The Book of Daniel Unlocked

and it raised up itself on one side,

faced in the direction of Persia

and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it:

3 columns of strength, viz: – Athens, Sparta and Thebes. The vision made its appearance 21 years before the Alliance was formed. The ribs therefore, had not knit in place when the heavenly visitor made known the fact of their future union. The alliance lasted 93 years, see Thucydides III. 69.

and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh

destroy hundreds of thousands in your Persian and civil wars.

6. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard,

The Macedonian Empire

which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

Philip king of Macedon subjugated the disunited Greek States at the battle of Chaeronea in B.C. 338, and Alexander the Great conquered a kingdom extending from Greece to India in B.C. 336.

7. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible,

Roman Empire.

and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse

a republic, not a kingdom

from all the beasts that were before it; and it had 10 horns.

verse 24, the rulers following the Jugurthine war.

8. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn,

the family of the Caesars

before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things

the triumvirate ended with the battle of Actium Sept. 3rd, B.C. 31. Divine honors were accorded to Augustus. He took 3 censuses of the Roman Empire and possessed the most intimate knowledge of its resources, the last inventory was found in his own handwriting. Suetonius, Aug. XVI. – Livy CXXXII.

9. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

Divine forbearance had reached its limit, the voice of the prophets went unheeded, and the desolation spoken of by Moses was about to fall on the Jews.

11. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

12. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

13. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,

“while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight,” Acts I. 9

and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

“I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” – Acts VII. 55.

14. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” – Isa. IX. 6 and 7.

15. I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

17. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

18. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

The Spiritual kingdom of the Messiah.

19. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;

20. And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

21. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

Nero the descendant of Augustus began the first persecution in A.D. 65.

22. Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

23. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

25. And he

in the person of his descendants

shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given unto his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

This formula summarizes that which has gone before. It starts with the Medo-Persian kingdom of Cyrus, established in the year B.C. 558, as typified by the lion in verse four, and reaches over to the year A.D. 39 when the Gentiles were admitted to Messiah’s kingdom as promised in verse 18. For full explanation see Note B.

26. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

CHAPTER VIII. [Hebrew.]

B.C. 539-8

1. In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

2. And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

3. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high;

the Medo-Persian Empire

but one

Persia

was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

4. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward;

The Medo-Persian Empire embraced all the civilized nations of Asia

so that no beast might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he

Cyrus, and his descendants and next of kin

did according to his will, and became great.

5. And as I was considering, behold a he-goat

The Hellenes (Greece and her colonies)

came from the West on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

6. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river and ran unto him in the fury of his power

Battles of Marathon B.C. 490, Salamis and Plataea B.C. 480 and 479.

7. And I saw him

Alexander the Great, after Greece was conquered by the Macedonians B.C. 334

come close unto the ram

Battles of Granicus and Issus.

and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns, and there was no power in the ram to stand before him;

Alexander was greatly pleased when shown this prophecy – Josephus 11. 8. 5.

but he cast him down to the ground and stamped upon him, and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

B.C. 331 Alexander defeated the Persians on the plain of Babylon. He then pushed on to India and conquered the Punjaub, land of the five rivers.

8. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great:

Alexander the Great also conquered Egypt, Palestine, Phœnicia and Tyre. He built Alexandria and ruled from Greece to the Ganges.

and when he was strong, the great horn was broken;

Alexander died in India of intemperance and left no successor.

and for it came up four notable ones toward the 4 winds of heaven.

Alexander’s kingdom fell to his 4 generals:

Antigonus took Persia,

Seleucus took Syria,

Ptolemy took Egypt,

Cassander took Macedon.

9. And out of one of them

Seleucus

came forth a little horn

kingdom of the Seleucidæ

which waxed exceeding great, toward the south

Egypt

and toward the east

between the Hellespont and the Indus

and toward the pleasant land.

Palestine.

10. And it waxed great

under Antiochus III, the Great

even to the host of heaven;

the Jewish nation

and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground,

Judah and Benjamin

and stamped upon them.

11. Yea it

under king Antiochus Epiphanes

magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host;

Judah, and the capital city Jerusalem

and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his Sanctuary was cast down.

R.V.

12. And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through transgression;

Antiochus also set up heathen altars in every village and town, on which the Jews were obliged to sacrifice swine’s flesh daily

and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.

R.V.

13. Then I heard one saint speaking and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake: —

“How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, to give both the Sanctuary and the host

the National government

to be trodden under foot?”

14. And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

The period amounted to 308 yrs. 6 mos. 21 days and extended from Oct. 14th B.C. 450 to May 4th B.C. 141, at which time the TEMPLE was CLEANSED by Simon Maccabeus. For a full explanation see Notes C. and D.

15. And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

16. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

17. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.

18. Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

19. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

20. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

21. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

Alexander the Great who united Greece and Macedon (verse 8).

22. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

23. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full,

the Jewish people

a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences shall stand up.

Antiochus III, the Great, who subjected Judea and greatly oppressed the Jewish people. His times were noted for corruption and crime.

24. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

25. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;

the Roman Empire had no kings and therefore its rulers were spoken of as Princes. It was a favorite term for a king to designate himself as “King of Kings.” The same thought could be expressed as regards the Romans, by the words “Prince of Princes”

but he shall be broken without hand.

Antiochus died from intemperance.

26. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

27. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

CHAPTER IX. [Hebrew.]

B.C. 538-7

1. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;

by Cyrus.

2. In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

“For thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.” Jeremiah XXIX. 10.

3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

4. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

5. We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

6. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

8. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

9. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

10. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11. Yea, all Israel have trangressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

12. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

13. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

14. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

15. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

17. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.

18. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

19. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

20. And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God;

21. Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning,

Daniel VIII. 16

being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

22. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

23. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

The next four verses should be read as a whole. The burden of their message is the date of Messiah’s sacrifice, the time when he would “be cut off, but not for himself.” An event of supreme moment to the entire human race. In making this revelation the heavenly visitor took the Sabbatic period of 7 years as his standard of time. The Greeks had a system of Olympiads, each 4 years in length. In our day the standard measure is one year. We must therefore lay aside our ordinary line of thought and in reading the next 4 verses we must accustom ourselves to thinking in PERIODS OF 7 YEARS EACH and remember that whenever an event took place it happened in some period 7 years in length. So that when the angel spoke of “the going forth of the commandment” he pointed to a Sabbatic period of 7 years, not to a certain day, hour, or minute of a given year, but to a group of 7 years as a whole, in a word to a certain “week,” when therefore, he spoke of more “weeks” to follow the additional ones came in regular succession and the sum of the series must of necessity equal the full time revealed. The starting point was plainly the river Ahava and the time of their Exodus from Persia was just 2 days prior to the Passover of B.C. 458 – see Note E. The first “week” therefore ended in B.C. 451, the second “week” in B.C. 444, the third in 437 and so on, until the end of the eighth week in B.C. 402. Up to that time the Jews were favored by the Persian government, but Persia lost her power and influence at the battle of Cunaxa in B.C. 401. Then followed 62 Sabbatic periods, or 434 years, ending with the Passover of A.D. 33 at which time Messiah was cut off. The three periods, 1 week plus 7 weeks plus 62 weeks make a total of “70 weeks” and prove the accuracy of the heavenly prediction.

24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

25. Know therefore and understand, that from the

week of the

going forth of the commandment

of Artaxerxes

to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be 7 weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

How troublous is told by Nehemiah where he says: “we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth, the half of my servants wrought in the work and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows and the coats of mail."

26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come

the Romans under Petronius in A.D. 40 and under Titus in A.D. 66

shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

or, “it shall be cut off by desolations.” Josephus says that 1,100,000 perished in the siege and 97,000 were carried away captive.

27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,

This “one week” was divided into 2 parts of 3½ years each. The first half covered the Ministry of the Messiah and therefore was embraced within the 70 weeks. The last half extended beyond the 70 weeks and ended in A.D. 36. It was a period of remarkable growth in the infant church; Pilate however ceased to be procurator in A.D. 36 and the persecution described in the VIIIth chapter of Acts immediately set in.

and for the overspreading of abomination he shall make it desolate,

or, “upon the battlements shall be the idols of the desolator.” see also Matt. XXIV. 15.

even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Jerusalem was taken by the Romans on the 2nd of Sept. A.D. 70. Then the prophecy of Ezekiel was fulfilled: – “I will scatter thee among the heathen and disperse thee in the countries.”

Remarks. To understand what follows, all divisions of chapter and verse should be obliterated, from this point to the end of the book. The subject matter should be taken as descriptive of what Daniel saw and heard “by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel” “in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia.” The description reminds us forcibly of the experiences of the apostle John and the apostle Paul. The vision had a twofold object: first, to reveal “what shall befall thy people in the latter days,” and second, to give additional information concerning Messiah’s kingdom said to be distant “many days.” The entire eleventh chapter from verse 2 to the end is devoted to the days following Nehemiah’s rule. In the first four verses of Chapter XII. we catch a glimpse of the coming kingdom, also the destruction of Jerusalem, while verses 5 to 13 set forth the coming of the Holy Spirit.

More than 200 years prior to Daniel’s day, the prophet Joel had pointed to the same great event when he said: – “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.” Joel II. 28, also Acts II. 17.

CHAPTER X. [Hebrew.]

B.C. 536-5

1. In the third year

third since the conquest of Babylon, but first in the personal reign over Babylon

of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.