THE VISION OF DANIEL
By Craig Paardekooper

10 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.[a] The understanding of themessage came to him in a vision.
2 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. 3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched

my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, theTigris, 5 I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold fromUphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming
torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of amultitude.
7 I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but suchterror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. 8 So I was left alone, gazing at thisgreat vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. 9 Then I heard
him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.
10 A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said, “Daniel, you who

are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I
have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain

understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have comein response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then
Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of
Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for thevision concerns a time yet to come.”
15 While

he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was
speechless. 16 Then one who looked like a man[b] touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began
to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision,
my lord, and I feel very weak. 17 How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength isgone and I can hardly breathe.”18 Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. 19 “Do not be afraid,

you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”
When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me
strength.”
20 So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the princeof Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; 21 but first I will tell you what is written
in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.
11 1 And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him.)

The Kings of the South and the North
2 “Now then, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will

be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone

against the kingdom of Greece. 3 Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power anddo as he pleases. 4 After he has arisen, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward thefour winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the power he exercised,because his empire will be uprooted and given to others.
5 “The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger

than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power. 6 After some years, they will become
allies. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance,but she will not retain her power, and he and his power[a] will not last. In those days she will bebetrayed, together with her royal escort and her father[b] and the one who supported her.
7 “One from her family line will arise to take her place. He will attack the forces of the king of theNorth and enter his fortress; he will fight against them and be victorious. 8 He will also seize theirgods, their metal images and their valuable articles of silver and gold and carry them off to
Egypt. For some years he will leave the king of the North alone. 9 Then the king of the North will
invade the realm of the king of the South but will retreat to his own country. 10 His sons will prepare
for war and assemble a great army, which will sweep on like an irresistible flood and carry thebattle as far as his fortress.
11 “Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, whowill raise a large army, but it will be defeated. 12 When the army is carried off, the king of the South
will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain
triumphant. 13 For the king of the North will muster another army, larger than the first; and after
several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped.
14 “In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Those who are violent among yourown people will rebel in fulfillment of the vision, but without success. 15 Then the king of the Northwill come and build up siege ramps and will capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will
be powerless to resist; even their best troops will not have the strength to stand. 16 The invader will
do as he pleases; no one will be able to stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful
Land and will have the power to destroy it. 17 He will determine to come with the might of his entire
kingdom and will make an alliance with the king of the South. And he will give him a daughter inmarriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plans[c] will not succeed or help him. 18 Thenhe will turn his attention to the coastlands and will take many of them, but a commander will put
an end to his insolence and will turn his insolence back on him. 19 After this, he will turn backtoward the fortresses of his own country but will stumble and fall, to be seen no more.
20 “His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor. In a few years,

however, he will be destroyed, yet not in anger or in battle.
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. 22 Thenan overwhelming army will be swept away before him; both it and a prince of the covenant will be
destroyed. 23 After coming to an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully, and with only a few
people he will rise to power. 24 When the richest provinces feel secure, he will invade them andwill achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did. He will distribute plunder, loot andwealth among his followers. He will plot the overthrow of fortresses—but only for a time.
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 tostand because of the plots devised against him. 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. 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. 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.
29 “At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different

from what it was before. 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.
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. 32 With flattery he will
corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly
resist him.
33 “Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or beburned or captured or plundered. 34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who
are not sincere will join them. 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.

The King Who Exalts Himself
36 “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say

unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath iscompleted, for what has been determined must take place. 37 He will show no regard for the godsof his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself
above them all. 38 Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to hisancestors he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. 39 He will attack
the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who
acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a
price.[d]40 “At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the Northwill storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade
many countries and sweep through them like a flood. 41 He will also invade the Beautiful
Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered fromhis hand. 42 He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. 43 He will gain
control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans andCushites[e] in submission. 44 But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set
out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. 45 He will pitch his royal tents between the seas
at[f] the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

The End Times
12 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be atime of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time
your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes
who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame andeverlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise[a] will shine like the brightness of the heavens, andthose who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, roll upand seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increaseknowledge.”
5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river andone on the opposite bank. 6 One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the watersof the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”
7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left

hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for atime, times and half a time.[b] When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all thesethings will be completed.”
8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time ofthe end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to bewicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.
11 “From

the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes
desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches theend of the 1,335 days.
13 “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise

to receive your allotted inheritance.”

PART 2
FULFILLED PROPHECIESDANIELS PREDICTIONS ABOUT THE PERSIAN AND GREEK EMPIRES
Daniel lived through the 70 years of the Babylonian empire, and also the first years of the Persian
empire that succeeded it.
What is interesting is that the majority of the detailed prophecy in Daniel relates to the Greek
empire that succeeded the Persian empire.
30 out of 31 predictive statements related to events during the Greek Empire and afterwards.
• 1 predictive statement relates to the Persian period.
• 23 predictive statements relate to the Greek period• 7 predictive statements relate to the Roman period

Daniel Chapter 11 describes the precise events that will take place. The table below lists each prophecy
next to its fulfilment.

Prophecy

Historical Fulfillment

Dateof
Fulfillment

PERSIANS"And now I will show you thetruth. Behold, three morekings shall arise in Persia; The fourth king of Persia wasand a fourth shall be far Xerxes. He had proverbial
483-480richer than all of them; and riches. And it was Xerxes
B.C.
when he has become strong who launched an immense
through his riches, he shall invasion of Greece
stir up all against the
kingdom of Greece."

ALEXANDER"Then a mighty king shallarise, who shall rule withgreat dominion and do
according to his will. And Alexander the Great was thewhen he has arisen, his first and mightiest of the
kingdom shall be broken and kings of the Greek Empire.
divided toward the four After his death, his kingdom 332 B.C.
winds of heaven, but not by was split between his four
his posterity, nor according generals - none of whomto the dominion with which were his posterity.
he ruled; for his kingdom
shall be plucked up and go toothers besides these."

The southern part of the"Then the king of the south
Greek Empire was based inshall be strong, but one of his
TIME OF THE
Egypt. It was from theprinces shall be stronger than
301 B.C.
PTOLEMIES
Egyptian part of the Greek
he and his dominion shall be
Empire that the Seleucids
a great dominion."emerged.

"After some years they shall Ptolemy Philadelphus was
make an alliance, and the king of the southern part ofTIME OF THE daughter of the king of the the empire (Egypt). He gave
284 B.C.
south shall come to the king his daughter Berenice to the
PTOLEMIESof the north to make peace; king of the northern part ofbut she shall not retain thethe empire (Syria) in order tostrength of her arm, and he make peace. The northernand his offspring shall not king was named Antiochus
endure; but she shall be Theos. Antiochus divorced
given up, and her attendants, his first wife and married
her child, and he who got Berenice and gave her apossession of her."child. However, the first wife
got revenge by having
Berenice and Antiochus
killed together with theirchild.
"In those times a branch from Berenice's brother - Pyolemy
her roots shall arise in his Euergetes - organizes anplace; he shall come against army to attack the northern
TIME OF THE
the army and enter the kingdom. He wants revenge 264 B.C.
PTOLEMIES
fortress of the king of the for Berenice's death. He
north, and he shall deal with defeats
thenorthernthem and shall prevail."kingdom.
"He shall also carry off to
Egypt their gods with their
Ptolemy Euergetes takes all
molten images and with their
the valuables of the northern
precious vessels of silver
kingdom back to Egypt. He
and gold; and for some years
TIME OF THE
brings so many valuables
he shall refrain fromPTOLEMIES
back to Egypt that theattacking the king of theEgyptians
namehimnorth. Then the latter shall"Euergetes"
meaningcome into the realm of the"benefactor".
king of the south but shallreturn into his own land."
His sons shall wage war and The sons of the northern kingassemble a multitude of great - Antiochus the Great andTIME
OF forces, which shall come on Seleucus Callinicus warred
ANTIOCHUS and overflow and pass attacked
thesouthern 219 B.C.
THE GREAT
through, and again shall carry Kingdom for the first time.
the war as far as his fortress. They warred against Ptolemy
Philopater - Euergetes's son

Then the king of the south,
moved with anger, shallcome out and fight with theking of the north; and he The South fights back and
TIME
OF shall raise a great multitude, wins the war. Ptolemy
ANTIOCHUS but it shall be given inti his Philopaterdefeats
the 217 B.C.
THE GREAT
hand. And when the northern kingdom at Raphia,
multitude is taken his heart near Gaza.
shall be exalted, and he shallcast down tens of thousands,
but he shall not prevail."
TIME OFFor the king of the north
The Northern kingdom
198 B.C.
ANTIOCHUS
THE GREAT

shall again raise a multitude, attacked
thesouthern
greater than the former; and kingdom again, but this timeafter some years he shall the northern kingdom won.
come on with a great army Antiochus the Great became
and abundant supplies. In master of Palestine. He
those times many shall rise defeated Ptolemy Epiphanes,
against the king of the south; thesonofPtolemyand the men of violence Philopater, at Panion. He wasamong your own people shall helped by Philip of Macedon,lift themselves up in order to rebels in Egypt, and by Jews
fulfill the vision; but they who helped besiege theshall fail. Then the king of Egyptian
garrisoninthe north shall come and Jerusalem. The Jews had
throw up siege works, and hoped that helping thetake a well-fortified city.
northern kingdom would
And the forces of the south gain
Palestine
it'sshall not stand, or even his independence - they were
picked troops, for there shall disappointed. Palestine was
be no strength to stand. But now under the sway of thehe who comes against him Seleucids - it had hitherto
shall do according to his belonged to the Ptolemies.
will, and none shall stand
before him; and he shallstand in the glorious land,
and all of it shall be in his
power

Antiochus the Great gave his
He shall set his face to come daughter Cleopatra to thewith the strength of his king of the southernwhole kingdom, and he shall kingdom. Antiochus's plan
TIME
OF bring terms of peace and was to use his daughter to
ANTIOCHUS perform them. He shall give sabotage
thesouthern
him the daughter of women kingdom. However, his
THE GREAT
to destroy the kingdom; but daughter sided with the kingit shall not stand or be to his of the south and would notadvantage.
carry out her father's evilplots. So his plan failed.

