Apocalypse Prophecy XXXV: The Seven Churches of Asia Minor-Part II: Smyrna, Thyatira & Sardis

Overview of the Letters to The Seven Churches

The letters to the churches follow some basic outlines: Commendation of the church’s good works, accusation because of some sin, exhortation to repent with a warning of judgment or an encouragement, an exhortation to discern the truth of the preceding message and a promise to the conquerors. In some shape or formula these are the main components. Christ presents himself with certain attributes particularly suitable to the situation of each church. The logical flow of each letter climaxes with the promise of inheriting eternal life with Christ, which is the main point of each letter. The body of each letter provides the basis upon which the Spirit calls the churches to respond by “hearing,” which should inevitably result in “overcoming,” the consequence of which is inheritance of the respective promises.

Seven Churches Broken Into  Three Groups

The first and last (Ephesus, Laodicea) are in danger of losing their very identity as a Christian church. Therefore, they are exhorted to repent in order to prevent their judgment and to inherit the promises that genuine faith deserves.

The churches addressed in the three central letters (Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis) have to varying degrees some who have remained faithful and others who are compromising with pagan culture. Among these Pergamum is in the best condition and Sardis is in the worst. These churches are exhorted to purge the elements of compromise from their midst in order to avert judgment on those that compromise (and probably also themselves) and to inherit the promises due those who overcome compromise.

The second and sixth letters (Smyrna, Philadelphia) are written to churches which have proved themselves faithful and loyal to Christ even under persecution from both Jews and pagans. Even though they are poor and have little power they are encouraged to continue persevering since more trials will confront them. They are to endure with the hope that they will inherit the promises of eternal salvation when they die (perhaps a martyr’s death).

Smyrna: The Commended Church

The church at Smyrna was troubled, poor, and it was being hammered by false Jews, and some were even being martyred. In this way they were emulating Jesus yet He triumphed in the end even over death. Smyrna was abounding in the spiritual riches that churches like Laodicea sorely lacked yet they viewed themselves as poor (as did the outside world). As we understand from God’s comment to Samuel about David in 1 Samuel 16:7, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart”.

As for the Jews here, they are referred to as a synagogue of Satan, probably to bring attention that they are under the influence and power of the world (which is under Satan's influence). Smyrna was a hotbed of the Roman imperial cult, and anyone refusing to acknowledge Caesar as Lord would certainly have been excluded from the guilds if not persecuted outright. There was also a large Jewish community also thrived in Smyrna. The Jews were not required to patronize the imperial cult since their religion was accepted by Rome; but they did not cooperate with the Christian faith. Therefore the Christians were maligned and persecuted. But Christ says they were rich anyway because they would have eternal life if they remained faithful (Wiersbe 573).

Christians were betrayed by Jewish "informers”. By the second century, Jews in Smyrna were notably “ratting out” Christians such as Polycarp. Since Christians were then clearly not Jewish there was no protection afforded them as a sect of Judaism so they were expected to participate in the imperial/emperor cult and most did not so they were subsequently persecuted (Keener 770).

As 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 states, "we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does." The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. Our fight is not with flesh and blood but rather with the enemy, Satan and the people he uses  to accomplish his demonic purposes. The Jewish synagogues therefore were really anchors of influence  in the culture for Satan.  The Jews had worked within the existing world system to magnify the torment and persecution of God's true chosen at this point in time. What had been done to them for centuries they had now maliciously turned around on the Christians. This to me makes them even more culpable as they knew how guilty they were for doing it...having had it done to them. If they were doing it against God's chosen they were therefore doing against God. The truth is the Christian church does not need the approval of the culture and most often the reason the Church is persecuted is because they are not like the world. Jesus told us that we would always be in conflict with the world if we are obedient to God as the world/man is at war with God.

John 15:18 ~ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

This being said we see this abundantly today with churches or congregations that attempt to stay the course in terms of obedience to the Bible. In a culture that clearly becomes more immoral with each passing year, obedient churches find themselves more and more in conflict with the culture on the fronts of issues like abortion, homosexuality and homosexual marriage, unethical medical practices like euthanasia, cloning and medicinal drug use. The Bible has informed us clearly that it will get worse before it gets better. We now even have those from other faiths attacking us, such as Islam (not just Jews) and worse...we have attacks from within Christianity from other denominations and churches that are no longer toeing the line of Scripture. Outwardly they are professing to be of God's chosen people but in reality they are not "really Jews" or God's people. We, like Smyrna will be rewarded in the end though. The pattern of Scripture is clear.  Anything that is of the world will be in opposition to God as the world system is controlled by Satan (Newell 43).

Thyatira: The Corrupted Church

We now reach the church of Thyatira who has been unfaithful and immoral. Thyatira was a small military town as well as a commercial center with many trade guilds (Wiersbe 574). The city had a temple to Apollo (Sun God). John levels a severe message. Although they had been a busy church helping others they had and extreme tolerance of evil. They were permitting false teaching to influence the people and lead them into compromise with the world and unbiblical behavior but they were also being led astray.

The mention of Jezebel is symbolic of the fact that the church was behaving like the queen (of King Ahab) who enticed Israel to add Baal worship to their religious ceremonies in 1 Kings (Gurtner et al 359). These teachings were similar to the "doctrine of Balaam" that we saw in the church at Pergamos/Pergamum. The church was literally falling into a form of syncretism involving Christianity and false teaching.

This is the age old question that many churches including some that I have attended struggle with, "How much of the culture do you let in to the church so you can lead them to Christ before the church itself becomes the culture and indistinguishable from it?" If we have become the culture of today, there is a high probability that you/we are no longer biblical. If we do not put a limit on certain behaviors in a church, then all behavior becomes acceptable. We in the church need to define a reasonable standard of behavior, dress, etc…a minimum standard. To be able to do this we need to define what is right or wrong according to a Biblical measuring stick. Even though these are issue of conscience, we also know that anything that causes a brother or sister to stumble is unacceptable and unbiblical. I have battled this in my own churches and I am usually on the losing end. The same things that plagued the first century church still plague us today.

On the flip side of this we can quickly fall into danger or the trap of legalism requiring people to "do" things to make them more Biblical. We always run that risk or tripping over the line from orthodoxy to legalism. We see this in other ritualistic religions (Burqa anyone?). We see this with denominations or sects that require women (or men) to dress certain ways to an excessive legalistic degree or require women wear head coverings. 


Most often it is an issue of commonsense.

Unfortunately, the church always seems to have a deficit of this and it is to the detriment of the church. We need to better educate our laity and our leaders when it comes to matters of conscience and hold to a biblical standard...not a cultural one. We are to engage the culture, not conform to it. It is often the leaders of the church that are either under-educated or uneducated in these matters that end up running rogue of the Scriptures and allowing these extremes to exist. Sometimes these very leaders end up being the purveyers of false doctrine because of their own ignorance. The misinformed or poorly informed leaders become the Jezebel’s. As a Protestant we have even seen this in the authoritative tact of the Roman Catholic Church and errant doctrines such as Papal infallibility and its ilk. (Newell 64-65). In Wiersbe's commentary there was an awesome statement I quote verbatim about this:

Unloving orthodoxy and loving compromise...both are hateful to God and need to be avoided (Wiersbe 575).

