“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:39-40

Part Two of this series, for the most part, covered biblical hermeneutics. One of the important points that many dispensationalists pose concerning the interpretation of Scripture is adhering to a literal, historical, and grammatical understanding of the passages to be interpreted and understood. I stated in my earlier article that as a general rule, there is nothing wrong with that; however, I had also stated this and emphatically restate it here: “If Jesus isn’t glorified by our interpretation of Scripture, either our biblical hermeneutic is off, or ‎something in the corruptions remaining in our mortal flesh is perverting our perspective for exalting ‎self and not Christ.”

By the Lord’s statement above, I would say that literal interpretation is necessary. While it was prophesied that Jesus would speak in parables and dark, or hidden sayings (Psa 78:2; Mark 4:33-34), Jesus could not be speaking something cryptic here. He points to a unique, literal, and historical event from Jonah’s life as a reference for a unique, more glorious, and literal event that would take place after He is crucified—His own resurrection from the dead.

This series will take us to Daniel 9:24-27 next. An understanding of how the day and Sabbaths are reckoned in the ancient Hebrew culture will be helpful before we look at the next passage in Daniel.

The Sign of the Prophet Jonah

The book I had written and published in 2014, The Simple Gospel, contained an essay I had written originally in 2002.^[1] I had posted it on different blogs I was part of over the years and I had received an objection to what I had written. The comment stated that that the passage in Matthew meant that there would be no sign at all to an evil and adulterous generation. I replied that the sign of Jonah was the empty tomb and the resurrection itself, because it was consistent with what the Lord Jesus had spoken to the religious objectors at the beginning of His ministry when He turned over the money changers, recorded in John 2:16-22,

¹⁶And He told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade.” ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.” ¹⁸So the Jews said to Him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” ²¹But He was speaking about the temple of His body. ²²When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Nowhere in Scripture does it specify that the sixth day was the day the Lord Jesus was crucified. I believe these conjectures come from a misunderstanding of the Hebrew days of the week, a misunderstanding of the Jewish Sabbaths, and an interpretation of Scripture that is not Christ-centered. Jesus could not have been crucified on any other day than the middle of the week; in other words, the fourth day of the week. This would not only fulfill the Lord Jesus’ words from Matthew 12, it would fulfill other prophesies from the Hebrew Scriptures, and it would also reconcile some passages we have either found difficult or ignored altogether. Let’s first look at the days of the week.

Night and Day

First, to understand the Hebrew days and nights, we have to remember that from the initial creation, God’s people followed a lunar calendar. A typical lunar month is about 29.5 days long, from new moon to new moon. Because the month begins at the new moon, the 24-hour day actually starts at night, at sundown, because one cannot see the disappearance of the sliver of the wanning moon. For those who have never studied the waxing and waning of the moon, the month begins at the new moon, which wanes, or starts shrinking, from the previous month’s full moon, which is in the middle of the lunar month. At the disappearance or near disappearance of the sliver of sun reflecting upon the moon, that is the new moon and the beginning of the lunar month. For the next 14.75 days, the moon will begin to reflect more and of the sun’s light as the moon is waxing toward a full moon.

This is why we read in the creation account at the end of God’s workday, it is written, “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Gen 1:5); “And there was evening and there was morning…” (Gen 1:8, 13, 19, 23, 31).

Even the Jews today count the 24-hour day as evening and morning. This is why their weekly Shabbat begins at sundown on what we know in America as Friday evening. To them, it is the beginning of the seventh day, there was evening and there was morning (Gen 1:5, 8, 13, 23, 31).

All over the world today, Jewish people are not watching for a new moon, but use a calculated calendar to mark their days and years. Ever since Jerusalem was plowed under by the command of Hadrian Caesar in 135 AD, a lunisolar calendar was created around 358/359 AD. This is another element to the fulfillment of Scripture, which we already covered in Part Five of this series, whereas the eleventh horn (king) upon the head of the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision would change times and laws:

He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. Daniel 7:25

To remind you, here is an excerpt from Part Five concerning Hadrian changing times and laws:

While Hadrian did change the laws in Rome with the Edictum Perpetuum, which in short, limited local magistrate power, codified Roman laws throughout the empire, and centralized legal authority under the emperor himself. This is only part of what I believe this portion of Scripture was alluding to (which I’ll explain in a moment). The Chaldean word “times” is key to this first part because it means “seasons” or “appointed times.” Hadrian changed the seasons or appointed times in Jerusalem, as well as the Law of Moses governing the Jews who lived there. He issued decrees that outlawed Scripture study, possessing Scripture, and circumcision. Moreover, he changed “times” for both Jews and Christians by forbidding synagogue worship and Sabbath keeping, including all the Feasts of YHVH (Lev 23; Deut 16). The Law of Moses required all male Jews to present themselves before YHVH three times a year in Jerusalem (Ex 12:14, 17; 34:23), but under Hadrian, Jews were required to visit Jerusalem only once per year on the 9th of Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the temple. Scripture scrolls were burned and synagogues were destroyed.

Since the Feasts of the LORD from Leviticus 23 were outlawed by Hadrian, and since there was no sentry in Jerusalem to keep watch for the new moon every month, the calculated calendar came into existence, thus changing the times for the Jews. The lunisolar calendar followed the lunar calendar for the months of the year, but the year was reckoned by a solar year. Since the lunar year is approximately 11 days shorter than the solar year, a thirteenth month, Adar II, is added about every three years.

The biblical days of the week were not rendered with names as we know them in America today, like Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc. The very first day for creation in Hebrew was יום אחד (yōm ech-AD), meaning “day one.”

• The first day of the week after that, even in modern Hebrew, is called יום הראשׁון (yōm ha-ri-SHŌN),^[2] or יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן (yōm ri-SHŌN), meaning “first day.”

• The “second day” of the week is called יוֹם שֵׁנִי (yōm she-NIY).

• The “third day” is called ‎יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי (yōm ‎sh’liy-SHIY).

• The “fourth day” is called ‎ יוֹם רְבִיעִי‎(yōm ‎r’-viy-IY).

• ‎The “fifth day” is called יוֹם חֲמִישִׁי (yōm ‎che-miy-SHIY).

• The “sixth day” is called יום השׁשׁי (yom ha-shi-SHIY),^[3] or ‎ יוֹם שִׁישִׁי‎(yōm ‎shiy-SHIY).

• The “seventh day” is simply referred to as שַׁבָּת (shab-BAT), meaning “Sabbath.”

Therefore, when the days of the week are mentioned, we must keep in mind that the Jewish writers are thinking in terms of evening and morning, in that order, in referring to a 24-hour day.^[4] We also must bear in mind that sometimes when it says something like, “The next day” (John 12:12), it may not mean the very following morning. Because of the first day’s creation account we read:

God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night… Genesis 1:5a

“Light” is the Hebrew word אוֹר (ōr). “Day” is the Hebrew word יוֹם (yōm‎). “Darkness” is the Hebrew word חֹשֶׁךְ (cho-SHEKH). And “night” is the Hebrew word לַיְלָה (LEY-lah). Since God has called the light “Day,” when day is mentioned, it may refer to the daylight hours, as Jesus does here:

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” John 11:9-10

While Jesus does speak metaphorically to His disciples, His metaphor comes from physical science by a fact that was universally known in His day, twelve hours of daylight, as opposed to twelve hours of night. This metaphorical lesson was no different than Jesus teaching Nicodemus about regeneration as it illustrates by parallel being born from above (John 3:1-16).

It would suffice us to say that the Lord Jesus, who is the very God who created the night and day with the Father and the Holy Spirit (John 1:3; Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:2, 10), has defined the daylight part of the day as twelve hours. Therefore, our Lord Jesus just defined for us how long a day is—24 hours by night and day, divided into two portions, twelve hours of darkness and twelve hours of light.

Having explained any misunderstandings that may arise concerning the days of the week, the next area of misunderstanding that exists with many folks are the Sabbath observances.

Sabbaths

Sadly, even many of the reputable commentaries in the English language fail to recognize that the Sabbath, שַׁבָּת (shab-BAT), means “rest,” and that it applies to more than the seventh day at the end of the week. There is a Sabbath year, as it is written:

²“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD. ³For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, ⁴but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.” Leviticus 25:2-4

Israel failed to keep this in their history and that’s why they spent seventy years in Babylonian captivity. For 490 years Israel stubbornly refused to trust YHVH God for His provision over the Sabbath years. So, God gave the land rest by allowing Israel to go into captivity. It is written,

He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. 2 Chronicles 36:20-21

YHVH God also commanded a Sabbath of Sabbath years, the year of Jubilee, as it is written:

“You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years.” Leviticus 25:8

And while God’s Word doesn’t specifically call it a Sabbath, it is certainly treated like one:

“That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines.” Leviticus 25:11

Feasts of the LORD

YHVH God commanded that all males in Israel must appear before Him three times a year. He instituted this just prior to the first Passover in Egypt. YHVH God commanded this three times:

¹⁴“Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to Me. ¹⁵You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before Me empty-handed. ¹⁶You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. ¹⁷Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD.” Exodus 23:14-17

²¹“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. ²²You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. ²³Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the LORD GOD, the God of Israel. ²⁴For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.” Exodus 34:21-24

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that He has given you.” Deuteronomy 16:16-17

These Feasts of YHVH are described in a bit more detail in Leviticus 23. While a Sabbath rest is not specifically mentioned for Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths, there are days within these festivals that are to be observed as “a holy convocation.” These Feasts of the LORD are broken up into three times of year: the Spring Feasts, which include Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Firstfruits; the Summer Feast, which is the observance of the Feast of Weeks; and the Fall Feasts, which include the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths.

Spring Feasts

There are three feasts observed in the springtime, Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Firstfruits. By the sovereign grace of YHVH God, these feasts occur at just about the same time. They are three separate feasts with specific offerings commanded for their observance. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread will be briefly explained under a singular heading. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are so intrinsically joined that often both feasts are referred to by either name, both in the Bible and by many Jewish worshippers today.

Feast of Unleavened Bread

⁵“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD’s Passover. ⁶And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. ⁸But you shall present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.” Leviticus 23:5-8

The Passover began at the end of the fourteenth day of the month; and remember, evening and morning, since the Passover began “at twilight” (Lev 23:5, ESV) or “at even” (Lev 23:5, KJV).^[5] This was dusk. Dusk is when it just starts becoming night as dawn is during the darkness just as it is becoming light. Therefore, the daylight hours of the fourteenth day of the first month in the springtime, called Aviv or Abib,^[6] given that name for when the barley is ripe and ready for harvest, is sometimes called the Day of Preparation. Passover Supper was prepared that day. This also allows for the Lord Jesus to partake of a Passover Supper with His disciples on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, while still being our Passover Lamb during the daylight hours of the fourteenth day of the month as He hung upon the tree at Golgotha, which we will go over a bit later in the “Harmonious Timeline of Christ Crucified and Risen.”

Passover begins at twilight, as soon as it is dark, when the day transitions from the fourteenth day of the month to the fifteenth day of the month. Therefore, the Passover observance slides into the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

This Jewish observance contained two holy days within it when no one was allowed to work; the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was the fifteenth day of the month Aviv; and the last day of the Feast, which was the twenty-first day of the month. Regardless of what day of the week those two days fell upon, no stores would be open, no trade or commerce was allowed, and no ordinary work was to be performed. And while the word for Sabbath is not used in connection with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the two holy convocations were considered by the Jews then, and by Jews today, as a Sabbaths.^[7] While a fire cannot be kindled on a weekly Sabbath (Ex 35:3), or on any day specifically designated as a Sabbath, such as the Day of Atonement (Lev 23:32), the preparation of food for the Feast days was acceptable on those holy convocation Sabbaths.^[8]

Technically and biblically speaking, Passover preparation began on the tenth day of the month Aviv, because the paschal lambs or goats must be inspected and kept in the home for four days, according to the Mosaic Law:

³“Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. ⁴And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, ⁶and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.” Exodus 12:3-6^[9]

Feast of Firstfruits

This feast of YHVH could not be observed until Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. Let’s look at the entire Scripture portion for this feast from Leviticus 23.

⁹And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, ¹¹and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹²And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD. ¹³And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the LORD with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. ¹⁴And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” Leviticus 23:9-14

While Israel was still in the wilderness, in anticipation of Israel’s entry into the Promised Land, YHVH God commanded offerings when the people entered “into the land” that He was giving to them. The manna ceased when they reaped the harvest of the land.

Moreover, after the children of Israel entered the land, they had not practiced circumcision among the births that took place for forty years in the wilderness (Josh 5:1-9). Circumcision was a requirement for eating the Passover (Ex 12:48). We read of the time of year that Joshua and Israel entered the Promised Land in the prophetic book with his name:

¹⁰While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹²And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. Joshua 5:10-12

So, the children of Israel entered into the Promised Land forty years after they left Egypt, and the Passover they observed in Canaan was exactly 470 years after Jacob’s first day in Egypt when he went to the land of Mitzariym to see Joseph alive and meet Pharaoh, as we read in Scripture,

The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:40-41

The first day of the Feast of Firstfruits, according to Leviticus 23:10-11, would always fall on the day following the weekly Sabbath after Israel had entered in. Since the Sabbath came at the end of the week that Israel entered the land, and in that week they were circumcised so they could observe the Passover, then every anniversary for every Feast of Firstfruits after that would always start on the first day of the week following the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Feast of Weeks, the Summer Feast

While the Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Firstfruits takes place in the spring during the barley harvest, the Feast of Weeks takes place in the summer during the wheat harvest, seven weeks later. This feast is sometimes called the Feast of Firstfruits because it is observed with offerings from the firstfruits of the wheat harvest (Num 28:26-31), but its official name is Feast of Weeks.

¹⁵“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. ¹⁶You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD. ¹⁷You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD. ¹⁸And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. ¹⁹And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. ²⁰And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. ²¹And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. ²²“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 23:15-22

In anticipation for the wheat harvest to come, the first day that the Torah-observant Jew began to count was on the first day of the Feast of Firstfruits, when the wave offering for the barley harvest took place (Lev 23:15). It was the day after the first weekly Sabbath coincident with the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread. Therefore, the counting of seven weeks began on the first day of the week, Yom Rishon.

The name Pentecost is also applied to this observance because of the fifty days of counting to arrive at the feast (Lev 23:16). “Pentecost,” πεντηκοστή (pen-tā-kos-TĀ) in Greek, means “fiftieth,” and occurs 3 times in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor 16:8). Therefore, by its scriptural observance, the Feast of Weeks should be observed on the second day of the week, Yom Sheniy. Because the lunisolar calendar was calculated and began to be used in the fourth century, it was marked as the sixth day of the third Jewish month, Sivan. By the Jewish lunisolar calendar, it may not always fall on the second day of the week. For example, at this writing Pentecost was observed in 2026 by Jews around the world beginning on Thursday at sundown, May 21st.^[10]

The grain offering from the wheat harvest was baked into two loaves of bread with leaven (Lev 23:17). Leaven, or leavening agents such as honey, were forbidden by YHVH God to be offered with any grain offerings (Lev 2:11). There were two exceptions: the Feast of Weeks, as cited above, and a peace offering made with thanksgiving, as it is written for the latter,

“With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread.” Lev 7:13

Why were these two exceptions allowed? Because of the corruptions remaining in our mortal flesh. Jesus gave the perfect, sinless, noble, holy, and righteous Sacrifice when He hung upon Calvary’s tree. Every sacrifice that we give now that we are saved by grace, is given in Him, as it is written,

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1

What are some of these sacrifices?^[11] Here are just a few: obedience (1 Sam 15:22); anything costly or valuable to us (2 Sam 24:24); true humility and brokenness over sin (Psa 51:17); constant praise to God by the fruit of our lips, acknowledging the name of Christ Jesus (Heb 13:15); simply being a blessing to others before Christ (Heb 13:16a); and sharing whatever blessings we’ve received from Christ, whether spiritual or temporal, in a spirit of love and genuine hospitality (Heb 13:16b).

Beyond the other sacrifices, as well as the two leavened loaves waved by the priest, that second day of the week was commanded to be “a holy convocation” whereas no “ordinary work” was to be done (Lev 23:21). As the first and seventh days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread above, the Feast of Weeks was, and is today, considered a Sabbath to the LORD.

Fall Feasts

As mentioned earlier, there are three feasts that make up the feasts around the autumn time of year. This is also a festival celebrating the harvest of fruits from the trees of the orchards, as opposed to the spring grain of barley and the summer grain of wheat harvests. These three autumn feasts are also called the Feast of Ingathering, as it celebrates the final harvest of crops for the year. It is made up of a one-day festal observance for the Feast of Trumpets, a two-day Sabbath observance for the Day of Atonement, and an eight-day observance for the Feast of Booths.

Feast of Trumpets

This one-day feast occurs at the beginning of the seventh month, the month of Tishrei on the modern Jewish lunisolar calendar, which occurs in the September/October timeframe of the western, solar calendar.

²³And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD.” Leviticus 23:23-25

This feast day is observed for one day, from sundown to sundown, since the first day of the month is marked by the appearance of the new moon. That day is “a day of solemn rest,” being “a holy convocation” before the LORD (Lev 23:24). The term “solemn rest” (ESV) is translated “sabbath” in the KJV. It is the Hebrew word שַׁבָּתוֹן (shab-ba-TŌN); and while it is a different word than what is specifically mentioned as the weekly, yearly, or jubilee Sabbaths, it does come from the same Hebrew root word, שַׁבָּת (shab-BAT). Shabbaton means “rest,” “sabbath,” or “solemn rest,” and we encounter the Greek transliteration of this word in the New Testament.

As a holy convocation, and a solemn rest, no “ordinary work” was to be done on that day (Lev 23:25). The Feast of Trumpets was and is today considered a Sabbath by the Jews for the same reasons cited earlier for the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks.

Day of Atonement

This two-day feast occurs on the tenth day of the seventh month, commonly referred to as the “Day of Atonement,” or Yom Kippur. Both of these names are inaccurate. If we are being biblical about it, the day should rightly be called “Day of Atonements” or Yom Kippuriym.

²⁶And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷“Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD. ²⁸And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. ²⁹For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. ³¹You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. ³²It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.” Leviticus 23:26-32

The Day of Atonements, יום הכפרים (yōm khip-poor-IYM) in the original Hebrew, was a singular day in its sacrifices offered by the high priest (Lev 16). It was foreshadowed in the autumn but fulfilled in the spring when Jesus Messiah atoned for the sins by the once perfect Sacrifice for all those who would believe on Him. It was “atonements” because every sacrifice on that day observed yearly by the high priest, as well as every other sacrifice offered throughout every day of all the years until Jesus’ incarnation and crucifixion, were fulfilled and completed in the Lord Jesus Christ when He hung upon Calvary’s tree (Heb 10:4, 10). Moreover, Jesus’ atonement satisfied every atonement required, not only for every soul redeemed by God’s grace through Christ, but also for the cleansing of the heavens and earth stained by the vile presence of Satan (1 Jn 2:2).

YHVH God specifically commanded Israel to afflict their souls on that day (Lev 23:29, 32), which carried with it the death penalty, being “cut off from his people” (Lev 23:29b). He also commanded Israel to do no work on those two days (Lev 23:31).

This feast, among all the Feasts of the LORD, specifically mentions that this observance was a Sabbath three times:

First, it was commanded to be a “Sabbath of solemn rest” (Lev 23:32a), שׁבת שׁבתון (shab-BAT shab-ba-TŌN), expressing the eternal benefit to the faithful saint by the observance of this Sabbath.

Next, it was commanded that the affliction should begin on the ninth day of the month beginning in the evening “shall ye celebrate your sabbath” (Lev 23:32b, KJV), translated simply “shall you keep your Sabbath” in our English Standard Version. Although the actual day of the sacrifices occurred on the tenth day of the seventh month. The affliction for individuals prior to that day began as a day prior to that; and it was a Sabbath before the LORD. The term here is the Hebrew תשׁבתו שׁבתכם (tish-ba-TOO shab-bat-KHEM), using the Hebrew root שַׁבָּת (shab-BAT) twice. It would be akin to saying, “You shall Sabbath your Sabbath.” While it addresses the congregation to say it is “your Sabbath,” each individual of the congregation has been given the responsibility to observe this feast as a Sabbath. And that the feast begins the day before, being first mentioned as a Sabbath of solemn rest by its benefit, and twice more in the individual responsibility toward it, expresses how holy such a feast is in the eyes of the LORD God.

Feast of Booths

The Feast of Booths is also called the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Sukkot, the latter being the English transliteration of the plural form of the Hebrew root word for “tent” or “tabernacle,” סֻכָּה (sookh-KHAH).

³³And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the LORD. ³⁵On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. ³⁶For seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. ³⁷“These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, ³⁸besides the LORD’s Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD. ³⁹“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. ⁴⁰And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. ⁴¹You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴²You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 23:33-43

This “seven-day” feast is an eight-day observance (Lev 23:39). It begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Lev 23:34), four days after the end of the Day of Atonement. Therefore, it occurred at the time of the full moon. The fifteenth day of the seventh month, which is the first day of the Feast of Booths, was “a holy convocation” as no “ordinary work” was to be done on that day (Lev 23:35). The eighth day of the month was also “a holy convocation” and a “solemn assembly,” whereas no “ordinary work” could be done (Lev 23:36). Shemini Atzeret, שְׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת (sh’mee-NEE etz-er-ET), is observed by Jewish worshippers today; and it literally means “eighth gathering” or “eighth [day of] assembly.” While the celebrants reside in tents for only seven evenings, the eighth day after the seven-day feast is a holy convocation, a Sabbath.^[12]

Miscalculating the Date of Christ’s Triumphal Entry

Sir Robert Anderson (1841-1918) was a barrister that went on to become the Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard in 1888, a position he held until his retirement in 1901. He was also a devout Christian, growing up in a Christian home; his father, Matthew Anderson, being an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. At one point in his life, he had become a member of the Plymouth Brethren, and even preached with John Nelson Darby; however, he eventually left the Plymouth Brethren and joined the Open Brethren.^[13] Eventually, he returned to his Presbyterian roots; nevertheless, Robert Anderson remained staunchly dispensational in his theology and eschatology to the end, continuing in fellowship with well-known dispensationalists such as C. I. Scofield and E. W. Bullinger.

His most famous Christian work was titled The Coming Prince, which was first published in 1894. As a researcher and investigator, Sir Robert calculated the date Jesus supposedly entered Jerusalem as being April 6, 32 AD. According to Robert Anderson, April 6, 32 AD was exactly 483 years from March 14, 445 B.C., the decree of Artaxerxes Longimonus to rebuild the walls and streets of Jerusalem, according to Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 9:25-26). There were some major problems with his calculations, however.^[14] First of all, his calculations were based upon a presumed “360-day” prophetic calendar. Here’s the problem with that: There’s no such thing as a 360-day prophetic calendar in the Bible. This presumes a 30-day month. The lunar calendar, as mentioned earlier, is approximately 29.5 days long. The fourth century, calculated, rabbinical, lunisolar calendar adjusts for this by making alternating lengths of months between 29 days and 30 days, adding a thirteenth month every three or four years. Second, the lunar calendar from Scripture operated upon the sovereign providence of God. Since the exodus of Israel from Egypt, and the declaration of the first month as being the beginning of the year (Ex 12:2; 13:4), the year began at the new moon according to whether the barley was able to be harvested, that is, when the grain of “the barley was in the ear” (Ex 9:31). A third problem was ignoring the passages of Scripture that would be fulfilled in Christ through His triumphal entry, crucifixion, and resurrection.

The only way to properly view the days in Christ’s final week is to see them through a Christ-centered, Scripture fulfilled lens. I have reverse-engineered a lunar calendar for the month Abib (or Aviv), aka Nisan on the modern Jewish calendar, it is constructed from Scripture that we certainly know for events surrounding the triumphal entry, crucifixion, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one day we can definitely identify and have any certainty about is the day of Christ’s resurrection. It was the first day of the week following Passover. Matthew’s gospel informs us:

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Matthew 27:1

Matthew indicates that it was still dark when these two women went to the tomb because it was “toward the dawn.” Mark’s gospel gives us a bit more information:

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. Mark 16:1-2

Consider the calendar below as it pertains to Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week.

Of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, Luke’s gospel informs us of this:

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. Luke 24:1

Not only did the women buy spices, but they prepared spices. Like the men who were disciples of Jesus, they were not expecting Jesus to die. When Jesus was arrested on the night he was betrayed, Peter even used a sword to cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant (Matt 26:51; Mark 14:47; Luke 22:50; John 18:10), not understanding that the Lord Jesus must be betrayed, arrested, condemned to death, and suffer and die upon the cross (Matt 16:21-23).

Moreover, John’s gospel account provides additional confirmation:

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. John 20:1

If Jesus was crucified during the daylight hours before the end-of-the-week Sabbath, when did the women buy spices (Mark 16:1)? With the exception of John, and Peter from a distance, the women were the only witnesses among the disciples to His crucifixion. The women were witnesses to where the Lord was buried.^[15] The women were also the first to proclaim His resurrection. They could not have bought spices, let alone prepare them for Christ’s burial (Luke 24:1). In those days, there was no instant apothecary mix. They would have had to buy the spices and binding ingredients for the perfume, then crush the spices, cook the spices, and strain the mixture to remove stems and husks. No stores would have been open for them to purchase the ingredients; neither would they have had time to prepare the ingredients unless they worked through the night of the first day of the week. That, however, would have been an impossibility, because they would not have had the necessary spices in the first place.

There are other factors that also refute an end-of-the-week crucifixion, such as the chief priests asking for a guard from Pontius Pilate (which we will examine a bit later). At this point, because of the verses that indicate a middle-of-the-week crucifixion, let’s following a harmonious timeline of the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, noting the supporting Scriptures along the way.

HARMONIOUS TIMELINE OF CHRIST CRUCIFIED AND RISEN

Having reviewed the background for the days of the week, as well as the Sabbaths, especially as they pertain to the Feasts of the LORD, it may be best to present a harmonious overview of the gospels in a timeline form. Let’s begin at the new moon of first month on the Jewish calendar, the month Aviv, also known as Nisan (refer to the lunar calendar above).

Sunset, 1st of Aviv

The new moon was sighted in Jerusalem, and the shofar (ram’s horn) was blown to start Rosh Chodesh, the “head of the month,” as commanded by Scripture (Num 10:10; Psa 81:3-4). For Americans, this would have been known as Wednesday evening; however, dusk would have been the beginning of Yom Chemishiy, the fifth day.

Interestingly, the new moon at the beginning of the month Aviv, the month of the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, falls at the end of the fourth day, correlating to the creation of the sun, moon, stars in the creation account:

¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, ¹⁵and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. Genesis 1:14-19

Sunset, 9th of Aviv

Jesus ate supper in Bethany at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (John 12:1-11). John tells us that this was “Six days before the Passover” (John 12:1). It was the start of the sixth day of the week, Yom Shiyshiy; or what the western solar calendar would identify as Thursday evening. At this supper, Mary anointed the Lord’s feet with expensive perfume and wiped His feet with her hair.

