Individual Responsibility

The prophet Ezekiel was designated by God as a watchman for Israel and assigned the task of telling the people about their individual responsibility to do what God told them to. The LORD told Ezekiel:

Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

The use of the term soul looks beyond the material ramifications and considers the eternal results of sin. Many righteous people were going to die in the siege of Jerusalem, and many would be carried to Babylon (as Ezekiel and Daniel were). “The eternal fate of each person, however, was determined by his or her individual relationship to God” (note on Ezekiel 18:1-32).

God illustrated the principle of individual responsibility with the example of three righteous people who had a relationship with him, Noah, Daniel, and Job, to show that individual responsibility works both ways. A righteous person will not die for the sins of a wicked person, and a wicked person will not be saved because of someone else’s relationship to God. God said, “When a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the LORD” (Ezekiel 14:13-14).

God told Ezekiel that he was going to change the way he dealt with sin as a result of the Israelites breaking the covenant he made with them. The Lord GOD said to the people of Israel, “I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant” (Ezekiel 16:59-60). The everlasting covenant that the Lord was referring to was the one that Jesus established through his death on the cross and resurrection three days later (Matthew 26:28). God said of this covenant, “I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 16:62-63).

Atonement was not a new concept to the Israelites. When the Lord said, “I will atone for you” he was changing things by interjecting himself into the process. The Lord wanted everyone to know that he was going to do something that would change the way sin was taken care of with regard to being able to remove it from people’s lives permanently. In Romans 11:11-24, Paul said the reason for this change was to make it possible for the entire world to be reconciled God.

The Lord told Ezekiel, “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). The Hebrew word that is translated sins, chata (khaw-taw) is “a verb meaning to miss the mark…Its central meaning is to miss the mark or fail. It is used in a nonmoral sense or nonreligious sense to indicate the simple idea of missing or failing at any task or endeavor. In Judges 20:16, it indicated the idea of a slinger missing his target” (H2398). Jesus explained the concept of missing the mark in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and wanted his followers to understand that anything less than perfection (hitting the mark) counted as a miss or sin against an individual. Jesus told his followers, “You have heard it said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matthew 5:21-22).

God emphasized the importance of each individual taking responsibility for his or her own sin when he told the people of Israel, “I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways” (Ezekiel 18:30). The Apostle Paul made it clear that this judgment also applies to believers as well as the house of Israel. Paul said, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). The Greek word that is translated done, prasso (prasˊ-so) means “to ‘practice,’ i.e. perform repeatedly or habitually” (G4238).

Developing habits, whether good or bad, usually takes time and an intentional effort. Paul said in Galatians 6:7-9, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Paul was eluding to the set time for the coming of the Messiah in his kingdom when he used the phrase due season.

Jesus illustrated the principle of rewards by comparing the kingdom of heaven to a master of a house who hired laborers for his vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). Jesus said the master agreed to pay the first group of laborers he hired a denarius, a day’s wages for a laborer, and sent them out to work (Matthew 20:1-2). Throughout the day, the master hired additional laborers and promised to pay them whatever was right. At the end of the day, he called them in to pay them their wages. Everyone was paid the same amount, no matter what time of the day they had started working. The laborers hired first grumbled at the master because the last group of laborers had only worked one hour and were given a full day’s wages. Jesus said, “But he replied to them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge  my generosity? So the last will be first and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:13-16).

