DANIEL PREDICTS THE FUTURE HUNDREDS OF YEARS IN ADVANCE

On April 27, 2025 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

This is not meant to be a history lesson on Alexander the Great. Here is a great 1 hour video on that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7lb6KWBanI

The Persians had become the world empire in 539 BC when Cyrus and Darius defeated the Babylonians. The Persians reigned from India to Asia Minor to Egypt. Alexander was born in 356 BC, crowned king of Macedon when he was 20 years old, conquered the Persian Empire in the next 13 years, and died when he was 33 years old of a fever, or maybe poison. He never. lost a battle, even though the Persians usually outnumbered him greatly. He intended to expand his empire through India but his soldiers refused to go any further as most of them had been fighting and away from home for 8 years. When he died, his kingdom was divided among his 4 generals into 4 smaller kingdoms. Two of those kingdoms, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, controlled the Jews in Palestine for many years until the Maccabean priestly family defeated the Seleucids in 167 BC and Israel became an independent state for about 100 years. The Romans took control of Israel in 63 BC and later appointed Herod as king of the Jews even though he was an Edomite. Herod is the one who, trying to kill the baby Jesus, killed all the babies in Bethlehem. The first 10 kings of Rome were from Julius Caesar (Josephus confirms that by saying that Augustus was the 2nd king) to Vespacian (who began the war with the Jews in 67 AD). The 11 emperor would be Titus who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD (he wasn’t an emperor yet when the destroyed Jerusalem).

What is amazing is that all of these events were predicted by Daniel the prophet. There was King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue in Daniel 2. Daniel told the king that the statue represented 4 kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, and Rome.

He added that God would set up a 5th kingdom, God’s kingdom, in the days of the 4th kingdom Rome. That 5th kingdom is the one Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mark 1:15) during the reign of the Romans, so it had to be established during Roman rule. It was established, a spiritual kingdom, the church. It was not a physical kingdom like the kingdom of David that would defeat the Romans and make Israel independent again which is what the Jews expected and why they rejected Jesus as the Messiah.

Nebuchadnezzar saw his dream in his 2nd year of his reign, about 603 BC. Daniel had been carried captive into Babylon in the first captivity in 605 BC. That means that Daniel predicted that in about 70 years the Persians would defeat Babylon, which they did. Alexander the Great would defeat the Persians at the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC (after two major battles at Granicus and Issus), so that means that Daniel predicted the fall of Persian about 274 years in the future. Rome took over Israel in 63 BC, so that means that Daniel predicted the Romans coming to power 542 years in the future.

But there’s more. In Daniel 7, Daniel saw a dream during the 1st year of King Belshazzer of Babylon (556 BC) of a lion (Babylon), a bear (Media-Persia), a leopard (Greeks), and an iron beast (Rome) that corresponds to the same 4 kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel 2. The dream even predicts that the iron teeth beast Rome would have 10 horns (the first ten kings of Rome beginning with Julius Caesar), followed by a little horn that would wage war against the saints (the Jews). That little horn was Titus, who would become the 11th king but was not an emperor yet when he destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. So this prophecy in Daniel 7 goes all the way down to 70 AD, which would be 626 years in the future.

But there’s more. In Daniel 8, in the 3rd year of Belshazzer (554 BC), Daniel saw a vision of a ram and a goat. The ram had 2 horns (Media and Persia) and conquered everything. The goat came flying from the west and defeated the ram. The goat had a “prominent horn” between his eyes. But after the prominent horn became great, it was broken and 4 prominent horns came up in its place. Then Daniel actually tells who the ram and the goat are, i.e. the Medo-Persian ram and the Grecian goat. The prominent horn has to be Alexander the Great. The 4 kingdoms that form from the broken prominent horn has to be the division of Alexander’s might empire into 4 smaller kingdoms after his death in 323 BC. The vision, as in Daniel 7, predicts a “little horn” that would claim to be equal to God and would destroy the sanctuary (the temple in Jerusalem). That, as in Daniel 7, would have to be Titus who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. So this propphecy in Daniel 8 goes all the way down to 70 AD which would be 624 years in the future.

But there’s more. In Daniel 9, in the 1st year of Darius the Median king who, along with Cyrus the Persian king, conquered Babylon in 539 BC, the angel Gabriel gave Daniel the 70 weeks prophecy. This prophecy predicts the death of the Messiah after 69 prophetic weeks (i.e. 483 years using “one day equals a year”) which would fit the death of Jesus the Messiah in about 30 AD. It also predicts the destruction of the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple), and the “abomination of desolation”, all of which occurred when Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. We know this “abomination of desolation” was 70 AD b/c Jesus said that the fulfillment of the “abomiation of desolatioin which was spoken through Daniel the prophet” (Matthew 24:15) would occur within the generation that he was speaking to (Matthew 24:34). That would have to be 70 AD. So this prophecy in Daniel 9 goes all the way down to Titus in 70 AD which would be 609 years in the future.

But there’s more. In Daniel 11,12 in the first year of Dairus (539 BC), In Daniel 12:11 Daniel predicts that same “abomination of desolation” as in Daniel 9:27 (i.e. the destruction of the temple in 70 AD). He also predicts in 12:1 that the Jews would undergo a time of distress as the nation had never endured, a “shattering of the power of God’s holy people the Jews (12:7), which again Jesus tells us that was fulfilled in the tribulation and suffering that the Jews experienced in the wars of the Jews (67-70 AD). Jesus cited that verse (Daniel 12:1) and said that time of distress would occur with the generation he was speaking to (Matthew 24:34). So another prophecy of Daniel that goes all the way down to 70 AD, some 609 years in the future.

A prophet’s main mission was to speak the word of God to the people, but the confirmation that he was a true prophet was in predicting the future with 100% accuracy, and Daniel did that. You can see why many liberal scholars say that the book of Daniel was written in the 2nd century during the time of the Maccabees (around 167 BC). They do not believe that prophets like Daniel could predict the future like he did. “While the debate continues, the evidence for an early dating of the Book of Daniel (in the 6th century BC) is substantial, particularly when considering its internal consistency, historical accuracy, and linguistic analysis. The discovery of Daniel manuscripts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating back to the second century BC, shows the text’s existence well before the period when some scholars suggest it was written.” (AI) The Jews were entrusted by God with collecting the Old Testament inspired writings of the prophets (Romans 3:1-2) and they included the book of Daniel in their OT canon which was completed by 400 BC. The liberal claim that Daniel was written in the Maccabean period is actually refuted by 1 Maccabees which was written during that period. “1 Maccabees 9:27 does mention a period of silence regarding prophets. It states that “there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them“. This phrase is often interpreted as referring to the “four hundred silent years” between the Old Testament and New Testament, a period when, according to this interpretation, there were no new prophetic voices from God.” (AI) So those living during the Maccabean period said there were no new prophets during that period which would refute some prophet other than Daniel writing the book during that period.

“In Isaiah 41:21-23, the Lord challenges false gods to declare the future, showcasing His divine ability to foresee events and bring them to pass, while the idols remain silent and incapable. The Lord essentially demands that the idols demonstrate their power by predicting and fulfilling future events, thus highlighting the true nature of God’s power and the utter weakness of false idols.” (AI) Can you imagine someone today predicting the world powers that will be in the next 600 years? Going back 600 years from today would put us at 1425 AD. The main world powers in the 1400’s were the Ottomon Empire, the Spanish Empire, the Ming Dynasty in China, etc. (not one main empire as Babylon was). Who could have predicted in 1425 AD that in the next 600 years the main world powers would be Portugal, Russia, Germany, the U.S., and Japan?

Also remember that God is active in fulfilling Daniel’s predictions in the book of Daniel His predictions are not just lucky guesses. Yahweh of Israel had an active hand to raising up and removing kings. In Daniel 4:25 “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.”. In Daniel 2:19 “May the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.
²¹It is He who changes the times and the periods; He removes kings and appoints kings”. We are not told how God worked behind the scenes to raise up Cyus, or Alexander, or to put the Romans in power for 500 years, but we believe God providentially made all that happen. Even then, God allowed freedom of choice: not the freedom to choose one’s circumstances but the freed of how to respond to those circumstances.

So we praise God for giving us such great confirmation of His prophets and His word. Even Jesus’s predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD were made 40 years ahead of their fulfillment and confirm that He was a true prophet of God. Many people doubt that the Bible is the word of God, but the fulfillment of prophecy stands as great confirmation of His word. Thank you Holy Spirit who inspired those prophets.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S STATUE IN DANIEL 2 (UPDATED WITH SOME INFO ON REVELATION)

On March 4, 2025 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

King Nebuchadnezzar II ruled Babylon from approximately 605–562 BCE. Daniel was carried captive to Babylon in 605 BC. In the king’s 2nd year (603 BC), Daniel’s 2nd year in captivity, the king had a dream of a statue. He was smart. He told his magicians to tell him what he dreamed and the interpretation and they could not. Imagine me asking you to tell me exactly what I dreamed last night! They went to kill Daniel and his 3 friends who had been elevated to counselor positions after refusing to eat the food in Daniel 1. Daniel asked for time to let God give him the dream and its interpretation. Here is an image of the awesome, giant, radiant statue that the king saw.

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Daniel said the statue had a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron and clay. He told the king that he, Babylon, was the head of gold. He doesn’t say in chapter 2 who the other 3 successive kingdoms will be after Babylon. A stone would crush the statue. In the days of the 4th iron kingdom, God would set up a 5th kingdom, His kingdom, that would never be destroyed. Daniel 2:⁴⁴And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.” I want to fill in the blanks on the last 3 kingdoms and God’s kingdom in the simplest way possible.