Sardis: The Comatose Church

Fifty miles east of Ephesus lay Sardis. It was located on an almost inaccessible plateau or an acropolis. It was (past tense) a great church. There is another warning in this church for churches today. Just because you are great doesn’t mean you will remain that way if your heart drifts and goes cold. They had begun to live on the merit of yesterday but produced nothing relevant for today. As with the other churches there was still hope but things needed to be rectified. Sardis like churches today may look “big” or “great” from the outside but inside they are dead (Newell 62-63). As with anything Jesus Christ is involved with there is the possibility of new life or being born again. It is the story of a church that has grown complacent and dwell too much on what they did and not on what they could do as we are called to continue preaching the Gospel until there is no breath left in us to do so (Wiersbe 576). We see in in the formulaic evangelical churches that have all drawn off the business model: Worship, prayer, sermon, worship, offering, dismissal…all of this interspersed with emotive music, no dead spaces and audio/visual stimulus. This may produce evocative emotional reaction but over the long haul it begins to stagnate congregations because they get tired of having their heartstrings plucked for a buck. Man’s plans do not a good church make. The continual presence of the Holy Spirit makes a good church. Without the Spirit the church is deader than a doornail and about as effective as one too. An attempt at a revival of the body without a Spirit is man trying to create a zombie…an animated corpse with no spirit/soul, therefore it’s not a church.

Apocalypse Prophecy XXXIV: The Seven Churches of Asia Minor-Part I: Ephesus & Pergamos

Mystery of The Seven Stars & The Seven Golden Lampstands

It will be the primary focus of the next few posts to address the negative aspects of the messages to the seven churches addressed by John in the opening chapters of the Book of Revelation. I will then take these aspects and draw parallels or applications to the Church/churches of today. The churches of John’s day were, to a greater of lesser extent being persecuted by the outside world. Some were in stricter abeyance to the word of God than others in John’s salutation. As I again have a plethora of material to cover in a limited space I will be limiting my scope to the calls to obedience and messages to repent more so than the commendations for faithful service to the King.

If all the churches had been totally faithful there would’ve been little reason to write them other than to encourage them through their persecution and tribulation. But because of their persecution they were essentially being weeded out. Persecution separates the faithful from the unfaithful. The wheat was being separated from the chafe. Their persecutions were causing them to waver and/or make bad decisions that were putting themselves or their “congregations” in jeopardy and/or in line for judgment from the Lord. We to a lesser extent are seeing the same today. Although we are not quite under the persecution of those days, we are certainly not being accepted outright by the culture and the world at large. We are also informed through Revelation and its predecessor Daniel that near the end (eschaton) this persecution will increase so by default we are urged eventually through necessity to learn from the negative aspects of these messages. We need to see the call to correction and address the apostatizing influence of the culture and see how false teaching infiltrates and otherwise faithful and obedient church in subtle seemingly innocuous steps.

Bridge From The Past


The living and applicable character of Revelation addressed to the churches of Asia Minor and their importance to the modern evangelical church is usually completely overlooked my modern pastors (Walvoord 51). Modern leaders/pastors have their sights set on the dramatic and sensationalizing aspects of the latter chapters of Revelation. By skipping over the first few chapters of Revelation these poor observers of Revelation miss the messages to the seven churches. It is a message that has incisive and pointed denunciation of departure from Scriptural standards and biblical morality. A denunciation of departure from sound theology and drift into cultural ambivalence and ambiguity is what keeps this off of modern teacher/preachers lecterns. These letters and the Bible in general are an exacting standard that holds Christians to the highest level of righteous behavior and holiness. A level that is shunned even by those in positions of leadership today (an yesterday) because it makes “doing church” too hard. So hard that many leaders within the church believe it will drive adherents away from the faith (Walvoord 51).


These are God’s words and what God saw fit to print is what is best for believers. We are in no position to say this not “doable” in our churches. IF God said it is “doable” and required of us, then to not do it puts our judgment in the place of God. This is bad news and prelude to a failure (apostasy). First, because we are not to be the ultimate benchmark or decider of what is possible in churches and secondly, these are not our churches they are God’s church (no “s”). It is the Church…His Church…His Body.

People need to stop thinking from a human oriented standard and start thinking from a God-oriented standard. Unfortunately, man is prone to think from the flesh and not from the angle of righteousness and this is where man fails. We need to depend on the Spirit, not ourselves. Most of the problems in modern congregations is the softening standards that seek to “dull the edge on” or “or water down” the demands of what it takes to be Christian or “do church” to make it palatable to those that don’t even want to attend on a regular basis anyway. We are therefore adjusting our churches to the lowest common denominator and are not even attempting to raise the level. We’re just trying to maintain the status quo so not to “rock the boat”. We are therefore shaping churches to accommodate those that are not driven enough to maintain the exacting standards outlined in the Bible anyway. So why water them down? This is exactly what the letters to the seven churches condemns. The evils and wolves (many unintended or unintentional) are the outgrowth of neglect or misguided attempts to make the Church more palatable for the masses. Sorry folks…the righteousness of God is not for the masses it is for the faithful and the few.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

Many of our individual churches are in a bad way and they will not fix themselves. It will take more than just waiting for others to “right the ship” we all need to do our duty. The first of which is to preach the unadulterated message of the Gospel or as John says the churches at Ephesus and Pergamos...

Ephesus: The Careless Church

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Revelation 2:4-6

What was the love they had at first? They had been busy doing the works of the Lord. They were a sacrificing and giving church, for the word in Greek for “hard work” κόπον/kopon (v.2) means to "toil to the point of weariness". These people had paid the price. They had shown the fruits of the Spirit through their actions. Obviously, part of this labor was rooted in the preaching or the Gospel because without the Gospel…there is no faith to have perseverance in (v.2)

So what happened?

Paul had warned false teachers would arise from within the church at Ephesus (Acts 20). John had instructed them to "try the spirits" (1 John 4: 1-6). Indeed, a church must be constantly alert to detect apostasy and reject it. The word Nicolailan means "conquer the people." It is quite possible there was a portion of the church at Ephesus that either purposely or inadvertently controlled or manipulated the church because of either purposeful or poor leadership and robbed the people of their liberty as equals under Christ which is often the case today with churches who see leadership and laity as hierarchical divisions when no such thing existed then or now. Then and now misinformed our misunderstanding church goers initiated the "clergy" and "laity" division that is not taught in New Testament. All God's people are "kings and priests". We all have equal access to the Father through the blood of Christ. Those that take leadership roles and pastoral rolls with the intent to “lead” rather than “serve” are not suited to the position they are given to serve and guide God’s people (not theirs). We’ll see this “derailing “ of the church again in Pergamos. This church who had separated themselves from the world spiritually to be useful tireless tools of Jesus Christ had abandoned their first love! They had left the fervent, personal love. Labor does not substitute for love which is a condition of the heart, not an action of the body. They are called to repent which is to realize you are wrong and come back to Christ and the original intents of the Bible. In the end we see the fruits of a “careless church” (Wiersbe 571-572).

There is then a parallel church also very applicable today…

Pergamos: The Compromising Church

Instead of careless we see another word that starts with a “C”: Compromising.

Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” Revelation 2:14-16

We again see the teaching of the Nicolaitans but it is in conjunction with the teachings of Balaam. Pergamos had been Satan’s “seat” because it had the first temple dedicated to Caesar and was a rabid promoter of the imperial cult. Although Pergamos had suffered persecution and had remained true to God they still lacked in Christ’s eyes.  Although mostly faithful and under persecution…

A group of compromising people had infiltrated the church and church koinonia. It is clear what Jesus thinks of them and those that practice the same things today. Jesus Christ hated their doctrines and their practices. What they taught was the teaching of "Nicolaitans” who we already read about at Ephesus (Rev. 2:6). They taught what is called "the doctrine of Balaam". The truth is that the teachings of the Nicolaitans and Balaam are probably the same. Regardless, those leading in the church with these types of teaching were leading the church astray. So what were they teaching?

Balaam was a real prophet (although pagan) who prostituted his gifts in order to earn money from King Balak who hired him to curse the people of Israel. God ended up turning the curses to blessing. Balak knowing he could not overcome Israel or Israel’s God, took Balaam’s advice and “befriended” Israel and invited them to worship at pagan altars. Syncretism folks…the faithful fell right into it hook, line and sinker. It is the blending of the beliefs of the One True God with false/fake gods or worldly philosophies (a la 1 Corinthians 1-4). Balak couldn’t take on God’s people head-to-head…so he led them astray and had them whoring themselves to other gods and eventually whoring themselves to pagan women within a short time through pagan practices and idolatry. In the end 24,000 died (Numbers 25:1-9) due to this “compromise” with the world. This is the context of the passage in Revelation. There was a group within the church that were “lording over” this church that said there was absolutely nothing wrong with accepting and being friendly with Rome and Rome’s way of doing things. Some resisted and were persecute but most took the easy way out and conformed to the culture and demands of the State (Wiersbe 573-574). The Lord literally accused certain Christians leaders at Pergamos of sinning, of allowing "spiritual fornication" by accepting Rome into the Church (i.e.: the world and culture into the Church).

They are called to repent or He will come and bring His sword. Please note this is not the sword of Hebrew 4:12 μάχαιραν /machairan a noun that refers to a small knife-like sword used for removing meat from bone.

Hebrew 4:12 ~”For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

John on the other hand is referring to a ῥομφαίᾳ/rhomphaia in the Revelation passage, a sabre, long or broad cutlass.

Revelation 2:16~ “Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth."

A powerful punishing and bludgeoning weapon meant to exact swift and painful…judgment or death. Since this sword will be coming from Jesus’ mouth…it most certainly is judgment. These people were being warned that they should be more concerned with the sword of Christ than that of the Romans (i.e.: the world/culture). The implications of this text are profound for the church at Pergamos…and us. Jesus will not be playing games. This should give us some idea of how severely God looks upon the infractions of this otherwise faithful church. A church many, many today are emulating and following in the footsteps of. Hopefully this will open a few eyes…but then again…probably not.

The parallel for today’s church should be utterly clear…and frightening.

The admonition for the church then turns singular and individualistic as it is often the individual(s) that affect a change in a church that is in “backslide” mode. (v.17) “Whoever” has ears, let “them” hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the “one” who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give “that person” a white stone with a new name written on it, known only “to the one who receives it”.


Sorry folks, we of the church are called to be a pure bride of Christ, not a dirty whore of the world. I’m listening Lord, I’m listening… I do not want to be whore.

Apocalypse Prophecy XXXIII: Revelation: 30,000 ft Flyover-A Prologue

The Kingdom

The Kingdom of God announced by Jesus is multidimensional & all-encompassing. It is both a present and future reality with a focus both on the individual creature & with the whole society. The “already but not yet” idea or concept of the Kingdom of God. It embraces all aspects of human life: physical, spiritual, personal & interpersonal, communal & societal, historical & eternal. It encompasses all human relationships vertical and horizontal – with our neighbor, with nature, and with God. 

Book of Revelation was written between the 60s to mid-90s by John on the Island of Patmos. It is written to the seven churches in Asia (Minor). While in the Spirit John is directed to write to the seven churches the vision which he subsequently sees and hears. The Christians in these churches are reminded prophetically that Jesus Christ is coming again soon. They are encouraged to persevere in their faith in the face of persecution, false teaching, Jewish opposition, and spiritual discontent.

As can be expected in a book named the Revelation of Jesus Christ the main subject of the Revelation is the God-man Himself: Jesus. Those that read and hear the book are bestowed a blessing or a beatitude, "Blessed is the one who reads or ears…takes to heart (1:3). Revelation contains more prophetic material than any other NT Book. It contains the eschatological (end time) victory of Christ over evil, sin, the Antichrist & the world system itself.

It contains information on a tribulation or coming hardship, the Parousia or second coming of Jesus Christ and along with him will come the Kingdom of God. Revelation provides a great source of encouragement to an embattled Church. It is clear that Revelation was divinely designed to prepare Christians for persecution. It is clear John borrows phraseology, wordage and semantics from OT (Daniel, Ezekiel – Isaiah)

Theology of John's Apocalypse

John’s book is a prophetic work which concerns the imminent and inaugurated fulfillment of the  Old Testament prophecies about the Kingdom in Jesus Christ. The Apocalypse was revealed so that believers would be blessed by having a heavenly perspective on redemptive history and consequently obeying the commands of the LORD of history. John greets the churches on behalf of the Father, the Spirit (seven spirits before the throne), and the Son, whose redemptive work results in the churches’ new status, all to God’s glory (v.4-8). In verse 5 the description is a summary of Christ’s role:  He persevered as a faithful witness to the Father in the face of persecution even to death, which He conquered, and then became the cosmic ruler. We then see Christ’s death and resurrection (v5) established a twofold office – not only for Himself (v. 13-18) but also for believers. Believers are clearly identified with His resurrection and kingship by following His model especially by being faithful witnesses by mediating Christ’s priestly and royal authority to the world. The high point of vv1-6 and all of chapter 1 is this: The achievement of God’s glory through Christ’s work and service of His people as kings and priest.

The Son’s kingship and the Father’s sovereignty over history are emphasized as the basis of the church’s grace and peace and the Father’s glory. In verse 1:7 we see our first Old Testament reference to Daniel 7:13, “enthronement of the Son of man over all the nations”. We also see Zechariah 12:10 in “God will defeat all enemies and Israel will be redeemed after repenting of their sinful rejection of God and His messenger”…“the one they have pierced”

Tribulation, Perseverance & the Kingdom

We see right off the bat that there is a blessing resulting from reading and obeying the Revelation. In the letters to the 7 churches, Christ encourages the churches to witness, warns them against compromise, and exhorts them to hear and to overcome compromise in order to inherit eternal life.

John is commissioned to write to the churches because their confidence is grounded in Christ’s installation as judge, priest, and ruler of the church as a result of His victory over death. In verse 9 there are three datives cases in the Greek: θλίψει/tribulation or suffering, kingdom/ βασιλείᾳ, and perseverance/ὑπομονῇ with only one indirect article. This clues me into the fact that John meant them to be seen together as a unit in some fashion. These ideas frame the entire book of Revelation. It is no accident they are mentioned in the introduction to temper the reader’s mindset. A mindset that was under persecution in the original audience and later readers. We are later told that when believers ‘endure’ in their faith, they are said to have ‘kept the word of Christ’s endurance” Revelation 3:10.

