At that Time... Chapter 2 first half

[lambs of sacrifice]

At that time...
Chapter 2


In chapter one, we saw that the kingdoms of Greece and Media-Persia are major powers in the end times. Also what chapter one did was unite Daniel chapters 2, 7 and 8 as end time prophecies. Now let’s look at Daniel chapters 9-12 and see if these correlate with chapters 2, 7 and 8.

We know that Daniel 9:26b-27 refers to the abomination of desolation that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24: 15 about a future event, so that puts 9-26b-27 as end time events.

Daniel chapter 10 through 12 all happened as one sequence of time, and so should be taken as a whole. Chapter 10 is the story of the messenger’s appearance, chapter 11 is the messengers’ message, and chapter 12 is the message’s conclusion. I will start off with some verses showing the time frame of the vision of Daniel chapter 10-12.

Da 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.

Da 10:14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

Da 12:4 But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”

Da 12:8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”
Da 12:9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.”

Here are four passages that say that the vision of Daniel 11 is at the time of the end. Two passages before Daniel chapter 11 and two passages after. Daniel 10:1 says that Daniel received a vision and it concerned a great war. The ‘a’ in that verse designates that there is only one great war and it is not likely spread over 2500 years and the vision is not a multiple of many wars. In Daniel 10:14, Daniel is told that the vision will affect his people in the future, in a time yet to come.

In Daniel 12:4, Daniel was told to close up and seal the words of the scroll, in 12:9 the true understanding is sealed until the time of the end. The prophetic understanding that has been prevalently understood in the 20th century has been around for thousands of years. As soon as, Alexander the great took control of the Middle East the prophecies about Greece have been applied to him. This is the beginning of what I call the “Historical Interpretation” of Biblical prophecy. But, in chapter 10:1 specifically states that the vision concerns a singular great war and that leads to strong inference that the vision should be taken as a whole and not split and dissected to fit into many various events that happened over 393 years with a time gap of 2168 years and counting.

[The meaning of ‘Historical Interpretation” is what we generally read in all the study notes, and commentaries (especially found in our Study Bibles) concerning Daniel’s end time prophecies. These prophecies were given in the book of Daniel during the exile of the Israelites in Babylon (586-516 BC). The Historical interpretation basically says that the prophecies concerning, Media-Persia, Greece, the four kingdoms that came out of Greece, and the abomination (in Daniel chapters 2, 7, 8, and 11) all happened historically between the years of 539 BC and 167 BC. When I talk about the theory of the ‘Historical Interpretation, and the theory in this book; I am comparing the historical interpretation that says all these prophecies are history and no longer relevant, verses that which Scripture proclaims, over and over, that these prophecies concern end time events and are very relevant to the future.]

Concerning the vision of Daniel chapter 11; since the vision should be taken as a whole, and we know that Daniel 11:31 is of the abomination of desolation, that is in the last days, everything after that time till the end of the chapter in verse 45 is of the tribulation. Here we have one third of the verses that most everyone agrees are specifically about end time events. This gives further support that the vision of chapter 11 is in totality of the end times.

We know that the passage of Daniel 11:31-45 all speaks of the end times. Let’s examine the section of Daniel Chapter 11:21-35, in the historical interpretation, these passages refer to Antiochus Ephiphanes 4th (175-164 BC). In verse 32, we have the abomination that causes desolation, which is said to be when Antiochus Ephiphanes sacrificed pigs blood on the alter in 167 BC, but Jesus approximately 200 years later referred to the abomination that causes desolation as a future event.

Mt 24:15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—

Since Jesus puts the abomination of desolation as a end time event then Antiochus Ephiphanes is not the fulfillment of Daniel 11:31, but under the historical interpretation Antiochus Ephiphanes was just a so called “symbolic foreshadower” of the antichrist, and the actual fulfillment is in the last days by the antichrist. Now let’s look at this for a moment, Daniel 11:31 is what made Antiochus Ephiphanes famous. This is his so called climatic fulfillment of Scripture. All the verses from verse 21 to 30 are nothing compared to what he actually did in verse 31; the abomination that causes desolation. But verse 31 is really not talking about Antiochus Ephiphanes at all. And if the climax of Antiochus Ephiphanes in Daniel 11:31 is only a shadow, then the total life of Antiochus Ephiphanes in verses 21-31 has less light that a shadow, and we know that shadows are deceptions. Here is the text that the historical interpretation says is supposed to be applied to Antiochus Ephiphanes.

