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Studies in Daniel and Revelation

Published March 13, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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What must soon take place, Part One

That phrase, “What must soon take place,” refers to the future events Jesus revealed to John while John was in exile on the island of Patmos. During his exile, the apostle was given a glimpse of what the world would be like in the future, both his and ours. It is interesting to note that both John and the Old Testament prophet Daniel both saw prophetically the same future time and both men were in exile when they were given their visions.

The future begins with Revelation 4:1, so everything John saw from that point on is what will be happening in the future, even though John writes as though the events were happening at the moment he saw them.

1. The future in heaven, 4:1—5:14

A. The Heavenly Tabernacle. From chapters 4 and 5, we learn that there exists and will exist in heaven a literal tabernacle, after which the on Earth was patterned, Hebrews 8:1—5; 9:1—10, 22—24; 10:1.

  1. The heavenly door, 4:1.
  2. The heavenly throne, 4:2—5. This throne is seen throughout the book of Revelation. It is also described in Daniel 7:9—14; Isaiah 6; Hebrews 8:1; 12:1—2.
  3. The heavenly elders, 4:4—11; 5:8—10; 7:13; 11:16—19; 14:3; 19:4. These elders are redeemed individuals; the word “elder” is never used to describe angels or other worldly creatures. Their white robes represent their righteousness.
  4. The sea of glass, 4:6. This area is located in front of God’s throne and is where the saints and angels gather to worship the Lord at various times (7:9—17; 15:2—4).
  5. The living creatures, 4:6—8. These created beings sole purpose seems to be to declare God’s holiness. They are seen throughout the book.
  6. Worship, 4:9—11; 5:8—14.
  7. The scroll, 5:1—4; 10:1—11. This scroll or book is central to the Revelation for within its pages are contained the events that make up our future. This particular book is not the “Book of Life,” nor does it contain any names or promises or anything other than the Biblical text indicates. The “seals” that secure the scroll are the seals of 6:1—8:1.
  8. The Lamb, 5:5—7. This is the symbol of Christ, the root of David, as taught in Gen. 49:10; Micah 5:1—2; 2 Sam. 7:8—17; Ps. 89:35—37; etc.

2. The Lesser Tribulation, or the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week, 6:1—9:21

The seven seals and the first six trumpets take place in succession during the first half of the Tribulation. The seventh trumpet introduces the second half of the Tribulation, also known as the Great Tribulation.

A. The First Six Seals, 6:1—17.

  1. The first seal, 6:1—2. The rider of the white horse seen as this seal is opened in represents the rise of the Anitchrist at the beginning of the Tribulation. The events of this seal fulfill the prophecies of Daniel 7:8—9, 23—25; 8:8—10, 20—23; 11:35—45.
  2. The second seal, 6:3—4. This is picture of the war that will result following the rise of the Antichrist, Dan. 7:24; 11:40—45.
  3. The third seal, 6:5—6. This symbolizes a great famine following the war.
  4. The fourth seal, 6:7—8. Death and Hell are symbolized by riders on horseback. Death and Hell are always the result of any war. See also Matthew 24:6—7.
  5. The fifth seal, 6:9—11. Here is a picture of the first martyrs of the Tribulation. These are people who will find the Lord after the Rapture and during the Tribulation. They will be killed sometime between the Rapture and fifth seal.
  6. The sixth seal, 6:12—17. This seal introduces the time of God’s wrath. The first five seals describe the wrath of man, which will be bad enough but nothing compared to the misery that many will face when God pours out His wrath because of the persecution of His people. There will seven horrific events that happen under this seal: an earthquake, the dimming of the sun, the darkening of the moon, a meteor shower, and cataclysmic events in the sky and changes in the geography of the earth.

Parenthetical Passage, 7:1—17

Chapter 7 is the first of several “parenthetical passages” in the book of Revelation. These are so named because they contain additional information about events just revealed. They are a pause in the action that gives the reader an expanded view of particular events or persons that will help them to understand what John saw.

