said in a dream: (A Christmas verse.)

…the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. (21) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:20-21).

To Mary, the angel of the Lord said: (A Christmas verse.)

…Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. (31) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).

God has gone to great lengths to tell us that His Son is going to be the world ruler. The Savior of men by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead….YES! He is our Savior. He is …the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). In the mind of God, Jesus was slain as the perfect Lamb, before the world was ever made. Not only so, it is true that before the world was ever made, God had determined that this Lamb would one day rule the world from the city of Jerusalem, sitting upon the throne of His earthly father, David. Not man, not devil—can thwart the plan and power of the living God!

Memory Verses for this week:

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. (31) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).

Good Morning! - Daniel 7:9-10 - The Courtroom - 2009.12.09

Good Morning!

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened (Daniel 7:9-10).

This scene is in Heaven, a court room where "The Ancient of Days" is presiding over the judgment of Kings on the earth who have been beastlike in their character. They are going to be judged and their power taken from them. The thrones "cast down" can be translated: "put in place." This scene corresponds to Revelation 4 & 5. The God of Heaven is about to judge the anti-Christ who spoke such great and swelling words against the Almighty God. This takes place at the close of the Great Tribulation period. The anti-Christ cannot prosper forever. God is going to wrest power from the anti-Christ and transfer it to the rightful owner: the Lord Jesus Christ.

Daniel tends to open up subjects in seed form and then they will be expanded. For example, Nebuchadnezzar's dream in chapter 2 of the great image is expanded in chapter 7 in Daniel's dream of the four beasts. The Book of the Revelation will add more detail

"The Ancient of Days" is a name for the eternal God and is used three times in this chapter (7:9, 13, 22). He has been viewing the activities of demons and wicked men on the earth from His throne in Heaven. The judgment will be a just judgment and not flawed. His white garment suggests His purity and righteousness and suggests that the Judge of all the earth will do right (Genesis 18:25).

The Ancient of Days is associated with a fiery stream coming forth. For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24).

For our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).

When Jesus comes back to judge the earth it will be in flaming fire. And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, (8) In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Thessalonians 1:7-8):

The angels who execute the judgments of God are called: Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: (Psalm 104:4)

The Lord rained fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah: Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven (Genesis 19:24);

Moses wrote about Nadab and Abihu who offered strange fire unto the Lord: And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Leviticus 10:2)

Isaiah 66:15-16 picks up the same fiery theme. Many other passages bring out the fire of God's judgment. We should be careful how we shut up God in a box and think He thinks and acts like we do.

This is a courtroom scene and the God of Heaven, the Ancient of Days is about to conduct judgment upon these wicked kings, particularly the anti-Christ. Daniel repeatedly said: "I beheld." "I continue to look intently." The implication is that he couldn't believe his eyes. We'll come back to this tomorrow.

A practical lesson for us in this scene is that we too shall be judged by this same Ancient of Days and in particular by His Son, into whose hand He has committed all judgment. We will not be judged to see if we go to Heaven. We stand at the foot of the cross where the Son of God was judged in our place and we stand in Him complete, as though we had never sinned. That's called "justification." We are now in the process of learning to live the Christian life and to become more like Him. That is called "sanctification."

Nevertheless, we who are Christ's shall also pass through the Judgment Seat of Christ (2Corinthians 5:10) to be judged for our works, to see if they endure the fiery test. Our works will be judged as it relates to our receiving or losing rewards. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2Corinthians 5:10).

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

(12) Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

(13) Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. (14) If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (15) If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire (1Corinthians 3:11-15).

Memory Verses for this week:

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. (31) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).

This article can also be viewed at www.bibleliving.blogspot.com.

Good Morning! - Daniel 7:8 - The Little Horn Part 2 - 2009.12.08

Good Morning!

 

I considered the horns, and, behold, there came

 

up among them another little horn, before

 

whom there were three of the first horns

 

plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this

 

horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a

 

mouth speaking great things (Daniel 7:8).

 

This fourth beast in Daniel's dream corresponds to the legs and feet of the huge image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Chapter 2. God showed the image to a pagan king who would best understand God's message in this form. The image is a simplified poster of God's view of history through the end of the Gentile kingdoms.

The stone that strikes the feet of the image and thus destroys the whole thing is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ who returns to earth to sit upon the throne of His earthly father, David in Jerusalem. From there He will rule the world with a rod of iron (Psalm 2) for a thousand years. It will be a dictatorship with no congress, no legislature, no elections, and no public debates about what is to be done.

There were kingdoms prior to Babylon, such as the Sumerians, Egyptians, Assyrians, etc. But none of them covered the large territories of Babylon, the Medo-Persians, the Greco-Macedonians and the Roman Empire. In the plan of God, there were to be four Gentile world kingdoms, beginning with Babylon and ending with the last stages of the Roman Empire. There is no fifth Gentile kingdom. The kingdom of God and His Christ will be the fifth world kingdom.