John tells us further,

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. John 12:12

Sabbath Daylight, 10th of Aviv.^[16]

Jesus entered Jerusalem.^[17] The Priests were required to inspect the Paschal lambs on the tenth of the month, prior to the Passover:

“Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.” Exodus 12:3

Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of the paschal lamb as the Passover Lamb unto which John the Baptist proclaimed and gave testimony: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Jesus rode into Jerusalem upon a donkey, fulfilling Scripture:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9 (see Matt 21:5; John 12:14-15)

Although Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread would not technically begin until the evening of the fifteenth of Aviv, all Jewish males were required to be there on the tenth day of the month so the paschal lambs could be inspected. This also refutes another tradition: Palm Sunday (sorry about that). It was on the Sabbath Day that the Lord Jesus made His triumphal entry, not the first day of the week. This is one of the two reasons the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke His disciples for waving palm branches and shouting praises to the “King who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38-39): because it was a Sabbath Day. Throughout the gospel accounts, the religious leaders, especially the Pharisees, were upset with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath Day, or for His disciples’ plucking grains of wheat as the walked by the field. The other reason they told Jesus to rebuke His disciples was that the people were proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah.

Sunset, 14th of Aviv

Jesus has a Passover meal with His disciples, three-and-a-half days after the triumphal entry. “It’s not Passover,” someone may object. They’re right; however, there is a little-noticed detail, a loophole if you will, from the instructions of the first Passover that makes this possible, and a fulfillment of Scripture for the Lord Jesus to institute the New Covenant at the last Passover meal with His disciples:

And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Exodus 12:6, KJV

The English term “in the evening”^[18] is the Hebrew phrase בין הערבים (beyn ha-ar-BA-iym), which literally means, “between the evenings.” By observing Passover after sundown, it was still between the evening of the 14th and evening of the 15th of Aviv in their worship of YHVH God.

Moreover, since Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, He is also Lord of the Passover. He called it a Passover (Luke 22:15), and even though it fell on the day before the Passover, His institution of the New Covenant in communion on a day that was not the Passover allows us to partake of communion more than once per year, thereby allowing Jesus to be the actual and ultimate fulfillment of the Passover by His crucifixion in the middle of the week.

After the Lord Jesus and His disciples departed the room in the upper city and went to the Mount of Olives, Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and arrested.^[19] He was taken first to Annas’ house, where Peter made his first denial of Christ.^[20] After the Lord Jesus was questioned and beaten at Annas’ house,^[21] He was led away to Caiaphas’ house for a second trial,^[22] where Peter, again, follows at a distance and denies the Lord Jesus a second time.^[23] False witnesses were brought into Caiaphas’ house to accuse Jesus but could not agree.^[24] When questioned by Caiaphas about whether He was the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus confessed that He was by referencing Daniel 7:13.^[25] Caiaphas tore his robes and accused the Lord Jesus of blasphemy and condemned Him as worthy of death.^[26] Still in Caiaphas’ house, the Lord Jesus was mocked, abused, and beaten mercilessly.^[27] Simon Peter denied the Lord Jesus a third time.^[28]

Sunrise, 14th of Aviv

The Lord Jesus was then led to the Sanhedrin at daybreak for His third Jewish trial, where He was officially condemned of blasphemy, and thus to them, worthy of death.^[29] This was the fourth day of the week, Yom Reviyiy, what the western lunar calendar would call Wednesday morning. The Lord Jesus was then sent to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea.^[30] Then, Judas Iscariot hung himself.^[31]

The Lord Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate at His first Roman trial. When Pilate found out that Jesus was a Galilean,^[32] he sent the Lord to Herod for His second Roman trial, where He was mocked again.^[33] The Lord Jesus was then sent back to Pilate, where He stood His third Roman trial.^[34] The crowd screamed to free Barabbas.^[35] Jesus was beaten and mocked once again; this time, by the Roman guard, who also scourged Jesus under Pilate’s orders.^[36] Pilate made one more plea for Christ’s life^[37] as Jesus stood so savagely ravaged and bloodied that He was unrecognizable as a human being.^[38]

Pilate released Barabbas and Jesus was led out to be crucified.^[39] Beginning to carry the patibulum (cross beam portion of His cross), Jesus was so physically weak from the beatings that Simon of Cyrene was pressed into public service to carry the Lord’s cross to Golgotha.^[40] A large company of people followed along, weeping, and Jesus spoke to them.^[41]

Before nailing Him to the cross, Jesus was offered sour wine mixed with gall, an ancient anesthetic, but Jesus refused it.^[42] As they hoisted the crosses of Jesus and two thieves upright to stand tall with the post inserted into the hole drilled in the rock, Jesus prayed for the crowd saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”^[43]

Upon the tree of wood, Jesus was crucified between two thieves while the Roman soldiers divided His tunic among themselves and cast lots for His outer garment; the inscription of Jesus’ crime hung above His head upon the cross.^[44] Scribes, passers-by, chief priests, soldiers, and even the thieves who hung next to Him, mocked Jesus.^[45] One of the thieves repented and asked Jesus to remember him when the Lord entered His kingdom; and Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”^[46]

Darkness, 14th of Aviv (noon)

Darkness covered the land for three hours.^[47]

Darkness, 14th of Aviv (3:00-4:00 p.m.)

Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”^{[48], [49]} Jesus then looked at Mary and said, “Woman, behold, your son!” and then looked to John and said, “Behold, your mother!”^[50] It was still dark in the land when Jesus cried out, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!”^[51] Jesus then said, “I thirst” to fulfill Psalm 69:21.^[52] Now that all was fulfilled, having paid the penalty for sin as the only righteous human, Jesus proclaimed, with all the authority as the Son of God, that the debt for sin was paid in full: “It is finished.”^[53]

When Jesus gave up the spirit and died, there was a huge earthquake that caused many of the graves to open, and the curtain in the Holy Place was torn in two from top to bottom.^[54] Here, Matthew inserted that many dead saints appeared in Jerusalem after the Lord’s resurrection.^[55] Centurions standing by gave testimony to Jesus’ righteousness and heavenly heritage, while others repented and went home.^[56]

Christ’s death occurred coincident with the evening oblation, the offering of incense in the temple, and the slaughter of the last paschal lamb for Passover supper.

Being the Preparation for the Passover, Pilate commanded that the legs of the crucified be broken so that the condemned would die quickly and be taken down; however, when they came to Jesus, one of the soldiers pierced His side because He was already dead.^[57]

Late Afternoon, 14th of Aviv (before sunset)

Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of the Lord; so, Nicodemus and some of the women who ministered to Jesus, went with Joseph to a new, nearby garden tomb for the burial of the Lord Jesus.^[58]

The day Jesus was crucified was the Preparation for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as the Sabbath drew near.^[59]

Sunset, Passover, 15th of Aviv

The Feast of Unleavened Bread began. This “holy convocation” was a Sabbath.^[60] This was the Lord’s first night in the grave. This was the beginning of the fifth day, Yom Chemiyshiy, or Wednesday evening on the western lunar calendar.^[61]

Daylight, 15th of Aviv

The Feast of Unleavened Bread continued, being a Sabbath observance. There were no shops open to buy spices during this holy convocation. This was the end of the fifth day, Yom Chemiyshiy, or Thursday morning and afternoon on the western lunar calendar. This was the Lord’s first day in the grave.

Sunset, 16th of Aviv

The Feast of Unleavened Bread continued; however, as the first day of the feast was over, so had the Sabbath ended. This was not a holy convocation. There were no stores open, however, to buy spices for burial because it was nighttime. This was the beginning of the sixth day, Yom Shiyshiy, or Thursday evening on the western lunar calendar. It was also the Lord’s second night in the grave.

Daylight, 16th of Aviv

The Feast of Unleavened Bread continued, however, it was not a holy convocation. This was the last half of the sixth day, Yom Shiyshiy, or Friday morning on the western lunar calendar. The chief priests and the Pharisees asked Pilate for a guard to seal and secure the tomb:

⁶²The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate. ⁶³and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while He was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples go and steal Him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” ⁶⁶So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Matthew 27:62-66

We know that they could not have gathered before Pilate on the Sabbath Day (as some might suppose in arguing for a Friday crucifixion). These chief priests and Pharisees were sticklers over the appearance of their own self-righteousness. They opposed Jesus over His healing others on the Sabbath, as mentioned earlier. Moreover, they refused to enter the governor’s headquarters when seeking Christ’s execution, as John informs us in his gospel account:

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. John 18:28

One of the other difficulties that occurs in understanding the “three days and three nights” of burial is the term “third day,” as used by the chief priests and Pharisees when asking Pilate for a guard to be placed at the tomb, as well as other places in Scripture.^[62] The reference to the “third day” addresses disbelief.^[63] Again, looking at what the chief priests and Pharisees said:

“Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while He was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples go and steal Him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Matthew 27:63-64

Salome, Mary, and Mary Magdalene went to the market to buy spices for the Lord’s burial and then returned home until the weekly Sabbath was over, according to God’s commandment.^[64] This was the Lord’s second day in the grave.

Sunset, 17th of Aviv

The Feast of Unleavened Bread continued. Dusk marked the beginning of the seventh day, Shabbat, for the weekly Sabbath. It is known as Friday evening on the western lunar calendar. This was the Lord Jesus’ third night in the grave.

Daylight, 17th of Aviv

The Feast of Unleavened Bread continued. The weekly Sabbath continued, known as Saturday morning and afternoon on the western lunar calendar. This was the Lord’s third day in the grave.

Sunset, 18th of Aviv

Three days and three nights were complete! Just as Jesus foretold during His earthly ministry (Matt 12:39-40). JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, IS RISEN! Although the huge stone still covered the opening to the tomb, the garden tomb was empty. This was the first day of the week, Yom Rishon, or what is known as Saturday night on the western lunar calendar. The Feast of Firstfruits began.

While it was still dark, the women took their spices to the tomb, there was a huge earthquake, and an angel had taken away the huge stone, not to let Jesus out but to let the disciples see that the tomb was empty.^[65]

Daylight, 18th of Aviv

The ladies left the garden tomb to tell the eleven, or rather ten.^[66] The Feast of Firstfruits was observed in the Temple.^[67] Because the disciples had scattered, it was not easy for the women to find them. Mary Magdalene and some other women found Peter and John and told them the news.^[68] Peter and John ran to the tomb, then left after seeing that tomb was empty.^[69]

Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, who was still weeping outside the tomb’s opening.^[70] Mary went to find the disciples to tell them.^[71] It may have also been at this time when the Lord appeared to Simon Peter.^[72] While some of the other women were still looking for the disciples, Jesus appeared to them on the way.^[73]

The Roman guards keeping watch upon the tomb were paid by the chief priests to say that the Lord’s disciples stole His body.^[74]

Jesus appeared to Cleopas and another disciple as they walked on the road to Emmaus.^[75] Cleopas and the other disciple returned to Jerusalem to tell the disciples.^[76] Jesus appeared to them, but of the eleven, Thomas was missing.^[77]

26th of Aviv

Jesus appeared again to the disciples while Thomas was with them.^[78] This would have been the second day of the week, Yom Sheniy, because it was “eight days later” (John 20:26). It is known as either Sunday evening or Monday morning or afternoon on the western solar calendar.

CONCLUSION

Although I mentioned this in Part Two of this series, it is worth mentioning again. Does this mean that those who believe in a Friday crucifixion are not saved? God forbid. The resurrection is an essential truth of Christ’s gospel; but how long Christ was buried is not essential for salvation. The thief on the cross did not know how long the Lord Jesus would be in the tomb, yet he was saved. How essential, though, is believe in Christ’s resurrection? Here’s Paul’s argument for its essential truth:

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 1 Corinthains 15:13-14

My argument against the tradition of a Friday crucifixion still stands, however. If we purport to stand upon the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as our divine standard yet shrug off the Lord’s very words from Matthew 12:39-40 as being unimportant, inconsequential, or a mysterious parable without prayerfully considering how He may be exalted by a deeper understanding of His Word, then we are exhibiting a poor, sloppy, and even carelessly wicked testimony to a dying world. We cannot adamantly or effectively defend a literal “six-day creation” while waffling on a literal three-day-and-night burial of Christ and expect to be taken seriously by the reprobate unbeliever. I have encountered several unbelievers who recognize this inconsistency.

The resurrection of Christ is a greatest testimony of God’s glory because it validates the gospel justice, goodness, and holiness of Christ’s crucifixion. Paul goes on to say,

¹⁵We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. ²⁰But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:15-22

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part One” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Two” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Three” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Four” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Five” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Six” by clicking here.

FOOTNOTES:

^[1] The Kindle eBook is available free at this url, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O75K70M. The eBook is also available free of charge at Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.au, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Everand, Fable, Kobo, Smashwords, Thalia, and Vivlio.

^[2] Exodus 12:15

^[3] Genesis 1:31

^[4] I include Luke with the Jewish writers. Although he has been considered a Gentile by some preachers I have heard over the years, perhaps because he has a Greek name (Col 4:10; Philem 1:24; 2 Tim 4:11), this alone is insufficient to call him a Gentile. The first deacons ordained in Christ’s church were Jews with Greek names (Acts 6:5). While my Greek skills are not as strong as my Hebrew, Luke’s Greek in the Gospel account and the Acts of the Apostles contains many Hebrew expressions, some of them being used more than any other gospel account, such as καὶ ἐγένετο, the equivalent of the Hebrew וַיְהִי (vay-HIY), which means “And it came to pass” or “And it was,” which means very little to the Greek thinker. To the Hebrew thinker, it not only refers to a passage of time, but it signifies either a prophetic event is about to happen, or God has already fulfilled His work, as it is written, ויהי־ערב ויהי־בקר יום אחד (vay-HIY_E-rev vay-HIY_bō-QER yōm ech-AD). “And it came to pass evening, and it came to pass morning, Day One.”

^[5] Twilight literally means “two lights.” While the sun is on the horizon as it sets, it provides light. As it pertains to the Passover, since it is in the middle of the month, as the sun is setting, the full moon is becoming visible. Thus, in the middle of the month, at dusk you have two lights. The word in Hebrew from which “twilight” has been translated is עֶרֶב (E-rev), which means “dusk” or “evening.” (cf. Ex 12:6; see paragraph associated with Footnote #17).

^[6] Abib is the biblical name for the beginning of months (Ex 12:2; 13:4). The modern Jewish name for the month is Nisan, which occurs in the March-April timeframe of a solar calendar.

^[7] Torah Mishna, Beitzah 5:2; see Mishna Torah commentary on the right column of the webpage by going to: https://www.sefaria.org/Leviticus.23.7?lang=bi&with=Mishneh%20Torah,%20Rest%20on%20a%20Holiday&lang2=en

^[8] “A person may be [punished by] lashes for performing on a holiday any labor for which he is liable on the Sabbath, if it is not necessary for the preparation of food, with the exception of the transfer of articles from one domain to another and the kindling of a fire.” Torah Mishna, Beitzah 5:2; see weblink in footnote #6.

^[9] Interestingly, the KJV is a better translation of Exodus 12:6 from the original Hebrew, which states: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. While the ESV captures the first part literally, “shall keep it” being singular, where the ESV translates the latter portion as “shall kill their lambs…”, the KJV states that the whole assembly of the congregation shall “kill it,” singular. The word for “it” can also be translated “him.” It is the same word for both. My translation of the original Hebrew from a Christ-centered interpretation would be: “And you shall keep Him until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole assembly of the congregation shall kill Him between the evenings.” This translation will be important later.

^[10] Also, because of the lunisolar, calculated calendar, many modern Jews observe the Feast of Weeks for two days, the second day to account for diaspora Jews living throughout the world. If it occurs coincident with a weekly Sabbath, then it is sometimes stretched into a three-day observance by some rabbinical Jews.

^[11] The topic of the Christian sacrifice is worthy of its own series of articles, but we will restrain ourselves here.

^[12] The question then arises, “Why is a seven-day feast observed for eight days?” I believe there is an excellent Christ-centered explanation for this, however, the details behind it would take too much time to explain it here in this series of articles. Perhaps we can revisit the feasts in a separate series of articles to expound upon Christ fulfilling each one.

^[13] The Open Brethren was formed in 1847 by several members of the Plymouth Brethren, including George Müller, the Open Brethren believing in autonomy of the local church assembly while the Plymouth Brethren wanted submission to a centralized authority. One of the primary reasons for Müller leaving was because of the Plymouth Brethren’s dogmatic insistence upon belief in dispensational theology and eschatology.

^[14] I don’t disagree with the year being 32 AD. We have seen this as being the most likely timeframe from the evidence of Scripture. I had used The Coming Prince as a reference in the past; however, as I’ve prayerfully considered it, I realized that Sir Robert Anderson’s conjecture severely misses the mark.

^[15] Matt 27:61; Mark 15:47; Luke 23:55

^[16] Sunset marks the beginning of the day for the Jew. Since dinner was usually eaten after sunset (and still is among Jews today), the meal that Jesus had at Lazarus’ house would be considered our Thursday evening; therefore, Friday morning was still the same day and “the next day” of John 12:12 began on Friday evening and ended Saturday evening.

^[17] Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19

^[18] See also Footnotes #5 & #9

^[19] Matt 26:55-56; Mark 14:48-53; Luke 22:52-53; John 18:12

^[20] Luke 22:54-57; John 18:13-18

^[21] John 18:19-23

^[22] Matt 26:57; Mark 14:53; John 18:19

^[23] Matt 26:58‎; Mark 14:54‎; Luke 22:58‎; John 18:25‎

^[24] Matt 26:59-62‎; Mark 14:55-60‎

^[25] Matt 26:63-64‎; Mark 14:61-62‎

^[26] Matt 26:65-66‎; Mark 14:63-64‎

^[27] Matt 26:67-68‎; Mark ‎‎14:65‎; Luke ‎‎22:63-65‎

^[28] Luke 22:59-62‎; John 18:26-27‎

^[29] Matt 27:1‎; Mark 15:1‎; Luke 22:66-71‎

^[30] Matt 27:2‎; Mark 15:1‎; John ‎‎18:28‎

^[31] Matt 27:3-10‎

^[32] Matt 27:11-14‎; Mark 15:1-5‎; Luke 23:1-6‎; John 18:28-32‎

^[33] Luke 23:7-11‎

^[34] Luke 23:11-16‎; John 18:33-38‎

^[35] Matt 27:15-23‎; Luke 23:17-23‎; John 18:39-40‎

^[36] Matt 27:24-30; Mark 15:15-19‎; Luke 23:24‎; John 19:1-3‎

^[37] John 19:4-15

^[38] Isa 52:14

^[39] Matt 27:31; Mark 15:20; Luke 23:25; John 19:16

^[40] Matt 27:32-33; Mark 15:21-22; Luke 23:26; John 19:16-17

^[41] Luke 23:27-31

^[42] Matt 27:34; Mark 15:23

^[43] Luke 23:32-34

^[44] Matt 27:35-38; Mark 15:24-28; Luke 23:34-38; John 19:18-24

^[45] Matt 27:39-44; Mark 15:29-32

^[46] Luke 23:39-43

^[47] Matt 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44‎

^[48] Matt 27:46-49; Mark 15:34-36

^[49] This statement not only pointed to the prophetic picture of the cross hundreds of years before crucifixion was invented, it also lets us know: “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21); and, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Gal 3:13); for Jesus Christ was bruised, crushed under the holy, just, and righteous wrath of God: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed…. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:4-5, 10). Keep in mind that it wasn’t the beatings Jesus endured that saved us, but when He suffered the wrath of God for sins He did not commit, He did so upon that cross when He was at His weakest point physically.

^[50] John 19:25-27

^[51] Luke 23:46‎. Adam failed when he did not commit his spirit to his heavenly Father; and as a result, sin entered the human race. Jesus did exactly what Adam did not do: Jesus humbled Himself, committing His spirit unto God’s will and becoming obedient unto death (see Phil 2:8).

^[52] John 19:28-30

^[53] John 19:30

^[54] Matt 27:50-53; Mark 15:37-38; Luke 23:46; John 19:30

^[55] Matt 27:52-53

^[56] Matt 27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47‎

^[57] John 19:31-38

^[58] Matt 27:55-61; Mark 15:40-47; Luke 23:49-53; John 19:38-42

^[59] Luke 23:54

^[60] Lev 23:6-7

^[61] Because Joseph and Nicodemus had handled the dead body of our Lord (or at least their servants had), and being at the tomb they were ceremonially defiled. They could not observe Passover, but must wait a month for the second Passover, called Pesach Sheniy (Num 9:1-14).

^[62] Hos 6:2; Matt 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 21, 46; Acts 10:40; 1 Cor 15:4; et al

^[63] The Holy Spirit rather winks at us through the Scriptures by using this “third day” term as an off-handed reference pointing to the fact that the religious leaders did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. This is why the reference is used by Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:21); they were “slow of heart to believe” (Luke 24:25). The chief priests represent an evil and adulterous generation seeking after signs (Matt 12:39-40), but they should have been seeking the Messiah. Nevertheless, our gracious Lord, King, and God gave them the only sign, three days and nights in the tomb, then He rose from the dead (Matt 12:39-40).

^[64] Mark 16:1; Luke 23:55-56

^[65] Matt 28:1-7; Mark 16:2-7; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:1

^[66] Matt 28:8; Luke 24:9. Judas was dead and Thomas was not with them at that time (John 20:24).

^[67] Lev 23:10-11; 1 Cor 15:20

^[68] Luke 24:10-11; John 20:2

^[69] Luke 24:12; John 20:3-10

^[70] John 20:11-17‎

^[71] John 20:18

^[72] 1 Cor 15:5

^[73] Matt 28:9-10

^[74] Matt 28:11-15

^[75] Luke 24:13-32

^[76] Luke 24:33

^[77] Luke 24:34-48; John 20:19-24. Sometimes “evening” is an expression that means afternoon, e.g., 3:00 p.m. is the time of the “evening sacrifice” or “evening oblation.”

^[78] John 20:24-31

One of the correlating features we can surmise from the dream and the vision is that when the Stone strikes the feet of the image in Daniel 2, that gives us a time reference for the horns on the head of the beast in Daniel 7. While Jesus Christ was born in 2 BC during the reign of Augustus Caesar, as mentioned in Part Four of this series,^[1] the beginning of Jesus’ ministry was 28 AD, in “the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (Luke 3:1), also mentioned in Part Four. While Jesus is certainly the Stone who destroys the empires (Dan 2:34), it is Christ’s gospel truth that fills the earth in that dream (Dan 2:35, 44-45). Therefore, the timing of the ten kings of Daniel 7 would be from the reign of Tiberius in 14 AD to the reign of the tenth emperor in succession, which was Domitian, who reigned as the Roman emperor from 81-96 AD.

The portion we will consider today is the most important section of Daniel 7 because it gives us a glimpse of the Messiah, the Son of Man. Let’s look at the verses from the English Standard Version:

⁹“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. ¹⁰A stream of fire issued and came out from before Him; a thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. ¹¹I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. ¹²As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. ¹³I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. ¹⁴And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; Him dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

THE MAGNIFICENT VISION OF DANIEL 7

The difficulty in writing today’s article will be restraining myself from becoming repetitive and redundant from the Department of Redundancy Dept., because the whole of this portion will not make as much sense without understanding everything I had written in the previous article, Part Five. If you had not read it, you can read it by clicking here.

While the initial vision of the four world empires is given in chronological order (Dan 7:1-8), the vision continues in a seamless, chronological flow. It is just that some of what we are covering today is seemingly not as clear until we hear the interpretation that had been given by one of those who stood there before the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:16). At the end of his interpretation, with what we left off with in Part Five of this series, he told Daniel,

‘But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’ Daniel 7:25-26

The thrones Daniel sees in his vision, that are set up whereas the Ancient of Days takes His seat before millions who served Him (a thousand thousands), and one hundred million who stood before Him (ten thousand times ten thousand), is a continuation of the initial vision of verses one through eight. By the interpretation given above (Dan 7:25-26), Daniel sees the court sitting in judgment when he sees the Ancient of Days:

“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.” Daniel 7:9

So, who is the Ancient of Days here? In dispensational eschatology, basic theology is often thrown out of the window when it comes to these passages because its progenitors do not know what to do when it comes to the 13th verse “and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man.” The question then will arise, “Since Jesus is the Son of Man as revealed in the gospel accounts, He isn’t presenting Himself to Himself, is He?” Concerning the Son of Man presented to the Ancient of Days, John MacArthur says this:

Daniel 7:13

Son of Man. The Messiah (cf. Dan 9:26), Christ is meant; He often designated Himself by this phrase (Mat 16:26; Mat 19:28; Mat 26:64). “The clouds of heaven” are seen again in Rev 1:7. Here, He is distinct from the Ancient of Days, or Eternal One, the Father, who will coronate Him for the kingdom (Dan 2:44). The picture of old age is not that of being feeble; rather, it highlights God’s eternality and divine wisdom to judge (cf. Dan 7:9-10).^[2]

While his Bible commentary did not address who the Ancient of Days was in verse nine, Dr. MacArthur did address it here. He believed that the Ancient of Days is Father God. If you bear with me through the entire article, Lord Jesus willing and the Holy Spirit helping me, I will be able to explain clearly. The Lord Jesus Himself tells us that the Father does not have a body. He told the Samaritan woman at the well:

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

Jesus tells us through the Holy Spirit, that He, Jesus, is the exact imprint of God’s nature, and that the Father is invisible:

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:3a

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1:15

Moreover, Jesus is the one with the body, not the Father or the Holy Spirit:

For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Colossians 2:9-10

Dr. Paul Enns writes this concerning the absolute attributes of God in His spirituality:

God is spirit (not a spirit) who does not have corporeity or physical form (John 4:24). A body localizes, but God as spirit is everywhere; He cannot be limited. Although God does not have a body, He is nonetheless a substance but not material. Spirituality goes further than simply identifying God as not having a body, it also means He is the source of all life. The prohibition of Exodus 20:4 was given because God does not have a physical form; hence, it is wrong to make any likeness of Him. The many references to God’s physical features (cf. Gen 3:8; 1 Kings 8:29; Ps 34:15; Isa 65:2) are anthropomorphisms (figurative language giving God human characteristics used to attempt to make Him understandable).^[3]

Again, the question remains: “Who is the Ancient of Days?” The Ancient of Days is the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the question arises: “Who then is one like a son of man in verse thirteen?” If you can bear with me until we get to the thirteenth verse, I will be able to explain this seeming contradiction.^[4]

The Messiah is the Ancient of Days because the Lord Jesus is the incarnate God, as it is written of Him in the Prophets,

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for Me one who is to be Ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Micah 5:2

Note that it does not say Jesus had come from the Ancient of Days, but from eternity, as this English translation may be more easily understood here from the original Hebrew,

…whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Micah 5:2, KJV

Again, it is written,

For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Jesus is called אֲבִיעַד (a-viy-AD), interpreted in English above as “The everlasting Father.” Sadly, many of the reputable commentaries also present the Ancient of Days as being God the Father: Matthew Henry; John Gill; Robert Hawker; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown; Keil & Delitzsch; etc. Many of these point to the scene of the throne room of Revelation to uphold their position:

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne. Revelation 5:5-7

Again, the theological problem exists of who is sitting upon the throne. In this series, I hope to get to the Book of Revelation, but it would seem I need to address at least this part here and now. I must ask the question, “Does God the Father have a body or not?” If the theologians I pose my question to answer ‘no,’ then they should be prepared for what I will lay out, which will remain consistent with both theology proper and typology. If the theologians and Bible scholars answer ‘yes, the Father does have a body,’ then the burden of proof is upon them to refute existing theology, the Scripture that supports the Father’s absolute spirituality, and the words of the Lord Jesus Himself to the Samaritan woman at the well.

