Daniel Bible Prophecy

Daniel Bible Prophecy

Who is this Daniel?

After a thorough study of the Word we find we have a more minute account of Daniel's early life than is recorded of that of any other prophet. His birth and linage are left in complete obscurity except that he was of the royal line, probably of the house of David, which had at this time become very numerous. He first appears as one of the noble captives of Judah in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, at the commencement of the seventy years captivity, B.C. 606. Jeremiah and Habakkuk were yet uttering their prophecies. Ezekiel commenced soon after and a little later, Obadiah. But both these finished their work years before the close of the long and brilliant career of Daniel.

During the seventy years of the captivity of the Jews, B.C. 606-536, predicted by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11), Daniel resided at the court of Babylon most of the time as prime minister of that brilliant monarchy. His life affords a most impressive lesson of the importance and advantage of maintaining from earliest youth strict integrity toward God.

But Daniel is not alone with his connection with the Chaldean monarchy that perpetuates the memory of Daniel and covers his name with honour. From the height of its glory he saw that kingdom decline and pass into other hands. Its period of greatness and prosperity was embraced within the limits of the lifetime of one man. So brief was its supremacy, so transient its glory. But Daniel was entrusted with the more enduring honours. While beloved and honoured by the princes and potentates of Babylon, he enjoyed an infinitely higher exaltation in being beloved and honoured by God and His holy angels and admitted to a knowledge of the counsels of the Most High.

Daniel's prophecies are in many respects the most remarkable of any in the sacred record and is the most comprehensive. It was the first prophecy giving a consecutive history of the world from that time to the end. It located the most of its predictions within well defined prophetic periods, though reaching many centuries into the future. It gave the first definite chronological prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. It marked the time of this event so definitely that the Jews forbid any attempt to interpret its numbers since that prophecy shows them to be without excuse in rejecting Christ and so accurately had its minute and literal predictions been fulfilled down to the time of Porphyry, A.D. 250, that he declared (the only loophole he could devise for this hard pressed scepticism) that the predictions were not written in the age of Babylon, but after the events themselves had transpired. This shift however, is not now available; for every succeeding century has born additional evidence to the truthfulness of the prophecy and we are just now in our own day approaching the climax of its fulfilment.

Understanding Daniel Bible Prophecy

There are literally hundreds of different interpretations on Daniel Bible prophecy and especially on the issue of the little horn power and antichrist, the key word being “interpretations.” This is the most common mistake the majority make despite being told that we are not to hold private interpretations of prophecy and nor do we need to. The Holy Bible informs us of all we need to know without the need of any speculation. The following verse makes this point very clear which we need to always observe.

2 Peter 1:20 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

Adhering closely to the above warning should help greatly in preventing us from going too far wrong, as this verse informs us that everything we need to know about end time events can be found in the Bible and that we should not and must not add extra doctrine or our own interpretations to fill in the gaps.

As soon as you read or hear statements such as, “this must be that country because or…”, then stop right there. Anytime one has to add or take from what the Word of God says, then one already has it wrong. The fact is, once you understand the basic principles for understanding Bible prophecy, it becomes a lot less complicated than one could ever imagine. There are many people who try and over complicate Bible Prophecy and feel that if it is too simple, then it must be wrong. These people could not be further from the truth.

The principle found in the verse below is one of the main keys to understanding Bible prophecy.

Isaiah 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:”

Bible prophecy is best understood by comparing scripture with scripture as the answer will always be explained directly in the passage or can be found by example elsewhere in the Bible. To quote one example, in Daniel we find four beasts coming out of the sea and one with ten horns. Do we make wild guesses as to what a beast is or what the meaning of the sea or water or horns are? Absolutely not, it is not necessary.

In fact the vast majority of our questions in regards to the book of Daniel can be found by referencing the book of Revelation as well as other books of the Bible. However, Revelation is typically understood by studying the prophecies of Daniel and not the other way round. In fact most of Revelation can be found throughout the Old Testament and that as previously mentioned is a large key to finding our answers, “precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” Note the following example of how this principle works, which is also very significant to understanding many key Bible Prophecies. For example, the word “Beast” occurs at least 55 times in the book of Revelation. Now note how this first verse informs us of the meaning of the waters or sea.

Revelation 17:15 “And he saith unto me, The waters which you sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

And what about the meaning of the word beast? The verse below which was divinely given to Daniel, answers this question without any guess work. So what is a beast in Bible Prophecy? Just let the Bible explain itself.

Daniel 7:23 “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.”

And what about the meaning of the ten horns? Are we expected to guess the answer or does the Bible explain once again?

Daniel 7:24 “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.”

There is always so much speculation as to who is the real antichrist beast power (little horn) that enforces the mark of the beast. Many believe it to be one individual at the end of time. Is this true? Not even close! This is also not what all the early Protestants believed either and that truth has been lost over the last few centuries. The real truth was even known by the translators of the King James Bible, Sir Isaac Newton and all the early Protestants. How did this truth get so lost? And why are there so few people who know the real truth on 666 the number of the Beast and the origin of 666?

Those who are prepared to do a little Bible study and research some history will be stunned to discover what the real truth is. You will probably ask yourself why more people don’t understand the real truth of Antichrist for example. But this is how our adversary works. He starts with a small lie and perpetuates this lie until it becomes so huge that most never entertain the idea of it ever being wrong. This even applies to some theologians today who first heard the enemies perpetuated lie in a traditionally accepted teaching without questioning it, and so tend to end up establishing their theology based upon that particular lie that has already become a mind set to them.

The following pages are a scripture by scripture Bible commentary on each chapter of the book of Daniel and many historical quotes are given to reinforce the truth.

It would be worthwhile and advisable to read the page on Bible prophecy symbols first to gain a comprehensive understanding of the many Bible symbols before beginning.

Daniel Chapter 1...