Monday, May 30, 2005
Think Outside the Locks
(God is Supernatural)
The closed system of naturalism has limited our view of God, making Him nothing more than a glorified scientist. Naturalism results in humanism for the simple reason; no one needs a deist type god so people become self-reliant. Evolution, naturalism, materialism leaves us in a clockwork world. Where does a personal God fit in all of that? Within the laws of Nature, wouldn’t we do just as well without? God becomes disposable which is why atheists have it so easy these days. Kevin, from Technogypsy, claims:
Add a supernatural God to this equation. It unlocks a whole new worldview. God does not lie, cannot lie and wouldn’t be God at all if he could. God could change the rules but we won’t go there because we are assuredly based in the laws of nature, laws of motion, thermodynamics, gravity, etc. (Scientists, have a field day!) But allegorical text is not the only other option. Genesis doesn’t need to be a metaphor upon seeing God in His supernatural reality. God created “things” out of nothing, by fiat. My objection to evolution is how it turns creation into a natural process of reactions. It isn’t that the process couldn’t be or that it is obsolete. I have gnawing disturbances that the supernatural God is often made obsolete by the purely scientific view. Please recall how Kevin didn’t even consider the possibility! God’s impressiveness becomes bound by nature!
The darkness that fell over the earth at Christ’s death…had to have, musta been an eclipse. No, it was Passover…no eclipse! I have no idea how the “scientists” explain the resurrection…but most miracles have been explained away by some sort of phenomenon or play on words. “The sea of reeds”…oh, so there wasn’t any water in the Red Sea! Heard that one? As my brother once said, if you can accept the empty tomb, the loaves and fishes or walking on water are easy to accept!! Are they? Was the abundance of food from five loaves and two fish amazing because people had actually brought some of their own supplies that day, and the miracle story grew out of this coincidence? I’m afraid of the answers out there, really. I have grown comfortable with my own explanation…Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and creator of all things, generated bread and fish…..from nothing. There is no room for evolution here. Why do we need to make room for it in Genesis? Fossil records and scientific evidence? Is that the need? Or is it that we would rather not dwell in the supernatural realm? Origins science cannot be proven as truth any sooner than the miraculous. It truly behaves as a religion. I am so reality based—fantasy and sci-fi have never been my thing. Lots of people eat it up now…Constantine, The Underworld, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings. (I did thoroughly embrace the Tolkein flicks.) Is there an ability to transfer this fascination to the Bible and if there is, does the sci-fi mind make the Bible fantasy too?
Let’s review—God created from the “void”, the curse from Adam’s sin penetrated the entire earth and all living things—there was a change in the system. As Dr. Francis Schaeffer wrote, (Genesis in Space and Time), Adam bowed once to his Creator in service under the covenant of works. When Adam and Eve failed, it became a new system—bowing twice before Creator and Redeemer. I am speaking of a physical change. But the Redeemer would be a Promise during the entire Old Testament history and beyond…up to the crack in time. The Promise was in God’s spoken Word; it was understood by the Jews in the turns of events, in certain men who were types of the future Messiah, the Temple structure, the festive celebrations, and the prophets. Most of all, the sacrificial blood, which was continuously pointing to the Lamb, was the life source of the Promise. From Cain and Abel to Passover, to the ram on Mount Moriah, to the final sacrifice in the temple prior to Jesus first coming, a series of word pictures in history carried God’s Chosen all the way to the cross.
See, because we are so reality based, blood becomes a messy source of discomfort for even the most faithful of Christians. The direct, supernatural effect, on the physical realm…the interplay between the seen and unseen history (Schaeffer-ism) is absolutely minimized by the ‘metaphorical’ interpretations…of Genesis, the crucifixion, the miracles, the interconnectedness of God’s Word with prophecy…supernatural events! More about the blood next time.
The closed system of naturalism has limited our view of God, making Him nothing more than a glorified scientist. Naturalism results in humanism for the simple reason; no one needs a deist type god so people become self-reliant. Evolution, naturalism, materialism leaves us in a clockwork world. Where does a personal God fit in all of that? Within the laws of Nature, wouldn’t we do just as well without? God becomes disposable which is why atheists have it so easy these days. Kevin, from Technogypsy, claims:
"So God either lied in how He made the physical
world, or He changed all the
rules, or Genesis is
an allegory to teach the point God made
everything."
