Israel in Prophecy — the Series - What Happens?

Israel in Prophecy — the Series

What Happens?

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Continuing with the prophet Daniel, When the goat “was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns towards the four winds of heaven” (Dan 8:8), and “As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from this nation, but not with his power” (v. 22). These four horns are again seen in the long vision about what will happen to Daniel’s people at the end of the age.

The angel who was withstood by the sar of Persia for twenty-one days says,

And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for the kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these. (Dan 11:2-4)

If the kingdom of Greece represents the bronze portion of the image Nebuchadnezzar saw—and it does—with the division of the image into two legs occurring in the bronze portion, then the division cannot be of Rome into an Eastern and Western Empire. Rather, the division is of the kingdom of Greece. The division of Babylon (the complete image) occurs when the first horn, or great horn of the kingdom of Greece is broken, not when in its shadow Greece is defeated by Rome.

For too long the foolishness of inserting Rome into biblical prophecies has held sway in the Churches of God as well as in the Evangelical Church. The thinly veiled hatred Arian Christianity as well as Evangelical Christianity and the Churches of God have had for the Roman Church prevented all of them from seeing that the four horns of the kingdom of Greece quickly become two kingdoms. In one verse (Dan 11:5) long before Rome ventures to sea, even longer before the unified Roman Empire divides east and west, the kingdom of Greece that had ruled the world divides north and south, with these two directions having biblical significance.

Then the king of the south [one of the directions of the four winds] shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority. After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times. (Dan 11:5-6)

Remember, this vision of Daniel’s was sealed and kept secret until the time of the end (Dan 12:4, 9). It could not be understood by 1^st-Century Apostles, or by the 20^th-Century Church. So historical exegesis is of no help in understanding the prophecies of Daniel although someone will argue that the time of the end began at Calvary. Jesus said in His Olivet discourse,

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will darken, and the moon will not give its light, and stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things [the heavenly signs], you know that he [Christ] is near, at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Matt 24:29-35)

When Jesus says this generation shall not pass away, He isn’t implying that some who were alive in the 1^st-Century are still alive today although the verse has been interpreted this way by a few errant teachers of spiritual Israel. Jesus means the generation that witnesses the endtime heavenly signs following the tribulation that includes the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Matt 24:15 referring to Dan 11:31) shall not pass before all things are complete. The end of the age has specific verses referencing its beginning. Jesus said, “And this gospel [or good news — the referent is the good news of the previous verse, that all who endure to the end shall be saved] of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt 24:14). In Daniel’s sealed vision, the angel tells Daniel the truth: ‘“At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind”’ (Dan 11:40). So the lesson of the fig tree is that the time of the end didn’t begin at Calvary, nor did it begin earlier in the centuries since. The time of the end will begin following when the good news that all who endure to the end shall be saved is preached to the world; when the derivative Greek king of the South attacks the derivative Greek king of the North, and the king of the North comes at him like a whirlwind.

Many teachers of Israel have taught that the referring expression this gospel in Jesus’ Olivet discourse (Matt 24:14) references the message about Jesus as the Logos (John 1:1) being born as a man (v. 14). This is the good news message that the Evangelical Church presently takes onto satellite television, with this message now being received everywhere on the globe. But this isn’t the gospel that Jesus used to reference the end of the age. In His Olivet discourse, Jesus answered His disciples’ questions about the end of the age and about His return—and He answered with a specific piece of good news, that all who endure to the end shall be saved.

Jesus’ answer and reference to a seemingly innocuous statement is largely missed by the Churches of God and entirely missed by the Arian and Evangelical Churches. Enduring to the end has been used by the Churches of God to refute the Evangelical message of once saved, always saved. But because the Churches of God do not collectively understand being born again, or born from above as being an actual spiritual birth, these fellowships have missed the importance of this particular piece of good news being the message that must be proclaimed to the world as a witness to all nations. In fact, one particular teacher of Israel within the Churches of God tradition, Herbert Armstrong, taught that the expression “this gospel” referenced the good news about the soon coming kingdom of God (i.e., Christ Jesus’ millennial reign over humanity). His teachings were loudly proclaimed worldwide by radio forty and fifty years ago. But again, the expression “this gospel” references Jesus’ preceding sentence as the pronoun this would indicate, its antecedent being all who endure to the end shall be saved (Matt 24:13).

