WHAT
TIME IS IT?
Lesson 7
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Review
Our last study surveyed
the sweeping prophecy of Daniel 2. King
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream concerning the
kingdoms of man has almost been fulfilled and
historical confirmation brings the fulfillment of
the vision down to our day. But what time
is it?
Will there be 100 more
years before Jesus returns? Are we really
living in the last days? If we are, how is
it proven?
There is only one
prophecy in the Bible that tells us where we are
in time. Other prophecies like Daniel 2 and
Daniel 7 tell us where we are sequentially but
only one leads us to a specific date so that we
may know our chronological position.
It’s found in Daniel 8-12.
Introduction to the
prophecy
- This
prophecy is directly connected with the
work of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary.
- This
prophecy has five very important dates
connected with it. /all five dates
have been historically confirmed.
- Unlike
the seven chapters of Daniel, this
prophecy is written in Hebrew.
- This
prophecy came to Daniel in segments over
a period of about three or four
years. The last five chapters of
Daniel (8-12) contain this prophecy.
- Even
though a portion of this prophecy applies
to Daniel’s day, the focus is the
“appointed time of the end.”
The vision
Sometime during the third
year of King Belshazzar’s reign (last king
of Babylon), Daniel received the first segment of
this serious vision. A summery of
Daniel’s vision follows:
- I
was standing beside the Ulai Canal…
Before me was a ram with two long horns
standing beside the canal. One of
the horns was longer than the other but
grew up later. I watched the ram as
he charged toward the west, north and the
south. No animal could stand
against him… He did as he pleased
and became great. {V14}
- As
I was thinking about this, suddenly a
goat with a prominent horn between his
eyes came from the west, crossing the
whole earth without touching the
ground. He came toward the
two-horned ram…and charged at him
with great rage. I saw him attack
the ram furiously…and shatter his
two horns. The ram was powerless to
stand against him; the goat knocked him
to the ground and trampled on him. {5-7}
- The
goat became very great, but at the height
of his power his large horn was broken
off, and in its place four prominent
horns grew up toward the four winds of
heaven…” {V8}
- Later,
out of the four winds, another horn
arises. It starts small, but grows
in power to the south and east and toward
the Beautiful Land. It grew until
it reached the host of the heavens, and
it threw some of the starry host down to
the earth and trampled on them. {V9-10)
- This
horn sets itself up to be as great as the
Prince of the host; it takes away the
daily sacrifice from him, and the place
of his sanctuary was brought low. {V11}
- Because
of rebellion, the saints and the daily
sacrifice were given over to it. It
prospered in everything it did, and truth
was thrown to the ground. {V12}
- At
the end of this vision, Daniel heard two
angels talking as he watched this
vision. One angel asked five
questions {V13}, they are:
a. How long will it take for
the vision to be fulfilled?
b . How will the daily be taken away?
c. How long will the rebellion
that causes desolation last?
d. How long will the sanctuary
be surrendered?
e. How long will the people of
earth be trampled upon?
The vision has two parts
During the vision, the
angel Gabriel was sent to Daniel with the
instruction, “tell this man the meaning of
the vision.” As will be seen, the
content of the vision is so comprehensive, that
Gabriel actually requires three visits to give
Daniel a full explanation! The first visit
of Gabriel begins in Daniel 8:15.
Before explaining the
vision to Daniel, Gabriel twice emphasizes that
this vision concerns “the appointed time of
the end” (verses 17 and 19). The visit
of Gabriel with Daniel took place 25 centuries
ago. Several times in the vision the phrase
“the appointed time of the end” is
used. The phrase leads us to believe that
God must have an appointed time to end the
troubles on earth. Are we living in the
last century? Have we reached “the
appointed time of the end?’ How can we
tell if we have or haven’t? Just as a
navigator looks at the stars to know his latitude
and longitude, there has to be some sign or event
that shows our chronological position in time so
that we can know when the appointed time of the
end arrives. Without a marker, we can only
guess at the time.
Many people challenge the
idea that we are living at the end of the
world’s history. They ask, “what
evidence do you have to show that the end is now
and not 500 years from now?” The world
has seen WW1, WW2 and there will be a WW3
(according to Revelation). So how can we
know that we are living at the end of the
world? Bible prophecy holds the
answer. Jesus has declared the end from the
beginning. Gabriel told Daniel,
“…none of the wicked will understand,
but those who are wise will understand.”
Daniel 12:10
Even though the vision of
Daniel 8-12 serves a variety of purposes and
answers a number of questions, it basically has
two parts. The first establishes a
historical footing or marker so students of
prophecy can determine their chronological
position from historical sources. The
second and more complex portion of the vision
explains certain events that occur during the
appointed time of the end. It is also
important to know that other prophecies in the
Bible add information to compliment the vision of
Daniel.
The explanation begins
In his first visit with
Daniel, the angel Gabriel said:
1.
The two-horned ram that you saw represents the
kings of Media and Persia. {V20
2.
The goat is the kingdom of Greece, and the large
horn is the first king. {V21}
3.
The four horns that replaced the one that was
broken off represents four kingdoms that will
emerge from this nation but will not have the
same power. {V22}
4.
Later, (during the appointed time of the end)
when lawlessness has gained control of the world,
a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue, will
arise. He will become very strong, but not
by his own power. He will cause astounding
devastation and will succeed at whatever he does.
He will destroy the mighty men and the holy
people. {V23, 24}
5.
