What must happen before the fall and complete destruction of spiritual Babylon? Timings for topics covered in this lesson: - 2:16 Daniel interprets the writing on the wall - 9:36 Ten points of comparison between ancient and end-time, spiritual Babylon - 20:01 What caused the fall of ancient Babylon? What will cause the fall of end-time Babylon? - 22:33 The mark of the beast - 25:33 How will end time events unfold? For more on Daniel chapter 5 and to get the resources, visit: www.angelsintheglen.org/daniel5
When I think about Belshazzar drinking wine out of the holy vessels I also think about Yah's chosen people being pure vessels, and the very act of persecuting His people is an abomination because he dwells within them. Thank you for the wonderful teaching! I have been very blessed by it!
You are most welcome! May God bless you as you study His word. We hope you will check out the complete prophecy series (if you haven’t already) on angelsintheglen.org/prophecyseries
He is fair. How many chances has He given these people? He is even more generous and overlooking some of my misgivings that I wouldn’t otherwise well both do or say or get away with (I’m a bit more sarcastic than I’d like to be) because they (the Pharisees evil workers) are so relentlessly vicious violent and immoral to me constantly. I disappoint myself because when I’m gangstalked I have so many more blots on my record than I otherwise would have. Because it’s immensely stressful some days. I’m on the verge of nervous breakdown some days because of these evil spirits. So He is being more generous than I deserve.
I love your commitment to seeking the wisdom of God and your in-depth and biblically substantiated study. I disagree with you about several aspects of interpretation throughout the series so far (episodes 1-13 so far), but I like that you aren't dogmatic about your opinions that don't have definitive biblical affirmation. You show concrete biblical backing for all the things that are divine revelation, and you provide qualifiers for things that have circumstantial evidence or are based on assumptions or apparent principles. Keep up the great work Brother! I can't wait to get through all of the videos in this series! Below are a few examples of the kinds of things I have disagreed with you on so far: (I have been told by others my writing can come off as harsh but I'm really not trying to be. I don't think any of these points of disagreement are going to make or break anyone's faith in the salvation offered to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. I disagree, but I understand that more discussion and inspiration from the holy spirit is needed to parse those things out, and only if those things are meant to be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.) - In this video at 16:06 I don't agree with your interpretation that the "Kings of the East" refers to Christ and his angels. I believe that the implication is that the kings from the East will join their forces with the rest of the world in opposition to Jerusalem. This seems to lend itself to China and Asian territories to the East. There is also a strong correlation between the lands of China/Mongolia/Russia and the Gog and Magog in the bible, referenced in Jeremiah 38 for example. - The Church does not replace Israel. The bible is very clear that Israel is God's chosen people, his first Love. His timeless promises to his people are not revoked because of his new promise of opportunity of salvation to the entire world. I don't think you explicitly stated this so far but it definitely appeared to be a heavy implication when describing the prophetic timeline given in the golden statue dream. - Again, I don't think you explicitly stated this so far, but it seems that someone could interpret your prophetic timeline to indicate that we are currently in the Tribulation Period (period of God's Judgement and Wrath). Which would also not be biblically supported since it's stated "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." (1 Thess 5:9-10) - In the 1st episode you said that you thought the world was "older than 4,000 years old" (I know you meant 6,000 years - 4,000 B.C.). I don't agree with that. I like that you qualified that and said you believe God created fully formed life 6,000 years ago - However, I think this comes dangerously close to conforming to an evolutionistic or materialistic timeline that we know to be false. All contextual clues and original Hebrew word analysis points to the "Day and Night" in Genesis 1 and 2 to be referring to literal earth days. You can compare that to other symbolic and literal uses of "day and night" throughout the bible and see that Genesis is in fact referring to literal earth days. I believe that it is entirely possible that pre-flood days were longer than our current days, as conservation of angular momentum could easily cause the earth to spin faster as the incredible amounts of mass from the flood waters receded closer to the center of the earth. On this point, I don't think there is anyway to be absolutely dogmatic about the exact age of the earth - but I know that the worldview on the origin of the universe and origin of life is absolutely 100% false and a lie perpetuated by the king of lies, and I tend toward staying as far away from that false worldview as possible.
