Video and transcript. originally posted on 27. 9. 2018
As a follow-up to yesterday’s daily word, about the revealing, I thought, I would consider one aspect of the book of Daniel, that has a bearing upon the revealing of Jesus Christ, that is the visible presence of Jesus.
Well, the Book of Daniel, you might say, it’s all about the second coming of Jesus Christ.
They’re a series of visions and dreams that all end the same way. And that is with for example, in the second chapter of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that Daniel was inspired to not only interpret but to tell him what he had. Nebuchadnezzar that is, and that was the dream of this frightening Colossus with a head of gold and the breasts and arms of silver and the belly and thighs of copper and the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay and stone not cut with hands and strikes it. And the stone represents God’s kingdom, which brings an end to human rulership.
Then in the seventh chapter, we have the vision of the wild beast and a small horn ascends and it makes war against the Holy Ones. But, someone like a son of man gains access to the Ancient of Days. And rulership and Kingdom and authority are given him. And also the kingdom is given to the Holy Ones of the Supreme One, the chosen ones, turns out to be 144,000.
The 8th chapter, as well. A king fierce in countenance, a fierce-looking King as the New World Translation revised it to say, he makes war against the Prince of princes, Jesus.
And he brings desolation upon the holy place for a time. But then, he is destroyed without hand, by the Great Prince.
King of the north and King of the South have struggled throughout the centuries. The king of the north subjugates Egypt, the king of the south. And then he comes all the way to his hand and there’s no helper for him, because Michael the Great Prince stands up and destroys him. Michael, of course, is Jesus Christ.
So, it’s interesting, there, that we, in the seventh chapter, we have mentioned made of the kingdom being given to the Holy Ones.
In the tenth chapter, Daniel … it’s good to keep in mind, that Daniel was originally taken captive to Babylon, the first wave, that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Judah, that the noble people and the craftsmen and the upper elite of Jewish society back then. But, Jehovah promoted him to a deputy ruler in Babylon.
And then when Persia overthrew Babylon, Jehovah again exalted Daniel. And that serves really as a guarantee, you might say, a portent, because Jehovah, had told Nebuchadnezzar, that he could take down the mighty, and bring up the lowliest one of mankind to rule, as he saw fit, because God is supreme. And so, he demonstrated that, in the case of Daniel.
But, in the twelfth chapter of Daniel, and this was after Persia had overthrown the Babylonian kingdom, but the Jews were still in captivity, in the ninth chapter Daniel had prayed and confessed the sins of his people. And Gabriel appeared to him then, and informed him that they would go back to their homeland.
But, in the tenth chapter Daniel was again fasting. He said, he ate no meat or wine. He didn’t put oil on himself which was a necessity on the arid climate in Asia.
But then, at the end of three full weeks, he was walking along the banks of the river Tigris. And he saw an overwhelming sight. He saw a man. It looked like a man, but it was a superhuman man. He had a belt of gold and his body was like chrysolite, which was a yellow greenish gem, an emerald of extraordinary beauty. And his arms were like copper. And his face was as lightning. And his eyes were like two fiery torches. And when he spoke, it was like the sound of a crowd .
And as the saying goes Daniel was blown away, as you can well imagine, he simply collapsed in a heap. He said: my dignity left me. I was in a complete ruin.
Well, this superhuman creature came up to him and Daniel was fast asleep like a dead man, and he touched him and strengthened him and he called him a very precious man. And again, he had to have really revived Daniel to get him up. He was just shivering and shaking. And then, he related to him the reason of his visit—to let him know the things to come, that were going to befall his people.
And that leads into this epic prophecy of the king of the north and the King of the South, and the ultimate standing up of Michael the Great Prince, and the beginning of the new world.
Well, you know, angels have materialized to men, going way back to Abraham, three men visited him.
Abraham wasn’t struck with terror. He welcomed them into his tent. He had his servants prepare a meal for them. Angels, obviously, can appear exactly as humans.
When Jesus was with his disciples the last time, and he suddenly began ascending into the heavens and suddenly two men in white raiment were standing there and they asked them: men of Galilee why do you stand there gazing up into the heavens?
This Jesus will return in the same manner.
No one in the crowd fell into a heap, trembling terrified. So my point is, the angel could have appeared to Daniel and said, ‘I’m here to show you the things to come’ and or he could have had a vision or a dream. But it was a drama, a portent, because as I say, the book of Daniel is all about the second coming of Jesus Christ.
We know, that there is a context of that coming. The development of certain political entities and the persecution of God’s people, at which point Jesus Christ intervenes.
To really appreciate, what happened in the 10th chapter of Daniel, with his vision on the river Tigris. In the first chapter of Revelation, John had a very similar experience. He wrote, that by inspiration, he came to be in the Lord’s Day. That is when Jesus begins ruling, as we know. And in his vision, he saw, these lampstands and then he someone spoke to him. And he turned around. And he said, it was his vision as his hair was like white wool and his eyes were like a flame. Just like the person, that Daniel had seen. And his legs were like burnished copper. And it says, he was glowing as the Sun, when it it has, when it is at full strength. Similar to the Transfiguration. You see, how this all ties in?
So, John being by inspiration on the Lord’s Day and having been on the mountain of Transfiguration confirms, that the holy ones on earth will see Jesus—even as he was walking in the midst of the golden lampstands, which represents the congregations of anointed persons. And John being a member of that congregation was there. And he saw Jesus. And he has the same reaction as Daniel. He fell as a heap as a dead man. And Jesus came up and put his hand on him.
So, that is amazing, the watchtower for all their insights, they attach no significance to the vision that Daniel had or the fact, that you know, the apostle John saw Jesus and had the same reaction.
But, it’s also interesting and the the tenth chapter of Daniel did when Daniel was walking along the Tigris. He wasn’t alone, there were three other men with him, I believe. And, but they did not see this glorious man, but they sensed something.
It says, they ran off. They were terrified and they hid themselves, as this, I Daniel was left alone.
And similar to Saul’s vision on the road to Damascus. He wasn’t alone either. But the men with him saw this flash of light . But, they did not hear the voice, when Jesus said: ‘Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?’
So, that helps us to appreciate, that Jesus is going to appear to his chosen ones and no one else will see him or hear his voice. But the chosen ones on earth at that time will. But others will know, that something is going on, because of what is happening in the world.