He will cause deceit to prosper, He will consider
himself superior and when the world feels secure,
he will destroy many and take his stand against
the Prince of princes. Yet he will be
destroyed, but not by human power. {V25}
Commentary
Some commentators
separate the last five chapters of Daniel into a
number of unrelated visions because it is obvious
that the visions and explanations come to Daniel
over a period of time. However, we will see
that each time Gabriel talks with Daniel, he
refers to one of their earlier visits and/or a
portion of the vision seen earlier. This
clearly demonstrates a unity between the
segments. Further, if we tie the five
chapters together, the pieces will harmoniously
relate to each other. If the vision is
broken into disconnected parts, conclusions will
have no historical footing to work from. In
such a case, the appointed time of the end cannot
be determined. We will see that Jesus
carefully tied the historical events of
Daniel’s day and the appointed time of the
end together with a specified number of years!
While the first portion
of the vision held immediate meaning for Daniel,
it more importantly provides very valuable
historical data for us. This historical
data provides a historical marker from which we
can mark the passing of time. The second
portion of the vision applies to events that take
place during the appointed time of the end.
Immediate meaning
Jesus not only knows and
predicts the future; He is also concerned with
the present. In Daniel’s day, Jesus
was deeply grieved with Israel’s rebellion
and consequently sent them into captivity.
Through Jeremiah, Jesus foretold the Babylonian
captivity would last 70 years. “For
twenty-three years…the word of the Lord has
come to me and I have spoken to you again and
again, but you have not listened…
Therefore the Lord Almighty says this:
‘Because you have not listened to my words,
I will summon all the peoples of the north and my
servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon… And
I will bring them against this land and its
inhabitants and against all the surrounding
nations. This whole country will become a
desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve
the king of Babylon seventy
years.’” Jeremiah 25:3,8,9,11
Remember, Daniel was one
of the Hebrew captives taken into Babylon.
He had interpreted the dream concerning the
kingdoms of man for Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel
knew that another world empire was to follow
Babylon. In the vision of Daniel 8, Jesus
not only reveals the rise of subsequent empires
to Daniel, He even calls them by name!
(Jesus even named the
Persian general that would overtake the
Babylonian empire a hundred years before he was
born! See Isaiah 45.) These nations
are symbolized as a ram with two horns and a goat
with a great horn. These two beasts and
their horns represent the kings of the
Medo-Persian and Grecian empires respectively.
Daniel also knew that the
70 years of captivity predicted by Jeremiah were
about to expire too! He was anxious for his
people to be set free to return to
Jerusalem. He wondered if the fall of
Babylon would bring freedom to his people.
The hope of returning to the homeland and the
destiny of his people burned deeply within his
heart. Daniel wanted to know the outcome of
these things so badly that he fasted and prayed
for understanding for three weeks! At the
end of the fast, Gabriel was sent to
Daniel. He had good news and he had bad
news.
Babylon’s last night
Gabriel told Daniel that
the fall of Babylon was imminent. He
explained that the ram with two horns represented
the kings of Media and Persia that would
overthrow Babylon. Daniel was also shown
that the Medo-Persian Empire would eventually
fall. Thus Jesus opened Daniel’s mind to a
much larger view of His purposes than he
understood before.
Gabriel explained to
Daniel that God’s purpose for Israel was
much more inclusive that just returning to
Jerusalem. So in the first visit, Gabriel
told Daniel about the imminent of Babylon.
Daniel needed to be prepared – for as it
turned out, he would be put on center stage
before the Babylonian ruler of the world.
On Babylon’s last
night, Daniel was awakened by a summons. He
was told to immediately appear before Belshazzar,
king of Babylon! The king and a thousand of
his nobles were having a drunken party when a
hand suddenly and mysteriously appeared and wrote
something on the wall of the palace. The
ominous message was not decipherable to the king,
or his wise men. Eventually, Daniel was
called to read the strange message. The old
prophet told the king. “O king, the
Most High God gave your father greatness and
glory and splendor…But when his heart became
arrogant and hardened with pride, he was disposed
from his throne…until he acknowledged that
the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of
men… But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not
humbled yourself, though you knew all this.
Instead, you have set yourself up against the
Lord of heaven… You praised the gods of
silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone,
which cannot see or hear or understand. But
you did not honor the God who holds in his hand
your life and all your ways… The meaning
is: God has numbered the days of your reign
and brought it to an end. You have been
weighed on the scales and found wanting.
Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes
and Persians.” Selections from Daniel
5. The Bible also says that very night
Belshazzar was slain and Darius the Mede took
over the city of Babylon.
Historical notes
According to history,
Babylon fell in the autumn of 538 B.C, as the
Medes and Persians came to power. However,
both Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel’s visions say
the Medes and Persians were not to rule the world
forever. They too would pass away.
About two centuries later, the defeat of the
Persians by Alexander the Great at Arbela in 331
B.C. established Greece as a world empire.
Thus history confirms the sequence and
chronological portion of the vision concerning
the ram and the goat.
The vision given to
Daniel also predicted that the goat (Greece)
would become very great, but at the height of his
power his large horn was broken off and in its
place four prominent horns grew up. At the
zenith of world power, Greece’s first king,
Alexander the Great, died an untimely death at
age 32. His kingdom was passed down to his
heirs, but was eventually divided among his four
leading generals: Cassander, Lysimachus,
Selueucius and Ptolemy. History again
confirms the sequence and chronology of the
vision.
An accurate understanding
of Bible prophecy always harmonizes with
historical evidence to unveil the foreknowledge
of Jesus! Political powers do not come and
go by the whim of men. The apostle Paul
said, “…For there is no authority
except that which God has established. The
authorities that exist have been established by
God.” Romans 13:1
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