I’m presently focusing upon what Jesus said in Matthew 16:27-28. It is a very controversial scripture, and, if taken literally, debunks modern futurism that looks for Jesus to come in the clouds to judge mankind. Imagine, if you can, turning to Christian radio or Christian TV and not finding a single channel that wants to tell you about Jesus’ soon return or that the world is about to come to an end. At least from the point of view of modern eschatology. Much of what we see in modern Christianity has become a fear-religion rather than the Good News faith. Instead of preaching the Gospel of Christ, we often hear about the end of our space-time continuum. Is that what Jesus told us to do? I don’t think so. According to how I read Jesus’ words, he has already kept his word to us back in the first century AD, and absolutely no one got left behind!
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. (Matthew 16:27-28).
In previous studies of mine, I’ve shown how this scripture is connected to Isaiah 40 and 62. That is, Isaiah seems to be a source or focal point out of which Jesus derived his prediction about his coming in Matthew 16:27-28. Romans 15:8 tells us that Jesus made himself the servant of the Jews for the sake of the truth, that is, for the sake of God’s word, in order to fulfill God’s promises to the fathers—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Therefore, everything Jesus said and did should find its fountain in promises made and / or prophesies given in the Old Testament.
What I hope to do in this study is to show how Jesus’ remarks in Matthew 16 can also be seen in Daniel chapter seven. There, Daniel prophesies about the rise of four ancient gentile kingdoms, but he focuses upon a little horn that rises out of the fourth kingdom. This horn is representative of an authority that persecutes the saints of God (Daniel 7:21), and the persecution is so intense that it is claimed that he is, in fact, wearing them out (Daniel 7:25).
Daniel then shows that one like the Son of Man (Christ) would come on a cloud to the Ancient of Days (God the Father) to receive a Kingdom. The Son of Man would at that time destroy the little horn and reward the saints with their inheritance – the Kingdom (Daniel 7:14, 18, 27), but how does Daniel’s prophecy relate to Matthew 16?
In Matthew 16:21 Jesus foretold that he would be persecuted and killed by the Jewish authorities at Jerusalem. He went on to say that, if a man chose to be his disciple, he must not hold his life dear, because there is a price to pay for being his disciple (Matthew 16:24-25), so Jesus, like Daniel, spoke of the persecution of the righteous.
Daniel predicted that eventually the Ancient of Days would sit in judgment (Daniel 7:10), but Jesus said that God had committed all judgment to his Son (John 5:22). So, in other words, the Father judges mankind through the person of his Son, Jesus. Daniel then predicted that God (Jesus) would judge and destroy the little horn (Daniel 7:26), but he would give the Kingdom to the saints (Daniel 7:22).
This is exactly what Jesus predicted he would do in Matthew 16:27-28. He predicted that he would come in the glory of the Father and reward every man according to his works (that’s judgment). Moreover, Jesus predicted he would do it all in the lifetime of some of his listeners, meaning that generation in the first century AD, and Daniel said it would be done in the days of the fourth gentile kingdom, i.e. Rome. Therefore, according to Daniel, we cannot project Jesus’ coming beyond the days of the Roman Empire. So, the only plausible coming of Christ would have been his coming to vindicate his saints and reward them (cir. 70 AD) and destroy those who were persecuting them, i.e. Jerusalem, the Harlot of Revelation 17, in whom was found the blood of all of the righteous from the time of Able to the first century believer, whom she persecuted from city to city and slew when given the opportunity (cf. Matthew 23:32-36).
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8 responses to “Jesus’ Coming and Daniel 7”
I believe all of Daniel’s visions have been fulfilled except Chapter 7.
In Chapter 7, Daniel’s vision goes through all 4 beasts representing all 4 world empires, with the 4th beast developing 10 horns. Then another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts. I believe this horn represents the last antichrist and it is not the same as the small horn described in Daniel 8:8-9 which is described as occurring in the 3rd or Greek Empire. After this 4th beast is slain, the Son of Man (Jesus) is given an everlasting dominion. As stated in Daniel Chapter 2, a stone is cut out without hands and crushes all human rule (Daniel 2:44).
In the interpretation of the dream starting in verse 25, 25 He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. 26 But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever.
You have probably heard of what people call a prophetic year consisting of 360 days. Well I do not believe God would use a year length that does not fit within the years of the prophesy timeline.
I found an interesting article on the internet called 360 vs 365 by Guy Cramer. Although a lot of it is beyond my understanding, here are some of his thoughts on the subject.
During the time of the flood, Noah tells us that a 150 days’ period started on the seventeenth day of the second month and ended on the seventeenth day of the seventh month (Genesis 7:11,24 and 8:3-4).
150 days divided by 30 days a month = 5 month
30 days x 12 months = 360 days
He believes the change to 365.24 days per year happened in the 8th century BC when King Hezekiah was given a 15-year extension on his life and was given a sign to assure it would happen in Isaiah 38:8.
“Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz ten degrees backward.” So, the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down. (Isaiah 38:8)
Earth may be headed for a 360-day year again!
Daniel 7:25 speaks about the last part of the tribulation with the antichrist in power as lasting three-and-one-half years. In Revelation 11:2 and Revelation 13:5, the same period of time is described as 42 months. Revelation 11:3 and Revelation 12:6 tell us that it is 1,260 days.
1,260 days divided by 42 months = 30 days per month.
42 months of 30 days per month = 3 1/2 years exactly of 360 days per year
To achieve a 30-day month the earth’s orbit around the sun must be sped up so year would = 360 days.
A scripture I always wondered the meaning of is Daniel 7:25 when he is talking of the antichrist.
Daniel 7:25New American Standard Bible (NASB)
25 He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
Will he be allowed to change time back to a 30-day month and 360-day year? It would make him seem all powerful in most people’s eyes.
Greetings Wayne and thank you for reading my blog studies and for your comment.
As I understand it, your thoughts about Daniel 7 have two great flaws. First, the coming of Jesus, according to Daniel **must** occur in the days of the fourth beast–the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire has been non-existent for centuries. Therefore, if Jesus comes in the days of the fourth kingdom, he must have already come. The only possible coming that would agree with the scriptures is his judgment upon Jerusalem and the Temple cir. 70 AD.
Secondly, the fourth kingdom must be in existence if it grows any “horns”, so the horns — whatever they may mean — had to have been fulfilled long, long ago, and cannot point to a time in our future.
According to Jesus, his coming to judge the world had to have occurred in the evil generation that rejected him as their Messiah. Therefore, the writers of the New Testament are correct in saying that he was to come in their own lifetimes. They were not speaking of our lifetimes. All things are fulfilled. There are no prophecies yet to be fulfilled–according to the scriptures.
Lord bless you, Wayne, as you seek to discover the truth in the scriptures. They are all we have, as far as understanding the truth about God is concerned, our imaginations, notwithstanding. Hope this helps.
Thank you for your reply. I enjoy reading your articles and I agree probably more than I disagree. But consider that the stone in Daniel Chapter 2 is cut out without hands and smashes all the kingdoms. To me that means human rule will be ended by God, that has not happened yet. And in verse 44, it will not be left for another people (no more human rule) but it (God’s rule) will itself endure forever.
God Bless Your Studies and Help All of Us Who Believe With More Complete Understanding:
Wayne
Greetings Wayne and thank you again for your comment and your kind words of encouragement. Of course you are correct in believing as the Lord leads you to believe, just as I need to follow and believe what I think the Lord is teaching me. Nevertheless, we differ on this issue. So, I think you can agree with me that the Lord doesn’t cause confusion, nor will he help either of us to believe something that isn’t true. Therefore, one of us is wrong.
How I understand the issue is that in the beginning the Lord created mankind to rule over all the Lord created, including giving authority over other men. This is implied in Genesis 1 through 5, and specifically mentioned in Genesis 9:5-6. In other studies I’ve shown how the Kingdom of God doesn’t challenge the rule of men. This is why Pilate didn’t see Jesus as a threat to Caesar’s throne, even though Jesus claimed he was King of the Jews. The spiritual Kingdom of God is not a threat to the physical kingdom of men. Rather, it teaches men how to rule according to the heart of God. That is part of the message of the Gospel.
As I understand the word of God, God had always intended men to rule, but to rule according to his (i.e. God’s) heart. This is understood from the beginning of creation, and wasn’t challenged when Jesus appeared before Pilate, because Jesus claimed his Kingdom was not of this world, and Pilate correctly interpreted Jesus’ words to mean he wasn’t a threat to Caesar.
What Daniel 2 claims is that the Kingdom of God would be established in the days of the fourth kingdom of men who ruled God’s people, the Jews. Although God’s people today (believing Jews and believing gentiles) submit to the authority of men, we are ruled by our King (Messiah) and Savior, Jesus. So, the kingdoms of men are powerless to invade God’s Kingdom or to cause it or its citizens to unquestionably submit to their authority. When men, even our rulers, challenge Jesus’ authority over us, our duty is to be faithful to Jesus, but as long as men don’t interfere with Jesus’ rule over his people, believers and all men with them need to submit to the authorities whom God has set up in this world.
May you be blessed in your studies of his word, and I hope this will help you understand why I disagree with your position on the issue at hand.
Good to converse with you Eddie and those are good points. We may never change each other’s mind but we can bring to mind other points of mind and of scripture.
I believe when Jesus told Pilate his kingdom was not of this world (in John 18:36), He was speaking of in Pilate’s day. Notice in the second part of the verse it says “but now” or some translations “as it is” which to me indicates at that time.
At this time Satan is ruler of this world but will be cast out (John 12:31). Notice He did not say “is cast out” but “will be cast out”.
Revelation 12:5, she bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for all of us.
Your Friend
Wayne