I. 47 years later in Daniel 7, in the 1st year (556 BC) of King Belshazzar of Babylon (556-539 BC), Daniel saw a dream of 4 beasts. Here is what he saw.

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These beasts are the same 4 kingdoms as in the statue in chapter 2. Daniel does not say who the 4 kingdoms are so we still can’t identify the rest of he kingdoms after Babylon. Notice that the 4th beast had “iron” teeeth, 10 horns, and a “little horn” that comes up after the 10 horns. The “iron” part means this is the same kingdom as the 4th iron kingdom of ch 2. We can assume that the 1st lion beast is Babylon.

II. In the 3rd year of Belshazzar (553 BC), Daniel saw a vision that helps us identify the 2nd and 3rd kingdom of the statue (which is the same as the 2nd and 3rd beast in ch 7). Daniel tells us who the 2nd and 3rd kingdoms are:

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The high flying goat that crushes the ram would be the 3rd kingdom (the belly and thighs of bronze of the statue in ch 2 and the 3rd leopard beast in ch 7) would be the Grecian kingdom that conquered the Persians in 330 BC. The goat has a “prominent horn” which would be Alexander the Great who conquered the Persians and spread the Grecian kingdom all the way to India in 10 years (333-323 BC). But soon after that the prominent horn would be broken into 4 smaller horns. That is exactly what happened after Alexander died in 323 BC. HIs kingdom was divided among his 4 generals, creating 4 smaller kingdoms. The most notable of these 4 were the Seleucid Kingdom (Syris) and the Ptolemaic Kingdom (Egypt) who wrestled for control of the Jews and their land for the next 160 years after the death of Alexander until the Maccabean revolt which gained independence for the Jews in 167 BC. This is an amazing detailed prediction of events 200 years in the future. This has led the critics to say that Daniel was written in the 2nd century BC since no one can predict the future like that (but God can). The Romans then took over the Jews in 63 BC and controlled the Jews from then on. The Jews rebelled in 67 BC which led to the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD.

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III. So we can identify the first 3 kingdoms of the statue in ch 2 as Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. We still need to identify the 4th iron kingdom of the statue (the 4th iron teeth beast of ch 7). Several keys to filling in the blanks.

1) Mark 1:15 where Jesus said “the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand” (i.e. God’s 5th kingdom of Daniel 2:44-45 that God would set up during the days of the 4th kingdom). Jesus even said that some of those he was speaking to would still be alive to see that kingdom set up: Mark 9:1 And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God when it has come with power.”

2) That kingdom was to be a spiritual kingdom. John 18: world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” God’s kingdom would be a spiritual kingdom, not physcial power based like that of David’s kingdom. That spiritual kingdom would be the church. Matthew 16:¹⁸And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” For this prediction to come true, Peter had to use those keys to allow people to enter that kingdom of God. Peter did that in Acts 2 when he preached the first gospel sermon that allowed 3,000 to be baptized for the remission of sins and to enter the church kingdom.

3) A little syllogistic reasoning tells us that the 4th iron kingdom of the statue is the Romans Empire. a) the 5th kingdom (Daniel 2:44), God’s kingdom, was to be set up during the days of the 4th kingdom. b) that 5th kingdom (the church kingdom), was at hand, to be established while some listening to Jesus were still alive. c) since Rome was the kingdom ruling when Jesus said that the kingdom was at hand, then Rome must be the 4th kingdom of the statue of Daniel 2.

The church is the 5th kingdom of God set up during the days of the Roman Empires. We read of the establishment of the church in Acts 2.

So now we can present this image of the statue of Daniel 2, combining the 4 beasts of Daniel 7:

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We can combine that image with the ram and goat of Daniel 8:

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We can even add this image that fully explains (in fine print) the 5th kingdom of God, the church:

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So now we realize that Daniel’s predictions in chapter 2 extend over 600 years into the future. Only a prophet of God can predict the future so accurately. Imagine someone trying to predict the superpowers that will come about in the next 600 years in our future. On a final note, the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD so the 5th kingdom, God’s kingdom, had to be established before 476 BC or else Daniel and Jesus are false prophets. Those who expect Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom must come up with some explanation if the 5th kingdom was not set up before 476 AD. So they say that Jesus postponed setting up that earthly kingdom b/c the Jews rejected him, left the church as a substitute, and will come back in our future (going on 2000 years now since Jesus’ predictions) to set up an earthly kingdom in some kind of a “revived Roman Empire” (some world government). Hebrews 10:37 refutes the idea of a delayed 2nd coming to set up Jesus’ kingdom: “For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” Also, if Jesus did not come in his kingdom while some who were listening to him were still alive, then he is a false prophet. There are no scriptures that teach a delayed 2nd coming or a delayed establishment of the kingdom. If people will acknowledge that the kingdom of God is the church, a spiritual kingdom not physical, then the predictions of Daniel and Jesus are accurately fulfilled in the 1st century. There is no physical kingdom to be set up in our future, period. Those who still expect Jesus to come and set up an earthly kingdom are making the same mistake that the Jews who rejected Jesus made when they rejected him as the Messiah b/c they expected a physical, conquering Messiah who would set up a restored physical Jewish kingdom that would defeat the Romans. At least they are not making the same mistake of rejecting Jesus as the Messiah!

On a side note, the sea beast of Revelation 13 has the same lion, leopard, and bear imagery as Daniel 7 and therefore must be he Roman Empire. He also had 7 heads and 10 horns.

The 10 horns of the 4th iron teeth beast in Daniel 7 and of the sea beast in Revelation 13 would be the first 10 emperors of Rome beginning with Julius Caesar (the Jewish historian Josephus living in the first century AD said that Julius was the first king and Augustus was the 2nd).

The “little horn” that came up after the 10 horns in Daniel 7 is the same as the “small horn” that came up after the ram and goat in Daniel 8. That little horn in Daniel 7 would utter great boasts and wage war against the saints (the Jews). The small horn in Daniel 8 would come out of one of the 4 smaller kingdoms that the goat’s prominent horn would be broken into (the 4 smaller kingdoms when Alexander died) and would claim to be equal to God and would destroy the sanctuary (the temple) at the “time of the end” (Daniel 8:¹⁹And he said, “Behold, I am going to inform you of what will occur at the final period of the indignation, because it pertains to the appointed time of the end.”) The “time of the end” in Daniel 12 refers to the end of the Jewish Age in 70 AD, not to the end of the world. That small horn would even oppose the Prince of princes which must be Jesus (Daniel 8:25), so the small horn can’t be Antiochus Epiphanes who polluted the temple in the 2nd century BC as many think. It must be someone after Jesus. All this fits the 11th emperor Titus. Titus, the son of the 10th emperor Vespasian, was not an emperor yet when he led the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD, but he would later become the 11th emperor in 79 AD, so you can see why he is called the little horn or small horn. He is also the “man of sin” of 2 Thessalonians 2:⁴who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” That could only be Titus who actually entered the temple when he destroyed it and defiled the temple with sacrifices to the Roman gods. Many think that Nero was the man of sin but Nero never entered the temple. Many think that the man of sin, the little horn, the Anti-Christ will be someone in our future, but Paul said that mystery of lawlessness was “already at work” when he wrote 2 Thessalonians, not in the distant future, and there is no temple for the man of sin to “take his seat in” today.

That also tells us when the book of Revelation was written. It was written during the days of the 6th emperor, Nero who died in 68 AD. Revelation 17:⁹This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.” At the time of writing Revelation, 5 emperors had already died (Julius through Claudius), the 6th (Nero) “is” (i.e. reigning at the time of writing. Since he died in 68 AD, Revelation had to be written while he was alive and before 68 AD.

I hope this has been pretty simple, logical, and most importantly, accurate.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S STATUE IN DANIEL 2

On March 4, 2025 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

King Nebuchadnezzar II ruled Babylon from approximately 605–562 BCE. Daniel was carried captive to Babylon in 605 BC. In the king’s 2nd year (603 BC), Daniel’s 2nd year in captivity, the king had a dream of a statue. He was smart. He told his magicians to tell him what he dreamed and the interpretation and they could not. They went to kill Daniel and his 3 friends who had been elevated to counselor positions after refusing to eat the food in Daniel 1. Daniel asked for time to let God give him the dream and its interpretation. Here is an image of the awesome, giant, radiant statue that the king saw.

I. 47 years later in Daniel 7, in the 1st year (556 BC) of King Belshazzar of Babylon (556-539 BC), Daniel saw a dream of 4 beasts. Here is what he saw.

So the powerful conquering ram would be the 2nd kingdom (the chest and arms of silver of the statue in ch 2 and the 2nd bear beast of ch 7) would be the Medo-Persians who conquered Babylon in 539 BC. The high flying goat that crushes the ram would be the 3rd kingdom (the belly and thighs of bronze of the statue in ch 2 and the 3rd leopard beast in ch 7) would be the Grecian kingdom that conquered the Persians in 330 BC. The goat has a “prominent horn” which would be Alexander the Great who conquered the Persians and spread the Grecian kingdom all the way to India in 10 years (333-323 BC). But soon after that the prominent horn would be broken into 4 smaller horns. That is exactly what happened after Alexander died in 323 BC. HIs kingdom was divided among his 4 generals, creating 4 smaller kingdoms. The most notable of these 4 were the Seleucid Kingdom (Syris) and the Ptolemaic Kingdom (Egypt) who wrestled for control of the Jews and their land for the next 160 years after the death of Alexander until the Maccabeans revolt which gained independence for the Jews in 167 BC. This is an amazing detailed prediction of events 200 years in the future. This has led the critics to say that Daniel was written in the 2nd century BC since no one can predict the future like that (but God can).

