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REFLECTIONS FOR A SUNDAY MORNING
` He changes the times and the seasons '
The genesis of these Reflections truly lies in our weekly `Reflections for a Sunday Morning', but inexplicably it became absorbed into an Introduction to an earlier study on the Book of Daniel, which had been asked for. With that established we can give these Reflections a sub-title of `The Past - The Present - The Future'.
The Past:
" In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it. " (Daniel 1:1 JKV)
We read in Jeremiah 46:2 that although Nebuchadnezzar was delayed in his siege of Jerusalem by a battle with Pharaoh Neco at Carchemish, by the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign he arrived at the gates of Jerusalem to carry out his objective of subduing rebellious Judah. Daniel (whose name has a meaning of `God my Judge', which spells out the contents of his Book) was carried into captivity in this first onslaught of the Babylonians against Judah, and here in the opening verses of this Book we find him writing of these events. We know from verse 3 that Daniel was among the captives for certain early manuscripts record: `Sons of Israel, of the king's seed', and as such he would be singled out for a brilliant career in the religious courts of the Babylonians. Verse 4 continues:
" Youths in whom was no blemish, but well favoured and skilful in all wisdom, cunning in knowledge and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, to whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. "
In the royal courts of Babylonia, authority outside of the king himself was vested in a religious priesthood of magicians, those whose task it was to repel evil spirits by chants and other rituals . . . astrologers, who were entrusted to understand the will of the gods who ruled in the heavenlies and predict the future . . . sourcerers (or wizards), who were expected to outwork miraculous signs . . . the Chaldeans, those of the latter group who were totally distinct from the Babylonians, a special group of people coming from the southern part of Babylonia who were more akin to the Persians. In Babylonia there was a well-established Palace School of great learning, set apart for special administration for an elite class who would eventually take their place in the Religious Courts of Babylonia. Here in this Palace School was the famous Library, which contained the works of great historical and cultural value drawn from the known centres of power of those times.
Into this setting was brought Daniel, cut off from his beloved Jerusalem with its Temple, where the One True God dwelt in the midst of His people. However it was necessary for Daniel to go into exile in order to gain understanding of God's workings through great nations. Here, in exile, Daniel would receive from God revelations of the rise and fall of great empires - in so far as they were used in the working out of God's purposes with His beloved people, Israel: (Daniel 2:1)
" And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar
dreamed dreams wherewith his spirit was troubled and he woke from his sleep. "
The story is well known: There was no-one in the Royal Court of Priests who could repeat, let alone interpret, the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar - until: (v 19)
" Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel
blessed the God of Heaven. "
And so to the dream and its interpretation given by Daniel to the great King Nebuchadnezzar:
" This is the dream and we will tell the interpretation of it before
the king . . . . . Thou art this head of gold . . . " (2:36-38)
Daniel then reveals the seven kingdoms that will arise and be used by God in His dealings with Israel. It needs to be said that Scripture is not primarily concerned with the history of the world, but a history of the Lord's people Israel. Other nations, great and small, appear only in-so-far as they relate or come into contact with Israel. The ancient kingdom of Babylon existed before King Nebuchadnezzar, but Babylon under this king was the Head, or the Beginning of Gentile domination in the earth, through the removal of Israel from the Land. The following kingdoms that Daniel speaks of are with that understanding - they all gained possession of Jerusalem! The concluding verses of chapter 2 (32-35 and 45) reveal these kingdoms to be made of: Gold; Silver; Bronze; Iron; and Iron with Clay. However verse 35 reveals a further sixth kingdom:
" Then was the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold broken
to pieces together and became like chaff . . . "
For this sixth, this together kingdom, we need to turn to Revelation 13: (v1 and v8)
" And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy . . . . . And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. "
Here we can see the fulness of that sixth kingdom which Daniel spoke of, the `together' of verse 35, when all the power and might of Imperial rule - seen in the previous five kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's statue - come together for one last effort of world conquest. This completes the Six Kingdoms of the world's domination over the Land of Israel! The seventh Kingdom of God in all its Glory is `a Stone that smote the image (and) became a Great Mountain that filled the world'. The LORD required Daniel to be taken into exile in Babylon in order to gain understanding of God's working through great nations in order to bring about His Will and Purpose. If Daniel had stayed in Israel he would not have seen the backcloth of the world stage that was the rise and fall of great Empires in their determination to rule the world - but always centre-stage would be God's Purpose for His people Israel and the Land of Promise where He would Tabernacle (dwell) amongst His people.
