DANIEL | Divisionsofhistory

Daniel - Breaking New Ground

Daniel found himself thrust into the centre of the Babylonian empire where his God given talents help him rise to the top. It is impossible not to admire his character in the midst of the treachery that would see several attempts on his life. But by his unflinching faith, God showed him what was to come. Some of which we understand and some which needs to be revealed to us.

It is easy to see that he was eager to follow God words to the prophet Jeremiah:

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Jeremiah 33:3

And these words are as just as relevant to us today. What an invitation to break new ground. As we come close to God he will prepare us for a season of new growth. Jesus said:

Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.

Matthew 13:52

This may mean a break from the ways we've always done things. If it's our salvation that is at stake then God will lead the way. His main interest is in keeping the Church growth fresh and vibrant. The old provides the maturity and the new needs room to develop,

No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.

Matthew 9:16-17

So far I have put in place the groundwork for a new understanding of the book of Daniel. I've already shown how the periods of time given in the bible provide both structure and purpose according to God's plan of salvation to build the kingdom of God. In Daniel we really delve into the new thing (Isaiah 43:19) that God is doing among the nations, primarily through the Persian empire. It is here that we hone in on the events of the important year 522 BC covered previously - the year of arrival of Jews in Jerusalem, the building of the altar and the start of the reign of Darius I (see 'Return'). Year 522 BC marks the basis by which 'sevens' are measured in relation to the Jubilee and Daniel's 70 'sevens'

Before I proceed, here are the overviews in pdf.

Summary of the Book of Daniel.pdf

Daniel MATH 777 Timeline

Daniel 1

Following on from the Battle of Meggido (609 BC) where Judah's king Josiah was killed, was the battle of Charchemish (605 BC), where the Egyptians were defeated by the Babylonians. Afterwards king Jehoiakim changed allegiances to postpoone the inevitable destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II (605 - 552 BC) . Consequently, tributes were paid, along with articles form the temple and royals and nobles were taken away, including Daniel in 605 BC. In a way, the glory of the temple goes when people like Daniel are taken away.

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.

Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.

Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

Daniel 1:1-7

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

Daniel 1:17

Daniel 2

And so we are brought to the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar that happened in his second year of reign (~604 BC), Notice, it says 'dreams', plural, so we are probably talking of a same recurring dream.

In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep.

Daniel 2:1

We read that Daniel's dreams had become well known by the 12 year of exile, dated from the largest deportation of the population of Judah in 597 BC [1] (when Jehoiakim refused to pay tribute and Nebuchadnezzar came and captured the Jerusalem).

In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,’...

Ezekiel 26:2

“‘In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.” But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god.Are you wiser than Daniel? Is no secret hidden from you?

Ezekiel 28:1-3

It is therefore seems that the dreams that established Daniel as 'chief of magicians' (Daniel 4:9) happened by 585 BC - remembering Jerusalem and the temple were completely destroyed by 586 BC fits. God therefore points to Tyre's gratification over Jerusalem's demise and a reminder of the flaw of pride pictured vividly in Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

Here in chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar refused to reveal his dream in the first place. He mistrusted the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers. He wanted to be sure that the right interpretation for his dream was given and obviously didn't want to be misled by something concocted. If no one could tell the king his dream and the interpretation then all of them would be executed, and that included Daniel as one of the wise men. Daniel caught wind of the situation, prayed earnestly and God revealed the mystery in a vision.

Given this dream is the beginning of a series of revelations that have an incredible sway in understanding the bible and that to Daniel it meant life or death, we have then a duty of care, even now, to ensure a correct interpretation. Daniel was interpreting dreams ahead of time, but we can interpret with retrospection.

The kingdoms have been assigned in Daniel 2 typically in the following order:

Head of gold - Babylonian
Chest and arms of silver - Persian & Mede
Belly and thighs bronze - Greek
Legs of iron and feet part iron and part clay - Romans

But their is a much better way to interpret the dream in relation to other chapters of Daniel. Firstly the body parts are assigned either as single elements or a composite elements.

Head of gold
Chest and arms of silver
Belly and thighs bronze
Legs of iron
Feet part iron and part clay

Then kingdoms are indentified with the emphasis that scripture provides, with the critical juncture in 522 BC when Darius the Great (Darius I) becomes king at the start of the bronze kingdom.

