162 | TE006 | Transcending Eschatology | Part 6 | The Left Bookend
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162 | TE006 | Transcending Eschatology | Part 6 | The Left Bookend
Date: June 19, 2023
Welcome back to our series on Eschatology - the study of End Time events. It's been a few weeks - which isn't typical for me.
But there has been a lot going on for us. So let me catch you up on the details...
Life Update:
A lot going on - for details - listen to the episode :)
So let's review where we've been:
Episode 1: The Doomsday Clock - We discussed our social and cultural beliefs about the End of Time. Typically based on science and entertainment.
Episode 2: The Flip Side - We dove into End Time beliefs that are based on spiritual or religious belief systems. And we looked at some of the major world religions.
Episode 3: Carrying the Torch - We discussed the history and origins of Christian Eschatology - and how it can be traced all the way from Adam and Eve to us today.
Episode 4: Choosing Sides - We discussed the high level categories most Christians fall into when it comes to eschatology.
Episode 5: Making It Plain - We jumped in to Bible passages that talk about the End of Time. Plain language that makes it easy to understand
Today we head toward the deep end of the pool.
Today's Topic: Transcending Eschatology | Part 6 | The Left Bookend
The Bookend Theory
Daniel's Stories
Crossing the Threshold
// CHAPTER 1: THE BOOKEND THEORY
So last time we discussed the fact that the Bible isn't silent about the End of Time.
It doesn't hide the truth that life isn't going to go on forever. We have yesterday, today and possibly tomorrow.
Possibly - because of the following two realities:
The world could end tomorrow, next week or next month - we just don't know
The world could go on - but you could die tomorrow - out of the blue - cancer, brain tumor, car accident, heart attack, etc.
In either scenario - it's the End of Time - or the End of Your Time.
And like we discussed - the Bible makes statements like this throughout the Bible - especially the New Testament.
We looked at numerous examples of this - and how it's right there - in plain language.
Nothing is being hidden. Nothing has to be inferred. The Bible starts with the process called Creation. Then it walks through the history of the human race. And as it wraps up - it explains that our world will come to an end.
Not in riddles, symbols, similes and metaphors - just plain old statements about Jesus coming back to Earth. People being raised from the dead. And people being caught up in the air to meet their Creator.
Now. Many of you will read the plain language passages in the Bible and be all set.
"Sounds good to me! Sounds like Jesus is coming back - and will save us from the pain and suffering that exist on this little planet. I'm in - sign me up!"
And that's fine.
But the Bible also has the other stuff - the riddles, symbols, similes and metaphors.
And many of us find that fascinating.
That the Bible is very clear about the End of Time. But then it also provides this additional information that, if decoded, appears to go into great detail about the future.
It's called "Apocalyptic Literature" - and this is where all the variations come from.
Like we discussed: There are differences in the way people read prophecy:
Preterism
Historicism
Futurism
Beliefs about the 1000 Year period discussed in prophecy:
Premillennialism
Classic and Dispensational
Post-Millennialism
Amillennialism
And finally - we have the different views on the rapture and the tribulation:
Pre-tribulation
Mid-tribulation
Post-tribulation
And this is probably why so many are good with just reading the plain language passages - and then putting the Bible back on the shelf.
After all - nobody can agree on Apocalyptic Prophecy.
It's a debated topic - often leading to divisions and conflict between people.
So what's the point - right? If we can't definitively say that one interpretation is right - why even get involved?
Well - for me - this doesn't work. The ambiguity doesn't keep me from it for some reason.
I look at it like this:
The fact that it's in the Bible must mean something
If I'm going to view the Bible as more than just a book full of encouraging stories
If I'm going to entertain the possibility that God played a role in the Bible being pulled together
I have to believe that He wanted Apocalyptic Prophecy included for some reason
And this gets me excited. Not that the Bible should function like the DaVinci Code. A set of puzzles that when decoded leads you straight to the truth.
I mean I believe this is how we'll view it looking backward - in hindsight.
But for now - I still believe there are things we can decode in order to gain more insight into the future that awaits us.
Look at it this way...
We're all willing to read books, watch TV and go see movies that require is to suspend disbelief - right?
Think about all the sci-fi and action movies where deep inside you're like, "No way that would happen in real life."
And yet we laugh, get nervous and suspend that disbelief in order to be entertained.
That's kind of the way I look at the Bible. There are crazy things in it - things where we might lean toward, "No way that would happen in real life."