It is worth noting here that while I believe the reference to Revelation 5:5-7 is a correct reference for Daniel 7:9-14, the conclusion that the One seated upon the throne is the Father in both Daniel and Revelation is incorrect. The vision that John receives of heaven, is not unlike what Daniel receives in his writing, which presents the gospel truth in typology. The One seated upon the throne in Revelation chapters four and five is the crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus Christ.^[5] The lamb here is a gospel picture in types and figures. Notice what John actually says that he saw:

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Revelation 5:6

First of all, John says that he saw a Lamb “as though it had been slain.” This represents Jesus, yet it is not Jesus. Jesus is seated upon the throne. Therefore, John is shown a figure of Christ in typology. Jesus is figuratively “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), but He isn’t actually a lamb. All the paschal lambs slain before Jesus’ true Sacrifice were actual lambs; yet they were types and figures of Christ and His eternal Sacrifice on Calvary’s tree.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus did not have seven horns, nor did He have seven eyes. Neither does He have them in heaven. These terms are symbolic, and though we will not cover the meanings here (that will come in a future article in this series), we must acquiesce to its symbolism, typology, and its significance as representative of Christ.^[6]

Moreover, the Lamb in this vision from Revelation was not slain, it appeared “as though it had been slain” (ESV), or “as it had been slain” (KJV). In other words, it had not really been slain, indicating again that the Lamb in the vision only represents Jesus because Jesus was actually slain. Jesus says of Himself earlier in this Revelation:

“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Revelation 1:17b-18

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.” Revelation 2:8

Jesus didn’t say I appeared to be slain. He tells us that He died, came back to life, and is alive forevermore. For Jesus to die, He must become truly human with a body that can… and did… die. Though He is, was, and evermore shall be eternal God, when the Lord Jesus Christ took upon ‎Himself a body, He limited that body, though glorified, to be in one place at one time. As infinite ‎and eternal God, He dwells within each one of His believers through the Holy Spirit, never leaving ‎us or forsaking us (John 14:17; Heb 13:5). This is why it was advantageous and expedient that He ‎send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7).‎

Those words, “as though…” in Revelation 5:6 matter. As we had seen earlier in Part Four concerning the birth of the Lord Jesus, Luke records that Jesus was “about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23). The word “about” is important. That although Jesus was exactly thirty years old when He began His earthly ministry, fulfilling the Scriptures concerning the ministry of the priesthood (Num 4:3-4; Psa 110:4; Heb 7:11-8:13‎), He is still eternal God (Micah 5:2; John 17:5), and therefore, about thirty years old because eternity is timeless.

We’ll see this again in Daniel 7:13, whereas one little Chaldean letter makes all the difference in our interpretation of the passage.

Understanding Christ-Centered Typology in the Priesthood

To get a better grasp of this typology, since the ministry of Christ’s priesthood was just mentioned, let’s look at that typology.^[7] Jesus, of course, is our Great High Priest. Yet He didn’t perform any of the priestly duties that Aaron and his sons performed. In fact, Jesus brought no sacrifices to the temple. He didn’t need to because He was perfectly sinless, holy, and righteous. It was His disciples who brought the paschal lamb into the temple to be inspected and slaughtered.

Though Jesus is our Great High Priest, he didn’t wear the elaborate clothing of the high priest, nor did he wear the linen garments of the tabernacle or temple priests, the sons of Aaron. Yet Jesus fulfilled them truly and spiritually.

Sometimes, without a Christ-centered understanding of typology, certain doctrinal traditions will arise that confounds the harmony and consistency of the gospel in Scripture. Jesus Himself said that the “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Our understanding of Scripture can only be accomplished through a thoroughly Christ-centered, cross-exalted interpretation of Scripture, else holy writ would seem to us as broken, contradictory, disjointed, and incongruous.

A doctrinal tradition has been held by some, suggesting that the high priest wore a rope around his waist or ankle so that when entered into the Holy of Holies once per year on the Day of Atonement, that if he messed up, and died because he messed up, he could be dragged out of the Holy Place, when those holding the rope didn’t hear the sound of the gold bells. This is taken from a non-Christ-centered understanding of this passage:

³¹“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. ³²It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear. ³³On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, ³⁴a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. ³⁵And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.” Exodus 28:31-35

The problem is that the high priest did not wear these elaborate garments into the Holy Place when he ministered on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Aaron, and his sons who were high priests after him, wore the elaborate clothing of Exodus 28 every day of the year except for the Day of Atonement. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest removed his daily, elaborate garments and donned linen garments, just like the garments wore by all the other priests ministering in the tabernacle, or the temple in later years. It was commanded by YHVH God,

“But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on.” Leviticus 16:3-4

When he had finished those duties for all of the offerings required for Yom Kippur, he would remove the linen garments, bathe himself, and don the daily garments once again.

“Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.’ Leviticus 16:23-24

Not only that, even if they did tie a rope around the high priest (which there is no Scriptural evidence for), and even if the high priest did wear the daily garments into the Holy of Holiest places, no one could hear the bells anyway because the high priest was the only one ordained to do the work on that day was the only one allowed in the tent of meeting:

“No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.” Leviticus 16:17

He was the only one commanded to do the work on the Day of Atonement because Jesus required no help to redeem you and me by His substitutionary atoning Sacrifice.

Someone may object, saying, “But didn’t the passage in Exodus say, ‘…when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before ‎the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he does not die’” (Ex 28:35)? Yes. In fact, it reiterates this in Leviticus,

The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died, and the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.” Leviticus 16:1-2

So, I answer with a rhetorical question: Does the Word of God contradict itself? Since the question was rhetorical, the answer is ‘no.’ I’ve preached for years, if there’s something that appears to be a contradiction in the Scriptures, we are interpreting it wrong and are failing to see the paradox of Christ in its typology. These seeming contradictions are meant to draw our attention to Jesus Christ.

Why did YHVH God have the high priest dress like this in the first place? Was it not for Christ to fulfill spiritually and eternally? Of course it was. Jesus did not wear these elaborate garments because He is “a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psa 110:4). Aaron, in his elaborate garb, was a type of Christ in his foreshadow of Christ’s earthly ministry. As Aaron wore the garments daily, it reflected Christ’s earthly ministry. How so? While we don’t have the time here to look at every minute detail and intricate nuance of the priestly garments, let’s just examine a few of them:

“It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth.” Exodus 28:7-10

Earlier I had cited the passage that speaks of Jesus being “The Everlasting Father.” In that same verse, it says, “and the government shall be upon His shoulder‎” (Isa 9:6). Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel, governed by God, and He shouldered the responsibility of the Law that Israel could not keep, neither could the Aaronic high priest shoulder, nor could any descendant of Adam handle because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Jesus walked the righteous life that you and I cannot possibly walk, and His righteousness is imputed unto you and me who believe. The twelve names of the tribes of Israel, representative of God’s people, was upon the shoulders of the high priest because on the Day of Atonement, the high priest represented them before God, standing in their place. This foreshadowed, in a type, exactly what Jesus does for all those He has saved by grace through faith. The names are engraved in pure black onyx stones because of the deep darkness of our sins against God.

For the sake of time, we’ll look at the hem of the high priest’s garment, again fulfilled in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Upon the hem were pomegranates made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarns, which were separated by golden bells, going all around the hem of the robe (Ex 28:33-34). Now, keep in mind, the pomegranates were not real fruit. They merely resembled fruit because the fruit reflected an aspect of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in a foreshadowing type. What was the fruit, works, or product of Christ’s ministry? It was a tangible expression of the gospel that He preached (foreshadowed in a type by the golden bells between the pomegranates).

Every person Jesus healed and every miracle Jesus performed was a proclamation of the gospel. The first sign Jesus accomplished in His Galilean ministry was changing the water to wine at the wedding feast in Cana (John 2:11). Why was this significant? Because salvation in Christ comes by a miraculous transformation called regeneration, whereas God must give us a new heart and a new spirit and take away from us a heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, writing the law on the tables of our hearts (Ezek 36:26-27), which is the New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34; Heb 8:7-12).

When Jesus healed the blind, it was because before He saved us, we could not see God (Matt 5:8; 2 Cor 4:4). When Jesus opened deaf ears, it was because before He saved us, we could not hear the gospel to understand it (John 8:43; 1 Cor 2:14). When Jesus healed the lame, it was because before He saved us, we could not walk righteously before God (2 Cor 5:7). When Jesus healed the withered hand, it was because before He saved us, we could not do the righteous works of God (Matt 7:21-23). When Jesus healed the mute mouth, it was because before He saved us, we could not proclaim the blessed and powerful truths of God (John 8:44). When Jesus raised the dead, it was because before He saved us, we were dead in trespasses and sins with the wrath of God abiding upon us (Eph 2:1-3). I think you get the picture.

The golden bells represent the heavenly truth of Christ’s gospel. He spoke the truth on earth, and it was confirmed by the fruit of His ministry (a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate). Jesus is the only Prophet who ever spoke the truth of heaven without sin, schism, or corruption. His spoken gospel truth, typified in a foreshadow by the golden bells, eternally resounds in the true Holy Place—the third heaven, the throne room of God.

And the reason that the word was given to Aaron, and his sons after him, “so that he may not die,” was because it was a proclamation of the gospel promise to them. By wearing what they wore, and performing what they did, they were proclaiming the gospel themselves in types and foreshadows of what the Lord Jesus would later fulfill by His incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection from the dead. And trusting in the promised Messiah to be the fulfillment of wisdom, righteousness, and holiness, they would not die; just as Jesus told Martha at the tomb of Lazarus:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

Sorry about the little rabbit trail, but it was necessary, as you will see. So let’s examine this part of the vision, verse at a time.

The Thrones

“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.” Daniel 7:9

The thrones, plural were placed, and then the Ancient of Days took His seat. Yet we are never told who sits in the other thrones. Only the Ancient of Days takes His seat. I suggest that since the thrones were placed but not sat upon by others, this reflects what the Puritans used to refer to as the “already, not yet” reality of Christ’s kingdom. It is written of the saints, including you and me,

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:4-6

While you and I are truly in Christ’s kingdom now, we are not yet glorified, and therefore not actually seated with Christ Jesus in a glorified state. Nevertheless, do we not rule and reign with Christ now? Are we not witnesses of His gospel truth and testimonies of His grace and mercy, His love and goodness, and His wisdom and faithfulness? Indeed we are. We are seated with Christ, spiritually speaking, because the work, all of it, was accomplished by Christ.

The Ancient of Days

The Ancient of Days in this verse is a Christophany, an appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ before His incarnation, no different from the vision seen by Isaiah, which was also a Christophany:

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Isaiah 6:1

Even Mr. Spurgeon understood the verse above to be a Christophany, writing in his exposition of the text:

Whenever you read in the Old Testament that any man saw the Lord, understand it of the Second Person of the Divine Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes himself as we have said, visible to men, and God in him.^[8]

Moreover, John writes in his gospel account that Isaiah was a witness of the glory of the Lord Jesus (John 12:44).

In Daniel’s vision, the hair of Christ’s head was like pure wool, which is consistent with what John describes in his vision on the Isle of Patmos (Rev 1:14). Because this part of the vision in Daniel comes after the eleventh horn speaks great things (Dan 7:8), and after Hadrian’s dominion had been taken away (Dan 7:26) and given to Christ’s saints (Dan 7:27a) because Christ’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom (Dan 7:27b), since all kingdoms will serve Him (Dan 7:27c), Christ’s “throne was fiery flames” (Dan 7:9). Why? Because Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt 3:11; Acts 1:5). As is also seen in the first part of the next verse.

“A stream of fire issued and came out from before Him; a thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:10

The stream of fire issued, again, reminds us of the fiery baptism by which we are purged of sin through faith in Christ’s righteousness and His precious blood. It is also a recognition of the fiery trials that we must endure; that is the tribulation in the world (John 16:33), hatred from the world (John 15:18-19), and persecution by the world (2 Tim 3:12). Although our Christ is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29), the fiery baptism from Christ and the fiery trials allowed by Christ do not consume the millions, plural (a thousand thousands) who serve Him and the one hundred million who stood before Him (ten thousand times ten thousand), because, in Christ and by His imputed righteousness, “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:9).

Again, that those saints who serve Christ, as well as those who stood before Him, were not seated on thrones in the vision, testifies to the “already, not yet” reality of our being seated together with Christ in heavenly places with Christ.

The Judgment upon the Empires

But the stream of fire issued and came out from before Him was also a fiery judgment upon the four beastly empires seen by Daniel in his vision. The interpreter of this vision who stood before the throne told Daniel as much:

But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. Daniel 7:26

Because,

…our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29

…these kingdoms will be consumed and destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ to the end. The books opened are the accounts of the persecutions these kingdoms have brought against Christ. Just as Saul of Tarsus persecuting Christ’s church was a persecution of Christ Himself (Acts 9:1-5), so also the empires and their kings are brought into account, being judged by those things written in the open books (Dan 7:10). Daniel witnesses this as the vision continues and he ponders it:

“I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.” Daniel 7:11-12

The fourth beastly kingdom, which devoured the whole earth and stomped the remnant to pieces (Dan 7:23), was killed by the fire of judgment streaming forth from the throne of Jesus (its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire).

But what about the rest of the beasts, [whose] dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season? This could not have been speaking of the beastly kingdoms that came before the Roman Empire. The fourth kingdom in this vision destroyed the previous one, which destroyed the one before that, which destroyed the one before that. I put to you that this speaks of the beastly kingdoms that existed from the fall of the Roman Empire to all the kingdoms today, for that is also suggested in the interpretation given to Daniel:

‘And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’ Daniel 7:27

The first part of this verse speaks of Christ’s kingdom and our being seated together with Him in heavenly places in Christ (Eph 2:6) as the verse in Daniel 7:27 states, “And the kingdom and the dominion… shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.” Christ’s kingdom is our possession because we are in Christ and seated together with Him, spiritually speaking.

But the second, highlighted part states that “the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole earth shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.” Standing by itself, some folks may suggest that this implies a Christian’s active involvement in human government. Since Jesus is the King of kings, and all empires, kingdoms, and governments belong to Him, and while the dominion of those nation-governments belong to His saints, whereas we are to be faithful stewards of this dominion, we have to keep in mind what the vision unveiled earlier:

“I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.” Daniel 7:11-12

The fourth beast was killed, its body burned with the fire of the gospel, the stream of which is issued from before the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:10). So, who are “the rest of the beasts” in Daniel’s vision here. They cannot be the previous beasts from the vision, explained earlier. I suggest that these are all the other kingdoms around the world, including those that exist today, And remember, human empires, kingdoms, and governments are still seen as beastly by God.

Christ has won these kingdoms by His death upon the cross. He has delegated that dominion to His redeemed saints. How then is this dominion applied by you and me as saints in Christ? We are to rule over them by the truth of the gospel, by the truth of Christ crucified, risen, and ascended. Therefore, we are to be good, law-abiding citizens of the nation in which we live, as it is written,

¹Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. ⁸Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:1-8

And again, Peter writes without contradicting Paul:

¹³Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, ¹⁴or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. ¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:13-17

The only exception to this is in cases where we, as individual Christians, are forced by the governing authorities to act contrary to honoring Christ with our lives according to Scripture (Dan 3:12; 6:10; Acts 4:19-20).

We are also to pray for those leaders in empires, kingdoms, and governments:

¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ²for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:1-6

But someone may ask,

We must keep in mind that while Paul’s Epistle to the Romans was most likely written during the reign of Claudius, First Peter and First Timothy were written during the reign of Nero. Nero’s persecutions of Christian believers was infamously cruel; and it was during his reign that all of Christ’s apostles were put to death, with John being the only exception, dying during the reign of Nerva. John Foxe wrote of Nero’s persecution:

This was the occasion of the first persecution; and the barbarities exercised on the Christians were such as even excited the commiseration of the Romans themselves. Nero even refined upon cruelty, and contrived all manner of punishments for the Christians that the most infernal imagination could design. In particular, he had some sewed up in skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs until they expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axletrees, and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them. This persecution was general throughout the whole Roman Empire; but it rather increased than diminished the spirit of Christianity. In the course of it, St. Paul and St. Peter were martyred.^[9]

Remember, that although the redeemed of Christ are not destined by God to receive His wrath (1 Thess 5:9)—Jesus paid that debt—we are promised in God’s Word that we would suffer tribulation in the world (John 16:33) and persecution by the world (2 Tim 3:12) because of hatred from the world (John 15:18-19). The church has suffered and endured the wrath of man, and the wrath of man is ever-present with us today. Moreover, severe persecution can come from those professing to be Christians. Again, John Foxe wrote:

The proceedings of Waldo and the reformed, occasioned the first rise of the inquisitors; for Pope Innocent III authorized certain monks as inquisitors, to inquire for, and deliver over, the reformed to the secular power. The process was short, as an accusation was deemed adequate to guilt, and a candid trial was never granted to the accused.

…The power of the inquisitors was unlimited; they proceeded against whom they pleased, without any consideration of age, sex, or rank. Let the accusers be ever so infamous, the accusation was deemed valid; and even anonymous informations, sent by letter, were thought sufficient evidence. To be rich was a crime equal to heresy; therefore many who had money were accused of heresy, or of being favourers of heretics, that they might be obliged to pay for their opinions. The dearest friends or nearest kindred could not, without danger, serve any one who was imprisoned on account of religion. To convey to those who were confined, a little straw, or give them a cup of water, was called favouring of the heretics, and they were prosecuted accordingly. No lawyer dared to plead for his own brother, and their malice even extended beyond the grave; hence the bones of many were dug up and burnt, as examples to the living. If a man on his deathbed was accused of being a follower of Waldo, his estates were confiscated, and the heir to them defrauded of his inheritance; and some were sent to the Holy Land, while the Dominicans took possession of their houses and properties, and, when the owners returned, would often pretend not to know them. These persecutions were continued for several centuries under different popes and other great dignitaries of the Catholic Church.^[10]

Innocent III (c.1160-1216), whose papacy spanned from 1198 until his death, authorized a violent military crusade, which was enforced from 1209 until thirteen years beyond his death in 1229. The campaign was ordered to wipe out the Cathars in southern France. The Cathars promoted a return to simple, biblical messages of piety and poverty. One of the most insidious campaigns of the crusade was the murderous massacre of approximately 20,000 citizens at Béziers in 1209. This twenty-year crusade against the Albigenses also banned Bible reading and interpretation by those not ordained as clergy in the Roman Catholic Church.

Persecution against Peter Waldo and his followers started in 1189, twenty years earlier than the Albigensian Crusade. Waldo preached boldly to the common man, not in Latin, but in their own language. He and his followers believed in the supreme authority of Scripture alone.

If such persecution should be occasioned upon our lives, then we should trust implicitly upon Christ alone, remembering that we are crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20) and that Jesus commanded us to deny self and to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). Therefore, we can rejoice that, in Christ, we are eternal people, as it is written:

in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? Psalm 56:11

Like a Son of Man

We come, now, to the heart of the chapter, verses thirteen and fourteen, dealing with the Son of Man coming in clouds before the Ancient of Days. Let’s look at these two verses separately, while considering that they are intrinsically bound together.

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.” Daniel 7:13

It is time to address the difficulty that many of you have seen coming because most Christians who have been redeemed for even a few months have probably heard that the Son of Man was one of the most frequently used titles by the Lord Jesus in referring to Himself as the Messiah. In the four gospel accounts, Jesus used the term “Son of Man” 81 times: thirty times in Matthew; fourteen times in Mark; twenty-five times in Luke; and twelve times in John. Here’s the difficulty:

The simple answer to that is “no.” It is slightly akin to the question posed by babes in Christ that inquires: “If Jesus is God, and the Father is God, was Jesus praying to Himself.” The simple answer to that one, again, is “no.” This latter question has to do with Persons of the Trinity. This former question concerning the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man in Daniel 7 has to do with a vision which deals with typology, parables, and similitudes, as it is written,

I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. Hosea 12:10, KJV^[11]

Just like we had seen in John’s vision from Revelation 5:5-7 earlier, whereas the “Lamb” had a symbolic presentation of Jesus Messiah without being Jesus Messiah, one little letter in the Chaldean alef-beyt is significant in understanding the meaning of the text. The verse tells us that the one who approached the Ancient of Days seated upon the throne is “like a Son of Man.” The term in Chaldean is כבר אנשׁ (kh’-VAR en-ASH). The Chaldean term for “son of man” is בר אנשׁ (bar en-ASH), bar meaning “son,” and enash meaning “man.” By placing the letter כ (khaf) in front of the word for “son,” it makes the term mean “like a son…,” not the Son of Man.

What then is going on in this vision? I suggest that, in order to show Daniel this vision, an angel is used as a messenger and ministering spirit to present the gospel for this vision. While Jesus is the One seated upon the throne, He sits in this enthroned position as the Son of God, who is indeed very God, the same in essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and equal in power and glory. Yet because the Lord Jesus is the only One of the Triune God with a body (Col 2:9), it must be Him seated on the throne as a Christophany. At the same time, the angel representing the incarnate God in His humanity, is shown to Daniel as before the Ancient of Days “like a Son of Man.”

The Ministry of Angels

In the Scriptures we are asked rhetorically concerning angels,

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Hebrews 1:14

The ministry of angels is significant in the Scriptures, especially as it pertains to the gospel of Christ. The angel Gabriel gave Zechariah the message of the birth of the Elijah-like forerunner to Messiah (Luke 1:11-25). It was Gabriel as well who gave Mary the message of her conception and the birth of Christ (Luke 1:26-38). An angel of the Lord announced the birth of Christ to shepherds in the field (Luke 2:9-12), followed by a host of angels praise God (Luke 2:13-14). An angel of the Lord warned Joseph in a dream, so Jesus could be protected in His infancy (Matt 2:13); and an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph again in a dream to tell him it was safe to return to Israel from Egypt (Matt 2:19-20), thus fulfilling Scripture (Hosea 11:1; Matt 2:15). Angels ministered to the Lord Jesus after His temptations in the wilderness (Matt 4:11), perhaps in the same way angels ministered to Elijah with food and drink under the broom tree (1 Ki 19:5-7). Angels strengthened the Lord Jesus when He prayed in Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed (Luke 22:43). Angels announced Christ’s resurrection (Matt 28:5-7; Mark 16:6-7; Luke 24:4-7; John 20:12-13). Angels attended the Lord’s ascension into heaven (Acts 1:10), and even proclaimed the promise of His return (Acts 1:11). According to the Lord Jesus, angels will attend His glorious and triumphant return (Matt 25:31).

The ministry of angels was not confined to Christ’s ministry. Their ministry is extended unto faithful believers as well. Angels protected David when he was in the land of Philistines, Israel’s enemy (Psa 34:7). Angels have been used to release the apostles from prison (Acts 5:17-20; 12:6-11). An angel directed Philip in his evangelistic ministry (Acts 8:26). An angel directed Cornelius to call upon Peter in Joppa so he could be taught the gospel (Acts 10:3). An angel encouraged Paul so he may encourage others (Acts 27:21-26). Jesus rather indicates that those who die in Christ will be carried home by angels (Luke 16:22; 2 Cor 5:8).

Moreover, the angel Gabriel was sent to answer and explain Daniel’s prayer (Dan 9:20-27).

Angels are created (Psa 148:2-5), spirit beings (Mark 12:25; Heb 1:14), who are higher in prominence than created mankind (Psa 8:5; Heb 2:7). The descriptions of winged cherubim (Ezek 10:19; 11:22, e.g.) with features like animals (Rev 4:6-8, e.g.), or winged seraphim (Isa 6:2, e.g.) notwithstanding, angels are often revealed to mankind as having a masculine, human form (Gen 18:2; Zech 1:8-11; Mark 16:5-6; Luke 24:4; Acts 1:10; 10:30). If everything is about the Lord Jesus Christ (John 5:39), and if by Christ’s exaltation is the Triune God most glorified (Phil 2:9-11), then would it not stand to reason that the appearance of angels, whether in winged form as cherubim or seraphim, or in the form of men, that it is because their appearance exalts some attribute of the Lord Jesus Christ?

The purpose of our salvation, growth in grace, and increasing strength in faith as we continue to shuffle upon this mortal coil is not to merely be witnesses of what Christ has done to save us, but to actually be conformed to the image of Christ—as much as is possible for a sinner saved by grace can be, by God’s grace. It is written,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:28-29

All the unfallen angels have been created to honor and exalt Christ.^[12] They are a reflection of who Christ is and what He has done. We can therefore logically conclude that an angel appears like a Son of Man, and that this blessed vision gives Daniel a glimpse of the gospel truth, Christ Jesus being the enthroned Son of God as well as being the incarnate Son of Man coming with clouds.

Having presented all this information above about angelology,^[13] this may beg the question: “Could the millions (a thousand thousands) serving Christ in Daniel 7:10, and the one hundred thousand (ten thousand times ten thousand) standing before His throne actually be angels instead of saints?”

My answer: Absolutely. More than likely, that is what we are seeing in John’s vision in the Book of Revelation. Notice what it says in the opening of John’s writing:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Revelation 1:1-2

Jesus gives the vision Himself. He sent it by “His angel,” the Greek words ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ (ANG-el-oo how-TOO). So, therefore, when John receives the vision of the revelation of Jesus Christ, the unveiling and apocalypse of who He is and what He has done—Christ’s gospel—he is seeing a heavenly vision that is no different from what Moses saw in the presence of the preincarnate Christ (Num 12:8), and no different from what Daniel saw in his vision from Daniel 7.

Again, the question or objection that may arise concerning the words spoken in Revelation 1:17-18 as cited earlier, could be this: “Was that the Lord Jesus Christ speaking, or an angel speaking His words?” My answer is this: The words are Christ’s. This is much in the same way that we refer to our understanding the transmission of God’s holy, inspired, and infallible Word. We use the same rhetoric. Were the books of the Bible written by men or God? The answer: Yes. It is God’s Word, yet He, by the Holy Spirit, breathed out those words through those men (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:19-21).^[14]

Coming on the Clouds of Heaven

It was the reference from Daniel 7:13 by which Caiaphas as high priest condemned the Lord Jesus for blasphemy, and death thereby, as it is written,

⁶³But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.” ⁶⁴Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard His blasphemy. ⁶⁶What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Matthew 26:63-66

The Jews of Jesus’ day recognized the “Son of Man” from Daniel 7:13 as a reference to the “Christ, the Son of God.” The above reference from Matthew’s gospel account occurred during the Lord Jesus’ second Jewish trial.^[15] The high priest tore his elaborate garments (Ex 28:1-43), which was forbidden in the Law of Moses (Lev 21:10). At sunrise, they gathered the Sanhedrin to officially condemn Jesus to death, and then sent Him to Pontius Pilate.

The term Jesus used, “coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matt 26:64), also seems to be referring to His second coming, which He mentions to His disciples, as well as by His angels after as He ascended into heaven:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:29-30

And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11

The Dominion and Glory of Christ’s Kingdom

We’ll conclude Part Six of this series with a look at Daniel 7:14, which says,

And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

We have to keep in mind that when Daniel received this vision in the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, 475 years before Christ’s earthly ministry in 28 AD, 445 years before Christ’s birth. In his vision, Daniel receives a glimpse of what Christ’s gospel accomplishes in its destruction of these world empires. So, when it says that the Lord Jesus “was given dominion and glory and a kingdom…,” this is not to suggest that Christ as eternal God didn’t own the heavens and the earth in the first place. He did. It was never not His. The Triune God delegated authority (dominion) of the earth to Adam and Eve, but when Adam sinned in Eden’s Garden, Adam essentially handed that dominion, that charge and responsibility, over to Satan, who became the god of this world thereby (2 Cor 4:4).

Therefore, as the Son of Man, by His holy, sinless, and righteous life lived, by His paying the sin debt through His sufferings, death, and shed blood upon Calvary’s tree, and by His rising from the dead, the Lord Jesus as fully man, received the dominion back for men. So, the authority and dominion that Adam lost was won back by Christ at Calvary; and it is His to delegate as He wills to His redeemed saints.

