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Introduction
The prophet Daniel was the author of this book. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Daniel and Ezekiel were among the exiles taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.
The first half of this book (Dan 1-6) is mainly history. The second half (Dan 7-12) is mainly prophecy.
The very existence of this book and its contents testify to the kindness, creativity, and power of God. I say this because the book was written during the 70-year long Babylonian Exile. This exile was the punishment levied on Judah for its sins. Therefore, it was a time of grief, hardship, and repentance. Yet during such a time God was working miracles (such as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace and Daniel in the lion’s den), granting revelations of His plans (such as through Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams), and reinforcing His promises of Messiah (such as through the visions and words of Daniel). Thus God was bringing comfort to His people even while they were suffering the consequences of their sins. Truly, He is the God who works all things together for good.
Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
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Daniel 1
The Choice Young Men
Dan 1:1-7
Dan 1:1-2 – These two verses tie to the events described in the last two chapters of 2 Kings.
Dan 1:3-5 – It was “the best and the brightest” of Israel who were brought to serve the king in Babylon. Even so, they had to be trained by Babylonians in order to become effective servants in the Babylonian court.
Dan 1:4 – Chaldea was the country of which Babylon was the capital. Therefore, the Babylonians were also known as Chaldeans.
Dan 1:6-7 – Part of learning “the literature and language of the Chaldeans” (Dan 1:4) was having to take Chaldean names.
| Hebrew Name | Chaldean Name |
| Daniel | Belteshazzar |
| Hananiah | Shadrach |
| Mishael | Meshach |
| Azariah | Abed-nego |
Daniel’s Resolve
Dan 1:8-21
Dan 1:8 – Nothing in the king’s kitchen was being prepared with Moses’ dietary restrictions in mind. Moreover, much if not all of the meat would have been sacrificed to idols as was common in ancient times. Here’s was Paul said to people who lived in Corinth about 500 years after the time of Daniel.
1 Cor 10:28 But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake;
Dan 1:9 – We’ve seen this pattern before. Joseph found favor in the sight of Potiphar, the Egyptian officer of Pharaoh (Gen 39:1-5). Joseph later found favor in the sight of the chief jailer (Gen 39:21-23). Ultimately, he found it in the eyes of Pharaoh as well (Gen 41).
Dan 1:12-16 – Testing is a practice found throughout the Bible. It’s a way of finding out things.
Dan 1:17 – All four of the young men were amazing – but Daniel was a cut above. The Lord, speaking through Ezekiel, used Daniel as the epitome of wisdom and insight.
Ezek 28:3 Behold, you are wiser than Daniel;
There is no secret that is a match for you.
Dan 1:20 – We’ve seen this pattern before. Joseph was able to explain things that stumped Pharaoh’s wise men (Gen 39). And, a couple of hundred years later, Moses and Aaron were also able to greatly exceed the abilities of another pharaoh’s wise men (Ex 8:18-19).
Dan 1:21 – Since Cyrus was the king who authorized the return of Jews – like Ezra and Nehemiah – to Jerusalem, this means that Daniel lived long enough to see the end of the 70-year exile and the fulfillment of God’s promise of restoration. (The Babylonian Exile)
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Daniel 2
The King’s Forgotten Dream
Dan 2:1-18
Dan 2:4-6 – This posed quite the challenge to Daniel. He knew that God gave the ability to interpret dreams because he’d heard the story of Joseph interpreting dreams from his parents and neighbors in synagogue. But having to disclose the dream itself was an unprecedented demand. ***** The contrast between the consequences of success and the consequences of failure could not be greater.
Dan 2:12-13 – That Nebuchadnezzar was an unreasonable hothead would seem to make the situation calamitous – but that is just the secular point of view. From a God-fearing point of view, it just sets up an opportunity for God to distinguish Himself from humanity.
Matt 19:26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Dan 2:14-18 – The situation looks just as impossible to Daniel and his three friends as it does to Nebuchadnezzar’s advisors…except that the four friends have knowledge of the living God! Besides, what have they got to lose? They may also recall from the Scriptures four other Jews who faced an impossible situation.
