Daniel
page 2

Daniel 6-11 .

Daniel 6

During the times of Daniel there are two people with the name of Darius, the ruler of Persia 522 B.C. to 486 B.C., Darius 1 and Darius the Mede, who had been appointed as ruler of the city of Babylon, Daniel 9:1. As the new ruler he needed to set his authority over the city. He realized that there was a problem between the officers and the elderly Daniel.

Daniel, honesty versus corruption.

It appears the officials were not doing their work properly, they may have actually been stealing in some way. Daniel, though appointed as head of these officials may have retired from the any practical work associated with the position. Darius would not have been able to carry out checks on so many officials but he would soon hear and learn of the Jewish administrator Daniel, his honesty and ability. As a result the king wanted to appoint Daniel as his senior administrator, this obviously did not go down well with the other officials who tried to find any problems, failures or faults in his work, but were unable to find any problems. They realized that if Daniel was in charge they would have to work properly and would not be able to use their position for personal gain as before. In addition Daniel was Jewish and hated, a problem still present today, consider Genesis 12:1-3 to see what God’s attitude is to this hatred. Anti-Semitic is a sin to God.

How do they stop Daniel?

There was no way they could make Daniel do something illegal, they soon realized that they could only attack him through his faith.

Daniel 6:5-11.

Daniel has never hidden his worship of the true God, his faith and worship has always been open to the world, he was known to offer prayer three times each day. They soon worked out a plan on what to do, the obvious way to get at Daniel was to make it illegal to offer worship to any other god than the one ordered by Darius.

They approach Darius, Daniel is obviously not present, but their speech appears to include Daniel by claiming that "all officials" are in agreement with the suggestions they are about to make, verse 7, their action would give Darius the impression that they were all united behind him and his position.

Their speech first magnified Darius and his position. They knew that Darius wanted to unite the recently conquest people under his rule, therefore, they suggest that Darius create an image, an idol of himself and make it law that all the people only worship the idol for the next thirty days, this would make any other worship illegal.

The effect this law would be to make the people know that Darius was the ruler but would also make him to appear as a god. To make the law more effective they then suggest that anyone who does not obey is thrown into the lion’s den. Obviously this all appeals to the pride of Darius and he signed the law. Under the Mede and Persia law. Once signed then any of their law’s cannot be changed.

Note verse 10, "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom, since early days." Daniel knew who was in control of the situation and trusted Him. See Acts 5:29-32.
It did not take long for the evil officials to report that Daniel was disobeying the new law, they had no respect for this great man who had previously saved their lives,
"That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king,"

Verse 13. : Daniel feared only the Lord, because he was a man of faith and courage and would not have worshipped any other god or image. Daniel could have closed his window or prayed in secret for the month, but that would have been cowardly and against his belief and his trust in God.

The record shows that Darius must have had some affection for this elderly Daniel, he had been a friend and had been great help in his position as governor. His new law / act had not been thought through and now his action of pride had put his friend in danger. Had he taken time to check with Daniel he would have realized what the officers were up to. We are told that he tried to get Daniel off of the charge, "the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him," verse 14. Unfortunately Darius could find no way of saving his elderly advisor. God is in absolute control of all worldly events so the Lord was allowing these events to take place so that judgement on the evil officers would take place and ultimately God would be glorified. God knows what He is doing,
Ephesians 1:11.

"11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. "

Darius was in a serious situation, he had made himself a "god," so could not make a mistake, neither could he allow someone who broke his law go unpunished. I’m sure that Daniel’s enemies would have remained on hand to make sure that Darius did not ignore his law.

It was common practice for the kings of the day to have animals in captivity, so the lions den would have been constructed as a large pit divided by a movable wall to permit the lions to move from one side to the other, access for the keeper and any food would be through a small hole in the top. This permitted cleaning and feeding without any danger to the keeper, once closed he could put the food into the empty side and when the lions move over to the food he could seal off the now empty side to do any maintenance.

