ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH
AS
THE TWO WITNESSES OFREVELATION 11 AND
DANIEL 12
PART I
PART II
PART III
PART IV
PART V
ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH
AS
THE TWO WITNESSES
OF REVELATION 11 AND DANIEL 12(Part I)
Pergamos Ministries, Sacramento, California
In November, 2004 I completed a paper on behalf of a “Judeo-Christian Conference” to be held in April at the Founders Inn in Virginia Beach, VA. The conference was a “pilot” in that something like this had never been attempted at a venue wherein an “open invitation” was sent out to scores of ministries, churches, synagogues, seminaries (Christian and Jewish) and even “bloggers” like ourselves. It was a bold move to summon both groups together in theological discussion relative to the theme of the Messiah, His Coming and its impact upon both communities. Papers were solicited from invitees to the conference; and, an elaborate web site was developed to handle the hoped for eschatological enthusiasm expected for such an exchange.
Individuals, ministries, schools, etc., submitting papers could not broadcast nor publish their research/papers prior to an acceptance and presentation by the “review committee” headed up by Dr. Hamel who was spearheading the conference. Revisions could be made up to the cut off date around February 1, 2005. Unfortunately, the anticipated level of participation at this much heralded conference (3 days in all) simply did not materialize . . . leaving the would be participants somewhat stranded with “papers” in hand.
I have surmised three possible reasons for the apparent “lack of interest” and/or enthusiasm for such a conference—a conference which in the mid 1980s was organized by myself and Douglas R. Shearer in Washington D.C. wherein nearly 100 leading evangelicals and Jews gathered together at the Washington National Hebrew Congregation, hosted by Rabbi Joshua Hagerman (Reform) and attended by leaders from virtually every major branch of Judaism (Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservation and several Orthodox persuasions), as well as evangelical theologians from Dallas Theological Seminary, Trinity (Chicago), Multnomah Seminary, Gordon Conwell, Ashland Theological Seminary, and Southwestern Baptist, as well as Moody and other Bible Institutes throughout the country.
The three reasons why I feel the conference was cancelled are as follows:
(1) Israel has become the pariah of the Middle East and even the world. Public opinion, especially outside the USA, and even throughout most of the liberal community in the USA, and within major segments of the so-called “conservative” community here in America, have blamed Israel for the current wave of terrorism sweeping the world. Israel is viewed as intransigent and uncooperative and, worst of all, Israel has treated her Palestinian Arab population as an “imperialist expansionist” power would treat its conquered peoples. Furthermore, Israel has linked herself with the likes of the USA, now embroiled in its own Empire building pursuits; therefore, “guilt by
mutual association” has plagued both houses and the world sees their cooperation as the root cause for “Globalism” and, ipso facto, the spread of world terrorism and imperialism. Research abounds from “death squad” instruction by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), in cooperation with US military personnel, to “collateral damage” claims which are inflicted against innocent Palestinians in the “territories.” In other words, Israel has much blood on her hands . . . Anti-Zionism/Anti-Israel = Anti-USA/UK; and that’s not just a poster.
(2) The rise of “Triumphal Christianity” here in the US has been exacerbated by the current War on Terrorism and the “extension of democracy” in Southwest Asia (Afghanistan) and in the Middle East (Iraq). The “Christian Right” in America has fully entered mainstream politics and without question is responsible for the ascendancy of the both the Republican Party as the dominant political party of the nation . . . a nation whose “Red States” now dominate the political map. The American Left is, I believe, to blame for this ascendancy because they have purposefully embraced a strident and contrary social agenda that is altogether antagonistic to
the majority of Americans. Not only did Roe v. Wade galvanize the initial evangelical (and other “conservative religionists” like Catholics, Mormons, etc.) entry into opposing the Left’s social agenda, but the issue of “gay marriage” has utterly traumatized the Christian Right throughout the land, causing further polarization throughout the nation: CAUSED BY THE LEFT!
Christians who embrace sundry forms of “Dominionism” and/or “Triumphal Christianity” . . . be they Millenarians or Postmillenarians/Amillenarians, Futurists, Preterists or Historicists in their eschatology (labels simply appear meaningless here) have taken advantage of the current polarization and implacable social/economic positions embraced by both sides and have rallied the masses of Christians throughout the nation to withstand these “forces of darkness” and their “evil agenda.” Furthermore, these “Triumphalists” have embraced Bush’s War on Terrorism with evangelical zeal; championing the cause of Democratic Globalism as if were part of the faith, and ipso facto, have become the Patriotic Church of America (much to the chagrin of their European forbears be they Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox; and, most certainly, the “cultural pagans” who, like the liberal Left in America, are nothing more than “secularists” unable to defend the bastions of freedom, leaving Americans to shoulder the fight against Radical Islam).
This form of Christianity has NOT found theological justification for a regathered Israel, even in unbelief. Notwithstanding the ameliorating influences of Premillenarians within their ranks (Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, most of the conservative wing of the Southern Baptist Convention, etc.), the overall “tenor” of the “political activism” within American evangelicalism has decidedly neutralized any enthusiasm for Israel’s theological credence. Instead, replacing the theological imperatives relative to Israel’s “Messianic Scenario” are the military vicissitudes of Neocons and Triumphalists who see in Israel an ally—an aircraft carrier of last resort in a sea of hostility; hardly a worthy spiritual dynamic.
(3) Thirdly, the Church in America has so trivialized eschatological subject matter, aside from semi-fictional accountings (the Left Behind series), and has been pulverized by pop psychology and self-centered, success-oriented Christianity (everything from “recovery shops” to “financial planning seminars”) that any desire for deeper spiritual truths, and a real love for the pure Word of God, is left for the far and few between who are so “heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good.” Indeed, amalgamation of the “Gospel of Green” with the economic hegemony wrought by the Empire of military bases throughout the world (established and sustained to maintain Global Economic Dominance), seems to have struck a consonant cord between the “merchants of the earth” (our new “political donor class” or the top 1/1000th of Americans who contribute 90%+ of all campaign funds given to both political parties in America (thereby controlling both Democrats and Republicans)) and the “success-driven Meta Church movement” sweeping conservative Christians throughout America’s churches.
All this coupled with Babylon’s incessant drive to minimize America’s workforce wherein she works longer hours for less wages; piling up greater personal debt in the midst of the devaluation of the American dollar . . . giving little hope that the populous can continue to sustain the Empire’s aging population social net, while simultaneously increasing her military commitments throughout the world. America’s gargantuan debt now exceeds the consumer imagination of Alan Greenspan’s irrational exuberance, notwithstanding his new concern for the bursting of the housing bubble! So, who’s interested in attending and/or participating in a conference entitled “The Judeo-Christian Conference?” Precious few. And, now, the “paper” and the TWO WITNESSES OF REVELATION 11 and DANIEL 12: ISRAEL and THE CHURCH (links to references are included).
Executive Summary and Introduction
The author’s intent is to heighten interest in the eschatological issues surrounding Messiah’s coming as it pertains to both Israel’s and the Church’s final “end-of-days” witness. Once the sound of Revelation’s name is mentioned, the insightful Jew, like Richard Dreyfuss at the 2004 Oxford Union Debate on the proposition of Bush’s reelection, extrapolates a hasty conclusion to Armageddon—thanks, but no thanks; Israel can well do without such Bible-oriented friendships!