Add a supernatural God to this equation. It unlocks a whole new worldview. God does not lie, cannot lie and wouldn’t be God at all if he could. God could change the rules but we won’t go there because we are assuredly based in the laws of nature, laws of motion, thermodynamics, gravity, etc. (Scientists, have a field day!) But allegorical text is not the only other option. Genesis doesn’t need to be a metaphor upon seeing God in His supernatural reality. God created “things” out of nothing, by fiat. My objection to evolution is how it turns creation into a natural process of reactions. It isn’t that the process couldn’t be or that it is obsolete. I have gnawing disturbances that the supernatural God is often made obsolete by the purely scientific view. Please recall how Kevin didn’t even consider the possibility! God’s impressiveness becomes bound by nature!
The darkness that fell over the earth at Christ’s death…had to have, musta been an eclipse. No, it was Passover…no eclipse! I have no idea how the “scientists” explain the resurrection…but most miracles have been explained away by some sort of phenomenon or play on words. “The sea of reeds”…oh, so there wasn’t any water in the Red Sea! Heard that one? As my brother once said, if you can accept the empty tomb, the loaves and fishes or walking on water are easy to accept!! Are they? Was the abundance of food from five loaves and two fish amazing because people had actually brought some of their own supplies that day, and the miracle story grew out of this coincidence? I’m afraid of the answers out there, really. I have grown comfortable with my own explanation…Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and creator of all things, generated bread and fish…..from nothing. There is no room for evolution here. Why do we need to make room for it in Genesis? Fossil records and scientific evidence? Is that the need? Or is it that we would rather not dwell in the supernatural realm? Origins science cannot be proven as truth any sooner than the miraculous. It truly behaves as a religion. I am so reality based—fantasy and sci-fi have never been my thing. Lots of people eat it up now…Constantine, The Underworld, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings. (I did thoroughly embrace the Tolkein flicks.) Is there an ability to transfer this fascination to the Bible and if there is, does the sci-fi mind make the Bible fantasy too?
Let’s review—God created from the “void”, the curse from Adam’s sin penetrated the entire earth and all living things—there was a change in the system. As Dr. Francis Schaeffer wrote, (Genesis in Space and Time), Adam bowed once to his Creator in service under the covenant of works. When Adam and Eve failed, it became a new system—bowing twice before Creator and Redeemer. I am speaking of a physical change. But the Redeemer would be a Promise during the entire Old Testament history and beyond…up to the crack in time. The Promise was in God’s spoken Word; it was understood by the Jews in the turns of events, in certain men who were types of the future Messiah, the Temple structure, the festive celebrations, and the prophets. Most of all, the sacrificial blood, which was continuously pointing to the Lamb, was the life source of the Promise. From Cain and Abel to Passover, to the ram on Mount Moriah, to the final sacrifice in the temple prior to Jesus first coming, a series of word pictures in history carried God’s Chosen all the way to the cross.
See, because we are so reality based, blood becomes a messy source of discomfort for even the most faithful of Christians. The direct, supernatural effect, on the physical realm…the interplay between the seen and unseen history (Schaeffer-ism) is absolutely minimized by the ‘metaphorical’ interpretations…of Genesis, the crucifixion, the miracles, the interconnectedness of God’s Word with prophecy…supernatural events! More about the blood next time.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
New Evidence
I am so excited to have some debate going, and I appreciate the challenging comments at Evolution won't Evolve. So I had to do a little research (McDowell, Josh; The New Evidence) and some closer scrutiny of Genesis 1 and 2. I am not a detail person; that is my husband’s department. But we came up with enough stuff to merit a new post. So here is what we got in response to Sven and Kevin’s argument for allegory v history:
1) The more difficult comment is the one about conflicting order of creation in Genesis 1 and 2. Going back to Dr. Schaeffer, there is a literary device used throughout the book, which introduces a time period, a sequence, and then quickly moves on to the main point. Keeping this in mind, chapter 2 becomes the account of man’s beginning, not an account of creation. The phrase, “these are the generations” or NIV, “this is the account of”, is how the author introduces the time frame before moving to the good stuff. In the intro to chapter 2, a little tidbit about how “the plants of the field”, cultivated growth, is yet to come because “there was no one to work the fields”. “Vegetation”, from chapter 1, is different. So the author is saying, “let me run this by ya…nature was just as it had been created, before man and woman were created from the dust.”