At the same time, as infinite and eternal God, restored to the glory He once knew with the Father before the world was (John 17:5), when it says that the dominion, glory, and kingdom has been given to Him, it reflects the same thing the Lord Jesus said to His disciples after His resurrection when they were on the mount in Galilee:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

God never lost His authority in heaven and on earth. Although Satan is the god of this world, he needed permission from YHVH God to afflict Job (Job 1-2). When Jesus said this in the verse above, and when it was written by Daniel from the vision he saw, what was given to Jesus was the ordained work of redemption from before the world was. The work of Christ’s gospel was given to the second Person of the Trinity to bring all things to pass by the gospel truth of Jesus’ incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and the promise of His return. This great honor of redeeming the fallen world was given to the second Person of the Trinity and to no other. No precious sacrificial animal, no holy man walking upon the earth, no angel who winged the ether realms could fulfill the work that was accomplished by Jesus of Nazareth. God must become a flesh and bone human being to bring all glory to God alone. Therefore, the Lord Jesus is enthroned gloriously upon high, as it is written:

³He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴having become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs. ⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”? Or again, “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”? ⁶And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “Let all God’s angels worship Him.” ⁷Of the angels He says, “He makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.” ⁸But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. ⁹You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness beyond Your companions.” ¹⁰And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of Your hands; ¹¹they will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment, ¹²like a robe You will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.” ¹³And to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”? Hebrews 1:3-13

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part One” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Two” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Three” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Four” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Five” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Seven” by clicking here.

ENDNOTES

^[1] I had not mentioned this in Part Four: There have been various dates suggested for the birth of Christ ranging from 7 BC to 2 AD based on historical records for when the provincial census took place. When the worldly or extra-biblical historical records contain contradictions in dates and times, I discard them completely and make my determination upon the authority of God’s Word, cross-checking the scriptural information with undisputed historical data clearly substantiated in historical records. While the exact day when Tiberius Caesar ascended to the throne may be in question, the month and year of the start of Tiberius Caesar’s reign, in September of the year 14 AD. This is undisputed by historians, which is also approximately a month after the death of Augustus Caesar, who died August 19, 14 AD in the town of Nola, Italy.

^[2] MacArthur Study Bible; John F. MacArthur, Jr.; Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN; © 2005. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

^[3] The Moody Handbook of Theology: Revised and Expanded, Paul Enns; Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL; © 1989, 2008, 2014; Ch.19 “Theology Proper: Doctrine of God” pg.194

^[4] There are many “seeming” or “apparent” contradictions in the Bible. This is why it is so vitally important to have a Christo-centric, or Christ-centered, view in our interpretation of Scripture.

^[5] We may therefore understand that Jesus being seated at the right hand of the Father is a gospel anthropomorphism because God the Father, as Dr. Enns explained, “does not have corporeity or physical form” (cf. Psa 110:1; Matt 22:44; 25:64; Mark 14:63; Luke 22:69; Acts 2:34; Acts 7:55; Eph 1:20; 1 Pet 3:22; Heb 1:3; et al).

^[6] Some of this we will cover a little later in this article because a question remains, “How and why did John see a “Lamb” in Revelation 5? And how does that fit with “a son of man” in Daniel 7?”

^[7] I’ve already covered a basic definition of typology in Part Four of this series, citing a few examples from Scripture of types of Christ, we won’t cover that here.

^[8] The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 60; C. H. Spurgeon; Pilgrim Publications, Pasadena, Texas, 1979; “Exposition by Charles H. Spurgeon”, “Isaiah VI”, pg. 611

^[9] Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, John Foxe; ch.2, section i: “The First Persecution, Under Nero, A.D. 67”; para. 2.

^[10] Ibid. ch.4, section ii: “Persecution of the Waldenses in France”; para. 6, 7

^[11] Those familiar with John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress know that this is the verse Mr. Bunyan used as justification for his allegory.

^[12] Even the fallen angels fear Christ (Jas 2:19); some of them even falling before the Lord Jesus and bowing down to Him (Psa 66:3; Mark 5:6-7; Luke 8:28).

^[13] Of course, this was not an exhaustive treatment of the topic of angelology.

^[14] God forbid that I give the impression I have all the answers. I am merely a wretched sinner saved by God’s grace who points to the Answer—the Lord Jesus Messiah.

^[15] Christ Jesus was first taken to Annas’ house, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, according to John 18:12-14. This was Jesus’ first trial among the Jews. According to the historian, Flavius Josephus, Annas was appointed high priest by Quirinius and later deposed by the Roman governor Valerius Gratus. Gratus eventually appointed Joseph Caiaphas as high priest, though not immediately after Annas; several others served between them.

It’s not. Every nation has raged against God and His Christ, as it is written,

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” Psalm 2:1-3

As we approach Daniel chapter seven and briefly examine its imagery, let’s take a moment to consider the empires of the world. Historically, there has not been a single system of government that was without sin, fault, or corruption. Every single one of them was corrupt because each nation or empire was tainted by the sinned-stained DNA of our first father, fallen Adam.

Think about it. The first government system contained two people who owned the planet, wielding dominion over the whole earth and all the creatures in it (Gen 1:26, 28). By Page 4 of my Biblia Hebraica Suttgartensia Old Testament, that government failed (Gen 3:6). By the second generation, murder had already occurred with the two next oldest people on the planet (Gen 4:4-8). And what was the reason for that murder? Religious worship.^[i]

Because the theme of this series is to understand Israel from the Scripture, let’s consider Israel for a moment. Character-wise, there may really be no difference between the nation state of modern Israel and Israel of Scripture. A close examination of Israel’s history will reveal that there was as much political posturing in biblical Israel as there is today in modern Israel. Moreover, there is as much idolatry in modern Israel today as there was in Israel of old.

Let’s consider Israel’s history for a moment. Immediately after Israel’s birth as a nation in the days of Moses, having been miraculously delivered from their bondage of slavery in Egypt, and even after witnessing the mighty hand of YHVH God in the crossing of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, the people complained to Moses and already wanted to return to what they had known in Egypt (Ex 16:3). While murmuring and complaining along the way after only a few weeks of travel, Aaron made for them a golden calf to worship while Moses received the Law and instructions for the tabernacle (Ex 32:1-4).

As far as political leadership is concerned, David, a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14), and possibly the greatest king ruling over Israel, was a lawbreaker (Deut 17:17) and a liar (1 Sam 27:10-11), who failed to trust YHVH God with his life (1 Sam 27:1). He was a warrior king who did not go out to war when he should have (2 Sam 11:1); and in his laxity, ravaged another man’s wife, attempted to cover up her pregnancy by deception, and ultimately murdered the woman’s husband (2 Sam 11:2-27). Finally, he was lifted up in pride to number the people of his kingdom (1 Chr 1:1-2), resulting in the death of 70,000 men (2 Sam 24:15; 1 Chr 21:14). His son’s reign, though starting out fairly well by God’s grace, was even worse. And it only declined from there.

We can no more legislate acceptable worship than we can legislate morality. When we attempt to do so, we will only succeed in dressing up an unbeliever in Christian accoutrements. A pig in a party dress and a monkey in a tuxedo are still a sow and a simian respectively. At best, human government will only succeed in becoming as corrupt as its most flagrant indigent. And since all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23), we are never given permission in Scripture to focus our eyes upon human government.^[ii] That would be tantamount to suggesting our focus and attention should be on “you” or on “me” (which is essentially what the “prosperity” charismatics do). The crux of this matter can be summed up in the words of that accidental theologian, Pogo, who noted in 1971, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”^[iii]

Although many of our wonderful, modern statements of faith include human government as ordained by our sovereign Lord (1 Pet 2:13-14), every government on the planet since Day Eight, the day after the creation order, has been made up of corrupt and fallen men. That’s why the leaders thereof, whether kings, presidents, governors, prime ministers, etc., need our prayers (1 Tim 2:1-4). I believe the authors of the Westminster Confession, the First London Baptist Confession, and the Second London Baptist Confession would be shocked to consider how many Christians today view civil magistracy as a resource in the Christian toolbox to fix man’s ills.

This was all written to get you primed for looking into Daniel 7. We left off in Part Four of this series with a brief overview of Daniel and a more detailed view of Daniel 2. In that article, we read that Dr. MacArthur’s Bible comment on Daniel 2:41-43 mentioned that the “toes” of the image corresponded with the ten kings of Daniel 7:24. As a reminder, let’s again familiarize ourselves with the commentary from Dr. MacArthur.

Daniel 2:41…

toes. Ten toes represent the same kings as the ten horns in Dan 7:24. They will rule in the final time of the Gentile empire, which Christ will destroy in violent abruptness at His second coming.^[iv]

Daniel 2:42-43…

clay and… iron. The iron in the ten toes (kings) represents the Roman Empire in its revived form, prior to the second coming of Christ, as having iron-like strength for conquest (cf. Rev 13:4-5). But the clay mixed in depicts that the union (federation) of kings and nations would have fatal flaws of human weakness, so that it is inherently vulnerable.^[v]

THE MONSTROUS VISION OF DANIEL 7

Daniel received the vision in the first year of Belshazzar, the son of Nabonidus. Nabonidus was the Babylonian king since 556 BC. Belshazzar became co-regent around 553/552 BC while Nabonidus lived in Arabia, and the empire fell under both rulers when Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC. So, Daniel received his vision around 553/552 BC, about halfway through the 70-year captivity.

It may be best to look at the entire vision first.

¹In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. ²Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. ³And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. ⁴The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. ⁵And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ ⁶After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. ⁷After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. ⁸I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.”

Then Daniel sees a vision of the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:9-14), which we will highlight in the next article in this series. And as there were one million serving the Ancient of Days, and one hundred million that stood before Him (Dan 7:10), Daniel being anxious over the alarming vision he had seen (Dan 7:15), asked one of those who stood there what the interpretation of the vision was (Dan 7:16). Daniel was told:

‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’ Daniel 7:17-18

This vision of the beasts and its explanation does indeed parallel the image from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2. We should note, however, that a man’s vision of world empires and human government, as depicted in Daniel 2 from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, is vastly different from how God views world empires and human government, as depicted in Daniel 7. God calls these empires “beasts,” but the grotesque imagery tells us that these empires are monstrous. Using the imagery of animals, which God created in the beginning, the descriptions of these empires are beastly. Although God had ordained governments to be of help to mankind (Rom 13:1-4), and though He created animals to be subservient to mankind in the beginning (Gen 1:26, 28), these empires take on a form that is not merely beastly, but they are perverse and impure.

The First Beastly Kingdom

The first kingdom, Babylon, seen by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 as an image of a man with a head of gold, is depicted as a lion with eagles’ wings (Dan 7:4). A lion was not created with wings, which should indicate to us its impurity from a heavenly perspective. At the same time it presents the character of the empire at its height. The lion has always conveyed power and strength. And while our Lord Messiah is called the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah” (Gen 49:9; Rev 5:5), a Christo-centric interpretation of Scripture would not allow us to assign Christ’s power, beauty, and majesty to an idolatrous empire. No, this is Satan’s counterfeit, as it fits with his antichrist attributes, as it is written:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

The devouring nature of Satan in the Babylonian Empire was strong, powerful, and fierce, like a lion. The wings represent the kingdom’s swiftness (Jer 48:40; Lam 4:19); but more than that, it fulfilled exactly what the Law of Moses said would happen to the children of Israel in their obstinate unbelief and disobedience toward YHVH God:

“The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.” Deuteronomy 28:49-50

The wings, however, were plucked off. Some commentators, such as Dr. John Gill, suggest that this was symbolic of the decline of the kingdom until its subjugation to the Medo-Persian Empire. I don’t argue against that contribution at all. Nevertheless, I believe the Rev. A. R. Fausset, contributor to the commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, h‎as certainly hit on the hope in Christ that lies within every beastly empire: salvation of souls by God’s grace through Christ.^[vi] Mr. Fausset also suggests that it seems to speak of the head of that kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar, who in Daniel 4, gives testimony as foretold to him by God through a dream and interpreted by Daniel, how he lived as an animal for seven years, out of his mind, but was finally saved by God’s grace and given a mind of a man, walking upright as one made in the image and after the likeness of God (Gen 1:26), humbly worshipping God as the One and only God, worthy to receive all praise, honor, and glory (Dan 4:37).^[vii]

The Second Beastly Kingdom

The second kingdom, Medo-Persia, seen by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 as an image of a man with a chest and arms of silver, was like a bear raised up on one side, having three ribs between its teeth, and told to “devour much flesh” (Dan 7:5). The Chaldean word for bear is the same as the Hebrew word, דֹּב (dōv).

The fierce infamy of the bear from Scripture is often aligned with the lion, immediately following afterward in a verse or sentence, denoting its vicious disposition second only to the lion, as in passages such as this:

Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people. Proverbs 28:15

This proverb is appropriate for the vision found in Daniel since the 70-year Jewish captivity fell under the reign of the Babylonians (roaring lion) and the Medo-Persians (a charging bear).

As the Medo-Persian Empire was made up of the two kingdoms, Media and Persia, united into one, many commentators suggest that the bear being “raised up on one side” denotes the empire’s Persian predominance. Historically, the Persian predominance does seem to fit. After several years in Alaska, and observing not a few brown bears in the wild, it would seem that the rising up of one side of the bear would indicate its power and aggression, the bear rising up on its hind feet. The Persian culture being the most predominant in the empire, is reflective of the head being raised up when a bear stands on its hind feet.

Moreover, both biblically and historically, the Persians were stronger and more cruel than their predecessors, as possibly indicated by “three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.” Mr. Fausset cites Sir Isaac Newton’s commentary on Daniel, who stated that the ribs represented the devouring of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt by the Medo-Persian Empire.^[viii] This seems to fit the historical record. As far as Persian cruelty is concerned, the Persians took the concept of the Assyrians impaling their victims upon sharpened, upright stakes, and turned it into a more sophisticated form of execution by erecting a single wooden pole and nailing persons to be punished upon it. We see this in Haman’s hatred of Mordecai:

Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made. Esther 5:14

Our English word “gallows” is translated from the Hebrew word עֵץ (ātz), which literally means “tree.” It was also the Hebrew word for cross, which the apostle alludes to when he quotes Deuteronomy 21:22 in writing to the Christian believers at Galatia,

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— Galatians 3:13

Later, the Greeks adopted this form of execution, which was later adopted and perfected by the Romans with the familiar Latin cross.

The Third Beastly Kingdom

The third kingdom, Greece, seen by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 as an image of a man with its middle and thighs of bronze, was a like a leopard with four wings on its back, as well as having four heads (Dan 7:6). Dominion was also given to this beast.

The Chaldean word for leopard is the same as the Hebrew word, נָמֵר (na-MĀR). But this beast is rather grotesque and monstrous. Of course, in the natural, a leopard does not have wings; and this one has four. The four wings indicate the speed in which Alexander the Great conquered the world: only 13 years. After ascending to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20, his active military campaigns began in 334 BC, ending at his death in 323 BC when Alexander was 32 years old. All the reputable commentaries agree that the four heads of the leopard represent the kingdom being doled out to Alexander’s four generals, fulfilling another vision of Daniel’s (Dan 8:8, 22). The kingdom’s Greek successors to Alexander were Antigonus, ruling over the Macedonian portion of the empire; Ptolemy, ruling over the Egyptian portion of the empire; Seleucus, ruling over the Syrian portion of the empire; and Attalus ruling over the empire containing western Asia Minor.

Dominion was given to the Greek Empire by God; of course, for His gospel plans and purposes. By his military conquests, Alexander left military leadership to govern every place he conquered; and those leaders spoke Koine Greek. By necessity, the language spoken by those living under the dominion of the Greek Empire was Koine Greek. One of the blessed results of this caused for Koine Greek to be the common language in the first century; and thus, becoming the written language for our Christian New Testament.

The Fourth Beastly Kingdom

Daniel especially “desired to know the truth of the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest” (Dan 7:19a), which he continues to describe again, but with a little more detail. This fourth monster was…

“…exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, ²⁰and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. ²¹As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, ²²until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.” Daniel 7:19b-22

The one who had explained the vision further revealed information about the fourth beast:

²³‘As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. ²⁴As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. ²⁵He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. ²⁶But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. ²⁷And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’ Daniel 7:23-27

The fourth kingdom, Rome, seen by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 as an image of a man with its legs of iron and its feet of iron and clay, was a like a terrifying, unearthly beast with iron teeth, devouring and breaking with its iron teeth, and stamping the remnant with its feet; and the beast also had ten horns (Dan 7:7). Then another horn rose up among them, which had eyes like a man, and from its mouth it spoke great things; and three of the first ten horns were plucked up before this little horn (Dan 7:8).

The Ten Horns of Daniel 7

Dr. MacArthur’s Bible Commentary states this of the seventh and eighth verses:

Daniel 7:7

fourth beast. No such animal exists; rather, this is a unique beast pointing to the Roman Empire, already represented by iron in Dan 2:40 and devastating in conquest. Roman dominion fell apart in A.D. 476, yet it lived on in a divided status (Europe), but will be revived and return to great unified strength near Christ’s second coming. Then it will be comprised of the ten parts under kings (Dan 7:7, Dan 7:24), as well as an eleventh king, the Antichrist (Dan 7:8, Dan 7:24; 2 Th 2:3-10; Rev 13:1-10).^[ix]

Daniel 7:8

another horn. This describes the rise of Antichrist (cf. Dan 7:20). This beast is human (“eyes like a man” and a “mouth speaking”) and is proud (cf. Rev 13:5-6).^[x]

Dr. MacArthur’s notes on this are obviously from a futurist view. Granted, something of this nature may occur in some time yet future; and as I’ve preached for years, as well as written in this series, we should not be dogmatic about something that has not happened yet. Therefore, I concede that Dr. MacArthur’s explanation could be a possibility. Moreover, the second part of the twenty-first verse and twenty-second verse, may imply a futurist view, according to many eschatological dispensationalists, such as the late Dr. MacArthur:^[xi]

As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. Daniel 7:21-22

We’ll look at those two verses more closely in a moment. At this point, I am reluctant to use anymore of Dr. MacArthur’s commentary in this article for three reasons. The first reason is that we’re constrained by space; the second, any more than the excerpts already cited may cause me to violate copyright restrictions; and third, which I’ve written before, these articles are not meant to be a personal attack on the late John MacArthur.^[xii]

The Ten Kings from a Partial Preterist View

Now, let’s look at these ten horns from a Christ-centered, partial preterist view.

If the kingdoms in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel 2 corresponds to the kingdoms from the vision of Daniel 7, then we can safely presume to correlate the timing of the two perspectives, the dream of Nebuchadnezzar being earthly and idolatrous and the vision of Daniel being heavenly and monstrous. Remember, the idol of precious-metal empires was destroyed by the Stone of Jesus Messiah striking at the feet of the toes made of iron and clay, crushing the entire idol to dust, and the Stone growing to fill the whole earth.

We noted from Scripture at the end of Part Four of this series that Christ Jesus was born during the reign of Augustus Caesar. Tiberius became emperor in 14 AD; so, when Jesus began His earthly ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1) at “about” 30 years of age (Luke 3:23),^[xiii] His ministry began in 28 AD (probably in autumn around the Feast of Tabernacles).^[xiv]

Having established that the first advent of the Lord Jesus occurred during the reign of Tiberius Caesar from Scripture, we know that historically, there were ten emperors of the Roman Empire in the first century from Tiberius to Domitian. Those ten emperors, or “kings,” were Tiberius (14-37), Caligula (37-41), Claudius (41-54), Nero (54-68), Galba (‎68-69‎), Otho (69), Vitellius (69), Vespasian (69-79), Titus (79-81), and Domitian (81-96).

In our first description of the ten horns, Daniel writes that “three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots” (Dan 7:8). In the second description, Daniel writes that the ten horns were on the beast’s “head,” (Dan 7:20), indicating the authority of these horns, or as explained by the one standing before the Ancient of Days,

‘As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings.’ Daniel 7:24

This seems to suggest not a confederation of kings living at the same time, but successive kings arising one after another, just as the eleventh king arises after these ten kings.

Of the three kings that are uprooted (Dan 7:8), in his second description Daniel uses different Chaldean words, writing,

and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. Daniel 7:20

The three kings “fell” (Dan 7:20). They were also “plucked up by the roots” (Dan 7:8). Yet in the explanation, there were three kings that were also “put down” by the later eleventh king (Dan 7:24). Three different Chaldean terms are used in each instance. I suggest that the first two found in verses eight and twenty, when combined, provide a historical reference for the ten kings. They fell because they died, but they were also plucked up by the roots because they were assassinated. The last reference in verse twenty-four presents a characteristic of the eleventh king who comes up after them.

Before I go on with the history of the Roman emperors, I should address the scriptural elephant in the room, since I stated that it doesn’t seem (to me) to be a confederation of kings as opposed to my suggestion of a succession of kings in the Roman Empire during the first century. Daniel 7:20 states: “and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell.” Some eschatological dispensationalists may argue and before, the Chaldean phrase מן־קדמיה (min_ qa-da-MA-yah), could mean “from [his] presence,” implying that these three kings fell during the eleventh king’s reign. While I concede that the Chaldean root קֳדָם (qad-AM) may mean “presence” or even “before,” the word coupled with it, the Chaldean root מִן (min), can mean a lot of things: before, after, because, since, upon, when, for, from, etc. I suggest that it means “from,” as in not in the times of the first ten kings; or “after,” as in after the times of the first ten kings. I believe that the history of the ten Roman emperors will bear that out.

Additionally, the eschatological dispensationalist may also reinforce that argument because of the phrase, “and that seemed greater than its companions,” or “whose look was more stout than his fellows” (KJV). The English words “companions” or “fellows” is translated from the Chaldean phrase מן־חברתה (min_chav-RA-tah), which can mean fellows, companions, or associates. While I concede that the root word, חַבְרָה (chav-RAH), means “companion” or “associate” and may convey the idea of a confederated fellowship or an association not only in proximity, but also in time, I suggest that the Chaldean min coupled with the word provides a consistent distance in time and difference in character with those ten previous kings. For example, since we are eternal people in Christ, as a Reformed Baptist, many Christian brothers may consider me a fellow, companion, or an associate with brethren such as John Bunyan (1628-88) or Charles Spurgeon (1834-92). Yet my birth is distanced from theirs as well as my proximity; nevertheless, these two men have been two of my greatest teachers by what they’ve written and preached concerning Christ.

Perhaps the above phraseology carries both meanings, so that both near and future fulfillment are possible. I acquiesce to that. Nevertheless, the evidence of a near and partial fulfillment exists through even a cursory historical examination, which should thrill our souls for the details in God’s prophetic plan to be glorified through His only Son, Christ Jesus.

Now, returning to the three kings that both fell and were also plucked up by the roots, I would take this to mean that three of the emperors of Rome from the time of Tiberius to Domitian were assassinated, which is true and a matter of world history.

So, between 14-96 AD, the first emperor of the Roman Empire to be assassinated was Caligula, who was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard in 41 AD.^[xv] He was succeeded by Claudius, but Claudius was not assassinated in a political plot, he was poisoned.^[xvi] Claudius was succeeded by Nero, and while he was deposed by the Senate and declared a public enemy to the state, Nero fled and took his own life in 68 AD. Nero was succeeded by Galba, who was assassinated in 69 AD during a military revolt by soldiers supporting Otho. Otho ascended to the throne as Caesar with the support of his military forces. After the forces under Vitellius defeated Otho in a civil war that same year, 69AD, Otho committed suicide after his defeat. Vitellius succeeded Otho, but later that same year, 69 AD, he was captured by Vespasian’s forces, tortured, then executed.^[xvii] Vespasian ruled as emperor until his death of natural causes in 79 AD. He was succeeded by Titus, who ruled until his death from an illness in 81 AD. Titus was succeeded by Domitian, who ruled from 81-96 AD. He was assassinated on September 18, 96 AD in a plot conspired chiefly by his chamberlain, Parthenius, and other palace officials. Caligula, Galba, and Domitian were three Roman emperors during the first century who were assassinated since the coming of Christ.

These ten Roman emperors, from Tiberius to Domitian, cover the period that includes the conception, birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ through the birth of His church, the writing of the New Testament Scriptures, the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD,^[xviii] and the death and witness of His apostles. As we can see from the brief history above, three Roman emperors of the ten were assassinated, plucked up by the roots as foretold by Daniel in this vision. And we should rejoice with joy unspeakable for the accuracy of such prophecy revealed by God so many years before it occurred.

The Eleventh Horn

As the ten horns at least fit into a partial preterist view, we should consider that the eleventh horn of Daniel 7 also points to a historical figure, a Roman emperor who had risen three Caesars after Domitian. Following Domitian, there was Nerva (96-98). Nerva was succeeded by Trajan (98-117). Trajan was succeeded by Hadrian (117-138).

Hadrian fits as a fulfillment of the eleventh horn. The king in Daniel’s vision would possess “a mouth speaking great things” (Dan 7:8). This was one of Hadrian’s weaknesses. He was such a failure at oratory that he determined to master the art of speaking. He studied Latin and rhetoric with a feverish rigor. While he did become quite fluent in speech, and articulate in conveying his thoughts, critics of his speeches and orations deemed him pretentious, even pompous. This would seem to fulfill “a mouth speaking great things.”

Caesar Hadrian was a pagan, serving a multitude of Roman deities, himself worshiping the “Capitoline Triad,” the central state-god grouping of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. While visiting Jerusalem on his way to Egypt in 130-132 AD, he ordered the erection of a temple for Jupiter on the flattened temple mount, the plans formulated in 130 during his travels after his first visit to Jerusalem, and construction beginning in 132 on his journey through Jerusalem on his way back to Rome.^[xix] He also erected statues of himself on the temple mount, one upon the spot believed to be at the time the place of the Holy of Holies. His fiery and aggressive idolatry as Rome’s religious Pontifex Maximus caused him to blaspheme the Triune God, fulfilling this portion of Daniel’s interpreted vision that said,

‘He shall speak words against the Most High…’ Daniel 7:25a

And though some online sources speak well of Hadrian, suggesting that he did not oppose Christians or Christianity per se, Jewish Christians were still viewed as Jews during the Bar Kokhba Revolt, and were arrested, executed, or killed in skirmishes by Hadrian’s army. The ancient historian, Eusubius, wrote of Caesar Constantine (272-337 AD) destroying a shrine to Venus, which was built over site of Christ’s empty tomb, presumably erected during the reign of Hadrian.^[xx] After destroying the shrine, Constantine built the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in its place.

Now, the early church father, Ignatius, among others, suffered and was martyred under Trajan’s persecution of Christian believers, Trajan being Hadrian’s predecessor. Hadrian continued in Trajan’s attitude toward Christians as well, martyring “about ten thousand” Christians, cited by John Foxe:

Trajan being succeeded by Adrian, the latter continued this third persecution with as much severity as his predecessor. About this time Alexander, bishop of Rome, with his two deacons, were martyred; as were Quirinus and Hernes, with their families; Zenon, a Roman nobleman, and about ten thousand other Christians.

In Mount Ararat many were crucified, crowned with thorns, and spears run into their sides, in imitation of Christ’s passion. Eustachius, a brave and successful Roman commander, was by the emperor ordered to join in an idolatrous sacrifice to celebrate some of his own victories; but his faith (being a Christian in his heart) was so much greater than his vanity, that he nobly refused it. Enraged at the denial, the ungrateful emperor forgot the service of this skillful commander, and ordered him and his whole family to be martyred.

