Daniel 7–12 (Part 1)

Richard Belcher delves into the early chapters of Daniel. He provides a theological and historical analysis of the visions and prophecies found therein, and discussing their implications for understanding God’s sovereignty and the end times.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

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Well, let’s. We’ve got a few more minutes, so let’s continue with chapter seven through twelve. Oh, by the way, while I have it here, remember I told you early on in our discussion of prophecy that you needed a chart? We put up the simple charts. Well, you might feel a little bit cheated because that’s a real chart, and don’t ask me to explain it to you, but this came out of a Christianity Today article, I think related to a dispensational chart. So anyway, I didn’t have it with me at the time for some reason. I got it in here. All right, Daniel 7-12. Chapter seven.

We begin the second part of the book. If you divide it up, chapters one through six, chapters seven through twelve, and we begin a different genre, apocalyptic genre. So let’s talk about apocalyptic for a few minutes. Apocalyptic literature is a subgenre of prophecy. It’s sort of like if some of you have heard the speech about poetry and narrative, you know the difference between poetry and narrative. There’s a continuum between those two. Narrative will have characteristics of poetry, but if the major characteristics of poetry are really concentrated in a text, then it becomes poetry, not narrative.

And there’s a continuum between poetry and narrative. Well, same thing with apocalyptic and literature and prophecy. There is a continuum between prophecy and what we call apocalyptic. Apocalyptic literature has certain characteristics usually associated with it, which I have listed in your notes. It’s eschatological, meaning it’s looking to the future, beyond the historical situation, many times looking to the end. What will happen at the end? Apocalyptic literature is mediated revelation. God speaks through a mediator, usually an angel. We’ll see some angels come into play here in chapter seven through twelve.

There is a transcendent realm, and the angels are part of that realm, and they are used by God to communicate this revelation. There’s also unusual imagery. Evil is depicted in grotesque terms or images. And the use of this imagery is to both reveal and to conceal. You don’t want to come out and just say, Babylon is bad, Babylon is evil, Babylon is going to fall. That gets in trouble. Like those false prophets during Jeremiah’s day that began to prophesy the fall of Babylon. Well, they got in trouble.

The imagery of apocalyptic literature helps you say what you want to say about Babylon or about a nation, and it’s a message that is known or understood to the people it’s written to. But it may conceal. The message may be concealed from some. So it both reveals and conceals. The setting of apocalyptic literature many times is oppression. It arises out of situations of oppression, where difficult experiences are part of God’s people. Now, that is debated and is denied by some.

Some would say apocalyptic literature does not always come out of a situation of crisis, but many times it is connected to a situation of crisis. Much of the apocalyptic literature, not all of it, but much of it is pseudonymous, which means written under an assumed name. A lot of the literature in the intertestamental period, the Second Temple Judaism period, is written under an assumed name. And there’s a two-volume work by Charles Worth. He edits it that deals with a lot of the Jewish literature of the period in between the testaments.

And if you’re interested in looking at some of that, you can get that work by Charles Worth. Obviously, we don’t believe Daniel is written under an assumed name. Some do argue that Daniel is written under an assumed name. But we would not argue that some of the major mistakes in interpreting apocalyptic literature. A lot of people interpret the apocalyptic literature in light of their own situation, rather than looking at this literature from the perspective of the original reading audience.

There’s a tendency among some to just sort of transfer what is being said directly to the contemporary situation or a situation in the future that can be problematic. Obviously, the message of the apocalyptic literature is for God’s people. And so we do want to make that transference to what does this mean for God’s people today? But how you do that can be significant.

Also, you’ve got the problem of apocalyptic literature and the language of apocalyptic literature being full of metaphor and symbolism. You can’t nail everything down. It’s tough. And there are those who really push the nailing of everything down, and that’s a struggle. For whatever position you take related to apocalyptic literature, it is a struggle to sort of understand at times exactly what is being communicated, and we’ll see places where that is a struggle.

All right, we come to chapter seven. We got a few minutes. I think we can maybe lay out the basic content of chapter seven and then some of the interpretation of it. We may have to wait until next time, but chapter seven is in the reign of Belshazzar.

