Korchynsky, a former leader of an ultra-nationalist party and a devout Orthodox Christian, wants to create a Christian “Taliban” to reclaim eastern Ukraine as well as Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. He isn’t going to give up his quest lightly.

“I would like Ukraine to lead the crusades,” said Korchynsky, whose battalion’s name is Saint Mary. “Our mission is not only to kick out the occupiers, but also revenge. Moscow must burn.”

Source: Special Report: Ukraine struggles to control maverick battalions | Reuters

I must say that this report shocked me. Perhaps I think with such a Western mindset that I couldn’t imagine that Daniel 7:21-22 could actually be fulfilled, literally, by “Crusaders.” Western nations doing battle against an antichrist force, yes, but not followers of the Only Begotten. Here are the NAS and NIV translations of Daniel 7:21-22 where hints of literal fulfillment are found:

I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them
until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. –Dan 7:21-22 (NASB) (Emphasis mine)

As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them,
until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. — Daniel 7:21-22 (NIV)

The NIV translates the Hebrew word “qaddish” as “holy people,”1 and the NAS translates it as “saints.” The phrase “holy people” often times refers to the Jews (Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2, Isaiah 63:18 NAS) and rarely does it, if ever, refer to Christians (possibly, Isaiah 62:11-12 NASB). The NIV in Daniel 7:21 adds the word “people” to the translation since the Hebrew word is plural. However, the Hebrew word “am,” translated as “people” is not in the original text.2 This means that the NAS translation is more faithful to the original text and that “saints,” interpreted (by me) as Christians, are a distinct group from “holy people,” i.e., Jews. This view is supported by Daniel 7:18 which prophesies that after the four empires have run their course, the earthly empire that survives are the “holy ones,” that is, the people of God through faith in Jesus Christ (which will include Christians and Jews who have come to Christ. Zechariah 12:10 NASB).

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Patrick Maxwell, right, with Sheikh Jaafar Mustafa, center, the former Kurdish regional government minister responsible for the pesh merga, and Dillon Hillier of Canada, a fellow foreign volunteer. “We both thought it was important to help,” Mr. Hillier said.

If Christian militias are forming in the Ukraine to combat Russian forces, how long will it be before the same takes place around the world? I was watching the news last week and there was a report of a former military person who served in Iraq who had observed ISIS retaking areas around Fallujah, a place U.S. forces had liberated. This man had been a part of the liberating forces. The report concluded with the man stating he was headed back to Iraq as a volunteer to fight ISIS for the sake of his young sons. He didn’t want them to have to fight ISIS one day, and if ISIS is not stopped now, his son might have to. A New York Times article repeats a similar story, but with different people, and for different reasons. Read more.

I suppose that the most difficult thing to read in Bible prophecy is that the “saints are overpowered, worn down, or overcome.”  They are never victorius — until the return of the Ancient of Days, our Lord Jesus Christ (Daniel 7:21, 25 NASB; Revelation 13:7-8 NASB; Daniel 7:18, 22 NASB).

Jesus come quickly.

Blessings.

Jack

 

  1. BDB Lexicon (Full), electronic version with BibleWorks 9 [↩]
  2. In Daniel 7:18, the four empires have run their course, “the saints [lit., “the holy ones”] of the Most High will receive” the kingdom of God and possess it “forever—yes, for ever and ever. The word is plural, hence “holy ones. …” Miller, S. R. (1994). Daniel (Vol. 18, p. 211). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. [↩]

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