Thanks for you very clear and thoughtful response. For your awareness, it was not received as harsh at all. It was objective, respectful, and to the point. We really appreciate your feedback and look forward to any additional feedback you might have as you continue to explore our series. Please continue to critically evaluate everything we say. Hold us to the highest Biblical standard. You be the judge. You can also contact us directly through our website. Also, we thought it might be helpful to provide some additional thoughts to consider regarding your points of disagreement. While we won’t be able to provide a thorough explanation in this comment section, we’ll provide a couple of highlights for your consideration. We’re not expecting that you’ll shift your position based on our brief comments. We only provide them for you to consider as you continue to be a Berean bible student. We are trying our best to be Berean. First. We believe that the Church does indeed replace literal Israel. One of the principles of Bible interpretation is to recognize that the literal in the past provides the pattern for its spiritual application. The spiritual application is not an abstract application, but one that is real and concrete. This is easy to test. We provide several examples in our Daniel 1 video which we will briefly summarize and include a few more. In John 2, Jesus says to the Jews to tear down this temple and in three days He will raise it up. Incredulously, they respond that it took 46 years to build the temple. We know Jesus was talking about His body. In John 3, Nicodemus has the same problem with being born again. He doesn’t understand the spiritual application of being born again by the Holy Spirit. In John 4, the woman at the well believes that Jesus has water that will prevent her from having to come to the well. Also consider Israel’s bondage in Egypt. Just as they were slaves under physical taskmasters, we too are slaves to sin. Just as Moses led God’s people out of literal physical slavery, Jesus leads us out of our spiritual slavery to sin. There is much more we can say on this topic. However, consider our Daniel 8 and 9 videos (3 parts and 5 parts respectively). In the latter parts we provide ample Biblical evidence of what the holy place is (Daniel 8:14). Many believe it to be a physical temple, however, the Bible teaches us that it is the Church on earth connected to Christ in Heaven. Just as God dwelt with His people in the Moses’ sanctuary, so too, God, the Holy Spirit dwells with His Church. One more quick thought. Where is Christ today? He is in the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 8). The heavenly sanctuary is the true tabernacle that the Lord pitched. And Christ is our High Priest ministering and interceding for us. Knowing that Christ accomplished everything at the cross and sat down at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in heaven, what need is there for any future physical temple on earth? Moreover, the literal nation of Israel was rejected by God because they (as a nation) rejected Christ. Jesus speaks to this in plain language in Matthew 21:43 (paraphrase) the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing fruit. This is why 1 Peter 2:9-10 is so important to understand. I’ve included it below for examination: 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NASB) 9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. Peter is quoting Exodus 19:6. Final brief thought. The literal Jews failed to fulfill their great privilege that God bestowed upon them to be a light to the Gentiles. Duet 28:1 …set you high above the nations of the earth. Duet 4:6-9….a wise understanding people…the Gentiles would ask who has a God so near?...who has such a righteous law? Is 49:3…God was to be glorified by Israel. Is 43:10 Israel was to be God’s witnesses. Is 49:6…to be a light to the nations so that God’s salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Jer 16:19…the Gentile nations would come from the ends of the earth and say “our fathers have inherited noting but falsehood, futility, and things of no profit. There are many other scriptures. Here’s the point: That WAS the plan. But they did not fulfill it. This is why at the end of the 70 week’s prophecy (see our Daniel 9 videos) Jesus declares to them in Matt 23:38 that their house is being left desolate. Jesus is predicting the temple destruction by the Romans when not one stone would be left upon another. The privilege of being God’s witnesses now rests with the Church (all those who accept Jesus as their LORD and Savior). The Church is called to be the light to the Gentile nations. We are to be separate from the world. Set apart to let the light of Christ shine through us. The same warnings the Jews received to walk in obedience still applies to the Church today. The law written on stone tablets are now written on our hearts. We could go on about the comparisons, but that’s sufficient for now. We understand and recognize that the vast majority of the Christian Church believe that literal Israel will someday rise again and play a role in end-time prophecy (or various offshoots of that main idea). Unfortunately, this is unbiblical. The Bible teaches the contrary. Is this a salvation issue? Of course not. But if someone wants to continue down that road, they will never be able to accurately understand end-time prophecy, how end-time events will unfold, and the final conflict of the mark of the beast. Also, the kings from the east. This is another error circulating the Christian church and stems from a literal application when it should be a spiritual application. Regarding our place in prophetic history. We explain that we are at the time of the end, but not in the tribulation period. However, it is fast approaching. The key to understanding where we are at in prophetic history is to compare the repeated patterns of Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 11. If you watch our Revelation videos (after you have completed our entire Daniel series), we’ll explain from the Bible that the first and second angles of Rev 14 have already sounded and that the second woe of Rev 11 is over and that the third woe (the mark of the beast) is about to engulf the world. It’s not a physical tattoo but a spiritual mark. We explain exactly what the mark of the beast is by comparing scripture with scripture. As to creation. We are ardent and categorical creationists. We didn’t address this point in the video, but we believe the Bible teaches that creation, that is, life on this planet began in Genesis 1 and God created His creation in six literal days and rested on the seventh literal day. Which we estimate to be about 6000 years ago. However, we believe that the physical earth already existed when God began His creation week. Consider this. Genesis 1:1 stands alone as a capstone summary of Genesis 1. Creation actually begins with the earth as a formless void of water. We don’t know how long the formless void was there prior to God’s Spirit moving over the waters, but it could have been a very long time. Two other clues are indicated in the Bible. The first is in Genesis 1:16. Notice the last part of that verse…He made the stars also. The words “He made” is supplied in the text. “He made” is not in the original Hebrew. It just reads “the stars also.” We believe the stars were part of a previous creation. Moses is simply mentioning, in passing, that the stars were also made by God, but just not during creation week but in a previous creation. Where is there a previous creation in the Bible? The same time as when the heavenly sanctuary was created. Notice Hebrews 9:11…(paraphrase) the heavenly tabernacle was not made with hands and not part of this creation. The author of Hebrews is giving us a clue that the heavenly sanctuary was not part of the creation of life on earth and all the things in it. We’re not going to be dogmatic about this point either. But just wanted to provide some additional Biblical evidences for the conclusions we’ve come to. God bless you in your studies and sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks again for your comment.