So again, Daniel is not chronological; we start this section of apocalyptic literature. We’re in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon. Daniel has a dream. Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. So now, this is a dream that Daniel has in chapter two. It was a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. Daniel has a vision, a dream where four great beasts come out of the great sea, which is what is mentioned in verse three. Four great beasts come out of the sea, different from one another.

³ And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. (Daniel 7:3, ESV)

Now, it’s unlikely that this sea is the Mediterranean Sea. It’s probably not a reference to a geographical sea. These beasts that come out of the sea are hybrid beasts. You wouldn’t find them in a zoo, except maybe one of them. You might. But the way these beasts are described, you would not find them in a zoo or as a part of the natural world in which we live. These are hybrid beasts. These beasts are symbols of the enemies of God. The sea may stress the chaotic context of the arising of these nations.

And the sea many times is identified with chaos. Some might make some ancient near eastern connections here as well to the sea, some of the pagan myths. But in what sense? That kind of chaos. Yeah. Might be related. The wicked are also connected to the sea in Isaiah, sort of the never at rest. So there may be several angles going on here, but certainly these beasts, as we’re going to see, are going to represent pagan nations. Verse 17 says, “These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.”

¹⁷ ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. (Daniel 7:17, ESV)

Verse 23 identifies them as kingdoms. The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth. So these beasts represent kings and their kingdoms.

²³ “Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. (Daniel 7:23, ESV)

Now, the first beast, verse four, was like a lion and had eagle’s wings. Its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on 2 feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it.

⁴ The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. (Daniel 7:4, ESV)

Everybody agrees that the first beast is a reference to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah 49 is called both a lion and an eagle. So you have these connections, lion and eagle, with Babylon and the Babylonian kings. Many think that the lion’s wings being torn off speaks of Nebuchadnezzar’s humbling that we read about in chapter four.

And he sort of returns to his sanity, maybe referenced here in the making to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. So that there may be some reference here to what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. But just about everybody agrees that this beast is a reference to Babylon.

The second beast, verse five, is a bear raised up on one side, three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and it was told, “Arise, devour much flesh.”

⁵ And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ (Daniel 7:5, ESV)

Now, this is one of the beasts that resembles a normal animal. This is just a bear raised up on one side, ready to devour, with three ribs in its mouth. Conservatives would identify this beast with the Medo-Persia kingdom, with the three ribs possibly being Lydia, Egypt, and Babylon that the middle Persia kingdom conquered.

The third beast, verse six, is a leopard with four wings and four heads, a very fast predator, four heads looking in all directions, perhaps even stressing the fourfold division of the kingdom. And this beast would be identified then with Greece and the lightning character of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Finally, the fourth beast, verses seven and eight, is not identified as an animal. It is only called terrifying. Verse seven.

⁷ After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:7, ESV)

So this fourth beast is a terrifying beast. Large iron teeth that devoured everything. Ten horns. And we’re going to see that a little horn displaces three horns. This little horn has the eyes of a man and speaks boastfully. And this fourth beast is arrogant, godless, and the most destructive. I would identify this with the Roman Empire.

Now, what we do with the ten horns and the one horn, we may have to put that on hold until we meet together again. But we will talk about that. The ten horns, the one horn. That’s where a lot of debate comes between the different eschatological views. How you handle the ten horns. Do they exist simultaneously as ten? Are they symbolic? So we’ll talk about that next time.

However, there’s an abrupt transition then in this dream to a courtroom with two main characters. The ancient of days, verse nine is pictured as God the judge. A man of gray hairs sitting on a throne is sort of the picture that is given. God the judge, and the mighty fourth beast is slain and thrown into the blazing fire in verse eleven.

And then one arises like a son of man, verse 13. This son of man comes on the clouds of heaven. This son of man is given dominion and a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Who is the son of man? Possibilities include Michael the Archangel, or some heavenly being.

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. (Daniel 7:13, ESV)

Some take the Son of Man as a collective symbol for the people of God, because over in verse 27, you have the kingdom being given to the saints of the Most High. Earlier in the chapter, the kingdom is given to the Son of Man. In verse 27, the kingdom is given to the saints of the Most High. And so, some people think that this Son of Man is sort of a collective symbol representing the people of God.

