Disciples Digital Library

The  Book of Revelation  communicates symbolically, and it  provides several interpretations of its images. For example, it states that the “ Seven Golden Lampstands ” represent seven congregations. Likewise, the “ Seven Stars ” held by the “ one like a Son of Man ” symbolize angels or “ Seven Messengers .” Pictures of the smoke of “ incense ” rising to heaven represent the “ prayers of the saints .” And so on.

SYNOPSIS: Christians do not need to wait until History’s final years to understand the message of Revelation. The understanding of its visions was made plain to the first-century churches of Asia. Today, some voices claim that the correct understanding of many end-time prophecies will not be revealed until the “ last generation ” before the return of Jesus. Information still veiled will be decoded only in the last few years prior to the end of the age. Frequently, a key passage from the  book of Daniel  is cited to validate this claim.

The book of  Revelation  is an account of the visions received by John while in exile on the Isle of Patmos - “ on account of the testimony of Jesus .” The document was addressed to first-century Christian congregations located in seven cities of the Roman province of Asia, and most likely, it was penned in the late first century when Domitian was emperor (A.D. 81-96).

The image of the “ Little Horn ” is a key component of Daniel’s visions. It represents a king from one of the four Hellenic kingdoms that evolved from Alexander the Great’s short-lived empire. Passages in the  Book of Daniel  concerning this figure also provide Paul with the model for his “ Man of Lawlessness ” described in his second letter to the Thessalonians.

The  Book of Daniel  is a well-structured literary work, not a collection of folk stories or random and unrelated visions. At its beginning, the key themes of the Book are presented in brief, then worked out in detail in its subsequent chapters, and each new vision builds on the preceding ones.

SYNOPSIS  – The commencement of the “seventy weeks” is linked to the prophecy of Jeremiah about the Babylonian Captivity – Daniel 9:1-2 .  The prophecy of the “ seventy weeks ” in Daniel is one of the most perplexing and disputed passages in the Hebrew Bible. One of the few aspects on which there is a general agreement is the length of the prophetic period – That the “ seventy-sevens ” equates to a period of 490 years. Beyond this, interpretations diverge on every aspect of the prophecy.

Imperial arrogance is the legacy of Babel, humanity’s first but certainly not last attempt to establish a World Empire . The Tower of Babel incident is echoed in the  Book of Daniel  when the new ruler of “ Shinar ,” Nebuchadnezzar, gathered all nations to pay homage to the great golden image that he had set up in the “ Plain of Dura .” His empire was not a new political entity, but the latest incarnation of Satan’s ancient effort to unite humanity under his overlordship, a plan that has been underway since human civilization dawned.

Upon his arrival in the imperial city, Daniel was confronted with a predicament. If he consumed the food and drink of the pagan king, it would violate his ritual purity. While he might have wished to avoid eating “unclean” meats, more likely, his concern was that consuming the royal “delicacies” would mean his participation in the idolatrous rituals of the Babylonian court and religion. Either way, the young man's decision could have dire consequences.

The tenth chapter of  Daniel  introduces the final vision received from one with the “ appearance of a man .” The vision is described in detail in chapter 11, and it includes verbal links to the book’s preceding visions. It begins by expanding on the vision of the “ Goat ” with a  “ prominent horn ”  that overthrew the  “ Ram ”  and the division of the Greek empire into four “ lesser kingdoms .”

SYNOPSIS: An analysis of the final week of the “Seventy Weeks” prophecy – Daniel 9:26-27. We now reach the end of the “Seventy Weeks” prophecy, its final or so-called seventieth “ week ” ( Daniel 9:26-27 ). This passage describes a set of events for which the preceding sixty-nine “weeks” have prepared. The text says  nothing about the destruction  of the city or the Temple. Instead, in this final “ week ,” the people of the city are “ corrupted ,” and the Sanctuary is defiled by the “ abomination that desolates .

SYNOPSIS - The first sixty-nine “weeks” lay the groundwork for the tumultuous events of the final or “sixty-ninth week” – Daniel 9:25.  Next, the interpreting angel described the first sixty-nine “ weeks ” of the “ seventy weeks ” prophecy, although only briefly. As he declared at the start, “ seventy weeks are  divided  upon your people and upon your holy city .” After presenting the  redemption  that would be realized at the end of the prophecy, the angel described its three subdivisions of “ seven weeks ,” “ sixty-two weeks ,” and “ one week ,” presumably, consecutive periods of 49, 434, and 7 years.

Synopsis: Daniel prays a collective prayer of repentance after contemplating a prophecy of Jeremiah - Daniel 9:1-23.  The “ first year ” of Darius the Mede locates the vision of the “Seventy Weeks” in approximately 538 to 537 B.C. This is the same period when Babylon fell to the “ kingdom of the Medes and Persians ,” as well as the release of the Jewish exiles from Babylon by the decree of Cyrus the Great (536 B.C. -  2 Chronicles 36:22-23 ,  Ezra 1:1-11 ).

In the second half of Chapter 8, Daniel receives the interpretation of his vision of the “ Ram and the Goat .” In Chapter 7, only the first “ Beast from the Sea ,” the lion-like creature, could be identified with certainty, namely, the Neo-Babylonian Empire. In contrast, in the interpretation in Chapter 8, two of the four kingdoms are identified by name, the “ Kingdom of the Medes and Persians ” and “ Greece .”

Next, Daniel received a vision of a “ Ram ” and a “ Goat ” with a prominent horn. The Ram represented the “ Kingdom of the Medes and Persians ,” the Goat symbolized the kingdom of Greece, and its large horn represented its first great king who overthrew the “ Ram .” The vision is followed by an interpretation provided by an angelic figure. The Goat’s single horn was broken and replaced by four smaller horns.

In a dream, Daniel saw “ four beasts ascending ” from a chaotic sea. Each corresponded to one of the four parts of the “ great image ” that Nebuchadnezzar saw previously in his dream of a great image with a head of gold, a torso of silver, brass thighs, and legs of iron and clay. Daniel’s vision of four creatures utilizes that same fourfold structure.

After the overthrow of the Babylonian kingdom, the new ruler appointed Daniel as his chief officer over the other civil servants of the city. This caused resentment among the other officials, so a conspiracy was hatched to destroy by trapping Daniel with his own words, even ensnaring the unwitting king in the plot.

The events recorded in the fifth chapter occurred on the eve of the city’s conquest by the “ Medes and Persians .” That night, the king hosted a feast “ for a thousand of his lords ” who “ tasted wine ” from the vessels looted from the Jerusalem Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, all while praising the false gods of the empire.

Nebuchadnezzar has another dream, and as before, one that only Daniel can interpret. Yahweh will remove the king from power until he learns that the “ Most-High God ” is sovereign over the affairs of men. Chapter 4 begins and ends with the Babylonian ruler acknowledging the sovereignty of the God of Israel.

The King invested great effort to make his dream into reality. First, he “set up” an enormous image covered in gold to represent his majesty and the irresistible power of the Empire. Then, he commanded all the “peoples and nations and tongues” of his realm to pay homage to his image or face a horrific and certain death in the “burning fiery furnace.”

The  Book of Daniel  presents insights into the future with an emphasis on the rise and fall of empires. This includes times of “ tribulation ” when the people of God endure persecution at the hands of despotic pagan rulers. However, before doing so, the Book declares that the downfall of the Jewish kingdom was according to the will of Yahweh. It was the God of Israel who “ gave ” the Babylonian king sovereignty over Judah.