At the martyrdom of Faustines and Jovita, brothers and citizens of Brescia, their torments were so many, and their patience so great, that Calocerius, a pagan, beholding them, was struck with admiration, and exclaimed in a kind of ecstasy, “Great is the God of the Christians!” for which he was apprehended, and suffered a similar fate.^[xxi]

This fulfilled the Scripture from Daniel’s vision,

‘…shall wear out the saints of the Most High…’ Daniel 7:25b

The interpretation of Daniel’s vision also stated that this eleventh king “shall think to change the times and the law” (Dan 7:25). While Hadrian did change the laws in Rome with the Edictum Perpetuum, which in short, limited local magistrate power, codified Roman laws throughout the empire, and centralized legal authority under the emperor himself. This is only part of what I believe this portion of Scripture was alluding to (which I’ll explain in a moment). The Chaldean word “times” is key to this first part because it means “seasons” or “appointed times.” Hadrian changed the seasons or appointed times in Jerusalem, as well as the Law of Moses governing the Jews who lived there. He issued decrees that outlawed Scripture study, possessing Scripture, and circumcision. Moreover, he changed “times” for both Jews and Christians by forbidding synagogue worship and Sabbath keeping, including all the Feasts of YHVH (Lev 23; Deut 16). The Law of Moses required all male Jews to present themselves before YHVH three times a year in Jerusalem (Ex 12:14, 17; 34:23), but under Hadrian, Jews were required to visit Jerusalem only once per year on the 9th of Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the temple. Scripture scrolls were burned and synagogues were destroyed. The Old Testament scrolls were as sacred to Christians as they were to the non-Christian Jews, and therefore, Hadrian becomes a fulfillment of the Scripture,

‘…and shall think to change the times and the law…’ Daniel 7:25c

Now, in changing the law in Rome, also alluding to Hadrian’s Edictum Perptuum, being coupled with the ten previous kings, whereas it is explained to Daniel that ‘another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings’ (Dan 7:24), the Chaldean word “shall put down” is a different word from the words used previously concerning them, “plucked up by the roots” (Dan 7:8) and “fell” (Dan 7:20). Without going back to the original languages, the conclusion some have come to is that if the eleventh horn rises after the ten horns, they must exist together, and that this eleventh king deposed, removed, or somehow “put down” (ESV) or “subdue” (KJV) three of the ten kings. The Chaldean root word used in the twenty-fourth verse, however, is שְׁפַל (shef-AL). It means to “shame” or “humiliate.”

By his Edictum Perpetuum, Hadrian effectively changed three laws that were used by three of the previous emperors, shaming their memories during his reign; so much so, the Senate was at odds with him, even hated him toward the end of his reign.

The first emperor Hadrian shamed was Tiberius, by stripping Praetorium Discretion. The Praetorium, or Military Headquarters, was free to interpret the laws governing Rome at their discretion. The Praetorium Discretion grew in strength through emperors before Tiberius, but it was during his reign that Praetorium Discretion was solidified and used by the emperors who followed him. It was by Praetorium Discretion that Pilate could wield the power he possessed in the crucifixion of Christ.

The second emperor he humiliated was Nero, by overturning Master-Slave Law. The law stated that if a master was murdered at home, every slave in the household was automatically executed. While the law was established by Caesar Augustus in 10 AD, Nero was the harshest enforcer of it. In 61 AD, when the city prefect, Lucius Pedanius Secundus, was murdered in his home, Nero commanded 400 slaves under his household to be executed despite public protest.

The third emperor Hadian disgraced was Domitian, by abolishing the Treasury’s claim on assets. While the practice of seizing estates of prosecuted and executed citizens for the emperor’s imperial fiscus was utilized by several Caesars before Domitian, Domitian was the most notorious. According to Suetonius, Cassius Dio, and Pliny, Domitian confiscated property for trivial infractions of the law, and even had senators executed under the accusations of plotting revolution.

Romans in the first century, especially the aristocratic elite, deeply valued history, as evident by the number of ancient historians who wrote upon that era.^[xxii] For Romans, history was tied to memory, moral instruction, ancestral tradition, public honor, political legitimacy, and warning. So, Hadrian’s edict that overturned these laws would have been seen by those aristocrats who prided themselves on recent Roman history as shameful, humiliating, and embarrassing put-downs upon the three earlier Caesars, Tiberius, Nero, and Domitian. Thus, Hadrian fulfills the Scripture,

‘another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings’ Daniel 7:24b

The Bar Kokhba Revolt

Hadrian was the Caesar in power when Shimōn bar Khōkhva (שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר כּוֹכְבָא), or Simon bar Kokhba, led a rebellion against the Roman Empire in 132 AD. While bar Kokhba never directly confessed to being the Messiah, he did sign his letters as the “Prince of Israel.”^[xxiii] Several religious leaders promoted him as “prince,” including one Rabbi, Aqiva ben Yosef (עֲקִיבָא בֶּן יוֹסֵף), or Akiva ben Joseph (c.50-135 AD), who was the well-known scholar that contributed commentary to the Jewish Torah Mishnah and Midrash Halakha. Akiva actively and openly endorsed bar Kokhba as the Messiah. The revolt lasted three-and-a-half years, beginning in the autumn of 132 AD, lasting until the death of Simon bar Kokhba and the plowing under of Jerusalem in the summer of 135 AD. This would seem to fulfill the portion of Scripture from Daniel’s vision and its interpretation that says,

‘…and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.’ Daniel 7:25d

The day the revolt ended was the day Simon was killed by Roman forces. That day was the 9th of Av on the Jewish lunar calendar. That was the same day that the first temple was destroyed in 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar. It was also the day the second temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman general, Titus, who later became Caesar in 79 AD. The Jews, even today, consider the 9th of Av the darkest day in Jewish history.

Jewish believers in Christ were not only persecuted under Hadrian, but they were also persecuted by Simon bar Kokhba and his leaders. The early church father, Justin Martyr (c.90-165 AD), referring to Simon bar Kokhba as “Barchochebas,” wrote:

For in the Jewish war which lately raged, Barchochebas, the leader of the revolt of the Jews, gave orders that Christians alone should be led to cruel punishments, unless they would deny Jesus Christ and utter blasphemy.^[xxiv]

Of bar Kokhba’s character, the early church historian, Eusebius (c.260-339 AD), wrote:

The Jews were at that time led by a certain Bar Chochebas, which means ‘star,’ a man who was murderous and a bandit, but relied on his name, as if dealing with slaves, and claimed to be a luminary who had come down to them from heaven and was magically enlightening those who were in misery.^[xxv]

Eusebius also confirms Justin Martyr’s testimony of the Bar Kokhba Revolt and wrote:

The same writer mentions the war of that time against the Jews and makes this observation, “For in the present Jewish war it was only Christians whom Bar Chocheba, the leader of the rebellion of the Jews, commanded to be punished severely, if they did not deny Jesus as the Messiah and blaspheme him.”^[xxvi]

Judgment for the Saints

Hadrian’s persecution of Christians, however, ended sometime before his death. John Foxe, once again, gives us this insight:

Many other similar cruelties and rigors were exercised against the Christians, until Quadratus, bishop of Athens, made a learned apology in their favour before the emperor, who happened to be there and Aristides, a philosopher of the same city, wrote an elegant epistle, which caused Adrian to relax in his severities, and relent in their favour.

Adrian dying A.D. 138, was succeeded by Antoninus Pius, one of the most amiable monarchs that ever reigned, and who stayed the persecutions against the Christians.^[xxvii]

This would seem to fulfill the passage of Scripture we cited but had not yet attended to:

As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. Daniel 7:21-22

Hadrian prevailed over Christians until God (the Ancient of Days) spoke through Quadratus by the Holy Spirit and ministered unto Hadrian to relax and relent from his severe persecution. Persecutions continued under seven more Caesars, until Constantine became emperor in 306 AD, and then issued an edict of religious tolerance in February 313 AD, which effectively allowed Christianity to be legalized in the empire. John Foxe wrote:

Thus Constantine, sufficiently appointed with strength of men but especially with strength of God, entered his journey coming towards Italy, which was about the last year of the persecution, A.D. 313.^[xxviii]

Master Foxe also added this:

Constantine so established the peace of the Church that for the space of a thousand years we read of no set persecution against the Christians, unto the time of John Wickliffe.^[xxix]

Tribulation has been promised to the Christian believer. It is by that tribulation that Christ’s church has grown, and the individuals therein may grow in grace and be strengthened if faith (Rom 8:28-29). Jesus Himself said,

“I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Persecution is a promise of the true gospel of Christ as well, as it is written,

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:12-13

By the tribulation and persecution the saints of Christ suffered, not only under Hadrian, but under the rule of six other Roman emperors after him, the gospel was spread throughout the empire, Christ’s church grew stronger, and Christ’s people grew more faithful. The Ancient of Days had indeed come and given judgment to God’s people, because by the persecution and tribulation they suffered, believers in those days could cling to two spiritual truths; first, the intervention of the Ancient of Days through His Messiah, as it is written,

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

And second, the possession and ownership of Christ’s kingdom belongs to every saint in Christ since we’ve believed. It’s reality, however, comes by revelation from heaven above; and the catalyst often used by our God and Father are the trials, tribulations, persecutions, and hatred from the unbelieving world. About that possession and judgment given into our hands, it is written,

even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:5-7

One last thing I must include about the eleventh horn of this vision. Many eschatological dispensationalists suggest that this is the antichrist to come at the end of the last days.^[xxx] Yes, the Scriptures speak of one who claims to be Christ, but isn’t.^[xxxi] But there have been many in history. Simon bar Kokhba was an antichrist; because antichrist doesn’t mean “against Christ,” it means “in place of Christ” or “instead of Christ.”

Antichrist is simply idolatry personified. And idolatry, the second commandment of the Ten Commandments, is the chief sin, upon which all other sins is manifested. Idolatry is simply covetousness (Col 3:5). It is anything that competes with or detracts from supreme loyalty to Christ Jesus. And every sinner, whether reprobate or redeemed by the blood, has a propensity toward idolatry until the Lord Jesus comes again or takes us home.

I have a real hard time believing that the eleventh horn is the antichrist to come. Not only does Hadrian fit the bill for fulfilling the prophecy of a king from the Roman Empire, but the antichrist to come will be Jewish. There is no way that the Jews of the nation-state of Israel are going to hail a Messiah that is not a Jew or a descendant of David.

Although I won’t get into the details of this, the prophetic foreshadows from the Old Testament are many. Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, before he became a type of Christ (Gen 43:8-9), was a type of antichrist when he betrayed his brother Joseph and sold him for silver (Gen 37:26-27). Abimelech rose up to make himself king over Israel for three years (Judg 9:1-57), making him a type of antichrist. Absalom, the son of David was a type of antichrist, usurping the throne of his father, using flattering words when he spoke to the people (2 Sam 15:4-10). Ahithophel, David’s counselor, betrayed him by siding with Absalom in the usurpation, making him a type of antichrist (2 Sam 15:12; Psa 41:9; 55:12-14). Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord Jesus, was a type of antichrist (Luke 22:48; John 6:70-71; 17:12). The antichrist to come will be a Jew, and like Judas Iscariot, he will be the one no one suspects to be the traitor. Remember, Judas kept the money bag (John 12:4-6). You don’t make the one least trusted your treasurer.

The End of the Explanation of the Vision

‘But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’ Daniel 7:26-27

These last two verses from the one who stood before the throne of the Ancient of Days and explained the vision to Daniel seems to speak of a time that relates to the antichrist who will come at the end of the last days. We have been in the last days for 2,000 years according to Scripture (Acts 2:17; Heb 1:2; Jas 5:3; 1 Pet 1:20; 1 Jn 2:18).

Given what we have looked at in the entirety of this article from this vision given to Daniel, we should conclude that the eyes of our faith should not be upon Israel, not upon the empires of the world, nor upon the antichrist. Our eyes should be upon Christ.

And after writing all I have written, and you, dear Reader, patiently reading these words for all this time, we still have not covered the very heart of this chapter, Daniel 7:9-14, the revelation of the Son of Man coming in clouds. We’ve gone too long here, but that’s appropriate; for after all of this, we want to take a deep breath and spend an entire article on Jesus Messiah, the בר אנשׁ (bar en-ASH), or the “Son of Man” of Daniel 7:13. We will look at that next time.

Conclusion

World empires are monstrous; beastly from a heavenly perspective, because all of them are made up of sinners, both reprobate and redeemed. Even after the worldwide deluge, YHVH God said in His heart,

“I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Genesis 8:21

Even witnessing God’s worldwide judgment didn’t straighten man out. Noah planted a vineyard and got drunk (Gen 9:20-21), which in turn, caused his son, Ham, to dishonor his father (Gen 9:23). What makes us think that mere men can form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity? Who wouldn’t want that? On the other hand…

…it seems rather silly when we have just read what kinds of governments the people of God had to endure regarding Daniel’s vision in chapter 7. More than that, when we consider the birth of Christianity, by the Son of God being born of a virgin in the fullness of time (Gal 4:4) into a political economy coupled with religious fanatics that put Him to death on a cross, and then seeing how that government murdered thousands upon thousands of Christ’s followers, it should chill us to the core and sober us from the soles of our feet to the crown of our heads. Human government will not save us, as it is written,

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. Psalm 146:3

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part One” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Two” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Three” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Four” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Six” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Seven” by clicking here.

ENDNOTES

^[i] See my devotional thought on Genesis 4:2 about Cain’s slavery to the earth and his own self-exalted opinion of himself by clicking here. See also my devotional thought on Genesis 4:3-4 about the offerings of Cain and Abel in worship by clicking here.

^[ii] While Joseph, the son of Jacob, was a reigning leader in Egypt (Gen 41:40), while Daniel was a statesman in both the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires (Dan 9:42; 5:29; 6:1-2; 8:27), and while the Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen, none of these ever used their positions of authority or rights as citizens to change the political system of government. Regarding Paul, we should keep in mind that the only times Paul leveraged his citizenship was for the sake of the gospel (Acts 16:37; 21:39; 22:25-26; 25:10-11).

Moreover, the Jesus of Nazareth was, is, and evermore shall be King of kings. He never exercised His authority to overthrow the Roman government, nor did He restore Israel as a kingdom (Acts 1:6-7). John MacArthur argued in defense of his dispensational theology that if the kingdom were never to be restored, Jesus would have told them at that time (https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/332). In response to that argument, I argue that the disciples would not have understood because the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, for they were to preach the kingdom of God after having received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

^[iii] Pogo was a syndicated American comic strip created in 1948 by cartoonist Walt Kelly (1913-1973). Fun fact: Walt Kelly and I shared the same birthday, August 25th, for 13 years.

^[iv] MacArthur Study Bible; John F. MacArthur, Jr.; Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN; © 2005. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

^[v] Ibid.

^[vi] Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary: ‎A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments; Rev. Andrew Robert Fausset, A.M. (1821-1910); 1871

^[vii] Ibid.

^[viii] Ibid.

^[ix] MacArthur Study Bible; John F. MacArthur, Jr.; Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN; © 2005. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

^[x] Ibid.

^[xi] Ibid., notes of Daniel 7:21-22

^[xii] With the first four articles published on jonjcardwell.com, I have not yet received correspondence arguing that I “waited until Dr. MacArthur passed away” before writing a critique on his eschatology. If any such argument arises, my defense is that (1) I was a pastor and missionary-pastor for the 25 years from 2000 to 2025 until my retirement on August 25, 2025, so I didn’t have the time to write articles such as these; and (2) I’ve taught and preached these things I’ve written here for many years, much of its content can be found from over 2,200 sermons, messages, and lessons on SermonAudio.com.

^[xiii] See the last paragraphs of “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Four” to see why Jesus was “about” 30 years of age, eternally speaking, but exactly 30 years old when He began His ministry.

^[xiv] We’ll see how this also fits with the “Seventy weeks,” or literal “seventy sevens,” of Daniel 9:24-27 and coincides appropriately with Scripture and the historical timeline, which will be covered in the forthcoming “Part Seven.”

^[xv] While there were rumors that Tiberius was murdered, the circumstances surrounding his death are not clear.

^[xvi] Claudius was not assassinated in a public, conspiratorial coup. Traditionally, it was believed that his wife, Agrippina poisoned him.

^[xvii] There was no plot to assassinate Vitellius. He had already signed an agreement to abdicate as ruler but was turned away by the Praetorian Guard. After the forces of Vespasian suffered numerous casualties entering Rome, when Vitellius was found in hiding, he was tortured on the way to his execution at the Gemonian Stairs.

^[xviii] This is that same Titus, who became emperor in 79 AD. Titus was the Roman general who laid a six-month siege upon Jerusalem, surrounding the city, which led ultimately to the destruction of the temple. This fulfilled the Lord Jesus’ words of prophecy, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Luke 21:6); and again, “See, your house is left to you desolate” (Matt 23:38).

^[xix] While I cannot find any reliable material that states this may have been the catalyst for the start of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, this may have indeed sparked the revolution.

^[xx] While Hadrian is not specifically named in Life of Constantine by Eusebius, tradition holds Hadrian and his reconstructionists as the “impious and godless persons” building the shrine to Venus.

^[xxi] Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, John Foxe; ch.2, section iii: “The Third Persecution, Under Trajan, A.D. 108”; para. 3-5. “Adrian” cited by John Foxe as the successor of Trajan, is Hadrian.

^[xxii] Titus Livius (59BC-17AD); Velleius Paterculus (19BC-31AD); Philo of Alexandria (20BC-50AD); Flavius Josephus (37-100AD); Pliny the Elder (c.23-79AD); Plutarch (c.56-120AD); Tacitus (c.55-c.120AD); Suetonius (c.71-c.135AD); Florus (c.70-c.140AD?); Appian of Alexandria (c.95-c.165AD); Cassius Dio (c.155-c.235AD). And the works of these are lost or fragmentary: Aufidius Bassus, Servilius Nonianus, Cluvius Rufus, Fabius Rusticus.

^[xxiii] Simon’s surname, בַּר כּוֹכְבָא (bar khōk-VA), in Aramaic means “son of star,” taken from Balak’s messianic prophecy in Numbers 24:17, “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near: a Star shall come out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.” The Hebrew word for “star” is כּוֹכָב (khō-KHAV).

^[xxiv] First Apology, Justin Martyr; ch.31 – “Of the Hebrew Prophets” (free online PDF formatted by basilica.org). pg.17

^[xxv] Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History, English trans. by Kirsopp Lake; G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York; 1926. pgs.311-13

^[xxvi] Ibid., pg.339

^[xxvii] Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, John Foxe; ch.2, section iii: “The Third Persecution, Under Trajan, A.D. 108”; para. 6-7. “Adrian” cited by John Foxe as the successor of Trajan, is Hadrian.

^[xxviii] Ibid., ch.2, section x; “The Tenth Persecution, Under Diocletian, A.D. 303”; para. 46

^[xxix] Ibid., ch.2, section x; “The Tenth Persecution, Under Diocletian, A.D. 303”; para. 49‎

^[xxx] As the late John MacArthur did. See endnote #xi.

^[xxxi] Matthew 24:4-5, 23-26; Mark 3:16; John 5:43; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; 1 John 2:18

DISPENSATIONALISM IS A SYSTEM of interpretation that seeks to establish a unity in the Scriptures through its central focus on the grace of God. Although dispensationalists recognize differing stewardships or dispensations whereby man put under a trust by the Lord, they teach that response to God’s revelation in each dispensation is by faith (salvation is always by grace through faith). Dispensationalists arrive at their system of interpretation through two primary principles: (1) maintaining a consistently literal method of interpretation, and (2) maintaining a distinction between Israel and the church.[1]

My current copy of The Moody Handbook of Theology, from which the above quote was taken, had the forward written by Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr. Therefore, I may confidently presume that this definition of dispensationalism was alright with the late Dr. MacArthur. I had an earlier edition of The Moody Handbook of Theology, from 1989 (which I believe I left on the mission field); and if I haven’t misremembered, I think Dr. MacArthur wrote the forward to that edition as well.

Concerning this definition, it contains in it the primary reason why the dispensational hermeneutic is different from a Christ-centered hermeneutic. Attempting to establish unity in the Scriptures through a central focus on the grace of God presents the root of the problem. While I wholeheartedly agree that God’s grace runs throughout the entirety of Scripture,[2] it is not the central truth that provides that unity. The Lord Jesus Himself provides that unity, as it is written:

And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

The central focus of life upon earth is the same central focus of eternal life for all eternity, the Lord Jesus Christ. To promote any of God’s graces, blessings, or promises to be of equal or greater priority or preeminence to the Lord Jesus Messiah perverts the gospel and diminishes the glory of God through Christ alone.

We ended the last part of our series with a Scripture portion from the second chapter of Daniel. In this fourth part of the series, we will examine briefly, and not exhaustively, a Christ-centered interpretation of this historical, prophetic, and apocalyptic book of the Old Testament. In other words, in our Christo-centric view and understanding of the book, I desire to present a partial preterist interpretation of the book overall, as well as highlighting some key passages from its chapters; keeping in mind what we read last time in Part Three, that the Lord Jesus Christ is at least the partial fulfillment of these prophetic passages, as well as the ultimate fulfillment of those Scriptures in some way, shape, or form.

A CHRISTO-CENTRIC OVERVIEW OF DANIEL

Daniel is a book that exalts Jesus Christ throughout, not as an adornment that beautifies an emphasis elsewhere, but the very central theme of the writing. In the practical this writing highlights faithfulness and prayer. Both are exalted characteristics of our Lord’s ministry. Jesus was the faithful Prophet in the midst of unbelief and opposition. Moreover, the Lord Jesus, as perfect and sinless Man, He was certainly a Man of prayer. He prayed early in the morning (Mark 1:35a). He found places of solitude to pray (Mark 1:35b). He taught others to pray (Matt 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-13; John 14:13-14). He prayed at gravesides (John 11:41-42). He prayed before meals (Matt 14:19; 26:26). He prayed all night before selecting His disciples (Luke 6:12-16). He prayed in the garden on the night He was betrayed (Matt 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 17:1-26). He prayed on our behalf so that His righteous, unflagging prayer life would be imputed to us because our prayers are weak and filled with selfish corruptions (Rom 8:26; Heb 7:25).

A Brief Overview of the Book of Daniel

Daniel 1 presents young Daniel and his friends as types of the Lord Jesus Christ, faithful to YHVH God in the midst of foreign rulers and dignitaries, just as Jesus came in the fullness of the time, when foreign rulers from Rome controlled Judea and Jerusalem. Daniel, Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah were uncompromising in the observance of the Law of Moses when it came to their dietary regimen. Jesus was the only Jew who ever kept the Law of Moses actively, passively, and completely in thought, word, and deed. Jesus said,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20

The only one who is great in the kingdom of heaven is the Lord Jesus. His righteousness not only exceeds the external righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, His righteousness far exceeds that of every human who walked the face of this planet. So faithful was Jesus to fulfill the Law and please His Father that His righteousness is placed upon the account of all His redeemed, including Daniel.

Daniel 2 presents the Stone, Jesus Messiah, striking at the feet of the idolatrous human governments in all their forms, whether gold, silver, bronze, iron, or even clay. Jesus the Stone is the emphasis of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, not the idol made of precious metals.

Daniel 3 presents the gospel salvation that is found in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. When we are faced with the golden image of worldly idolatry and suffer the fiery indignation of those who exalt themselves above God’s Messiah, it is Jesus who is the fourth Man in the fiery furnace with us.

Daniel 4 presents the truth of Christ’s gospel and its ability to save even the most wicked, idolatrous, and self-exalting of souls. It may take seven years, or even longer. It may even drive a soul to the brink of madness, but if the Lord Jesus has a soul in His sights to save, he or she will eventually “praise and extol and honor the King of heaven” (Dan 4:37).

Daniel 5 presents the desecration of Christ by worldly men, such as Belshazzar. Everything in the tabernacle in the wilderness, and the subsequent temple built by Solomon foreshadowed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The table of the bread of presence, or shewbread (KJV), was a type of Christ because Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). The light from the golden menorah was a type of Christ since Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12). The altar of incense was a type of Christ for Jesus ever lives to make intercession for those He is saving (Heb 7:25). The vessels of gold, silver, and bronze were types of Christ, as gold represents Christ’s deity, silver represents Christ’s redemption, and bronze represents Christ’s judgment. These temple vessels did Belshazzar and his guests drink wine from, praising the false gods of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood in their drunkenness. By the writing on the wall by the hand of Christ, Belshazzar was judged and found lacking; yet when compared to the sinless, perfect, holy, and righteous Man, Christ Jesus, every man is lacking.

Daniel 6 presents Daniel once again as a type of Christ, unwavering in his allegiance to God and given to prayer. When sentenced to death by a reluctant Gentile king, it foreshadowed Pontius Pilate reluctantly sentencing Jesus to be crucified (Luke 23:20). While the lions could not touch Daniel when he was in their den, Satan, who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8), foreshadowed Christ’s victory at the cross over the devil, crushing Satan’s head while the act bruised His heel (Gen 3:15).

Daniel 7 presents some similar, yet different, prophetic history paralleling the second chapter. Yet its main emphasis should be upon the Messiah, the Son of Man, coming in the clouds of heaven, appearing before the Ancient of Days, and receiving a kingdom that shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 8 presents a prophetic vision of the Medo-Persian and Greek empires that Daniel had difficulty understanding. The angel Gabriel appears before Daniel and gives the prophet the interpretation of the vision. The vision itself speaks of Christ, as the Messiah would speak in parables and dark sayings (Psa 78:2-3; Mark 4:33). When Gabriel appears to Daniel, he is a type of Christ, as Daniel falls down before Gabriel, and the angel touches the prophet to make him stand up (Rev 1:17). Moreover, Gabriel, as a type of Christ, explains the vision to Daniel (Mark 4:34; Luke 24:27; 2 Pet 1:20; Rev 19:10).

Daniel 9, in its first part, presents Daniel as a type of Christ, praying for his people. Jesus was the ultimate prayer warrior, as explained earlier. In the last part, Gabriel once again appears before Daniel, answering his prayer with the ultimate Messianic promise, which we will cover in a bit more detail later.

Daniel 10-12 presents a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Messiah Himself, revealing to Daniel prophetic details that would transpire in the world to establish two things: (1) confirm Daniel as a true prophet of YHVH God (Deut 18:21-22); and (2), reveal the details of the Greek Empire that would set forth the Greek culture as the predominant ethos in the time of Christ’s ministry. Alexander decreed that Greek would be the spoken and written language throughout the empire, which is why the New Testament was written in Greek.[3]

Types of Christ

Because I mentioned that Daniel was a “type of Christ” in my overviews of Daniel chapters one, six, and nine, and that the implements of the temple were types of Christ in Daniel chapter five, it seems appropriate to briefly discuss typology here. So, what is typology? I would define it in this way:

Typology in theology and biblical hermeneutics is the study of how God uses persons, events, institutions, objects, or patterns in redemptive history to foreshadow and correspond to fuller realities, especially realities fulfilled in Christ and His gospel.

Typology comes from the Greek word τύπος (TOO-pos), which is often translated “example” (ESV) or “ensample” (KJV) in verses like 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11; Philippians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 3:9; 1 Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:7; 1 Peter 5:3. It has also been translated “fashion,” “figure,” “form,” “manner,” “pattern,” and “print” in other New Testament passages of Scripture.