Others would argue that this son of man is an exalted human being, the Messiah, a person of divine origin who receives the universal kingdom. And that’s the view that I would hold. I think that’s the view that best fits scripture and the outworking of the Son of Man, as we will see a little bit later, its connection to Jesus Christ. The son of man is worshiped. Verse 14:

¹⁴ And to him 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. (Daniel 7:14, ESV)

That’s why you can’t say that the son of man is just a collective symbol for the saints, because this individual is worshiped by the nations and the peoples. So, I do think it’s an individual of divine origin who is given a kingdom. And we will see how son of man connects to Christ later on.

Now, Daniel, just to wrap this up, Daniel wants to know more about this terrifying fourth beast. He wants to find out, wow, what is this fourth terrifying beast? And when we start next time, we will read verses 19 through 27, which is a description of this fourth terrifying beast. And we will then get into a discussion of the things that are said about this beast and how the different possibilities of how they work themselves out in history. Okay, we are in the middle of Daniel chapter seven. Alright, Daniel chapter seven. We do need to keep moving. But I do want to be able to entertain them if there are questions related to this part of Daniel.

Although there is a lot of detail here, we really, and there’s all kinds of different viewpoints on a lot of the details. So we don’t want to get bogged down in too much detail, but we will try to give you the big picture of different viewpoints, especially in chapter nine. But we’re in the middle of chapter seven. And just to quickly get us up to speed where we are, this chart may or may not be in your notes. Don’t worry about that. Chapter two and chapter seven of Daniel both cover the same time period.

We’ve already talked about chapter two with this image. The head of gold, chest of silver, belly of bronze, feet of iron clay, and then the stone that sort of topples this image. The chapter seven covers the same time period, but there are beasts that arise out of the sea, and we’ve already talked about these beasts. Babylon, the lion, eagle, the bear, medo, Persia, leopard, Greece. And this terrifying fourth beast that’s not identified, which is in Rome. Not in Rome, but is Rome identified with Rome.

And then you have the Ancient of Days, God the judge, judging the fourth beast and the kingdom handed over to the Son of Man. That’s basically where we stopped. We were together two weeks ago. We want to pick up on this, and it may be a good idea to read, just to get it in front of us, to read chapter seven, verses 19 through 20, 7:19-28, because that will remind us of this fourth terrifying beast, and we’ll set the stage for what we need to talk about next.

So, BJ, would you mind beginning reading at verse 19 and read all the way through verse 28 of chapter seven?

¹⁹ “Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, ²⁰ and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. ²¹ As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, ²² until 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. ²³ “Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces.

²⁴ As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. ²⁵ He 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. ²⁶ But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. ²⁷ And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’ 28 “Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.” (Daniel 7:19-28, ESV)

Alright. This is a description of that fourth beast. However, there are major questions related to this fourth beast, especially what’s the relationship between the beast, the ten horns, and then the one horn who arises? That’s the major question that we want to try to talk about for a few minutes. The relationship between the fourth beast, the ten horns, and then the one horn that arises. And there are several views of this that I just want to sort of give them to you. They differentiate on whether they take the ten horns as being contemporary with each other or not.

So, some views believe that the ten horns that are described here are contemporary with each other. They all exist at the same time. Many believe. Some believe that this fourth beast is fulfilled in the first century in the Roman Empire. J. Adams has both a commentary on Revelation and a book on Daniel, a small book on Daniel called the time. I wrote it down somewhere, the time of the end.

And he argues that the ten horns are contemporary, and they relate to the Roman Empire of the first century, and that all of this is fulfilled basically in the Roman Empire of the first century. The problems with this particular view is to make what’s said here about the fourth beast fit the time period of the Roman Empire, especially when it talks about three falling before one, because most of those who see this fulfilled in the Roman Empire see that the one horn that arises as being identified with Nero Caesar.

But it’s hard to fit this: three fell before one that doesn’t quite fit how Nero Caesar came to power. Claudius was poisoned, and Nero Caesar came to power. So, there are some difficulties trying to make it fit. But that’s one particular view, to see these ten horns as contemporary and that they are fulfilled in the Roman Empire of the first century.

Another view is to see these ten horns as contemporary, but they are fulfilled sometime in the future, not in the Roman Empire of the first century, but that they are fulfilled sometime in the future, even to us. The future to us. Now, there’s a dispensational view and there’s a non-dispensational view of this. The non-dispensational view is argued by Kyle and Dalitsch, and they argue that the ten horns of this fourth beast all exist at the same time together on the head of the beast and that they will still arise in the future.

