Making Sense of Daniel pt2

When I was new in my faith and the only Christian in my family, the church I was going to had a movie night. A movie called “A Thief In The Night,” it starts with a young woman waking up to find that the rapture had happened. She finds her husband is gone and screams like a horror movie. Her alarm clock radio has a man talking about how all over the world millions of people are just gone and theologians are speculating that this is the event talked about in the Scriptures—then a youth group starts singing Larry Norman’s “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.” I invited my mom and dad and my little brother to church that night. Everyone had the bejeebers scared out of them. The pastor asked for people to dedicate their lives to Jesus and everyone went home a Christian.

I became obsessed with the end times. Eschatology. I studied the notes in my Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible. I told everyone I knew about the rapture, the antichrist, the mark of the beast, the great tribulation—I told everyone who would listen they needed to get ready or they were going to get left behind. I thought this was the same thing as telling people about Jesus.

This particular theological persuasion is called Premillennial Dispensationalism, or Dispensationalism for short. It was first taught by a guy named Darby in the late 1800s and really got on the map in the early 1900s with the Scofield Reference Bible. In the 1970s a book called The Late Great Planet Earth took the American church by storm and Dispensationalism became the predominant theological view in many Protestant churches. It’s so predominant that most people don’t even realize it’s a relatively new spin on the apocalypse.

Sometimes people ask why I don’t talk about End Times and Eschatology much. You would think that someone whose family came to faith through preaching about those things might be all over it, right? You’d think I’d talk about it all the time.

Like I said, I used to.

I’ve come to realize that a lot of people are more emotionally attached to their views on End Times than pretty much any other aspect of their faith. Not many things can divide a room faster than bringing up the rapture. So I’ve learned to avoid the subject as much as possible.

So, why am I bringing it up today? Good question. Maybe I shouldn’t. I almost deleted this introduction several times while writing the sermon this week.

There are four basic ways to interpret Revelation, and there are three basic views of how this is all going to end based on putting all the Scriptures together that talk about the Last Days. I’m not going to go into all that in this sermon—probably not any sermon. That stuff is better suited for a Bible study. I'd be happy to go to town on all those things if you’re actually interested, and not just trying to defend the position you’re emotionally attached to. These things do matter, they have a big impact on what we spend our time doing while we wait—what we are actually hoping for.

But I’m bringing this up today because we can’t finish talking about Daniel otherwise. Chapters 7 through 12, the second half of the book, are a bunch of apocalyptic visions that give the people of God a glimpse of how history is going to play out from Daniel’s time all the way to the End Times. We can’t talk about these things without picking a lane. I’m going to fall squarely in the Amillennial camp of eschatology. My goal is always to keep things as close as possible to the theology of the people who wrote the New Testament—the apostles—and the church was Amillennial until Darby, Scoffield and Hal Lindsey wrote their books. It might be fun to think about theological ideas people come up with hundreds or thousands of years later, but I’m always going to keep going back to the teaching of the people who knew Jesus in His earthly ministry, and who did their best under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to write down His teachings.

Enough intro. 

In chapter 7 of Daniel, we have the main point of the book. The Son of Man goes into the heavenly throne room and stands before the Ancient of Days and is given all the kingdoms of the world. This is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, standing before God the Father who gives Him dominion, honor, and a kingdom that will never end. “Son of Man” literally means son of Adam. A human man. Jesus was a human man, but look what it says in verse 14,

“He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him.” Daniel 7:14

Jesus sat down at the right hand of God the Father and people of every nation and language are to WORSHIP Him. God is very clear, even in the book of Daniel, that God alone is to be worshiped. So Jesus is not only a human man, He’s also divine. Jesus is God.

In chapter nine the Angel Gabriel appears and tells Daniel about how the Christ will show up, suffer and die to atone for the sin of the people—then the Temple will be destroyed and he will put an end to the sacrificial system. It’s important to understand that the entire Bible was written before the Temple was destroyed and the sacrificial system was abolished. Once that happens is the official beginning of what is called throughout Scripture “The Last Days.” When the Old Testament ends and the New Testament begins—that’s what Jesus accomplished on the cross. After the resurrection, the Gospel spread for a few years, then the Romans destroyed the Temple and the Last Days were officially set in motion. It’s all Jesus now. There is no other way. Not going to be any other way. No plan B. 

Christ will reign at the right hand of God the Father, like we see in chapter 7, until He returns in glory and all the dead are raised for the final judgment. In chapter 12 we have the clearest depiction of this resurrection at the end of time in the Old Testament.

12:2 says,

“But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.” Daniel 12:2-4

So the main point of the book of Daniel is that God is sovereign over all history, which is going to come to its climax when Jesus, The Messiah comes to earth and dies for the salvation of His people—then He’s going to ascend to the heavenly throne room where He will rule and reign forever. When the Messiah comes, that ushers in what the Old Testament calls the “Last Days,” which will last until the end of time when Christ returns to bring the New Heavens and the New Earth of a new reality. The end of the book of Revelation. A new Garden of Eden where you and I will live forever in the glory of God.

