prophecy

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.

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).

A hard lesson

God sent the people of Israel into captivity to teach them a very hard lesson about his sovereignty over their lives. God had delivered the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob out of slavery in Egypt so that they could be his treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6). Moses explained to them, “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of the peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). In spite of everything the LORD did for them, the Jews refused to give up their idolatry. God said, “Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ But they did not listen or incline their ear, or turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in Jerusalem, and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day” (Jeremiah 44:4-6).

While they were in exile in Babylon, the Jews were once again forced to choose between being obedient to God or following the idolatrous practices of their captors. Daniel and his companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fought against the temptation to relinquish their right to serve the living and true God by refusing to adapt to the Babylonian culture (Daniel 1:8-16). When King Nebuchadnezzar exercised his authority by making everyone in his kingdom bow down to the huge golden image that he had made, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego paid no attention (Daniel 3:12). This act of rebellion enraged the king and resulted in a confrontation between the king and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel 3:13-15 tells us that Nebuchadnezzar gave the men two choices, they could bow down and worship the image he had made or be cast into a burning fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar taunted the men by asking, “And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Nebuchadnezzar had the furnace heated seven times more than it usually was (Daniel 3:19). Because of this, the men who were tasked with throwing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace were killed by the flame of the fire (Daniel 3:22). And yet, the fire had no power over the bodies of the three men (Daniel 3:27). After Nebuchadnezzar told Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to come out of the furnace, everyone saw that “the hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them” (Daniel 3:27).

Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that there was no other god who was able to rescue the way God had rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3:29), but he was not willing to accept God’s sovereignty over everything, especially his kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar had a second dream which Daniel interpreted for him (Daniel 4:4-16). After informing Nebuchadnezzar that his mind was going to be changed from that of a man to the mind of a beast, Daniel concluded, “The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he wills and sets over it the lowliest of men” (Daniel 4:17).

A year later, Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of his palace, thinking about his accomplishments, when his dream came true. Daniel 4:29-33 tells us:

At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.

After his sanity was restored, Nebuchadnezzar reflected on his experience and told Daniel, “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34).

Nebuchadnezzar learned a hard lesson during the time that he lived among the beasts of the field and ate grass like an ox (Daniel 4:32). According to the Apostle James, Nebuchadnezzar’s religion was worthless because it was merely a form of self-deception that resulted in him becoming proud and defiant toward God (James 1:9-10, 26). On the other hand, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s faith was genuine and it resulted in everyone knowing that they were “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3).

James encouraged believers to embrace the testing of their faith (James 1:2). James didn’t see trials as something to be avoided, but opportunities for growth. James said, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). “God may allow those who belong to him to be tested, but he will never place inducements before them to lead them into temptations greater than they can bear” (note on Genesis 22:1, 2).

Paul told believers in his letter to the Corinthians, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). When King Nebuchadnezzar commanded everyone in his kingdom to fall down and worship the golden image, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could have done so to avoid being thrown into the fiery furnace and justified the fiery furnace as something that they were unable to endure, but they didn’t do that. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego instead chose to believe that God was able to and would deliver them from the fiery furnace because he did not want them to practice idolatry (Daniel 3:17).

James encouraged believers to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). The word of God is intended to change our behavior. It’s not enough for us to just agree with the Bible’s principles. We must put them into practice. James said, “For if anyone is a hearer only and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:23-25). James described the gospel as the law of liberty, something that gives us the freedom to do as we please. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren’t compelled to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. His threat of death meant nothing to them. These three men’s courage demonstrated to everyone around them their resolve to remain unstained from the world (Daniel 1:8; James 1:27) and contributed to Nebuchadnezzar’s change of heart toward God (Daniel 4:37).  

A mystery revealed

God’s promise to give Abraham the land of Canaan forever (Genesis 13:15) implied that his ownership would extend beyond this temporal sphere. God did not explain to Abraham how his promise would be fulfilled, but we are told in Hebrews 11:19 that Abraham believed God was able to raise people from the dead, implying that life after death and eternal life were a part of God’s plan for the nation of Israel.

The fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham became clearer after the people of Israel began to occupy the land of Canaan. During the reign of King David, God said he would raise up one of David’s offspring, a physical heir to David’s throne who would establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:13). Second Samuel 7:8-16 “is both an explanation and a clarification of God’s promise to Abraham. It represents an unconditional promise to David that he would be the father of an everlasting kingdom (v. 16)” (note on 2 Samuel 7:4-16), but it does not specifically state how this was going to be accomplished.

Things began to unravel for the nation of Israel when the northern kingdom was sent into exile because of idolatry. It says in 2 Kings 17:21-23, “When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, until the LORD removed Isreal out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.” The Assyrians resettled Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, with “people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim” (2 Kings 17:24).

The prophet Jeremiah warned the people of the southern kingdom about the impending disaster for Jerusalem, but no one believed him. When Jeremiah announced, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their neck, refusing to hear my words” (Jeremiah 19:15), it says in Jeremiah 20:1-6:

Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

Jerusalem was captured just as Jeremiah predicted (2 Kings 24:10-17). The king of Judah was taken prisoner, and it says in 2 Kings 24:14 that Nebuchadnezzar “carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.”

Among the people that were taken captive were four youths: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; who were both of the royal family and of the nobility that were “of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans” (Daniel 1:3-4). “Scholars suggest three possible reasons for taking the youths of nobility and royal family into captivity: (1) to hold them as hostages, thereby ensuring the loyalty of their families; (2) to develop men who already had some education to serve in Nebuchadnezzar’s rapidly expanding bureaucracy; (3) and to indoctrinate them with Babylonian ideals in the hope of employing them as liaisons between Babylon and the province of Judea” (note on Daniel 1:4, 5).

Daniel 1:8 tells us that “Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.” And it also says of Daniel and his companions in Daniel 1:20 that, “in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.” God used this situation to reveal mysteries about his plan for the nation of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and threatened his magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers, “if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your house shall be laid in ruins” (Daniel 2:5), Daniel went to his companions Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah “and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:18).

Daniel believed that God could reveal King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him and also provide him with an interpretation of the dream. The fact that Daniel and his companions were in exile in Babylon didn’t seem to affect Daniel’s faith or his reliance upon God for deliverance from King Nebuchadnezzar’s threat of death. The Aramaic word that is translated seek conveys the idea of praying to God or seeking out a person, asking a person for something (A1156). Daniel’s reliance upon God was based on his belief that God was compassionate and still had affection for his chosen people.  

It says in Daniel 2:19 that the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. In other words, Daniel received a direct revelation from God, similar to the one John received and recorded in his book of Revelation. The Aramaic word that is translated vision signifies a literal sense of sight, the observation of something with the eye. Daniel 2:31 suggests that Daniel saw the same thing in his vision of the night that Nebuchadnezzar did in his dream. When Daniel interpreted the dream, he told Nebuchadnezzar, “You saw…As you looked…” (Daniel 2:31-35).

The mystery that was revealed through Nebuchadnezzar’s dream had to do with four world empires that would lead to a kingdom being set up by God that would never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44). Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom was the first of the four world empires and that the final kingdom would “break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure” (Daniel 2:44-45).

King Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction to the mystery being revealed to him showed that he recognized God was more powerful than the gods whom he worshiped in Babylon (note on Daniel 2:46, 47). Daniel 2:46-47 states, “Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. The king answered and said to Daniel, ‘Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.’” “The king bowed before Daniel in recognition that Daniel was the servant of the true God” (note on Daniel 2:46, 47). In spite of the king’s recognition that Daniel was a servant of the true God, Nebuchadnezzar was not yet willing to submit himself to God’s authority (Daniel 3).