Afterwards he shall turn his Antiochus the Great set aboutface to the coastlands, and conqueringtheAegeanshall take many of them; but Islands bordering Italy. He
a commander shall put an was defeated by the Romans
TIME
OF end to his insolence; indeed - who then imposed a tribute
ANTIOCHUS he shall turn his insolence upon him. He returned to his 189 B.C.
back upon him. Then he own land in order to find
THE GREAT
shall turn his face back money to pay the tribute. He
toward the fortress of his attempted to plunder theown land; but he shall Temple of Jupiter at Elymais,
stumble and fall and not be but was killed byfound.

the infuriated inhabitants.

Seleucus Philopater, son of
Antiochus the Great, set
about gathering the tribute to
Then shall arise in his place pay to Rome. He extracted
one who shall send an much money from his
TIME
OF exactor of tribute through subjects, and also sent his
189-177
SELEUCUS
the glory of the kingdom; minister - Heliodorus - to
B.C.
PHILOPATER but within a few days he plunder the Temple inshall be broken, neither in Jerusalem. After a relatively
short reign of 12 years he wasanger nor in battle.
poisoned by Heliodorus, who
hoped to gain the crown
thereby.
In his place shall arise acontemptible person to Antiochus Epiphanes, thewhom the royal majesty has younger son of Seleucus
not been given; he shall Philopater,
over
threw
come in without warning Heliodorus and assumed theand shall obtain the kingdom throne. He was not theTIME
OF by flatteries. Armies shall be rightful heir - the title
ANTIOCHUS utterly swept away before belonged to his older brother 177 B.C.
EPIPHANES
him and broken, and the - Demetrius - who wasprince of the covenant also. hostage in Rome.. Antiochus
And from the time that an also murdered his younger
alliance is made with him he brother (the prince of theshall act deceitfully; and he covenant) who also posed ashall become strong with a challenge to the throne.
small people.
Without warning he shallcome into the richest parts ofthe province; and he shall dowhat neither his fathers nor Antiochus's method of ruling
TIME
OF
his fathers' fathers have done, was to enrich himself withANTIOCHUS
scattering
among
them loot, then bestow lavish gifts
EPIPHANES
plunder, spoil and goods. He upon his followers.
shall devise plans against
strongholds but only for atime.

And he shall stir up his Antiochus
Epiphanes
power and his courage attacked the kingdom of theagainst the king of the south south. However, he had
TIMEOF
with a great army; and the plotted with the leaders of the
ANTIOCHUS
king of the south shall wage army of the south. So by
EPIPHANES
war with an exceedingly treachery he defeated thegreat army; but he shall not south, even though the army
stand, for plots have beenof the south was much bigger
devised against him. Even than his army. He did not killthose who eat his rich food the king of the south, Ptolemy
shall be his undoing; his Philometer , but made himarmy shall be swept away, king at Memphis - (they ate
and many shall fall down together at the same table.)slain. And as for the two pretending he wanted to help
kings, their minds shall be him
againstPtolemybent on mischief ; they shall Physcon,whom
thespeak lies at the same table, Egyptians had made king.
but to no avail; for the end is
yet to be at the time
appointed.
Antiochus returned from
Egypt in 169 B.C. with muchloot. In his absence it had
been rumored that he had
died in the fighting. So Jason,
And he shall return to his a former high priest, had
Jerusalem
andland with great substance, stormed
TIMEOF
but his heart shall be set ousted Menelaus, the high
ANTIOCHUS
169 B.C.
against the holy covenant. priest installed by Antiochus.
EPIPHANESAnd he shall work his will, On his return, therefore,
and return to his own land. Antiochus
attacked
Jerusalem, slaughtered manyof its inhabitants, plundered
and desecrated the temple andreinstated Menelaus as highpriest.

At the appointed time he Antiochus decides to attack
shall return and come into Egypt again. But Ptolemy
the south; but it shall not be had suspected his designs andthis time as it was before.
had called on the help of
For ships of Kittim will come Greek mercenaries and on theagainst him, and he shall be help of the Romans. The
afraid and withdraw, and Romans met Antiochus atshall turn back and be Alexandria in Egypt andenraged and take action ordered him to keep out ofTIMEOFagainst the holy covenant.
Egypt. Antiochus was forced
ANTIOCHUS
167 B.C.
He shall turn back and give to submit and he withdrew
EPIPHANES
heed to those who forsake north seething with anger andthe holy covenant. Forces humiliation.. He gave vent tofrom him shall appear and his wrath by turning on the
profane the Temple and Jews. He sent an army which
fortress, and shall take away fellupon
Jerusalem,the continual burnt offering. slaughtering many, taking
And they shall set up the others as slaves and looting
abomination that makes and partially destroying thedesolate.
city. In 167 B.C. orders weregiven that the temple ritualmust be suspended, that thesacred scriptures must be
destroyed, that the sabbathand other festival days be nolonger observed, that thestrict food laws be abolishedand that the right ofcircumcisionbediscontinued..
Theculminating attack on Jewish
worship came in December,when an altar and probably
also
an
image
('the
abomination that makes
desolate') were erected in thetemple court and dedicated to
the worship of OLympian
Zeus.. Similar altars were set
up throughout Judea and theJews were ordered tosacrifice at them.
Disobedience was rewarded
with severe penalties. Jews
who forsook Judaism andembraced the Greek culture
were favored and honored.
He shall seduce with flattery
those who violate thecovenant; but the people
who know their God shallstand firm and take action.
And those among the people
who are wise shall makemany understand, though
THE TIME OF they shall fall by the sword
ANTIOCHUS and flame, by captivity and Antiochus rewarded those
who violated the covenant,
EPIPHANES
plunder, for some days.
and punished those who heldWhen they fall, they shallto it.
receive a little help. And
many shall join themselvesto them with flattery; andsome of those who are wise
shall fall, to refine andcleanse them and to makethem white, until the time ofthe end, for it is yet for theappointed time.

And the king shall do
according to his will; heshall exalt himself andmagnify himself above
Antiochus called himself
every god, and shall speak"Theos Epiphanes" meaning
astonishing things against"God Manifest".- regarding
the God of gods. He shallhimself as the incarnate
prosper until the indignation
manifestation of Olympian
is accomplished; for what is
Zeus, whom he set up as thedetermined shall be done.
greatest of the gods.
THE TIME OF He shall give no heed to the
ANTIOCHUS gods of his fathers, or to the
Antiochus did not honor
EPIPHANES
one beloved by women; heApollo,thetraditional
shall not give heed to any
protector of the Seleucid
other god, for he shalldynasty, but instead he raised
magnify himself above all.
up Olympian Zeus as the
He shall honor the god ofchief god of his kingdom fortresses instead of these; aand he himself claimed to be
god whom his fathers did
Zeus.
not know he shall honorwith gold and silver, with
precious stones and costly
gifts."He shall deal with thestrongest fortresses by thehelp of a foreign god; those
THE TIME OF
who acknowledge him he
ANTIOCHUS
shall magnify with honor. He
EPIPHANES
shall make them rulers overmany and shall divide theland for a price.

TIME
POMPEYAt the time of the end a kingof the south shall attack him;
but a king of the north shall
Having been ordered out ofrush upon him like aOF
Egypt, Syria was attacked
whirlwind, with chariots and65 B.C.
and finally annexed by Romehorsemen, and with manyin 65 B.C.
ships; and he shall come into
countries and shall overflow
and pass through.

TIME
POMPEY

Jerusalem was taken by
He shall come into thePompey in 63 B.C. Pompey
glorious land. And tens ofstarted a campaign against
thousands shall fall, but
the Nabateans in 63 B.C. The
OF
these shall be delivered out
63 B.C.
Nabateans were a powerfulof his hand: Edom and Moab
Arab tribe which had
and the main part of theoccupied the old kingdoms ofAmmonites.
Edom to the south, Moab tothe south-east and Ammon to
the north-east of the Dead
Sea. However Pompey did
not complete this campaign.
He postponed it in order thathe might settle the quarrels of
rival Jewish leaders. Thus the
Nabateans retained their
independence, and Edom,
Moab and most of Ammon
remained outside the Roman
empire ( a small section ofAmmon lay within the
Roman territories of Peraea
and Decapolis.)

TIME
POMPEYHe shall stretch out his handagainst the countries, and theland of Egypt shall not
escape. He shall become
OF ruler of the treasures of gold
and of silver, and all the
precious things of Egypt;and the Libyans and theEthiopians shall follow in
his train.

TIME
POMPEYIn 54 B.C. Crassus undertooka campaign against theParthians; (Crassus, Pompey
and Julius Caesar were theBut tidings from the east andmembers of the Firstthe north shall alarm him,
Triumvirate); but before theand he shall go forth withcampaign he took over thegreat fury to exterminate andprovince of Syria andOF utterly destroy many. And
pillaged it very thoroughly, 54 B.C.
he shall pitch his palatial
also plundering the treasurestents between the sea and theof the temple in Jerusalem.
glorious mountain; yet he
He pitched his tents between
shall come to his end, withtheMediterraneanandnone to help him.
Mount Zion. His campaign,
however, was unsuccessful.
He was killed by theParthians.
The people of the ruler after
Crassus were the people of
The people of the ruler who
the Roman Empire. So
will come will destroy theDaniel is saying that thecity and the sanctuary.
Romans will destroy the cityand the Temple. It was justafter Crassus that the
Romans installed their own
rulers in Palestine - theHerodians.
The end will come like aflood: war will continue
until the end, and desolations The final "seven" years ishave been decreed. He will described, during which theconfirm a covenant with Romans destroyed the nation
many for one seven, but in of the Jews. This war lasted
the middle of that seven he seven years from 66 A.D. till
will put an end to sacrifice 73 A.D., and it was in the 66-73 A.D
and offering.
middle of this period
And one who causes (70A.D.) that the Temple
desolation
will
place was destroyed, putting aabominations on a wing of permanent end to sacrifice
the temple until the end that and offering.
is decreed is poured out on
him

TIME
JESUS

But at that time your people- everyone whose name isfound written in the book - Every
Christianfled
will be delivered. Multitudes Jerusalem
beforetheOF
who sleep in the dust of the destruction in 70 A.D. and 70 A.D
earth will awake: some to took refuge in Pella, east of
everlasting life, others to the Jordan.
shame and everlasting
contempt.

