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…Keeping Israel and the Church Apart Chapter 27, the False Prophet by Doug Krieger ISRAEL’S CURRENT DURESS
So – from the get go – look out; this is going to get eschatological in the worst way and, hopefully, in the best way! You may consider this a tempest in a teapot – hair-splitting among the faithful and just plain useless knowledge that doesn’t pay the bills. But I would have you to understand that eschatology has motivated whole nations – for good and for evil (examples abound). This is my backyard – if not cleaned up, the weeds (now way out of control) will get the best of it . . . and it just so happens that this backyard is where most of the kids in town like to play . . . . It is incumbent upon us to, therefore, note the presence of the Church during the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27) and her allegedly mandatory obfuscation outlined, so they (the Dispensationalists) say, within the associated Scripture of Truth – demands Israel’s singular, purifying but triumphant role in the wrap up of “your people and for your holy city” (Daniel 9:24). Sounds magnanimous enough – but the False Prophet has taken what was sincerely meant to confirm Israel’s inheritance and supplanted the Church’s Blessed Hope to be other than the “Glorious Appearing of the Great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ” – while giving the lukewarm Laodicean Church one excuse after another to cover their nakedness from the “thief in the night” who comes to inspect their 24/7 priestly efforts; only to find them asleep and blind to their real condition. However, Philo-Israeli-Semitism – whether it stems from the dual Covenantalism of John Hagee; the Pre-tribulationalism of John Walvoord or Tommy Ice/Tim LaHaye; the Post-tribulationalism and Pre-Wrath folks like Fulfilled Prophecy or Dr. Gavin Finley; or, for that matter, the sundry exploits of defamed “Armageddon theology” types abounding among us at the growing disgust within the rise of Social Justice Evangelicalism – is acceptable to even the most rabid of agnostic Zionist; notwithstanding all the distinguishing eschatological hair-splitting among rank and file evangelicals. Maintenance of the distinctive aspects of Israel and the Church do not theologically necessitate the doctrinal cleavages suggested by these aforementioned compromises and disquieting eschatological gymnastics (i.e., among the Dispensationalists). Those distinctive roles are magnified within the eschatological purposes of the Almighty at the close of the age, and especially within the crucible of Daniel’s Seventieth Week. I might add at this juncture that Israel’s disinheritance and/or diminishing by a wide spectrum of Christian theologians – be they Catholic, Orthodox and, most certainly, many Protestants and Kingdom-Now oriented Charismatics – (pardon the wide brushstroke as well) – is not ameliorated by Dispensationalism’s efforts to hand the prophetic time table back to the Jews during the entire Seventieth Week of Daniel, while remaining aloof, and, as you will see later in this piece, in possession of a most discriminatory set of doctrines which are designed to give the sons and daughters of Jacob their “fair share” but hardly a participatory role (onlookers, spectators at best). Neither do the dual Covenantalists do justice to the prophetic by excusing Jewish participation in the Everlasting Covenant, ergo the Abrahamic accord suffices. These vain attempts to accommodate “Jewish sensitivities” do little to suffice the already entrenched suspicions of world Jewry regarding the “real intentions” of the Church, especially the more-inclined segments relishing the “end of the world as we know it” (viz., Armageddon Theology types). Israel’s survivability trumps virtually all evangelical squabbling over “finer points” – especially, while she faces total annihilation from the likes of an ascendant Iran-Hezbollah now empowered in Lebanon and in league with Syria (whoever is at the helm), allied with an emboldened Hamas whose Moslem Brotherhood Egyptian-Gaza borders are wide open for the latest rocketry and weaponry imports, in spite of Israel’s “Iron Dome.” Rather to have the sure-fire “bless Israel” crowd at your back than the fickle “Israel’s the only democracy in the Middle East” rhetoric of the refined and reasonable lot among American Jewry or, for that matter, your “stand up for Israel’s only friend in the Middle East congressional leader” – at least they’ll be there when the chips are down no matter how goes the Arab Spring or contributions to the next political campaign. Indeed, estrangement of world Jewry, especially American Jews, from Israel’s materiality is a disturbing phenomenon – her “pariah status” or “guilty as charged” in being overtly apartheid – grows daily. After all, Jews embracing the universal rights of man, while demanding a “Jewish State” are a bit conflicted, wouldn’t you say? Well, that’s precisely how Hillel at Berkeley is trending (See: Hillel’s Coalition with the Enemies of Israel Becomes Increasingly Unseemly, David Horowitz, NewsRealBlog, March 30, 2011). Meanwhile, the Oracle of Damascus gives immediate angst – and the Turkey-Iran Alliance (King of the North) and the realignment of the Arab Spring in North Africa gives pause for the Moslem Brotherhood to regroup as the King of the South postures (Daniel 11:40-45; aka, The Gog-Magog War) – all “signs of the time” portend the “end of days” are upon us; notwithstanding, within Fortress America, the gaiety at the glittering ball swells the entertainment of the privileged guests awaiting the cascading balloons to burst upon our frivolous party ‘till upon the walls of our security “the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN… “MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided” (Daniel 6:24-28). DANIEL 12’S RESURRECTION – ISRAEL’S “OBSERVER STATUS”
“In the chronological question concerning the rapture, the dispensational issue centers in the field of ecclesiology. An absolute silence in the OT about the present age, a total disconnection of the Church from the divine program for Israel, and a clean break between dispensations would favor pretribulationism: the Church would not likely be related to the seventieth week of Daniel, or tribulation, a period of time clearly having to do with Israel. But a partial revelation of the present age in the OT, a connection (not necessarily identification) between Israel and the Church, and a dispensational change involving a transitional period open the door to the presence of the Church during the tribulation.” (The Church and the Tribulation, Robert Gundry, Zondervan, 1976, p. 12) Well does Gundry argue, if the OT is oblique concerning the mystery of the Church, then it is likewise silent concerning the Gentile saints who proliferate during that very tribulation? Alas! They who have the “testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 12:17) despair, for they bear not even the title “tribulation saints” ascribed to their spiritual no-man’s land…they are neither the raptured Church, nor Israel, nor a part of any collectively redeemed body, though they are innumerable! (Revelation 6:9-17). Whither shall they abide? Pre-tribulationalism demands at least two major resurrections of the righteous. First, the “Bride of Christ” before the Seventieth Week and subsequent tribulation of those days; and second, known as the First Resurrection and actual Second Coming of Christ to the earth at the close of the Seventieth Week (i.e., those of the First Resurrection are known by Arno Fruchtenbaum as the “Wife of Jehovah” comprised of both OT and tribulation saints, although he’s a bit fuzzy how these “tribulation saints” fit into the Wife of Jehovah status). “If one makes the Wife of Jehovah and the Bride of Messiah one and the same, he is faced with numerous contradictions because of the different descriptions given. Only when one sees two separate entities, Israel as the Wife of Jehovah and the Church as the Bride of the Messiah, do all such contradictions vanish.” (Footsteps of the Messiah, Arno Fruchtenbaum, Ariel Ministries, Tustin, Ca, 2003, p. 598) BATTLE FOR THE FIRST RESURRECTION OF THE JUST & JOHN WALVOORD’S “CHRISTIANS”
