The End Times

Archangel Michael

The whole chapter is a prophesy of the end times.

v1: Archangel Michael is assigned to protect the Jews during the tribulation period (10:13,21;Rev 12:7).

AntiChrist

v1: […a time of distress..] referring to when antichrist broke his covenant with the Jews in the middle of the seven years covenant. Greatest prosecutions to the Jews will happen during this time.

v2:

Resurrection

v2 talks about resurrection.

OT saints believed in resurrection (Gen 22; Heb 11:19; Ps 17:!5; 49:15; 71:20; Is 25:7; Hosea 13:14)

Please read 1 Corinthians 15 for fuller understanding of the resurrection body.

It seems that this verse suggests the believers and non believers will be resurrected at the same time, the believers will receive everlasting life, the non believers will receive punishment.

Many Christians believe that non believers will be judge after the millenium kingdom, on the great while throne judgement mentioned in Rev 20:11-15.

v3: [..Those who are wise..] is this referring to the over comers?

Seal the Words

v4, v9: This prophesy is sealed until the time of the end, possibly referring to the finish of the book of Revelation. [..Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near..]

A time, times and half a time (v5-7)

antichrist will broke his covenant with Jews in the middle of the seven years covenant, which is three and half years into the covenant. (11:27).

v10: [..many will be purified, made spotless and refined…] many Jews will believe in Christ during the Great Tribulation. The truly saved develop in godliness through trials. The unsaved pursue false values.

1290 days and 1335 days

1290 days is referring to 30 days after the end of seven years tribulation.

1335 days is referring to 45 days after the 1290 days. Possibly referring to the Judgement Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10). [..blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end..] possibly referring to the rewards will be given to over comers on the Judgement Seat of Christ.

The WilFul King (AntiChrist)

About Persia (v1-2)

Kings of Persia:

Cyrus – Ezra 1

Cambyses (529-522)

Pseudo Smerdis (522-521)

Darius I Hystapes (521-486)

Xerxes (496-465) – the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther

About Greece (v3-4)

A mighty King is referring to Alexander the Great

In 332 BC, Alexander the Great defeated Persian.

In 323 BC, Alexander the Great died, and his kingdom was divided among four of his generals.

About Egypt and Syria (v5-20)

Kingdom of the South is Egypt

Kingdom of the North is Syria

Israel was caught between these two great powers

About Antiochus Epiphanes and Syria (v21-35)

Ephiphanes means the “glorious one”

In Dec 14, 168BC, Antiochus desecrated the temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and by offering a pig as a sacrifice. Gabriel called this “the abomination that causes desolation” (v31).

The future antichrist will put his own image in the Jewish temple when he breaks his covenant with the Jews in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period.

v33-35 could be referring to the Maccabeus flight back

Maccabues was one of the five sons of Mattathias. He and his brothers flight back Antiochus and reclaimed the temple in Dec 14, 165 BC. Jews celebrate that day as the Feast of the Lights, or better known as Hanukkah.

Prophecies yet to be fulfilled (v36-45)

About the Tribulation and Antichrist (v36-45)

v35: [..the time of the end] signals the rest of the chapter was referring to end time events.

v36-39: The rise of antichrist

v36: [The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods]. The wilful king is the antiChrist.

v40-43: War and invasions

v44-45: The battle of Armageddon

v45: The return of Christ to defeat antichrist

12:2: The resurrection of the dead

12:3: The glorious kingdom

Daniel’s Vision of Christ

The mourning of Daniel (v1-3)

The 3rd year of Cyrus was 536 BC. In the 1st year of Cyrus (538BC), he gave a decree to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1).

The reason why Daniel mourned for three weeks was probably he learned that the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem has stopped due to protect from the gentiles who lived in the city (Ezra 4).

The prophesy of 70 years (Jer 25) can be explained in two ways:

1) 605 BC 1st exile – 536 BC 1st return

or

2) 586 BC destruction of temple in Jerusalem – 515 BC the completion of new temple.

The temple rebuilding project was stopped between 536 BC – 520 BC. The resumed in 520 BC and completed in 515 BC. The delay of 16 years actually fulfilled the prophesy of 70 years!

Another reason of the mourning could be Daniel wanted to understand the prophesy of seventy shabuwa concerning God’s people and God’s city told by Gabriel two year earlier (chapter 9).

Vision of a Man (v7-9)

v4-6: The man that Daniel saw on probably Christ, because the description was very similar to John description of Christ in Rev 1:12-16.