He identifies, without getting into too many details, the ten horns of Daniel 7 with the 7th and 8th king, or heads of the beast of Revelation. Revelation 17:1 – I don’t want to get into too many details related to the Book of Revelation, but he does make some connections to the Book of Revelation and sees the book of Revelation laying out the development of history with still the 8th. The 7th head is the world power of modern Europe. The 8th is the last and highest development of the world power.

If you look at Revelation 17:10, these ten horns exist on that last kingdom or head. So that would be one way that Karlan Delitsch develops. But these ten horns are contemporary, and they are still future to us. The dispensationalists also take these ten horns as contemporary with each other, and they are still future to us, related to a revived Roman Empire that will arise at the end of history.

There will be ten actual kingdoms that will exist simultaneously, that will set the stage for the final events as the dispensationalists understand those events to work themselves out. We’ll talk more specifically about where dispensationalism is coming from when we get to Daniel 9 and the 70 weeks. But there are those views who say that the ten horns are contemporary with each other, either the Roman Empire of the first century or future, some future kingdom that is, in essence, the final kingdom, both in the non-dispensational and in the dispensational viewpoint.

The other way to take these ten horns is to take them as not contemporary with each other. In other words, these tin horns don’t exist all at the same time, but they refer to a succession of powers. So you have Rome of the first century, which is a great and crushing power, described perhaps in Chapter 7:23, the fourth kingdom. And then these ten horns would represent the balance of power following the decline of the Roman Empire. A succession of kingdoms, the balance of power that follows the Roman Empire.

This particular view takes the ten to be symbolic, not a literal ten, but a symbolic ten, indicating comprehensive and definite totality. And these ten horns represent the power, the powers of the kingdoms that follow the Roman Empire. And then you have one horn that arises from the ten. Now, everybody, well, most conservatives, except for those who see all of this fulfilled in the first century Roman Empire, most conservatives will identify this horn that arises with the Antichrist. Dispensationalists. Non dispensationalists.

There is some agreement here that the little horn that arises out of the tin is a reference to the Antichrist, who will arise at the end of history, during the bad stuff that happens at the end of history. And you can make connections to 2 Thessalonians 2:9, the man of lawlessness, and some of the things that the New Testament talks about in terms of the Antichrist. the Spirit of the Antichrist is still here, but there seems to be still someone who will arise. So that’s the question in chapter seven.

What’s the relationship of the ten horns to each other? Are they contemporary with each other? Do they refer to a balance of power and a successful succession of empires? But there is agreement that the little horn is the Antichrist. So among conservatives, critical scholars see chapter seven culminating in Greece, but among conservative scholars, the Roman Empire. And then sort of how you work it out after that. There are some differences, but it all culminates in the Antichrist at the end. So there are differences, but there is quite a bit of agreement there.

Now, just one more thing about chapter seven, this whole son of man identification in chapter seven. In chapter seven, the son of man is a glorious type figure who comes on the clouds of heaven. And of course, when you get to the gospels, son of man is a self designation of Jesus. It’s what Jesus uses many times to refer to himself. The son of man shall do this and that. Many think that this term son of man avoids some of the political overtones of some of the other terminology.

Whether that’s true or not, Jesus does use the son of man in the Gospels to refer to his glory when he comes in power and glory. Mark 8:38, Mark 14:62. So this son of man idea is picked up by Jesus, and he does use it in this sense of glory coming on the clouds of heaven.

⁶² And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:62, ESV)

However, he also uses the son of man concept earlier in his ministry, and he begins to talk about the son of man must suffer. And I think that’s where the disciples don’t quite grasp what’s going on, as he has discussions with Peter and the disciples about his suffering. Mark 8:31, Peter rebukes Jesus when he talks about the son of man must suffer.

Perhaps they’re having trouble putting together their concept of the son of man from Daniel 7 with the concept of suffering and rejection. Mark 9:32 says they did not understand what Jesus meant, so they were having a hard time putting together exaltation with humiliation, the exaltation of coming in the clouds of heaven with the humiliation of being rejected.

³² But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. (Mark 9:32, ESV)

But both of these do come together in Jesus Christ, and he uses the son of man to refer to both his humiliation and his exaltation. So this is an important concept that is picked up in the New Testament. But that’s Daniel 7. Both two and seven both culminate in the first century with the coming of Christ.