Typology should not to be confused with “allegory,” which assigns hidden or symbolic meanings to biblical details. Allegory comes from the Greek word ἀλληγορέω (al-lā-gor-EE-ō), and is used one time in the New Testament:

Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Galatians 4:24

While this Greek word is only used once in Scripture, it doesn’t mean that the only allegory in the Scripture is found in Galatians 4:24. The Book of Revelation is set in signs (Rev 1:1),[4] whereas much of the writing from that apocalyptic book is given in symbolic imagery.

The Old Testament also corroborates the use of allegory, as YHVH God speaks through Hosea, a prophet who was a contemporary with Isaiah:

“I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables.” Hosea 12:10

Although they are different by definition, sometimes, allegories may overlap or intersect with typology. Nevertheless, types of Christ are what we are dealing with specifically here.

Just a few of the types of Christ we see in the Old Testament are Adam, who laid down his life for his wife, albeit through disobedience (Gen 3:6), but fulfilled in perfection by the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:45; Eph 5:25). The paschal lamb was a type of Christ (Ex 12:2-13), whereas Jesus Messiah was the perfect fulfillment as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The manna in the wilderness was a type of Christ (Ex 16:4-15), whereas Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:32-35).

There are those who are types of antichrist in the Bible. Remember, antichrist doesn’t mean “against Christ,” it means “in place of Christ.” Every idolator, unbeliever, reprobate, and evildoer from Scripture was a type of antichrist. Types of antichrist in the Bible are the “seed” or “offspring” of Satan (Gen 3:15). Cain was a type of antichrist (Gen 4). Esau was a type of antichrist (Gen 25-26, 36). Judah, the brother of Joseph, was a type of antichrist when he betrayed his brother and sold him into bondage (Gen 37:26-27). Pharaoh in Egypt was a type of antichrist (Ex 1:8). Judas Iscariot was certainly a type of antichrist (John 6:70-71).

When it comes to persons, however, being descendants of our father Adam, most historical figures who are types of Christ are also types of antichrist. Not only was Adam a type of Christ, but by his sin, he was a type of antichrist. David the king, who was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14), was a type of Christ, yet by his sins he was also a type of antichrist.

Now, let me share with you another look at a type of Christ in the New Testament, as I was asked about this episode recently. It comes from the Gospel of John, the ninth chapter, when Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth:

¹As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. ²And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The Lord Jesus says an interesting thing here. Surely, by Adam’s original sin in the garden, blindness was an ailment that entered into the world, being non-existent before the fall. And surely, Jesus was not saying that this man was not a sinner. The Scriptures are clear about this, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Ultimately, by His healing this man, the Lord Jesus Himself was pointing to this man as a type of Christ so “that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the works of God being displayed in the world. By Christ’s miraculous incarnation, by His righteous life lived, by His substitutionary atoning death upon the cross, by His ascension into heaven, and by His promise to return for His own, Jesus is unsurpassed and far exceeds anything attempting to come close as the greatest and most glorious display of God’s work in this world for all time.

Every healing in the Bible depicts a type of Christ’s gospel. Jesus healed the blind since we cannot see God because of our sin. Jesus healed the deaf because we cannot hear God due to our sin. Jesus healed the lame because we cannot walk a righteous life before God apart from God’s grace in Christ. Jesus cleansed lepers because, apart from God’s grace in Christ, we are unclean. Jesus raised the dead because, apart from God’s grace in Christ, we are dead in trespasses and sins.

I mentioned earlier that the types of antichrist in Scripture were those who were idolators, unbelievers, reprobates, and evildoers. That means before the Lord Jesus saved you and me by His amazing grace, we were types of antichrist. But now, we are types of Christ. Every type of Christ in the Scriptures until Christ came and suffered and died upon the cross, rose again, ascended, and sent the Holy Spirit were types of Christ as prophetic foreshadows. Since Christ came, however, you and I who believe are prophetic afterglows (Matt 5:14). The saints recorded in the Book of Acts are prophetic afterglows. The only difference between you and me and the New Testament saints of old is that our testimonies are not recorded in Scripture.

Having covered that, let’s now turn our attention to Daniel chapter two.

THE IDOLATROUS VISION OF DANIEL 2

Last time, in Part Three, because we had examined Jerusalem as a “heavy stone” (ESV), or “burdensome stone” (KJV) from Zechariah 12:3, we closed with a connection to Daniel 2:44-45, whereas a “stone that was cut from a mountain by no human hand” smashed the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream at the feet made of iron mixed with clay (Dan 2:34). Let’s look at the verses from Daniel’s interpretation again,

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” Daniel 2:44-45

While Daniel 2 is written in Chaldean, the Chaldean word for “stone” is the same word in Hebrew, אֶבֶן (E-ven).

I suggest that this was at least partially fulfilled when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, since Jesus is the Stone that struck the feet of the idol. Now, this is where my dispensational brothers and sisters might take issue with what I’m writing here. They may suggest that this didn’t take place on the cross at Calvary but will, instead, take place at the Lord Jesus Christ’s second coming. Please bear with me a little as I attempt to explain.

The idol of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 had a head of gold, representing the Babylonian Empire; a silver chest and arms, representing the Medo-Persian Empire; a torso and hips of bronze, representing the Grecian Empire; two legs of iron, representing the Roman Empire; then ten toes that are comprised of iron and clay that did not mix because they cannot mix. The late Dr. MacArthur stated this in his study Bible with regard to the ten toes:

Daniel 2:41…

toes. Ten toes represent the same kings as the ten horns in Dan 7:24. They will rule in the final time of the Gentile empire, which Christ will destroy in violent abruptness at His second coming.[5]

Daniel 2:42-43…

clay and… iron. The iron in the ten toes (kings) represents the Roman Empire in its revived form, prior to the second coming of Christ, as having iron-like strength for conquest (cf. Rev 13:4-5). But the clay mixed in depicts that the union (federation) of kings and nations would have fatal flaws of human weakness, so that it is inherently vulnerable.[6]

Here is my question for the dispensationalists: Are the toes really kings? I concede that they could be, paralleling what we will see in the vision of Daniel 7; however, let me offer an alternative explanation.

The Chaldean word for “toe” is different from the Hebrew. It is the Chaldean word אֶצְבַּע (etz-BA), which can be translated into English either “finger” or “toe,” depending on the context.

The only other references for “toes” in the Bible come from the Old Testament, the Hebrew word בֹּהֶן (BŌ-hen), which is translated in English to either mean “thumb” or “great toe.” This word occurs only 16 times, half of the references are to “thumbs” or “great toes” (or big toe), found twice in Exodus 29:20; four times in Leviticus 8:23-24; eight times in Leviticus 14:14, 17, 25, 28; and twice in Judges 1:6-7.

Dr. MacArthur suggested that the “fatal flaws of human weakness” and its inherent vulnerability as being representative of the toes mixed with clay. From his Bible commentary, Dr. MacArthur equates the ten toes with the ten horns of the fourth beast, recorded in Daniel 7:8 (which we will examine in the next part of this series).

All of the kingdoms expressed in the idol were just that, idolatrous. The dream was given to an idolatrous king, Nebuchadnezzar, who saw himself has the greatest of kings. Thus, his vision was given to him by YHVH God, showing him the content of his heart, his kingdom being the head of gold. The kingdoms that followed, the Medo-Persian Empire, expressed in the image as a chest and arms of silver; the Grecian Empire, expressed in the image as a torso and thighs of bronze; and the Roman Empire, expressed in the image as legs of iron with “feet partly of iron and partly of clay” (Dan 2:33).

This is how frail men see human government, as valuable, precious metals. Certainly, unbelieving idolators would see human government as precious; however, many redeemed saints will also have this perspective, seeing mankind’s efforts in human government as most noble and especially valuable. Remember what the Lord Jesus tells us through the apostle concerning gold and silver:

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1 Peter 1:18-19

Compared to the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Messiah, gold and silver is perishable. And concerning these precious metals, the Lord Jesus warns us through His half-brother, the pastor at Jerusalem,

Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. James 5:3

Every kingdom exhibited in this dream were weak, from the golden Babylonian kingdom, all the way to the legs of iron with feet of clay. And the gospel of Christ, striking at the feet of the image (Dan 2:34), turns to chaff every single one of these world empires (Dan 2:35a); but the stone that struck the image grew into a mountain that “filled the whole earth” (Dan 2:35b).

Jesus is that Stone, that struck the image, as seen in Part Three of this series, and the truth of His gospel filled the whole earth. This is actually why we believe in the imminent return of Christ—that we should expect Him at any time—because the holy Scripture declares that the gospel must be preached in all the world, as Jesus Himself said,

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14

Technically, and scripturally speaking, this has already occurred on the Day of Pentecost. It is written,

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” Acts 2:5-11

The disciples were not locked away in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost. It was a holy convocation, a Sabbath (Lev 23:21), and as good Jews, Christ’s disciples would have been in the temple, probably at Solomon’s Portico, since Jesus taught there often. When Luke used the word “house,” to describe where they were, he was using the most common term for the temple, which was “house” of the LORD, בית יהוה (beyt Yehovah) in Hebrew. We know they were devout in this since the very next chapter tells us that Peter and John went to the temple for evening prayers at the time of the evening oblation, between three and four in the afternoon (Acts 3:1).

At this point, I need to deal with a possible objection from dispensationalists. Some may insist that they don’t doubt that Jesus is the Stone; however, those who protest may argue that Christ strikes at the feet because that is the “revised Roman Empire” yet future, made up of ten kings or kingdoms. They may also argue that the two legs of iron, representing the Roman Empire, expresses a future point in their kingdom after the time of Christ, because the empire split, east and west, when Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople, calling the city “New Rome” in 330 AD.

Well, this doesn’t fit with the Scripture in Daniel 2 for this reason:

“The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.” Daniel 2:32-33

The Grecian Empire, the empire of bronze, is depicted with its torso and thighs as being made of bronze. Keeping consistent with our hermeneutic, the two legs of the “iron” Roman Empire as a divided kingdom would not fair consistently with the interpretation for the “bronze” Greek Empire because Greece did not split in two after Alexander died. It was divided among his four generals, as we will see in Daniel 7.

Since Jesus came, we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20), and our home is heaven, as it is written:

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 3:20

“Okay, Cardwell. Pretty compelling, but you still haven’t told us what the ‘ten toes’ of Daniel 2 mean?” Okay, this is the best I can figure from history; and it fits with the time of Son of God’s incarnation “when the fullness of time had come” (Gal 4:4); Jesus arriving in Israel during a time when the Roman Empire’s government reflected something akin to iron mixed with clay.

Rome, though a small kingdom, began to operate as a republic in 509 BC, utilizing a senate. The Medo-Persian Empire was in power at that time under Darius I, also known as “Darius the Great.” So, the Roman kingdom was not a dominating world power at the time. They must come later, illustrated by the iron legs of the idol in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The Roman kingdom would not unseat the Grecian Empire as the dominating world power until the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC.

Now, as a functioning republic with a senate, a Tribune of Plebs was established in 493 BC with an elected body of two men to represent the Roman working class—farmers, tradesman, builders, bakers, etc. The Tribune of Plebs had power to veto acts approved by the senate. The Tribune increased its representatives to five in 470 BC, and then again, expanded to ten in 457 BC.

After the iron army of the Roman Empire crushed the remaining Greek resistance in Corinth and became, in 146 BC, the dominating world power, the Roman General, Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, aka Sulla, became dictator of Rome in 82 BC. In 81 BC, Sulla considered the Tribune of Plebs a threat to his power, so he initiated reforms to reduce the Tribune’s authority. The Tribune of Plebs and its ten representatives continued to erode for nearly six decades until 23 BC. The Roman kingdom collapsed in 27 BC when Gaius Octavius became the Roman Republic’s first emperor, taking on the title of “Augustus.”

The plebian tribunal of ten representatives for the common clay of the working class was in full function alongside the iron might of the Roman government during the time of Christ. This is a brief overview of that portion of history, and there is certainly much more that can be said. The Apostle Paul, as a Roman citizen and a tentmaker by trade, would have been a part of the plebian class.

By the truth of Scripture, corroborated by the plethora of historical records for the Roman Empire, we do not have to guess when the Lord Jesus was born, more than likely on the Feast of Tabernacles in 2 BC. Jesus began His earthly ministry when He “was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23), being baptized in the river Jordan in “the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (Luke 3:1). Tiberius became emperor on September 17, 14 AD. The fifteenth year was ongoing, so we add fourteen years to 14 AD, which would have put Jesus’ ministry beginning in the autumn of 28 AD. Subtract thirty years from the Lord’s earthly age, and that would make His birth 2 BC.

Why did the Holy Spirit say “about thirty years of age”? Didn’t He know? Of course He did. It was written so we could understand that the Messiah was not only perfect, sinless Man, but that He is also eternal God. Indeed, how could we put an exact age on the Infinite and Eternal One? It is written of Messiah,

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for Me One who is to be Ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Micah 5:2

Although the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, His coming forth is “from ancient days” because He is the Son of the Ancient of Days, as we will see in Daniel 7.

Moreover, since Jesus is our great High Priest, His earthly ministry would begin at thirty years of age, since the age for active duty in the priesthood was commanded by YHVH God in the Law of Moses, as it is written,

“from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things.” Numbers 4:3-4

The commandment did not come from YHVH God for Jesus to haphazardly or accidentally fulfill it. This commandment was ordained because it would prophetically foreshadow the ultimate fulfillment by the Lord Jesus Messiah as the One and only High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Psa 110:4; Heb 7:11-8:13).

Since Dr. MacArthur’s Bible comment on Daniel 2:41-43 mentions that the “toes” of the image as corresponding to the ten kings of Daniel 7:24, let us now turn our attention to Daniel’s vision in chapter seven.

We will have to look at the monstrous vision of Daniel 7 in the next part of this series.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part One” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Two” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Three” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Five” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Six” by clicking here.

Readd “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Seven” by clicking here.

ENDNOTES

[1] The Moody Handbook of Theology: Revised and Expanded, Paul Enns; Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL; © 1989, 2008, 2014; EMPHASIS in original.

[2] I have preached for over 25 years that even the heavens and the earth were created by the grace of God. The perfect harmony of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, implies such. “Nothingness” received God’s unmerited favor when God created the heavens and the earth. Every being, angel, animal, and human, created by God added nothing to the perfect and harmonious communion of the Triune God; therefore, everything in creation, and everything after the six days of creation that received God’s blessing is by God’s grace alone.

[3] Moreover, this is one of the MANY reasons why the Roman Catholic cinematic expression, The Passion of the Christ, is perhaps the most terrible film attempting to depict the gospel—the Romans didn’t speak Latin in Judea. They spoke Greek. Latin became the official language during the 1st and 2nd centuries in the Roman Empire for the army, law, administration, and public life, but only in the west. Greek was still the common language in the east.

[4] This is the Greek root σημαίνω (sā-MA-ee-nō), translated in the KJV as “signified.”

[5] MacArthur Study Bible; John F. MacArthur, Jr.; Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN; © 2005. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

[6] Ibid.

At this point, I think it is important for me to say that I love my dispensational brothers and sisters. I’ve testified to others that although I disagreed with the late Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr. on his dispensational theology, I am in no way suggesting that he was not saved and was not sincere in his faith, convictions, and love for Christ. Dispensational theology is what he learned from his father, “Jack” MacArthur (1914-2005), founder of Calvary Bible Church in Burbank, California. Jack MacArthur also founded the “Voice of Calvary” radio and television ministries.

Dispensational theology, especially dispensational eschatology, had become widely popular with the publication of C. I. Scofield’s Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. With his annotated reference Bible’s popularity, Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843-1921) had become a sought-after speaker for Bible conferences around the U.S., further propelling the Scofield Reference Bible to the forefront of purchased Bibles in the early twentieth century to mid-twentieth century.

Dispensational eschatology has become even more popular in America in the last half of the twentieth century, perhaps owing much of its popularity to Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr., especially since the rebirth of Israel as a nation on May 14, 1948. This event is earmarked by proponents of dispensationalism as one of the most prominent modern signs preceding futurist premillennialism.

So prevalent is its teaching in many churches across America that few adherents to dispensational theology even know that other legitimate orthodox Protestant eschatological views exist. Sadly, I’ve encountered some adherents to dispensationalism who have become quite militant about anyone suggesting alternatives; and even a few who have resorted to literal red-faced anger, heated arguments, and emotional outbursts, displaying a momentary lapse in Christlike behavior. This should not be. If the Scriptures read, interpreted, understood, and applied to our lives do not humble us to the dust with a fearful, loving gratitude, we need to pause and examine ourselves lest we be rebuked by the Lord (Luke 9:53-55).

Some of the arguments used by the average Christian dispensationalist are typically something they heard from their dispensational pastor, usually something that wasn’t researched as thoroughly as it could have been. Hey, I get it. I ministered as a pastor and missionary-pastor to five churches for 25 years. Whether bi-vocational or living from the provision of the ministry, private prayer, public prayer, carving out time to study, preparing sermons and messages, counselling during the week, personal devotions, family devotions, sick and shut-in visitations, evangelism, etc., pastors have a lot going on.

If I asked the typical Christian, “What is dispensationalism?” most would probably not know how to answer. I may be wrong about that (because I haven’t spoken to every single dispensational-believing saint). But I’ve asked it of a minister or two over the years and they couldn’t even give me a definition off the top of their head except to tell me that God isn’t finished with the nation of Israel.

DISPENSATIONALISM

So, what is dispensationalism? Simply said, my definition is that dispensationalism is a theological framework that divides history into distinct periods, or dispensations, whereas God interacts with humanity in different ways. Today’s dispensational theology understands two distinct destinies for Israel and the Church.

Today, there are different forms of dispensationalism, i.e., classic, revised, and progressive; and ‎within these there are also variations. This is why it is so difficult knowing where different ‎people are coming from when they make a statement. Then, there are also other factors that ‎influence their theology because they may be Arminian, Calvinistic, Charismatic, ‎Fundamentalist, Evangelical, and even Liberal. It is a mishmash of diverse views when it comes ‎to dispensational theology today.‎

And because many in America today have only heard of a dispensational end-times perspective, most are unaware that there are four views of how the end times would unfold that have been believed on in Christ’s church for the past two thousand years. This must be stated emphatically because I have encountered brothers, ministers of the gospel, both pastors and missionaries who have never heard of any end times view other than pre-tribulation, premillennial, dispensational eschatology.

FOUR HISTORICAL END TIMES VIEWS

Since the early 19th century, there have been four views considered as possibilities by Christ’s church. All of them have appealing attributes; however, none of them… I repeat NONE OF THEM, are free of scriptural difficulties. To me this makes sense, because Christ Jesus wants us to have our eyes upon Him, and not upon the signs of His coming. It continues to be what I have preached for years: “If you keep your eyes upon Jesus, you’ll see Him when He comes.” This scriptural truth, though written with regard to the gospel, is especially true when it comes to eschatology:

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:22-24

Because of the corruption still remaining in our mortal flesh, sign-seekers will put great emphasis upon the signs, even to the diminishing of the testimony of Christ Jesus alone (Rev 19:10), according to Scripture alone (1 Cor 15:3-4). Because of the same corruptions remaining in mortal flesh, wisdom-seekers will put a great emphasis on being “right,” again, even to the diminishing of the glory of God alone through Christ Jesus alone (1 Cor 1:29-31).

I had written a number of articles in 2022 to explain these four historical end times views.

Dispensational Premillennialism is the most recent view adopted by Christ’s church, around the early 19th century, John Nelson Darby, being one of its primary proponents. You can see an overview of this eschatology and some its scriptural difficulties by going to the article on my website, Four Possible Scenarios, Part One: Dispensational Pre-millennialism.

Postmillennialism emerged in the mid-17th century, adopted in the Congregationalist’s statement of Faith, the Savoy Confession. John Owen was one of its chief advocates. You can see an overview of this eschatology and some its scriptural difficulties by going to the article on my website, Four Possible Scenarios, Part Two: Post-millennialism.

Amillennialism emerged around the late 4th to early 5th centuries. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, was one of its leading promoters, especially with the publication of his work, The City of God. You can see an overview of this eschatology and some its scriptural difficulties by going to the ‎article on my website, Four Possible Scenarios, Part Three: Amillennialism.

Historical Premillennialism was the oldest view believed on in Christ’s church, emerging in the late 1st to early 2nd centuries. Adherents to this view were also known as chiliasts[1] or post-tribulational rapturists.‎ Unlike the dispensational premillennialists, adherents to this view did not see two distinct and separate destines for Israel and Christ’s church. You can see an overview of this eschatology and some of its scriptural difficulties by going to the ‎article on my website, Four Possible Scenarios, Part Four: Historic Pre-millennialism.

Preterism

The term preterism comes from a Latin word, praeter, which simply means “past” or “beyond.” In eschatology, the study of last things, it typically refers to events and prophetic Scripture being fulfilled.

Another view that emerged in the 16th century was a Counter-Reformation tactic produced by the Roman Catholic Church. We refer to it as the Full Preterist view. It suggests that everything was fulfilled in the first century, and the doctrine—a false one—simply opposes Scripture. You can see an overview of this eschatology and some its scriptural flaws by going to the ‎article on my website, Heretical, Full-Preterist View.

One other element of eschatology that I had not had the chance to write about is for the term Partial Preterist. For three of the eschatological views above, postmillennial, amillennial, and historical premillennial, many adherents to these views also take a partial-preterist view. In other words, they believe that many of the events foretold in the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24), have been fulfilled in the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and the destruction of Jerusalem in 135 AD.

One element of partial preterism that I believe has not been emphasized enough during arguments or debates is the topic of Christ fulfilling much of Scripture partially for the sake of His kingdom on earth now. The Puritans, both of Great Britain and the colonies of the “New World” (later to be called the Americas), had a term for this fulfillment in Christ’s kingdom. They called it “Already, not yet.” Christ Jesus, from His throne in heaven, rules and reigns in the hearts of His redeemed saints, His church; however, the fulness of His kingdom has not yet arrived.

The partial preterist view really deserves its own article, as there are many Scriptures that support Christ’s rule and reign now (1 Cor 6:19-20, e.g.), and when He returns, Jesus will continue to rule and reign forever. Jesus’ reign is, was, and evermore shall be a forever reign (Prov 8:23; Isa 57:15; Dan 7:9, 13-14; Mic 5:2; John 1:1-2; 17:5; et al), but was only made manifest in these last 2,000 years for you and me (Heb 1:2).

A CHRISTO-CENTRIC, PARTIAL PRETERIST VIEW OF SCRIPTURE

Sometimes when attempting to justify their futurist view of Scripture, especially as it pertains to Israel or Jerusalem, two passages of Scripture the dispensationalist may appeal to are from Daniel and Zechariah. In this part of the series we will look at Zechariah, leaving Daniel for next time. What I will attempt to do is present the Scripture verses, generally explain the argument, and then reveal a Christ-centered, partial preterist view of the passage. Christ willing, and the Holy Spirit helping me, I hope to make it as clear and Christ-exalting as possible. This will not be an exhaustive commentary on the verses. A comprehensive study of the verses will be much more extensive than this article has time for.

ZECHARIAH

Here are the primary verses that dispensationalists appeal to from Zechariah:

“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.” Zechariah 12:2-3

Of this second verse in chapter twelve, Dr. MacArthur’s Study Bible states:

“cup of drunkenness. Jerusalem is pictured as a large basin from which the nations will figuratively drink with eagerness, only to find themselves becoming intoxicated, disoriented, and thus easy prey for divine judgment at the end of Daniel’s seventieth week in the battle of Armageddon when nations gather to attack Jerusalem (cf. Ezk 38:1-6, Ezk 38:14-16; Dan 11:40-44; Rev 9:13-16; Rev 14:20; Rev 16:12-16).”[2]

The “cup of drunkenness” (NKJV) from the MacArthur Study Bible, or “cup of staggering” (ESV), or “cup of trembling” (KJV) is mentioned as being “figuratively” expressed. I don’t have any trouble with that. If you’ve read Part Two of this series, many dispensationalists pride themselves upon interpreting Scripture from a literal, grammatical, and historical hermeneutic. Some might jump on this a create a logical fallacy to strengthen their opposing position. Please don’t do that. There’s no way to take the “cup of drunkenness” literally.

Before we engage in the argument here, let us look at Dr. MacArthur’s dispensational commentary for the next verse:

“will surely be cut in pieces. Like lifting a heavy weight, Jerusalem will ‘seriously injure’ (lit.) any people who try to gain victory over it. This is due to divine intervention (cf. Zec 12:4-5).”[3]

I’ll address these two phrases in a moment, “cup of staggering” and “ will surely hurt themselves,” in a moment; but first, let’s look at the term, “On that day.”

On that Day

“On that day...” is one of the key phrases for the entire prophetic book of Zechariah. From his commentary for the second verse, Dr. MacArthur takes a futurist view of the verse, speaking of a time at the end of the last days, during “the battle of Armageddon when nations gather to attack Jerusalem.” Is that the fulfillment of this verse, for an event yet future? Now, I concede that it could be tied to something at the end of the last days; however, I would contend that it has at least a partial fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. To miss this is to miss the gospel.

The term, translated in English as “On that day” (ESV, NASB), or “In that day” (KJV, NKJV), tells us that it is about the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel. The context of “On that day” began in Chapter 2, but you can also see it here in Chapter 12 if we read a few verses further:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” Zechariah 12:10

While this verse does not have “on that day” in Zechariah 12:10 itself,[4] this is how Yehovah God will bring about this “basin” of staggering—through Christ’s gospel. We have the context of the gospel’s judgment,

And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Zechariah 12:9

Before He went to the cross, the Lord Jesus Himself said that it was by the truth of His substitutionary atonement that the world would be judged, and then the beloved apostle also attached his inspired commentary to the Lord’s words,

“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die. John 12:31-33

One mistake we frail humans saved by God’s amazing grace often make is to fail to remember the unchangeable nature of God (Heb 13:8). There is a dichotomy in His holy Word that often expresses two truths simultaneously. God doesn’t turn off His mercy, love, and grace to demonstrate His wrath, justice, and judgment. Our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). The same light that illuminates Scripture to you and me and warms our hearts to His love will be the same light that blinds the unbeliever to truth and burns the reprobate’s soul with painful torments.

Both God’s judgment and salvation are predicated upon the same truth, Christ and Him crucified (Zech 12:10; 1 Cor 2:2).

You see, Zechariah 12:9 may surely be about a day yet future at the Lord’s return, but it most certainly speaks of the Lord Jesus’ first coming (which was yet future in Zechariah’s day). Keep in mind, that John quoted Zechariah 12:10 as being at least partially fulfilled at the Lord Jesus’ first coming:

But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on Him whom they have pierced.” John 19:34-37

On that day, the Hebrew בֵיּוֹם־הַהוּא (vey-YŌM_ha-HOO), occurs 7 times in Chapter 12. We read it six times before v10, and one time afterward (12:3, 4, 6, 8 {2x}, 9, 13). Moreover, there are 21 total references to the term “on that day” in the whole book of Zechariah. A word of caution: I would not give much attention to the numerology of this occurrence because the surrounding verses that provide context are just as much a part of “on that day” as the verses that contain the phrase.

Before the twelfth chapter it appears in Zechariah 2:11; 3:9; 3:10; 9:16. You will notice that each of these four references relate to the gracious salvation of God to come. Besides the seven references in Zechariah 12 already mentioned, here are three more from Chapters 13, which speak of judgment: Zechariah 13:1, 2, 4. Then, in Chapter 14, there are 7 references to “on that day…” found in Zechariah 14:4, 6, 8, 9, 13, 20, 21.

