Who Are The “Holy People” Of Daniel 12: 7?

  In the present endtime controversy, there are a large number of views regarding the “Great Tribulation.”  Daniel 12 seems to be a key pivot on which much of the debate (at least insofar as the Old Testament ties in with Matthew 24) seems to turn.  In Daniel 12: 7, Daniel heard the man clothed in linen say to one of the men by the bank of the river Hiddekel, that “when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.”  OK.  The first question is, who is “he?”  Then we ask, who are the “holy people?”

   Unless we answer these two questions properly, we’ll be far at sea when it comes to getting at the timing of the Great Tribulation.  I think it’s safe to say that the “he” is Antichrist, for the context involves the 1,290 days — or last half of Daniel’s 70th week, during which the beast (i.e., Antichrist) shall have power (see Rev. 13: 5).  If this position is correct, then the “holy people” can be none other than the saints which are persecuted by Antichrist during the tribulation.

  Now, Preterists would tell us that the Great Tribulation happened in A.D. 67-70, and that the “holy people” were the Jews, which were “scattered” when the temple was destroyed.  But there are several difficulties in this view.  First, everyone knows that the Jews retained their national existence long after A.D. 70.  They even had enough “power” to foment another major rebellion under Bar-Cochebas in A.D. 135.  So I cannot see in what sense their power was scattered in A.D. 70. 

   It also occurs to me that whatever power the Jews possessed had long been forfeited to Rome.  Israel was subject to Roman rule when the temple was destroyed; and so in order to give Daniel 12 an A.D. 70 application, qualifications must be placed on the meaning of the word “power;” and this is unfeasible.

  However, there is a graver concern.  It is blatantly unscriptural to call the apostate and rebellious Jews of the first century the “holy people.”  This, I think, is the crux of the whole issue.  Preterists fail to see the Dispensational change which occurred on the Day of Pentecost. 

   When the church was conceived on Pentecost, the earthly Israel was made of none effect, and the heavenly came into play.  No longer would circumcision according to the flesh, or the keeping of the letter of the law, avail.  As Jesus Christ told the Jews: “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6: 63). This looked forward to the coming Dispensational change, which took place in A.D. 30.

   To say that the natural Jews who remained uncircumcised in heart and unrenewed by the power of the Holy Spirit were the “holy people” is to adopt a curious twist of reasoning which contradicts the very words of our Savior.  If the Preterist thesis is correct, then Christ’s words are not true, and “the flesh profiteth something.” 

  Far from being the case, though, we mustn’t forget that after A.D. 30 it could be truly said that: “He is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2: 22-23).

  Now, mark well that I am not endorsing any kind of “Replacement Theology.”  What I am saying is that Israel has two aspects.  There is the natural, which is as the dust of the earth (Genesis 13: 16); and the spiritual, which is as the stars of heaven (Genesis 15: 5).  During the Mosaic economy the natural had predominance — but not to the exclusion of the spiritual.  So in this present Dispensation, the spiritual has predominance — but not to the exclusion of the natural (see Romans 11: 1-12). 

  The promises of future blessing were made to Abraham, who (loosely speaking) was a “spiritual Jew,” but also a “natural Jew.”  He was not only circumcised in the flesh, but also in the inward man.  Now, to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.  Christ is the Seed of Abraham (Gal. 3: 16), Who unifies the two aspects of Israel. 

   Therefore, the promises will be fulfilled when the Heir returns, and the two seedlines of Israel — both natural and spiritual — converge once more.  This is not Replacement Theology, but an affirmation that all of God’s promises will be fulfilled to the letter.  What we have, then, in this Dispensation is a converse of what took place during the Mosaic Dispensation.  We have an enforcement of spiritual principles and regulations, which correspond to the natural things of the Mosaic economy.

