Tag Archives: prophet

Who Is The True Israel?

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Jesus, The Prophet Like Unto Moses

Acts 3:22: “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, ‘A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. (23) And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.'” [KJV Referring to Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19.]

Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken….(17) And the Lord said unto me, ‘They have well spoken that which they have spoken. (18) I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. (19) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.'” KJV

Deuteronomy 18: 20-22: “But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. (21) And if thou say in thine heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?’ (22) When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” KJV

Jesus was that “Prophet like unto Moses.” All those that refused to hear Him were destroyed from among the people. They were no longer Israelites.

Jesus said: “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. (46) For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. (47) But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” John 5:45-47 KJV

Jesus, the True Vine, Israel

Jesus said: John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman….(6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Those who heard Jesus speak and refused to believe and abide in Him, were cast into the fires of the final destruction of the literal nation, Israel, the City, Jerusalem, and the people, the Jews, as foretold by Daniel 9:24-27 and Jesus in Matthew chapters 23-24. This was all fulfilled according to Jesus’ own words in the time from Jesus death in about 30 AD to 70 AD when Jerusalem was finally destroyed and the people left alive were dispersed.

Jesus Fulfilled the Promises: Acts 13:32-33.

In our times, it is often quoted that the Jews are now being gathered and returned to the land, but the promises of a literal return to the land were made to those who were taken captive to Babylon in circa 605 BC. That captivity was for 70 years and the return happened as promised at that time according to the Biblical account in Ezra and Nehemiah. To take these promises of return out of context is to pervert the truth. After that there were no more promises to a literal return to the land.

The eternal promises cannot be fulfilled in temporal flesh, but are being fulfilled in the Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord and eternal King and Savior. In Him all the promises are “Yea” and “Amen.” Jesus is the only Savior. To Him be glory in the Church, now and forever, Amen.

Why Daniel Was The Signifying Angel in Revelation

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The fact that this Angel is Daniel signifies the content of the Revelation; i.e., it is to be the fulfillment of the prophecies to Daniel concerning the “end” and which he did not understand previously, Daniel 12:8.

Daniel Did Not Understand

When Daniel did not understand, the Angel told him, 12:9: “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end…..(13) But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”

Daniel could not understand because the prophecy was concerned with the destruction of the City and Temple, the defeat of the chosen people, the desolation of the sanctuary, the successful exploits of the evil prince against the holy covenant. Even the holy place was to be desecrated and the daily sacrifice caused to cease, Daniel chapters 9, 10, 11.

Even the wisest of men could not reason as to how the Most High God, the Covenant keeping God who had made everlasting promise to David, and who had said of Jerusalem: “I have chosen Jerusalem that my name might be there,” 2 Chronicles 6:6.  Even after she had been sorely punished for her sins, Zechariah could still say: “The Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem, Zechariah 1:17; 2:12. And: “I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem,” Zechariah 8:3).

Daniel Did Not Know Christ

Daniel did not yet know Christ as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He did not yet see that the fleshly kingdom could be translated into a heavenly kingdom in Christ, and that, in the crucifixion, the old nation would die, but in the resurrection the nation lived again with the eternal Life which God had ordained from the beginning.

In that great mystery, hidden even from Daniel for a time, is that which the New Testament reveals and of which the Book of Revelation is the epitome. The Book of Revelation shows the Great Revealer of Secrets at work again. And Daniel was in on it.

The End Of The Days

The “end of the days” that Daniel had prophesied was the  “seventy weeks of years” and a “time, times, and dividing of times”. Daniel was promised that he would stand in his lot at the end of these times. The word lot refers to the lot for assigning to service or duty as the priests to their courses; singers, musicians and porters were assigned to their positions by lot as in 1Chronicles chapters 24, 25, and 26.

So Daniel was to have an assigned place of duty and service, his lot,  at the “end of the days”. Therefore, since the Book of Revelation is about the consummation and confirmation of the Messianic fulfillment of Daniel’s visions, we should expect Daniel to be there,doing his duty, receiving his recompense and participating in the revelation of Jesus Christ. And that is exactly what we do see in the role of the Signifying Angel of the Book of Revelation.

Daniel’s position in the Book of Revelation as the Signifying Angel, is evidence, if not proof positive, that the Book was written to show the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecies of the end of the natural, physical nation of Israel, the natural race of Jewish people, and the literal City, Jerusalem. It happened on time in 70 AD. 

The nation was translated from the physical to the spiritual; the natural race was translated to the spiritual race of the New Birth in Christ, the Church; the literal city was translated into the heavenly City, the New Jerusalem. The Kingdom of God had been established on earth and God was again dwelling in the midst of His people.

Who Was The Signifying Angel of Revelation 1:1?

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As we shall show, the Angel which accompanied John through the Revelation visions was the spirit of the prophet Daniel. This Signifying Angel is introduced in Revelation 1:1 as the means of making the message known to John, “He sent and signified it by his angel….”