We can combine that image with the ram and goat of Daniel 8:

We can even add this image that fully explains (in fine print) the 5th kingdom of God, the church:

I hope this has been pretty simple, logical, and most importantly, accurate.

IT WAS A SET UP!

On March 3, 2025 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

You know what a “set up” is. You work a plan to get someone in trouble. You “set them up” to get in trouble. Darius the Mede is not found in archaeological or historical records, but we trust the Bible when it says that Darius the Mede took over Babylon from Belshazzar the night of the handwriting on the wall (5:32). He is also the king of record in Daniel 6, 9, and 11. Darius had 3 commissioners and 120 satraps. Daniel was one of the 3 commissioners. Darius was planning on making Daniel the chief commissioner over the whole kingdom. Daniel 6:⁴Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel regarding government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. ⁵Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him regarding the law of his God.”

Let’s stop there for a moment. Look at our politics today. It is not hard to find corruption or negligence or moral indiscretion to accuse many of our political leaders of, is it? But they could find nothing to accuse Daniel of. Nothing! Lesson #1 from this chapter: what could your enemies find about you to accuse you of to make you look bad or get you in trouble? Are you totally honest in all your business dealings, paying taxes, driving the speed limit (ouch!), hours at work accountability, a little too loose with flirting or sex talk, lying to your boss (mabye just a half-lie), lying to cover up for someone, etc. No one is perfect, but our goal should be to be so spotless than an enemy can’t find a single bad thing to accuse us of.

So they plan to set Daniel up. They look at Daniel’s religious habits. What does he do so conscientiously that they can set a trap for him. Daniel had a habit of praying 3 times a day from his upper room with the window open facing Jerusalem. With a little spy work, they. had seen him doing this every single day without fail. So they got the king to issue a decree that if anyone prayed to any other god (than Marduk, the patron god of Babylon probably) or person (other than Dairus) then that person would be thrown into the lions’ den. They knew that such a decree and threat would not stop Daniel from praying every day. Lesson #2 from this chapter: What religious habit do you do so consistently that your enemies could count on you doing it even it meant you would be killed for doing it? What if the government passed a law against meeting in churches or house churches, or against distributing Bibles to others, or trying to convert others to Christianity? Would you still do those things even if it meant going to jail? Are you so consistent in doing those religous habits that some atheistic organization would get such laws passed to get you in trouble, knowing that you would still do your religious habit in spirt of the threat? Does anyone at work ever say, “Yeah I see John reading his Bible or praying every free moment at work or school or with a group for any event”? Or, “I know where you can find John on Sunday morning, meeting in a church or hosting a house church or small group in his house”? Or, “Yeah, John is always telling others about Jesus every chance he gets wherever he goes”?

BTW, we don’t really think that our government will ever pass such laws, but such is common in countries where Christians are persecuted, like North Korea, or Pakistan, or Somalia, or Lybia, or Eritrea, or Yemen, or Nigeria, or Sudan, or Iran, or Afghanistan. Those are the 10 most dangerous countries for Christians to live in according to Open Doors Ministry (a ministry dedicated to helping persecuted Christians all over the world). We take our religious freed for granted in the U.S. We need to be more concerned about using church and individual contribution money for things like helping persecuted Christians. From Stewardship.org: “There are more than 360 million persecuted Christians worldwide who suffer oppression and discrimination daily. That’s 1 in every 7 believers globally. Some face violence and abduction, while others risk losing their jobs and livelihood.” Several organizations like VOM (Voice of The Martyrs) and Open Doors help persecuted Christians. Look at how much money churches spend on buildings, staff, and programs for ourselves, and how little they give to drill wells for clean water, to print Bibles, to help persecuted Christians, to provide for poor children, to help refugees caught in civil wars, etc. Maybe its time churches looked at how they spend the money entrusted to them by donors.

Their plan worked. Surely Daniel knew about the decree but he continued praying 3 times a day in open sight to all from his open window. He didn’t say, “I think God will be ok if I start praying where no one can see me”. They told the king about Daniel praying to his God Yahweh. Daniel 6:¹⁴Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply distressed, and set his mind on rescuing Daniel; and until sunset he kept exerting himself to save him.” But he could not change the decree. The king ordered Daniel to be thrown into the lion’s den. He couldn’t rescue Daniel but he told him, “your God whom you continually serve will Himself rescue you” (6:16). Daniel 6:¹⁸Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.”

You know how the story ended! Daniel 6:¹⁹Then the king got up at dawn, at the break of day, and went in a hurry to the lions’ den. ²⁰And when he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king began speaking and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you continually serve, been able to rescue you from the lions?” ²¹Then Daniel spoke to the king, “O king, live forever! ²²My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, since I was found innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.” ²³Then the king was very glad and gave orders for Daniel to be lifted up out of the den. So Daniel was lifted up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. ²⁴The king then gave orders, and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel, and they threw them, their children, and their wives into the lions’ den; and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

Darius then issued an amazing decree. Daniel 6:⁵Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages who were living in all the land: “May your peace be great! ²⁶I issue a decree that in all the realm of my kingdom people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel;

For He is the living God and enduring forever,
And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed,
And His dominion will be forever.
²⁷He rescues, saves, and performs signs and miracles
In heaven and on earth,
He who has also rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

That is a great testimony. Look at the miracles God did in the book of Daniel. The fiery furnace miracle, the handwriting on the wall, the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar, and now the lions’ den miracle. The kings of Babylon and Media saw these miracles. Perhaps the stories of these miracles convinced Cyrus to allow the Jews to return from exile. Perhaps Isaiah predicting the the return under Cyrus by name influenced him. Did Darius the Mede actually convert to belief in the one true God Yahewh? Is this his testimony, similar to that of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4? We can only hope to meet Darius and Nebuchadnezzar in eternal life some day and talk to them about their experiences. Won’t that be great? If Darius did convert to Yahweh, how many in his kingdom converted to Yahweh b/c of his decree and testimony? Such has happened before. In Armenia Christianity is the state religion and the Armenian Apostolic Church is the national church. Armenia is the first country who recognized Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD. St. Gregory the Illuminator convinced Tiridates III, the king of Armenia, to convert to Christianity. Before this, the dominant religion in Armenia was Armenian paganism. Christianity had not yet been legalized by Constantine in the empire in 301 AD. Gregory the Illuminator was the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity.

Such. possible conversion stories are why Paul tells Timothy, 1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, ²for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. ³This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the Man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” We should pray for all countries, but especially for countries where Christians are persecuted. We should pray for the leaders of those countries, for God to work on converting those leaders or at least for them to open up religious freedom in their countries. God can do what we consider to be impossible. Who would have thought that the Berlin Wall could fall?

Daniel 6:²⁸So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Again, not much historical help to fill in the blanks on the transfer of power from Darius the Mede to Cyrus the king of Persia. We know that Daniel 1:²¹And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.” It was in that 1st year of Cyrus that Ezra 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom” (in 536 BC to allow the Jews in Babylon to return to the holy land to rebuild the temple). Perhaps Cyrus was influenced by Isaiah predicting that Cyrus, by name, would allow them to return. Darius defeated the Babylonians in 539 BC but Cyrus allowed the Jews to return in his first official year as king in 536 BC, so apparently Cyrus helped defeat the Babylonians in 539 BC (as history records) but only officially began reigning as king of Persia in 536 BC (his 1st year as king, Ezra 1:1). I don’t claim to be a historian, but that is my reckoning of events. We know that Daniel lived at least to the 3rd year of Cyrus b/c Daniel 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar.” Daniel was carried captive to Babylon in the first deportation by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC as a youth (let’s say age 20?). He was in Babylon the entire 70 years till the 1st year of Cyrus in 536 BC, and then at least 2 more years till the 3rd year of Cyrus. That makes Daniel about 90 years old when he sees the vision in the 3rd year of Cyrus (Daniel 10:1). We don’t think that Daniel returned with those who returned to the holy land to rebuild the temple. It is pure speculation as to why he didn’t if indeed he didn’t return. Maybe he was just too old for the trip. Maybe he felt he could do more good as a respected official in the kingdom of Cyrus. We don’t know when and how he died. From Wikipedia: “The Book of Daniel mentions that Daniel lived in Babylon and may have visited the palace of Susa‌, Iran, but the place where he died is not specified; the tradition preserved among the Jews and Muslims is that he was buried in Susa. Today the Tomb of Daniel in Susa is a popular attraction among local Muslims and Iran’s Jewish community alike.” The Tomb of Daniel in the city of Susa, in Iran:

That pretty much concludes the historical part of Daniel (chapters 1-6). Chapters 7-12 will be visions and predictions in the reign of Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus. Until then.

HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

On March 3, 2025 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Most know the story of the handwriting on the wall in Daniel 5. Belshazzar was the king of Babylon in Daniel 5. He is called the son of Nebuchadnezzar in 5:22 but historical records say that he was the son of Nabonidus (556-539 BC). The Hebrew word for “son” is bar: Son, heir, pure, clean. There is no physical lineage back to. Nebuchadnezzar although some say that Belshazzar was a son in law to Nebuchadnezzar, or maybe it just means he was an heir to the throne following Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar actually co-reigned with his father Nabonidus but appears to be the one in charge.

The story begins with a feast. Daniel 5:1 Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. ²While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines could drink out of them. ³Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank out of them. ⁴They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone.” In other words, they were having a drunken feast! They praised their god idols that were made out of gold, etc. They drank wine out of the gold vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem when King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 586 BC. You can see why God is going to destroy Babylon b/c of their arrogance and blasphemy of the one true God Yahweh.

