Daniel: Part 1 – The Progressive Maturation of a Believer in the End Times from Immaturity to Full Stature and a Redeemed Body
(This post begins with encouragement as to why we need go beyond just reading the Bible to doing deep spiritual studies and ends with my brief outline of my spiritual revelation of the book of Daniel.)
As darkness continues to fall on this nation and even the whole world, we need to hold onto Jesus and his Word like never before. When everything around us is changing, we can take great comfort in the fact that our God never changes—he is the same yesterday, today and forever. Our obedience to his ways and his commandments will continue to be our only way to freedom and peace in the midst of chaos. Jesus is coming sooner than we may think and the enemy of our souls is making one last-ditch attempt to destroy humankind and the earth as well.
The end-time judgment of God is upon us. It appears as though evil is triumphing, but if we look a little deeper we will see that God is still on his throne, and all things are working together to achieve his ultimate purpose for humanity. Where we wind up as individuals depends upon the decisions we make every day. Each decision, no matter how small, ultimately determines our spiritual direction—either toward God or toward the Devil. It’s that simple.
As we look around us we can see that the minds of our friends and neighbors are gradually being taken over by media propaganda and bizarre government mandates that daily usurp more and more of our freedoms. Our children are being taught twisted diabolical lies right out of the pits of hell.
Even our beloved Constitution is being dismantled right before our eyes and no one seems to be able to do anything about it. May this be a warning to all of us that our only hope is in Jesus Christ and we need to do all we can to fill our minds with truth from God’s Word and then live these truths out in our day to day lives. In the process we will begin entering the kingdom of God here on earth even now.
Some may ask, “What does it mean to enter the kingdom of God while on earth?”
Jesus demonstrated the kingdom of God when he walked among us as a perfect man all those many years ago. The kingdom was characterized by righteousness, peace and joy (Romans 14:17). In the kingdom there was healing for the sick, raising of the dead, love for one’s neighbor, casting out of demons, etc. Jesus was showing us what the Father is like and what we can become when we choose to take up our cross daily and follow him all the way into full stature (Eph 4:13).
When we are in the fullness of Christ, our self-will has been crucified and we can say as the Apostle Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me.” In this way we enter the kingdom of God on earth where we will no longer get weak and sick and die. We will pray for others and see them healed and delivered. We may even raise the dead. It all depends on our being dead to self such that Jesus can live within us and do his miracles through us. There will be joy unspeakable and full of glory to those who faithfully love and follow Jesus through these difficult times.
A few minutes of prayer and Bible reading every day is a good thing but not enough to keep you standing when the flood waters of the New World Order are crashing against your life, your home and all you hold dear. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force.” I take this to mean that the kingdom of God is something so wonderful and so vital to life that we should be eagerly doing all we possibly can to possess it and make it ours, that we should forcefully remove any obstacle in our life that prevents our wholehearted pursuit of God.
We see this kind of exuberance in the people who heard Paul’s preaching at Antioch. “As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these things spoken to them the next Sabbath.”
And “The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.”
When the Jews saw this they were filled with jealousy and continually interrupted them and criticized their message such that Paul exclaimed that from now on they would be taking their message to the Gentiles. “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord…” (Acts 13)
Jesus wants us to turn every idle moment into time with him. He has exciting things to show us in his Word and in our lives if we will give him the opportunity. You see, he has held back certain truths from the understanding of our forefathers and saved these deeper truths for this present time because had they been known at an earlier era, people would have tried to enter in before the time chosen by God. This could have resulted in their being deceived by the enemy of our souls. This pure knowledge for the end-time believers could have been adulterated, codified, turned into a ritual and filled with the false reasonings of men. But those of us upon whom the end of the ages has come, are going to need everything possible in order to survive, and not only survive, but enter God’s kingdom while on this earth.
In my studies with their resulting books I say things that I have not heard anyone else speak of, but I know they are true because of my own experiences with God and because they are seen over and over again in the context of whole chapters of Scriptures. I don’t pick and choose certain Scriptures scattered around the Bible to try and prove a certain presupposition. I present the truths in their context as I have found them in my own studies. Without this context, I could not have found them.
The book of Daniel is a perfect example of what I am saying. When I began my study of Daniel back in 2007-2009, I had no idea what I would find. It was a wonderful surprise to see how the whole book flowed together from beginning to end to present a marvelous picture of a person living in the end times working out their salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12) and ultimately coming into the fullness of Christ with a redeemed body.
I have studied the entire book of Daniel verse by verse and have written a book on Daniel 11 entitled, Spiritual Warfare in Satanic Ritual Abuse: Exposing the Hidden Demonic Schemes of SRA. Now I want to begin a series on Daniel I to set the stage for the greater revelations of the entire book. I see Daniel as representing a believer in the end times who goes through the process of sanctification, enters into the fullness of Christ and even experiences the redemption of his/her body.
God’s Word is so absolutely amazing and perfect! It is my desire to help other Christians discover how to study and dig down into the depths of the Word to find the precious treasures buried there. The deeper we go in the Word, the deeper we go in God, in our personal lives and our discernment of all things around us. It all fits together. With this in mind, let’s begin our study of Daniel by looking at my brief outline of the entire book. (I want to make clear that my interpretation will be different from anyone else’s, but that’s okay. They can be different and yet all may be right according to what the Holy Spirit is revealing to different people in varying cultures and circumstances down through the ages.)
Brief Chapter Summaries
Keys for study: (1) Inward, not outward. (2) Men are certain minds or the understanding. (3) Spiritual rather than historical.
Chapter 1
The spiritual mind (Daniel) in the new believer is held captive by his natural mind (Nebuchadnezzar). The spiritual mind matures.
Chapter 2
The natural mind searches for identity. He has only head knowledge of this (gold…his value) based on the redemptive work of Christ (silver). His heart is hard (brass belly). He lives for himself (brass thighs). His wrong perceptual framework keeps him in bondage to sin (legs of iron).
Chapter 3
This chapter reveals dissociation—our efforts for self-protection as we search for identity. The natural mind learns new ways of understanding his worth based on God’s love for him.
Chapter 4
The natural mind goes to the cross. Death and resurrection are seen here.
Chapter 5
Shows how the sin nature will be removed from the soul.
Chapter 6
Our bondage to our old perceptual framework is destroyed when the spiritual mind, united with the Holy Spirit, confronts the evil powers of sin for us in the pit within…the very source of our sin nature.
Chapter 7
The sin nature is removed from the body. Death is destroyed in this person. Christ is seated on the throne of his life. This purified life now ministers and helps others rise up into maturity in Christ.
Chapter 8
Out of this new level of maturity with the removal of the sin nature, he begins to see within people and discern them—that they are filled with shame and divided within. He sees the church infiltrated by evil people who convince Christians they don’t need to die to self. God shows him how the church will be broken apart in the end times as the Antichrist spirit gains power on the earth.
Chapter 9
Out of the destruction (judgment) of the church will emerge powerful Christians who have power over all demons.
Chapter 10
Jesus comes to Daniel and shows him what will befall his people in the end times. Daniel’s response to this is what we will also experience as we receive this revelation. This revelation is revealed in the next chapter.
Chapter 11
This chapter reveals what will befall his people in the end times—satanic ritual abuse and the rise of the Antichrist spirit. The veil is pulled back to reveal the spiritual activity that is behind all human activity. Mature believers experience the awakening of their spiritual side that has lain dormant since the Fall.
Chapter 12
Mature believers come into perfection with glorified bodies that are fully aware of earth and heaven at the same time and able to function in both spheres.