The people of God, who had been very unfaithful, were exiled in Babylon. Things looked really bad. Had God given up on them? Was God dead? Were the gods of the pagan nations in charge now? Daniel says very clearly, “no.” God is still in control. He’s still on the throne. He is sovereign over all things—all history. He even rules the pagan nations. This is a book of hope for God’s people.

So, the last half of Daniel is letting the people of God know how He’s going to get from Babylon to the Messiah. God’s big plan of history.

I could summarize chapters 7 through 12 like this: Daniel is shown a bunch of freaky visions of animals with horns that represent the kingdoms that will rise and fall before the Messiah shows up. From Babylon to the cross—then the Son of Man ascends to heaven and takes His seat on the throne over all nations and people forever. The end. Or at least waiting for the end.

The prophecies in Daniel 7 through 12 are so detailed and filled with historical references to things that were going to happen with the Persians and the Medes taking over Babylon, Alexander the Great and the Greeks taking over the Persians, the early death of Alexander, and the way his kingdom was divided into four parts, the way Antiochus Epiphanes persecuted the Jews and desecrated the Temple, the way the Hasmonitians or the Maccabees revolted, and the way the Roman Empire came in just before Jesus showed up…

It’s all so detailed and full of historical references that critical scholars, starting in the late 1600s, have been convinced it was all written after the fact. They assume there wasn’t really a man named Daniel and it’s all some fantasy version of history written in apocalyptic code after the Persians, Greeks, and Romans did their thing. How else could it be so historically accurate?

Here’s the problem with that. The Jewish people considered the book of Daniel to be part of Holy Scriptures since long before many of the things described happened. The Essenes of Qumran, who began as a sect of Judaism two hundred years before Jesus, accepted the Book of Daniel in their Scriptures—which they put in clay pots for safekeeping. In other words, before an after-the-fact book of Daniel could have been written, even the most finicky Jews accepted Daniel as Scripture. Scholars had a lot of fun doubting the predictive prophecies of Daniel until these Scriptures in clay pots were found in 1947—you’ve heard of them, they’re called the Dead Sea Scrolls. Kinda ruined that whole party for anyone paying attention.

God is sovereign over history. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Daniel points this out as if he wrote the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on Western Civilization in 600 B.C.—before it all happened. Daniel’s visions were to reassure the people of God then, who were in exile, as well as all the people of God who came after them, that God is in control of history. God is the Author of History. That’s why we call Him God.

But it can be confusing as we read the Book of Daniel because all these prophecies are in the form of strange apocalyptic dreams. Here’s some examples:

In chapter seven he has a vision of four great beasts—these tie-back to the dream he interpreted for Nebuchadnezzar in chapter two. There’s a lion that represents Babylon, a bear that represents Medo-Persia, a leopard that is Alexander the Great and his speedy conquest of the civilized world—with four heads that foreshadow how the Greek kingdom would be divided into four parts after his death. A final terrifying beast with iron teeth is the Roman Empire. In Revelation 13, these four beasts are combined to represent the Satanic opposition of God’s people throughout history. Daniel mentions in verse 8 a “little horn” that will grow up, make war with the saints and overtake them. This is a reference to one of the four leaders who took over the Greek Empire after the death of Alexander—a man named Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He attacked the Jews and Jerusalem, tried to force them to stop being so Jewish and act like proper Greek citizens—was ruthless and desecrated the Temple with the sacrifice of pigs and set up a statue of his favorite Greek god, Zeus. The Maccabees fought and won against him, re-establishing an independent nation of Israel for over a hundred years—until the Romans came along and took it over at the time of Caesar and Herod—just before Jesus.

Chapter 8 we have a vision of a ram, a goat, and that strange little horn. This is the same history: Medes, Persians, and the Hellenistic empires that came after him. All to show that God’s people have terrible times ahead of them, but they need to endure and be faithful.

Chapter 8 verse 10 talks about that little horn again—the Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes, but here we find out that he also prefigures the man of lawlessness, the final Antichrist, the great opponent of God’s people that is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, and Revelation 12:4. The one who shows up just before Jesus returns and makes everything really terrible for a while. 

In chapter 9, Daniel reads in Jeremiah that the exile’s only supposed to last 70 years, and he figures those 70 years are pretty much up at this point. 

Daniel lived long enough to see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah—when Cyrus the Persian allowed the Jews to return to Judea. Daniel was also throwing down his own long-term future predictions.

Daniel has to be in his 80s. This would have been right about the time when Darius had Nebuchadnezzar’s son killed and took over as king. Yes, Daniel would have been in his 80s when he faced the lions.