After sentence after sentence of bad news, all pertaining to His return, Jesus uttered one statement of good news (what “gospel” means), that statement being that all who endure through His bad news utterances shall be saved by simply enduring to the end. And immediately upon declaring that all who endure shall be saved, Jesus said that this good news must be proclaimed to the world as a witness to all nations, and then, finally, the end would come. So the marker of when the end of the age can come is when the good news that all who endure to the end shall be saved is proclaimed to the world.

Redundant? Yes! Pedantic? Yes. But the importance of this gospel has been long overlooked because it wasn’t time to deliver this message, for with its delivery shall come the end.

The Philadelphia Church is presently the only organization or collection of fellowships doing the work of delivering this good news, and its voice is a low whisper:

There he [Elijah] came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 King 19:9-13)

The word of the Lord came to Elijah…the word of the Lord was not the Lord, who would speak to Elijah outside the cave. This word of the Lord is the Lord speaking to Elijah through Elijah having the spirit of God, with this word of the Lord or of knowledge coming in a manner similar to how disciples in this age hear the voice of the true Shepherd. And this word told Elijah to go out and stand before the Lord, who was not in those things that are humanly associated with God: strong wind, an earthquake, fire. Rather, the Lord called in a low whisper, and Elijah heard and responded.

Disciples who are today of Philadelphia hear the Lord and respond, thereby doing the work of Christ Jesus, who is the spiritual Elijah to come (Mal 4:5).

The word of the Lord asked Elijah the same question as the Lord personally asked, and Elijah responded with the same answer. However, when speaking personally, the Lord gave Elijah additional instruction and knowledge…Elijah in the stone cave is analogous to a born-from-above son of God in a body of flesh. Moving from physical to spiritual, what was stone and by human perception not-living becomes flesh and spiritually still not-living for flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. The law of God inscribed on two stone tablets were housed, when God gave rest to Israel during Solomon’s reign, in a stone temple. But the second covenant when mediated by Christ Jesus has the law of God inscribed on two tablets of flesh (the hearts and minds of disciples — Heb 8:10 & Jer 31:33) and housed in a temple of flesh (1 Cor 3:16-17). Again, a physically circumcised Israelite in a house in Egypt or in Babylon is analogous to, or the shadow of a spiritually circumcised disciple living in a fleshly body that is not living as a Judean, an important juxtaposition. A physically circumcised Israelite living in a stone house in Judea forms the shadow of a spiritually circumcised disciple who outwardly keeps the laws of God, including clean and unclean foods as well as the Sabbaths of God. Under the new covenant, the commandments of God move from governing what the hand does to what the heart does. Disciples are no longer under an external law written on stone tablets and housed in a stone temple, for the commandments are now written within their flesh. And the essence of Christianity is that a disciple is not the flesh, but a new creation within the mind and the heart of a previously spiritually lifeless human being. This new creation is not of this world, but is housed in a tabernacle of this world to grow and mature and to overcome the prince of this world. If this new creation is overcome by the prince of this world as were a third of the angels, then this new creation will never leave this world but will be cast into the lake of fire when his judgment is revealed.

Again, a physically circumcised Israelite living in a house in Babylon, where God sent .the nation because of its lawlessness, forms the shadow of a spiritually circumcised Israelite (a Christian with a circumcised heart and mind [naphesh] through being born of Spirit) living as a righteous Gentile. A few circumcised Israelites in Babylon served God faithfully, but most bowed down to the gold image the king of Babylon made. Likewise, a few spiritual Israelites have served God faithfully in spiritual Babylon, but most have bowed down and worshipped the spiritual king of Babylon (Isa 14:4-21) that is Satan disguised as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). Most find justification for going along with, and getting along with the world and the prince of this world.

