Category Archives: Revelation Commentary

Lesson 18 of Series – The End According To Daniel

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Christ Himself taught that the ‘end’ as foreseen by Daniel was to come within the life span of the generation to whom He was speaking, (Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 21:32). The early Church expected this ‘end,’ (for example: Heb. 9:26; 1 Pet. 4:7; 1 Cor. 7:29). Did it happen?

Was the “End” Prophesied By Daniel The End of The Planet?

No, it was the end of the age of the fleshly nation, Israel, its people, and its City. The word translated ‘world’ in KJV is more accurately translated ‘age,’ as in RSV. The passage in Daniel chapter 9 is about an “end,” (vv. 24, “end of sin,” v. 26, “end of sanctuary,” v. 27, “the decreed end is poured out”). Daniel chapters 10 and 11 are about events leading up to this “end,” and refer to the history between Daniel’s time and the time of John the Revelator.

The ‘end’ which Daniel foresaw was also “to seal up the vision and prophecy.” In this passage the words ‘seal up’ is the Hebrew chatham, defined as: “…to seal, affix one’s seal, in attestation… as for example in Nehemiah 10:1-27, where the men attested to or ratified the covenant by setting their seal to it”.*  In other words, Daniel’s prophecy would be proven by its fulfillment. This sense of attesting or ratifying is also used in the New Testament in John 3:33; 1 Corinthians. 9:2; 2 Timothy 2:19. It indicates the stamp of authenticity.

Daniel’s Prophesies Were Proven By Their Fulfillment

“The vision and prophecy” of Daniel were attested to, or proven, by the coming of Christ, His finished work of redemption, the preaching of the Gospel at that time to the whole Jewish world as well as to some of the Gentiles, the formation of the New Israel of God in Christ’s Body the Church, and the subsequent destruction of the fleshly nation and the earthly city of Jerusalem. God’s prophets had foretold all of these things. Now they were attested to, and ratified by the fulfillment of that which had been foretold. Therefore, Daniel’s ‘appointed times’ were fulfilled, ‘accomplished’ – both the blessedness of the righteous who believed and the tribulation of those who refused to believe.

Daniel 12:7d: And when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be accomplished,” (RSV).

  • “All of these things” came to pass when Jerusalem was destroyed along with the Temple in AD 70:
  • There was an “end of sin” and transgression for fleshly Israel, because from this point on there was no other Israel than Christ, the only living legitimate Heir.
  • Christ’s death “atoned for iniquity and brought in everlasting righteousness”;
  • in Christ’s Body, “a most holy (place) was anointed,” the Church;
  • There was an “end of the sanctuary,” because the physical Temple was destroyed.

No More Delay (“Time No Longer”: “The Time Is Up”)

This passage in Daniel 12:7 is referred to in Revelation 10:5-7. Indeed, the Angel appears to be the same in both passages:

Revelation 10: “5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”

The phrase in 10:6: “…that there should be time no longer,” (KJV), literally means: ‘The time is up’ or “There shall be no more delay.” This refers to the ‘time’ spoken of by Daniel; that “time was up.” The angel proclaims that this ‘delay’ is over, Revelation 10:5-7, (RSV).

Jesus Himself, in answer to the question concerning the “end of the age,” (Matthew 24:1-28), interpreted Daniel’s prophecy as coming to pass when Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed. Therefore, God’s “unfinished business with fleshly Israel” spoken of by Daniel became “finished business” in AD 70 as described in the Book of Revelation.

*Brown, Driver, Briggs, Concordance, “seal.”

Next Lesson: Forty Years of the Messiah

Lesson 17 of Series – More About False Teachings

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More About False Teachings: Does God Break His Promises?

The Lord gave Daniel the prophecy of the end of his people, nation, and city, in Daniel 9:24-27 which was to happen at an “appointed time” of 490 years. After that would come another “time, times, and an half,” Daniel12:6-7,  which is also called “the time of the end,” during which time their Messiah Prince should come.  Some dispensationalists and pre-millennialists say that Daniel 9:24-27 “doesn’t tell us that the seventy weeks were fulfilled, because when the Jews refused their Messiah, God stopped the clock, breached his promise, …. ‘Time in’ hasn’t been called yet.”

Did God “Stop the Clock”?

The “last times” specified in Daniel had come in the New Testament era and the people knew it was the last times for their nation, city, and people.  Simeon and Anna knew it was time for the Messiah, (Luke 2:25-34). The Samaritans knew that it was time for the Messiah, (John 4:25, 29-30). Andrew knew it was time for the Messiah, (John 1:40-41), and Philip also knew, (John 1:45).

John 2:18: “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now there are many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”

Hebrews 9:24-26: “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world [age] hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

The Book of Revelation states that “the (appointed) time is at hand, 1:3.”