So Daniel prays, repents for all of Israel’s sin and God hears him. He sends the Archangel Gabriel to let him know his prayer got through. Wouldn’t that be something?

Gabriel has good news, God heard the prayer, but he also has bad news. The exile is almost over but it’s going to be seventy sevens until the Messiah shows up and truly rescues the people. Seventy sevens. If he’s talking about years, that’s 490 years. Which pretty much gets us to the cross by the way—when God, through Jesus, would ultimately atone for the sin of the people and bring everlasting righteousness, making His people into the holy nation that He had promised to Abraham so long ago. Chapter 9 verse 26 talks about the Messiah being “cut off”—a reference to the crucifixion—after that would be the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple—which would happen in 70 AD. 

See why people wonder if Daniel was written after the fact? 

Verse 27 says

“he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering”

at the Temple. Which is exactly what the crucifixion of Jesus accomplished. Hebrews 10:1-9 talks about how Jesus was the final sacrifice that all the other animal sacrifices had been pointing to all along. God will never again require or be pleased with sacrifices. It is finished. Jesus is the only way.

If the Temple is ever rebuilt, and if sacrifices do ever happen again—it will be a demonic parody. It will be the spirit of antichrist and an abomination to the LORD.

Daniel chapters 10 through 12 are one final vision. This vision happens during the time of Cyrus the Persian. For two years people have been returning to Judea and have started rebuilding. But they met a lot of resistance and had pretty much given up in discouragement. 

So, Daniel’s in mourning. Fasting and praying. And a heavenly messenger shows up. 

Chapter 10, verse 5:

“I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.” Daniel 10:5-6

Some people think this is Jesus, some people think it’s an angel. Either way, it definitely reminds us of the description of Jesus from the first chapter of Revelation.

Daniel is so overwhelmed at the sight of this person that he turns pale and falls to the ground. The person touches him and gives him the strength to stand.

He says Daniel is highly favored and greatly loved by God—that God has heard his prayers. He also says that he was delayed twenty-one days by the Prince of the kingdom of Persia—some kind of fallen angel demonic ruler over Persia in the spiritual powers and principalities sense. There are invisible rulers over nations. 

Ephesians 6:12 says

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Then he says that the Archangel Michael came to help him—Michael seems to be the Angelic ruler over Israel. See why people don’t want to think this is Jesus? Why would He need Michael’s help? There are clearly things God doesn’t want us to understand about the hidden invisible realities.

The person says he came to tell Daniel what his visions mean, that they are about what is going to happen in the times yet to come.

Chapter 11 is the explanation the person who seems a lot like Jesus gives about the kingdoms that will rise and fall before the Messiah shows up. God is in control. He even starts with the phrase “I tell you the truth…” like Jesus would. He gives all kinds of details about Greece and leaders and the rise of Rome. King of the North, King of the South, alliances made through marriage, deception, battles, destruction of the Temple.

Then we get to chapter 12. The last chapter of the book. There are many things that are echoed in Revelation. The archangel Michael will rise up in a great tribulation to fight for God’s people.  The promise of the resurrection of the dead to either glory or shame—depending on whether their names are found written in the book—in Revelation it’s called the Lamb’s book of Life. The redeemed in the book will shine brightly like the stars forever and ever. Eternal life in the glory of God. The final judgment, life and death, are all in God’s control and under the power of Christ.

A couple more angels show up, one of them is floating above the river.

Daniel has some questions. How long? When will this all end? How long ‘til the end of these wonders? 

The angel answers him in verse 7;

“The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.” Daniel 12:7

A time, times, and half a time. There. Got it? 

Why so mysterious? 

Remember when Nebuchadnezzar was a “werecow” beast for seven times? Well, this is half that amount of time. Whatever that was. In other words, not a complete period of judgment—a bearable amount of time. In the end, God will have mercy on His people.

Daniel had one more question: “And, what’s going to be the outcome of all these things?”

Isn’t that what we all want to know? Isn’t that why so many of us are obsessed with End Times?

The angel says what we all need to hear. 

“He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked.”
Daniel 12:9

Go on with your life, Daniel. Don’t get your undies in a wad. These things aren’t for you to know. The end is coming and God is in control. History is going to play out the way God wants it to. Take comfort. It’s all going somewhere good.

“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.” Daniel12:13

The man in linen who reminds us of Jesus encourages Daniel, and all of us. God is in control. He sends His angels to fight for us and protect us. You will be delivered—everyone whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will rise to everlasting life when the end finally comes. 

I know we’re all really curious about when that will be—the end of the world. The angel’s advice to Daniel is good advice for you, too. Go your way. Know that you are in God’s hands, take comfort that He has secured a place in heaven and in the glory of the kingdom of God for you. AMEN.