What in the World is Going On?
The People Who Know Their God
Daniel 11: 32-35
He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder.
When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time. 32-25
I could have entitled this section, “The Tribulation Saints”. Who are they? Is the church gone, raptured up to heaven at this point?
It makes complete sense for some of us to be thinking, “Is it really all that important to know all of this? After all, we Christians will not see any of it, at least not from down here.”
I will address this a bit later. For now we will look closely at these verses in Daniel.
... To bring us up to date:
In the verses above we note:
So who are these people? Here are the choices:
A. If the rapture has already happened at this point (a pre-trib rapture) then these people get referred to as Tribulation Saints. These would be anyone who was an unbeliever at the time of the rapture and therefore they are still here. They accept the gospel by finding it on their own, become strong believers and many, if not most of them, end up dying for their faith in Jesus.
- Or -
B. If the rapture has not happened (if there is no pre-trib rapture) then these are believers who are living at the time that the tribulation begins, find themselves in a very unique time of history and become very strong in their faith to point that many of them end up dying for their faith in Jesus.
I will devote a separate session on outlining the scriptures and reasons for both a 'pre-trib' rapture teaching, and the scriptures and reasons for a 'non pre-trib' rapture teaching.
For now, let's take a look at a New Testament segment where Paul addresses this same event.
I will insert a word(s) in the scripture here and there to call our attention to or underscore what Paul is pointing out.
2Th 2:1-11 ¶ Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him (the rapture), we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord (Paul's alternate way about discussing the topic … the rapture) has come(and that you may have missed it). 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day (the rapture) will not come, (You didn't miss it,) unless the rebellion (the great apostacy, time of lawlessness) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. (God has this in his calendar) 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he (the Holy Spirit) who now restrains it (lawlessness) will do so until he is out of the way (see the note below). 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming (this is not the rapture, but it refers to when Jesus comes to earth, sometime after the rapture).
9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (who does the Antichrist deceive? Those who have heard the gospel but...), because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, (People who have heard the gospel, but so far rejected it, once Antichrist begins his work, these people cannot be saved because God blinds them.) so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
This begs the question, if the rapture has already happened and all those left behind who have heard the gospel and missed the rapture because they have been rejecting the gospel are now are blinded … who then are the 'tribulation saints'?According to Paul there will be no one on the day of the rapture to answer people who say … “What just happened? Where has everyone gone?” No one will say, “Oh no! I know what happened. It's the rapture and I missed it! Jesus, I repent of my sin … I believe you now! Forgive me! Save me!” And now this person becomes a tribulation saint? No, Paul says that this will not and cannot happen because God sends strong delusion upon them.
So, who are the people during the tribulation that ARE able to be saved? Answer: Only those who have NOT heard the gospel and rejected it.
Many commentators refer to the 'He' underlined above, as referring to the Holy Spirit. He is the one whose mission it is to deal with sinfulness: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: John 16:8
And when did he come? On the day of Pentecost. The scripture above mentions that 'he is out of the way'
Some see this as a kind of 'reversal' of the day of Pentecost. This would mean that the Holy Spirit is taken up from the earth. But because the Holy Spirit is also given as 'comforter' to the church, this would mean that the church would have to go too. Why? Because Jesus promised to not leave the church 'comfortless'.
Others do not read into it that the Holy Spirit removes himself from the earth, but that rather He continues to restrain sin until the event on God's calendar rolls around. At the timing of God, the Holy Spirit steps back and sin begins to multiply like a snow ball rolling down a mountain, gathering size and momentum and finally turning into an avalanche.
We have just read what Paul is prophesying about the coming tribulation. Here is what Jesus said about it:
Mt 24:3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars (The world wars between the king of the north and the king of the south). See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places (The famines mentioned in Rev 6, the black horse and rider). 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. (this is the persecution after the opening of Seal #5) 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased,(The 'Restrainer no longer restrains) the love of many will grow cold (this is the apostasy, the 'falling away' that Paul referred to). 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 15 "So when you see (Jesus is going back to the 'breaking of the covenant by the King of the north )the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), etc.
So both Jesus and Paul mention an increase in lawlessness affecting believers. Jesus said “The love of many will grow cold”.
Paul calls is 'apostasia', a Greek word which means to 'fall away'. The word 'rebellion' in the ESV not really that accurate.