@@AngelsintheGlen thank you for your thoughtful and thorough response! It's going to take a while for me to think through and digest your points, especially on Israel, but I will look through your suggested passages and their biblical context. One relatively quick point about 1 Peter that might explain our disagreement: It is my understanding from biblical and historical context that Peter was focused on spreading the Gospel to the Jews. Therefore, In the language of 1 Peter, I interpret the pronoun usage to indicate that when he makes statements about the readers being "God's chosen people", he is in fact talking to an ethnically Jewish audience. Moreover, this sentiment of Jews being set apart as a separate group of people seems to be maintained by the Apostle Paul when he clearly distinguishes between the Apostles, those whom Christ was first revealed, and the Gentle churches he is addressing. He also states numerous times that the Gospel is first preached to the Jews and then the Greek. Anyway, I will look at your suggested passages with prayer and supplication to the Lord and let you know if the Holy Spirit guides me to the same conclusions that you have come to. Thanks again! I don't think we as modern Christians humbly discuss points of disagreement nearly enough and truly seek the wisdom of God through fellowship, mutual appeal to the scriptures, and the Holy Spirit. May God Bless you and I pray that He speaks through you to all who seek Him!
Another great study. Looking forward to Rev after Daniel. Thought the Mark of the beast was some sore of anti-Sabbath law. Also possibly the angels from the East may be His pp who are, like today, waring against the counterfeit End time Babylon.
Question. If the point is made in most translations of this chapter that the fingers appear "opposite the lampstand" and in the temple where the goblets came from opposite of the lampstand would be the show bread, could it be that these were in fact the fingers of Jesus Christ Himself as He is the bread of life? I can't imagine this event occurred in a room with only one lamp yet it happens "opposite the lampstand". Curious.
I think you are such a blessed person for your explanation is absolutely spiritual no doubt .but i would like to say that Babylon is not a spiritual place it is a literal place or places here on earth and it has played a major role throughout all of our history it is the religion that keeps on misleading people all over the world whether into worshipping idols and stones or worshipping the image of the beast (in revalation) or its ten heads (rulers of the nations) or giving its bows to the desolation (UN) that keeps promising the world in peace and security yet never ever the world had that promise fulfilled (it is the image of the beast that had once a cut (1920) it seemed dead , yet in 1945 it was revived and the world was amazed and bowed to it and to the beast who revived it . Babylon is any religion that bows to any authority other than the authority of the kingdom of god . So as a Christian i'll say that the church that follows not the commandments of god and allows stones and wood worshiping is defiling the true commandments of god .as u can see lots of people will weep over its falling and be amazed and god said get out of it my people so u won't be harmed from its judgment. “And the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality* with her and lived with her in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her when they see the smoke from her burning. 10 They will stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say: ‘Too bad, too bad, you great city,+Babylon you strong city, because in one hour your judgment has arrived!’ 11 “Also, the merchants of the earth are weeping and mourning over her, because there is no one to buy their full cargo anymore, 12 a full cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet cloth; and everything made from scented wood; and every sort of object made from ivory, and from precious wood, copper, iron, and marble; 13 also cinnamon, Indian spice, incense, perfumed oil, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives.*14 Yes, the fine fruit that you*desired has left you, and all the delicacies and the splendid things have vanished from you, never to be found again. 15 “The merchants who sold these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and will weep and mourn, 16 saying: ‘Too bad, too bad, the great city, clothed with fine linen, purple, and scarlet and richly adorned with gold ornaments, precious stones, and pearls,+ 17 because in one hour such great riches have been devastated!’ “And every ship captain and every seafaring person and sailors and all those who make a living by the sea stood at a distance 18 and cried out as they looked at the smoke from her burning and said: ‘What city is like the great city?’ 19 They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and said: ‘Too bad, too bad, the great city, in which all those who had ships at sea became rich from her wealth, because in one hour she has been devastated!’+ 20 “Be glad over her, O heaven,+also you holy ones+ and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced his judgment on her in your behalf!”+ These stuff are literally secretly happening in the vatican. It is not a spiritual Babylon it is as real as the old Babylon.