At the centre of these Reflections lies change. As in Daniel's time, the revelations given him by God concerned enormous changes in world history spread over long centuries. In our own contemporary times we feel the `changing hand of history' disturbing our way of life, the beginning of which commenced many decades earlier - as students of history will be only too pleased to inform us. Therefore before we leave the past and move into the future we are reminded of a verse from the Book of Malachi: (3:6)
" I am the LORD, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. "
Daniel, a Prince of Israel, of Royal Seed, understood the Faithfulness of God to His Word! The circumstances in our lives may change but His Purposes in our lives do not change, and we can do no better than to finish the Past of these Reflections with Daniel's great Song of Praise: (Daniel 2:20-23)
" Blessed be the Name of God for ever, for wisdom and might are His.
And He changes the times and the seasons, but removes kings and sets
up kings. He gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that
know understanding. He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows
what is in the darkness, and light dwells in Him. I thank You, and praise
you, O God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and has made
known unto me now what we desired of You, for You have now made
known unto us the king's matter. "
As we move from `the Past' into `the Present' we need to remember that Israel and the Church are in `captivity' following a 40 year Probation Period which ended in 2007, and this captivity is as real, spiritually, as was the physical captivity of Daniel's time. In this `Present time' our backcloth will be the Nation State and the Institutional Church, which supports a settled community formed into a nation. Centre stage of course will be Jews and Gentiles - those grafted or regrafted into the Olive Tree, which is Israel. Israel itself, the Covenanted people of God, awaits `the Future', for although Israel reclaimed Jerusalem in 1967 and declared it to be `the Eternal and Undivided City of Israel', they still do not have exclusive use of the Temple Mount and other areas. Therefore Israel, although at the centre of God's purposes in `the Present', awaits fulfillment in `the Future'.
First, the Institutional Church, and a brief overview of its long two thousand-year history in the whole European setting - which has undergone many changes or paradigm shifts as dramatic as the kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue, albeit in an entirely different historical age. We give this Age the title of `the Jerusalem Age', whilst not intending to give an historical overview of the Greek-Roman domination of the eastern Mediterranean area, and in particular Rome's occupation of Jerusalem and the wider Palestine area. To narrow these comments, we are more particularly concerned with Jewish theology which has left its `indelible stain' on Christianity for ever - a brief look at ordinary Jewish people who had come to trust in the Messiah of Israel. In that early community there was no power-base or authoritative person, and in such a community the question of female disciples was almost unheard of and therefore threatening where it did occur. We need also to remember that this period, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, was set within a 40 year Probation Period, lasting from the crucifixion of Jesus until the rejection by the Jewish Elders of the Messiah of Israel in AD 69 - as recorded in Acts 28.
As such those early believers living in Judea were still struggling under the Law of Moses and trying to understand their new lives in the Lord Jesus. That early Community of Believers was a total mixture . . . common folk and Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots and even Priests . . . meeting in the Temple Compound or in each other's homes, and there must have been a mixture of excitement and anxiety in those meetings. However, overlaying this would have been the high-powered spiritual sense of the immediate return of the Messiah to establish His Kingdom in Israel. This heightened sense was Apocalyptic! The Future was coming and it was an imminent Future, for those believers lived in the End Times, a very toxic mix of people! We can then understand the excitement of seeing the Spirit of God falling at that Feast of Pentecost when Peter was preaching in the Temple Compound. Jerusalem was the very centre of a Messianic group of Believers who were still fully integrated into Judaism: They believed in the God of their fathers . . . they held to the Jewish Scriptures . . . they observed the Mosaic Law . . . they met in the Temple Compound. They were Jewish and Jewish proselytes, followers of The Way, their lives centered on Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, crucified and raised from the dead by God.