2) Names of the Lord were introduced as God saw fit. Elohim (Creator God) and Yahweh (the Covenant relationship God), One and the same, reveals Himself at different times in history, according to His purpose.
3) No one heard God speak the world into being. The Bible is written, supernaturally, by the Triune God. ”They” were there. This is where many conflicts arise. If we try to fit the authorship of the Bible into humanly possible terms, the resulting limitations we place on God’s sovereign Word mangle much of the meaning. Call me a fanatical Sola Scriptura geek!
4) The point of homosexual behavior relating to all this talk of Genesis is, if we were to actually take God literally at His Word, we would see how God truly opposes sodomy. Believing the Creation story as an historical account with genealogies, geographical locations, and logical sequences would ultimately lead to the literal Law. For the record, God does not hate homosexuals any more than He hates any of us…He really does hate it when we misbehave.
1) The more difficult comment is the one about conflicting order of creation in Genesis 1 and 2. Going back to Dr. Schaeffer, there is a literary device used throughout the book, which introduces a time period, a sequence, and then quickly moves on to the main point. Keeping this in mind, chapter 2 becomes the account of man’s beginning, not an account of creation. The phrase, “these are the generations” or NIV, “this is the account of”, is how the author introduces the time frame before moving to the good stuff. In the intro to chapter 2, a little tidbit about how “the plants of the field”, cultivated growth, is yet to come because “there was no one to work the fields”. “Vegetation”, from chapter 1, is different. So the author is saying, “let me run this by ya…nature was just as it had been created, before man and woman were created from the dust.”
2) Names of the Lord were introduced as God saw fit. Elohim (Creator God) and Yahweh (the Covenant relationship God), One and the same, reveals Himself at different times in history, according to His purpose.
3) No one heard God speak the world into being. The Bible is written, supernaturally, by the Triune God. ”They” were there. This is where many conflicts arise. If we try to fit the authorship of the Bible into humanly possible terms, the resulting limitations we place on God’s sovereign Word mangle much of the meaning. Call me a fanatical Sola Scriptura geek!
4) The point of homosexual behavior relating to all this talk of Genesis is, if we were to actually take God literally at His Word, we would see how God truly opposes sodomy. Believing the Creation story as an historical account with genealogies, geographical locations, and logical sequences would ultimately lead to the literal Law. For the record, God does not hate homosexuals any more than He hates any of us…He really does hate it when we misbehave.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Noah
When I saw Noah, a play in the heart of Amish country, there is a memory that burned its way into my brain further than the menagaerie of live and life-size animated animals embracing the audience with a surround stage. The vision was the transforming of the wooden ark into an old rugged cross, the final curtain. I love streams of continuity but at that time, I had only inklings of how the Bible connects like a magical toy transformer my sons used to love. One minute, you’re looking at an ark and hearing a promise in a rainbow. The next, it is a cross and a promise kept. Peter understood. “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 3:18-21
Noah moved, every detailed instruction followed to perfection, and built the ark by faith. Just to have that kind of clarity in all we do…and then to trust the outcome. Noah lived salvation…it became his reality. He was saved by faith! Not by works…no boasting in Noah. After the flood, he left the ark on a bright, beautiful day and offered sacrifices to the Lord. Noah gave it his everything…he came to the Lord without reservation, believing, trusting and evangelizing! He preached and he left the door wide open for any who would enter salvation.
In the theatre, the audience was “in the ark”, safe from God’s penalty and death. The door is still open as I write this but I don’t know about the next minute. One little thing though, we may go in as a spectator—wanting to see God as He truly is—yearning for His comforting promises—basking in His amazing grace, but when the show’s over, there are many more who haven’t gone through the door yet, who still see a silly boat sitting on dry land.
