These Prophets: A Comprehensive Study in Biblical Prophecy Interfaced with International Developments

By David Lance Dean

The material contained in These Prophets will prove to be enlightenment for the reader whether or not they have had extensive exposure to the Scriptural accounts of the prophets. e words of the prophets are melded into the current world scene, conditions and developments with a clear and complete interpretation of the keys to prophetic un

• Language: English
• Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
• Release date: Sep 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781643670379

David Lance Dean

As a writer of Christian books the author makes no claim of Bible School or Seminary degrees. Rather my books including These Prophets are the product of decades of study of the Bible but also including significant research into secular topics relative to financial, legal, and religious issues as they touch upon the Spiritual revelations of Scripture. The author has had careers in commercial banking and law which include three Colorado Banks and two prominent law firms as a paralegal. Having had experience in construction and commercial business a broad spectrum of exposure to the world's economic, legal and political systems provide a wealth of knowledge and experience enhancing valuable insight in forming a world view in contrast to the wisdom of this fallen and corrupt world systems. My two additional books are the Israel Deception and Christian Zionism and the Scofield Reference Bible.

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These

Prophets

A Comprehensive Study in Biblical Prophecy Interfaced with International Developments

David Lance Dean

These Prophets

Copyright © 2018 by David Lance Dean. All rights reserved.

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Spirituality

14.09.12

Introduction and Foreword

Oftentimes book readers do not read the introduction to books but rather move forward immediately into the books contents. The author feels strongly that in the case of THESE PROPHETS you take the time to read and consider this brief forward to the content. The reason being is at least twofold. First, the interpretation of the Scripture is not always readily discerned and that applies with an even greater emphasis when considering biblical prophecy which contains deep meaning and also including texts which in some sense are mysteries. These mysteries were written with the intentions of the author, the Holy Spirit which will require an enlightenment provided by the Holy Spirit. Secondly, the truths revealed in the following chapters have required a life time of study and will not be found in most commentaries which at best are incomplete and many times are inaccurate. Also, you need to recognize the use of metaphorical language.

The truths of the Bible are revealed to us by the principle of precept upon precept and line upon line, here a little and there a little as we are instructed in the twenty-eighth chapter of Isiah. I have made an effort to order the chapters in such a way that you can build upon a foundation as you move forward in the book. I would recommend that you read the text with a Bible nearby so if you need to gain the benefit of a larger context you may refer to the appropriate passage and gain the benefits of that larger context. I have used the King James Version for all quotations because that is the version which I was nurtured in and it has a familiarity to me. I have found it to be almost always accurate particularly if in your study you use a concordance for word studies and clarification of word meanings from the original languages. I have provided much commentary to verify an accurate interpretation to the scriptures which are cited throughout.

In your reading of the text I urge to take it slowly for the many truths which are presented contain certain complexities that require your thoughtful consideration and likely you will need to open your Bible in some cases to gather in the full content and expression of certain difficult passages. I commend the examination of the content into your careful and thoughtful scrutiny. My prayer is that you will be blessed and enlightened.

Bound by the liberty of his eternal mercy.

David Lance Dean

Laying Some Necessary Foundations with Daniel

Daniel lays the prophetic foundations, which carries us through history from his day until the end of the age.

Daniel was a special messenger who gained favor with the Lord because he loved, he believed AND OBEYED HIM COMPLETELY, although he spent the majority of his life as a captive in Babylon.

Daniel’s faith was thoroughly tried and he was found faithful (tested in the den of lions) because he would not defile himself or turn from the tenets of the law.

The captivity can only be understood in terms of judgment executed on the people of God because of their departure from the truth i.e. sin. Daniel’s personal experience in captivity had to do with the sins of his people.

Understanding the captivities of Israel and Judah provide basic foundations for discerning the meaning of future judgments yet to come upon the people of God "because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved". II Thes. 2:10.

All of the examples and experience of the covenant people of God under the Old Testament economy are for instruction that we may understand his precepts, judgments and righteousness.

Daniel was given extreme wisdom and understanding to interpret dreams and visions.

The first unveiling of his wisdom came with the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. This dream unveils an overview of God’s plan for the world through to the end and the final judgment.

God’s wisdom was to first provide us through Daniel with an overview before filling in the details so we can view the whole spectrum in outline and then make application of more specific details as they relate to the end o the age.

We need to start our prophetic journey with Daniel as he interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. I would suggest that your reading experience would be enhanced as you approach the various topical sections to follow by having a Bible available for reference and comparison. The Scripture quotations are from the King James Version.