These prophecies end with the statement that –"The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end will come like a flood: war will continue until the end, and desolations
have been decreed.""The people of the ruler who will come" means the people of the Roman Empire. It was
just after Crassus that Rome installed its own ruler as king in Palestine - Herod.
The final "seven" describes the seven year war during which the Romans destroyed theJews. This war lasted from 66 A.D. till 73 A.D. Half way through this period the Temple
was destroyed (70 A.D.) putting a permanent end to sacrifice and offering.
Before the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. all of the Christians, having observed thewarnings of Jesus, had fled Jerusalem and took refuge in the city of Pella east of the Jordan.
So they were delivered from the tribulation that was to come. Daniel chapter 12, that at thetime of the end there will be a resurrection of the dead (30A.D.), a gathering up of the elect(66 A.D. onwards when Christians were gathered out of Jerusalem) and the power of theHoly people will be finally broken (70 A.D.)DIVIDING THE PROPHECY INTO ACTS

In viewing these prophecies it may help to divide events into distinct acts.
ACT 1 – DEATH OF ALEXANDER and DIVISION OF THE KINGDOMWhen Alexander the Great died, Alexander’s kingdom was divided into 4 parts, but was not given
to his posterity (332 B.C.)
The two most prominent kingdoms were the Kingdom of the South based in Egypt, and theKingdom of the North based in Syria.
ACT 2 - THE CAUSE OF THE WAR (284 B.C.)
Daughter of King of South (Berenice) marries King of North. But the ex-wife seeks revenge. The
King of North is killed, as is also the daughter of South and their child.

ACT 2 - REVENGE OF THE SOUTH (264 B.C.)
Berenices brother wants revenge for the murder of his sister and their child, so he goes to war
against the Northern Kingdom, and defeats them and carries off all the gold and silver back to theSouthern kingdom

ACT 3 - NORTH ATTACKS SOUTH
Antiochus the Great attacks south but fails (219-217 B.C.)
Attacks south again and wins (198 B.C.)
Antiochus gives his daughter to the South to act as a saboteur, but the scheme fails when she sides
with the King of the North.

ACT 4 – TRIBUTE (189 B.C.)
Antiochus attacks the coastlands of the Aegean but is stopped by the Romans and ordered to pay
tribute. He returns to his homeland to gather tribute, but is killed by an incensed mob after looting
a sacred site. His Son collects tribute. Dies from poisoning.

ACT 5 - ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES – TREACHERY
Antiochus Epiphanes is not the rightful heir, but rises to power through treachery and deceit. He
kills his younger brother who challenges him for kingship.

Antiochus Epiphanes’s method of ruling was bestowing riches upon followers.
He defeats army of south by treachery – bribing the commanders of the Southern Kingdom. The
Kings of North and South eat at same table but plan against each other. Antiochus returns to northwith great wealth.

ACT 6 JEWISH REBELLION (169 B.C.)
While Antiochus was in Egypt, it was rumored that he had been killed. The Jews took thisopportunity to rebel against Antiochus’s regime by deposing his officials. Antiochus returns, kills
many and plunders the Temple. (On the eve of the Jewish rebellion was when the Sign of the Sonof Man appeared)
ACT 7 DESECRATION (167 B.C.)
Antiochus attacks South again, but is repelled by the Greeks and Romans.
He vents his rage against the Holy Covenant, profanes the Temple, and suspends the Temple
sacrifices. He seduces with bribes and flattery those who violate the covenant. He exalts himself
above every God.
The Jewish War 1:32 He also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily
sacrifice of expiation, for three years and six months.

ACT 8 THE TIME OF THE END – ROMANS OCCUPY PALESTINE (66 B.C.)
The Time of the End begins with the Roman occupation of Palestine. This began in 63 B.C. andlasted until 70 A.D., when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its temple.
66 B.C. Pompey occupies Palestine.
63 B.C. Jerusalem taken by Pompey but Edom, Moab and Ammon spared
54 B.C, Crassus goes to war against the Parthians in the north east – but is killed while camped
between the sea and Mount Zion

ACT 9 THE END – ROMANS DESTROY CITY AND SANCTUARY (66 A.D. – 70 A.D.)
66 A.D The Romans lay siege to Jerusalem, putting an end to sacrifice and offering
Every Christian (all those whose names are found written in the book) are delivered from thedestruction – because they heed Christ’s warnings, and flee Jerusalem before the destruction
begins.
The work of Christ is fulfilled. Multitudes of those killed are resurrected from that time onwards

– some to everlasting life and others to everlasting contempt
70 A.D. The city and sanctuary are completely destroyed by the Romans. Power of the Holy
People finally broken.
Antiquities of the Jews 10:272-276 Daniel wrote that he saw these visions in the plain of Susa; ……….And
indeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered these things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according toDaniel’s vision, and what he wrote many years before they came to pass. In the very same manner Daniel also
wrote concerning the Roman government, and that our country should be made desolate by them.

PART 3JEREMIAH’S SEVENTY

JEREMIAH’S PROPHECY
In 626 B.C. the prophet Jeremiah began his ministry. For 40 years he preached a message ofcoming judgment – urging the people to repent.
Jeremiah prophesied that the Jews would be taken captive by the Babylonians and put under
their power for 70 years.
"Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: 'Because you have not listened to my words, I
will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king ofBabylon,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring them against this land and it's
inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them andmake them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. I will banish fromthem the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound ofmillstones and the light of the lamp. This whole country will become a desolate
wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. But
when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation,
the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,' declares the LORD, 'and will make it
desolate forever. I will bring upon that land all the things I have spoken against it, allthat is written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. They
themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings. I will repay themaccording to their deeds and the work of their hands."
JEREMIAH 25 v 7-14
"When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill mygracious promise to bring you back to this place."
JEREMIAH 29 v 10
It is a remarkable fact of history that Jeremiah's prophecy was fulfilled exactly.
"He (Nebuchadnezzar) carried into exile to Babylon the remnant (of the Jews) who
escaped the sword, and they became servants of him and his sons until the kingdom of
Persia came to power. The land enjoyed it's sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it
rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD
spoken by Jeremiah."
2 CHRONICLES 36 v 22

FULFILLMENT OF THE SEVENTY YEARSLet us take a closer look at this prophecy.. The prophecy of the seventy years of captivity wasfulfilled in 4 different ways.
1) The Period of Babylonian PowerThis is the period during which the Jews and western Asiatic peoples in general came under thesway of the Babylonian power. This period began with the defeat of the Assyrians andEgyptians at the seige of Harran. The New Babylonian Chronicle describes this event as
occurring in the 17th year of Nabopolassar, ie 607 B.C. With the defeat of the Egyptians andAssyrians in 607 B.C., the domination of the peoples of Syria and Palestine passed from Egypt
to Babylon. Jehoiakim (the king of the Jews) was reduced to a vassal king.
This assumption of Babylonian authority over all western Asia is confirmed by Jeremiah as
dating from the accession year of Jehoiakim - 607 B.C. Jehoiakim served the Babylonian kingfor three years and then rebelled against him; consequently Nebuchadnezzar sent an army
against Jerusalem. The date of this attack is the 3rd year of Jehoiakim.
So, the fall of Babylon and the tragic crash of the Babylonian Empire occurred in 537 B.C. exactly 70 years after Babylon assumed power over Palestine.
2) The Desolation of the Temple
The Temple was burnt to the ground in 585 B.C. The Book of Ezra 6 v 15 informs us that therebuilding of the Temple, after the Jews had returned from the Babylonian exile, was completed
in the end (12th month) of the 6th year of Darius king of Persia. The reign of Darius, as given in
Ptolemy's Canon is completely confirmed by the contract tablet datings and is also
astronomically fixed by two independent eclipse records relative to two separate lunar eclipses,
hence indisputable. The first year of Darius began in Spring 521 B.C. and finished in Spring 520
B.C., hence the 6th year ended in Spring 515 B.C. and no authority disputes this date.
Now, from the cessation of Divine Services and the destruction of the Temple in 585 B.C. to thetime the Temple was rebuilt and Divine Services recommenced in 515 B.C. was an interval ofprecisely 70 years - and the 70 year desolation was therefore fulfilled to the letter.
3) The Captivity of the Jews
The first batch of Jews to be removed from the Land of Judah to Babylon were those taken in
the 3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim - 604 B.C.
Now, the first batch of Jews to come back from Babylon returned in the first year of Cyrus, as
recorded in the first two chapters of Ezra. The first year of Cyrus as direct king of Babylon was
his 3rd year as emperor - commencing March 534 B.C. and ending March 533 B.C. It was
during this very year that the first return of Jewish captives from Babylon took place.
This was precisely 70 years after the first batch of Jews were taken to Babylon in 604-603 B.C.

