Chp.31 - The Power Of The Second Advent

“But if so great a power is shown to have followed and to be still following the dispensation of His suffering, how great shall that be which shall follow His glorious advent! For He shall come on the clouds as the Son of man, so Daniel foretold, and His angels shall come with Him." Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 209). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Justin draws our attention to the current dispensation of suffering. By this, the earthly body of Christ walks in the steps and pattern of the Lord's first advent according to Isaiah 53, the suffering servant:

Isaiah 53:1–12 (NKJV) 1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors. Justin has been laboring to show that this Jesus of Nazareth is who the prophets foretold would save Israel from her sins. He has carefully made the argument that Israel remains uncircumcised in heart, and still Trypho questions the validity of the new commandment according to the way of Christ. But even Moses spoke of the future of Israel which currently exposes the nation's hardness of heart: Deuteronomy 30:6 (NKJV) 6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. This was the promise to Israel when she calls upon the Lord out of a pure heart. It wasn't a promise to Israel's immediate rebellious children, but only for those children who would abide in the pattern of the Word of Yahweh. Therefore in the fulfillment of the prophesies, concerning the Son of Man, Israel was taken captive to do the devil's will in her rejection of His visitation. So Justin makes Trypho aware of the second advent by which He comes not to serve nor to suffer but to judge the living and the dead. Only those who have a part in the first resurrection have the circumcision of the heart which will avoid the eternal death that comes upon the whole world. Justin quotes Daniel's prophesy to speak of this final judgment:

Daniel 7:9–28 (Brenton LXX En) 9 I beheld until the thrones were set, and the Ancient of days sat; and his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head as pure wool: his throne was a flame of fire, and his wheels burning fire. 10 A stream of fire rushed forth before him: thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousands of myriads attended upon him: the judgment sat, and the books were opened. 11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke, until the wild beast was slain and destroyed, and his body given to be burnt with fire. 12 And the dominion of the rest of the wild beasts was taken away; but a prolonging of life was given them for certain times. 13 I beheld in the night vision, and, lo, one coming with the clouds of heaven as the Son of man, and he came on to the Ancient of days, and was brought near to him. It continued to be made known to me by the revelations of the night watch, lo and beholding together with the clouds of the heavenlies, like a son of man he comes as the Ancient of days, until that which precedes him is brought under his reign. (MAST) Breaking in here on Daniels prophesy is, in my opinion, a better rendering of verse 13 in the translation I made above. Sparing you how I came to this interpretation and translation, it flows more reasonably with the entirety of Daniel's context [see vs.21]. Daniel speaks of a kingdom that is preserved out of four previous kingdoms by which the world is subjected to this last beast. This beast excels above all the other beasts in created power and authority (vs.19,23). But Daniel wants the earthly saints to have hope in the Ancient of days, for he intervenes and destroys the authority that the beasts of the earth created for themselves, and gives authority to the saints who have been seated with him in the heavenly places (Eph.1:20-21;2:6). But this kingdom of heaven does not come before the tribulation of those saints (vs.25). They must suffer in the image of the suffering servant of Isaiah's prophesy. After this, they come in the image and with the Ancient of days to subdue this final beast, and the kingdoms that he made for himself will be plundered and given to the glorified saints of the Most High, to serve the mobile throne of the glory of the Ancient of days (vs.9). Upon wheels of fire the gospel will go forth unhindered to every dominion and secluded tribe of the earth. The deception of the serpent will be chained in darkness and his light will be sealed and bound to the realm of the dead, reserved for judgment (Rev.20). After this time, these are the books that will be opened and the sentence of his judgment will be established forever (vs.10). 14 And to him was given the dominion, and the honour, and the kingdom; and all nations, tribes, and languages, shall serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed. 15 As for me Daniel, my spirit in my body trembled, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16 And I drew near to one of them that stood by, and I sought to learn of him the truth of all these things: and he told me the truth, and made known to me the interpretation of the things. 17 These four beasts are four kingdoms that shall rise up on the earth: 18 which shall be taken away; and the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess it for ever and ever. 19 Then I enquired carefully concerning the fourth beast; for it differed from every other beast, exceeding dreadful: its teeth were of iron, and its claws of brass, devouring, and utterly breaking to pieces, and it trampled the remainder with its feet: 20 and concerning its ten horns that were in its head, and the other that came up, and rooted up some of the former, which had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and his look was bolder than the rest. 21 I beheld, and that horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22 until the Ancient of days came, and he gave judgment to the saints of the Most High; **and the time came on**, and the saints possessed the kingdom. 23 And he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on the earth, which shall excel all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and trample and destroy it. 24 And his ten horns are ten kings that shall arise: and after them shall arise another, who shall exceed all the former ones in wickedness, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change times and law: and power shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. 26 And the judgment has sat, and they shall remove his dominion to abolish it, and to destroy it utterly. 27 And the kingdom and the power and the greatness of the kings that are under the whole heaven were given to the saints of the Most High; and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all powers shall serve and obey him. 28 Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance was changed: but I kept the matter in my heart. Justin quotes Daniel to make Trypho aware of what troubled Daniel in this vision. The thought of the suffering of the saints and the torments of the wicked plagued Daniel in the night watch, as he witnessed Israel in her captivity in Babylon and Persia through out his own generations. This vision was Daniel's gospel and where he found his peace; for the Ancient of days will come in the glorious order and restore Israel to the glory Yahweh has chosen for her! This, too, was Justin's hope, for he calls Trypho to behold the more glorious order God has chosen for those who are circumcised in heart and mind toward the everlasting gospel and the living triune nature of God. In verse 21 Daniel speaks of a certain " time came [brought] on" by the arrival of the Ancient of days, which is later defined by John's revelation concerning a literal thousand year reign of this glorified earthly kingdom (Rev.20). But this kingdom is not made up of those circumcised in the flesh, but of those whose glory is of the truth and is not defiled by the lie of the serpent: Revelation 21:9–11 (NKJV) 9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Revelation 21:22–27 (NKJV) 22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Revelation 22:1–5 (NKJV) 1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. The saints of this kingdom bring healing to the nations that have been plagued through the wrath of the Lamb in the final hour. These saints rule from heaven "on the plagued earth" to restore glory and order. They also rule out of a perfected future of a new heaven and a new earth; for the restoration and the regeneration of this present earth must come before the old order is destroyed (Matt.19:28;Acts 1:6-7;3:19,21;Rev.21:1;Isa.66:22;2Pet.3:13). The reason the old order must not be destroyed is because the gospel must go into every tribe, nation and tongue to redeem the elect of God according to His eternal decree; and has established the literal nation of Israel as a earthly sign of the old order to that eternal promise of the new order:

Jeremiah 31:31–40 (NKJV) 31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” 35 Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): 36 “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.” 37 Thus says the Lord: “If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the Lord. 38 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the Lord—from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”