The animals were probably not fed too often to make sure they could be used for execution if required, because of this they would not be very tame.
Before Daniel was lowered into this pit the king Darius offered a prayer that Daniel’s God would deliver him.
Daniel 6:16.
Daniel would therefore have been lowered into the pit through a small hole, then the wall would be lifted to give the lions access to him. Finally the small hole would be covered by a rock and sealed by the king’s official seal. No one would have dared to break the seal to release Daniel.
The king had a bad night, sleepless and not taking any food. Would the God of Daniel deliver the old prophet from the lions?
At the first signs of dawn Darius goes to the lions den. The text tells us that he called out to Daniel as he approached the pit, what must have gone through his mind as he hears Daniel reply, even in the situation Daniel still offered respect to the king, "O king, live forever!"

Daniel quickly gives the praise and glory to God. God had sent an angel, a physical appearance, to shut the lions mouth, He could have prevented them attacking without the angel messenger, the angel may have then kept Daniel company during the night, just as the Lord had remained with the three Jewish men in the fire,
Daniel 3:24-25.

Angels are active everywhere,
See examples Mark 1:13;   Luke 22:43;   Hebrews 1:14;   Hebrews 13:2.
The angels are here to serve God and serve and assist His people.

When Daniel is removed from the pit he shows no injury, he was innocent of any crime before the king or sin before God, verse 22. The real evil was those who disobeyed the true and living God, robbing Him of Glory and encouraging the king to behave like a god.

It must be pointed out that not all faithful servants of God will be delivered from any danger or threat by a miracle,
look at Hebrews 11 1-35.
Where there are many names of faithful servants, yet some were persecuted and died for their faith, for example James the brother of John was killed by Herod the king,
Acts 12:1-11.
Yet Peter was saved from prison. Consider also Acts 14:8-20;   Acts 28:1-6.

God is glorified.

Daniel 6 24-28.

We can imagine the effect of this miracle on the city, Daniel kept safe from the lions by his God. God chose to put Daniel through this for His own reason, The Lord could have prevented it if He wanted, but this event meant an even greater honour to Him.

It is now judgement time for those who had set out to destroy Daniel, Darius did not throw all the 122 officers with their families into the lion pit, only those who had actually accused Daniel, verse 24;
Daniel 6:11-13.
It was the Persian law which also punished the families and children for the action of their fathers, unlike the Jewish law which prohibited the children being punished for their fathers sin, Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:20.
Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was the one who took the sins of another person, not just one person but the whole world, 1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 9:24-28.
Darius not only punished those who had planned against Daniel but he also issued a decree to all his empire, "every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel."
Daniel 6:25-28.

The Lord was glorified through this event, by Daniel suffering, the Lord received greater glory.
The first decree of Darius was to make himself god, the second to declare that the God of Daniel was the true God. When Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem it appeared that the Babylonian false gods were stronger than the God of Israel, this was because His people had not honoured Him, now the whole of the Empire knew who was the True God. This fact must have been a major warning to the exile Jews who to seek and follow in worship.

Verse 28,: "Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian," he lived to hear the instructions by Cyrus for the Jews to return to their land,
2 Chronicles 36:22-23;
Daniel 9:1,2.
Read and think upon 1 Peter 1:6-8;
1 Peter 4:12-19.

The Kingdoms of the World.

Daniel 7

The actual events recorded in Daniel chapters 7 and 8 actually took place before the events of chapters 5 and 6 because Belshazzar became ruler over Babylon in about 553 B.C. which was before Darius.

Daniel is given a vision which follows the vision of Nebuchadnezzar found in Daniel 2. He sees six different kingdoms, one controlled by Satan and finally the kingdom of Christ.

Daniel’s Dream

Daniel 7:1-7; Daniel 7:15-23.

Daniel is asleep when God gives him a very disturbing vision as a dream, the strange part is that Daniel is part of the dream because he is able to approach an angel for the interpretation, verse 16.

The sea is often used as an image of the worlds nations, see Isaiah 17:12,13;   Revelations 13:1;   Revelations 17:15.
The sea Daniel can see is in a storm, just as the nation of the world are always on the move, at war, not able to predict the next wave action. Just look at the world history to see the similarity. It is interesting that winds from heaven are affecting the waves, showing that the Will of God is still controlling the situation. The nations of the world may think that they are controlling the events but God is still there controlling everything, according to His plan.
Daniel’s vision consists of four very different beasts which rise out of the water, the order is similar to the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, but he saw an image made of various metals, while the beasts in the vision of Daniel are dangerous, devouring the nations. From the point of view of Mankind these nations are wonderful, but with the eye’s of God they are evil and disastrous.

