The Son of Man; The Kingdom
Mysteries. Daniel 7, Matthew 13
Acts 1:3 NASB “To these He also presented Himself alive after
His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over {a period of}
forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” In verse 6 the
disciples had one last question: “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring
the kingdom to Israel?” He didn’t rebuke
their notion of the kingdom. Their idea was clearly a physical, geopolitical kingdom of Israel with a Davidic
ruler. He doesn’t say they had a wrong idea about the kingdom, that it wasn’t
going to be a literal physical kingdom but a spiritual kingdom and that He was
just going to reign in their hearts. He doesn’t challenge their concept of the
kingdom. What He does say is: It is not for you to know when I am going to
establish that kingdom. So these two verses show us that during this time
between the resurrection and the ascension Jesus focused on doctrines related
to the mysteries related to the kingdom of God.
The book of Daniel is crucial for understanding the kingdom. In Daniel
chapter two there is the dream of Nebuchadnezzar of a huge golden statue that
has a head of gold, an upper torso of silver, a waist area of bronze, legs of
iron and feet of iron and clay. That is a picture of the history of the
kingdoms of man in their various manifestations, the various human empires that
are going to dominate world history. In the fourth chapter Nebuchadnezzar was
warned by God that he was becoming too arrogant and he had another dream which
Daniel interpreted. It was a warning that if Nebuchadnezzar didn’t humble
himself under the authority of God that God would reduce him to the level of an
animal for the next seven years and he would live out in the fields and eat
grass like the beasts. God would teach him who was really in authority. So
there are two passages where the emphasis is on the dream and then this event
and that it was designed to teach (4:17) “In order that
the living may know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And
bestows it on whom He wishes And sets over it the lowliest of men.” So this
aspect of a kingdom of man juxtaposed to the kingdom as the rule of God is at
the very core of all of the visions in Daniel because they lay out the conflict
that will eventually come about as the kingdom of God, in terms of the
messianic kingdom, is going to be established on the earth.
The church age period is the period known as the mysteries, not a
mystery form of the kingdom. Within dispensational theology, dispensationalists
and their teaching, there are some who believe that we live in a mystery form
of the kingdom, but what kingdom is that? That cannot be the messianic kingdom.
We don’t have the word “form” in Matthew chapter thirteen, rather Jesus is
telling the disciples He was going to teach them the mysteries of the kingdom,
i.e. mystery always refers to unrevealed truth. Jesus was going to reveal to
the disciples information about this coming kingdom that had never before been
revealed. And what He was going to reveal to them is that before that kingdom
is established there are going to be certain things that will characterize the
intervening age, which is the age in which we live. The age in which we live is
not a spiritual form of the kingdom, not a mystery for of the kingdom; the
kingdom, meaning the messianic, Davidic kingdom, is not in existence in any
form. Jesus is not on any throne, He is seated at the right hand of God the
Father in heaven; He is not seated on His throne and doesn’t receive His throne
until He comes back at the end of the Tribulation period.
In Daniel chapter seven Daniel sees these same kingdoms of man revealed
again in a dream, the same empires but now they’re portrayed in a bestial way.
At the end of it, Daniel 7:8 NASB “While I was contemplating the
horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the
first horns were pulled out by the roots before it [Reference to the Antichrist
establishing his kingdom]; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes
of a man and a mouth uttering great {boasts.} [9] “I kept looking
Until thrones [in the Antichrist’s kingdom] were set up, And the Ancient of
Days [God the Father] took {His} seat; His vesture {was} like white snow And
the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne {was} ablaze with flames, Its
wheels {were} a burning fire. [10] A river of fire was flowing And coming out
from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon
myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened.” We
haven’t seen the kingdom yet. We have seen the human kingdoms and the
manifestation of that, and then there is this judgment that makes place
indicated by the court being seated and the books opened. This is the same
imagery as in Revelation 4 & 5 when John is suddenly taken up into heaven
and he sees one sitting on the throne [the Ancient of Days, God the Father] and
He has this scroll in His hand and the search goes on: Who is worthy to open
the scroll? That is the book that is here, so that is the time frame, the final
judgment upon the earth.
