Dan 7:22 “until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.
When speaking about end times, Daniel is one of the three foremost prophets in the Bible on this topic. The two other major end-time ‘prophets’ are Jesus, in the gospels (Matt 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13) and John in the “Revelation of Jesus Christ”.
The book of Daniel is divided in two distinct sections. Daniel’s prophecies commence in chapter 7.
- Chapters one to six contain the events in Daniel’s life, and
- Chapter seven to twelve we find his prophecies about future empires and the future of Israel/world.
After the account of Daniel’s life, we find, in Daniel seven, his first prophetic vision. At this advanced stage in Daniel’s life, he had already experienced a substantial introduction into God’s prophetic words, about future empires and major events to come, through the dreams and actions of Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel’s introduction into these prophetic events, early on in his life, occurred when Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, the dream as recorded in Daniel 2. Nebuchadnezzar’ had a dream of a very large statue, which was then interpreted by Daniel. Click on the PowerPoint presentation link Session 4-A HM1c and refer to slides 11-17 for a visual representation of Daniel 2. We are told, through the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s prophetic dream, that world history would be limited to a further four major empires before God would establish His own kingdom on earth, an everlasting kingdom. God’s kingdom will start small, but gather momentum until the power of every nation in existence is destroyed by it.
Daniel 3 to 6 continue to tell of the main events in Daniel’s life. The fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream, Belshazzar’s ‘writing on the wall ‘ and finally, the famous account of Daniel in the Lion’s den (Refer to slides 6,7 & 18 of Session 4-A HM1c ). In Daniel 7, his writings change to pure prophecy, received from God through visions. Daniel chapter 7 is the commencement of a series of four prophetic visions in which much more detail about the future of the major nations is provided. Refer to the remainder of the abovementioned PowerPoint slides for a visual representation.
Daniel 2 may be considered as a ‘bird’s eye view’ or a ‘big-picture’ scenario. The five main players in world history, from God’s perspective, are revealed in Daniel 2. This dream represents a very condensed picture of ‘world history’ from our perspective and a glimpse of what is to come. Daniel 7 re-confirms the five major players, but then expands on the fourth player, and especially on the last days of the fourth world culture or power . This is once again in ‘bird’s eye view’ or a ‘big-picture’ format. This summarized portion of Daniel 7 may even be considered as a condensed version of the book of Revelation. Daniel 11 verifies the accuracy of Daniel’s visions, with a step-by-step account of the future Seleucid rulers. Click Seleucid Antiochus History 200509
Many other Old Testament prophets prior to Daniel also foresaw parts of the end-time scenario similar to Daniel. Most of these focus on the nations immediately before the return of the Messiah. They refer to this scenario as the “Day of the Lord”, the day of the coming Messiah and judgement on His enemies. These prophecies are listed in post 2.6 and are discussed in Appendix E, and require a separate and detailed study. In this post the prophecies of Daniel will be limited to Daniel 7 and Daniel 9.
The focus of this blog is to enhance our expectation of the millennium and is thus on the preparation of our hearts for the future glory. By the way prophecy shows how this comes about, this will also by necessity include the preparation of our hearts for difficulties ahead as we enter the end times.
It seems most probable that we will be tested to the highest degree of faithfulness during this time. This is clear in Daniel’s, Jesus’s and John’s teaching. During this time there may be, hopefully, some escape plan for the prepared. Jesus instructs us in the last verse 36 of Luke 21 to pray that “we may be accounted worthy to escape all these things”, hence there may be an escape opportunity from the persecution, provided by God. However, the hints in scripture as to such a plan are so slight that we would be unwise to rely on this and subsequently fail to prepare our hearts for persecution.
Starting with Daniel 7:
Dan 7:21 “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, 22 “until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom … 25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. (3.5 years)
In the passage above it is repeated three times that the saints will be persecuted. The last verse it even seems as if the saints will be purposely given over into the hands of the antichrist. This is confirmed by Revelation 13, referring to the beast (the antichrist):
13:6 “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. {13:7} And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”
We need to be prepared to give up everything in this world during those final years. It will be harder than we can bear in our own strength. Persecution will be extreme. Only by the Spirit will we be able to make it through. He will empower us when the time is there.
In the following verses in Dan 7 there is encouragement, however: 26 ‘But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever. 27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.
