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Email: <lelgee@voicenet.com>Copyright © L. L. Griffith, 1971, 1996. ISBN 0-929554-06-X. This document may be reproduced in whole or in part provided that this copyright notice is reproduced on each copy made.
Darius, the Mede, receives the kingdom of Babylon, to rule for Cyrus, the Persian. The nobles attempt to oust Daniel from the government for religious reasons.
The revelations from within the dreams and visions of Daniel's prophecy show a very intricate pattern of events at the final end of time.
Before these things are revealed for the reader's consideration, another matter is introduced which concerns the continuing maturation of the character of Daniel in regard to the worship of his God. He is once more put to a test, this time by the jealousy of the rulers in Babylon who attack his integrity on religious grounds.
Darius, the Mede, has received the Chaldean part of the kingdom to rule for Cyrus, the Persian, who is yet busy waging war in the southern lands of Ham. The peculiar Hebrew phrase translated "about 62 years old" is thought by some to refer to the 62nd year of the Jewish captivity (because they dispute the starting point of the 70 years). In truth, in the beginning of 539-8 B.C., the seventy years of Judah's captivity is near its end. But Darius was probably "about 62 years old" by reason of age. His experience has proved him to Cyrus as a worthy choice to rule the province.
A transition to new governing powers, under heavenly guidance, has been in effect while "all things are made ready" for the return to Jerusalem. Cyrus will shortly make the decree which permits the Jews to return to Jerusalem and Israel. During this transition time Daniel is the object of another palace intrigue. The ruling hunta seeks his removal from office. The adversity consists of the other two presidents and the 120 subordinate princes of the realm. The reason for this intrigue is because Darius wished to place the elder Daniel as chief over them all. The 'hunta' therefore "investigates" his credentials.
His accusers seek to find some evidence that Daniel has been remiss in his official duty "concerning the kingdom." They "sought to find any cause" against him. But Daniel was "faithful" (to Cyrus's trust) "neither was there any error or fault found in him." In his official capacity Daniel has conducted himself beyond all reproach.
The accusers then conspire to find another way to discredit Daniel. Since Daniel was a youth when he went into exile he is, at the end of the 70 years captivity, an elderly man, probably in his middle eighties. His age may be another factor which motivated his adversaries to seek his removal from the office of the presidency. Since they discover him to be a faithful man, faultless and unerring, they take counsel concerning the religious practices in the kingdom, and realize that they may "get him" on this point. They proceed to set up a decree so that he becomes a transgressor of the law of the land, i.e., "according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which altereth not."
These two presidents, with the 120 princes, formulate the decree in consultation together with "the governors, the counsellors, and the captains." They decide "to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree" effective for 30 days only, that forbids all petitions to the gods or to any man but to the king, Darius. The law is written, with the penalty declared: an infraction will cause that man to be cast into the king's den of lions.
On the surface the ban seems to be a month long holiday for the gods and men, while the (old) king must sit to hear requests from the populace. Perhaps, the ban is a means to ingratiate these men with the new king. Perhaps, the decree will provide the people an opportunity to become acquainted with the face and manners of the new ruler in Babylon. Whatever their whole ruse and its devise, the king is pleased to grant the decree to these men. The question, Can men's decrees prevent the rise of prayer to God Almighty?
When Daniel is made aware of the decree's publication, he follows his usual daily routine in practice of prayer and thanksgiving to God. He remains faithful and constant.
There is no way to accurately determine the exact day in the "first year" of Darius when the intrigue against Daniel took place. Darius is thought to have received the western lands newly conquered by Cyrus to govern for him during the time while Cyrus yet remained at war in the disputed southern lands. Daniel prospered during this time period. According to the introductory verses of Chapter Nine, it was during this same time in which Daniel came to understand how and when the "70 years in desolation of Jerusalem" would be accomplished, per 9:1-2.