Daniel 7:11 NASB
“Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn
[Antichrist] was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its
body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. [12] As for the rest of the
beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to
them for an appointed period of time. [13] I kept looking in the night
visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was
coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.
[14] And [then] to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the
peoples, nations and {men of every} language Might serve Him. His dominion is
an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which
will not be destroyed.” That vision of Daniel’s isn’t trying to give a rigid
chronology of events in the Tribulation period, it is pointing out snapshots of
things that happen during that judgment time. There is the Ancient of Days on
the throne, books before Him that will be used for the judgment. The ten horns
are the kings, the little horn, the Antichrist, are going to speak pompous
words, their dominion is then taken away, and it is at that time that One like
the Son of Man appears. The Son of Man is a messianic title, and He comes with
the clouds of heaven and then it is at that time, after all of these things
happen, “to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom.”
The point is that the Son of Man is the future King and the Son of Man
as the future King is not given His kingdom until after these events that take
place in the Tribulation are over with. So it is not until the end of the
Tribulation that the Son of Man is given His kingdom. Until then, what is He
doing? He is seated at the right hand of the Father. Psalm two talks about the
fact that He is the anointed one and He is waiting as the armies of the kings
of the earth gather themselves against the Lord and against His anointed. That
depicts the antagonism, the opposition to God, leading up to the battle of
Armageddon. It is not until that takes place that there is the kingdom being
given unto the Son of Man. Daniel 7:13, 14 depicts this.
Why is it important that He is called the Son of Man? He is the ideal
human, not in a Platonic sense of ideal, not in some sort of human romantic
sense of the ideal man, but in the sense of God’s original intent for mankind.
Genesis 1:26 takes place when God created the human race and said NASB
“Let us (reference to the Trinity) make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.” So man was created to rule over everything on the
planet. That is not a green doctrine! Man really trashed the planet when he
disobeyed God, and that is the cause of everything else. Until that root
problem of sin and disobedience is dealt with man can’t solve the environmental
crisis. Man can’t solve the environmental problem because the environmental
problem has its root in a constitutional defect in the human race called sin,
and it is not until the ideal ruler, the God-Man who is sinless, comes that He
can roll back the effects of the curse on the planet and the creation. Genesis
1:27, 27 gives us our doctrine of God’s original intent for man, and since man
fell and can’t fulfil that purpose God sent His Son to become a human being and
fulfil that original ruling dominion destiny. Notice in Daniel 7:14 it says,
“And to Him was given dominion.” But dominion was originally given to Adam.
Adam lost it and Satan because of his deception became the prince of the power
of the air, the god of this age, and so it is not until he is defeated that the
kingdom and dominion is then transferred to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Two things we learn here. The ideal man is called the Son of Man. This
is one of the most common titles that Jesus used referring to Himself during
the period of His incarnation. Second, He is the one who fulfils the destiny of
man, and He doesn’t get the kingdom until after this future rebellion against
God takes place and the kingdoms of man are finally destroyed at the battle of
Armageddon.
That takes us to the message of John the Baptist. What has been
established so far is that the Old Testament teaches in light of the covenant
with David—that God promised him an eternal dynasty, an eternal throne and an eternal
kingdom—that the Old Testament teaches a doctrine of a future perfect kingdom
in Israel that was a literal kingdom that would be ruled by a literal, physical
descendant of David (which means He has to be human), but that that physical
descendant was also God because He is viewed as eternal. So there is this
promise of a kingdom, but what happened to Israel after David? It
just went on a downhill slide until it absolutely imploded and then was
destroyed. When a small group returns with Zerubbabel after the Babylonian
captivity even though there is a political cohesion there for a while it just
doesn’t have the strength and power and authority like anything related to what
was promised in the Old Testament. Then they became a client state of Rome in 63 BC until AD 70 when God judges
them. So John the Baptist shows up on
the scene and begins with a message that is tied to this kingdom promise from
the Old Testament. In this message in Luke 3:8, 9 NASB “Therefore
bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God
is able to raise up children to Abraham. Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the
trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into
the fire.” It is a picture of judgment on the production of this tree of Jewish
culture that has basically rejected God and gone into the idolatry of legalism.
