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Revelation Six - When The Four Horsemen Ride
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Daniel is one of the most unusual prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the prophecies that God gave him are also unique. Three prophecies have been completely fulfilled. We are actually living in two of prophecies right now. And, two prophecies have been broken in half, with the first part fulfilled and the second part to be fulfilled when the Antichrist rises.
In fact, Daniel is the only prophet who actually speaks about the person of the Antichrist. And outside of Daniel, only Isaiah and Zechariah make any reference to the Great Tribulation.
This makes Daniel a VERY unique book.
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Conclusions About Daniel
A Biblical Overview Of Daniel, Part 12
In the Hebrew scriptures, Daniel is considered by God as one of the three most righteous men. We see this in Ezekiel:
12 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. 14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God.
15 “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, 16 even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate.
....
19 “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, 20 even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”
- Ezekiel 14:12-16, 19-20 (NKJV)
Daniel also represents the fulfillment of the prophecy given to King Hezekiah by the prophet Isaiah:
7 ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
– Isaiah 39:7 (NKJV)
That, in itself was a great tragedy, for he was never able to marry and have children. He knew that his lineage would die with him, and that there would be no one to carry on his name. He also mourned every day for the sins and destruction of his people. He was truly a man of sorrow and grief.
Yet, from him come some of the greatest prophecies that we have ever seen. He gave us the great image from Nebuchadnezzar's dream, a prophecy that still lives on to this day and will not end until the Second Coming. It is truly fascinating to think that we live during the time of iron mixed with clay, and that one day... we'll see the ten toes - should we live long enough.
Daniel gave us the term, 'the handwriting on the wall'. And, I am sadden to see that such Biblical vocabulary is slipping away from our daily speech.
Then, in chapter seven, Daniel gives us yet another vision that is still playing out as we speak. In the vision of the four beasts, God showed Daniel that there would be Four Beasts, with the first three being Babylon, Persia and the Alexandrian Kingdoms. And finally, the fourth beast, the one that we are living in now.
Did you notice that Daniel skipped over Rome?
Oh right. He didn't. The Fourth Beast is Rome and her descendants that crushed every empire around the world, as God described to Daniel. We live in the time of that Fourth Beast. So, this prophecy is also ongoing as we speak. The only thing missing is the rise of the ten horns, followed by the eleventh. And yes, that eleventh horn is the Antichrist, who subdues three of the ten horns.
Are we descendants of the Roman Empire?
Of course. Our political systems are Roman. Our medical system is Roman. Our judicial system is Roman. Even our architecture is Roman. And, if you live in the United States or any European country, you have devoured every empire known to man. There isn't one kingdom or empire that has withstood the might of the European powers, or the United States.
So, like the image in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, we also live during the time of Daniel's prophecy of the Fourth Beast. And yes, like Nebuchadnezzar's image, this fourth beast will be destroyed at the Second Coming.
Then in chapter eight, Daniel has a vision in which Gabriel tells him where the Antichrist comes from. The vision describes the fall of the Persian Empire at the hands of Alexander the Great, whose own empire breaks into four. Then, from the four horns of the four kingdoms that arose after Alexander the Great, out of one of them a fifth horn arises - The Antichrist.
In Daniel 9, we come to the most fantastic vision of all, the prophecy of the coming of Messsiah:
“Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.– Daniel 9:24 (NKJV)
Gabriel tells Daniel the exact time when Messiah would come. He tells Daniel that Messiah would finish transgression, make an end of sin, make reconciliation for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy and anoint the Most Holy in heaven with His blood.
Jesus did all of that, exactly as described, exactly on time. And, the last two verses of Daniel 9 describe events connected to what Jesus did in verse 24. But, think about how astounding that God the Son would come down and sacrifice Himself for us, that we might have all that verse 24 gives us.
The idea that God would do this for us, who deserve it least of all, is beyond my ability to comprehend. But my astonishment at this wonderful gift does not keep me from gratefully accepting what Our Lord has freely given, and I hope to hear - when this life is over:
"Well done thou good and faithful servant." - Matthew 25
There is nothing that we can do to repay God for what He has given us, but we can dedicate our lives to serving Him in whatever way that we can. It is the very least that we can do.
Then, in Daniel's final vision, he shows us in more exact detail where the Antichrist comes from, what he does and how he conquers Jerusalem. And, this vision even goes farther, showing us that the Resurrection is after the Great Tribulation.
Some of the more interesting elements of this vision show the Antichrist rising out of the Seleucid Empire, which stretched from the eastern part of modern Turkey, through Syria, Iraq and Iran. It also included Israel, and some claim that the Antichrist will be Jewish. This is utter foolishness, when you look at how the Antichrist in Daniel 11:21-45 acts.
The Antichrist invades Israel four times, completely bypassing Jerusalem until he is opposed by the ships of Chittim (which is NOT the word for Cyprus). He then decides to take over Jerusalem, and uses intrigue against the Holy Covenant - which proves that Israel has been redeemed a long time before the Antichrist rises. For there is only one holy covenant, the one given to us through the Final Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is THAT holy covenant that the Antichrist works against.
This is where Jesus tells those living in Judea to run for their lives, and we see where they will have a place of refuge:
41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
- Daniel 11:41 (NKJV)
If you want to escape the Antichrist, the lands of Edom, Moab and Ammon would be your best choice. Unfortunately, you would also need to ride out Ezekiel's Fire when Gog and Magog come, and I would not want to be in those areas until AFTER all of that is over.
I've been to Petra a couple times. I doubt that it would stand up well to the earthquake that Isaiah and others predict. You would need to stick to open ground to ride out an earthquake that big.
Then we get to the final part of this prophecy in chapter 12, where we hear of the Great Tribulation and the Resurrection afterwards. Daniel is told to shut up the book and seal it until the time of the end, but Daniel hears someone ask how long this final prophecy will be. The response is "a time, times and a half of a time" - three and a half years. And we have confirmation of how long we are talking about when Daniel asks, “Lord, what will be the end result of these things?”
Part of that answer is here:
11 From the time when the regular daily offering is removed and an abominable thing that causes desolation is set up, there will be one thousand two hundred ninety days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits and reaches one thousand three hundred thirty-five days.
Daniel 12:11-12
Evangelical Heritage Version
I want to say a 'very well done' to whoever made that translation. The word sacrifice is not used, but almost every translation makes the mistake of saying it. The word is haTamid (התמיד). That's the continual offering. When you give your tithe to your church, you are giving haTamid ('i' pronounced like 'ee').
There will be no Temple of burnt offering for sin in Jerusalem. But, there will be a place of continual worship and continual offering, and the Antichrist will stop it. For three and a half years.
Then Daniel 12 ends with a verse that probably applies to us all:
13 “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”
Like Daniel, I doubt that we will understand the Last Days until the time is right for us to see them. Most of us might not live long enough to see Gog and Magog and the Redemption of Israel. But, we each have our place in God's plan. So, we should all go our way till the end, and then rest and arise to our inheritance when the Resurrection comes.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
שאלו שלום ירושלים
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My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you... Hosea 4:6
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