"The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much," James wrote. Daniel's prayers did not cease on account of the new, temporary decree against prayer to any God or men. He apparently does not appeal the legitimacy of the ban to Darius, neither consults even with his companions in exile. Daniel simply went home and continued his personal routine of daily prayer and thanksgiving to his God. Did it matter to him that the intriguers might have set a watch to catch him in the very act of prayer to his God? Did that matter to the elderly Daniel who had devoted his whole life in service to the LORD?
Now it is obvious from the text of the chapter that Darius was "pleased" with Daniel. It is also obvious that he was aware of some intrigue behind the formulation of the writing and temporary ban against prayer to any God or man. This thing is evident in the reaction of Darius himself when the men come before the king to expose Daniel's prayerful activity to him. The king "was very much displeased with himself." This is the typical reaction of a person who realizes that something is afoot but who was unable to foresee the real intent. "I should have known it." So Darius is hoist by his own 'petard,' so to speak.
The text says. "And he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and he labored until sundown to deliver him." The men who rule for him compel Darius the king to deliver Daniel to the lions, but the king spends the night fasting and sleepless.
It usually is not wise to compel anyone in a position of power or authority to do any act contrary to their own thinking or disposition on a matter. Such a deed naturally generates enmity and resentment against those who force such an action. Darius is no different than other men in this regard. He fears the worst but hopes for the best. In the morning he personally checks the welfare of Daniel "with a grieved voice." And is "exceedingly happy for him" when he hears Daniel's report of his safety: "My God has sent His angel.., because in His sight purity was found in me, and even before you, O king, I have done no harm."
Daniel, being guiltless before God and men, is released; his persecutors, who sought his harm through the ban, are instead forced to undergo the punishment they expected for Daniel. Darius issues a decree reaffirming the worship of Daniel's God.
All in all, the kings mentioned in Daniel's prophecy - Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius - are each made aware of the over-ruling power of the God of the heavens; and each has been made to recognize the authority of "the heavens" through the manner in which the Most High God changed the things which involved each king. God rules in the kingdom of men and sets up whom He desires to rule. He desires to set up His own choice of people on earth to rule as king-priests, and to have His own king to rightly rule over the promised land, and to govern all the nations for submission to His rule.
The LORD has not ceased to watch over the rulers of the nations of this world. By His angelic powers He guides and directs the worldly affairs and governments of men still. By the same means He guides and directs each individual who puts his trust in God, the Father; and in His Son, the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Chapter Six ends on the note of the life trials of Daniel as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. He is one of three men - with Noah and Job - whom the LORD has found to be faithful to God and toward men; men who walked in integrity in all their ways and in all the days of their lives. Such men are 'rare pearls' indeed and worth great price to their masters, whether their master is God or a man. Daniel was proved to be a 'perfect man' of integrity through his suffering under persecution.
With Chapter Six's conclusion all the purpose of God's plan has been shown to the prophet, although he does not comprehend it fully. The contents of Chapters Seven and Eight are already known to Daniel (but not to the reader, who may not yet be as well prepared to understand as Daniel was). These following two chapters build upon certain things from the dreams and visions which were earlier presented to the Gentile kings. How these things converge in the "last days" is correlated to Daniel's visions concerning "the kingdom of the heavens."
The last three chapters of Daniel's book of prophecy are a narrative of the angel's explanation of the final end for the nation of Israel. The unlearned, and the unstablized in the Old Testament prophecies, will have difficulty in understanding the angel's testimony; and they will also mis-read New Testament prophecies for the same reasons. The LORD, supreme ruler of the heavens, is not a God of fantasy, of symbols, of dubious theory. He is a God of good, of truth, of life, of holiness; He is a God Who lives and moves, and has existence in beings. He is a God of works Who works His Word. God is true; it is men who lie against His Word; therefore, there is a "day" of His judgments to come...
Several elements of Daniel's prophecy are repeated over and over. One point is that the God of Daniel is a living God Who is eternal for ever. The second point is that His dominion is one which shall never be destroyed. A third point is that He shall rule to the full ends of the earth and to the full extent of His power. The fourth point is that He watches over the people of Israel for their good, but punishes them for their disobedience to His Word; but cares for all individuals, in particular the obedient, and does not exclude the nations from His love, His right and just attention.