Noah moved, every detailed instruction followed to perfection, and built the ark by faith. Just to have that kind of clarity in all we do…and then to trust the outcome. Noah lived salvation…it became his reality. He was saved by faith! Not by works…no boasting in Noah. After the flood, he left the ark on a bright, beautiful day and offered sacrifices to the Lord. Noah gave it his everything…he came to the Lord without reservation, believing, trusting and evangelizing! He preached and he left the door wide open for any who would enter salvation.
In the theatre, the audience was “in the ark”, safe from God’s penalty and death. The door is still open as I write this but I don’t know about the next minute. One little thing though, we may go in as a spectator—wanting to see God as He truly is—yearning for His comforting promises—basking in His amazing grace, but when the show’s over, there are many more who haven’t gone through the door yet, who still see a silly boat sitting on dry land.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Evolution Won't Evolve
Well, by now, it is probably clear to the reader, I believe in the origin of man, from the book of Genesis, in history. Steven, from World of Sven (at his brand spanking new space!), has discussed his belief in the first three chapters as myth. (It was a comment thing at someone else’s place, so sorry, no link) In sum, Sven sees evolution and creation as compatible since God has His hand on the evolving creation. The six days thing is a story to portray truth in abstract form. (Sven, I hope I got that right). I challenge all thinkers to believe in God’s creative power, from nothing. Evolution, little steps, belittles God to some degree. Do we need to turn Creation into a myth when God really did make man, from the beginning, to be in His image, to have dominion over the earth? The only need for adjusting the Bible into mythological form is to fit it into the evolution mold…no other reason except to also fit creation into our tiny imaginations! I have been mightily tempted in that department! I portend it is not just a story representing man’s coming into being/existence. Stories diminish Truth by allowing fiction into the picture. Stories are changeable as opposed to God/Truth. There are changes in thought that occur when myth enters the picture.
Maybe man isn’t so ‘special’—he’s an evolved animal—maybe he has no right to rule and subdue earth—maybe earth is superior or equal to man. I have a glorious origin in God’s image, in Adam. There is no primate, unfinished, unglorified ancestor. My cells weren’t set in motion to evolve, on their own, or with God’s assist. Perhaps if they were, my reality would be like clockwork, machine-like, robotic responses to “Need”—the god of Nature, even it God were helping my responses along. Can God and Nature’s Need both control who I am? Can God and Need be in conflict? Choice is what makes me human—the ability to control my surroundings. Need has very little to do with humanity. I do not simply respond to need. We do not get better at meeting nature’s needs. We no not evolve—we choose. Evolution omits catastrophe, miracles, something from nothing, and perhaps it even obliterates choice. Evolution is a Utopia waiting to happen. Creation is a man-made disaster in the making with only selfless choices holding it together.
Stubborn rigidity defines evolution. It tries to dictate a false existence and it won’t change. Neither will God. How can they coincide when we obviously do have choice and we are not choosing to please nature, each other, God or anything else but ourselves! Truly, there were no seeds, no embryo or fetus, no roots lying dormant, and nope, not even a complex single cell organism. The earth was void, according to Scripture, according to intelligent design science, according to reality.
Maybe man isn’t so ‘special’—he’s an evolved animal—maybe he has no right to rule and subdue earth—maybe earth is superior or equal to man. I have a glorious origin in God’s image, in Adam. There is no primate, unfinished, unglorified ancestor. My cells weren’t set in motion to evolve, on their own, or with God’s assist. Perhaps if they were, my reality would be like clockwork, machine-like, robotic responses to “Need”—the god of Nature, even it God were helping my responses along. Can God and Nature’s Need both control who I am? Can God and Need be in conflict? Choice is what makes me human—the ability to control my surroundings. Need has very little to do with humanity. I do not simply respond to need. We do not get better at meeting nature’s needs. We no not evolve—we choose. Evolution omits catastrophe, miracles, something from nothing, and perhaps it even obliterates choice. Evolution is a Utopia waiting to happen. Creation is a man-made disaster in the making with only selfless choices holding it together.