The 1st. Beast; a lion with the wings of an eagle.

Daniel 7:4.

The Empire of Babylon is the lion and eagle, In Jeremiah 4:7 to 13, which was before the time of the people in exile, we have the vision of the coming enemy, an agressive "lion" and moving like an eagle. The lion stands up like a man and receives the heart of a man, this reminds us of Nebuchadnezzar.

The .2nd. Beast; A bear with three ribs in its mouth.

Daniel 7:5.
This is the symbol of the Medes and Persian empire who defeated the empire of Babylon, this is the arms and chest of the image in Nebuchadnezzar dream. The Persians were stronger than the Medes so the bear is raised up on one side. The significance of the three ribs in its mouth is not fully understood, but could indicate the nations which has been conquered by this Empire, probably Babylon, Egypt and Lydia, an area on the western side of Asia Minor.

The 3rd. Beast: A Leopard with four wings.

Daniel 7:6.

A leopard is an animal capable of speed and represents the empire of Alexander the Great, which rapidly spread the Greek kingdom. The four wings and four heads indicates that the kingdom would be divided into four after the death of Alexander the Great. This represented the belly and thighs of bronze in Nebuchadnezzar dream.

The 4th. Beast: Dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong.

Daniel 7:7.

Daniel is unable to liken this beast to any animal. It represents the Roman Empire, as strong as iron, sweeping across the ancient world, conquering nation after nation, a very great Empire was to be created. The beast had ten horns, this represents rulers or authorities, with a special "little horn" taking over.
God knew the future of the world and the empires.

These four kingdoms as represented by the beasts have now gone, but verse 12 indicates that each kingdom still exists in some way even today. Daniel saw an additional prophecy to that given in the Nebuchadnezzar dream, the final kingdom on the earth will be a terrible kingdom, so bad that it declares war on God. This is the kingdom described in Revelations 13 to 19, an evil kingdom, which will be destroyed by the return of Jesus Christ, this is the "stone cut without hands" and destroyed the image, as in Nebuchadnezzar dream.

The Ten Horns.

Daniel 7:7,8,11,24-26; Revelations 13:1; Revelations 17:3,7,12,16.
During the times of Daniel people only had the experience of kingdoms, ruled by kings or similar. Today these ten horn symbols will represent nations or authorities controlling large groups of people. The appearance of the European Union involves many of the nations which were under the original Roman Empire, though today there are more than ten nations involved in the European Union, however, they are not all full members. The prophecy indicates that it will be a confederation of ten nations controlled by the Antichrist as an extension of the Roman Empire.

The "little horn"

This symbol represents the final world ruler, the Bible calls him the Antichrist, meaning against Christ, a counterfeit of Jesus Christ,
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12;
Revelations 13:1-10.

The person represented by this horn will be skilled in words and the presence of the eyes suggests he is a man of great ingenuity, (clever, artful, inventive.) He will become a world ruler, controlling religion and the economy, changing times, systems and laws.

In Daniel 7:25
and Revelation 12:14
We are told that his reign will last forty-two months, "For a time and times and half a time.". "time" = 1 year, "times" is 2 years, "half a time" = 6 months, 3 1/2 years.

In Daniel 9:24-27, we are told that he will make a covenant with the Jewish nation but break it after 3 1/2 years and then persecute the Jews. The final stage will be the return of Jesus Christ to the earth and the removal of the Antichrist and his armies.
Daniel 7:13-14.
See also Daniel 11:31;
Matthew 24:1-44;
Mark 13:1-27;
Revelation chapters 6 to 19 for more details.
The information given to John in Revelation has far more detail than was given to Daniel but the final result is the same, Jesus Christ defeats all of Satan’s kingdom.

Daniel also notes that this "little horn" will attack the "saints" during his reign on earth, this period will be during the seven years of the tribulation, Jews and Gentiles will become believers during this period according to John in Revelations 7, some will die for their faith. Other scripture suggests that any Believers before the tribulation will have been taken up into heaven, see notes on the Rapture.