Daniel kingdoms beasts and horns MATH777

Gold Head: Babylonian Empire is easy to align with the winged Lion that stood like a man (Nebuchadnezzar) in Daniel 7.
Silver Chest and Arms: Persian and Medes overtook Babylon, under Cyrus (Persia) and Darius the Mede in 539 BC. The Medes and Persians were aligned to the 2 branches of the Achaemenid royal family. The Persian male line ended when Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, met with an accident in 522 BC. A time when Haggai & Zechariah were prophesying. These prophets are often misplaced in time because of the confusion trying to put Ezra 4 entirely chronologically, but Ezra 4 is useful for helping to identify the kings of Daniel 11)
Bronze Belly and Thighs: Persian, Mede & Aryan (an offshoot of the Medes [2]) united by the union of Darius I, son of Hystaspes (Aryan), and Atossa daughter of Cyrus (Persian). During Darius I reign the Persian Empire came to its peak (Daniel 2:39 ruled over the whole earth).
Iron Legs: Greece led by Alexander the Great, one of history’s greatest military minds, overthrew the Persian empire. The legs can be both seen as their capability of speedily and manoeuverability in combat. The legs can also be seen in the long line of North and South kings (Ptolemy and Seleucid dynasties) in Daniel 11, after Alexander the Great divided the kingdom between 4 generals.
Iron and Clay Feet: Romans were strong as iron like the Greeks, but mixed with clay – “they moved away from traditional religion and otherworldly philosophy in favour of a this-worldly concern for humanity”.
The Rock: uncut by human hands, was Jesus and the kingdom of God that smashed into the times of the Romans and grew to fill the whole earth according the Great Commission.

The key piece of this interpretation is the identification of the Persian, Mede and Aryan parts.The first two are well known, but it should be pointed out 'Aryan' used here is not referring that adopted by the Nazis but:

"The term Aryan has generally been used to describe the Proto-Indo-Iranian language root *arya which was the ethnonym the Indo-Iranians adopted to describe Aryans" [2]

It is worth also noting that having the 2nd and 3rd kingdoms as above goes some way to understanding Isaiah 44:28 with God saying it is Cyrus who will call for Jerusalem to be rebuilt, and only later there was flourish to build the temple when Darius I is on a united throne with Zerrubabel (‘Seed of Babylon’) putting the capstone in place (Zechariah 4:9, Ezra 6:15). The Persian and Median kingdom can be seen through the Bear of Daniel 7 and the Ram that charges west, north and south, in Daniel 8 (illustrated in the map below)

A new 'season' - the pattern of things to come

We must cut in on this discourse about the book of Daniel to break new ground. Understanding the historical events of the return of the Jews and how this parallels onto the pattern of things to come.

Of particular interest is the amount of prophetic scripture that deals with the change in 'season' for the Jews in Jerusalem at the change in kingdoms from 2 to 3 - especially Zechariah 1 then prophesies for the prosperity for a new Jerusalem and also in Haggai as the rain comes in its seasons, softening the soil, like the Holy Spirit softening the soul. The rains come at the end of the year, as the Jews showed God true reverence building the temple as had the tabernacle was revered in Leviticus, and so they would be cleansed of their sin and blessings would flow.

"... from this day on I will bless you"

Haggai 2:19

It becomes apparent that the Church needs to be better acquainted with the family lines of the Persian and Mede kingdom (See the 'Cyrus' page). In previous pages I have highlighted Darius I as a type of 'king of kings'. The transition from the tyrant Cambyses II to the exalted Darius I, smacks of a 'Day of the Lord' scenario (see 'Who will you serve?' page), Such scenarios, even though they shroud the true villain in mystery and exalt a human king, are in the same vein as the end times in the book of Revelation - which is there to prepare us ahead of time. The questions should therefore be asked - With the increased revelation about this precursor is there something on the horizon? And am I ready?

As we continue to look closer at this change in 'season' what will be revealed is a really challenging time when the Jews enemies flooded in, but they were remarkably redeemed. The temple was built and the glory of Zion soon shone forth with people drawn to its light. So we have to keep in mind that many of the prophetic passages of the Old Testament, such as we find in latter part of the book of Ezekiel (chapters 40-48), relate to both this time and the end times in unison. So we need to take care not to impose Old Testament terminology on to the future coming of Jesus. When Jesus comes again it will not to reimpose the Old Testament rules or have the temple rebuilt, because the New Covenant is so much more than this. But we cannot rule out that some Jews and Christians may take it own themselves to begin the building project before the end.