2 Kin 7:3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die?
2 Kin 7:4 “If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, we will but die.”
Jesus, being raised a Jew, knew of both foursomes, and perhaps this had something to do with why He taught the way He did about prayer.
Luke 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,
Because of Jesus we should never lose heart. Never!
The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel
Dan 2:19-30
Dan 2:19 – Prayer answered!
Dan 2:20-23 – This is not just a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving; it also teaches us a lot about what Jesus has been doing in heaven for the couple of thousand years that have elapsed since the second coming. How much longer America – or any other nation currently on earth – lasts is in His hands. Jesus has the whole world in His hands. That’s what His second coming was all about.
Dan 2:24 – Daniel’s statement is notable. He doesn’t start with “Don’t kill me!” He doesn’t even start with “Don’t kill the four of us!” He starts with “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon!” Daniel was a man ahead of his time, for the apostle Paul would say about 500 years after this:
1 Cor 10:24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.
Dan 2:25 – All we know about Arioch is what we have read in this chapter. He is the captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s bodyguard (Dan 2:14) and therefore has a lot to lose if he ever falls out of favor with the king. Yet notice that he in no way hedges his introduction of Daniel. For example, Arioch could have protected himself by saying, “Your Highness, I don’t know if this foreigner knows what he’s talking about or not, but I thought you’d want to hear him yourself.” Instead, Arioch boldly and without reservation declares to Nebuchadnezzar that he’s going to hear what he has requested to hear. Daniel made a believer out of this Gentile! If he had not, Nebuchadnezzar would never have had a chance to hear and believe.
Dan 2:28-30 – Like Arioch, Daniel as well is taking a risk in how he’s delivering his message to Nebuchadnezzar. A Babylonian king is not likely to take kindly to the announcement that a non-Babylonian god has produced what his own nation’s god has not. Daniel could have played it safe and held back that card, but he put it right out front…because he was truly a God-fearing man and was not about to give himself precedence in this spotlight moment.
The King’s Dream
Dan 2:31-35
The key element of this dream was the stone. It pulverized the statue, scattering its remains to the wind, and then “became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Its interpretation is saved until the last. God always saves the best for last.
John 2:9 When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom,
John 2:10 and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus of Nazareth was the last prophet of Israel – the last in a long line of great men. And He was greater than them all. Greater beyond measure!
Let us proceed through the interpretation of the dream’s elements of lesser importance so that we can find out more about this stone at the end.
The Interpretation – Babylon the First Kingdom
Dan 2:36-38
Nebuchadnezzar probably liked the fact that he was mentioned first (because that’s the way of man, as contrasted with the way of God which is to make the best last). He probably also liked that he was represented with gold while the following kingdoms were represented by less precious metals.
Medo-Persia and Greece
Dan 2:39
Following Babylon will be Media and Persia – involving the leaders Darius and and then Cyrus, both of whom will arise in Daniel’s lifetime. After that will come Alexander the Great leading the Greek Empire.
Rome
Dan 2:40-43
After Greece’s time in the sun will come Rome’s. This is when Messiah would come.
The Divine Kingdom
Dan 2:44-45
A stone is one of the most frequently recurring figures of Messiah in the Old Testament. See the entry for “stone” at Types and Shadows of Christ for citations like Jacob’s stone “pillow” (Gen 28:11, 18, 22), Isaiah’s stone of stumbling and rock of offense (Is 8:14), Isaiah’s tested stone (Is 28:16), and the rejected stone in Psalms that became the cornerstone (Ps 118:22). That Nebuchadnezzar’s dream portrayed the stone as “cut out without hands” indicates that this stone is product of divine handiwork. The entire sweep of the dream is that of the authority of God trumping the authority of man. This dream is all about Jesus Christ – the foundation stone that will be laid. #FJOT
Daniel Promoted
Dan 2:46-49
Nebuchadnezzar makes good on his promise to greatly reward whoever could reveal the dream and its interpretation. Daniel in Babylon follows the Joseph in Egypt trajectory – which are both foreshadowings of the messianic trajectory. Further to that point, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and interpretation stoke the fires of expectation for the kingdom of God that Messiah will bring.
