Dr. Samuel M. Frost
In my commentary on Daniel, I noted that the first verse (1:1) and the last verse (12:13) are deliberate bookends that reveal the heart of Daniel’s eschatology. With that, this article will explore the relationship between the two verses.
First, Daniel 1:1 states, “In the third year belonging to the reign of Yehoakim – King of the land of Judah – Nebuchadnezzar – King of the land of Babylon – came to Jerusalem, and he captured it.” 12:13 states, “You (Daniel), keep going until your last breath, and then you will rest. You will stand (again) to your inheritance at the last day.”
The contrast is between the land being lost to Babylon, which is the “inheritance” of Daniel’s people, and Daniel’s having to be “raised from the dead” in order to receive back this inheritance. The point is obvious: the reception of Israel’s inheritance is not truly gained until the true saints of Israel (like Daniel) are raised “unto everlasting life” (Daniel 12:2).
John J. Collins, long regarded as one of the premier experts on Danielic studies, understands that the resurrection in 12:2, 13 forms the conclusion of the entire book, “the last substantive revelation of the book.”[1] As such, the resurrection of the dead is when the saints “would receive dominion over the whole earth.”[2] This last reference for Collins is the final conclusion found in Daniel 7. Apart from Collins’ work, my view, exhausted in my commentary, is that Daniel first sees a shadowy “son of man” inheriting a ”kingdom” (Daniel 7.14) before the presence of the Ancient of Days. Then, at some point unspecified, the saints come to “receive the kingdom forever and ever” (7:18). This is also in 7:27, where they are “given” the same kingdom the “son of man” was given.
Even more conservative works, the explicit mention of resurrection is to be found in 12:13. Philips and Vines comment that, “Daniel would rest in death…he would stand in resurrection. He would receive his lot of inheritance. He would enter into his reward and have his share in the glories yet to come.”[3] We could site several more, but the point is clear.
I want to focus on the lexeme usually translated as “lot.” The Hebrew term is, גורל (goral). The Theodotian Greek (TH) has, κληρος (klεros), which is mostly translated as, “inheritance.” The association between “inheritance” and “lot” is not missed. What is also interesting is that the Jewish translators of the older Greek (LXX) have, δοχα (doxa), which means, “glory.”[4] Daniel would “rise to your [his] glory.”[5] The idea of resurrection in glory to receive and be given the inheritance is connected with no real controversy.
So, what is this goral to be inherited? The term literally means a “lot,” which was casted to determine an outcome. For example, the land was to be divided by “lot” (Numbers 36:2, and several other places). However, since the land was divided by casting the lot, the term itself became synonymous (by metonymy) with inheritance and land.[6] This is particularly brought out in Joshua. With that being said, Daniel is promised that when he dies (goes to his end), he will rest. At some point, in the last day, he will rise again from the dead and be given his destiny in glory: his inheritance that not only belongs to him, but to all the saints of the Most High. Since “land” is so deeply associated with the term, “lot,” we can easily infer that the “land” promised to Israel “forever” is to be given to them through the intervention of God in the resurrection of the dead; receiving a new land inheritance, but nonetheless the same land from which death separates them. It is not heaven that is inherited. Heaven is the place of “rest” until “resurrection.” Heaven, too, is not the “inheritance” ever promised to Daniel’s people: land was. In fact, the land is promised to Abraham, “forever.”
Thus, in conclusion, the first verses of Daniel show that their land is taken away from them, the people of God. This land is their promised inheritance. God has promised them this land “forever,” and that there would be a time when they would be “restored” there forever, with “no one to ever remove them from it,” and “never again will you be taken out of it.” It is not surprise, then, that Israel’s exile from the land, has as its ultimate fulfillment Israel’s resurrection in order to receive back the land forever. That this did not happen in the return to the land under the edict of Cyrus the Persian King, since Daniel foresees that once again they will be sacked under the Seleucid occupation. Later on, (not mentioned in Daniel), Rome would occupy the land, only to scatter Judea yet again. However, within this time the son of man has been made to be “present” in heaven, and is given all things (Daniel 7:13-14). What he is given is eventually given to “the saints of the Most High.” Daniel does not tell us, “when” that is, only that it will be when the saints of the Most High are raised from the dead and receive their glory, their land, their inheritance forever. The NT is loaded with this idea. We may note, then, too, that Paul is not envisioning a political return of Israel to the land after the bulldozing of the Romans in 135-138 CE. Rather, he sees the semitic peoples who are so associated with the covenants (Judaism) as being scattered, but not forsaken. Their “glory” will be “life from the dead,” when they, and all associated with “their promises” are “saved” – raised from the dead (this the material of Romans 9-11).
