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About Jesus - Steve Sweetman Unsealed
Knowledge Some of
you might remember Alvin Toffler's 1970 book entitled "Future
Shock". Toffler
outlined the acceleration of knowledge throughout human history.
He noted that in the first seventy years of the 20th
century we had accumulated more knowledge than in history past.
Of course, Toffler's book has long since been outdated.
It's now estimated that knowledge doubles every one and half to
two years. I recall
my dad quoting Daniel 12:4. His
King James Bible says; "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge
shall be increased". My
dad understood the word "knowledge" to mean knowledge in
general. Allow me to suggest
something different. An
angelic looking being informed Daniel about the end of days.
He said; "At that time, Michael, the great prince that
protects your people (Israel) will arise. There will be
a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of
nations until then. But at
that time your people (Israel) - even those names found written in the book
- will be delivered. Multitudes
who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life
and others to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens,
and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and
ever. But you, Daniel, close
and seal the words of this scroll until the time of the end.
Many will go here and there to increase knowledge". (Daniel
12:1 - 4 NIV) The word
"knowledge" is translated from the Hebrew word
"da'ath" in Daniel 12:4. The
meaning of "da'ath" clues us in a bit to what kind of
knowledge may be spoken of here. "Da'ath"
is not just head knowledge or knowledge that merely informs.
It's also not knowledge that leads to technological advances.
"Da'ath" is the specific knowledge that enables one to
make wise discerning judgments. That's
why the text speaks "of those who are wise". This
passage tells us when this increase of knowledge will take place.
The words "at that time" in Daniel 1:1 refers to the
time of the end. Jesus
confirmed this when He quoted this passage as part of His end time
discourse in Matthew 24:21. The
passage also associates this knowledge with a particular end time event.
The day will come when Michael, the great angelic protector of Israel, will rise. I suggest this
increase of knowledge is related to Michael rising at the end of this
age in support and defense of Israel. I propose
that the knowledge spoken of in Daniel 12:4 is knowledge that enables
one to wisely discern the events leading to the end of this age.
It's knowledge associated with Michael in support and defense of Israel. It's knowledge that makes
one wise as he leads many to righteousness in the most horrific era in
human history. The Dead
Sea Scrolls began to be discovered just a few months before Throughout
the centuries liberal scholars have thought the New Testament was
written in some kind of weird Greek because it differed from Classical
Greek. Well, the Dead Sea
Scrolls contained documents like sales receipts and business contracts
that were written in the same weird Greek the New Testament was written
in. We now know that the New
Testament was written in the common street level language of the day. There's
nothing weird about New Testament Greek, and archeology has proven that
to be true. Liberal
scholars have attempted to debunk the New Testament because of a lack of
historical evidence of Pilate. Well,
in 1961 historical evidence of Pilate's existence was unearthed in the
town of Archeological
finds aren't the only source of increased knowledge.
As western Christians we may consider ourselves the cream of the
Christian crop concerning Biblical issues, but that's debatable.
Culturally and linguistically speaking, we are so far removed
from the Bible that it puts us at a distinct disadvantage in
understanding Biblical issues. When we attempt to understand the Bible
from our 21st century western cultural and linguistic
mindset, I'm sorry to say, we fail miserably.
Don't be disheartened, because the internet has placed pertinent
historical and linguistic knowledge at our finger tips.
Liberal
scholars discredit the four New Testament gospel accounts because of
apparent discrepancies concerning the chronology of events.
These scholars view chronology from a western mindset.
Time consists of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.
Events take place in the sequence of these designations of time.
The Middle Eastern mindset in which the gospel writers wrote
viewed time thematically as well as chronologically.
That is to say, the order of events was often recorded based on
themes, not on the calendar, thus the reason for the chronological
differences. This is seen in
the fact that New Testament Greek has two different words when it comes
to matters of time. The
Greek word "chronos" is time as it relates to the calendar.
The Greek word "kairos" is time as it relates to
themes. That's why events in
John differ from those in Mark. John's
theme is clearly different from Mark's.
When we fail to understand this, we fail to understand the Bible
as it relates to time, but with our present day increased knowledge, we
can overcome our failure. In Mark
13:33 Jesus "commanded", not "suggested", us to
watch and pray for the signs leading to the end.
Jesus would not have told us to watch in ignorance.
As a matter of fact, Hosea 4:6 states that lack of knowledge
destroys God's people. For
this reason Jesus clued us in on many end time events, but beyond that,
the increased knowledge of Daniel 12:4 is more obtainable for us today
than any time in history. We
have the opportunity to be the most knowledgeable, wise, and discerning,
Christians in history, especially when it comes to Biblical prophecy.
Let's avail ourselves to the wealth of
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