This parenthetical passage sheds some light on events in-between the 6th and 7th seals that will be happening concurrently during the main events of those two seals. These two events are as follows:

  • The sealing of the 144,000 Jews, 7:1—8. We know these people will be Jews because they are taken from the tribes of Israel. They get saved after the Rapture and will be sealed or marked by God as they pass through the coming trumpet judgments so they would not be harmed (9:4). The 144,000 will be caught up to heaven under the 7th trumpet. The seal will be the name of the Father written on their foreheads.
  • The Tribulation saints, 7:9—17. These Gentiles will find the Lord, like the 144,000, after the Rapture and will die for Christ, the majority of them slain by the Antichrist.

C. The 7th Seal, 8:1

The 7th Seal, 8:1. The 7th seal seems pretty mild; silence in heaven.

Parenthetical Passage, 8:2—6

This is the second pause; it explains the work of the priestly angel and the preparations for the upcoming trumpet judgments. These are events that will happen after the 7th seal and just before the first trumpet.

The following trumpet judgments are literal; they are just as literal as the plagues upon Egypt and will be for the exact same purpose: to protect Israel during the first half of the Tribulation.

D. The First Four Trumpets, 8:7—12

  1. The first trumpet, 8:7. Hail, fire and blood, the destruction of a third of the earth.
  2. The second trumpet, 8:8—9. One third of the sea turned to blood.
  3. The third trumpet, 8:10—11. One third of the fresh water rivers poisoned.
  4. The fourth trumpet, 8:12. Destruction of one third of the planets.

Parenthetical Passage, 8:13

The third parenthetical passage is a brief one, a single verse; a pronouncement of three woes.

E. The Final Two Trumpets, 9:1—21

  1. The fifth trumpet, also known as “the first woe,” 9:1—12. Demonic creatures will be let loose upon the Earth. They will torment human beings but will not kill them.
  2. The sixth trumpet, or “the second woe,” 9:13—21. Two hundred million supernatural demonic creatures will be freed from the Abyss and will proceed to slay one third of all human beings.

This event will conclude the first half of the Tribulation. The worst is yet to come.

Studies in Daniel and Revelation

Published February 18, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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The Rapture of the Church

With Revelation 4, the scene shifts from Patmos, the island of John’s exile, to Heaven.

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” (4:1)

The phrase “after this” refers to John’s vision of Christ in the midst of the seven candlesticks, that is, after “Church Age.” We are living in the Church Age today, sometimes referred to as the “Age of Grace.” This present age began with the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost and will continue until the Church is removed by way of the rapture. The doctrine of the rapture of Church refers to the catching away of all true believers in Christ to meet Him in the air. This amazing event is clearly taught in the following Scriptures:

  • 1 Thessalonians 4:13—17;
  • 1 Corinthians 15:23, 51—58;
  • Philippians 3:20—21;
  • John 14:1—3;
  • Luke 21:34—36;
  • Colossians 3:4

What John experienced when Jesus said to him, “Come up here” is a type or foreshadow of the Rapture of the Church. It must have been similar to what the apostle Paul experienced in 2 Corinthians 12:2—4. In Paul’s case, however, he was told not to tell anybody what he saw and heard, while John was told write down everything he was shown in a letter to the seven churches.

1. Ties up lose ends of Scripture

Chapter 4 of Revelation is essential because it serves to tie up some troublesome lose ends of Scripture. In Matthew 16:13-28, we read Christ’s “foundational statement” concerning the Church:

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:17—18)

A few verses after that, Jesus told His disciples this:

I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. (Matthew 16:28)

This interesting verse finds its fulfillment in John’s being caught up to heaven, raptured, and in a vision, seeing before his death what he would have witnessed and experienced if he had lived to see Jesus return. In other words, John was allowed to live, until, in vision, he saw the return of the Lord.