The Signifying Angel in Revelation 5:

It appears to be the same Angel in 5:2: “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?’” Who would be more likely to ask this question than Daniel, who had been given the prophecy but had to seal it till the time of the end? (Dan. 12:4, 9).

The Signifying Angel in Revelation 10

In Revelation 10 we see a “mighty angel” who has a little scroll/book in his hand. This Angel is like the “man clothed in linen” of Daniel 12:7. Daniel had asked this “man” how long it should be to the end of these wonders. The “man” in Daniel 12 lifted his hand toward heaven and declared it was to be “a time, two times, and half a time.”

However, in the Book of Revelation, (10:6), this Signifying Angel also lifts his hand to heaven but here declares “the time is up”: “there shall be no more delay, but in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, (see below on 11:15), the mystery of God, as he announced to his servants the prophets, should be fulfilled,” (Revelation 10:6-7 RSV).

Who but Daniel would qualify for this angelic role in the Book of Revelation? The mystery had been propounded to him during his life on earth and he had questioned the Lord about it, (Dan. 12:8). Who would be more worthy than Daniel to be granted the privilege to see the fulfillment of the mystery?

The Signifying Angel Passes the Little Scroll to John

But this Signifying Angel of Revelation chapter ten, gives the little scroll, (i.e., what is left of the scroll that has already had six seals broken on it), to John and instructs him to eat it. When John eats it, it is sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach. He tells John “You must again prophecy about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

This symbolic action signifies that Daniel’s prophecy, the “little scroll” which was only for Israel, was being incorporated into the larger prophecy, the Book of Revelation, that was to be to the whole world in the Gentile age, after they too had heard the Gospel. John was to internalize (eat) the prophecy so that he could apply (regurgitate) it to the Church Age. Who would be more qualified than Daniel to offer the remnants of his prophetic scroll to the prophet John?

Revelation 11

Revelation eleven  follows the same thought, for John is given the builders “measuring line” as described by Zechariah 1:16; 2:1-5 for the building of the New Jerusalem, the City of God, the Church, for the Old Jerusalem is destroyed. This New Jerusalem shall be inhabited as an unwalled village because of the multitude of men and cattle in it; unwalled in the sense that it is to be universal. The Lord Himself will be a wall of fire about her and the glory within her.

Zechariah chapter two continues with this same prophetic promise and the language is identical to that of Revelation 21 and 22 describing the New Jerusalem. Yes, the angelic spirit of Daniel “passes the baton” to John for the building of the New Jerusalem, whose Temple is then opened in heaven, (Revelation 11:19).

 Revelation 14

The Angel of Revelation 14:6-7 also appears to be that of the prophet Daniel for he declares that the hour of God’s judgment has come and calls the people to worship God. It was Daniel who was given the prophecy of the appointed time for the wrath of God on the earthly, fallen city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel, (Dan. 8:15-19; 9:24-27; chapter 12). He was best qualified to announce that the appointed time had come.

Revelation 17

This Angel in Revelation 17:1, 7 is seen to be one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls of wrath. He, too, may be shown to be the Signifying Angel, Daniel. When the seventh trumpet call was sounded the seven bowls of wrath began. The completion of these bowls of wrath completed the seventh trumpet and finished the mystery, as declared in 10:7.

This Angel invited John to let him explain the mystery of the judgment of the great harlot, (Revelation 17:7). In 17:7-18 this Angel describes the beast and its horns in the same language used by Daniel in Daniel 7:7-8, 19-27. Who but Daniel could qualify so well to describe this beast and its horns and so to see the fulfillment of the mystery of the great harlot? For it was Daniel who had prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem that was to come at the end of the appointed time.

Revelation 19

The Signifying Angel meets John again in Revelation 19:10. As John falls down to worship him, he says: “I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” In other words, this Angel was a prophet, a servant, and a man. Only Daniel could qualify for this identity.

Revelation 21

In Revelation 21:9, 15, 17, this Angel is the same as 17:1, 7; that is, “one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the last plagues.” This time, the Angel is revealing the mystery of the Bride, the New Jerusalem. In 21:17, the Angel’s measure of the wall is said to be “a man’s measure, that is, an angel’s.” Again this is a “man-angel” and who but Daniel would qualify for this role?

Revelation 22

Chapter 22 makes it even clearer that this “Man-angel” is the prophet Daniel. Revelation 22:6: “The God of the spirits of the prophets has sent his Angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” This is the same Angel that we met in Revelation 1:1 by whom God sent the Revelation to John.

22:8-9: 1 John … fell down to worship at the feet of the Angel who showed them to me; but he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren the prophets,’” (RSV). He was a Prophet. Which other prophet would qualify so well for the role of Signifying Angel?

The fact that this Angel is Daniel signifies the content of the Revelation; i.e., it is to be the fulfillment of the prophecies to Daniel concerning the “end” of the nation, city, and people, and which he did not understand previously, Daniel 12:8.

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