1 Chron 12:32 report, 121: A view on Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue of four great kingdoms and the stone that shatters it

In this emerging series, we have emphasised a foundational principle of the Christian faith, that the concept of Messiah is inherently eschatological -- a manifestation of God's breakthrough power to bring salvation in these last days. 

For, Messiah is the rock cut out without human hands that strikes the proud kingdoms of man with shattering force; growing into the eternal kingdom of God that brings humanity into our ultimate destiny:

Now, I think it helpful to share a video that discusses this vision in insightful ways -- of course without necessarily endorsing every detail, opinion or proposed timeline:

The Dream of Daniel 2 and the Rise of Imperial Paganism from D. Paul Beck on Vimeo.

I am more interested in how this sort of reflection sets a context of understanding how God acts into the circumstances and times of men, including our own times. 

For instance, reflecting on a few striking points made and context:

 1: The whole context of the four kingdoms is one in which a scriptural witness exists, having been established through God's covenant nation and the prophets. (With apostles and gospel to follow, once Messiah comes.)

2: So, we should read all of the arrogance of demonically influenced worldly wisdom and the setting up of a king's college that is used to try to subvert Daniel and friends from Godly heritage and leadership as an attempt by the kingdom of man (under demonic influence) to frustrate and taint the people of God, thus undermine the redemptive purpose of God.

 3: This fails because -- in the teeth of captivity, likely castration (it is the administrator of the eunuchs after all), demonic renaming and intimidation -- Daniel and friends purpose to be true to God.

4: Let us note the effect of their courageous stand:

Dan 1:¹⁷ As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

¹⁸ At the end of the time [three years -- think, a degree programme], when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king.

²⁰ And 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. ²¹ And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

5: In this context, the famous dream is one way God broke in on the humanistic, demonically motivated agenda, having already raised up Daniel with the prophetic gifting and insight.

6: In effect, by posing a puzzle to the king and frustrating the demonised wisdom of the Chaldeans, soothsayers, magi etc, the opening was created for the equivalent of David's confrontation with Goliath or Joseph's dream; though the inherent danger is plain from what was happening, a blanket death sentence on the magi in grounds of failure to manifest the power the king demanded -- tell me the dream, that I may have reason to trust your interpretation.

7: Only Daniel could meet the test, and he had confidence in God to stand before the king to answer the challenge of the coded dream.

8: In the face of danger and upending the demonically influenced power factions and influences, God brought forth prophetic intellectual and cultural leadership that spoke to the mountains of influence as the greater mountain of God acted.

9: Where also, it is worth the while to highlight from the electronic NIV Study Bible's Bible Dictionary, a few points on the prophecy:

The widely held view that the book of Daniel is largely fictional rests mainly on the modern philosophical assumption that long-range predictive prophecy is impossible . . . But objective evidence excludes this hypothesis on several counts:

1. To avoid fulfillment of long-range predictive prophecy in the book, the adherents of the late-date view usually maintain that the four empires of chs. 2 and 7 are Babylon, Media, Persia and Greece. But in the mind of the author, "the Medes and Persians" (5:28) together constituted the second in the series of four kingdoms (2:36-43). Thus it becomes clear that the four empires are the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman . . . .

2. . . . Linguistic evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls (which furnish authentic samples of Hebrew and Aramaic writing from the second century B.C. . . . ) demonstrates that the Hebrew and Aramaic chapters of Daniel must have been composed centuries earlier. Furthermore, as recently demonstrated, the Persian and Greek words in Daniel do not require a late date [e.g., the prior Assyrian Empire was familiar with Greek musicians and their instruments]. Some of the technical terms appearing in ch. 3 were already so obsolete by the second century B.C. that translators of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT) translated them incorrectly.

3. Several of the fulfillments of prophecies in Daniel could not have taken place by the second century anyway, so the prophetic element cannot be dismissed. The symbolism connected with the fourth kingdom makes it unmistakably predictive of the Roman empire (see 2:33; 7:7, 19), which did not take control of Syro-Palestine until 63 B.C. Also, the prophecy concerning the coming of "the Anointed One, the ruler," 483 years after "the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem" (9:25), works out to the time of Jesus' ministry.

Objective evidence, therefore, appears to exclude the late-date hypothesis and indicates that there is insufficient reason to deny Daniel's authorship.

10: As I noted (this is in the Government under God briefing, here on): "these facts so strongly testify to the authenticity of the prophetic element of the Bible that they mean that there is every reason to believe that God speaks through prophets to rulers and people, showing that He rules in the affairs of men – holding rulers and people alike to account before him."