Verses 18, 22, and 27 show the saints will be victorious over the Antichrist but verses 21,25 indicates defeat for the saints. The saints will be taken over by the new world leader. God, will allow this to happen.
Daniel 7:9-10, 13,14, 27,28,
Refers to the Kingdom of Christ, Daniel has watched the rise and fall of the world kingdoms and now watches as the final kingdom comes to the earth. Two stages are seen in these verses, "The Throne of the Father in heaven", verses 9-12. This is before the destruction of the Antichrist, then "throne of Christ" on earth, verses 13,14, then 27, Christ is given the everlasting dominion over all the nations by the Father.
Read Revelation 22:20;
1 Thess 4:13-18.
As Daniel watched this vision he had only one response, verse 28, "my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart.".
We shall see that Daniel was often ill following these revelations.

Daniel 8.

The vision of the end Times

Daniel 8

From chapter 8 to chapter 12 the original text was written in Hebrew, this was to show how the plans of God involved the Jewish nation in the end times. Though the emphasis is on the works of the Gentile nations, however, it was the Jews who were to be the carriers of the message of God and the coming Saviour.

A Prophet.

This vision came before the final King Belshazzar banquet described in Daniel 5 and so explains why the Babylonian Empire is not described, this was about to end. The period covered by the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel 2 or the lion with eagles wings in Daniel 7:4,5 was about to come to an end.

Shushan was a city about 200 miles to the southeast of the city of Babylon, it was no interest to the Babylonians but was later to become the capital city of the Persian Empire. Verse 2 suggests that Daniel did not physically go to Shushan for the vision, God, somehow, took him there in the vision. God was revealing the future from what was to become the capital city of the next empire.

Interpretation

Daniel did not understand the vision and asked for help. A voice commands Gabriel to explain the meaning of the vision to Daniel and as Gabriel, who had the "appearance of a man," approaches, Daniel becomes terrified and falls on his face.

Gabriel referred to Daniel as the "son of man," this was not the Messianic title but pointing to the weakness of mankind.
As Daniel lays terrified Gabriel tells him "the vision refers to the time of the end." He then touched Daniel and explains that it applies to the "latter time of the indignation," referring to the end time of the Jews when God has so much displeasure with His people, so, this vision applies to the Jewish nation during the end times.
The "Ram" is identified as Persia, the two horns being symbols for the Medes and the Persians, the latter being the more powerful, as indicated by the size of one of the horns. After attacking and conquering, Asia Minor, Egypt and Libya, they turned to attack Babylon and lead by King Cyrus, conquered it in 539 B.C.

Many years before Cyrus appears upon the scene we find a prophecy of his coming in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, and also in Isaiah 41:25; Isaiah 44:28 to 45:4. He is a chosen vessel for the plans of God, God can use a pagan king to complete His plans.
Daniel now saw an angry goat which represents Greece, the animal moved across the ground very fast, initially the goat had one horn, Alexander the Great, the son of Philip king of Macedonia, who lead the army into a great series of conquests, but he died at the age of thirty three and the kingdom was divided among his four leaders, the four horns, Daniel 8:8.
The Greek empire set up the area for the first coming of the Lord, Greek culture and language helped the nations come together, eventually Greek being the language of the New Testament.

The "little horn which grew"

Daniel 8:9-14
Following the division of the Alexander the Great empire into four, one of these men appears as a great leader by the name of "Antiochus Epimanes," he was the ruler of the Syrian area from 175 to 163 B.C. He was known as a very cruel man, his name "Epimanes" had the meaning of "the Illustrious." He seems to consider himself a messenger from the gods. In revenge he attacked Jerusalem, which he destroyed, stole many objects from the temple. He killed multitudes of its inhabitants in the most cruel manner.
See Daniel 11:21-32 for details.
He then issued an instruction that there would be only one religion in his empire, and this was not the Jewish religion. The Jews were stopped from using circumcision, following and obeying the Sabbath rules and the food laws laid down in Leviticus. He finally replaced the altar in the temple with one from Zeus, claimed he was a god and then sacrificed a pig, an animal banned by the God for the Jews.
This event is referred to as "the transgression of desolation" Daniel 8:13; or "the abomination of desolation. " Daniel 11:31
Anyone with a copy of the law of Moses was killed.
Judas Maccabeus and his Jewish army removed Antiochus Epimanes and restored the worship in 165 B.C., this event is remembered by the Jews in the "Feast of Lights" or Hanukkah.

