Shattering the Power of the Holy People

 

Daniel 12:7 AMP  And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right and his left hand toward the heavens and swore by Him Who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half a time [or three and one-half years]; and when they have made an end of shattering and crushing the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

 

What does this mean?  Who are the holy people?  And why does the wrap-up of the end of the age depend on this?

The holy people, I believe, are just us ordinary Christians who believe and follow Jesus in the last three and one-half years of the age.   No one is holy without Jesus living in them.  It is those who follow Jesus who are turned over to the beast in Revelation 13:7, and he is given authority to crush them.

God's plan is to allow his church to be crushed for His redemptive end-time purposes. Paul said, "We are as sheep to be slaughtered." The martyrs of the fifth seal are told to wait until the "rest" of their brethren are killed. God has a quota that He intends to fill of martyred believers in Jesus. The beast of the fourth seal is given authority to kill one-fourth of the earth’s population.  We can expect a billion or more Christian martyrs.  Remember, Jesus said that if He would not return and stop the turmoil, no life would remain.  The church at the end of the age will look every bit as shattered and defeated as Jesus looked hanging on the cross.  Can we receive that?  Can we understand what God is doing here?

It seems God is going to demonstrate His wisdom of the cross through the corporate body of His church even as He demonstrated it through the individual body of His Son 2000 years ago. That's what it's going to mean to follow Jesus at the end of the age. That's why Jesus said many would fall away and that's why He warned us of these things before they happen so that we would not stumble.

God's purpose in doing this is to demonstrate His wisdom of the cross through the church to the heavenly powers and authorities (Ephesians 3:8-12).  It is the reason He created all things and His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. (awesome is the appropriate word!)

It is a glorious destiny not to be feared or avoided.  We can already see the joy of eternity beyond the great tribulation, even as Jesus saw the joy beyond the cross.  

Unfortunately, not many sense this glorious and challenging vision for the church. The Bible says that without vision, people perish. I fear that the lack of teaching in this area coupled with the popular "early out" rapture teachings are setting the church up for a hard awakening when the events that Jesus predicted come upon us.

It is my call to sound this warning. There's nothing new in what I'm saying, it's just repeating what Jesus said.  But the enemy has blinded our eyes to what Jesus said. Jesus' first warning concerning the end times was to beware of deception. So we know the devil is hard at work deceiving. 

For those further interested, the parent website has a free on-line book and other articles devoted to restoring this end-times vision of the church as Jesus taught it.