Hi RJP34652,
Thanks for the note back. If you don't mind, I'd like to provide the following response:
THE IDOL AND THE KEY
I've not heard, nor have I ever read, of any logical discussion about the dissimilarity between Daniel's vision of the idol of empires and John's enumeration of mountain empires leading to the end of days.
Yet in some strange way they seem to agree with one another.
For example, we've all heard and read many assertions about Daniel's 'seventh week' or 'lost week' of prophecy. The main idea being that Daniel's clock or calendar of prophecy halted for several thousand years until the players lined up on the field properly. At that time the last week of events would play out (ie tribulation). Again, I've read nothing about why this halted clock or calendar should be accepted. Everyone seems to accept this jump in logic - by faith.
Actually it's not by "faith", it's by deception. Specifically, each of the scholars recognize Daniel 9 aspects which CANNOT be resolved, however the commentators discount these failures and present their best interpretation, knowing full well that if it were true, then Scripture was wrong. But ~they're the experts~ and they have an answer, -- unfortunately it's a lie.
1. In 9:2, most presume that Daniel simply read the prophecy of Jeremiah, -- which is the word "shama". However, the text uses "biyn", which is Solomon wisdom. Thus Daniel DID NOT simply ready from the book of Jeremiah, but he instead discerned seventy somethings (words, verses, chapters) in another book which agreed with Jeremiah's seventy "years".
2. In 9:2 the duration is "years", but in 9:25 the duration is the inconcise Masculine gender "week", which is NOT seven. If it were seven, he would have used the concise Feminine gender text. (Please note this is anagalous to a "cool" car, which is NOT a depressed thermal gradient.)
3. The 9:25 "Anointed one"/"Messiah"/"Chosen One" is NOT capitalized. It's merely a designation of ANY King or prophet who is anointed with oil.
4. The 9:25 "seven and sixty-two" are NOT one number. If the AUTHOR had intended it to be one number, HE would have said ~sixty-nine~.
5. There is one anointed one after the seven, and a second anointed one after the sixty-two.
6. The anointed one who is cut off "after" the sixty-two, is not cut off "upon" the sixty-two, but rather simply "after" the sixty-two.
7. The seventieth is NOT the tribulation duration. That duration is provided in Revelation 13 as 42 months.
8. The ~destroyer~ does not come at the beginning, the middle, or at the end of the seventieth. He simply comes "after" the seventieth.
Ref.: Post #51,
http://www.christian...on/page__st__30
One the other hand, there is one point which I feel has been totally lost by prophetic interpreters in recent decades. That is that ALL prophecy centers upon Jerusalem and Israel and that all those that work for or against that tiny nation are the ultimate players in the divine design of history. The key to Biblical interpretation of the last days has always been Israel.
This is incorrect. The first example is Daniel, who was NOT called to the Jews, but rather the Gentiles. His entire ministry is Gentile specific, -- including ALL prophetic passages, with the exception of the 9th Chapter, where he had to don the mantle of Jeremiah to prophecy to his own people. But everything else in for the nations of the earth and their interactions between themselves and only on approximately four instances where these international actions were directed against Israel.
And of course, the second example is Revelation, which is written the the Church.
THE UN
The only serious role the UN has ever had with regard to history is to legitimize the 1948 partition of palestine into Israel and the disorganized arab sections now known as Palestine. The UN did maintain a demilitarized zone between Israel and Egypt after the 1957 war, but that didn't last long. There has been no serious or effective insinuation of the UN into the area since then. To assume that such will happen in future, especially in light of the growth of Muslim political, economic and military power is quite a stretch. In fact, the role of the UN in any global issue has been diminishing drastically since that time. Today it is nothing more than a rubber stamp for US and European foreign policy. As both America and the European powers have themselves been weakened by economic and military adventures, the actions and declarations of the UN have become meaningless.
The enemies of the west are now quietly waiting on the sidelines for our economic and military collapse. It is virtually certain. Everyone knows it's coming. The UN, like every other western entity is also financially strapped and can do nothing about it. International financial and political contributions are at an all time low. The UN is impotent. It's jewels have quite literally been cut off. No future impact can be expected of it except to see the New York campus become a museum dedicated to the folly of godless empire.
I work with hazardous materials. We manufacture, test, and ship these materials
within the continental United States, which should ~legally~ fall under the auspices of the DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. However, ALL shipping requirements are dictated by U.N. regulations, including the shipping container specification.
Secondly, if what you assert is true, then why are there FIVE Current Members on the Permanent Security Council, and FIVE Nominated Members to the Permanent Security Council. And of the first FIVE, why is one the
LION, one the
BEAR, and one the
LEOPARD?
Is this NOT the "ten"?
WHICH VERSION TO WATCH
Returning to the core of Biblical interpretation, I see no other logical and Biblical solution to the prophetic puzzle than to consider seriously those nations and countries which have been HISTORICALLY and CURRENTLY antagonistic towards both Israel and the people of God (meaning Christians). The Bible says so and the fact that Islam is the ONLY religion on the planet that is wholly dedicated to anti-Christian and anti-Jewish peoples must be allowed (the Qur'an calls us "the people of the book").
Cold war interpretations of the meaning of scripture (the role of Russia, China and America) are entirely out of date. One has only to read the daily newspaper to determine that much.
I'm not sure if Mr. Richardson has an entirely correct formula for interpreting scripture, but I do know that it presents a much clearer and more logical picture than the one created in Hal Lindsay's LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH.
BTW have you watched Mr. Linday's TV show lately? He seems to be leaning toward this Muslim angle too. Lindsay is nobody's fool. If he sees the course of history going a certain way, he will follow it. So should we all.
WATCH TURKEY
As you correctly observed above, the Daniel 2 & 7 sequence is not guesswork. Furthermore, it's substantiated by Daniel 8 & 11, and Revelation 13 & 17. The only difference between what I anticipate versus how others see Scripture and History, is 2:45. In this verse, nearly ALL scholars and commentators ignore the separation of the Clay from the Iron: Iron, Bronze, Clay, Silver, Gold = FIVE; 4,3,5,2,1 = FIVE. But given this CLUE, we should comply with this guidance and NOT follow a FALSE 1,3,2,4a,4b premise. And where one fully considers Scripture, then Daniel 2 is FIVE, for which the fifth is "divided"; and Daniel 7 depicts the "divided" three superpowers, plus the one-world-government; and so forth.
But to validate ANY premise, one can assess the significance of
WHY the Revelation 13 beast "HEAD" is the Lion; the "BODY" is the Leopard; and the FEET are the Bear, -- that is, if anyone might expect those attributes to be anything more than empty symbols. And of course, we should also evaluate the Daniel 7 beast attributes (mind-of-man, ribs, heads, & wings).
BibleScribe