Keeping in step with the Spirit

“The Holy Spirit is the eternal third member of the Trinity. He is the person who convicts of sin and who indwells Christians. He regenerates believers and empowers them to live the Christian life, to understand the Scriptures, and to worship Jesus Christ. He is the sovereign God who equips believers with gifts of service to do ministry in the church” (The Doctrines of the Holy Spirit, The Standards of the Doctrine of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors). The Holy Spirit was present on earth at creation (Genesis 1:2) and was able to influence certain individuals in the Old Testament (Exodus 31:3; Numbers 24:21 Samuel 10:10; 16:13), but it wasn’t until Jesus’ ministry was completed that the Holy Spirit entered the world (Acts 2:1-4) and began to permanently indwell believers who were destined for eternal life (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach his disciples all things and remind them of the words he had spoken to them (John 14:26). Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth and said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit shows believers the way they are to go in their journey through life (G3394). Somewhat like a drill instructor who trains and commands every movement that his new recruits make, Paul tells believers in Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”  

Paul was concerned for the Galatians because false doctrine had influenced them to become legalistic and to think that they needed something more than to be justified by faith in order to be truly saved. Paul said, “For freedom Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore and do not submit to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Paul referred to the Mosaic Law as slavery because it obligated a person to live a perfect life, something that was humanly impossible. Paul argued that a believer who was attempting to be justified by the law had fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4). Paul explained, “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision not uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Galatians 5:5-6).

Paul made it clear that salvation is not something that we achieve. Salvation is a gift from God that believers in Christ do not experience the full effect of until they get to heaven. Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of the future effects or inheritance of salvation. Paul indicated that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit until we acquire possession of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). Therefore, we should be eagerly waiting for the justification we have received from God to take effect and not try to achieve righteousness on our own (Galatians 5:5).

Paul said the only thing that counts for anything in the life of a believer is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). Paul was talking about the fact that it is possible for believers to experience some of  the effects of salvation while they are still alive. The working or empowering of the Holy Spirit is the result of believer’s actions being guided by the truth of God’s word. When believers walk by the Spirit they are operating on what God says, the mind of Christ.

Paul said the reason why believers do not automatically operate on what God says is because, “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17). Paul indicated the works of the flesh are evident, a person knows immediately if he or she is walking in the flesh. It is not so clear when a person is walking in the Spirit, the evidence, the fruit of the Spirit is not typically produced right away. It takes time to develop love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Paul associated the fruit of the Spirit with believers who have put to death the flesh with its passions and desires and are keeping in step with the Spirit in their daily lives.

The Greek verb that is translated keep in step, stoicheō (stoy-khehˊ-o) is in the present active subjunctive form suggesting that Paul was attempting to move his hearers to action, in a similar fashion to a drill instructor barking out an order to his recruits. The message that Paul likely wanted to convey was that keeping in step with the Spirit requires us to be alert, continually paying attention to the Spirit’s leading, and immediately responsive to the Spirit’s commands. Paul told the Corinthians, who were prone to walking in the flesh, “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning” (1 Corinthians 15:34). Jesus used a similar approach in his letter to the church in Sardis. Jesus said, “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you” (Revelation 3:2-3).

Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

The prophecies that were given to the Jews before they were taken into captivity did not have any effect on the people. There was a lack of faith among the people of Israel, and in particular, they did not want to hear Ezekiel’s prophecies about destruction. “The only visions that were accepted were those that promised peace and were proclaimed by false prophets (cf. Ezekiel 13:2-10, 16)” (note on Ezekiel 12:21-25). God described the people of Israel as a rebellious house, “who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 12:2).

God had a radical transformation in mind when he promised that he was going to change the Jews attitude toward him. God said through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they will be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20). The promise that God was going to put within the Jews a new spirit was mentioned again later in Ezekiel’s ministry. In the latter instance, God said he was going to put his Spirit within the people, and this would cause them to walk in his statues and to be careful to obey him (Ezekiel 36:26-27; 37:14).

The Hebrew word that is translated within, qereb (kehˊ-reb) “is utilized abstractly to describe the inner being of a person. This place was regarded as the home of the heart from which the emotions spring (Psalm 39:3[4]; 55:4[5]; Lamentations 1:20). It was also viewed as the source of thoughts (Genesis 8:12; Psalm 62:4[5]; Jeremiah 9:8[7], which are often deceitful, wicked, and full of cursing. Yet wisdom from God can reside there also (1 Kings 3:28). This inner being is also the seat of one’s moral disposition and thus one’s affections and desires” (H7130). When the Pharisees demanded to know when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus told them, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here; or , lo there: for behold the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21, KJSB).