Even so they were a mixture! Amaraic Jews from Palestine, who with the twelve Apostles were faithful to the Temple and Torah. There were Greek-speaking Jews from outside of Jerusalem who were not closely identified with `the Seven' (as recorded in Acts 6) who were more critical of the Temple and Torah, and there were also proselytes, Greek and Latin believers who were free from such restrictions. But however mixed they were, they had one common identity . . Faith in the Messiah Jesus, people who met together to confess Him, praise Him and pray to Him as Lord. Although there was at that time no hierarchical structure in place, a hint of the structure that would emerge was most certainly there, seen in the twelve Apostles, who held to the Mosaic Law, and, as we have said, the seven Grecians who murmured against the actions of the others: (Acts 6:3-4)
" Wherefore, brethren, look out among you seven men of honest report . . .
But we will give ourselves to prayer, and the ministry of the Word. "
A division was coming between the Hebrew and Greek believers. Nevertheless there was no hint of a hierarchical structure at that time, merely an acceptance of `the Twelve' who had personally known Jesus. Elders certainly . . mature people outworking a position but not seeking a title . . older, well tried men of good standing in the New Community.
Peter, with his outgoing impulsive nature, stood out amongst the others as a natural leader, but with a growing understanding of a coming break with the restrictive Jewish practices. So James, the brother of Jesus, comes into focus as the Elder of the Council of Jerusalem, closely bound to the Temple and Torah. As such, James was soon to become the Head of the Jerusalem Community, who would issue guidelines for the early Jewish Community of Believers. Even so in such exciting but turbulent times, James fully accepted Paul as an Apostle to the Gentiles and Paul's Revelation from the Lord to be true and authoritative. James was soon to be martyred and the early community would be scattered through persecution and excommunication from the Jewish synagogues with `a cursing upon the heretics'. Circumstances were changing, but unchanged were God's purposes!
Paul emerged on the stage of Christian history - `This man is My chosen instrument' - and the centre of Christianity moved from Jerusalem to Antioch: (Acts 13)
"In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Saul"
The physical break with Jerusalem had come, but Paul's spiritual message remained the same as that spoken in that early community, which was . . the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God . . the understanding of the sinful nature needing salvation . . belief in the One True Son of God who acts in human history . . the God of Israel who is God of all peoples . . an unconditional trust in the Faithfulness of God for salvation outside of the efforts of the Law of Moses. The Lord needed Paul in Antioch: It made better sense to the early believers, but with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple the groups of early Jewish believers and the Council of Jerusalem were broken and scattered. Paul was `in exile' from Jerusalem, but also free from its restrictions to complete his great calling to take the Gospel of God to all nations and peoples!
Much would be lost concerning `Hebrew Roots' . . much error would occur over the coming years . . much persecution of the Jews would come through Christians, but the continuity of those early Jewish customs of belief were established through Paul and his revelations from Jesus. Nevertheless this was to be a paradigm change from the early order centered on The Twelve (Apostles) and The Seven Greeks (Gentiles). Paul's Epistles declared his understanding that all believers have Spirit-given gifts for the benefit of the Churches, grouped around Teachers, Prophets and Apostles and centered on the Lordship of Christ Jesus. Paul's clear understanding lay not in Apostolic Succession but in submission to one another under the ministry of the Holy Spirit in order to build up the Body of Christ to its fulness in every way. But such freedom was not to last, and quite early on Episcopal hierarchy began to emerge with Presbyters or Bishops taking priority over Apostles, Prophets and Teachers, limiting such gifts to a Presbyterate with serving Deacons in the community of people.
We can now begin to see the paradigm shift that was emerging - an Order of local Bishops with authority over their local community eventually extending to the `cover' of other communities, and by the middle of the second century the Bishopric of Rome was beginning to come into prominence. Now instead of Jerusalem being the centre of the Christian community, Rome had taken its place and the `pull' away from its hitherto Greek-centered culture became more evident. But by the time of the 2nd century AD the Bishop of Rome was but one of many Bishops scattered over the Roman Empire with imperial power centered in Constantinople (the second Rome). From there would develop the religious system of Metropolitans (overseeing Bishops) in the eastern Empire, and later a Pope would oversee Bishops in western Europe. At that stage all were under the guidance of the Roman Emperors who presided over the Councils that were called from time to time to consider disputes and points of doctrine. However the core of this universal Church was still faith in the Lord Jesus, discipleship of believers by the Holy Spirit, entrance into the Community of Believers was by way of baptism, and community life was centered on a Meal in His Remembrance.
