Daniel
Israel: In Biblical Prophecy, they’re in a pretty tough spot. Surrounded, isolated by the world, hated, accused of being an Albatross of the world. That hatred of ‘God’s chosen’ and that ‘tough spot’ creates a contrast. It creates a unique moment that shouts ‘now watch this!’ Israel’s only hope is that God will step onto the Mount of Olives and come to their rescue. Their only hope of surviving, only hope of coming back from a total destruction is God.
There’s some hope in there for Christian believers as well. Israel’s bleak moment was not the end, their destruction was not the true picture, and their demise was not fixed. The whole world opposing them creates a moment where there would not, could not, be any misunderstanding about their rescue. Their answer was God (not man, not culture, not military, not political, not economic, not science) will bring them out of what appears to be oblivion. God’s chosen, the people He has appointed to be watched for 6000 years as His witness, today, again is the focus of the whole world.
Scripture points to the Book of Daniel for clues into the end story of the Gospel. Daniel ‘highlights’ a statement of hope and faith in God. Daniel was written to both Israel and the Church. It was given to shine a light on the discouraged yet bring encouragement.
Apostle John’s book of Revelation, (written under what we might call ‘house arrest’) is pretty much a reflection of Daniel. It gives a picture of Hope in times of distress for Israel and the Church. It covers a time of persecutions and a psychological spiritual warfare applied by the spirit of Anti-Christ to discourage as much as ‘take out’ Israel or the Church. Just listen to what’s shared as news today to pick up on the dire straits of both Israel and the Church.
Jesus, in Matthew 24 (and Luke 21 and Mark 13) has a lot to say about Christ’s ‘coming back’. There, as the disciples were standing in front of the Temple, Jesus spoke up and told them ‘not one stone upon another’ of the Temple would be left standing in their future. That would have been shocking to them. The stones of the Temple were enormous: 52 foot long, 16 foot high and 25 foot wide. In 70 AD Jesus’ actual prediction became true- Jerusalem: crushed!
Jesus’ response led them to another question. The disciples were specific to ask Jesus what were the signs of His return. That’s pretty much still our question today as well.
He gave them a long list. Believer deception was number one, wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, persecution of the Jews by the whole world, iniquity (lawlessness), sorrows (birth pangs), the Gospel preached around the world (maybe not to every person but every nation physically), people would be living ‘as in the days of Noah (interesting comparisons found there). His list, a total of about 50 signs given to the disciples.
The list was all characterized as occurring in one generation. Signs not observed occasionally over history, but an accumulation of those taking place all at one time. A generation when all those signs would be seen, all would take place before His Coming. Many of which would never have been possible to even imagine back in 33 AD.
It’s amazing that some 2000 years after those words, the Middle East/Jerusalem is, as predicted, the center of the world’s focus just as the scriptures declare. I’ve always thought if you want to know where we are on the Biblical calendar watch Israel. Israel is an appropriate measure to both the physical and the spiritual. They are chosen to expose both. They’re a chosen people, not so much favored but rather, as a witness to us.
In the book of Daniel one of the predictions found there is a generation characterized as a time of ‘here and there’ (travel). We just had 4 astronauts circle the moon and come back and land in the Pacific. Our jets can travel at 2100 MPH.
Daniel predicted knowledge would be increasing at an unusual rate. We can use the internet to publish images and send words around the world in seconds. In 1900 knowledge changed at a rate of about every one hundred years, by the end of WWII we had improved that kind of expansion of knowledge increasing every 25 years. Today, it’s estimated that knowledge increases every 10 months. The Bible described, some 2000 years ago, in the last days it would be possible globally to watch two witnesses, two leaders slain, to be seen in streets.
‘And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.’ (Rev. 11: 7-9)
Imagine the possibilities of a ‘science fiction’ type declaration by John so long ago. Was he lucky, was he weird, was he writing a novel using his imagination, or was he prophesying?
The verbiage used in the Bible, the mentality of those people in 30 AD, describing seemingly ‘ridiculous’ images at that time are stunning. Why would Daniel use such words and images? How logical was it for Daniel to talk about travel and knowledge as a sign of the end times? How logical for John to describe such global communication? How logical was it for Jesus to put all the signs in one generation? Who 2000 years ago could write the book of Revelation with thousands of references to the world condition of today and come close to being ‘spot on’? Imagine a carpenter’s son in 30 AD coming up with 50 signs of his coming back. Try doing that yourself illustrating your predictions for the next 2000 years.
Lawlessness will reign in that generation. The current California legislature is working on a bill to make it illegal to search out fraud and corruption; now we’re protecting crime not punishing it. Just recently in a Louisiana incident, AI had been used for advice on how best to murder someone: best time, what gun, which ammunition, how to become famous for murder.
Our speech is being squeeze by threats of ‘fines or jail time’ if your language doesn’t line up exactly as ‘the authorities’ tell you. AI gives us the ability for control of buying and selling, tracking not only every purchase but potentially limiting every purchase. Much of our communication is being watched and internet searches are observed and catalogued.
It’s interesting in the book written by George Orwell, 1984, the approved/permitted dictionary was reduced to 7 pages long. Lawlessness seems to be an optional ‘minor’ to your major studies in many of the college catalogues. Biblically, in one generation ‘There will be many offended, many betraying one another, many hating one another’(Math. 24:10), and many false prophets offering suggestions for our futures.
A generation described as: ‘Every way of a man is right in his own eyes….'(Prov. 21:2) Today many people comfortably minimize our making poor choices as just politics. Excuse it away from any personal responsibility to get it right. ‘It’s just my team, I root for my team no matter the consequences of those choices.’ In reality, our choices are bigger than that, more important than politics, more consequential than that, they are eternal.
Every generation seems to have claimed this scenario; in some generation it will be true. Matthew 24:6 does have some good advice about that generation and the believers in it: ‘don’t be troubled’…all these things MUST take place, it is necessary that they take place; they affirm our expectation of Jesus’ return.