An Introduction to End Times.
Part 2 Daniel’s Prophecy (cont’d)
Will there be a positive outcome for Israel? – Section 2b
Yes! Of course. God has said so, initially in Ge 12:6-7*. Then again in Ge 13:14-17 He says to Abram “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”
In Ge 17:19-22*, Ge 21:12* and Ge 35:9-13* God specifically confirms the lineage. Read also Ge 15:7-21, Ge 22:15-18, Ex 6:2-8, Jos 1:4-5, Is 11:11-16, Jer 23:5-8, Jer 30:3, and Jer 31:35-40 for further confirmation.
And, what is more – the land is His to give! See 2Chr 7:20 & Ps 24:1-2*.
So what does Da 9:26-27 mean?
To study this fully we need also to be aware of other prophecies in the book of Daniel. Of these there are many, but the ones that concern us here, since they relate closely to the area we are studying in Da 9:20-27 are:
Da 2:31-45* - Note the statue (v.31) then the change from the iron legs to the iron and clay feet in v.33 and the corresponding interpretation in vs.40 & 41, plus the explanation in v.42 onwards and;
Da 7:1-27* - Note the four beasts (vs.3-6) and then the change from the terrifying beast to the description that it was different with ten horns in v.7. Then the little horn which spoke boastfully and the fact that three of the first horns were uprooted before it, with the whole beast eventually being slain, in vs.8-11 (NB vs.9 & 10 are parenthetical and go with v.13). Note also the corresponding interpretation in vs.17 & 18, plus the expansion of this in vs.19-22. The explanation follows in vs.23-27.
In these two sections we have references to four parts of a statue and four beasts. These can both be compared to four major empires of the period. The gold head and the lion to Babylonia, the silver chest and arms and the bear to Medo-Persia, the bronze belly and thighs and the leopard to Greece, and the iron legs and the terrifying beast to the Roman empire.
But the areas we are concerned with are the 2000 year ‘church gap’ between the ‘iron legs’ and the ‘iron and clay feet’ in Da 2:33a and Da 2:33b, leading to the reference in Da 2:34 to the rock ‘not cut by human hands’ (ie. Jesus) smashing the feet and becoming a huge mountain (at his second coming). Similarly, in the interpretation of the dream, we notice the gap between Da 2:40 and Da 2:41 leading on to Da 2:44, the setting-up of God’s Kingdom that will never be destroyed.
And likewise the same 2000 year ‘church gap’ occurs between ‘… whatever was left.’ and ‘It was different …’ in Da 7:7, and also between Da 7:19 & 20 and Da 7:23 & 24. Also there is reference in Da 7:25 to ‘a time, times and half a time’, ie. 3½years, followed by ‘his power being taken away’ and sovereignty being handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High’ in Da 7:26-27.
In both these prophecies we see the ‘church gap’ occurring with the subsequent introduction of God’s kingdom after a period of tribulation.
The same sort of thing happens in Dan 9:26-27!
But in all these examples what/who is the strange new ‘It’ in ‘It was different’ in Da 7:7, and the ‘little one (a horn)’ in Da 7:8, and ‘the other horn’ in Da 7:20, and the ‘another king’ in Da 7:24 and the ‘He’ & ‘him’ in Da 7:25, and the ‘his’ in Da 7:26 and the ‘He’ at the beginning of Da 9:27? These are, I believe, all references to the new ‘Roman’ (or European) empire that will emerge at the end of the Church Age and its leader, the ‘antichrist’, as he is known to us! (The term ‘antichrist’ first appears in 1Jn 2:18*).
End notes for ready reference:
Ge 12:6-7
Ge 12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
Ge 12:7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Ge 17:19-22
Ge 17:19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
Ge 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
Ge 17:21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”
Ge 17:22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
Ge 21:12
Ge 21:12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
Ge 35:9-13
Ge 35:9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram
Ge 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel Israel
Ge 35:11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body.
Ge 35:12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
Ge 35:13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.
Ps 24:1-2
Ps 24:1 The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
Ps 24:2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
Da 2:31-45
Da 2:31 “You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.
Da 2:32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
Da 2:33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.
Da 2:34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
Da 2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
Da 2:36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.
Da 2:37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory;
Da 2:38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
Da 2:39 “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.
Da 2:40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.
Da 2:41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay.
Da 2:42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.
Da 2:43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
Da 2:44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
Da 2:45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”
Da 7:1-27
Da 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon
Da 7:2 Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea.
Da 7:3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.
Da 7:4 “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.
Da 7:5 “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’
Da 7:6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.
Da 7:7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.
Da 7:8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
Da 7:9 “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
Da 7:10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.
Da 7:11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.
Da 7:12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)
Da 7:13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
Da 7:14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Da 7:15 “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.
Da 7:16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this. “So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things:
Da 7:17 ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth.
Da 7:18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’
Da 7:19 “Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left.
Da 7:20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
Da 7:21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them,
Da 7:22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.
Da 7:23 “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.
Da 7:24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings.
Da 7:25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.
Da 7:26 “ ‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.
Da 7:27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’
1Jn 2:18
1Jn 2:18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
Next time: Present Signs and the Rapture
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