DAY OF JUDGMENT
Lesson 10 Part l
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Daniel sees the
judgment of human beings
What does this scene
describe? In a sentence, Daniel
was permitted to see the great
judgment day of the human race!
The Bible speaks in many places about
the judgment day as being in the
future. Notice a few texts:
- “For God
will bring every deed into
judgment, including every
hidden thing, whether it is
good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:14
- “For he
(the Father) has set a day
when he will judge the world
with justice by the man he
has appointed…”
Acts 17:31
- “For we
must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that
each one may receive what is
due him…” II
Corinthians 5:10
- Peter
understood that the Day of
Judgment would be future,
“…The Lord knows
how to rescue godly men from
the trials and to hold the
unrighteous for the Day of
Judgment…” II Peter
2:9
- Paul
anticipated the judgment day
saying, “This will
take place on the day when
God will judge men’s
secrets through Jesus
Christ…” Romans
2:16
- Jesus told the
Pharisees that the great
judgment day was in the
future saying, “The men
of Ninevehwill stand up at
the judgment with this
generation and condemn it;
for they repented at the
preaching of Jonah, and now
one greater than Jonah is
here. The Queen of the
South will rise at the
judgment with this generation
and condemn it; for she came
from the ends of the earth to
listen to Solomon’s
wisdom, and now one greater
than Solomon is
here.” Matthew
12:41,42
- Jesus told the
Jews that He would someday
judge them saying,
“…the Father judges
no one, but has entrusted all
judgment to the Son, that all
may honor the Son just as
they honor the
Father…” John
5:22,23
That a judgment day is
prophesied in the Bible is beyond
dispute. But the big question
is, “When does Jesus
actually determine the eternal
destiny of each person?
The Day of Atonement
Part of the answer to
this question is found in the
sanctuary service of the Old
Testament! Remember, Israel
faced a judgment day countdown each
year. According to the Mishna,
a collection of Jewish writings, the
judgment of Israel began on the 1st
day of the 7th month with
the Feast of Trumpets and ended on
the 10th day with the Day
of Atonement. Today, the 10th
day of the 7th month is
called “Yom Kippur” which
literally means, “judgment
day.”
If you read lesson 4,
you will find an explanation of the
Day of Atonement and what it meant to
the Jews. In short, the Feast
of Trumpets began on the 1st
day of the 7th month with
trumpets sounding to warn Israel that
probation or mercy was closing.
Each person was to search his heart
and make all wrongs right before the
10th day. All sins
must be transferred from the
individual to the sanctuary before
the 10th day.
Failure to have sins transferred to
the sanctuary meant the sinner must
bear the consequences of his own
deeds.
The Jews understood
the Day of Atonement to be the end of
the yearly judgment process.
By the evening of the
9th day, all sins must be
confessed and transferred into the
sanctuary via the shed blood of an
animal so that all sins for that year
could be disposed of. On the
morning of the 10th day,
the High Priest cleansed the
sanctuary of all accumulated
sins. Thus the Day of Atonement
was the most significant day in
Jewish ceremonies. Jesus told
Moses, “…on the tenth day
of the seventh month you must deny
yourselves and not do any work;
whether native-born or an alien
living among you, because on this day
atonement will be made for you, to
cleanse you. Then, before the
Lord, you will be clean from your
sins. It is a Sabbath of rest,
and you must deny yourselves; it is a
lasting ordinance.”
Leviticus 16:29-31
Back to Daniel 7
Daniel obviously saw a
courtroom setting with the Ancient of
Days presiding. Daniel saw the
books of record opened. The
record books contain every motive,
deed and thought of all that have
ever lived. Each person that
lived on earth will be examined and a
determination for eternal life or
eternal death will be made. All
heaven attends the solemn
meeting. Daniel mentions that
ten thousand times ten thousand
angels are present. Every angel
anxiously watches as Jesus reviews
each record and arrives at a decision
that will last for eternity! It
is an awesome occasion.
Note: Many
people are surprised to discover in
John 5:22 that Jesus is the One who
makes the eternal decision upon each
person. The Father has granted
both the position of advocate and
judge to Jesus. This is only
fair, for Jesus has walked where we
walk, He has suffered more than we
suffer and He was tempted more than
we are tempted. Hebrews 4:15
The beauty of this point might be
understood by comparing our judicial
system with heaven’s judicial
system. In our judicial system,
our peers judge us. In other
words, a jury of people having the
same background as the accused judges
a person. In a similar way, the
people of earth are judged in heaven
by one of us, “a son of
man”! Daniel saw Jesus
approach the Father and receive
authority and sovereign power for
this express purpose. Sovereign
power means unlimited power.
When does the court
convene?
We must find the
answer to this vital question.
Notice the progression of
Daniel’s vision. We will
find several clues in Daniel 7 that
associate the timing of heaven’s
courtroom scene with the events on
earth. Follow the chronology
along in your Bible:
1.
Daniel was observing the violent
behavior and blasphemous nature of
the fourth beast when the heavenly
courtroom scene began. (v7-9)
2.
After court convenes in verses 9 and
10, Daniel points out that the
terrible 4th beast exists
until the end of the world when it is
thrown into a blazing fire. (V11) The
importance of this and the sustained
life of the other three beasts (lion,
bear and leopard) will be seen later
when we study Revelation 13.
3.
Daniel’s gaze returned to the
courtroom scene by describing the
appearing of Jesus before the Ancient
of Days. Daniel points out that
the Son of Man is
“promoted” and given
special recognition. He
receives authority, glory and
sovereign power and ultimately every
knee bows to worship him. (V13, 14)
An angel helps
Daniel was greatly
troubled by this vision because of
the relentless persecution of the 4th
beast upon the saints. An angel
is sent to Daniel with more
information. Daniel is anxious to
know more about the terrible fourth
beast. (V19) The angel
begins by reassuring Daniel,
“The four great beasts are four
kingdoms that will rise from the
earth. But the saints of the
Most High will receive the kingdom
and will possess it forever –
yes, ever and ever.”
Daniel 7:17,18
4.
Daniel saw the persecution of the
saints by the little horn power occur
in two segments. The first
persecution continued until the
Ancient of Days came and pronounced
judgment in favor of the saints and
the second persecution ends when the
saints possess the kingdom.
(See v21, 22) We will see later
that the Bible clearly predicts there
are two time periods when the saints
are persecuted. One is 1,260
years long the other is 1,260 days
long! This point will be
greatly amplified in our study on
Revelation 12 and 13.
5.
The angel identifies the little horn
power by reminding Daniel that the
little horn rises out of the 4th
beast and then “uprooted”
three of the ten kings that took over
the fourth kingdom. (Compare
verses 8, 23 and 24. In our
previous lesson we learned that the
papacy was able to destroy three of
the ten kings that conquered
Rome. These were: the
Ostrogoths, the Vandals and the
Heruli.)
6.
The angel said the little horn power
would speak against the Most High,
oppress his saints and try or
“think” to change set times
and laws. Even worse, the
saints are to be handed over to this
antichrist power for a time, times
and half a time. (V25)
7.
In verses 26 and 27, the angel says,
“But the court will sit, and the
power of the little horn will be
taken away and the end, the
persecuting power will be completely
destroyed forever. Then all the
kingdoms of earth will be given over
to the saints.”
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