Just so,  God acts in our day. And, I suggest that the stone that hits the feet of the image is likely a case of foreshortening from prophetic mountain top to mountain-top, leading to the compressed "accordion" effect the video notes:

More classically, seeing the peaks together (but not the interleaved valleys):

A real-world illustration, Long Mountain in Kingston, Jamaica viewed from the NW:

That is, the primary impact is the first coming of Messiah, and especially his passion at the cross, leading to the resurrection and the launching of the church on the strength of the witness of the 500 and the out-poured Spirit.

Where, I find in Eph 4 an operational form of the church's discipling the nations charter, commission and global mandate as a manifestation of God's kingdom:

Eph 4:⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 

⁸ Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
    and he gave gifts to men.”^[a]

 ⁹ (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?^{[b] 10} He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 

¹¹ And he gave

[I] the apostles,

[II] the prophets,

[III] the evangelists,

[IV] the shepherds^[c] and teachers,^[d]

¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,^[e] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 

¹⁵ Rather,

speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Earlier, we read in the same epistle (likely, we have the Ephesian copy of a circular letter to the churches by Paul):

Eph 1:¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸ having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.  

²² And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. [NIV: everything in every way]

Then:

Eph 2:⁴ But^[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

And, again:

Eph 3:14 . . . I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[c] in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
 
²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

There is clearly a process tied to the Christ event, that carries on in Gods power through the generations of the church, manifesting the growing fulness of Christ, even as the waves on a beach rise and fall but the underlying tide rises inexorably, irreversibly. And we see in this that the church is Christ's body, the fulness of him who fills all things, transforming them.

That then allows us to better lay the foundations of discipleship and go about the business of discipling the nations. 

Which -- let us recall from Matt 24:14, "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" -- is actually the great sign of the Last Days.

Let us remind ourselves about foundations in a kingdom context:



In noting that, I cannot but notice that the approach I am suggesting will also help develop our skills and insight "by reason of use," better equipping us to be able to respond appropriately in the time of ultimate fulfillment.

So, let us watch, study, pray and act boldly under the leading of God. END

1 Chron 12:32 report, 120: An info-graphic on Foundations of the Kingdom and the Heb 6:1 - 2 ABC foundational principles

Following up from last time on foundations, here is a PDF format infographic:

Cornerstone-Foundation of the Kingdom

I trust this will prove helpful. END

1 Chron 12:32 report, 119: The Kingdom of God, Jesus as Foundational Cornerstone and the six ABC foundational principles of discipleship

As we continue to ponder the signs of our times and how we are to respond to "the stone cut without human hands" that shatteringly strikes the proud edifice of the kingdoms of man, growing into a mountain that fills the world, I would like for us to look at Jesus as Cornerstone and at the Heb 6:1 - 2 foundational principles.

Accordingly, let me now clip from the NCSTS Unit 10, on discipleship:

_____________

>>In Heb 5:12 - 6:3, the words of the beginnings of Christ -- i.e. the ABC teachings of Christ  -- are  identified, and set in a context of correcting spiritual retardation.
The call is that the original recipients of the letter should move on to long delayed Christian maturity by ensuring the soundness of one's foundations and building thereupon:

Heb 5:12 . . . though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. 13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

 6: 1 Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary [= "basic" or "ABC"] instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again:

[I] repentance from dead works and

[II] faith in God,

[III] 2 teaching about baptisms,

[IV] laying on of hands,

[V] resurrection of the dead, and

[VI] eternal judgment.

3 And this is what we intend to do . . .

[NET. Also, let us observe carefully: these six principles are "the elementary [= "basic" or "ABC"] instructions about Christ." So, those who would assign this list of first principles to the Levitical system need to think about that emphasis. A far more reasonable view is that these are first steps instructions about Christ, "ABC's" and "123's" that lay out what it takes to so properly respond to the gospel that one's life of discipleship can have a sound basis.)]

Pulling back a moment, to see the Kingdom of God scale, prophetic panorama courtesy Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel ch 2:

We can then focus on foundations in that context:

The writer to the Hebrews makes it plain that  the mature are well-founded on these six elementary/ABC principles, and so are stable and discerning, having developed the confident ability to discern good from evil (which includes discerning truth from misleading falsity) by reason of practice.

This is not at all a call to empty theorising and speculative argument, but to transformation of life and character through evil acknowledged and turned from, through trust in God through the Christ and through gospel truth learned and lived . . . . the "six principles" foundation of such well-founded discipleship includes:

I: Learning to trust and serve God through repentance: penitently changing our hearts and minds in surrender to God [Isaiah 55:1 - 9; Psalm 51:1 - 17; Matt 3:1 - 15; Lk 24:36 - 48, esp 44 - 48; Acts 10:23 - 48, esp 43 - 48, with 11:1 - 18, esp. 15 - 18]; nb: the word for repentance, μετάνοια (Metanoia -- met-an'-oy-ah) speaks of a heartfelt godly sorrow for sin and more specifically the resulting God-given gift of change of mind, thus thought perception and attitude leading to a right about turn from wrong to right and amended pattern of life.]

