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).
Chapter Two (Click Here if you see nothing below)
[…] We are in the process of editing the video from the September Convocation “A People Prepared for These Last Days.” Audio has been available at the Convocation page since a week or so following the event, but the video files are larger and more difficult to serve. The good news is that almost half of the Daniel Series has been uploaded to YouTube in HD (The YouTube user is “mysteryofisrael“. Going through all the Visions of the book of Daniel verse by verse in one weekend was a bit taxing but we were granted the grace to get all the way through the final chapters that Jesus Himself encouraged us to read – “Let the reader understand.” (Mark 13:14, Matt 24:15) […]
[…] To be “in Christ” is to be “in Israel”. To belong to Christ is to belong to Israel. To be born into Christ is to be grafted into the Israel of God, the Israel of the new creation. En-grafted gentiles are equal heirs of Israel’s covenants of promise, since the covenants and promises were not made with any other people. The seed of faith, the children of Abraham, the circumcision of the Spirit etc. are one regenerate people of God, whom Paul calls, “the election” (Ro 11:7). This is the “holy nation” to whom Jesus said the kingdom would be given (Mt 21:43; 1Pet 2:9). It is the Israel of the new creation, which must extend to the regeneration of an elect number of the natural branches at the coming day of the Lord in fulfillment of the demands of the covenant (Ro 11:26-27). “The election” must at length include a surviving third of Israel, when the nation will be born in a day (Isa 66:8; Zech 3:9; 13:8-9). […]
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The eschatology of the covenant is implicit in many of the statements of Moses. For example, at the threshold of entering the land, Moses declares his pessimism concerning Israel’s ability to continue in the Land. “For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days” (Deut 31:29). Moses puts his finger on the one thing needful, the ‘without which not’ of all covenant inheritance, namely, the necessity for a new heart. “Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. (Deut 29:4).
This would be remedied by the gift of the new heart promised in Deut 30:1-6. Apart from a new creation, the intractable condition of the natural heart virtually dooms the nation to the perpetual curse of judgment and exile. Therefore, Deut 30:6 anticipates the coming in of a New Covenant, which is God’s pre-determined purpose to create a new heart that will enable the Jews to inherit the Land forever. “And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that you may live” (Deut 30:5-6). […]
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Until then, the gospel reveals that power and salvation of that “still coming” DAY has come in unexpected advance of THAT DAY through the revelation of the secret hidden in other ages (Ro 16:25-26; Eph 6:19; 1Pet 1:11). But according to Paul, this present fulfillment of the covenant through the revelation of the mystery of the gospel and gift of the Spirit cannot stop short of the grafting of the natural branches back into their own place. Paul does not present their return as a generous divine initiative tacked on at the end of the age for good measure. No, it is a covenant necessity demanded by the specific language of the covenant, (Ro 11:26-29), which would only be established with the larger nation at the post-tribulational day of the Lord. That is the eschatology of the OT, which the revelation of the mystery modifies, but does NOT erase. The day of the Lord will bring all that the literal reading of scripture said it will bring.
So I see Peter as saying “this is that,” but this is NOT “all” of that. It is indeed the Spirit promised to Israel in association with the well known day of the Lord. The promise of that day has arrived. It is here. But the day itself, and the full balance that remains to be fulfilled at that time remains for a post-tribulational future. Nothing about that has changed. The powers of the age to come have indeed broken decisively into this present evil prior to and apart from the kind of outward transformation expected in association with the day of the Lord. This, however, does nothing to change all that Scripture promises will come to the broken and penitent remnant that will look upon Him whom they pierced (Zech 12:10), when “that generation” will say with one voice, “blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mt 23:39). Hallelujah!
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This forward [Israel – An Evangelical Idol] was sent from a friend. Note other articles on this post on the same topic that merit your attention. Note how closely nuanced this issue has become. It underscores even more how costly the loss if Dan 11:28, 30 is relegated to antiquity, […]
Dear Reggie, Keep up the good work. Your last on Daniel is very helpful. If I understand your view of the unfolding of endtime events, a powerful, charismatic leader will arise who will temporarily “solve” the Middle East problem. He will settle the Palestinian dispute by ceding to Israel the […]
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It is important to see what was at stake in Daniel’s burden. An awesome divine sovereignty was at work in a revelation that would establish the framework of all the future of redemptive history, comprehending the mystery of Christ’s twofold coming to Israel, and reaching at length to Michael’s final eviction of Satan (Dan 12:1 with 2Thes 2:7; Rev 12:7, 10). This great transition reveals the mystery of iniquity in the final man of sin and finishes the mystery of God (2Thes 2:3, 7-8; Rev 10:7). That’s how pivotal Daniel’s revelation is in the larger scheme of things. Therefore, if something of such scale and importance did not come to Daniel without a fight, the church should expect that its fulfillment will not be without a similar earnestness.
Though “heard from the first”, the answer to Daniel’s prayer ‘could not’ reach him apart from an angelic war that required the deepest engagement of spirit on Daniel’s part. It shall be so again, as the godly remnant (the ‘maskilim’; Dan 11:33; 12:3, 10), in absolute certainty of the time, are brought to a Daniel-like urgency of intercessory travail. It is important to recognize that the travail of the heavenly woman depicted in Rev 12, does not end with the
birth and ascension of the Messiah. On the contrary, ‘Zion’s travail’ is not complete short of the full reach of the covenant promise in the post-tribulational salvation of ‘all Israel’ (Isa 13:8-9; 26:16-18; 66:8; Jer 30:6-7; Dan 12:1; Mic 5:3). […]
– In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon –
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). September 11, 2010: mi-a-006
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At September’s Convocation (A People Prepared for the Last Days), Reggie was given one of the sessions to discuss Apocalyptic Evangelism. It didn’t take long for the Lord to steer the evening in a direction of His own choosing, that is, a look at His glorious plan for His Church at the culmination of this age.September 10, 2010: mi-a-005
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