NO.61  THE DAY OF DANIEL AND THE END TIME

 

TEXT: DANIEL 3: 24- 26  24 Then Nebchadenezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we, cast three men bound into the midst of fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, and walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

26 The Nebchadenezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. (KJV)

 

 

The book of Daniel provides us with many prophecies concerning the world history, especially the end time.  There are many characteristics in this book, and one of them is that it has some descriptions of the persecutions.  Daniel and his friends are persecuted.  And the reasons, the courses and the ends are given in detail.  That is the great characteristics.

 

Why does God give such accounts in Daniel?  We are going to think of that.

 

Daniel and his friends are in the captivity in Babylon.  The word Babylon has some special meaning in the end time, for the harlot Babylon is judged in the end time.  Babylon in Daniel also represents the type of the harlot Babylon who is to be judged in the end time.  So, Daniel and his friends who are persecuted represent the types of the saints who will be persecuted in the end time Babylon.

 

1.  One of the characteristics of the saints who are persecuted in the end time is described as the followings.

 

gShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither.h

 

gAnd when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?h

 

Attention should be paid to the words gservant of the most high Godh in both cases.  The reason is that there comes the persecution in end time Babylon, that is, the Church like Babylon, and the persecution is to the servants of God.

 

2.     The reasons why they are persecuted are written.

 

Two are given.  One is that they do not worship the golden image which the king has set up.  Another is that they do not make a petition of the king but of the true God.  These will be reproduced in the end time, I think.

 

It is written in the Bible that antichrist will sit in the temple of God.  The temple means the Temple of Jerusalem, but we do not see the Temple in Jerusalem at present.  Instead, the mosque stands there.  So it should be more real if we take it as the body of Christ, the Church.

 

In short, antichrist will sit in the center of the Church.  And what has described here will be reproduced.  It is also written that he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.  That is, the devotion to God will be suspended, and maybe the prayer, too.

 

Then, God has delivered His servants from all the persecutions in the miraculous way.  And God will probably do the same in the end time.  Yet we will also see some Christians who are martyred according to His will.  In any way, we like to do His will.

 

3.     The persecution in Babylon

 

The Bible mentions about the tribulation age repeatedly and the persecution in it.  Especially the book of Daniel does.  Why then do many theologians say that Christians do not go through the tribulation age?

 

If Christians do not enter or go through the tribulation age, why do we have to prepare for it?  For example, we have the examinations to enter the high schools or the universities.  Because we cannot enter unless we pass them, we study very hard.  We prepare for them as we study many hours every day.  But we know some students who need no such study.  They are the special ones who are admitted by recommendation.  They do not have to study to prepare for the examinations because of the exemption.  Likewise, if Christians do not go through the tribulation age, they do not have to prepare for them.

 

However, many words of the Bible actually mention the preparations for the time.  How do we take the words, gPrepare for the war in the days of the Lordh?  I think that those who say that all Christians will be in rapture before the tribulation age and will not suffer talk nonsense and deceive us.

 

Let us make preparations for the end time in the Lord.

 

End.