We need to clarify our terms. When we use the term “spiritual” application or “spiritual” interpretation, we do not mean that they are not “literal” events. Many read the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation and interpret the prophetic symbols as literal, when they are pointing to a deep spiritual truth. When we read of Babylon in Revelation, it is symbolic and spiritual. However, it does [indeed] represent something literal. However, Babylon does [not] represent the ancient, literal, geographic city located in the land of Mesopotamia. The Babylon in Revelation is indeed a literal entity/system, and that’s exactly what we explain in our series. We point out in our series that by first recognizing the literal and the local in the OT we can gain a deep appreciation for its spiritual and world-wide application in the NT. We base this on the principle outlined in 1 Corinthians 15:46. 1 Corinthians 15:46 (NASB) 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. This is the method God uses to teach us their spiritual application. We need the literal to better understand the spiritual. Take marriage for example. God established the institution of marriage. Without the natural or physical understanding of marriage, we could not understand the marriage of Christ and the Church. In Revelation, Babylon, i.e., the harlot, has married the world kingdom system. She rides the world kingdom system as the head and not the body. She has not only abandoned her true Husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, she tries to act as the controlling element in the marriage (ie. the head). Completely the opposite of God’s plan for His church. We explain how this manifests itself in our Revelation videos. Thanks for your comment and thanks for watching our videos.
It’s both I think. It’s mystery Babylon because on the surface everything seems above board and fine in certain ways. I mean yes we know there is all kinds of sexual immorality happening - there is a booming adult industry, gentleman’s clubs, and Hollywood and the entertainment industry in many instances chiefly operate on the premise of sex sells. However everywhere you go when you look with your natural eyes everything seems so normal but when you wake up to the reality of this place and how the majority have this evil eye in their heads you double take and realise in every single profession on earth even the most ostensibly respectable ones and that people admire and look up to and even attribute some virtue too like being doctors or teachers for example is steeped in prostitution because people do not have boundaries and violate each other in the unseen spiritual realm. You don’t need to work in a brothel. You can work in the civil service, you can work as a secretary or as a bartender. It doesn’t matter. You walk down the street and you’re sexually abused by total strangers. There are children that have the third eye whose mother sacrificed them and stole their childhood such that now they have the knowledge of a 90 year old man. They’re broken and their mothers don’t even care because all that matters to them is their personal vanity and what makes them look good or important. The only thing that remains of their childhood in truth is to pretend to be children and that their childhood has not been so tragically stolen. And they don’t know what is wrong and why they’re so broken. Their mother has her head in the clouds and wants a promotion at work. All about self, who cares that they’ve been robbed of those critical years. Everyone you meet is sexually abusive psychologically abusive and physically abusive in the unseen spiritual realm. So I think it’s physical but it’s also something hidden and it takes a while to wake up and recognise how bad it is here…
Sorry I disagree with a few things in this teaching 1st one day is not one year but in fact 1000 years. 2 Peter 3 8-9 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ Secondly the mark of the beast can not just be spiritual. If the mark is only spiritual therefore it won’t be seen so how can people stop you buying and selling? It doesn’t make any sense.
We recommend that you watch our Daniel 1 video where we explain the day for year principle using scripture. It applies to prophetic time periods. We also address and explain the difference between prophetic time prophecies and the day for 1000 year as you cite in 2 Peter 3:8. In addition, we define what we mean by the spiritual application in our Daniel 1 video. When we say spiritual, we are not talking about something that is not concrete or material. We are talking about the spiritual application or the spiritual interpretation. For example when Jesus says to tear down the temple and in three days He will raise it up, the Jews thought Jesus was talking about the physical building of the temple. We know that He was talking about His own body after the cross. Nicodemus doesn't understand how one can be born when he is old. He inquires how a man can enter a second time into his mothers womb. We know Jesus was talking about a spiritual rebirth by the Holy Spirit working to create a new heart and mind. We address all this and more in our entire series. The mark of the beast is not a physical tattoo on a physical body. It is the spiritual application that has real meaning and significance. We explain exactly what that is and how it manifests itself in the physical, material world. Many today are interpreting scripture using a literal application like Nicodemus and the Jews. Doing so leaves one confused and leads to erroneous conclusions. Critically evaluate everything we say. Hold us to the highest Biblical standard. You be the judge.
What must happen before the fall and complete destruction of spiritual Babylon? Timings for topics covered in this lesson:
- 2:16 Daniel interprets the writing on the wall
- 9:36 Ten points of comparison between ancient and end-time, spiritual Babylon
- 20:01 What caused the fall of ancient Babylon? What will cause the fall of end-time Babylon?
- 22:33 The mark of the beast
- 25:33 How will end time events unfold?