(Michelson: "1. (subjectively) compunction (for guilt, including reformation) 2. (by implication) reversal (of [another's] decision)," Thayer: "1.  a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done"),

. . . and

II: faith: trusting God based on his Word. [ Rom. 1:1 - 4, 16 - 17; 4:4 - 8 and 10:17; Heb. 11:6. Such faith -- πίστις (Pistis, pron: pis'-tis) -- can be seen as the new attitude adopted by the penitent sinner, that of trusting God who forgives the wicked who turn to him that takes God at his word even in the teeth of impressions and inclinations otherwise.]

(Thayer:  "1.  conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it  a.  relating to God,  the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ   b.  relating to Christ,  a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God  c.  the religious beliefs of Christians  d.  belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same 2.  fidelity, faithfulness  a.  the character of one who can be relied on.")

III: Celebrating death to sin, new life in Christ, eternal hope and the indwelling and empowering Spirit, through water baptism — a symbolic burial and resurrection. [Rom. 6:3 - 7, cf. 1 - 14; Acts 1:4 - 8 & 2:32 - 39; Rom 8:9 - 17; 1 Cor 12:1 - 13 & Eph. 5:15 – 21.]

IV: Learning the principle of service from the laying on of hands: our hands, but God's initiative, control and power. [Acts 8:14 - 23, 2 Cor 4:1 - 11. Also cf. Jn 5:19 - 20, in its context.]

V: Living life from an eternal point of view: Jesus rose, validating the gospel and giving us an eternal hope of resurrection; but this also means that God "has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed," Christ.

VI: Accordingly, we must live as stewards who shall give an account for our lives and service, before the bar of eternal judgement. [Acts 17:30 - 31; 1 Cor 3:10 - 17, 4:1 - 5, 15:1 – 8; Matt. 6:19 - 24; 2 Cor 4:17 – 5:10.]

These, as the writer to the Hebrews stresses, we must lay in our lives and build upon . . .

This can be succinctly and powerfully focussed through reflecting on Eph 2:8 - 10, noting especially the verse we usually do not cite, 10:

Eph 2: 8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.[NET]

It is also instructive to see the tension in Heb 5:12 on, as the writer is torn between wanting to move on to more advanced subjects and the slow learner behaviour he challenges. In 5:12 - 14, he therefore comments:

Heb 5: ¹² For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. ¹³ For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil. [NET]

 This is perhaps a little close to home for many of us, who need to consolidate our foundation and properly build on it. So, let us observe how the writer addresses these slow learners who he warns of the dangers of apostasy, even while saying he has confidence the case is not that bad.

First, the warning:

 Heb 6: ⁴ For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, ⁶ and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt.

 It is clear that he has here focussed the first three teachings, repentance, faith in God through the crucified and risen Christ the Son of God (which cometh by hearing the word of God as a heavenly gift from God) and the spiritual aspect of conversion, being born from above by the Spirit. The gospel context of these foundational principles is readily apparent; these are indeed about the words of the beginnings of Christian discipleship.

Of course, in so speaking, a major and too often divisive doctrinal controversy surfaces, can one be saved but so apostasise as to be lost, irretrievably lost as this text seemingly suggests?

That is a worthwhile question for pondering, but it is equally noteworthy that the NT does not go into grand expositions on the nuances and possibilities. Instead, we find an emphasis on making one's calling and election sure, as Peter counsels:

2 Peter 1: ² May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!
  ³ I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. ⁴ Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.
  ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; ⁶ to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love. 
  ⁸ For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. 
  ⁹ But concerning the one who lacks such things—he is blind. That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 
  ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin. 
  ¹¹ For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you. [NET]

So, while we refrain from a definitive conclusion on a subject where learned and saintly teachers of the scriptures have differed over the centuries, we emphasise the balance of discipleship: growth in grace-filled godliness is the hallmark of one who has justified confidence in his status of discipleship. Living faith, by the power of the Spirit, flows over in transformation. And, soberingly, faith without works is dead. But also while we are saved by grace through the gift of faith, we are saved to walk in those good works laid out in advance for us to do.

So, let us be about the true business and focus of discipleship.

 Such themes are strongly echoed as the writer continues in Heb 6, connecting issues of a life of fruitful service (which itself hints of the sign of laid on hands: my hands under God's initiative, in his power . . .), to themes of the resurrection and eternal judgement:

Heb 6: ⁷ For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God.

⁸ But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; its fate is to be burned.