We’ll just look at the first occurrence in chapter two, which contains the prophet’s commentary in the last verse:

“And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be My people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. And the LORD will inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling. Zechariah 2:11-13

This certainly speaks of salvation through Christ, consistent with Jeremiah’s prophecy of the New Covenant through faith in the Lord Jesus (cf. Heb 10:1-39).

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs from before Me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 31:31-37

The latter portion of this New Covenant (Jer 31:35-37) speaks of the eternal goodness and unchangeableness of God’s grace through that covenant to come, as it was given by Christ’s broken body and His shed blood (Zech 12:10), being for you and me the pierced bread and the blood of the cup which is remembered by believers each time we partake of communion, instituted by the Lord Jesus as symbols of the New Covenant prior to His death (1 Cor 11:23-31).

The Cup of Staggering

This New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-37 is Christ’s gospel. A violation of the gospel of Christ is explained by the Holy Spirit as being something that should cause us to tremble, to stagger, to reel as if we were drunk because of the divine judgment associated with Christ’s dishonor and disobedience to His gospel:

Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:28-31

The same singular, once-and-for-all Sacrifice of Christ that brings salvation (Heb 10:1-25), brings God’s just judgment to unbelievers:

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Hebrews 10:26-27

Yet this judgment must exist, because it is from that understanding which provokes us to keep leaning upon the Holy Spirit for wisdom to look upon Christ and exalt Him, to find strength in Christ to honor Him, and lavish love upon Christ to thank Him for His amazing grace, mercy, and love.

We see the same warning at the Lord’s Table when we partake of communion. The cup of joy and blessing becomes a cup of trembling, staggering, and drunkenness when we partake unworthily. It is written,

Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 1 Corinthians 11:28-31

Interestingly, one of the sins the Corinthians were guilty of was literal drunkenness at the communion table:

When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 1 Corinthians 11:20-21

In Zechariah 12:2, the “cup of staggering” is סַף־רַעַל (saf_RA-al), is literally a “basin of reeling.” Yes, indeed, it does speak of YHVH God’s judgment for the wickedness in Jerusalem. Elsewhere another prophet writes,

Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering. Isaiah 51:17

Isaiah writes of two cups, “the cup of His wrath” and the cup of staggering” in this verse. The first is כוס חמתו (khōs cha-ma-TŌ), which is literally “the cup of His fury” or “the cup of His wrath.” The second cup mentioned, כוס התרעלה (khōs hat-tar-ā-LAH), which is literally “the cup of astonishment.”

Two things are gloriously worth mentioning here. First, with our Christ-centered hermeneutic and partial preterist perspective, for the sins the inhabitants of Jerusalem have committed against YHVH God, deserving God’s wrath, Jesus drank down the cup of God’s fury when He hung upon Calvary’s tree. He drank down the wrath He didn’t deserve, suffering the torments of hell for the sins He did not commit, and Jesus drank down that wrath at full-potency, to the dregs, as it is written,

For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and He pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. Psalm 75:8

Jesus indeed paid this debt He did not owe, for a debt we owe and cannot possibly pay. Nevertheless, before He went to the cross, though He knew this was His lot from the beginning of His ministry (John 2:19-21), it must be done rightly and in all holy order. In the garden, the night He was arrested, the Lord Jesus prayed three times,

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39

Jesus Messiah is the Lord of light and the Lord of life. If He had not prayed this prayer, it would have been a sin because if would have been tantamount to exactly what Adam did in the Garden of Eden when he disobeyed God—rushing headlong into death without first seeking the Father’s will and good pleasure.

The second cup is the “cup of astonishment.” Because Jesus drank down the cup of God’s wrath, we who believe on His righteous life, His holy death, His powerful resurrection, His glorious ascension, and His consummation of all things at His return, until He does come, are able to fill the cup at the Lord’s Table with the blood of the grape, symbolic of the blood Jesus shed for the forgiveness of sins. This is the staggering truth that we own and cherish each week we partake, the astonishing glory of fellowship with and nourishment from the Lord Jesus Christ because of His amazing grace to save us. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Second, in this we have the Lord Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of Jerusalem’s deliverance, therefore, as mentioned in Part Two of this series, as Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of Israel, He is also the ultimate fulfillment of Jerusalem.

Will Surely Hurt Themselves

Now, let’s look again at Zechariah 12:3…

On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.

YHVH God “will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples.” Since Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of Jerusalem, as mentioned above, this makes sense to be about Jesus Messiah since He is often mentioned as the “Rock” in Scripture (Psa 31:3; 40:2; 42:9; 71:3; 78:16; Matt 16:18; 1 Cor 10:4; et al). But the word used in Zechariah 12:3 is the word “stone,” the Hebrew word אֶבֶן (E-ven), not the word “rock,” as in the Psalms just cited, which is the Hebrew word סֶלַע (SE-lah). Many of us are familiar with the Hebrew word, even, as we sing that hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and its famous line, “Here I raise my ebenezer…” Ebenezer means “stone of help.”

Jesus is that heavy Stone. In the Lord’s final days before He went to the cross, Jesus told the religious leaders who challenged His authority a parable, and then…

…He looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” Luke 20:17-18

Our Lord Jesus was quoting Psalm 118:22, which uses the same Hebrew word, even. Notice the language that Jesus uses. Does it not resound a familiar tone from what is prophesied by Zechariah? Again, Jesus Messiah is that Stone, the One who has become the Cornerstone for the good news of salvation. Jesus is also that Stone that was cut from a mountain with no human hand, just as Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as it is written:

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” Daniel 2:44-45

While Daniel 2 is written in Chaldean, the Chaldean word for “stone” is the same word in Hebrew, even.

This third part of the series has already gone quite long so we will pick it up in another article as we briefly consider the historical and apocalyptic book of Daniel.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part One” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Two” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Four” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Five” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Six” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Seven” by clicking here.

ENDNOTES

[1] The Chiliast’s name comes from the Greek word, χίλιοι (KHIL-ee-oi), which means “thousand.”

[2] MacArthur Study Bible; John F. MacArthur, Jr.; Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville; © 2005. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

[3] Ibid.

[4] This is seen in the same way Zech 12:2 does not have the term; yet it is understood as being “on that day” from Zech 12:3.

Lord willing, and God helping me, I will attempt to offer an explanation why a Christ-centered interpretation of Scripture is essential in understanding Israel’s role in prophecy, and a future end times scenario.

What troubles me is how dogmatic we as Christians have become over something that has not happened yet. How easily we have forgotten that the disciples, who walked with Jesus on the shores of Galilee as well as during the heated opposition found in Jerusalem, were just as confused about His first coming as we are about His second coming.

Satan has even hurled spiritual darts at us upon our initial confessions of faith, making us believe that Jesus was crucified on Friday. This couldn’t be, according to Scripture. I’ve taught, preached, and written about this extensively over the past twenty-five plus years, so I won’t exhaust the point here. Nevertheless, since most dispensationalists insist on a literal interpretation of Scripture, few dispensationalists take the Lord Jesus’ words literally, when He refuted the religious leaders who sought a sign of His messiahship (Matt 12:38). Jesus said:

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:39-40

Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, literally created the heavens and earth, defining the 24-hour night and day as having twelve hours during the daylight (John 11:9). Was He mistaken or being allegorical when He said that He would be buried for three days and three nights? I hardly think either was the case. Wednesday, the middle of the week literally fulfills Palm Sunday and the examination of the paschal lambs requiring four days kept in the home before they were slaughtered (Ex 12:3-6). A Friday crucifixion makes that literally seven days since Palm Sunday. Was that allegorical? If the chief priests and Pharisees asked Pilate for a guard for Christ’s tomb after Jesus was crucified (Matt 27:62-66), a Friday crucifixion would literally cause them to ask for this guard on Saturday, the Sabbath. How could they violate the Law of Moses in this way when John tells us in his gospel account that they would not enter the governor’s headquarters, “so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover” (John 18:28)? Would these legalistic Jews, so meticulous in keeping the Law for the Passover, being those who opposed Jesus at every turn for healing on the Shabbat, would they now be so lax in their hatred of Jesus that they would defile themselves by breaking the Sabbath commandment? I hardly think so. Jesus’ own commentary of their religious observance was that they were meticulous to the smallest seed and grain of spice (Matt 23:23). Moreover, since the women who went to the tomb arrived while it was still dark on Sunday, the first day of the week (John 20:1), when did they have an opportunity to buy the spices to anoint the Lord Jesus (Mark 16:1-2) since no store would be open until after sunup on Sunday? They didn’t buy them beforehand because everyone of Christ’s disciples were shocked and dismayed by His crucifixion. I won’t go into this at length because I have written about it in The Simple Gospel, the eBook being available free on various platforms including Amazon.com (you can get it here).[1]

To be fair, many Reformed covenant theologians, who are amillennial or historical premillennial, still hold to a Friday crucifixion as well.

Does this mean that those who believe in a Friday crucifixion are not saved? God forbid. Why then are we so grounded by this kind of tradition that opposes Scripture? Two reasons: First, Satan, the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10), attempts to foil us with a twisted view of Scripture from the very beginning. After all, that’s what he did to Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen 3:1-5). He desires to set us at odds with one another because he defies God’s authority, especially as it pertains to His holy Word. Second, our good and sovereign God allows it so that we may trust in Him alone for our guidance into all truth (John 16:13).

Now, I’ve just cited John 16:13 above. Let’s look at that for a moment. Jesus said,

Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come. John 16:13, KJV

Having been a pastor of a church in the Bible-belt, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Anniston, Alabama (2009-2018), I encountered a lot of church folks who applied this verse to a literal extreme. Several pastors and Sunday school teachers (mostly among Baptists) would not teach on or even talk about the Holy Spirit because of the underlined and highlighted text above. This is absurd. Was Jesus violating what He said in the verse by teaching the disciples some of the most direct and detailed information about the third Person of the Trinity? Of course not.

My point is this: Some Scripture must be taken literally. Some Scripture must be taken allegorically, figuratively, and/or spiritually. And some Scripture may contain elements of both literal and allegorical. Our heads may swim in dizzying circles with that thought since we know that there is a lot of information in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. How is one to know that he or she is guided by the Holy Spirit into all truth? That’s a fair question, but the Lord Jesus also tells us of another work of the Holy Spirit. Again, speaking of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus also said,

“He will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16:14

There it is. If Jesus isn’t glorified by our interpretation of Scripture, either our biblical hermeneutic is off, or something in the corruptions remaining in our mortal flesh is perverting our perspective for exalting self and not Christ. That statement is in direct opposition to what the late Dr. John MacArthur preached at the Shepherd’s Conference in 2007[2] and continued to believe when I attended the Shepherd’s Conference in 2023.[3]

To explore this topic, I’m using several quotes from the late John F. MacArthur, Jr. This is not meant to be a dig against the late Dr. M., but he had been for years one of the leading voices in promoting dispensational theology in general and pre-tribulation premillennial eschatology in particular.

Therefore, I’m not picking on the late Dr. M. In fact, I’m grateful that his ministry at Grace to You has been so open with their material, as it is easily accessible and may be readily referenced.

PRINCIPLES OF DR. MACARTHUR’S HEREMENEUTICS

One of John MacArthur’s most frequently repeated hermeneutical principles was that Scripture should be interpreted according to its normal grammatical and historical meaning unless the text itself indicates otherwise. I pray that I am not oversimplifying Dr. MacArthur’s teaching but since he had ministered for nearly 6 decades, wading through all the doctor’s work is far too voluminous than my physical ailments can endure. Nevertheless, Dr. MacArthur’s hermeneutical principles can be exemplified by these five particular.

First, “to be able to interpret [Scripture] accurately”[4] Dr. MacArthur presents literal, historical, grammatical, synthesis, and practical principles in his hermeneutic.[5] Concerning the Literal principle, he writes:

“In simple terms, this means you take the words of Scripture in their literal, normal, natural sense.” —Grace to You[6]

This may be one of the clearest and most concise statements behind Dr. MacArthur’s hermeneutic.

Concerning the next two principles of interpretation, the words of the announcer for the Grace to You radio broadcast summarize Dr. MacArthur’s perspective of the historical and grammatical principles in his hermeneutic:

“ At the heart of our hermeneutics is this basic assumption—when God revealed truth, He intended to communicate to us. He used the normal conventions of human language common to the people and time when His revelation came.

“That’s why we employ the grammatical-historical method of interpretation (the rules of grammar and the facts of history) to discern the meaning of Scripture.” —Grace to You[7]

Concerning the fourth principle, synthesis, Dr. MacArthur writes:

“If the Bible is God’s Word, it must be consistent with itself. No part of Scripture can contradict any other part. It was all inspired by one Author—the Holy Spirit—and consequently, it reflects a marvelous, supernatural unity.” —Grace to You[8]

In another Grace to You broadcast, aired from a Sunday evening sermon, concerning this synthesis principle Dr. MacArthur taught:

“I often tell ministers the meaning of the Scripture is the Scripture.” —Grace to You[9]

Concerning the fifth principle, the practical method, Dr. MacArthur writes:

“Once you’ve considered the literal meaning of a passage, its historical and grammatical context, and how it harmonizes with the rest of Scripture, you need to draw out the practical implications for your life. That’s what productive Bible study looks like—digging down to the original meaning of a text and applying it to your life.” —Grace to You[10]

Here, I don’t disagree with any of these principles above, per se. Nevertheless, if they stand alone “as is,” it may, in my humble opinion, lead the interpreter of Scripture to draw conclusions like this one, a hermeneutic that leads to these kinds of statements with regard to eschatology:

“What I’ve been saying is pretty simple: if you get Israel right, you’re going to get eschatology right; if you don’t get Israel right, you will never get eschatology right.” —Grace to You[11]

These principles, if not centered in glorifying Christ from the text, may cause the congregants to this method of interpretation to readily agree that this is uncompromised truth.

Again, Dr. MacArthur said this:

“The key to eschatology then is Judeo centrism—if you want to coin a phrase. The key to eschatology is Judeo centrism, which alone provides the cohesive base to integrate the various features of biblical prophecy.” —Grace to You[12]

This becomes a difficulty for me, because of what I’ve already mentioned in the Preface, and what we will look at in the section after this next one.

In the lecture Dr. MacArthur delivered at the Shepherd’s Conference in 2007, 17 minutes, 29 seconds into the message he stated,

“Israel always means Israel, never means anything but Israel.”[13]

When he says this, he is talking about ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He clarifies it by this statement:

“As it does, the perpetuity of the elect church to salvation glory, so the Scripture in similar language and by promises from the same God affirms the perpetuity of ethnic Israel to a future salvation of a generation of Jews that will fulfill all divine promises given to them by God.”[14]

So that you have context for the former statement, I will give you a fuller quote from the lecture.

“If you get eschatology right it’s because you get Israel right. You get Israel right when you get the Old Testament covenants and promises right. You get the Old Testament covenants and promises right when you get the interpretation of Scripture right. You get interpretation of Scripture right when you’re faithful to a legitimate hermeneutic… and God’s integrity is upheld. Get your hermeneutics right, you’ll get the Old Testament promises right. Get promises right, you’ll get Israel right. Get Israel right, you’ll get eschatology right. The Bible calls God the God of Israel over 200 times. The God of Israel. There are over 2,000 references to Israel in Scripture, not one of them means anything but Israel. Not one of them, including Romans 9:6 and Galatians 6:16 which is the only two passages that amillennialists go to trying to convince us that that cancels out the other 2,000. There is no difficulty in interpreting those as simply meaning Jews who were believers; the Israel of God. Israel always means Israel, never means anything but Israel. Seventy-three New Testament uses of Israel always mean Israel.” [15]

First, I have a difficulty with the statement, “Israel always means Israel, never means anything but Israel.” Let’s consider this for a moment. The first time “Israel” is used in the Scripture does not speak of the nation of Israel. This I mentioned in Part One of this series of articles. It was the name given to Jacob by a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, a Christophany:

And He said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Genesis 32:28, KJV

There are other verses we can say are certainly more scriptural exceptions to “Israel” meaning the ethnic nation of Israel. Here are a few more.

When Israel was a child, I loved Him, and out of Egypt I called My son. Hosea 11:1

Matthew’s gospel account tells us that this verse was about the Lord Jesus Messiah, when He was a child, as it is written,

And he rose and took the child and His mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called My son.” Matthew 2:14-15

While certainly the children of Israel’s deliverance from the bondage in Egypt is spoken of in Hosea 11:1. Yet the people of God under Moses’s leadership was only a shadow of things to come, a prophetic picture of the Messiah to come. The young Lord Jesus must be removed from the Land of Promise to dwell in a land of sinful, idolatrous men only to come forth in the fullness of the time to grow up in Nazareth to fulfill more Scripture (Isa 11:1; Matt 2:23); and then fulfill more Scripture by beginning His ministry in Galilee (Isa 9:1-2; Matt 4:12-17).

Yet another Old Testament portion that speaks of Messiah Y’shua is this one:

Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, My servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring: Isaiah 44:1-3, KJV

Notice that YHVH God promises to pour out His Spirit upon “thy seed,” which is also translated “your offspring” (ESV).[16] In Hebrew Isaiah 44:3 is translated literally “thy seed,” a singular possessive, זרעך (zar-E-kha); and what is said by YHVH God here very much resembles what He said to Abraham centuries earlier, using the same term: זרעך (zar-E-kha), as it is written,

And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. Genesis 17:7, KJV

Now, Paul explains that the covenant promises to Abraham were fulfilled in, by, and through the Messiah, and I suspect that he would have made the same arguments concerning Isaiah 44 above. But why would he need to? He made a more powerful argument by going to the source: Abraham. It is written:

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Galatians 3:16, KJV

Not to “seeds” plural or “offsprings” (ESV), but singular because Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of Israel (as already mentioned in Part One).

The late Dr. MacArthur, as he did throughout his lifetime of ministry, preached passionately for a shade under 80 minutes on March 7, 2007 to open the first general session of the Shepherd’s Conference that year.[17] Interestingly, he walked through the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis during the lecture but mentioned nothing of what the Holy Spirit reveals to us through Paul.[18]

Sadly, however, his lecture contained various logical fallacies—generalizations, ad hominem, straw men, slippery slopes, cherry picking, etc.—to bolster his heartfelt and enthusiastic position.

To be honest, and to be fair, I haven’t performed an exhaustive deep dive into the late doctor’s preaching on his hermeneutics, his eschatology, or his dogmatic stance concerning ethnic Israel as a nation. But frankly, I wouldn’t have the desire to read or listen to more than I had because it was heartbreaking. I don’t doubt His salvation. That’s the beauty and glory of God’s amazing grace in Christ. Nevertheless, according to Dr. MacArthur, not only from his 2007 message, but also the one I heard as I personally attended the 2023 Sheperd’s Conference.[19] Sixteen years had not changed his position whatsoever.

According to Dr. MacArthur, though he follows the hermeneutical method mentioned above, he implies that even our salvation is predicated upon God’s fulfillment of His promises to Israel as a nation. He gives himself away concerning his hermeneutical emphasis with statements like…

“Seventy percent of Scripture is the story of Israel, and I think that the whole point of the ‎story is to get to the ending, and it doesn’t go up in smoke.”[20]

With statements like this one, the emphasis of Dr. MacArthur’s hermeneutic was the ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But his reasoning, albeit noble, he was an apologist for the sovereign election of ethnic Israel by God. He sincerely believed that if Israel, mentioned in the Scriptures over 2,000 times, is the basis for his eschatological hermeneutic; however, everything he presented in March 2007 shows that Israel, exemplified by the statement above, also drives his entire hermeneutic. That is troubling.

I know I have written it in Part One of this series, but I need to place it here as well. In answer to a question concerning Israel, I wrote:

While Dr. MacArthur proclaimed emphatically that salvation was by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, for God’s glory alone, the faithfulness of God to elect Israel was never connected with Christ’s fulfillment. They still run parallel in MacArthur’s hermeneutic. In an effort to be literal, consistent, and reasonable by his interpretation of Scripture, Dr. MacArthur becomes unreasonable by insisting that Israel and Christ’s church have two destinies.

One of the interesting illustrations of the people of God under the New Covenant is the olive tree. In it, we do not see two olive trees, but one. A natural olive tree with unnatural branches grafted into it:

¹¹So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. ¹²Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! ¹³Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. ¹⁵For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? ¹⁶If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, ¹⁸do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. ¹⁹Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. ²¹For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. ²²Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. ²³And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. ²⁴For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. Romans 11:11-24

Christ is not the essential center nor exalted emphasis in Dr. MacArthur’s interpretation of Scripture. He does not see it in Scripture because he cannot see it; and therefore, he’ll miss things in Scripture that his Bible book commentaries will never address.

Much of what he teaches are things I would agree with whole-heartedly. Even some of these quotes have elements in them that I could say yea and amen to; however, his meaning, in several instances, is different because, for the late doctor, it was more about interpreting Scripture literally, grammatically, and historically, so that when it came to certain passages that required Scripture compared with Scripture, the passage would either be ignored or grossly misinterpreted if there was something nuanced in it concerning Christ. This, I will attempt to justify in the next section.

“What about the over 2,000 references to Israel Dr. MacArthur mentioned in the quote you provided?” someone may ask. We will cover that in the next section as we examine the importance of a Christ-centered hermeneutic.

PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST IN A SOUND, BIBLICAL HERMENEUTIC

Early in his lecture at the opening session of the 2007 Shepherd’s Conference, Dr. MacArthur stated:

“Does the end matter? Does it matter to God? Should it matter to us? I think it matters to God. I think it’s the whole point of history. I know it’s the whole point of history…. Some say, ‘Nearly one-fourth of Scripture relates to the prophecies of the end.’”[21]

Not only was Dr. MacArthur’s hermeneutic based upon literal, historical, and grammatical interpretive methods of understanding Scripture, not only was God’s election upon ethnic Israel emphasized, but his hermeneutic was also driven by end times prophecy. In other words, his eschatology drove his theology, and not the other way around.

Jesus is the reason for everything. He is God-incarnate, the second Person of the Triune God, who breathed out the Scripture. Jesus Himself said about Himself that He is the center of Scripture:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me,” John 5:39

Jesus wasn’t saying something fresh and new. Though He didn’t quote it literally, He said nothing different from what the Holy Spirit inspired the psalmist to write about the Messiah:

Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of Me: I delight to do Your will, O My God; Your law is within My heart.” Psalm 40:7-8

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews testifies to the fact that this portion was specifically about the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb 10:7-10). This writer to the Hebrew believers in Messiah implied at the very beginning of his epistle that the Scriptures were about the Son of God:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:1-3

With regard to prophecy, again, it must glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in some way, shape, or form (John 16:14), as it is written,

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:10

Dr. MacArthur made a common mistake that we frail preachers are prone to make. He believed that by emphasizing the faithfulness of God concerning His promises to Israel, it would bolster the hearing congregant’s faith and prick the unbeliever’s heart that has been prepared by the Holy Spirit so they may be won to Christ. His hermeneutic, therefore, effected his homiletic, and basically resulted in denigrating Christ. God’s faithfulness is most exalted by the truth of His faithfulness to bring about the fulfillment of all prophecy through His one and only Son.

I said that it was a common mistake. I’ve heard several ministers make a similar mistake in preaching, passionate though they might be, feeling that it was absolutely necessary to emphasize the worldwide flood of Noah’s day in order to emphasize God’s judgment upon an evil and wicked world. If the text has us preaching Genesis 6-9, by all means preach it, but the greatest judgment the world has ever seen, and will ever see, occurred on a tree of wood in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. No man ever walked more intimately with God the Father than the Lord Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:18). He was pleasing to the Father in all He thought, said, and did, even when Jesus suffered the holy wrath of God for sins He did not commit. Therefore, when Jesus suffered on the cross, that disparity between the intimate, loving, fellowship He had known with the Father and the holy wrath from the Father was so great that all the collective torments suffered by every God-hating, Christ-rejecting soul sent to eternal punishment will never come close to comparing with what Christ suffered on Calvary’s cross.

God the Father is most glorified in the Son. It is written,

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

Israel hasn’t been replaced, as John MacArthur assumed concerning the beliefs of all amillennialists and historical premillennialists. Some do, but not all. Many believe as I do, that Israel is fulfilled in Christ, being made up of believing Jews and non-Jews, like the illustration earlier of the olive tree and its branches. It is written,

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

This is what I call fulfillment theology, not replacement theology. Yes, there are those in various Protestant denominations that believe Israel has been replaced by the church. I do not believe the Scriptures bear that out. They cannot with a Christ-centered hermeneutic.

And certainly, as “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Rom 9:6), not everyone who attends church services, or even joins as a member, is saved. Thus, we can also say, “Not all who are in the church are the church” (see Matt 7:21-23).

If Christ Jesus is the center, emphasis, and very testimony of Scripture, then it would make sense that “Nearly one-fourth of Scripture relates to the prophecies of the end.” The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Israel יִשְׂרָאֵל (yis-ra-ĀL) is mentioned 2,505 times in 2,230 verses of the Hebrew Scriptures, and written in every book of the Old Testament except for Esther, Job, Jonah, Habakkuk, and Haggai. Israel Ἰσραήλ (is-ra-ĀL) is mentioned 70 times in 68 verses of the Greek Scriptures, written in thirteen of the twenty-seven books of the Christian New Testament.

If Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of Israel, ruling as a Prince with God because He is Lord of all, and having been governed by God as the perfect and sinless Man while He lived and minstered upon the earth, living the righteous life that you and I cannot possibly live on the planet earth, then it would make sense that Israel is mentioned so many times in the Bible. Because it’s all about Jesus, and Israel was meant to be a prophetic foreshadow of Jesus, the Jew who fulfilled God’s promises.

Even the wickedness of Israel is reflected in Christ, since Christ suffered for those sins as well when He hung upon the cross. Now how does apply this sixth hermeneutical principle of being Christ-centered work? Let me give you an example. While this verse doesn’t mention Israel, per se, it does use a term that is often used of those ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The word is Jew. It says,

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. Romans 2:28-29

The apostle here was not giving us new revelation by the Spirit. This comes from the Hebrew Scriptures. In the Torah, before entering the Land of Promise, YHVH God gives His people an impossible command. Moses tells the children of Israel,

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. Deuteronomy 10:16

The literal, grammatical, and historical principles of Dr. MacArthur’s hermeneutic fails here apart from applying a Christ-centered hermeneutic. “How can one do that?” the children of Israel ask, scratching their heads. They cannot literally do this, and we cannot literally understand it. Nevertheless, YHVH God provides the answer through their prophet, Moses, who says:

And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Deuteronomy 30:6

That’s regeneration (Ezek 36:26-27) and it is fulfilled in Jesus Messiah according to the prophecy concerning the New Covenant, spoken by YHVH God through Jeremiah (Jer 32; Heb 8:1-13).

As mentioned in Part One, Jesus is, was, and evermore shall be YHVH God’s plan before He said, “Light be!” (Gen 1:3), as it is written concerning Jesus,

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:20-21

The truth of God’s Messiah proclaimed in the garden after Adam and Eve had sinned, some two thousand years before Jacob was named Israel, not only declares salvation for sinners, but establishes the precedent for our Christo-centric hermeneutic:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel. Genesis 3:15, KJV

There’s that word “Seed” again (see Gen 17:7; Isa 44:3; Gal 3:16).