The idea that the kingdom of God could exist inside a person shifted attention away from the physical realm where the nation of Israel existed to the spiritual realm where the church that Jesus said he would build existed. Jesus declared about the church, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus indicated the key to the church’s success would be the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17). Paul explained in his letter to the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:4-6).

The Holy Spirit’s power is necessary for change to occur in a person’s heart (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit helps people to overcome the effects of sin, but He only dwells within believers. The Spirit’s presence causes the believer to be dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:5), meaning that the person has the ability to turn away from sin and decide to do what is right. This is evidenced by the person’s conscience being activated by the Word of God (Hebrews 10:22). Throughout the Old Testament we see that the people of Israel never changed. It wasn’t until the twelve apostles and other believers were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4) that people were able to turn away from their sin and could do what God wanted them to. Paul indicated that the power of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is what gives believers eternal life. Paul said, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

Putting on Christ

Paul made it clear in his letter to the Romans that no one can be justified by their own personal character or conduct (Romans 3:20). Quoting Psalm 14:1-3 and 53:1-3, Paul said, “No one is righteous, no not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” Paul explained in his letter to the Galatians that to be justified by faith we must believe in Christ Jesus (Galatians 2:16). Paul went on to explain that believers are not only justified by faith but must live by faith in order to please God. Paul quoted Habakkuk 2:4, stating, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11). The Greek word that is translated righteous, dikaios (dikˊ-ah-yos) means “innocent, holy” (G1342). Dikaios is spoken, “especially of those whose hearts are right with God: righteous, pious, godly (Matthew 13:43; 23:29; 25:45; Mark 6:20; Luke 14:14; Romans 2:13; 3:10).” Justification is the act that results in a person being made righteous. God declares a person innocent, holy (justified) when by faith he accepts Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross as payment for the penalty of his sins.

Paul said in Galatians 2:20 that he had been crucified with Christ and it was no longer he who was living, but Christ who was living in him. Paul concluded, “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Living by faith is necessary because we don’t go to heaven immediately after accepting Christ as our Savior. When believers live by faith, their lives have no ending; what they are doing now and will be doing after they die transforms into one continuous eternal existence. Paul wrote about this in his first letter to the Thessalonians. Paul compared the difference between being alive or dead to the difference between being awake or asleep. Paul said, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).

Paul indicated that we could live with Christ even though he is physically in heaven and we are physically on earth (1 Thessalonians 5:10). The way that happens is for us to put on Christ. What Paul meant by putting on Christ is something similar to getting dressed each day. In the same way that we put on clothes to cover our physical nakedness we must put on Christ to cover our flesh, the part of us that is displeasing to God. Paul described the process of putting on Christ in Ephesians 6:13-18 as putting on the whole armor of God. When we are living with Christ, we are protected from the schemes of the devil and can pray effectively for other believers and the accomplishment of God’s will in our lives.

Paul instructed believers in Romans 13:14 to not gratify the desires or passions of the flesh. Paul said that believers must, “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12). The Apostle Peter wrote about the passions of the flesh being at war against our soul in his first letter (1 Peter 2:11). Paul elaborated on this point in Galatians 5:17 where he said, “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things that you want to do.” The reason why believers must put on Christ is because the battle between our flesh and the Spirit of God cannot be won by us doing the right thing. We must constantly wage war against the schemes of the devil by diligently putting on each piece of the armor that Christ provided through his death, burial, and resurrection.

Justification

Paul’s discussion of justification by faith in Galatians 2 was centered around the fact that the Jews were not any better off than the Gentiles when it came to being right with God. The Jews were given the Ten Commandments to show others that knowing the Law does not necessarily mean that you will obey it. In fact, their knowledge of the Law worked against the Jews because it made them more accountable to God for their actions. The Jews were sent into captivity because they knowingly disobeyed God and were unwilling to repent (Ezekiel 3:7, 16-27; 5:6).

