Resurrection Life of Jesus Church

THE ORIGIN
Daniel’s account was written sometime between the years 600-538 B.C. He would have had staff working for him since he was a high government official. Daniel was educated and could have recorded the events happening to him and around him. But the prophecies given to him must have been written on scrolls and combined to a single scroll after his death. It would have been copied many times by Jewish scribes, and after the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity, each synagogue would have had their own copy.

Studying the origin story of Jesus is like conducting a forensic investigation to find out what the Godhead revealed to their prophets. In this message we are going to focus on the fourth kingdom – the kingdom of the Antichrist.

WHAT DANIEL KNEW
Bound books like we have today did not exist at the time of Daniel. The Old Testament was written on scrolls, one for each book. Thus, Daniel during his youth had studied these scrolls. His knowledge of Satan was limited to what was revealed in the Old Testament and the books of Enoch.

He knew that a Redeemer was coming and had read the detailed prophecies by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 9:6-7

Isaiah also referred to a time on earth without sin, which we know today as the 1,000 years kingdom. Isaiah 11:1-10; Revelation 20:1-4

Daniel was told by the angel that his prophecies would not be understood until the end times. Daniel 12:1-9

WHAT DID DANIEL NOT KNOW?
The first group of Jews returned to Jerusalem in 538 B.C, the same year that Daniel died at the age of 85. 1 Corinthians 2:6-8

• He was unaware that a new temple would be built in Jerusalem.

• He was ignorant of the ministry Jesus would have in Galilee and Jerusalem.

• He did not know that the Redeemer would be crucified and resurrected.

• He had no knowledge of the future millennium kingdom.

Daniel did not know about electricity and what it could do. He was oblivious of the combustion engine, airplanes, rockets that put satellites into space, radio, television, the internet, smartphones, etc. Thus, he described his visions with the vocabulary that existed.

DATE OF THE VISION
Daniel dates the vision to the first year of King Belshazzar. The latter was co-regent with his father, King Nabonidus, who reigned from 556-539 B.C. Nabonidus left Babylon for Tayama, Arabia in 553 B.C. and stayed there for a ten-year period. Thus, Daniel had the vision in 553 B.C. when he was 70 years old

THE VISION
The dream (vision) was personally written down by Daniel. Daniel 7:1

It is interesting that Daniel spoke about the four winds of the earth’s atmosphere. For years I read this chapter and disregarded this verse.

Jesus would later confirm that all weather on the earth is controlled by four angels. Each wind originates at a certain point in the atmosphere and there are four angels who are in charge of the weather on earth.

This was verified in the 1970s when satellites revealed there are four points on earth where all weather originates from. Weather forecasters wrote about it and satellites were stationed above the four points in the atmosphere. Daniel 7:2; Revelation 7:1-3

THE FOUR BEASTS
Daniel saw four beasts that came out of the ocean. The first one was given a human heart, while the two others were destructive creatures. The angel revealed that these are three kings who will be possessed by powerful evil spirits, while the fourth one will be possessed by Satan. Daniel 7:3-6

God did not reveal to Daniel the names of the first three kings and the conclusion is that they will come from the ocean, create strong nations, and cause much evil, pain and suffering for the people living under their rule. Since the vision was given to Daniel some 2,575 years ago, it is impossible to know if these horrible kings have already lived on earth, or they are still to come in the future. Daniel 6:15-17

This vision is not in chronological order. Therefore, I will try to set the different narratives together to make it easier for us to understand what God showed Daniel.

THE FOURTH BEAST
The fourth beast was dreadful and any political opposition will be met with deadly force.  Daniel 7:7-8

This beast will have ten horns which represent ten kings and he will make war with the saints (God’s people) and prevail against them. verses 20-25

This description by itself does not provide a full understanding. The Godhead chose to share the information incrementally and it must be combined to get the full picture.

It is in a later vision that Daniel is given more information about the fourth beast. The man of sin is not going to gain power by military might, but he will be an evil person who will through flattery come in peace. He will not have a large number of people with him initially. However, once he is in power, he will not do what his fathers had done – the god-fearing followers of Moses – but he will reject any faith in the Old Testament Daniel 11:21-24

As a renegade Jew, he will declare his godhood, rail against the living God, and prosper politically. He will be a practicing homosexual and worship the god of forces. Daniel 11:36-39

God told Daniel that the Messiah would be killed after 182 weeks or 3.5 years. This is exactly what took place with Jesus. Daniel 9:26-27

When Jesus walked on the earth, He warned the people to flee when they saw the Antichrist standing in the temple and desecrating it. Matthew 24:15-21

FINAL REVELATION BY JESUS
You should now be in a better position to understand the prophecies given to Daniel, especially when you examine the prophecy given to the apostle John.

The fourth beast is none other than the Antichrist rising out of the ocean and making war with God’s people. Revelation 13:1-8; Daniel 7:25

Then 3.5 years later another beast rises from the earth – the False Prophet. Both he and the Antichrist are empowered by Satan. The False prophet will exercise total economic control over the earth through the Mark of the Beast. Revelation 13:11-18

Daniel spoke about the ten horns and Jesus identified them as ten kings. Daniel 7:24; Revelation 17:12

THE SON OF MAN
Daniel did not know the name of the Messiah, so he stated that the Son of Man was going to come and settle the score with the fourth beast. Daniel 7:13-14

Jesus revealed how the end times would proceed and it correlates perfectly with the prophecies given to Daniel. Revelation 19:11-21

SUMMARY
We are living during turbulent times. Satan is going all out to usher in the fourth beast. The Democrats are trying to destroy the strength of the United States, remove God from society, and corrupt children through their woke homosexual theology. We are like a boat drifting down the river without oars, not knowing how long it is to the next waterfall.

Nevertheless, rest assured that God is in control, He has detailed the future for us so there won’t be any surprises. This is the time to pray and evangelize. Romans 8:35-39