The rebuilt temple of God was not, though, constructed in Babylon, but at Jerusalem—and the rebuilt spiritual temple of God is constructed in the Jerusalem above, which, theologically, lies Beyond the River from Babylon. Crossing that River places the disciple in spiritual Judea, where the disciple will live as a spiritual Judean, doing those things that separate an already circumcised Israelite from neighboring nations.

The glorified Jesus restores all things, and turns the hearts of the children of God to their Father, and His Father. He must restore all things; for the Church, the spiritual reality foreshadowed by circumcised Israel, no longer walks in the ways of God, but rather, profanes His Sabbaths while teaching sons of God to be lawless. Thus, with regret it must be said that God isn’t in Evangelical television just as He wasn’t in the strong wind that tore the mountain apart and broke rocks to pieces. It would seem that He ought to be there; it would seem that much power must be of God. But it takes no faith to believe what the eyes see. It takes faith to hear God in a low whisper. It took faith for Elijah to hear the Lord in the low whisper, and then to cover his face so as not to perish…Christ Jesus is the acceptable covering for disciples who hear the voice of the Lord and respond as Elijah responded. And those disciples who are of Philadelphia respond when they keep and teach Jesus’ words of patience endurance, those words being the good news that all who endure to the end shall be saved. Those who endure to the end (the third part of humanity) will be saved for they will be born of Spirit when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon all flesh (Joel 2:28). Then, with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of the Most High and of His Christ (Rev 11:15) halfway through the seven endtime years of tribulation, this third part of humanity will become the spiritual third-born son of the last Eve. In effect, they will be like the uncircumcised children born in the wilderness to the nation that left Egypt. Because of that nation’s unbelief the nation never entered God’s rest. Because of the unbelief of the greater Church today, most of this holy nation will not enter God’s rest. However, after a spiritual Cain is marked by the tattoo of the Cross, and after a righteous Abel is slain by his rejected older brother, a third part of humanity—those who are not today self-identified Christians—will becomes sons of God and will be saved by enduring to the end.

Whereas the nation of physically circumcised Israel in Egypt was called the firstborn son of God (Exod 4:22), with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, none of this nation entered God’s rest. Instead, their uncircumcised children crossed the Jordan and were immediately circumcised. These uncircumcised children entered the Land Beyond the River that is God’s rest, and these children of the nation that left Egypt equate to the third part of the little ones that the prophet Zechariah references (chap 13, v. 9). Again, this third part of humanity will be spiritually like the first Eve’s son Seth. This third part of humanity will not be born from above until the Holy Spirit is poured out upon all flesh when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of the Most High and of His Christ. Thus, this third part is not made spiritually alive until the middle of the seven endtime years of tribulation. They will not have sinned in the heavenly realm for they had no life in this realm until born from above. And when they are born from above, they will be empowered by the Holy Spirit so that they are able to overcome the flesh. They will be saved if they endure to the end because they are born sinless, and they have been empowered to overcome sin from their spiritual birth. All they must do is endure. Salvation is, for this third part of humanity, this simple. But they will, in enduring, be refined as silver is refined (in fire) and tested as gold is tested (under pressure), the reason why the Messiah doesn’t immediately return when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of Father and Son.

Because so much misinformation has masqueraded as truth for so long, some literary redundancy is necessary: the third part of humanity, like the nation lead by Joshua, son of Nun, will enter God’s rest if they endure to the end. A simple message, an easy message to take to the world that today doesn’t want to hear it. But this is the message that will be proclaimed to the world as a witness to all nations before the end comes. And the irony is that those who won’t hear because they really are not interested in becoming Christian are the ones to whom this gospel message is directed. Thus, this is the message or gospel that will be delivered by the two witnesses, two human beings whom the world cannot ignore.

Then I [John] was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two month. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” [paragraph break] These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that [spiritually] is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. (Rev 11:1-13 emphasis added)

Disciples are the temple of God that will be measured. They can be measured when the Son of Man is revealed because they are no longer robed by the righteousness of Christ Jesus. They will be naked before God, with their only covering being their obedience. And they will be delivered into the hand of the lawless one (Dan 7:25) for a time, times and half a time, or forty-two months, or 1260 days—all expressions for the same period of time that begins when the Son of Man is revealed. The differing expressions relate to from whose perspective the time is experienced, God’s [time, times and half a time], angels’ [forty-two months], or humankind’s [1260 days].