Battles of Angels (v10-20)

v10-14: There is another man who touched and spoke to Daniel. This man is not Christ because he needed help from chief angel Michael (v13), it is unlikely that Christ needed help from an arch angel. This man that touch and spoke to Daniel was probably angel Gabriel.

What is described here is a heavenly battle between good and evil angels.

The price of the Persian kingdom is an evil angel. The evil angel was assigned by Satan to carry out Satan’s plan on the Persian kingdom.

The evil angel has great power and Gabriel needed the help from arch angel Michael (v13), because Gabriel was “detained” with the king of Persia (v13).

Michael was assigned by God to ministry to Israel (Dan 12:1; Rev 12:7; Jude 9).

The king of Persian shows great kindness to the Jews, he allowed them to return home to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, and Satan wanted to interrupt God’s plan.

Gabriel was in hurry to flight against the “price of Persian” and the “prince of Greece” (v20), both were evil angels under the authority of Satan.

As this point, it is good to read Ephesians 6 to understand how the Lord wants us to be equipped to fight spiritual battles.

Seventy Shabuwa

Reading of the Book of Jeremiah (v1-3)

v1: The 1st year of Darius is 539BC

v2: God had foretell Daniel regarding the fall of Babylon in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (ch 2), in Daniel’s dream of four beasts (ch 7).

Actually Isaiah and Jeremiah had already prophesied the falls on Babylon. That may be the reason why Daniel is studying afresh the book of Jeremiah.

Jer 25:1-14 talks about the reason of the exile and the length of the exile. [But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, and the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt] (Jer 25:12)

Jer 29:10-14 God said: ” I wil bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

v3: Example for us to follow. We need to read God’s word afresh. Once we receive God’s revelation and burden, we turn to the Lord in prayers, to make petition, to confess sins, to repent and to praise the Lord

Israel’s Babylonian captivity was to last 70 years because the people of Israel violated 70 sabbatic years over the course of 490 years (Lev. 26:34-35; 2 Chr. 36:21; Jer 25:11-12; Dan 9:1-2):

Daniel’s Prayer (v4-20)

This is one of the most beautiful prayers in the bible. We truly see the humble and contrite heart of Daniel. His prayer is not to request things for himself, but to plead on behalf of God’s people, God’s city and God’s nation (v16). Daniel’s heart was in anguish because God’s people become an object of scorn (v16), the city that bear God’s name has became desolate (v18). Daniel’s was thinking about God’s needs instead of his own needs. Oh, how we ought to learn how to pray like Daniel.

v4: God is faithful to keep His covenant, only to those who love Him and obey His commands.

v5-6: Noticed Daniel used “we” in the prayers. He put in himself together with the rest of Judah as people who have sins and turned away from God.

v7- 13: God is faithful in His covenant with Israel. God has made covenant with Israel in the beginning of the journey in Sinai (Lev 26) and at the end of their journey, before they enter the land of promise (Deut 28). God promised to the Jews that God would bless them when they obey Him, and He would punish them when they reject Him. God has sent many prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc) to warm them, to give them time and opportunity to repent for hundred of years.

v14: [“The Lord our God is righteous in everything He does”] God is righteous. Everything He does is righteous. He is the standard and the definition of righteousness.

v15-19: Pay attention to how Daniel focused on God’s needs. This prayer shows that Daniel’s heart is thinking about God’s people and God’s city.

Angel Gabriel’s Revelation (21-27)

Gabriel told Daniel one of the most famous prophesies in the bible.

The time line of this prophesy involves four time frames, all used “seven” or “week” (H7620, shabuwa) as time unit. One shabuwa is seven days, or seven years. Most bible students agree shabuwa in here is referring to 7 years in the Jewish calendar. One year is Jew calendar is 360 days. Our current calendar system, the Gregorian calendar was only used after 1582 AD, one year is 365 or 366 days.