For more on Daniel chapter 5 and to get the resources, visit: www.angelsintheglen.org/daniel5
Love your Lessons! Thank you!
Amen! God bless you! Shalom!🙏👑🌹
Keep growing God keep you.Jesus is the same today,yesterday and forever
When I think about Belshazzar drinking wine out of the holy vessels I also think about Yah's chosen people being pure vessels, and the very act of persecuting His people is an abomination because he dwells within them.
Thank you for the wonderful teaching! I have been very blessed by it!
You explain scripture in a way that’s very understandable. Thank you. Much appreciation 🙏
You are most welcome! May God bless you as you study His word. We hope you will check out the complete prophecy series (if you haven’t already) on angelsintheglen.org/prophecyseries
Excellent comparison with Revelation
THank you!!!
God is always justified in His judgment
He is fair. How many chances has He given these people? He is even more generous and overlooking some of my misgivings that I wouldn’t otherwise well both do or say or get away with (I’m a bit more sarcastic than I’d like to be) because they (the Pharisees evil workers) are so relentlessly vicious violent and immoral to me constantly. I disappoint myself because when I’m gangstalked I have so many more blots on my record than I otherwise would have. Because it’s immensely stressful some days. I’m on the verge of nervous breakdown some days because of these evil spirits. So He is being more generous than I deserve.
Thank you for the break down of His holy words.
Thank you for the translation. I am reading the Book of Daniel. Looking forward to Chapter 6 after I have read it. God Bless
Very excellent presentation.
Thank You 🙏
Thank You AIG
Thank you so much.
Amen, amen, amen. Thank you. Wonderful video.
You’re welcome!
Amen
Excellent!!!!
Lovely
I love your commitment to seeking the wisdom of God and your in-depth and biblically substantiated study. I disagree with you about several aspects of interpretation throughout the series so far (episodes 1-13 so far), but I like that you aren't dogmatic about your opinions that don't have definitive biblical affirmation. You show concrete biblical backing for all the things that are divine revelation, and you provide qualifiers for things that have circumstantial evidence or are based on assumptions or apparent principles. Keep up the great work Brother! I can't wait to get through all of the videos in this series!
Below are a few examples of the kinds of things I have disagreed with you on so far: (I have been told by others my writing can come off as harsh but I'm really not trying to be. I don't think any of these points of disagreement are going to make or break anyone's faith in the salvation offered to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. I disagree, but I understand that more discussion and inspiration from the holy spirit is needed to parse those things out, and only if those things are meant to be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.)
- In this video at 16:06 I don't agree with your interpretation that the "Kings of the East" refers to Christ and his angels. I believe that the implication is that the kings from the East will join their forces with the rest of the world in opposition to Jerusalem. This seems to lend itself to China and Asian territories to the East. There is also a strong correlation between the lands of China/Mongolia/Russia and the Gog and Magog in the bible, referenced in Jeremiah 38 for example.
- The Church does not replace Israel. The bible is very clear that Israel is God's chosen people, his first Love. His timeless promises to his people are not revoked because of his new promise of opportunity of salvation to the entire world. I don't think you explicitly stated this so far but it definitely appeared to be a heavy implication when describing the prophetic timeline given in the golden statue dream.
- Again, I don't think you explicitly stated this so far, but it seems that someone could interpret your prophetic timeline to indicate that we are currently in the Tribulation Period (period of God's Judgement and Wrath). Which would also not be biblically supported since it's stated "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." (1 Thess 5:9-10)
- In the 1st episode you said that you thought the world was "older than 4,000 years old" (I know you meant 6,000 years - 4,000 B.C.). I don't agree with that. I like that you qualified that and said you believe God created fully formed life 6,000 years ago - However, I think this comes dangerously close to conforming to an evolutionistic or materialistic timeline that we know to be false. All contextual clues and original Hebrew word analysis points to the "Day and Night" in Genesis 1 and 2 to be referring to literal earth days. You can compare that to other symbolic and literal uses of "day and night" throughout the bible and see that Genesis is in fact referring to literal earth days. I believe that it is entirely possible that pre-flood days were longer than our current days, as conservation of angular momentum could easily cause the earth to spin faster as the incredible amounts of mass from the flood waters receded closer to the center of the earth.
On this point, I don't think there is anyway to be absolutely dogmatic about the exact age of the earth - but I know that the worldview on the origin of the universe and origin of life is absolutely 100% false and a lie perpetuated by the king of lies, and I tend toward staying as far away from that false worldview as possible.
Thanks for you very clear and thoughtful response. For your awareness, it was not received as harsh at all. It was objective, respectful, and to the point. We really appreciate your feedback and look forward to any additional feedback you might have as you continue to explore our series.
Please continue to critically evaluate everything we say. Hold us to the highest Biblical standard. You be the judge. You can also contact us directly through our website.