“Every tree that does not bear fruit” is not talking about application of
doctrine, it is talking about teaching. Fruit in so many passages in the
Gospels is talking about the content of their message, not the activities in
their life. So “every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown
into the fire” is a metaphor indicating judgment. But where did John get this
idea? He picks it up from Micah chapter four which focuses on this future reign
of the Messiah. He is not always called the Messiah—mashiach, meaning
the anointed one. There are passages such as Psalm two that refer to this
future King as the Messiah—only about five or six in the Old Testament that
specifically designate Him as the Messiah.
There is an interesting little trend going on today which shows just how
crazy the world has become. Two weeks ago at the Evangelical Society meeting in
Atlanta there was a
professor from a rather well-known seminary in Dallas who gave a paper
which basically said there are no messianic predictions in the Old Testament.
It has now become pandemic in evangelicalism to say this.
Even though the phrase “the Messiah” is found only a few times it is
enough to identify the anointed one, the Messiah, as clearly this one who is
the descendant of David who will re-establish a kingdom in Israel, and it will be a
perfect kingdom that will last forever. There is a loud and clear kingdom
promise in the Old Testament. Then with the close of the Old Testament canon
there is this period of expectation that settled over Israel and the Jewish
people and then all of a sudden on to the scene in approximately 29-30 AD there was this
strange figure out in the desert who wears camel hair clothes and eats locusts
and honey, proclaiming this message, Repent for the kingdom is at hand. But
part of that message is Luke 3:8—repentance, i.e. changing what they believe
and what they teach in light of repentance. Deuteronomy 30:2, 3—when my people
turn back to me, then I will bring them back from all of the lands where I have
scattered them and re-establish them in the land that I have promised Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. So John’s message is that message which says now is the time
to turn. That language reverberates with Deuteronomy in the background.
Micah 4:7 is one of those Old Testament passages that emphasizes this
future reign. God reveals to Micah, starting in verse 1 NASB “And it
will come about in the last days [The latter days of Israel’s time frame,
Daniel’s 70th week] That the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be
established as the chief [top] of the mountains. It will be raised above the
hills, And the peoples will stream to it.” This is the messianic temple. This
mountain of the Lord is the same mountain of the Lord that Isaiah talks about
in Isaiah chapter two. Isaiah and Micah were contemporaries. Isaiah said all
the nations will come to the mountains
of the Lord to worship, so we are talking about a messianic kingdom
context. Micah 4:2 NASB “Many nations will come and say, ‘Come and
let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He
may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths.’ For from Zion will go forth the
law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. [3] And He will
judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into
pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again
will they train for war.” The Isaiah verse which says this is carved over the
entry way to the United Nations building in New York. What that shows
is that the UN self-consciously has established itself as the organisation that will
bring in world peace. It has claimed for itself a messianic role. That is why
the UN should be rejected
by Bible-believing Christians. It has taken upon itself the roll that the Bible
assigns only to the Messiah.
Micah 4:6 NASB “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will assemble
the lame And gather the outcasts, Even those whom I have afflicted [Israel]. [7]
I will make the lame a remnant And the outcasts a strong nation, And the LORD will reign over
them in Mount Zion From now on and
forever.” Here we have deity indicated with the ruler—not just a descendant of
David but now deity. So here we have a clear message related to the Messiah.
[8] “As for you, tower of the flock, Hill of the daughter of Zion, To you it will
come—Even the former dominion will come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”
Micah 4:9 NASB “Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there
no king among you, Or has your counselor perished, That agony has gripped you
like a woman in childbirth?” That is a description of the
Tribulation period leading up to the birth of the kingdom. [10] “Writhe and
labor to give birth, Daughter of Zion, Like a woman in childbirth; For now you
will go out of the city, Dwell in the field, And go to Babylon. There you will be
rescued; There the LORD will redeem you From the hand of your enemies.” At the end
of verse 12 he says, “For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing
floor.” That is the language that is picked up by John in Luke 3:9 related to
this kind of judgment. John recognizes that what is going on is related to the
judgment that is announced in the Old Testament that must precede the
establishment of the kingdom.
John’s message is expanded. We don’t have the phrase, “Repent for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand” in Luke’s account of John’s message. But when we
look at the parallel passage in Matthew 3:1, 2 we see that his message is
“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus then sends out His
disciples to Judah and Galilee, just to the house
of Israel, and it is the
same message. The question is: how did they know what they were talking about?