⁹ But in your case, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are convinced of better things relating to salvation. ¹⁰ For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

¹¹ But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

 This imagery directly echoes Jesus' parable of the Sower, Seed and Soils:

 Luke 8:⁴ While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from one town after another, he spoke to them in a parable:

  ⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds devoured it. ⁶ Other seed fell on rock, and when it came up, it withered because it had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ But other seed fell on good soil and grew, and it produced a hundred times as much grain.” As he said this, he called out, “The one who has ears to hear had better listen!”

⁹ Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant.
  ¹⁰ He said, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand.
¹¹ “Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God. ¹² Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in a time of testing fall away. ¹⁴ As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵ But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. [NET]

Again and again we see how important it is to have hearts soft to God's voice and word, which is how the gospel-seed of eternal life with its innate power of fruitfulness can find open deep, singly-focussed soil that then will "naturally" respond to the power of life in that word by the Spirit of Christ, come to spiritual birth, grow and be fruitful.  And of course, we are aware of our stewardship and duty to venture in the ways of God that we may gain more and more treasure for the Kingdom. It is the cowardly, hoarding servant who hides the deposit he has been given who is rebuked.

Where also, the passage hints at our responsibility to watch and address the condition of our heart and our responses to the word of God. Indeed, earlier in Hebrews, we read:

Heb 1:1 After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, ² in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. ³ The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ⁴ Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs . . . . 
2:1 . . . we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, ³ how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, ⁴ while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. [NET]

Heb 3:15, part of a pointed exposition of Psalm 95, cites the Psalm's warning . . . here, in the classic KJV: "To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts . . . "

 The warning is patent.

The culminating words as he returns to the discussion on the priestly order of Melchizedek, point both backwards to the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith and forward to our eternal hope in Christ:

Heb 6: ¹⁷ In the same way God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, and so he intervened with an oath, ¹⁸ so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. 
  ¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. [NET]

And so, we can see how to fruitfully build on the foundations we have in Christ as we move forward under our great commission, through our eternally certain hope, our sure and steadfast anchor.>>
 _____________ 

Food for further thought as we ponder how we should live and act as Disciples in such a time as this. END

Matt 24 watch, 279: Mark Steyn discusses "After America: get ready for Armageddon" . . . the book after America Alone (2006)

If you have three hours to blow your mind, here's CSPAN Book TV:



Food for sobering thought. END

Matt 24 watch, 278: Mark Steyn on suicidal Western Democracies vs IslamIST radicalism [ often termed "fundamentalism"]

Mark Steyn is a significant voice, and his remarks are well worth pondering as he looks at the suicide of the West . . . already in demographic and geostrategic progress, in the face of rising IslamIST radicalism. A pivotal point on the table is that over this generation, the people of the USA (as leading Maritime global power facing -- in geostrategic terms -- an essentially continental Islamist threat) will determine the result for good or ill:



(I of course take exception to the deliberate smearing and tainting of a term that properly speaks of protestant Christians who, 100 years ago took a courageous and unpopular stand against the rise of apostate, rationalist modernist theology by advocating a return to the historic  fundamentals of the Christian faith. Cf Theopedia here and Amazon here.)

Again, food for thought. END

Matt 24 watch, 277: Matt Drudge speaks out on the new media and perceived corporatist [ ~ fascist] threats to freedom

Matt Drudge, since the 1990's, has run a very influential news aggregation site, which has made him one of the most significant independent media figures in the USA.

Earlier this month, he paid a surprise birthday visit to Alex Jones of Info Wars who runs a somewhat idiosyncratic, generally libertarian independent radio and new media house.

In the visit The two discussed the prospects for independent media, and the perceived threat of corporatism in the media. During this, Drudge stated that a US Supreme Court Judge had told him that copyright law would be used to block even citing a news headline from leading mainstream media houses, effectively breaking his business model.

From the sort of idiosyncratic, "independent" libertarian viewpoint that is fairly common in the USA, this looks a lot like big business joining force with big government to manipulate and control the people, all against the backdrop of the current push to confiscate what such people see as a major symbol of their liberty and check against just such an alliance, the constitutionally enshrined right of the people to keep and bear arms.

The two quite literally speak in terms of deliberate provocation of a civil war by the allied Fascist-Corporatist forces over the US Constitution's 2nd Amendment -- which BTW is an almost unique governmental recognition of the principle that the ordinary man has a right of self defense and community defense with effective means.   They do not use the term Fascist, but the alliance of the popular and somewhat left with major corporations through providing "solutions" to "unprecedented" crises, leading to to domination of the community is a very familiar pattern of thought. And from that perspective the Obamacare takeover of was it 1/8 of the US economy, inserting big Government control at unprecedented levels through a populist messianic politician presenting the issue in terms of a crisis, is a strong and dangerous sign of things to come.

