Good Morning!

Today’s readings are Daniel 7-9

Read these Bible readings on BibleGateway.com by clicking here.

Rabbit Trails

And welcome to another part of our Bible study where I DON’T explain prophecy.

We are reading a great deal of prophecy today. In fact, even our Messiah quoted from what we will read today and a great deal of Revelation relates to these passages. So what do they mean?

You know, there are various theologies that come into play when anyone tries to determine that, and the thing is, each one of those approach it from the wrong angle because they are attempting to predetermine exactly how this will play out. This is a mistake and a significant one at that, which may cost them the ability to be able to recognize the second coming.

Why? One word: Pharisees. The Pharisees made a grave error in that they had taken prophecy and decided in their own minds exactly what it meant, building a precise narrative around it, leaving no room for other interpretation. Therefore, when Messiah came and did not fulfill the prophecy exactly as they had decided He would, they concluded that He could not have possibly been our Messiah.

Their determination to fully explain prophecy by filling in the blanks rather than accepting what the Father had given them and waiting for Him, in His wisdom, to reveal the rest cost them the ability to recognize the very Messiah they had waited for. Do not make the error of thinking we are exempt from repeating this mistake – especially when we have repeated so many others already.

We must know the prophecy, study the Word, and know our Father in order to be able to recognize when these events take place – because we can’t set up a narrative right now. We have the information we have, and beyond what the Father has given us all else is human speculation.

Is it okay to speculate? Sure. I have lots of ideas and possible scenarios in mind myself. But the only truth we have is what the Father has given us, so we must be cautious not to develop our own fiction and then expect the Father to adhere to it.

If we’re planning on seeing the Left Behind series play itself out, we’ll be missing the second coming for sure. 

Daniel 7:25 states that one of the signs of the anti-christ is that he will seek to change the laws and the times. The word used in the original text references the appointed times of the Father, or Biblical feasts as they are often called. The times that He set aside as special to Him and commanded His followers to keep them throughout their generations, as a lasting (eternal) ordinance. We talked about these in Leviticus 23.

Also, in the Hebrew mindset, whenever someone refers to law they are inevitably referring to YHWH’s law, unless they are referring to talmudic law, which is the set of laws created by certain communities that we will discuss later on in the gospels. It is similar to what we could refer to as “church bylaws” today in which a certain church may have a set of rules and guidelines they require their members to follow – outside of YHWH’s commandments. In the context of the Bible, wherein the prophecy is from YHWH, we can conclude that this is referring to YHWH’s laws and YHWH’s appointed times.

The thing is, though, the appointed times and law started being changed several centuries ago and have progressively been wiped from the face of our churches at an increasingly rapid rate. Much of the church has also done away with YHWH’s Holy Days and declared themselves to have the authority to institute new ones. This leads me to see that the spirit of the anti-christ has been working on this very task for some time and of course, his main target is to deceive the body of believers. However, we can see from the text of the word that there will be a growing influence and larger appearance of the anti-christ in the final days before our Messiah returns.

We see proof of this in 1 John 4:1-3

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

So now we can add other characteristics to the anti-christ: the anti-christ will seek to change YHWH’s appointed times and laws as well as seek to muddy the waters about whether or not our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) is the son of YHWH. Notice I say “muddy the waters” because as we continue to read we will see that the anti-christ is a great deceiver and already in our world today there are those who claim to follow YHWH but will weave little doubts into the minds of Believers as to who Messiah is. Do not let those seeds be planted in your mind. Hold tight to the truth of YHWH.

Here is the thing you need to know and ruminate on: The anti-christ knows full well who Yeshua (Jesus) is. However, this spirit is seeking to prevent mankind from trusting in Him. This is not about a person or group of people who have yet to see that Yeshua is our Messiah, this is about an evil spirit who knows full well that He is, but doesn’t want us to realize that.

While we are here, what does it mean to trust in Messiah? Is it simply about saying “I believe that Yeshua/Jesus is the son of God.” and you’re handed a free pass to eternal glory and grace no matter what you do? Not at all. Trusting in someone is relying on someone, believing what they say to be true, and in this case, and following His direction. We will see that Messiah directs us, time and again, to keep His Father’s commandments.

However, this passage in Daniel gives us reason to believe that when the anti-christ appears in full form he will most assuredly finish the work he has been working on in spirit throughout the generations and the appointed times and decrees of our father will be more forcibly done away with – for a time. As we just finished reading in Ezekiel, we know that the Father will reinstate them in His eternal kingdom.

I want to be found honoring them when He returns.

I love Daniel 7:28

“Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.”

I think we need to keep some things in our heart, sharing them only with the Father, until He reveals what we are to do with them. Dreams, thoughts, things He is working on with us. Some things should be held sacred and remain between us and our precious Father. It is important to practice this in our lives now, so that we are able to do so when the time comes that we must.

Daniel was greatly alarmed, and justifiably so. In His place, most of the world would run around in a fevered panic. However, Daniel kept the matter in his heart and waited on the Father to direct his path.

Daniel chapter 9 is a precious prayer for Daniel’s people. Notice that, even though he is living righteously, he prays on behalf of a sinful people and includes himself in that lot. This is similar to when we pray for our country by saying “We have wholly turned from you….” Even though you, yourself, have made every effort to be earnestly steadfast. This is a clear representation of Daniel’s humility, love, and compassion for those around him. It is a beautiful confessional prayer.

Daniel 9:27 is what Messiah quoted Daniel in Matthew 24:15-16 when He referenced the abomination of desolation. This is an excellent rabbit trail for anyone who wishes to chase it. It was very eye opening for me but fair warning, studying this led me to further repentance and turning to YHWH.

The whole Bible should come with this warning: May cause strong desire to repent of sins, grow closer to the Father, and follow in the footsteps of Messiah!

Y’all, when the Father says “jump” there are only two appropriate responses:

“How High?” or

“Yes, Lord!”

Leave your comments and insights on the group thread. There is so much meat on these bones that it takes all of us to pull it off!

Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21

We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!

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Christy Jordan
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