The four timelines mentioned in this prophesy are:

1. 70 shabuwa
2. 62 shabuwa
3. 1 shabuwa
4. 1/2 shabuwa

The major events covered are:

1. 7 shabuwa and 62 shabuwa – Issuing the decree to restore Jerusalem until Messiah the Price (v25)
   1. three returns to Jerusalem:
      1. 538 BC – Cyrus – Ezra 1 – Jeshua and Zerubbabel
      2. 457 BC – Artaxerxes – Ezra 7-12-26 – Ezra
      3. 445 BC – Artaxerxes – Neh 2:5-8 – Nehemiah
   2. Gabriel was probably referring to the return of Nehemiah in 445 BC to build the city wall in 7 shabuwa – 49 years
   3. To calculate when Messiah will be crucified:
      1. 7 shabuwa + 62 shabuwa = 483 shabuwa.
      2. 483 shabuwa = 477 Gregorian years (because of 5 days different (6 on leap year))
      3. 445 BC + 477 = 32AD
2. 62 shabuwa – The Messiah will be cut off, the people of the prince will come to destroy the city and the sanctuary (v26) 
3. 1 Shabuwa – antichrist (People of the prince) will make covenant (v27)
4. 1/2 shabuwa – antichrist will broken his covenant and cause complete destruction on Israel and the world (v27)

Daniel’s Vision of The Ram and The Goat

From chapter 8 to the end of Daniel, the text is written in Hebrew.

Just like in the dream of the four beasts, the vision on a ram and a goat in this chapter is explained in the same chapter.

The ram with two horns is Media and Persia, with the higher horn being the stronger Persian. The goat is Greece. The prominent horn is Alexander the Great. The book of Daniel was written at lease 200 years before Greece came into power on the world stage. Only God could prophesy the future, and this is the assurance of the authority of the bible as words of God.

God has already prophesied through Isaiah two centuries ago regarding Cyrus, the King of Persian would came in power to conquer Babylon. (Isa 41:2, 25; 44:28-45:4)

v16: Gabriel means “man of God”. He is one of the only two angels who are named in the bible. The other angel is Michael, meaning “who is like God” (Dan 1013,21;12:1; Jude 9; Rev 12:7).

Antiochus Ephiphanes

The little horn (v9) appears who becomes a great leader is Antiochus Ephiphanes, the ruler of Syria from 175 BC to 163 BC. He was known as one of the cruelest tyrants in the history.

Antiochus is a foreshadow of antichrist. What he did to the Jews will be repeated by the antichrist to the Jews during the great tribulation.

In 168 BC, Antiochus sent 20,000 men under Apollonius to level Jerusalem. They entered the city on Sabbath , killed most men, and took the women and children as slaves. The remaining men fled to the army of the Jewish leader Judas Maccabeus.

Antiochus prohibited the Jews from observing the Sabbath, practicing circumcision, and obeying the levitical dietary laws. On 168 BC, he replaced the Jewish altar with an altar of Zeus and sacrificed a pig on it.

Judas Maccabeus eventually conquered Jerusalem and the Jewish worship in the temple was restored. The event was celebrated as “The Feast of Dedication” (John 10:22) or better known as Hanukkah.

Antiochus went mad while in Persia where he died at 163 BC.

Antichrist

Angel Gabriel told Daniel about what will happen later in the “time of wrath”, at “the time of the end”(8:19). The remaining of the chapter focused on prophesy at end time, which the OT called this period “the time of Jacob’s trouble” and “the day of the Lord”. It is the period when God’s wrath would be poured out on an evil world.

The “stern-faced king (v23) is referring to Antichrist. He will become very strong (v24), by the power of Satan (v24). He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroyed the mighty men and the holy people. I think the holy people means both Jews and Christians. He will take his stand against “The Price of princes”, our Lord Jesus Christ.

But at the end, the antichrist will be destroyed, not by human power (v25), but by the power of Christ.

Daniel is told to seal up the vision (v26). The meaning of all of this will be revealed by the revelation of Jesus Christ is revealed to apostle John. “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near” (Revelation 22:10). The sealed books are the seven seals which will be reveal to John in the book of Revelation.

The Greek Language and Roman’s Roads

The Greece and Roman were under the sovereign plan of God. God used the Greece to union the eastern Europe and middle east with the common writing to prepare for the use of Greek in New Testament. Greek was the NT language because it was the common language during Jesus time. God used the Roman to build roads throughout the Roman empire. The roads systems became the road travelled by Jesus’s disciples to spread the gospel.

Daniel’s Dream of Four Beasts

Chapter 7 and 8 happened during the reign of Belshazzar, which happened between chapter 4 and chapter 5 (v1). The great sea (v2) was referring to Mediterranean sea. To the ancient world, it represented the nations of the world.

