The Underground Episode 43: Discussing Premillennialism with Reggie Kelly from Joel Richardson on Vimeo.

(1hr:15min)
 

Right Click to Download Four Beasts Rise from the Sea – Dan Ch 7 (35mb)

Daniel’s vision of the four beasts is the second vision in the book of Daniel (Chapter 7) and provides additional detail to the first vision in Chapter 2. They all point to a climax that will occur in “the last days.” Reggie Kelly and Phil Norcom lead us through the five visions of Daniel with emphasis on what they mean for Israel and the Church (The Mystery of Israel).

Video of this messages is also available. See Course below

(1hr:15min)
 

Right Click to Download The King’s Dream – Dan Ch 2 (37mb)

The vision of Nebuchadnezzar is the first vision in the book of Daniel (Daniel Chapter 2) and provides a foundation for the four visions that follow. They all point to a climax that will occur in “the last days.” Reggie Kelly and Phil Norcom lead us through the five visions of Daniel with emphasis on what they mean for Israel and the Church (The Mystery of Israel).

Video of this messages is also available. See Course below

The ten kings are clearly contemporaries with the final “little horn” who emerges among the ten horns of the last beast kingdom. [Note: This ‘little horn’ (Dan 7:8; 8:9) is the self exalting prince that takes away the regular sacrifice in Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 (Compare also Mt 24:15). He is also the “willful king” (Dan 11:36-37) whom Paul calls the ‘Man of Sin’ in 2Thes 2:3-4. A comparison of the language of Dan 11:36-37 with 2Thes 2:3-4 puts beyond question that Paul has in mind the same individual that commits the desolating sacrilege in the temple of God (‘holy place’) in Jerusalem that starts the great tribulation spoken of by Jeremiah in Jer 30:7, by Daniel in Dan 12:1, and referenced again by Jesus in Mt 24:21. Without question, this great and unequaled tribulation must be future, as it begins with a specific and well described signal event (Dan 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4) and ends in nothing short of Jesus’ personal return in glory (Mt 24:29-31) and the resurrection of the righteous (Dan 12:1-2, 13).]

Therefore, since the ten toes on the feet of the metallic image in Dan 2:41-42 so obviously correspond to the ten horns of the last beast mentioned in Dan 7:24 and Rev 17:12, it can hardly be denied that the kingdom of Dan 2:44 and Dan 7:27 is ‘set up’ only AFTER the destruction of the final beast, as any fair comparison of Dan 7:11, 26-27 with Rev 19:20; 20:4-6 will show. The apocalyptic symbolism of Daniel and Revelation does not obscure the order of events. On the contrary, the time and order of the principal events could hardly be more clear. Manifestly, the thousand years of Christ’s reign ‘on the earth’ (Rev 5:10) cannot begin until the ‘first resurrection,’ and the first resurrection is identified as ‘first’ in specific connection with those saints in particular that were beheaded by the last beast of the last persecution. (compare Rev 6:10-11; 20:4-6).

This is why the denial of a future millennial reign of Christ usually goes hand in hand with a denial of a personal Antichrist and a future tribulation of unequaled severity (Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21). The amillennial system of interpretation can ill afford to grant literal and future fulfillment to the prophecies concerning Antichrist and a future great tribulation, since this would force recognition of a special divine dealing and covenanted future for the nation of Israel.

It is hardly to be denied that Paul sees a particular individual (the ‘Man of Sin’) as present on the scene when Christ returns to destroy him (2Thes 2:3, 8). He had not yet come at the time of Paul’s writing, but Paul fully expects the Thessalonians to be able to recognize him by an appalling act of self-exaltation in the temple of God at Jerusalem (2Thes 2:4 with Mt 24:15; Dan 11:31, 12:11).

This ultimate scene of covenant defiance was clearly predicted by Daniel (Dan 11:31; 12:11). Although this kind of desecration has had parallels in Israel’s past (e.g., Antiochus IV, Pompey), it is to this prophecy in particular that Jesus directs  His disciples’ attention, instructing them to “read and understand” what Daniel had said concerning this pivotal sign (Mt 24:15).