Stubborn rigidity defines evolution. It tries to dictate a false existence and it won’t change. Neither will God. How can they coincide when we obviously do have choice and we are not choosing to please nature, each other, God or anything else but ourselves! Truly, there were no seeds, no embryo or fetus, no roots lying dormant, and nope, not even a complex single cell organism. The earth was void, according to Scripture, according to intelligent design science, according to reality.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
God Who
Faithfulness, humility, trusting in God’s instruction and obedience. These are the qualities Abel sacrificed to God when he offered the lamb. Cain relied on his own work and for some reason, didn’t see his inability to approach God as a mere mortal defiled by sin. This is understood even in this world…the ordinary people don’t walk in on the authorities, the elite, the leadership. There needs to be good reason, preparation, appointments, permission. Now blow it up in proportion; think awful, grand, and mighty. Good, loving, and merciful are there too but unapproachably Holy should never be diminished. It is common for people in postmodern Earth to make up a different God, one they can imagine talking with as if He were their equal. I sure wish I knew who they were praying to…themselves? Angels? Satan? I’m sure God in Heaven can hear them but how can He honor their offering. He can no more accept it than He could Cain’s. “The prayer of a righteous heart (man) availeth much.” James 5:16
Should faith and God be simple, not complicated by repentance and sacrifice? Actually, a baby Christian might have a simple faith, a childlike faith—minus the understanding of how it all works. Sheer joy, bubbling emotions, peace that passes understanding but we are warned not to stay on a milk diet. For good reason. This journal is about the meat, the seeds taking root, a deeper faith built on the knowledge of God and understanding. The reason many are tested and fail—losing faith (that was me)—is because the church has starved them—even the faithful. It’s one thing to lose interest in fellowship or be lazy on Sunday. I’m saying even those who hunger and thirst are not fed by many Christian institutions. The depth of our faith is found in the sixty-six books! Churches spit out a story here, a lesson there. Who can grasp it? It’s like giving candy and chips to a malnourished toddler. Picture the cruelty!
Should faith and God be simple, not complicated by repentance and sacrifice? Actually, a baby Christian might have a simple faith, a childlike faith—minus the understanding of how it all works. Sheer joy, bubbling emotions, peace that passes understanding but we are warned not to stay on a milk diet. For good reason. This journal is about the meat, the seeds taking root, a deeper faith built on the knowledge of God and understanding. The reason many are tested and fail—losing faith (that was me)—is because the church has starved them—even the faithful. It’s one thing to lose interest in fellowship or be lazy on Sunday. I’m saying even those who hunger and thirst are not fed by many Christian institutions. The depth of our faith is found in the sixty-six books! Churches spit out a story here, a lesson there. Who can grasp it? It’s like giving candy and chips to a malnourished toddler. Picture the cruelty!
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Pointing to the Lamb
Going back to Genesis, The First Gospel has already been proposed by God. So much has happened already in the first few verses. Men and women are created by God with His spoken word, out of nothing, in His own amazing image. Haven’t you ever wondered how people do such amazing creative things? It is such a gift to be in God’s image, representing Him on earth. Of course, that representation is tarnished by our poor choices. We rejected the perfect, personal relationship with God by making choices selfishly, rejecting God’s Word. It seems so innocent, how Eve and then Adam simply ate the fruit cause “someone” told them it would be okay. Still today, nothing has changed…many people seem innocent enough, good enough. Some deny God’s existence and some figure God as someone He’s not. They might see God as wonderful, loving, all-accepting, bar none. So they think it is okay to approach Him as they are. They would argue for Eve’s innocence…she was a victim of circumstance. But remember how Adam and Eve were put out of the garden—the perfect existence with God dwelling with them. Adam and Eve were disgraced by sin now. God cannot dwell with sin. “Your Eyes are too pure to look on evil.” Habakkuk 1:13 “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2 God is Holy and set apart. “There is none else beside Him.” Deuteronomy 4:35
When man’s first born sons, Cain and Abel, approached God, the fall into darkness irreversibly set, Abel somehow understood and accepted the magnitude of approaching God in such a fallen, sinful state. Abel had the vision, no doubt taught by his parents, to see the lamb as significant. God had already begun here at the beginning of human history, pointing to the Lamb. Abel took a little lamb—perfect—killed it and gave it to God. Ugly, huh? Cain offered fruits from the harvest. Still life at its best! God asks for first grain offerings later on which can make the rejection of Cain’s handiwork a bit of a mystery. But Edith Schaeffer offers an explanation. Cain prepared the basket with his own hands, and saw no need to come to God in “any special way”. He came as he was. Abel believed that “he himself could not make up for what had been done, that it was impossible to figure out a way of paying for sin oneself, that it was necessary for the price to be paid in another way, and that God had really spoken truth when He said to come with the lamb, as a sacrifice.” (p 39, Christianity is Jewish) The first murder hasn’t even been committed yet and in this relativistic world, this seems way too much fuss over nothing. Gotta know, it wasn’t about the fruit. Trusting Elohim at His Word and obedience was all God wanted. So difficult (it would seem we can’t get it!), yet so simple (the choice…oh, that’s why Billy Graham calls his periodical Decision!)