But what if we still read the whole thing and suspended that disbelief in order to get the whole experience? To hear the whole story? To know enough to start reading into the strange things? Trying to interpret and decode in order to find little clues we may have missed before?
That's me in a nutshell.
In the past few years I've struggled through the deconstruction process. Leaving behind many of the legalistic religious beliefs forced down my throat as a child, and then as an adult in the Evangelical Christian Mega Church World.
But all along I held to my faith - my spiritual beliefs. A belief in a Creator God. A belief that His Son Jesus lived on Earth. And a belief that He is the key to everything.
And somewhere in there is the belief that the Bible is important. Maybe not infallible. And probably not meant to be interpreted word for word.
But important none-the-less. And containing things no ordinary book contains. Something universal. Something celestial. Something divine.
So that's it - that's my intro to the Apocalyptic Prophecy in the Bible.
As I've mentioned before - the OT contains a lot of Apocalyptic Prophecy - but most of it appears to be situational. Spoken through prophets directly to the people based on their behavior and the bad choices they were making at that time. And while these prophecies talked about the future - they were often referring to the immediate future. To be crass - these prophecies were the F around and Find out type prophecies.
But buried deep within these OT prophets was one that stood out. There is a book that just doesn't seem to fit amongst the others.
The Book of Daniel.
I referred to it last week as the sister book to Revelation. And that the two of them act like Bookends - containing the overarching story told by prophecy - and holding all of the plain language passages in between them.
So playing off the idea that these two books are Bookends - Daniel is the Left Bookend.
So that's where we start.
// CHAPTER 2: DANIEL'S STORIES
Using the swimming pool analogy...
We were in the Kiddie Pool last week - up to our ankles and knees in passages about the End of Time.
But when we get to Daniel - we've left the Kiddie Pool and walked over to the Adult Pool.
We're going down the steps and before we know it the water is past our knees and getting close to the bathing suit.
That's where we find ourselves when Daniel starts telling his stories.
We don't have time to fully flesh this out - but once you read the stories in Daniel - you realize that they all had a similar plot and theme.
They all had to do with one thing - worship.
For many people this is a churchy word that probably means little to them.
But for those of us who grew up Christian - it was the glue that held everything together.
It was the word used to describe our connection to our Creator. You went to church to worship God. When you sang songs in church you were worshiping. Living a moderate and clean life was an act of worship.
See what I mean? Worship was the way you maintained your connection to God.
If this topic interests you - I did an entire episode on it in the Controversy Theory Series. It was Episode 5 in that series called, To Be Human Is to Worship
https://transcendhuman.com/podcast/2020/5/ct05-ba04-to-be-human-is-to-worship
I'm just going to summarize some high level stuff to keep us moving.
In that episode I suggested that to be human was to worship. That something inside of us wants there to be something bigger than ourselves - something that we can pursue or look up to.
And this desire comes out in many ways - but typically in one of these three categories:
Sincere worship:
Worship we offer to our Creator
It is true worship - worship that comes from our hearts
No hidden agenda
No ulterior motives
We’re not just doing it just because others are doing it
This type of worship comes from deep inside, and it has to do with fully understanding who God is
That He created us, that He saves us from the Sin Virus and that life just wouldn’t make sense without Him in it
It's living each and every day knowing that He is the reason we get out of bed in the morning
Token worship:
This can actually look like the real thing at times
But it falls short of sincere worship because we’re just playing the game
Maybe we grew up in church and so it is just part of our routine
Maybe it’s to look good for others
Maybe a significant other is asking us to worship with them, and we’re just going along with it so they won’t dump us
Whatever the scenario, the common theme is that the worship is not connected to the heart
Worship is more of an outward display - for the benefit of others mores than a direct connection with the Creator
Worldly worship:
And finally, you have everything else!
The simple way to explain this category is to say, "Anything we worship that isn't God..."
Pretty straightforward right?
Here are some obvious ones:
Money
Career
Power
Fame
Material possessions
Food
Shopping
Gambling
Sex
Drugs/Alcohol
And then there are the ones that seem good on the outside:
Your kids
Exercise
Health
Cleanliness
All of these are good, and in moderation there is nothing wrong with them
However, if one of these becomes your entire world, it can become a form of worship
Worshiping a spouse, a child, your family - or when it comes to exercise - yourself
Again - not that you can't be really into these things - but worship is next level
Like Creator - Creation type level...
Another thing we touched on was how to tell if something is reaching the level of worship in our lives.
So we walked through The Worship Quiz:
A simple assessment to identify if we might be elevating something to "worship status" in our lives. It's pretty straighforward:
What do I spend large amounts of money on?
