November 26, 2006 - 12:00pm - Chris Mack A sound method that is a fundamental tool which must be utilized in order to reach the solution to our theological problems is to ask the right questions. In this article, I will seek to ask what I consider to be the critical questions that pertain to the subject at hand. But more than that, I will provide what I believe are answers to these questions, solutions to the problems, and alternatives to the present view points. Did Daniel, from his point in time in history, present a brief overview of the history of the world that included the Christ Event and continued on for thousands of years until an investigative judgment which would be followed hundreds of years later by the second coming of Christ, the transportation of the translated and resurrected saints for a 1000 year period in heaven, followed with the setting up of the kingdom of God on earth? Does this Adventist interpretation of Daniel really hold water? Is this how the Jews at the time of Christ or even the apostolic church understood Daniel? How are we to understand Daniel? A question we need to ask ourselves is this. What really is more important and authoritative? Is what Daniel said the most important key to prophecy and our understanding of the kingdom of God? Or on the other hand, is what Jesus Christ said about Daniel determinative in terms of understanding prophecy and the kingdom of God? The critical question is this. Does Jesus have authority over the interpretation of Daniel? To say it another way; is what Jesus said and didn’t say about Daniel more authoritative than what we may perceive that Daniel said? Is Jesus, the One to whom the Father addressed on the Mount of Transfiguration as “This is My beloved Son …listen to Him�; our go-to Prophet; or is it Daniel? Clearly, it must be Jesus who has the ultimate authority over the interpretation of Scripture. Isn’t what the Father is telling us from that mountain is that Jesus has superceded Moses and Elijah, (that is the law and the prophets), including Daniel, in terms of authority? Isn’t Jesus the Ultimate Prophet, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End? Would it be disagreeable to believe that all eschatology, that is all correct understanding of the ‘end’ and of prophecy must, in light of His exalted person and actions, therefore, come from the Christ? Luke 24:19-27,31,32,44-48. A study of the New Testament in this light reveals that the apostle’s understanding of God’s purposes began with Christ Jesus, His person, His resurrection, His ascension, and His teaching. They then, empowered by the Spirit, went to the Old Testament in search of Christ. But more than that, the words and actions of Jesus became their normative guide. The apostles understood that the prophets of old such as Moses, Jacob, Joseph, Boaz, David, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Jonah, and Daniel; were not only types of Christ, but that they also, in their own persons, ‘enacted prophecy’. In other words, the prophets were ‘the prophecy’; Christ Jesus himself being the ultimate Prophet, consequently became the true fulfillment and embodiment of prophecy. Jesus is prophecy with flesh on it. Based on these principles, the New Testament prophets now understood everything christologically. The Jews, however, who rejected Christ remained in their theological time warp. So also have the Adventists who have failed to allow Jesus to speak. Enormous Adventist energy has been devoted to Daniel. What about the rest of the Old Testament? Is Daniel the only prophetic book in the Old Testament? Revelation is saturated with the ideas of Ezekiel, the book in the Old Testament that has the most affinity with the Apocalypse. Some have seen as many as 600 allusions and echoes of the Old Testament in Revelation. Matthew loved Zechariah. The New Testament is saturated with Isaiah. I would even be as bold as to say that Isaiah was the most influential book of the Old Testament on the New Testament prophets, on the church, and on Jesus Himself. The Torah is huge, in terms of prophetic importance. Jesus and the church loved the Psalms. Daniel is not the only prophetic book in the Old Testament! So why aren’t traditional Adventist Bible students as equally dogged in their desire to study and explain the 21st century implications of the rest of the Old Testament? Many Adventists, it seems, have a very small Bible. Consider this. If Daniel was and is so important, why don’t we see a lot of quotations from Daniel in the gospels? Certainly we know that the Olivet Discourse is Jesus’ inspired commentary on Daniel. The critical key, however, is to study Christ’s divine commentary of Daniel in light of what Jesus commented on and to put aside that which He has not commented on! But what Adventist has ever tried to prove an investigative judgment beginning in heaven in 1844 from the Olivet Discourse? It seems as if only William Miller and the Adventist church is brave enough to enter strange new worlds in which no one else has dared to go. The historicist method of prophetic interpretation, with its day for a year so-called principle, is highly problematic for a number of reasons. The entire Bible is written in the language and framework of covenant. As soon as you have a covenant, you have covenantal conditionality. Could the nation of Israel have repented corporately, even after they had crucified their King? Certainly they could have. The entire book of Zechariah, another apocalyptic book, outlines what would have happened if they had