In one of the earliest of prophetic utterances, Jacob spoke of Jesus absolute attachment to Jerusalem as the vine in Judah:

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk. Genesis 49:10-12

We can see Jerusalem described as vine through the attempts of the enemy, pictured as a fox (sometime jackal), trying to undermine its foundations or on top of its ruined walls; this why Jesus described Herod as a fox. (Song of Songs 2:15, Nehemiah 4:3, Luke 13:32, Ezekiel 13:4,

Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord Ezekiel 13:4-5

In these couple of verses, Christians can readily internalise this as a spiritual message, not listen to false teachers, but prepare their own spiritual defenses in the way that the book of Nehemiah is read. But we must not forget that the Jews are still his people awaiting the Messiah's arrival in the physical city of Jerusalem. In Matthew 24, in a passage talking about the end times focused on Jerusalem, 'generation' here should be translated as the Jewish 'people'.

Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation [people] will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Matthew 24:30-36

Therefore we need to be careful not to force an interpretation of scripture, like Daniel 70 'sevens' (Daniel 9), to predict a time when Jesus will return, but we can turn to such passages to know the pattern that events will take.

I take great comfort in seeing many thousands of Jews returning to Israel each year flying in on planes, accompanied by Christians, such is the amazement of Isaiah's prophecy to describe such a scene.

Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?

Isaiah 60:8

Clearly we need to examine such Old Testament passages, like Isaiah 42, with more zeal, understanding the parallel of what went before with the returning Jews and what is unfolding now.

Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come?

Isaiah 42:23

So I will return in later pages to what the prophets like Isaiah laid out . But first to continue with the book of Daniel.

The chapters of the Daniels displayed in graphic above helps us to focus on the point where at the change from the Greek to Roman kingdoms we find Antiochus Epiphanes IV popping up time and time again, but this 5th Roman kingdom is eclipsed by the kingdom of God. In chapter 7 we find the Son of Man, that is Jesus coming in his kingdom.

In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Daniel 7:13-14

We must be clear, that even though Jesus has supremacy even before the world was created (Colossians 1:15-23), authority was given to mankind in the world in the beginning and yet yielded because of mankind's sin. When Jesus was born into the world, he was regarded as king of the Jews. In relation to Caesar, Jesus recognised the position Caesar had been given by God (Mathew 22:21), it proved a point of contention just before the crucifixion, when Jesus was asked by Pilate "“Are you the king of the Jews?".

We must look to when Jesus died and rose again as to when he is given authority, glory and sovereign power to rule in the kingdom seated at the right hand of God, and the Holy Spirit would given to all its citizens. [3]

Truly I say to you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Matthew 16:28

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Ephesians 1:18-23

Daniel 3

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 3:1

Questions must be asked why Nebuchadnezzar built such a massive statue all in gold of himself. Surely, it was his ego saying "I am the king of kings, my kingdom will continue and nothing will over take it", We must allow a number of years to have passed between the first two chapters and this one, to allow for a change of mind. The statue differed substantially from the one God had shown Nebuchadnezzar, now it was all about himself.. One must put part of the blame on the wise men who were known to mislead the king; afraid for their lives they would tell king what would be please, flatter and puff up the king, They had also had a gripe with Daniel and his companions, for exposing their weakness. The wise men saw the dedication of the statue as a perfect opportunity to get rid of Daniel's companions.

The wise men wanted to trap them in much the same way that the Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus into taking an explicit and dangerous stand.

At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Daniel 3:8-12

Daniel's companions faith and courage in the face of the fierce fire is remarkable.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Daniel 3:8-12

But it didn't turn out the way the instigators planned when the 3 men were thrown in the fire.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Daniel 3:24-25

This may well be Jesus, but we don't know. But the message is clear in a New Testament context: being tested and purified as if by fire, death is defeated, with Jesus we find freedom, we don't have to be afraid,

The result was that Nebuchadnezzar revered the Most High God, but it seems he was reluctant to change his ways and who he worshiped. There is similarities here with the Pharaoh of Egypt during the exodus, who when brought face to face with acts of God, had to eventually admit that the God of the Jews was the one true God. Nebuchadnezzar's name also echoes one of the themes of the exodus, that of the first born: "O god Nabu, preserve/defend my firstborn son"[4].

Daniel 4

If Nebuchadnezzar insisted in changing the God given dream of different empires to be a statue all about himself, God would give him another dream - a dream equal in stature as the previous dream.all about Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a massive tree, showing the height and breadth of the king's dominion. His kingdom had (Daniel 4:22) become a haven for many peoples able to provide food for all. We must consider how, as said before, Daniel sought the prosperity of the city he lived in, and view the content of this dream as spanning the Nebuchadnezzar's reign. It could be that Nebuchadnezzar was viewing one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the hanging gardens of Babylon, when he boasted:

Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?