(And, for those who came in late: Fascism is a generally left of centre -- Stalin is the one who termed it "Right Wing" -- statist ideology allied to corporatist forces. As a FYI, Mussolini was a leader of the Socialist International who in WW I turned nationalist, and Hitler's National Socialist German Workers Party was confessedly socialist in an era in which even "Conservatives" thought in terms of the inevitable rise of socialism. A key facet of this toxic brew is that the pivotal and catalytic Nietzschean Superman political messiah figure -- yes that is what is on the table, a demagogue of generally socialist- /progressivist- /"liberal" leanings arises in the face of "unprecedented crisis" (as a man of great ability who is "beyond ordinary morality" as a popular political saviour figure), who then forms an alliance with big business that gives increasingly dictatorial control of governance and government. Echoes of Antichrist and the manifestation of the spirit of antichrist are patent . . . which, is my main point of interest. [In my own view -- I am NOT endorsing Drudge and have a very dim view of Jones -- the critical issue in such a situation is the idolatry of political messianism, which like any other species of idolatry, is demonic and naturally leads to enslavement and the breakdown of civil decency, as say Rom 1 and Isa 5 discuss. And insofar as left, right and centre have any real meaning these days (apart from emotionally loaded, usually toxic labelling), such can come from any quarter. Partial fulfillment of the prophetic dynamics of antichrist to the detriment of one and all and the resulting hindrance or even persecution of the gospel, are therefore my major underlying concerns. We are in Acts 27 at Fair Havens at a dangerous hour, and the manipulative, deceptive rhetorical spell leading to the march of folly is already being woven. Unless something breaks the spell, a wild and dangerous ride driven by a march of folly is ahead.])

Video:



Without endorsement, food for thought -- we need to understand how diverse groups of people are thinking. END

1 Chron 12:32 report, 118: On balance, blood moons and other signs of the times, the end of days and the Second Coming

One of the striking patterns in many Christian circles is a commonplace focus on end of days prophecies and linked signs and portents of our times.

 For instance, currently there has been quite the stir about four "blood moons" (more prosaically, lunar eclipses) in which the moon changes to a dull reddish colour similar to drying blood), such as happened on September 28th:

This is what such a "blood Moon" looks like before it hits full totality:

Let me u/d by adding, on how eclipses happen:

 

Eclipses are due to shadows. A Solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's shadow falls on the earth, and a Lunar one when the Moon passes through Earth's shadow . . . which at that point is about 2.5 times the size of the Moon. (This was historically important c 300 BC, in deducing how far away the Moon is from Earth.)

Of course, there is some scriptural support, e.g. we may see Peter in the very first Christian sermon on Pentecost Sunday c 30 AD, responding to the crowd's puzzlement at a mysterious rushing wind and the phenomenon of the 120 Spirit-filled believers speaking in other tongues:

Acts 2:¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵ For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.^{[b] 16} But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams;
¹⁸ even on my male servants^[c] and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

 
¹⁹ And I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
²⁰ the sun shall be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood,
    before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

²¹ And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— ²³ this Jesus,^[d] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. ²⁴ God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it . . . . ³² This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. ³³ Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. ³⁴ For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
³⁵     until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

³⁶ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

³⁷ Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 

³⁸ And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 

⁴⁰ And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 

⁴¹ So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. [ESV]

The balance struck by Peter is noteworthy, beginning with seeing "The Last Days" as already in progress c 30 AD. Rightly so, as the coming of Messiah to Israel and the Nations is itself an eschatological -- last days -- event, in fact the pivotal one. Indeed, in the epistle he circulated even as he was under the shadow of unjust execution by Nero on the false accusation of treasonous arson against Rome, we see:

2 Peter 1: ¹³ I think it right, as long as I am in this body,^[h] to stir you up by way of reminder, ¹⁴ since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. ¹⁵ And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
 
¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 

¹⁷ For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son,^[i] with whom I am well pleased,” ¹⁸ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 

¹⁹ And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, ²⁰ knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.  

²¹ For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. [ESV]

It is amazing to see how the two messages are so closely connected in themes: Messiah has come in fulfillment of the prophetic word of Scripture, and our main focus is to respond to him.

The Spirit inspires and empowers the prophets of old, and being poured out on all flesh in our day, he fills and empowers us to speak in witness to the gospel and the ongoing work of God. Where, the gospel message -- pace the rhetoric of ever so many skeptics in our day -- is not "cleverly devised myths." Indeed, it is eyewitness truth that the 500 paid with blood and tears to hand down to us, with Peter himself the lead eyewitness.

So, we need to strike the balance brought out by Jesus even as he prophesied in warning to his disciples, sitting on Mt Olives opposite the Temple in Jerusalem on Temple Mount, which is again in the headlines as yet more murderous, blasphemous fanaticism is unleashed under the abuse of the name of God:

Matt 24:³ 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 of the end of the age?” 