The actions of Antiochus Epimanes were an indication of future events by the Antichrist, 2 Thessalonians 2; Revelations 13.

Daniel hears two angels asking questions, Daniel 8:13,14,
For how long will these events take? The answer given is "2,300 days." until the cleansing of the temple. The Hebrew actually reads "2300 evenings and mornings," the times of sacrifice in the temple, therefore does this actually mean 2,300 days or 1,150 days?
We now ask some more questions, When did the event time start? Was it at the removal of the high priest or the sacrifice being stopped or some other time?
Daniel is given some sort of explanation by Gabriel at the instruction of the man in linen, but Gabriel points out "that the vision refers to the time of the end," verse 15.

The Antichrist:

These verses appear to jump forward to the end times, they are describing a period in which God will pour out His wrath on evil Mankind, this person will start in a position of low power but increase in power and influence. He will be against God and be powerful, but not of his own power, as a result of these he will exult himself.
"The Prince of princes;" verse 25, is Jesus Christ, who is also "God of gods", Daniel 11:36 and "King of kings" Revelations 19:16.
The Antichrist tries to replace Jesus Christ, but is finally removed and punished.
Following the vision Daniel "fainted and was sick for days."

In these visions there is no indication of the first coming of Jesus, His death and the formation of the Church, this is the "mystery" of Ephesians 3:1-13. God does not reveal these future events.

More Prophecy

Daniel 9:1ff
Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 B.C., this is therefore the first year of Darius.
This fall of Babylon was predicted in the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2:1ff; the dreams of Daniel, Daniel 7:1ff and various prophecies in Isaiah and Jeremiah chapters 24,25,29 these predicted not only the fall of Babylon but the return of the Jews to their land.
In Jeremiah 25:11-12; Jeremiah 29:10 God had revealed that the exile would last seventy years. Daniel had been studying Jeremiah and the "seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem" were approaching and Daniel came to God pleading for his people and himself.

Following much discussion by Bible students it has been accepted that the exile started in 606-605 B.C. with the first attack on Jerusalem and the first group of exiles taken. The foundations of the temple were laid in 537-536, roughly seventy years later. There are, however, some students who use alterative dates.
Daniel would have been over eighty years old when Cyrus issued the proclamation for the Jews to return to their land, he was therefore probably too old to have made the journey.

Daniel’s prayer.

Daniel 9:3-19.
In the book of Daniel we see that Daniel was a man of prayer and joined by his friends in prayer,
Daniel 2:16-23;
Daniel 6:10-11;
Daniel 7:15ff;
Daniel 8:15ff.
Daniel humbled himself in preparation, physically and spiritually, see Leviticus 26:40-45 and 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Daniel starts with worship, verse 4, we should always give Him praise before we turn to our personal needs. Daniel describes God as great and faithful, keeps his promises and has great love for his people, this results in mercy and offers forgiveness for sin. Daniel confessing the sins of his nation, verses 5-15, but he includes himself, using "we" rather than "them/they," admitting that the Jews had turned away from the Law.
God has great patience but He will react one day to all failures, He sent an army to punish the Jews, which resulted in Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed, the Jews were ashamed, this was due to the sins of the people, kings and priests. Unfortunately all the Jews did was to pray for God to judge the Babylonians, not asking for forgiveness for their failures.

Verse 16-19: Daniel then asks for mercy for his people, "O Lord, according to all thy righteousness,.....for thy great mercies," restore your chosen people for your glory, "for thy city and thy people are called by thy name."

The timetable of God.

Daniel 9:20-27.
Daniel has been praying for sometime and it is now the time of the evening burnt offering, about three o'clock in the afternoon. Daniel was still using time according to the Jewish religious time practice, even though he lived in Babylon. If the temple had still existed then there would have been a sacrifice of a lamb, offered as a burnt offering at this time, Exodus 29:38-41.

While Daniel was in his time of prayer he was visited again by the angel Gabriel, who interrupted his prayer. Daniel had previously met Gabriel, see Daniel 8:15ff, now Gabriel has brought the information requested on the future plans of God for Jerusalem, the temple and the Jewish people.