And Daniel said this:
And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble,
What is happening with 'the people who know their God' during this terrible time?
Some are instructing … with great urgency no doubt.
Many are falling away … Jesus words in Matthew 23:12
Now lets look at this in two different ways.
2 Scenarios:
1. If the rapture has not happened (in our Daniel study verses 32-35) we have scenario something like this:
There were believers who were watching for the signs of His coming. The moment they realize that the tribulation has begun, knowing what terrible things are about to take place, they prayerfully take their stand. They begin to share Jesus with loved ones and neighbors who have heard the gospel but for some reason had not accepted Jesus. But they find out that they have been given a 'strong delusion' by God. No one gets saved! They have to turn their efforts toward those who have never heard. These will be terrible times but they rest in the fact that they have the Comforter to sustain them.
Let's look at our verses in Daniel.
People who know their God … stand firm and take action. They know what is coming. They strengthen their stand in God's word.
These Christians begin to teach: And the wise among the people shall make many understand,
They can speak of hope in the midst of this dark outlook. They know his coming is near, even at the doors. (Mark 13:29)
They will speak of the need to be ready (Mt 24:44), (1 John 3.3)
They will 'encourage one another as they see the day approaching'. (Hebrews 10:25)
They, like the early believers, will pray to be filled with boldness: Ac 4:29 “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, …. 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
And they … shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder.
This persecution is described in Revelations 6
Re 6:9-11 ¶ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
The Holy Spirit gives a 'heads-up' to believers that find themselves facing great danger:
Re 2:8 ¶ "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. 9 "’I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
The book of Revelation contains 7 letters to 'the seven churches of Asia' (Rev 1:11). Some commentators have put forward the idea that these seven churches represent church history, beginning with the book of Acts but spanning into our present time and even into the immediate future.
In other words, the first church that is listed, is the church in Ephesus. In the above theory, the Ephesus church is thought to represent all of the churches in the first few century or so. Skipping to number seven is the church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:14). This church is noted for being self-sufficient and lukewarm … needing nothing from God. So the theory is that this church represents the final age of the church … our age. Proponents of this belief encourage us to take note of the church in our age and recognize our overall lukewarmness and self-sufficiency.
What is wrong with this theory is simply that this view only fits North America and other countries where Christianity is allowed to exist freely without persecution. The fact is, a large percentage of the church is not Laodicean in nature. 'The Jesuit Review' reports persecution of all denominations at 27%. The organization called 'Open Doors' reports 10%.
There is no way that Christians in these parts of the world see themselves as 'well-off' … needing nothing. For them, the church of Smyrna best describes their situation.
So what am I saying? That all seven churches of Asia are representative of all true churches over all of time, and that they do not characterize or represent 'ages' of church history. We have many 'Smyrna' churches in the world today. But we have many Laodicean churches in our country.
Open Doors reports:
Every month, on average:
Re 12:11 And they have conquered him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
When a Christian lives his life being faithful to God, serving Him, trusting Him … and then ends up dying at the hands of someone who hates God and his followers … that person has won the war.
But not all of the faithful die during the tribulation. With many it will be like it was in the book of Acts:
Acts 8:3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 ¶ Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
The next phrase in Daniel states: they shall receive a little help.
During this seven year period of time, especially in the last three and half years, God commissions two witnesses:
Revelation 11:3 ¶ “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” … 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.
It is interesting to me that Daniel reports this as being a 'little' help. To me it sounds remarkable
On the one-hand they receive a little extra help … but on the other, they will have problems with other Christians.
many shall join themselves to them with flattery
Jesus, speaking of this same seven year period of time, said this:
"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. Mt 24:9,10
Family will also be a problem:
Mr 13:12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.
Lu 21:16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death.
For some of the believers this is a time of refinement. God knows that they need this.
some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white,
God wants His children to be spotless and pure. There are some who teach that all Christians are spotless and pure because of the what Christ did for them on the cross. In other words, God sees us as being sinless. This is not really true.
God sees us Holy and sinless … only in one regard. That is our standing in Him. Our basis for calling ourselves children of God is the sin-cancelling work of Jesus on the cross. He paid it all. Our sin debt is cancelled.