4) Divine Indignation
During this period God expressly declares His righteous indignation against the Jews. Both the
beginning and end of this chronological band are clearly defined in the Scriptures.
The 8th chapter of Ezekiel informs us that in the 6th year of Jehoiachin's captivity the
wickedness of the House of Judah had reached such a pitch that it provoked God's righteous
indignation and He declared"Therefore will I also deal in fury; mine eyes shall not spare, neither will I have pity"and He withdrew His Shekinah Glory from the Most Holy in the Temple"(ie He withdrew His protecting "presence" from their midst.)
The 6th year of Jehoiachin's exile began March 590 B.C. The period of Divine Indignation on
the Jews began in the 6th month (Elul) of the 6th year, that is in autumn 590 B.C.
Zechariah chapter 1 reveals the termination of that period of Divine Indignation. In verses 2 and
3, God declares"The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say unto them, Thus
sayeth the LORD of Hosts."
Verse 1 states that this was uttered in the eighth month (Bul) of the 2nd year of Darius, ie inautumn 520 B.C., exactly 70 years after the provocation of Divine Indignation in autumn 590
B.C. And verse 12 definitely draws attention to the fact that the indignation had lasted 70 years.
"Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, 'O LORD of Hosts, how long will thou
not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had
indignation these three score and ten years?"
To which the Divine reply came,"Therefore, thus sayeth the LORD: 'I am returning to Jerusalem with mercies: my houseshall be built in it,' sayeth the LORD of Hosts, 'and a line shall be stretched forth upon
Jerusalem.""'For I,' saith the LORD, 'will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be theglory in the midst of her.'"WHY DID THE CAPTIVITY LAST 70 YEARS?
In the time of Moses, one thousand years before the Jewish Captivity, God gave the following
laws to the Jews. Moses wrote these laws down
"At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done:
Every creditor shall cancel the loan he made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require
payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for cancellingdebts has been proclaimed. If a fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, sells himself to you
and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free."
DEUTERONOMY 15 v 1-12
"If you buy a Hebrew servant he is to serve you for 6 years but in the seventh year heshall go free, without paying anything."
EXODUS 21 v 2As if the Sabbath Year law wasn't clear enough, God also instituted a Year of Jubilee. Every
seven sabbaths of years - or seven times seven years, a special year of ATONEMENT was to be
proclaimed throughout the Land. It was a special year of LIBERTY when each person was toreturn home to his family and property.
"Count off seven Sabbaths of years - seven times seven years - so that the seven
Sabbaths of years amount to a period of 49 years. Then have the trumpet sounded
everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound thetrumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout
the land to all it's inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return
to his family property and each to his own clan."
LEVITICUS 25 v 8God's laws indicate that after a period of "seven", debts are to be forgiven and slaves are to be
freed and allowed to return home. How appropriate, therefore, that after 70 years of captivity
and enslavement to the Babylonians, the Jews were set free and allowed to return to their
homeland.
God deliberately set the duration of the captivity as 70 years because such a period was inaccordance with the Sabbath Year Law - a law that the Jews had repeatedly broken. The Jews
were also meant to allow the land itself to rest every seventh year. This ,too, the Jews had
disobeyed.
One thousand years earlier, in the time of Moses, God had told the Jews what would happen tothem if they continued to disobey Him.
"I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take nodelight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. I will lay waste your land, so that yourenemies who live there will be appalled. I will scatter you among the nations and willdraw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie
in ruins. Then the land will enjoy it's Sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate andyou are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy it's Sabbaths.

All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the
Sabbaths you lived in it."
LEVITICUS 26 v 31-35
Here, God makes it very clear that the duration of the future Captivity (scattered among thenations) is to be related to the Sabbath Year Law - and the length of the period of Captivity is toequate to a great Sabbath for the land. 2 Chronicles confirms this.
"The land enjoyed it's Sabbath rests; all the time of it's desolation it rested, until theseventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by
Jeremiah."
2 CHRONICLES 36 v 21

PART 4DANIEL’S SEVENTY SEVENSDANIEL PRAYS FOR THE END OF JEREMIAH’S 70 YEARS
Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonian Captivity would last 70 years. As this time drew tocompletion, Daniel prayed to God that He would remember His promise to free the Israelites
and allow them to return to their homeland.
As you will see, Daniel’s prophecy of Seventy Sevens commenced in the same year that
Jeremiah’s prophecy of seventy years ended. One followed on in unbroken succession from theother.
9 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes[a] (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler
over the Babylonian[b] kingdom— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understoodfrom the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet,that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God
and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes….
15 “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand andwho made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done
wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and yourwrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of ourancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those aroundus.
17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord,

look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open youreyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests ofyou because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 Lord, listen! Lord,
forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city andyour people bear your Name.
As you will see, the answer came immediately.

A PROPHECY OF SEVENTY “SEVENS”
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel

and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill— 21 while I was still in
prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about
the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have
now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, aword went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore,
consider the word and understand the vision:
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’[c] are decreed for your people and your holy city tofinish[d] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring ineverlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy
Place.[e]25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore andrebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one,[f] a prince, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times oftrouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the anointed one will be put to death and will
have nothing.[g] The people of the prince who will come will destroy the city and thesanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, anddesolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one‘seven.’[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And
at the temple[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that isdecreed is poured out on him.[k]”[l]Daniel 9 prophesied that there will be a period of 69 “sevens” (69 x 7 = 483 years) from theissuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, until the ruler comes – and that it will be the peopleof this ruler who destroy the city and the sanctuary.
We have seen that Daniel Chapter 11 describes events from the reign of Cyrus, that began in
537 B.C., until the arrival of the Romans with the reign of Pompey and Crassus, ending with thedeath of Crassus in 54 B.C. This is also a period of exactly 483 years.
The duration of these two periods is an exact match.
As we will see, the decree to rebuild Jerusalem that commences the period in Daniel 9 was
issued by Cyrus. Similarly, Daniel 11 begins with the reign of Cyrus.
It follows that Daniel 11 is a detailed description of the events taking place during the 69“sevens” of Daniel 9.

THE DECREE TO REBUILD JERUSALEM
According to the prophecy, the period of 69 “sevens” begins with the issuing of a decree torebuild Jerusalem. It was famously Cyrus who decreed that the Temple of Jerusalem be rebuilt.
The prophecy of Isaiah makes this clear. This occurred in 537 B.C.
The prophet Isaiah had prophesied the name of the man who would bring the captivity to an
end - CYRUS. This was prophesied more than 100 years before CYRUS was even born.
It was prophesied that Cyrus would allow the Jews to return to their homeland and would issue
a decree authorizing the rebuilding of their Temple at Jerusalem.
"This is what the LORD says - your Redeemer, who formed you out of the womb:....whosays of Jerusalem, "It shall be inhabited," of the towns of Judah, "They shall be built",
and of their ruins, "I will restore them", who says to the watery deep, "Be dry and I
will dry up your streams", who says of Cyrus, "He is my shepherd and will accomplish
all that I please; he will say to Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt", and of the Temple, "Let
it's foundations be laid."
ISAIAH 44 v 24-28"This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of
to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armour, to open doors before
him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; Iwill break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you thetreasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the
LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name. For the sake of Jacob my servant, ofIsrael my chosen, I call you by name and bestow on you a title of honour, though you do
not acknowledge me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is noGod. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from therising of the Sun to the place of it's setting men may know there is none besides me. I am
the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity
and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things..."ISAIAH 45 v 1-7"This is what the LORD says - the Holy One of Israel, and it's maker: Concerning things
to come,.....I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight.
He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the
LORD Almighty."
ISAIAH 45 v 11-13

The ministry of the prophet Isaiah lasted until about 690 B.C. so these prophecies were all madebefore that date. Cyrus was born 607 B.C. at the earliest - almost 100 years after the prophecies
were written.

TESTIMONY OF CYRUS HIMSELF TO ISAIAH’S PROPHECY
We find recorded in the history of Josephus that Cyrus wrote throughout all his dominions
that "God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of the habitable earth," and that "Heindeed foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a house atJerusalem which is in the country of Judea."
Josephus goes on to say that, when Cyrus had read the words of the prophet Isaiah,"He called for the most eminent Jews in Babylon and said to them, that he gave themleave to go back to their country and to rebuild their city Jerusalem and the Templeof God."Josephus also gives a copy of the letter written by Cyrus to the governors that were in Syria,
which letter begins as follows:"King Cyrus to Sisinnes and Sathrabuzzanes, sendeth greetings. I have given leave to as
many of the Jews that dwell in my country as please to do so to return to their own
country, and to rebuild the city, and to rebuild the Temple of God at Jerusalem on thesame place where it was before."
JOSEPHUS - ANTIQUITIES Bk XI, Chapter 1 see 1 & 3

So Daniel’s prophecy of seventy “sevens” began in the same year that Jeremiah’s prophecy ofseventy years of captivity was completed. One followed in uninterrupted sequence after theother. Cyrus's reign began in 537, B.C., the very year the Captivity ended.

THE PEOPLE WHO WILL DESTROY THE CITY AND SANCTUARY
Daniel 9 prophesied that there will be a period of 69 “sevens” (69 x 7 = 483 years) from theissuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, until the ruler comes – and that it will be the peopleof this ruler who destroy the city and the sanctuary.
Well, it was the Romans who destroyed the city and the sanctuary in 70 A.D. The Romans
began their occupation and rule over Palestine with the Triumvirate – Pompey, Crassus andJulius Caesar.
Daniel Chapter 11 ends with a description of the arrival of the Romans – outlining events in thereign of Pompey, and Crassus’s death in 54 B.C.. Daniel 12 describes the final destruction of thecity and sanctuary at the hands of the Romans. So the prophecies in Daniel 11 “book-mark”
both the beginning of Roman occupation over Israel, and the end.

Exact Timing
From 537 B.C. to 54 B.C. is exactly 483 years = 69 x 7 years. So the Romans arrived right ontime.
It is extraordinary that Daniel gives the exact length of time from the decree to rebuild
Jerusalem until the arrival of the Romans – the people who would destroy the city and sanctuary
and bring the power of the holy people to an end..

Seventy Seven and Apocalypses
We have seen in Daniel how the God’s angels decreed seventy sevens for Israel until its final
destruction. We have also seen how Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonian Captivity
would last 70 years, and how Daniel’s seventy sevens follow on in uninterrupted sequence
immediately after the 70 years of Babylonian Captivity had come to an end.

Part 5DANIEL’S BEASTSThe Beasts of Daniel 8
Daniel 8 describes the Persian kingdom and Greek kingdom, and it says that from the Greek kingdom alittle horn emerges. Daniel 8 provides the following information about the little horn
•
•
•
•
•

The little horn emerges from one of the 4 kingdoms into which the Greek empire divides.
It grows towards the south and east, and towards the beautiful land
It emerges in the latter part of this kingdom
It takes away the daily sacrifice, and the sanctuary is thrown downAfter 2300 days the sanctuary is reconsecrated.