Both Sodom and Egypt represent sin and bondage. The Apostle Paul said that present day Jerusalem also represents sin and bondage whereas the Jerusalem above represents liberty and life. The spiritual temple of God was not built in present day Jerusalem (Gal 4:25-26), nor will it be rebuilt in present day Jerusalem. Those disciples who anxiously watch Rabbinical Judaism’s efforts to reconstruct a temple in physical Jerusalem are misguided, miss-taught, and woefully carnally minded.

The task of the endtime two witnesses will be to prepare that third part of humanity to believe and fear God when they are born from above. This task will include the defeat of Death, the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse. Enduring to the end will mean not taking the tattoo of the cross [chi xi stigma] when compelled to do so to buy and sell; will mean trusting God to supply the needs of the person. Living without taking the mark of the beast will be, everyday, an act of faith for the last three and a half years of the Tribulation. Thus, the example and teachings and resurrection of the two witnesses must be memorable enough to quell doubts about whether this third part of humanity does right in passively resisting the antiChrist. They will, in one day, go from mocking those who keep the commandments of God to themselves keeping these commandments. And they will be led in their resistance to the antiChrist by the remnant (Rev 12:17) who endured in faith the first half of the Tribulation.

The principle task of The Philadelphia Church isn’t to focus inward on preparing itself to be a living sacrifice to God, but to focus on recovering as many sheep who have strayed from the flock as possible. In focusing on bringing those who have been born again into covenant with God, disciples who are of Philadelphia will do without thinking those things that prepare them to serve God. So the logo of one particular splinter of the Churches of God that emphasizes preparing a people misses the point of Christianity. Hirelings focus on the flock that is in the sheepfold. True shepherds leave the sheep that are safe for the night and go after those who are lost and are being devoured alive by wolves.

The portion of the greater Church that will not hear the endtime gospel of all who endure to the end shall be saved because this isn’t the gospel they take to the world will die either spiritually or physically during the first half of the Tribulation. A harsh statement, but a true one. They will spiritually die through rebellion against God—in particular, in trying to enter God’s rest on the following day. Or they will physically die as righteous Abel was slain by Cain. Either way, they are sacrificed as the first of the firstfruits was sacrificed at Calvary, for the student is not greater than his teacher, nor the servant greater than his master. They will not be bodily raptured to heaven, nor will they go to a place of physical safety. They will die! This is the reality of formerly sealed endtime prophecies. Except for a remnant foreshadowed by Joshua and Caleb, Christians who live through the revealing of the Son of Man will be as either Cain or Abel. Converts during the first half of the seven endtime years will be spiritual virgins if they do not sin after they have received spiritual life and empowerment by the Holy Spirit—and the 144,000 are spiritual virgins. They are the broken-off natural branches of the olive tree grafted back to the root of righteousness when the fullness of the nations has been called. And God will use the Sabbath as the means to graft these natural branches onto Christ Jesus, for these natural branches will not give up the Sabbath, the sign of who is sanctified by God.

Muslims will, for the most part, become Arian Christians when swayed by the false prophet, but spiritual birth is from the Father. Between when the Son of Man is revealed and when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon all flesh 1260 days later, spiritual birth occurs only after demonstrated obedience to the laws of God and profession that Jesus is the Christ. Thus, without being born of Spirit but having been baptized into the dominant Arian sect, Muslim converts will fight physically for the king of the North and will fight against Israel and against trinitarian Christianity. They will be instrumental in causing the spiritual horn representing death (the fourth horseman) to prevail over the spiritual king of the South, representing sin. When the great horn of Greece is broken, sin and death (presently joined in the flesh of disciples — Rom 7:25) will be separated as shown by their shadow (Dan 11:5). Liberation will place both outside of disciples, but liberation is from sin through empowerment by the Holy Spirit. Disciples will be able to rule over their fleshly tabernacles, which are given over to an outside death. They will not die from natural causes (i.e., from death being within them). Instead, they will be physically killed, except for the woman and the remnant. Or they will attempt to save their fleshly bodies through compromise with the Cross, worshiping it instead of the Father and the Son—and their attempt to save their lives will cause Christ Jesus to kill them upon His return. Either way, they will die, saving their spiritual lives or losing them. The choice is always the disciple’s.