Notwithstanding these apocalyptic trepidations—for the evangelical (much to the chagrin of our Jewish friends who might be a bit unfamiliar with their own writings dealing with the “children of light vs. the children of darkness”)—are obligated by both Testaments to contend that the world’s ultimate climax mirrors the prophecies of the very linage of Mr. Dreyfuss, for the prophets and apostles were virtually all Jewish who foresaw the final contestation between good and evil; and, no—it is not as simple as it sounds.
Revelation’s overarching character is that of a cosmic courtroom (i.e., a trial) wherein the Judge of All the Earth sits as the “divine tribune”—awaiting the composite and closing summations to be delivered by corporate witnesses against the accused. Their depositions have been transcribed for nigh four thousand years—closing arguments are about to be made! It is in
this context that the Pascal Lamb is adjudged worthy—singularly qualified—to pass judgment against the “Great City” as a result of the “corporate testimony” of the TWO WITNESSES, who are summoned to prophesy for 1,260 days, prior to the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by Daniel the Prophet. Likewise, the Son of Man is worthy to appear before the Ancient of Days to be given dominion, glory and a kingdom (Daniel 7:13)—we conclude: Our destinies result in both the “younger horn . . . waging . . .war with the saints . . . until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom” (Dan. 7:20, 21b-22).
The Seventieth Week of Daniel meets its chronological counterpart in Revelation 11—and Daniel 12 confirms the end-times sequence. Revelation 11, and its preliminary counterpart, Revelation 10, are at the pivot point of the Apocalypse. The imagery and “numerological symbolism” used by John in the introduction of the prophecy of the Two Witnesses and ultimate suffering (42 months or times, time and half a time, three-and-a-half days or one-half heptad—three-and-a-half years) demands an agonizing reappraisal of the Church’s alignment with Israel in the crucible of Daniel’s final week. Furthermore, a radical realignment of “Biblical proportions” between the sons of Abraham and the followers of the Lamb—between those who “sing the Song of Moses” and those who “sing the Song of the Lamb”—is spiritually and pragmatically compulsory, given the consequences of alienation in the prophetic fulfillment of a regathered Israel, as well as events leading up to and including the Seventieth Week. Mystery surrounds both in the current dynamic—on that which we affirm, we celebrate and contend; on that which we contest, we defer, knowing it is the mystery, even “secret,” of Joseph who must unveil himself in the seven-year famine affecting the “whole world.” Providentially, events will—notwithstanding the timidity or suspicions which abide between us—drive us together whether we deem our readiness or not!
Israel’s rebirth catapults dispensationalists—the stalwarts of premillennial eschatology—into a veritable eschatological sea change of the Almighty’s simultaneous dealings with both Israel and the Church, i.e., issues relative to “progressive dispensationalism” must be given legitimate theological credence and study—while strategic action corollaries deserve serious exploration in light of divine intervention into our immediate history. Do the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures speak to this era—this author affirms not only do they; they do so with unequivocal clarity and refreshing illumination upon the revealed canon.
They who are within the “Commonwealth of Israel” see in Israel’s emergence both hope and prophetic confrontation against the Image seen by Daniel, and that will come to life in the climax of the age of engrafting into the original olive tree. To absent the Church’s prophetic calling secured by her prophetical forebears at the fulcrum of fulfillment—based upon spurious eschatological discoveries incurred at the inception of evangelical prophetical fervency in the early 1800s—shatters the commitment to the “Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus” which demands that “they ‘overcome’ him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they ‘loved’ not their lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:10). To isolate “Jacob’s Trouble” from “those who have come out of Great Tribulation” is an affront to all the martyrs who cry out beneath the altar and, as Corrie Ten Boon once said that they who affirm such theology are considered (and we do well to listen to this “sage of suffering”) as the “false prophets” spoken of by Jesus at the end of the age! Let us ascend to Corrie’s Hiding Place that the “Spirit of God and of Glory” may rest upon us!
During the past century—accelerated by numerous shifts in American politics and Jewish perceptions of American evangelicalism, as well as Israel’s tenuous struggle in the Middle East—an awakening within “The People of the Book” has turned old animosities into (at least) friendly dialogue. However, the current engagement between Evangelicals and Jews must go beyond the peripheral niceties of dialogue and social concerns, or, for that matter, solidarity on behalf of Israel’s perilous geo-political realities, heightened as they are by the rise of Islamic radicalism in the region. It is mandatory that eschatology lead the current engagement and that both Jew and Christian seize the moment, formulate theological points of Biblical agreement, explore common beliefs and accentuate eschatological compatibilities, while acknowledging traditional distinctions without compromise; and, to do so in a spirit of testimony and witness to a world at risk of moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
This paper is presented as a demonstration of the “unsealing of the end of days” – as both Jew and Christian await the Coronation of Joshua the High Priest: Behold, the Man whose name is BRANCH! (Zech. 6); while realizing that it is “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts” (Zechariah 4:6a).
ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH
AS
THE TWO WITNESSES OF REVELATION 11 AND DANIEL 12 [1](Part II)
(Note: This is Part II of a “paper” submitted as a “theological research document” for a “Judeo-Christian Conference” scheduled for April, 2005. The theme of the conference: Messiah. It is not designed for easy reading. Footnotes are extensive and are bookmarked for immediate review of the referenced item.)
DANIEL IS AT THE NEXUS OF MESSIANIC TENSION
The contestations of so-called “Higher Criticism” incessantly waged against the canonicity of “Daniel the Prophet” [2] has long been repudiated by noble Christian scholarship [3]; yet, the attack upon this portion of the Kethuvim (i.e., “Other Writings” or “the Twelve” [4] ) should alert “The People of the Book” (Jews and Christians) to the underlying reasons why these persistent consternations abide among those who decry Daniel’s visionary revelations as nothing more than fanciful apocalyptic hyperbole, viz., the high-brow fiction of antiquity; while they deride his arrangement within the “miscellaneous writings” of the Hagiographa.
The skeptic’s unassailable and spurious charges regarding Daniel’s prophetic profundities are disgraced through their acceptance by the Great Synagogue—long before the Maccabean Period. Furthermore, canonical credibility by the Great Sanhedrin, which completed the Jewish Canon later than the Second Century B.C.E., stamps supreme authentication upon the text. To exclude Daniel from the Hebrew Canon demeans the devotion and literary competence of the most scholarly men of the Jewish nation; especially, since a vast portion of the critics’ higher criticism has been exponentially marginalized by additional discoveries during the past century. [5] These canonical battles, having exploded in the 1800s, still menace inerrancy—as we periodically suffer their tactics, persuasions, and insidious resuscitations.
The Christian’s regard to Daniel’s inspiration is predicated upon the Lord Jesus Christ Himself Who authenticates the prophetical writing of Daniel. Twice the gospels record the words of Jesus: “Spoken of by Daniel the prophet” (Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14). Blindly does the critic claim the absence of Daniel’s name among the prophets; therefore this mythical personage, thrice mentioned [6] cannot be the Daniel acclaimed in the prophecies of Ezekiel! Jesus places Daniel’s prophecy at the pivot point of eschatological history, by validating the prophet’s insights of the future
Antichrist, during the Olivet Discourse.