Did God “Breach His Promise”?

To accuse God of “breach of promise,” (as translated in Numbers 14:33-34 KJV),  is to accuse Him of lying! This idea is totally foreign to the concept of the covenant-keeping God of the Bible.

Indeed, the passage in Numbers 14:33-34 shows clearly that when God states a time, He means just that. The word translated “breach of promise,” (KJV), is Hebrew tenuw’ah, from nuw’, meaning ‘my opposition,’ or, as translated in Job 33:10, ‘occasion for hostility,’ (BDB). The Lord was saying that they should bear their iniquity for forty years that they might know His “opposition to their rebellion,” the “occasion for His hostility,” not that He failed to keep His word or “breached His promise”!

Numbers 23:19 says:”God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

He is a God of faithfulness, (Deuteronomy 32:4). He does not change, (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). He keeps His covenant to “all generations,” (Psalm 33:11; 45:17; 100:5; 119:90, and many other references).

Psalm 105:8: “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word [which] he commanded to a thousand generations.”

So when the Lord gave Daniel the prophecy that his nation, people, and city would end in 490 years and the “time of the end” would be an additional time, times and half a time, and that their Messiah would come in that time, those who believed in God and knew the covenant were expecting those things. They were fulfilled and the fleshly nation came to its final end in 70 AD with more than three million killed, almost another million taken and dispersed as slaves, Jerusalem burned to the ground, and the genealogies burned.

God Fulfilled His Promises Through Christ

But Christ was raised from the dead, established His Church and sat down at the right hand of God to reign forever and ever. “Of the increase of His Kingdom there shall be no end,” Isaiah 9:7, Luke 1:32.

Next Lesson: The End According To Daniel

Lesson 15 Of The Series – Josephus’ Witness Of The Destruction of Jerusalem

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The Abomination Of Desolation

It was “morally imperative” that Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem be fulfilled within that generation. He said: Matthew 24:15: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) … (33-34) “So likewise ye, when ye see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.”

The “abomination of desolation” was the slaughter of their own countrymen, the sedition against authority, the warring factions of those Jews who raised their armies in order to be named the High Priest by Rome. This “abomination” was carried into the Holy of Holies:

“Those men made the temple of God a stronghold for them, and a place whither they might resort, in order to avoid the troubles they feared from the people; the sanctuary was now become a refuge, and a shop of tyranny, (Josephus’ Wars 4.3.6-7)”

The High Priest, Ananus, said: “Certainly it would have been good for me to die before I had seen the house of God full of so many abominations, or these sacred places that ought not to be trodden on at random, filled with the feet of these blood-shedding villains” (Wars 4.3.9).

“Great slaughter was made on both sides, and a great number were wounded. As for the dead bodies of the people, their relations carried them out to their own houses; but when any of the zealots were wounded, he went up into the temple and defiled that sacred floor with his blood, insomuch that one may say it was their blood alone that polluted our sanctuary.” (Wars 4.3.11)

“And now the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood; and that day … saw eight thousand five hundred dead bodies there, (Wars 4.5.1-2).

Josephus’ Witness Of God’s Vengeance For Innocent Blood

Even Josephus knew that there was a penalty to pay for shedding innocent blood. He describes the murder of the high priest Jonathan who dared to oppose the Roman appointed Felix:

“They slew Jonathan, and as his murder was never avenged, the robbers went up with the greatest security at the festivals after this time; and having weapons concealed in like manner as before, and mingling themselves among the multitude, they slew certain of their own enemies, and were subservient to other men for money; and slew others not only in remote parts of the city, but in the temple itself also; for they had the boldness to murder men there, without thinking of the impiety of which they were guilty. And this seems to me to have been the reason why God, out of his hatred to these men’s wickedness, rejected our city; and as for the temple, he no longer esteemed it sufficiently pure for him to inhabit therein, but brought the Romans upon us, and threw a fire upon the city to purge it; and brought upon us, our wives, and children, slavery, – as desirous to make us wiser by our calamities,” (Antiquities 20.8.5).

Josephus Refers To The Ancient Prophets

“And who is there that does not know what the writings of the ancient prophets contain in them, – and particularly that oracle which is just now going to be fulfilled upon this miserable city? – for they foretold that this city should be then taken when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own countrymen! And are not both the city and the entire temple now full of the dead bodies of your countrymen? It is God therefore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire, to purge the city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions,” (Wars, 6.2.l).

Thus the moral imperative of Revelation 1:1, “things which must shortly come to pass” was fully accomplished in the fall of Jerusalem and the fleshly nation, Israel.