repented. In other words, Zechariah presented a different picture of the future than Daniel did. The disciples first went to the Jews in the hope that they would repent. Jesus, the Prophet, threatened Israel with the covenant curse in Matthew 23 in the hope that they would repent. It is hard to imagine how differently things would have turned out if they corporately received Jesus as their Savior and King. How then would 1844 figure in? And what of the ‘repent or else’ statements of Jesus to the 7 churches in Rev.2 & 3? Remember, the entire book of Revelation is rooted in the theology of covenant and uses the language of covenant. For example, all of the major Old Testament covenants are alluded to in Rev.21:1-7; finding their christological anti-typical fulfillment. I say christological because every verse in Revelation must be understood in light of the Christ Event. The covenantal nature of Revelation, therefore, with the consequent covenantal conditionality revealed in the explicit ‘repent or else’ statements of Jesus makes date setting and a day for a year so-called principle simply untenable. Where in the New Testament do we see the New Testament prophets utilizing the well known pesher theme of fulfillment language such as “this is that� or an “it is written� in regards to an investigative judgment beginning in 1844? E.g. Acts 2:17; 1:20. It simply isn’t there. A study and comparison of the key words and concepts of Rev.14:7; (Adventism’s favorite passage), with John 12:23-34; (e.g. ‘hour’, ‘glorified’, ‘glorify’, ‘judgment’, ‘now – has come’, ‘worship/serve’); reveal that these two passages are speaking about the same event. In his gospel, John put his finger on Daniel by speaking of the Danielic ‘Son of Man’ simultaneously being lifted up and exalted on Calvary’s cross thereby casting out Satan, the ruler of this world. John 12:34. This reveals that John the Revelator intended Rev.14 to begin with the kingdom gospel of the cross and to cover the entire church age. Therefore, Rev.14 not just a so-called end time message. Rev.14 is the flip side of the coin of Rev.13. Revelation chapter 13 also covers the entire church age. Important it is to note that Daniel is alluded to but not citied in Rev.13. What a marvelous opportunity for John to say ‘this is that�. But he didn’t. Satan’s two witnesses are but a counterfeit and parody of God’s two witnesses. A comparison of Rev.13 and Rev.11 shows a multitude of correspondences. The dead ‘body’ of God’s two witnesses lie in the street of the great city, where also their Lord was crucified. Rev.11:8. As we study these passages in Revelation in light of the relationship between Christ and his bride, it becomes clear that what happened to Christ is now the hermeneutic by which to unseal the prophetic future of the church. If you are looking for the ‘KEY’ to understand Revelation, this is it! One of the heads of the beast of Rev.13 received a fatal wound and was slain. Its healing was like unto a resurrection from the dead. That fatal wound didn’t happen in 1798. It happened at Calvary. Satan, however, didn’t acknowledge defeat. He had killed Christ and decided to kill all of His followers. Revelation 14, therefore, is just another recapitulation of Revelation chapters 11 &13. Rev.14:7 had relevance to the church that John addressed in 96 A.D. The early church had already come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. Rev.14:1; Heb.12:22; Eph.2:6. We and our brothers and sisters may continue to be persecuted but we are even now seated in heavenly places and part of the 144,000’s. The ‘s’ in the Greek acts as a multiplier, meaning myriads of myriads, even being innumerable as the dust of the earth. Rev.5:11; 7:9; Gen.13:16. The cross is the apex of the glory and vindication of God. To re-spin pioneer Adventist theology to put God on some future trial in which He will vindicate Himself in some investigative judgment is close to blasphemy. If God crucified in human flesh doesn’t change ones mind about God, how is some investigative judgment going to do it? Having been crucified and resurrected from the dead, in the fullest manifestation, demonstration and revelation of the ‘righteousness of God’, this Messianic King, this Son of Man, then came to the Ancient of Days, (almost 2000 years ago) in fulfillment of Daniel 7, has received dominion, and has taken His seat at the right hand of God, behind the veil, in the Most Holy Place. Rom.3:21-26; Acts 2:29-36; Eph.1:20. The Kingdom of God is the reign of God. The Kingdom of God was inaugurated and instituted 2000 years ago at the Christ Event. Col.1:13. The Sanctuary is not just the place where the High Priest ministers, it is the throne room of God. Remember, the Sanctuary is a teaching tool, a metaphor. There is always a reality behind the metaphor. Don’t make the metaphor the reality. Atonement, judgment, vindication, retribution, glorification, covenant ratification, and kingdom inauguration all found fulfillment at Calvary. To be justified means to have the verdict of acquittal in the final judgment NOW. The person of Christ who accomplished all these things is our reality. The ‘time, times, and half a time’; the ‘1260 days’; the ‘42 months’ found in Revelation are all qualitative, not quantitative. As Christ ministered for approximately 3 ½ years, so also does the church. (Interesting it is to see the innovative way that John the revelator has utilized the last half of Daniel’s 70th week.) See Matt.10 and Rev.11. in order to understand the relationship between the Head and the body. If Christ had returned in glory and set up His earthly kingdom quickly, in light of the time being near and that these things must shortly take place, the 1260 could still have fulfilled the prophecy qualitatively. Yes, John and all the New Testament prophets understood that the gospel of the kingdom must first be preached to the whole earth and then the end shall come; but they also believed that the wrap up was imminent. 