The last point to be made is this: "He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in the heavens and in the earth." This last point provides the theme for the remaining chapters of the prophecy. To fully appreciate the outcome of all Biblical prophecy of "the end" - eschatology - it is necessary when one reads Daniel, that the reader must understand what he reads. The Lord said that this fact is so; and this I believe. The question is, Are the many who read Daniel prepared to change their traditional perspective for a "new" look at the dreams and visions of the prophet's book?
The Protestant Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christian communities are not alone as inheritors of the "continuing Church age" philosophy. The philosophy has a sibling which is widely accepted in the Christian community, known as "the continuous historical interpretation" of apocalyptic prophecy. It interprets the history of the Gentile times - beginning at A.D. 95 until today - as the working out of the prophecy of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The 1,260 days of Daniel's prophecy, in relation to the Revelation's 1,260 days, forty-two months and three and a half years - all periods of corresponding length - are made to represent each "day" as a "year." Mede was responsible for this "a day" is a "year" idea - an idea which many humanist thinkers and philosophers grasped and swiftly adopted into their Bible interpretations.
Most strangely, the text of 2 Peter 3:8 is often quoted to justify this method of logic!
If this were so, then, each day of the 1,260 "days" ought to be calculated as either 360 days or as 1,000 years. But no calculation is done; instead the word days is simply used in place of years without any real regard of the time span involved.
Not all the writiers and historians who gladly adopted the "day for a year" view were "Christian"; many were agnostic and atheist.
Newton, 1642-1727, ("laws of nature"), and Lord (Sir Francis) Bacon, 1561-1626, from among other Christian "names" advocated non-Biblical views of prophecy. As philosophers both contributed to the ideas which abounded after the days of the "Great Reformation" of the Catholic Church in Europe. Both names contributed to the most popular view of interpreting Daniel's prophecy, and thence to the interpretation of the book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Such views, which induce profane history into one's mind as an aid to understanding Holy Scripture, are like a "veil" which covers the eyes to keep the unjust and the filthy, unjust and filthy still. The views are humanist in inception. These are the views and these are the men upon which the continuous historical interpretation of Holy Scripture is based.
By comparing the points enumerated above, it can be readily seen why the
Vatican State consistently refused to give diplomatic recognition to the nation
of Israel until the New Year's eve of December 31, 1993. The Papacy claims the
right to rule over the 'kingdom of God on earth.'
The doctrine of "replacement
theology" views the Church as continuing from apostolic times, through
common historical times, as a replacement of the kingdom of God.
BOTH OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS, BASED UPON THE CONTINUATION OF HISTORY WHETHER THE PASSING WORK OF TIME IS INTERPRETED AS THE WORKS OF "THE CHURCH" OR AS THE WORKING OUT OF THE REVELATION'S PROPHECY, ARE BIASED - "MADE WITH HANDS" - TO STAND AGAINST THE TEACHING OF THE OLD TESTAMENT HOLY SCRIPTURES.
The second view is the more subtle application of the two.
See the comparison of views as set forth below. The interpretation of the visions and dreams in Daniel's prophecy does not unfold as a "continuous history of the Church age." Nor is the history of the end time worked out from Biblical prophecy, but from the speculations of a few uninspired men.
The supposed history leading up to the Second Coming is actually induced from profane historical records of the warfare written shortly after the time of Daniel's prophecy. The historically-based interpretations demand that the fourth beast of Daniel 7:7 be identified with the Roman Empire, because only through the "continuous history" philosophies can the Roman Church seek to establish a legal claim to the Land, or to the throne of Israel.
However, in these "last days" in the political and religious arena, the interest of "the Church" is trampled upon by the much more actively virulent interest in the Land which is led not by the Catholic, but by the Islamic priests. But, note that the Vatican receives the representatives of the Islamic religious parties now established in the Land.
Daniel's prophecy particularly mentions the names of both Greece, and of Medo-Persia. Between the two comes a conflict at the end. Already, due to the problems in Eastern Europe and in the lands of Magog, world news "watchers" are predicting the possibility of a World War III, and the possibility of a Middle East invasion.