This chapter prophesied six kingdoms in human history:

1. Babylon – Lion with eagle wings (v4) – pure gold head (2:32)
2. Mede-Persian – Bear with three ribs on mouth (v5) – silver arms – silver chest and arms (2:32)
3. Greece – Leopard with four wings of bird (v6) – bronze belly and thighs (2:32)
4. Rome – Terrifying, frightening best (v7) – iron legs (2:33)
5. AntiChrist – ten horns and the other horns (v8, 20, 24)
6. Christ – Ancient of Days (v21, 26-27)

In human eyes, the nations of the world are like Nebuchadnezzar’s great image. To God, the nations are only ferocious beats that attack and seek to devour one another.

The Lion

The Bear

v5: Three ribs on mouth could mean Persion’s conquered on Lydia, Egypt and Babylon.

The Leopard

v6: Four wings and four heads mean the divided Greece Kingdom after the death of Alexander the Great.

The Terrifying and Frightening Beast

The AntiChrist

The ten horns (v8, 24) are ten kingdoms that will exist in the last days.

The little horn represents the antichrist (v8, 24).

The antichrist will subdue three kingdoms (v8, 24) to become the ruler of the world.

“This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully” (v8). Eyes mean he has remarkable knowledge and skill in planning his exploits. Mouth means he is skilled in speech to promote himself so that people follow him.

The antichrist will make covenant peace convenant with Israel for 7 years, but in the midst of that period will break the covenant and begin to persecute God’s people. (v25)

Christ the King

v9: Ancient of Days is referring to God.

v9-12 describes the heaven throne of God the father.

v13: “son of man” is referring to Christ.

v13-14 describes the millenium Kingdom of Christ (v27).

Lion’s Den

Daniel Was Appointed As the Highest Ruler in Persia (v1-3)

v1: Bible students in general agree there are two possibility of who Darius the Mede was. First, Darius was the title of a man called Gubaru, whom was appointed by King Cyrus as ruler of the city of Babylon. Second, Darius refers to King Cyrus himself. King Cyrus ruled the Persian empire from 539 BC to 530 BC. What is for sure is this Darius is not the Darius who rules Persia from 522 BC to 486 BC, during whose reign the temple was restored by the Jewish remnant at Jerusalem.

v3: Daniel was the head of the three administrator who rules the whole Kingdom. Here the history repeats itself, during Nebuchadnezzar time, Daniel was appointed as the ruler over the entire province of Babylon (2:48).

Daniel was faithful to God and God blessed him with a earthly high position in the largest kindoms of his time. In Daniel case, God has a purpose for Daniel, He wanted to use Daniel to call the Jews to return back to Jerusalem. God can choose the blessed us with earth blessings, or He could chose not to bless us with any earthly blessing. I think of all the martyrs in Church history, saints who were faithful to God and die as a witness for Him. God has total authority on His servants, may all us we submit to His authority in our life and praise Him for every position He has chosen for us.

Conspiracy to Kill Daniel (v4-9)

v5: The enemies knew Daniel was totally devoted to worship God.

Daniel’s Response (v10-11)

Daniel’s immediate response was to pray to God. Is that our first response when we face with circumstances in our life? Or do we depends on our own wisdom and plan before we go to the Lord?

Three times a day, probably for the entire adult life of Daniel, who is in his eighties now, he dedicated to God. How much time do we dedicate  to our Lord in our daily life?

King’s Response (v12-18)

v14: “When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.”

The King wanted to save Daniel but failed. Satan was probably at work to destroy Daniel, even a king could not stop Satan.

v16: “So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

v20: “When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?””

Daniel must have made a great impression to Darius as a person who devote himself totally in serving God. Do your friends and coworkers know you are serving a living God?

God Saved Daniel (v19-23)

God sent an angel to rescue Daniel (v21), and Daniel give God the glory.

King Darius Joined King Nebuchadnezzar to Openly Praise God in the Nations(v24-28)

Verse 28 could be translated as So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, who is also known as the Cyrus of Persian.

If Darius referred in chapter 6 was not King Cyrus, then verse 28 tells us King Cyrus took over as the ruler of Babylon the city and the Persian kingdom, probably after Darius die (Darius was 62 when he took over Babylon (5:31)).

King Belshazzar’s Banquet (v1-4)

King Belshazzar and party drank from the goblets from Jerusalem Temple, and while doing that, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone (v4).

God’s Fingers Wrote on The Wall (v5-6)

No One Could Read the Writing (v7-9)

Daniel Read The Writing (v10-30)

If Daniel was 16 when he was taken to Babylon in 605 BC, and Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC, then Daniel was 82 years old when Belshazzar summoned him to the banquet hall.