When man’s first born sons, Cain and Abel, approached God, the fall into darkness irreversibly set, Abel somehow understood and accepted the magnitude of approaching God in such a fallen, sinful state. Abel had the vision, no doubt taught by his parents, to see the lamb as significant. God had already begun here at the beginning of human history, pointing to the Lamb. Abel took a little lamb—perfect—killed it and gave it to God. Ugly, huh? Cain offered fruits from the harvest. Still life at its best! God asks for first grain offerings later on which can make the rejection of Cain’s handiwork a bit of a mystery. But Edith Schaeffer offers an explanation. Cain prepared the basket with his own hands, and saw no need to come to God in “any special way”. He came as he was. Abel believed that “he himself could not make up for what had been done, that it was impossible to figure out a way of paying for sin oneself, that it was necessary for the price to be paid in another way, and that God had really spoken truth when He said to come with the lamb, as a sacrifice.” (p 39, Christianity is Jewish) The first murder hasn’t even been committed yet and in this relativistic world, this seems way too much fuss over nothing. Gotta know, it wasn’t about the fruit. Trusting Elohim at His Word and obedience was all God wanted. So difficult (it would seem we can’t get it!), yet so simple (the choice…oh, that’s why Billy Graham calls his periodical Decision!)
Monday, May 09, 2005
Seven Years To Go, Part 2
The final seven years from Daniel’s enduring prophecy involves “he”, the Antichrist, who makes a seven year covenant ((9:27), breaks the covenant after three and a half years and stops sacrifices in the temple. Daniel received this same time span from a vision in Daniel 12:7, confirming “the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up” is smack in the middle of the final seven years. (12:11) I will briefly mention, this “abomination”, which is to be “set up” in the temple is Antichrist himself as told in Revelation 13:14-15 and in 2 Thess. 2:4. “He opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, and even sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”
Daniel’s Seventy Sevens covers from the time of Nehemiah (444 B.C.) until the Second Coming of Christ, which, by the way, is the event that is to mark the finale, when seven years are passed. You know the routine, if this is your thing…”NO! Jesus is coming before the Tribulation!” Or in the middle…Um…He’s coming. That’s all that matters. Endure to the end, overcomers. That is the mission. If you can’t figure how the interpreters throw in a big, unexplained gap in the middle of the Seventy Sevens, Walvoord teaches the importance of harmonizing any other biblical prophecies of the end time, as Crystal so kindly commented on Part 1. He also talks about how old testament visions often exposed the first and second coming of Christ as the same event and did not really consider a period of time between the two events. To interpose the present Church Age in between is something only New Testament writers and current interpreters could do, after Christ’s first appearance and His promise to return.
Daniel’s visions must have left him depressed. But God gave him inklings of hope. In Daniel 7:13-14, “One like a son of man…is given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel received his own personal promise too: “and then at the end of the days, you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” (12:13) Glory be to God, the Name above all names.
Daniel’s Seventy Sevens covers from the time of Nehemiah (444 B.C.) until the Second Coming of Christ, which, by the way, is the event that is to mark the finale, when seven years are passed. You know the routine, if this is your thing…”NO! Jesus is coming before the Tribulation!” Or in the middle…Um…He’s coming. That’s all that matters. Endure to the end, overcomers. That is the mission. If you can’t figure how the interpreters throw in a big, unexplained gap in the middle of the Seventy Sevens, Walvoord teaches the importance of harmonizing any other biblical prophecies of the end time, as Crystal so kindly commented on Part 1. He also talks about how old testament visions often exposed the first and second coming of Christ as the same event and did not really consider a period of time between the two events. To interpose the present Church Age in between is something only New Testament writers and current interpreters could do, after Christ’s first appearance and His promise to return.