2. Rapture vs. The Second Coming

The Rapture of the Church is referred to as “the coming of the Lord” but never is it referred to, nor should it ever be referred to, as “the Second Coming of Christ.” At the Rapture, Christ will not appear visibly to people on the Earth but rather He comes in the air, above the Earth, to “catch up” the dead and living saints, who will rise together to meet the Lord in the air.

The Rapture is strictly a New Testament doctrine and was revealed first to Paul in a special revelation in 1 Corinthians 15:51—58. The doctrine of the Second Coming is not only a New Testament doctrine, but one of the chief messages of the Old Testament prophets. Those prophets never saw the Church (and therefore never saw the Rapture, which concerns the Church), but they did see the coming of the Messiah.

The Rapture and the Second Coming will be separated by at least seven years. After the Rapture and during the Tribulation, the saints will be in Heaven with God, not merely hanging around in the air. The saints will return with Christ to reign as kings and priests with Him (Jude 14; Revelation 19:14; Zechariah 14:5). Christ first comes for His saints, then He returns to the Earth with His saints. The Rapture happens first, the Second Coming after the Rapture, separated by the Tribulation.

3. Purpose of the Rapture

In its simplest terms, the purpose of the Rapture is to collect the righteous dead and to remove them, along with the living saints of God, out of the world before the Tribulation begins. There must be a “rapture” in order to fulfill what Jesus said in Luke 21:36a—

Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen.

The phrase “all that is to happen” refers to all the things Jesus taught in Matthew 24 and 25; Luke 21:1—19, 25—28.

This Rapture will occur before the Tribulation begins, and will be the first in a series of raptures that will take place throughout this seven-year period. There will be the following “smaller” raptures:

  • The rapture of the male child in the middle of the Tribulation, Rev. 7:1—3; 12:5; 14:1—5
  • The rapture of the Tribulation saints, Rev. 6:9—11- 7:9—17; 15:2—4; 20:4—6.
  • The rapture of the two witnesses at the end of the Tribulation, Rev. 11:3—11.

Daniel 7: Four Beasts and a Little Horn

Daniel 1—6 covers the history of the prophet in Babylon, including his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams and Belshazzar’s vision. Beginning with chapter 7, we read of Daniel’s visions, which concern world events from his day to the Second Coming of Christ to the final state. These visions are all interpreted by God to Daniel so there can be no doubt as to what they mean.

Chronologically, chapter 7 belongs between chapters 4 and 5. It is possible that chapters 1—6 and chapters 7—12 are grouped together thematically; the first six chapters cover Daniel’s history, and the last six chapters cover Daniel’s visions.

Chapter 7 covers essentially the same ground as chapter 2, taking in the “times of the Gentiles,” beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon and ending with the overthrow of man’s dominion of the Earth by Christ at His return and the founding of His eternal kingdom. There is a difference between chapters 2 and 7, however, and it is that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream covers the times of the Gentiles from man’s perspective but in Daniel’s visions we have the same material covered from God’s perspective. This becomes apparent when in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream he is pictured regally, as a head of gold topping a massive statue, whereas in chapter 7 the Gentile nations are viewed as wild, ravenous beasts.

There is nothing new in this, however. Every nation glories in its achievements and builds statues and names buildings after its prominent leaders and engages in self-congratulatory ceremonies, like having holidays in honor of politicians or certain citizens. But these same nations, viewed from Heaven, are pictured quite differently. Psalm 49:12 paints the true image of man—

But man, despite his riches, does not endure;
he is like the beasts that perish.

1, The Four Beasts, 7:1—27

There is no mystery in what Daniel saw, as God tells the prophet plainly what he saw:

The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. (7:17)

We are not free to interpret God’s interpretation of these visions, nor are we free to change the literal to the symbolic or vice versa. We are to take chapter 7 at face value, adding nothing to it and taking nothing away from it. Daniel’s vision is recorded in Daniel 7:1—14 and the only interpretation is given in Daniel 7:15—28.

