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What the Bible says about Humanistic Propaganda
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Daniel 12:7

Who are the "holy people" in this verse? Are they the church of God? If so, what is their power that is completely shattered right before the end?

I Peter 2:9 could back up the interpretation that the "holy people" are the church of God: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people . . ." (emphasis ours throughout). However, the church is not the only group of people whom God has declared holy. Ancient Israel was also designated by God to be holy:

  • For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2)

  • Also today the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken. (Deuteronomy 26:18-19)

Israel was holy, not because of their purity of conduct or irreproachable morality—far from it—but because God declared them to be so. They were holy in the sense of being set apart—not because of any inherent goodness but because of the oath that God swore to their fathers (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). Therefore, while the Israelite nations at this end time are not holy in their conduct, they are still holy in that God has set them apart to fulfill a purpose.

Notice that Daniel 12:7 does not say that the people are shattered, but that their power is shattered. If we interpret the holy people to be Israel in general, their power would be representative of their political clout, military ascendancy, financial control, and cultural influence. The Hebrew word translated here as "power" is elsewhere translated predominately as "hand," indicating the means or agency by which something is accomplished. It is easy to understand a prophecy about the "hand"—strength, effectiveness, means, capabilities—of the nations of Israel being completely shattered before the end, for many such prophecies are well-known.

But what would the "power" of the church be? Because of the church's overriding focus in times past on preaching the gospel to the world, we would typically answer that the power of the church is related to its effectiveness in preaching the gospel. However, notice Acts 1:8:

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Similarly, Paul tells Timothy that Christians have not been given "a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (II Timothy 1:7). When these two verses are put together, they show that it is the Holy Spirit—the essence of God's mind, and the agency by which the Father and the Son live in the Christian—that is the "power of the holy people" where the church is concerned. More specifically, the church's power is God Himself, the Source of that Spirit. Jesus even tells His disciples that "all power" had been given to Him in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

In recent church history, God empowered His servants to preach the gospel in a way that had not been done for 1,900 years. But to limit the church's power merely to its ability to preach publicly is to limit God Himself—for He is involved in far more than merely making a witness to the world before the end (Matthew 24:14). His work is centered on true belief (John 6:29)—which begins with the prodding of the Holy Spirit and ends in the regenerated Christian inheriting the Kingdom of God. This work requires much more than a public witness; it requires the transformation of individuals from sinful humans to spirit-composed members of the God Family. The means—the power—of that transformation is God, through the agency of His Spirit.

If the church's power—Jesus Christ, living in us by His Spirit—were ever "completely shattered," the gates of the grave would prevail against the church, and God's purpose would fail! But we know that cannot be so. Even though it is prophesied that the "holy" peoples of Israel will fall, and even though the church of God may not always preach the gospel powerfully to the world—depending on what God is doing at any point in time—we can have every confidence that the power of the New Covenant church will never be shattered, for that power is God Himself!

In general, the book of Daniel contains prophecies of world-ruling empires that are mentioned only as they encounter Israel. The "holy people" of Daniel 12:7 could just as easily represent the nations of Israel, and the fact that their "power" can be shattered strongly implies that God's power is not under discussion. Defining the power of God's church as "shatterable" reveals a humanist bent, as it assigns importance based on corruptible human action rather than the will and outworking of the unassailable Head of the church. In fact, such an inclination on our part may have been part of the cause of the church's scattering in the first place!

Jesus Christ will lead and sustain His church—in that we can, and must, trust.

David C. Grabbe
The Power of the Holy People

Romans 1:18-22

Statistics show that the more education an American citizen has, the more likely he will support such human perversions as abortion and homosexuality. How can this be? These perverse activities have been repeatedly proven to be destructive. Simple logic suggests that the more educated and informed a person is about homicidal or suicidal behaviors and lifestyles, the more he resists supporting and condoning such actions. But these "well-educated" people who support self-destructive perversions are swallowing the lies of self-serving teachers. They have not honestly pursued truth in their endeavors to learn!

According to data provided by The Gallop Organization regarding attitudes toward abortion always being legal in the U.S., the higher the education a person receives, the more pro-abortion he is. Concerning attitudes toward the legality of homosexual relations, the more institutionally educated a person is, the more pro-homosexual he is.

Could it be that these institutions of higher learning are not teaching people the truth? Would academia wave the banner of knowledge and wisdom, yet flagrantly and consistently lie to its disciples? Obviously, the answer is yes! They are distorting the facts of life to promote their agenda, and their students love to hear their lies.

For the most part, teachers of higher education choose to ignore proofs of the existence and sovereignty of God, instead willingly embracing and promoting unsubstantiated and untrue knowledge. This enmity toward God by the academic community has produced tainted fruit on a grand scale. Mental and physical anguish are the real fruit of such perverted human activities as abortion and homosexuality.

Paul explains to the church of God in Rome about this same attitude existing in his day. Its origin is the rejection of God as the only reliable source of truth. Truth is only obtainable through a relationship with God. Teachers are duty-bound to teach truth, yet many neglect this responsibility, teaching "alternate lifestyles," evolution, and tolerance of sin because they have little or no relationship with their Creator. King Solomon, the wisest of the wise taught,

For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked. (Proverbs 2:6-14)

Truth and wisdom are viewed in this world as major liabilities to the successful pursuit of the lusts of the flesh. Most TV programs and major motion pictures promote lying as an acceptable way to not "hurt" someone's feelings, to "get out of" a scrape, or to "protect" someone from mental anguish. In reality—in truth—lying breaks the ninth commandment, and therefore lying is sin, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Lying always does harm, only tangles the web, and does nothing to protect anyone.

Public education today is a tool used by those who reject truth to promote their own agenda on a massive scale. Most higher education seeks to re-educate its disciples with false, humanistic propaganda. Maybe it is time more parents take the education of their own children into their own hands and teach truth whose source is the God of the universe.

Martin G. Collins
What's With Education Today?


 




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