Daniel 5:⁵Suddenly the fingers of a human hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. ⁶Then the king’s face became pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints loosened and his knees began knocking together.” Sorry but I just have to thrown this image of a boy whose knees knocked in fear. Belshazzar had to look something like this:

None of his diviners or sorcerers could interpret the handwriting. Daniel 5:⁹Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were perplexed.” The queen reminded him of how Daniel had interpreted the vision of the statue for Nebuchadnezzar, so Daniel was summoned. The king offered to make Daniel third in the kingdom if he could interpret the handwriting, but Daniel refused any reward. Daniel reminded the king of how the great Nebuchanezzaar was humbled by God to live like an animal b/c of his pride (Daniel 4). He told Belshezzar: Daniel 5:²²Yet you, his ^[v]son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, ²³but you have risen up against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines have been drinking wine out of them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see, nor hear, nor understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified.”

Daniel then gave the interpretation: Daniel 5:26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘Mene’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. ²⁷‘Tekel’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. ²⁸‘Peres’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel was promoted to being third in the kingdom but that didn’t last long!

Daniel 5:³⁰That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. ³¹So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.” There is no historical records of a Darius the Mede, but we trust God’s word that he did exist in history. Many times there is no historical record of some event or person in the Bible, only later to find archaeological evidence that proves that the Bible was accurate. Such was the case with the discovery of archaeological proof of the existence of the Hittites. Darius is mentioned again in Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans. The Medes had actually joined Babylon to defeat the Assyrians in 612 BC. Whoever this Darius was, he had a major part in defeating the Babylonians and took over their kingdom in 539 BC. Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia, is given credit for conquering Babylon in 539 BC according to history. Both the Babylonian Chronicles and the Cyrus Cylinder describe Babylon being taken “without battle”. “King Cyrus the Great diverted the Euphrates River to conquer Babylon. He dug trenches upstream to create a reservoir, which lowered the water level in the city. Cyrus’ soldiers waded into the river at night. They marched up the riverbed to Babylon’s gates, which were left open. The Persians took the city with little resistance. The Babylonians were partying and had left the gates open and unguarded. The Babylonians also felt so secure that they didn’t expect an attack.” (AI) That matches the story in Daniel 5 of the feast that night. History says that Belshazzar was killed and Nabonidus was captured and exiled.

“The Cyrus cylinder: clay cylinder; a Babylonian account of the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus in 539 BC, of his restoration to various temples of statues removed by Nabonidus, the previous king of Babylon, and of his own work at Babylon.” (From theBritishmuseum.org). Cyrus is the king that Isaiah the prophet predicted would defeat the Babylonians and allow the Jews to return to the holy land. He predicted Cyrus by name over 100 years before Cyrus was even born! Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel had all predicted the fall of Babylon due to her idolatry, cruelty, and arrogant blasphemy of Yahweh.

The Nabonidus Chronicle. ” The Babylonian Chronicles (consisting of 45 tablets), specifically the “Nabonidus Chronicle,” provide a detailed account of the fall of Babylon, describing its conquest by the Persian king Cyrus the Great without a battle, and are considered a primary source for this historical event.”

That’s a lot of history! The story in Daniel 5 reinforces that “pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Nebuchadnezzar died before Belshazzar was born, so Belshazzar did not actually see Nebuchadnezzar becoming like an animal due to his pride, but Daniel said that Belshazzar knew about it. Daniel 5:²²Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.” History repeats itself unless we learn from the mistakes of the past and correct them. Pride makes some rulers think their kingdoms are invincible even though they read of earlier rulers falling even though they thought their kingdoms were invincible. We read about the fall of the Roman Empire, but we don’t really think that the U.S. could fall one day. From AI: “The fall of the Roman Empire was caused by a combination of factors including political instability, economic decline, overexpansion, military overspending, barbarian invasions, civil wars, corruption within the government, and a weakening Roman army; with the most significant factor being the constant pressure from Germanic tribes migrating into the empire’s borders, leading to numerous invasions and weakening the empire’s defenses.” We find several of those same facors in our country, do we not? Government overspending has created a deficit that might bankrupt our country (don’t think that could not happen). We have political instability in my opinion and are deeply divided politically. We have government corruption and wasteful spending. We have the constant threat of terrorists. We have violence as evidence by the many shootings. We have moral decline and a rejection of the Bible’s definition of sin and the approval of homosexuality (the LGBQT movement). We have the breakdown of the family unit with over 50% divorce rate and with homosexual marriages.

Can you pray this prayer with me? “God, please help our country return to You and to Your word. Whatever it takes, humble us before it is too late. Give us leaders who will not just make America great militarily and economically, but will lead us back to You. Forgive us for forsaking Your word and our Judeo-Christian roots. We still have so many resources that can be used to do Your work all over the world, so it would be sad to see America fall or lose those resources. Give us a grass roots revival like the first and second great awakening. Purge out the churches that no longer hold fast to your word. Thank for you the material blessings that you have given so many of us. Thank you for the remnant of conservative Christians who still hold fast to Your word. Thank you for sending your Son to die for our sins, providing eternal life no matter what happens in our country or in the world. Amen. ”

CAN YOU SPELL NEBUCHADNEZZAR?

On March 2, 2025 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

He was one of the greatest kings ever in terms of his power and of his kingdom of Babylon. He reigned for 43 years (605 – 562 BC). He is know for his construction projects such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (supposedly one of the 7 wonders of the world). He was a warrior-king who defeated the Egyptians (605 BC) and the Assyrians (612 BC). God used him to. destroy Jerusalem and the temple in 586 BC. His name is used 88 times in the Bible! God used him to judge the evil nations surrounding Judah as was predicted by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. God had already used the Assyrians to take the northern kingdom of Israel capative and destroy the capital Samaria in 722 BC. God used even pagan nations to judge other nations. That really bothered Habakkuk the prophet. Habakkuk questioned God, “I know Judah needs to be punished for her sins but how can you, God, use such a pagan evil nation like Babylon to punish her?” God told him that in due time Babylon would also be judged for her sins, and she was when Cyrus and the Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC, which was predicted by the prophets. Daniel 2:20-22 says, “He removes kings and raises up kings”. Judah would remain in captivity in Babylon for 70 years before Cyrus allowed them to return to rebuild the temple in 536 BC.

A closer look at Daniel 4. I don’t think I ever noticed that much of Daniel 4 is written in the. first person. “I, Nebuchadnezzar” is used often (4:4, 18, 34, 37), and a lot of “I, me, my”. Most of this chapter is Nebuchadnezzar telling his own story of his own belief in the God of Daniel and Judah! This is his personal testimony! Daniel 4 begins: “Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages who live in all the earth: “May your peace be great! ²I am pleased to declare the signs and miracles that the Most High God has done for me. ³How great are His signs and how mighty are His miracles! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.” That would be his conclusion after the 7 years of madness and living like an animal. He then in 4:1-18, in 1st person, tells about his dream of a great tree cut down to a stump and the stump being given an animal’s mind for 7 period of tme to humble him. His magicians could not interpret the dream, so Daniel came and interpreted it for him. Daniel had earlier interpreted his vision of the statue in Daniel 2, so the king had confidence in Daniel’ ability to interpret dreams.

4:¹⁹“Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him.” Imagine telling the king of the then known world that he is about to become like an animal for 7 years! Daniel told him that the tree was the king and the stump was that he would be cut down and humbled to live like an animal for 7 periods (probably 7 years) until he would recognize that the Most High (i.e. Yahweh the God of Judah) is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. A stump, if not dug up and its roots destroyed, can grow into a tree again and Daniel told the king that he could regain his reign over his kingdom if he humbled himself. Daniel advised him: “wipe away your sin by doing righteousness, and your wrongdoings by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.” (4:27)

Nebuchadnezzar did not heed the warning of the dream for a year. 4: ²⁹Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. ³⁰The king began speaking and was saying, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?’ “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). While he was still saying this, a voice told him that he was about to lose his sovereignty and that he would live like an animal for 7 periods until he recognized that it was Yahweh who had made him great. 4:³³Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”
Notice that 4:34-37 goes back to 1st person. 4:³⁴“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 4:³⁶At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the honor of my kingdom, and my state counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. ³⁷Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just; and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.” He learned his lesson the hard way! But he did learn his lesson and gave God the glory for his greatness as king of Babylon. He resumed his sovereignty and completed his 43 year reign. Did he quit worshipping the god Marduk, the patron deity of Babylon, after this? Did he have faith in the one true God, Yahweh? Did he ever lose that faith in God? Did he repent of his cruelty to Judah and the kings of Judah? Did he repent of his cruelty to many nations? Did he repent of making the golden image and requiring everyone to bow down and worship the image and the king (Daniel 3). Did he repent of throwing the 3 Hebrew lads in the fire? After that incident, he did make a decree that anyone who blasphemed the god of the Hebrews would be punished, but there is not mention of his person faith in their god. I wish we knew how his story ended.

On a side note, a lot of the book of Daniel is written by Daniel using the 1st person, “I Daniel ….”. There is a short video, “My name is Daniel and this is my story” by Holy Tales on youtube if you want to watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJc9_Yctz3c Here is a great 12 minute video on Nebuchadnezzar that include a discussioin of Daniel 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVDYObRu3HM&list=PLQmuFy0bsDto74obQhimrlIb-89175SaV&index=10

As Nebuchadnezzar concluded, God is “able to humble those who walk in pride.” Here is a site that gives verses in the Bible that warn against the sin of pride. https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-pride/

It is so easy for us to be prideful. Most of us have nice homes, good jobs, good money, good retirement, good insurance. We have worked for years and by great effort have achieved a certain level of success. It is so easy to go out on the porch and say, “Look at all that I have achieved; look at my possessions”. It might be then that God strikes us with something bad to humble us! Give God the glory for any success we achieve in life!