A Christ-centered hermeneutic allows us to understand why the heavens, earth, and man was created in the first place. Our frail and finite minds think about the fall of man in the garden and it prompts us to think, if not ask altogether, “If God is sovereign, why didn’t He just do something to keep Adam and Eve from sinning?” A Christo-centric hermeneutic helps us to understand that it was to manifest God’s greatest glory through the Son of God, the “Seed” of the woman. How so? Through this episode of original sin in the garden, God illustrates to us that perfect, dusty man living in the perfect environment (Eden), with the perfect companion (Eve), and fellowship with God (Elohiym), that apart from the Lord Jesus Messiah and salvation through Him, all man is capable of is being deceived, dishonoring God by disobeying Him, and bringing death to both himself and to others.

Let’s take a look at one more example of shedding light on a Christ-centered hermeneutic in Scripture. This one should serve nicely for this paper because of Dr. MacArthur’s passionate and continued emphasis on the faithfulness of God in fulfilling His covenant promises to Israel. With regard to faith, yours and mine is weak. Our faith is frail and often falters or even fails. The faith of the Lord Jesus Messiah, as perfect and sinless Man, never failed. Because He was faithful, His faithfulness is imputed to us, that is, placed upon our account as believers in Christ, as it is written,

looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

From the original Greek, Jesus is the Founder and Perfector of… faith, or “Author and Finisher of… faith” The word “our” is not in the original text. It’s alright that it is included because this entire verse speaks of imputed righteousness. Jesus went to the cross, not for Himself, but for our sakes; and He did so with joy over the salvation of His creation. You and I would have gone to the cross begrudgingly, kicking and screaming. We don’t despise the shame of sin, but Jesus did; and He did so on our behalf so His holy attitude and His righteous behavior would be placed upon your account and mine. Now, Christ being the Founder and Perfecter of faith, let’s take a look at faith. It is written,

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Another English version translates it in this way:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1, KJV

The English words “assurance” (ESV) and “substance” (KJV) are translated from the Greek word ὑπόστασις (hoop-OS-ta-sis).

It is used two other times in this Epistle to the Hebrews, in chapter one and in chapter three. First, in chapter one we read:

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:3

Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Hebrews 1:3, KJV

Hoopostasis is also found in the third chapter (and is also translated similarly as “confident” in 2 Corinthians 9:4 and as “confidence” in 2 Corinthians 11:17):

For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. Hebrews 3:14

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; Hebrews 3:14, KJV

While faith is certainly a “confidence” and “assurance” that something is true, biblically speaking, faith also contains the very “substance,” “person,” and “nature” or the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, when we see examples of faithful men in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, that faith is not merely a grace imparted to us from the Holy Spirit to believe (Gal 5:22-23; Eph 2:8-9), it is not only an assurance and a confidence that what God has said and promised is so, it includes the very substance, person, and nature of Christ. This is why the Word of God tells us that it is all about Jesus (Psa 40:7-8; John 5:39; et al). Let’s take a brief look at a few of these faithful folk.

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. Hebrews 11:4

The faith of Abel is a picture of the perfect faith of Christ. His acceptable sacrifice reflected Christ’s perfect sacrifice of Himself, and though Christ died, He rose again to show us Himself in the prophetic life of Abel.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. Hebrews 11:5

The faith of Enoch is a picture of the perfect faith of Christ because Enoch was commended as having pleased God. Jesus was always pleasing to the heavenly Father in all things, never once being unpleasing in His thoughts, words, and deeds (Matt 3:17; 17:5; John 8:29).

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Hebrews 11:7

The faith of Noah is a picture of the perfect Person of Christ because Noah constructed an ark of wood to save his family and condemned the world for its evil and adulterous wickedness. Faithful Jesus came to the earth from heaven, saved His family by a cross of wood, and by His holy and reverent fear of God, condemned sin by His suffering God’s wrath, dying a horrible death as a Man, and shedding His blood for the forgiveness of sins.

I could go on, not only for the rest of Hebrews, but throughout the Scriptures. But I will end this portion here, as this portion of the series has already gone longer than I intended.

Finally, let’s take a look at possible erroneous suppositions if we fail to interpret Scripture with a Christ-centered hermeneutic.

POSSIBLE ERRONEOUS SUPPOSITIONS

While there are a large number of examples I can give concerning erroneous suppositions we might make when not using a Christo-centric hermeneutic, I will close this section of the series with one particular problem from Scripture that has arisen in preaching of late. Questions from congregants and ministry friends concerning this perspective; and because it has become so prevalent in preaching today, I’ll address it here. It stems from a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of this verse of Scripture:

You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong… Habakkuk 1:13a

Some have concluded by this verse because of the “purer eyes” wording, that the Father could not look at Jesus when He suffered on the cross because Jesus bore our sin. This is preached from a number of pulpits, and from what is presented in this portion of Habakkuk, it is preached, taught, and expounded upon because of a literal, grammatical, and historical hermeneutic. It’s quite a quandary for feeble-faithed men, such as we are.

Yet in the verse itself, the prophet not only says that God’s eyes are too pure to look upon evil, he also says that YHVH God looks upon the Babylonians idly—that He looks upon wretched idolators, who are more evil than the wicked in Judah, and that He’s using these sinners in order to bring about judgment upon Judah (Hab 1:5-11). Here’s the full verse:

You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do You idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? Habakkuk 1:13

So, first, we already have the proof from Habakkuk 1:5-13 that this cannot be truly applied as a literal restriction concerning YHVH God.

Second, Satan entered the very presence of God at least twice since the fall, recorded in the book of Job ‎‎(Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7), and possibly more than we know (Rev 12:10). I think we can agree that as far as evil ‎is concerned, Satan is the worst of the worst, yet he conversed with YHVH God, and moreover, conversed ‎with the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). Satan’s staining heaven with his presence is why ‎the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus is also the propitiation for the whole world (1 Jn 2:2); because in the ‎regeneration, a new heaven and new earth will be cleansed by the omnipotent power of Christ’s precious ‎blood.‎

And though I will not give exhaustive proof texts for YHVH God looking upon evil, here are a few:‎

You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence. Psalm 90:8‎

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

“But they do not consider that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds surround them; they are before My face.” Hosea 7:2

Thirdly, to suggest that the Father could not look at Jesus on the cross would imply that Jesus did not pay the penalty for sins He did not commit but actually became sin itself; and that would in turn imply that Christ’s righteous act was not the delight and satisfaction of Father God. If Jesus was at any time unpleasing to the Father (Matt 3:17; John 8:29), even on the cross, His substitution means nothing (1 Pet 3:18), and you and I have no hope of salvation at all. If Jesus was not pleasing to the heavenly Father on the cross, this would make Jesus a liar when He said the last part of this statement:

“And He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” John 8:29

Was the vindication of God’s justice not pleasing to the Father? Will the righteous Judge on that Day be unable to look at the sinners He’s condemning to eternal punishment? I think not.

Since I cited the entire verse, I must mention this about John 8:29. We do know that Jesus was forsaken of the Father (Psa 22:1; Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34). That’s because the first part of John 8:29 was true of Jesus right up until the cross. Jesus walked intimately with the Father (John 1:18; Heb 1:3), so much more intimately than any man, including Adam; so that when Jesus was forsaken of that relationship, the suffering of all men collectively who have rejected Christ and will be sent to eternal torment in that Day could never come close to matching the wrath that Jesus suffered when He was forsaken by God. What that exactly entails is a heavenly mystery that is infinitely beyond our finite grasp. Yet we will chase down that infinitely glorious truth of Christ crucified for all eternity.

Again, we have a verse of Scripture that specifically states that YHVH God looks upon His “Seed” (KJV) or “Offspring” when He (the LORD) puts Him (Seed, or Offspring) to grief:

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His Offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. Isaiah 53:10

Fourth, this doctrine of the Father not looking at Jesus would devilishly assault the nature and character of the Father because to suggest such a thing would cause the Father to tell us to do something He couldn’t do Himself—that is, to look upon Jesus Christ crucified, which is our only Hope of salvation. This is what the Father told us to do through the prophet—to look upon Jesus to be saved:

Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:22, KJV

“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:22

Both are wonderful English translations of this verse. YHVH God says in Hebrew פְּנוּ־אֵלַי (p’NOO—e-LAĪY), “You face Me.” The command is to “face” God because we are looking away from Him, so therefore, the ESV also is correct because the command implies repentance, turning from our sin and turning to God. But since the Father is spirit and has no body (John 4:24), then the command can only be applied by our looking to Jesus (John 1:18; 14:9; 19:37; Heb 1:1-3; 1 Jn 1:2; et al) with spiritual eyes (2 Cor 5:7).

Finally, that brings us to the last point: why would Habakkuk say such a thing if it is not literally true of the Father? I believe that among the redeemed, even in our misgivings and misunderstandings, we still become a gospel witness for Christ’s sake and for His glory. While every prophet points to Messiah, is a witness of and for Messiah, and in many ways is a type of Christ (John 5:39), the weakness of men is one of the ways God works all things together for good (Rom 8:28). When we see the weakness in Abraham, Moses, Aaron, David, Elijah, Habakkuk, etc., we will depend less and less upon men, less and less upon ourselves, and depend more and more upon the Lord Jesus. Jesus didn’t entrust Himself to men (John 2:24-25), and neither should we.

Jesus of Nazareth is certainly that Prophet foretold to come (Deut 18:15). Jesus is the only Jew who ever kept the whole Law both actively and passively. Jesus is the only Son who was wholly obedient to His Father. Jesus is the only Prophet who had ever spoken the truth of heaven without schism or defect. All others were fallen descendants of Adam. And since the Lord Jesus came, all His ministers continue to fall short of His glory. Habakkuk in his frailty and fallenness only expresses what we do all the time—apply our weaknesses to the immutable God. Habakkuk speaks as if the presence of wickedness is going to change God. Certainly, God is not aloof to our sin, for our sin grieves Him (Eph 4:30); but He cannot be changed by anything. He is complete in Himself. He cannot learn; He’s all-knowing. He cannot be nowhere; He is everywhere-present.

Because we are often driven by the wind and tossed in our situations and circumstances, we sometimes project our weaknesses onto the character of the unchanging God. Thus, Habakkuk points to Christ Jesus in his weakness, because it is only in the incarnate God, Jesus Messiah, who was the faithful, infallible, and impeccable Prophet to the end—when He breathed His last on that tree.

We see these same Habakkuk-like characteristics in our own lives, which when we recognize them, provoke us to surrender unto Christ through the Holy Spirit even more. We know that God is sovereign, but sometimes in our hearts, or even by our actions and attitudes, we may openly or secretly give the impression that Jesus couldn’t build His church without us (Jas 4:13-17). Or we know that truth must be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:14), but we sometimes act like or live as if we discovered these treasures on our own (1 Cor 4:7).

Read Part One, “Understanding Israel from Scripture” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Three” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Four” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Five” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Six” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Seven” by clicking here.

ENDNOTES

[1] Interestingly, although Dr. MacArthur believed in a literal interpretation of Scripture (which we will look at in the next section), for over 56 years as pastor of Grace Community Church, they celebrated “Good Friday,” and the doctor preached a Friday crucifixion.

[2] https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/332

[3] I was gifted the registration price and the roundtrip travel from Alaska by the saints of Calvary Baptist Church in Ninilchik, Alaska. Before the conference started, Dr. MacArthur suffered a broken wrist, so he only spoke during a Q&A session on the second day and at the final evening service, unveiling a soon-to-be released commentary on Zechariah. Like he had done 16 years earlier, Dr. M. planted a flag upon the hill of pre-tribulation dispensational premillennialism, passionately dogmatic in his conviction. See

.

[4] https://www.gty.org/blogs/B120928/elements-of-productive-bible-study-interpret-part-2

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] https://www.gty.org/blogs/B100202/good-hermeneutics

[8] https://www.gty.org/blogs/B120928/elements-of-productive-bible-study-interpret-part-2

[9] https://www.gty.org/sermons/80-372/can-we-know-what-the-scripture-means

[10] https://www.gty.org/blogs/B120928/elements-of-productive-bible-study-interpret-part-2

[11] https://www.gty.org/sermons/90-336/why-every-calvinist-should-be-a-premillennialist-part-3

[12] Ibid.

[13] https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/332

[14] Ibid. (10:29); emphasis added.

[15] Ibid. (16:08)

[16] There are more sermons out there, in written form and audio recordings, using the KJV “seed” language than the word “offspring,” so I am using the KJV here.

[17] https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/332

[18] Ibid. (35:00-38:12)

[19] https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/20936

[20] https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/332 (18:36)

[21] Ibid. (3:36); emphasis in original message.

This paper was written in response to a question concerning “Israel.” Someone asked: “…when God called Jacob ‘Israel,’ what did that mean?” I quickly responded with this:

The story of Esau and Jacob was another topic that was queried. It is in the story of these “two nations” where we understand more fully what Israel is about.

THE GOSPEL BACKGROUND OF JACOB

Isaac was 40 years old when he married his wife, Rebekah (Gen 25:20). He was 60 years old when Rebekah bore his sons, Esau and Jacob (Gen 25:26). While Rebekah was pregnant, the two infants “struggled together within her” and she sought the reason for why this was happening, asking YHVH God (Gen 25:22)— asking really, El Shaddai, because YHVH was not known by His name, יְהֹוָה (y’-HŌ-veh), until after He revealed it to Moses at the burning bush of Exodus 3:14 (Ex 6:3). Concerning this, YHVH God answered Rebekah, not Isaac, as it is written:

And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23

The LORD answering Rebekah and not revealing this to Isaac will be significant when Isaac gives his blessing to Jacob instead of Esay; but here, in YHVH’s answer, as well as in the birth of the two children, this prophetically foreshadows the gospel of Jesus Messiah. I’ve mentioned this before to you—the firstborn and second born—as Adam to Christ, Cain to Abel, Japheth to Shem, etc. The New Testament illuminates this redemptive thread seen throughout the Hebrew Scriptures:

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:45-47

More gospel details are given in Esau and Jacob’s lives. They were named by the revelations from their birth. Esau came forth first, named “Hairy,” עֵשָׂו (ā-SAV) in Hebrew, because he “came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak” (Gen 25:25). Jacob “came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel” (Gen 25:26), so he was called יַעֲקֹב (ya-aq-ŌV), which means “heel catcher” or “supplanter.” Even Jacob’s name is prophetic of the Messiah, because the Messiah would supplant the judgment of sinful Adam by taking on the punishment of sin Himself, suffering God’s holy wrath and dying a shameful death upon Calvary’s tree.

Moreover, we are told that Esau was “a man of the field” (Gen 25:27a); that is, he was a man given over to the world. The scriptural “field” is sometimes an allegorical picture of the sinful world and the sin-cursed ground. The “field” was where Cain slew Abel (Gen 4:8), as well as what Jesus describes in many of His parables as “the world” (Matt 13:24, 31, 38, 44, et al).

The King James Version or Genesis 25:27 renders Jacob’s typology a little better than the English Standard Version in my humble opinion. It states:

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

Two prophetic characteristics of Messiah are presented here. Jacob was a “plain man.” In Hebrew, he was אִישׁ תָּם (eeysh tam), translated “plain man” (KJV) or “quiet man.”[1] תָּם (tam) means “undefiled,” and comes from the same root that describes Noah in Genesis 6:9, the Hebrew word תָּמַם (ta-MAM), meaning “unblemished.” Tamam is used when describing an animal sacrifice that was to be unblemished or without spot (Ex 12:5; Lev 1:3; etc). We know this describes Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:29), as it is written:

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1 Peter 1:18-19

This was YHVH God’s plan from before the creation of the heavens and the earth because the next two verses tell us:

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:20-21

The second characteristic presented here is that Jacob dwelt in tents. In other words, Jacob was a sojourner. Jesus Messiah was the ultimate Sojourner on the planet. Just a few of our proof texts are:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20

The next blessed gospel picture given us is when Esau’s name is changed to Edom (Gen 25:29-34). Esau had been hunting in the field. He was exhausted, having caught nothing. Jacob had been cooking stew and Esau wanted some of Jacob’s red stew. For payment to receive a bowl of this stew, Esau must sell Jacob his birthright as the firstborn. Thus Esau was called Edom because of the red stew he had purchased. The word red comes from the Hebrew word אָדֹם (a-DŌM), which is the root for the words “earth,” “ground,” “blood,” and the name “Adam.” Edom, Hebrew אֱדוֹם (e-DŌM), becomes a type of Adam, Hebrew אָדָם (a-DAM), because Esau sold his birthright for something to eat—same as Adam.

Next, Jacob again becomes a type of Christ during the blessing from Isaac (Gen 27:1-46). The blessing occurs after Esau and Jacob are forty years old, because Esau was forty years old when he took wives from the daughters of the Hittites (Gen 26:34; 27:46). Isaac was still alive when Jacob returned after twenty years of servitude under Laban in Haran (Gen 31:38-41), Isaac living to be 180 years old (Gen 35:27-29).

So, when the blessing came to Jacob, Isaac was old and blind, but sometime after 100 years of age—5 years? 10? 20? We’re not told. Remember, Isaac doesn’t know anything about the elder serving the younger, so he sends his eldest son out to hunt game and prepare him the delicious food he loves; and then, he will pronounce the blessing upon Esau (Gen 27:1-4), so he thinks.

Rebekah overhears this and sets things into motion. She “commands” Jacob to bring two young goats from the flock (Gen 27:5-10). The slaying of these two kids was a prophetic foreshadow of the Day of Atonement, when two goats are offered before YHVH God (Lev 16:7-10). While the goats were young for Jacob’s episode, and both were slain, it still reminds us of the ancient Yom Kippur.

For the Day of Atonement, lots were cast upon the two goats (Lev 16:7-10). One was l’YHVH, or “for the LORD,” which was sacrificed as an offering to God for sin. The other was l’azazel, or the “scapegoat,” which was set free in the wilderness, carrying the people’s sin away. This reflected the two-fold work of Messiah in the perfect atoning Sacrifice He offered on Calvary’s tree. Christ’s suffering, death, and shed blood satisfied the holy justice of YHVH God for sin. At the same time, Christ’s substitutionary atonement carried our sins away. That this was done by the high priest once per year, it also foreshadowed the two-fold work of Messiah in being both our Great High Priest (Heb 8:1-13) and the once-and-for-all Sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:1-39).

The young goats were used in Jacob’s instance because kids under one year old had fine, soft hair, close to what Esau’s arms and neck felt like. While Rebekah made the delicious food from the goats, she also clothed Jacob in Esau’s garments and put the kid skins on Jacob’s arms and neck (Gen 27:14-17). This picture was a prophetic type of the incarnation of Christ:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Jacob, the supplanter, received the blessing from Isaac, foreshadowing the blessing redeemed souls would receive through Messiah. It is written:

and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17

And again,

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” Matthew 17:5

Even in the interaction, Isaac speaks of things that prophetically foretell the Messiah. Isaac said to Jacob,

“Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” Genesis 27:21

Jesus said,

“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch Me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” Luke 24:39

“Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” John 20:27

Isaac also prophetically points to Jesus Messiah when he says,

“The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” Genesis 27:22

The New Testament also verify the prophetic substance of this verse above, since Jesus was fully, flesh and bone Man who spoke the words of heaven without mankind’s sinful corruptions:

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. Matthew 7:28-29

The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this Man!” John 7:46

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our ‎eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of ‎Life 1 John 1:1‎

THE SALVATION OF JACOB

Now, we could get caught up in a lot of other details (and they are good and wonderful), but let’s move forward and look at the salvation of Jacob, which is important to understand when we see why and when his name was changed. There have been some who disagreed with me. They suggest that Jacob was saved when he wrestled with Jesus (a Christophany) when he was named Israel in Genesis 32:28.

After receiving the blessing, Jacob flees Beersheba for Haran to seek Rebekah’s brother, Laban. On his way there, he stops for the night in Luz and has a dream of a ladder reaching into heaven from the earth, with angels ascending and descending upon it (Gen 28:10-12). And above the top of the ladder, he sees YHVH God. This is, of course, a Christophany—an appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ before His incarnation—because” God is Spirit” (John 4:24), and therefore, does not have a body (Jesus is the fulness of God in bodily form, Col 2:9). He is told by the LORD these words:

“I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:13-15

Because of this, when Jacob awoke, he built an altar and called the place Bethel, meaning “house of God.” Then he made this vow.

“If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” Genesis 28:20-22

Jacob was not laying out a tit-for-tat proposition here, promising to worship God if He fulfills His promise to him. Jacob was prophetically speaking from the soul-changing regeneration that occurs when one is saved. Jesus the Son spoke to Jacob and told him that He was “the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac” (Gen 28:13). Then He spoke of His gracious promise to Jacob, the same promises He had made to both Abraham and to Isaac (Gen 17; 26). Jacob responds to this gracious and merciful salvation by saying in effect: “You are the God of Abraham and Isaac. But because You have given me the same promise, You shall be my God.” Thus, later in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in the New Testament as well, we hear the expression, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

THE NAME CHANGE OF JACOB

God fulfills His promise to bring Jacob back to the land twenty years later. He is afraid of Esau because Esau hated Jacob and planned to kill his brother (Gen 27:41), which is also a prophetic utterance of Messiah’s fate (John 1:11; 5:18; 7:1). So, Jacob divides his family into groups and sets aside gifts to bestow upon his brother, Esau, in hopes it may appease him (Gen 32:20).

That night, Jacob wrestled with “a man” all night “until the breaking of the day” (Gen 32:24). This, again, was a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob hangs on and will not let go until he receives a blessing, Jacob’s hip being dislocated by the touch of the Lord ‎(Gen 32:25-26). Jacob wept in his wrestling with God (Hos 12:3-5).

Jesus asks him his name and Jacob tells Him (Gen 32:27). Jacob’s name, “supplanter,” also carries with it a negative connotation. It means “cheat” or “swindler,” which is what Jacob was in his life. Few and evil were the days of his sojourn (Gen 47:9), but Jesus has changed his name:

Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Genesis 32:28, KJV

The ESV renders it in this way:

“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Genesis 32:28, ESV

The KJV is more literal from the new name, יִשְׂרָאֵל (yis-ra-ĀL). אֵל (el) means “God.” שַׂר (sar) means “prince,” as in one of the titles of Messiah, שׂר־שׁלום (sar sha-LOM), meaning “Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). יִשְׂרָ (y’sar), depending upon the sentence structure and context, can either be past tense or future tense. In past tense, the whole meaning of Israel is “ruled by God” or “governed by God.” In future tense, Israel means “God will rule” or “God will govern.”

The ESV (ASV, NASB 1995) uses “striven with God…” The NASB uses “contended with God…” The NKJV uses “struggled with God…”

This is what the MacArthur Study Bible says concerning this verse, using the NKJV,

“no longer… Jacob, but Israel. Jacob’s personal name changed from one meaning ‘heel-catcher’ or “deceiver’ to one meaning ‘God’s fighter’ or ‘he struggles with God’ (cf. Gen 35:10).

“with God and with men. An amazing evaluation of what Jacob had accomplished, i.e., emerging victorious from the struggle. In the record of his life, ‘struggle’ did indeed dominate: (1) with his brother Esau (chs. 25-27); (2) with his father (ch. 27); (3) with his father-in-law (chs. 29-31); (4) with his wives (ch. 30); and (5) with God at Peniel (Gen 32:28).”

The late Dr. M said, “…what Jacob had accomplished…” This is problematic. The difficulty with this approach to our understanding of Jacob’s name change is that it tends toward legalism in our salvation. We have to remember that the only way that Jacob, or any redeemed sinner may be a prince with God and with men is by God’s grace through faith alone (Eph 2:8-9), by the power and strength of Christ alone (Eph 6:10), for the glory of God alone (1 Cor 1:29-31; 10:31), according to Scripture alone (1 Cor 15:3-4). Jesus said,

“I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

As I’ve said and preached and written for years, not only can we do nothing apart from Christ, we are nothing apart from Christ—a branch that doesn’t abide in the vine is good for nothing but kindling.

In application, we find the key to understanding in the last verse of Genesis 32:28, “and prevailed.” It is the Hebrew word וַתּוּכָל (va-too-KHAL), from the root יָכוֹל (ya-KHŌL). It means “to prevail,” or better, “to overcome.” We recognize this from the New Testament because the Lord Jesus exhorts His churches with this when He says seven times…

“To him that overcometh…” Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21, KJV

Yet again, at the risk of sounding repetitive, unless we see that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Israel of God, Jacob, the children of Israel, even Christ’s church (Gal 6:16)—which is the fulfillment of what Israel was destined to be, God’s people, both Jews and Gentiles (Rom 1:16)—will cause problems in our interpretation of Scripture and create difficulties in our Christian walk.

To fail to see Jesus, first and foremost, as the ultimate and true fulfillment of Israel will skew our view of Israel in Scripture; and ultimately cause us to miss the prophetic foreshadows for all of God’s people. For example, we will not see the “the land of Israel” (haEretz Yisrael) as the gospel promise of eternal life with Messiah. For three generations the same promise was given to sinners saved by grace—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then, by a providential famine, YHVH God sends Jacob and his progeny (the children of Israel) to Egypt to be saved from the famine; then be forced into slavery by a Pharaoh who doesn’t know Jacob’s favorite son, only to bring them back into the land that YHVH God promised Israel’s patriarchs 430 years earlier. It is because every allegorical picture testifies of and glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. Their freedom from bondage in Egypt reflects the gospel and exalts Jesus Christ first and foremost. Their crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land reflects the gospel and exalts Jesus Christ first and foremost. As you well know, the Lord Jesus Himself said,

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me,” John 5:39

THE GOSPEL REVELATION ABOUT ESAU

I was also asked about how Esau’s nation and people fit into these gospel pictures. That was a reasonable question because YHVH God told Rebekah that there were “two nations” and “two peoples” struggling within her womb (Gen 25:23). Esau’s descendants would become this other nation (Gen 36:1-43), five sons to Edom from his three wives (Gen 36:4-5).

The descendants of Esau, or Edom, were the Edomites. In Jesus’ day, they were the Idumeans. The leadership of this people were the Herodians who ruled in Judea when the Roman Senate voted to install Herod as “king of the Jews” in 40 BC.

So, historically, the Edomites were worldly descendants of Esau, rising to the throne of Israel, their biblical history culminating in the end of the Herodian line when Herod Agrippa I, who mocked the Lord Jesus in His second Roman trial (Luke 23:7-15), and glorified himself before the people and died a horribly painful death (Acts 12:20-23).

Now, if Israel represents the redeemed people of God (Gal 6:14; Rom 1:16), the Edomites represent those reprobate worldlings that exist alongside God’s redeemed. The Herodians are the ultimate expression of that unbelief and opposition to Christ. Jesus is the King of the Jews because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. To sit upon a throne without exalting the Lord Jesus Christ and bowing the knee to Him is a reprobation of the first order.

As we were created to be the light and image bearers of God, redeemed sinners saved by God’s grace to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29), then the prophetic picture of Jacob (Israel) giving gifts to Esau (Edom) presents unto us the blessed truth of giving the gift of the gospel to those who do not believe. Freely we have received, therefore, freely we give (Matt 10:8). Does it mean simply the gospel alone? By no means. The Holy Spirit instructs us through the apostle on this matter:

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? James 2:15-16

At the same time, generosity without exalting Christ from those things by which we have been graced with that increase exalts self and makes us more like the Herodians than any descendant of Esau.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Two” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Three” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Four” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Five” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Six” by clicking here.

Read “Understanding Israel from Scripture, Part Seven” by clicking here.

ENDNOTE

[1] “quiet” works too because Jesus did not defend Himself when He was accused. It is written, “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Isa 53:7). Jesus could not open His mouth against the accusations because He was taking on our sin as if He committed the sins Himself, though He was sinless and committed no sin. This is the doctrine of imputation: our sin was imputed to Christ while His righteousness was imputed to those who believe by faith.