“Various identifications of the wife of the Lamb described in Rev. 19:7-8+ have included the redeemed of national Israel, the church, and Israel and the church. Portrayal of Israel as a faithless wife of the Lord in the OT is an obstacle to the first and third possibilities, as is the chronology of Israel’s resurrection. The redeemed of Israel will not rise until after the Seventieth Week of Daniel (Dan. 12:1-2), so they will not be part of the bride at the time depicted in Revelation 19:7-8+, a time before the Second Advent (Rev. 19:11-16+)” (R. L. Thomas, “Marriage Supper of the Lamb,” in Mal Couch, ed., Dictionary of Premillennial Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1996), 248.) “According to Daniel 12:1-3 and Isaiah 26:19-21 . . . the resurrection of Israel and the Old Testament saints will not take place until the second advent of Christ. Revelation 20:4-6+ makes it equally clear that tribulation saints will not be resurrected until that time also. While it would be impossible to eliminate these groups from the place of observers, they cannot be in the position of participants in the event [i.e., the Marriage Supper of the Lamb] itself.” (J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), 226.). This first (or “second” in that it occurs after the so-called resurrection of the Church) resurrection of the righteous bears distinction in that it includes all Old Testament saints and the saints who apparently embrace “the testimony of Jesus” during the Seventieth Week (although no mention is made of those “tribulation saints” who might be alive at the Second Coming). – “What happens to them?” perhaps this too is a “secret rapture?”). They are not a part of the Church, nor Israel, or of the Gentiles. Dr. John Walvoord posits this position as he exegetes Daniel 12:2: “From the standpoint of the pretribulational interpretation of prophecy, which holds to a resurrection of the church before the tribulation and therefore as preceding this resurrection [i.e., the “resurrection” mentioned in Daniel 12:2 of the righteous of Israel and, ipso facto all the righteous from Adam to John the Baptist, so delimited], this passage can be taken quite literally. As a matter of fact, if the pretribulationists are correct, there will be an extensive resurrection of the righteous at this point [i.e., the end of the Seventieth Week] when Christ returns to reign. Although it would be too much to say that this confirms pretribulationism, it harmonizes with this interpretation precisely. At the same time, Young [an Amillenarian who interprets Daniel 12:2 to lay special emphasis “upon the resurrection of those who died during the period of great distress” (E. J. Young, The Prophecy of Daniel, p. 256) – i.e., so-called “tribulation saints”] is probably correct that the hope of resurrection is especially extended to the martyred dead of the tribulation who are given special mention in Revelation 20:4 . . . The main point of Revelation 20 is that the saints, whether living or dead, may look forward to a glorious reward at the conclusion of the great tribulation when Christ returns.” (Daniel, The Key to Prophetic Revelation, A commentary by John F. Walvoord, Moody Press, 1971, pp. 289-90) [my brackets]. Frankly, Walvoord muddies the Dispensational waters by asserting that these “tribulation saints” are Christian – so are they not members of the Body of Christ ipso facto the Bride of Christ? It is a bit of a pesky theological issue, isn’t it? The following quotes and my subsequent barbs are based upon some (not all) of these theological confusions taken from The Prophecy Knowledge Handbook, John F Walvoord, Victor Books, 1990 (SP Publications) (my emphasis throughout): “Many Christians and Jews martyred who refused to worship world dictator (Rev. 7:9-17; 13:15)” (Point #8 - p. 551) And yet Walvoord claims: “Actually, the church is never mentioned by name throughout the entire period of the Tribulation (Rev. 4:1-19:10) (p. 535) or here: “Daniel was also informed that ‘When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed’ (Daniel 12:7). As indicated in many Scriptures such as Revelation 13:7, the people of Israel as well as Gentiles who become Christians will be subject to purging judgments at the hand of the world ruler at the end time who will attempt to exterminate all Christians and all Jews. (p. 277) (Note: See comment on Walvoord’s “Church Age” found hereunder on p. 384.) Compounding Walvoord’s dilemma of these “Christians” and the absence of the “church” within the confines of Daniel’s Seventieth Week are these additional statements: “Though Matthew anticipates the church, in the statement to Peter (Matt. 16:18), there is no exposition of the Church Age such as is found later in John 13-17. The conclusion is safely reached that the Church Age and the Rapture are not introduced until 14:1-3 (i.e., Revelation 14:1-3 of the 144,000 on Mount Zion).” (p. 384)
Surely, “coming to Christ” during the Seventieth Week of Daniel constitutes one a Christian, ergo a member of the Church, the Woman, the Lamb’s Wife. Even so, it appears Walvoord confirms this, while making a most absurd statement highlighted in red for either its bizarre comparison or its Dispensational chutzpah! “The very severity of the Great Tribulation and the number of martyrs here indicates that most of those who come to Christ in the end time will be faced with a choice, and a large percentage of them will be executed for failure to worship the world ruler. If the church were to go through this time of awful trouble, it is doubtful how more than a small fraction would be able to survive.” (p. 562) Walvoord assumes that there must needs be many “Church Christians” who are “alive and remain” (I’d suggest: “Remain from what?”) would simply perish during the tribulation period, and, God forbid they find themselves numbered among the hoard of the beheaded for the “testimony of Jesus” (i.e., the multitude of the martyred saints seen before the Throne of God and the Lamb in Revelation 7:9-17). Frankly, I’m somewhat flabbergasted – literally dumbstruck – that Walvoord would at once seemingly commend the “great multitude that no one could number” of “those who come to Christ in the end time” and that a “large percentage of them will be executed” vis-à-vis the Church most certainly could not endure such “awful trouble” for then but a “small fraction would be able to survive.” Am I missing something here? This kind of convoluted logic is so jaded that it simply discredits this pillar of fundamentalism so highly esteemed by so many, including myself! One thing it does do, however, is illustrate that Dispensationalism