The Apocalypse reveals that their reign, like Jesus’ initial kingdom, consists in enduring and conquering not by compromising their faithful witness in the face of trials from the power of evil (6:8) in this world. Believers gain victory in defeating sin in their lives, and in beginning to rule over death and Satan by identification with Jesus and Jesus’ reign in our lives. It is the very act of enduring and persevering the allows the believer to conquer.

The “tribulation” is a present reality (2:9) and will continue among the churches (The Church) in the near future (2:10 “you are about to suffer”). As we all know from our own experiences, difficult times call for faith and perseverance to face our trials. It is this type of resolute and uncompromising faith that is necessary to fight off false teachings, and to persevere in steadfast faith.

It is my belief that the symbols that appear in the letters should be interpreted primarily in the context of the chapter 1. In other words, I believe there is a reciprocal relationship between chapter 1’s vision and the letters to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3. Therefore, the historical background of the churches and the OT literary background mutually interpret one another. This historical context has the priority of our initial focus, since the selection of Old Testament allusions are sparked by ideas from the historical situation of the author and the readers. This of course does not mean there isn’t something more here intended by the Spirit. As it appears to be my experience reading apocalyptic works there is a “chain reaction” experience that takes place that ends up setting off a series of other mental associations with similar OT phrases or ideas which produces deeper insight.

Apocalypse Prophecy XXXII: The Little Horn - Satanic Parasite III

A Satanic Parasite and the Lord of Hosts

In keeping with the overall theme throughout Daniel (and my series of posts) that God is indeed sovereign, holy, omnipotent, etc. And also in keeping with the idea that all things have their very being in Him, I posit these last set of thoughts for my conclusion based on what I have seen in Daniel 7.

I suppose the obscene truth of Daniel 7 and Scripture that relates to the Little Horn is a truth of ontological parasitism (hence the subtitle this paper). The idea of ontological parasitism is essentially a conjecture that a thing or being can only have its existence because of the being or existence of another first. It is the original Augustinian argument for the existence of evil. Evil itself is not a thing but rather and absence of a thing or being. Evil is ontologically dependent. It is dependent on a Sovereign God. God...who gave everything at the cross and Satan and his agent...who try to take everything by sucking the life or meaning out of it. Sometimes things just need to be quarantined, removed and killed before they cause more damage.

Colossians 1:17 ~ “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”(ESV)


Hebrews 1:3 ~ "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..." (ESV)

Evil is the absence of good just as cold is the absence of heat. What we see in the entire scope of history are parasites feeding off the life of something originally created good or systems created God. An intended theocracy becomes in lessening degrees a human democracy, hegemony, oligarchy, monarchy, tyranny, anarchy, etc. as it falls away from the Most High God.

The Little Horn only exists because of his satanic impetus or momentum and because he feeds off of the evil empires that give him his existence. If there is no empire, there is no object to subjugate and persecute. These Empire in turn are only allowed to continue to exist by the Sovereign hand of God. Had God not even created the Earth, people, and allowed empires, Satan and the Little Horn would have nothing to corrupt and take over for periods of time. The very existence of these leeches is allowed in the end for the ultimate purpose of God’s glory through the salvation of His people, which ironically, are integrally involved in this story of Daniel’s visions. Without God allowing even the smaller aspects of this scenario the Little Horn and Satan are powerless to do anything. Without God, they really have no point of being or reason for existence…therefore they are parasites. I mean good grief man! --The Little Horn even comes into being as parasite and gestates and grows consuming the very thing he arises from! He ends up taking over the whole system with the underlying satanic intent to destroy it!

Allowed to run its natural course/life a parasite will eventually, infect,  incapacitate its host or kill it in its self-destructive need for life and/ existence. In the case of the Little Horn it is a kingdom/nation or people. I believe that because a nation or kingdom is made up of people, some of which are God’s saints or chosen elect. If the Little Horn succeeds in wiping out God’s saints that God turned over to the Little Horn for a time, then the Little Horn succeeds in his affront against God. This cannot happen because (1) it defies logic and (2) God has clearly said otherwise in Daniel and later in Revelation. This would not be according to a sovereign and just God's plan.

In the case of Satan and his puppet the “Little Horn/Antichrist” God will not allow this as a just God cannot allow evil or injustice to triumph or last forever (or he would not be sovereign or just). He therefore destroys the one that would dare blaspheme and attack the Most High God directly (or at least try to). Like humanity at-large even the Little Horn/Antichrist has a choice but like anything else turned over to its wickedness it will continue a long slow spiral away from a holy God. By his own hand Little Horn will defeat himself by pursuing his wicked ways, evil and sin. What we see in the Little Horn is the sum end result of a complete apostasy based in freewill or freedom to choose. He is given over to it (a la Romans 1). The same is true of Satan in the end. God will inevitably intervene in justice and will end the control of satanic megalomaniacal tyrants including Satan himself. These two evil beings given over to ultimate wickedness and depravity knows no bounds so God will have to put an end to them, both will be cast into the fire. This will be followed by the ushering in of His Kingdom with His saints. The Most High God will literally wipe the slate clean and begin to build the foundation again on the Cornerstone...Jesus Christ to whom was given, "dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." Daniel 7:14 (ESV)

Praise to His glorious name! Jesus Christ! δόξα !!

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Bibliography

ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Bibles, 2008. Print.

Hill, Andrew E. “Daniel,” in Daniel-Malachi, Vol. 8 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Ed. Garland, Tremper Longman III & David E., and general editors. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2008.

Lucas, Ernest. Daniel. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2002.

McGee, Dr. J. Vernon. Proverbs-Malachi. Vol. 3 of Thru the Bible. Nashville,TN: Thomas Nelson, 1983. 524-606. Print

McLaughlin, Vince. "Daniel 4C." Class lecture, Valley Forge Christian College, January 9, 2012.

McLaughlin, Vince. "Daniel 6B." Class lecture, Valley Forge Christian College, January 9, 2012.

Pentecost, J. Dwight. “Daniel,” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: an Exposition of the Scriptures. Ed. Walvoord, Roy B Zuck & John F., and Dallas Seminary Faculty. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1985. 1343-1375. Print.

Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews, and & Mark W. Chavalas. “7:1-28 Vision of the Four Beasts” The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2000. 740-742. Print

Walvoord, John F. “Daniel’s Vision of Future World History,” Daniel : The Key to Prophetic Revelation. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1989. 145-176. Print

Wiersbe, Warren W. “Daniel 7: Thy Kingdom Come,” Old Testament: The Prophets, Vol. 4 of The Bible Exposition Commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Victor, 2001. 282-285. Print

Pleasant Conversation (or Not So Pleasant)

It is often ironic that when unbelievers see Christians praying it is often quipped, "Hey look, the Bible-thumper is talking to himself again." (lol). I've even heard Christians themselves say similar things like, "When I'm tired and worn out from the world and I pray, I feel like I'm talking to myself." 


Really?


Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ~Romans 8:26-27 (ESV)


I guess this should come as no surprise but it might for some. Reread the above passage and understand what I say in my next statement. People say they do not like to pray or it is hard for them. One should question the Spirit that dwells within them why this is so then...if they are Christian.


For prayer...is a Trinity-human activity. It involves you, and all three of the persons of the Godhead.