The vengeance of the LORD

God explained to the prophet Habakkuk that he was not letting injustice prevail when he delayed the punishment of the people of Judah. God was working out his plan of salvation according to a timetable that went beyond their present circumstances to an eternal outcome that was dependent upon the birth of Christ. God told Habakkuk, “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habakkuk 1:5). The statement, “I am doing a work in your days” refers to the people of Judah’s captivity in Babylon. God allowed his chosen people “to be taken into exile to purge their sin of idolatry from them” (note on Habakkuk 1:5). After his purpose was accomplished, God intended to seek vengeance on the Babylonians for their mistreatment of the Jews, but he wanted Habakkuk to see the bigger picture and pointed the prophet to Christ’s ultimate defeat of sin and death. Habakkuk 2:2-4 states:

“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
    it will surely come; it will not delay.

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

Paul used Habakkuk 2:4 in two of his letters to explain “that justification is by faith alone, not by works (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11)” (note on Habakkuk 2:4). A just person is “one who acts alike to all, who practices even-handed justice” one who is “equitable, impartial” (G1342). Therefore, justification is “doing alike to all, justice, equity, impartiality; spoken of a judge “Acts 17:31; Hebrews 11:33; Revelation 19:11)” (G1343). Revelation 19:11 depicts Christ as sitting on a white horse and says that he is “called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.” Revelation 19:19-21 goes on to say, “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds gorged on their flesh.”

Christ’s defeat of the beast and the false prophet indicated that the vengeance of the LORD had been carried out. This event marked the end of Antichrist’s reign on earth and the beginning of Jesus’ millennial kingdom. Babylon, the place where the Jews were taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, is identified in Revelation 14:8 as the city that made “all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” Babylon is also mentioned in Revelation 16:19 where it says, “God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.”

Jeremiah’s prophecy about the judgment of Babylon refers to the Jews return from captivity. Jeremiah said:

“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’”

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’” (Jeremiah 50:4-7)

The use of the name Zion for Jerusalem suggests that this passage is relevant to Christ’s millennial kingdom, a precursor to the new heaven and the new earth, when there will be no sin or death and an eternal kingdom will be established.

Psalm 137 reveals that the Jews’ hope for an eternal kingdom was not only on their minds, but also on those of their captors long before Christ was born. The Jews’ expectation of the LORD taking vengeance on their enemies was likely a driving factor in their return to Jerusalem. Psalm 137:1-3 states, “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’” Psalm 137 concludes with a reference to the Jews future retribution. The psalmist said, “Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, ‘Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to the foundation! O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” (Psalm 137:7-9).

The Hebrew word that is translated repays in Psalm 137:8, shalam (shaw-lamˊ) is where the word shalowm comes from. Shalowm means “peace or tranquility” (H7965). Shalam is “a verb meaning to be safe, to be completed. The primary meaning is to be safe or uninjured in mind or body (Job 8:6; 9:4). This word is normally used when God is keeping His people safe. In its simple form, this verb also means to be completed or to be finished. This could refer to something concrete such as a building (1 Kings 7:51); or to things more abstract, such as plans (Job 23:14). Other meanings of this verb include to be at peace with another person (Psalm 7:4[5]); to make a treaty of peace (Joshua 11:19; Job 5:23); to pay, to give a reward (Psalm 62:12[13]); to restore, repay, or make retribution (Exodus 21:36; Psalm 37:21)” (H7999). Because God is just, he always repays us according to what we have done. It says in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “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.”

Jeremiah said regarding the judgment of Babylon, “For this is the vengeance of the LORD; take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done” (Jeremiah 50:15), and then, went on to say, “Repay her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel” (Jeremiah 50:29). Babylon’s defiance of the LORD caused him to turn against her and to utterly destroy the city. Jeremiah prophesied, “We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed. Forsake her, and let us go each to his own country, for her judgment has reached up to heaven, and has been lifted up even to the skies. The LORD has brought about vindication; come, let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God” (Jeremiah 51:9-10). Vindication describes “justice, right actions, and right attitudes, as expected from both God and people when they judge…The noun describes the justice of God or His will” (H6666). Habakkuk couldn’t understand how it could be God’s will to use such an unholy and ruthless nation to punish men who were more righteous than they were (Habakkuk 1:12-17) because he didn’t realize that the end result would be God pardoning the remnant of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 50:20) and the land of Babylon becoming a desolation (Jeremiah 51;29).  

