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.
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