The great Lutheran Theologian, Hengstenberg, is quoted as saying: “There are few books whose Divine authority is so fully established by the testimony of the New Testament, and in particular by our Lord Himself, as the Book of Daniel.” [7] Indeed, the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy is not only (i.e., de facto) embraced by Jesus, but Paul and, most assuredly, John’s Revelation—all base their prognostications of the Antimessiah, and the Second Advent of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, upon Daniel’s declarations (II Thessalonians 2:1-12; Rev. 13). Rightly does the exacting research of Sir Robert Anderson (former head of Scotland Yard) impugn the evidence of Daniel’s accusers: “The Christian scholar writes for scholars, desirous only to elucidate the truth. The popular theologian retails the extravagances of German skepticism for the enlightenment of an easily deluded public.” [8]
The great Bishop Westcott affirmed that the Book of Daniel bore greater expediency upon Christianity’s emergence than any other Hebrew text! [9] The Bishop’s theological antithesis, Prof. Bevan, begrudgingly and inadvertently, I assume, accorded Daniel greater Christian credence by announcing: “In the New Testament Daniel is mentioned only once (sic., actually twice), but the influence of the book is apparent everywhere.” [10] Finally, a cursory read of the Apocalypse unveils the obvious: The Book of Daniel is so inextricably bound to that of the Patmos exile, that to denounce the Babylonian captive, is to renounce the revelation of the one who was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” They—even they who allegedly contend, yet insult, for the faith, like the renown Archdeacon of Westminister who debased Daniel’s judgments upon the Gentile World Powers, viz., Dr. Frederic William Farrar—have arrived at a terminus from whence belief is impossible, and their blinded minds simply refuse the truth; thence, do they take “refuge in a misbelief which is sheer credulity.” [11]
This is not a peripheral introduction to the aforementioned title of this essay—it is an integral commencement to perhaps the most salient of eschatological issues relative to Messiah’s approach. Yet, to countenance the heart of Revelation’s Testimony, we must adjudge the centrality of Daniel’s disclosures and the spiritual severity of their cause upon the Christian Canon and, in particular, John’s conclusions, wherein all Biblical streams inexorably flow into the Revelation and the Consummation of the Age. Simply put: We cannot hypothecate John’s content without the dominance of Daniel’s influence upon the exile’s spirit. The exotic trance and state of spiritual ecstasy would have been wholly deficient excluding Daniel’s intrusions into John’s eschatological configurations—what the “Spirit says to the Churches” was not said in a revelatory vacuum! John was “saturated” with “The Word of God and . . . the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9b); thence, came the Revelation of Jesus Christ and “what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 1:17a).
THE “TWO OTHERS” ARE THE “TWO WITNESSES”
Therefore, is not the same One who took the “little book open in his hand” and Whose “right foot was upon the sea and his left foot on the land” (Rev. 10:2), the One seen by Daniel who wrote: “Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank . . . and one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, ‘How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?’ Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished” (Daniel 12:5-7)?
If so, then who are the TWO who stood on either side of the riverbank? And, what elicited at least one of their inquiries as to the “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time . . . and at that time your people shall be delivered” (Daniel 12:1b)? To ascribe irrelevance and objectivity to the TWO begs the obvious: The wonders shared by these TWO are not inconsequential. They represent the witness of people wholly engaged in “the end of the days” (Daniel 12:13b), and, in particular, the “trouble, deliverance, resurrection, judgment, and purification” wrought within the contents of “the words closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9). Theirs is not a casual observation—the “time, times and half a time . . . when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered (and) all these things shall be finished” is addressed to them (Dan. 12:7).
Prophetic Testimony is Individual and Corporate
Daniel’s quest to know “what shall be the end of these things?” was met with an unmitigated closure of cosmic silence—yet John’s plethora of prophetic profusions were exposed to all; and, “whosoever will” were enjoined to participate in the “blessed” throng of readers “who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). Now, “the time is at hand” – “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book” (Rev. 22:10). Yet, John was urged by “a voice from heaven” to “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them” (Rev. 10:4).
The Mighty Angel (i.e., “Messenger”) clothed with a cloud . . . and a rainbow on his head . . . (whose) face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire . . . (who) had a little book (i.e., “scroll”) in his hand . . . (and who) set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land . . . cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars . . . (and) when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices” (Rev. 10:1-3). John, do not write down what the Seven Thunders have uttered—the “Wrath of the Lamb” shall come—for the Seven-Sealed book has been opened by the One Who alone is worthy—He will discharge the perfect, thunderous completion of final judgment, announcing it through YOU!
The One who created the heavens, the earth, and the waters, asserts that no longer shall there be delay concerning the end of the days (Rev. 10:6)—for the final trumpeting of the seventh angel is about to sound, and “the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets” (Rev. 10:7) . . . but now, he, who like Daniel, never claimed the mantel of a prophet, is, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, commanded to: “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth” (Rev. 10:8).
So, John requested the little book and the Mighty Angel spoke: “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth” (Rev. 10:9b). Then we read: “I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth . . . but when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter” (Rev. 10:10). It is here that the astounding significance of John’s illustration encompasses every believer who names the Name: “And he (or “they”) said to me, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” (Rev. 10:11).
The Message has become the Messenger. The Prophecy is uttered by the Prophet. Giovanni Papini’s Life of Christ enshrines the Hebrew contribution:
“India had its ascetics, who hide themselves in the wilderness to conquer the body and drown the soul in the infinite. China has its . . . sages, peaceful grandfathers who taught civic morality to working people and emperors. Greece had her philosophers, who in their shady porticos contrived harmonious systems and dialectic pitfalls. Rome had its lawgivers who recorded on bronze for the peoples and the centuries the rules of the highest justice attainable to those who command and possess . . . The Jewish people had the PROPHETS . . . the prophets spoke of the future, but not merely of the future. They foretold things not yet happened, but they also brought to mind the past. They possessed time in its three phases; deciphering the past, illuminating the present, and threatening the future . . . the Jewish prophet is a voice speaking, or a hand writing, a voice speaking in the palace of the king or in the caves of the mountains, on the steps of the Temple and in the precincts of the capitol. He is a voice that prays, a prayer that threatens, a threat that breaks out into divine hope. His heart is afflicted, his mouth is full of bitterness, his arm is raised, pointing out punishment to come; he suffers for his people, he vituperates them; he punishes them that they may be purified.” [12]
The judgments uttered within the Seven Thunders have become the substance and message of the Prophet John! Christians—well-meaning their dispensational exclusions may be—ascribe John’s entrance through the heavenly door as a type of the Church’s rapture from earth and obfuscate the Body of Christ to prophetical irrelevance during the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy (Chapters 4 through 19) [13] Yet, John’s overt prophetic personification is perhaps the singular archetype of every believer who has ever lived! John’s terrestrial appearance represents the most concrete injunction ever committed to saints on this earthly clod; to wit: “YOU must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” (Rev. 10:11). If these many peoples are not on this earth, and if John is not there to so prophesy—then I have no idea what dimension can be ascribed to the physicality of this tangibility! The message of the Seven Thunders must be ingested into the inner life of every believer; and that believer must be keenly cognizant that the “shame” of the message must be initially absorbed prior to any exhilarating taste of its sweetness. As the old spiritual tomes: If you can’t bear the cross, then you can’t bear the crown! The prophetic mantel of the Hebrews is passed on to the Church—for “you can all prophesy one by one” (I Corinthians 14:31).
