Increase of Knowledge

 

Prophetic Knowledge Increased

 

When might the world look for an increase of knowledge?

 

“But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” Daniel 12:4. 

 

Note – The Book of Daniel was to be shut up till the last generation to live upon the earth before Christ’s Second Coming. During this time now, there is to be a great increase in knowledge concerning the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.

 

Until what time were the saints to be persecuted under the Roman power?  

 

“Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.” Daniel 11:35.

 

Note – The close of this period allotted for this persecution was to mark the beginning of “the time of the end.”

 

How long were they to be under the power of the little horn, or papal Rome?

 

“He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.” Daniel 7:25. 

 

Note – This verse and the preceding one show that the time of the end begins at the end of the “time and times and half a time,” or 1,260 years, of the dominance of the little horn. This, then, locates the beginning of “the time of the end” as 1798.

 

After 1798 was there an unsealing of the book that had been sealed “even to the time of the end”?

 

At the time of the ending of the 1,260 years of the little horn in 1798, there was an awakening of interest in the study of the prophecies in general, and especially of Daniel; further, there was an unprecedented spreading of the Word of God to the far corners of the earth.

 

Note – The Religious Tract Society of London was organized in 1799, the British and Foreign Society in 1804, The American bible Society in 1816, and the American Tract Society in 1825. The Bible has been translated into more than 1,000 languages and dialects. To all parts of the globe have gone forth hundreds of millions of copies of the Scriptures, and countless pages of tracts, pamphlets, and religious papers disseminating knowledge of the truths of salvation. It was at this time that Protestant Christians began an era of foreign mission work that has taken missionaries to almost every country in the world. Here, very soon, the 144,000 servant prophets will be preaching the three angels messages to a dying world and will finish the everlasting gospel message in 1,260 days here in the Great Tribulation.

 

Process of Scientific Knowledge

 

How has scientific knowledge increased along with the increase of knowledge about the Book of Daniel?

 

The technological conditions of human life had changed faster between 1800 and 1919 than in the preceding 2,000 years.

Note – “Suddenly, with the utilization of steam and electricity, more changes were made in technology in two generations than in all the thousands of years of previous human history put together. Wheels and machines turned so fast that man could cover more distances in one day than he used to be able to do in a lifetime.” –Norman Cousins, Modern Man is Obsolete (1945 ed.), pp. 15,16. Reprinted by permission of the Viking Press, Inc., New York.

In 1798 steam-powered machinery was a recent development, gas lighting and the cast iron plow had come in the year before, and electricity was an interesting laboratory experiment. Following are some of the principal inventions and discoveries since 1798 (authorities differ on certain dates):

 

Note – In the Book of Daniel, in a similar way, the four rules in Daniel have been distilled through a careful study and analysis of Daniel’s prophecies. The visions within

Daniel behaves in a predictable way and this behavior allows us to decipher things about this prophecy that we could not otherwise know. For example, here is a consistent behavior that occurs throughout the books of Daniel and Revelation. Each prophecy has a beginning point and an ending point in time, and the events in each prophecy occur in the order in which they are given. This rule may sound very simple, but it has profound ramifications.

Consider the results of violating this self-evident rule. If the events given within each prophecy of Daniel do not occur in their given order, how can the order of events be authoritatively determined? This question brings up an even greater question. Does the Bible speak for itself or must it have an external interpreter? After many years of study on this question, I conclude the Bible stands alone. It speaks for itself and the Bible is its own interpreter. The constant and predictable architecture within Daniel’s prophecies is the basis for Rule One. Putting this rule in my words, the rule is: Each apocalyptic prophecy has a beginning point and an ending point in time and the events within each prophecy must occur in the order they are given. Keep in mind; I did not invent this rule. Rather, I am expressing a self-evident behavior that recurs without exception throughout the book of Daniel (as well as Revelation). The four rules embedded within the book of Daniel until the time of the end are:

 

1.      Each apocalyptic prophecy has a beginning and ending point in time and the events within each prophecy must occur in the order they are given.

2.      A fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecy occurs when all the specifications within that prophecy are met. This includes the order of events outlined in the prophecy.

3.      Apocalyptic language can be literal, symbolic or analogous. To reach the intended meaning of a prophecy, the Bible student must consider: (a) the context, (b) the use of parallel language in the Bible, and (c) relevant statements in the Bible that define that symbol if an element is thought to be symbolic.

4.      God measures apocalyptic time in two ways: (a) a day for a year, and (b) as literal time. The presence or absence of the Jubilee calendar determines how God measures time.

 

What are other marks of a new era in “The time of the end”?

 

Unprecedented political, religious and intellectual freedom, education of the masses, movements of populations, changing of old ideas.

 

Note – By 1798 there had already begun a series of revolutions “in Western culture which continued into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and which partly swept away the existing order and brought in a new era. The French Revolution with its profound repercussions in Europe and the revolutions in the Americas that both preceded and succeeded it ushered in a new political order. Republics were set up which aspired to be democratic and more popular representation in government was forced upon the remaining monarchs…. The Industrial Revolution inaugurated the age off the machine. Wealth and population rapidly mounted. Cities mushroomed almost overnight. The commerce of the Accident penetrated to every inhabited country of the globe.” –Kenneth Scott Latourette, The Christian Outlook (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1948), pp. 55, 56.  

 

For what do all these changes pave the way?

 

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14 

 

Note – Technology has given man the ability with TV, Internet, and Satellite to carry the gospel message to the world, but the message has stalled and still over half the population in the world has never heard the name Jesus. During the Great Tribulation, God’s 144,000 prophet servants will finish the gospel message in 1,260 days, not a feat of man but with God alone gets all the glory for finishing the Plan of Salvation and ending the sin problem in the universe. Praise the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.           

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