Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....January 4, 2021
This month we begin our 9th year of Reflections...I pray in some small way we have touched you for Jesus and His Word...
This is the second in what will be at least 6 teachings on prophecies and the Bible. We are preparing for out Bible Study on the 40 most important prophecies in the OT that Jesus fulfilled in the NT and I want to lay the groundwork for this study with foundational material for you all to study.
All religious books claim to be the word of God, but prophecy sets the Bible apart as having God’s seal of authentication.
This section looks at the reliability of Daniel and the prophecies of Daniel.
Ram With Two Horns
Chapter 8 of Daniel describes a powerful ram with two horns that is soon defeated by a male goat with one powerful horn. Any time you see a horn mentioned in the Bible it is referring to power or exaltation. Daniel 8:3 says:
Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.
The second horn will have more glory that the first horn. I will paraphrase the vision, but I also recommend reading the entire chapter. In Daniel’s vision, he saw a great ram that pushed north, south and west. He did as he willed and no one was able to stop him from becoming great. Suddenly a male goat with a large horn attacked the ram, broke his horns off and trampled him down. He became great and once established, the large horn was broken and four smaller horns replaced it. One of the horns grew and became great and exalted himself as the ‘Prince of the host’. In other words, he will set himself up to be God. He will be an evil transgressor that will cast down truth and put a stop to the daily sacrifices in the sanctuary (or temple). With desolation will pollute the temple for 2300 days and then the temple will be cleansed (Daniel 8:14).
The Bible gives the interpretation of this dream in the second half of Daniel 8. The ram with two horns was the kingdom of Media and Persia and Greece is the male goat that defeated this kingdom. We know this to be Alexander the Great (the stomach and thighs of bronze in the image of the first vision). The desolation that polluted the temple was Antiochus Epiphanes. In 171b.c. Antiochus overthrew the priest and made himself to be God in the temple. He called for and sacrificed a pig on the altar in the temple. This abomination caused the Maccabean revolt. On December 25th, 164b.c., 2,300 days after Antiochus overthrew the priest, the temple was re-consecrated. History documents an exact fulfillment of this prophecy down to the day.
Reliability of Daniel
Let’s stop for a moment and address another criticism that targets the book of Daniel. Critics argue that Daniel was written well after the events which enabled him to predict events with such accuracy. Some also claim that the book of Daniel must have been altered to appear as though it predicted an event that has already happened. It is understandable as to why skeptics are determined to discredit Daniel. Repeatedly, Daniel predicts precise events down to the exact day. As we will study later, even the Messiah was predicted to the exact day in the book of Daniel. Daniel is either an indisputable testimony to God’s plan and sovereign power to execute His declared plan, or it is a complete fraud.
Antiochus’ desecration of the temple was during the ‘400 silent years’ of the Bible. For four centuries, there were no prophets in Israel and no Divine revelations. However, as we can see through world events, in truth God was not silent at all.
One indisputable, verifiable historic event squelches all the claims of late-dating scripture. In 280 BC, Jewish leaders decreed that 70 specially selected scholars would translate the scriptures into Greek. These 70 scholars are known as the Septuagint. Since these documents are still in existence today and historically we know that they were translated almost 300 years before Christ, there is no reasonable argument for late-dating these prophecies. The prediction that Antiochus would set himself up as god in the temple and the temple would be trampled underfoot for 2300 days could not have been written after the fact. We have verifiable history outside of the Bible that shows that Daniel was translated into Greek over 100 years before this wicked man even came to power. Add to this the fact that the book of Daniel was written at least 200 years earlier still. Daniel was written between 500 – 600 years before Christ.
70 Weeks
Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks was delivered by an angel during his prayer and supplication for Israel. As he prayed, the angel Gabriel interrupted him to deliver this prophecy:
Daniel 9:
24 " Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.
25 "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."
