Category: Daniel 3

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Daniel 3

Those who are wise

Daniel

I suppose that for those who are skeptics, these chapters take the cake in terms of prophecy, so detailed and accurate as they are.

Here, Daniel talks first about what was to come in the Persian and Greek Empires, and then what is yet to come in the future.

First, he talks about the three kings to come in Persia after Cyrus. These were Cambyses, Gaumata, and Darius (mentioned in Ezra).

Following Darius was the fourth king, his son, Xerxes (the king mentioned in Ezra as well as in Esther).

Xerxes was the richest of all the other Persian kings because of the taxes he collected, as well as his conquests.

He then attacked Greece, but after some victories, his navy was defeated, and later, his army that he had left behind in Greece was crushed at the battle of Plataea. (Daniel 11:2)

Then, a great king (Alexander) arose in Greece, but after he died, his empire was divided among his four generals, not his children. (Daniel 11:3–4)

Daniel then goes into great detail about what would happen to the Greek Empire from the time of Ptolemy I and Antiochus II all the way down through Ptolemy VII and Antiochus IV.

There are numerous study Bibles and commentaries that go into detail about how these prophecies were fulfilled, and it’s fairly lengthy, so I won’t go over it here.

Even if you don’t have either, you could find a good history book and see how all of this was fulfilled just as Daniel wrote.

From chapter 11, verse 36 to the end of the book, however, we seem to move to the end times and the coming of Antichrist.

He will not worship any gods but set himself up as God.

The other god he will worship is the “god of fortresses,” that is, the god of power or war. And he will conquer and rule, until the time that Christ comes.

During those days, there will be great times of trouble.

But God will deliver his people, and at the final resurrection, those who love and follow him will rise to eternal life, while those who hate and oppose him will go to “shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:1–3)

What can we get from all this?

Several passages strike me from these chapters.

First Daniel 11:33–35, which talks about the times of Antiochus IV and that period of persecution during the time of the Maccabean revolt.

Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered.

When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them.

Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. (Daniel 11:33–35)

It strikes me here that God doesn’t promise that he would spare his people trouble. That though they were wise and would instruct many in the ways of God, yet many would be captured, burned, killed, and plundered.

But God had a purpose for all the things they went through. That they would be refined, purified, and made spotless before him.

He says later of those who come out of the tribulation and are resurrected in chapter 12,

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)

And at the end of the book, he writes,

Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked.

None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. (Daniel 12:10)

Finally, the angel says to Daniel,

As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance. (Daniel 12:13)

I take from all of this a sense of hope.

There will be wars. There will be trials and troubles in the future.

But God will use them to purify us, and to make us spotless and refined.

And come the resurrection day, we will shine like the stars before him who saved us.

So let us be wise. Let us be people that seek after God daily. Let us be people that lead others to do the same.

And like Daniel, in the end, we will rest and then rise to receive our allotted inheritance.

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Daniel 3

War

Daniel

A long time ago, a book came out called “This Present Darkness,” by Frank Peretti.

It was a fictional book, but after reading it, it really made me think about the spiritual warfare that goes on that we can’t see with our eyes and about the necessity of prayer.

I can’t help but think that the book was inspired by this passage, because this is the first time you get a behind-the-scenes view of the spiritual war that goes on in the Bible.

Here we see Daniel in a time of mourning. Why he was mourning is uncertain.

It could be that he was hearing of the troubles that his people were having back home in Israel, with all the opposition to the rebuilding of the temple and the city walls.

Or he might have been mourning the fact that his people were still more interested in themselves than the things of God (something that Haggai would later criticize them for).

Whatever the reason, he was fasting and seeking God. Yet for three weeks, this man of God heard nothing.

How often do we feel the same way. We’re troubled, we’re seeking God, and yet God seems to be ignoring us.

But was God ignoring him? Not at all. An angel appeared to Daniel saying,

Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.

But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. (Daniel 10:12–13)

After strengthening Daniel to hear his message, he then said,

Do you know why I have come to you?

Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth.

(No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.) (Daniel 10:20–21)

What should we get from all of this?