What do I spend large amounts of time doing?
What do I spend large amounts of time thinking about?
If you’re honest with yourself - these questions should immediately start forming a list for you.
So that brings us back to Daniel...and the fact that all of his stories have to do with worship...
The first question should be why?
Daniel is going to kick off Apocalyptic Prophecy in the Bible - oh but first - let me tell you a bunch of stories about worship...
Just keep that in mind as we go. There seems to be a connection between who, or what we worship - and the events that occur at the end of time.
So here we go - 7 quick stories about Daniel, his friends, the king, and life in Babylon:
// 1. Daniel & Friends:
Story:
Babylon captured Israel
Daniel & Friends were taken captive - but allowed to work for the king since they were part of Israelite nobility
They were forced to eat what the king, the kings court and all of the other captives ate
However, they requested that they be allowed to eat foods they grew up on - foods that they believed were better for them
The king granted the request - but only for a set amount of time - and would test all members of the court at that time to see if it made any difference
Worship:
Strangely enough - food
To these Israelite boys - what they ate was important - because the believed God had asked them to observe specific eating standards
To them - eating was an act of worship - and going against it would be choosing to worship the food instead of the God who made the food
Outcome: Not that it matters...
At the end of the time period Daniel & Friends were healthier, and did better in their studies than everyone else - based on the kings testing process
And because if this, Daniel and his friends ascended in the court hierarchy and achieved positions of authority because of small choices like these
// 2. Daniel & The Kings Dream:
Story:
King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and he wanted to know what it meant
He asked all of his magicians, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what the dream was
None of them were able to do so
But Daniel explained that God could tell the king his dream if he gave Daniel some time
God revealed the dream to Daniel and the interpretation of the dream
Worship:
Who are you actually worshiping?
The magicians, sorcerers and astrologers were worshiping dark forces - things that could not tell them the future or the kings dream
Daniel was worshiping the true God - and was eventually able to tell the king his dream
Daniel could have told the king it was he that had the power to reveal the dream
But instead he chose sincere worship by giving the credit to God
Daniel was simply the messenger
Outcome:
Again, not that it matters...
Daniel continued to serve in the court of the king and had a level of power and authority others could not achieve
// 3. The Fiery Furnace:
Story:
Because of the dream Daniel revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar
The king became nervous, and decided to build a giant statue of himself
He then required that everyone in the kingdom stop what they were doing and worship the statue
If they didn't they would be thrown into a fiery furnace
Daniel had three close friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego
They were Israelites like Daniel, and believed it was wrong to worship anyone or anything besides their Creator
So they refused
The king had the thrown into a fiery furnace which was so hot it killed the men who threw them in
Worship:
Pretty straightforward
Will you worship God, or someone or something else?
Outcome:
This time it mattered a lot...
When the three men were thrown into the fiery furnace, God protected them
They literally walked around in the flames until the king told them to come out
The Bible explains that while the three were in the flames - God appeared and stood with them
How crazy would that be!?!
An immediate validation that you made the right decision and were worshiping sincerely
// 4. The Fall of the King:
Story:
King Nebuchadnezzar struggled with his allegiance
There were moments where he almost turned and worshiped Daniel's God
Especially after seeing things like the fiery furnace situation
But ultimately his pride got the best of him
The position he held, the power he had caught up with him
One night he was looking out his balcony over the entire kingdom
And he said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30)
Worship:
The main issue here is the worship of self - pride
Are we going to worship the Creator? Or worship ourself?
Outcome:
Mattered a lot this time as well!
According to the story - no sooner had the words left the kings mouth - and the king ceased to be human
It says he lost his mind and fled to live in the fields with wild animals for seven years
The interesting thing to me is that God allowed his kingdom to continue on for those seven years - almost in a holding pattern
And after the seven years, the king regained his mind, and began worshiping God
And - crazy enough - his kingdom was restored to him
// 5. Belshazzar and the Drunken Feast:
Story:
Later in life, King Nebuchadnezzar was probably getting tired of palace life, so he started to travel, and do other things
During this time, he left the kingdom in the hands of Belshazzar
I’m guessing Belshazzar was loving his newfound power
So at some point - while the cat was away - the mouse decided to play
Belshazzar called all of the important people together and threw a massive party which included:
A lot of drinking
Worshiping the Babylonian gods
Mocking the God of the Israelites - by taking sacred goblets from the Israelite temple and using them during the party
Worship:
A couple things seem to be going on in this story...
