SRR #81 | Jesus and the Feet of Nebuchadnezzars Statue

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The Battle Over Justification by Faith Alone

The anathema of God was for those who denied justification by faith alone. When that is at stake, we need to be on the battlefield, exposing the air and combating the air.

We are unabashedly, unashamedly Clarkian. And so the next few statements that I'm going to make, I'm probably going to step on all of the Vantillian toes at the same time. And this is what we do at Simple Riff around the radio, you know.

We are polemical and polarizing Jesus style.

I would first say that to characterize what we do as bashing is itself bashing. It's not hate. It's history. It's not bashing. It's the Bible.

Jesus said, Woe to you when men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way, as opposed to blessed are you when you have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

It is on. We're taking the gloves off. It's time to battle.

Daniel's Seventy Weeks and the Destruction of Jerusalem

In this episode of Simple Riff around the radio, Timothy Kaufman walks us through the implications of a fulfillment of Daniel's 70th week during the Greek Empire and its implications for Jesus's prophecy in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.

When viewed under the rubric of a Danielic timeline, it becomes apparent that Jesus indicated that the destruction of Jerusalem would take place during the period of the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's statue in Daniel chapter 2, exactly when Daniel said the kingdom would be given to the saints and precisely the time when Jesus said it would be taken away from the Jews and given to the Gentiles.

He also discusses the apostolic exhortations regarding the day of the Lord that was said to be within one generation and the day of the Lord that was to happen in the distant future. For more, here's Tim.

Hey, thank you, Tim. I appreciate that. It's good to be back. I hope everybody enjoyed our last episode. We left off with a pretty important question and we're going to get to that today. But it is certainly good to be back and we appreciate everybody's patience.

In our last episode, we concluded our study of the 70 weeks of Daniel with special focus on the time periods related to that 70th week, including the 2 ,300 evenings and mornings, the time times and a half, the 1 ,290 days, as well as the 1 ,335 days.

In our concluding remarks, we show that Jesus' reference to the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet in Matthew 24, 15 and Mark 13, 14 was not a reference to the future fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, but rather to its past fulfillment under the Greek empire.

By understanding that past fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, that is, Antiochus IV placing the statue of Jupiter in the sanctuary in 167 BC, we are able to understand Jesus' prophecy that the same abomination, the statue of Jupiter, would return to Israel as a harbinger of doom for Judea.

Ten years after Jesus' prophecy, Gaius Caligula, emperor of Rome, commanded that statues of Jupiter be placed in all the temples of the empire, and those statues were shipped to Israel in 40 AD. As we mentioned last week, what is translated as the holy place in Matthew 24, 15 is actually missing the definite article in the Greek and is more properly rendered a holy place or unholy ground.

For such a reference as that, all of Israel qualifies and is a place where an idol ought not be. According to Mark 13, 14, neither Matthew nor Mark actually refer to the holy place when they quote Jesus' words.

Our point in all of this, and in fact the namesake of our series on the Danielic imperative, is that the Lord established a timeline in Daniel, and it is imperative that we understand that timeline in order to understand the eschatology of Jesus and his apostles.

As we showed in our analysis of Daniel 11, the abomination of desolation took place in the latter part of the Seleucid Empire, one of the four successor empires of Alexander the Great, something that is confirmed by Daniel 8 as well.

Once it is understood that the abomination of desolation was erected under the Greek Empire, the meaning of Daniel 9 becomes clear as well, since its conclusion is the removal of the abomination and the restoration of lawful mosaic sacrifices on the altar in the sanctuary in the final episode of the Lord's punishment of the Jews under the Leviticus 26 protocol, initiated under Jeremiah's preaching as a 70-year punishment, and then expanded sevenfold by Gabriel in the period of Daniel's prophetic ministry.

Understanding when the 70th week occurred and being able to place it in the Greek Empire where it belongs and identifying the abomination itself helps us understand Jesus' words when he said that his listeners would see that abomination of desolation again, and very soon.

It happened in ten years, and the prophesied decline of Judea followed upon its arrival, ultimately leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. When we left off last week, we recounted the many fulfillments of prophecies made by Jesus, Peter's denial, his own death and resurrection, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the coming of false Christs and miracle workers, wars, famines, earthquakes, the surrounding of Jerusalem by armies, and its ultimate destruction.