Chapter One

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

A good place to reasonably begin this search for understanding of the prophetic record is in the second chapter of Daniel. At this point we have met and seen that Daniel was a young man carried away into the Babylonian captivity. We find him to be full of faith, undefiled and with an unwavering devotion to God. These qualities of character were the reason he was chosen to have revealed to him these truths that form the foundations of prophetic understanding through the rest of the Old Testament and on to the very end of the age.

The king of Babylon who Daniel was in subjection to had a dream. It was a dream, which although it greatly troubled him, he could not recall to his mind either its content or meaning. Because he was troubled in his spirit he called for the magicians, sorcerers, astrologers and Chaldeans who were deemed to possess the secrets of wisdom and would be able to explain to him the content as well as the interpretation. They were unable to do so and protested that if he could not provide the content of the dream it was an impossible thing he was asking of them and expecting of them to provide the interpretation. He persisted in his demands and past a sentence of death upon them and all of the wise men of the realm for their failure to satisfy his demands. Daniel was called upon and receiving this decree from the king Daniel came forth blessing and extolling the God of heaven to whom he ascribed to be the source of all true wisdom and understanding and declared to the king that his God was able to reveal the king’s dream to Daniel as well as the interpretation. He also entered a plea with the king to have mercy on those who were unable to give an answer. He made his declaration that there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. …he giveth wisdom to the wise and knowledge to them of understanding. (Daniel 2:21 in part).

"Thou O king sawest and behold a great image" (Daniel 2:31). You beheld its excellent brightness that stood before you, and the image was very terrible. The image was that of a man and it began with a great head of fine gold. The breasts and arms of the image were of silver, the belly and thighs were or brass, and his legs of iron and his feet partly of iron but mingled with miry clay. And then you beheld it until a stone was cut out without hands, and it smote the feet of the image which was partly iron and partly of clay, and brake them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold, broken in pieces altogether and became as the chaff of the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away that there was no place found for them. And then the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This then is the image that was seen and this is what happened to the image. What then is the interpretation of the dream and the meaning of the image in all of its parts and what is the significance of what ultimately befell the image?

Thou O king are a king of kings and the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength and glory. (Daniel2:37).Daniel tells us that he kingdom of Babylon under its potentate was that head of gold. The image and the interpretation of the parts become a representation of the kingdoms of this world i.e. those significant kingdoms and empires, which were structured by men and allowed by God to have dominion and to rule in this earthly realm. And then afterward shall raise a kingdom inferior to you, and then a third kingdom, which will bear rule over the whole earth.

Before explaining the fourth kingdom necessarily in some detail we will come to understand in the later dreams and visions of Daniel that the second kingdom was that which we know both historically and biblically to be the Medio-Persian Empire. It was a two headed coalition of the Medes and Persians which overthrew the Babylonian empire at the end of a seventy-year period of judgment upon Judah for her sins and departure from God. The Medes and Persians prevailed for a period of about two hundred years holding dominion and bearing power and rule. Under their dominion there came a release for a remnant of the people of the Lord, as indeed some were allowed to return to Jerusalem and provision was made for them to rebuild the temple, the wall, and the city. We will cover these events more thoroughly in a later chapter.

The third kingdom represented and described as the belly and thighs of brass was that vast empire established by the Macedonian, Alexander the Great, tutored by the philosopher Aristotle, and destined to establish and spread Greek culture, he gathered a great army and swept from west to east conquering all that was before him. In a short span of time in about 332 B.C. E. he became a world ruler. He was a great warrior and at a very young age, while still in his twenties he conquered all of the then known civilized world, and then not long after his conquest he died, but not in battle at the young age of thirty-two. Likewise, more will be added concerning the conquest and significance of Alexander in a later chapter as we examine the further dreams and visions of Daniel.