Holy Spirit: 

• "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness"
• "...the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words"
• He is interceding to The Father AND Jesus!
• Because we could never fully understand the mind of God in our fallen wretched state we need the Spirit to move beyond the limitations of our words which are wholly inadequate to articulate the truth in words.

Jesus:

• How is it that one even has the Spirit indwelling within them unless they have accepted the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in faith?

God (The Father):

• "...the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God"

As All are One, commonsense dictates that they would be involved but this passage clearly shows us the split directly and indirectly just as we see in places like Matthew 28:19-20

Truth is that even if we pray outside God's will we always will receive a response from Him...it just isn't always the response we would hope for because our hope is subject to our fallen condition and is not always based in the will of God.

I then think of Jesus praying to the Father when He was fully human/fully God during His ministry. While He was on Earth, Jesus, "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ~Philippians 2:6-8

Jesus even prayed on the Cross...multiple times...

Jesus--God, was working through the power of the Holy Spirit and praying to the Father for guidance. This was to create by example, a precedent and to demonstrate how we should live, working through the power of the Holy Spirit, in submission to God’s will for our lives.

...and He was the perfect example for us all. By emulating Him we are Christ-like and very Christian.

So go pray...now.

Apocalypse Prophecy XXXI: The Little Horn - Satanic Parasite II

The Little Horn (Wiersbe)

Warren Wiersbe seems to take a bit of a different slant on Daniel 7. As before, the fourth beast represents the Roman Empire in some form. The ancient Roman armies defeated one nation after another until most of the known world was under Roman domination. According to Wiersbe, this beast corresponds with the legs of iron on Nebuchadnezzar's colossus in Daniel 2:40-43. Instead of ten toes, the ten kings are represented here by ten horns since horns were symbolic of power in the Old Testament (Walton et al 742). We literally see one empire has replaced another: Greek is superseded by Rome. As with the previous interpretation from Pentecost we see the sovereign hand of God steering and controlling the path and destiny of entire empires: God’s Sovereignty is on full display. In Daniel 7:12 there is an additional revelation by God to Daniel that wasn’t in the one Nebuchadnezzar had. The last kingdom on earth would be a formidable kingdom that will be nothing like previous kingdoms and it would literally declare war on God! This would be the proverbial kingdom of a/the Antichrist. It will be kingdom that would literally be destroyed when Jesus Christ comes back to earth in His Second Coming when He brings with Him the Kingdom of God in full and reigns. In Nebuchadnezzar’s vision it is the "stone cut out without hands" that destroys the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision.

The ten horns represent ten kings or kingdoms that will exist in the last days or the time just previous to Jesus Christ’s return. As I have stated previous in my introduction, Daniel wrote in language the people of his day could understand (lingua franca or pidgin)…so he wrote in terms of Kingdoms, not nations. These “kingdoms” could very easily mean modern nations or a modern coalition of nations. It is out of these ten horns/kingdoms/nations which are somehow related to the original Roman Empire in some way and in some form, that the Little Horn will arise. “He” is perceived to be the Antichrist. This abomination will wage war on God and God’s people. He will represent the last world ruler. He will be the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 or counterfeit Christ or ἀντίχριστος of 1 & 2 John (Greek: ἀντί meaning against or instead of)

As mentioned by Pentecost and class text from Lucas the Little Horn’s “eyes” insinuates that he will be exceptionally intelligent or coy and will most likely be skilled in using words and mannerisms that will encourage people to follow him. Sadly his use of words will include blasphemy against God. Through his words and actions he will trick people into believing that he is (a) god (Lucas 185).

In accord with Daniel 7:25 (and Revelation 13:5) his reign or control over the “saints: will last for “a time, times and half a time”. Revelations states it is 42 months. In modern English equivalent equates to three and half years (3.5 years). We will actually find out in Daniel 9:27 that this “person” will actually make a covenant with God’s people for 7 years but in the middle will break the covenant and begin to persecute God’s people. As stated before, in his rise to power he will usurp three of the existing kingdom/nations and put them in subjugation to him. When he breaks covenant all ‘Hell will break loose’ and this is what is commonly referred to as the “Tribulation” or the “Great Tribulation” which we see mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. The Tribulation will end with Jesus Christ’s return and establishment of His Kingdom. As Wiersbe states this is not all disclosed in Daniel’s vision but the pattern of Scripture and concurrence of events can be interpreted as such (Walton et al 741-742, Wiersbe 283-285).

Of particular interest in Daniel 7 is the “war on the saints” (Daniel 7:21-7:25). Although J. Dwight Pentecost connects the “saints” to the nation of Israel and he doesn’t differentiate spiritual or geopolitical, I question this interpretation. For me the Bible cannot be read in encapsulations and needs to be read as a whole. As such the entire body of evidence needs to be taken into account before drawing conclusions. The book of Daniel does not live in a vacuum. To me the "saints” mentioned in verses 18, 21-22, 25, and 27 clearly speak people of God living on the earth during the Tribulation period. The Apostle John in Revelation seems to allude to the fact there will be believing Jews and Gentiles during the Tribulation. This therefore tells me that Pentecost may not necessarily be seeing the whole picture. If this tribulation will contain believing Jews AND gentiles this cannot solely refer to the nation of Israel (spiritual or not). Please note that I have not even brought the Rapture or “snatching way of the faithful” into this.

Regardless, the last saints will be delivered over to the Little Horn and some of them will be persecuted for their faith. Scripture does say though that the saints will eventually be victorious over their enemy through God’s judgment (Daniel 7:18 & 7:27). The key word(s) through all this is (וִֽיקַבְּלוּן֙/they shall receive) the Kingdom. God is the Champion of the persecuted here. They do not gain the victory over the Little Horn on their own, God gives it to them, and hence the usages of the word receive. This is clearly the work of an omnipotent and sovereign Most High God! It is God that allows His people to be given over to the Antichrist/Little Horn for a short period of wrath and it is God who crushes this demonically inspired malevolent monster. In the end God will reign supreme and eternally with His saints in the Kingdom of Daniel 7:9-14 and 7:27-28 (Wiersbe 284).

Ironically, it is the portion about the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man that I previously skipped over that allows this to happen. You get the impression that while all these dastardly deeds are being perpetrated here on earth, spiritually, God is paving the way to ultimate victory over all in the Son of Man. Although the Little Horn will briefly receive power over God’s saints, the true power and dominion that will last forever is reserved for the Son of Man. As is states in Daniel 7:13-14.

In this small sampling of Scripture in Daniel we see that a single prophet of God sees the entire arc of history revealed to him in a vision. We get it in the space of a handful of chapters more than a prediction of the future here, we see the knowledge of an all-powerful and sovereign God revealed to finite men. For me there is reassurance here that there is Someone in control that knows what’s going to happened and for a faithful believer the end result will be positive.

The Little Horn (Walwoord)

According to Walvoord the biggest issue in defining who the Little Horn is, is to figure out who the fourth beast is. Most liberal theologians are convinced it is Greece. On the flip side the conservatives identify this as Rome. I take the stand that it was Rome just as Walvoord does. Rome ended up assimilating Greece into their empire. Until the modern British and American hegemonies, Rome was considered the greatest empire in history. If it is indeed Rome which Walvoord believes it is, than the Little Horn arises from some incarnation of this long dead empire. Walvoord like the professor of my course Dr. Vince McLaughlin, also distinguishes and delineates between the Little Horn of Chapter 7 and that of Chapter 8 since the one in Chapter 8 comes out of an entirely different context than the little horn of chapter 7. He goes on to state that the Little Horn in chapter 8 points to a ruler of the Greek empire that describes Antiochus Epiphanes to a “T”.