Does God still work among nations, to raise up kings and remove them when He wants to? We know he did that with the 4 kingdoms of the statue in Daniel 2 (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome). That led to the establishment of His church kingdom in the days of the Roman Empire, and of Jesus beginning his reign over that church kingdom (Daniel 7:13) and over all the kingdoms of the world (Revelation 11:15). God’s plan of redemption was wrapped up in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple and the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy (Luke 21:22). Did God have a specific plan for nations after 70 AD? Or did he just leave the fate of nations to the freewill of men? Did he leave it mainly to free will and then just intervened occasionally? We don’t know and there are no true prophets who can tell us how God is involved in nations? There is no prophet of God that can tell us why God allowed Hitler to do what he did, or Stalin.

9th-century-BC depiction of the Statue of Marduk, with his servant dragon Mušḫuššu. This was Marduk’s main cult image in Babylon. From wikipedia.

CONVICTION! DANIEL HAD IT!

On February 28, 2025 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

What is “conviction”? A firmly held belief or opinion. You might have your beliefs due to religion or parental influence or peer pressure or social media or some mentor or personal study on a topic.Examples might be what you won’t watch on TV. Dating rules on sexual behavior. Is Jesus the only way to salvation. Divorce is not an option. What you will eat and what. you won’t eat. Keeping your promises. Cheating or lying. Not committing adultery on your mate. Giving your employer all your effort. Sticking to your budget. Not hanging out with people who are cursing and using sex talk. Abortion is not an option.

The best Bible example of conviction is Daniel when he refused to eat the king’s food. He and his 3 friends had a great opportunity after being carried into exile in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in 606 BC in the first deportation of captives to Babylon. He must have still been in his teens. Daniel 1:³Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, ⁴youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. ⁵The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.” Daniel had the opportunity to have a relatively good life in Babylon, working in the king’s palace. But he had to eat the king’s food and wine for 3 years. Daniel’s conscience would not allow him to eat that food. Why did he refuse? (AI) “Daniel refused to eat the king’s food because he believed it would “defile” him, likely due to the food being offered to pagan gods as part of Babylonian religious rituals, potentially including unclean animals according to Jewish dietary laws, and thus considered a violation of his faith and loyalty to God; he wanted to remain pure and dedicated to his own religious practices.” Do you realize what he might be giving up? He might have angered the king and been sent to do harsh slavery jobs, or even killed for insubordination.

But he never hesitated on his decision to refuse the food. Conviction is something that you already have made up. your mind that you will or won’t do. You are tempted sexually and have an opportunity to act on that. You have to have firmly made your mind ahead of time that you will not give in. If you wait till the moment you are tempted to decide, you might be a lot more likely to give in and commit fornication or adultery. The same with all those other examples. Someone could be trying to get you to violate your conscience or sin. Maybe your friends or peers are trying to influence you or pressure you to drink or cheat. If you are convicted in your beliefs it will be a lot easier to say “no. If you have to “think about it” you are more likely to give in.

Once you have a firm belief or opinion on something, you should never violate your conscience. From gotquestions.org “The conscience is defined as that part of the human psyche that induces mental anguish and feelings of guilt when we violate it and feelings of pleasure and well-being when our actions, thoughts and words are in conformity to our value systems. The Greek word translated “conscience” in all New Testament references is suneidēsis, meaning “moral awareness” or “moral consciousness.” The conscience reacts when one’s actions, thoughts, and words conform to, or are contrary to, a standard of right and wrong.” God gave humans something that animals don’t have. We can reason out right and wrong and then we will feel guilty if we do what we believe is wrong. That is a gift from God. Paul told the Romans that they should follow their consciences on eating or not eating meats. Paul said it was okay to eat meats, but if anyone still believed it was wrong to eat then he said that person should follow his/her conscience and not eat. Romans 14:²³But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” From gotquestions.org “Another reference to conscience in the New Testament is to a conscience that is “seared” or rendered insensitive as though it had been cauterized with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:1-2). Such a conscience is hardened and calloused, no longer feeling anything. A person with a seared conscience no longer listens to its promptings, and he can sin with abandon, delude himself into thinking all is well with his soul, and treat others insensitively and without compassion.”

God took care of Daniel when he refused the king’s food. Daniel 1:⁹And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, ¹⁰and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” I don’t know how God gave Daniel favor with that man, but He did. That man was afraid of what the king would do to him if Daniel’s not eating caused him to look worse than the youths who did eat. He could have been killed for allowing Daniel to not eat the food. But he gave Daniel that 10 day test of not eating the king’s food, probably eating vegetables only. A big risk on his part. If you are firm in your convictions, God will help you to keep them and to have a good outcome in situations you find yourself in. Daniel 1:¹⁵At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. ¹⁶So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.”

This led Daniel to receive a position of prominence in Babylon serving under Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 1:¹⁷As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. ²⁰And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. ²¹And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.” Cyrus and the Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC and allowed the Jews to return to the holy land to rebuild the temple in 536 BC, so that means that Daniel lived the entire 70 years in Babylon, probably dying around the age of 90.

Several years ago my school was in the middle of being challenged on. certain doctrinal teachings. It caused them to come up with a “statement of faith” of the school’s basic beliefs. They came up with a nice basic set of beliefs that all teachers had to affirm. Doctrines like belief in the Deity of Jesus and that salvation is only through Jesus. Even that set of beliefs has been challenged with the new gender and homosexual issues. They had to add the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. They had to add that gender is either male or female, just as God stated in Genesis 1:27 which reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Sometimes we change our beliefs on a subject and that is okay. We should always be learning and open to changing our beliefs. Maybe the person who thinks it is wrong to eat meats could be shown what Paul said and change his mind. But if they don’t, then be careful not to cause that person to eat meats and violate his/her conscience, thus causing a “weak” brother to sin. Don’t influence him to do something that violates his/her conscience. Maybe you were raised to believe that certain religious practices like instrumental music were sinful, but over time you changed your mind. Now you can enjoy sitting in a worship service and being edified with instrumental worship. Preachers and church leaders have filled our minds with traditional, often sectarian doctrines, and it is hard to change. We often thing that something is wrong just b/c that’s what our preachers told us was wrong. Be like the Bereans. Acts 17:¹¹Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” I do a lot of teaching on eschatology and my beliefs go against traditional teachings but I believe my views are logical and consistent. But I know it is hard to go against what the church and Christianity have mostly taught for the past 2,000 years (with some noticeable exceptions like the late 1800’s with several Biblical scholars who held my beliefs). I just hope that people would be open and let the Spirit lead them in studying truth and to not be afraid to go against traditonal beliefs. I do realize that I could be wrong in my teachings, but I am convinced that I am not and therefore I will continue to teach my beliefs with conviction. I believe the study of eschatology is important and vitally needed today.

So what are your beliefs that you firmly hold, that you would risk everything to follow? Are you firmly committed to being faithful to your mate? The Holy Spirit is constantly, through the Word and providential ways, convicting us of sin. John 16:⁷Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” Does your conscience still prick you when you commit a sin that you know that the Spirt has told you is wrong? Does your conscience still prick you when you fail to do something that you know that the Spirit would want you to do? James 4:¹⁷So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Were you once strongly convicted in your beliefs but now you are doing bad things that you never would have done years ago? The world puts so much pressure on our convictions. Is your faith strong enough to resist that pressure?

Maybe, like my school did, it is time for you to write down what you firmly believe in. Make a list, a “statement of faith” to live by. Read it often to remind yourself of what you believe. It might help you to say “no” when tempted to violate your conscience.

ISAIAH 41-46 God challenges the gods of idols to predict the future

On November 25, 2024November 25, 2024 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

A CHALLENGE TO THE GODS OF IDOLATRY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE

Isaiah 41:21-29 Isaiah is challenging the pagan gods directly. “Set forth your case”, i.e. defend your existence and reality as if on trial in a courtroom. “Bring your proofs”: what proof do you have that you really are gods? Hinduism, for example, is filled with idols and gods. (AI) “The Hindu trinityThe three gods of the Hindu trinity are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva: 1) Brahma: The god of creation. 2) Vishnu: The god of preservation, and the supreme deity in Vaishnavism. Vishnu is often depicted sleeping on the serpent Adishesha, a personification of time, while floating on the ocean of milk, Kshira Sagara. 3) Shiva: The god of destruction, who destroys the universe in order to recreate it. Many other gods that they worship to get special blessings: Durga: The goddess of war. Kali: The goddess of time and destruction, and the divine mother. Lakshmi: The goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity, and the consort of Vishnu. Indra: The king of the devas and Svarga, and the god of the thunderbolt. Saraswati: The goddess of wisdom. Parvati: The goddess of power. Thousands of other gods.They have the Vedas: (AI) “The oldest and most authoritative Hindu texts, which Hindus believe were revealed by God and not created by humans. The Vedas were passed down orally for generations before being written down.” The Vedas are full of myths: (AI) “Myths found in the Vedas include the creation story of the “Cosmic Man” (Purusha) where the universe is created from the different parts of his body, the story of the earth goddess Prithivi being impregnated by the sky god Dyaus to produce rain, and the myth of the primordial sacrifice where the different social classes (Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras) are born from different parts of Purusha’s body; most of these myths are found in the Rig Veda, the oldest Vedic text.” Hinduism has legendar creatures: Navagunjara: A creature made up of nine different animals. Panchamukhi Hanuman: Hanuman took on a five-faced form to kill Ahiravana. Reachisey: A mythical animal with the head of a lion, the trunk of an elephant, and the body of a dragon. Hinduism has mytholoical stories: The Ramayana: Rama is exiled with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, but is forced to rescue Sita from the clutches of the king of Lanka, Ravana. Other myths and legends in Hinduism: Mahabalipuram and the God who Sunk Temples. Amritam and the Nectar of Immortality. Lord Rama and his Army of Monkeys. Shesha Naga: The Earthquake-Producing Snake. Vish Kanyas: The Squad of Venomous Female Assassins. Then there is Krishna: Often called Lord Krishna, he is one of the most widely worshiped and popular Hindu deities. Krishna is the eighth avatar (or incarnation) of Vishnu. He was deified in the 5th century and since then has also been worshiped as the supreme god himself. Krishna is the Hindu god of compassion, protection, and love.

