Daniel 2 Part 2
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Is Interpreted – Part 2
Daniel 2:31-45
Daniel was written to encourage the people of God in times of suffering. Israel is now in captivity. ls God finished with her’? Does she have a future? This chapter focuses on the loss of national freedom 1, and there is a prediction that Israel will face a lengthy period of foreign domination. However, God is Sovereign, and eventually, the people of God will enjoy final victory when Messiah comes.
Outline
V. The Disclosure of The Dream (2:31 -45)
A. Description of The Image (2: 31-35)
B. Details of The Dream (2:36-45)
1. The Panorama of Gentile Kingdoms (36-43)
2. The Messianic Kingdom (44-45)
The section that we now study is the disclosure of the dream where Daniel describes the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare. There are eight elements. Then Daniel interprets the dream. This is very important. When the Bible gives the interpretation seek no other interpretation.
V. The Disclosure of the dream (2:31-45)
A. Description of The Image (31-35)
31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.
32 “The head of that statue was made of fine gold [1st element], its breast and its arms of silver [2nd element], its belly and its thighs of bronze [3rd element],
33 its legs of iron [4th element], its feet partly of iron and partly of clay [5th element].
34 “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands [6th element], and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them [7th element].
35 “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth [8th element].
The List of Elements
1st Element: a head made of Gold
2nd Element: breast and arms of Silver
3rd Element: belly and thighs of Bronze
4th Element: legs of Iron
5th Element: feet part Iron and part Clay
6th Element: The Stone which strikes the feet of the image.
7th Element: The image collapses
8th Element: The Stone is transformed into a great mountain which fills the whole earth.
B. Details of The Dream (36-45)
1. The Panorama of Gentile Kingdoms (36-43)
36) This was the dream; now we shall tell its interpretation before the king.
Daniel uses the plural, “WE.” As far as we can tell, Daniel stands before the king alone, yet he does not say, “I will tell you, but WE. Who is this silent and invisible partner of Daniel? It is none other than the God of Heaven, who is introduced in the next verse. Daniel and the God of this revelation present the interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar. One of the marks of Daniel’s character is humility. His gracious attitude and manner was a sign of his spiritual maturity. If you compare the way the State Department approached the king (Daniel 2:4-11) with Daniel’s, there is a dramatic difference. Their signature approach was to flatter the king and to defend themselves by blaming the king for asking them to do the impossible.
37) You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory;
Daniel informs the king that as great as he is, there is One greater—The God of Heaven. It is Daniel’s God who sovereignly bestowed the Kingdom of Babylon upon Nebuchadnezzar. It is true that you could spend all day citing the accolades of the king, but Daniel is not impressed. He says the God of Heaven gave you the scepter you hold in your hand. He gave you the throne you are sitting on. Daniel’s character again displays “courage under fire.” His self-confidence is due to his absolute confidence in his God.
38) and wherever the sons of men dwell or the beasts of the field or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are THE HEAD OF GOLD.
The extent of the Babylonia Empire is now mentioned. The Kingdom of Babylon is not a local one, only an area around the city of Babylon, but included the conquered lands of Syria, Judah and reached even to Egypt. In the South, it includes all the territory to the Persian Gulf. In the North includes some portions of Asia Minor. In the East all the area up to the Zagros mountains.
The Babylonian Empire 612 – 539 B.C.
The image represents the revelation from God about the rise and fall of Gentile Empires beginning with Babylon. As Daniel praises the Lord, he says that God “changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings 2:21." Again he says this prophecy is about the future:
28) “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:
29) “As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.
Nebuchadnezzar was worried. Will my dynasty endure? Assyria was great, but l brought her down. How long will Babylon last after I am gone? This is what worried him. The head of Gold represents the Babylonian Kingdom, which will rule the Mediterranean world from 612 - 539 B.C.
LIST OF RULERS OF THE CHALDEAN EMPIRE
1. Nebuchadnezzar reigned 43 years, from 605-562 B.C.
2. Evil-Merodach (2 years). Babylon begins to decline. This king was assassinated by his brother-in-law Neriglisser (mentioned in Jeremiah 39:3) who then ruled for 4 years and died)
3. Labashi-Marduk only ruled for several months. He was overthrown by a coup.
4. Nabonidus (556 - 539 B.C.) He was elected. He was not the offspring of Nebuchadnezzar. He was very old, around 66 years old when he assumed the throne and because of that, his son reigned as co-regent. His name was Belshazzar.
5. Belshazzar (556 - 539 B.C.)
39) “And after you.”
