“Then the kingdom and dominion,
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.”
(Dan 7:27a, NKJV)
In the previous teaching we briefly examined the misunderstanding that the Jews, unlike all other nations, do not need to accept Jesus as Savior. But it was only a marginal element of the main argument we are currently concerned with, which is about the Jews’ legitimacy of a spiritual claim on the land of Israel.
We did, amongst other things, show that the entire basis of the old covenant religious functioning had ceased with the destruction of the temple and the disappearance of the ark of testimony. Through this Israel had lost its status as holy land. In short – the kingdom of Israel was replaced by the Kingdom of God, which is not geographically bound.
What Hos 3:4 prophesied had indeed taken place – “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.” Note – without king, sacrifices, or priesthood. Thus, when Jesus’ followers, after he was raised from the dead, ask Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”, He gives a very important answer which sheds a lot of light on the land-issue – “And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” (Acts 1:6-8).
We often focus on the first part which states that they are NOW not able to differentiate the times or seasons, but we need to read it in conjunction with the two phrases which follow it. When will they be able to discern the chronological events of time and the revelatory events of time? When the Holy Spirit descends upon them – and this would only happen later. This is what He had promised in John 16:13 – “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” In Greeks the word for things to come” is erchomai, which means “to come from one place to another”. John the Baptist and Jesus had throughout explained that the Kingdom still needs to come, thus in other words that it was not there yet – it could only truly happen with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will explain how the Kingdom shifted “from one place to another”, and this is qualified by Acts 1:8 – “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” God will no longer just tabernacle in Israel, but across the entire earth!
“Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him”, Daniel had prophesied. Note: the Kingdom will be given to “the people, the saints of the Most High”, not only to the Jews, as it had been prophesied in the Messianic Ps 22:27 – “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.”
- Sela: Contemplate your concept of the Kingdom of God.
- Read: Deut 6; Amos 3; Ezek 32
- Memorize Amos 3:3 & 7
- For a deeper understanding: Read Darrow Miller’s Discipling nations.
