Daniel 9:24
24 "Seventy 'sevens' [a] are decreed for YOUR PEOPLE and your HOLY CITY
to finish [b] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness,
to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy
and to anoint the most holy.
See
this video introduction to the 70 week prophecy.
So the question is.
Who are Daniel's people?
Are they the Jews?
Well the answer here is a resounding "yes!"
Are we satisfied with that answer now?
Or might "Daniel's people" comprise a much larger company of people?
Who are the covenant people of the God of Israel?
Who are the ones the Bible calls, 'The Elect'?
They are also referred to as 'the Chosen People'.
So are we to count Bible believing Christians in that number as well?
THE GOD OF ISRAEL HAS A BIG OVER-ARCHING GLOBAL PLAN.
HIS SERVANT, EVEN MESSIAH AND HIS PEOPLE, WILL BE A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES
AND HIS GREAT SALVATION WILL SHINE OUT TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
Does YHVH-God, the Holy One of Israel, finish up with a covenant people numbering just 16 million?
Or is His grand plan going to draw in a significantly larger number than that?
Some more of Daniel's people.
Christian ladies in prison in
Indonesia. And their crime?
It was sharing the Gospel,
telling children about Jesus,
who is the Light of Israel.
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Isaiah 49:6
6 Indeed He says,
"It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
The God of Israel says that He is going to search out and restore the scattered and lost people of Israel.
But that is still just "small potatoes" for Him. He will do even better than that.
And His grand plan will exceed even that glorious task.
He is going to do something even more spectacular.
He goes on to say,
"I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’"
Well is the Holy One of Israel succeeding?
Is He extending the Congregation of His great salvation to "the ends of the earth"?
Is the promised
"Light to the Gentiles" shining into the dark realms of the heathen?
Has his great salvation spilled out to bring redemption to the goyim, the aliens, the gentiles?
WHO ARE DANIEL'S PEOPLE?
WHO ARE THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM?
IS THIS DETERMINED BY,(OR LIMITED TO), RACE OR DNA?
Here is another issue. Is the God of Israel a racist?
Is he a
respecter of persons with regard to nationality or genetics?
What did Jesus say to the Pharisees who declared proudly that they were the blood/DNA descendants of Abraham?
They declared that on this basis they, (the physical seed of Abraham), were "in" while others were "out".
Are we as dispensationalist evangelicals agreeing with the Pharisees concerning Daniel's people?
Are we too saying that Daniel's people, the children of Abraham, are a company determined just by race?
Are we too saying that the DNA of Abraham's seed marks the boundaries and sets the limits of God's salvation?
Is racial blood covenant the only blood covenant connection that delineates the covenant people of God?
As evangelicals we pride ourselves on saying that we are a "people of the Book".
So why don't we understand what the God of Israel did at Pentecost back 2,000 years ago?
Didn't we see Israel's Holy Spirit spill out to the Gentiles?
Didn't the Congregation of Israel go global at that point?
ISRAEL'S PROMISED MESSIAH BRINGS SALVATION.
THE LIGHT TO THE GENTILES SHINES OUT FROM ISRAEL.
AND A
SINGLE ELECT IS BEING 'CALLED OUT" TO ISRAEL'S MESSIAH.
Dear saints. This is an old story.
But the Covenants of Israel have spilled over the boundaries of Israel.
The covenants are based on faith rather than on race.
The New Covenant fulfillment of the
Day of Pentecost saw God's magnificent plan go forward in a big way.
This was the fourth feast of Israel. And it erupted into holy history a full 2,000 years ago!
So might there be a bigger company of people involved nowadays as "Daniel's people"
Are the covenant people of the God of Israel , the Chosen, the Elect, more than 16 million Jews?
The Jewish people are predominantly the royal tribe of Judah.
But the tribe of Judah is but one tribe out of 12 tribes.
There are ten other so called
'lost tribes of Israel'.
So where are they?
Well, we can't "see" them right now.
So from our point of view they are "lost".
But are they?
OK, most of Israel went into captivity in 722 B.C.
They were mixed and scattered by the Assyrians.
The House of Israel are lost right now, in more ways than one. And like the prodigal they are far from home.
Their paganism has led them into partial blindness.
They say that they "know" the Messiah. But their ministry choices indicate that they
are still steeped in Luciferian selfism. Many of them are still caught up in a web of materialistic idolatry.