The artificial chapter separations obscure the connectivity between Revelation 10 and 11—they are intrinsically interwoven in their prophetic intent. The one (Rev. 10) is individually administered and its responsibility abides within the life of every believer; the other (Rev. 11) projects a corporate witness that is at the very heart of the Testimony of Jesus (which is) the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10).
It is the quintessential, eschatological vexation of what Ottman calls the “Crux Interpretatorum” (i.e., “the very heart and crux of interpretation”) that has befuddled expositors from Polycarp to the present. [14] Deciphering the symbolism and literal character of this passage has left a multitude of the theologically adroit confused—having succumbed to rampant speculation, most of which is fraught with spurious exegetical maneuverings designed to substantiate previous theological systems hardly in need of further confusion.
Notwithstanding the preponderance of theological ineptitude and distortion—we must systematically and prayerfully engage this divine conundrum, having within our experience the previous “rumblings” of the Seven Thunders and of their prophetic exhortations upon each one of our
lives. The essential “Jewishness” of the immediate text does in no way circumvent the Church’s participation—nor do sundry commentators do this chapter justice by ascribing the Church’s exclusivity thereto [15]; and, at best, relegating Israel’s tumultuous trial, and subsequent national salvation to the terminus of this present dispensation and/or age.
Again, the inheritor of the prophetic consigns the little book to Jewish evangels and prefers their sufferings to his own “blessed hope.” Alas, at best, an inadvertent hermeneutic; at worst, pernicious Anti-Semitism. Certainly, should not the seed of Abraham merit their apprehensions?
Revelation 11 perplexes simpleton and scholar, saint and skeptic. What appears to be disjointed phraseology and tortured symbols leaves the reader going in whatever direction seems the most convenient or exotic—as long as it gets us to Revelation 12, and then we’re not so sure about that chapter either!
Confinement to six pages of deliberations hardly provides time and space to untie the Gordian knot of confusion surrounding the identity of the TWO WITNESSES (and I capitalize these as the TWO from here on out)—yet, to be sure, they are identifiable!
“Progressive Dispensationalism”—Distinctions AND Divine Collaboration
Consider—if a number of the presuppositions of “progressive dispensationalism” can be given serious consideration, without delimiting the identity of either Israel’s responsibilities or promises, nor of the Church’s calling and witness, then, most assuredly, as Robert Gundry postulates in what he terms as “Dispensational Transitions”. . .
“In the chronological question concerning the rapture, the dispensational issue centers in the field of ecclesiology. An absolute silence in the OT about the present age, a total disconnection of the Church from the divine program for Israel, and a clean break between dispensations would favor pretribulationism: the Church would not likely be related to the seventieth week of Daniel, or tribulation, a period of time clearly having to do with Israel. But a partial revelation of the present age in the OT, a connection (not necessarily identification) between Israel and the Church, and a dispensational change involving a transitional period open the door to the presence of the Church during the tribulation” (i.e., post-tribulationism). [16]
In brief, a growing awareness of “transitional engagement” may, as it did at the Church’s commencement, infringe upon the exclusive turf of both the Church and Israel—but for what divine purpose? Herein lies the answer to this most controversial eschatological dilemma—but, when discovered, opens the door to far more than polite dialogue, discussion and theological understanding and acceptance.
No, far more is at stake—for if the Church is facing its most crucial embrace of such a Testimony against the “Great City”; and Israel’s long-awaited “end of days” as announced by numerous prophets, let alone the specificity of Daniel’s pronouncements issuing in her “trouble” and “deliverance”—to name but a few—then, we must believe that the Scriptures are NOT silent regarding such a concluding dynamic.
ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH
AS
THE TWO WITNESSES
OF REVELATION 11 AND DANIEL 12
(Part III)The “Corporate Nature” of the Two Witnesses—
Their Symbolism and Numerology
Now, the same prophetical calling to every believer in the Pascal Lamb—the One Who alone is worthy to “take the book” and the One who is worthy to “unloose the seals thereof” and, again, the One Who as the Mighty Messenger Who thundered and ascribed its contents into the life of every believer who is willing to “take” and “eat” the “little book”—must be measured by the same “reed” that will be the ultimate measuring instrument of the Holy City, New Jerusalem (cf. Rev. 11:1 and Rev. 21:16).
The similarity of these reeds must be duly noted, for both represent “divine possession” of something far more than a material temple or celestial city.
The Greek word for “temple” (Naos) is peculiar throughout Revelation in its “spiritual ramification” and juxtaposed to John’s Gospel use of the word, clearly speaks of that which is “spiritual” in nature and “bodily” in its restriction. Jesus’ discourse at the Temple in reference to the raising of His physical “body” and/or “temple” (Naos) had reference to “his own body” – not that of the Temple in Jerusalem (here the Greek word is “Hieron” for the physical Temple in Jerusalem) (John 2:23-22).
What John measures in Rev. 11:1 is the “temple (Naos) of God, the altar, and those who worship there.” It is essential to our understanding of the entire chapter that the “people” who are inside the temple are the peculiar treasure and possession of the Lord. But, “cast out” (the Greek is very strong here—not “leave out”) the court which is outside the temple (i.e., “The Court of the Gentiles”), for it has been given to the Gentiles” (vs. 2).
Both Judaism (e.g., the “Third Temple” is referred to as the people of today’s ingathering [17]) and the Church (I Corinthians 3:16-17) are familiar with the spiritual aspects of the Temple of the Lord. This does not, however, so spiritualize the physicality of either an immediate or future rebuilt Jewish Temple, nor its millennial counterpart—nor, for that matter the New Jerusalem’s specific dimensions and materiality. [18]
The significance of “casting out” that which in antiquity bore some semblance of “holiness” is now, in the crucible of the Seventieth Week of Daniel, considered not only to be compromised (i.e., “uncircumcised” and thusly “profane”) but hostile to those measured by the possessing reed!
The antecedent of “they” in vs. 2 (“And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.”) are Gentiles—specifically, I affirm, “Gentile World Powers” led by the Beast from the Abyss. The use of “forty-two months” brings us into the immediate chronological verbiage of Daniel’s Seventieth Week. The hostility announced against the “Holy City”
is understood and receives first mention in Rev. 11. The use of the term “Holy City” (i.e., the New Jerusalem) throughout the Revelation bespeaks of her antithesis to the Great City Babylon (i.e., Babylon the Great) and appears numerous times in this context. [19]
It is the hostility of the Gentiles towards the Holy City. The subsequent confrontations against the TWO WITNESSES are immediately pronounced—i.e., its initial onslaught can be compared to the bitterness detailed by the Mighty Angel to John (Rev. 10:9).