When the last "beasts" of Daniel Seven appear in the Land in the last days when the "seven times" of Gentile (meaning, foreign, as in "the nations"), domination over the promised lands will have come to an end, an end which follows shortly after a "strife upon the Sea."
In the past it appears that certain Bible commentators were more interested in transferring humanistic characteristics from the pages of "continuous history" and concurrent Church history to the pages of prophecy, particularly to the "beasts" of the prophecy shown in Daniel. Rather than showing any interest toward making a true and accurate identification of the 'beasts" or toward gaining an understanding of the changing nature and of the change of character in the "last days" beasts of the Revelation's prophecy, they were led by the interests of "another gospel."
Adding darkness to the Word, the philosophers labored under the heavy constraint of their own understanding in what they read - (although some might say that they understood only too well what they read). As some men 'had a duty' to the Church to maintain her 'good' name and her 'good' deeds throughout her historical past, naturally 'the truth' of the Holy Scriptures was distorted, suffered grave damage and fell to the ground.
School textbooks - even today - are constantly being rewritten to present historical and current events in a more favorable political light. The same type of motivation will prevail in the "last days," per Daniel 8:12. The same type of revision of the Bible's text is presently being done in the guise of better understanding of the Holy Scriptures. Human nature undisciplined by a heavenly spirit does not change. The ecumenical movement is afoot to build one universal religion on humanistic grounds for expediency's sake. Not truth, but the greed which is idolatry, and control of the world's wealth is its goal.
Things revealed to the kings in dreams and visions are the stuff of which the remainder of Daniel's prophecy about the "latter days" of Israel is built upon. God will "change" the dominion of Mystery, Babylon the Great to the rule of "the kingdom of the heavens." God is working in Israel, and on Israel's behalf to establish His promises and His new covenant with them. Israel, as a kingdom, will be again restored to His favor, at the finish, and for the Olam. The judgment of the nations will concur with God's "strange" acts of change during those "last days," according to the prophet, Isaiah.
From Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great image in Chapter Two certain facts concerning this change are made evident:
1. "A 'stone,' cut out without hands" will have "smote the image upon its feet of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces," 2:34.
... "The 'stone' that smote the image (elements) becomes a great mountain and fills the whole land/earth," 2:35.
... No place is found for the (five) elements which are smitten; the 'wind' carries them away, 2:35.
2. "In the days of these kings" - the kings who are represented by the (last) four beasts - "the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed," 2:44.
... The kingdom of God "shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms; and it shall stand forever," 2:44.
From Nebuchadnezzar's dreams in Chapter Three and Four other facts relevant to this transformation are made evident:
1. The God of the heavens is able to deliver from adversity righteous men "who trusted in Him and has changed the king's word.., that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God," 3:28.
2. The God of the heavens is One "whose works are truth and His ways are justice, He is able to abase those that walk in pride," 4:37.
From Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Chapter Four and from Belshazzar's dream in Chapter Five another fact is made more evident:
1. "The most high God rules in the kingdoms of men and gives it to whomsoever He desires and sets over it the most humble of men," 4:17, 32; 5:21-23.
Nebuchadnezzar was also apprised that, after an interim of "seven times," Daniel 4:16-25, his kingdom should be restored.
During this time period, the stump of the kingdom "tree" (having its branches all cut off during the first end) would be fettered with a band of iron and of brass.
But at "the (last) end," in a full height of power and might, a king would be established over the whole kingdom - by God - and an excellent majesty would be added to that king.
The implication of Chapter Four is that, in the days of the final end of time from the empire of Nebuchadnezzar's first "Great Babylon," two rival powers will advance in power and will contend for the dominant power over the Land for a "little while" before the heavenly "Stone" and the three hails - the volleys of brim "stones" under Abaddon's rule - crush all the ungodly parts of both the "Mystery" and the last "head" of Great Babylon to bits.
The LORD proceeds then to "restore the kingdom to Israel" in the Land, for the Son to rule over the nation of Israel, and over the nations of the earth during the appointed Olam.