Day of the Lord

“The day of the Lord holds an important place in prophecy. Old Testament prophets declared that it signaled judgment for Israel. Several prophets referred to it as God’s day of judgment upon individual nations, such as Babylon, Egypt, Edom, and others. Zechariah 14:1-4 explains that the events pertaining to Christ’s second advent are included in the day of the Lord” (note on 1 Thessalonians 5:2). This passage states:

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. (Zechariah 14:1-4)

Paul’s focus on the day of the Lord in his first letter to the Thessalonians was in the context of Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Paul said that it “will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). If the day of the Lord began after Christ’s second advent, “it could not come as a ‘thief in the night,’ unexpected and unheralded, since that particular advent is accompanied by signs (Matthew 24:30, 31). Consequently, the only way these events could occur unexpectedly would be for them to begin immediately after the rapture of the church. The day of the Lord, therefore, is that extended period of time when God will deal with Israel after the rapture of the church. It will continue through the second advent and the millennial age, which precedes the creation of the new heaven and new earth. God will actively intervene throughout the time period to punish sin” (note on 1 Thessalonians 5:2).

Isaiah’s prophesy about the day of the Lord made it clear that the Lord will establish his exalted position on the earth (Isaiah 2:11) and he will at that time rid the world of all idol worship (Isaiah 2:20). Isaiah said:

For the Lord of hosts has a day
    against all that is proud and lofty,
    against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low…
And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
    and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
    and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
And the idols shall utterly pass away.
And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
    and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    when he rises to terrify the earth. (Isaiah 2:12-19)

The title used in Isaiah 2:12, LORD of Hosts refers to God’s position of leadership over both human and heavenly armies and therefore, signifies Christ’s intention of conquering the world when he returns to earth. Isaiah’s statement, “And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled; and the lofty pride of man shall be brought low” (Isaiah 2:17) suggests that mankind’s usurping of God’s authority is the main driver behind God’s use of force to regain control of the world that he created and which rightfully belongs to him.

Jesus’ disciples and others whom he taught did not completely understand the purpose of the day of the Lord, nor did they initially comprehend the reason for the removal of Christians before it began. Jesus used parables to describe the events that were going to take place (Matthew 21:33-22:14) and only explained certain details to his twelve apostles before his death (Matthew 24:15-31). On one occasion, Jesus responded to a question from the Pharisees about when the kingdom of God would come by telling them it had already arrived. Then, Jesus told his disciples what to expect at the time of his second coming. Jesus said:

“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” (Luke 17:20-37)

Paul’s statement that the Lord would come like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2) echoed Jesus’ sentiment that people will be caught off guard in the days of the Son of Man (Luke 17:24). Jesus compared the initiation of the day of the Lord to the days of Noah and the days of Lot when God destroyed everyone. Paul said, “While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security.’ Then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1Thessalonians 5:3).

Unlike the Jews who were warned about the sudden destruction that was awaiting them in the day of the Lord, believers in Christ welcomed Jesus’ return and expected the day of the Lord to be a time of great celebration. Paul described the event as a moment of immediate transformation that would result in immortality. Paul said, “I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52). The Greek word that is translated changed, allasso (al-lasˊ-so) means “to make different…to change for the better” (G236). Allasso also appears in Hebrews 1:11-12 where the final destruction of the earth is described. Quoting from Psalm 102:25-27, the writer states, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed.”

“God did not intend for the earth to be eternal…the most graphic account of the end of the entire physical universe is found in 2 Peter 3:10” (note on Genesis 8:21-22). Peter’s account of the day of the Lord focused on the destruction of the ungodly. Peter said scoffers will come in the last days, “following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exists are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:3-7). Peter cautioned believers to not overlook the fact that God’s timing is not the same as ours. Peter said, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Peter concluded his discussion of the day of the Lord by refocusing his readers’ attention from the bad news to the good news of Christ’s return. Second Peter 3:11-13 states, “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” Revelation 21:1 tells us that a new heaven and new earth will be created after the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). “The new heaven and the new earth are not duplicates of the heaven and earth that now exist. The word ‘new’ is a translation of the Greek word kainon (2537), which means ‘qualitatively new.’ To some, this suggests that the new earth will be as the current earth was at its creation” (note on Revelation 21:1-22:5). The connection between believers being changed (allasso, 1 Corinthians 15:51) and the earth being changed (allasso, Hebrews 1:12) suggests though, that there will be at least one difference between the current earth and the new one. The new earth will be imperishable. Paul said, “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:54).