Paul established the framework for justification in his letter to the Romans by explaining that the Jews’ unrighteousness served to show the righteousness of God (Romans 3:5-6). Paul went on to explain that no one is righteous, and all are condemned because they are under sin whether a person is a Jew or not (Romans 3:8-18). Paul concluded, “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19-20).

“Paul concluded that since all men are guilty, they cannot be ‘justified’ by their own personal character or conduct (Romans 3:20). Justification is a legal term signifying that the demands of justice have been satisfied, and there is no longer a basis for condemnation (Romans 8:1). The justified transgressor no longer stands guilty or deserving of punishment. Paul reasoned that obedience to the law of Moses cannot justify one before God because no one can keep it perfectly. The very nature of the law is to prove that he is sinful and deserves God’s punishment. Therefore the purpose of the law was to lead man to renounce his own self-righteous efforts and trust in Christ’s imputed righteousness as the only grounds for acceptance with God” (note on Romans 3:19, 20).

Paul said of himself in Galatians 2:19, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.” Paul was speaking metaphorically about forsaking his effort to keep of the law of Moses, so that he could focus his attention on exercising his faith in God. Paul said in his letter to the Philippians, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Paul was talking about his calling to preach the gospel. Paul was commissioned to go to the Gentiles and to make Jesus known to them so that they could receive salvation just as the Jews had (Acts 9:15; 11:18).

Paul said that he had been crucified with Christ and that it was no longer him who was living his life, but Jesus who was living in him (Galatians 2:20). Paul was speaking of his union with Christ. Paul explained the concept of union with Christ in Romans 6:3-11. Paul said:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The believer’s union with Christ is what makes justification possible. When a person believes in Jesus, Christ’s righteousness is imputed to him through their joint death, burial, and resurrection.

Paul warned the Philippians about putting their confidence in their own ability to do what is right. Paul said he counted everything as loss, “because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8) Paul went on to say, “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11). Paul saw being resurrected from the dead as the ultimate goal of justification (Philippians 3:12-14).

Jesus used the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector to illustrate the difference between trusting in oneself and trusting in Christ. Jesus said, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:10-14). The tax collector’s prayer, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13) was an acknowledgment of his need for someone else to atone or pay the penalty for his sins (G2433). The tax collector knew he was guilty and that there was no way he could ever repay the debt of his sin to God.

A stubborn heart

The prophet Ezekiel was taken into captivity during King Nebuchadnezzar’s first deportation of Jews to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-17). Eleven years passed from the time of the first deportation of Jews until the fall and captivity of Judah (2 Kings 25:1-2), Ezekiel’s prophetic call took place in the fifth year of the Jews captivity. Ezekiel wrote, “…as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1). God warned Ezekiel that he must say everything the Lord told him to even if the Jews didn’t listen. God said:

“Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.” (Ezekiel 2:3-5)

God referred to the Jews as a nation of rebels, who had rebelled against him. The Hebrew word that is translated rebellious in Ezekiel 2:5 is mᵉriy (mer-eeˊ). “A masculine noun meaning obstinacy, stubbornness, rebelliousness. The term consistently stays within the tight semantic  range and most often describes the Israelites’ determined refusal to obey the precepts laid down by the Lord in His Law or Torah. This characteristic attitude was a visible manifestation of their hard hearts” (H4805).

The Lord focused on the condition of the Jews’ hearts when he explained to Ezekiel why the people were not going to listen to him. God said if he sent Ezekiel to foreigners, they would listen to him, “But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart” (Ezekiel 3:6-7). The heart is the seat of one’s inner nature and it encompasses things like the mind, the will, and a person’s emotions. A person with a stubborn heart is someone who is harsh and cruel, violent or fierce in their behavior toward others (H3820/H7186).