So as we see before, the Little Horn speaks boastful words and he is punished by being thrown into the fire in verses 11 and 12. It is stated in Matthew 25:31-46 that there is a paralleling or concurrent verse past which may be following the one here. Walvoord notes the judgment in Matthew seems to follow the second coming of Christ and includes judgment on entire world. Regardless, we see a future fulfillment like Pentecost and Wiersbe. It is also noted clearly by Walvoord that the end of the fourth beast will be dramatic as will be the demise of the Little Horn along with the peoples involved that support him. This concurs with similar statements in Revelations 19:19-20 if they are indeed meant to be seen as parallel. An interesting aside from Walvoord that is not specifically stated by Wiersbe with whom this interpretation is most similar is that "the saints of the most High" in verse 18 seem to include the saved of all ages as well as the holy angels which may be described as "the holy ones” in Daniel 7:21, 22, 25, 27; 8:24 and 12:7 (Walton et al 742, Walvoord 162-172)

Walvoord also explains that the endless explanation of experts trying to determine with specificity these ten kings in the history of the Greece or Rome shows the unacceptable outcome of trying to explain them as past history therefore he posits again that they are future history as is the Little Horn. If we compound this biblical evidence with that of Revelations 13:1 and 17:12 it would be wise to assume this as we know that Revelations does deal with the time near Jesus Second Coming. In this timeframe will come a satanic monster or Little Horn/Antichrist that will attempt to "change times and laws," which amounts to cancelling religious observations and holidays just as Epiphanes did long ago. As hard as it is to believe, this new monstrosity will be worse and he will wear out the saints (Walvoord 175) as God will allow him/it to do so.

An Interesting Aside (V. McGee)

As Vernon McGee’s interpretation differs little from Walvoord’s, I will not be reiterating it. There is indeed and interesting aside though in his commentary about the form of rule of the Little Horn in contrast to that of the coming Kingdom of God ruled by Jesus Christ. McGee states they are both forms of dictatorships surprising as that seems (McGee 571). I myself would prefer the term hegemony (more specifically Theocracy) but McGee chose to use the word dictator even with its unsavory connotations. This is probably baffling to us who live in democracies and have our “freedoms” but the truth is that we are better off as slaves to Christ under his complete control rather than being slave so to sin and under the sway of wickedness. As it says in the Bible:

Romans 6:16 ~ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?(ESV)

As Vern McGee states, “God's ideal government is not a democracy it is a real dictatorship” If I may be so bold as to say so it is more specifically a theocracy ruled by Jesus Christ. Because as McGee continues:

“When Jesus Christ rules on this earth, He is not going to ask anyone what he wants done. He is going to make the choices, and this earth is going to be run the way He wants to run it. That is the reason it would be best if you and I would become conformed to His image; otherwise we will be very uncomfortable under His (McGee 571)

So I guess what we see is the perversion of something (hegemony) that under God’s rule and righteousness…would’ve been a good thing. Under the control of tyrants or immoral and wicked beings, it is turned into a nightmare that follows in the lines of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Hitler, Stalin and their ilk. These will in turn give way to the beast/fiend that will probably be worse than all of them combined. Instead of the loving hand of God reaching down to help us from his leadership position, humanity will only will see the jackboot of human megalomania and tyranny. But his horrid reign will be temporary and Jesus will come back to reign in power...

Why I've Chosen to Limit Scope To Daniel 7

Although there is a bit more to say about the Little Horn in later chapters of Daniel, I must try and limit the scope of these posts. What should be said about later chapters is that they embellish or "flesh out" the information revealed to Daniel in chapter 7. Specifically, chapter 11 states there will be no escape or help for the Antichrist when the judgment of God falls on him. He will be battled by the archangel Michael as this madman will be energized by Satan himself. The very end of chapter 11 describes Antichrist’s military and political career, whereas his internal policy of “brutal oppression and persecution” toward God’s people is set forth in 12:1 that will end with Armageddon. Chapter 12's elucidation is essentially expounding on what is expounded in the Little Horn's/Antichrist's military and political career in the previous chapter (McLaughlin, 6B Lecture).

I would go into more explicit detail but it seems this would take me beyond the intended conclusion which is centered near chapter 7. It also requires that I glean superfluous information from outside Daniel 7 which I believe is also further than my intended thesis of the ministry and person spelled out in chapter 7. Moreover, additional information gleaned from outside chapter 7 generally embellishes or adds to what exists in chapter 7. When we begin to get involved with this additional information concerning ambiguous references to nations, it often leads to speculation on details about the future that are not really specifically stated in Scripture. Often they sidetrack us from Scripture’s intent. When this type of thing happens we often begin to engage in eisegesis and I wish to avoid this rabbit trail for my posts (plus it would make my series of posts on the demonic Little Horn 23 posts not 3). Having said this I now offer a theological principle or insight I see underlying Daniel 7 as my conclusion in my next post.

Apocalypse Prophecy XXX: The Little Horn - Satanic Parasite I

To finish off Daniel I would like to look just a little more closely at the person and the "ministry" of the Little Horn of Chapter 7.


My goal when attempting to translate or interpret Scripture is to at least try to use existing Scripture to interpret the passage I am looking at. In the case of Daniel 7 we get an inspired interpretation immediately after the vision/dream is given to Daniel in the chapter itself. I will first outline how Scripture delivers the vision and then gives the Scriptural interpretation. Immediately thereafter I will launch into a rather comprehensive summary of my exegesis based in extra-biblical sources and commentaries or scholars of differing backgrounds (and there are quite a few). Due to the plethora of differing opinions, my intent is to remain focused in conservative theological sources. The overarching theme therefore will be the person and ministry of the “Little Horn” that arises from the fourth beast in Daniel 7:7-8 and chapter 7 in general. Over the course of the next three posts, I will pick the ideas through a selective synopsis of those interpretations best appeal to my sensibilities and seem the most appropriate through my hermeneutical grid. This will then help me to interpret and construct a picture of the person and ministry of the Little Horn. I will conclude by offering a theological observation of the Little Horn (and therefore Satan’s) parasitic ministry or existence in relation to “the saints” and the Most High God.


We must also take into account the Biblical historicity of the events surrounding the Little Horn. It must always be kept in the periphery of our minds that whenever Scripture does not delineate a specific chronological sequence of events, none should be assumed. That being said is appears that in Daniel 7 the events at least appear to unfold in sequential matter as outlined in Scripture but in reality specific timeframes are not mentioned although the end times are alluded to. Some of the things we can ascertain with a modicum of certainty is that these visions were written down by a Jewish Babylonian Exile in approximately the 6th century B.C. As such it is influenced by both Jewish thought and to a lesser extent by the surrounding Babylonian culture as its original intended audience would’ve been acculturated by having lived in Babylon/Persia for the better part of a century.


As there is never absolute certainty as to the identity of individuals in prophetic Scripture unless specifically noted in Scripture so I will not allow myself to be manipulated by the desire to pinpoint the exact identity of the Little Horn. That will not be the purpose of this series of posts. I will let others speculate, I merely wish to paint as biblical an outline as possible from Daniel 7 as to the nature of Little Horn’s person and actions outlined therein.


