Daniel Reveals God’s Purpose in History
Daniel Reveals God’s Purpose in History
Daniel 9 &10
Daniel’s prophecy describes the time period known as the times of the Gentiles, or the time period of history in which Gentile nations dominate the land of Israel. That period of time began with the Babylonian captivity, and it extends to the return of Christ, when He again gives Israel the fullness of its original inheritance, and rules as King of kings and Lord of Lords.
Daniel is giving a prophecy of hope to Israel. There will be an era of Gentile or pagan dominion over Israel, but that will end in the glorious coming return of Jesus Christ.
Daniel’s prophecy was given to remind God’s people that no matter how bad it gets, ultimately, God’s Kingdom will prevail.
The Forerunners Of The Antichrist
The Rise and Fall of Alexander and Antiochus Epiphanes
The details show that things will get worse before they get better. There are two individuals who mark the path and show the way he’s going to be when he finally arrives.
Daniel 8:3 Then I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns; This vision further developed the transition between the rising Persian Empire and the Grecian Empire of Alexander.
Daniel 8:5 And as I was considering, behold, a he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth.
The ram vision was interrupted by the appearance of a male goat from the west. The reference is almost certainly to the decisive battles at Granicus, in which the Persian Empire was wrecked at the hand of Alexander.
Daniel 8:8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great; and when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and in its place came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
No more remarkable or accurate prediction could ever be imagined than this detailed analysis of the Grecian Empire. The breaking of the notable horn was a reference to the untimely and unexpected death of Alexander in 323 B.C., at the apex of his strength. His kingdom was divided among his four generals, Ptolemy, Cassander, Lysimachus, and Seleucus.
The succession of developments continued with the rise of a little horn which grew great, especially in the east and the south. This little horn was Antiochus IV or Antiochus Epiphanes, the eighth in a long line of Seleucids who governed Syria from the capital at Antioch. He ruled from 175–163 B.C.
Daniel’s Understanding of Jeremiah’s Prophecy For God’s People (9:1–19).
Daniel 9:2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, came to understand by books the number of the years, according to the word of the LORD as it came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would spend seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
Daniel’s discovery of the purpose of God for the Jewish people was made through the study of Jeremiah’s prophecy. This information of 70 years of captivity, followed by restoration, is recorded in Jeremiah. 25:11, 12; and 29:10.
The basis of their 70 years of captivity was “not obeying God’s will for the Sabbath.” Seventy years of seven equals 490. God said it would be 490 years cut out of history in which He’d end sin and bring in everlasting righteousness and holiness.
They will be trodden down and out of the land for 490 years, then some of them will repent and finally trust God and bow down to and serve Him.
We are witnesses today: a miracle of human history is that the Jewish people have survived the melting pot of the ages. They have survived in the human jungle existing even today as an entity of themselves, regathered and reborn into their own land.
The Seventy Weeks of God’s Purpose for Israel (9:20–27).
Daniel 9:24a Seventy weeks are determined concerning thy people and concerning thy holy city. 9:25 Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
God says there is a period of 490 years determined as the block of history yet to come in the fulfilling of God’s promise with the nation of Israel. This time is planned by a sovereign God as the period involved until sin is finally dealt with and eternal righteousness is established: the eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Daniel 9:26 describes what happens after the sixty-ninth week and before the seventieth week, implying a temporal gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks.
We are living in that Gap, waiting for the last ‘week’ to begin. The “prince who is to come” is the beast from the sea (8:23–27,), and the “little horn” of 7:8 is the Antichrist. After making a covenant with Israel for one week, or seven years, the Antichrist will break it in the midst of the week, destroying the city of Jerusalem. The biblical historical events of 69 weeks have passed. The events of the seventieth week remain for the future, and will be realized during the age of the Great Tribulation of seven years, just prior to the bringing in of “everlasting righteousness.”
Time has proven that what God says will happen, will happen, and that we can trust Him—even when we do not fully comprehend it all. He has a plan for each/all of us! Let’s commit to trust Him with it.