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Daniel 3
The King’s Golden Image
Dan 3:1-7
Apparently, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream inspired him to make a great gold image of himself…and to require that everyone else should think as highly of his image as he did. This reminds me of the day in which we live, except that there are now Nebuchadnezzar’s everywhere – forming images of themselves. These can be broadcast, cable, or social media images, individually-chosen sexual or gender identities, or who knows what. The point is that we are all expected to kowtow to whatever self-image a narcissist constructs. And it’s becoming just as dangerous not to bow to these images as it was to not bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s – especially with the number of narcissists growing as rapidly as they are.
Worship of the Image Refused
Dan 3:8-18
Dan 3:16-18 – What wisdom! What courage! What eloquence! These men state the matter in the most straightforward and appropriate way possible. Neither Nebuchadnezzar nor I am fit to tie the shoelaces of these three fellows.
Daniel’s Friends Protected
Dan 3:19-30
Dan 3:19 – Nebuchadnezzar proved himself a hothead when in a fury he decided to kill all the wise men in his kingdom because they couldn’t do something that was impossible for human beings to do (Dan 2:12). He also flew into a rage at the first mention of someone not bowing before the image he set up (Dan 3:13). As if that wasn’t enough to prove that he couldn’t keep a lid on his temper, we now read that “his facial expression was altered” toward the threesome. Moreover, he weirdly orders that the furnace be turned up seven times hotter. Was the furnace fire not already lethal? Does he think that killing the victims more swiftly is adding to their punishment? We never think straight when we’re angry. Don’t ever formulate and execute punishments for your children when you’re angry because you’ll be a doofus like Nebuchadnezzar. Wait until you’ve cooled down; then decide what the right thing is to do.
James 1:19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
James 1:20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
Dan 3:20-22 – Note that these were “valiant warriors” whom Nebuchadnezzar’s angry outburst senselessly sent to their deaths.
Dan 3:25 – #FJOT!
Dan 3:27 – My favorite phrase in this verse is the last: “nor had the smell of fire even come on them.” Only if you’ve never been close to a big fire can you fail to appreciate what an unexpected phenomenon this was.
Dan 3:28-30 – Though Nebuchadnezzar has to be condemned for his quick temper, he has to be commended for being teachable. Once he sees the truth of something, he acts on that new knowledge. And acts with zeal. He’s like Zeccheus.
Luke 19:8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
Dan 3:28 – As God sent an angel to deliver this threesome from earthly death, so He sent Jesus to deliver us from eternal death. #FJOT
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Daniel 4
This chapter gives an outline of the plan God would follow when He descended from His glory in heaven to live a life as one of us on earth…and then return to His glorious throne in heaven to rule forevermore, having secured our eternal salvation in the process. It was no small thing for God to become a man…and then God again.
Keep these prophecies that were written before God descended in your mind as you read this chapter.
Hab 1:5 “Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days–
You would not believe if you were told.
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Is 28:21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
Keep in mind also these words of the apostles after He had ascended back to heaven. (The all caps phrases are quotations of prophecies.)
Eph 4:8 Therefore it says,
“WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,
HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES,
AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”
Verse Info. Notes Eph 4:9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
Verse Info. Notes Eph 4:10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
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Phil 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Phil 2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Phil 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Phil 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Phil 2:9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
Phil 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Phil 2:11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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2 Cor 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
Obviously, Nebuchadnezzar had sins that justified his fall while God has no sins – nothing that would justify a fall, except His compassion to join us so that He could save us. Among other things, this chapter helps explain how God could become a man who did not know He was God. For He could not have experienced life like we do if He knew while He was living it that He was God. He would lose that awareness of His identity as God in His descent to earth and not get it back until after He was safely back in heaven.
The King Acknowledges God
Dan 4:1-3
Nebuchadnezzar is a Gentile who knows how to praise God!