Their calf worship is still with them in Europa's EEC. And Aaron's golden calf can still be seen wandering through the stock market.
Their precious Easter (Ishtar) bunnies and Santa Claus pixies are still nestled comfortably in their homes and even inside the churches.
They have been given a Great Commission, which is a global outreach.
But only 4-5% of offerings go overseas where half the people have yet to hear the Gospel even once.
Western Christians are in a moral crisis. They have the same divorce rate as the pagans and
Edomites around about them.
They have taken their riches and freedom as a license to self indulge.
And "grace" has become a license to sin.
They have forgotten the righteous rule of Christ who rules from the throne of David over in the Jewish House of Judah.
The Church in the west are Antinomians. They are becoming more and more fuzzy in their doctrinal beliefs.
Except for Good Friday and Resurrection Day they no longer remember their Hebrew roots
or the other
Holy Days.
And they are not comfortable thinking about a Creator God.
They want to keep Him distant. They are not warming to a
cosmic Christ who came in the flesh, walked among men, performed miracles, and rose from the dead.
Least of all do they want to see Messiah coming again to interrupt their plans and to
rule as King of Kings for 1000 years.
Their waywardness and sin have blinded them. They are wanderers, they no longer appreciate their own identity in their own family.
Not only are they in partial blindness but they are also suffering from amnesia.
They say they are Caucasians. But they don't know where the Caucasus Mountains are or what happened to them back there.
Who will heal them of these maladies?
Is there a Physician to call?
Yes, the situation is pretty bad right now.
So here is another question. And with it comes a glimmer of hope.
Are the
Daniel's 70th week?
The final seven years of this age will certainly be a time of trial and of change.
This will be a time when God resumes His determined covenant dealings with all His covenant people.
The end time drama see an awesome, even epic time of change.
Could it be the occasion in which all these great mysteries will be revealed?
Here is another issue. As Evangelicals we believe Israel will be restored.
So then, should we not expect that this means all 12 tribes of Israel will be found!
So we have a big big question here.
Will Israel be fully restored? Yes or no?
We know what the Replacement Theology in the older denominations affirms.
Evangelicals are well aware of it and steer clear of it.
And rightly so. Replacement Theology along with its companion
Dominion Theology is doctrine with a bloody history.
They say that Israel is finished! Kaput!
They say that the Church has now taken over all the promises God made to Israel.
But we are evangelical Bible believing Christians, right?
We do not believe that, do we?
Or do we?
Ok now, here is the question again.
Will Israel be restored? (And by this we mean totally restored).
What does the Bible affirm in all the wonderful redemptive OT poetry of Israel's restoration? (Isa.35, Isa.60, etc)
Will just one tribe, the Jewish tribe of Judah, come limping home at the end of the age?
Is God disgusted with the Jewish nation? Is He fed up with them for being so slow in coming around?
Does God forget Zech. 12 and Rom. 11. Is He going to turn His back on that Jewish-Israel failure thing?
Does He cancel the Old Covenant "law thing" and open up a second New Covenant "grace for the Church" salvation plan to exclude the Jews?
Does He cut a separate sweetheart deal with a special separate group He calls "The Church".
The Church and the Jewish nation are split right now this is true.
They have been split since the Breach of Jeroboam.
THE BREACH OF JEROBOAM SPLIT ISRAEL INTO TWO HOUSES OR KINGDOMS.
THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM RETURNED TO THE LAND UNDER EZRA AND NEHEMIAH.
JERUSALEM WAS RE-ESTABLISHED AS A SOVEREIGN CITY-STATE.
THE NORTHERN KINGDOM AND THE TEN TRIBES REMAIN SCATTERED IN THE NATIONS.
The breach of Jeroboam split Israel. And the resulting chasm continues to divide His people today.
The rift between the Jewish nation and Western Christendom is very deep and dark.
The fracturing of Israel into two camps is old history. But it definitely involves the Church.
This broken relationship is the reason for much of the jealousy and the vexation. (Isa.11:13)
This is the 'bad blood' that brought us the crusades.
Sadly, much shameful
Church sponsored Anti-Semitism continues to this day.
Apostasy has alienated both houses of Israel from their Messiah.
And sin continues to alienate the Church from Israel, and Israel from the Church.
Today the Judeo-Christian people remain a deeply divided and dysfunctional family.
This is our present political and religious reality.