Obviously there was a lot of worldly worship going on in the drinking, gluttony and additional debauchery
But there was also self worship in that Belshazzar was worshiping himself like Nebuchadnezzar had
And to top it off - he was making fun of the true God
Outcome:
Again, the outcome of this story was very important!
During the party, and large hand appeared and wrote words on the walls for everyone to see
They couldn’t read the words - so Daniel was called to interpret
Daniel came, and explained that the words said, “Babylon will fall - this very night."
Belshazzar laughed and went back to partying
But that night it happened - Babylon fell to the Medes & Persians in a sneak attack
// 6. Daniel & The Lions Den:
Story:
The new ruler of the Medes & Persians, King Darius, kept people like Daniel around
Probably because he had a reputation for being smart, and because he was able to interpret dreams
And over time, the king grew to really like and trust Daniel
Because of this, others in the palace began to dislike Daniel
They became jealous and eventually hatched a plot to get rid of him
They convinced the king to sign a decree that everyone in the kingdom should worship him for 30 days
Anyone choosing not to do so would be thrown into a Den of Lions
These men knew Daniel wouldn’t worship the king, so they simply waiting for him to open his window to pray to his God
The men took some pictures and then ran to the king with their evidence
Worship:
Pretty obvious
Will you worship the true God, or an earthly god in the form of a man (or a king in this case)
Outcome:
Again, the outcome turned out to be pretty important!
The king was heartbroken - and angry that he had been fooled by members of his own court
And yet - in that kingdom - a decree of the king could not be changed
A law was a law - so he had to have Daniel thrown into the Lion’s Den in order to ensure that laws were seen as important and unchangeable
According to the story - that night God sent angels into the Lion’s Den to shut the mouths of the lions and not harm Daniel
Crazy right? I'm picturing Daniel laying down with his head on one of the lions - getting one amazing night’s sleep
In the morning the king rushed to the Lion’s Den and had the stone rolled away from the entrance
He called to Daniel - assuming the worst
But then Daniel walked out into the light - safe and sound
The king was ecstatic - but also pretty ticked at the men who had framed Daniel
So he had the other men thrown into the Lions Den for their behavior
Unfortunately for them the angles had already gone - and the lions were once again hungry...
// 7. Daniel’s Prayer:
Story:
The final story in the Book of Daniel really isn’t a story at all
It’s a prayer Daniel prays to the one true God after being shown the future
Undoubtedly Daniel was scared and sad at the violence, destruction and pain that would eventually come upon the Earth
So he prayed in a way that we would recognize as sincere worship
Worship:
Prayer - literally talking to the one who Created him
Outcome:
Amazing outcome for Daniel
Because of his sincere worship - God sent an angel to comfort him
This angel told Daniel he was “greatly beloved"
An amazing end to a life of faithful and sincere worship
// CHAPTER 3: CROSSING THE THRESHOLD
So we just walked through 7 stories that set the stage for what's coming.
But these stories aren't the only thing Daniel wrote down.
In fact - as we read through the stories we were actually skipping over the Apocalyptic Prophecy sections.
Because remember - we talked about Daniel being the Left Bookend. Introducing us to Apocalyptic Prophecy - the kind that looks forward to the End of Days. The end of the world itself.
And our first taste of this comes in Daniel 2. Because it's part of a story.
Which I find fascinating. Why?
Well - remember the conversation we keep having about the Bible and whether or not it's inerrant, important or simply inspiring?
This is, for me, is one of the reasons I can't go all the way down the road and say the Bible is just a book of fiction - encouraging stories made up by humans.
Because I don't believe Daniel is attempting to create a work of fiction here. He is documenting very real people and very real events in his stories. From Nebuchadnezzar, to Belshazzar to King Darius. These are historical figures that reigned over civilizations that really existed.
And now the overlap with the divine. The part that fascinates me.
King Nebuchadnezzar, a very real person in history, has a dream. Nobody can interpret the dream because the King can't even remember it. So Daniel, because he is connected to the God who created all things, is told not only the dream - but the interpretation. Daniel tells the king what God told him - and it becomes the Left Bookend of Apocalyptic Prophecy. It takes us from historical information all the way down to the End of Time.
This dream starts out telling the king what was happening right then and there. Next, it told the king what was coming next. And finally - tells us what will happen at the end of time.
Not because Daniel was such a good fiction author. But because God intervened. Because God was weaving all of this together behind the scenes.
By the way - where do you think the original dream came from?
The one King Nebuchadnezzar had?
Too much wine? Bad Sushi?