Furthermore, the term “Holy City” is referred to as “The Woman” – “the Bride,” “the Lamb’s Wife” (Rev. 21:9) and in most recent Greek manuscripts is seen as “the Holy City, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:11). The “Woman” is also “The Woman” of Revelation 12 and as Barnhouse confirms:
“The woman, then, represents not merely Israel ‘of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came’ (Rom. 9:5), but is that spiritual body of the elect from the very beginning of the history of man, by whom God had eternally purposed to bring to naught the revolt of Satan.” [20]
The point to be made is this: The Ultimate Manifestation, Consummation, of the Holy City, the Bride, the Woman, the New Jerusalem, is constituted by both Israel (Rev. 21:12—“she (i.e., the Woman, the Lamb’s wife, Jerusalem) had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel”), and the Church (Rev. 21:14—“the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb”).
Therefore, the “treading” down of “the Holy City underfoot for forty-two months” has been exacerbated by the consecration of God’s people who are “possessed” by the Almighty and who represent divine authority upon the earth at the commencement of the Seventieth Week.
From here the sequence is understandable—for immediately we hear: “I will give authority to my TWO WITNESSES, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth” (vs. 3).
This authority is Holy Ghost empowerment to call the nations to repentance and its, if you would, “sweet as honey in your mouth” declaration will be interrupted by “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit (who) will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them” (vs. 7).
The panoramic prophetical declarations contained in Revelation 11 are staggering. The introductions of the Holy City, that Great City, the Two Witnesses, the Beast from the Abyss, the Resurrection of the Just and Rapture, the Proclamation of the Kingdom—and much more—are inaugurated and expanded upon from here on throughout the Revelation. [21]
The Satanic falsification of both the incarnation and the resurrection are centered in the Beast, whose title was “the Antichrist is coming” (I Jo. 2:18-NKJV); but in the midst of the Seventieth Week the “abomination of desolation” has been committed, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, whereby we witness “the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition” (Rev. 17:11). It is he (i.e., Antichrist, the Seventh King) who “must continue a short time” – for the “eighth” shall come “out of” the seventh!
The “short time” is the ascendancy of Antichrist (Rev. 6:1-8, the “four seals” of the “seven seals”—viz., the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”); but the “Man of Sin” – that awful figure known as the “Son of Perdition” – whose “temple” (as Judas Iscariot’s “temple” was “entered into” by Satan to commit the dastardly deed of betrayal—Luke 22:3) shall replicate within the Anti-Messiah of the end times (II Thess. 2:4-12)—and the Holy City shall be trodden down by the Gentiles for 42 months, led by the Beast who ascends from the Abyss (cf. Rev. 11:7; 12:17; 13:7).
The Two Witnesses are symbolized by Zechariah’s portrayals—yet, in the Revelation the “priesthood” and the “kingship” (i.e., Joshua the High Priest, and Zerubbabel the Governor) are not simply described as “two olive trees” which were depicted in Zech. 4 on either side of the transcendent, Universal Lampstand [22]—they are seen as “the two olive trees (Israel) and the two lampstands (the Church) standing before the God of the earth” (Rev. 11:4).
It is incontrovertible to ascribe the identity of the two olive trees as the “Witness of Israel” to the earth (“two” standing for “witness and testimony” [23]); likewise, in the context of the Revelation it is uncontested to interpret the “two lampstands” as symbolic of the Church’s testimony to the heavens (Eph. 6:10-13; Rev. 1:12-13).
Finally, these TWO constitute the final witness against that Great City, Babylon—for the Revelation is the consummation of the greatest “trial” in human history before the Judge of all the earth wherein the Almighty shall bring forth His Two Witnesses who will “testify” against all that bespeaks of that Great City and its administration until “they finish their testimony” and they are called to pay, as the prophets throughout the generations have paid, with their very lives: For “they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:10).
Revelation 11:8 acknowledges that Gentiles (i.e., Gentile World Powers) give recognition to the corporate nature of their testimony and speaks of their “dead corpse” (Greek, singular) as does vs. 9 (“their dead body”)—even so, neither will these enemies “allow their dead body to be put into the grave” (again in the singular). Why? Because “these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth” (vs. 10b).
The Greek word for “war” in vs. 7 is no mere skirmish—but a world-wide conflagration [24]—i.e., “open persecution” “in the street of the Great City which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified” (vs. 8). Jerusalem is NOT in view here—she is above, holy, compact—and she was never referred to as “Egypt” (though she was called “Sodom” in her declination and apostasy [25]—yet, in the Revelation the meaning is altogether clear. The same Great City which shall tread underfoot the Holy City, is the same Great City whose “broad street” (Matt. 7:13) crucified the Lord of Glory.
His followers are called to the One who “suffered outside the gate” and enjoined to “go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach, for here we have no continuing city” (Heb. 13:11-14).
Thus, the same “peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” to whom John committed his prophetic witness, “will see their dead body (for) three-and-a-half days” (Rev. 10:11; 11:9a). Alas! The “peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations . . . those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry and send gifts to one another!” (Rev. 11:10).
“Many will be purged, purified and refined” – Daniel 12:19a
The “tormenting testimony” of the TWO PROPHETS and their call to repentance, is unmitigated, without compromise, and unhindered during the very rise of the Anti-Messiah—for “If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire” (Rev. 11: 5-6).
Since the Almighty has never shared His “divine essence” with the “First man Adam” neither will He permit literal fire to spew forth from the mouth of mortal man. Therefore, we must conclude this “fire” to equate to the “tongues of fire” witnessed in the Upper Room on that Pentecostal Day. Moreover, the ascriptions of Moses and Elijah (i.e., “the Law and the Prophets”) as the TWO may sound of Scriptural plausibility; however, the issue at hand is the “heavens and the earth.” And, it is here that the corporate witness of Israel (to the earth) and the Church (to the heavens) is clearly delineated.
Regrettably, however, most Bible scholars have overlooked the obvious allusion to Daniel’s Seventieth Week and the latter half of the “Great Tribulation” (Rev. 7:13-17) in identifying the Two Witnesses. Their “dead body” (i.e., their “open persecution”) lies exposed and exhibited “in the street of the great city” for “three-and-a-half days” . . . but “after three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them” (vs. 9 and 11). Indeed, this is the fulfillment of Daniel 12:19a: “Many will be purged, purified, and refined.”
This period of “three-and-a-half days” is precisely the latter half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week—i.e., 42 months or time, times and half a time (Daniel 12:7; Rev. 13:5-7 and 12:14) or 1,260 days, and completes the final half of the prophetical heptad. Furthermore, their public ascension is both the “resurrection of the just” and the “rapture of the Church” (Daniel 12:2a only; and I Thess. 4:13-17)—“And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them” (vs. 12) (Note: The same Shekinah cloud attended the ascension of Him who now is seated as the Man in the Glory, and Who shall come in “like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9-11)).
Then, and only then, do you hear the Seventh Trumpet blast and the Proclamation of the Kingdom: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever! And the twenty-four elders (i.e., 12 of Israel and 12 of the Church [26]) who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God” (vs. 15 and 16).