Daniel’s visions must have left him depressed. But God gave him inklings of hope. In Daniel 7:13-14, “One like a son of man…is given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel received his own personal promise too: “and then at the end of the days, you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” (12:13) Glory be to God, the Name above all names.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Where On Earth Is Daniel?
Poor Daniel. He had no inkling yet he trusted and basically recorded what was only gibberish to him. Present-day writers and scholars are deciphering the pictures and numbers and awful scenes which flashed before Daniel. I don’t know how recent these interpretations have surfaced. As history unravels, though, fulfilled prophecies, like the 1948 forming of the Israel nation (Is. 49:12) do clarify interpretation. If this is old news in the world of theology and seminaries, I only have one question. Why isn’t interpretation and fulfillment of Biblical prophecy taught? I have spent many and most Sunday mornings in church. To me, this is all new (and exciting) information about God’s story. Why is this important for us to learn? The brief answer: How can we know our God in Heaven, what He has done and what He is going to do, His amazing power and grace, if we don’t look at His plan for humanity (in particular, His children) through all of history? We are missing the evidences of His perfect will, His incomprehensible omnipotence! Prophecy tells so much about who God is now, in our lives. We have heard God’s story in bits, chopped into almost digestible miracles. But the real miracle is how they all work together to form indigestible truth. It is so beyond our wildest imagining, I don’t think we can really grasp it…but that is what God is.
So now, God has put it upon me to tell the biggest secret in church history. You more studious types who have perhaps heard this secret, forgive my assumptions that no one has heard! I only assume people’s ignorance because no one’s talking to me about “the secret”. “Be ready to give an answer,” Peter wrote. Know what you believe! Sharing our faith is harder than ever in this age of relativism and humanism…science…technology…where "people can do anything! Follow your dreams…only believe!" God has become small. When you understand prophecy, you might find yourself saying, “Oh contraire! Let me tell you what my God has done! Listen how He tells us what’s next!” That is what this study on Biblical prophecy is about. Just a bit more about the last seven next time.
So now, God has put it upon me to tell the biggest secret in church history. You more studious types who have perhaps heard this secret, forgive my assumptions that no one has heard! I only assume people’s ignorance because no one’s talking to me about “the secret”. “Be ready to give an answer,” Peter wrote. Know what you believe! Sharing our faith is harder than ever in this age of relativism and humanism…science…technology…where "people can do anything! Follow your dreams…only believe!" God has become small. When you understand prophecy, you might find yourself saying, “Oh contraire! Let me tell you what my God has done! Listen how He tells us what’s next!” That is what this study on Biblical prophecy is about. Just a bit more about the last seven next time.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
World Domination
“The ruler who will come” from verse 26 is the one who will set up an abomination that causes desolation in the temple. “The people of the ruler who will come” have already destroyed the city and temple. Remember? The Romans finished the task in A.D. 70 so that part of the prophecy is complete. “He” is a Roman. This Roman is going to establish a covenant, a time of peace…for seven years. “He” is a future world ruler. “He” is the Antichrist. Hope that isn’t too much of a leap. Don’t get too wrapped up in the term Roman. This doesn’t necessarily mean from Rome, Italy. The Roman Empire is thought to still survive in Western Civilization because of ideas and systems which continue to endure from Ancient Rome. If you are at all familiar with the Statue of Daniel 2 (Nebuchadnezzar’s dream), the fourth kingdom, strong as iron, is the Roman Empire historically. The feet of the statue were iron and clay mixed which Daniel explained as representing “the divided kingdom” (v. 41). The mixture of clay and iron, Daniel went on, signifies the mix of people who were not united (v. 43). Then there’s Daniel 7 and the fourth beast (fourth kingdom) with ten horns, which represented ten kings (7:24). A “little horn” arises, revealing “another king” who will differ from the ten, and actually conquer three of the ten (v.24). He---remember he?---will conquer the whole earth (v.23) and will speak against God, oppress God’s saints (v.25). He will attempt to change established laws (v. 25). He is alluded to in numerous places in the Bible: 1& 2 John, Revelation, and 2 Thessalonians.