Next Lesson: Some False Teachings

Lesson 14 Of The Series – God Is The Kinsman-Redeemer Of His People

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God Is The Kinsman-Redeemer Of His People

God is morally obligated to avenge His family as their Kinsman-Redeemer. The law that willful murder must be avenged is set forth in Numbers 35:16-21: “The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death when he meets him,” (RSV).

This passage is quite simply put and so straightforward as to require little explanation except for the term “avenger of blood,” the go’el. The go’el was the nearest kinsman, who also had the rights and obligations of Redeemer. As Redeemer, he could buy back a field that had been lost through indebtedness and marry a childless widow in order to raise up an heir for the deceased family member as illustrated in the Book of Ruth. He could buy back a person who had been sold into slavery for indebtedness. This term is frequently used of God as the Redeemer of His people. It is in this sense that we must understand the admonition found in Leviticus 19:18:

“You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord,” (RSV).

For people living within the Covenant relationship, God was their nearest Kinsman, their Go’el. They were not, therefore, to usurp His office by taking upon themselves the role of avenger. (This passage is quoted in Rom. 12:19 and Heb. 10:30.)

Blood Vengeance Is Also A New Testament Doctrine

That the laws concerning the shedding of blood were taken seriously in the New Testament era is well attested. In the trial of Christ Pilate declared that he was “innocent of the blood of this Man,” while the Jews cried out: “His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matt. 27:24-25).

Even Judas realized that he must pay the penalty: “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood,” (Matt. 27:4). But the chief priests and elders refused to fulfill the law, so he destroyed his own life.

Peter and the other apostles were very bold to accuse the Jews of blood guilt. This bothered the High Priest: “You intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. But Peter … answered, ‘The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree,’” (Acts 5:28-30). (See also Acts 2:23; 3:15; 4:27, RSV.)

Stephen was very bold in his accusation before the Council:

“Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,” (Acts 7:52 RSV).

For this witness, they added yet another crime, the slaying of innocent Stephen.

God Is Also Morally Obligated To Cleanse The Land Of Innocent Blood

Not only was God the Avenger of Blood for the sake of His covenant people, but He was also morally and legally obligated to avenge innocent blood to cleanse the land from defilement for He is the Owner and Occupant of the land:

“You shall not thus pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel,” (Num. 35:33-34. See also Deut. 19:11-13, RSV.)

God’s concern for the land is again expressed in Deuteronomy 32:43 RSV: “Praise His people, O you nations; for He avenges the blood of His servants, and takes vengeance on His adversaries, and makes expiation for the land of His people.”

Next Lesson: Josephus’ Witness To The Coming of Christ In The Clouds

Lesson 13 Of The Series – Parables Of Vengeance

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This lesson continues to show the “things which must shortly come to pass” of Revelation 1:1. These things were morally necessary. The saints expected to be avenged; Jesus had promised it; Paul predicted it; and in 2 Thessalonians, he told when it would happen.

Jesus’ Parables of Vengeance

Two references from the Gospels make it very clear that the saints expected to be avenged soon of the persecution they were experiencing at the hands of the Pharisaical Jews. One is the parable of the unjust judge in the context of the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem: “Will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice quickly.” (See also Luke 18:3-8, NIV).

The other parable is that of the vineyard, Matthew 21:33-45. It clearly shows that Jesus intended to take the “vineyard,” the Kingdom of Israel, away from the Pharisees and give it to the Christian saints, the Church. He fulfilled this promise and in doing so, He took vengeance upon those wicked Pharisees.

Paul Predicted Vengeance For The Saints

Paul predicted that the saints to whom he wrote, as well as himself would be avenged by the revelation of Jesus Christ, executing wrath upon their enemies. In his letter to the Thessalonians Paul mentions the suffering of the churches in Judea at the hands of:

“The Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men…In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit….The wrath of God has come upon them at last,” 1 Thessalonians. 2:14-16, NIV.

But the saints will not be under that wrath: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Thessalonians 5:9.

“When The Lord Jesus Is Revealed From Heaven”

That wrath is described in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, NIV: “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power on the day He comes to be glorified in His holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you because you believed our testimony to you.”

Also see Luke 21:27-32, (NIV), in the context of His message concerning the destruction of Jerusalem: “(27) And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory…. Lift up your heads, because your redemption is near…. (32) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled.” And so it was.

The Church Confirmed That These Things Were Fulfilled

The early Church believed that these Scriptures were true as evidenced by the fact that they accepted them into the Canon. Therefore, they must have seen the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the remaining Jews as the fulfillment of their promised vindication, and must have believed that Jesus Christ was revealed from heaven in some publicly attested way such as was recorded by Josephus in the passage cited previously, (Wars 6.5.3).

Next Lesson: God Is Morally Obligated to Avenge His People, Continued.