Again, this restriction does not permit a full exposition—however, suffice it to say, that the great multitude of Rev. 7:9 who come out of Great Tribulation (Rev. 7:14) are those who keep “the word of God” (Israel) and have “the testimony of Jesus Christ” (the Church) (Rev. 1:9b); are “the two olive trees” (Israel) and the “two lampstands” (the Church) (Rev. 11:4); are they who “keep the commandments of God” (Israel) and “have the testimony of Jesus” (the Church) (Rev. 12:17); are the sealed 144,000 representing Israel (Rev. 7) and the 144,000 standing on the heavenly Mount Zion (the Church) (Heb. 12:22; Rev. 14); “who keep the commandments of God” (Israel) “and the faith of Jesus” (the Church) (Rev. 14:12); who “sing the song of Moses, the servant of God (Israel), and the song of the Lamb” (the Church) (Rev. 15:3); and who will comprise His Bride, the New Jerusalem—whose 12 Gates bear the names of the Twelve Tribes of the children of Israel and whose foundations are inscribed with the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb (the Church) (Rev. 22:12-14). [27]
AS
THE TWO WITNESSES
OF REVELATION 11 AND DANIEL 12
(Part IV)
CONCLUSION TO MAIN PAPER
The late Miles Stanford elucidated a most profound significance when he said: “It is absolutely essential for the believer to learn the scriptural difference between (1) his relationship to earth and heaven; (2) the flesh and the Spirit; and (3) Judaism and Christianity.”[28] I am persuaded that this forum substantiates not only the “differences between” but makes progress in taking the next step to embrace the “Messianic Imperative” relative to the impending engagement that these TWO WITNESSES demand. The “Universal Lampstand” of Zechariah 4 illuminates, not only the differences between the two (for they maintain their distinctions), but illustrates their “divine symbiotic” relationship or joint witness.
Israel’s miraculous ingathering and rebirth necessitates the Church’s aggressive reappraisal of its “collaborative witness” vis-à-vis Israel’s fulfillment—and, to think otherwise is a denial, not only of the contemporary, transitional nature of Judaic/ecclesial history, but a rejection of the Almighty’s covenantal insistence upon BOTH the sons of Abraham, as well as those “who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (Gal. 3:9).
May the brevity of this exposition not occlude the vision of Daniel’s prophecy, nor the spiritual enhancements proclaimed by the beloved Apostle so committed to the “Word of God” and “the Testimony of Jesus.” The Spirit-filled Bible’s copious Word Wealth concerning “testimony, witness, testify, etc.” bears careful study. Dr. Jack Hayford traces the etymology of the word “testimony” to its original Greek meaning: marturion (mar-too-ree-on) from whence comes our word “martyr” or “martyrology.” [29]
Throughout the Revelation is the pervasive call to extend the believer to the maximum commitment, if need be, and to follow in His sufferings and triumphant resurrection—this is the “Testimony of Jesus” – this is the legacy of the prophets and their witness to the Gentiles. Today’s Israel is under siege—the Church’s martyrs cry out from beneath the altar: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10). Our hope is certain:
“Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Messiah and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into . . . beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Messiah’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy . . . for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (I Peter 1:10-12; 4:12-14).
Israel and the Church await their most “glorious” hour--though now the spirit of the Anti-Messiah who is to come (I John 2:18) assails the Latter-Day’s Church with materialism, political engagement, and apostasy; and Israel’s “Valley of Dry Bones” (Ezekiel 37) awaits the succeeding chapters of the Gog-Magog Conflagration (Ezekiel 38-39) prior to her Messianic Temple and covenantal fulfillment.
The Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy is nigh but future—yet, that marvelous “eschatological transition” has overtaken us. Though the TWO on either side of the riverbank in Daniel 12 knew of their plight—yet, could not their cry ascend to Him above the waters?
The “end of days” hastens—the “day of the Lord” is near. The cry for Messiah—though He hide Himself from us both (for we in the Church “know in part” and “blindness in part” has befallen Israel) [30], but our Joseph can “wait no longer” – the Seven Years of Famine draw us together around his table—we await His full unveiling, His matchless love, His absolute resolve to embrace, to save us all.
THE “FUTURITY” OF DANIEL’S 70TH WEEK AND THE ANTI-MESSIAH
The “Futurity of the 70th Week of Daniel” is confirmed from Hippolytus to Gundry.[31]
Today’s Israel has wrought an eschatological crisis. Historicist and Preterist, and those who would hyper allegorize the Scriptures, torture chronologies, convolute or altogether disregard the “Prophecy of the Two Witnesses,” and hold contempt upon the futurity of the entire 70th Week of Daniel, in particular, the first half, or the one thousand two hundred and sixty day prophecy of the Two Witnesses (Rev. 11:3), do well to consider the wisdom of the early Church Fathers regarding Daniel’s 70th Week as intact and yet future. In particular, they do well to cease ascribing the “breaking of a covenant” in the midst of the 70th Week to the actions of our Lord Jesus, rather than to “the prince who is to come” (i.e., the Anti-Messiah or Anti-Christ); for it was the “people” (i.e., the Roman legions under Titus) of “the prince who is to come” (i.e., “The Coming Prince”) who destroyed the Herodian Temple in 70 A.D.
Previous to Daniel 9, the reoccurring theme of the Anti-Messiah can be found in the introduction of “The Beast” (i.e., Antichrist) as seen in the adumbrative accounts of Nebuchadnezzar’s Image (Daniel 3) and the king’s “beastly experience” (Daniel 4). Other portions of Daniel’s accounting compile an extensive dossier of this vile creature.
To assert that the “breaking of a covenant” in Daniel 9:27 is committed by “Messiah the Prince” (Daniel 9:25) and not by “the prince who is to come” (Daniel 9:26) obfuscates past revelations of the source of Antichrist’s kingdom (the “fourth kingdom” or Roman Empire, Daniel 7:7, 19) and his personage (the “little horn” Daniel 7:8, 20-21, as well as Daniel 8:9-13 and Daniel 8:23-25)
Future references to this “despicable person” (Daniel 11:21) are carried forward by Daniel from Daniel 9, both in the adumbrative language of the prophet in the person of the Seleucid King, Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 11:3-35), and again by direct inference in Daniel 11:36-45, as well as strongly suggested in Daniel 12:6-7.
Daniel’s prophetic revelations of the origins, rise, progression, climax, and ultimate judgment of Gentile World Powers, and of the “little horn” and/or Anti-Messiah/Anti-Christ (i.e., “the prince who is to come”) are the most extensive exposition of any Biblical author on the subject—not even the Apostle John can rival the exhaustive dissertations of Daniel on this topic. The Apostle Paul simply builds upon Daniel’s revelations by ascribing additional titles to The Coming Prince: “The Man of Sin,” “Son of Perdition,” and the “Lawless One” “whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders” (II Thessalonians 2:3-9).
Daniel’s sovereign placement and perspective regarding “Jerusalem shall be trodden underfoot of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24; cf. Revelation 11:2), aside from the book of Esther and Moses’ experience, is the most significant Hebrew observation and subjective encounter of Gentile World Power recorded in the Bible.