God told Ezekiel that all of the house of Israel had a stubborn heart (Ezekiel 3:7). There was no one who was godly left among the people of Judah and Jerusalem. In spite of this, God told Ezekiel, “’Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks for they are a rebellious house.’ Moreover, he said to me, ‘Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, “Thus says the Lord God,” whether they hear or refuse to hear” (Ezekiel 3:9-11).

Ezekiel was overwhelmed by the task that God had given him, but the filling of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 2:2) enabled Ezekiel to do what God wanted him to. Ezekiel said, “The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me. And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days” (Ezekiel 3:14-15). Ezekiel was angry and resistant to doing God’s will. It took him seven days to recover from the shock of being transported against his will to the location where God intended his ministry to be launched.

Ezekiel was assigned the role of a watchman for Israel. God explained to Ezekiel that he was being made responsible for the lives of everyone he was commanded to speak to. God said, “Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul” (Ezekiel 3:17-19). As a watchman for Israel, Ezekiel didn’t have a choice about who he spoke to or what message he delivered. It was Ezekiel’s responsibility to warn the Jews of their impending doom, but that was all. If the people did not heed Ezekiel’s warning, he would not be held accountable for their death.

The time of the end (part 2)

We are told in Daniel 9:23 that at the beginning of Daniel’s pleas for mercy the angel Gabriel was sent to him with a response from God. Gabriel described his message for Daniel as “a word.” The word that Gabriel used, dâbâr (daw-bawrˊ) conveyed “divine communication” (H1697). Daniel was first introduced to Gabriel when he sought to understand his vision of the ram and the goat which he was told had to do with the appointed time of the end (Daniel 8:15-27). When Gabriel came to Daniel the second time, Gabriel laid out for Daniel a high-level overview of God’s plan of salvation for the nation of Israel, which would take place over a period he described as seventy weeks, beginning with Cyrus’ decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:24-27; Ezra 1:1-4).

Daniel 9:24-27 “is one of the most important prophesies in Scripture. Daniel had been praying about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of his people. God gave Daniel a time frame for all his dealings with Israel…The seventy ‘weeks’ refer to years. Some biblical scholars suggest that the sixty-nine ‘weeks’ until the Messiah would come began with the decree that was issued to Nehemiah in 445 BC and ended 483 years later on Palm Sunday (based on 360-day years; see Rev. 11:3; 12-6; 13:5)…There is likely a gap, a feature that is characteristic of some prophesies, between the sixty-ninth and seventieth ‘week.’ If this is the case, then the ‘prince who is to come’ refers to the Antichrist, who will make a treaty with the Jews and then break it” (note on Daniel 9:24-27).

Daniel’s prophetic revelation moved methodically through the time period leading up to the birth of Christ and then fast forwarded to the appointed time of the end. The shift is made obvious in Daniel 11:36 “by the fact that Antiochus was one of the ‘king[s] of the north’ (a Seleucid), while the Antichrist is attacked by the kings of the North and the South (Daniel 11:40)…Daniel 12:1, which continues the narrative from chapter 11, identifies the time frame as the ‘time of trouble,’ also know as the great tribulation (cf. Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:21)” (note on Daniel 11:36). Daniel 12:1-4 states:

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

“This passage is one of the clearest Old Testament references to the resurrection of the dead…The implication is that the understanding of these visions would be made clear at ‘the time of the end’ (Daniel 12:4)” (note on Daniel 12:1-4). The Apostle Paul testified to his belief in the resurrection of the dead when he was on trial before Felix at Caesarea. Paul said, “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:14-15).

Daniel 12:4 links the time of the end with the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy about the nation of Israel (Daniel 9:24-27). According to Daniel 12:1-4, the remnant of Israel goes through the great tribulation and Revelation 7:4 indicates there will be 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. The seventieth week is expected to last seven years, but when he was asked, “How long shall it be till the end of the wonders?,” the pre-incarnate Christ, “swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished” (Daniel 12:7). The phrase “time, times, and half a time” appears in Revelation 12:14. Revelation chapter 12 describes the conflict between the nation of Israel, who is represented by the woman, and Satan, who is represented by the dragon. As the scene plays out, the woman escapes “into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time” (Revelation 12:14),” indicating that the shattering of the power of the holy people will occur during the last three and a half years of the great tribulation.