All this was prophesied to happen within that generation. We left our listeners with a question last week about what else was supposed to happen within that generation, and we asked it with Daniel's timeline in mind, because Jesus himself told us these things with Daniel's timeline in mind.

In fact, when Jesus told his listeners to watch for these things to happen, he said, So likewise, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled.

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. Now at first this might seem to be a curious statement from Jesus. He said, When ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, that's Luke 21 20, and about to be destroyed, and its inhabitants fall by the edge of the sword, and are led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

That's Luke 21 24. He then said, Know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. I say that it might seem curious, because it is traditionally assumed that the kingdom Jesus came announcing was already at hand, and thus had arrived with Christ's birth, or at the latest with his ascension.

John the Baptist began his ministry by saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's Matthew 3 2. And when John was killed, Jesus began preaching, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

That's Matthew 4 17. And he taught his disciples to go about preaching, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's Matthew 10 17. When Jesus authorized the 70 to go about to the cities healing the sick, he said, And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

That's Luke 10 9. What they were saying was, Repent, for the kingdom of God is almost here. It was near at Christ's birth. It was near when John the Baptist went about preaching. It was near when Jesus went about preaching.

It was near when the 70 went about preaching. It was near when Jesus died, rose, and ascended to his Father. It was near as the apostles went out to the nations to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.

And it was still near when Jerusalem was surrounded with armies. Except by then, it was very near, as Mark 13 29 says. When you shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

By then, the kingdom of God was so near that it was on their very doorstep. So why would Jesus say that by 67 AD, when Jerusalem would be surrounded by soldiers, and on the verge of destruction, that the kingdom of God was still only near and at the doorstep, but still had not arrived?

What was Jesus talking about? The answer is in the Danielic timeline. So now we will turn to the two chapters of Daniel that we have not spent a lot of time on yet, chapter 2 and chapter 7. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream in which he saw four successive empires depicted in the form of a statue.

A head of gold, which was the kingdom of Babylon, a chest and arms of silver, which was the Medo-Persian Empire, a belly and thighs of bronze, which was the Greek Empire, and legs of iron, which was the Roman Empire.

That fourth empire at some point became weak as iron mixed with clay, and then ultimately is broken into fragments or toes. But what is most notable to us is that it is in the period of the feet that the stone strikes the statue, and Daniel teaches us that the meaning of the stone is that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom and give it to the saints.

Referring to the period of the feet of iron and clay, Daniel writes, Thou saw'st till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them to pieces.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away that no place was found for them.

And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. That's Daniel 2, 34 -35. His interpretation of that is in Daniel 2, 44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.

And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. So it is during the fourth empire that the God of heaven would set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and would never be left to another people.

Notably, in Daniel 7, when the narrator is explaining to Daniel the significance of the four successive beasts, he says pretty much the same thing. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. That's Daniel 7, 17 -18. So twice in the book of Daniel, that is Daniel 2, 44, and in Daniel 7, 17 -18, we are told that after four kingdoms arise out of the earth, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman, God would set up a kingdom, and that the saints of God would receive it.

The key here is that it was supposed to happen during the fourth empire, and in particular, in the period of the feet of the fourth empire, as depicted in Daniel 2. Anyone who'd been paying attention in Jesus' day knew that something was about to happen.

The kingdom of God was supposed to be set up during the fourth empire, and the fourth empire was now upon them. This is the time they were waiting for. That is why everyone kept asking Jesus when he was going to set up his kingdom, and kept trying to make him king.

Luke 19, 11 says, John 6, 15. Acts 1, 6 -7 Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And this is where Jesus appealed to the Danielic timeline. They were allowed to know a general sequence, but not the specific details of the times or the seasons, but to help people understand that the kingdom of God that was to be set up in the fourth empire was a heavenly kingdom, not an earthly one, and further, that it was not going to be set up until the period of the feet, and the period of feet had not yet come.

Jesus alluded to Nebuchadnezzar's statue from Daniel chapter 2. The period of the feet was near, and because the period of the feet was near, so was that heavenly kingdom so eagerly anticipated by God's people.

So how did Jesus appeal to the Danielic timeline? He did so in his parables when he spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem and placed it in the period of the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's statue. That is when the heavenly kingdom would be set up, and that is when the kingdom would be taken away from the Jews and given to the Gentiles.

