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Welcome back! To reset the stage, I had stated: Now I know that one of the first objections someone will set forth is: “Well, if America is the Stone Kingdom in particular and the kingdom of heaven in general, how can you reconcile that teaching with the fact that Paul tells us very clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:50 that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom?”
Good question, don’t you agree? Well, one very potent answer come to mind immediately. If you will carefully read the 13th chapter of Matthew, it contains many parables of the kingdom of heaven, and in a number of those parables, there are flesh and blood people all throughout the kingdom of heaven.
They are symbolized as wheat and tares, as good seed and wicked seed, as good and bad caught in the net, but there can be no doubt that they are all in the kingdom of heaven until such time as the wicked are removed. So was Paul contradicting the gospel of Matthew then?
No, the answer to that objection is that it is a matter of timing, as is so often the answer to many seeming paradoxes in the Bible.
When Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, it is in the context of being changed into immortality and incorruptibility. Prior to that time, it is abundantly clear that the kingdom of heaven is not only full of flesh and blood human beings, but full of wicked human beings as well.
Let us now turn back to Daniel chapter 7 as we consider this phrase, the “ancient of days.” That phrase as such is found in the Bible only three times and they are all in the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel.
I will not take time to read from the beginning of the chapter because we have already covered it in detail in our previous lectures. We saw how it is a parallel prophecy of the same thing King Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed in chapter 2.
Now here it is many years later when his grandson, Belshazzar, is in the first year of his reign over Babylon. Daniel dreams of the four beast empires and we will begin reading in verse 8.
Daniel 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
We analyzed that verse in great detail in our lectures concerning papal Rome, but we stopped our analysis there with that verse, and skipping over verse 9. We then continued our analysis at verse 15 where the angel gives the interpretation to Daniel, and then we analyzed from there to the end of chapter 7, but we read right through certain verses without analysis.
That was done deliberately because we had much more to study and comprehend historically and prophetically before we could analyze the passages concerning the ancient of days. So briefly, to reset the stage, verse 8 puts us in the era of the dominance of the Roman Catholic church over Europe, which included the ten-toe nations or the ten-horn nations.
We saw how those comprised the dispersed and lost tribes of Israel. But remember, the Judahites and Benjamites had left Judea and Galilee in the first century after Christ and had joined their brethren in Europe.
This then fulfilled perfectly the “two sticks” prophecy in Ezekiel 37. The two houses (Judah and Joseph-Ephraim) of Israel becoming one under the banner of Christendom. It is “perfectly” fulfilled to this time but does not have its final and complete fulfillment until Christ returns.
In connection with the book of Revelation, we saw these prophecies were fulfilled by the papacy and the Roman church. Furthermore, we saw how the papal power began to be broken with the revelations given to Martin Luther and the other Reformers.
We marveled at how God brought forth the invention of the printing press at precisely the perfect time so as to widely disseminate the Word of God in the languages of the various peoples of Europe. It took a couple centuries, but the power of the papacy has declined.
In studying these passages concerning the ancient of days, I consulted over 40 different Bible versions, Bible commentaries, dictionaries and encyclopedias. They are virtually unanimous in identifying the “ancient of days” as either God the Father, Jesus Christ, or both.
At least Zondervan’s Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible is honest about it, saying “Although the passage does not directly say so, the numerous commentators unite to ‘take it at once to be a euphemistic term for God.’” (Emphasis mine—JWB)
Some study Bibles and commentaries state unequivocally that this is a picture of Jesus at His second coming. Now please understand, I am not condemning any of these scholars and commentators for their interpretation. Each of us can only interpret with the understanding we have been given.
Thus it would be impossible for any of them to interpret this passage in the manner in which I see it, because of the simple fact that I have been given (and so have you, thus, I am not puffing up myself, nor patting myself on the back—it is God’s doing…) that we have been given to understand who true Israel is and where they are in the world today. Now let us see who the “ancient of days” is and is not.
Daniel 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool, his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
Surely we can all understand how easily we could fall into interpreting the ancient of days as being Jesus at His second coming. After all, we know from the book of Revelation 11:15 that …The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Therefore, according to the commonly accepted interpretation, the “thrones cast down” in verse 9 must refer to the kingdoms of this world being overthrown at the second coming of Christ.
The commentators then would easily identify the rest of verse 9 as a description of Christ. We’ll come back to that later, but let’s read on to find the next use of the phrase ancient of days.
Daniel 7: 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
We will come back to explain all of that passage later. Now here is the phrase we are examining; listen very carefully. Daniel says:
13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Do you see a discrepancy there in the standard interpretation? Who is “the Son of man?” It is Christ Jesus, of course. Jesus refers to Himself, or is called “the Son of man,” 84 times in the four gospels.
But here it says that the Son of man came TO the ancient of days! Therefore, He could not be “the ancient of days.” And that little preposition “to” there is obviously of very great importance.
So I checked the Hebrew (actually, it’s Aramaic, in this case) and it is the preposition “ad” and, just as in Latin, this preposition “ad” [pronounced “odd”] means just that: “to.” Therefore, the ancient of days cannot be Jesus Christ!