The fourth kingdom represented by the legs of iron and running down to the feet and toes partly of iron and partly of miry clay are of the utmost significance for our present understanding because these images take us to the end of the age and the return and judgment of Jesus Christ upon the kingdoms of this world. The legs are lengthy and made of iron. They represent the Roman Empire, later become known as the Holy Roman Empire in which there was a dividing but also a continuance being dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. The beginning of conquest by the Romans began to manifest power about forty-seven B.C.E., forming itself eventually into a Republic and ultimately into a vast and great empire. We know the Roman empire prevailed over the world for many centuries, was ultimately divided but continued to exercise power and influence into the later periods of western civilization, and we see that this influence is recognized down to the feet of the image which retains part of the imagery of iron, and then introduced is the miry clay. The scriptural description is that it is partly strong and partly divided. Notably the final expression of empire is world government and the plan for its establishment is now well advanced bringing the nations of the world together into an evil coalition, which can be likened, in many ways to the tower of Babel. This is an orchestration of the utmost evil having as its author Lucifer himself. Its form will take a dividing into ten regional governments as is symbolized by the ten toes of the image. We will have much more to say about this New World Order, its aspirants, framers, government and powerful world dominion in later considerations as we look in depth into the Revelation in chapters 13, 17 and 18. For now we must conclude the description and interpretation of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which Daniel perceived and described to the king of Babylon.

The final imagery of the dream is a stone which was cut out without hands which smote the image upon his feet which were of iron and miry clay and brake them in pieces, and then all of the materials and composition of the image were broken in pieces together and became as the chaff of the summer threshing floor and the wind carried them away and there was no place found for them. Then the stone, which smote the image, became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Clearly we see and understand that in the days of those kings shall the Lord Jesus Christ return in power and great glory bringing judgment upon the kingdoms of this world and bringing them into utter destruction. Then shall it be said the kingdoms of this world and this present earth shall be passed from existence and become the everlasting kingdom of our God and of his Christ and this kingdom will endure forever. . …. the dream is certain and the interpretation thereof is sure. (Daniel 2:45 in part).

Chapter Two

Daniel’s Dream

We move now from the interpretation of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar King or Babylon to Daniel’s own dream. The text is the seventh chapter of Daniel.

In the first year of Belshazzar King of Babylon while he remained in the captivity, the Lord gave Daniel a dream and visions in his head. Daniel saw in his dream four beasts come up from the sea, and they were each different, each one was diverse from the others.

The first beast was by description as being like a lion and having eagle’s wings, and Daniel beheld until the wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand upon its feet as a man and a man’s heart was given to it. (Comp. Daniel 7:1-4). In the symbolism of this first beast we see two significant likenesses in the beginning. Like a lion portrays the expression of power and dominion, and the eagle’s wings express that which is very high and lofty. This again is a metaphorical picture of the kingdom of Babylon and its original King Nebuchadnezzar. We see in the early chapters of Daniel that the king was very taken with the image in his dream and he set up his own great image to be worshipped. He put on an elaborate ceremony and made overtures to his own greatness, even to the extent of placing a sentence of death upon those who would refuse to worship the image. A testimony of God’s power was given the king when he cast the three Hebrews into the great furnace of fire and they emerged unscathed. We see in the two following chapters something of a great spiritual awakening takes place in the life of the king when God deals with him and brings him very low to acknowledge and worship the God of heaven. I believe we have here in the symbolism an expression of this transforming experience. Daniel beheld until the wings were plucked and it was lifted up from the earth and a man’s heart was given unto it. I believe that is what is being portrayed is the experience of Nebuchadnezzar as the King of Babylon; first very pompous and lifted up in his own glory, and then something very different after he was humbled and turned by experiencing the hand of God upon him. He became one who glorified the God of heaven. My conclusion is that the first beast in Daniel’s dream is Babylon personified by its king.

And behold another beast, a second like unto a bear and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said unto it arise and devour much flesh. (Daniel 7:5). The description of the bear and that which was done leads us to behold the overthrowing empire of the Medes and Persians. We know that there were two distinct peoples in coalition forming the Medio- Persian Empire—the Medes and the Persians. We see the bear lifting itself up on one side of it. Historically Cyrus the Mede came first to power lifting up itself on one side at the overthrow of the Babylonians. Many of the later kings were Persians. Earlier in the histories of the relations between these peoples the Medes were dominant. Later the Persians and thus Persian kings came to dominate. They established a very vast empire encompassing a landmass from Greece on the West to India on the East, and being divided into 120 provinces. This great bear consumed much flesh having the three rib bones remaining in his mouth. These three would figuratively represent the empires enveloping the region. These former great world empires included the Babylonians, as well as the remnants of the Assyrians and Egyptians. We see from the Scriptures that at the end of the captivity period that God moved in the hearts of more than one of the kings to bring about a release and allow the return of a remnant of Jews to rebuild both the temple and the city of Jerusalem. This history is fascinating and significant spiritually but is not in the mainstream of our subject matter so we will not make further comment concerning these developments. The empire of the Medes and Persians survived also for approximately two hundred years.