Also, we thought it might be helpful to provide some additional thoughts to consider regarding your points of disagreement. While we won’t be able to provide a thorough explanation in this comment section, we’ll provide a couple of highlights for your consideration. We’re not expecting that you’ll shift your position based on our brief comments. We only provide them for you to consider as you continue to be a Berean bible student. We are trying our best to be Berean.
First. We believe that the Church does indeed replace literal Israel. One of the principles of Bible interpretation is to recognize that the literal in the past provides the pattern for its spiritual application. The spiritual application is not an abstract application, but one that is real and concrete. This is easy to test. We provide several examples in our Daniel 1 video which we will briefly summarize and include a few more. In John 2, Jesus says to the Jews to tear down this temple and in three days He will raise it up. Incredulously, they respond that it took 46 years to build the temple. We know Jesus was talking about His body. In John 3, Nicodemus has the same problem with being born again. He doesn’t understand the spiritual application of being born again by the Holy Spirit. In John 4, the woman at the well believes that Jesus has water that will prevent her from having to come to the well.
Also consider Israel’s bondage in Egypt. Just as they were slaves under physical taskmasters, we too are slaves to sin. Just as Moses led God’s people out of literal physical slavery, Jesus leads us out of our spiritual slavery to sin. There is much more we can say on this topic. However, consider our Daniel 8 and 9 videos (3 parts and 5 parts respectively). In the latter parts we provide ample Biblical evidence of what the holy place is (Daniel 8:14). Many believe it to be a physical temple, however, the Bible teaches us that it is the Church on earth connected to Christ in Heaven. Just as God dwelt with His people in the Moses’ sanctuary, so too, God, the Holy Spirit dwells with His Church.
One more quick thought. Where is Christ today? He is in the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 8). The heavenly sanctuary is the true tabernacle that the Lord pitched. And Christ is our High Priest ministering and interceding for us. Knowing that Christ accomplished everything at the cross and sat down at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in heaven, what need is there for any future physical temple on earth?
Moreover, the literal nation of Israel was rejected by God because they (as a nation) rejected Christ. Jesus speaks to this in plain language in Matthew 21:43 (paraphrase) the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing fruit. This is why 1 Peter 2:9-10 is so important to understand. I’ve included it below for examination:
1 Peter 2:9-10 (NASB) 9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
Peter is quoting Exodus 19:6.
Final brief thought. The literal Jews failed to fulfill their great privilege that God bestowed upon them to be a light to the Gentiles. Duet 28:1 …set you high above the nations of the earth. Duet 4:6-9….a wise understanding people…the Gentiles would ask who has a God so near?...who has such a righteous law? Is 49:3…God was to be glorified by Israel. Is 43:10 Israel was to be God’s witnesses. Is 49:6…to be a light to the nations so that God’s salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Jer 16:19…the Gentile nations would come from the ends of the earth and say “our fathers have inherited noting but falsehood, futility, and things of no profit. There are many other scriptures. Here’s the point: That WAS the plan. But they did not fulfill it. This is why at the end of the 70 week’s prophecy (see our Daniel 9 videos) Jesus declares to them in Matt 23:38 that their house is being left desolate. Jesus is predicting the temple destruction by the Romans when not one stone would be left upon another.
The privilege of being God’s witnesses now rests with the Church (all those who accept Jesus as their LORD and Savior). The Church is called to be the light to the Gentile nations. We are to be separate from the world. Set apart to let the light of Christ shine through us. The same warnings the Jews received to walk in obedience still applies to the Church today. The law written on stone tablets are now written on our hearts. We could go on about the comparisons, but that’s sufficient for now.
We understand and recognize that the vast majority of the Christian Church believe that literal Israel will someday rise again and play a role in end-time prophecy (or various offshoots of that main idea). Unfortunately, this is unbiblical. The Bible teaches the contrary. Is this a salvation issue? Of course not. But if someone wants to continue down that road, they will never be able to accurately understand end-time prophecy, how end-time events will unfold, and the final conflict of the mark of the beast.
Also, the kings from the east. This is another error circulating the Christian church and stems from a literal application when it should be a spiritual application.
Regarding our place in prophetic history. We explain that we are at the time of the end, but not in the tribulation period. However, it is fast approaching. The key to understanding where we are at in prophetic history is to compare the repeated patterns of Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 11. If you watch our Revelation videos (after you have completed our entire Daniel series), we’ll explain from the Bible that the first and second angles of Rev 14 have already sounded and that the second woe of Rev 11 is over and that the third woe (the mark of the beast) is about to engulf the world. It’s not a physical tattoo but a spiritual mark. We explain exactly what the mark of the beast is by comparing scripture with scripture.
As to creation. We are ardent and categorical creationists. We didn’t address this point in the video, but we believe the Bible teaches that creation, that is, life on this planet began in Genesis 1 and God created His creation in six literal days and rested on the seventh literal day. Which we estimate to be about 6000 years ago. However, we believe that the physical earth already existed when God began His creation week.