Daniel 4:30

But because of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride, he was brought down low to live with the animals, where he became mad for a period of time, after which he praised God who had humbled him and he was restored.

The king's pride, insanity and restitution covered a period of over 'seven times' (7 years to account for the king animal like appearance - long nails like claws and hair like feathers).

It has been noted that the records of Nebuchadnezzar;s reign fall silent in about the eleventh year [4], this is about 594 BC, giving a few years for the first few chapters of Daniel. There would be just enough time for Nebuchadnezzar time of madness and restitution before his offensive against Jerusalem in 586 BC. However, there are other quiet periods in his reign so we shouldn't jump to a hasty conclusion that this was the time and besides Daniel 4:22 speaks in the past tense ( "Your Majesty, you are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.")

There seems evidence found on a tablet is in the British Museum, No. BM 34113 (sp 213), published by A. K. Grayson in 1975, that certainly describes this madness which Nebuchadnezzar's son, the Evil-Merodach, witnessed in his father [5]. Evil-Merodach was born in 581 BC and it has been suggested that the shortened reign of Evil-Merodach, allows for the onset of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness to have fallen at the very end of Nebuchadnezzar's reign in 562/1 BC [6]. Various intervening kings reigned from 562/1 BC through 556/5 BC, whilst Nebuchadnezzar was disposed. Nabonidus had been appointed by conspirators as the new king just before Nechadnezzar's return to sanity. However, he angered the priests and commoners of Babylon by neglecting the city’s chief god, Marduk, and elevating the moon god, Sin, to the highest status. It was best that Nabonidus didn't stay around and so conquered Teman, North Arabia, where he stayed for 10 years, 553–543 BC. Belshazzar his son ruled while Nabonidus stayed away, but a new threat appeared that required Nabonidus to return.

The Persians were rising in power, Cyrus won over the Medes, under Astyages, in 550 BC. Nabonidus, was defeated at the Battle of Opis by Cyrus in 539 BC.

Daniel 5

Belshazzar, the co-regent felt secure in his fortress in Babylon. But God spelled out his end when he partied with goblets that came from the temple of Jerusalem.

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.

Daniel 5:5-6

Again Daniel was on hand to interpret the meaning and Daniel first starts by comparing Belshazzar to his father, Nebuchadnezzar.

But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.

“But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven.

Daniel 5:20-23

Here we meet a problem. How could both Nebuchadnezzar be Belshazzar's father when Nabonidus is usually recognised as the father of Belshazzar (as seen in the Nabonidus Chronicles) [7]? Given now that we consider Nebuchadnezzar's rise from insanity happens late (around 553 BC) when Nabonidus departs around 553 BC, it would be not too much as a stretch of thought to consider that a bond, even an adoption occurred - with Nabonidus being overlooked as a ruler in Babylon because he did not honor the gods of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar became like a father to Belshazzar. But after Nebuchadnezzar died and his estranged father, Nabonidus, returned, we have the moment of Belshazzar's revelry using holy articles from the temple in Jerusalem.

The judgment given in the inscription, relates directly to the head empire of Babylon, from Daniel 2, being brought to an end. Pride that begun the empire was brought to a crashing end.

“This is the inscription that was written:

mene, mene, tekel, parsin

“Here is what these words mean:

Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

Tekel You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians,was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.

Daniel 5:30-31

Darius, the Mede (Cyaxares II son of Astyages) took over the rule of Kingdom of Babylon. It is important to note that Cyrus was ruling Supreme and Darius the Mede was given the rule of the Babylonian epicentre. Also significant is his age, 62. Darius was old and the suggestion is that his reign would be short to make way for Daniel to pin a vision he had in the third year of Cyrus (Daniel 10), king of Persia. If Darius the Mede lived only a couple of years on, the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, would be around 536 BC (Persia, here as the consumed the lands of the Babylonian empire). Shortly, before this we have the Daniel 9 in the first year of Darius the Mede (539 BC) coinciding with the end of a 70 year period (609 BC - 539 BC) spoken by Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah 51:11, it is the power of the kings of the Medes that destroyed the Babylonians. It would naturally follow that Cyrus respected the Median kingly descent, from Astyages down to Cyaxares II.