This is the establishment of the everlasting kingdom. A special focus seems to be the function of the saints during the everlasting kingdom. This is much more prominent here than in other prophesies.
The saints:
- The kingdom and dominion shall be given to the people, the saints.
- The greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given the saints.
- The objective of this high position in which the saints are placed is that all dominions shall serve and obey the Most High.
This is very encouraging, and a confirmation that we will be ruling with Christ over a future, everlasting Kingdom. We will all have jobs of some description. Our purpose will be agents to expand and maintain the glorious kingdom of Jesus during the millennium.
The four beasts of Daniel 7:
Of the four beasts described in this chapter, the fourth beast is described in the most detail, because it will produce the end-time antichrist. Much has already been written on Dan 7 by many others. We are briefly looking at the main points.
Note that each beast represents an Empire or World Culture. The antichrist arises out of the World Culture initiated by the final beast. Revelation 13 confirms that the beasts are not only individuals or persons but also organizations. The individual persons leading these countries/organizations would be their rulers which are described as “horns” (see v21 above).
The initial four beasts (empires) that are described, before the description of the antichrist, are historical and do not seem to be very relevant to the end times. As there is a general agreement about these beast-empires, we omit detailed discussion on these beast-empires. They are most likely the four ancient kingdoms of the Babylonians, the Median-Persian, Greeks and Romans. The first beast’s description (lion with eagle’s wings- Babylon’s emblem) can only apply to Babylon. The existence of the Median-Persian(second) and Greek (third) empires are agreed on by academics and various history accounts. The problem is with the fourth, Rome. In the biblical time-frame, after the Exile of Judah, there were clearly four ancient world powers, Rome being the last. In this case the prophesied antichrist should have arisen from the final world empire, Rome. Hence, either the fourth Beast is another future empire still to come, (and this means one of the previous three has to be left out or combined with the a subsequent power) or we find ourselves living now in the culture of today as an extended part of the old Roman Empire.
Dan 7:19 “Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; 20 “and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn (antichrist) which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.
We will see, two chapters later in Dan 9, that the antichrist is described as arising out of Rome. Hence it could be that in biblical prophecy, our current dispensation still reflects Rome, and so will that of the antichrist. Do many European countries not still use Latin in their coats of arms and in their legal systems? Are many legal systems not also based on the Roman system?(ie Roman-Dutch Law). In addition, the Catholic church, established by a Roman emperor, still operates from Rome today. If the reformers were right, the Catholic church/pope is still biblically the no 1 candidate for the false prophet, if not the antichrist as well. Until the reformation, most of western history was dominated by the Roman “church”. Hence this institution may be seen as a false religious and perhaps also a political entity in the context of prophecy.
Alternatively the prophecy may refer to the world powers immediately prior to the antichrist. Perhaps the British/American influence (the lion with eagle’s wings), the Russian (bear) and European/Asian (leopard) powers? This seems a bit far-fetched though. It relies on seeing Europe as the leopard with many spots (many combined nations, which includes influence of other faiths?). The Rev 13 beast with four heads may refer to the current Europe/Asia essentially being run by four powers: perhaps Germany, China, India and Muslim countries? This seems to be a very doubtful and contrived interpretation, perhaps seeking to include current world powers China and America into the events?
The Antichrist
21 “I was watching; and the same horn (the antichrist) was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, 22 “until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. 23 “Thus he (..the angel giving Daniel the interpretation..) said: ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. (..i.e.arise subsequent to this kingdom in the same geographic location but not necessarily concurrently..) And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings (.. three of the ten..) 25 He shall speak pompous of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.(the antichrist). 26 ‘But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever. 27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’
This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart.” (Dan 7:21-28)
Note from the above that the antichrist is still unlikely to be only a person, as he is described as “different from the first ones”. The first ones are empires, countries, cultures or organizations. Being “different” may mean anything from the UN, Russia (technically also ‘European’), World bank, Freemasons, etc, but not necessarily person.
Similarities of Dan 7 with Dan 9 and 11 are: blasphemy against the Most High, the persecution the saints, the 3.5 years tribulation. As for differences, one could question why the emphasis in Dan 7 is somewhat different to Daniel 2, 8, 9 and Daniel 11 in regard to the events leading up to the antichrist. I suspect that Daniel 7 emphasizes the future exalted position of the saints very strongly. From this we may interpret that Daniel 7 is meant as encouragement for the saints who are called to endure these times. Refer to The Daniel 8 and Daniel 11 slides of Session 4-A HM1c for more details on the nature and reign of the Antichrist to come.