It goes back to Israel's great divorce around 900 B.C..
And the two great lights of Israel, went there own separate ways.
Woodcut illustration by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld. (1794-1872)
1Kings 12:16
Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them,
the people answered the king, saying:
"What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
To your tents, O Israel!
Now, see to your own house, O David!"
So Israel departed to their tents.
This was the great divorce of Israel,
the awful 'breach of Jeroboam'.
Israel was split into two houses.
One majored in the Law, and the other went looking for Grace.
The object of the hatred and rejection is quite apparent here.
The venom and the rebellion was directed against the Throne of David.
And so, because of misunderstanding, the feud goes on.
The animosity continues to this very day.
But in Messiah comes reconciliation between His Law and His Grace.
In Him comes the Grace and the Shalom each side seeks in the other.
"Mercy and Truth have met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other." (Ps.85:11)
The fullness of the gentiles will be brought in. (Rom.11:25)
The breach of Jeroboam will be healed.
And Judah will be saved. (Zech.12:7-13:1).
The natural olive branches will be grafted back in. (Rom.11)
The people of the lost ten tribes bring with them a "melo-hagoyim".
They are a multitude of companions from the nations.
Over the past two millennia hundreds of millions have come into the Congregation of Israel.
Half of God's Elect are asleep. The other half are alive on this planet right now.
"The Church" is partially blind to its roots in Israel. (Rom.11:25)
Even as Judah is partially blind to her Messiah.
The Church is therefore estranged from the royal tribe of Judah and the Jewish nation.
They do not recognize their Jewish brethren.
Instead, they see two companies, "The Church" and "Israel".
Sadly, they see them as two elects, forever separate.
But this rift between the Church and Israel is not a permanent eternal state of affairs.
From God's eternal perspective it is a temporary aberration.
It was not the state of affairs in the predominantly Jewish Church of the first century.
And it is certainly not God's ultimate eternal plan for His Elect in the future.
IS ISRAEL TO BE A DIVIDED KINGDOM FOREVER?
AND WHAT CAN WE SAY ABOUT YEHOVEH-GOD'S COVENANT PEOPLE?
ARE THER TWO "ELECTS" IN HOLY SCRIPTURE OR ONE?
DOES THE GOD OF ISRAEL HAVE AN APARTHEID POLICY?
YES, HERE ON EARTH TODAY "THE CHURCH" AND "ISRAEL" ARE DIVIDED.
BUT IS THE MATTER SETTLED IN THE HEAVENS FOR ALL ETERNITY?
So does the God of Israel end up with a divided Kingdom?
And does He really have two salvation plans, even an apartheid policy?
Dispensationalist doctrine invariably leads to a two part salvation plan.
One deal is for the Church. The other deal is for the Jews.
If people are not given all the Biblical facts their human reasoning will bring them to this as a logical conclusion.
This 'Church and Israel' apartheid doctrine is not faith.
Rather it is a pragmatic tipping of the hat to present day religious reality.
This belief in a double dealing Yehoveh-God is never admitted to by Bible teachers.
But it is in fact an hidden belief inside the evangelical family. Of curse the subject is taboo. It is never spoken about.
But the false doctrine is like an adder lying on the pew.
It is like a gargoyle the masons have built into our own evangelical Church.
It represents a very clear and present danger to us as Christians.
We stand to be led once a gain on a disastrous "last crusade".
Our yet to be saved Jewish brethren are in special danger with this dispensationalist doctrine.
Israel and our Jewish brothers and sisters stand to face another round of state and church sponsored
anti-Semitism.
Should we not dismantle the two covenant doctrinal monstrosity?
Shouldn't we carry it off to the dump where it belongs?
And are we not better off facing the Biblical facts of a
single Elect?
Can we not let the chips fall where they may?
Let's get back to the Bible here, as good Bereans.
Do we see any evidence at all of a divided Kingdom of God in the Apocalyptic Scriptures?
Jesus said that he would gather not two Elects but one single Elect.
John saw one single Elect gathered before the throne and before the crystal sea.
How many of the 12 tribes will be represented in that great company?
In Revelation chapter 7 John saw an innumerable multitude from every nation, race, and tribe.
Where was the schism there? Did he report seeing a dividing wall separating the Holy People.
And what are we to say about our future home, the New Jerusalem? Here we see the Bride of the Lamb.