And after this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a foul; the beast had four heads; and dominion was given unto it. (Daniel 7:6). We are now looking at the kingdom of Alexander the Great. Alexander came from the western region of Greece and Macedonia with a great army and with his ambition to conquer the world which he proceeded to do in a very few years. His victories and subsequent dominion from his homeland all the way to India is probably the most notable conquest in history having been accomplished in about twelve years. The significance of his dominion is highlighted by the fact that he brought with him the Greek culture, language and influence, which had a wide effect on the peoples, and territory he conquered. The philosopher Aristotle who had a profound effect on his thinking mentored him and he embraced that cultural philosophy and influence which came to be known as Hellenism. The establishment of his vast influence provided a backdrop for the entry of the Messiah into the world and the ultimate spreading of the gospel assisted by the wide acceptance of the Greek language. We see that Greek became accepted as a quasi-universal language.

We would note in the symbolism that the four wings on the leopard speak of the swift stealth of the leopard in gaining the conquest between 336 B.C.E. and 325 B.C.E. The four heads represent the four generals assisting him in victory and among whom the kingdom was divided after his death. There will be more to say on the subject of these divisions later in our prophetic search.

After this in the night visions a fourth great beast a fourth great beast dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth, it devoured and brake in pieces, and it stamped the residue with his feet, and it was diverse from all of the beasts that went before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns there was another little horn, which came up among them and before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots and behold in this horn were eyes as the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. " (Daniel 7:7-8).Let us look at the interpretation of this fourth beast as it has been revealed thus far. We remember from Nebuchadnezzar’s image seen in his dream and interpreted by Daniel that the image came down to the feet and ten toes partly of iron and partly of miry clay. We saw the ten toes on the feet in the image with the iron and miry clay mingled together.

What we have seen at this point are these four beasts as Daniel has revealed his dream and has set it down in the scriptures. The manifestation of the fourth beast is before us prophetically. It now becomes extremely important for those who would name the Lord to gain wisdom and understanding of every aspect of the prophetic record. There exists a great delusion in the realm of the evangelical Christian influence, which has led to significant false and misleading doctrinal interpretations concerning the unfolding of end time prophetic events. My motive here is not to be critical of other believers as my early roots in the faith were in association with those we would identify as evangelicals. However, as we are approaching the soon to come final fulfillment of the scriptures, the return of the Lord in judgment, and the establishment his kingdom in the new heavens and new earth. These issues of false and misleading doctrines must be exposed, and the truth must be made available to all amongst the people of God who have an ear to hear. I hope that none will take offence and that the hearts of all who have engaged themselves with reading this prophetic discourse will be opened as we carefully consider the exposition of these truths as we go forward which will be vitally important to understand in these perilous days which are coming upon us. I make this caveat at this point in my writings because much of what lies ahead will be in at least in some sense new ground for many believers, and I seek not to offend, but to carefully expound, explain, and support each declaration and conclusion with the Word of God to unveil the truth. What I am asking in a word is hear me out.

In order to begin to understand this fourth beast in Daniel’s dream who is great and terrible and that was diverse from all that had gone before it we must look upon the current existing world scene as a whole, which is in a word internationalism. For many years and even decades we have heard much theological discussion about the Revived Roman Empire, the European Union, and the rebirth of Israel as a nation. I think in each instance of these there is much of that which has been preached and taught about the significance of the foregoing has been inaccurate and most certainly premature, and has lead to theological confusion in the Lord’s people in so far as the broad subject matter of eschatology (the study of end time prophetic events) is concerned. As the first three kingdoms identified in Daniel’s dream dominated the entire civilized world in the time of their dominion, we will likewise only understand the power and influence of this final great beast as we recognize that it shall dominate the entire world. This final beast will be a universal world government bringing the entire world under the influence of the powers of darkness. Consider in this context the United Nations headquartered in New York. There will ultimately be a unification leading to the worship of the devil through his chief agent, the Antichrist, also identified as the son of perdition. The devil has aspired from his fall to be worshipped as a god. He has declared that he will ascend into heaven, and exalt his throne above the stars of God. His ultimate objective is to be as the most High.(See Isaiah 14:13-14). In execution of his plan to attain to his evil aspirations he must bring into spiritual captivity and bring under his control the peoples and tongues and nations of the whole world "and all of the world wondered after the beast" (Rev. 13:3).

The United Nations has been established as the framework