March 21–27

 

Lesson 13: “From Dust to Stars”

Chapters 10-12 are all one, continuous narrative, one vision and the following conversation between Daniel and the one instructing him.

There are some things that we must remember when studying the book of Daniel. First, all of the prophecies refer to “your people” (9:16, 19, 24; 10:14 and 12:1). Unless we try to change the Bible to make it say what we want it to say, we must acknowledge that “your people” (Daniel’s people) are the Jews. There is no reference to the Church or to Gentiles other than mentioning the “time of the Gentiles” and what would happen to the Jews during that time.

The theme of the book of Daniel is the “times of the Gentiles”, and Daniel shows when and how the Gentile dominion will begin—Nebuchadnezzar’s victory over Israel—and how and when it will end. Paul refers to this very theme in Romans 11:

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:25, 26).

The narrative of Daniel 10 and 11 continues with chapter 12, verse 1:

“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.

There are a few things to notice here.

1. The phrase “at that time” is often used to indicate the last week of Daniel 9:24-27, the time we call Daniel’s 70th week, which is sometimes called the Tribulation. It seems to be the culmination of all things, God wrapping up His dealings with Israel and finally, at the end, bringing a remnant of Israel back to Him.

Revelation, starting with chapter six, describes these seven years that are all about Israel. They will be so terrible that fully one-half of the people living on the earth at the beginning of that time will be dead by the end.

We have had terrible wars and losses of life in the history of the world, but that will be so far beyond anything that has ever happened that I don’t think we can possibly comprehend it. Obviously it has not started yet.

2. Once again, we are introduced to Michael, the great prince. And once again, I must point out that he is specifically “over the sons of your people”. Since the angel here is talking to Daniel, “your people” has to refer to Daniel’s people, the Jews. It does serious violence to the Bible to remove them and try to insert the Church instead. 

Also, Michael is called “one of the chief princes” in Daniel 10:13, so unless one wants to say that Jesus is just one of several, Michael can’t be Jesus. 

3. Only those Jews “written in the book” will be saved. In Matthew 23, the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt and wept over the city, He said:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Mt. 23:37–39).

He accepted their national rejection of Him as Messiah and told them that until they called out to Him in faith, they would not see Him again. 

At that time, He turned to the new entity He formed called the “Church”, which is not Jew or Gentile but is an entirely new creation which interrupted the 490 year prophecy of Daniel 9 one “week”, or seven years, short of completion. That last seven years must still be completed. 

During the Tribulation, that last “week” of years, as the devil pours our his hatred on the world, specifically on the Jews, they will remember Jesus and cry out to Him. Not all of them certainly, but a faithful remnant (Isaiah 10; Romans 11 and other places) will be saved and given spiritual life as described in Ezekiel 37.

The ‘bones’ have gathered together (Ezekiel 37:1–14—the physical re-gathering of Israel which started in 1948), but they are still spiritually dead until they return to God as a nation and are given spiritual life.

New life

The Bible tells about 3 kinds of coming to life:

1. There is spiritual life—the new birth—when a person who was dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) believes in Jesus and is made spiritually alive in Him (John 5:24).
2. There is physical resuscitation such as Lazarus’ being raised from the dead (John 11:43-44), the widow’s son (Luke 7:11-15), and then Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 28:1-15, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-46 and John 20:1-31) when He came to life in an eternal body. This is a resurrection that all believers who die in Christ can anticipate with certainty (1 Cor. 15:51-55; 1 Thes. 4:13-18).
3. There is also a national coming to life for Israel when “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25, 26). For more on a spiritual coming to life for Israel see Isaiah 26:12-19; Jeremiah 16:14-21; Ezekiel 20:33-38 and 37:1-28. Not every individual Jew will believe, the the Bible indicates a national awakening when great numbers of Jews will recognize and trust Jesus

Proponents of what is called Replacement Theology are actually exhibiting a hatred of Israel by saying that God rejected them totally and permanently; the Bible, however, is clear in the texts listed above, and many others (such as Romans 9-11) that God will stand true to His promises to the remnant of Israel that believe in Jesus. God’s covenant with Abraham was called by God an “everlasting” covenant which means He will honor it.

In Thursday’s lesson, the author goes through all kinds of numerical contortions to try to prove that the time periods at the end of the chapter are all in the past and all, somehow, lead to 1844.

These convoluted explanations do real violence to the Bible, and I can’t let that pass without protest.

Let’s look at the first part of Daniel 12: 4:

But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time…

The rest of the words from the messengers by the river are related to that “end of time” or, as it is sometimes called, the “times of the end”.

In other words, in context, the Abomination of Desolation mentioned in verse 11 is what the antichrist will do at the half-way point of the Tribulation, not something that supposedly happened back in 508 AD. 

The lesson says:

“Thus, this prophetic period should start in a.d. 508, when Clovis, king of the Francs, converted to the Catholic faith.”

There is no possible way to say that a French King converting to the Catholic faith is the Abomination that causes Desolation. He didn’t desolate anything by becoming Catholic. Furthermore, the Abomination of Desolation is described as an event, not as an ongoing process that takes hundreds of years. It is something still future to us. Also, that abomination happens at the mid-point of the seven-year tribulation, so it obviously can’t be something lasting almost 2,000 years.

Here is one other un-Biblical assumption in the lesson:

From the lesson on Daniel 8, we learned that the “daily” refers to the continual intercession of Christ, which was replaced with a counterfeit worship system.

Once again, this statement is an attempt to re-write the Bible to fit a pre-determined theology, but this statement doesn’t make sense. Those who can read Hebrew tell us that the “daily” refers to the evening and morning sacrifices in the temple. It has nothing to do with a supposed “counterfeit worship system”. 

In fact, the daily sacrifices were not at all counterfeit as that worship system was given by God Himself. It pointed forward to the once-for-all sacrifice by Jesus that didn’t just set aside sin but paid for it in full (John 19:30).

There is one question at the end of the lesson that once again shows, at best, a lack of understanding of the entire book or at worst, blatant Replacement Theology:

All through Daniel we see two things: God’s people persecuted, and God’s people ultimately vindicated and saved. How can this reality help us seek to stay faithful, regardless of our immediate trials?

As the angel messengers consistently tell Daniel, it is about “your people” the Jews, with a long view of history from Nebuchadnezzar’s time until the end of the Tribulation. 

Admittedly there are many different interpretations, but no interpretation can be true if it changes the meaning of the clear text. “Your people” mean Daniel’s people, the Jews.

Michael, also called in various places the archangel and “one of the chief princes”, cannot be Jesus who is never described as “one of the chief” anything. Neither was He ever an angel, even the angel over all other angels, which is the meaning of the word “archangel”.

Growing faith

So, after a walk through Daniel, have you learned any more about God? Has your faith grown by seeing how He knows all, even the future, and still keeps His promises? 

Does knowing this about God help your faith to grow when you realize that He will never break His promises to us just as He promised to never break His everlasting covenant with Abraham? 

If we can trust Him to keep faith with that covenant, and we can, then we can trust Him to keep His promises to us. If He fails in one, then He can’t be fully trusted to be faithful to the other. 

Thank God that He stands true to His promises, even when we fail. Furthermore, when we do fail, Jesus’ righteousness covers our sin, and we stand before God justified, forgiven, perfect in His sight, redeemed and His for all time.

Praise God. †