Isaiah would challenge all the gods of Hinduism (as well as all the other gods of the pagan world religions): Bring your proof that you really exist, that these myths and legends actually happened in history. So what is the main proof that he challenges them to bring? 41:22 Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. ²³Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified. ²⁴Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.” Hinduism has no proof of predictons of the future being fulfilled with 100% accuracy. That was God’s way of proving that He is the one true God of the world, that His prophets were speaking His words, and that their writings were inspired by God. 2 Peter 1:¹⁹“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, ²⁰knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. ²¹For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Then Isaiah gives an example of accurately predicting the future. He predicts that: 40:25 “I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name; he shall trample on rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay. ²⁶Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words.” The “one from the north” is Cyrus, King of Persia. Cyrus the Great ruled Persia from 559–530 BC. He is also the “one from the east” in 41:2 Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow.” Persia was to the northeast of Palestine. Daniel 5 tells of the handwriting on the wall that foretold the fall of Belshazzar’s Babylonian kingdom. Daniel 5:³⁰That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. ³¹ And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” Darius I ruled the Medo-Persian Empire from 522-486 BC, so he could not be the man mentioned here in 539 BC.(AI) “Darius the Mede is mentioned in the Book of Daniel as King of Babylon between Belshazzar and Cyrus the Great, but he is not known to secular history and there is no space in the historical timeline between those two verified rulers.” We leave that debate to scholars. Here is an article that gives 2 options to explain this: https://www.evidenceunseen.com/bible-difficulties-2/ot-difficulties/daniel-amos/dan-531-who-is-darius-the-mede/ It was Cyrus the Persian who took the city of Babylon. (AI) “The Babylonians had prepared themselves for a siege but the Persians diverted the river Euphrates to get into the city. Babylon was surrendered to Cyrus without a fight. Cyrus gave battle against the army of Akkad (Babylon). He defeated them and slaughtered the people.” Cyrus is the king who, after defeating the Babylonians in 539 BC, allowed the Israelites in Babylonian captivity to return to rebuild the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed in 586 BC. Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:” It then goes on to say that he allowed the Jews to return and for the Babylonians to give them silver, gold, and all the supplies they needed for the long trip and to rebuild the temple.

The amazing thing about this prediction about Cyrus is that is was made about 150 years before it would be fulfilled, about 100 years before Cyrus was even born! You can see why Isaiah 41:25 says that the prediction concerning Cyrus was a great proof that YHWH was the one true God, as oposed to the false pagan gods who could not predict the future (the challenge Isaiah gave to them). You can see why the “liberals” say that Isaiah could not possibly have predicted this since they believe no one can predict the future with 100% accuracy. Here is a good discussion of the topic. https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/75073/what-evidence-is-used-to-support-the-claim-that-isaiah-was-written-before-the-re Basically, the Jews accepted the full book of Isaiah as the product of the prophet Isaiah in the 8th century BC. They were the ones entrusted by God with collecting the inspired scrolls in the old testament. Romans 3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ²Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.” (AI) The entire Book of Isaiah, including chapters 40-66, is considered part of the Jewish scriptures. While the entire book is included, scholars often divide Isaiah into sections like “Proto-Isaiah” (chapters 1-39) and “Deutero-Isaiah” (chapters 40-66) based on stylistic differences and potential authorship variations.” You can see why they might question the authorship of chapters 40-66 since they would not believe that Isaiah 53 is predicting Jesus the Messiah. So, did the Jews believe that Isaiah’s prediction about Cyrus was written before Cyrus was born? (AI) Yes, Jews traditionally believe that the prophet Isaiah predicted the rise of Cyrus, the Persian king who allowed the Jews to return from exile in Babylon, even mentioning him by name in his prophecies, which are considered to have been written significantly before Cyrus’s time; this is seen as a remarkable example of biblical prophecy coming true.” Our best proof that Isaiah did predict about a future Cyrus is that the Jews accepted that to be true. “This prophecy is seen as a powerful testament to God’s sovereignty and ability to guide history through his chosen instruments.” (AI) “There are multiple theories about the authorship of the Book of Isaiah, with some scholars believing that it was written by 3 authors: 1) Proto-Isaiah: Chapters 1–39, written by the original Isaiah. 2) Deutero-Isaiah: Chapters 40–55, written by an anonymous author during the exile. 3) Trito-Isaiah: Chapters 56–66, written by an anonymous author after the exile. Why would the liberals claim 3 authors? (AI) “Many scholars believe the Book of Isaiah was written by multiple authors due to noticeable differences in writing style, historical context, and the time period covered within the text, suggesting that various prophets or editors added to the original work of Isaiah over a significant span of time, particularly with the “Deutero-Isaiah” theory highlighting a distinct section likely written during the Babylonian exile, significantly later than Isaiah’s life.” But the bottom line is that they won’t accept that Isaiah could predict the future with such accuracy! They deny the miraculous prediction of the future by God’s prophets. They start with the assumption that such is just not possible in the natural and scientific realsm (naturalism), and then try to find proof of their assumption, such as “differences in writing style” in the different sections of Isaiah. This called circular reasoning: Circular reasoning is a logical fallacy that occurs when an argument assumes its conclusion is true and uses it as evidence to support itself. “Certain chapters focus more heavily on themes like redemption and restoration, which could reflect a later perspective on the Babylonian exile”. Of course that is true, but so what. The last part of the book (ch 40-66) focuses on the hope of Israel, both the return from Babylonian captivity and the Messianic hope. BTW the Great Isaiah Scroll, a complete Hebrew copy of Isaiah, was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (discovered in 1947 AD). “The Great Isaiah Scroll, also known as 1QIsa, is dated to around 100 BCE. The scroll’s date has been determined using radiocarbon dating and palaeographic/scribal dating. The scroll was discovered in 1947 in Cave 1 at Qumran.” This was collected by Jews and is one complete book of Isaiah, all 66 chapters, with no indication of any divisions due to different authors. Again, I’ll go with the Jews on this instead of the naturalists who are looking for reasons to deny the miracles of the Bible!

Before we close the predictions of Cyrus, let’s go to the other verses in Isaiah that predict Cyrus. Isaiah 44:24 “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, ²⁵who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, ²⁶who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’; ²⁷who says to the deep, ‘Be dry; I will dry up your rivers’;²⁸who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built, and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

Again, the prediction of Cyrus, the return from Babylon in 536 BC, and the rebuilding of the temple “confirms the word of His (God’s) servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers”. But that’s not all! 45:1 “Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:
²“I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, ³I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.” Did you notice, “who call you by your name”? First of all, this prophecy predicts a future destruction and “ruins” of the temple. The temple was destroyed in 586 BC, so this prediction is made over 100 years before the temple is destroyed. Any prediction made by Isaiah in 700 BC of a destruction of the temple to be fulfilled in 586 BC would be blasphemy to the Jews, but Isaiah made it. Then it predicts a “raising up” of the ruins of the destroyed temple, made possible by King Cyrus which necessitates the return of the Jews from Babylon as part of the prediction. . That prediction was fulfilled in 536 BC, over 160 years before it happened, 100 years before Cyrus was born. That’s impressive. But get this! He then “calls you by your name” (45:3). Just to predict the destruction of the temple and the return to rebuild it to be fulfilled 100-160 years in the future is amazing. But to name the king who will allow them to return? To actually call him by name 100 years before he is born!!!!!!!!!! No wonder the liberals reject these predictions of Isaiah.

One last prediction made by Isaiah about Cyrus is Isaiah 46:8 “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, ⁹ remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, ¹⁰declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ ¹¹calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” This “bird from the east” must again refer to Cyrus. God predicted about Cryus and God would “accomplish His purposes for raising up Cyrus”, thus proving He is God by fulfilling prophecy (again).

We could give many examples of fulfilled prophecies of the Bible to prove that the God who inspired his messengers the prophets to make those predictions is the one true God, YHWH (also confirming the messengers to be inspired, 44:26). Isaiah himself in the first part of the book (ch 1-39) predicted the fall of Assyria to the Babylonians (612 BC, 90 years in the future) and the fall of Babylon to the Medes (Isaiah 13:17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them) and Persians (539 BC, 160 years in the future). We can go to Jeremiah who predicts the rise of the Medes and the fall of Babylon to the Medes (Jeremiah 50 and 51). We can go to Daniel who predicts the kingdoms in order of Babylon, Medo-Persians, Grecians, and Rome in Daniel 2. The prediction about the Grecian kingdom was made over 200 years before it happened, and the Roman prediction was 500 years in the future. . He even names the Medo-Persian and the Grecian kingdoms in Daniel 7,8. He even says that the Grecian kingdom will have a conspicuous horn (Alexander the Great) and that horn will be broken into 4 lesser kingdoms (the Grecian kingdom was divided among his 4 generals after his death). That prediction was made over 200 years before Alexander the Great conquered Persia in 336 BC and before his death in 323 BC. The prediction about the horn and its breaking up into 4 kingdoms is just an amazing prediction that the liberals say could not be predicted (same logic used as on Isaiah’s predictions).