And then you have to talk about how this fourth beast, the ten horns, and the one horn sort of work themselves out. Those are the issues. Now we come to chapter eight, unless you have any questions or comments. All right, we come to chapter eight, and we’re going to see that in chapter eight. And in chapters ten through twelve, the locus, or the focus, is going to be a little different than chapters two and seven. Chapter two, seven, and nine of Daniel are virtually going to find their culmination in the first century with Christ.

Chapters eight and ten through twelve are going to find their culmination in the Greek period, as we will see. But in chapter eight, now we’re back to Hebrew. Remember in 2:4 to chapter 7, we’ve been in Aramaic. Now, in chapter eight, we revert back to Hebrew. You have some animals mentioned in chapter eight. You have a ram with two horns. This ram does what he pleases and becomes great, chapter 8:3-4. Then you have a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes. The goat rebukes the ram.

The goat becomes very great. At the height of his power, the large horn of the goat is broken, and four prominent horns grow up in the place of the large horn. One of those four horns starts small, grows in power, defiles the sanctuary, and takes away the daily sacrifice because of the rebellion of the saints. Chapter 8:9-12. And it’s 2300 evenings, literally evening mornings, until the sanctuary is purified and there’s an end to the trouble. So that’s basically the vision in chapter eight.

Now, the interpretation is pretty much given for us in chapter eight, not all the details, but enough so that we have a sense of what is going on. The two-horned ram is Medo-Persia, chapter eight, verse 20. The goat that arises with the prominent horn is Greece, the large horn. The prominent horn is the first king, Alexander the Great. Chapter eight, verse 21. The goat is the king of Greece. Alexander is not named, but it says, the goat, the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king.

²¹ And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king. (Daniel 8:21, ESV)

The prominent horn is removed and four horns replace the prominent horn. So the prominent horn is broken off and four horns arise in place of the prominent horn. When Alexander the Great died, his kingdom was divided into four kingdoms. Four horns represent the fourfold kingdom of Alexander the Great after he was dead. And I have them listed, I think, in your notes. Macedonian Greece or Thrace would be one kingdom. Asia Minor would be another kingdom. Syria or Babylon would be another kingdom, also called the seleucid kingdom.

And then Egypt is the fourth kingdom, also called the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Is Seleucid and Ptolemaic in your notes? Good. I don’t have to write them on the board. It’s the latter two kingdoms, the Seleucid Kingdom, the Syria Babylonian kingdom, and the Egyptian kingdom, the Ptolemaic kingdom. Those two kingdoms are the two kingdoms that are highlighted in Daniel 8, because those two kingdoms vie for power. And a lot of that focuses on the land of Palestine, because Palestine is sort of caught in the middle of those two kingdoms.

And there arises from the Seleucid kingdom, the Syria Babylonian kingdom, a little horn, who is described in Chapter 8, verses 23-25. It says,

²³ And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. ²⁴ His power shall be great— but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. ²⁵ By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand. (Daniel 8:23-25, ESV)

This is a reference to Antiochus Epiphanes, 171 to 165. The particular events that are described here specifically related to the persecution of the saints, probably took place between 168 to 165. Antiochus Epiphanes. Epiphanes, God manifest. That’s what he put on his coins.

He sought the unification of his empire, including the land of Palestine, through the greek culture and greek religion. So he tried to impose a unity on his empire through greek religion and greek culture, which didn’t go over very well with the jewish people, because he tried to bring the jewish people into line with greek religion and greek culture. Hellenization is what it’s called. He put his, as I mentioned, he put his own image on the coins with the phrase Antiochus Epiphanes. The jewish people revolted and rebelled against this program.

Some of the things that he tried to do, he set up a gymnasium near the temple. Of course, the athletes in those days performed naked, which was a perversion to the Jewish people. They would not have appreciated that he abolished Jewish sacrifices. He wanted pigs sacrificed on the altar, and he set up an altar of Zeus in the Temple. So you can imagine the uproar that this would have caused in Palestine. If you want to read about these events, you can read First Maccabees.

First couple chapters talk about some of these events related to Antiochus, what he tried to do in the land of Palestine. This led to a Jewish rebellion headed by a priest named Mattathias. It’s called the Maccabean revolt. His sons were called the Maccabees. And just to give you an idea about what was going on, let me read a portion of 1 Maccabees, chapter two. The king’s officers. The king is Antiochus.