The liberation of Christians from sin will not prevent the majority of disciples from returning to lawbreaking through trying to enter God’s rest on the following day. Most Christians will not, even when empowered by the Holy Spirit, keep the Sabbath commandment—and to break the law in one point is breaking the law, which places the lawbreaker under a death sentence. When the Son of Man is revealed, the garment of Christ’s righteousness will be removed. The temple of God will be measured. And any lawbreaking will be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that has empowered and liberated the disciple. Once empowered, disciples who sin will not be forgiven, for they will then have willfully broken the commandments of God.

When the Tribulation begins, the spiritual nation of Israel will appear as naked before God as the physical nation has appeared throughout the millennia. The spiritual nation, though, will have life in the heavenly realm and will die the second death for its lawbreaking. Grace ends with the revealing of the Son of Man, the body of which is the Church. With empowerment by the Holy Spirit and liberation from sin, there will no longer be a need for Christ Jesus to bear the sins of disciples in the heavenly realm. The fullness of iniquity will have been reached. And the natural branches will be grafted to the root of righteousness through keeping the commandments and as an act of faith, professing that Jesus is Lord and that the Father raised Him from the dead. Two things: the first given by Moses in the second covenant made at Moab (Deu 29-31). The second expressed by Paul…to begin keeping the commandments when in a far land is an act of faith, but when the mediator of the second covenant went from Moses to Christ Jesus, physical geography was replaced by mental topography. The act of faith now acceptable is profession that Jesus is Lord, which is coupled to keeping the commandments. For the nations, profession is psychologically easy; keeping the commandments is difficult. For the natural branches, the reverse is generally true. Both, though, must occur during the first half of the Tribulation before the Father will give the person spiritual life. If the Father waits, the person will be born from above when the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh upon the kingdom of the world becoming the kingdom of the Father and of His Christ. The person will, then, only have to endure to the end to be saved. Therefore, additional spiritual birth during the first half of the Tribulation will be somewhat limited to the natural branches, who will not accept the man of perdition’s attempt to change times and the law (Dan 7:25). They will die first. And if law-keeping natural branches die after professing that Jesus is Lord, they will be glorified in the resurrection when the Son returns as the Messiah. They will receive circumcised hearts and minds under the terms of the second covenant.

When the Son of Man is revealed, the legalism of present day Islam will be exploited by legalistic Arian Christianity, for the largest Arian denomination has positioned itself to leverage food into discipleship…Arian denominations are those that hold the error of Bishop Arius, who taught that Jesus was a created being. Those who hold this error place the creation of Jesus as early as Jesus (as the Logos) being the brother of Lucifer and Michael to as late as Jesus being created in the womb of Mary. So it will not be difficult for the false prophet, a demon given the mind and heart of a man, with “miracles” to convince Muslims that Jesus is more than a prophet, born of God to the woman Mary, especially after their firstborns have been ransomed for the liberation of Christians from bondage to sin.

The tribulation apparently caused by the two witnesses as these two prophets of God teach that human beings are to live by the laws of God, all of them, will be not be enough to convince either Trinitarian or Arian Christianity to live as Judeans. However, when a second third of humanity dies mysteriously, the world will be paying attention as the man of perdition declares himself god and the two prophets are killed and publicly resurrected. Dominion over humanity will be taken from sin and death, from the false prophet and the king of the bottomless pit—the four horns or kings that emerge following the breaking of the great horn of the king of Greece. Dominion will be taken through the kingdom of the world becoming the kingdom of the Most High and of His Christ. The prince of this world will be cast into time, never to leave. The Holy Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh, thereby changing human nature as well as the natures of the great predators. But Christ Jesus doesn’t return for another three and a half years. The “messiah” that comes usurping the authority of Christ Jesus to reign over humanity will be the true antiChrist, the old dragon cast to earth (the man of perdition is his shadow). But he, too, will have been given the mind of a man. He can be defeated by the saints through them enduring to the end without taking the mark of the beast [chi xi stigma, the tattoo of the Cross], the mark of Death. They endure by trusting God, and not trusting in doing business, or in the Christianity of the Cross.