Da 11:21 “He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been
given the honor of royalty. He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue.
Da 11:22 Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before him; both it and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed.
Da 11:23 After coming to an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully, and with only a few people he will rise to power.
Da 11:24 When the richest provinces feel secure, he will invade them and will achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did. He will distribute plunder, loot and wealth among his followers. He will plot the overthrow of fortresses—but only for a time.
Da 11:25 With a large army he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots devised against him.
Da 11:26 Those who eat from the king’s provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle.
Da 11:27 The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time.
Da 11:28 The king of the North will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country.
Da 11:29 At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before.
Da 11:30 Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
Da 11:31 His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.
Da 11:32 With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
Da 11:33 Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered.
Da 11:34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them.
Da 11:35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.

Now if the historical interpretation put the verses 21-35 as the life of Antiochus Ephiphanes, then says that the greatest event of his life according to Scripture, verse 31, is actually referring to the antichrist, then I say to you that the whole of his life is symbolic shadow and that all of the verses refer to the antichrist. For, if verses 31 through 35 are shadows, then 21 through 30 are more than shadows. Let’s look at verses 32-21 in reverse order. Sometimes, when we find a fixed point in the prophetic timeline, we’ve got to check the answers by working the timeline backwards, like math problems. We add all the numbers up and get the sum and then we minus all the numbers that we added and see if we come up with the same number we originally started with. We know that abomination that causes desolation by Antiochus Ephiphanes doesn’t add up because Jesus said that that verse was not talking about him at all, but let’s work the verses backwards anyway. (No, this is not something out of the 70’s like playing a record backwards.) We’ll start with verse 32 and work our way backwards.

Da 11:32 With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.

As we have said this has to be of end time fulfillment because it is after the abomination that causes desolation. This verse is also talks about the covenant that has been established. We find the covenant they are talking about in verse 30, one passage before the abomination of desolation, which is in verse 31. On to verse 30.

Da 11:30 Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.

With the tying in of the covenant in verse 32 with verse 30, this puts verse 30 into end time prophecy. Verse 29 states that the king of the North will attack the king of the South and that the outcome will be different.

Da 11:29 “At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before.
Da 11:30 Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart.

Verse 30 continues the story of verse 29, of when the king of the North attacks the king of the South and why the outcome is different.

Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant. So, working our way backwards we know that verse 29-30 are of end time prophecies.
Also in verse 29, it states that the king of the South will attack the king of the North again. So, now we have to go back and find where the king of the North attacked the king of the South the first time. And that was in verses 25-28.

Da 11:25 ‘With a large army he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots devised against him. )
Da 11:26 Those who eat from the king’s provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle.
Da 11:27 The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time.
Da 11:28 The king of the North will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country.
Da 11:29 “At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome wilt be different from what it was before”.

Scripture has tied in end time prophecies all the way back to verse 25. We now have 21 verses (25-45) of Daniel chapter 11 as end time prophecies. We have just gone from 1/3 of the verses, which almost everyone agrees upon as end time prophecies, to almost half of the chapter talking about end time events. Let’s move on to verses 21-24.

Da 11:21 “He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been given the honor of royalty. He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue.
Da 11:22 Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before him; both it and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed.
Da 11:23 After coming to an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully, and with only a few people he will rise to power.
Da 11:24 When the richest provinces feel secure, he will invade them and will achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did. He will distribute plunder, loot and wealth among his followers. He will plot the overthrow of fortresses—but only for a time”.

The historical interpretation says that these verses are talking about Antiochus Ephiphanes, but Scripture has shown that the verses from 25-31 cannot be talking about Antiochus Ephiphanes, but are of end time significance. Now Antiochus Ephiphanes has only four verses that might apply to him instead of the eleven verses. This leave the historical interpretation with very little significance about the life of
Antiochus Ephiphanes being the fulfillment of verses 21-31.

Continued

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Lambs of Sacrifice


All texts were taken from:
Holy Bible, New International Version