Here, the king’s officers, who were enforcing apostasy, this is written from a Jewish standpoint, came to the town of Modin to see that the sacrifice was offered. Sacrificing of pigs. And many Israelites went over to them. Mattathias and his sons stood in a group. The king’s officer spoke to Mattathias, “you are a leader, a man of mark and influence in this town. With your sons and brothers at your back, you be the first to come forward and carry out the king’s order.”

All the nations have done so, as well as the leading men in Judea and the people left in Jerusalem. Then you and your sons will be enrolled among the king’s friends. You will also receive high honors, rich rewards of silver and gold, and many further benefits. So he’s telling Mattathias, you be the first to step up to this altar and sacrifice this pig. Well, Mattathias basically responds, we will not obey the command of the king, nor will we deviate one step from our forms of worship.

As soon as he had finished responding, a Jew stepped forward in full view of all to offer sacrifice on the pagan altar at Modin in obedience to the royal command. The sight stirred Mattathias to indignation. He shook with passion and, in a fury of righteous anger, rushed forward, grabbed the guy, threw him on the altar, and sacrificed him. Then he grabbed the king’s officer and killed him. And thus began the revolt of the Maccabees. It says Mattathias showed fervent zeal for the law, just as Phinehas had done by killing Zimri, son of Seleuth. Follow me.

He shouted through the town, “Every one of you who is zealous for the law and strives to maintain the covenant.” And then he and his sons took to the hills, leaving all their belongings behind in town. But this began the Maccabean revolt, which eventually was successful. This period from 168 to 165 is pretty much the time in which the temple was desecrated because of these policies of Antiochus. So it lasted about three years, but then Antiochus died. The temple was purified in 165 BC. So those are the events that chapter eight is talking about.

Now, when we come back to look at this two 2323 hundred evening and mornings, there’s a variety of ways that this time period is understood, but they all basically refer to this period, 168 to 165, depending on how you look at these 2300 evening and mornings. Some say that the 2300 evenings and mornings refers to the 2300 evening and morning sacrifices that would have been offered on the altar.

And if that’s true, 2300 evening and morning sacrifices, then you take the 2300, you divide it by two, and you come up with 1150, which is about three and a half years. And so that could refer to that period between 168 to 165, where the temple was desecrated. Others think that the phrase 2300 evening mornings refers to one day. And if that’s the case, then it’s a little over six years. And some people refer the six year period between 171 to 165. 171. Onias III was deposed by Antiochus.

He was the last legitimate high priest in all the intrigue. Antiochus tried to buy high priests. It didn’t matter if they were legitimate high priests, but he tried to buy high priests. And Onias III was the last legitimate high priest; he was gotten rid of in 171. So, some people take 2300 to refer to a six-year period, 171 to 165. However you take it, 2300 is referring to this period that we’re talking about related to the Maccabean Revolt.

Now, the other question, and I don’t want to get into too many details here, but you have a horn in chapter seven, and you have a horn in chapter eight. And these two horns are different horns. Some people try to argue that chapter seven ends with Greece, just as chapter eight does the kingdom of Greece, because you have these two horns that are mentioned. Ej young, in his commentary on Daniel, gives an excellent rebuttal to that view.

In fact, EJ young’s commentary on Daniel still is one of the best commentaries, even though it’s an older commentary on Daniel. He deals with all, most of the eschatological questions. Longman’s commentary in the NYVAC series is excellent on the historical end of things, but when it comes to the eschatological stuff, he doesn’t get into the details of it. So you’re looking for questions, answers to questions, and the eschatological angle. He just doesn’t. He leaves things too open. But on the historical end of things, especially when you get to chapters 10-11, he’s excellent.

So EJ young is still probably the best commentary on Daniel, which is saying something, because it was written, I think, in the fifties. But he deals with a lot of the eschatological issues. By the way, a lot can be understood in archaeology. You know, we have pictures. Oh, that’s EJ young. That’s not Daniel. So they didn’t have cameras back in those days. But this is his commentary on Daniel. It’s in the Geneva series. But so these two horns, both of them are called little horns.