Daniel explains that Babylon will not endure. Notice that Babylon will fall and she did in 539 B.C. In 603 B.C. Daniel stands before the king and says “your throne will not last” and 64 years later, as Daniel predicted, Babylon was destroyed.
About the time Belshazzar was beginning to rule Babylon; another great man of history was about to have some impact. His name was Cyrus. He will become known as Cyrus the Great. Cyrus the Persian conquered the Medes in 546 B.C. He would topple the head of Gold. He swept into the fertile crescent and seized control of the Babylonian empire, the richest and most advanced area of Western Asia.
“there will arise another kingdom inferior to you,”
The prediction of the rise of Persia. The passage doesn't say Persia. lt tells us to start with Babylon. It will rule the world, decline, and disappear. Another world ruling power will replace her. We know from history that the nation that destroyed Babylon and dominated the Mediterranean world was Persia. This nation is the breast and arms of silver. Persia ruled from 539 B.C. until 323 B.C.
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE – 539 – 331 B.C.
During the rise and decline of the Chaldeans, two main forces were constantly striving for ascendancy - the Medes and the Persians - the arms of the image. The leaders were cousins who were sometimes hostile to each other but almost always hostile to outsiders. About the same time that Belshazzar was made co-regent in Chaldea with his father, Nabonidus, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered the Medes. Pertinent rulers of the Medes and the Persians:
Rulers of the Medes and Persians
The Medes
1. Cyaxares I (an ally of Nabopolassar of Chaldea against the Assyrian Empire).
2. Astyages, son of Cyaxares I and grandfather of Cyrus the Great of Persia.
3. Mandane, daughter of Astyages, married Cambyses I of Anshan, mother of Cyrus the Great of Persia.
4. Cyaxares ll, son of Astyages. Also known in history as Darius the Mede (Daniel 5: 31; 9:1).
The Persians
1. Achaemenes
2. Teispes, the Great King, King of Anshan
3. Cyrus I
4. Cambyses I, married Mandane, daughter of Astyages of Media.
5. Cyrus ll (549-530), known as Cyrus the Great, King of Anshan and King of Persia.
6. Cambyses ll (529-522)
7. Pseudo-Smerdis (Gaumata), usurper (522-521)
8. Darius I (521-486), known as Darius Hystaspes or Darius the Great; great, great, grandson of Teispes through Ariaramnes, younger brother of Cyrus l.
9. Xerxes l (486-465), the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther.
10. Artaxerxes I (465-424), also known as Artaxerxes Longimanus (Ezra 7:1 -8; Nehemiah 2:1 )
11. Xerxes ll (424)
12. Darius ll (423-404)
13. Artaxerxes ll. (404-359)
14. Artaxerxes lll (359-338)
15. Darius Ill (338-331), last Persian king defeated by Alexander the Great.
“. . .then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.”
The Greek Empire- 331 B.C to 63 B.C.
Persia will enjoy approximately 200 years of prosperity. About 334 B.C., a young man, a genius arrives on the stage of history. His name is Alexander. His father was Philip of Macedon. Phillip was a great general and begins to dominate the Greek city-states. Eventually, all Greece is in Phillip's control. A son is born to him, and so young Alexander enjoys all of the privileges of the aristocracy. The brilliant Aristotle, one of the greatest of the Greek philosophers who is even studied today in every modern college and university, was Alexander's tutor. At the age of 21, after his father's death, Alexander begins his quest to conquer the world. It will take thirteen years. Finally, Persia falls with the death of Darius lll, the breast and arms of silver are replaced with the stomach and thighs of brass. The story of Alexander’s pursuit to rule the world is a fascinating study which we will not delve into at this time. Alexander will die at the age of 33, and his empire will be divided among his generals: Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, Lysimachus. These become the Hellenistic monarchies.
The Roman Empire- 63 B.C – 439 A.D.
While these Greek kingdoms existed in the East, the peasants who lived along the Tiber river multiplied and spread out, and finally a city evolved. lt was called Rome. As time passed, the people of Rome conquered North and South Italy and then united them to form the Roman State. She took her place of prestige and power with Carthage in the West while Syria, Egypt, and Macedonia were powers in the East.
40) Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.
The fourth kingdom to emerge is Rome, which in 63 B.C. dominates the Mediterranean World. All the Hellenistic monarchies are now absorbed. Rome, symbolized by the iron, crushes and shatters them all. An important thing to note is how the value of the metals have declined, from gold now to iron. Yet iron is the strongest. Rome fought more battles, won more territory, and lasted longer than all the previous empires (Babylon lasted 66 years, Persia 208 years, Greece 185 years, Rome 539 years). So, the bronze belly and thighs give way to the legs of iron. Rome will continue until 466 A.D.; this is when historians date the fall of Rome. Now Daniel reveals there will be a fifth Gentile kingdom.