Consider this. Genesis 1:1 stands alone as a capstone summary of Genesis 1. Creation actually begins with the earth as a formless void of water. We don’t know how long the formless void was there prior to God’s Spirit moving over the waters, but it could have been a very long time. Two other clues are indicated in the Bible. The first is in Genesis 1:16. Notice the last part of that verse…He made the stars also. The words “He made” is supplied in the text. “He made” is not in the original Hebrew. It just reads “the stars also.” We believe the stars were part of a previous creation. Moses is simply mentioning, in passing, that the stars were also made by God, but just not during creation week but in a previous creation.
Where is there a previous creation in the Bible? The same time as when the heavenly sanctuary was created. Notice Hebrews 9:11…(paraphrase) the heavenly tabernacle was not made with hands and not part of this creation. The author of Hebrews is giving us a clue that the heavenly sanctuary was not part of the creation of life on earth and all the things in it. We’re not going to be dogmatic about this point either. But just wanted to provide some additional Biblical evidences for the conclusions we’ve come to.
God bless you in your studies and sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks again for your comment.
@@AngelsintheGlen thank you for your thoughtful and thorough response! It's going to take a while for me to think through and digest your points, especially on Israel, but I will look through your suggested passages and their biblical context.
One relatively quick point about 1 Peter that might explain our disagreement:
It is my understanding from biblical and historical context that Peter was focused on spreading the Gospel to the Jews. Therefore, In the language of 1 Peter, I interpret the pronoun usage to indicate that when he makes statements about the readers being "God's chosen people", he is in fact talking to an ethnically Jewish audience. Moreover, this sentiment of Jews being set apart as a separate group of people seems to be maintained by the Apostle Paul when he clearly distinguishes between the Apostles, those whom Christ was first revealed, and the Gentle churches he is addressing. He also states numerous times that the Gospel is first preached to the Jews and then the Greek.
Anyway, I will look at your suggested passages with prayer and supplication to the Lord and let you know if the Holy Spirit guides me to the same conclusions that you have come to.
Thanks again! I don't think we as modern Christians humbly discuss points of disagreement nearly enough and truly seek the wisdom of God through fellowship, mutual appeal to the scriptures, and the Holy Spirit. May God Bless you and I pray that He speaks through you to all who seek Him!
Another great study. Looking forward to Rev after Daniel. Thought the Mark of the beast was some sore of anti-Sabbath law. Also possibly the angels from the East may be His pp who are, like today, waring against the counterfeit End time Babylon.
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Question. If the point is made in most translations of this chapter that the fingers appear "opposite the lampstand" and in the temple where the goblets came from opposite of the lampstand would be the show bread, could it be that these were in fact the fingers of Jesus Christ Himself as He is the bread of life? I can't imagine this event occurred in a room with only one lamp yet it happens "opposite the lampstand". Curious.
I think you are such a blessed person for your explanation is absolutely spiritual no doubt .but i would like to say that Babylon is not a spiritual place it is a literal place or places here on earth and it has played a major role throughout all of our history it is the religion that keeps on misleading people all over the world whether into worshipping idols and stones or worshipping the image of the beast (in revalation) or its ten heads (rulers of the nations) or giving its bows to the desolation (UN) that keeps promising the world in peace and security yet never ever the world had that promise fulfilled (it is the image of the beast that had once a cut (1920) it seemed dead , yet in 1945 it was revived and the world was amazed and bowed to it and to the beast who revived it . Babylon is any religion that bows to any authority other than the authority of the kingdom of god . So as a Christian i'll say that the church that follows not the commandments of god and allows stones and wood worshiping is defiling the true commandments of god .as u can see lots of people will weep over its falling and be amazed and god said get out of it my people so u won't be harmed from its judgment.
“And the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality* with her and lived with her in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her when they see the smoke from her burning. 10 They will stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say: ‘Too bad, too bad, you great city,+Babylon you strong city, because in one hour your judgment has arrived!’
11 “Also, the merchants of the earth are weeping and mourning over her, because there is no one to buy their full cargo anymore, 12 a full cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet cloth; and everything made from scented wood; and every sort of object made from ivory, and from precious wood, copper, iron, and marble; 13 also cinnamon, Indian spice, incense, perfumed oil, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives.*14 Yes, the fine fruit that you*desired has left you, and all the delicacies and the splendid things have vanished from you, never to be found again.
15 “The merchants who sold these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and will weep and mourn, 16 saying: ‘Too bad, too bad, the great city, clothed with fine linen, purple, and scarlet and richly adorned with gold ornaments, precious stones, and pearls,+ 17 because in one hour such great riches have been devastated!’