is sadly lacking in its theological, and most certainly, eschatological, thinking – making it vulnerable to every Amillenarian, Preterist and Post-Millenarian criticism known to man. Is it any wonder that the critics of Dispensationalism who eschew Israel’s prophetic role do so because of these glaring embarrassments? Indeed, if Walvoord draws attention to Amillenarian Young’s emphasis upon those saints of the tribulation – even the Great Tribulation (i.e., Young’s period of “great distress’) – who have the “testimony of Jesus” and who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” – having “overcome” “the great dragon…that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9) – yes, those who “overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” for “they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:11) – if the emphasis to confirm there is NOT a “general resurrection” of both the “just and the unjust” found in Daniel 12:2 but an emphasis upon two resurrections only – i.e., upon the just or all Old Testament and saints who “come out of great tribulation” and later of the “unjust” at the close of the Millennium – then how can this “innumerable host” be included as part of Israel or Old Testament saints at the “second resurrection of the just” at the close of the Seventieth Week? – for they deliberately hold the “testimony of Jesus!” Are they not a part of the Bride of Christ? Absolutely! (Daniel, The Key to Prophetic Revelation, A commentary by John F. Walvoord, Moody Press, 1971, pp. 289-90) THE “BLESSED HOPE” v. “GLOOM & DOOM”
That said – and notwithstanding all the claims that the pre-tribulation rapturists acclaim (i.e., excluding the Church from Israel’s trauma during the entire Seventieth Week) – we who adhere to the Church’s presence within the Seventieth Week are somehow void of the “essence of the Blessed Hope” – i.e., we look forward to tribulation and suffering, to the “mark of the Beast” – to “Antichrist” – to more “gloom and doom” and pending destruction – and certainly not to Jesus Christ. Whereas, those who embrace the pre-trib rapture are the true carriers of the “Blessed Hope Creed” – and we, the post-tribbers despise the “Blessed Hope” by adhering to those doctrines which dispense with an “any moment” (i.e., imminency) rapture; and fundamentally do not understand the nature of God in these matters (viz., “saved from God’s wrath” during the tribulation); and, look forward to virtually nothing – at least nothing that would “comfort” the soul? The controversy centers around this verse: “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13). Allow the Rev. Gary Osborne, who is the President of the Alliance of Biblical Pentecostals and a graduate from Central Bible College (Assemblies of God), articulate the pre-trib position with clarity and simplicity: “This article [The Blessed Hope] will attempt to dispel these characterizations and give a Biblical basis for each and every Christian to believe and look forward to the ‘Blessed Hope’ – the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church! “I am shocked at the number of ministers who are now preaching nothing but coming judgment – WITHOUT A WORD ABOUT THE RAPTURE! Yes, I know full well that the U.S. is not exempt from the possibility of judgment BEFORE the rapture. However, I personally have not heard one minister refer to these coming events in this way. Instead, the words ‘mark of the beast’ and ‘Antichrist’ are used in conjuncture [sic. “conjunction”] with all the doom and gloom of impending destruction! There is no mention of the rapture from these people. No, it is clear they no longer hold to a ‘Blessed Hope.’ Many seem to view this whole issue (the tribulation) as some kind of Shakespearean tragedy, or they seem to have some type of romanticized thoughts about running from Antichrist and living in the mountains. How sad all this is. If the only thing we have to look forward to is the tribulation and running from the Antichrist, we are indeed sorrowful people. ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a wish fulfilled is a tree of life.’ (Pro. 13:12 NASB) Without the hope of a rapture, there is little to look forward to. [my emphasis] “They couldn’t grasp the fact that He HAD to come two times: first to die for our sins; and then again to rule and reign! So why do we have such a difficult time taking the same principle and applying it to the 2nd Advent (i.e. Coming) of Christ? It is obvious, from all the Bible says about Jesus’ return, that He must come first to rapture His people, then come again with them to conquer the antichrist at Armageddon. Those who are honest, with themselves and the Word of God, won’t have a difficult time accepting a pre-tribulation rapture. In fact, I believe they will most necessarily embrace it as our only true and scriptural ‘blessed hope’ we have to look forward to! “So the question remains - are you watching and waiting for Christ, or Antichrist?” The “Blessed Hope” is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory – it is His very person (rightly said by Rev. Osborne). The verse in Titus 2:13 connects the “blessed hope” directly with the “glorious appearing” of Christ – His coming in glory. What Osborne and other pre-tribbers have done to the text is to make the “Blessed Hope” the “Blessed Bailout” – and then to say that this escape from the pending “wrath of God” (which is a misnomer in that the “Wrath of God” and the “Wrath of the Lamb” does not appear in the Revelation until the final 30-days or unto the “1,290th day”) which occurs throughout the entire Seventieth Week) is God’s “Blessed Hope” to New Testament Christians living just prior to the commencement of that Seventieth Week. Firstly, for 1,260 days (i.e., the first half of the Seventieth Week) according to Revelation 11:3 the Two Witnesses’ prevailing testimony have the authority to the extent that “if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies…and if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner” (Revelation 11:5). That certainly does not sound like discretionary persecution at the hands of Antichrist – at least for the first 3.5 days of the Seventieth Week. Secondly, the “wrath” mentioned during the latter half of the Seventieth Week appears in Revelation 12:12: “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” In response to the persecution endured by the saints as a result of the Beast from the Abyss we hear: “Here is the patience and the faith of the saints” (Revelation 13:10). The “Wrath of God” – “Wrath of the Lamb” – is conclusively poured out in the context of the Seven Vials “of the wrath of God on the earth” AFTER the First Resurrection of the just and “those that are alive and remain” (from the tribulation of those days) are raptured from His pending wrath as well. The pre-tribbers are right – the saints do not endure the wrath of God – but He does not give us a false blessed hope that we will be kept from this world-wide persecution of the end of days – to the contrary, a Christianity which hides behind this falsehood is a Christianity not worth dying for in the first place! “In this world you will have tribulation – but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33) – that’s the Christianity worth dying for: “And the dragon was enraged . . . and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus . . . When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them . . . And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:17; 11:7; 12:11). Brethren – “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). Now, allow our beloved sister Corrie Ten Boom’s words sink deep into our hearts and minds:
“In China, the Christians were told, ‘Don't worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated – raptured.’ Then came a terrible persecution. Millions of Christians were tortured to death. Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly, “‘We have failed. We should have made the people strong for persecution, rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand when the tribulation comes, – to stand and not faint.’ “I
feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world that it is
possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in training for the
tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body of Christ across the world
has already entered into the tribulation. There is no way to escape it. “We are next. “Since I have already gone through prison for Jesus’ sake, and since I met the Bishop in China, now every time I read a good Bible text I think, ‘Hey, I can use that in the time of tribulation.’ Then I write it down and learn it by heart. “When I was in the concentration camp, a camp where only twenty percent of the women came out alive, we tried to cheer each other up by saying, ‘Nothing could be any worse than today.’ But we would find the next day was even worse. During this time a Bible verse that I had committed to memory gave me great hope and joy. “ ‘If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part evil is spoken of, but on your part He is glorified.’ (I Peter 3:14)” There you have it: If your faith is not worth dying for, it isn’t worth living for! Never say they who await the tribulation of those days have no hope, having “nothing to look forward to.” You’ve done despite to the brethren whose suffering for Christ far surpasses this misplaced hope in rescuing the faithful from such trials – and worse, leaves the witness and testimony of the suffering Christ to those “tortured for Christ” who are excluded from the Lamb’s Wife and leaves “my kinsman according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3) a deep sense of betrayal under fire. Corrie never flinched from hiding the Jews in her “hiding place” – “Lord, may Your love abound in us on that day and say with Corrie’s sister Betsie who perished in the Nazi Camp: ‘There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.’” THE BATTLE OF THE BRIDES
These conflicted Dispensationalists are all over the map when it comes to the Bride of Christ – if they can’t get it right among themselves in this age – maybe they’ll get it right in the age to come: “The difficulty of including Israel along with the church as part of the bride is a chronological one. OT saints and dead saints from the period of Daniel’s seventieth week will rise in time for the Millennium (Dan. 12:1-2), but not in time to join Christ in His triumphal return (Rev. 19:14+). It is also impossible for saints who die during the Millennium to be part of this company, because their resurrection will not come in time (Rev. 20:5-6+). Yet it is incontrovertible that Israel will appear with the church in the New Jerusalem which is also Christ’s bride. The city’s twelve pillars and twelve foundations (Rev. 21:12+, 14+) prove the presence of both distinctive groups.” (Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1995), Rev. 19:7.) Astounding! “Which is also Christ’s bride!” Really, now Christ has “added” to His Bride and/or got remarried – what convoluted thinking is this! Apparently, Israel must learn to “rule and reign with Christ a thousand years” and then, during the Eschaton, are welcomed into “Bride of Christ” status? As they say: “All metaphors break down somewhere along the line!” BACK TO THE SUPERIOR, FIRST, FOREMOST, BEST RESURRECTION
If the first resurrection is the same resurrection to which Walvoord alludes in his remarks about Daniel 12:2 as being “two resurrections” – one of the just and the other of the unjust at two separate times, then other considerations are in play. . . . “If the resurrection of Revelation 20:5 and that of Rev. 20:12-13 are actual resurrections [Revelation 20:12-13 of the “unjust”], fulfilling the prophecy of the resurrection of Daniel 12, it makes very clear that there will be more than one resurrection” – Walvoord, Ibid. p. 288.) So, if the “first resurrection” mentioned in Rev. 20:5 is the resurrection of the just; and the resurrection mentioned in Rev. 20:12-13 is the resurrection of the “unjust” - then the following quote from Robert D. Culver’s classic, Daniel and the Latter Days (p. 175) makes sense: “The Hebrew of the passage permits, and according to many of the best authorities, demands a translation favoring this view (i.e., two resurrections – one of the “just” and one of the “unjust” – my parenthesis). The translation, brought to the attention of the English reading public by Tregelles and advocated before him by Jewish commentators Saadia Haggaon (10th century) and Aben Ezra (12th century), was favored by Seiss and Fausset, and was fully adopted by Nathaniel West. As given by Tregelles, it is: “And many from among the sleepers of the dust of the earth shall awake; these shall be unto everlasting life; but those the rest of the sleepers, those who do not awake at this time, shall be unto shame and everlasting contempt” (Tregelles, Daniel 12:2)….whereas the NKJ is read: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Therefore, we affirm, there is but one “general” resurrection of the just – the “first resurrection” (Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:4-6) – this is the “FIRST RESURRECTION” – it is the same “first” as found in Revelation 2:4 – “first love” or “best love.” The Greek word for first is protos (πρῶτοϛ or πρῶτή) and from The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible the word protos is defined as: foremost (in time, place, order or importance), chief, first day, before, beginning, best – of superiority; of rank or dignity denotes “the first,” whether in time or place – p. 217). Thus, this superiority of all resurrections; this best resurrection of which Walvoord “speaks of martyred dead” (Daniel and the Latter Days, p. 288) separates itself (in Daniel 12:2) as the resurrection of the just from the Great White Throne resurrection of the “unjust” . . . from those raised to “shame and everlasting contempt” – yea, from them of whom the Scriptures declare: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great standing before God, and books were opened . . . and the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” This death is juxtaposed to the death of the FIRST RESURRECTION wherein “Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ” (Revelation 20:11-14; 6). Furthermore, since the first resurrection is one of chronological order (i.e., “beginning” and is “foremost” in “time, place, order or importance”) then, guess which resurrection comes first? The Dispensationalists would simply counter that the OT, Pauline portions of the New Testament and the Revelation aforementioned does mention the Church’s resurrection, for it is a “mystery” and enshrouded in secrecy, along with their “secret rapture.” To assume that multiple resurrections of the just – that a rapture and resurrection takes place of the Woman, the Lamb’s Wife, before the commencement