That is our standing. I am a child of God based on what Jesus did for me. In that sense God sees me holy and perfect, because He is really looking at Jesus and not looking at me.
But our 'walk' is a different story. In that regard we are often found lacking. James points out that the person who knows to do good … and does not do it … is sinning. (James 4:17)
This affects all of us. This will affect believers in the tribulation as well. Many will be made white.
Bad, hard, difficult, trying times should have a way of turning our hearts to God. In some cases it causes people leave God.
The people who know their God – whether we are talking about the church in the tribulation, believers in the tribulation if the church is gone … or talking about ourselves … right here, right now, we need to walk before Him in purity, in wisdom and understanding, ready to warn others of what lies ahead. Now is the day of salvation
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, Heb 2:1-3
2Co 6:2 ... Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Heb 10:25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Next time: The king of the north and the king of the south face off.
* The King of the north ... who is he? Some sources say that it is Turkey and not Russia. All of the nations listed in Ezekiel 38:1-13 are in Turkey, except for Rosh. These nations are listed as coming against Israel WITH Rosh. I take Rosh to be Russia.
When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time. 32-25
I could have entitled this section, “The Tribulation Saints”. Who are they? Is the church gone, raptured up to heaven at this point?
It makes complete sense for some of us to be thinking, “Is it really all that important to know all of this? After all, we Christians will not see any of it, at least not from down here.”
I will address this a bit later. For now we will look closely at these verses in Daniel.
... To bring us up to date:
- A smooth-talking, evil person, known as the *king of the north has made a seven year agreement with Israel, virtually replacing any other country or government who has been Israel's ally prior to this.
- This northern king plots against a southern power which poses a threat to him.
- The northern king initiates a battle against the southern power – and succeeds in reducing the threat.
- Peace-talks are held … but both kings have no intention of disarming
- The northern king initiates a second battle after about a year. This time he was unsuccessful … so he returns home and arranges for support by acquiring more allies.
- With new courage he reveals his true colors and breaks his Jewish accord and turns viciously on all Jews who believe in Jehovah.
In the verses above we note:
- There are people present who truly know God - people who know their God
- These are people of strong faith - stand firm
- These people suddenly go into action - take action
- They teach MANY about what is really going on. - make many understand
- Many become martyrs - shall stumble by sword
- Those still living receive some help. - they shall receive a little help
- There will be hypocrites among them. - many shall join themselves to them with flattery
- Some of the true believers will be caught unprepared. - some of the wise shall stumble
- These unprepared believers need to be refined. - so that they may be refined, purified, etc.
So who are these people? Here are the choices:
A. If the rapture has already happened at this point (a pre-trib rapture) then these people get referred to as Tribulation Saints. These would be anyone who was an unbeliever at the time of the rapture and therefore they are still here. They accept the gospel by finding it on their own, become strong believers and many, if not most of them, end up dying for their faith in Jesus.
- Or -
B. If the rapture has not happened (if there is no pre-trib rapture) then these are believers who are living at the time that the tribulation begins, find themselves in a very unique time of history and become very strong in their faith to point that many of them end up dying for their faith in Jesus.
I will devote a separate session on outlining the scriptures and reasons for both a 'pre-trib' rapture teaching, and the scriptures and reasons for a 'non pre-trib' rapture teaching.
For now, let's take a look at a New Testament segment where Paul addresses this same event.
I will insert a word(s) in the scripture here and there to call our attention to or underscore what Paul is pointing out.
2Th 2:1-11 ¶ Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him (the rapture), we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord (Paul's alternate way about discussing the topic … the rapture) has come(and that you may have missed it). 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day (the rapture) will not come, (You didn't miss it,) unless the rebellion (the great apostacy, time of lawlessness) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. (God has this in his calendar) 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he (the Holy Spirit) who now restrains it (lawlessness) will do so until he is out of the way (see the note below). 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming (this is not the rapture, but it refers to when Jesus comes to earth, sometime after the rapture).