The reason why God judged King BelShazzar was

1. have not humbled himself, though he knew about the experience his grandfather had with God (v22)
2. Instead he has set himself up against the Lord of heaven (v23)
3. Drank from goblest from God’s Temple (v23)
4. Praised idols (v23)
5. Did not honor the God who holds BelShazzar life in His hand (v23)

Belshazzar could only reward Daniel with the 3rd highest ruler in the kingdom because Belshazzar was ruling the kingdom together with his father Nabonidas.

The Fall of Babylon (v30)

Darius was the title of the persian king, similar to Pharaoh as Egypt’s king. The name of this Darius is probably Cyrus.

Babylon was founded by Nimrod, a rebel against the Lord (Gen 10:8-10). Rev 17 and 18 describe the rise and fall of mystery Babylon in the end times.

Persian’s attack on Babylon in 539 BC

The Second Dream of Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar Praises the Most High God (v1-8)

Pay notice that Nebuchadnezzar used the first person pronounce in chapter 4. This chapter is essentially his autobiography.

Some believe that the second dream mentioned in chapter 4 happened twenty or thirty years after the furnace incident in chapter 3.

Nebuchadnezzar Second Dream (v9-18)

v17: “The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.”

Daniel said similar praise to God after God revealed Nebuchadnezzar first dream to him (2:21). Here in verse 17, it is repeated again by a watchman/messenger in Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream. This is the theme of the book of Daniel.

Daniel Interprets the dream (v19-27)

v27: Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”

Daniel was calling for repentance. God gave Nebuchadnezzar another opportunity to repent but he chose the tough path.

By telling the truth, Daniel actually knew he could risk his life because he knew how cruel Nebuchadnezzar could be. But he chose to be obedience to God’s calling in his life.

The dream is fulfilled (v28-33)

v29: Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon

God even gave the king an entire year but he refuse to yield.

v30: he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

Even after two dreams, and witness God’s power on the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar was still prideful to himself.

v31: “Your royal authority has been taken from you”.

God has the power and authority to remove any king as He wishes.

v32: “… the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes.”

Again, the theme of this book is repeated here (2:21; 4:17)

Nebuchadnezzar Repented and Truly Praise God (34-37)

After seven years, the king finally repented. The response of Nebuchadnezzar reminded me of Job. Although they had totally different experiences and background, for example Job was a upright person who feared God. However both of them have greater understanding  of who God is after experienced trials in their life.

v36: “At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.”

As with Job, God also restore Nebuchadnezzar kingship after he had repented.

It is remarkable that Nebuchadnezzar recorded his beastly behavior, admitted his pride and give glory to God in his autobiography. God is in control. No matter how bad a person was, God has the power to change him.

v1: “King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet [fn] wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.”

It is amazing how prideful Nebuchadnezzar was, he built a statue of himself that is 3/5 of the height of the statue of liberty, even after he had found out the meaning of his dream. The statue of liberty is 151 feet tall, while the gold statue of Nebuchadnezzar was 90 feet tall.

Some bible students say the event in chapter 3 could have happened 20 years after the event in chapter 2. That could be true since it takes time to build such a large statue. Nebuchadnezzar may have forgotten his dreams that happened 20 years ago.

Our memory tend to fade as time pass, that is my we need to always abide in the Lord, and frequently count His blessing in our life.

v6: “Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”

Again this show how cruel Nebuchadnezzar was.

v15: “…what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands”

Did Nebuchadnezzar forgot how power the God of the heaven is? He experienced the power of God when Daniel told him his dream and explain it in chapter 2. Or did he just did not know the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego worshipped the same God as Daniel does? He surely knew they worship the same God since he knew them when they were brought before him after 3 years of training (1:19).

Nebuchadnezzar response to Daniel’s friends how that how much pride he had for himself, and he did not fully understand the power of God of the heaven.

v17: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.”

v18: “But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

The response of Daniel’s friends show us two points. First is how much trust they have on God’s power to rescue them. Second, it shows their dedication to God. They were willing to die instead being unfaithful to God.

How much price are we willing to pay to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

c25: “He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

The fourth man was our Lord Jesus. He is always with us when we go through fire in our life.

c27: “and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.”

No one can perform this miracle except the almighty God.

v29: “Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”

Again by being faithful to God, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were used by God to exalt His name in the gentile nation.