The Seventy "weeks"

Daniel 9:24
The word used by Gabriel ,"weeks," actually has the meaning of "seven," Gabriel was therefore speaking of seventy periods of seven years, or 490 years. We must always remember that any time or dates in the Bible are always refer to the Jews or Jerusalem. For example Daniel’s prayer had been directly referring to the Jewish people, their failures and need of forgiveness. We must not therefore associate these dates with any other place, event or nation.
The message from God through Gabriel was that the 490 years would be associated with six events connected to the Jewish nation. These events were-
1)To finish the transgression,
2)To make an end of sins,
3)To make reconciliation for iniquity,
4)To bring in everlasting righteousness,
5)To seal up the vision and prophecy,
6)To anoint the most Holy, verse 24.
Three events were associated with sin, three with righteousness.

God will finish the punishment of the Jews, end their sinful life, and then offer a sacrifice to restore the relationship by paying for the sins through the cross and Jesus. Jesus died for the Jews but also for the whole world.
John 11:44-52;
Revelations 5:9;
Revelation 7:9.
Eventually the kingdom of the Messiah will be setup. When that happens, the plans of God will be complete, there will then be no need for prophecy or visions.
Gabriel continues that the 490 years will be divided into three periods, 49 years, "the seven weeks, " then 434 years, "threescore and two weeks:," and finally, "one week," or 7 years.
These dates are controlled by, "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, " verse 25. This is referring to the city of Jerusalem, not the decree by Cyrus which only refereed to the temple. The instruction given to Ezra also concerned the temple repairs so the decree given to Nehemiah 2:5-8 by Artaxerxes, which was for the repair of the walls and gates, was the first possible start date.

The 434 year period. Gabriel said that the period started "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem," so we include the 49 years then 7 years x 62 years = 434 years, a total of 483 which if you start at the decree by Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. and then count forward 483 actual earth years. We must remember that the calendars have been changed, then it comes to about AD 30, about the time that Jesus commenced His ministry. But this Anointed one (Messiah) will not be allowed to rule, "cut off" but He died for the sins of the world, " not for himself."

"The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;" this was fulfilled by the Roman armies. The Jewish nation was scattered around the world, it did not exist again until 1948 AD. The prince is the "little horn," the future Antichrist. This now moves us onto the last period.

7 years, verse 27. The "he" or "prince" is the Antichrist who will make a covenant with the Jewish nation, probably during the first half of the seven year as. He offers protection, which would allow them to rebuild the temple and restore worship and sacrifices. This protection may even allow The Jews to reduce there armies etc.
Jesus said in John 5:43, "I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." The Jewish leaders of the time will accept the covenant, ignoring the warnings in the scriptures. This agreement is the start of the final "7 years,"
But in the middle of the period, 3 1/2 years, he will break this covenant.
2 Thessalonians 2:1ff;
Revelation 13:1ff.
The "abomination of desolation" of Daniel 11:31;
Daniel 12:11.
See also Matthew 24:15;
Mark 13:14;
2 Thessalonians 2:3.
When the evil tool of Satan is revealed, controlling the world until the return of Christ,
Revelation 19:11-21.

Many of the prophecies given have already been fulfilled but these prophecies only directly concerned the Jewish nation, so Daniel was not told of a "gap" between the 69 week and the 70th. week, the "church age," This is the period we are now in.

Another Vision.

Daniel 10:1ff

Daniel has now lived a long time, he is probably eighty four or five. The text refers to Daniel in the third person in the first verse which suggest it might be an official document for the final chapters of Daniel. Then Daniel uses the first person and uses his Babylonian name "Belteshazzar." He makes the statement:-
"That what is to follow is the truth."

Daniel was about to be given a vision by God. Daniel understood by the words "the time appointed was long:" that it would be many years before it would be fulfilled. It is interesting to note that the original language translated as "the time appointed was long:" can also be translated "as a great conflict" or "concerns a great war." Daniel was about to learn of a coming time of suffering for his people but God would protect them.

We are told that Daniel has been fasting and in prayer for three weeks before the Lord, probably he was concerned for the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem. His position probably gave him access to any reports of the work from Jerusalem, the successes and problems, he was concerned that God may / could fail His people. In addition Daniel could not read the mind of God, therefore could not understand how He was working His plans out. Daniel was may be trying to find the answers to the many questions and problems he had about all the visions he had been given.