Christ’s Return

The Old Testament prophecies that predicted the birth of Jesus Christ also talked about a time when Christ would return to the earth and rule over all people and kingdoms. Differentiating between the events of Christ’s first and second coming is sometimes difficult because of an intersecting event that ties these two time periods together, what Jesus referred to as “the last day” (John 12:48) and also as, “the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). Matthew, John, Peter, and James, the brother of the Jesus, all referred to Christ’s return in their writings and linked the topic of judgment to this event. Jesus taught his disciples about his second coming in his Sermon on the Mount. This lesson was prompted by a question from his disciples. Matthew 24:3 states, “As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?’” Jesus’ response made is sound is if his second coming might happen within his disciples’ lifetime. Events that were going to take place over thousands of years were condensed into a short synopsis of the key indicators of Christ’s return. Jesus told them:

“See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many 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 this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 4-14)

One of the key indicators that Jesus identified as a sign of his second coming was people being led astray. Jesus said, “See that no one leads you astray…they will lead many astray…And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Matthew 24:4-11). False prophets will not only be a problem in the last days. There were many false prophets in the Old Testament who were trying to keep the people of Israel from realizing that they were going to be taken into captivity. The LORD told Jeremiah, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds” (Jeremiah 14:14). Leading someone astray involves an intentional effort to misguide a person in the course that they are taking. The Greek word translated lead astray, planao (plan-ahˊ-o) is translated as deceive in the King James Version of the Bible. It means, “to (properly cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue)” (G4105).

Jeremiah’s message about the day of judgment had to do with the people’s refusal to repent. Jeremiah said, “They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent” (Jeremiahs 5:3). Repentance is associated with the process of conversion which requires one to turn away from sin and to turn toward God. “The process called conversion or turning to God is in reality a re-turning or a turning back again to Him from whom sin has separated us, but whose we are by virtue of creation, preservation and redemption” (H7725). Because the people refused to repent, Jeremiah warned them about the impending disaster for Jerusalem and included a warning about false prophets. Jeremiah said, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction: my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes” (Jeremiah 5:30-31). The end that Jeremiah was referring to was not the people of Jerusalem going into captivity. God said, “But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you” (Jeremiah 5:18). When the end does comes, Micah prophesied that Christ will gather the remnant of Israel and set them together like sheep in a fold, and their king will pass on before them, “the LORD at their head” (Micah 2:12-13).

Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians dealt with a concern that those believers who had already died would miss Christ’s return (Introduction to the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians). Paul mentioned Christ’s return when he conveyed his longing to see the Thessalonians and also in his discussion of Timothy’s encouraging report. Paul asked, “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19). Paul wanted the Thessalonians to know, “the same Jesus who ascended to heaven will come again (Acts 1:11) at the end of the age (Matthew 24:3)” (note on 1 Thessalonians 2:19). Paul went on to say, “Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13). Paul indicated that the Lord Jesus will bring all the saints who have died with him when he returns. The Greek word hagios (hagˊ-ee-os) is “spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit, a saint. This is assumed of all who profess the Christian name” (G40).