of Daniel’s Seventieth Week and one for the martyred dead and for all Old Testament saints from Adam to John the Baptist – some of whom constitute the “Wife of Jehovah” (Israel) and others (the martyred tribulation saints who bear the testimony of Jesus) as another category of invited guests to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb – is pure folly and an insult to the all-inclusive superiority of the first and only resurrection of the righteous, be they Old Testament or New Testament believer – for over them the “second death HAS NO POWER!” Really, could it be argued that the “invited guests” – those beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and all those included in the Hall of Faith found in Hebrews 11 – you know, the “onlookers – non-participants – spectators – observers – merely guests” who show up at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb – the ones who have participated in the FIRST, FOREMOST, SUPERIOR, BEST Resurrection are somehow undiminished at this glorious feast – sort of “your-lucky-to-be-here” prestigious status, just get used to it: You’re not a participant – you’re an observer! Tell me, dear Dispensational friend, are you not bothered by these statements – and, quite frankly, are they not a deprecation of the Body of Christ in fullness and an insult to the “Commonwealth of Israel?” (Ephesians 2:12)
“Of whom is the bride composed? We answer unhesitatingly, of all saints embraced within these two epochs, Pentecost (Acts 2) and the Translation (1 Th. 4:17). These two events respectively mark the commencement and the termination of the Church’s sojourn on earth.” (Walter Scott, Exposition of The Revelation (London, England: Pickering & Inglis, n.d.), Rev. 19:6.) “Some may question why the church age believers should be granted the honor of being the bride, while believers from other ages are merely guests. But one may equally ask why God singled out Israel to be the covenant people. The only answer to both questions is that God sovereignly purposed that it be so (cf. Deut. 7:7-8).” (John MacArthur, Revelation 12-22 : The MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 2000), Rev. 19:7.) And so, to this extent, brethren, well meaning though they are, yet have they fallen head-long into the False Prophet’s grip – not knowing the doctrinal travesty of their beliefs and the eschatological consequence of their theological confinement! Again, all the confusion regarding the Woman, the Wife of the Lamb, the First Resurrection and its power over the second death – has led us to announce Israel’s singular suffering and those who “have the testimony of Jesus” but observers, merely guests. Yes, onlookers who come to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and sit there in stunned silence (that includes Moses, Elijah, David, Ruth, Eve, Job, Noah, Jacob, Esther, etc., etc.), for they are adjudged disqualified to be the Wife of the Lamb – imagine, for a moment, they who have been martyred, beheaded for Christ during the Seventieth Week, but a “friend of the bridegroom” though they be “Christians” – victims of God’s sovereignty – OUTRAGEOUS! Oh, what shame upon them whose “doctrinal purity” belies their overweening sense of propriety! Allow me to repeat Brother Arno Fruchtenbaum’s theological axiom: “If one makes the Wife of Jehovah and the Bride of Messiah one and the same, he is faced with numerous contradictions because of the different descriptions given. Only when one sees two separate entities, Israel as the Wife of Jehovah and the Church as the Bride of the Messiah, do all such contradictions vanish.” (Footsteps of the Messiah, Arno Fruchtenbaum, Ariel Ministries, Tustin, Ca, 2003, p. 598) To the contrary, by convoluting the singular and superior resurrection of the just – and by placing the “great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues” known by so many as they who “have the testimony of Jesus” (i.e., the so-called “tribulation saints”) in a spiritual “no-man’s land” – naught but casual observers, onlookers – within the Seventieth Week of Daniel – neither in the alleged raptured Church nor considered Old Testament saints nor among the Gentiles and the earthlings of this week. . . . Alas! Brother Fruchtenbaum, and many a well-meaning Dispensationalist, is fraught through and through with a multitude of contradictions so egregious as to boggle the mind of skeptic, saint, ignorant or educated. But we must move on to greater challenges – though hard to believe the “Battle for the Bride” could be any less challenging that what comes next…. THE MYSTERY OF GOD IS FINISHED
“‘Mystery’ is an important biblical word whose primary meaning is not something secret or mysterious but a divine purpose revealed to men. It is used this way in the Greek translation of Daniel 2:29-30, where it designates the eschatological purpose of God revealed first to the king and then to Daniel. The classic passage in the New Testament is Rom. 16:25-26, where ‘mystery’ clearly refers to God’s redemptive plan, at first hidden in the mind of God, but then revealed and made public to all who will listen to the prophetic word. This is the meaning in the present passage [Revelation 10:7]. The ‘mystery of God’ is his total redemptive purpose, which includes the judgment of evil and the eschatological salvation of his people.” (Revelation, George Eldon Ladd, Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 1972, p. 145.) It is altogether fitting that the triumph over the Beast, et al, and the declaration by the Mighty Angel after the release of the prophetic testimony by the Two Witnesses, and their subsequent purifying and victory, sworn to last the final half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week by the Man clothed in linen above the river, concludes by this awesome announcement: THE MYSTERY OF GOD WOULD BE FINISHED! It is that same mystery “He declared to His servants the prophets” (Rev. 10:7) – and I would hasten to add, as virtually all commentators, these “prophets” are both Old and New Testament prophets, as a testimony to the Two Others, the Two Witnesses, who “when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them . . . but they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 11:7; 12:11). And what of “God having provided something better for us, that they (OT saints of the “Hall of Faith”) should not be made perfect apart from us” (Hebrews 11:40)? And was not Christ intimately involved with our ancient brethren? “By faith Moses . . . esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt . . .” (Hebrews 11:25). Therefore, think not that His Wife, the Lamb’s Wife, excludes OT saints who bore the reproach of Christ for they esteemed His reproach far greater riches than those of this world! I am appalled at the unwitting arrogance of the Dispensationalists who somehow fail in their regard to humbly address the profound meaning of Romans 11: “For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? … And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and WITH THEM became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.’ Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either” (vs. 15-21 excerpts). DANIEL 12:5 – THE “TWO OTHERS” – AND THE RABBINICAL CURSE