Daniel 9
The following is God’s answer to Daniel about the future of Israel, which seems to end shortly after the ‘Messiah be cut off‘. Clearly the Messiah refers to Jesus, there is no doubt about that. It is what follows verse 26a that we need to be careful with. Who do the ‘him’ and ‘himself’ refer to?
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Now this passage can be read in two ways:
- All references to ‘he’ and ‘him’ are referring to Jesus
- The initial reference is to Jesus, then followed by a references to the antichrist.
It is important that we take the above passage at face value, and not make immediate assumptions.
Hence we have the following understanding options:(bracket inserts mine)
First interpretation 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself (Jesus): and the people of the prince that shall come (the Romans) shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple); and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war (~120AD) desolations (country empty – stripped of Jews) are determined. 27 (Restarting at the work of the messiah:) And he (Jesus) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he (Jesus) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (by fulfilling the purpose of sacrifices on the cross) , and for the overspreading of abominations (wickedness of the Jews) he shall make it (Jerusalem) desolate, even until the consummation (end-times), and that (judgements as) determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Second interpretation 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself (Jesus): and the people of the prince that shall come (the Romans) shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple); and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war (~120AD) desolations (country empty – stripped of Jews) are determined; .27 And he (antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he (antichrist) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he (antichrist) shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The second interpretation relies on switching the subject (Messiah the Prince) to “the people of the prince that shall come”. Then, after v26b “the people…” switch to “the antichrist, seen to be the prince”.
Daniel 9 sets out the remaining 490 ‘post Daniel’ years of God’s plans for Israel. Each week represents seven years. Sixty nine weeks have already been fulfilled. The city of Jerusalem was rebuilt after ‘seven weeks’ as prophesied (fourty nine years after the return from exile). It was a further 63 weeks till Jesus, the prince. commencing his ministry.,
The Messiah (Jesus) was ‘cut-off’ (crucified and died) after 69 weeks, in the midst of the 69th week (as per interpretation 1). The crucifixion, in the ‘midst’ of the 7-year period, confirms that Jesus’ ministry was 3.5 years. This is exactly what happened. Everything so far has happened as prophesied. But is there is still one-half week left of God’s plan for Israel? Or was the second 3.5 years the time of the disciples ministry to the Jews after the Pentecost?
We are currently living in the ‘time of the gentiles’, the ‘time of the Jews’ was ended with the start of Jesus’ ministry. Daniel’s ‘end time week’ refers to the resumption of God’s plan for Israel.
Because it is such a well documented prophecy, I will not present further detail here. Refer to one of the many internet for articles on the Dan 9 prophecy.
Daniel predicts the year of Jesus’ ministry
To summarize, to most sources agree that each week refers to 7 years, a year for each day. All articles also agree that the Messiah is Jesus, who comes as “Messiah the Prince”, after 69 prophetic weeks (483 years after the post-exile decree of the Median/Persian emperor to rebuild restore and rebuild Jerusalem.) It is not clear if this year refers to the start of His ministry or when He will be killed or ‘cut-off’.
The 70 weeks in Daniel 9 thus represent 490 years, every day counting as a year. (70×7 days per week=490 days= 490 prophetic years). Of the 490 years, 483 years have already happened, ending with the crucifixion.
The final 7 years of prophecy is a prophecy regarding Israel, which still remains to play itself out. This prophetic week, as described in the last verses of Dan 9,is divided into three parts:
- The first half: 1260 days (=3.5 years x 360 days in the Jewish year), or 42 months (=3.5 x 12 months).
- The second half: also 1260 days.
- The final days: 30 days + 45 days ( day 1290 and day 1335 in Dan 12:11)
There is a caveat about the first three and a half years though. Because the cutting off of the Messiah and the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD are both mentioned in one sentence, there is a possibility that the first three and a half years of the final seven years may have happened already.