1 Thess.4:14-18. Even a cursory reading of Rev.12 makes a date of 538 A.D. untenable and unreasonable. Did John the Seer look down through time and see the dragon waiting to persecute the woman in 538? The church was already undergoing persecution! Did he see a deadly wound in 1798? Did he see Christ moving into the Most Holy Place in 1844 for a work of investigative judgment? Hardly! He saw that Michael had cast out Satan, reminiscent of Daniel 12, at Calvary. He saw that even NOW the kingdom of God and the authority of Christ had come, all in light of the blood of the cross. Rev.12:7-11. The words that got Jesus killed, as recorded by the writers of the synoptic gospels, was his threat to tear down the Temple. As the gospel of John reveals continually, Jesus regarded His own body as the new Temple. John 2:16-22. When Jesus raised Himself from the dead, He was actively fulfilling Dan.8:14. He understood that the role of the King was to mediate the covenant between Israel and God, to fight the battles of the LORD, to tear down the abomination that desecrates/desolates, and to build the Temple. Therefore, restoration of the Sanctuary to its rightful state (which is one and the same as the inauguration of the Kingdom of God) and the revelation of the righteousness and vindication of God both found fulfillment at Calvary. Read John chapters 1-12 in this light. Truly, something greater than the Temple is here! Matt.12:6. Consider that the Septuagint was heavily utilized by the early church. It has been said that approximately 80% of the quotes of and allusions to the Old Testament that are found in the New Testament come from the Septuagint. The Greek version of the Old Testament had widespread usage at the time of Christ. Consider also that 1st and 2nd Maccabees are in the Septuagint. Jesus himself validated the feast of Hanukkah (Temple Dedication) with his presence, thereby validating the Septuagint, the books of Maccabees, and the importance of the relatively recent history of the Jews. John 10:22,23,36. The reason that John continually recorded the actions of Jesus at the Jewish feasts was to enable the reader to understand that Jesus saw Himself as the focus and fulfillment of those feasts. The importance of the actions of Jesus in the Temple cannot be overstated. When Jesus made His presence known at the Feast of Dedication / Hanukkah, He was looking ahead and anticipating the action that He was about to take at Calvary’s cross to tear down the abomination of desolation and subsequently raise up a new Temple. By his attendance at this feast, Jesus was not only validating the history of Israel, but saw himself as the anti-typical Judas Maccabaeus. Jesus, however, exemplified the actions of Judas Maccabaeus in a way that the Jews did not understand. If Jesus has led revolutionaries against the Romans, they might have accepted Him as their King. If every Adventist would take the time to read the first five chapters of 1 Maccabees, and do a comparison with Dan.8 &11, it would be extremely difficult to fail to see the connections. Antiochus’ significance isn’t to be understood in comparison to Rome but in light of his significance to God’s people. If he had been successful in wiping out the religion and faithful people of Israel, there would have been no people for the Messiah to have come from or to come to. Interesting it is to note that many apostate Jews forsook their covenant with the LORD and linked hands with Antiochus. Two hundred years later, Satan again linked hands with two co-conspirators, that is the religious apostates and the state, to wipe out the family of God in One Man, that is the corporate representation of the Remnant, even the Israel of God, that is, the Son of God. Covenantal corporate oneness and solidarity is the key to understanding this. Jesus embodied and personified the nation of Israel, the holy city Jerusalem, and the Temple. God in his wrath tore all three down as Christ bore the covenant curse that He might alone bear the judgment due His people while simultaneously tearing down Satan’s kingdom. Conversely, the faithful Servant of the Lord, by His active obedience, has earned for us the covenant blessing. The eschatological purpose of God is that the foundation of a new Temple on a Mountain, a new Eden, a new Garden filled with the sons and daughters of God has been raised up in Christ and will grow to fullness in His people. Adventism has stalled. Continued study and discussion is needed. It is always necessary to take one’s theology to its ultimate conclusion. The truth will stand the strongest scrutiny. Our hope must always rest on a Person, not on a theology. That Person is Jesus. Let us, therefore, consider Jesus and continue to consider Jesus, a Prophet mighty in deed and word, in whom are all the unfathomable riches of God. Remember, the Lamb is not only ‘The’ Prophet, He is Himself the prophecy. He Himself is the LORD God of the covenant. We must carefully consider all His words and actions, especially Gethsemane and Calvary. It is by learning of Him that we will begin ‘understand’ the future with clarity.