⁴ And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 

 ⁶ 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. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

⁹ “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. ¹⁰ And then many will fall away^[a] and betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved.  

¹⁴ 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. [ESV]

Again and again, we see that the principal sign of the last days is that Messiah has come, and that having been betrayed he willingly offered himself as a sinless substitute and Saviour on the cross, rising from the dead in triumphant vindication, with 500 unstoppable witnesses. In this context, having been exalted to glory (whence He shall come "in like manner" to that same Mt Olives, to judge the quick and the dead) he has poured out his Spirit who empowers us in witness and in prophetic insight in our own times.

Where, the principal ongoing visible sign of the end of days is that the gospel goes forth in power, with prophetic insight and linked manifestations, throughout the whole world, calling men to discipleship, with seasons of refreshing as times of revival are poured out. So also, we must emphasise the fullness of Christ through the kingdom of God that struck the Earth's ever-warring kingdoms of man as a stone cut out without human hands and grows into a mountain that fills the earth:

Just so, Wallnau's representation of that growing fullness as targetting seven mountains of culture and filling the world with Christ's grace and glory through discipleship is a powerful prophetic insight and challenge:

In short, we do not have to fall under a fatalistic, things must get worse and worse attitude, no, from Jeremiah we know that prophecy, even when it warns of impending judgement is an invitation to repentance and blessing. At minimum (as in the days of Noah), it is a call to a remnant to save themselves from an untoward generation by giving heed to the gospel and its call to transformational discipleship through the four Rs as we just saw:

Jeremiah 18:⁷ If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 

⁹ And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 

¹¹ Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ [ESV]

Yes, judgement is ever mixed with grace and the call to repentance.

It is our stubborn impenitence which is to blame when disaster comes on us because we insist on pursuing a "business as usual" (BAU), sin as usual, march of folly in the teeth of the call to turn back and the signs of impending disaster:

To hammer home the point:

That sets a context for our further thoughts.

Back to the Blood Moons issue, with a bit of help from Pastor John Hagee. As CBN reports:

In his latest book, Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change, Hagee lays out what he calls celestial signals. He describes how a series of blood moons in 2014 and 2015 will have great significance for Israel. 

Although single blood moons happen fairly regularly, four appearing so closely together is extremely rare. There have only been a series of blood moons a handful of times over the past 500 years.

So what exactly is a blood moon and what is the biblical significance?

"A blood moon is when the Earth comes between the sun and the moon," Hagee explained. "And the sun is shining through the atmosphere of the Earth and casts up on the moon a red shadow. And so the moon appears to be red."

Such moons appear several times in scripture.

In the book of Joel, God says there will be "wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire…the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."

In Acts, the Apostle Peter repeats that verse from Joel. And the book of Revelation says that during the Great Tribulation, "the moon will become like blood."

Blood moons are set to appear in April 2014, on Passover, and then again in October 2014 during the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot.

The timing is the same for 2015 -- a total of four blood moons, all appearing on Jewish feast days.

"The sun and the moon and the Earth are controlled by God almighty," Hagee said. "He is the one that is getting them in a direct alignment on a certain day at a certain time -- but each time, it's a Passover or Sukkot.

The article goes on to give cases where similar clusters have happened at significant times in the history of the Jewish people, and he therefore suggests this is likely to continue, pointing out that the times in fact are momentous for the Jewish people.

I would suggest that so long as there is not an over-emphasis, and there is a due balance with the main emphasis of scripture on the gospel and our response to it, little harm would be done by discussing this phenomenon in light of Joel 2 and Acts 2.

However, if things get out of hand into date setting and overly enthusiastic predictions, that is when things go off track, for in Acts 1 we read:

Acts 1:⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

 ⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 

¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, ¹¹ and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” [ESV]

First: it is not for us to fully know the times, indeed, date-setting is sinful folly. 

Second, our business is to be concerned with the main sign of the end times, the Spirit-empowered witness to all nations through the gospel, carrying forward the discipleship mission of the church.

Third, the angels here informed the apostles of a breakthrough insight: the Second Coming of Messiah, alluding subtly to an amazing prophecy in Zechariah:

Zech 12: 1 The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: ² “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah.

  ³ On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. ⁴ On that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. ⁵ Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’
 
⁶ “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

⁷ “And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. ⁸ On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them.

  ⁹ And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

  ¹¹ On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo . . . .

14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. ² 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. 

 ³ Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 

 ⁴ 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 . . . [ESV]

In the Revelation, John takes up this very theme and text:

Rev 1:⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail^[c] on account of him. Even so. Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” [ESV]

Paul speaks to the Second Coming:

1 Thess 4:¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 

 ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 

¹⁵ For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,^[d] that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 

¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers,^[e] you have no need to have anything written to you. ² For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 

³ 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. 

 ⁴ But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 

 ⁵ For you are all children^[f] of light, children of the day. 