Let's just walk through his parables to see what Jesus was talking about. On one occasion, Jesus spoke of that kingdom in terms of the Lord of the vineyard. In the parable, the tenants of the vineyard caught the husbandman's son, cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

That's Matthew 21, 33 -39. Jesus asked the Jews what the Lord of the vineyard would therefore do to them when he cometh, and they answered, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

Jesus affirmed their interpretation and responded, Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. That's Matthew 21, 42 -43.

On another occasion, using a similar parable, Jesus spoke of a king preparing a wedding banquet for his son. Instead of planning for the wedding, those who were invited made light of it, abused his servants, and treated them spitefully and slew them.

That's Matthew 22, 2 -6. How was the king to respond to such disrespect? Jesus tells us in Matthew 22, 7. When the king heard thereof, he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burnt up their city.

As the parable concludes, the invitation is extended to others, and the original guests are rejected. That's Matthew 22, 8 -14. In yet another parable about the kingdom, Jesus speaks of taking a possession away from an unfruitful servant and giving it to the fruitful one.

For the unfruitful servant had said, We will not have this man to reign over us. That's Luke 19, 14. What was the nobleman to do with such an insolent citizenry? Jesus tells us, But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me.

Luke 19, 27. At another time, Jesus addresses the scribes and Pharisees, commanding them to fill ye up the measure of your fathers. That's Matthew 23, 32. That's a term describing the accrual of sins for a day of judgment, as in Genesis 15, 16 and Romans 2, 5.

He told them they would persecute, scourge, and crucify the prophets who he himself would send them, according to Matthew 23, 34, so that the prophecy would be fulfilled, and the end result would be that their house would be left to them desolate.

This is what Jesus said in Matthew 23, 37 -38, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. So, with those parables in mind, let us ask some questions. The Jews are the husbandmen of the vineyard, the unfruitful servants, who refused to come to the wedding, who abused the Lord's servants, the prophets, and treated them spitefully, and slew them, and killed his son as well.

So, when did the Lord of the vineyard miserably destroy those wicked men? When did the king destroy those murderers and burn up their city? When did the noblemen slay those who would not receive him as king?

When was their house desolated? When was the kingdom taken away from the Jews and given to another nation? Surely none of these things had happened in Jesus' earthly lifetime, and none of them happened in the three decades immediately following his death and ascension.

The answer to all these questions is 70 A .D. Jesus would wait until 70 A .D. for them to fill up the measure of their fathers, then he would burn their city and destroy those wicked men who would not that I should reign over them.

And it is then that he would desolate their house. It was in the destruction of Jerusalem that the kingdom was taken away, the house was left to them desolate, the vineyard was taken away from the Jews and given to another nation.

As Jesus had warned, When ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. That's Luke 21. Within one generation the time would come when the kingdom would be taken away and that time would be visibly apparent to anyone who was paying attention.

The time to take the kingdom away from the Jews to set up a heavenly kingdom to be given to the Gentiles was fast approaching, a kingdom transfer that Daniel had long ago foreseen in Daniel 2. Consistent with Daniel, Jesus places these events in the period of the iron and clay feet of Nebuchadnezzar's statue.

Notice that in the context of these parables about taking the kingdom away from the Jews and giving it to a more fruitful nation, Jesus identifies himself as the stone and then uses the imagery of Daniel 2, 34 -35 to explain when these events would occur.

They would occur during the period of the feet and that period was not far off. Here is Jesus' conclusion on the parable of the unfruitful husbandmen in Matthew 21. Jesus says the same thing in Luke 20 in the same context.

That last sentence is nothing other than a reference to Daniel 2, 34 -35, the impact of that stone that smote the image. Nowhere else in scripture but in Daniel 2 is such imagery of a stone breaking something upon impact by striking the feet, which would cause someone to stumble and fall, and then grinding it to dust by falling on it.

Someone falls upon a stone when they trip over it as it strikes their feet and Jesus says this in the context of himself being the chief cornerstone and the lord of the vineyard coming to destroy these husbandmen and give the vineyard to others.