THE TESTIMONY OF THE TWO WITNESSES OCCUPIES THE FIRST HALF OF DANIEL’S 70TH WEEK
Furthermore, most Historicists (Anti-Christ is embodied in the Papacy) and Preterists (Nero was the Anti-Christ) confuse the empowering and authoritative testimony of these two witnesses during the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week (Rev. 11:5, 7) with the forty-two month/three-and-a-half days’ “war against them” by the “beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit” (in the “midst” of the 70th Week—Daniel 9:27; Rev. 11:12; 13:1), and by the “Court of the Gentiles” (i.e., Gentile World Powers) who “will tread the Holy City underfoot” during the latter half of Daniel’s 70th Week (Rev. 11:7, 9, 11, and vs. 2). Indeed, they shall join the throng whom John saw “underneath the altar (of) the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained . . . until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also” (Revelation 6:9, 11).
They do so, in the main, based upon their fixation of the Papacy’s indulgences (as well as their sincere but contorted attempts to understand contemporary histories); while, unfortunately, their distain for Joseph’s Brethren cannot be concealed. They have unwittingly fallen prey to the “great falling away from the faith” (i.e., “The Apostasy” –II Thess. 2:3) by the very denial that the “Man of Sin . . . the Lawless One” (i.e., the future Antichrist) is yet to be “revealed” (II Thess. 2:3, 8). [32]
The plan and purpose of the Almighty cannot be thwarted; cannot be frustrated by him who shall be cast down to the earth—even then, “they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony . . . (for) they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:10). Listen, look—Daniel’s words astound, they comfort, they acclaim:
“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).
“‘The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever!’ And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and begun to reign’” (Revelation 11:15-17).
JOSEPH, HIS BRETHREN
&
THE EGYPTIANS
(Part V)ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH
This is Part V in a series of “papers” presented to the Judeo-Christian Conference scheduled to be held in Virginia Beach, VA in April, 2005. The first four “parts” covered “Israel and the Church as the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 and Daniel 12” and the final article will cover Israel and the Church seen in “Joseph, his brethren and the Egyptians.”
Most of “Joseph and His Brethren” was covered in the exposition of Zechariah chapters 1-6 entitled Unsealing the End of Days, also found on our site. Additionally, I wrote another piece entitled “The Two Witnesses” (not online as yet); however, I feel it is more than apropos to include the entire section from that work here in that it draws vivid attention to that final seven years of Tribulation of Daniel’s 70th Week.
The story of Joseph, his brethren, and the Egyptians form one of the most impassioned accounts of the Bible; and, provides convincing evidence that the Almighty pre-figured His joint efforts, simultaneously, with both Israel and the Church through this incredibly graphic picture and emotive portrayal.
The above chart is designed to show the various relationships existing between the three “entities” found in Genesis Chapters 37 through 49, and fully “climaxing” in the sight of all, as Joseph reveals his full identity to his Hebrew kin (Genesis 45:1-8). Likewise, the “setting” of these relationships is amplified in Genesis 43, when Joseph’s brothers brought the youngest of Jacob’s sons (Benjamin, the full-blood brother of Joseph to him, for their mother’s name was Rachel) back with them the second time (as per Joseph’s demand). Now all eleven were present before Joseph (making a total of 12 brethren) at a banquet prepared by Joseph, and the Egyptians were there as well:
“So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat before him (i.e., Joseph), the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another. Then he (Joseph) took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him” (Genesis 43:32-34).
Let us look at this amazing picture (though books could not exhaust the profundity of the scene). Joseph is central in our diagram—by himself (probably in the midst)—between his Hebrew brethren and his newly adopted Egyptian “brethren.” Joseph knew what his relationship was between himself and his Hebrew brothers, and between himself and the Egyptians (i.e., the Gentiles). Did either the Hebrews or the Egyptians really know who Joseph was? Not really, they knew him only as they directly related to him as the virtual protector and even savior of Egypt. The story clearly tells of Joseph’s continued attempts to conceal his identity to his Hebrew brothers (and hence to the Egyptians). Let me quote several verses to validate this “unilateral relationship” . . .
“And Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word’ . . . and Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt’ . . . so he set him over all the land of Egypt . . . ‘I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt’ . . . so Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:38-45, excerpts).
And as Savior of all . . .
“So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, ‘Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.’ Then Joseph said, ‘Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.’ So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year . . . (and the famine became much worse) . . . Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.
“Then Joseph said to the people, ‘Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.’ So they said, ‘You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants’” (Genesis 47:15-17, 20-21, 23-25).
So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands. Although the severity of the famine is disclosed after Joseph fully reveals himself to his Hebrew brothers (and, consequently to the Egyptians), the archetype of Christ, nevertheless, becomes overtly overwhelming.
Countless followers of the Lamb (i.e., Bible expositors like C. H. Macintosh, Andrew Murray, Harry Ironsides, J. N. Darby, ad infinitum) are resolute in their picture of Joseph as an archetype of Christ. The adumbrative allusions to Christ here are astonishing—foretelling of Him Whose compassion for both Egypt and His brethren, according to the flesh, is altogether apparent.
Joseph’s rejection by his own brethren came about through jealousy. The “coat of many colors” given to Joseph by his father outraged his brothers; and, furthermore, the dreams Joseph had (Genesis 37:7-11) of his brothers bowing down to him added fuel to the fires of envy within them (virtually an idolatrous dream, as far as Joseph’s brothers were concerned). Thus, they cast him alive into a pit, took his coat of many colors and dipped it (i.e., the tunic) in goat’s blood, and confirmed his death to Jacob, their father.
The types and shadows depicted here are so profound and numerous, confirming the Savior who was rejected by His own, suffered and died for us all—having borne our griefs and carried our sorrows—and upon Him were borne the sins of the world. Through His blood he has “sprinkled many nations” – and through His resurrection from the pit, we are saved (both Jew and Gentile).
Joseph—faithful to both Hebrew and Egyptian seated and enthroned by Pharaoh (a picture of God the Father), and, ultimately, He has purchased us, whereby we cry out to Him: You have saved our lives! He is our Bread of Life—our Provider, our ever-present Help in time of need. There is nothing we can do, nor we can give, that He has not supplied us—gladly will we exhaust ourselves upon Him and be His servants, for He has fully purchased us!
There can be little doubt that the Hebrews could not pay for their “salvation” in any way. Also, upon the first coming of the Hebrew brothers to their brother in Egypt and subsequent return, their initial exchange between themselves and Joseph was very stark—Joseph spoke “roughly” to them; and, “Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them” (Genesis 42:7).
Joseph assuredly recognizes today’s Hebrews, but He has withheld His identity from them and the voice they do hear from Him is one of roughness and of a different language—hardly an invitation to dine at His table. Yet, in that first coming Joseph weeps for his brethren:
“But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. And he turned himself away from them and wept” (Genesis 42:22-24a).
Likewise, His provision for them is abundant and without cost!
“Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey” (Genesis 42:25)
Joseph purchased both the Egyptians and the Hebrews! Upon their second coming to him in Egypt, with Benjamin, he sent them back again with all their money and the “silver chalice” in Benjamin’s sack of grain:
“Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest (i.e., Benjamin), and his grain money” (Genesis 44:1-2).
Bible expositors have, throughout the centuries, realized that “silver” depicts redemption and the “silver cup” represents “fullness of redemption” – their ultimate salvation cannot be purchased with money or by human endeavor or effort—and, the fullness of redemption given to Benjamin cannot be overlooked as it pertains to that remnant of Israel for whom Joseph holds a most special relationship. It is noteworthy that we find Benjamin, the youngest, and later, the smallest tribe in number, identified with Judah when the tribes separated into ten in the North and two in the South. Is not the Lion of the Tribe of Judah caring for Benjamin?