Daniel 6

The dating of Daniel 6 places it in the midst of the of the powerful words and visions, in the latter chapters of Daniel, that no doubt left Daniel emboldened in his faith. Significantly, in this atmosphere of deep seeking, the angel Gabriel reveals the 70 sevens in Daniel 9.

The event s in Daniel 6 demonstrates the similarities of the unshakable faith that his compatriots showed in the face of danger before the the self proclaimed all power Nebuchadnezzar, but the character of Darius the Medes is temperate.

Darius the Mede placed Daniel in a high administrative position yet Daniel wouldn’t bow to the king and so he was thrown in with the Lions. Darius regretted this decision and was overjoyed when he saw Daniel alive the next morning. Darius soon passed away leaving Cyrus to rule with Persian and Median authority. He soon passes his charter of human right (seen on the Cyrus Cylinder)

“…I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governors and subordinates look down on or insult them while I am alive. From now on…, I never let anyone oppress any others, and if it occurs, I will take his or her right back and penalize the oppressor.”

“I will never let anyone take possession of movable and landed properties of the others by force or without compensation. While I am alive, I prevent unpaid, forced labour. Today, I announce that everyone is free to choose a religion. People are free to live in all regions and take up a job provided that they never violate other’s rights.”

Daniel 7

As demonstrated in the summary of Daniel 2, the remaining chapters brings out the different layers of what is actually going to happen in the run up to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. All is laid bare before the throne of God (Daniel 7:9), he sees everything from the throne room:

Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. Revelation 4:6

During the first year of king Belshazzar, Daniel’s dream is not of these 4 living creatures in heaven, but of 4 beasts that came out of the sea (the world):

First Beast: A Lion with wings that stood like a man. Could describe Nebuchadnezzar who was raised up from the level of an animal to become human.
Second Beast: Bear with 3 ribs in his mouth (the rib is used in the account of union of man and woman in Genesis 2, but the fact that they are in the mouth seems to depict the scrappy way which this kingdom was wrought). This is rule of Darius I. His reign unifies the 3 lines of the Persians, Medes and Aryans. The mention that it was raised up on one side indicating that at first kingdom 2 was Persian and Mede (under Cyrus) but then the Aryan side became raised up in the new kingdom 3. Who raises up kingdoms? God. For it was in the Jews favour that Cambyses (of kingdom 2 and inferior) was quashed so that the Temple would be built.
Third Beast: A Leopard with 4 wings, heads and horns. The leopard is Greece and primary, Alexander the Great. 4 Wings represent swiftness and direction in which his generals established the kingdom. The 4 horns represent the power of the kings and sometimes the dynasties that follow.
Forth Beast: has 10 horns. There are 10 kings of the Ptolemy & Seleucid Dynasties. A boastful horn is mentioned, he is Antiochus Epiphanes IV.

The beasts (a product of the tyrant kings) are allowed to live a period of time (Daniel 7:12) the are judged by God – the 4th beast is detailed repeatably in later chapters so that we are made more aware of the sinister power lurking behind the beasts.

Then we are in the Roman empire, when and authority is given to one like a son of man, Jesus, following his resurrection (Acts 7:55-56).

Daniel 8

In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign is Daniel’s vision of a ram (Persia) butting against a goat (Greece) in what is becoming a battle in the heavenlies

Short and long horns of the ram represent the kings along 2 kingdoms identified in chapter 2.
The shorter one the Silver kingdom is Persian and Mede (including Cyrus & Darius the Mede and Cambyses II.
The later long one refers to the Bronze kingdom which was a different mix (like Bronze is and alloy) of Persian, Mede & Aryan. It lasted longer, to the reign of Artaxerxes II.
Greece grew powerful under Alexander the Great and then his 4 generals, and as referred to in Daniel 7 the Ptolemy and Seleucid Dynasties followed with the tyrant, Antiochus Epiphanes, quelling the rebellion of the Maccabees, during which 2,300 (evening and morning) sacrifices were not performed (1,150 days between 167 BC and164 BC).

Daniel 9

Daniel 9 is one of the most poured over prophecies because its span of time 70 sevens draws us towards the time of Christ. That is why I have devoted a full page to it and give a summary here.