Peter talked in detail about the day of judgment in his second letter. Peter introduced the topic by making reference to the predictions of the Old Testament prophets (2 Peter 3:2) and the commandment of Jesus in which he stated that it was not for the apostles “to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). Peter said, “The heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:7), and then, explained that the delay of Christ’s return is to allow more time for people to be saved. Second Peter 3:8-10 states:

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Jesus’ second coming will ignite a series of events that will conclude with God creating a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21). Peter argued that because this was how everything is going to end, we should be living lives of holiness and godliness, eagerly awaiting Christ’s return (2 Peter 3:11-12). Although Christ’s “authority is not readily discerned by the world at the present time, it will be made visible by his apokalypsis (G602), or ‘revelation’ (2 Thessalonians 1:7). The power and glory that Christ possesses will then be unveiled and disclosed to the world” (note on 1 Thessalonians 2:19).

Forsaking God

Not long after the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt, they forgot about the things that God had done for them and began worshipping idols. Even while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the commandments from God, the people turned away from the LORD and made a golden calf. “And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt’” (Exodus 32:4). Throughout their history, the people of Israel kept abandoning God until finally they were taken into captivity and cured of their idolatry. The prophet Jeremiah was given the task of pronouncing judgment on God’s chosen people and was told, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:9-10). The messages that Jeremiah received from the LORD foretold of an imminent disaster that would overtake the people of Judah sometime in the future. Jeremiah 1:13-16 states:

The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.

The imagery of a boiling pot was intended to convey the intensity of what was going to happen. “These external circumstances and the sadness of his message, coupled with Jeremiah’s own periodic depression, contributed to the style with which Jeremiah wrote (Jeremiah 4:19-22; 20:7-18). For this reason he is called the ‘weeping prophet’” (Introduction to Jeremiah). Jeremiah’s reluctance to be God’s spokesperson was due in part to his young age. He told the LORD, “Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth” (Jeremiah 1:5), and later Jeremiah complained to God because the wicked seemed to be prospering in spite of the judgment that the LORD had told him to pronounce against them (Jeremiah 12:1-4).

Jeremiah’s account of Israel forsaking God included details of both the high and low points in Israel’s history. God said, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest” (Jeremiah 2:2-3). The LORD continued, “But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit” (Jeremiah 2:7-8). The stark contrast between Israel’s devotion to the LORD in the wilderness and the apostasy that developed after they entered the Promised Land demonstrated their unwillingness to seek God for the sake of the special relationship they had with him as opposed to the material blessings that they received as a result of being designated the heirs of God’s kingdom.

The LORD chided the people of Israel for their unfaithfulness and seemed to be mocking them when he asked:

Have you not brought this upon yourself
    by forsaking the Lord your God,
    when he led you in the way?
And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
    to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
Your evil will chastise you,
    and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
    for you to forsake the Lord your God;
    the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts. (Jeremiah 2:17-19)

The LORD said there was no fear of him in his people, meaning that they did not show him the proper respect or give him the reverence that was due to him as the person who had saved their lives by rescuing them from slavery in Egypt.

The people of Judah’s forsaking of God involved a slow, gradual process of replacing their worship of the LORD with the worship of idols. Their primary reason for forsaking God was a desire to worship as they pleased (Jeremiah 2:20, 31). The people of Judah saw the religious service that was prescribed to them in the Mosaic Law as toilsome labor rather than a joyful celebration of their liberation from slavery in Egypt (H5647). The LORD asked them:

How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
    I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
    know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
    a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
    Who can restrain her lust? (Jeremiah 2:23-24)

The LORD pointed to Israel’s unfaithfulness as an explanation for the trouble that had come upon his chosen people and rebuked them for blaming him for the demise of their nation (Jeremiah 2:26-28). The LORD asked, “Why do you contend with me? You have all transgressed against me…In vain have I struck your children; they took no correction; your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion” (Jeremiah 2:29-30).

The LORD’s charges against the Israelites centered around the fact that even though they enjoyed a special relationship with God, the people had failed to acknowledge what he had done in the past and had turned instead to idols, bringing judgment on themselves as a result (note on Jeremiah 2:1-19). The LORD told Jeremiah to proclaim in Jerusalem his case against the people of Israel. Jeremiah prophesied:

Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
    the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
    broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13)

God identified himself as the fountain of living water when he talked about the people of Israel forsaking him. Jesus referred to this when he told the Samaritan woman, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10).