Jesus said, “When the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished” (Daniel 12:7). I believe the things that Jesus was referring to that would be finished were the things associated with the Old Covenant that God established with the nation of Israel. The millennial reign of Christ marks the beginning of the eternal kingdom of God that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus referred to this as the kingdom of heaven. Jesus told his followers, “many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11-12). In this passage, Jesus distinguished between the physical descendants of Abraham who were under the Old Covenant and those who by faith received Christ.

Pleas for mercy

The prophet Daniel’s prayer for his people was a heartfelt plea for mercy that was intended to stir the LORD to action on behalf of the Jews who were in captivity in Babylon. Daniel’s prayer was the result of his discovery of Jeremiah’s prophecy that the Jews’ captivity would last 70 years (Daniel 9:2; Jeremiah 25:12). Daniel said, “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession” (Daniel 9:3-4). Daniel’s prayer was based on him having a personal relationship with God. Daniel was seeking God’s favor, asking him “to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior” (H2603).

Daniel made confession to God, meaning that he approached God with a proper attitude, one of reverence and thanksgiving (H3034). Daniel prayed:

O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. (Daniel 9:4-11)

Daniel’s pleas for mercy were focused on the goodness of God. Daniel confessed, “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness” (Daniel 9:9). Daniel likened God’s mercy to a mother’s womb, having in mind the idea of compassion and tenderness (H7356). “God is a forgiving God (Nehemiah 9:17). He does not keep a record of sin, but with Him there is forgiveness (Psalm 130:4). Daniel also proclaimed that God is forgiving, even though the Hebrews had sinned greatly against Him (Daniel 9:9)” (H5547).

Daniel asked that God listen to his pleas for mercy for his own sake because of his great mercy. Daniel prayed, “O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city this is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake. O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name” (Daniel 9:18-19). Daniel recognized that it was God’s character that mattered when it came to changing the Jews’ circumstances. Daniel wanted God to pay attention and act because the Jews had damaged his reputation and were making him a laughingstock among the leaders of the world (Daniel 5:1-4).

The appointed time of the end

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had the privilege of seeing what was going to happen in a time period that Daniel referred to as “the latter days” (Daniel 2:28). The latter days involve a future period of consequential events. Jeremiah said of the latter days, “That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. The prophet Zechariah said of the latter days:

Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

Zechariah’s prophecy takes place at the end of the Great Tribulation. At that time, Jesus will return and establish his kingdom on earth. Chapter nineteen of the Book of Revelation depicts Christ’s return as a man riding on a white horse. It says, “The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war” (Revelation 19:11).

Daniel had a vision that paralleled Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in which four beasts came up out of the sea. At the end of Daniel’s vision was a depiction of the judgment seat of Christ. Daniel said:

As I looked,

thrones were placed,
    and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
    and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
    its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued
    and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
    and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
    and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:9-10)

The interpretation of Daniel’s vision was made known to him by an angel. Daniel wanted to know the truth about the fourth beast who was “terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong” (Daniel 7:7). The angel told Daniel that the fourth kingdom would be different from all kingdoms and would devour the whole earth. This kingdom will be led by Antichrist who will “wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25). The phrase “time, times, and half a time” refers to the last half of the Great Tribulation. This phrase corresponds with Revelation 12:14 which depicts the nation of Israel as a woman who is being protected during the Great Tribulation. Verses 16 and 17 tell us, “But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

The angel who interpreted Daniel’s dream was identified as Gabriel. Gabriel “seemed to be God’s special messenger” (note on Daniel 8:16). Gabriel told Daniel that he was going to make known to him “what shall be at the latter end-of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end” (Daniel 8:19). The indignation signifies God’s displeasure with sin (H2195) and the appointed time of the end, a time when Antichrist will be removed from the earth and God’s people will be free to focus on God and their relationship with him (H4150). The angel told Daniel, “And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressions have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand” (Daniel 8:23-25).