We are not of the night or of the darkness. ⁶ So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 

 ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 

 ⁹ For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.  

¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. [ESV]

In the midst of the arrogance of men pretending to have mastered the world and to have built their own peace and security -- shades of "peace"negotiations and "security councils" -- the birth pangs come. And with that, the culmination, at the Second Advent, heralded by the Trumpet-blast of God.

But in this, there is a warning that echoes Jesus in Matt 24:

2 Thess 2: ³ Let no one deceive you in any way.

 For that day [the Day of the Lord] will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness^[b] is revealed, the son of destruction,^{[c] 4} who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 

⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 

 ⁶ And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 

⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 

 ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 

¹¹ Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, ¹² in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

¹³ But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits^[d] to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.  

¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. [ESV]

So, we see him whom Nero (whose name 666 codes for) prefigures, the Man of Sin or Lawlessness, the Antichrist who exalts himself to demand the loyalty and homage due only to God. He has power over those who love not the truth that saves -- the gospel, but instead love unrighteousness. (Those currently perverting the gospel to be "inclusive" of sinful, perverse "lifestyles," take due note.)

These scriptures bring up also, the issues of prophetic foreshortening/mountain peaks and the timeline of Messiah's coming. 

the Last Days are the global era of salvation, healing, deliverance and transformation by the poured out Spirit, inaugurated by the messiah promised aforetime in the prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament. And so, eschatology properly starts from the prophetic scriptures and moves forward through the coming of Messiah and the sending out of the church into the world, leading up to the culmination of that mission of witness and completion of the establishment of the eternal Kingdom of Messiah, the Son of Man as is envisioned in Daniel 7:13 - 14.
Indeed, one may argue that when the prophetic "seventy weeks clock" is set in Daniel 9:24 - 27, in a sense the Last Days are already at least in gestation.
In this context the Christian synthesis of the prophetic scriptures of the OT as the context for the Messiah, the sacrifice of redemption, the gospel, the poured out Spirit, the witness to the nations and the culmination, pivots on a principle of prophetic foreshortening (or, seeing the main peaks) as an interpretive key to properly understanding this.
This brings me back to perhaps the very first eschatological sermons I ever heard.
For, Elder Smith of my home church (which is a former red brick Synagogue, with windows in the shape of the tablets of the law) was fond of explaining prophecy by figuratively pointing to Jamaica's Blue Mountains looming above us in Kingston.

Kingston with the Blue Mountains, from Palisadoes Road, Jamaica. The city of just under 1 mn people -- the largest Anglophone city south of Miami -- is visible across Kingston Harbour, behind the port of Kingston. To the left of the picture are the Norman Manley International airport, Port Royal and the 1/4 million strong satellite city of Portmore. To the right beyond the picture lie Harbour Head, and Harbour View. The lower elongated peak with a line of housing running along its crest is Long Mountain, which juts into Kingston. Behind this mountain lies the University of the West Indies Mona Campus, as well as the Liguanea- Mona- Hope Pastures area, invisible to the onlooker from the tombolo along which the Palisadoes Road runs. (The tombolo seems to have largely formed from longshore drift from the Yallahs River to the east of this image, with doubtless a contribution from the Hope River also.) Also, behind Long Mountain lies the Hope River which provides a good fraction of Kingston's water, which reaches the sea at Harbour View as (sadly) a now dry watercourse. The mountain on the other side of that river, Dallas Mountain, is named after the same family that gave a Vice President to the USA, and also gave its name to the city of Dallas in Texas. It is from Papine in this hidden area, that the road and trail that one hikes to reach the Blue Mountain Peak at 7,402 ft, begins, with the Gordon Town Road. It has been said that this road takes its name from the town in the mountains where the Gordon Highlanders were once billetted, early in C19.
(SOURCE:Doug Price, fair (academic) use; pardon defects and colour sharpening)

Elder Smith would say that we see the main peaks all together, and so also see past the valleys and maybe even lesser peaks between. Eschatological Prophecy, on this view, is foreshortened like that: we are seeing the main peaks, not  all the details of the timeline along which those peaks sit.

 Dispensationalist, Clarence Larkin used this principle thusly, in his Dispensational Truth, Ch 3:

And so, on the foreshortening principle, starting with Jesus and the apostles:

1 -->  Christians have seen Messiah as indeed the Son of David and Anointed King, but
2 --> he is also the Spirit-empowered liberator and healer of the oppressed and hurting, and the redemptive suffering servant who brings good news to all men. Where,
3 --> these "peaks" are distributed along a timeline, of incarnation, humble walk of service, rejection by many, betrayal and crucifixion that
4 --> simultaneously is the act that has purchased salvation, healing and deliverance, with
5 --> vindication of Divine Sonship through resurrection and exaltation. Further,
6 --> this leads to the last days era of the gospel message, Spirit-empowered -- anointed! -- witness and call to discipleship going forth to lead people from across the world to repentance and grace-driven transformation of life. Then,
7 --> all of this culminates in the Second Coming that fully establishes the Kingdom, envisioned as that described in Daniel 7:
      Dan 7: 9 “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.
      10 ​​​​​​​​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 . . . .
       13 “I saw in the night visions,     

        and behold, with the clouds of heaven

        there came one like a son of man,

        and he came to the Ancient of Days

        and was presented before him.