Ezekiel 26 predicts the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar with its towers and walls broken down and cast into the sea (Tyre lies on the east coast of the Mediterranian Sea. Some have questioned the accuracy of this prophecy b/c Nebuchadnezzar did not destroy the city and throw it in the sea. We think it was accurate but divided into two predictions. Tyre is divided into two sections: part of it is on the mainland, and part of it is an island.At one point, Nebuchadnezzar had plundered the mainland part of Tyre. Quite a while later, Alexander conquered island Tyre. But how did that happen? Basically, there is a natural “land bridge” between island Tyre and the mainland that is about three feet below the water. So Alexander had his men take the ruins from “Old Tyre” (on the mainland) and throw it into the sea so they could walk across! So it was fulfilled just as Ezekiel predicted. Here is an article that discusses all that. https://biblearchaeology.org/research/divided-kingdom/3304-ezekiel-26114-a-proof-text-for-inerrancy-or-fallibility-of-the-old-testament Amos 1:9-10 (800 BC) also predicts that Tyre’s fortresses would fall. Ezekiel 29:15 predicted that Egypt would never again be an empire ruling over other nations. At the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar inflicted a crushing defeat on an Egyptian army led by Pharaoh Necho II, and ensured that the Neo-Babylonian Empire would succeed the Neo-Assyrian Empire as the dominant power in the ancient Near East. Cyrus’ son Cambyses II conquered Egypt in 525 BCE. Cambyses’s conquest was the major achievement of his reign. Ezekiel 25:1-17: Contains prophecies against Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Sidon, all of which were fulfilled by Babylon invading those nations.

Isaiah 44:6-7 gives the same challenge. 44:6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. ⁷Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.”

Isaiah 45:21 gives this same challenge to predict the future. “Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.”

Isaiah 48 has the same stuff. 48:3 “The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. ⁴Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass, ⁵I declared them to you from of old,
before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, ‘My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them.” An intesting added thought here. God predicted the future so that you could see that it was YHWH who made it come to pass, and not the idols.

Many other examples could be given, but I hope that these examples are sufficient. God “set forth his case (41:21) that He is the only one true God, proved by predicting the future with 100% accuracy. Of course we could add all the Messianic predictions. See my blog article “Isaiah Messianic Prophet” for the Messianic predictions given just by Isaiah along. Isaiah 42:1-3 and 45:1-5 are Messianic and covered in the blog article “Isaiah Messianic Prophet” so they are not included in this blog.

I hope you enjoyed this article.

AgainAA

DANIEL 9-12 THE 70 WEEKS PROPHECY AND THE END TIME

On November 13, 2024November 15, 2024 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

From amazon.combooks

Ch 9: In the 1st year of Darius the Mede, which means between 539-536 BC.

Daniel has been in Babylon for 70 years now, making him at least in his 80’s. Daniel read in Jeremiah (not sure where that is found) about the 70 years, and knew that would be within 2-3 years more, so He asked the Lord to fulfill that promise to allow them to return to Canaan at the end of the 70 years. He confessed the sins of Israel. Gabriel appeared and gave him the “70 weeks” prophecy (24-27). See the chart “Daniel’s 70 weeks” for the main events predicted. The key is that the end of the 70 weeks is the “abomination of desolation”, and Jesus said in Mt 24:15 the the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD was the “abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel”, and it had to occur within that generation (Mt 24:34). That means that the 70th week ended in 70 AD and this negates all the false interpretations of the 70 weeks has not even happened yet. There are 7 weeks (49 years) from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, and 62 more weeks (434 years) until the Messiah (Jesus) is “cut off) (his death in 30 AD.

Then there is a gap between the 69th and 70th week. Why? Because the end of the 70th week would also be the 2nd coming of Jesus in 70 AD and the exact date of that was not given. They were to be ready at all times. He predicted that his 2nd coming would be within their lifetime, but he would not give them the exact date. They were to told to look for the signs that it was about to happen, such as the surrounding of the city by the Romans (Luke 21:21-24). The 70th week (the last 7 years) was from 63AD to 70 AD. In the middle of the 70th week began the wars of the Jews when the Jews rebelled against Rome and there was a 3 1/2 year period of war between the Jews and Rome leading up to the destruction of the temple and city by Titus. This 3 1/2 year tribulation on the Jews was the “time, times, and half a time” of Daniel 7:²⁵“He (Titus) shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time”. BTW the dispensationalists also put a gap of going on 2,000 years now in their interpretation, but that is wrong b/c the 70th week ended in 70 AD.

Nero had ordered Vespasian to put down the revolt, but after he started doing so,Nero died and Vespasian returned to Rome to become the 10th emperor of Rome. He then sent his son Titus to finish putting down the revolt, which he did. In the middle of the 70th week in 67 AD is when the Jews quit making an offering to the emperor in the temple, which Josephus says was the beginning of the wars or the Jews.

Notice all the Messianic blessings that would be accomplished by 70 AD in 9:24, i.e. the atonement for sin, bringing in everlasting righteousness, anointing of the most holy place (the new most holy place in heaven, Hebrews 9), the sealing up of all vision and prophecy (Luke 21:21-24 says that in 70 AD all things that were written in the OT were fulfilled). All those things were accomplished by 70 AD.

The preterist view considers the prophecy to have been fulfilled by AD 70. By interpreting the “weeks” symbolically, preterists have more flexibility in determining the dates of the events predicted. They understand the “word to rebuild Jerusalem” as the decree of Persian king Cyrus in 538 BC. The “anointed one” in both v. 25 and v. 26 is Jesus, who is also regarded as the one who confirms the “strong covenant” of v. 27, and whose atoning work rendered the Jewish sacrifices obsolete and even abominable to God. Titus is the “prince to come,” whose armies destroyed the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Here’s what it looks like:

A great timeline of the 70 weeks by allkirk network

The dispensationalist view (which is wrong bc the 70th week ended in 70 AD) distinguishes between those prophecies pertaining to the nation of Israel (including Daniel 9:24-27) and those pertaining to the Christian church. It interprets the weeks the most literally, as exact seven-year periods. By starting with one of the decrees of the Persian king Artaxerxes—either in 458 BC (Ezra 7:11-26) if one uses a 365-day calendar, or in 445 BC (Neh. 2:1-8) if one uses a 360-day calendar—one can arrive at the Crucifixion of Christ in 33 AD for the end of the sixty-ninth week. However, the events of the seventieth week clearly did not take place in the seven years following Christ’s death, which is why dispensationalists posit a “gap” between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week. They often call this the “Great Parenthesis,” which corresponds to the current church age. The Parenthesis (unforeseen by Daniel) will come to an end with the Rapture (also unforeseen by Daniel), which will then lead into the seven-year Great Tribulation, during which time the Antichrist will make a pact with the nation of Israel, only to break it after 3 1/2 years and desecrate the rebuilt Temple. Here’s what it looks like:

Ch 10: In the 3rd year of Cyrus king of Persian.

This puts this vision right at 536 BC, the year the Jews are allowed to return from Babylonian exile to the Promised Land. An angel touches and strengthens Daniel who is in a terrible state of mourning. He said that he had been delayed by the prince of Persia for 21 days, but Michal came to help him. He came to tell Daniel what would happen to his people in the latter days (10:14 ¹⁴and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”). He left to fight the prince of Persia, and then the prince of Greece.

Every kingdom and nation had an evil demonic prince. In 70 AD it was all the evil princes of all the kingdoms that were defeated spiritually and not their actual physical kingdoms. That is how Rev 20 says that the sea beast Rome was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone just like Satan and the earth beast false prophets were. Jesus defeated all demonic princes and powers in 70 AD, and Rev 11:¹⁴“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

From slidesharecdn.com

Ch 11,12: In the 1st year of Darius the Mede (539 BC).

This vision tells of events from the Persian empire to Alexander up to the end time and the abomination of desolation (11:27, 31,35,40) with a conflict between the king of the north and king of the south. Many say it is a detailed account of events down to the Syrian Antioch Epiphanes in the 2nd century BC, but “the end” in Daniel always refers to the end of the age in 70 AD. Ch 11 is difficult to interpret as to who the king of the north and the king of the south are. I will leave that for deeper study.

Ch 12 is not hard to interpret, however, if we use Jesus’ interpretation of it in Matthew 24. At that time, the end time for these events to occur, there would be a distress on the Jewish nation such as had never been (Mt 24:21 Jesus said that would occur within the generation he was speaking to, thus 70 AD). It would a trampling of the holy people (the Jews) for a time, times, and half a time ( which is 3 1/2 years just as the little horn Titus did in 7:25). There would be a resurrection of the good and bad who had all been in hades up till 70 AD. It would be at the “end time” (12:4,9,13). This is the resurrection of which Paul said in Acts 24:15 “there is (mello) about to be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked”, which was the “hope of Israel” (that hope could only come from this prediction of a resurrection of all those OT people in hades).

Daniel 12:“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.
We know this is 70 AD because Jesus cited this passage.
Matthew 24:21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. This tribulation was the suffering of the Jews in 70 AD.

Daniel was told to conceal these words since they were a long way off. The abomination of desolation is again the end event, and as Jesus confirmed in Mt 24:15, refers to 70 AD. Daniel was to go his way until the end (70 AD) and then he would rise again to receive his allotted portion at the end. This is why Paul said in Acts 24:15 that there was “about to be” (mello) a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, which could only be 70 AD and the fulfillment of Daniel 12:2.