The glorious appearance vision.

Daniel 10:4-9,14

Daniel is standing by the river Tigris, the great river of Assyria , he is not alone, why he is there? We are not told. This is the place where God had previously met with Daniel and given him a previous vision of Israel’s future.

Daniel suddenly sees a figure, a man clothed in linen, with a golden belt or girdle, his body was like topaz, beryl, a sky blue coloured stone. The face was as bright as lightening, his eyes were like fire and his arms and feet appeared coloured like polished brass. Finally his voice was like many people, though we are not told what he said. Only Daniel is able to see the vision, the men with him did not see this person but they felt a divine effect of terror and hid themselves.

Daniel is so terrified that he was paralyzed, then he falls asleep, and ends up on his face on the ground.

Who was this person, another angel to tell Daniel how God was going to protect His people in answer to his prayer? It could have been Gabriel but Daniel had already been visited by him and did not feel so terrified. It could be the pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Was it the same person who touched Daniel, see Daniel 10:10-15. If it was then it must be an angel like Gabriel because Jesus would not have needed help to defeat an evil angel, verse 13. The text, however, seems to suggest that it was not the person who touched Daniel because Daniel was not terrified of the person who now spoke to him. Daniel had already seen Jesus in a previous vision, Daniel 7:9-14. It seems to indicate that the man clothed in linen was Jesus, but why did He appear to Daniel under these conditions?

This is not the only time that the incarnate Jesus had appeared to the people of God:-
, Abraham, Genesis 18:1ff;
Jacob, Genesis 32:1ff;
Joshua, Joshua 5:13-15;
Isaiah, Isaiah 6:1ff.
However He revealed himself to these with a different appearance to Daniel and to John on Patmos, Revelations 1:10ff:, He appeared as the Glorified King. Both Daniel and John were given extra special visions of the future for the Jewish people.

The exchange between the Person and Daniel tells us of a war going on between heavenly forces and the evil forces on earth. It appears that an angel had been sent in answer to the prayers of Daniel, but he had been attacked by the evil angel, "the prince of the kingdom of Persia".
The Angel Michael, archangel for Israel, Daniel 12:1; Revelations 12:7-9; Jude 9, had needed to come to assist.

The Bible tells us that when Lucifer rebelled against God and was judged, he and a number of other angels fell in with him and became evil spirits assisting Satan to oppose the plans of God.
See 2 Kings 6:16,17;
Isaiah 14:12-15;
Matthew 25:41;
Revelation 12:7-12;
Ephesians 6:10-18.
This battle will end at the final judgement of God, Revelation 20:1ff.
It appears that specific nations have evil angels assigned to them. Consider Colossians 2:18,19;
Revelations 19:10;
Revelations 22:8,9,
Worship and prayer only belongs to God.

Jesus took the presents of Satan and his demonic forces very seriously, so should we.
Consider Matthew 17:14-21;
1 Peter 5:8;
2 Corinthians 11:3.
The world treats Satan as a joke, that he does not exist, he is anything but Satan and very active, so be prepared!!!!

Two satanic angels, which appeared to have control over Persia and Greece, were opposing the future plans of God, Satan did not agree with the Jews being returned to their country

The Prophecy:- stage 1

Daniel 11:1-35
The final chapters of Daniel have caused many critics to say that no one could have predicted so many events unless they were written after the event, one of the proofs of prophecy and the messenger is the fact that the events do take place,
Deuteronomy 18:18-22;
2 Peter 1:19-21.

The prophecies given in the final chapters of Daniel are in two parts, those already fulfilled and now history, and those yet to occur. We will examine those which are already history first.

Persia Prophecies.

Verse one is a continuation of chapter 10, the angel is still speaking. He then starts the prophecy in verse 2.

The rulers of the Persian empire were far more friendly towards the Jews, they allowed and helped the Jews return to their land and rebuild their temple.
The angel prophesied that there would be four kings, We now know these were Cambyses, Pseudo-Smerdis/Gaumata, who only lasted one year, Darius 1 and Xerxes, who was called Ahasuerus in Esther.