[1] Collins, John J. Daniel with an Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature. Volume XX, The Forms of Old Testament Literature (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 1984), 103.
[2] Ibid., 104.
[3] Phillips, John; Jerry Vines, Exploring the Book of Daniel. (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers. 1990), 203.
[4] See, Silvia Anneliese Linington, Covenant in Daniel and the Dead Sea Scrolls: An Exposition of Daniel 9-12 and Selected Sections of the Damascus Document (CD), Community Rule (1QS), Hymn Scroll (1QHA) and War Scroll (1QM). Dissertation, November 2014. 171 n.337.
[5] We should not miss Paul’s “will be raised εν δοχη” – “in glory” in 1Cor 15.43. The LXX has επι την δοχαν – where epi is used with accusative form, indicating the idea of “in” or “in upon.”
[6] Harris, R. Laird. Gleason L. Archer, Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Workbook of the Old Testament. Volume 1. (Chicago: Moody Press. 1980). 382. There, the term “becomes and equivalent to inheritance, portion, possession,” and quotes Dan 12:13 with this meaning. See also Willem A. VanGermeren, New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis. Volume 1. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1997). 841-842. There, the term means, “allotted inheritance.” The word also becomes associated with the idea of “destiny” in more recent lexicons; Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. 2000. (The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament and the Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament CD-ROM Edition are copyright Koninklijke Brill NV).
Author: Samuel M. Frost, Th.D.
Samuel M. Frost has gained the recognition of his family, peers, colleagues, church members, and local community as a teacher and leader. Samuel was raised in the Foursquare Gospel tradition and continued in the rising Charismatic Movement of the early 1980’s. While serving in local congregations he was admitted to Liberty Christian College in Pensacola, Florida where he lived on campus for four years earning his Bachelor’s of Theology degree. It was there under the tutelage of Dr. Dow Robinson (Summer Institutes of Linguistics), and Dr. Frank Longino (Dallas Theological Seminary) that he was motivated to pursue a career in Theology. Dr. Robinson wrote two books on Linguistics, Workbook on Phonological Analysis (SIL, 1970) and Manuel for Bilingual Dictionaries: Textbook (SIL, 1969). It was under these teachers’ guidance that Frost entered into his Master’s studies, being granted a scholarship for Greek I and II at Pentecostal Theological Seminary, accredited, in Cleveland, Tennessee (adjunct of Lee University). Frost completed his study under Dr. French Arrington (The Ministry of Reconciliation, Baker Books, 1980), who used the text of J. Gresham Machen, New Testament Greek for Beginners.
Frost studied Hebrew for two years under Dr. Mark Futato (author, Beginning Biblical Hebrew, Eisenbrauns, 2003) and Dr. Bruce K. Waltke (author, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, Eisenbrauns, 1990) at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida. With combined credits from PTS and RTS, Samuel completed his Master of Arts in Christian Studies and Master of Arts in Religion from Whitefield Theological Seminary in Lakeland, Florida under the direct tutelage of Dr. Kenneth G. Talbot, co-author of the well reviewed work, Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism (Whitefield Media, 2005) with Dr. Gary Crampton (and Foreword by the late, Dr. D. James Kennedy). Dr. Talbot also oversaw Samuel’s Dissertation, From the First Adam to the Second and Last Adam (2012) earning him the Magister Theologiae (Th.M.) degree. He also helped put together A Student’s Hebrew Primer for WTS, designed and graded exams for their Hebrew Languages course.