The four horns emerge in the bronze portion of the image Nebuchadnezzar saw, but they represent a breaking and division of the king of Greece’s rule (Dan 11:4), a plucking up of the great horn’s kingdom: And from one of these horns (the king of the North) comes a little horn, unlike the others.

Out of one of [the four horns] came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land [west — the vision occurs at Susa; thus, the little horn emerges from the northern kingdom]. It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them. It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper. (Dan 8:9-12)

This little horn emerges at the end of the kingdom of the four horns, “when the transgressors have reached their limit” (v. 23), language that anticipates the teachings of Paul.

Lest you [converts at Rome] be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, / he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; / “and this will be my covenant with them / when I take away their sins.” (Rom 11:15-27)

Paul’s citation is from the prophet Isaiah, which in translation reads slightly different:

And a Redeemer will come to Zion, / to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declared the Lord. / “And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forever.” (Isa 59:20-21)

The context of Paul’s teaching has God breaking off the natural branches of Israel because of their unbelief, with God then grafting on wild olive branches that are of the nations [Gentiles, the converts at Rome]. The partial hardening of Israel continues until the fullness of the nations are grafted in. But this fullness of the nations bears the fruit of wild olive branches, not the fruit of the rootstock of righteousness. The mystery concealed within the analogy of grafting is that the scion doesn’t bear the fruit of the root, but its own fruit. Grafting is used to bring good fruit to a root that would not otherwise bear good fruit. So wild olives branches even when grafted onto the root of righteousness will still bear the fruit of the branch. Some will bear good fruit, a hundred-fold increase. Some sixty, some thirty. From the wild fruit of seedlings come a few good varieties, a few good branches, but most are worthless…many are called but few are chosen (Matt 22:14). Thus, with the grafting on of wild branches comes much iniquity onto the root of righteousness. This iniquity will reach its limits when the little horn emerges. The great rebellion of falling away will occur when the lawless one is revealed (2 Thess 2:3), and because of this rebellion, God will send a delusion over those who did not love the truth (vv. 11-12) enough to walk uprightly before Him.

The mystery of grafting is, again, that the branch bears its own fruit regardless of the rootstock from which it is grows. An apple seedling doesn’t (with a few exceptions) bear the fruit of the parent tree that produced the seedling, so many seeds are sprouted and when large enough are then grafted onto trees and allowed to grow to produce fruit. Most of these seedlings produce bitter fruit, but some produce fruit worthy of further testing. Once in a while one produces truly outstanding fruit. This seedling becomes a new named variety.

Likewise, wild olive branches—say the branches of the Russian olives used as shelter belt trees in Western North America—produce small yellow fruit with large pits. The fruit has little value although it too can be pressed for oil or eaten. Thus, if the branch of a Russian olive were grafted onto a commercial olive root, the tree would produce the small yellow fruit of the Russian olive. The tree would not produce a commercial or tame olive. Nevertheless, a little oil will be produced if the fruit is pressed.

The nations as wild olive branches have been grafted onto the root of righteousness through abolishing the law that separated Circumcised from Uncircumcised (Eph 2:14). Circumcision is now of the heart and mind. Stone has become flesh, and spiritual breath has been added to physical breath. And in their grafting, the nations have brought to the root of righteousness their transgressions of the law of God. They have loaded these transgressions as heavy galls or boughs of bad fruit onto the rootstock—Christ Jesus bears their sins in the heavenly realm. But when the load is heavy enough, when the fullness of iniquity is reached, He liberates the spiritually holy nation from bondage to sin, thereby producing through empowerment by the Holy Spirit no need for Him to bear additional sin.

As if stressed by drought, the tree that has grown from the root of righteousness drops its crop of good and bad fruit before the harvest season. This stressing will be the Lord delivering the saints into the hand of the little horn at the beginning of seven endtime years of tribulation.

(to be continued)

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