It must be noted also that from a conservative viewpoint the episodes that unfold in Daniel 7 appear to serve an eschatological function or they appear to reveal, through divine vision, what can be expected just previous to Christ’s second coming as opposed to Daniel 8 which speaks to more immediate tribulations that will be unleashed by a prototypical Antichrist named Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 2nd century B.C. (McLaughlin 4C). This will also be noted later in a selective synopsis of J. Walvoord.


The Fourth Beast & the Little Horn (Scripture Overview & Interpretation)


"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. Daniel 7:7-8 (ESV)


After a short aside and discourse on the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man calmly preparing judgment on this monstrosity, the prophecy about the Little Horn continues…


“Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) Daniel 7:11-12 (ESV)


Scripture then does us the service of immediately interpreting this episode from Daniel’s cultural milieu and his historical standpoint (Sitz en Liben/setting in life) in the following verses.


‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’ Daniel 7:17-18 (ESV)


The four beasts were kings/kingdoms but in the end the Kingdom of God will trump them all (Walton et al 742). The last beast is the most troubling for Daniel as it is further elaborated on, specifically the Little Horn that arises from the ten horns before it. The Little Horn is so clearly an affront to God and His holy people that God Himself passes judgment on it/him (more on this later).


“Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. Daniel 7:17-22 (ESV)


The Little Horn clearly arises from the fourth beast (7:7) which has no name as there appears to be nothing in God’s current (or later) Creation to compare it to, there will be no antecedent (Hill 136). The fourth beast was more terrifying and powerful than the previous three beasts, which were all fierce and devastating. The empire this beast represented crushed and warred its way to integrating into itself the three previous empires (Pentecost 1350-1354). What are of particular note are the 10 horns this ugly thing has. According to verse 24 these too represented 10 king/kingdoms. From these ten will arise one: The Little Horn. In the process of rising to power the Little Horn will be resisted by three and those will be subjugated. This Little Horn will then turn his ire against God and His people. God’s people will be delivered into his hand for a time but then God will intervene and the Little Horn will be destroyed violently even by Old Testament Biblical standards (Pentecost 1350-1354).


“He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. “But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’ Daniel 7:23-28 (ESV)


The Little Horn (J.D. Pentecost)


Now let’s try and restate all of that in plain modern English with a bit of a contemporized edge, shall we? It is generally agreed that the fourth beast is either the Roman Empire or some version of it whether it be the original or a re-manifestation of it in a more contemporized form (McLaughlin 4C). After this small “wee” bit of consensus many exegetes and scholars take many different paths on how the Fourth Beast is understood. More specifically how the Little Horn needs to be understood in terms of his person and "ministry". The word "ministry" being a twisted synonym for the hell-on-earth he will unleash. These different viewpoints have often led to confusion, and at times conflict. I would like to clear the water by offering a few of them and then picking the one that makes the most biblical sense to me.


The Little Horn starts small among the ten existing horns and in its growth it uproots, subdues or trumps three of the existing ten kings. The implication is that they need to be subdued so it appears they will resist Little Horn. The Little Horn has the “eyes of a man” (ESV) which most scholars view as a symbol of intelligence (McLaughlin 4C, Pentecost 1350-1354). This is also alluded to in our my text also (Lucas 185). This is ironic to me because it’s hard to believe anything that is allegedly so “intelligent” would blaspheme against God which is exactly what this thing does. If we skip over the passage about the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man for clarity’s sake which is primarily them preparing for the time of judgment because they have sovereignty over all, we arrive at the slaying of the fourth beast and its consignment to the flame. Here we see the fourth beast stripped of its power by divine judgment whereas the previous three beasts had been by military conquest. God intervene directly in this case.


The rest of Daniel 7 more or less revolves around the identity and meaning behind the Little Horn. In verse 21-22 we are told he will persecute the saints of the Most High. The personal pronoun indicates a person or a masculine gender distinction (וְה֤וּא/and he). In verse 24 he is said to be a king (leader). The saints of the Most High are enigmatic to say the least. This view brought out or put forth by the likes of Pentecost in The Bible Knowledge Commentary advocate that the saints refer to the nation of Israel and the persecution will take place during the Tribulation. The Little Horn will overcome the nation of Israel and bring them under his control (Rev. 12:13-17; 17:7). He will then be judged by God and Israel (Pentecost 1350-1351, 1353-1354).


Andy’s Note: I’m not so sure about this Dispensational view. My issue with this view has been and remains this: Who are the saints and who is Israel? I believe there is confusion here either on the part of Dispensationalists or me. Perhaps this is why I have foreshortened this portion as I tend to have and proclivity against it (i.e.: theological allergic reaction to it). The idea that we argue for modern terminological groupings and then divide people into said camps makes me crazy. It is clear that these passages in Daniel (and Revelation) refer to the faithfulness of God and reward for those that remain faithful. To me, in the context of New Testament Christian theology, this is the person(s) that believes in Jesus Christ through faith and remains faithful until the end…no matter when that may be. Not Israel as a geopolitical entity but rather a spiritual Israel (Romans 9:6). Not the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and those within it that adhere to a religion of works but rather those in the RCC that believe that Christ died for the sins and is by faith alone that they do this (Ephesians 2:8)….and so on and so on.


We must never forget the overarching point of Daniel, Revelation and the Bible as a whole: The most important theme and aim of all of this is to trace the divine movement of history toward the goal of universal recognition of God and His work to bring Him all the glory. This purpose of God...especially as it relates and revolves around the Gospel and therefore is based in His Son Jesus Christ....the Lord of all. If we miss this in a reckless pursuit of chasing shadows trying to predict the future, we have totally the missed the intent of the message given to us and abused the privileged gift of grace given to us also.


[See Part III for Bibliography]

Apocalypse Prophecy XXIX: The End of The Line

We now enter the last chapter of Daniel.


“At that time” in verse 1 alludes to the period just described in 11:36–45. It is the Tribulation or Antichrist’s reign of terror in the end times. We see God has assigned a powerful angel to watch over and protect Daniel’s “people.” A “prince” or as we understand him, he is the archangel Michael (Jude 9: ἀρχάγγελος Μιχαὴλ).


Israel will experience “a time of distress” unlike anything the world has ever known. Daniel was predicts that at the end of the age there will be “a time of distress” unlike anything experienced in the history of the world. An archangel will be needed to help deliver Israel during this awful period. The assistance of such a mighty angel will also be needed because Antichrist will be galvanized by Satan himself as Satan realizes this is his endgame. Even Jesus referred to this period


“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” ~Matthew 24:21


But Jesus also said:


“Immediately after the distress of those days” the peoples of the earth “will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory” Matthew 24:29–30


According to Zechariah 13:8


"In the whole land, declares the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive."


This again must be tempered with the thought that although many saints will suffer and many will even die during the tribulation, the Lord will appear and rescue the faithful. The context is clear that this deliverance will take place at least mid-tribulation; Scripture elsewhere relates that believers in Israel will be rescued at this time (Joel 2:32). I used to be a die-hard pre-tribulation guy but reading the text closer in Daniel makes me wonder now. This doesn’t seem to support a Pretrib rapture at all. Even Pre-wrath is questionable in this context.