Samuel’s studies lead him into an issue in the field of Eschatology where his scholarship and unique approach in Hermeneutics garnered him recognition. Because of the controversial nature of some of his conclusions, scholars were sharp in their disagreement with him. Frost’s initial work, Misplaced Hope: The Origins of First and Second Century Eschatology (2002, Second Edition, 2006 Bi-Millennial Publishing), sold over four thousand units. While arguing for the Reformation understanding of sola Scriptura as defined by the Westminster Confession of Faith, Frost’s book launched a heavily footnoted argument for a total reassessment of the doctrine known as the Second Coming of Christ. The conclusion was that the events of the war of the Jewish nation against their Roman overlords in 66-70 C.E. formed the New Testament authors’ eschatological outlook, and went no further than their own first century generation; a view otherwise known as “full” or "hyper" Preterism. Internationally recognized Evangelical author and speaker, Steve Wohlberg remarked, ‘On the “preterist” side today…we have such influential leaders as Gary DeMar, Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., David Chilton, R.C. Sproul, Max King, James Stuart Russell, Samuel M. Frost, and John Noe. To these scholars…the beast is not on the horizon, he’s dead” (Italics, his)” (End Time Delusions, Destiny Image Publishers, 2004, page 133). It should be noted that only Noe, King and Frost supported the “full” Preterist position.
Thomas Ice and co-author of the best selling Left Behind series, Tim LaHaye, quote Frost’s work, Misplaced Hope, as well in their book, The End Times Controversy: The Second Coming under Attack (Harvest House Publishers, 2003, page 40). Dr. Jay E. Adams, who single handedly launched “a revolution” in Christian Counseling with his work, Competent to Counsel: An Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling, (1970, Zondervan), also wrote an analysis of Frost’s work in Preterism: Orthodox or Unorthodox? (Ministry Monographs for Modern Times, INS Publishing, 2004). Adams wrote of Misplaced Hope as a "useful, scholarly work" (p.6 - though he disagreed with the overall thesis). Dr. Charles E. Hill, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, wrote of Misplaced Hope that Frost, “attacks the problem of the early church in a much more thoroughgoing way than I have seen” (When Shall These Things Be? A Reformed Response to Hyper Preterism, Ed. Keith Mathison, Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 2003, ‘Eschatology in the Wake of Jerusalem’s Fall’ p. 110-ff.). There were several other works as well that took the scholarship of Frost seriously, like Ergun Caner in The Return of Christ: A Premillennial Perspective, Eds., Steve W. Lemke and David L. Allen (B&H Publishing, 2011).
Because of the controversial nature of Frost’s conclusions on these matters, it was difficult to find a denomination within the Church-at-Large to work in terms of pastoral ministry. That situation changed when Samuel was called by a Bible study group in Saint Petersburg, Florida to found a congregation. Christ Covenant Church was established in 2002 operating under the principles outlined by Presbyterian historian James Bannerman’s work, The Church of Christ: A Treatise on the Nature, Powers, Ordinances, Discipline, and Government of the Christian Church (Banner of Truth Trust, 1974, original, 1869). By-Laws and a Constitution were drawn up in the strictest manner for what was considered an “Independent” establishment of an independent Presbyterian Church, granted that a “call” was received and recognized by Presiding Elders duly ordained from existing and recognized denominations. Two Elders, one ordained in the Reformed Presbyterian Church (Mike Delores), and another ordained in the Presbyterian Church of America (Dr. Kelly N. Birks, now deceased) tested and reviewed the call, ordaining Samuel on October 20th, 2002, the Twenty Second Sunday after Trinity. Proper forms were submitted to Tallahassee, Florida with the stamp of a Notary Public Witness. Christ Covenant Church (CCC) functioned as a local church for five years with a congregation as large as 30 members. Frost was gaining recognition after Misplaced Hope had been published in January of that year, and conferences were hosted that included debates with another prominent "full" Preterist educator, Don K. Preston. CCC hosted best-selling authors, Thomas Ice, and Mark Hitchcock from Dallas Theological Seminary; and Dr. James B. Jordan (Westminster Theological Seminary), well-known author/pastor in Reformed theological circles. Frost was invited for the next several years to speak at over 25 conferences nation-wide, was featured in articles and an appearance on local news in Tampa for one of CCC’s conferences. The Evangelical Theological Society also invited Samuel to speak at the Philadelphia conference (Frost is currently a Member of ETS as well as Society of Biblical Literature, SBL).