The key to understanding prophecy is to interpret scripture by scripture. Instead of trying to fit scripture into our viewpoints, we should shape our beliefs in accordance to the truth of scripture. Many people try to explain away what is plainly stated because it doesn’t fit their end-times model. The first thing to be noted is that verse 24 identifies exactly who this prophecy is directed toward. The prophecy is for Daniel’s people and his holy city. Remember, this prophecy was delivered as a response to Daniel’s prayer for Israel and his request to return to Jerusalem. Daniel was praying because God judged Israel with exile from their land and gave the promise that they would return after 70 years. Daniel was a student of the Bible and recognized that this time was over. If we read on in scripture, we see that Babylon was overthrown and the captives were set free to return. However, along with that freedom, a decree would also be given to begin a countdown to the coming Messiah who would present Himself as King over Israel.
Verse 24 also gives a six-fold prophecy. Let’s examine these 6 parts.
1. To finish the transgression
This was fulfilled or partially fulfilled depending on whether you believe all 70 weeks were fulfilled or if the 70th week remains to be fulfilled. We will discuss this in detail shortly, but I will summarize here. 70 weeks represent weeks of years. In other words, one week equals 7 years and 70 weeks equals 490 years. Some believe that the 70 weeks are sequential and some believe that 69 weeks have been fulfilled. The last week will be the tribulation period and the anti-Christ will make a covenant with Israel and break it halfway through the week. Either way, the purpose of these 70 weeks is to finish the transgressions of Israel.
2. Make an end of sins
This has not been fulfilled. All we need to do is look in the newspaper, watch the evening news or observe the daily life of the world around us. Sin still abounds. Sin has not ended nor will it end until God returns to establish His eternal Kingdom and end the age of rebellion against Him. Some believe that this refers to Jesus’ payment for sins on the cross, but I can’t agree. This prophecy does not say that sin will be atoned; it says it will be ended once the 70 weeks come to a close.
3. Make reconciliation for iniquity
This does refer to the reconciliation is through Christ and was fulfilled on the cross. This also can fit two positions. In relation to the church, the power of sin was broken when Jesus died and the church was born. For the house of Israel, the reconciliation with God will not be acknowledged until Jesus returns to present Himself bodily and they see His scars. We will also cover this in detail later on. It can be argued that this also is partially fulfilled. Colossians 1 says:
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight --
For the church, which has received God’s gift of grace through the cross, reconciliation for iniquity has been fulfilled.
4. Bring in everlasting righteousness
This has not been fulfilled. 2 Peter 1 explains:
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The Bible instructs us to be fruitful in our knowledge of Christ and to be diligent to make our election sure. Our obedience is the result of loving God and looking ahead to the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ. The prophecy of the Messiah’s kingdom was revealed in Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61 begins by proclaiming the gospel and the acceptable year of the Lord. Jesus made it clear that He only came to fulfill the first two verses of Isaiah 61. The remainder of the chapter foretells the vengeance of the Lord followed by His everlasting kingdom of righteousness. The acceptable year of the Lord, the vengeance of the Lord and the everlasting kingdom are one event, though they are separated by time and history.
5. Seal up vision and prophecy
It takes a little more examination to understand this portion of the prophecy. If we keep to the rule of allowing the Bible to interpret the Bible we will never fall off course. The context surrounding this passage does not make it clear; therefore we should look at what is clear to interpret what is clouded. In Nehemiah chapter 9, the prophet Nehemiah called the people to repent of their sins and return to the law handed down by God through Moses. Nehemiah presented the truth, called the people of God to repentance, made a covenant with God, and then they all placed their seal on as a testimony that they believed and held to the truth of this covenant.
In Esther 8, the King issued a decree and sealed it with his signet ring to show authority of the document. Isaiah 8:16 says to bind up the testimony and seal the law among the disciples. If we take this back to Daniel, sealing the vision and prophecy would indicate the authority of the prophecy and the surety of the vision to come to pass. In other words, God has provided the prophecy and entrusted Daniel with the authority to write it down as it will surely come to pass. This seal should not be mistaken with the sealing of the prophecy in Daniel 12:4. This prophecy of the final earthly kingdom was to be shut up and sealed because it was only for the time of the end. In context we know the latter prophecy was closed, sealed and not to be understood during the time of Daniel.