Before looking at each beast, here are all the symbols and what they mean:

  • Winds denote wars, strife, and judgments from God (Jer. 25:32—33; Rev. 7:1—3; cf. Rev. 8:7—13; Dan. 7:1—3).
  • Seas represent people (Rev. 17:15).
  • Beasts represent nations and rulers (Dan. 7:17; 8:20—23; Rev. 13:1—18; 17:8—18).
  • Heads also represent nations (Dan. 7:6; 8:20—23; Rev. 17:8—17).
  • Horns represent kings or rulers of empires or nations (Dan. 7:23—24; Rev. 17:12—17).

(a) The Lion, 7:4

The lion symbolizes Babylon, as did the head of gold on the statue of Daniel 2:38—46. It was fitting that Babylon was symbolized by both the king of beasts and the king of birds. The wings on the lion showed how fast Babylon conquered other nations (Hab. 1:6—8; Ezek. 17:1—24). These wings were plucked and the lion then stood and walked like a man, suggesting that at some point in its history Babylon lost its ambition and began to wallow in its self-sufficiency, Daniel 5.

(b) The Bear, 7:5

The bear-like creature symbolizes the Medes and Persians, as the silver did in the statue of chapter 2. It raised itself up on one side representing the greater military strength and influence of the Persians. The three ribs in its mouth represent the Median-Persian conquest of Babylon and Egypt. This empire is mentioned in Daniel 5:24—31; 6:1—28; 7:5, 17; 18:1—4, 20; 10:1—20; 11:1—2; Isaiah 13:17—22; 21:2; 2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; Esther 2:6.

(c) The Leopard, 7:6

Like the brass in the image of chapter 2, the leopard here represents Greece. It had four wings representing the swiftness of the conquests of Alexander. It also had four heads which represent the four divisions of the empire at Alexander’s death. This empire is mentioned in Daniel 2:32, 35, 39, 45; 7:6; 8:5—25; 10:20; 11:3—45; Zechariah 8:13.

(d) The Strange Beast, 7:7—8

This unusual beast symbolizes Rome, as the iron did in the statue of Daniel 2. It had great iron teeth and was strong, for it broke all the beasts to pieces. It had ten horns and later another little horn, making eleven horns all together. The beast itself represents the old Roman Empire.

(e) The Ten Horns, 7:8, 20, 24

These ten horns represent ten empires that will emerge from the territory of the Old Roman Empire in the last days and will be in existence at the Second Coming of Christ. These ten horns correspond to the ten toes of chapter 2 and the ten horns on the beast and dragon in Revelation 12:3; 13:1—4; 17:8—17.

(f) The Little Horn, 7:8, 20—27

Read carefully 7:24—

The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings.

This “little horn,” another king, will come to prominence some time in the future; he is the same as the “beast” of Revelation 13. This “little horn” is called different names by different people, but all are referring to the same person:

  • The Assyrian, Isaiah 10:5—6; 14:24—25; 30:27—33.
  • The Wicked, Isaiah 11:4.
  • King of Babylon, Isaiah 14:4.
  • Lucifer, Isaiah 14:2.
  • King of Tyre, Ezekiel 28:11—19
  • The Little Horn, Daniel 7:8; 8:9—12.
  • A Fierce Looking King, Daniel 8:23
  • The Prince That Shall Come, Daniel 9:26
  • The Willful King, Daniel 11:36
  • The Man of Sin, 2 Thessalonians 2:3—8
  • Son of Perdition, 2 Thessalonians 2:3—8
  • That Wicked, 2 Thessalonians 2:3—8
  • Antichrist, 1 John 2:18
  • The Beast, Revelation 13:1—8

It becomes evident that this little horn is, in fact, the Antichrist. He will be the supreme arbiter of Europe during the Tribulation. God will allow him to prosper and to persecute the faithful remnant of Israel and believers during the Tribulation, until the return of Christ with His saints to the Earth.