When we think of all the problems in this world, when we think of the times that God sometimes seems silent in the midst of it all, there’s a lot going on that we cannot see.

There is, in fact, a spiritual war going on.

Paul wrote,

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

This is not a war in which we’re fighting people, although at times, it sure seems that way. We’re fighting spiritual forces who influence those around us.

And if we’re going to fight these forces, then we need spiritual armor and spiritual weapons, all of which are described in Ephesians 6.

I won’t comment on them right now except to point out that all these pieces of armor that Paul mentions are for the front of the body. There’s nothing for the back.

Why? Because we are meant to fight going forward, not running away.

But the thing to remember after arming ourselves is that we also need to be praying. Paul wrote,

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:18)

We cannot fight this fight alone and in our own strength. We need the Spirit of God himself, fighting for us.

And so we should not only pray for ourselves, but for all of the Lord’s people, for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pray for your pastor. Pray for those brothers and sisters who are hurting.

Let us not be complacent. Let us not be caught unaware by the enemy.

Let us always be alert and praying as God has called us to.

And let us fight the good fight of faith in this war we’re in.

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Daniel 3

The coming of Messiah, the coming of Antichrist

Daniel

In today’s passage, we look at one of the most remarkable passages of prophecy.

Many people discount the prophecies of Daniel concerning the rise and fall of the Babylonian, Persian, and Greek Empires, insisting that it must have been written after the fact.

This is an argument based on a disbelief in supernaturalism, however, not on fact.

However, I think that this prophecy in Daniel alone, written well before the coming of Christ (the entire Old Testament was translated into Greek between the third and first century B.C.), more than dispels that argument.

God told Daniel that there would be seventy sevens, that is seventy seven-year periods in which,

  • Transgression would be finished.
  • Sin would be put to an end.
  • Wickedness would be atoned for.
  • Everlasting righteousness would be established.
  • The vision and prophecy would be sealed up (that is, fulfilled).
  • The most holy (that is, the new temple) would be anointed.

There are several interpretations for this and when the sevens start.

I take the position that it starts when King Artaxerxes gave the command to adorn and strengthen the temple, as well as enforcing the Mosaic code in Ezra 7.

Although the focus on this seems to be merely on the temple, it also seems from Ezra 9:9 that Ezra was also permitted to build up the city walls as well.

As a result, Nehemiah was very disappointed to find out years later that this was never done.

In the first set of seven (forty-nine years), we find that Jerusalem was rebuilt, but “in times of trouble.”

Certainly, the Israelites would face much opposition in the rebuilding of their city and temple as noted in Ezra and Nehemiah.

Also, I think you could qualify someone trying to annihilate your entire race as times of trouble as well (see Esther).

Then if you count off the next sixty-two sets of seven (434 years), from the year the decree was made (457) and account for the fact that we skip immediately from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. (there is no year 0), we come out with a date of 27 A.D., the year the Messiah came (that is, he started his ministry).

Then sometime after the sixty-two sevens, he was cut off.

Literally, it means that he died.

The NIV adds “and will have nothing,” which could possibly refer to the fact that all his supporters abandoned him.

The King James puts it, “But not for himself,” which could refer to the fact that Jesus didn’t die for his own sins, but for ours.

However you interpret it, it was clearly at this time that sin was atoned for by Jesus’ death on the cross.

Then the city of Jerusalem and the temple were both destroyed following this in A.D. 70.

The final seven years refers to the future when Antichrist comes.

He will make a covenant with “the many” (that is, the Jews) and will allow them religious freedom to worship God as they please.

Then in the middle of the seven, he will break the covenant and end the sacrifices and offerings and set up an abomination that causes desolation.

This will mirror in some way the same abomination that Antiochus committed during the Maccabean period.

But then Antichrist will fall and be judged, at which time transgression and sin will come to an end, and everlasting righteousness will come.

The new temple will be established (probably referring to the temple in Ezekiel chapters 40–44) and all the prophecies will be fulfilled.

That’s a mouthful. But to me, it proves that God holds the future.

