Daniel and Revelation

Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius son of

Xerxes [Hebrew Ahasuerus] (a Mede by descent),

who was made ruler over the Babylonian [Or

Chaldean] kingdom —

2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel,

understood from the Scriptures, according to the

word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet,

that the desolation of Jerusalem would

last seventy years.

3 So I turned to the Lord G-d and pleaded with

him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in

sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the LORD my G-d and confessed: “O

Lord, the great and awesome G-d, who keeps his

covenant of love with all who love him and obey

his commands,

5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been

wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away

from your commands and laws.

6 We have not listened to your servants the

prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings,

our princes and our fathers, and to all the

people of the land.

7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are

covered with shame — the men of Judah and people

of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far,

in all the countries where you have

scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to

you.

8 LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our

fathers are covered with shame because we have

sinned against you.

9 The Lord our G-d is merciful and forgiving,

even though we have rebelled against him;

10 we have not obeyed the LORD our G-d or kept

the laws he gave us through his servants the

prophets.

11 All Israel has transgressed your law and

turned away, refusing to obey you. “Therefore the

curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of

Moses, the servant of G-d, have been poured out

on us, because we have sinned against you.

12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us

and against our rulers by bringing upon us great

disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever

been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.

13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all

this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not

sought the favour of the LORD our G-d by turning

from our sins and giving attention to your truth.


From the outset, I realize that there are many

within the christian community who don't really

believe that the end of time will ever come,

especially not in their time. Wishful thinking

has always held an appeal, but it doesn't change

facts. As I see it, there is only one, just one,

reason for the nation of Israel, in all of

recorded history. Israel is a covenant nation.

G-d made a covenant with Abraham, and it will

remain until the end of time. That covenant

includes the nation of Israel. One thing that we

can find in the book of Daniel is that at the

center of prophetic scripture is the nation of

Israel and the city of Jerusalem. This one fact

alone, ought to provide an incentive for those

who reamain on the fence about the reliability of

prophetic scripture. There is no other reason

for the existence of the nation of Israel.


This one simple fact, the nation of Israel, in my

mind, is evidence that ought not be ignored.

There is no question that the modern revival of

the nation of Israel signals that time is drawing

to a close. We are at the end of the age, and

the final week of Daniel's seventy week prophecy

is staring us in the face, with the modern

revival of the nation of Israel. Over the years,

any number of different authors have made an

attempt to interpret the significance of the

state of Israel in modern times, but I haven't

seen anyone do a complete survey of prophetic end

times scripture. Many authors and speakers are

able to recognize the significant role that is

held by the modern state of Israel, but there are

any number of theories about how events will play

out.


Mt. 16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to

Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a

sign from heaven.

2 He replied, [Some early manuscripts do not have

the rest of verse 2 and all of verse 3.] “When

evening comes, you say, `It will be fair weather,

for the sky is red,’

3 and in the morning, `Today it will be stormy,

for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to

interpret the appearance of the sky, but you

cannot interpret the signs of the times.

4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a

miraculous sign, but none will be given it except

the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went

away.


What I would like to attempt is to take a closer

look at what scripture says about events leading

up to the end of the age. Jesus spoke about the

'signs of the times', and implied that it is

possible to recognize those events that signal

the end of the age. In that same passage he also

recognized that there were many who tried to

appear religiously inclined, yet failed to be

genuine and therefore were not able to discern

the 'signs of the times'. They were not able to

discern that Jesus was who he said he was, as in

modern times there will be those who are not able

simply accept the clear teaching of scripture

about the 'signs of the times'.


Mt. 24:36 “No-one knows about that day or hour,

not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, [Some

manuscripts: do not have nor the Son.] but only

the Father.

37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be

at the coming of the Son of Man.

38 For in the days before the flood, people were

eating and drinking, marrying and giving in

marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;

39 and they knew nothing about what would happen

until the flood came and took them all away. That

is how it will be at the coming of the Son of

Man.


One point that stands out to me is that just like

the hypocrites that Jesus challenged in the past,

there are those today who seem to expect

something that suits their prejudice as they

attempt to interpret scripture. My observation

is that in Jesus' day, just as it is in modern

times, there are those who fail to perceive that

there is anything out of the ordinary about the

times in which they live. Everything appears to

be 'normal'. Jesus spoke about that too. 'As it

was in the days of Noah...' Everything appears

to be 'normal', until it doesn't. For the most

part, people are totally preoccupied with their

daily routine, and fail to consider the message

of scripture. That's normal too. Even then, I'm

not sure that unusual or severe circumstances

will be able to convince anyone who's not

interested in being convinced. For instance, who

is willing to recognize that the state of Israel

signals to anyone who will listen, that an

extraordinary event has already taken place? I

mean, what are you expecting to see? There isn't

anything, in my mind, that holds greater

significance that what we see in the state of

Israel, as a signal of the time in which we live.


It might take the whole month of June to work

through the book of Daniel. Maybe longer, I

can't tell. One reason for that is because the

book of Daniel ought to be examined in parallel

with the book of the Revelation. The two books

are separated by a time span of about 600 years,

but they both contain alot of passages about the

end of time. The challenge is not getting

distracted by all of the detail provided by the

Revelation, but only to examine and compare the

passages in the book of Revelation that lend

insight into the book of Daniel.


Although I don't completely disagree with the

idea that the book of Daniel deals with the

judgement of Gentile nations and the restoration

of Israel, the importance of the prophetic

passages ought to be given greater emphasis in

modern times, if only because we live in the age

that Daniel spoke of, the age of the restoration

of Israel. It's not a coincidence. And on the

Jesus Bus we'll have to take the time to get a

closer look at prophetic scripture.