6. To anoint the Most Holy
The ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy of the 70 weeks was to point to the anointing of the Messiah. From the time the decree goes forth to the time that Messiah presents Himself as King will be 7 weeks plus 62 weeks. 483 years after that decree, Jesus Christ will present Himself as the King of the Jews. Look at Messiah the Prince of Daniel 9:25 a little closer. The word ‘prince’ in this passage comes from the Hebrew word, ‘nagiyd’ which literally means ‘ruler’. A good example of this word is found in 1 Kings 1:35
35 "Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah."
Ruler and King are uses as synonymous to each other. When the king’s son, Abner, was killed in 2 Samuel 3:38, King David said that “a great prince has fallen today”. The word for prince comes from the Hebrew word, ‘sar’. The prince was royalty, but he was not a ruler over the nation. Other Hebrew words are also translated as prince, but do not equate to being king. So when we see that Messiah the Prince is coming, we know it is the ruler or King of Israel.
We know that the prophecy of the 70 weeks is not fulfilled because the six-fold purpose remains unfulfilled. God declared that at the end of the 70 weeks, these things would be fulfilled. We are awaiting to completed redemption and the end of sin. Israel is awaiting the reconciliation promised to them as a people. Both the church and the house of Israel are waiting for the everlasting kingdom of righteousness.
The point of confusion is that people miss the intent of prophecy. Prophecy is not meant to predict the future, but so that you will recognize the future when it arrives and be confident in God’s plan until it comes to pass. What is prophesied as one event often is not fulfilled in unbroken history. Rather than giving my opinion, in the next lesson I will give scriptural examples.
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
I believe this is a great way to begin 2021.....
Kindness is Contagious Story
by Phyllis Yearick
My 9-year-old daughter and I were flying from our home in Charlotte,
North Carolina, to spend a week with my husband in Miami, Florida. Mike
had been in Florida for five months working for an Internet start-up
company. We were excited about the trip because we had seen him only five
times in five months, and Kallie missed her dad terribly.
As usual on the Charlotte-to-Miami flight, the plane was totally full.
I had noticed a troop of Boy Scouts at the gate and commented to my
daughter that if anything happened, we would be OK with all those Scouts
on our flight! Little did I know....
Because we did not get our boarding passes until we arrived at the
gate, Kallie and I could not get seats together and were separated by the
aisle. That wasn't such a big deal, except that Kallie was nervous about
the trip and had counted on my reading to her the whole way. Trying to
read across the aisle would be a challenge.
When the two passengers who shared my row boarded the plane, I asked
if they would switch places with Kallie and me, so that we could be
together and so that she could sit next to the window. They refused,
saying they thought they should stay in their assigned seats. Meanwhile,
a mother and her three children were in a panic several rows ahead of us.
There had been a mistake in their boarding passes, the whole family had
been split up.
The passengers in her row also refused to move elsewhere. The mother
could hold her baby, but her 6-year-old son and his older brother had
been scattered around the plane. She was very concerned about the younger
boy sitting with strangers. She was in tears, yet nobody offered to help
her.
Suddenly the Scout leader stood up and said, "Ma'am, I think we can
help you." He then spent five minutes rearranging his group so that
adequate space was available for the family. The boys followed his
directions cheerfully and without complaint, and the mother's relief was
obvious.
Kallie, however, was beginning to panic at the thought of not being
next to a window or her mother. I told her that there wasn't anything I
could do; we would have to sit where we were. Amazingly, the man sitting
next to the Scoutmaster (not a Scout himself), turned around to me and
asked, "Would you and your daughter like our seats?" referring to himself
and the Scoutmaster. He said he was cramped in the window seat and would
really prefer the aisle. We traded seats and continued our trip, very
much relieved to be together and watch the scenery from Kallie's window
seat.
Would that man have offered us his seat if the Scouts hadn't done so
for the mom and her children? I don't know. But I do know that kindness
is contagious, and good deeds beget good deeds!
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
Let's begin 2021 with a look at the religion of....Confucianism
Many people would describe Confucianism as a philosophy or ethical system rather than a religion. This is probably what Confucius himself intended. His writings teach about how to live and conduct oneself in this life here and now. He was personally agnostic, if not atheistic; while not directly challenging belief in gods and the supernatural, he was indifferent as to their existence—as far as he was concerned, they were irrelevant to what’s really important.
