Canonical Reading Plan for Sep 17, Dan 7-9

Today's readings are Dan 7-9.

A multitude of attempts have been made to interpret the second half of Daniel. Many of them focus on the end times, or what most people call “the last days,” as an event or series of events that have yet to happen.

It may be helpful to understand that the Scriptures tell us we are already in the “last days” (Acts 2:16-17; Heb 1:2, 1 Pet 1:20; 1 Jn 2:18). Certainly, the last day has not arrived, but we are indeed in the period the Bible calls “the last days.” These are the days that follow the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, commencing on or about 1 AD.

As we try to give some meaningful application to these prophecies in the last half of Daniel, it may also be beneficial to remember that, as with all Bible reading, the primary questions we want to answer are "What do these visions say about God?" and "How do they fit into His self-revelation?" 

Dan 7 starts with new visions given directly to Daniel, the man God has used to interpret the dreams and visions of pagan kings. Those incredibly detailed and accurate interpretations have become Daniel’s credentials. They affirm his calling as a prophet of God and set us up to pay close attention to what he has to say next.

Chronologically, the vision in Dan 7 occurs prior to the events in Dan 5-6, during Belshazzar's first year (553-556 BC). This vision is a vision depicting the end of the Babylonian Empire. The lion is Babylon, the bear the Medo-Persians, the ribs Lydia, Babylon & Egypt. The Leopard is Greece, divided into 4 smaller kingdoms after the death of Alexander. The final beast could be Rome with the 10 horns being, perhaps, an image of the future influence of Rome upon 10 smaller empires but are most likely a reference to the influence Rome would have on the world when she is at the height of her domination. 

Dan 8 brings another vision of a ram and a goat. The two-horned ram is the Medo-Persian empire. The goat is, most likely, Greece, under Alexander. The four horns are the division, again, of Greece after Alexander with the little horn representing Antiochus Epiphanes, a Syrian king who desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem.

All of this is a relatively straightforward depiction of historical events that occurred in the fifth and sixth centuries BC--except they are laid out in great detail well before all the events in the Mideast and Macedonia occur. Personally, I believe this part of Daniel's vision refers to that period of history rather than the future. I think God gave Daniel a detailed description of what was about to occur in the relatively near future in order to validate what he relates concerning the next part of the vision. Scripture seems to support this idea as Daniel is given a clear interpretation of this part of the vision in Dan 8:18-26. Many who want to assign all of Daniel’s vision to future events disregard these crucial verses.

Dan 9 begins the vision of the "Seventy Weeks." The vision is quite cryptic. It is a depiction of the "end time." But, it's not really clear as to the end of what. In this passage, it may well refer to the end of Judaism, as it occurred in 70 AD. It may concern the end of all time, as has yet to happen. It may even refer to both periods.

While it can be lots of fun the speculate on what these weeks mean, it might be more profitable to compare the accuracy of God's previous prophecies with what we see here and understand that time will, indeed, come to an end. During the “last days” the world will turn against God and His people. There will be a final battle. The Messiah will emerge victorious and all men will be judged. Those who believe in Him will enter into eternal blessing and security. Those who don’t will suffer eternally.

We can choose to spend our time trying to figure out indiscernible math problems, spreading fear and alarm with our particular interpretation of end-time events or we can choose to live godly lives and spread the gospel before that time arrives.

My take on the Seventy Weeks is that there is a definite end point to God's self-revelation. Daniel tells us so and does it with tremendous credibility because of the accuracy of his prophecies on the Medo-Persian and Roman empires. His primary message is, "God has ordained an end to all this, a time when He will reveal His glory and take His children home."

We are unable to determine when that time will be. We're even told, quite clearly, that no one knows (Mark 13:32) despite the efforts of numerous false “prophets” to narrow down the time-frame. We simply don’t know when it will happen.

One of the tenets of our faith concerns the “imminent return” of our Lord. Simply stated, this doctrine affirms that Jesus can come back at any moment. It is designed to encourage us to live holy, gospel-centered lives in constant expectation of His return. Yet, many have been led to believe that certain events, many described in the Book of Daniel, have yet to happen. So, those folks wait for things that may have already happened, things like the return of Israel, the rebuilding of the temple, the rise of Rome or Babylon, etc. For those folks, the return is not really imminent; they’re waiting for those other things to take place. This can lead to a false sense of security, the idea that there’s plenty of time left. This can impact many areas of life. The time to pray is now. The time to read our Bibles is now. The time to ask for forgiveness and to forgive is now. There may not be another moment to lose. His return will happen in the “wink of an eye” (1 Cor 15:52).

So, we are to live our lives in a manner that puts God on display at all times, showing others that the redemption we have experienced is available to them (Jas 5:8). There is an urgency in all this. No one knows the time. It will come quickly and unexpectedly (1 Thes 5:12). So, we are to be messengers that are eager to share His good news...before it's too late.