| Question: And why did He command them that were outside not to enter thereinto if He was gathering them together at that time? |
My answer is that those who were referred to as being gathered from the four winds, are the believers who were in Jerusalem. It was a localized prophecy. It was a localized judgment. Jerusalem was doomed. The four winds were the troubles in Jerusalem.
For example, the reason that one of the horses (white) was false christs abounding so much was because Daniel's prophecy of 70 weeks pinpointed the year Jesus would come and begin ministering, upon the completion of the duration of the first 69 weeks. And Israel knew that prophecy. So at that time there were more men claiming to be this Messiah for they wanted to make the people believe they fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel for the time Messiah would come.
Those outside Jerusalem were to remain outside. They were not under the Four Winds temptations as were those in Jerusalem. It was a localized issue. So the elect in Jerusalem, who were suffering the temptations listed in the chapter, had to be gathered out of them.
Its just like God saying "I will protect the Church in China from the destruction that Communism will pour out on her." That does not mean the Church is only located in China, but rather the part of the Church that is in China is referred to. So the elect delivered from the four winds refers to the Church in Jerusalem who required deliverance from the siege of Rome.
Luke 21:20-21 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.Jerusalem was where the fury of Rome would come, fulfilling Jesus' warning of doom. It was actually Jesus' wrath.
| Question- Could you explain to me how the gospel was published "in all the world… unto all nations" by 70 AD? |
It was as much of the whole world as much as this reference was....
Acts 17:6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;The Bible often refers to the then-known world, as all the world.Gene 41:56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
Acts 17:6 is the fulfilment of Matthew 24:14. ...using the Bible's
own words.
| Question - So who should I believe, brother Blume, your interpretation of Daniel's vision, or Daniel's own reiteration of the same? |
You should rephrase that question and say, "So whose interpretation of Daniel's visions should we believe: My interpretation of visions and what visions are parallel, or Mike Blumes interpretation of visions and what visions are parallel?"
It is circular reasoning to say that the way you see the parallels is correct because you say they are. And that is what you did when you said the choice is either Mike or Daniel's thoughts. Wrong. The choice is Mike's or your thoughts.
Daniel does not say "This vision in chapter 11 of my book is parallel to the the one vision in chapter 9."
You said that. By wording it the way you did, you are actually saying that whatever you speak is just as though Jesus is speaking it. You should not word it like that.
Its like someone believing that "born again" means dying in natural death and not the spirit birth we receive in this life upon experience of Acts 2:38. And then that person says, "Who are we going to believe? Jesus or Mike Blume?"
So let me make my response now that we have cleared that up.
In Daniel 11:21-35, it is a prophecy of the historically fulfilled event when Antiochus Epiphanes, in 175 BC (I think that is the correct date) sacrificed swine to Jupiter in the temple of Jerusalem. He robbed the temple and set up a statue of Jupiter in the Holiest of Holies. He pulled down the walls of Jerusalem and commanded the sacrifice of swine. He forbade circumcision and destroyed all the sacred books that he found. Daniel 8 refers to the four kingdoms that Daniel 7 foretold, as four beasts (with Rome Being the last beast with no more beasts afterwards, btw).
Daniel 8:8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.Daniel 8:8 is speaking about GREECE and ALEXANDER THE GREAT, before ROME ever came forth! The RAM is Medo-persia and the goat was GREECE. The order of kingdoms was (1) Babylon (2) Medo-Persia (3) Greece (4) Rome.
Daniel 8:9-10 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.Daniel 8:9-10 is again speaking about Antiochus Epiphanes.
| Question - So I also ask you this- Do you think you understand Daniel's visions better than Daniel did, by basing your position on a private interpretation of only one of Daniel's passages rather than harmonizing all of them, in contradiction to the others? |
Again a circular set of reasonings, implying in reality, that your interpretation is the correct one that Daniel intended to give to us, when in reality it is only your opinion.
So, please, let's not be circular. You are claiming your interpretation of which visions coincide with others and saying that is the Word of God, when Daniel said nothing about those visions being identical. You assumed that and then made it fact.
I propose that you are not only not dividing scripture properly, but you are unaware of historical facts. Or is not Antiochus Epiphanes' sacrifice of swine in the holiest of holies something that you would consider an abomination?
Daniel 9 said that ABOMINATIONS (plural) are to occur.
Dani 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.Overspreading of abominations, including the 175 BC, and the zealot's abuse of the holiest of holies just prior to 70 AD when they took the temple over, putting a clown in as high priest.
I recommend you read JOSEPHUS. He refers to all of this in 70
AD.
| It is written-
Dan 12:11-13 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. Question -Again, are you saying that you have a better interpretation than Daniel himself? Or that God changed His mind after speaking to Daniel? |
More circular ways of saying something that would more correctly be worded, "Are you saying that you have a better interpretation than I have of Daniel's words?"
Circular reasoning is saying you are right because you are right. You need to prove, first, that the visions refer to the same things.
Daniel 9 said that due to the overspreading of abominations (plural), things would go bad for Israel. Yet Jesus spoke of ONE abomination in Matthew 24. That one was the Roman zealot in the temple, and then the Roman setup of standards of pagan gods in the temple.
Daniel 12 was a prophecy of Jesus' time and Israel's generation at the time He spoke.
Maccabees is not inspired of God but is trustworthy as a historical document of the between-testaments time. Maccabees explains that Antiochus Epiphanes fulfilled some references in Daniel to the abomination of Desolation. (1 Maccabees 1:10-64; 4:36-59; 6:7; 2 Maccabees 110:1-8). In AD 40, Caligula laid plans down to have an image of himself put in Jerusalem's temple (Josephus, Antiquities XVIII, viii. 2-9). That was averted though. And Jospehus tells us that AD 66-67 perfectly fulfilled that prophecy of the abomination of desolation. From November 67 to the spring of 68, Zealots committed "villainous" acts in the temple, according to Josephus.
Dan 12 refers to 70 AD.
Jesus was right on the money when He spoke of that being fuilfilled in "THIS GENERATION" of 30-33 AD. Let me use a bit of your circular reasoning, to both show you a point, and maybe deter you from being circular in your reasoning in the future.
Are you right in saying ALL of that did not happen in THAT generation, or is Jesus right in saying ALL these things (everything from Matthew 24 to verse 34) would be fulfilled in THAT generation?
You have to include the temple destruction of verses 1-3 in the ALL of verse 34.