And invokes Daniel 2, 34 -35 to explain it. He appeals to the period of the iron and clay feet, the very point at which Daniel describes the new kingdom being set up and given to the saints. Jesus' use of such plainly Danielic imagery in the context of a statement that the kingdom would be taken away from the Jews and given to another nation is simply a restatement of Daniel's prophecy that in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people.

That's Daniel 2, 44. What was to be taken away from the Jews and given to the saints of God would never be taken away again according to Daniel 7, 18 and would never be given to another people according to Daniel 2, 44.

By the use of such imagery Jesus has identified the destruction of Jerusalem with the transfer of the kingdom and has clearly identified the purpose of his coming within one generation to destroy Jerusalem and her inhabitants and take the kingdom away from the Jews and give it to the Gentiles.

That is why he warned his people to leave Judea and not return. He was coming back within one generation and would do so visibly for the express purpose of taking the kingdom from the Jews and this is precisely when he would set up the kingdom of heaven and give it to the saints.

That is why Jesus said, Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. In Luke 12, 32. All of this points us to the period of the feat of Nebuchadnezzar's statue during which the God of heaven would set up a kingdom that would be given to the saints and never taken away.

Thus the time that was approaching but had not yet come in Jesus' day was the transition from legs of iron to feet of iron and clay. Clearly Jesus had made the prophecy during the period of the iron legs and clearly the fulfillment would take place only after the iron period was over just as Daniel had prophesied.

That transition from the legs of iron to the feet of iron and clay is simply one of the most eagerly anticipated events in all of eschatology because of all that was supposed to happen during the period of the feat.

But Christ's heavenly kingdom is not all that was supposed to happen. During the feat there was something else, something terrible that was going to happen during the period of the toes of the feet and that was the rise of the most diabolical kingdom of all which incorporated all the worst elements of all the preceding empires and that is the kingdom of the little horn of Daniel 7.

That was coming too and that would be happening in the period of the feet as well and specifically in the period of the toes of the feet and we must not overlook that aspect of the Danielic timeline. There was indeed a heavenly kingdom to be set up during the period of the feet according to Daniel 2 .44 and then there was an earthly kingdom of the little horn that must come during the period of the toes and the horns according to Daniel 7 .8 and 25.

It is that kingdom of which the saints were warned and instructed to avoid. Only after the rise and reign of the man of sin, the son of perdition, does Christ return to smite the nations according to Revelation 19 .15 and to cast the beast and the false prophet alive into the lake of fire according to Revelation 19 .20.

Only then is an earthly kingdom given to the saints that is, after the judgment against the little horn. Only then will the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven be given to the people of the saints of the Most High according to Daniel 7 .26 -27 and we note that that is when the saints receive an earthly kingdom under the whole heaven, not until after the judgment against the little horn.

That is the time depicted in Revelation 11 when the last angel sounds his trumpet and voices in heaven say the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever according to Revelation 11 .15 and the 24 elders say, thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets and to the saints and them that fear thy name, small and great and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth, Revelation 11 .18.

This is something that does not happen until after the beast and false prophet of Revelation 13 are judged and cast into the lake of fire and in fact, the reward promised is to those who had not worshipped the beast neither his image nor had received his mark upon their foreheads according to Revelation 24.

It is the time of the first resurrection and to emphasize our point, it comes after the period of the toes because the beast, the wicked one, the man of sin, the son of perdition and therefore the false prophet with him do not emerge until the period of toes and this is why the period of the feet is so important in the Danielic chronology.

Three kingdoms are in mind. First, Christ's heavenly kingdom that we were to know was almost here when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies in the first century that was when Christ was to return visibly to judge Israel and destroy Jerusalem.

The heavenly kingdom of God was to come in the period of the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's statue. Second, the earthly kingdom of the little horn who would come during the period of the toes of Daniel 2 and the horns of Daniel 7 would be the successor to the Roman Empire and would be an empire of wickedness and evil.

It was to be the period of the beast and the false prophet of Revelation 13. Third, Christ would return to smite the nations and judge the beast and false prophet and cast them alive into the lake of fire.

It would also be the time of the first resurrection. After that comes the period of a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. That's Revelation 21 .1. As we discuss these kingdoms it is important to note that Jesus did not say he was returning within one generation to sit on his throne of glory for the final judgment of all the nations of the whole world.

He only said that he was coming within one generation to judge Israel and destroy the city and all the Jews who would not have him reign over them who had refused the invitation to the wedding banquet.