No! The king had that specific dream because God showed it to him.
Now...those who don't believe the Bible is important in any way can still push back on this. Because it's not air tight.
Historical records tell us there was a King named Nebuchadnezzar - and that he ruled over Babylon.
And - there may even be historical records confirming that Daniel lived - and was part of the king's court.
But historical records probably won't confirm that the king had this dream. Or that Daniel was able to interpret it.
So because of that people can still say the writings of Daniel are a combination of historical fact and inspiring fiction.
But again - for me - this is where the rubber meets the road.
Too many things all lining up for it to be happenstance. At the end of the day my logical brain understands there has to be something more to this than just good literature.
Okay - got a little off track there. So let's get back to the dream...and our first taste of Apocalyptic Prophecy.
Now - remember - the king wanted two things:
He asked the wise men in his court to tell him what he dreamed - because he wanted to make sure they really had the ability
And he also wanted to know what the dream meant because it had been so impactful
And because none of his wise men could tell him the dream to begin with, he made a decree that all of them should be killed. But before it happened, Daniel stepped in. He told the king to give him some time so he could pray and ask his God for the information.
Daniel was granted the time, and God honored him by telling him both the dream and the interpretation.
I'm just going to read it to you straight from Daniel's mouth:
Daniel 2: 31-35
In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight.
The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,
its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay.
As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits.
The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.
That was part 1 - the retelling of the dream.
In part 2 Daniel hands over the interpretation:
Daniel 2:36-45
“That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means.
Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.
He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.
“But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world.
Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes.
The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron.
But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay.
This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix.
“During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.
That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”
Crazy right?
So there you have it. Your first taste of the Apocalyptic stuff...
Now - we don't have to be rocket scientists to figure out the real world application of the prophecy.
All we have to do is go back to the Ancient Civilizations unit in our history books and it's obvious.
We know where to start because Daniel told the king where to start. In verse 38 he tells the king, "You are the head of gold."
So here are the civilizations that Daniel predicted in the interpretation:
Head of Gold: Babylon
Chest & Arms of Silver: Medes & Persians (Interesting right? That that section has two arms and it was a shared or divided kingdom?)
Belly & Thighs of Bronze: Greece
Legs of Iron: Rome
Feet that are part Iron and part Clay: Divided Kingdoms
Rock cut from the Mountain: Forever Kingdom
How do we know this? Simple - in that part of the world, history tells us that these were the civilizations that ruled - one after the other - until the fall of Rome in 476 AD
And what happened to the Roman Empire?
Well, according to The Newton Project out of Oxford University - here are the 10 Kingdoms that Rome broke into:
The Vandals
The Suevians
The Visigoths
The Alans in Gallia
The Burgundians
The Franks
The Britains
The Hunns
The Lombards
The Ravenna
Some of these - like the Franks and the Britains obviously exist to this day in France and Great Britain. But others were renamed, combined, split, or overtaken - eventually culminating in the many European countries we have today.
So when it comes to the interpretation of Daniels prophecy - most Christians agree on this one. Right up until the 4th kingdom.
Here are three variations that begin to emerge:
Historicists typically interpret Daniel 2 this way:
Babylon, Medes & Persia, Greece and Rome. Then Rome breaks into 10 Kingdoms that exist in some form or fashion until the end of time
At the end of time the Rock cut out of the Mountain refers to Jesus coming again and setting up His Forever Kingdom
Preterists typically interpret Daniel 2 this way:
Babylon, Medes & Persians, Greece and Rome
However, they assume the 10 Kingdoms were included in the original Roman Civilization
When Jesus came the first time - He was the Rock cut out of the Mountain that destroyed all other civilizations
Futurists typically interpret Daniel 2 the way Historicists do:
Though there may be some differences in the beliefs about the 10 Kingdoms and what that is actually referring to
So there you go!
This is the start of the deep end friends. No turning back now.
We've waded in and the water is now up past our belly buttons.
Daniel helped us make the transition from wading pool to olympic swimming pool with his first piece of Apocalyptic Prophecy.
But he has more on the way.
Let's Land the Plane:
I hope you enjoyed this episode!
We've definitely moved from plain language into the more abstract Apocalyptic stuff.
But hopefully you've followed along and you're ready for the next step.
Next time we dive into the rest of Daniel's prophetic passages. And we see how the Left Bookend hands things off to the Right Bookend - the Book of Revelation.
I say it often - but only because I really mean it. I love that you chose to be here today and I love that we're on this journey together.
Have a great week friends, and until next time, keep Transcending Human!