Daniel |
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Daniel Chapter 8
Here we are still in Babylon and Daniel has another vision. Chapters 1 - 7 were in Aramaic. This chapter was in Hebrew originally. It could be that the book is divided this way so that most of the prophecy and visions by Daniel are at the end of the book and the historical accounts of events during the 70 years of captivity are at the beginning except for chapter 2 which tells of Nebuchadnezzar's vision which was interpreted by Daniel. That had to be placed there because it showed how Daniel and his friends got positions of importance in Babylon when they originally were mere slaves and children of the captivity. This dream took place in the third reign of Belshazzar, so that was still before the close of the Babylonian period. Since he was at Shushan the palace during the dream, he would have been in Persia for official business or some other reason at the time. Shushan was a city in Persia. Maybe they knew of Daniel ahead of time before their invasion of Babylon. This also may be why Daniel was not around when the three Hebrews which were friends of Daniel were cast into the furnace and then delivered by an angel. He probably wasn't in Babylon at that time but on business elsewhere. That is just speculation but it does explain things. Daniel was promoted by Nebuchadnezzar and even though he was part of the children of captivity, he seemed to be allowed to come and go on errands.
Must be something about rivers. He was in the palace but in the dream he was by a river. Here is the vison of a ram with two horns. The higher came up last. Shushan was in the province of Elam by the river of Ulai. In Genesus 10:22 we see that Elam was the son of Shem, son of Noah. The Babylonians descended from Ham another son of Noah. Sad to see blood relatives taking others into captivity but God allows these things when people get into so much evil they have to be stopped.
Again we see the vision of Media and Persia coming to destroy the Babylonian Empire. The Medes and the Persians are symbolized first as part of Nebuchadnezzar's image as the arms and breast of silver, then as a bear in chapter 7 and now we see them as a ram with 2 horns. The horns are Media and Persia or the kings of Media and Persia. Darius the Mede came first and then Cyrus the Persian became king later. He was the greatest and most powerful of the two kings. Persia became a great power. This would be modern day Iran.
When God does not restrain powerful kings and kingdoms their strength is so strong none can oppose them. That is why I keep saying the United States should be very careful not to think itself too highly. At God's word, nations can rise or fall. He can bless our nation or cause it to cease from existence. What were those people thinking that allowed prayer and bible reading to be taken from the schools in the early 1960s. They must have been out of their minds. All God has to do was speak the word and we could be history.
This verse verifies what I said before. No matter how big and powerful a nation becomes, at the word of God, it can and will fall. Here comes Alexander the Great swiftly and very strong. He overthrows with violence the kingdom of Media and Persia. Their authority is gone very quickly. A new king arises. The Grecian Empire is symbolized by the belly and thighs of brass in Nebuchadnezzar's vision and by a swift leopard with four heads in chapter 7. Now it is pictured as a he goat with a notable horn. Later that horn was broken and became four horns. Nothing lasts that is not permanently ordained by God as the kingdom of Jesus Christ will be.
Alexander the Great died at the early age of 33. After him, four generals who were previously under Alexander's authority, took authority over four divisions of the Grecian Empire. We know these divisions now as Turkey, Greece, Syria and Egypt. They pretended to take authority only until Alexander's son was old enough to take the throne but in reality they wanted to keep the power. Later someone killed the son and his mother and all other family members of Alexander. Much fighting and confusion arose with murder, different kings ruling, more murder until a man named Antiochus Ephiphanes became king. He obtained the kingdom by flattery and deceit. He was similar to the latter day antichrist that is to arise in that he offered a swine upon the altar and defiled the Jewish temple. He was not the actual antichrist because this occurred years before Jesus Christ came the first time. He was a hint of the one to come in the latter days. This is according to those that study history and line it up with bible prophecy.