Studies in Daniel and Revelation

Published January 28, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Daniel, Part Two

Daniel chapter 2 is, perhaps, in terms of Bible prophecy, the “crown jewel” because it contains the most complete and simple picture of God’s plan for the nations of the world in the whole Bible.

1.  Preliminary Observations

My first observation about chapter 2 concerns the first three verses and is not readily apparent in our English translations.  The first three verses of the chapter are written in Hebrew, but the language switches to Aramaic in verse 4, then switches back to Hebrew with chapter 8.  As to why the change in language, we may only speculate.  The Aramaic chapters, 2:4 to the close of chapter 7, deal with things of major concern to Nebuchadnezzar’s empire, while the Hebrew chapters, 8-12, the future destiny of the Jews is given the emphasis.

My second observation is about Nebuchadnezzar.  At this time in his life, he was in his prime.  He had ascended to the throne as a young man, and his power had been accumulating at an astonishing rate.  Nebuchadnezzar was young and intelligent and thanks to an unusual and imaginative “urban expansion” program in his cities, he had won the favor and the enthusiastic support of religious leaders and the masses.

But Nebuchadnezzar was much more than his accomplishments would suggest.  At this moment in his career, the king of Babylon showed his true greatness by doing something never done before.  Instead of continuing to expand his boarders, Nebuchadnezzar stopped all his military campaigns to consider the meaning of his life and the why he was having so much success.  He was considering his destiny and the future of the empire he had built.

My final observation is that even though this heathen king was in no way a believer in Yahweh, he was God’s chosen instrument to discipline His people, and so God made Nebuchadnezzar the repository of the history of the Gentiles and of God’s entire plan, yet God did it in such a way as to make Daniel, not Nebuchadnezzar, the whom the Lord acknowledged and who enjoyed His divine favor.

2.  Nebchadnezzar’s strange offer

In ancient times it was not unusual or uncommon for kings to attach great importance to dreams.  In fact, ancient man in general was fascinated by the mysterious meanings of their dreams.  Common man had to figure out what they meant on his own, but kings and wealthy men had magicians and diviners who claimed they could interpret dreams.  These were actually professional offices in the courts of pagan nations, and Nebuchadnezzar had many such men at his disposal who could offer some “pre-Freudian” dream analysis.

Naturally, Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men could not interpret his dream, nor could they recount his dream to him.  We cannot be sure if he forgot the dream or if he was testing his wise men, although my feeling is that he genuinely forgot it, but the fact remains that because he could not find the answers he was seeking, the king fell into utter despair.

The first part of chapter 2 is amazingly similar to the story of Joseph.  In both stories, the  king’s dream is interpreted by a king’s prisoner, but in Joseph’s case, the king remembered the dream.  The dream of the Pharaoh concerned the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine in Egypt, whereas Nebuchadnezzar’s dream concerned the nations of this world and the Kingdom of God.  But in each case, the dreams involved the salvation of God’s people from extinction.

Initially, the king did not invite Daniel or his friends to interpret his dream; it was only after he issued a decree that all the wise men in the land were to be killed that the situation came to Daniel’s attention, who by his training was now part of the “wise men” class.  The wise men claimed that only “the gods” could tell Nebuchadnezzar what he wanted to hear.  Daniel volunteered to interpret the dream to the king but first went into prayer to the great Source of all wisdom.   God answered the prayers of Daniel and his three friends and revealed His secret to them   Three things happened to these Hebrews that night:

  • They sought the Lord in prayer, but not before Daniel in faith claimed that he already had the answer or that the answer would be forthcoming.
  • God responded to their earnest prayers and answered them by revealing all in a vision.
  • They responded to God’s response in worship.  This should always be the the result of God’s ministry to the hearts of His people.  In our modern church, we talk a lot about worship and we claim that everything we do is worship to God.  But here we see that prayer is not worship and God’s ministry to us is not worship.  Prayer is asking of God, and ministry is when God gives something to us.  Worship comes after we have asked, and after God has given and our hearts are overflowing with praise and adoration.