It is only later, as in Matthew 25 that Jesus will come to sit on the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations for judgment. That's Matthew 25, 31 -32. When he speaks this way of judging all nations he is not referring to events that took place within one generation but when he speaks of events that take place within one generation he limits them to his judgment of Israel just as he spoke in the parables.

Now we find the same order and time frame in the teachings of the apostles when they speak of the day of the Lord. In keeping with Christ's teachings some of the apostolic admonitions and exhortations about the day of the Lord focus on Christ's return soon to punish the Jews and transfer the kingdom to the Gentiles.

That day of the Lord was nigh, according to James and John. But other apostolic admonitions and exhortations about the day of the Lord focus on his return to smite the beast and the wicked one the little horn of Daniel 7 and on the resurrection and the new heavens and the new earth.

That day of the Lord was not soon, according to Peter and Paul. So let's look at how James and John speak of Christ's immediate return. When James speaks of Christ's imminent return within the generation he does it in the context of Christ coming to punish the Jews destroy Jerusalem and give the kingdom to a nation more in keeping with the fruits of Christ's heavenly kingdom.

For example, here's what James said of it. This is James 5, verses 7 to 10. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain.

Be ye also patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience.

Notice that James is speaking that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh and he not only uses the same language as Jesus did in Matthew 24 that is, know that it is near even at the doors. In Mark 13, know that it is nigh even at the doors.

In Luke 21, when you see these things come to pass know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. James also uses the same imagery of the fruitful husbandmen as Christ did when explaining that the Jews had not been faithful husbandmen and that he would give the kingdom to other husbandmen who were more fruitful.

He will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. That's Matthew 21, 41. He will come and destroy the husbandmen and will give the vineyard unto others.

That's Mark 12, 9. He shall come and destroy those husbandmen and shall give the vineyard to others. That's Luke 20, 16. James even uses the example of the suffering patience of the prophets to whom Jesus refers when he said that the Jews had mistreated those whom he had sent to them.

James' discussion in chapter 5 is in the same context as Jesus' promise in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 to return within one generation to destroy Jerusalem that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee.

When speaking this way the apostolic exhortation from James is that the Lord's coming draweth nigh or draws near but it is only in the context of Jesus coming to destroy Jerusalem and transfer the kingdom to another nation of husbandmen who bear the fruits in their season.

We notice a similar context when John introduces the book of Revelation and says that the time is at hand. That's Revelation 1, 3. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him even so, Amen.

That's Revelation 1, 7. The words for kindreds of the earth is actually literally tribes of the land which is a reference to the nation of Israel not a reference to all the nations of the planet. It is the same language that Jesus used in Matthew 24, 30 when he said, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

That's Matthew 24, 30. Likewise, when John describes the trampling of Jerusalem in Revelation 11 he uses the same language that Jesus did. Jesus said in Luke 21, 24. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

John used the same language. He was describing the same event in Revelation 11, 2. He said. But the court which is without the temple leave out and measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty and two months.

As Jesus said, and John repeats for us these events were near and focused on Jerusalem and the Jews who had rejected Jesus. These apostolic exhortations from James and John about the visible bodily return of Christ on the clouds is always in the context of destroying Jerusalem and the transfer of the kingdom to another nation and always nigh or near or soon just as Jesus said in Matthew 24.

It is not about Jesus setting up an earthly kingdom or gathering the nations before him for judgment. But there are other apostolic exhortations on the day of the Lord and we notice that they have to do with the distant future and final judgment of all nations in the new heavens and the new earth and then only after the rise of Antichrist which is consistent with Jesus' statements in Matthew 25.

When Paul speaks repeatedly of the coming of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians he speaks of the first resurrection as in 1 Thessalonians 4 .16. The dead in Christ shall rise first. This of course is not a reference to Christ's immediate return to smite Jerusalem in the period of the feet but rather to his return to smite the nations after the period of the toes.

Paul himself explained this in his second letter to the Thessalonians where he reminds them that the day of which he had been speaking in his first letter was Christ's return after Antichrist the man of sin is revealed and not before.

This is 1 Thessalonians 2 verses 1 -4. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there be a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God shewing himself that he is God and then picking up in verse 8.