This little horn described in verse 9 describes what many believe is the son of perdition, the wicked one or who we call the anti-Christ in the latter days. We see here an immediate prophesy given to Daniel of the Media and Persian Empires defeating the Babylonian Empire and then we see the Grecian Empire defeating the Medes and Persians. Then we jump way ahead to the latter days to the coming of the antichrist who arises out of one of the four divisions of the Grecian Empire. He probably will come out of either Greece, Turkey, Syria and Egypt. In Isaiah starting in chapter 10, this man of sin is called the Assyrian. Isaiah describes him as the rod of God's anger showing he is given power and allowed to continue for a short space. Assyria once oppressed Israel so we must remember that prophecy is a pattern. Many times it has an immediate and a future fulfillment and sometimes even more than that. The man of sin or who we call the antichrist (in place of Christ), has many forerunners. Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel etc. will often have an immediate fulfillment as well as the latter day fulfillment. In Isaiah we see a picture of both the 1st and 2nd coming of Christ but it appeared to be one of the same to the people in that day not seeing the great valley of time that separates the two events. The reason we sometimes get confused about the rapture and 2nd coming is because they are so close in time that it appears to be the same event. Some believe them to be the same event and not separated by 7 years but some believe the rapture and the 2nd coming to be separated by 7 years or some believe 3 1/2 years. The thing we have to watch is not to demonize our brethren or sisters in the Lord who teach a different time frame for the rapture that they may believe. So far I still lean to the pre-trib teaching, not because I was raised that way even though I was, but because I see that clearly. My son on other hand believes the pre-wrath theory. This should never cause accusations because it is still a mystery. The closer we get to the Lord's coming, the more we will see what the truth is but until then, we must be careful not to call each other false teachers concerning things that are not yet clear. If someone compromises on the gospel message that is different. There is only one way to be saved or Christ would not have had to die for our sins. On when the rapture takes place though, we must agree to disagree.
He will overcome many mighty armies and subdue all before him. Israel is included in his conquest. It will seem as if he represents heaven and all its host and it will seem at the time that not even God does not oppose him. It may be that he will seem to represent God. He will attempt to fool people into thinking he is God. This host probably refers to the Jewish people and perhaps other saints that are still alive on the earth, not the saints that are in heaven.
Messing with the daily sacrifice is why some believe that Antiochus Epiphanies was the actual antichrist but that is not so for Jesus hasn't returned yet. In fact Jesus hadn't come the first time when Antiochus Epiphanies rose to power. There can't be an antichrist or one who arises in place of Christ if Christ hasn't come in the flesh yet. I believe he is just another forerunner who came before the 1st coming of Christ. Bible scholars believe the real antichrist will come just before the 2nd coming of Christ. We get that understanding by studying both Daniel and Revelation together.
So many will allow this man to do these things because they will be deceived by their own sin and believe in this man. We must not be fooled by those that desire to be leaders when they promise us a better economy or so called good times. What we need to desire is a leader who wants to be fair and just, protecting citizens against evil and human oppression. Promising to take from the rich and give to the poor is a bad promise to make. It is not fair and it teaches greed and deception because governments like that do not work and do not last for long. It actually brings worse conditions rather than better. We see from this passages that the Jewish people will have built a temple and will have started to offer sacrifices again upon the altar. There has to be a temple and altar in place in order for the antichrist to defile the temple and remove the daily sacrifice. In order for the Jewish people to allow this, they have to be deceived in some way. So we see that the antichrist cannot arise just yet because there is no temple and no daily sacrifice at this time, June 3, 2025. We know though from scriptures in Revelation that there are those that are not deceived. Much of Israel will flee the antichrist and be saved at the literal 2nd coming of Jesus Christ who will save them. It is interesting that the armies of all within that vicinity come against Israel but the United States is not there to save them. Jesus is the one that saves the nation of Israel from total annihilation.
These saints talking here may be the two latter day witnesses that will come during the great tribulation. We see people that are in heaven speaking and asking questions. This shows us that when we die there is no soul sleep. Our souls enter eternity somewhere and are alive.
This is a little short of 3 1/2 years. Some believe these daily sacrifices will be taken away in the middle of the 7 year tribulation. The previous 7 year treaty will be broken. More verses about the breaking of the covenant is in Daniel 9:27. It mentions breaking a covenant in the middle of the week. Week was actually 7 years.
Gabriel is one of the angels of God. He was the same angel that appeared to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist and also the one that was sent to Mary and announced the coming of Jesus to take away the sins of the people.