The Vision of a Great Tree
Dan 4:4-18
Daniel Interprets the Vision
Dan 4:19-27
The Vision Fulfilled
Dan 4:28-37
This dream, interpretation, and then experience describe a man becoming like an animal and then being restored to his right mind, which is analogous to God becoming a man and then being restored to His right mind.
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Daniel 5
Belshazzar’s Feast
Dan 5:1-12
Belshazzar is the king of Babylon now…and he will be its last.
Dan 5:10-12 – Considerable time has passed since Daniel’s youthful glory days in Nebuchadnezzar’s court and Daneil has been largely forgotten. Yet the queen knows the palace history of Babylon and she, upon hearing of the problem, educates Belshazzar on the likely solution.
Daniel Interprets Handwriting on the Wall
Dan 5:13-31
Dan 5:17 – If Daniel was ever open to such incentives, he certainly doesn’t care about them now. As the prophet Elisha said to his servant Gehazi:
2 Kin 5:26 Then he said to him, “…Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants?
We have to know what time it is.
Eccl 3:1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven–
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Matt 16:3 “…Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?
Do we know what time it is in America?
Dan 5:18-21 – Daniel is here referring to the fall and rise of Nebuchadnezzar we read about in Dan 4.
Dan 5:22-30 – This is the end of the road for King Belshazzar.
Dan 5:31 – This is also the end of the road for Babylon as it is now giving way to the Medo-Persian Empire. This was prophesied in Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan 2:29), and explicitly declared in the handwriting on the wall (Dan 5:28).
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Daniel 6
Daniel Serves Darius
Dan 6:1-15
Dan 6:1-2 – When King Darius (of the Medo-Persian Empire) takes over, he leaves Daniel in the approximate position in which King Belshazzar (of the Babylonian Empire) had placed him just before Belshazzar’s death.
Dan 6:3 – Just as Daniel had done before, and just as Joseph had done before, cream just keeps rising to the top. No matter how far down you throw a man of God, he’s only going to rise…because God is with him.
Ps 1:1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Ps 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Ps 1:3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Dan 6:4 – The success of the godly always arouses the envy of the ungodly.
Gen 4:3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.
Gen 4:4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;
Gen 4:5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.
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Mark 15:9 Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”
Mark 15:10 For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.
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2 Tim 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
Dan 6:5 – When this is all they can get you on, you’re in a very good position. God delights in delivering His servants from evil.
Matt 6:13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil…
Dan 6:6-9 – Daniel’s jealous co-workers know that he petitions his Jewish God, so they get King Darius to proclaim a law that will get Daniel in trouble without the law actually mentioning Daniel or the Jewish God. This will give them “plausible deniability.” The kind of law they’re getting passed is called in legal terms “ex post facto” – a kind of law which the US Constitution explicitly forbids. The definition of an ex post facto law is one that “punishes actions retroactively, thereby criminalizing conduct that was legal when originally performed.” By getting the king to put such a law on the books, Daniel’s co-workers think they have him cold.
Dan 6:10 – Daniel wasn’t virtue signaling by having his roof chamber windows open toward Jerusalem. Rather, he was staying focused on the goal of seeking the return of Jews to Jerusalem as soon as the decreed 70-year exile was over (The Babylonian Exile). Though he’d been elevated to great heights in Babylon, Daniel just wanted to go home. Likewise, no matter how good things get for us on earth, we should alway have our hearts set on home.
Phil 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
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Heb 13:14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
When Daniel lived, it was time to long for physical Jerusalem. But ever since Jesus came, it’s been time to long for heavenly Jerusalem.
Gal 4:25 …the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
Gal 4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.
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Heb 12:18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,
Heb 12:19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.
Heb 12:20 For they could not bear the command, “IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED.”
Heb 12:21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.”
Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,
Heb 12:23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
Heb 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
To what degree Daniel was clued in to the heavenly Jerusalem, we cannot easily measure. But even if he was fully knowledgeable of its preeminence, he would also have known that the path to it led through the earthly Jerusalem because that is where Messiah would have to take his stand. For us, however, the earthly Jerusalem’s importance was all in the past. The heavenly Jerusalem is all that matters now. May we be as devoted to its importance as Daniel was to the earthly Jerusalem’s importance.