If he could predict accurately the rise and fall of empires, the coming of his own Son, and the destruction of Jerusalem once again, I think we can bank on his prediction of the Antichrist and the coming of God’s kingdom thereafter.

So let us not worry so much about the future, terrible though things may get.

Let us remember that God is in control, and all that he has promised will come to pass.

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Daniel 3

When your life has been shattered by sin

Daniel

Shortly after Babylon fell to the Persians, Daniel remembered the words of Jeremiah saying that the exile of the Israelites would last seventy years.

With the seventy years up, it caused Daniel to hit his knees.

The interesting thing to me in this passage is that of all the Israelites, Daniel had the least to repent of. And yet he prayed for his people, in no way separating himself from them as he did so.

Instead, he counted himself among the sinners that needed God’s grace.

But in praying this prayer, I think Daniel gives us a model of how we should pray when our lives have been shattered by sin.

First, without excuse or any mincing of words, he plainly and openly confessed the sins of the people, saying,

We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.

We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. (Daniel 9:5–6)

Second, he places the reasons for their exile solely on themselves, not on God, saying,

All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. (Daniel 9:11–12)

Third, he confesses that God is the one who is righteous, not the Israelites. He confessed,

For the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. (Daniel 9:14)

He then asked for forgiveness, not based on their righteous acts, but upon God’s mercy.

We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! (Daniel 9:18–19)

So often, when our lives are shattered by sin, we try to put the blame on anyone but ourselves.

Sometimes, we even try to blame God for our problems. We try to make God out to be unfair for letting our lives fall apart.

And even when we’re forced to admit we were wrong, we try to justify ourselves.

But as long as we hold those attitudes, we will never know God’s forgiveness, and our lives will remain shattered. All we will be left with is the bitterness of a broken life.

If we truly desire forgiveness and healing in our lives, we need to pray as Daniel did. No excuses. No mincing of words.

Just simply saying to God, “I’ve sinned. I was wrong.”

We need to admit that the reason that our lives are a mess is not because God is being unfair to us but is rather a result of our own sin.

We need to confess that God is righteous in all his judgments, and that we were the ones who were wrong.

And then, based on God’s mercy and his mercy alone, we should ask for forgiveness.

None of us deserve God’s forgiveness. None of us can earn his mercy. All we can do is humbly ask.

When we do so, God will reach down, as he did with the Israelites, forgive our sins, and make us whole.

How about you? Is your life shattered by sin? Have you been putting the blame on God? Have you been putting the blame on others?

It’s time to own up. It’s time to truly confess. For only in doing so can we find true forgiveness and healing.

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Daniel 3

Fleeting power

Daniel

Two years after Daniel’s vision of the four beasts, he has another vision of two beasts which in many ways is similar to the first.

Here he dreams of a ram with two horns, with one horn longer than the other.

This, as Gabriel will point out later, represents once again the Medo-Persian empire. And for a while, they could do what they pleased, and no one could stop them.

But then a goat with a prominent horn shows up and vanquishes the ram, shattering its horn and trampling upon him. The goat too became powerful, but at the peak of its power, its horn was broken off and four horns grew in its place.

This again represents the Greek Empire under Alexander, who at the peak of his power suddenly died, and had his empire divided under his four generals.

Then we get a little more detail about what happened under this empire, which would foreshadow things that are yet to come.

One of the horns started out small but became great in power. It cast down some of the stars to the ground and trampled on it. It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host of stars, stopping the sacrifices, throwing truth to the ground, and prospering in all it did.

This horn represents Antiochus Epiphanes who took control of one of the four divisions of the Greek empire (the Seleucid throne).

During his reign, he sent twenty thousand troops to seize Jerusalem, and upon doing so, he set up an idol of Zeus in the temple, and sacrificed a swine on the altar of God, thus desecrating it. This was the “abomination of desolation.”

The stars refer to the Jews who were persecuted and killed under Antiochus, and as Daniel predicted, he threw truth to the ground, stopping the sacrifices, and turning the temple of God into a temple of Zeus.