Gabriel seems to be an angel that is a messenger whereas Michael is associated with war and military type of defense for Israel. The nations of the world cannot defeat any nation if Michael the Archangel is fighting for them.
This shows that the Grecian kingdom will have an immediate fulfillment just after Daniel's time on earth but then have a latter day fulfillment. We see that perhaps not only will there be a revised Roman Empire but a revised Grecian Empire within the Roman Empire at the same time. The four divisions will be from where the antichrist arises overthrowing three of them making the 10 kingdoms in Revelation become 7 kingdoms. The antichrist is the 8th and final one before the coming of Christ. Here is his description in chapter 7:
That fourth beast is the latter day antichrist or man of sin.
He comes in the power of the dragon or Satan. He will be strong and destroy even overcome the saints that are still upon the earth mostly the Jewish people who were saved during this time. Here we see the reason this guy was able to deceive so well. Here we see the danger of having our eyes upon riches and the so-called good life. Beware of this latter day prosperity doctrine. Please come out from among those things for it will be a great deception in the latter days. Although God does bless nations that are good and help the poor, Jesus said as much, but we must be careful not to despise the poor and assume they are out of the will of God. Many will think to prosper and be wealthy is a blessing from God and it will deceive them into believing this antichrist is the one sent from God and even some will think he is God. God does bless with good things to those that trust in Him but the antichrist will use the prosperity promise to deceive also. Riches must not be our main goal. We must seek God first and foremost. The antichrist will obtain the kingdom by flatteries. He will cause craft to prosper. The economy will be good. A good economy with abortion, hate, human trafficking going on with the government's approval is only temporary. Good economy isn't bad if it gets people working, living right and keeping busy. If sin abounds though a good economy will only be temporary. Although a temporary prosperity is not always a good thing, God does prosper nations that are good and righteous. In fact sin leads to poverty and despair. So we should never be greedy and seek just the riches of this life but if we give and help the poor God blesses any nation that does that. Its the way we get riches that can be right or wrong. The economy of Germany was great in the days of Hitler but they took from the Jewish people to do that. It was doomed to fail and it did. The economy will be great in the days of this beast or antichrist just enough to deceive many. Look what happened to Germany. The end shall come and all the prosperity will disappear. Do not seek the riches of this world or you will be deceived. Please come out from among those things and be separate. Those things will pass away. Only the treasure we lay up in heaven will last. To accumulate treasures here dishonestly and with greed will cause one to lose it. I'm not speaking against building up a good honest business that hires people and creates jobs. I'm speaking of cheating, stealing, being cruel, deceiving, and taking from the innocent people that work for them. Over taxing people is a form of stealing from the poor also.
I cannot stress this enough. Beware of those the promise riches ahead of time. Under the reign of Jesus things will be fair, honest and good but until then seek the spiritual riches, not the material riches. This doesn't mean we don't work hard to earn a living and support our families but our eyes and hopes should never rest in material things and neglect the things that pertain to eternal life and godly living. In saying all these things I want to add, biblical giving is voluntary. To take from the rich by force and give to the poor is socialism and leads to poverty. People need to work and make a living honestly. To just give hand outs with no responsibility leads to failure. Leave the rich alone to make their own decisions but pray that they do right on their own. We have no right to over tax them or use force to take what they earn. Let God be the judge in those kind of things.
We are safe only when our trust is in the Lord not the things of the world.
We see here that not only will craft or the economy prosper but he will use the pretense of working for peace but in reality it will destroy many. We have so many people claiming to work for peace in the Middle East but all of it is leading up to this antichrist who will probably be awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his peace efforts. It is all a deception. This man of sin will attempt to destroy even Jesus Christ when He returns.
If I would have been given this vision, I too would be overwhelmed and astonished. It literally made Daniel sick to see all that would befall his people in the latter days. He probably did not fully understand it. Yet we see at the end of this vision he is assured that the man of sin, antichrist or little horn shall be broken without hand or in other words by the power of the coming of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord. No matter how dark the night becomes, light, joy and victory comes in the morning. DC
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