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September 25, 2016 |
| Tying Daniel Together | ||
Understanding Biblical prophecy is like putting a puzzle together without knowing the picture it will be when you are done. It's also like having a bunch of pictures and trying to put them into order. You look at who is in the picture, the background, what they are wearing, and other clues to help you put them into a time order. Ultimately there are some you just aren't sure about but there are many that you are.
In the prophecies of Daniel we've seen many techniques used to describe the prophecies. A sequence of less valuable metals was used in the statue. A succession of beasts with horns and other characteristics were used in a few places. A time sequence was used in one place. What all of these have in common is that the prophecies of Daniel are not just single snapshots in time. Each of Daniel's prophecies is a sequence of snapshots that are already ordered in time. More than that Daniel's prophecies always begin shortly after his time and continue to the Second Coming or sometimes even after that.
This gives us an opportunity, if we can put the pieces together, to increase our understanding. In this lesson we will look at the common points between the prophecies that allow us to tie them together. Just as with a puzzle, you can't put it all together unless you have all the pieces. Therefore we will also tie the common points in Daniel to those same points in the rest of the Bible.
First we'll look at the prophecies from the individual chapters to find points that we might try to use tie them together.
Chapter 2 - Describes feet and ten toes that are a mixture of iron and clay. These are destroyed, along with the whole statue, when they are struck by a stone cut by the hand of God from the mountain. This prophecy in total teels us about the succession of world governments and that they will be totally destroyed by the government God sets up after the Second Coming. The part that remains in our future is the ten-toed government.
Chapter 7 - Describes a succession of governments again but the focus here is on the horns, the kings. Here we see the first mention of a particular king who makes extraordinary boasts.
[…] behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.
An angel adds a bit more detail later in the chapter
As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom [with iron teeth that tramples everything] ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. 25 He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
Chapter 7 then makes a complete scene change as we see God on his throne judging and putting an end to the kingdom of the loud-mouthed horn
Chapter 8 - Describes a succession of governments and again the focus is on the horns. Again a considerable amount of the text is focused on one special horn. In this case though the horn is clearly Antiochus Epiphanes (215 - 164 BC) but he is used as a type for the horn that comes out of the ten toes. Therefore what the Bible says about Antiochus is also true of this future horn.
It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. 11 It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.
Chapter 9 - Describes a timeline of future events. The unfulfilled part of that timeline consists of a week of years. Again the focus is on a particular "he". Because of other connections between chapter 8 and this chapter we know this "he" is that future little horn.
And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.
Chapter 11 - Describes a series of kings who frequently war with each other, the kings of the north and the kings of the south. The focus turns to the final king of the north.
At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30 For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.
Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.
37 He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. 38 But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39 He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the ma
Now we can look for common points between them. First though, we need to understand the context of Daniel's prophecies. The focus of them is God's People, Jerusalem, and the Temple. That does not mean there are no Christians involved only that they will not be mentioned. God is still hiding the details of what the Messiah will accomplish.
Little horn - First mentioned in Daniel 7:8 and again at 7:24, this is a symbolic reference to a person that is known by many names. He serves to tie the other chapters of Daniel together by appearing in Daniel 8:9, and 8:21. He also appears as a horn in Revelation 17:12. He is referred to in many other places under names like "man of sin", "son of destruction", "man of lawlessness", "first beast", "false messiah", or "anti-christ" for example in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 2:8 and John 17:12.
Time, times, and half a time - This is generally understood to be a length of 3.5 periods of time but the length of the period of time is not clear. This lack of clarity appears intentional. God is using it like a type to indicate that it can be correctly understood using different units of time and also to show that it is a repeating characteristic of the universe. This is too involved to cover all of it here. In most references it appears to indicate 3.5 years.
Daniel uses the reference in 4:25,32, 7:25, 8:9, 8:21 and it also appears in Revelation 12:14.
It also appears in different forms, for example as 42 months or 1260 days. These can be seen in Revelation 11:2,3.
Ten toes / ten horns / ten kings - This idea of ten kingdoms / ten kings appears in Daniel 7:24. It also appears in Revelation 12:3,13:1,17:6,17:12.
Speaking against the most high - This characteristic of the little horn appears frequently, probably because it is such a direct affront to God. While it is not uncommon in history for a man to claim that he is god, the little horn takes it to a new level. Daniel refers to it in 7:25,8:11,11:36. Revelation refers to it in 13:5,6 and 2 Thessalonians refers to it in 2:4.
Sanctuary thrown down / regular sacrifice stopped / abomination of desolation - Essentially the same event, these describe the little horn's attack on Jerusalem half way through the 7 year covenant he has made. He stops the sacrifices and puts someting in the temple that defiles it and causes it to be desolate. This appears in Daniel 8:11,13, 9:27, 11:31. Jesus also refers to this event in Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, Luke 21:20.
Wear down the saints - This idea that little horn will wear down or war with the saints appears in Daniel 7:21,25, 8:25, 11:33 and in Revelation 12:17, 13:7 and also in places in Revelation where it is too symbolized for most people to understand.
From all of these connections between the prophecies of Daniel and the other prophecies of the Bible it is possible for us to put together a bigger more detailed picture of what is described.
Using these connections between chapters and books we can also see what God is emphasizing and get a higher view of the totality of it. What pops out at us is that the endtimes prophecies are both a warning and an encouragement for us. As a warning it can serve to keep us from being deceived.
32 By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. 33 Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days.
As an encouragement we know the broad outlines of what will happen and we know it won't last long. We know that, whether we live or die, as long as we have continued in faith, we will receive our reward.