We can read the first three chapters of Matthew and nowhere does it define the
kingdom. The only way they would know what John meant and what Jesus meant when
they announced the kingdom is that if they knew the promise of the kingdom in
the Old Testament. Remember when Gabriel appeared to Mary he said that this was
the child who would reign over His people. He ties is back directly to the
Davidic covenant and the promise there. So there is clearly this indication
from the Old Testament that God has this plan to bring in the Messiah who will
rule over the nation.
This sets the stage for the first part of the ministry of Jesus. That is
His message; He came to Judah, the house of Israel, with this message
that it is time to turn back to God so that the kingdom can be established. It
is a legitimate offer of the kingdom. Well, what happened? What happened is
described in Matthew chapter twelve. Luke describes it as well but the Matthew
passage is a little more detailed and precise. The Matthew passage is parallel
to Luke 11:37ff. We see in Matthew, Mark and Luke where the first part of
Jesus’ ministry is this proclamation and offer of the kingdom. Then He hits
this same point of increasing opposition and then this event happens that is
described in each of the Gospels where He is healing on the Sabbath and He
casts out a demon.
Matthew 12:22 NASB “Then
a demon-possessed man {who was} blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He
healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. [23] All the
crowds were amazed, and were saying, ‘This man cannot be the Son of David, can
he?’” So they understand what is going on here from an Old Testament framework.
They understand what the promise is, that David would have a son and when He
came His credentials would be that He would be healing, giving sight to the
blind, healing the lame and the lepers. [24] “But when the Pharisees heard
{this,} they said, ‘This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of
the demons.’” So what the Pharisees are saying is that Jesus isn’t doing this
by the power of the Spirit, there is nothing divine about Him, He is just doing
this by the power of the devil. Jesus rebukes them in the next few verses,
talking about how a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, if Satan casts
out Satan he is divided against himself, how then will his kingdom stand? The
issue that Jesus is pointing out is the Son of Man [verse 8]. Again and again
He refers to the Son of Man and this takes us back to the Daniel chapter seven
passage. He is clearly making people recognize He is that individual spoken of
in Daniel.
Jesus concludes with a powerful punch. Matthew 12:32 NASB
“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but
whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in
this age or in the {age} to come.” What is this age? He wasn’t in the church
age, was He? This was before the cross. The age to come is the church age. What
is this sin? People get all confused about this unforgivable sin. Question: Did
Jesus die for every sin? Either He did or He didn’t. If He didn’t die for every
sin then the atonement is limited somehow. But Jesus paid for every sin. Did He
pay the priced on the cross for the sin of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?
Did He die for every sin or not? Yes; if He died and paid the penalty for every
sin that means He paid the penalty for every sin, including the sin of
blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But He said it won’t be forgiven him.
There are four kinds of forgiveness. There is the legal forgiveness that
Jesus paid on the cross that wipes out every sin. Then there is the second kind
of forgiveness which is positional forgiveness we have when a person trusts
Christ and He is forgiven and placed in the body of Christ by the baptism of
the Holy Spirit. The third kind of forgiveness is the kind of forgiveness we
experience when we confess our sins. It has already been wiped out. Remember,
forgiveness means it is eradicated. So when Jesus says this sin won’t be
forgiven them is He talking about soteriological forgiveness, or is He talking
about historical forgiveness? He is talking about historical forgiveness. He is
not talking about forgiveness between them and God, He is talking about
historical forgiveness, that as the leadership in Israel and this crisis
between Jesus and the leadership representing the corporate entity of Israel which has said we
are rejecting you as the Messiah; you are not the Messiah. He says, if you
reject me as the Messiah then this is irreversible and 70 AD is coming; you
can’t avoid it now. That is what He is talking about. It is historical, it is
not eternal forgiveness. Only the generation at that time could commit this
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Once they did that, and they rejected Jesus,
rejected His credentials, claimed that He just did this in the power of Satan,
then what that does is set them on an irrevocable course to the cross. Once
they crucify the Messiah and then afterward don’t want to accept Him it sets
them on an irrevocable course to the ultimate 5th cycle of
discipline in AD 70. That is what Jesus is talking about here.