The topic of Israel forsaking God was addressed in some of Jesus’ parables, in particular the parable of the tenants. In this parable, Jesus illustrated how God, who was represented by the master of the house, had expected the people of Israel to use their possession of the Promised Land as a means of establishing Christ’s kingdom on earth. God’s prophets, who were represented in the parable by the master’s servants, were rejected by Israel. Jesus said, “And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance’” (Matthew 21:35-38). Jesus concluded his parable by asking, “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (Matthew 21:40). The chief priests and the Pharisees that Jesus was talking to replied, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their season” (Matthew 21:41).

Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that Israel forsaking God was intended to make it possible for the Gentiles to become a part of God’s plan of salvation. Paul stated, “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous” (Romans 11:11). Paul went on to explain that God’s chosen people were experiencing a partial hardening of their hearts so that God’s plan of salvation could be fully realized. Paul told the Romans:

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
“and this will be my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”

As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. (Romans 11:25-32)

Paul indicated that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, meaning that God wasn’t going to change his mind about who would receive his gift of salvation. Paul indicated in his letter to the Ephesians that God decided who would be saved before the foundation of the world and predestined them to be adopted into his family through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4-5).

The Apostle Paul was a Jew who initially opposed Christianity. Paul was making a concerted effort to get rid of the church that was beginning to be established after Christ’s ascension, when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and called him to preach the gospel (Acts 9:5, 15). Although Peter was the first apostle to preach the good news to the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-43), Paul is credited with preaching the gospel to all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, over a period of two years (Acts 19:10). Paul established several churches prior to going to Asia, one of which was located in Thessalonica. “After Paul and Silas were forced to leave Philippi, they traveled along the Egnatian Way to Thessalonica (Acts 16:39-17:1) where Paul taught in the synagogue for three sabbaths. They were forced to leave the city when antagonistic Jews, after stirring up the people of Thessalonica, brought some of the believers before the city officials and accused them of promoting treasonous ideas (Acts 17:5-10). The believers there came under great persecution following this uproar” (Introduction to the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians).

Paul commended the Thessalonian believers for their work of faith, labor of love, and the steadfastness of their hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3), and told these Gentile believers, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). The Thessalonians were completely convinced that Jesus had died for their sins, just as much as he had for sins of the Jews. Rather than forsaking God because of the persecution they were experiencing, the Thessalonians became an example to all believers of what it looks like to have faith in God (1 Thessalonians 1:7). Paul indicated that the Thessalonians had turned to God from idols and were serving the living and true God and waiting for Jesus’ return (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

God told Jeremiah that he was being set over the nations and over kingdoms, “to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). Israel’s forsaking of God was not the end of their story. “Jeremiah also received some great visions of promise, the return from captivity (chapters 25, 29), the new covenant (chapter 31), and the ultimate return of the Messiah to Jerusalem (chapter 23). These visions were meant to encourage the people of Israel to turn back to God and receive his mercy. God pleaded with the people, stating, “Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD. Return, O faithless children declares the LORD, for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jeremiah 3:12-14).

The worthless shepherd

Jesus described himself as the good shepherd and said, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John10:11). Along with himself, Jesus identified another character who would interact with God’s people whom he likened to helpless sheep. Jesus said of this other shepherd, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1). Jesus indicated that the other shepherd would gain access to God’s people by climbing into the sheep pen by another way rather than using the door. Jesus said of himself, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9). This comment suggests that the other shepherd will not be concerned with the salvation of people’s souls but will steal and kill and destroy by replacing Jesus’ gospel message with another form or means of godliness. Jesus told his followers to “beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Jesus alluded to the other shepherd being a wolf when he said, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them” (John 10:12).