The Fifth Kingdom
41) “And in that, you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.
Daniel starts his prophecy with Babylon, “You, Nebuchadnezzar, are the head of gold.” Then we traced the panorama of Gentile nations rising and falling for over 800 years; Babylon falls to Persia, Persia falls to Greece, Greece falls to Rome, but a fifth kingdom cannot be determined.
During this prophecy, every event occurred exactly as predicted and consider the miracle of inspiration, all of it written before coming to pass. Since the fall of Rome up until today, a period of over 2000 years, the fifth kingdom as described has not come to pass. This is not due to a lack of details, for other passages in Daniel and in other places provide a more detailed picture of the fifth kingdom (Daniel 7:19-22, 23-26; 9:27; Revelation 13:1-4). As we look back into past history, the reason that we can’t find this kingdom is because it appears in the future. Here is the explanation:
1. During the period of the Legs of Iron which began in 63 B.C. and before the formation of the fifth Gentile power, this prophecy was interrupted by the Church Age.
2. In 33 A.D. during the period of the legs of iron, the Church Age begins. The Day of Pentecost marks the beginning of the Church Age, Acts 11:15,16.
3. We are in the Church Age now; the year is 2019. This means that from 33 A.D. until today, the Church Age has been taking place. The fifth kingdom has not appeared.
There needs to be an explanation why we would conclude that a gap of time exists between verses 40-41 and why we believe that as we take our stance today in the year 2019, that verses 36-40 have been fulfilled, but verses 41-44 are future. The explanation is found in the doctrine of the intercalation. 2 It states that the prophecy of Daniel was interrupted. It stopped. Something not known or understood by the Old Testament prophets begins, and that is the Church Age. When the Church Age has completed the events of verses, 41-44 will occur as predicted. What takes place between verses 36-40 and 41-44 is the Church Age being inserted into history. This was a new and unforeseen program. It came not only with great suddenness but wholly without Old Testament revelation. It was intentionally withheld and unrevealed before it was inaugurated. The Church Age existed as part of the plan of God, but it is not mentioned in the Old Testament. To explain this “gap in time,” we will examine the Doctrine of the Intercalation.
THE DOCTRINE OF INTERCALATION
There are various ways the Church is defined. First, the Church is defined as a group of believers unique and set apart from Israel. God has inaugurated a new program. He is forming the Body of Christ, and this is quite distinct from His dealings with Israel. Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer writes regarding the "New Humanity":
No differentiating quality in this eminent humanity is more to be apotheosized than the truth that by the baptism with the Spirit each individual of this company, including the entire group, is vitally joined to Christ in a union which is absolute, and which establishes identity between Christ and the believer. . . ". 3
Secondly, the church is not only a specific group of believers but also defined as a period of time. We often hear the expression "the Church Age." Dr. Charles C. Ryrie, in his book Basic Theology, states, "The church stands distinct from Israel. The church did not exist in the Old Testament times but was constituted on the Day of Pentecost. It is distinct to this present period." 4
In Dispensational Ecclesiology, it is essential to know when the church begins, and the present program concludes. Again, Ryrie writes in his book Dispensationalism Today:
Although it is not expressly recorded in Acts 2 that the baptism of the Spirit occurred on the day of Pentecost, it is said in Acts 11:15-16 that it did happen on that day in fulfillment of the promise of the Lord as recorded in 1:5. Paul later explained the doctrinal significance of the baptism as placing people into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). In other words, on the day of ' Pentecost men were first placed into the body of Christ. Since the Church is the body of Christ (Colossians. 1:18), the Church could not have begun until Pentecost, and it had to begin on that day. 5
A third way the church is defined is as a mystery. Dr. Pentecost says, "Mysteries are sacred secrets, hitherto unknown, but now known by revelation." 6
First, Ephesians three uses the term "Church Age," and Paul writes:
“that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as l wrote before in brief. And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; Ephesians. 3:3-5
This period "was not made known." The Church Age was not revealed to the Old Testament writers, and there was no direct Old Testament revelation which pertains to the church. 7
Secondly, in Colossians 1:25,26, the Church "has been hidden from past ages and generations.“ Paul writes:
Of this church l was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians. 1:25-27
The verb apokrupto means "to conceal from or to keep a secret." The fact that God would begin a new work called the Church was concealed from the prophets.