  The Dispensational change that took place on the Day of Pentecost mustn’t be overlooked.  Prior to the resurrection and ascension of Christ it could truly be said that the natural Jews were the “holy people.”  However, when the promise of the Holy Spirit was given from above, and the apostles sent forth to preach the glad tidings of God’s grace, God’s principles of administration changed.  No longer were the natural Jews reckoned as “holy people.”  The only “holy people” that God recognizes during this Dispensation are those who have been sanctified by the blood of Christ, and washed in the spiritual waters of regeneration (Titus 3: 5). 

  This was the very principle that obtained during the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70; and so it is incorrect to say that the rebellious (and in many cases apostate) Jews were the “holy people” whose power was scattered.  I believe that the “holy people” will constitute Israel — but Israel during the last 7 years of the age, after the 144,000 saved Israelites are presented to God as a first-fruits offering of national repentance.  Then will the signs and miracles re-commence, and the purging (i.e., refinement) of the nation be effected during that period of Great Tribulation. 

   Antichrist will scatter the power of the holy people when he slays the two witnesses in the middle of the Daniel’s 70th week (Rev. 11: 7), and then wars against the saints during the remaining 3 1/2 years of the age.  This will be the true fulfillment of Daniel 12: 7.  And in connection with this “time of trouble,” there will be a resurrection of many from the dust of the ground (Dan. 12: 1-2). 

   Now, it is clear that none of these things happened in A.D. 67-70.  There is no evidence that 144,000 Israelites were saved and sealed before the investment of Jerusalem.  Nor did the Emperor Nero (whom Preterists label the Antichrist) function until the temple was destroyed [Note: he actually committed suicide in A.D. 68].  Neither was there a resurrection; and to say that there was is to tamper with the Sacred text. 

   No, friends.  The Preterist interpretation of Daniel 12 certainly doesn’t fit the bill. But only recognize the “he” of Dan. 12: 7 as Antichrist, and the scattering of the holy people as the persecution of the saints during the last half of Daniel’s 70th week, and all the facts will harmonize.

Interview With The Orange Mailman

In this 53-minute podcast, Brian Simmons interviews Darrin (The Orange Mailman) on Preterism, the Great Tribulation, and the endtimes. Various topics are discussed including the applicability of the Olivet Discourse to A.D. 70, the literal fulfillment of prophecy, and the futuricity of events surrounding Jesus Christ’s second advent. Darrin also gives valuable insight on the Gog and Magog invasion (Ezekiel 38-39), which most prophecy teachers place before the commencement of the tribulation. The Orange Mailman advocates a pre-wrath rapture view.

Listen now: Interview With The Orange Mailman

Visit the Orange Mailman’s Blog: http://theorangemailman.spaces.live.com/

The Faith Of Abel

  Among the numerous saints which Paul mentions in Hebrews 11, as being noted for their faith, Abel occupies a special place.  He was the first of the line of faithful servants.  In contrast to Cain, Abel’s mode of worship and praise was acceptable to God, and so he obtained a blessing. 

  From the time of Abel onward, there have been two seed-lines within the visible church.  There are those who, like Abel, trust in the merits of atoning blood to reconcile them to God; whereas others, like Cain, seek to approve themselves by their works.  Cain and Abel have always stood at the head of the only two religions the world has ever known.  One seeks justification by faith; the other seeks justification by the works of the law. 

  When Cain brought his offering to God, the act of devotion was not in itself bad.  Works are not to be thrust aside as if they don’t count at all.  James writes that “faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” — “for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2: 17, 26). 

  In other words, faith is to works as the tree is to the fruit.  Every tree planted by God must bring forth its own fruit.  So, if a man has real faith, good works will naturally follow.  Paul writes: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk therein” (Eph. 2: 10).

   But was Cain a child of faith?  If not, then what avail could his good works have had?  Cain was culpable in that he tried to obtain merit without faith. He sought works alone as a means of justification.  This was a reversal of God’s order of worship and devotion.