But in the centuries after his death, his followers gradually folded his memory and image into the religious practices already existing in China. The Chinese prefer the term veneration rather than worship to describe the rituals connected with their ancestors. To the outside observer, though, the rituals would look very similar to the worship practiced by other religions. It is the inward intent that distinguishes the two concepts.
Ancient Chinese religions were polytheistic, with strong animistic elements. Gods of nature were particularly significant; local deities frequently received the most worship. The gods of a particular village or area were prayed to and offered sacrifices of food and drink on special occasions, often marked by the seasons or whenever the community experienced tragedy or blessing. These sacrifices were seen as something of an exchange: The people offered the gods something; the gods were expected to return the favor with good weather, good harvests, and good health. While the major deities were more or less permanent, if a local god failed to produce the expected blessings, he might be replaced by another deity. The local gods were also seen as part of the community and were expected to participate in local events. It was common to transport a god’s statue under a canopy, to show proper respect, from the shrine to a funeral, wedding, or drama taking place in the village.
Another concept central to Chinese life—balance and harmony—is found in the principle of Yin and Yang. The Chinese believe that out of chaos, or undifferentiated potential, emerges this balance. Yin and Yang are pairs of opposites that together make up the whole of life. The Yin principle contains the feminine, darkness, cold, wetness, while the Yang is made up of the masculine, light, heat, dryness. Good and evil are not opposites in the Yin/Yang sense. A balance of Yin and Yang is good—an imbalance is evil.
And this was the norm in the time of Confucius (born 551 bc). Despite growing up in poverty, he received an education, and even as a youth showed interest in social order and government structures, which became the primary topic of his teaching and writing. His knowledge and wisdom attracted many followers, and he was able to support himself as an itinerant teacher for about thirty years. At age fifty, he became prime minister of a Chinese province. According to legend, the government organized by his principles produced an era of near perfection, devoid of crime and highly prosperous. Jealous rivals managed to drive him out after five years, however, and he returned to a life of teaching. As an older man, he finally secured another, lesser position in a different province where he served until his death.
Neither Confucius nor his ideas were widely known at that time. Seventy of his disciples wrote down his teachings and spread them throughout China. They also wrote commentaries and expanded on his teachings. Within a century of his death, his ideas were known all over China. Knowledge of his writings and principles became a standard part of the educational system. The best-known of his disciples was Mencius, born about a hundred years after Confucius died. The Book of Mencius elaborates on Confucius’s original teaching and adds some of his own ideas.
The core of Confucian teaching concerned proper relationships and reciprocal obligations. He spoke much about li, a Chinese word usually rendered “propriety.” Li was the outward component of his teaching; its inward counterpart was jen, “goodness.” Jen, he thought, was very rare and could only come from within, while li could be encouraged or even enforced through the right structures. Confucius, and Mencius after him, believed man was basically disposed to do good if the right conditions existed. To them, this meant a strong government with appropriate order and benevolent rulers. He believed a perfect society would result when key relationship pairs showed correct behavior toward each other. Those he identified as most important are:
1. Father to son (kindness from father/piety from son [filial piety])
2. Elder brother to younger brother (gentility from elder/humility from younger)
3. Husband to wife (righteous behavior from husband/obedience from wife)
4. Elder to junior (consideration from elder/deference from junior)
5. Ruler to subject (benevolence from ruler/loyalty from subject)
While Confucian teachings spread and came to be adopted as the basis for Chinese society in the centuries after his death, veneration of his spirit became more closely linked to traditional Chinese religion. Introduction of Mahayana Buddhism into China around ad 300 accelerated this process, since Confucius came to be looked upon as another “Enlightened One.” From this it was a small step toward deification and worship. Although Confucius himself never claimed his writings came from inspiration, they came to be seen as having supernatural origins due to their great wisdom and impact on China.
According to his disciples, when Confucius was asked about what would happen in the next life, he replied, “We have not yet begun to understand this life. How can we even ask about the next
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
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