The other shepherd that Jesus warned his followers about is mentioned in the book of Zechariah in the context of the Messiah, the coming King of Zion. Zechariah 9:9-17 predicts Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (cf. Matthew 21:4-7; John 12:14, 15). “Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the people’s rejection of him marked the end of Daniel’s sixty-ninth ‘week.’ Zechariah’s prophecy then continues with a discussion of the period of God’s dealing with Israel in the seventieth ‘week’ of Daniel. In the end times, Israel will no longer rely on military power but on the ‘Prince of Peace’ who will exercise worldwide dominion” (note on Zechariah 9:9-17). Zechariah’s prophecy concerning the other shepherd is recorded in Zechariah 11:15-17. It states:

Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

“Woe to my worthless shepherd,
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
    and his right eye!
Let his arm be wholly withered,
    his right eye utterly blinded!”

Zechariah identified the other shepherd as God’s “worthless shepherd.” The worthless shepherd is raised up by God to show the people of Israel the error of their ways. Zechariah 11:15-17 “is a description of the Antichrist that will come (cf. Revelation 13:1-10). The prophecy does not end, however, without revealing the doom of the Antichrist (v. 17)” (note on Zechariah 11:15-17). The Antichrist is referred to in Revelation 13:1-10 as “the beast.” It says in verses 5-8, “And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.”

Daniel’s vision of the end times (Daniel 9:24-27) took place during the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of God’s people to the Promised Land after they had been in exile in Babylon for 70 years. “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 prophecy pertains to Daniel’s people and the holy city (Daniel 9:24), and the beginning of the prophecy’s fulfillment was marked by the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25). The seventy ‘weeks’ (Daniel 9:24) refer to years. Some biblical scholars suggest that the sixty-nine ‘weeks’ until the Messiah would come (Daniel 9:25) 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 Revelation 11:3; 12:6; 13:5). The phrase ‘an anointed one shall be cut off’ (Daniel 9:28) is a reference to the crucifixion of Christ. 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’ (Daniel 9:26) refers to the Antichrist, who will make a treaty with the Jews and then break it (Daniel 9:27). Jesus stated that the ‘abomination of desolation’ (referring to Daniel 9:27) would take place at the end of the age (Matthew 24:15)” (note on Daniel 9:24-27).

Zechariah’s prophecy about the coming King of Zion preceded a prediction about the restoration of Judah and Israel and a discussion of God’s flock being doomed to slaughter. God said:

My anger is hot against the shepherds,
    and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,
    and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.
From him shall come the cornerstone,
    from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
    from him every ruler—all of them together.
They shall be like mighty men in battle,
    trampling the foe in the mud of the streets;
they shall fight because the Lord is with them,
    and they shall put to shame the riders on horses. (Zechariah 10:3-5)

God’s reference to the shepherds in this passage has to do with the lack of spiritual leadership among his people. Ezekiel’s prophecy expanded on God’s condemnation of the shepherds of Israel (Ezekiel 34:1-10) and talked about Jesus’ ministry of seeking the lost, bringing back the strayed, binding up the injured, and strengthening the weak (Ezekiel 34:14-16). Ezekiel went on to talk about the LORD’s covenant of peace that would be established during the millennial reign of Christ. Ezekiel said, “They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God” (Ezekiel 34:28-31).

Zechariah’s prophecy about the worthless shepherd indicated that Antichrist “does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs” (Zechariah 11:16). This suggests that the ones who are most vulnerable to Antichrist’s attacks are believers who are spiritually fat or rather, well-versed in the Scriptures. This was true of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, they knew the Scriptures backward and forward, and yet, they did not see their own hypocrisy in condemning Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands when they ate (Matthew 15:1-6). Jesus said to these men:

“You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Matthew 15:7-9)

Jesus explained to a woman he met at a well in Samaria that worship is not about where you are worshiping, but about who you are worshiping. Jesus said, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21-24).

Revelation 13:8 indicates there will be believers on the earth during the reign of Antichrist, but they will not worship the worthless shepherd even though he has been given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation (Revelation 13:7). It’s not clear whether these believers are among the 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel (Revelation 7:4) or are non-Jewish believers who are converted during the tribulation. It says in Revelation 20:4 that those who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands were beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God. At the end of the tribulation, these faithful worshipers of God will be resurrected and will reign with Christ for a thousand years. It says in Revelation 20:5-6, “The rest of dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”