During this time Samuel had submitted one more book, Exegetical Essays on the Resurrection of the Dead (TruthVoice, 2008; repr. JaDon Publishing, 2010); and co-wrote, House Divided: A Reformed Response to When Shall These Things Be? (Vision International, 2010). Frost also wrote several Forewords for up and coming authors who were influenced by his teaching materials, as well as sited many times in books, lectures and academic papers (Essays is sited in Worship and the Risen Jesus in the Pauline Letters, Tony Costa, Studies in Biblical Literature, Volume 157, 2013 Monographs XV, Peter Lang: New York; "Unsound and Informally Fallacious Preterist Arguments for Mark 13:24-27." Elton L. Hollon, The Heythrop Journal, Volume 64, Issue 5, Sept. 2023). However, because of certain aspects of Hermeneutics and Frost’s undaunted commitment to scholarship (with always a strong emphasis on the personal nature of devotional living to Christ), several challenges to the "hyper" Preterist view he espoused finally gave way, largely due to the unwavering commitment to Samuel by the Dean of Whitefield Theological Seminary, Dr. Kenneth G. Talbot, who continually challenged him. In what shocked the "hyper" Preterist world, Samuel announced after the Winter of 2010 that he was in serious error, and departed the movement as a whole.
The documentation of Frost’s departure was published by American Vision’s Founder, Gary DeMar, with a Foreword by Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry. Why I Left Full Preterism (AV Publishing, 2012) quickly ran through its first run. The book was later republished under the arm of Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry (GoodBirth Ministries Publishing, 2019). Dr. Gentry also gave mention to Frost in his book, Have We Missed the Second Coming: A Critique of Hyper Preterism (Victorious Hope Publishing, 2016), noting him as "one of the most prominent" teachers within Full Preterism (135). Dr. Keith Mathison, Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformation Bible College in Sanford, Florida, endorsed the book as well. Samuel has gone on to write, Daniel: Unplugged (McGahan Publishing House, 2021); The Parousia of the Son of Man (Lulu Publishing, 2019); God: As Bill Wilson Understood Him: A Theological Analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous (Lulu Publishing, 2017). He is also active as a certified Chaplain with the Henry County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana, and enrolled with ICAADA (Indiana Counselor’s Association on Alcohol and Drug Abuse), and worked directly under Dr. Dennis Greene, Founder of Christian Counseling and Addictions Services, Inc., for a year. Frost’s passion is in the education of the local church on various issues and occasionally worked with Pastor Alan McCraine with the First Presbyterian Church in Lewisville Indiana (and at Knightstown Bethel Presbyterian - where he currently is a Member, and is a Commissioned Ruling Elder in the PCUSA), where he periodically was called upon to give the sermon. Samuel, with his wife, Kimberly, helped to establish Heaven’s Bread Basket food pantry that donates food items to local families in need once a month – a ministry of the Session of First Presbyterian Church (Lewisville). Frost has recently earned his doctorate in Theology (Th.D.) after two years with Christian Life School of Theology Global (CLSTG, Georgia). Currently, he is an Instructor for the Southern Region LIFE Bible College, Papua New Guinea, and recently was co-published with Elton Hollon for Bibliotheca Sacra (April-June 2023; Volume 180, Number 718; 202-227). He has a solid, family reputation in the community, and has performed local marriages and funerals. He also sits on the Board of the Historical Preservation Commission in New Castle, and Hagar's Hope, a women's transition house. Frost is employed as Instructor for the Henry County Health Department (Jail Recovery Assistance Program), teaching Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
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