Some commentators have realized this discrepancy and that is why they then assume the ancient of days must be God the Father. If that is the case, then, I have a question for them: When Jesus ascended in Acts, chapter one, where did He go, and where is He now?
Is He not seated at the right hand of the Father? Of course, He is! So this does not make sense then, that the Son of man would go TO God the Father, …because He is already there, with the Father*.* So to me, that seems to preclude the ancient of days referring to God the Father.
So who or what is the ancient of days? Well, I told you that the phrase, as such, is found only three times in the Bible and they are right here in this chapter. However, we do find the phrase “ancient days” in two places. One is in Isaiah 23.
Actually, it is hardly different at all from the usage in Daniel. In Daniel, we have “ancient of days;” in Isaiah 23:7, we find that the phrase is “of ancient days.” What’s the difference, I ask you? Not, much, if any, wouldn’t you agree? Here it is, verse 7.
Isaiah 23:7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.
Now if you look at the context, this is an oracle concerning the city of Tyre. It was the New York City of its era. It was a great city of commerce and great wickedness as well, described as being “of ancient days.”
In other words, Tyre was an old, old city. Now the only other place we find the term “ancient days” in the Bible is in Isaiah 51, verse 9.
Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
We can easily see that “ancient days” is a vague term, referring to some time in the distant past. “In the generations of old” in verse 9 and in verse 10, it is referring to the time of the exodus through the Red Sea, which was about 1447 B.C. So Isaiah, who lived in the 8th century B.C., described that as being so long ago, it was “in the ancient days.”
We can conclude that the term the “ancient of days” could refer to a city, such as Tyre, or an event, such as the exodus. It is a vague term, simply meaning a very long time ago, “in the generations of old.”
Now, if the ancient of days is not Jesus Christ, then let’s go back to Daniel 2 and unlearn another misconception that many Christians have been taught; namely, concerning the identity of the stone. (We are not done examining the ancient of days, but let’s first look at the stone.)
First of all, there is no question that Paul identifies Christ as the Rock in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 4. And that Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone in…
Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
But you might notice that the word stone is in italics, meaning it was supplied by the translators. Then, listen to Paul in…
Romans 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Is Jesus a stumblingstone and a rock of offense? Absolutely! But does that mean that everywhere in the Scriptures that we find the word “stone,” that it must refer to Jesus Christ? Keep that question in mind as we now read Daniel 2:44, which was our key verse in the previous lecture, and verse 45.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, …
As you know, we focused last time on just that much of the verse to show from history how this was fulfilled in the waning days of the papal Roman empire, as the New World was being discovered by Europeans and in the process of time, America (the kingdom of heaven) was being set up and established. It took centuries!
From 1609 at Jamestown and 1620 at Plymouth Plantation to 1776 was a century and a half.
Many of my older listeners and readers are probably familiar with the commitment of these early colonists to establishing the kingdom of God, but I suspect very few of my younger listeners are, unless they have been home-schooled in a Christian environment.
So allow me to quote from just one of numerous, official documents along this same vein that were drawn up by the early colonists. This is from the Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England in September of 1643.
“Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
And I will stop there because we are running out of time, but it is typical of the Christian people of that time. They came here to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ!
From 1776 until 1959, with the final addition of Alaska and Hawaii as states in the union, it was nearly another 200 years. And now we are in the year 2020, exactly 400 years next month from the Pilgrims landing at the coast of what is now Massachusetts.
It is now over 400 years since God was beginning to set up His Stone Kingdom, His heavenly kingdom, here in America.
And where are we at this point in biblical prophecy? We are in captivity to Mystery Babylon, but at the very tail end of that, where Israel in America, the woman in travail, is about to be delivered of a man-child, which is the company of soon-to-be immortal sons of God.
They are described in Daniel 2, verse 45. But we never finished verse 44, so let’s back up. This is a very important point.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, …
Daniel 2:44b …but it [What? …the kingdom] shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it [the kingdom] shall stand for ever.
Who or what is being spoken of here, Jesus? …or the kingdom? Clearly, it is the kingdom which “shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,” and the stone kingdom shall stand forever!
I regret that I am out of time for today, but there is simply no way to get this all explained properly in this one lecture. Next time we will further explain how the Stone Kingdom breaks in pieces and consumes all these kingdoms, and how the ancient of days is not the Lord Jesus Christ, but the ancient of days is the kingdom.
And do not fret, brothers and sisters. This does not detract one iota from the greatness or the exalted position of Christ.
Because you might remember last lecture—or maybe it was the one before that—when I made the distinction between the King and the kingdom? Of course, Jesus is the King and the land and people that He rules over is the kingdom.
The Stone Kingdom is Christianized-Israel in America, along with any other persons, individuals of any family, who join themselves to Christ as their King and Savior.
They, we, are called upon to be engaged in this great work. Next time, I will elaborate how this has been done, how it is being done, and how it possibly will be done as we fulfill the awesome history that our Father God has pre-written for us in the book of Daniel. The book is now unsealed! Hallelujah and Amen!
(Series to be continued.)