Likewise, in Israel’s “Great Processional” in “going up” to Jerusalem, we find a fascinating order:
“There is little Benjamin, their leader (or “little Benjamin takes the lead”), the princes of Judah and their company” (Psalm 68:27a).
Furthermore, Paul (whose name was changed from Saul to Paul, meaning “little” after his conversion experience) later defends Israel’s position, juxtaposed to that of the Church’s, before God and declares:
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:1-2a).
How can one not witness, foresee through Joseph, One Who would come in full redemption to His ancient people and extend Himself, reveal Himself—in His own way, under distressing circumstances (for certain), but Who will not accept any remuneration for the gift of His provision and love? His love is unconditional, absolute, and persistent in the midst of His divine desire to reveal Who He is to His brethren—and that day shall come and is here, even now. Oh, what awaits the divine drama in the next seven years of famine that shall come upon the whole earth (as you will shortly witness below)!
Finally, with Benjamin before him, and Jacob’s assurances,
Joseph is overwhelmed at this reunion. He breaks down—his concealments notwithstanding—he tries to keep composure, but alas, He must reveal himself—there is no more hiding, no more “hidden relationships” to maintain; “the Egyptians must know, my brothers must know!”
“Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, ‘Make everyone go out from me!’ So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph . . . whom you sold into Egypt . . . for God sent me before you to preserve life . . . a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance’” (Genesis 45:1-2, 4b, 5b, 7).
Thus, Joseph saved both the Egyptians and the Hebrews—he knew who he was and the divine scheme behind his rejection: “So now it was not you who sent me here, but God . . . God has made me lord of all Egypt . . . then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck . . . moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them” (Genesis 45:8a, 9b, 14, 15a). How great is His deliverance!
Now the Egyptians knew who Joseph really was—because they saw the depth of his passion and his relationship with his Hebrew brothers. Now the Hebrew brothers clearly saw who Joseph was, and fully understood his relationship with his newly adopted Egypt—and why God sent him into Egypt.
Initially, the Hebrews “thought” they knew Joseph as they cast him into the pit—when they rejected him—but they did not. Then, as Joseph was set upon the throne of Pharaoh and commenced his work of salvation among them, and as he conversed through interpreter with them the first time, they only understood him in the context of the “Gentile world”—they did not know him. It was not until their second coming to him, when they brought Benjamin and fully gathered around Joseph as the famine wore on in the world, did he fully unveil himself to them—it was his second coming to them.
Furthermore, the Egyptians only knew Joseph in the context of their “Gentile world.” They did not know Joseph in fullness, because he had not disclosed to the Egyptians his relationship with his Hebrew brethren. I hasten to add that Joseph’s unveiling not only takes place within the seven-year famine, but takes place when both Hebrew and Egyptian are gathered before him—the cry of Joseph, his loud weeping, unveiled to both Hebrew and Egyptian (and his overt declaration of his personhood to the Hebrews), declares Joseph in his fullness to both. Immediately, the relationship between Hebrew and Egyptian changes—once they thought they knew each other—but now they know each other in fullness because of the unveiling of Joseph! Likewise, the relationship of Joseph to both Hebrew and Egyptian expands its salvivic dimensions as the extremities of worldwide famine ravage the known world.
There is truly something within Joseph (and I believe within our Lord Jesus) that is so hidden, so intensely personal, that only He can know it. Within Him bestirs a passion for Israel, which knows no bounds. It is inescapable, and relentless in its pursuit to divulge a relationship of incalculable dimension—reserved until the famine that shall scour the earth. Within the heart of Joseph, of our Lord, there abides the most intense love imaginable for Israel. In that relationship are covenantal promises bound to the very character and person of the Almighty which reveal the depth of relationship, approachability, of fellowship—He will reveal Himself in His time!
And, in so doing will universally demonstrate that God Almighty is at His very core the God Who, on the one hand, “hides Himself” – but the very God, on the other hand, Who made man in His very own image for intimate fellowship and communion! “Adam, where are you?” – His cry, His longing, will be sufficed and only He can declare it! One day we shall know, even as we are known of God—just why “on earth” could this God of all the universe desire such intimacy from the pinnacle of His creation? We scorned His communion in the garden—we rejected our Joseph—we, our sins, crucified the Lord of glory—yet, He finds a way, a glorious way, of rapprochement, of reconciliation—to bridge that gulf which separates us from His irresistible longings and everlasting love!
The Egyptians who experienced the abundance of “salvation” through Joseph’s visionary efforts (i.e., seven years of plenty were stored up for the seven years of famine that affected the world—Genesis 41:47-49 & 36) were saved, along with the Hebrews. Most expositors have not delved into the “prophetical implications” beyond Joseph being the archetype of Christ. My friend, to circumvent the prophetical implications of this account does great injustice to God’s Word.
THE SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE
But, is there not adumbrative prophetical allusion in the “seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt?” Is there not a picture of the Messiah’s relationship to both Israel and the Church in this SEVEN-YEAR period of time? This is not “prophetical license” – convoluted conjecture – to see this seven-year period of time that affects the Gentile world (in Joseph’s time) as a prefigure of that future period of seven years seen in the Tribulation Period of Daniel’s 70th Week. This is the prophetical vision seen by Joseph. Just as Nebuchadnezzar had his vision interpreted by Daniel, the man of God, even so, Pharaoh would have his vision interpreted by Joseph, another man of vision and highly esteemed. Just as Nebuchadnezzar’s soothsayers, enchanters and magicians could not interpret the vision; neither could the magicians of Pharaoh (Genesis 41:8; Daniel 2:1-12).
No, they could not interpret—because these are divine revelations and require divine insight and visionaries like Joseph and Daniel – like Zechariah and John. But God has raised up such to declare His wondrous works to the children of men—to both Hebrew and Gentile alike.
The prophetical implications seen in this seven-year famine, portends the coming seven-year tribulation period that shall affect the entire world—yes, through the crucible of the tribulation, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob shall gather together His Two Witnesses (as he did at Joseph’s banquet)—the Hebrews (Israel) and the Egyptians (Gentiles/Saved by Joseph—i.e., the Church).
He will reveal Himself to His brethren (Israel) and in so doing will unveil Himself fully to the Church in His unique relationship with His ancient people. Don’t you see his relentless love and irresistible compassion toward Benjamin, toward Judah, toward Reuben, toward Simeon, toward all his brethren? Joseph is who he is—he cannot change
who he is—regardless of “interpreters” through whom he speaks!
There is famine, there is death, there is tribulation on the whole earth—yet there is salvation and provision through Joseph—the archetype of our Savior who, as the Son of Man, stands in the midst of the Seven Golden Lampstands and provides all we need in the midst of such turmoil. He cannot conceal Himself any longer—both Israel and the Church must see Him in all His fullness, in all His glorious love and tenderness. Oh, may He fall upon the House of Israel and kiss them and they Him! For nigh these 2,000 years has He been in the House of Pharaoh providing for the Gentiles His bountiful provisions—until
