Friday 2 June 2017

Exhibit in Evidence for Jesus

DANIEL 12:4
4 ...many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Does this verse really refer to a travel and technology boom, as a sign that the "end" is near?
One day I decided to read the whole Book of Daniel through in a single sitting, to see what meaning would spring naturally to light when I arrived at 12:4. When I did so, a meaning for this verse seemed to fall into my lap!
In the lead-up to the verse, and following the verse, you will notice words and phrases such as “knowledge" and "wisdom” and “they that be wise" and "those with understanding" - and it always refers to people who know God: it refers to the knowledge of God.
Daniel wasn't concerned with Boeing 747s, and mobile Apps. When you read the whole book through, you realise how out-of-left-field it is to impose that meaning onto 12:4. Daniel's concern was with his own people and also the surrounding nations knowing God.
Elsewhere in the Old Testament "sealing up" a prophecy meant its fulfilment was for a time future to the writer; and "...they shall run that read it..." meant people would come to understand it and respond to it and broadcast it. It probably doesn't mean anything different in Daniel.
So here in Daniel, "...many shall run to and fro..." probably means heeding and carrying God's prophesied plan which had previously been a mystery; "...and knowledge shall be increased..." probably means the knowledge of God being increased.
Jeremiah also, in foretelling of a New Covenant which God would make with the house of Israel, said, “They shall all know me, from the least of them even to the greatest, saith the Lord”.
When in history did that happen - when was there a sudden opening-up of Divine revelation, a revealing of the mystery, when did many come to know God, when did many begin publishing His Word?
Through the Gospel! John the Baptist was the forerunner; then our Lord Jesus Christ came; He also sent out His Apostles - and it's continuing through the ministry of the Church today: a great light has shone; there's been an unprecedented effusion of the knowledge of God; and a great increase in the numbers of those who proclaim His Word - it began in Israel first, then among all nations - through the Gospel, and by the Spirit of God.
The historical fact that all this is being achieved through the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, is an exhibit in evidence for Jesus as the Messiah foreseen in the Book of Daniel.

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