This cosmic courtroom opens in the Revelation, but Daniel’s account thereof astounds the reader – and, I might add, though today’s seekers amongst Biblical Zionism are well aware of Daniel’s “end of days” implications, they must, nevertheless, understand the horrendous and malicious attack upon Daniel’s text by their own rabbinical pundits who have purposefully placed a curse upon all those who would tamper with Daniel’s end of days’ disclosures – for if they be found among “the many” who “shall run to and fro and search anxiously [through the Book]” – to be those teachers who possess the perfect “knowledge [of God’s purposes as revealed by His prophets]” and become a part of prophetic fulfillment wherein such knowledge among them “shall be increased and become great” (Daniel 12:4 Amplified) – then the “ministry of the False Prophet” will be thwarted by the very people upon whom their own have placed such a curse. It’s remarkable – why is it throughout the ages that a special, elite group of rabbinic and/or ecclesiastical overlords have made it virtually impossible to peruse the prophets' writings, even cursed the private reading of the Scriptures? Among believers in Jesus as Messiah (Grk. Christ) – the Deliverer – we have the Catholics, who to this day place the Church’s tradition as THE sacred trust in understanding the Scripture of Truth. Modern Roman Catholic pundits broadcast their claims on EWTN that for the first 300 years of Church history there were no Scriptures accessible to God’s people chosen out from among the Gentiles (a ludicrous understanding of the early Church’s proliferation of countless texts, epistles, gospels and other literature, including the vast array of Hebrew Scriptures wholly available to nearly all the churches); therefore, the Roman Catholic Church’s early traditions set the mark – putting their “sacred traditions” over and above God’s Word and, wholly contradictory to the latter day’s prophecy found in Daniel 12:4 which declares that MANY would anxiously search to and fro throughout the Book to ascertain the purposes of God in these latter years. The true saints of God have laid down their lives as martyrs for “the Word of God and for the testimony which they held” (Revelation 6:9). This can be attested throughout Church history by reading Miller’s Church History which, tragically, so many were martyred for just this very reason by both Catholic and Protestant aspirants! At least Pope John Paul II encouraged the reading of the Scriptures – notwithstanding, it took nearly 500+ years (from Luther on) for Rome to give the Bible obvious spiritual priority. However, the rabbinic curse is amplified by Avram Yehoshua in his Has Messiah Come?: “A most amazing thing occurs in the ninth chapter of Daniel: we’re told when Messiah would come. But instead of explaining it to us, our Rabbis curse anyone wanting to find it out: ‘Rabbi Samuel b. Nachmani said in the name (of) Rabbi Jonathan: ‘Blasted be the bones of those who calculate the end.’(1) Some of our Rabbis, in a further attempt to keep us from Daniel, even state that Daniel was wrong. Alfred Edersheim, a Talmudic scholar who would come to know Messiah said, ‘later Rabbinism, which, naturally enough, could not find its way through the Messianic prophecies of the book, declared that even Daniel was mistaken’ (2) (emphasis added). Footnotes to the above: 1 Sanford R. Howard, L’Chayim: Finding The Light of Shalom (Thorsby, AL: Sabbath House, Inc., 1999), p. 209. Sanhedrin 97b, vol. 2, p. 659, Soncino Press. Editorial footnote #6 says, ‘i.e., Messiah’s advent.’ 2 Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus The Messiah (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000), p. 957. Bereshith Rabba 98 (a midrash or commentary on Genesis). Edersheim lived from 1825 to 1889 C.E.” “Many shall search anxiously throughout the Book” – “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” – and the teachers who are wise shall turn “Many to righteousness” – and “Many shall be purified, made white, and refined” (Daniel 12:4, 2, 3, 10). So, what part of MANY do we not understand? I boldly affirm that this prophecy will be fulfilled – and is being fulfilled – by BOTH the faithful of Israel (preparing their hearts for the coming of Messiah) and by those Christians who will, with Israel, attest to these most significant prophetic happenings at the end of days. And, yes, there is abundant evidence found in Daniel to announce this dictum – for this “many” embraces not only Israel of the flesh and her current ingathering, as well as Diaspora, but the TWO OTHERS (i.e., Christians as well) whose poignant interest in these prophetical phenomena are not coincidental but of intricate interest in the topic at hand: “Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood TWO OTHERS, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, ‘How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?’ Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished” (Daniel 12:5-7). THE POSTINCARNATE CHRIST & TWO OTHERS
He is there in His prescient appearance, as a Lamb, slain before the foundations of the world! (Revelation 13:8). He is there in the Revelation walking amongst the churches – He is there in Daniel addressing the Two Others to inform them of their “time, times and half a time” – the “forty-two months” when they, the Holy City, shall be tread underfoot (Revelation 11:2) – when their dead body shall lay exposed upon the street of the great city for three-and-one-half days prior to their BEST RESURRECTION (Revelation 11:9, 11-12) – when they, the Woman, the Lamb’s Wife, shall be miraculously preserved for those one thousand two hundred and sixty days (Revelation 12:6) Walvoord must conclude that the TWO OTHERS in Daniel 12:5 are “in keeping with the concept of the two witnesses as establishing a point (Deut. 19:15; 31:28; 2 Cor. 13:1).” He suggests: “Although the second angel (for he assumes they are angels in keeping with the tenor of Daniel 10) does not participate in this revelation . . . The fact that the one making the statement raises both hands indicates the solemnity of the oath. Ordinarily, only one hand was raised (Gen. 14:22; Deut. 32:40).” (p. 293, Walvoord’s Commentary on Daniel) The “two others” are intensely interested in these happenings for, I affirm, it involves them! Walvoord inadvertently “let the cat out of the bag” by describing them as “two witnesses” as if giving credence to the “two witnesses” found in Revelation 11. The very fact that the “man clothed in linen” – the “Son of Man” as the postincarnate, glorified Christ – raises BOTH right and left hand to heaven is a most significant gesture in that He “swore by Him who lives forever” (Daniel 12:7). Christ’s commitment – and note it is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to whom McGee and Walvoord describe, Whose commitment to the Two Others (so capitalized to draw attention to their corporate natures) commits them and Himself to “time, times and half a time” and no further! “For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:16-18). I quote these passages from Hebrews to draw attention to the Highest Authority, to the One Who can commit to such an oath and to swear before Him Who sits on the throne. Even so, the words of Jesus regarding such oaths (Matthew 5:34-37) is firm; however, Matthew 23:22 is all the more severe: “And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.” In sum, the Son of Man, the “man dressed in linen” is intrinsically empowered to swear before Him Who sits on the throne in making such a solemn commitment to the Two Others of their immediate testimony under fire.