It was the Emperor who with absolute power called his Bishops to those Ecumenical Councils. Such a one was called in 325 AD for the Bishops to assemble at his palace in Nicaea. Everyone could dispute, debate or argue his case but it was the Emperor who gave his final authoratative ruling on matters. This was a major shift! In return for Imperial Protection and pre-emminence in the `Christian Faith', the Church was brought into the Imperial State system! The Church Provinces now had to correspond to the Roman Imperial Provinces with the subsequent elevation of the Patriarchates of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. The Roman Empire, now centered in Constantinople, had an Imperial Church - State and Church, with the Church equal to and protected by the State! From this Council came the Nicean Creed, which became Church and Imperial Law for all the churches of the Second Rome. Constantine now ruled the Empire - one God, one Emperor, one Kingdom, one Church and one Faith!
Over time other great Councils were called to deal with emerging differences and heresies, but always they were called under the jurisdiction of the ruling Emperor . . the Ecumenical Councils of Constantinople . . the Council of Chalcedon . . the Council of Ephesus . . the Councils of Nicaea . . space alone dictates this to be a general overview and not a detailed development of Church history. However there is the need to emphasise that Church development was centered on Imperial Rome in the East. All the Councils were Ecumenical, and, as we have said, were seen in the five great Patriarchates corresponding to the Provinces of the Imperial Rome of the East, with its culture centered on the structure of the Roman State, based on Greek culture and underpinned by Christianity. By the time of Emperor Theodosius the Great all people of the Second Rome were called to accept the Christian doctrines, as set out and established in the Ecumenical Councils, as the Orthodox Christian Faith of the Eastern Roman Christian Empire. The First Roman Empire, centered in the West in Rome, was by now broken and shattered by continual barbarian invasions. Plundered and largely destroyed, Christian Rome was now but one of the Patriarchates of the Ecumenical Church.
However by the end of the 5th century we find Latin Rome beginning its claim for authority over all Christianity, ignoring the legitimate claim of the weakened Eastern Imperium and talking of `the Primacy of Peter'. By the end of the 5th century the Bishop of Rome, now called Pope, laid claim to supreme religious authority over the whole Church of Christ, totally independent of Imperial Rome or indeed of any other State Power. The Popes now ruled politically and spiritually over a territory once ruled by the Emperors of Rome, and under Pope Leo the Third the break became permanent when he bestowed the title Emperor over a German, Charles King of the Franks, in St Peters in Rome on Christmas Eve 800 AD (the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire) and this whilst there was still a reigning Roman Emperor in the East! There was now a barbarian crowned Emperor by a Pope who had no Imperial legitimate authority as a Bishop of one of the Patriarchates of Imperial Rome. Now came the unspoken question: Who is the greatest, he who crowns or he who accepts the crown? In Latin Catholic Rome there was no question as to who was the supreme authority when finally the Pope adopted the Imperial title of the Roman Emperor `Pontifax Maximus'. This was a pagan priestly title used derogatively against the Bishop of Rome by Tertullin, but once used it was retained by the Bishop of Rome.
And so we see another paradigm shift which had been quietly working its way through the old. There was no violent change, for as always in these situations it was a progression over a long period of time, but the `shift' was clearly apparent by the 11th century. It was, as always in these matters, based on rival claims of legitimacy. Latin Catholic Rome, a Patriarchate of Eastern Imperial Rome, now asserted itself while Eastern Orthodox Rome, now weakened by the onslaught of Islam, was forced to move its cultural religious centre to the north. Earlier in the 10th century it had settled in the Kingdom of Kiev (which since 998 AD had been a Province of the Patriarchate of Constantinople) which kingdom extended into what is now known as Russia. The Kingdom of Kiev, although it had long-standing contact with both Latin and Orthodox Rome, was brought into the Orthodox fold when its Prince Vladimir was baptised and then married to a Byzantine Princess of Imperial claim. In time this led to the proclamation of the Third Roman Empire, which claimed legitimacy through its Imperial Princess and the exiled Patriarch of Constantinople.