This vision undoubtedly concerns the rise of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the Maccabean
Revolt during the 2nd cent. BC. The time period is pin pointed by verses 20 - 21.
The Greek Kingdom Identified"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 isthe first king." KJV
We can then apply this to the previous vs. 3-14 and know that the ram with two horns (twokings) was Mede and Persian empire, with the greater horn as Cyrus and the lesser horn as
Darius (Gubaru) the Mede. (2) (3)Alexander the GreatThe vision of the goat with the strong horn (vs. 5) was Alexander the Great who conquered theMede-Persian empire, and became the 3rd empire of Daniel's vision in chap. 2, and chap. 11.
Dan. 8:8 tells of the death of Alexander: "when he was strong, the great horn was broken", andthe division of the Greek empire into four smaller ones.
Splitting up into 4 Dynasties
The four generals who split Alexander's kingdom are known from history as Seleucus 1 Nicator(the Seleucid dynasty), Ptolemy 1 Soter (the Ptolemaic dynasty), Cassander, and Lysimachus.
They were split the kingdom by the four directions - the four winds of heaven: east, west, north,and south. (4)The Seleucid Dynasty
Of these four lesser kingdoms, the Seleucid dynasty took over the south and east, toward thepleasant land (vs. 9, Israel) in the Eastern Mediterranean regions . The Seleucid dynasty wasconstantly battling with the Ptolemaic dynasty for control of the Levant / Palestine. (5).
Antiochus Epiphanes
The prince that magnified himself (vs. 11) was Antiochus IV Epiphanes who reigned in the later days of
the Seleucid dynasty. He claimed to be god, hence his name – Epiphanes. The Jews called Antiochus
Epimanes - the mad man. (7). He suspended the Temple Sacrifice for 3 years – and sought to abolish thelaws and the times (Passover, Atonement, circumcision, worship etc). He died but not by humanhands – eaten by worms.

The termination of this prophecy with the end of the Seleucid Empire is parallel to the focus ofDaniel chapter 11 on the same period – terminating with the arrival of the Romans, and the endof the Seleucid rule. Similarly, Daniel 9 focuses on the same period.

You have probably noticed that I am tackling each chapter of Daniel in reverse order.
First I looked at the very detailed prophecies of Daniel chapter 11, then the less detailed
prophecies of chapter 9. Finally I looked at the even less detailed prophecies of Daniel 8.
The reason I did this is because Daniels prophecies are like a telescope. They progressively
zoom in with more and more detail. So we can use the more detailed prophecies presented latteron to better understand the less detailed ones presented earlier on.
Two events that appear conflated or confusing when viewed from afar, become distinct andclear when zoomed in.

Sources:
1) The Maccabean Revolt - here
2) Daniel's Prophesy of Antiochus Epiphanes - here3) Belshazzar & Darius the Mede - here4) Kingdoms of the Successors of Alexander - here
Excerpt: " The kingdom of Cassander (circa 358–297 BC), consisted of Macedonia, most of
Greece, and parts of Thrace. The kingdom of Lysimachus (circa 361–281 BC), included Lydia,
Ionia, Phrygia, and other parts of present-day Turkey. The kingdom of Seleucus (died 281 BC;later the Seleucid Empire), comprised present-day Iran, Iraq, Syria, and parts of Central Asia.
The kingdom of Ptolemy I (died 283 BC) included Egypt and neighboring regions."
5) Palestine in the Hellenistic Age - here
6) Chronology of Seleucid Rulers and Their Impact on Jerusalem - here
7) Antiochus Epiphanes - here
8) Antiochus Epiphanes - here
9) The Prophesy of Daniel 8 - ApologeticsPress

PART 6IMPACT OF PROPHECYROYAL CONVERSIONS

Daniel’s activities were not done in a corner. Daniel was well known to his contemporaries, andhad a profound impact upon the empires under which he served, and even an impact uponempires that succeeded these. In this section I will provide the testimonies of the kings of eachof the empires.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S TESTIMONY
Daniel was in the Court of the king for 70 years
Daniel was renowned for his knowledge and understanding, and for his ability to understandvisions and dreams. For this reason Daniel and his three friends were appointed as advisors toKing Nebuchadnezzar, and they remained in the king’s service until the first year of King Cyrus– a period of 70 years.
Nebuchadnezzars Dream of the Statue of Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron
After Daniel had revealed and interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue of gold,
silver, bronze and iron, King Nebuchadnezzar “fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honour
and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel,“Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries,
for you were able to reveal this mystery”
Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts upon him. He made him
ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.
Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chief
ministers over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Egotistical Response
Nebuchadnezzar’s response to the dream of the statue of gold, silver, bronze and iron was to let
it go to his head. After all the dream had said he (Nebuchadnezzar) was the head of gold. As
impressed as Nebuchadnezzar was with Daniel’s interpretation of the dream, we read next that
he created a huge golden statue of himself, and ordered people to worship it or be put to death.
This policy caused three of Daniel’s friends to be thrown into a furnace for refusing to worshipthe statue. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego survived the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar
said,“Praise be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel andrescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and werewilling to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
There for I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against
the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses beturned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Affliction for Seven Years
However, God punished Nebuchadnezzar for building the golden statue and for ordering people
to worship it. He had also attempted to put to death Daniel’s three friends – all for his own
glory. So God sent Nebuchadnezzar another dream. Daniel interpreted it. This time theinterpretation was that Nebuchadnezzar would be driven from society, and made him live likean animal for 7 years.

A year passed by, then as Nebuchadnezzar was glorying in his greatness for having built andconstructed Babylon, he heard a voice from heaven declaring the beginning of his affliction.
A record of the Greek geographer Megasthenes (350-290 B.C.) tells of Nebuchadnezzar
summarising what looks like one of Daniel’s prophecies, then disappearing, so his son had totake over being king. Eusebius quotes Abydenus, a Greek historian, who quoted Megasthenes, aGreek geographer“It is moreover related by the Chaldeans (Babylonians), as he (Nebuchadnezzar) went up
into his palace he was possessed by some god; and he cried out and said:“Oh Babylonians, I, Nabûcodrosorus, foretell to you a calamity which must shortly cometo pass, which neither Belus my ancestor, nor Queen Beltis, have power to persuade theFates to avert. A Persian mule shall come, and by the assistance of your gods shall impose
upon you the yoke of slavery; the author of which shall be a Mede, in whom the Assyrians
glory.
O would that before he gave up my citizens some Charybdis or sea might swallow him up
utterly out of sight; or that, turning in other directions, he might be carried across thedesert, where there are neither cities nor foot of man, but where wild beasts have pastureand birds their haunts, that he might wander alone among rocks and ravines; and that,
before he took such thoughts into his mind, I myself had found a better end.” He after
uttering this prediction had immediately disappeared, and his son Amil-marudokos
became king.’”
Nebuchadnezzar's Insanity—What Was It? (earlychurchhistory.org)
The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar | Bible Reading Archeology
King Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness Confirmed By Archaeology – Mark Tabata
New light on Nebuchadnezzar’s madness | Daniel returned to Jerusalem as governor Nehemiah(wordpress.com)

Nebuchadnezzar uttered these words from his palace; he disappeared from public view
immediately following his pronouncement; and he spoke in the first person. The reference toEvil-merodach affords a plausible scenario for what happened to the kingdom while
Nebuchadnezzar was incapacitated – his son took it over until his father’s sanity was restored.
Babylonian inscriptions reveal more about Nebuchadnezzars malady – he withdrew fromsociety, saw no value any longer in his previous life and activities – he no longer governed, or
built new edifices, he no longer cared about the treasures he had accumulated.
“His life appeared of no value to him. And the Babylonian courtiers speak bad council
to Evil-merodach (they speak against Nebuchadnezzar to his son). Then He(Nebuchadnezzar) gives an entirely different order (he gave conflicting commands). He
does not heed the word from his lips (spontaneous utterances). He does not show love to
son and daughter (withdrawn). Family and clan do not exist. His attention was notdirected towards promoting the welfare of Esagil and Babylon”

The Bible says that 7 years later, upon the restoration of his sanity, Nebuchadnezzar praised God
saying –His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to
generation….All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven and the people’s of the earth. No one can hold back his
hand…Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because
everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he isable to humble.”Upon his death, his son – Evil-merodach - came to power and immediately set Jehoiachin kingof Judah free from prison, and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him
in Babylon. Jehoiachin dined at the king’s table, and a regular allowance was given him by theking, according to his needs, as long as he lived.
However, after 2 years Evil-merodach was assassinated. There followed 5 more years ofpolitical instability during which an usurper reigned, then his son, who was also assassinated.
Finally Nabonidus came to power.

TESTIMONY OF NABONIDUS
Nabonidus’s Affliction for Seven Years
Nabonidus was the last king of Babylon, before its conquest by Cyrus. The Prayer of Nabonidus
is the title of an Aramaic document found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The text is fragmentary,
but enough of the writing remains to reconstruct the basic details of the story. Nabonidus,
writing in the first person, says that he suffered from a bad skin disease that God decreed forhim. But God forgave his sins and healed him. For seven years, he had his skin disease while hewas worshipping his gods of gold, silver, bronze and iron. A Jewish diviner then urged him to
give in writing praise and honor to “the name of the Most High God”
“The prayer of Nabonidus is a legendary account preserved in the Aramaic
language and describes the suffering and healing of the Babylonian king Nabonidus . In
the prayer of Nabonidus , the recovery from the disease that has been imposed is traced
back to the recognition of the God of the Jews as the highest and only God. The text isonly preserved in fragments of a single manuscript, which was found by Bedouins in1952 in cave 4 near Khirbet Qumran on the Dead Sea together with numerous otherscrolls . Today it is owned by the Israel Museum”
Prayer of Nabonidus (second.wiki)
Here is an outline of the prayer of Nabonidus(99+) Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness (Daniel 4:30): Reminiscence of a Historical Event or a
Legend? | Takayoshi Oshima - Academia.edu

So Nabonidus too had a religious experience.
While Nabonidus was away, his son Belshazzar ruled as co-regent in Babylon, in the same waythat Evil-merodach had ruled in the absence of his father Nebuchadnezzar.
Belshazzar did not receive any revelations directly until the day of his death when a handappeared and wrote on the wall a message announcing his death.
During Belshazzar’s reign Daniel had two further visions, one in the first year of Belshazzar’s
reign, and the other in Belshazzar’s third year - but because these were not shared with the
Babylonian king, they were not intended for him.

