Sunday, June 22, 2014

The Saints of Daniel Chapter 7



The Saints of Daniel Chapter Seven

     In this chapter Daniel is told of a group of saints that will face the Antichrist at the end of the age. He is assured that these saints will be victorious through it all:
‘But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.’ (Daniel 7:18)

     Then in (v.21, 22) the angel tells him of a future conflict the saints will have with the ‘horn’[Antichrist]:
‘I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.’

     John, in Revelation 13:7 is told of this same end of the age conflict: ‘And it was given unto him [Antichrist] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them’ agreeing with Daniel’s prophecy while giving much additional information on the Antichrist and his end of the age assault on God’s people.

     Daniel continues in (v.25):
‘And he [Antichrist] shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they [the times and laws] shall be given into his hand until a time and times and a dividing of time [3-1/2 years].’

     In summary, this chapter tells us that there will be saints on earth who will face the vicious persecution of the Antichrist during the beginning of the last 3-1/2 years but in the end they will be victorious possessing the kingdom because of the Lord’s intervention by rapture and His eventual crushing defeat of the Antichrist and his armies at Armageddon.

     The sequence of events concerning the saints continues in (11:31) beginning with the ‘abomination that makes desolate’   indicating that we are at the mid-point of Daniel’s Seventieth Week with the Antichrist being revealed with his vicious unparalleled persecution of the saints about to begin.

     The passage continues in (11:32-35):
‘And such as do wickedly [apostate Jews] against the covenant shall he [Antichrist] corrupt by flatteries; but the people that do know their God [the saints] shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understand among the people [the saints] shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall they shall be helped with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for an appointed time.’

     These verses reveal that there will be those saints who understand and will be ‘strong and do exploits’ instructing many about the truth of the Lord which will bring intense persecution and martyrdom to many of these who are faithful to the Lord speaking the truth to those who are lost with these fiery trials bringing the power of purity to those who endure.

     Daniel chapter 12 shows the saints final sequence in (v.1-3):
‘And  at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered [rescued], every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them  that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.’

     These three verses unfold a sequence of events giving Daniel vital information on how the Lord rescues His people out of this most intense and unparalleled time of affliction at the hands of the Antichrist. These saints are now shown to be delivered, literally rescued out of the trouble by the Lord Himself coming as He promised to rapture His saints.

     This same sequence is shown in Matthew 24:15-31 when ‘the abomination of desolation’ starts the Antichrist’s vicious and unparalleled persecution of the saints during the first part of the last 3-1/2 years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week in (v.15-22) which the Lord shortens when He comes to rapture His saints.

     After giving warnings concerning false Christs, prophets, and miracles during the last 3-1/2 years of the Seventieth Week in (v.23-28) the Lord continues the sequence in (v.29-31):
‘Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give  her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of  heaven to the other.’

     On the same day the Lord shortens the great tribulation, He gives the sign in the heavens indicating the Day of the Lord is about to begin (Joel 2:30, 31) and then He comes to rescue the saints by rapture (Matthew 24:30, 31). This same sequence is shown in (Daniel 12:1, 2) and continues showing another group that remain: ‘And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.’ (Daniel 12:3)

     The book of Daniel and the book of the Revelation indicate that there will be those who remain after the rapture and continue on through the time known as the Day of the Lord when God pours out His wrath upon an unbelieving world in the process purifying 1/3 of the Jews and bringing them as a nation to salvation at the end of the Seventieth Week of Daniel. (Isaiah 59:20; Romans 11:25; Revelation 14:1-5)

     So, during the beginning of the last half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, the Antichrist will make war with the saints and wear them out until the Lord intervenes by rapture eventually defeating him and his armies at the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-21) which is the final event of the Day of the Lord.


Chaplain LEWolfe  www.btmi.org  I-85 Exit 35 SC   McPilot    Stop in, and please pray for our ministry!







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