With seemingly unlimited confidence in his God, Daniel went to Arioch and promised that he could deliver what the king needed.

3.  Observations about the dream, 2:31-35

“You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.  The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.”

In looking at this dream, I make the following general observations.  First, the Gentile nations from Babylon onward are seen by God as a whole unit, that is, they form one statue, they are not seen as individual nations.  All the successive Gentile nations form but one “person” before God.

Second, four imperial powers were to succeed each other, but Nebuchadnezzar, the head of gold, received his authority immediately from God Himself.  All the other nations that followed Babylon were allowed to do so by God’s sovereignty.  The fact that Nebuchadnezzar is seen as the head of gold, the fact that he was given his authority on earth by God Himself is highly symbolic, for in the Babylonian king we see God replacing His authority on earth.  Babylon was the authority on earth established by God.

My third observation is related to the phrase “The God of Heaven,” in verse 37.  God is not seen as the God of Earth, but of Heaven.  In Israel God was the God of the Earth because He dwelt among His people, and He will again be the God of the Earth at the restitution of all things.

That phrase, “the God of Heaven,” is used in only three books of the Old Testament and one in the New Testament:  Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, and Revelation.  Each of the OT references refer to the exact same period of history when God had scattered His people among the nations.  God had forsaken His throne in Jerusalem, the Shekinah glory had gone, never to return again.

But for now, during the time of the Gentiles, God acts sovereignly as the God of Heaven, setting up man in His place on the Earth:

The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all.  (verses 37b-38)

Finally, an observation about man’s dominion of the earth.  The Gentiles, embodied in Nebuchadnezzar, have been given dominion over the earth, similar to the dominion Adam had.  It is, however more limited, since man is not given dominion over the sea.

4.  Daniel’s interpretation, verses 39-45

“After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.  Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.  Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay.  As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.  And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.  This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”

The very first thing I notice in Daniel’s interpretation is this exchange:

The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”  Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.”  (verses 26-28)

This speaks volumes about Daniel’s character; he is giving his God the credit.

The second thing I notice is that while God gave this awesome and far reaching dream to Nebuchadnezzar, He promptly made the king forget it; in fact, God drove the king to the very end of his resources because, after all, had Nebuchadnezzar been able to recall the dream, he would never have realized God’s role in it.  This is always the way God deals with human beings.  We have to be brought to the very end of our resources; we are made to realized our awful sinfulness before God saves us.

Ironside remarks that each one of us meets Jesus at the place He was crucified:  Golgotha, the place of the skull.  We all find salvation at the place of death.

As soon as Daniel related the dream to the king, the king realized it was indeed the dream he had forgotten.

Daniel then proceeded with the interpretation, which is covered in verses 39-45.  The image of the statue represents the whole period of the Times of the Gentiles from Daniel’s time to our future.  To Nebuchadnezzar this interpretation must have been somewhat startling as he learned he was merely the first in a long succession of empires that would rise and fall.  The end goal of each Gentile empire was dissolution or destruction under the dominance of the Kingdom of God, which itself can never be dissolved, destroyed or dominated.

In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.  (verse 44)

There are a total of 5 kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue and there is some difference of opinion on the identity of some of them.  The traditional conservative, evangelical view is as follows:

  • The first empire, verse 38, is stated in the text as being the Babylonian empire;
  • The fifth, verse 44, is just as clear; it is the kingdom of God;
  • The second, verse 39a is almost probably the Medo-Persian empire;
  • The third, verse 39b is likely Greece under Alexander the Great;
  • The fourth, verse 40, is generally regarded to be Rome.

5.  Ten toes, verses 40-43

Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay.  As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.  And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

Verse 43 has been interpreted as either the weakness of mixed marriages or the rapid decline of society in the collapse of the fourth kingdom (Roy Swim and Birk).  It should also be noted that the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s vision of chapter 7 are parallel, so that the interpretation of this dream must be determined by the content of that vision.