Antiochus in his pride even made claims of godhood, printing on his coins, “theos epiphanes” which meant, “God manifest.”

But eventually he was cast down. Judas Maccabaeus led a revolt that ultimately resulted in the purification and rededication of the temple.

Antiochus, meanwhile, would die of a sudden illness. While he was riding his chariot, he had sudden abdominal pains that caused him to fall out of his chariot, and as a result of his injuries from the fall and the worms in his bowels, he died.

As well as predicting the life of Antiochus, this passage also seems to be a foreshadowing of the Antichrist as well, who will do many of the same things that Antiochus did. But as we know, this Antichrist will be cast down.

What can we learn from this?

Essentially, power is fleeting.

Persia and its kings thought themselves to be a great power that no one could stop. But they were cast down.

Alexander the Great thought the same, but he too was cast down. Even the Antichrist, empowered by the devil himself, will also be cast down.

I seriously doubt that most people reading this have any dreams of world domination.

But how do you view your dominion, that is, your life? Are you at the center of it?

Do you believe that the people around you are there to serve you? Are you willing to step on others or even destroy others to get to where you want to go? And are you taking God off the throne of your heart, trying to take his place?

Ultimately if you follow that path, you’ll find out what all these men Daniel described found out: the power you wield in your life is fleeting. And you can either surrender it willingly to God, or try desperately to hold on to it, only to lose it anyway.

In surrender, however, we find life. In trying to hold on, we find only death.

Jesus put it this way,

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25)

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Daniel 3

The God who will reign over all

Daniel

Daniel is a bit out of order chronologically, so we’re going to skip chapters 5 and 6 for the time being.

Belshazzar was now king of Babylon. He was the son of Nabonidus, who had apparently married a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar to legitimize his seizing of the Babylonian throne.

During the last ten years of Nabonidus’ life, he lived in a place called Teima and left the administration of Babylon in Belshazzar’s hands.

It was during this time that Daniel had this vision, which in many ways mirrored the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2. Four beasts are described, representing four kingdoms.

The lion with an eagle’s wings represented Babylon. The image of its wings being ripped off, and then the lion standing up and being given the heart of a man, stands for Nebuchadnezzar’s fall into insanity and his subsequent restoration.

The bear stood for the Medo-Persian empire. The raising up of one side stood for the fact that the Persian side of this empire was stronger, while the three ribs stood for the nations of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt that this empire devoured.

The leopard stood for Greece, which under Alexander the Great swiftly conquered the known world, while the four heads stood for how after his death, his four generals would take over.

The fourth beast represents Rome, which would conquer Greece. The horns seem to represent ten rulers that would come from this empire in a time yet to come, with one taking prominence over all the others.

This ruler shall blaspheme God and persecute the saints. It seems pretty clear then that this is referring to the Antichrist.

But then God brings this Antichrist to judgment, and one “like a son of man” comes with the clouds of heaven and is given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, and all people will serve him. And that final kingdom will never be destroyed but will stand forever.

This, of course, represents Christ’s return and the coming of God’s kingdom.

Obviously, there is much debate about the timing of all these events to come, and you have all the pre-tribulationists, post-tribulationalists, mid-tribulationists, and so forth.

Other people can argue their case far more eloquently than I ever could. I tend to be a pan-tribulationist. I believe it will all pan out the way God wants it to.

I’m not going to worry so much about when Jesus comes. I just want to be ready when he does. I hope God takes us away before the tribulation, but I trust that if he doesn’t, and I’m there when the Antichrist is, the words of Paul will hold true, namely,

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.

And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The thing I take from this passage, however, is that ultimately, God will reign over all.

No matter how bad things get, it will turn out because he’s in control. He sets up kings and he casts them down. He set up Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and Caesar.

All were great men. But all were ultimately cast down by God, in his timing.

And though things will get bad when Antichrist comes, he too will be cast down, and at that point, God will reign over all.

So when you find yourself looking at the world situation and fretting about it, remember the words of Jesus when he said,

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. (John 14:1)

And again,

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)