   The sacrifice of an innocent lamb had been first instituted in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3: 21).  It was committed to Adam, the first priest of God, who doubtless taught his sons the value of such a sacrifice, and its absolute requirement, now that sin had entered the world. The fact that Cain neglected this all-essential part of worship demonstrates him as a true unbeliever.

  I suppose that if Cain had offered a slain lamb first, then his first-fruits offerings from the products of his labors would have been acceptible in the eyes of God.  But Cain sought to be justified by works apart from faith.  Wherefore his sacrifice was not accepted (Gen. 4: 5). 

    Cain was angry that God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, and not his own. But if Cain had honored his mother and father, he would have remembered the ordinance which had been committed to him.  He failed.  The corruption of his own heart caused him to stumble.  And we see the outcome when, in a fit of rage, he slew his own brother (Gen. 4: 8). 

  This makes Abel the very first martyr.  And it shows the struggle that would ensue from that time onward in the world.  There have been, and can only exist, two kinds of religion.  Professing Christians will be found to have the faith of Cain, or the faith of Abel. 

   There is a kind of religion which at its very center is man-based.  It seeks by human effort to bring about the glorious millennium, and desires dominion in the name of Jesus Christ – but without His personal presence.  It seeks to postpone his presence as far off as possible — even to the extent of claiming that it is a “very long time” before his second coming.  This “very long time” means, in many cases, something like 10,000 years.  This is the faith of Rome, which stands complete with its papal powers and dark dungeons. 

    There is, however, another faith which is the exact antithesis to that of Cain.  It looks backward to the cross (first advent) for justification unto God, and forward to the crown (second advent) for the consummation of Christ’s kingdom on earth.  It is heavenly in its aspect, and weak and lowly when compared to the religion of Cain.  It seeks not worldly power, but is often persecuted and chased from shore to shore.  When the former religion gains dominion, its adherents are killed and tortured.  Yet should this surprise us?  It is only a repeat of what happened at the very beginning of the age.

   The faith of Abel contains little of that worldly wisdom of which the puffed-up clerics and clergy pride themselves.  It believes the words of God over the interpretations of man, and strives not to wrest words to no profit but to the subversion of the hearers.  Would that all professors of Christian religion might have the faith of Cain.  But we see it is not so.  And so a struggle goes on — a silent struggle, unseen by most, but none the less real.

  And what will be the end of this struggle?  As in the days of Cain and Abel, so it will be in the final days of the world, prior to the coming of the Son of Man.  Despite the faithful preaching of the Gospel by those who follow the faith of Abel, the harlot church will gain its long-sought dominion as Daniel’s 70th week begins (see Revelation 17).  The persecution endured by the servants of Christ will be intense.  Peter likens it to a fiery trial (1 Peter 4: 12).  But those who endure to the end will be saved.  Christ has even promised to keep His faithful remnant out of the hour of temptation (Revelation 3: 10).  The prospect of this great and glorious prize is not to be treated lightly. 

  But how many will attain thereunto?  We fear, not many at all.  As the consummation of the age moves forward, and many fall into the snares of the devil, or succumb to the allurements of the world, the battle becomes one on which life or death hangs.    Let us cleanse our hearts and draw nigh to God.  For only by the faith of Abel will we stand in the end.

Interview With Dr. Gavin Finley

In this 1-hour podcast, Brian Simmons interviews Dr. Gavin Finley of Endtime Pilgrim. The topic of discussion is the apostasy of the last days. Finley shows how the present proliferation of false doctrines, and the rise of dominion theology, will eventually pave the way for the harlot church of Revelation 17, which will gain dominance during the first half of Daniel’s 70th week. Finley offers deep insight on the unseen spiritual warfare being waged behind the scenes, and the conflict as it will ultimately affect the witness of God’s people. He also speaks concerning the great endtime revival. Despite the trying times ahead, Dr. Finley gives a message of encouragement to the church.

Listen now: Interview With Dr. Gavin Finley