“But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’” (Daniel 7:18)
We’ve spoken about what God is doing in the world in these times. As we’ve said, those who truly love the Lord will grow immensely in Him and be a light to others in these rough times. We’ve previously shown where Daniel prophecies God’s Kingdom shattering the old Kingdom, which was a mixture of the world’s way and God’s way. In the scripture above, Daniel says that the saints will inherit this Kingdom. What is this Kingdom? This is far too vast a topic for this short post, but we’ll address it briefly. Let’s start with Jeremiah’s prophecy long before Christ:
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
Are you familiar with this scripture? Have you quoted it? I’ve quoted it many times. I did so a few times even as a fairly new believer, thinking how blessed I was to possess this truth. Today, I read it and I see that I’m so much closer to possessing this truth and, yet, I still fall short. I look around at my brothers and sisters in this country and I see that we are all falling far short of this truth.
Yes, we are no longer subject to the written Law of Moses, but to a higher Spiritual Law. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in Believers guiding and convicting us. But is the second part true for you? I don’t believe it’s true for most of us. “No longer will a man teach his neighbor…because they will all KNOW me.” I look around at the current state of Christianity and I see exactly what Jesus saw when He came to set us free. I see a priesthood that spends its time in priestly duty and a laity who shows up at church once or twice a week, but leaves it to a pastor or priest to teach them about God.
Is this the fruition of which Jeremiah spoke? NO! There is more. We lost so much from the time when the early Church mingled with the Roman empire. Instead of a pure and holy Temple of God, we became a mixture of clay and iron. Let’s look at what Peter said that we are called to be:
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,”
8and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:4-10)
We are supposed to be the Temple of God! Yes, I know you’ve heard that before, but do you think the world looks at us and sees the Temple of God? Have we possessed the fullness of what God intends for us? He expects us, His Chosen people, to be a Royal Priesthood. Are we there? Jesus was the cornerstone or capstone. He’s the most important one, but He’s only meant to be one stone in the Temple. Each of us is meant to be another stone!
This post is Part 7 in the series The Coming Storm Daniel Revelation. To gain more insight about this coming storm, you can read more about it here and in Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4, Pt 5 and Pt 6.