“And every ship captain and every seafaring person and sailors and all those who make a living by the sea stood at a distance 18 and cried out as they looked at the smoke from her burning and said: ‘What city is like the great city?’ 19 They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and said: ‘Too bad, too bad, the great city, in which all those who had ships at sea became rich from her wealth, because in one hour she has been devastated!’+
20 “Be glad over her, O heaven,+also you holy ones+ and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced his judgment on her in your behalf!”+
These stuff are literally secretly happening in the vatican.
It is not a spiritual Babylon it is as real as the old Babylon.
We need to clarify our terms. When we use the term “spiritual” application or “spiritual” interpretation, we do not mean that they are not “literal” events. Many read the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation and interpret the prophetic symbols as literal, when they are pointing to a deep spiritual truth. When we read of Babylon in Revelation, it is symbolic and spiritual. However, it does [indeed] represent something literal. However, Babylon does [not] represent the ancient, literal, geographic city located in the land of Mesopotamia. The Babylon in Revelation is indeed a literal entity/system, and that’s exactly what we explain in our series. We point out in our series that by first recognizing the literal and the local in the OT we can gain a deep appreciation for its spiritual and world-wide application in the NT.
We base this on the principle outlined in 1 Corinthians 15:46.
1 Corinthians 15:46 (NASB) 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
This is the method God uses to teach us their spiritual application.
We need the literal to better understand the spiritual. Take marriage for example. God established the institution of marriage. Without the natural or physical understanding of marriage, we could not understand the marriage of Christ and the Church. In Revelation, Babylon, i.e., the harlot, has married the world kingdom system. She rides the world kingdom system as the head and not the body. She has not only abandoned her true Husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, she tries to act as the controlling element in the marriage (ie. the head). Completely the opposite of God’s plan for His church. We explain how this manifests itself in our Revelation videos.
Thanks for your comment and thanks for watching our videos.
It’s both I think. It’s mystery Babylon because on the surface everything seems above board and fine in certain ways. I mean yes we know there is all kinds of sexual immorality happening - there is a booming adult industry, gentleman’s clubs, and Hollywood and the entertainment industry in many instances chiefly operate on the premise of sex sells. However everywhere you go when you look with your natural eyes everything seems so normal but when you wake up to the reality of this place and how the majority have this evil eye in their heads you double take and realise in every single profession on earth even the most ostensibly respectable ones and that people admire and look up to and even attribute some virtue too like being doctors or teachers for example is steeped in prostitution because people do not have boundaries and violate each other in the unseen spiritual realm. You don’t need to work in a brothel. You can work in the civil service, you can work as a secretary or as a bartender. It doesn’t matter. You walk down the street and you’re sexually abused by total strangers. There are children that have the third eye whose mother sacrificed them and stole their childhood such that now they have the knowledge of a 90 year old man. They’re broken and their mothers don’t even care because all that matters to them is their personal vanity and what makes them look good or important. The only thing that remains of their childhood in truth is to pretend to be children and that their childhood has not been so tragically stolen. And they don’t know what is wrong and why they’re so broken. Their mother has her head in the clouds and wants a promotion at work. All about self, who cares that they’ve been robbed of those critical years. Everyone you meet is sexually abusive psychologically abusive and physically abusive in the unseen spiritual realm. So I think it’s physical but it’s also something hidden and it takes a while to wake up and recognise how bad it is here…
Sorry I disagree with a few things in this teaching 1st one day is not one year but in fact 1000 years.
2 Peter 3 8-9
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’
Secondly the mark of the beast can not just be spiritual. If the mark is only spiritual therefore it won’t be seen so how can people stop you buying and selling? It doesn’t make any sense.
We recommend that you watch our Daniel 1 video where we explain the day for year principle using scripture. It applies to prophetic time periods. We also address and explain the difference between prophetic time prophecies and the day for 1000 year as you cite in 2 Peter 3:8.
In addition, we define what we mean by the spiritual application in our Daniel 1 video. When we say spiritual, we are not talking about something that is not concrete or material. We are talking about the spiritual application or the spiritual interpretation.
For example when Jesus says to tear down the temple and in three days He will raise it up, the Jews thought Jesus was talking about the physical building of the temple. We know that He was talking about His own body after the cross.
Nicodemus doesn't understand how one can be born when he is old. He inquires how a man can enter a second time into his mothers womb. We know Jesus was talking about a spiritual rebirth by the Holy Spirit working to create a new heart and mind.
We address all this and more in our entire series.
The mark of the beast is not a physical tattoo on a physical body. It is the spiritual application that has real meaning and significance. We explain exactly what that is and how it manifests itself in the physical, material world.
Many today are interpreting scripture using a literal application like Nicodemus and the Jews. Doing so leaves one confused and leads to erroneous conclusions.
Critically evaluate everything we say. Hold us to the highest Biblical standard. You be the judge.
21 taking the sacred and profanity them
Amen
Amen