The main point is, lest I diverge too much, the events of the seventieth seven of Daniel 9:27 are yet to come. Interpretation becomes muddled because of the gap in time, the counting stops. But the last seven must be taken as literal because God provided the proof of literal sevens in the first sixty-nine seven’s accurate fulfillment. Otherwise, there is little to go on between the start of the Church Age (Pentecost) and when exactly the last seven years begins. There is the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and many writers refer to the re-establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948. The “ten horns” of the fourth beast (previously mentioned) are the ten nation “kingdom” which is to develop in preparation for the final ‘seven’. Just to reiterate, “Rome” is probably a Western Civilization entity out of which these ten horns or united nations will arise to power.
I don’t write these things lightly—and they are not to be read lightly. Study, ponder, and discern what God gave to us through Daniel.
The main point is, lest I diverge too much, the events of the seventieth seven of Daniel 9:27 are yet to come. Interpretation becomes muddled because of the gap in time, the counting stops. But the last seven must be taken as literal because God provided the proof of literal sevens in the first sixty-nine seven’s accurate fulfillment. Otherwise, there is little to go on between the start of the Church Age (Pentecost) and when exactly the last seven years begins. There is the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and many writers refer to the re-establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948. The “ten horns” of the fourth beast (previously mentioned) are the ten nation “kingdom” which is to develop in preparation for the final ‘seven’. Just to reiterate, “Rome” is probably a Western Civilization entity out of which these ten horns or united nations will arise to power.
I don’t write these things lightly—and they are not to be read lightly. Study, ponder, and discern what God gave to us through Daniel.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Seven Years to Go
So far we’ve figured out sixty-nine of the Seventy Sevens. One seven to go and pretty much all of history! You might be wondering how the first four hundred eighty-three years fit so smoothly into the “seven years”, into time frames we can understand. But the last “seven year” time frame covers 2000 years and counting?! This is the problem traditionalists like Dr. James Kennedy have with the loose Church Age gap interpretation. First of all, we can be absolutely sure the seven 7’s and sixty-two 7’s are complete. Other than the kickoff event, rebuilding Jerusalem, two events which this prophecy proclaims, did happen in human history. “The Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing” has been covered previously. The other major event to happen after the sixty-ninth seven and before the seventieth seven is the destruction of Jerusalem, including the temple where the Jewish people could offer sacrifices for their atonement. Verse 26 says, “The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood…” This destruction, nearly forty years after Christ’s cut-off in A.D. 70 came at the hands of the Romans under Titus. The rest of verse 26: “War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.” “Until the end” tells us there is a span of time. MacDonald’s (William) Believer's Bible Commentary sees “the end” as an “end of the times of the Gentiles.” However you look at it, war continues to this day in Jerusalem and in the world. What’s the point? This is too obvious to say “war will continue” and it did and it does. The point is, now there is a vague sense of time in the prophecy. All of a sudden, we’re not counting! There for a while, interpretations were coming down to nearly the minute in accuracy! Oh, I mean day. And, what happened to the seventieth seven? Daniel 9:27 helps. “He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven. In the middle of the seven, He will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple], He will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him (it).” Who is “he”? Verse 26 said, “the ruler who will come”. Here might be a good place to explain why Dr. Kennedy’s traditional ideas don’t jive. They like to say that these things happened already and there is no end time prophecy here. So, what time frame in history holds to the seven years, which we can be fairly certain is literal? Jesus’ ministry was three years. Was Jesus the "abomination that causes desolation" when He rampaged the Temple? I can hardly consider Christ an abomination without severe implications of heresy! If we try to consider Christ as “the ruler to come”, we will investigate shortly how this particular ruler is likely to be Roman. Jesus is Heaven’s citizen alone, and of Jewish heritage on earth, not Roman by any stretch. Well, me thinks I’ve said too much, getting ahead of myself and probably confusing you. Mainly, these queries are offered as reasons why I lean toward the popular, Bible-believers’ revelation of Daniel’s prophecy.