Lastly, Romans 16:25 speaks of God's silence:
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith;
These verses state that God refused to speak about the church. The word SIGAO means “to be silent, to hold one’s peace, to refuse to speak." God was silent about the Church. He hid the truth from the Old Testament prophet. It could not be discovered apart from divine revelation and that revelation never spoke of the Church.
What are the implications of this view of the church primarily as it relates to the interpretation of Old Testament prophecy? There is a piece missing in the prophetic order of events. The Old Testament Scripture predicted the significant events of the first advent of Christ. Christ's incarnation, death on the Cross, resurrection, ascension, and session all occur before the day of Pentecost. Then, the Church Age is SKIPPED OVER. The Old Testament prophet saw the great Tribulation, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the Regathering of Israel, and the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ. Dr. Chafer refers to this as intercalation:
The appropriateness of this word will be seen in the fact that as an interpolation is formed by inserting a word or phrase into a context, so an intercalation is formed by introducing a day or period of time into the calendar. 8
How does this affect interpretation? The intercalation occurs at times between two verses; such as, between Daniel 2:40-41:
40) Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.
(THE CHURCH AGE OCCURS HERE)
41) And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.
Again, between Daniel 7:23-24:
23) Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.
(THE CHURCH AGE OCCURS HERE)
24) As for the ten Horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.
Daniel 11: 35-36
35) “And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.
(THE CHURCH AGE OCCURS HERE)
36) “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.
Hosea 3:4,5
4) For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
(THE CHURCH AGE OCCURS HERE)
5) Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.
Zechariah 9:9,10
9) “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.
(THE CHURCH AGE OCCURS HERE)
10) I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.‘
Sometimes in the middle of verses:
Daniel 9:26
“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; (THE CHURCH AGE OCCURS HERE) And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
During the early part of Jesus ministry, He was in his home town of Nazareth. On the Sabbath, He went into the synagogue as was His habit and He was asked to read the Scripture. He read from the scroll of Isaiah. The passage He selected was Isaiah 61. The exciting thing about this reading is where Jesus stopped.
Luke 4:18,19
18) “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."
Notice where Jesus stopped reading this passage:
Isaiah 61:1,2
1) “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, (THEN HE STOPPED) And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,
He did not continue with the verse because what He read was describing His Frist Advent ministry. He was fulfilling everything up to where He stopped. The latter part of the verse was future and will be fulfilled at the Second Advent, “and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn.” Jesus understood that there would be an undisclosed period called the Church Age that would be inserted into history. It would be the resurrected Christ who would predict its Inaugural Day, Acts 1:4,5.
Following our Lord example of exegeting the Scripture accurately we come to an important principle of interpretation:
The Church Age is a mystery, hidden from the Old Testament prophets in such a way as they never spoke about it. lf they never spoke about it, the Church cannot be found in the Old Testament, and if the Church is not found in the Old Testament, it follows that there is no prophecy in the Old Testament which relates to the Church.
The Jewish age was not completed or terminated; it was interrupted. The emergence of the fifth kingdom as well as the six, seventh, and eighth elements in the prophecy will come to pass when the Church Age program is completed. When the Church Age is completed, the Jewish age, which was interrupted, will begin again.
The Fifth Kingdom in The Future Tribulation.
41) “And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter‘s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.
The kingdom will be a union of 10 nations (toes). In verse 44, Daniel says " And in the days of those kings.” A kingdom of kings, a 10-nation confederacy (toes) will be formed after the termination of the Church Age. lt is often referred to as the Revived form of the Roman Empire. The reason for this is that it is made of iron indicating that the nations which from this confederacy comes from the area of the old Roman empire. lt will become a great and powerful political system. Other passages will give more details about this great end-time power. What we understand here is that it will exist. The next verse tells us that it will fail.
42) “And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.
The nation is made up of iron, meaning partly strong and clay, meaning partly weak. Strong and weak nations make up this political power. They have formed this union to survive the turbulent and troubled times of the Tribulation. People often ask me where the United States fits into this prophecy. The answer is we are not in prophecy; but if this country remains a nation as the Tribulation begins, we are one of the clay nations, not the superpower that we are today.
43) “And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.
The union of ten nations will not last. They desire to combine the iron with clay, but it will not adhere. Why will it fail? That is next.
The Messianic Kingdom (44-45)
44) And in the days of those kings (in this future period) shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
In Daniel 2:34, Daniel was describing the sixth element, he said: “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.” Daniel sees another kingdom. It is the Messianic Kingdom of Jesus Christ. At the Second Advent, Jesus Christ will shatter and destroy the Revived Roman Empire (the fifth kingdom) and set up His Millennial rule.