“…I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the MYSTERY OF GOD would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets . . .” (Revelation 11:5-7). Yes, “His servants the prophets” – the prophets who unto the very end of Daniel’s Seventieth Week “will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth” (Revelation 11:3) – for this “mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud…and a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire” is none other than the very Son of Man Himself – once again upon the apocalyptic scene assuring His Two Others, His Two Witnesses, that He is the One Whose one hand holds “a little book” and Whose other hand is raised to the heavens – for the prophetic word and His commitment to them who must deliver it to “many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” is a prophetic promise which is irrevocable – given in Daniel 12:5 and confirmed in Revelation 10:5-7! Alas! My dear J. Vernon McGee does not see this Mighty Angel as the Son of Man – but he affirms there are many who are “in good company” who do: “There has been definite disagreement among outstanding and fundamental Bible expositors as to the identity of the mighty angel. Godet, Vincent, Pettingill, DeHaan, Ironside, Walter Scott, and William Kelly all identify the strong angel as Christ. Newell and others consider him to be just an angel of great power and authority, but not Christ. Dr. John Walvoord takes this viewpoint, and Vernon McGee takes it also. If you go with either crowd, you will be in good company” (Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Revelation 10). Also, in our band of brothers is my dear friend, the late Ray Stedman: “ . . . we find our first clue which identifies the angel as the Lord Himself—Jesus, God the Son, appearing in His pre-incarnate form as the Angel of Jehovah.” (God’s Final Word, Understanding Revelation, Ray C. Stedman, Discovery House Publishers, 1991, p. 201)
I make one adjustment to Ray’s correct declaration – this is not the preincarnate Christ but McGee’s (Ray at one time worked under Dr. McGee) postincarnate Christ – for this One’s description has far too many antecedents taken from the Son of Man seen in Revelation 1:13-20 and, of course, foretold in Daniel 10:5-6; but allow Ray to have the final word: “He swore by Himself because there was no one and nothing greater by which to swear [Heb. 6:13]. That is what Jesus, in the form of this mighty Angel, is doing in these verses [Rev. 10:5-7]. He is swearing by the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—that the long delay is at last over and the mystery of God is about to be revealed.” (Ray C. Stedman, Ibid. p. 204) THE TWO WITNESSES This One, Who assures the Two Others of Daniel – the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 – not only by His oath, but now empowers His Two Witnesses – for “I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days” and though after their testimony when they shall face the Abomination of Desolation, the “time, times and half a time” and suffer under the “reign of the Beast” nigh 3.5 days, 42 months, 1,260 days, for a time, times and half a time – yet shall the Mighty Angel’s foot be upon the sea (i.e., upon him, the “beast rising up out of the sea” (Revelation 13:1)); and His other foot “standing . . . on the land” (i.e., upon him, “another beast coming up out of the earth” – Revelation 13:11). Hallelujah! He has the victory over the Beast (the sea), and over the False Prophet, the Second Beast (the earth) and has utterly committed Himself to complete the MYSTERY OF GOD!
“Allegorization of the two witnesses as the Church is fanciful. The measurement of the temple and altar, the holy city, the sackcloth, the dead bodies, and numerous other details cannot be regarded as figurative without doing violence to the passage. Furthermore, the very fact that the two witnesses will exercise their ministry during the forty-two months in which the holy city will be trodden under foot by the Gentiles requires this to be the latter half of the week. For not until the Antichrist breaks his covenant favorable to the Jews will the holy city be trodden down by the Gentiles.” (The Church and the Tribulation, Robert Gundry, Zondervan, 1973-6, pp. 200-1) Gundry’s criticism in seeing the Two Witnesses solely as the Church has more to do with his criticisms of Mid-tribulationalism which assumes the Church is raptured in the middle of Daniel’s Seventieth Week. However, by such criticism he does eschatological injustice to the purposes of God in the last days. Firstly, “fire-breathing olive trees” demands interpretation in accordance with Revelation 1:1-3, as Ray Stedman points out concerning the entire Revelation: “The book is called the ‘revelation of Jesus Christ,’ and John says that Jesus Himself ‘made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.’ The English phrase ‘made it known’ actually has a deeper meaning in the original Greek, where instead of three words there is just one Greek word, semaino. This word should be translated ‘signified’ – or, if you want to really get the true sense of this word, pronounce it aloud: ‘sign-i-fied.’ In other words, Jesus made His revelation known to John by signs or symbols. Once you grasp the symbolic ‘sign-ificance’ of this book, you can begin to understand and apply the book of Revelation” (Understanding Revelation, God’s Final Word, Ray Stedman, Discovery Publishing, 1991, p. 3). That is precisely why the Greek word for “make war” against the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11:7 is not the aforementioned skirmish or even a battle (mache) between the Beast and these supposed X-Men but WARFARE: polemos (Strong’s 3163 (mache) and 4170 and 4171) – “Polemeo is the war and mache (3163) refers to the battles of which polemeo is made” (Strong’s 4170 explanation). What is in view here is a worldwide conflagration of immense proportions – a veritable extravaganza, a world-wide persecution of the Two Witnesses. Most of the commentators would take Daniel 12 and formulate their hermeneutic centered on either corporate Israel at the end of days or allegorize the meaning in deference to the Church—the continuing “people of God” (i.e., God has always manifested Himself through one work of grace; having but one redeemed people). That same connotation by commentators is similar when it comes to the Revelation; however, when it comes to the Two Witnesses and the glaring similarities between the participants in Daniel 12 and Revelation 11, there is a strange and total disconnect – viz., neither Israel nor the Church are in view in Revelation 11 as the corporate witnesses in the end of days! MEASURING THE TEMPLE – THE TWO WITNESSES
Measuring the “temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there” while enjoined to “leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles…and they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months” (Revelation 11:1-2) does not take much recognition of the symbols, the signs – for the “temple of God” is clearly connected to the altar and “those who worship there” – “measuring” shows possession in Scripture. Only those positioned at the altar constitute those owned by the Almighty – those “outside the temple” and are found in the “Court of the Gentiles” are not to be measured. Why? Because their commitment to the Almighty does not allow them (i.e., “uncircumcised” as they are – though “interested” in the Jewish religion) entry to the altar – they abide “compromised” – not “sold out” at the altar! Such is today’s “ye are the Temple of God.” Eventually, it will be these same compromisers (Matthew 24) who shall persecute (trodden down) the people of God, the Two Witnesses for forty-two months after they have given their corporate witness for the first three-and-one-half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week. The “two olive trees” are decisively Israel (as a “witness” – in “unbelief” in that the Almighty has regathered them in preparation for His Coming and a signal to the Gentile World Powers of His “entry into history”) with that metaphor throughout Scripture and even appearing on the current national emblem of Israel are the two olive branches. The Church’s symbol of the “two candlesticks” (i.e., “lampstands”) or “two” being the number for witness in biblical numerology and “lampstands” are directly related to the “seven golden lampstands” of Revelation 1:12. Yes, like Elijah, they have the power to shut up the heavens that it does not rain (with the three-and-one-half years bearing significance – James 5:17) – and like Moses power over waters “to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.” This clearly identifies the “prophetic character” of the Two Witnesses. This far outweighs the X-Man identity or reincarnation of a Moses or the reappearance of an already transfigured Elijah or “two Jewish-Christian evangelists” – or symbols of the Old and New Testaments, etc.