That Paul’s ‘Man of Sin’ and John’s ‘beast’ is not a reference to some ubiquitous system or principle of evil, or succession of persons, but a particular ruler that dominates the world at the time of the end is made clear when we compare the use and application of Daniel’s prophecy in Jesus (Mt 24:15, 21 with Dan 11:31; 12:1-2, 11), Paul (2Thes 2:4 with Dan 11:36-37), and Revelation (Rev 13:5, 7; 19:20 with Dan 7:11, 21, 25; 12:7).

The surrounding context of the passages from Daniel that are specifically referenced in the NT show clearly that this “coming prince” (Dan 9:26) is a ruler that rises out of one of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom (Dan 8:9). Before his attack on Israel (Dan 11:31), he is depicted as engaged in political strategies and military conquests throughout the region (Dan 11:23-30). Even after Israel has been overwhelmed, he continues to attack other nations and is attacked in return (Dan 11:40-45). In view of such clear and specific language, it becomes absurd to deny that the Antichrist is a definite single individual.

Regardless of the particulars, this much is clear and irrefutable: The age cannot end until this well identified and recognizable ruler is present (2Thes 2:3-5), since he comes to his appointed end by nothing less than the Word of Christ at His personal appearance in glory (Isa 11:4; 2Thes 2:8; Rev 19:15, 20-21). After his destruction, the saints possess the kingdom of God on this present earth and reign with Christ for a thousand years (Dan 7:21-22, 26-27; Rev 20:4).

Clearly, the kingdom that is in view in Daniel’s prophecy does not prevail upon the earth until AFTER the destruction of the Antichrist. Only with the final removal of all false rule do the saints possess the kingdom “under the whole heaven.” This is shown by a comparison of Dan 7:11, with Dan 7:18, 21-22, 27. However, a closer look at the scripture will show that the kingdom that is “set up” upon earth “in the days of these kings” (compare Dan 2:44; 7:24 with Rev 17:12) is the same kingdom that was first awarded to the Son of Man upon His coronation when He ascended in clouds to take His seat at the Father’s right hand (Acts 2:34-36; Heb 12:2; Rev 3:21).

Dan 7:13 says, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

The Son of Man’s coming ‘to’ the Ancient of Days to be ‘brought near’ before Him (the Ancient of Days), would seem to be speaking, not of Jesus’ return, but of His victorious ascent to the right hand of God in heaven. Yet, we see Jesus applying the same language of the cloud-coming Son of Man to His return after the tribulation (Mt 24:30; Rev 1:7; 14:14). From this we see that the same One who ascended with clouds to receive the kingdom, returns with clouds (Mt 24:30; Mk 14:62; 1Thes 4:17; Acts 1:9-11; Rev 1:7) to enforce the power of His heavenly victory upon the earth with the destruction of the Antichrist (Dan 7:13; 2Thes 2:8; Rev 19:20).

Interestingly, the Son of Man is brought near to the Ancient of Days in Dan 7:13, but in Dan 7:22 it is the Ancient of Days that ‘comes’ to consume and destroy the dominion of the persecuting beast (i.e., the ‘little horn’ of Dan 7:8, 11, 20-21). Notice that the judgement is said to be ‘set’ (Dan 7:9-10, 26) at the same time that the beast is destroyed and his dominion ‘taken way’ (Dan 7:11 with Dan 7:26). Equally significant, this is the beast that is destroyed at the end of a final 3 1/2 year period of unequaled persecution (Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:1, 7, 11).

Since the period separating two distinct advents of the Messiah was not clearly discernible until after the revelation of the gospel, we can see  in hindsight that Daniel’s vision is inclusive of the whole sweep of God’s triumph through Christ, extending from the coronation of Jesus at the time of His glorious ascent, to His return in clouds after the tribulation to destroy the Antichrist, raise the righteous, and deliver the surviving remnant of Israel (Dan 12:1-2).