Is this same company not the Bride of Christ? Or are there two Elects? http://endtimepilgrim.org/elect.htm
Do we see any evidence for a divided Elect at all in the New Jerusalem, that Holy City of many mansions He is building.
Our heavenly home is a city full of people. It is a city of 12 gates, each one representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
Does it have a big wall down the center, one side for “The Jews” and one side for “The Church”?
Is the Bride of the Lamb, the New Jerusalem, just made up of “The Church”?
Is the Bride of the Lamb, the New Jerusalem, just made up of”The Jews”?
The Bible gives us a clear answer.
His covenant people will be drawn from BOTH.
OK, the next issue is a very important one for us as evangelical Christians.
How are we as Christian believers, people who can make no claim to Jewish or Hebrew blood, identified in Israel?
It is important that we establish our identity in Israel by the truth of the Holy Scripture
and in the graces of the Holy Spirit. If we do not understand and embrace this truth concerning our identity in Israel
in the right way then we shall be subject to manipulation by evil religious spirits.
We have connection to Israel. We were born into it through the new birth. But if we can’t see our way to get there
we shall be enticed to gasp for it in the wrong way, the carnal way, the political way.
Yes, the danger is that we shall become the pawns of carnal crusaders.
Carnal crusading preachers have been seen before in Church history. Pope Urban preached the first crusade.
Latter day crusaders are beginning to gather even now.
They will attempt to entice us to take up the sword.
They will try to make us do carnally and improperly in the flesh what we failed to address properly and Scripturally
in the Spirit of God.
THE TRUE CHRISTIAN BELIEVER IS IN A
BLOOD COVENANT RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST.
AND BY OUR WITNESS TO HIS BLOOD WE RECEIVE OUR PASSPORT INTO THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL.
OK. So how are we as Christian believers identified in Israel?
There are many leads given to us from the Word of God.
One good solid connection is explained to us by our Apostle Paul.
Eph. 2:12-13
12 "....... that at that time you were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
13 BUT NOW in Christ Jesus you who once were far off
have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
Our Apostle Paul is drawing a circle in the sand.
He goes on to label it as the
'Commonwealth of Israel'.
It might also be translated the "Citizenship of Israel".
He says,
"…at that time, (that is before you were saved), you were without Christ.”
Paul says that you as uncircumcised heathen gentiles were outside the circle.
You were without hope, and without God in this world.
That is, before you were saved
"you WERE aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel".
You were
"strangers from the covenants of Israel".
"BUT NOW in Christ you who were once far off
have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
So by the blood of Christ we come inside the circle.
Now we look around us and what do we see?
We are inside the Commonwealth of Israel.
We are now partakers of the citizenship of Israel.
And how is this blood kinship with Israel accomplished?
Obviously, in this blood covenant matter it must be accomplished by a blood covenant connection.
Whose blood?
Our Apostle Paul tells us plainly.
We come into the Commonwealth and Citizenship of Israel by THE BLOOD OF CHRIST!
WE RETAIN OUR NATIONAL CITIZENSHIP AS GOOD CITIZENS.
BUT IN THE BLOOD OF CHRIST WE ENTER THE CITIZENSHIP OF ISRAEL.
And so dear saints, we may be good German citizens,
or wandering Australian citizens with British passports of the British Commonwealth (as we Aussies once were).
We may be American or Scottish citizens from “God’s own country”.
But if we are Christian believers in Christ and saved by His blood we are new creatures.
We still maintain our earthly citizenship as good citizens of our country.
But where is our ultimate eternal citizenship?
Is it not in the Commonwealth of Israel, a global company from every nation race and tribe?
Is not the Seed of Abraham, the indwelling Christ, inside us bringing us into into a new identity in Christ? (Gal3:29)
Does not the indwelling Christ work within us to become “new creatures”, even a royal priesthood and a holy nation? (1Pet. 2:9)
Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiach, is our only hope of salvation.
He is the King of Israel and in Him we have our ultimate identity.
His redemption plan is the only salvation that there is, for the Jew and also for the Gentile.
So, dear saints, the Bible is clear about our connection with Israel.
We do not need to wonder about this anymore.
Nor do we need to be jealous of Judah, the royal tribe.
In Christ we enjoy all 12 flows of the God of Israel.
And so we discover the answer to our original question.
We are part of Daniel’s people after all!
Grace and shalom to the saints.