It is not our intention to record the various Popes who rose up over the centuries, either the good, the bad or the downright evil. In this part of our Reflections we are looking at `the Present' which straddles over some two thousand years before we conclude with `the Future'. Our purpose here is to briefly show the changes that have occurred in `the backcloth of the Present' as we look at the statue of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The claim to legitimacy by the Latin Catholic Church is based mainly on known forged documents, `The Donation of Constatine' and `The Pseudo Isidorian Decretals'. It is said of the `Donation' that before Constantine moved to Constantinople he bestowed on Pope Silvester the First the right to wear Imperial Insignia and the Purple Robes of the Emperors. He also bequeathed to him Rome and its provinces in the western region and the Primacy of all the other Patriarchates of Rome. In simple words, the Pope had thus become an Emperor! As would be expected in turbulent times, forgeries abounded in their hundreds. The Pseudo Isidorian Decretals (which includes the Donation of Constantine) purports to be a collection of letters from an unknown Isidorius Mercator, one of which is a letter from Clement of Rome in AD 96 to James the brother of the Lord in Jerusalem. The letter stated that Peter had transferred to Clement in a Last Dispensation the power `to loose and to bind', power and authority over all the other Bishops, making Clement the sole legitimate successor to Peter. As is usual in such matters, a lie spoken often enough - particularly in a rapidly weakening power structure - overwhelms the truth, until the time when there is no need to say anything further as the struggle for truth becomes lost in time. However there was a further paradigm shift building up and threatening the medieval rule of Latin Catholic authority. We need not enter a lengthy recounting of the Protestant Reformation; the history of that time is still very close to our time, albeit six centuries ago, and Martin Luther, Erasmus, Zwingle, Calvin and Cramer are the sturdy rungs of the ladder of Evangelical Protestantism.
Without wishing to minimise those dramatic years they are, to use an analogy, but a bomb which exploded into the Latin Catholic Church, the `fallout' of which can be read of in the history of the Western churches. Even in the 20th and 21st centuries the debris coming from the fallout of the Reformation can be seen in the proliferation of Christian Groups, Fellowships and Sects, which are a spin-off from the dramatic days of the 16th century. But our Reflections for `the Present' must remain focussed on the two contenders for the Crown of Imperial Rome, the Ecumenical Christian State seen in its fulness under the Emperors of the Eastern Second Rome - `One God, one Emperor, one Kingdom, one Church, one Faith'. In the Latin Roman Church all counter-reformations and reconciling outreaches since the Reformation have been just efforts to regain its medieval power. The more recent approaches to the Eastern Orthodox Metropolitans and Patriarchates have had this one sole objective - to recapture the universal Imperial power, under the Pope, `the First among Equals'! Ecumenical Eastern Orthodox, driven up into the Kingdom of Kiev through the onslaught of Islam, now underpins the re-emerging, reviving Imperial power of Russia, under its State protection and undergirding its State power. (And so even today the indelible separation of the two Roman Empires, East and West can be seen through the contemporary problems of Greece and Cyprus as they struggle to remain in the `West'.)
Islam is a fading power and there is no need to fear the ongoing violence of its extremists, and the vacuum caused by this fading power of Islam will be filled by a resurgent Eastern Roman Imperialism. Are we seeing in this the forthcoming and final sixth kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar's statue, last seen in Ecumenical Imperial Christian Rome centered in Constantinople? The so-called Holy Roman Empire of the Latin Roman Church era was a poor reflection of the `Second Rome' and short-lived, and Prophetic teachers in today's churches have for too long focussed on and been engaged in fighting a battle against the medieval Latin Church. There is a need to look at the wider backcloth of history and for this to focus on the centre stage of Israel and the Kingdom of God for `a stone (was) cut out without hands'.