This word (dabar strong’s H1697– word, thing, matter acts: linked to the promise to Abraham Genesis 15v1) in the first year of Darius the Mede, 539 BC, builds on the dreams and visions of earlier chapters.
- 539 BC – 522 BC Cyrus dies to be replaced by Cambyses who comes to an end as the building of the second temple is encouraged through the Spirit of God.
- 522 – 473 BC The Jews are blessed. They learn to overcome their past shame.
The 70 ‘sevens’ have 2 types of interpretation (common in scripture that lets you see more than is just on the surface, as here Daniel’s plea is for a city and a people that bear God’s Name v19):
- a) OT version (the usual type of interpretation) focusing on the physical restoring and rebuilding of Jerusalem starting from the decree of Artaxerxes I (in 458 BC) and the Law read by Ezra. But this has to be revised with Ezra living in the reign of Darius I and therefore the decree of Darius I:
  - 522 BC – 473 BC (7 ‘sevens’) The Jews return and build the altar in 522BC and soon after the temple is built. The temple is built soon after and the Nehemiah comes to build the wall of Jerusalem in 502 BC.
  - The rest of Daniel’s sevens follows the NT version below.
- b) NT version focusing on the New Jerusalem:
  - 473 BC – 424 BC (7 ‘sevens’) Following Purim the Jews throughout the empire are free and restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem begins. This is a light to the Gentiles.
  - 424 BC – 11 BC (62 ‘sevens’) ~The time of Malachi (?), the last book in the old testament warns the Jews of their practices. Although rebuilding continues, at heart they are losing their way in the darkness.
  - 11 BC – 26 BC Jesus comes as a ‘Son of the Commandment’ to up hold the true law and grows in wisdom and stature (note that this points to Jesus born in 2 BC, which corresponds with Luke 3:23, which tells us Jesus was about 30 when he began his ministry).
  - 26 BC – 33 BC (1 ‘sevens’) John the Baptist prepares the way. Jesus start his ministry halfway through the ‘seven’ and dies and the end of the ‘seven’.

Daniel 10

After Darius the Mede has died and Cyrus is in his third year of reign Daniel has a vision of a dazzling man where he is told of a great war in the future.

The angel Michael and possibly Gabriel, or even Jesus, prevail against the principalities of firstly Persia and then Greece in the heavenly realms, so that the word may promote justice and righteousness in this world. Holding back the Persian and Greek powers, so that a period of freedom and peace was fostered 473 – 424 BC. It is the story of Esther that ushered this in and drew the nations to worship God in Jerusalem. It gives insight into the true battle as seen in the heavenly realms and the role of prayer and fasting to influence an outcome.

Daniel 11

Daniel 11 continues the vision of Daniel 10 in more detail

4 kings of Persia in Daniel 11; Darius I, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I and Darius II, 2 lesser kings are glanced over (Xerxes II and Sogdanius). Darius II made an alliance with Sparta to stir up trouble against Greece.
Daniel 11 continues (up to verse 32) to give a concise history of the middle east from Alexander down to the evil Antiochus Epiphanes in the Ptolemy and Seleucid Dynasties [8]. If you have a look at the Daniel MATH 777 Timeline pdf provided above, you can indeed see these appear to look like legs of a massive statue - the statue of Daniel 2.
Daniel 11:36-45 Move from one despicable man (Antiochus Epiphanes IV) to another (Cambyses), with verse 33-35 preparing the people for the worst of the atrocities to come, but then reassuring them that it is to refine them for the end.

Daniel 12

Daniel 12 continues the vision of the previous 2 chapters

In the end there will be a period of distress and then a book will be opened. Those whose names are written in it will be delivered, the others will have everlasting shame and contempt.
Then Daniel is told to seal up the word of the scroll until the end. Meaning that the scroll will have the most relevance to those facing the end times.
It is asked how long will it be until the end or as responded to ‘when the power of the holy people will be broken’
- Firstly, it is shown Daniel will not go through the period of distress (he’s been through enough already). He will ‘rest’ and then at the end of the days will be resurrected when Jesus comes again. Daniel like King David’s body still lies in the grave.
- A cryptic ‘time, times and half a time’ and a more specific 1290 + 45 days are given to mark the duration of distress (or tribulation). These mark the various periods of tribulation of about 3 ½ years long brought on by Anti-Christs (Cambyses, Haman, the King of Tyre, Antiochus Epiphanes, Herod, Vespasian…), but prepare us for the Great Tribulation. After the end of which Jesus will come again.
- The specific relates to the days of Antiochus Epiphanes IV. 1290 days is calculated from 2,300 evening and morning sacrifices taken away (1150 days), in Daniel 8:14, combined with 140 days of an idol being set up. After which it took 45 days to cleanse the temple. His mention in Daniel 11:36-45 also, highlights us to the particular evil that seeks to make the pure impure.
- Verse 12 says, Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.