Part of the puzzle of Dan 7:9-10 is the remarkable similarity of language that is used in Daniel and again in Revelation to describe distinct judgments that are a thousand years apart. In Daniel, the judgment is ‘set’  and the ‘books are opened’ when the Ancient of Days comes to destroy the Antichrist (Dan 7:11, 21-22), whereas in Rev 20:12, the books are opened at the end of the thousand years.

Either we are to understand that the books are opened twice, or, more likely, Daniel is viewing the full sweep of divine judgment without distinguishing between the first and second resurrections, since the fate of those that will be raised at the second resurrection is already sealed at the time of the Lord’s return. It is a common feature of OT prophecy to blend into a single scene events that later revelation will show to be separated by a great span of time.

We find a key to this mystery by comparing the language of Dan 7 and Rev 20 with what we find in the twenty fourth chapter of Isaiah. In Dan 7:9, the thrones of the mighty are cast down in association with the destruction of the last beast (Dan 7:11, 21-22, 26-27). The language is fascinatingly similar to what we find in Isa 24:21: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.”

The time in view is clearly the post-tribulational day of the Lord, as the entire context of Isa 24 makes abundantly clear, but notice that the judgment that is visited at this time upon the wicked does not appear to be entirely final. Look closely at Isa 24:22, and you can see a cryptic allusion to the time that John’s later Revelation will show to be the thousand years between the first and second resurrections. “And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.”

In this light, the judgment scenes of Daniel and Revelation can be seen as comprehensive of the full sweep of divine judgment that bounds both ends of the millennium. The imagery is that of a courtroom where the judge sits to pronounce the decisive verdict. But from the standpoint of Christ’s finished work, the verdict has already been passed for the believer who has “passed ‘already’ from death to life” (Jn 5:24).

The believer is depicted as ‘now’ (past tense) ascended and sit down with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 1:3, 20-22; 2:6; Col 3:1). This is already. Not yet is the promise that the overcoming believer will be exalted to sit with Christ in His throne, even as He overcame to sit down with His Father on His throne (Rev 3:21). Of course, this high station of an already secured inheritance must be vindicated in time by the life that overcomes and is not overcome. That life is Christ’s life in the believer (Col 1:27). “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory” (Col 3:4).

The language of being ‘set down’ speaks of Christ’s finished work and victorious triumph over all enemies (Heb 1:3; 2:8; 10:12-13; 12:2; 1Cor 15:24-27). This implies that it was at the ascension that the Son of Man came to the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:13 with Acts 1:9-11). By the sweet smell of His perfect obedience, He was ‘brought near’ to be enthroned at the Father’s right hand (Rev 3:21).

His triumphal ascension over all principality and power (Acts 2:34-36; Eph 1:20-21; Rev 12:5) has secured the heavenly victory by which His saints will quite literally “possess the kingdom under the whole heaven” when He returns with clouds (Mt 24:29-30; 26:64; Acts 1:9-11; 1Thes 4:17; Rev 1:7). Since “all judgment has been committed to the Son” (Mat 28:18; Jn 5:22; 1Cor 15:24), the judgement of the Ancient of Days is no less the judgment of the returning Son of Man.

Note also the remarkable statement in Dan 7:12. After the destruction of the beast in Dan 7:11, mention is made of “the rest of the beasts.” (Should we understand these to be the 10 kings that unite with the Antichrist in Dan 7:24; Rev 17:12? Or is the reference to the four beast kingdoms of Dan 7:3, 17?). In any event, at the time the beast is destroyed in Dan 7:11; Rev 19:20, the “rests of the beasts” have their dominion stripped away at the same time (Dan 7:11-12, 26), but here is what I want us to notice: “their lives are prolonged for a season and a time” (Dan 7:12).

Whatever we make of this, it is certain that there are nations that survive the return of Christ and the destruction of the beast. These are not translated with the church, but go into the millennium in natural bodies. That not all nations are always willingly compliant with the rule of heaven is shown in the reference that Messiah will rule the nations with a rod of iron.