Daniel 12:7 I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. 8 As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.
Jesus said “the end” would be 70 AD (end of the Jewish Age). Mt 24:13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Daniel 12: 11 From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!
13 But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.” (1290 days would be about 3 1/2 years. ) This is the abomination of desolation of the temple in 70 AD. Jesus in Mt 24:15 that this abomination of desolation of Daniel would be fulfilled within the generation of those he was speaking to (Mt 24:34). This is the same abomination of desolation as Daniel 9:24-27.

Hebrews 4:Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. Daniel would be raised in 70 AD to receive his rest and eternal reward, just as all the righteous of the OT were raised to receive their eternal reward.

From godawa.com

That concludes this blog study of Daniel. Everything predicted in the book was fulfilled by 70 AD, so you don’t need to listen to false prophets who say that the 70th week is still in our future. Predicting the events surrounding 70 AD and the destruction of the temple, Jesus said in Luke 21:²²for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written (i.e. all that was predicted by the prophets in the OT)”.

But Daniel is not just. doctrinal book of the end time (70 AD). It contains inspiring stories of the courage of convictions of Daniel and the 3 Hebrew boys.

You can see why Ezekiel included Daniel with Noah and Job as 3 men of great character. Ezek 14:¹⁴even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God. Ezek 14:¹⁹“Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, ²⁰even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness. Ezekiel taunts the king of Tyre in 28:you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you; ⁴by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself,
and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries. He is saying perhaps that Daniel, not Solomon, was the wisest man in the OT.

Thanks for reading.

DANIEL 7-8 DREAMS AND VISIONS

On November 13, 2024November 13, 2024 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Why is it important to study the visions in Daniel?

1To appreciate the eternal spiritual kingdom of God, the church.

2 To keep Christians from being deceived by false prophets.

3 To deepen our faith in God’s word and fulfilled prophecies.

We must begin by going back to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue.

How do we identify these 4 kingdoms in the statue.

1) Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that Babylon is the head of gold (605-539 BC).

2) The Medo-Persians (539-331 BC) conquered Babylon in 539 BC and would be the chest of silver in the statue. Ch 8 will verify by name the Medo-Persians as the 2nd kingdom. They diverted the river flowing through Babylon and enterd secretly on the dry river bed and entered the city, conquering it as Belshazzaar (the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar) was hosting a fiest to honor the gods of wine and gold (Ch 5). It says that night Darius took the city.

3) Alexander the Great and the Greeks conquered the Persians in 331 BC and ruled the world till 168 BC. Ch 8 will verify the Grecian Empire by name as the thighs of bronze in the statue.

4) The Roman Empire (168BC-476AD) will be the legs of iron. We know this b/c Daniel 2:44-45 says that in this 4th empire that God would set up his kingdom. Jesus came preaching that the “kingdom of heaven is at hand” (the same kingdom predicted in Daniel 2:44-45). Mark 9:1 Jesus said that some of those listening to him would still be alive to see him coming in his kiingdom. Mt 16:18-19 Jesus told Peter, “upon this rock I will build my church…I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven”. Peter used those keys to open the kingdom to those 3,000 baptized in Acts 2 and they were added to the church, the spiritual body of Christ. The kingdom at hand was the church kingdom established in the book of Acts in the 1st century. Rome was the world power when Jesus said that, so Rome would have to be the 4th kingdom legs of iron that was ruling the world when that prediction was fulfilled.

A stone would crush all the kingdoms. That stone is Jesus. He did not physically destroy Rome or the other 3 kingdoms that no longer existed when he was on earth. His kingdom of Daniel 2:44-45 was a spiritual kingdom, the church. He said that his kingdom was “not of this world”. But Jesus did destroy the demonic princes that control all worldly kingdoms. This fulfilled Daniel 7:13 ¹³“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. ¹⁴And to him (Jesus) was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. .Revelation 11:¹⁵Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

From WVBS world video bible school

Ch 7: In the 1st year of Belshazzar of Babylon. A vision and dream of Daniel

Look at the statue image/chart to see this vision and what each animal represented. This vision matches the Daniel 2 statue perfectly. It also introduces that the iron beast had 10 horns, and a little horn coming up after the 10 horns. The iron beast is Rome, and the 10 horns would be the 1st ten emperors or kings (7:24) of Rome (from Julius Caesar, 63 BC, to Vespasian, 69-79 AD). Josephus says in a couple of references that Augustus was the 2nd king or emperor of Rome, so that makes Julius Caesar the 1st and Vespasian the 10th. Historians may record Augustus as the first emperor, but Josephus lived in the 1st century and he says that Julius Caesar was considered the first king of Rome, so we go with that. This vision also adds the throne scene (7:9-14) of the Ancient of Days sitting in judgment, with the Son of Man (Jesus) coming to Him in the clouds and being given a kingdom (7:13) which would never be destroyed (the same one a Daniel 2:44,45). Can you see why Jesus is called the Son of Man so many times in the gospels? Can you see why Daniel 7:13 is such an important prediction, as quoted by Jesus in Mt 24:30 with the Son of Man coming in the clouds to judge Jerusalem in 70 AD?

A boastful little horn comes up after the 10 horns who would wage war with the Jewish saints (7:21) for time, times, and half a time (7:25) until his dominion is taken away and “the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of all the kingdoms of the world under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom (7:26,27; same as 2:45; )”. This little horn is Titus who waged war with the Jews and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. He was not an emperor at that time (Vespasian his father was) but he would be the next horn or emperor, (79-81 AD) thus “little horn”. 2 Thess 2:4 he exalts himself above every so called god and takes his seat in the temple of God (only Titus did this, not Nero). He is known as the “man of sin”. 2 Thess 2:7 ⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. That verse shows that the man of sin was someone living at the time Paul wrote 2 Thess. Many call this man of sin the “antichrist”, but this man of sin is not one of the many men suggested to be him over the last 2,000 years. He is not some future antichrist man of sin to come. Daniel 7:²¹As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, ²²until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. Titus destroyed the temple in 70 AD and killed a million Jews (according to Josephus). He was not physically destroyed in 70 AD, but the demonic prince that controlled Rome (as well as all the demonic princes of all world kingdoms) was judged and destroyed by Jesus (as well as all demonic powers and Satan) and the kingdom of God, the church, became the eternal all powerful kingdom (spiritually, not physically since Jesus said that his kingdom was not of this world, John 18:36) with Jesus reigning as king forever (Dan 7:13). Rev 11:15 concludes the predictions of the destruction of the temple in 70 AD with these words: Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

So now we add the ch 7 imagery to the statue of ch 2. They match up as the same 4 kingdoms.

From Answersfromscriptureonline.com and oldkaptnk2

From rapturemyth.com

Image by oldkaptnk2

In Revelation 13 a beast with 10 horns arises out of the sea that has lion, bear, and leopard traits. Rev 13:1 “And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. ²And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth.” That this was the same imagery from Daniel 7 would be obvious to the readers of Revelation, and the sea beast would be identified as the Roman Empire.

Rome was the world empire when Revelation was written and would be the one to fulfill the predictions in Revelation that were soon to happen shortly after the time of writing. Rome was the sea beast whom God would use to judge Israel and destroy Jerusalem.

As a side note, Rev 17 gives us the internal evidence on when the book of Revelation was written. Revelation 17:9 “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.
Revelation was written during the reign of the 6th emperor, Nero (54-68 AD). It had to be written before he died in 68 AD.
The only basis for the traditional date of 96 AD is an ambiguous statement by Ireneaus in the late 2nd century, who was a chiliast and did not understand the meaning of the book.

Ch 8: In the 3rd year of Belshazzar of Babylon. A vision and dream of Daniel.

Again, look at the statue. Gabriel even tells Daniel that the ram is Media/Persia (the 2nd kingdom) and the goat is Greece (the 3rd kingdom) with a conspicuous horn, Alexander the Great. The goat attacks the ram and tramples it under its feet. This vision speak of a “small horn” magnifying itself to be equal to the Commander of Hosts (God) and trampling the holy place (the temple) and the host (the Jews), which would fit Titus again, the little horn of ch 7. It also says that the holy place will be restored in 2300 evenings and mornings, which is the prophecy William Miller wrongly interpreted to be the return of Jesus in 1843 AD. The vision pertains to the “time of the end” which is the end of the Jewish Age at 70 AD. The small horn even opposes the Prince of princes, i.e. Jesus, in some way. Titus sought to destroy all Jews, Christian and non-Christian in 70 AD. Many try to say that this small horn of Daniel 8 was Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian king who polluted the temple with pig stew and killed many Jews, but he can’t be the samll horn b/c 1) This vision was about the time of the end, i.e. end of the age in 70 AD; 2) Antiochus did not oppose the Prince of princes, i.e. Jesus. The small horn of Daniel 8 and the little horn of Daniel 7 are the same and fulfilled in Titus.

So now we can add the imagery of Daniel to the statue of Daniel 2 and the imagery of Daniel 7.

From LiamCherry

These are amazingly accurate predictions of the future made by Daniel in the 7th century BC. His predictions cover the next 4 kingdoms down to the 1st century AD. Especially amazing are the predictions about Alexander the Great conquering Medo Persia and then being divided into 4 smaller kingdoms (all happening in the 4th century BC). Fulfilled prophecy such as this proves that Yahweh is the only true God and that the Bible is the word of God. You can see why the agnostic Porphyry (2nd century AD) tried to discredit Daniel’s predictions by saying that they were written after the fact and not by Daniel but instead in the 2nd century BC. But the Jews who were entrusted by God with collecting the inspired writings of the prophets collected the book of Daniel as written by Daniel in the 6th century BC.

Nicky's Notes

Tag: daniel