And so, thankfully, to `the Future', and as we close these Reflections we return to Daniel and to his final searching question: (Daniel 12:8-9 KJV)
" And I heard, but I understood not. Then I said, `O my Lord, what
shall be the end of these things'? And He said, `Go your way, Daniel,
for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end'. "
The closing verses of the Book of Daniel go on to record some interesting numbers (verses 11 and 12) and it is in these verses that we can truly see `the Future' - with which we will close these Reflections:
" From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination
that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1290 days. Blessed is
the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1335 days. "
We know that the Tribulation period is separated into two halves of 1260 days - a time, times and half a time - fourty-two months. Yet we now have a short period given as an additional 30 days at the end of the Tribulation, and there is a further blessing for those who faithfully wait for another fourty-five days - making a total of 75 days for certain things to be outworked at the end of the seven `Dreadful Days of Jacob's Trouble'. (In chapters 19 and 20 of the Book of Revelation we see the reason for this short period of time.) Daniel 12 records an extra 30 days which deal with the rebellion of the hosts of the Antichrist, the rebellion which is seen in Daniel 8, and to remove `the abomination that causes desolation'. Revelation 19:20 records that the Beast (the Antichrist) and the False Prophet are judged and then thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. Moving on into Revelation 20:1 we see `An angel coming down out of Heaven having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain'.
And so Satan will be finally chained and locked up in the Abyss in order for the Reign of Righteousness and Peace to begin. At this time we also need to take note of the judgement recorded in Matthew 25 - often referred to as `the Sheep and Goats Judgement' - where the people who have assisted the Jewish people during the dark days of the last half of the Tribulation (because of their faith in the Messiah) are told: (Verse 34)
" Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance,
the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. "
Clearly we have a need to look at these 75 days which extend beyond the end of the Tribulation (1260 days or three and a half years). But before we turn to these 75 days it is worth remembering that there is in the study of the Bible the danger of seeking knowledge for its own sake - for the `Greek mind' in particular has this built-in need of knowledge for its own sake. Its language reveals this, whereas the Hebrew language (and therefore Scriptural language) includes the whole gambit of a person . . the mind, emotions and actions. We can understand by this such words recorded in the Book of Job, where the LORD answered Job out of the storm': (Job 38:4 and 7)
" Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? tell Me,
if you can understand . . . .while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?. "
It is with this in mind that we have to search for the need for the extra 75 days of Daniel 12. and for that, as always, we turn our thoughts to Torah, the reverred Word of the Law. The Five Books of the Law reveal God's purposes - His Redemption, His Righteousness, His Disciplining Hand and His Rest - all now revealed in Christ Jesus.
We have written many times that the Massorites and the Talmud divide the Psalms into five distinct Books, and the Midrash (a Jewish commentary) on Psalm 1:1 says:
" Moses gave to the Israelites the Five Books of the Law, and corresponding
with them David gave them the Five Books of the Psalms. "
We have likened it this way: In Torah we have the Word of God, whereas in the Psalms we hear the Voice of God, yet still with the parallel principal message seen in the corresponding Books of the Law. This is in accordance with what we have said regarding the Hebrew, and, therefore, Scriptural language, which involves the whole being of a person. The Voice of God reveals a relationship, an intimacy, as known in David and His Greater Son, the Lord Jesus. And so with this rather lengthy introduction to the extra 75 days of `Daniel 12' we can at last turn to them, whilst at the same time remembering that in the Hebrew Scriptures there would have been no numbering of the narrative - no numbering of the Psalms such as we have today, for the content and context of the words would have been the `break' and draw attention to something new.
The additional 30 days added to the final 1260 days of the Tribulation take us to what we know of as Psalm 30, which is found in the First Book of Psalms and reveals the message of the Book of Genesis, which is the Purposes of God. Psalm 30 opens with the inscription `a Mizmor, a Shur'. The inscriptions in the Psalms are part of the Scriptures and are so placed to draw our attention to either what has gone before or to what is to follow. These two Hebrew words have a meaning of `a song to be sung with thoughtfulness' at the Dedication of the House of David. Here the reference is not to the Temple but to the House, the Dynasty of David, confirming the LORD's word spoken through the prophet Nathan, as it is recorded in 2 Samuel:7. The words of the Psalm reveal this; (Verses 1 and 12 in part)
" I will exalt You, O LORD, for You
lifted me out of the depths and did not
let my enemies gloat over me . . . . . .
O LORD my God, I will give You thanks for ever. "
The Psalm ends with the postscription `To the Chief Musician'. Such Psalms were entrusted to the Keeper of the Temple music and were brought out for use on future similar occasions. Within the Scriptural use it has a prophetic meaning and points forward to the Dedication of the House of David's Greater Son, the Messiah of Israel, with His unending reign in the Kingdom of God. Clearly before this can happen, the rebellion of the Antichrist and `the abomination that causes desolation' are finally dealt with and God's Rule in His Beloved Son is established in Jerusalem. In these last days, seen in Psalm 30, we see the people's praise in God's Glory fulfiling His purpose.