45) “Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
Jesus is this rock 9. He is the destroying rock of the Second Advent 10. The crushing of the image has to do with the Campaign of Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-19). From our Lord's victory, a kingdom is established. It will be His Millennial rule (Revelation 20:4; Isaiah 2:2-4).
Vl. Daniel’s Rewards (46-49)
46) Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him.
47) The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this secret.
The testimony of Nebuchadnezzar is astonishing. He falls short at calling Daniel’s God his God, but this is nevertheless marvelous. Was Daniel an effective witness?
48) Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.
What a day! From the sentence to be torn from limb to limb to Head of State, all in one day. Nebuchadnezzar was true to his word and bestowed a multitude of gifts and a promotion for Daniel to be head of the State Department. Does this advancement go to Daniel's head? No! Daniel remains faithful to God. He passes the adversity test in this chapter, and he will pass the prosperity test in future chapters.
49) And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king.
We notice that Daniel was not only God-centered but also other-centered. He spoke to the king about his friends. Just as they share the dangers now, they would share the blessings.
How does God take care of his people when they are taken captive and enslaved in a foreign country? Here is the story. Daniel was taken captive in 606 B.C. We know that he is sent to school for three years. He has graduated from school when the events of this chapter occur. We also know that Israel will be taken into captivity for 70 years - from 586 B.C. till 516 B.C. So do the math. By the time Israel arrives in Babylon, Daniel has been promoted to a seat of power – Head of State. He will be in a position to protect the Jewish people. What Grace! In fact, history teaches that the Jewish people will do well in Babylon. Remarkable! This is similar to the story of Joseph in Egypt. The principle is this: God is in control of history and God is in control of your history. He does not lose tract of us.
ENDNOTES
1 See The Five Cycles Of Judgement. Click here
See also Deuteronomy 28:5-48 for the five cycles, where their listing is not progressive, but is specified as part of the same curse. Verse 49 begins the description of the fifth cycle.
2 Chafer, Vol IV, p. Page 94.
3 ibid.
4 Ryrie, p. 399.
5 ibid. p.136,137.
6 Pentecost, p. 135.
7 Chafer, Vol. lV, 75-76.
8 Chafer, Vol. 4, p. 41
9 Jesus is the Rock throughout Scripture:
1. He is the Rock of Salvation: Isaiah 28:16; Exodus 17:1-7; 1 Corinthians 3:11.
2. He is the Rock of Judgement upon the unsaved: Isaiah 8:14; 1 Peter 2:8.
3. He is the foundation Rock of Israel: Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 28:16.
4. He is the foundation Rock of the Church: Matthew 16:16; Ephesians 2:20-22;1 Corinthians 3:11.
5. He is the destroying Rock of the Second Advent: Daniel 2:35.
10 The second coming of Christ to the earth is the theme of many passages in both Testaments, the more important passages being as follows: Deuteronomy 30:3; Psalm 2; Isaiah 63:1–6; Daniel 2:44–45; 7:13–14; Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21; Acts 1:11; Romans 11:26; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 5:1–4; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–2:12; 2 Peter 2:1–3:17; Jude 1:14–15; Revelation 1:7; 19:11–21. Walvoord, J. F. (1966). Christ’s Coming to Reign. Bibliotheca Sacra, 123, 195.
Acknowledgment
At my side, as I prepared this commentary on Daniel, are my notes taken at Practical Bible Training School listening to my professors Dr. Marion Lowe, my teacher in the Old Testament, and Dr. Floyd H. Barackman, friend and teacher of Theology. These men wrote no book on Daniel, but they are ever-present in my understanding of Daniel. For historical background, The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. 3 - 5 was beneficial. Dr. Leon J Wood’s books on (1) The Survey of Israel’s History, and his own Commentary on Daniel, significantly contributed to my understanding of the persons and events in the Book of Daniel. No commentary begins with a blank sheet of paper, and my debt to these works when not footnoted is always present.
Below is a list of sources used in preparing these messages:
Brown, F., Driver, S. R., & Briggs, C. A. (1977). Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Whitaker, R., Brown, F., Driver, S. R. (Samuel R., & Briggs, C. A. (Charles A. (1906). The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament: from A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles Briggs, based on the lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius. Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible Dictionary (3rd ed.), Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Leon Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1973.
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. Vol. 4. Dallas: Dallas Seminary Press, 1948.
Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things To Come. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969.
Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1981.
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Babylon, Babylonia. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 247). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Kitchen, K. A., & Mitchell, T. C. (1996). Chronology of the Old Testament. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible Dictionary (3rd ed., p. 186). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.