Chapter seven and chapter eight, there are significant differences between the two horns. And chapter seven ends with the Roman Empire. Chapter eight ends with the Greek Empire. Now, you may ask the question, why does Daniel deal with the Greek Empire? He’s going to deal with the Greek Empire in chapter eight. He’s going to deal with the Greek Empire in chapters ten through twelve.

Well, I think the reason is because of the intense persecution that occurs there, which becomes a paradigm or a type of persecution which will arise throughout the history of God’s people, but a type of the end as well. And when we get to chapter eleven, we’re going to see, we’ll talk about how this emphasis on the Greek kingdom may relate to the end. So you have Antiochus Epiphanes really becoming a type of the Antichrist. So that’s at least part of the reason, because the intense persecution that Daniel focuses on this period in Israel’s history.

Okay, comments or questions before we move on to chapter nine and the 70 weeks? All right, this is one of the most difficult passages and one of the most debated passages in the Old Testament. Our purpose is to sort of give you the big picture and lay out some of the different views related to the 70 weeks. We can’t get into a lot of detail, but at least hopefully lay out some of the issues. Alright. The historical setting of chapter nine, the first year of Darius.

Chapter 9:1, the first year of Darius, somewhere 539. 538, Babylon fell. Daniel Chapter 7. Belshazzar. Babylon fell to the Persians right in that time period. So that’s the context of this vision in chapter 9. The occasion of this prophecy is that Daniel is reading Jeremiah’s prophecy of the 70 years. You see that in verse 2, I perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolation of Jerusalem, namely 70 years. So Daniel is reading Jeremiah.

² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. (Daniel 9:2, ESV)

Jeremiah is a prophet. Jeremiah is already accepted as the word of the Lord. And Daniel is reading in Jeremiah where Jeremiah talks about a 70-year period of exile. Now, Jeremiah talks about a 70-year period of exile in two places, Jeremiah 25:11 and Jeremiah 29:10, and Jeremiah 25:11 for sure, and possibly even Jeremiah 29:10. Referring back, both may relate to the year 605, which was the year that Daniel was taken to Babylon. So if we start the 70-year period in 605, 605 and 70 years would take you down to 535.

So based on the context of 25:11, 600, 570 years would take you down to 535. Daniel is reading Jeremiah’s prophecy right here. In 539, 538, he’s getting near the end of the 70 year period of exile. Now, there’s another way to take the 70 year period of exile reflected in 2 Chronicles 36:20-23, with the context there being the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. And in 2 Chronicles 36, the focus is on the land fulfilling the Sabbath.

And if you start the 70 year period there, 586, the 70 year period would end in 516. You have the destruction of the temple in 586 and the dedication of the rebuilt temple in 516. And that’s another 70 year period that’s reflected also in Zechariah, chapter one. And so there’s different ways that this 70 year period of exile is talked about, depending on where you start and where you finish. But in the context of Daniel nine, it’s 605. And so Daniel recognizes that he’s coming to the end of this 70 year period.

So reading Jeremiah and realizing that perhaps the 70 year period of exile is ending, Daniel is moved to prayer and confession in verses three through 19. Why has he moved to prayer and confession? Because of the existing state of things among the exiles. If you go back to Jeremiah 20:9-13, Jeremiah says the purpose of the exile is that God’s people will repent, turn to me and seek my face. The question is, has that happened? Has God’s people returned to God, and have they sought his face? This leads Daniel to a prayer of confession.

Nine verse four.

⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, (Daniel 9:4-6, ESV)

So this prayer of confession basically confesses that God’s people have not returned to God in the way that they should have returned. If you look at verse 13. Yeah, verse 13. Well, verse eleven, all Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice and the curse and oath that are written in the law of Moses. Okay. The curse of the covenant, the judgment of the covenant, has been poured out upon us because we sinned against him.

¹¹ All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. (Daniel 9:11, ESV)

Verse 13,

¹³ As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. (Daniel 9:13, ESV)

We have experienced the curse of the covenant. We have experienced the judgment of God. We are in exile, yet we have not. Daniel says, we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God and turned from our iniquities.

That’s Daniel’s prayer of confession. And it’s in the context of this prayer of confession where he acknowledges that God’s people have not returned to God, that this prophecy of 70 weeks is given to him. And I think you can relate this back to Leviticus 26. Leviticus 26 is like Deuteronomy 28; it lays out the blessings of the covenant and the curses of the covenant.