9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (who does the Antichrist deceive? Those who have heard the gospel but...), because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, (People who have heard the gospel, but so far rejected it, once Antichrist begins his work, these people cannot be saved because God blinds them.) so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
This begs the question, if the rapture has already happened and all those left behind who have heard the gospel and missed the rapture because they have been rejecting the gospel are now are blinded … who then are the 'tribulation saints'?According to Paul there will be no one on the day of the rapture to answer people who say … “What just happened? Where has everyone gone?” No one will say, “Oh no! I know what happened. It's the rapture and I missed it! Jesus, I repent of my sin … I believe you now! Forgive me! Save me!” And now this person becomes a tribulation saint? No, Paul says that this will not and cannot happen because God sends strong delusion upon them.
So, who are the people during the tribulation that ARE able to be saved? Answer: Only those who have NOT heard the gospel and rejected it.
Many commentators refer to the 'He' underlined above, as referring to the Holy Spirit. He is the one whose mission it is to deal with sinfulness: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: John 16:8
And when did he come? On the day of Pentecost. The scripture above mentions that 'he is out of the way'
Some see this as a kind of 'reversal' of the day of Pentecost. This would mean that the Holy Spirit is taken up from the earth. But because the Holy Spirit is also given as 'comforter' to the church, this would mean that the church would have to go too. Why? Because Jesus promised to not leave the church 'comfortless'.
Others do not read into it that the Holy Spirit removes himself from the earth, but that rather He continues to restrain sin until the event on God's calendar rolls around. At the timing of God, the Holy Spirit steps back and sin begins to multiply like a snow ball rolling down a mountain, gathering size and momentum and finally turning into an avalanche.
We have just read what Paul is prophesying about the coming tribulation. Here is what Jesus said about it:
Mt 24:3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars (The world wars between the king of the north and the king of the south). See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places (The famines mentioned in Rev 6, the black horse and rider). 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. (this is the persecution after the opening of Seal #5) 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased,(The 'Restrainer no longer restrains) the love of many will grow cold (this is the apostasy, the 'falling away' that Paul referred to). 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 15 "So when you see (Jesus is going back to the 'breaking of the covenant by the King of the north )the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), etc.
So both Jesus and Paul mention an increase in lawlessness affecting believers. Jesus said “The love of many will grow cold”.
Paul calls is 'apostasia', a Greek word which means to 'fall away'. The word 'rebellion' in the ESV not really that accurate.
And Daniel said this:
And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble,
What is happening with 'the people who know their God' during this terrible time?
Some are instructing … with great urgency no doubt.
Many are falling away … Jesus words in Matthew 23:12
Now lets look at this in two different ways.
2 Scenarios:
1. If the rapture has not happened (in our Daniel study verses 32-35) we have scenario something like this:
There were believers who were watching for the signs of His coming. The moment they realize that the tribulation has begun, knowing what terrible things are about to take place, they prayerfully take their stand. They begin to share Jesus with loved ones and neighbors who have heard the gospel but for some reason had not accepted Jesus. But they find out that they have been given a 'strong delusion' by God. No one gets saved! They have to turn their efforts toward those who have never heard. These will be terrible times but they rest in the fact that they have the Comforter to sustain them.
- If the rapture has happened
There are no believers left. All those who have heard the gospel but failed to act on it are now strongly deluded. People who have been unbelievers all their lives and have never heard the gospel, just witnessed the disappearance of thousands of people. The Antichrist may come up with a marvelous explanation for the disappearances. Countless numbers of those who have never heard the gospel will get saved, without the aid of a christian to lead them to the Lord and without conviction of sin because the Holy Spirit is now gone. Those who get saved will multiply exceedingly without the help of the Holy Spirit. These same people who are now children of God, will be terrified because they have no Comforter. He is gone. They will read scriptures that say God's children are not appointed unto wrath and wonder if they really are God's children. They may assemble in small groups of believers, but they will be lead by novices, since all preachers and teachers and true Christians are all gone. They may wonder why God appoints them to wrath, since he stated that His children would be spared the wrath to come. They might wonder, 'What did we do wrong? We had never heard the gospel and now that we have discovered it, we have believed … and yet we are under God's wrath. Why?'
Let's look at our verses in Daniel.
People who know their God … stand firm and take action. They know what is coming. They strengthen their stand in God's word.
These Christians begin to teach: And the wise among the people shall make many understand,
They can speak of hope in the midst of this dark outlook. They know his coming is near, even at the doors. (Mark 13:29)
They will speak of the need to be ready (Mt 24:44), (1 John 3.3)
They will 'encourage one another as they see the day approaching'. (Hebrews 10:25)
They, like the early believers, will pray to be filled with boldness: Ac 4:29 “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, …. 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
And they … shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder.