So sin is going to be forgiven Israel when? When they
gather in the area of Petra and they call upon
the name of Jesus. That is what Jesus said: I will not com e again until you
say Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord at the end of Matthew 23.
Jesus has offered the kingdom here and they have rejected it. Because they have
rejected it, it is postponed. He didn’t say He was going to give it in a
spiritual form. He also talks to them a bout the fact that they have rejected
the sign. Matthew 12:39 NASB “But He answered and said to them, “An
evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and {yet} no sign will be
given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; [40] for just as JONAH WAS THREE
DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” The point that He is
making here is that He is the Son of Man.
In Matthew chapter twelve they reject Him. Your power is not God’s power, you are not the
Messiah, you are just getting your power from the devil; we reject your offer
of the kingdom and we reject you.
What happens in Matthew 13? After that He leaves and goes to the
disciples and starts teaching them in parables. Why does He teach in parables?
Matthew 13:10 NASB
“And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in
parables?’ [11] Jesus answered them, ‘To you it has been granted to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.’” The
phrase “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” indicates mysteries related to the
kingdom of heaven. He is going to give them unrevealed information. Why?
Because Israel had just rejected
the kingdom, and now it was to go to plan B. Plan B is that the kingdom is not
coming right now, something is going to come between now and the establishment
of the kingdom. This is new, unrevealed information about the mysteries of the
kingdom. He told the disciples He was going to give it to the disciples in code
language so that they could understand it but they can’t. So what Jesus is
doing at this point is, He is cloaking His teaching in a way (the parables) so
that the Pharisees can’t understand it.
Matthew 13:12 NASB
“For whoever has, to him {more} shall be given, and he will have an abundance;
but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” What
is He talking about? Whoever has revelation and accepts it, more will be given.
[13] “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not
see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. [14] In their
case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON
HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT
PERCEIVE.”
He quotes Isaiah 6:9 which talks about how those in negative volition just
won’t understand. So in verse 18 Jesus begins to explain the parables. The
first one He explains is the parable of the sower. This isn’t talking about the
gospel; it is not talking about salvation. When anyone hears the word of the
kingdom and does not understand it then the wicked one comes and snatches away
what was sown in his heart. What has Jesus just said in v. 12? “Whoever has to
him more will be given, but whoever does not have even what he has is taken
away.” What does he have? He has whatever information he has about the kingdom.
Id he is positive to it he is going to be given more; if he is negative to it
even what he has is going to get lost. So the parable of the soils [sower] is
talking about how people receive the revelation, the information about the
kingdom. It’s not about the gospel; it is not talking about people getting
saved here. The point that the Lord is making here is that the one who receives
seed on the good ground and hears the Word and understands it is he who indeed
bares fruit and produces. The bearing of fruit isn’t divine good, it is not
good works, it is not application of doctrine; the bearing of fruit is getting
more revelation about the kingdom—understanding it more. So the fruit from this
seed is more information on the kingdom. This is what Jesus is going to be
talking about: what lies in between the first advent and the second
advent.
Then He goes into the next parables. He talks about the wheat and the
tares in vv. 24ff, and He talks about the man who sows good seed. This is
comparable to the man sowing good seed before, it is the information about the
kingdom. Some of the seed grows up tares and some grows up wheat, but it is not
until there is a judgment that they can be separated. So this is talking about
the period of time before the kingdom comes, before the judgment comes. What
have we already established by Daniel chapter seven? There is going to be a
judgment, the Tribulation, then the Son of Man receives the kingdom. So at the
end of the parable of the wheat and the tares is when a judgment occurs. The
judgment occurs before the kingdom is established, so Jesus is talking about
the fact that during the intervening period good and evil are going to co-exist
in this period, and it is not going to be until the time of the harvest that
the judgment occurs at the end of the Tribulation period and there is goi9ng to
be a separation between the wheat and the tares.
Then He goes on to the parable of the mustard seed which talks about the
growth of the kingdom, and it shows how the message of the kingdom is going to
be received outwardly by men. There is a lot of information here and it gets
very confusing for a lot of people, but all of these parables fit together and
the one theme that they have is what Jesus is talking about here, that there is
now going to be a period between the first advent and the establishment of the
kingdom and how that period of history is going to be characterized. Then the
kingdom is going to come back.
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