      14 ​​​​​​​​And to him was given dominion

        and glory and a kingdom,

        that all peoples, nations, and languages

        should serve him;

        his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

        which shall not pass away,

        and his kingdom one

        that shall not be destroyed. [ESV]
8 --> From this view of the OT prophetic scriptures, too, Israel is not forgotten or displaced, as  we may see in Zechariah.

 As to timeline, unsurprisingly -- this is something veiled -- there are various major views. Here, I adapt Grudem in his Systematic Theology:

We should be aware of diverse views, and that none is without difficulties. (If you want more details, I suggest here on.)

 Of greater moment is what we could term the principle of multiple fulfillment.

For, first, prophecy was delivered to a live audience and had to be relevant to their circumstances with a degree of fulfillment in their day that led the people of God at that time to recognise that an authentic voice was speaking from God, in accord with the light of Scripture and the history of the covenant people. This is already a partial fulfillment, one that speaks powerfully to how for instance we should look at the words of Matt 24 and the events of AD 66 - 70 in Israel, which led to the destruction of the Temple and the third exile of the Jewish people. (The exile to Egypt due to Famine in the days of Joseph and that of the Babylonian captivity after centuries of repeated idolatrous apostasy must be borne in mind.)

Likewise, if a prophetic word speaks to the end of days, it will have an ultimate eschatological fulfillment.

But between the two, down in the valleys, there may be many partial fulfillments that become a legitimate way to understand the signs of our times and discern in our day like the Men of Issachar in David's day, what the people of God should do.

For, after seven years of civil war (and in light of Samuel's prophetic anointing), we see:

1 Chron 12:²³ These are the numbers of the divisions of the armed troops who came to David in Hebron [ --> yes, the same Hebron] to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, according to the word of the Lord. 

²⁴ The men of Judah bearing shield and spear were 6,800 armed troops. ²⁵ Of the Simeonites, mighty men of valor for war, 7,100. ²⁶ Of the Levites 4,600. ²⁷ The prince Jehoiada, of the house of Aaron, and with him 3,700. ²⁸ Zadok, a young man mighty in valor, and twenty-two commanders from his own fathers' house. ²⁹ Of the Benjaminites, the kinsmen of Saul, 3,000, of whom the majority had to that point kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. ³⁰ Of the Ephraimites 20,800, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers' houses. ³¹ Of the half-tribe of Manasseh 18,000, who were expressly named to come and make David king.  

³² Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command . . . [ESV]

And here, we see the chief men of Issachar understanding the times to know what Israel should do in light of the word from God.

Just so, we should heed Paul, again, as he speaks to the prophetic significance of baptism and the Communion meal, in light of Old Testament record and teaching:

1 Cor 10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[a] that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown^[b] in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 

 ⁷ Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 

⁸ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹ We must not put Christ^[c] to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, ¹⁰ nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 

¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 

 ¹² Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ 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. 
 
¹⁵ I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry . . . [ESV]

In short, we need not over-commit ourselves to our particular day being the end of days, to draw upon the rich power of prophetic examples in the scripture and even in our own experience of baptism and communion understood in that light.

In effect, the same factors and forces are at work, and for instance we can see men of lawlessness manifesting the spirit of antichrist, and know that we are not to allow them to enmesh us in their schemes. Likewise, as we see the example of prophecy and scripture, we  can apply the patterns and signs to our own circumstances as a guide. That way, we will be like the chiefs of Issachar 3,000 years ago in David's day. Similarly, we know better than to turn on the Jewish people in hatred and enmity for we know that one day, One shall come to their rescue from their enemies who seek their lives, and they will see him whom they have pierced and weep in penitent joy as they turn to Messiah.

And, there are many, many similar applications of the prophecies and examples of scripture, down in the valley of the church age in which the gospel goes forth to the nations in witness.

Where, happy shall we be should Our Lord find us as he comes (with the awesome blast of the Trumpet of God), busy in his vineyard . . . carrying the gospel of the kingdom to all the nations, thus calling them by the truth in love, purity and power to repentance and discipleship under Christ as guided by the whole counsel of Scripture and in the power of the Spirit.

Let us therefore occupy ourselves with that task, until he comes.

Maranatha! END