Cambyses was ambitious, wanted to rule Egypt and created an excuse for war, he was successful but was later defeated when he attacked Ethiopia. There was evidence that he was insane, he married two of his sisters, murdered his brother, then later murdered another sister. An insurrection occurred and the throne was taken by a priest Gaumata, taking the name of a dead prince Pseudo-Smerdis. Cambyses was to die on the journey back from Egypt, as they were going to remove this priest.

Xerxes was to become the most important, in addition he had a great desire to add the Grecian Empire to his already vast empire which was from Ethiopia to India. He failed and returned very angry, and it was during this period that the story of Esther is involved. He was later assassinated.

Greece Prophecies.

Daniel 11:3,4.

Alexander the Great is the mighty king mentioned by the angel, he defeated the Persians. He later died and his kingdom was divided into four and was taken over by his generals. Alexander the Great’s ambition was to create a united empire, spreading the Greek culture and language. We now know that this was necessary for the spread of the Greek New Testament, according to the plans of God, fulfilled many years later.

Kings of the North and South Prophecies

Daniel 11 :5-20.

It is normal for all references to the position of nations in the Bible to be given in relationship to Israel, hence we are here referring to Egypt,South and Syria, North.

This period is very complicated but history shows how accurate the given prophecy was.
Egypt leader, Ptolemy, had a general named Seleucus who became king of the North, Syria. verse 6, Fifty years later the daughter of Ptolemy II married Antiochus II of Syria in an attempt to unite the countries. She was later divorced and then murdered. verse 7, Her brother, seeking revenge, attacks Syria, won the battle and obtained considerable wealth. The two kings had no contact for some years until Seleucus II attacked Egypt in 240 B.C., he lost the battle and returned home in shame. His son, Seleucus III took the throne on the death of Seleucus II. He was assassinated four years later. Antiochus III the Great ruled for many years after this.

Verse 9-13: Show the fights and struggles for power between the two countries. Ptolemy IV Philopater, leader of the Egyptian armies and Antiochus III the Great of Syria battled, this resulting in Syria obtaining lost territory from Egypt, but Egypt later was to defeat the Syrian’s in 217 B.C.

>In 201 B.C. Antiochus joined with Philip of Macedon and attacked Egypt, some of the Jews, against the law of God, joined in the battle and hoped to obtain freedom from Egypt, but lost, verse 14. Antiochus not only won but also gained Palestine, verse 16.

Verse 17: Tells us of a further marriage between Syria”s and Egypt’s children, but the daughter of Antiochus, which was involved in the marriage, failed to support him in his action to take over Egypt.

Antiochus then attacks Greece, verse 18 is referring to a Roman general who leads the Roman and Greek armies to defeat Antiochus, he died in 187 B.C. His replacement, Seleucus IV, oppressed the Jews and demanded taxes from them to pay the tribute tax to Rome.

Seleucus IV tried to remove the temple treasures in Jerusalem, but he suddenly died, but this event allowed the appearance of Antiochus Epiphanes to seize power.

Antiochus Epiphanes

Daniel 11:21-35.

This is the person mentioned in Daniel 8:9-14, "the little horn", the "glorious one," a picture of the future Antichrist. He was not the true heir to the position. The heir, Demetrius Soter, was very young, Antiochus Epiphanes seized power and then claiming to be Demetrius Soter protector.
As a military leader he was very successful, he knew how to use deception. Following a battle with Egypt he met the Egyptian leaders to discus arrangements but never intended to keep any agreements he made with them.
He now realized that there was great wealth in the temple at Jerusalem, verse 28. He then stole the gold and silver etc. wealth of the temple, stopped the daily sacrifices, killed many Jews, then later defiled the temple by installing an alter to Zeus and offered a pig as a sacrifice, "the abomination of desolation," verse 31. During the final seven-year tribulation, a similar behaviour is prophesied for the future Antichrist, placing his own image in the temple to worship after he breaks the covenant with the Jews.
Matthew 24:15;
Mark 13:14;
Daniel 11:34,35

This indicates that the Jews had a choice, abandon their faith to follow Antiochus Epiphanes or remain faithful and oppose Antiochus Epiphanes, trusting God to enable their fight. A hero, Maccabeaus rose as leader, many Jews died but eventually won and they were able to purify the temple. Today this is celebrated as the Feast of Lights (Hanukkah). Antiochus Epiphanes later died in Persia, he was judged to be insane.