Up to the toes is past history.  The fourth empire will be another version of the old Roman Empire, which is in abeyance at the present time.  The ten toes of the feet of the statue represent ten kings who will rule at the same time, but who will form a confederacy that will occupy roughly the same territory as the old Roman empire.

Though some commentators see this part of the interpretation in history, a ten-nation confederacy such as Daniel saw has never existed before, especially in view of Daniel’s vision in chapter 7 concerning the ten horns.

The fate of this final Gentile empire is striking:

In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.  This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.  (verses 44-45)

The “rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands” is, of course, Jesus Christ (Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14; 28:16; Zechariah 3:9).  Some scholars see this fulfilled when Jesus came the first time, however, the phrase “In the time of those kings” points to a future fulfillment; in the time of ten-kingdom confederacy.  This rock, Daniel said, will fall from heaven, this cannot refer to the baby Jesus being born, but to the glorious Second Coming of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

God has been calling out from these nations a people for Himself–the Church–in advance of the coming of the Rock since the beginning of the “lasts days,” when Jesus returned to be with the Father.  The wrath of God during the Tribulation will be nothing compared to the awful events that will befall those who reject Christ when He literally and physically returns.  No believer will be present on the earth when this event  occurs because Jesus, on the Cross, suffered all the wrath of God in our stead.

Studies in Daniel and Revelatition

Published January 17, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Intro to Bible Prophecy

Before beginning our study of the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation, we should first learn how to read and understand prophecy.

1.  Why studying Bible prophecy is important

Revelation, the work the apostle John produced while in exile on the isle of Patmos, is the only book in the entire Bible with a special blessing promised to those who study it!

Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.  (Revelation 1:3)

For this reason alone it is imperative for believers to read and understand what the prophecies in  Revelation are all about.  But there are other good reasons for studying Bible prophecy.  However, rather than list the reasons why it is important, let’s approach this from the negative side.

Many Christians bristle at the thought of studying prophecy.  For a variety of reasons, prophecy is the the most neglected, most misunderstood, and most abused form of Biblical writing.  Christians neglect it because:

  • they don’t understand it;
  • they are afraid of it;
  • they feel as though a knowledge of Bible prophecy is unnecessary.

In dealing with each of these reasons individually, we will gain an understanding of why we should, in fact, not neglect prophecy, but understand it.

It’s too hard to understand

As a Bible teacher, I hear this all the time and I could not disagree more!  If a person can understand the words of history, then they can understand the words of Bible prophecy.  History is simply a record of things that happened, and prophecy is simply a record of things yet to happen.  The reasons people find prophecy and the prophetic books of the Bible hard to understand are many. One reason is that they find it hard to harmonize the words of prophecy with various teachings they have heard from pastors and Bible teachers.  A great many Christians are able to merely parrot the things they have heard other people say about the Bible and prophecy, and about what they think it means, but they have no first hand knowledge of the Book itself.  And so the words of prophecy seem foreign and mysterious to them.

Something very helpful for all serious Bible students to keep in mind is the following list of common sense “rules” for interpreting Bible prophecy, adapted from the work of Finis Jennings Dake, God’s Plan For Man, pages 773-777.

  • Give the same meaning to the words of prophecy that are given to words of history.  In other words, forget the idea that just because a word is used in a prophecy (or in the Bible itself) it automatically has a mysterious or hidden meaning.  God chose to communicate His message to man in the form of words because words are concrete things; they mean something.  Take Biblical words literally, exactly as they were written, unless it is clear from the context the writer means something different.
  • Do not change the literal to a spiritual or a symbolic meaning.  Never change God’s plain, literal meaning into something else.  If John or Daniel wrote about an earthquake, for example, why change that event into something spiritual, like “the breaking up of society” as some Bible teachers have taught?
  • Do not look for hidden meanings or secret codes in the words of Scripture.  God has revealed to man all man needs to know in a language man can understand.  Be satisfied with that.  We have no warrant or right to “read between the lines” or to add to Scripture in order to understand it.  For example, some students of Bible prophecy desperate to find the United States of America in the Bible managed to find it, hidden in the word Jer-USA-lem.  Still others have used mathematical gymnastics to discern that various political leaders, usually Russians or Democrats, are the Antichrist because the letters of their names add up to “666.”  That kind of Bible interpretation is embarrassing to the Church and is just plain silly.
  • Do not interpret God’s own interpretation of any  symbol or prophecy or change God’s meaning from that which is plainly and obviously clear.  God always interprets His own symbols.  Consider the following references:

Daniel 2:38-44; 7:17, 23-26; 9:20-27; 11:2-45; 12:1-13; Revelation 1:20; 12:9; 13:18; 17:8-18; etc.  Understand the Scripture interprets Scripture and we must learn to “rightly divide the word of truth.”

  • Assign one meaning to a verse or a passage of Scripture:  the plain, literal one, unless it is made clear that a double meaning should be understood.  There are three “laws” that need to be understood when interpreting certain passages of Scripture and passages of prophecy:
  1. The Law of Double Reference.  This law states sometimes, in rare circumstances, two distinct persons are being addressed in a passage of Scripture.  For example, note these two references:  Matthew 16:23 and Ezekiel 28.
  2. The Law of Prophetic Perspective.  This law states that the prophet saw future events as “mountain tops” off in the distance; he did not see the valleys below.  A good example of this law is Isaiah 9:6-7.
  3. The Law of Dual Fulfillment.  This law says that one prophecy may have more than one fulfillment, or several “partial fulfillments” in history before its ultimate fulfillment.  Some examples: Isaiah 7:14 was immediately fulfilled in 8:1-4 then ultimately in Matthew 1:22-23.  Also, Daniel 9:26 was partially fulfilled twice, first in 168 AD when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple in Jerusalem, then again in 70 AD when Titus and the Romans destroyed both the temple and the city, but the ultimate fulfillment will occur during the Tribulation when the Antichrist will desecrate the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.

It’s scary

People are afraid of that which they don’t understand, this is certainly true in the case of Christians who think  they know what the Bible teaches because they heard a sermon or saw a movie about the Second Coming.  Often these end-time movies or sermons are not correct or they embellish the truth with man’s ideas and the result is that people have a concept of the end times that is more science fiction than Biblical fact.

God has given us an idea of what the future holds, not to scare us, but rather to comfort us and to encourage us.  Recall what Paul wrote to the nervous and fearful Thessalonians:

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

I know Jesus, and that’s all I need to know!

Some Christians think they  just don’t need to know about prophecy and so they feel they can just ignore it.  The problem with this thinking is that it ignores that fact that Jesus, Paul, the disciples, and the men who wrote many of the epistles all had a working knowledge of the Old Testament prophets.  Are we better than Jesus?  Are we better than Paul?  Indeed not.  Don’t forget what Paul himself wrote:

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  (Ephesians 6:11)

The “full armor of God” refers to the “whole word of God.”  Paul did not say “put on some armor,” he told his readers to put it all on.  Why?  Simply this:  so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  We must have an understanding of the whole the Bible so that the devil cannot outwit us, so that we will not believe every word a false teacher may say.  Paul also admonished Timothy:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.  (2 Timothy 3:16)

Again, the word used is “all,” not  just some or “most,” but “all.”  Even prophecy is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.  If all Scripture is useful, then we should endeavor to know and understand it all.

Finally, how we view eschatology, the end times, determines how we live out our Christian  lives today.  If we believe that time is short and that Jesus could return at any moment, we would be compelled to spread the Gospel; we would sense the urgency of the hour.  Knowing that the rapture could occur at any moment, we would take more care in how we live, talk and spend out idle moments.

For a good definition of “eschatology,” go to our sister website, Don’t Ask Me.

(c)  2009 WitzEnd
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