As always I am open to debate but the Pre-Trib position for me is weakening, this is especially true as the generation that saw the reforming of Israel as a nation in 1948 is passing away without Rapture, Antichrist or Armageddon as outlined in this text. Darby and Scofield are holding less and less water with me so to speak now and Dispensationalism in its strictest sense has fallen out of favor with me based in an honest interpretation of Scripture. Although I have not ruled this out totally, I will state (like John MacArthur) I would consider myself a “leaky dispensationalist”. The closer I come to my dying day…the more leaky I become.


All (Jews or Gentiles) who are in Jesus Christ and He is their Savior and Lord have their names written in the book of life. Those that are not in or are, “not found written in the book of life” will be, “thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15).


We then see the remarkable verses Daniel 12:2-4


“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge”


Resurrection people!


The resurrected are called those “who sleep in the dust of the earth.” “Sleep” is a figure of speech used frequently in the Bible to designate physical death. This “sleep” refers to physical death only. According to this passage there is no intermediate state because it tells us plainly that when the spirit of the believer leaves the body it goes directly into the presence of the Lord. Those that are not saved head the opposite way. There is absolutely no mention of annihilation here (John Stott and Rob Bell please take note).


The use of sleep here is a metaphor or metonymy for physical death, therefore Resurrection in this context makes complete sense. Dust of the earth meaning the grave. Believers will be raised to reign with Jesus Christ, unbelievers will be raised to everlasting torment in a place that is absent of all but God’s wrath. The wicked will be ashamed and disgraced because of the gravity of their sin. The difference between them and believers is that a believer does this now and repents. An unbeliever never does it as they store up wrath for themselves and then are judged for it. Isaiah 66:24 also alludes to this state. The fate of the unbeliever will be so repulsive and shocking that those who look on and see them will need to turn their faces away in disgust. This disgust on them will be contempt and it will be forever….I feel like I need to vomit now. What a tragedy and loss of a souls.


So what we see is Daniel laying out the details and theology of “eternal life” and “eternal punishment.” (Take that Rob Bell!). Furthermore this is not a spiritual body or state but all people both believers and unbelievers will enter the eternal state in bodily form, hence the importance of the body in 1 Corinthians in Paul’s eschatology. The body is not just for food nor the food just for the body people!


At first glance it seems that the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked will occur simultaneously. Revelation 20:4–6 seems to distinguish two resurrections. The first is the resurrection of the saints who are raised immediately after the tribulation period and the second resurrection of the wicked occurring a thousand years later. The word וְרַבִּ֕ים “multitudes” or many denotes a huge number who will rise from the grave. I imagine this will be quite a spectacle and this would harmonize with pre-tribulation, which espouses that many believers will be resurrected before the tribulation while others will be raised at the end of the tribulation which is the time in view here in the context of the passage.


Daniel 12:3’s wisdom includes the recognition of the truth of God and willingness to act upon it. Such persons will become the spiritual children of God and rise to take part in the coming kingdom. Through words and deeds God’s children lead others to understand the call of the sovereign Lord upon their lives, a call that involves a life of holiness since God is holy. The saints are described as shining like “the brightness of the heavens,” synonymous with “the stars” Jesus clearly had this passage in mind when He declared that at the end of the age “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” in Matthew 13:43.


In this present world many times believers are persecuted, our hope is that someday things will be different. The decision of believers to put Jesus and His kingdom first will be rewarded. People often ask me, “Is it worth being a slave to Christ?”


My emphatic reply is, “Yes, yes it is!!!”


Instructions to Preserve the Message (12:4)


In the ancient Near East the custom was to “seal” an important document by impressing upon it the identifying marks of the parties involved and the recording scribe. A sealed text was not to be tampered with or changed. Then the document was duplicated and “closed up”) in a safe place where it could be preserved. Daniel is instructed to preserve “the words of the scroll,” not merely this final vision but the whole book for those who will live at “the time of the end” when the message will be needed. It is to be preserved for the generation that will undergo the horrors of the tribulation and will need the precious promises contained in the Book of Daniel.


Another commonly misinterpreted passage also resides in Daniel 12:4, “Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” Increase in travel toward the end of the age is not the idea of the phrase “will go here and there.” Zechariah 4:10’s “to go here and there” alludes to a search of a person or thing, and that is the meaning here. The purpose of this search will be “to increase knowledge.” Close, but no cigar. Furthermore, the passage is not predicting an increase in scientific or worldly “knowledge” either. There is a definite article attached to “knowledge” so it should be read “the knowledge”. Daniel is referring to a specific type of knowledge. Knowledge of what? What’s the context? It is the “when” and the “how” of how these prophecies will be fulfilled. As the time draws near, the “wise” will seek to comprehend these prophecies more precisely…and God will grant that understanding or “knowledge” to them for having sought it.


The prophecy now moves to a close. Two angels, standing on opposite banks of the Tigris River suddenly appeared to Daniel. In Daniel 12:6 the speaker is only mentioned as “and he said”. The “man clothed in linen” (Jesus) is reintroduced. He is described as standing in midair “above the waters of the river.” Two angels were on either bank of the river, the interpreting angel evidently was still standing before him, and the Lord was exalted above them all. Yeow! Gabriel addresses a question to “the man clothed in linen.” The fact that knowledge is requested from “the man in white” suggests his superiority. The question is not, how long will it be before these things take place but rather how long will they continue when they begin to occur? Daniel heard the response to the angel’s question.


To raise a hand in oath was the customary practice but raising both hands and swearing to keep the oath in the name of the eternal God is extraordinary. It adds emphasis to this scene. Especially considering it is Christ doing it. The phrase “a time, times and half a time” reveals the duration. Just like Daniel 7:25 we see the tribulation will last three and a half years, the time corresponding to the second half of the week mentioned in 9.27, or 1,260 days (if each month has 30 days).”


Thus the sovereign Lord of the universe is promising directly and emphatically that the Antichrist’s horrors (the “time of distress” of 12:1) perpetrated upon God’s people and the whole world will last but a brief time—three and a half years. A time allowed by a sovereign God. During these three and one-half years the power of the holy people will be broken or shattered.


Daniel still didn’t understand things about the vision. He asks for further information or “what is the outcome of all this?” Either Gabriel or Jesus reply, “Go your way, Daniel” To me this is God telling Daniel not to worry about and to “get on with his life”.


It is evident that even after many people undergo the horrors of the tribulation they will still refuse to repent. Even the chaos and calamities of the last days will not bring some persons to recognize their need for God. These people are those that have given themselves over completely to their sin. They never see the sign of the times and know the changing of the season by the leaves on the trees.


Verse 11 gives one further details concerning history’s final events. During the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist will abolishes worship and will set up “the Abomination that causes Desolation” in the Jerusalem temple. This happens immediately before Jesus’ return. What this abomination is...no one knows. What we do know is that it will be appalling enough to cause desolation or worshippers to leave its presence.


In verse 13 God alludes to Daniel that no more revelations would be granted him. He is again told to go his own way. The prophet was not to be concerned, for he would be resurrected and receive an “allotted inheritance”—a great reward and a part in the kingdom of God (predicted in Daniel’s own prophecies) that will someday come upon the earth and then continue into the eternal state.


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[Thus ends the Daniel portion of this series. I will continue with Revelation soon. Right now I am extremely busy.]