This leads us on to `Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of 1335 days' - a further 45 days - and takes us to what is known as Psalm 45 in the Second Book of Psalms. In Torah, in the Book of Exodus, the Word reveals this to be God's Redemption, His Deliverance. The Psalm opens with the prescription, `Of the Sons of Korah; a Maschil, a Song of Love'. The `Sons of Korah' reveals the depths of God's love, for even in that dreadful rebellion of Korah against Moses, God's appointed leader, God spared the sons of Korah and we see them here at an auspicious occasion. The word `maschil' points us to be `instructed with a Song of Love' and refers to the wedding of King Hezekiah and his bride Hepzibah - long seen as a foreshadowing of the LORD's love for Israel. It is a wedding song of the LORD's Glory and Triumph at His marriage to His elect, the faithful remnant of Israel, the Wife of Jehovah, and a reading of this Psalm within the context of Daniel 12 will reveal God's faithfulness to His Redemptive Word, revealed in His Messiah Jesus.
However there is one more thought to consider in this `Song of Love', for it concludes with a postscription `To the Chief Musician. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth' (it should be noted that the context of the Psalms determines the placing of these insertions which is not always clearly set out through the numbering of the Psalms in modern translations). The entrusting of this Psalm to another points to a time in the future, for its fulfillment for the `Sons of Korah' reveals God's redemption even in the midst of rebellion, and this is clearly seen in the end chapters of the Book of Daniel. The word `Alamoth' speaks of maidens attending with songs, and in this Psalm we can see maidens attending Hepzibah on her wedding day. Blessed indeed are those `who wait for and reach the end of 1335 days'!
And so we have moved into the 75 additional days at the end of the 1260 days of the last half of the Tribulation. We have seen God's purposes in the additional 30 days and we have seen God's redemption in the additional 45 days, and so in closing we turn to what we know as Psalm 75. This Psalm is found in the Third Book of Psalms, revealing the Righteousness of God in His Sanctuary, corresponding as it does with the Book of Leviticus in Torah. It is for those whose dwelling place is assured, those joined in a marriage relationship through the acceptance of the LORD's Righteousness in Christ Jesus. It is prescribed as a Mizmor (an instruction) of Asaph (the fourth of Asaph's Psalms):
" We give thanks to You, O God,
we give thanks, for Your Name is near,
men tell of Your wonderful deeds.
You say, `I choose the appointed time;
it is I who judge uprightly.
When the earth and all its people quake,
it is I who hold its pillars firm'. Selah
As for me, I will declare this for ever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
I will cut off the horn of all the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up. "
`Entrusted to the Chief Musician on Negioth' it has a meaning of `smiting' and speaks of the LORD's triumph in:
His Purpose . . . seen in the addtional 30 days!
His Redemption . . . seen in the additional 45 days!
His Glory in His Sanctuary . . . seen in the total 75 days!
All of Him and through Him for His Glory . . . where it truly belongs!
and so we finish with the final words given to Daniel:
" As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at
the end of days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance. "
This, then, is The Past, The Present and The Future, as seen in the Book of Daniel. There is of course the need to understand the times, but always alarming news such as Financial crises, Banking and Political corruption and the so-called Arab Spring takes our minds off the broad canvas of world history through which God is working out His purposes. Centre stage are His Covenanted peoples, Israel and the Church, and in each and every one of the many paradigm shifts in the Church - Latin Rome, Eastern Rome and Protestant groups of whatever flavour - at the heart is the constant belief in the One True God, His Saviour Christ Jesus and of His Coming: (Daniel 2:19-23)
" Then Daniel praised the God of Heaven, and said:
" Praise be to the Name of God for ever and ever,
wisdom and power are His.
He changes times and seasons;
He sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
He knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells in Him.
I thank and praise You, O God of my fathers;
You have given me wisdom and power,
You have made known to me what we asked of You;
You have made known to us the dream of the king. "
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You may E-mail us at: derek@northernstyletrust.com or Telephone (01493) 444494 (UK)
Our Web Address: www.northernstyletrust.com
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