1 John 3:16


"By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Coronation Psalm

When God extends the influence of His Son and grace in the earth He makes His people willing in the day of His power. The times of refreshing and revival are in His hands. Psalm 110 is another coronation psalm. According to Hebrews 1 this coronation took place at Christ’s ascension when He sat down on the Father’s right hand. Christ sits on the throne of David today, not when He returns.

The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion: Rule in the midst of Your enemies. Your people shall be willing in the day of Your power…

The Lord has sworn and will not repent; You art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at Your right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill the places with the dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall He lift up the head. (Psalm 110).

Here is Christ’s reign, again in the midst of His enemies. His reign through the nations is for the purpose of the gospel, to save, to build His church. Therefore, His priesthood and his throne go together, throughout the earth.

The Son of Man

Dan 2:34-35 portrays the throne of Christ beginning after His resurrection in the days of the fourth beast, the Roman Empire. The coronation occurred when Jesus ascended on a cloud to the Father in heaven. It is at this point that Daniel said that the saints reigned with Christ, as depicted in Revelation 20.

I saw in the night visions and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of days…and there was given Him dominion and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion… and judgement was given to the saints of the most High…(Dan 7:13-14, 22).

When Jesus said to the High Priest that he would see the Son of man come in His glory, He was referring to this passage in Daniel (Matt 26:64). The cloud depicts His ascension to rule. Both the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple would be visible signs of that rule, that the Stone that the builders rejected had become the head of the corner.

Jesus’ coronation is recorded in Heb 1:8-12. It is said there that His rule would be over heaven and earth and that He will roll kingdoms up as a blanket during this age (vs. 12). These verses depict His rule over kingdoms during our time. Kingdoms are represented in scripture by terms such as heaven and earth, stars and moon (Is 13:10, 13, 24:23, 51:6, 60:19). Christ reigns over kingdoms, shaking the nations as He gathers out His elect in this church age.

Daniel 2

Daniel 2 records Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of a beast, representing world empires in the days of Israel. In the vision the gold head was Babylon, the silver arms and chest was Persia, the bronze thighs Greece and the iron legs Rome. The beast had feet of iron mixed with clay.

The clay (from which Adam was made) represents man. It meant that the beast stood on feet of clay and would be brought down. It also referred to the lack of unity in the Roman Empire. The vision shows a rock cut out without hands that smites the image on the feet and then fills the earth.

“Upon this rock I will build My church.” (Matt 16:18). This is the rock: Jesus and His kingdom and authority. Jesus was likely referring to this passage in Daniel when He spoke to Peter about this, as Jesus’ kingdom was often spoken of in terms of Daniel’s vision.

You saw till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay and brake them to pieces…and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. (Dan 2:34-35).

Daniel said that the stone was the kingdom of God. A straight forward reading of Daniel shows that Christ came in the days of Rome and by His blood obtained our eternal life. He ascended and from heaven His gospel rule goes to all nations, from sea to sea. This occurred after Christ’s first coming, as He said, “I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”.

Gap Theology

Dispensationalists agree that there is a chronological fulfilment of the parts of this vision, from Babylon to Persia, then to Greece and Rome. However, they then put a gap (which is now almost 2,000 years) until the last part of the vision is fulfilled, i.e. the feet of iron and clay and the stone cut our without hands that smites the image on the feet.

Dispensationalism teaches that the stone smiting the image is Christ’s second coming, at which time His kingdom shall come and then fill the earth. To achieve this view of the text, Dispensationalism must have this gap between the legs and the feet and look for a fulfilment of the feet in the days that they believe Jesus will return.

Thus in the 1980’s the feet were said to be the European Union, which had ten member states (ten toes). It was claimed that the Union was the resurrected Roman Empire, the beats of the Revelation whose fatal wound was healed. But Europe now has many more than 10 member states, so new speculations have arisen in more recent years.

The question is does Daniel 2 say directly or indirectly that there should be a gap or thousands of years between the legs and the feet? The answer is no. There is not even a hint in Daniel 2 that this gap exists. The clear intention of the whole book of Daniel is to show that Christ shall come with God’s kingdom, His salvation, just as John the Baptist also said, “The kingdom of God is at hand.”.

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