Revelation 11:8 declares and mandates the allegorical hermeneutic: “the great city which spiritually (i.e., adv., Grk. pneumatikos – non-physical, i.e., divinely, figuratively as in I Cor. 2:14 – Strong’s 4152 and 4153) is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” Jerusalem is hardly descriptive of both those terms (i.e., “Sodom and Egypt”). Babylon’s dregs (Sodom) and the worldly culture and the metaphysical aspects of Egypt are altogether conclusive. To blithely assume that “Sodom and Egypt” must be Jerusalem because “Christ was crucified in Jerusalem” is “spiritually” off base and a faulty hermeneutic altogether – in point of glaring spiritual fact, Jesus was crucified “outside the camp” “suffered outside the gate” – not in Jerusalem proper at all! (See: Hebrews 13:11-14). It is mandatory that we comprehend the crucifixion connected to Babylon the Great – to Sodom and Egypt – not to Jerusalem – this must be “spiritually” or “figuratively” understood. Revelation 11:9 connotes the same “peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations” to whom John, using his very self as a corporate symbol, would bear witness! Now John’s charge (Revelation 10:8-11) is given to the Two Witnesses who carry the mantel of the prophets. Many have believed – as we see in Revelation 7:9 – “A great multitude . . . of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues” – but many have not – and these are they of the Gentiles who shall trodden underfoot the “holy city.” THE 3.5 DAYS
The merriment and gift exchange by the “earthlings” so “tormented” by the world-wide witness of the Two Witnesses demands a global understanding made by the Two – frankly, giving our “X-Men” such awesome credibility is ludicrous! “Those who dwell on the earth” as Stedman suggests, are they who grasp at things earthly – i.e., “earthlings” obsessed by the “things of the world” juxtaposed to the spiritual orientation of the Two Witnesses. Revelation 11:11-14 makes absolutely no sense unless it is understood – not from our iPhones/iPads and television sets as some suggest – but from the Scriptures themselves. This is the FIRST RESURRECTION to which we have discussed at length. “Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them” (Revelation 11:11). This takes place at the very close of the Seventieth Week of Daniel. “The breath of life from God entered them” – “the dead in Christ shall rise first” – so much for a “secret rapture” – what we witness is a massive resurrection wherein the whole earth is privy to the phenomenon and from thence the “loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.” Come on – we’re getting there now – isn’t this “loud voice” the same voice heard in I Thess. 4:16? “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” Of course it is. I can’t wait to hear that LOUD VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL! The “loud voice” – the “cloud” – the sounding/commencing of the “last trumpet” and the call goes up from the four corners of the earth: “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31) – and this occurs, as well, at the very terminus of Daniel’s Seventieth Week. Their resurrection brings us quickly to this: THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE
Keep looking – as my good friend, Harry Ahlers used to say, “Sooner or later you’ll see it, Doug – it’s there, just relax, you’ll see.” . . . “YES . . . I see it, Harry, there’s tons of animals all over the drawing.” (3D Major Eye Posters) Even so – Revelation 11:13 isn’t thrown into the close of the First Resurrection to scramble our brains nor add trivia to the account. This is the “great earthquake” spoken of in numerous passages which connotes the thirty-days of judgment found in Daniel 12:11 – the 1,290th day or 30-days beyond the 1,260th day or latter half of Daniel’s closing week. Re-read Revelation 6:12-17 and tell me if this is not the final judgment, the “wrath of the Lamb!” There’s the “great earthquake” (Revelation 6:12). Keep looking – you’ll see it soon – after “silence in heaven for about half an hour” (30 minutes – 30 days?) there’s another “earthquake” (Revelation 8:5) and it is that same earthquake, that great earthquake that ultimately shakes all that can be shaken for it is enveloped within the Seventh Seal, within the Seventh Trumpet, within the Seven Vials! But keep looking – Revelation 16:18-21 announces the final pouring out of God’s wrath upon Babylon the Great – this is the “great earthquake” in all its fullness: “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a GREAT EARTHQUAKE, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.” Listen, why even mention such a “great earthquake” if all the damage it does to “the city” is but a “tenth?” Or for that matter, would such a “great earthquake” kill but “seven thousand people?” Surely, the great quakes during the past ten years since 2000 have killed millions and left cities totally in ruin! The “city” is obviously the last city mentioned – that being Babylon the Great. The number “10” deals with “completeness” – really? Yes, on a scale of 1 to 10 it was a 10! Furthermore, having killed but 7,000 – deals with “spiritual perfection” and “completeness” itself and 1,000 deals with another form of “completeness” – in other words, the Wrath of the Lamb is perfect judgment – complete – the “mystery of God is finished!” All earthly jurisdictions have been judged and all the world’s masses have been judged in righteousness.
“Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days” (Daniel 12:12) – and then shall be heard Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus found in its perfect place: Revelation 11:15… “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” Again, and again, and again this glorious theme resounds throughout the Scriptures (cf. Revelation 11:19) – the purposes of God shall be known – “the Mystery of God” has come into absolute completeness – “Then I shall know just as I also am known” (I Cor. 13:12). The next time you say: “Have a blessed day” – now you’ll know the rest of the story – for “knowledge [of God's purposes as revealed by His prophets] shall be increased and become great.” (Daniel 12:4) So begins the journey: THE WITNESSES SHALL NOT BE SILENCED!
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