This persecution is described in Revelations 6
Re 6:9-11 ¶ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
The Holy Spirit gives a 'heads-up' to believers that find themselves facing great danger:
Re 2:8 ¶ "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. 9 "’I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
The book of Revelation contains 7 letters to 'the seven churches of Asia' (Rev 1:11). Some commentators have put forward the idea that these seven churches represent church history, beginning with the book of Acts but spanning into our present time and even into the immediate future.
In other words, the first church that is listed, is the church in Ephesus. In the above theory, the Ephesus church is thought to represent all of the churches in the first few century or so. Skipping to number seven is the church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:14). This church is noted for being self-sufficient and lukewarm … needing nothing from God. So the theory is that this church represents the final age of the church … our age. Proponents of this belief encourage us to take note of the church in our age and recognize our overall lukewarmness and self-sufficiency.
What is wrong with this theory is simply that this view only fits North America and other countries where Christianity is allowed to exist freely without persecution. The fact is, a large percentage of the church is not Laodicean in nature. 'The Jesuit Review' reports persecution of all denominations at 27%. The organization called 'Open Doors' reports 10%.
There is no way that Christians in these parts of the world see themselves as 'well-off' … needing nothing. For them, the church of Smyrna best describes their situation.
So what am I saying? That all seven churches of Asia are representative of all true churches over all of time, and that they do not characterize or represent 'ages' of church history. We have many 'Smyrna' churches in the world today. But we have many Laodicean churches in our country.
Open Doors reports:
Every month, on average:
- 345 Christians are killed for faith-related reasons
- 105 Churches and Christian buildings are burned or attacked
- 219 Christians are detained without trial, arrested, sentenced and imprisoned
Re 12:11 And they have conquered him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
When a Christian lives his life being faithful to God, serving Him, trusting Him … and then ends up dying at the hands of someone who hates God and his followers … that person has won the war.
But not all of the faithful die during the tribulation. With many it will be like it was in the book of Acts:
Acts 8:3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 ¶ Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
The next phrase in Daniel states: they shall receive a little help.
During this seven year period of time, especially in the last three and half years, God commissions two witnesses:
Revelation 11:3 ¶ “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” … 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.
It is interesting to me that Daniel reports this as being a 'little' help. To me it sounds remarkable
On the one-hand they receive a little extra help … but on the other, they will have problems with other Christians.
many shall join themselves to them with flattery
Jesus, speaking of this same seven year period of time, said this:
"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. Mt 24:9,10
Family will also be a problem:
Mr 13:12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.
Lu 21:16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death.
For some of the believers this is a time of refinement. God knows that they need this.
some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white,
God wants His children to be spotless and pure. There are some who teach that all Christians are spotless and pure because of the what Christ did for them on the cross. In other words, God sees us as being sinless. This is not really true.
God sees us Holy and sinless … only in one regard. That is our standing in Him. Our basis for calling ourselves children of God is the sin-cancelling work of Jesus on the cross. He paid it all. Our sin debt is cancelled.
That is our standing. I am a child of God based on what Jesus did for me. In that sense God sees me holy and perfect, because He is really looking at Jesus and not looking at me.
But our 'walk' is a different story. In that regard we are often found lacking. James points out that the person who knows to do good … and does not do it … is sinning. (James 4:17)
This affects all of us. This will affect believers in the tribulation as well. Many will be made white.
Bad, hard, difficult, trying times should have a way of turning our hearts to God. In some cases it causes people leave God.
The people who know their God – whether we are talking about the church in the tribulation, believers in the tribulation if the church is gone … or talking about ourselves … right here, right now, we need to walk before Him in purity, in wisdom and understanding, ready to warn others of what lies ahead. Now is the day of salvation
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, Heb 2:1-3
2Co 6:2 ... Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Heb 10:25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Next time: The king of the north and the king of the south face off.
* The King of the north ... who is he? Some sources say that it is Turkey and not Russia. All of the nations listed in Ezekiel 38:1-13 are in Turkey, except for Rosh. These nations are listed as coming against Israel WITH Rosh. I take Rosh to be Russia.