But what Leviticus 26 does, as God in Leviticus 26 says, he’s going to pursue his people through judgment. I will bring this calamity upon you. I will bring this judgment upon you. The curse of the covenant will fall upon you. And if you don’t return to me, then “seven more times” is a phrase that’s used, I will punish you seven times more for your sins. You can see that phrase in Leviticus 26:21-28. God pursues his people. He pursues his people through judgment. He pursues his people through covenant curse.

If they do not turn to him, he says, I will punish you seven more times for your sins. Daniel is reading that the 70-year exile is about to come to an end, but God’s people have not responded. 70 times seven. Leviticus 26: I will punish you seven more times for your sin. 70 times seven equals what? 490, which is equal to the 70 weeks or some 77s. It doesn’t matter. 70 weeks, 77s, it both means the same thing.

In other words, this prophecy of 70 weeks is an indication that the exile is not really coming to an end, but it’s going to continue. Now, this has some implications for how you understand that post-exilic community, that community that returns from exile and tries to reestablish that community based on the law of God. Van Gemmeron, you’re reading van Gemren. He has a section where he is extremely positive about the post-exilic community. On the one hand, he says the prophetic word was being fulfilled less gloriously than expected.

But on the other hand, he talks about evidences of the new age, of the spiritual, and that the experience of the post exilic community was like the post resurrection community in terms of the presence of God’s goodness, forgiveness, renewal and even the eschatological age. I don’t agree with van Gemmeron there. I think the post exilic community struggled and did not show evidence of the fulfillment of those prophecies of the prophets. I think the postagelitic community is necessary for redemptive continuity with God’s people before the exile. So it’s very important that they return to their land.

It’s very important that they rebuild the temple. It’s very important that they re institute the priesthood. All those things are very important. But that’s not the end goal. There is no statement in any of the prophets after the exile that the glory of God’s presence filled that second temple. Into the book of Exodus, the glory of God filled the tabernacle. At Solomon’s dedication to the temple, the glory and presence of God filled that temple. There’s no statement related to that in the post-exilic community. The post-exilic community was a struggling community. They had no king.

There was no reestablishment of the Davidic kingdom. And my perception of the post-exilic community is as a struggling community because the exile is still a factor based on this prophecy. To Daniel, related to 70 weeks, “I will punish you seven more times for your sins,” and we’ll talk about how to take these 70 weeks. But my understanding is these 70 weeks culminate with Christ, who on one hand, does bring an end to the exile.

On the other hand, we could still talk about the fact that we are in exile because we haven’t reached our final home yet. We’re pilgrims and aliens still on this earth. But it’s a different situation that we’re in than what the post-exilic community was in, because we have the power of the Spirit. That down payment of the age to come has been poured out upon us. The Kingdom of God is here. Christ is. I mean, all those things make our situation much different than the situation of the Jewish people after the exile.

So it makes some difference as to how you view that post exilic community? Yes. Well, yeah, when I say it’s desolate, it doesn’t mean that no good things are happening. And God, we’ll see when we get to Haggai. God does say, “My spirit is among you.” But then Haggai goes on to give a prophecy about the temple in chapter two. We’ll talk about that when we get there. So there is a sense that God is at work in this post exilic community, but it is nothing compared to the ideal.

There is no King Zerubbabel will talk about his other Davidic line once he’s gone. No king arises. There is a temple, but as we’ll see in Haggai, it falls far short of the Solomonic temple. They’re under the thumb of the Persian government, so they are not self-governing. Many people will point out that it’s likely that the Ark of the Covenant has not been rebuilt. This new temple has no Ark of the Covenant, and many of the vessels of the old temple may not be there.

Robertson, in his book Christ of the Prophets, makes that point. There’s also an article, and I have the bibliography somewhere else by Nib. I think it’s Michael Nibb. It’s 1970s. It’s in that I think it’s the Heythrop Journal who gives the evidence that the intertestamental period or the Second Temple Judaism period after the close of the canon. He goes through a lot of evidence that shows that people in the intertestamental period still talked about being in exile.

And so, at least among some in this intertestamental period, their perspective was that they were still in exile because the glories of the past and the prophetic prophecies were not being fulfilled. So, there is some of that evidence that would support this exilic perspective.

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