Daniel's dream of the four beasts reveals the beastly nature of the human rulers that Nebuchadnezzar saw in the image of his dream. We have recently re-visited Daniel Chapter 2, with emphasis on the iron legs and feet of iron and clay and the stone that smashes the feet and destroys the whole beast, beating it into powder and it is then taken away with the wind. And now we return to Daniel's dream in Chapter 7 with emphasis on the fourth beast and the ten horns coming out of his head. Out of the ten horns comes another smaller horn which displaces three of the ten horns. Rome has always been alive but dormant.

In this little horn are eyes with unusual ability. Penetrating, all-seeing eyes that miss nothing. He is of great intellect with great powers of observation. Adolf Hitler was like that. He apparently was a genius and had a great mental power to take in great quantities in information, more-so than any of his generals. Not only so, but this man in our text was arrogant against God. As we shall see, he was empowered by Satan.

The theme of the little horn and his eyes and mouth recur in the book of Revelation where we learn much more about him. God revealed some things in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the image. We learn more from Daniel's dream of the four beasts. We will know more from the other chapters of Daniel. We will know much more from the Book of Revelation. It is impossible to know much of anything about the Book of Revelation without the Book of Daniel.

I believe we are seeing the rapid resurgence of the Roman Empire; not in the iron legs of its zenith of power, but in its feet. At some point, the ten toes will appear which correspond to the ten horns of this fourth beast of our text today. There are now 27 nations in the European Union. I'm assuming that the European Union is at least a forerunner of the ten horns, i.e. the feet and clay and the ten toes of the image. If that is true, then the 27 nations will at some time be reduced to ten nations or perhaps ten regions of nations.

I urge you to diligently read the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation. Particularly the 2^nd, 7^th, and 9^th chapters of Daniel and the 13^th and 17^th chapters of Revelation. A good study Bible will help: Scofield Study Bible; Morris Study Bible; King James Study Bible; John MacArthur Study Bible, and there are several others. We have read a dozen or so versions of the Bible all the way through and always came back to the King James Bible for our reading, memorizing, and the text for studying. We use www.e-Sword.net (free) for our main e-Bible study.

Memory Verses for this week:

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.  (31)  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.  (32)  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:  (33)  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).

 

To be removed from this mailing list, please click here. In the subject line type "remove."  ●To subscribe to this and other Encourager mailings, click here. In the subject line, type "subscribe." Please give your name and email address. ●Please set your spam system (contact list) to accept encourager@biblewalking.com. and  dan@dancarr.org.   ●Thank you for accepting our mail and passing it on. Daniel's vision of the four beasts - Woodcut by Hans Holbein the Younger.(Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

 

Good Morning! - Daniel 2:43-45 - God's Coming Kingdom - 2009.12.07

And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

(44) And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

(45) Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure (Daniel 2:43-45).

Jesus taught us to pray:

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth (Luke 11:2).

This is the kingdom Jesus told us to pray about. One of the best study Bibles for the Book of Daniel and these events is the Scofield Reference Bible © 1909. These Bible study notes were copyrighted several years before the Communist Revolution in Russia in 1917.

In those study notes the prophecies pertaining to Israel's return to their homeland is affirmed, long before mainstream theology and the news media were willing to admit the possibility. The notes go further to include the coming of Christ to Jerusalem to sit upon the throne of David as the ruler of the world, ruling with a rod of iron (Psalm 2). Today, a hundred years later, practically all the conservative Bible commentaries and study Bibles agree that the Stone is coming to the earth to set up a literal kingdom that will rule the world.

Of interest is the prophecy in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 naming Gog/Magog, the people from the north of Israel. Many if not most conservative scholars believe this to be modern day Russia, which will send an army to take Israel but will be destroyed upon the mountains of Israel. God will send a fire. The source of the fire is not given. It could be similar to the fire of Sodom and Gomorrah in which it is believed that earthquakes opened up the ground and spewed out tremendous fire and hot gas. These two chapters describe the time immediately before the coming of Jesus in the clouds with His saints to set up his kingdom.

I'm reminded that God tells us: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children (Hosea 4:6).

We do not live in the specific time about which these words were directed, but on the other hand, these words are timeless and will apply to any place on the earth. It says: "My people." I believe it certainly applies to us in the United States of America. It is obvious to me and obvious to many other Christians that American Christianity, for all of its generosity, is weak. Christians tend to know little about their Bibles. How many Christians do you know who are familiar with the writings of Daniel and Ezekiel and Hosea and of the words of Jesus and the apostles that pertain to the end times?

Memory Verses for this week:

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. (31) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).