TESTIMONY OF DARIUS THE MEDE
Babylon was conquered by a confederacy of the Medes and Persians, and a Median king named
Darius was appointed by Cyrus the Persian as ruler over Babylon. Darius retained his title asking, despite the fact that he was subordinate to Cyrus.
Following Daniel’s rescue from the lion’s den, Darius issued a decree.
25 Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all theearth:“May you prosper greatly!
26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence theGod of Daniel.
“For he is the living God
and he endures forever;
his kingdom will not be destroyed,
his dominion will never end.
27 He rescues and he saves;
he performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus[b] the Persian.

So, here we have the conversion experience of king Darius.

TESTIMONY OF CYRUS
We find recorded in the history of Josephus that Cyrus wrote throughout all his dominions that "God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of the habitable earth," and that "Heindeed foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a house atJerusalem which is in the country of Judea."
2 Chronicles 36 v 23 says this,
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfil the word of the LORD spoken

by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation
throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:“‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and hehas appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people
among you may go up, and may the LORD their God be with them.’”Ezra 1 says this,1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfil the word of the LORD spoken
by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation
throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:“‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and hehas appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people
among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God
of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4 And in any
locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver
and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of
God in Jerusalem.’”
5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone

whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in
Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbours assisted them with articles of silver and gold, withgoods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of

the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and hadplaced in the temple of his god.[a] 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought byMithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince ofJudah.
9 This was the inventory:

gold dishes

30

silver dishes

1,000

silver pans[b]29

10 gold bowls

30

matching silver bowls 410
other articles

1,000

11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all thesealong with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
We can see that Cyrus ascribed his conquests and appointment as ruler to Almighty God. And
these weren’t just empty words. He ordered gold and silver to be given to all of the Jewish
survivors, and returned to them all the gold and silver that had been taken from the Temple by
Nebuchadnezzar.
It is easy to just set people free – but to enrich them with gold and silver – and to return such ahuge horde of treasures shows reverence.
This brings to mind what happened when Abraham departed from Egypt with his wife Sarah. He
left with great wealth because God had afflicted Pharoah’s household and made Pharoah fear
God. Similarly, when the Israelites departed from Egypt at the time of the Exodus, the Egyptians
gave them much gold and silver. Cyrus is doing the same.
Cyrus might have been aware of Daniel through reports from Darius, and also those reports
found in the Babylonian records. But there is a more profound reason for his respect.
Cyrus himself provides the reason –"God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of the habitable earth," and that "Heindeed foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a house atJerusalem which is in the country of Judea."
Josephus
These prophecies ,that foretold Cyrus’s name, are found in the Book of Isaiah, written morethan 100 years before Cyrus was even born.
Isaiah had prophesied the name of the man who would bring the captivity to an end. It wasprophesied that Cyrus would allow the Jews to return to their homeland and would issue adecree authorizing the rebuilding of their Temple at Jerusalem.
"This is what the LORD says - your Redeemer, who formed you out of the womb:....whosays of Jerusalem, "It shall be inhabited," of the towns of Judah, "They shall be built",
and of their ruins, "I will restore them", who says to the watery deep, "Be dry and I
will dry up your streams", who says of Cyrus, "He is my shepherd and will accomplish
all that I please; he will say to Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt", and of the Temple, "Let
it's foundations be laid."

ISAIAH 44 v 24-28"This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of
to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armour, to open doors before
him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I
will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you thetreasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the
LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name. For the sake of Jacob my servant, ofIsrael my chosen, I call you by name and bestow on you a title of honour, though you do
not acknowledge me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is noGod. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from therising of the Sun to the place of it's setting men may know there is none besides me. I am
the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity
and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things..."ISAIAH 45 v 1-7"This is what the LORD says - the Holy One of Israel, and it's maker: Concerning things
to come,.....I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight.
He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the
LORD Almighty."
ISAIAH 45 v 11-13
Note also here the phrase –“who says to the watery deep, "Be dry and I will dry up your streams"”,
Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon by diverting the Euphrates that flowed through the city.
They were able to march into Babylon on the dry river bed and capture the city !
Based on this testimony we might expect that there would be a religious revolution in Persia – amovement away from polytheism to the worship of a single Most High God. Did this happen ?

Cyrus Introduced Monotheism as the State Religion and Purged His Empire of Other
Gods
Cyrus reformed religion in Persia. He made monotheism the state religion, and there was a verystrong push against polytheism.
“Prior to the Achaemenid period, the daivas were also commonly worshipped. The
Achaemenid kings made it a state policy to destroy their shrines and vilify them. Old
Persian daiva occurs twice in Xerxes I's daiva inscription (XPh, early 5th century BCE).
This trilingual text also includes one reference to a daivadana ("house of the daivas"),generally interpreted to be a reference to a shrine or sanctuary. In his inscription,
Xerxes I records that "by the favor of Ahura Mazda I destroyed that establishment of thedaivas and I proclaimed, 'The daivas thou shalt not worship!'"[7]Ancient Iranian religion - Wikipedia

So the Achaemenid kings (the first of whom was Cyrus the Great) enforced monotheism.
This monotheism existed alongside polytheism prior to Cyrus. But monotheism became thedominant form of religion from Cyrus onwards. Cyrus began a process of religious reform thatpurged away worship of any other god, and only looked to the one Most High God.

Cyrus Part of Isaiah’s Polemic Against Idolatry
Curiously, Isaiah chapter 44, where Cyrus’s name is mentioned, is the singular chapter in theentire Bible where God presents his polemic against idolatry –“This is what the LORD says—
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;apart from me there is no God.
7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before me
what has happened since I established my ancient people,
and what is yet to come—yes, let them foretell what will come.
8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”
9 All who make idols are nothing,
and the things they treasure are worthless.
Those who would speak up for them are blind;they are ignorant, to their own shame.
10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol,
which can profit nothing?
11 People who do that will be put to shame;such craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand;they will be brought down to terror and shame.
12 The blacksmith takes a tool
and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
he forges it with the might of his arm.
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
he drinks no water and grows faint.
13 The carpenter measures with a line
and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,
human form in all its glory,that it may dwell in a shrine.
14 He cut down cedars,
or perhaps took a cypress or oak.

He let it grow among the trees of the forest,or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
15 It is used as fuel for burning;some of it he takes and warms himself,
he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire;over it he prepares his meal,
he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,“Save me! You are my god!”
18 They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
19 No one stops to think,no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;I even baked bread over its coals,
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
20 Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
“Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
Immediately after this passage we find –“This is what the LORD says—
your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the LORD,
the Maker of all things,
who stretches out the heavens,
who spreads out the earth by myself,
25 who foils the signs of false prophetsand makes fools of diviners,
who overthrows the learning of the wise
and turns it into nonsense,
26 who carries out the words of his servantsand fulfils the predictions of his messengers,
Notice that this passage is referring to Daniel who foiled the other diviners in the court of
Nebuchadnezzar, and made fools of them, and was renowned for being wise. It was Daniel who
received the prophecy foretelling events from Cyrus until the Roman empire. Immediately
following this passage is the passage about Cyrus !

who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’
and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’
27 who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry,and I will dry up your streams,’
28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd
and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’

Two Men Before Their Time
Only twice in the whole Bible does God predict the proper name of a person before they areborn. In both cases God also predicts the specific events surrounding these two people, and thespecific things they will do. The first name is JOSIAH. The second name is that of CYRUS.
Both have an interesting connection to the events of the Captivity.

JosiahDuring the reigns of king Saul, king David and king Solomon, Israel was a united kingdom.
However, after the reign of king Solomon ended (in 977 B.C.) Israel became divided into 2
separate kingdoms - the Northern Kingdom with it's capital at Samaria, and the Kingdom of
Judah with it's capital at Jerusalem. The first king of the Northern Kingdom was named
Jeroboam, and the first king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah was named Rehoboam.
Division of the Kingdom After Solomon••First King of Northern Kingdom King is Jeroboam – The capital at SamariaFirst King of Southern Kingdom is Rehoboam – The capital at Jerusalem

Initially, there was still only one religion, the worship of YWHW, and the centre of this religion
was at the Temple of Jerusalem . However, Jeroboam was worried because he believed that if
his people continued to worship at Jerusalem they would return to serving Rehoboam. So to
avoid this Jeroboam set about creating a new religion with a new centre of worship - so his
people would no longer have to go to Jerusalem. So Jeroboam made 2 gold calves, and set one
up at Bethel and the other up at Dan. He established a new religion with new idols, new shrines,
new priests, new festivals.
Then a prophet from Judah came to the shrine at Bethel while king Jeroboam was worshipping
there.
By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel as Jeroboam wasstanding at the altar to make an offering. The man of God cried out against the altar by
the word of the LORD:

"O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: "A son named Josiah will be born to thehouse of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now makeofferings here, and human bones will be burnt on you."That same day the man of God gave a sign: "This is the sign the LORD has declared: thealtar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out."
When king Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he
stretched out his hand from the altar and said, "Seize him!". But the hand he stretchedout towards the man shrivelled up, so that he could not pull it back. Also the altar was
split apart and it's ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by
the word of the LORD.
Then the king said to the man of God, "Intercede with the LORD your God and pray forme that my hand may be restored." So the man of God interceded with the LORD, andthe king's hand was restored and became as it was before.
1 KINGS 13 v 1-6
This prophecy achieved a remarkable fulfilment 339 years later when for the first time a kingnamed JOSIAH became king of Judah in 638 B.C.. When Josiah was 8 years old he became
king, and he reigned at Jerusalem for 31 years, until 607 B.C.. In the 18th year of Josiah's reign(620 B.C.) Josiah's officials discovered the Book of the Law - and Josiah read it and realized
how much Israel had disobeyed God's laws. He humbled himself before the LORD, and became
determined to purge Israel of idolatry.
Josiah sent his officials to the prophetess Huldah in Jerusalem to enquire of her what thediscovery of the Book of the Law meant. She gave them this prophecy "This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and it's people,
according to everything written in the Book the king of Judah has read. Because they
have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and provoked me to anger by all theidols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not bequenched.""This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says concerning the words you heard:
Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when
you heard what I have spoken against this place and its’ people, that they would become
accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I
have heard you declares the LORD. Therefore I will gather you to your fathers, and you
will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on thisplace."
2 KINGS Chapter 22
King Josiah carried out a complete purge of idolatry both in the Kingdom of Judah and in the
Northern Kingdom. It was the greatest purge that Israel had ever seen and would ever see. He
removed all the idols from the Temple of Jerusalem and burned them outside Jerusalem. He also
destroyed all the "high places" or altars throughout all of Israel where worship of the idols took
place and slaughtered all the idolatrous priests. At Bethel people had been buried near to thealtars (buried on holy ground they believed). Josiah dug up these bodies and burned them on thealtars, thus fulfilling the prophecies made 339 years earlier.
2 Kings chapter 23 describes the purge of Josiah. Similarly Cyrus carried out a complete purgeof idolatry both in the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians.
Symmetry in Prophecies of Josiah and Cyrus
The prophecy about Josiah was given at the very beginning of the period of idolatry, when thefirst king of the Northern Kingdom, Jeroboam, set up idols. And it’s fulfilment was timed tocoincide with the very end of the period of idolatry – Josiah reigned until 607 B.C. – until thevery year that the Captivity began.
So we see a kind of symmetry here. The timing is not random. Its fulfilment was intended tocoincide with the start of the captivity. This seems to convey a message – that the captivity was
because of idolatry.
God Provides Proof that He is Not an Idol
In the polemic against idolatry in Isaiah 44, God argues that He is the only true God (not anidol) because of His ability to foretell the future – but also because He is the Creator “he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you”
ISAIAH 44 v 2
And again, referring to Cyrus, Isaiah 44 says
“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb..”
ISAIAH 44 v 24
So by providing the names of Josiah and Cyrus before they were born, God is showing that He“formed them in the womb” – that He is the Creator (and so is not an idol).
Perhaps God forms each of us in the womb – each of us coming into the world with a form, aname and a mission/purpose that are God-given?
Timing of Cyrus Not Random
And just as Josiah reigned up until the year of the captivity – so also Cyrus reigned from theyear that the captivity ended. These are the only two people mentioned by name before theirbirth and they frame the beginning and end of the captivity. Also, just as Josiah purged away
idolatry to return to monotheism, so also Cyrus did the same !
By naming them, God shows that He is not an idol, and He gives them the same mission - todestroy idolatry – and sets them 70 years apart - at the start and end of the period ofchastisement for idolatry.

In summary,
Josiah and Cyrus are the only two people in the Bible named before their birth. Josiah frames
the period of idolatry because the giving of Josiah’s prophecy marks the beginning of the periodof idolatry, and the fulfilment of Josiah’s prophecy marks the end of the period of idolatry, andthe beginning of the Captivity.
••••

Josiah purges idolatry to return to monotheism
Josiah’s reign marks the beginning the period of Captivity(a captivity imposed because of idolatry)
Cyrus’s reign marks the end of the period of Captivity
Cyrus purges idolatry to return to monotheism.

Reasons for Captivity
Ezekiel 20 v 12-21 states that the two reasons for the seventy years of captivity were idolatry
and sabbath breaking.
Bible Study Guides - Why Did the Babylonian Captivity Happen to God’s Professed People? - Steps toLife
3 Things We Should Know about the Babylonian Captivity - Bible Study (crosswalk.com)
What the Bible says about Captivity, Penalty for Sabbath Breaking (bibletools.org)

The Sabbath was instituted as a recognition that the Creator is our God, rather than worshipping
the creation or what we make with our hands. So ignoring the Sabbath is the first sign ofidolatry.
So it is curious that Josiah and Cyrus, the only two people who are named before their birth,happen to be two rulers 70 years apart, who lived at the beginning and end of the captivity, andwho both carried out a purge against idolatry.

WHAT DOES DANIEL TELL US ABOUT OUR CURRENT SITUATION

1. The kingdom of god will supplant all the worldly kingdoms .
2. God is in control and determines the rise and fall of each kingdom
3. Kingdoms whose fate was determined by God are-

Egyptian
Canaanite
Assyrian
IsraelBabylonian
Persian
Greek
Roman

4 . The time of tribulation will last 3.5 years
5. The meticulous precision in the fulfilment of these prophecies indicates that the beings who
spoke to Daniel had access to a record of future events - they refer to this as The Book Of
Truth - meaning the book of what IS and what WILL BE.
Hence in this book are found the names of those who will be saved. It is a book of the past,present and future.
(This indicates that heaven is a place of incredible knowledge - a vast library of information andscience)(This also indicates that nothing is hidden from God. Elected leaders should take notice nothing can be done in secret . Every action will be accounted for)6. Daniel portrays a hierarchy of beings, with angels having power over nations and God having
power over angels. Some of these angels support the will of God, and others oppose it.
7. However YHWH is not a prince (angel) but rather is the Creator God above all the angels.
He demonstrates this by -his control over all the other nations, setting their rise and fall
the final establishment of the kingdom of god
the conquest of death shown through Jesus Christ

SO WHAT ABOUT THE NEW WORLD ORDER?

... it will last a mere 3.5 years.
And we can celebrate the fact that soon afterwards will arrive the kingdom of God and the reignof Christ on earth
This will be accompanied by a restoration of ourselves and our environment and a hugeflourishing of science and knowledge . Lifespans will be restored to pre-flood levels . You could
not ask or dream of a better future.
In the mean time we must hold out against compliance, hold out against compromise with the
NWO, fight for the preservation of the Truth and the Good, and encourage others to do thesame.

APPENDIX ADATING OF THE BOOK OF DANIELDATING THE BOOK OF DANIEL
Daniel lived contemporary with both Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and is mentioned twice in the Bookof Ezekiel.
14:12 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 14:13 Son of man, when theland sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand
upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it,
and will cut off man and beast from it: 14:14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel,
and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness,saith the Lord GOD.
EZEK 14 v 12

Ezekiel finished writing his book in about 520 B.C. since the last event he describes in theBook of Ezekiel is the return of the Holy Spirit on that date. However, the book tells usthat God spoke these words to Ezekiel between 590B.C. when the Spirit departed, and 586
B.C. when Jerusalem fell.
In the quote above, Ezekiel is drawing our attention to three men renowned for theirrighteousness all of whom are found in our Scriptures. It is certain that these three persons
were either Israelites or Patriarchs, since it would not make sense for God to draw attention
to the righteousness of other nations who followed other gods and other commandments,
especially given the circumstances (being captive amongst foreigners). Daniel is placed ona level with the greatest of the Patriarchs Noah and Job.
Righteousness is ascribed to him, as we find in the Book of Daniel, where Daniel is said tobe highly esteemed by God, devoutly prayerful, and mindful of the laws of idolatry andpurity. The deliverance of three men through their righteousness is a clear allusion to thestory of the three friends of Daniel in the fiery furnace.
28:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 28:2 Son of man, say unto
the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, andthou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art
a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 28:3 Behold, thouart wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:28:4 With
thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten
gold and silver into thy treasures: 28:5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hastthou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: 28:6
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart ofGod; 28:7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations:and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile
thy brightness.
EZEK 28 v 1

Here the WISDOM of Daniel is referred to, as well as Daniel's ability to understandsecrets (i.e. interpret riddles and dreams). These are the very qualities portrayed ofDaniel in the Book of Daniel. This is done in the very context of the Prince of Tyre
setting himself up as an idol - exactly what Nebuchadnezzar did.
It is therefore certain that during the earliest days of the Persian Empire, Daniel was
already regarded as a prophet. It is also certain that as early as 590 B.C. God spoke to
Ezekiel about the righteousness and wisdom of Daniel, and He spoke in such a way as
to expect Ezekiel to understand the reference to Daniel.

DANIEL FOUND IN BABYLONIAN RECORDS
Name :
There is a man named Innin-šar-usur in the archives of Erech. The “ININ” part of his
name is The goddess of Uruk, who was known by many names in the Neo-Babylonian
times. When one substitutes one of her names, “Belti-*’, for “INNIN”, his name thenbecomes Belteshazzar, which is the name Daniel was given when he got to Babylon.
Date :The records of Innin-šarru-uṣur are from the time of Nebuchadnezzar through Nabonidus.
Location :These records were found in Erech (Uruk), a major city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. It
is reasonable that Daniel would have done business in this city over the course of thenearly 70 years he was in Babylon.
Relatives :Innin-šar-usur shares a grandfather with a person who can be shown to be Shadrach, one
of Daniel’s known friends
There is no other contradictory information known about this man that prevents him frombeing Daniel, and he has four positive, identifying characteristics that match Daniel.
Therefore, until other information proves otherwise, this man could be the Daniel of the
Bible, recorded as his Babylonian name of Belteshazzar.
(99+) Finding Belteshazzar, the Daniel of the Bible | Shelley Helzerman Houser - Academia.edu

LANGUAGE OF BOOK OF DANIEL
That Daniel lived during the time of Ezekiel is also evident from the languages
in which the Book of Daniel is written. The scrolls of Daniel are written partly in
Hebrew and partly in Aramaic, and the Aramaic is not at all the Aramaic of the otherdocuments of the Maccabean period, but the eastern Aramaic of the sixth century BC.

This Aramaic is very similar to the Aramaic found in 5th Century Elephantine
papyri, and also in the Book of Ezra. The Aramaic is official Aramaic which
predates the Aramaic of Greek times.
The Hebrew too is classical Hebrew, not the Hebrew of the Maccabean period.
Scattered throughout the text are Persian and Assyro-Babylonian words, alldating to the period of captivity, and prior to the Greek empire.
Frequency of foreign words
Era

Language

Number of words found in Daniel

Canaanite

Aramaic

Very similar to Ezra and 5th
Century Elephantine Papyri

Assyrian- Babylonian742-537 B.C.