Daniel experienced tremendous physical and emotional drain after his overwhelming visions (note on Daniel 8:27). Daniel said he was “overcome and lay sick for some days” (Daniel 8:27). Daniel was appalled by the visions, meaning that he was devastated or stupefied by them. The Hebrew word that is translated appalled, shamem (shaw-mameˊ) means “to stun” (H8074). The appointed time of the end will be marked by lawlessness and rebellion against the truth of God’s word. Paul said of Antichrist in his second letter to the Thessalonians, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception, for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

Jesus’ disciples came to him on the Mount of Olives and asked him to tell them when the appointed time of the end would come. Jesus said many false prophets would lead people astray. “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:11-14). Jesus went on to say that no one knows the day or the hour when the end will come (Matthew 24:36), and then, told his disciples, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13).

Trusting in God

“Daniel was a nobleman of Israel (possibly a prince) who was taken to Babylon in the first deportation (605 BC), probably while in his early teens (Dan. 1:3, 4). His ministry lasted the entire length of the Babylonian exile, his last dated prophecy being made in 536 BC when he was in his eighties” (Introduction to Daniel). Daniel’s faith was likely tested numerous times over the course of his ministry. When King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to kill all of the wise men in his kingdom, Daniel responded by seeking God’s mercy, praying that he would reveal the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him so that he and companions would not be “destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:5, 13, 18). Later, when a decree was made that whoever prays to any god or man except to the king would be thrown into the den of lions, Daniel “got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before God as he had done previously” (Daniel 6:10).

Daniel was trusting in God when he continued to pray three times as he always had. We are told in Daniel 6:19-22:

Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”

Daniel was pure in his devotion to God. Daniel did not waver when his faith was put to the test.

James said that believers should count it all joy when they meet trials of various kinds, “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3). Steadfastness is a quality of the mind. It has to do with the way we think about our circumstances. The author of Hebrews referred to steadfastness as endurance in Hebrews 12:1 and said that we need to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”

James talked about the need for believers to put their faith into action. We are told in Hebrews 11:1 that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We are not able to see God, that is why faith is necessary for us to have a relationship with him. When we have the conviction that God exists, we become hopeful about the prospect of living with him forever after we die. James said we shouldn’t just be hopeful about the prospect of living with God after we die, we should live our lives as if he is here with us now.

James said that faith by itself is not enough; you must also have works (James 2:17). James explained what he meant be works when he said, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (James 2:19-23).

Trusting in God involves action on our part. “Merely claiming to have faith does not mean that a person possesses saving faith. A faith that is not accompanied by appropriate deeds is no faith at all. It is a mockery, and James calls such faith ‘dead’ (James 2:17). It is ‘faith’ similar to what the demons possess (James 2:19), consisting only of an intellectual belief in the existence of God. Outward actions accompany and demonstrate genuine faith in Christ” (note on James 2:14-19). Abraham demonstrated his faith by doing what God told him to do. God said to Abraham, “take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2), Genesis 22:3 tells us, “So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.” We can see that Abraham believing God and Abraham obeying God were essentially the same thing.

James referred to the acting out of our faith as faith being completed. The Greek word that is translated completed, teleioo (tel-i-oˊ-o) is associated with spiritual maturity. It is “used in the epistle to the Hebrews in a moral sense meaning to make perfect, to fully cleanse from sin, in contrast to ceremonial cleansing. Moral expiation is the completion or realization of the ceremonial one (Heb 7:19; 9:9; 10:1, 14)” (G5048). James said, “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). Works were being “spoken of an external act as manifested in the production of something tangible, obvious to the senses” (G2140). Trusting in God means that we have translated the invisible attributes of God into something tangible that is evidence of our belief in his existence to the people around us.