The prophecy states:
- ”..until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” Hence this ‘until’ may refer to the start of Jesus’ ministry, three and a half years before His crucifixion. ‘Until the Messiah’ could easily refer to His baptism or significant initial event at the start of His ministry. In this scenario God’s plan for the Jewish nation thus only has three and a half years to play itself out. This seems to be consistent with the impression that the Jewish nation will finally “wake up” to the true nature of the antichrist only three and a half years before the second coming. (see section 6.and 7)
- “… after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come (ie the antichrist) shall destroy the city”. For obvious reasons after does not need to mean “on the day after”, but merely refers to the following significant events.
- The week allocated to the antichrist: “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering” would then be an independent week overlapping with the Jewish end time calendar for the last half- week only.
Note that it will be good to read through the prophecy a number of times and list the events to establish them clearly in your mind. Also the prophecy may be fairly confusing if one doesn’t do some background reading on it first. There is some history involved. Also refer to (Refer to slides 55,56 & 67-69 of Session 4-A HM1c )
Some effort to research Dan 9:27 is worth it and well rewarded as a faith building exercise, as the dates he prophesied for the 69th week (483 years) were fulfilled by Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. This is the only prophecy with the intention of setting a date for Jesus’ crucifixion. In addition, the remainder of the prophecies in Daniel have been proven entirely accurate by subsequent history. Alexander the Great and the Greek empire, the early death of Alexander, division of the empire among his 4 generals is proven history and were all prophesied by Daniel beforehand. It seems even Cleopatra’s fate was included.
What does this mean for us? Because more than 98% of the Dan 9 prophecy has already been validated by 483 years of Jewish history, we can be confident that the final part will certainly play itself out as prophesied. The final week is described as follows:
“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off (…..fulfilled somewhere between 26AD and 33AD because of uncertainty about Jesus’ birth date), but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come (antichrist) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he (antichrist) shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week(ie after 3,5 years) he (antichrist) shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” (Daniel 9:26, 27 NKJV)
(From Biblical Archeology a date for Ezra’s return to Jerusalem is set at 458AD. Adding 483 years according to the ’till Messiah the Prince’ prophecy, plus one year to allow for the year zero yields 26AD. (refer page 290 of https://books.google.com.au/books?id=haVoe4n0ifIC&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=darius+458+bc&source=bl&ots=4KpQz9YVcn&sig=ACfU3U0vPsbXxU4fWkRZOAExs9exxoJRuw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmzM2Qo7rpAhVXxTgGHURzC-wQ6AEwCnoECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=darius%20458%20bc&f=false))
The antichrist
In the passage above,the “people of ….destroy the city and the sanctuary” are the Romans, who destroyed Jerusalem entirely in 70 AD. Hence a person arising out of “Rome” will be the antichrist (prince who is to come) and will set up an abomination. (the blasphemous object, as referred to by Jesus in Mat 24:15). The other prophecies in Daniel develop the concept of Rome. It seems as if “Rome” was perpetuated by the Catholic church and the western world up to the present time. (refer to 5.2: parallel prophecies of Daniel)
Note also there are two sets of 3.5 years making up the final ‘week’ of 7 years. The week starts with the agreement the antichrist makes with many. (presumably with Israel, the Muslims and some world powers which he represents.)
Note also that the “end of it shall be with a flood”, most likely referring to the extreme and overwhelming speed at which the end-time events will follow one another. If we are prepared we won’t be surprised too much. If we are well-prepared we will be looking forward and count it ‘as joy’ to see and be part of Jesus’ kingdom being established.
Daniel then refers to a major event in the middle of the 3.5 years affecting Israel, when an abomination will be set up (by the antichrist) and when sacrifices will stop in the holy place.
Finally, the end, the consummation of history as we know it, comes. The prophesied end time events, as determined by prophecies elsewhere, presumably including the final plagues, are now poured out on the rebellious lost, and they are left desolate. Everything they tried to gain and hold on to is now lost.
Jesus affirms Daniel 9:26, 27 in Mt 24:14,15: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), let those in Judea flee into the mountains……
The antichrist will commence his persecution of the people of Israel in earnest during the second part of his allotted time, the final 3,5 years of world history. This is the time he will be allowed to dominate and allowed to war against God, His people and His saints.
Dan 11
Daniel 11 verifies the accuracy of Daniel’s visions, with a step-by-step account of the future Seleucid rulers. Click Seleucid Antiochus History 200509
TBC