Assyrian/Babylonian

7+ : all proper names are in AssyriaBabylonian

Persian Empire 537333 B.C.

Old Persian

21 : all 21 words are Old Persian(pre Greek conquest)

Greek Empire 333-67 B.C.

Greek

3

Nabatean Kingdom 50 B.C. Arabic,
Egyptian

Latin,

0

See : https://www.andrews.edu/library/car/cardigital/Periodicals/AUSS/1981-3/1981-3-03.pdf

THE CLOSING OF THE OLD TESTAMENT CANONThe Old Testament Canon was closed in 424 B.C. and from that time on there was no further
prophecy. The ancient synagogue believed that after the prophet Malachi there was noprophetic voice for 400 years until the voice of John the Baptist. The Book of Daniel has
always been part of the Old Testament Canon, therefore it must predate 424 B.C.

A recurring sadness in 1 Maccabees is that "there is no prophet in the land"! The dying priest
Mattathias in 1 Maccabeus 2:49-70 used the example of Daniel and his three companions torally his sons to be found faithful to the God of Israel. He appealed to the voice of a past prophet
because there was no living "Daniel the prophet" in the land then. If Daniel was written in theinter-testament period he was "no prophet"! The fact is he was a prophet because he wrote andspoke before God silenced His prophets in the 400 years leading up to John the Baptist's grandannouncement in the wilderness.

SHOWN TO ALEXANDER
In his Antiquities of the Jews, Book XI, chapter 8, Josephus tells us a gripping story of how
during the siege of Tyre the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great asked the Jews forprovisions for his army. Jaddua, the high priest, refused Alexander's request. The reason hegave was that the Jews had sworn allegiance to the Persian king, Darius. Once Alexander had
overcome Tyre, he furiously marched on Jerusalem to teach the Jews a lesson.
It seems Jaddua the high priest had been told by God in a dream what the Jews must do. All
the priests dressed in white. Jaddua put on his high priestly garb, a scarlet robe, the breastplate
and the golden mitre. Followed by the procession of the priests in white, and singing the songsof Zion, the Jews went out to greet Alexander on his white steed with his fierce and unstoppablearmy. According to Josephus, Jaddua showed Alexander the prophecies of Daniel, as read inchapter 8:1-8 and 15-22. These are passages that prophesied of Alexander's arrival andinvincibility on the world stage. Apparently, Alexander was so overcome that he offeredsacrifices and worshipped the God of the Jews.
The salient point is that this happened around 330 BC. Alexander destroyed every city in Syria
allied to Darius, with the sole exception of Jerusalem. Indeed, Alexander not only spared
Jerusalem and its Temple, but highly favored it.. Josephus informs us of a very reasonable
explanation: The impression made upon him by the reading of Daniel the prophet. Alexander
was floored as he realized he was the star of this supernatural prediction written generations
before his arrival!
Alexander, angry with the Jews who refused to give him their allegiance, was goingto Jerusalem to punish them and make them an example. When he arrived, however,a procession of priests, which he had foreseen in a dream, met him. In this dream,
God had promised him victory, and for this reason he spared the Jews. Josephus
adds that the priests showed Alexander the prophecies in Daniel concerning a Greek
conquering the Persian Empire. This pleased Alexander, and he treated the Jews
with kindness.
What we know of Alexander is very compatible with this account •Alexander marched through that area on his way to Egypt - capturing every
city as he went•

During his siege of Gaza, Alexander would have had to secure the submissionof Jerusalem which occupied a threatening position in regard to his
communications.

•Alexander did visit Jerusalem in 333 A.D.

•

Alexander came to punish the Jews•

Alexander mysteriously changed to treating the Jews with kindness•

Alexander was a romantic and much given to oracles, omens and the like

The Jews were terrified of Alexander, and they naturally wanted to avert punishment. At
the same time the Jews would be very aware that Alexander had fulfilled the prophecy of
the Greeks defeating the Persians. Under these circumstances it is VERY likely that the
Jews would have shown these prophecies to Alexander because this would flatter Alexander
and also show Alexander that the Jews were God's chosen.
Alexander's arrival at Jerusalem would have been a very high profile event for the Jews and certainly would have been recorded in the history in some detail. Similarly, theshowing of Daniel's prophecies to Alexander would have changed the policy of Alexander
towards the Jews - and so this too would be a central event in the political life of the nation.

IN THE SEPTUAGINT
The five books of Moses were translated into Greek by the Ptolemies about 250 B.C. All
39 books of the Old Testament were translated into Greek by 150 B.C and were in widecirculation in the synagogues.
This Greek translation was called the Septuagint. The inclusion of the Book of Daniel in
the Septuagint, shows that it must have predated the time of the Seleucids and the
Maccabees. Consequently it would have a date of at least 200 B.C. if not earlier.

IN THE QUMRAN COMMUNITY
The Qumran community was known as the Essenes. They comprised Jews who had
withdrawn into the desert during the Greek occupation of Judah. The date of the foundingof the Qumran community is given in one of their most central texts - referred to by scholars
as the Zadokite Fragments or the Damascus Document.
The text begins by declaring that in ancient times, Israel went astray. As a result, God "hidHis face" and allowed the destruction of the First Temple (586 B.C.) Yet a remnant of thedefeated people remained, and it was they who ultimately formed the sect. There thenfollows "And in the period of wrath, three hundred and ninety years after He had handedit (the Temple) over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylonia, He remembered them
(Israel) and caused to grow from Israel and Aaron the root of a plant (ie the sect)(Zadokite Fragments 1 v 5-7)

If we calculate from the dating for the destruction of the First Temple, we arrive at 196
B.C. for the founding of the sect. The text of the Zadokite Fragments then tells about aperiod of confusion followed by the rise of the sect's leader, the Teacher of Righteousness:"Then they understood their transgression and knew that they were guilty. They
were like blind men groping on the road for twenty years. Then God paid attention
to their deeds for they sought Him whole-heartedly, and He set up for them a
Teacher of Righteousness to direct them in the way of His heart"
It appears that during the initial period of 20 years the sect was leaderless and even formless
until the Teacher of Righteousness established his leadership over it (176 B.C.). Only withthe teacher's emergence and his assumption of control did sectarian teachings and a
distinctive way of life take shape. The Teacher of Righteousness assumed leadership of thesect and introduced his teachings; at that time or shortly thereafter the sect moved to its site
in the wilderness at Qumran.
Much of their scrolls contain portions of the Old Testament. The Qumran community held
Daniel's work in such high regard as to refer to him as "Daniel the prophet", a title
bestowed on him in a florilegium found in 4Q. Given the date when the Essene community
began, it is reasonable to say that what they had is a fair representation of the canon passed
down by the previous century. (300-200 B.C.)) .This practically takes their canon back to
the time of the prophets. With the exception of Esther, they had all the books we have in
our Hebrew canon today.
The Qumran community itself was in existence from 196 B.C.. Hence Daniel would be
regarded as canonical from this earlier time at least. To be accepted as canonical, Daniel
must have predated 196 B.C. by at least a century. In short - "The discovery of manuscripts
of Daniel at Qumran dating from the Maccabean period renders it highly improbable thatthe book was composed during the time of the Maccabees." Daniel must be much older.

REFERENCED BY THE MACCABEESThe existence of the Book of Daniel at the very beginning of the Maccabean Period is
confirmed by the First Book of Maccabees.. In the First Book of Maccabees, Mattathias,
father of the Maccabean brothers, encourages his sons in the revolt against Antiochus
Epiphanes by recalling to them the deeds of their fathers. In I Maccabees2 he is quoted assaying "Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, by believing, were saved out of the flame. Daniel for
his innocency was saved from the mouth of lions."
Mattathias died in 166 B.C. so Daniel must date from before the time of the Maccabees.
Furthermore, the context seems to indicate that Mattathias was referring to an event far in
the past. Also, the context of the reference seems to indicate that the author considered
Daniel canonical.

1 Maccabees actually mentions the abomination of desolation being set up upon the altar.
1 Maccabees 1:54 Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty
and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded
idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;

ACKNOWLEDGED BY JESUS
Jesus calls Daniel "the prophet" (Matthew 24:15) – so He regarded Daniel as a real prophet,and the Book of Daniel as a truthful account.

REFERENCED BY JOSEPHUS
Antiquities of the Jews 12:319-326
So on the five and twentieth day of the month of Chisleu, which the Macedonians call
Apellaios, they lit the lamps that were on the lampstand, and offered incense upon thealtar [of incense], and laid the loaves upon the table [of showbread], and offered
burnt offerings upon the new altar [of burnt offering]. 320 Now it so happened, thatthese things were done on the very same day on which their divine worship had
stopped, and was reduced to a profane and common use, after three years’ time; forso it was, that the temple was made desolate by Antiochus, and so continued for three
years. This desolation happened to the temple in the hundred forty and fifth year, on
the twenty-fifth day of the month of Apellaios, and on the hundred fifty and third
Olympiad: but it was dedicated anew, on the same day, the twenty-fifth of the monthof Apellaios, on the hundred and forty-eighth year, and on the hundred and fiftyfourth Olympiad. And this desolation came to pass according to the prophecy ofDaniel, which was given four hundred and eight years before; for he declared that theMacedonians would stop that worship [for some time]…… And from that time to this
we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights .
Antiquities of the Jews 10:272-276
Daniel wrote that he saw these visions in the plain of Susa; and he has informed usthat God interpreted the appearance of this vision after the following manner….. andthat from among them there should arise a certain king that should overcome ournation and their laws, and should take away their political government, and should
spoil the temple, and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for three years’ time.” Andindeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered these things under Antiochus
Epiphanes, according to Daniel’s vision, and what he wrote many years before theycame to pass. In the very same manner Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman
government, and that our country should be made desolate by them.
The Jewish War 1:32
He also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily
sacrifice of expiation, for three years and six months.

Antiquities of the Jews 10:272-276
Daniel wrote that he saw these visions in the plain of Susa; ……….And indeed it socame to pass, that our nation suffered these things under Antiochus Epiphanes,
according to Daniel’s vision, and what he wrote many years before they came topass. In the very same manner Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman government,
and that our country should be made desolate by them.