Dan 6:11-15 – Daniel’s persecutors tighten the noose they have placed around his neck.
Daniel in the Lion’s Den
Dan 6:16-28
Apparently, the Medes and Persians favored execution by hungry lions over the fiery furnaces of the Babylonians. The French had the guillotine, and the Romans had beheading for its citizens and crucifixion for everyone else. Every generation of every nation has its preferred methods of execution for capital crimes.
Dan 6:16 – King Darius knows he can’t help Daniel, so he’s hoping Daniel’s God will come to the rescue.
Dan 6:18 – King Darius is illustrating God’s posture toward us when we are caught violating one of His laws. It’s the same posture a loving parent has when having to punish a child for disobedience.
Dan 6:20 – The fact that Darius said more than a tepid “Anybody there?” testifies that his faith in Daniel’s God was not meager.
Dan 6:22 – Daniel had an angel to save him from a lion’s den; we all had Jesus Himself to save us from Hades (Sheol). (Everyone Is Going to Heaven)
Dan 6:23 – Everyone was “taken up out of” Hades (Sheol)!
Dan 6:24 – It is a just law for sure that imposes on false accusers the penalty they sought for those they falsely accused.
Dan 6:25-27 – Both Darius and Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2:47; 3:28-29; 4:1-3, 34-37) know how to praise God!
Dan 6:28 – Cyrus is the leader who will authorize the return of Jews to Jerusalem. We read about this return from exile in Ezra and Nehemiah. (The Babylonian Captivity)
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The first half of the book of Daniel (Dan 1-6) is history; the second half (Dan 7-12) is prophecy. The prophecy comes in dreams and visions with exaggerated figures of speech. This kind of writing is called apocalyptic. We also see it in the books of Ezekiel (OT), Zechariah (OT), and Revelation (NT).
Apocalyptic literature is not easy reading. Therefore, it is all the more important to remember that All Bible Prophecy Has Been Fulfilled in Christ. This means actually means there are two things to remember: 1) all Bible prophecy is centered around Jesus Christ, and 2) it’s all been fulfilled and there is nothing awaiting fulfillment (that is, it’s all now in place and has been ever since the Second Coming occurred late in the 1st century AD).
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Daniel 7
Vision of the Four Beasts
Dan 7:1-8
The Ancient of Days Reigns
Dan 7:9-12
Dan 7:9 – “the Ancient of Days“
The Son of Man Presented
Dan 7:13-14
This passage (Dan 7:13-14) is the key element of the “dream and visions” (Dan 7:1) Daniel received, the payload of “the revelation” (Dan 7:28) he was granted. In other words, these two verses are the most important of the entire chapter. They also constitute one of the most important passages in the entire Old Testament.
The essence of the passage is what happens when “the Ancient of Days“ and “One like a Son of Man“ come together – which is that the latter receives “a kingdom” of “all peoples, nations, and men” that “will not pass away” and “will not be destroyed.” Jeremiah alludes to this coming together in Jer 30:21 (“I will bring him near and he shall approach Me”).
In the Olivet Discourse, when Jesus was answering His disciples’s questions about when His coming would be, He used the language of Dan 7:13-14 to describe it. Jesus also quoted Dan 7:13-14 at a critical point in His trial. He was actually convicted based at least in part on the quotation, because it was part of His admission that He was indeed the Messiah. See Messiah’s Major Milestones.
Here below, from Matthew, is a look at Jesus’ quoting Dan 7:13-14 in the Olivet Discourse. (This is only the last third of the discourse, but I think it’s enough to give you good context for the Dan 7:13-14 quote.)
Matt 24:21 “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.
Matt 24:22 “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Matt 24:23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him.
Matt 24:24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
Matt 24:25 “Behold, I have told you in advance.
Matt 24:26 “So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.
Matt 24:27 “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matt 24:28 “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
Matt 24:29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Matt 24:30 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
And here, again from Matthew, is how Jesus quoted Dan 7:13-14 at His trial before the Sanhedrin.
Matt 26:59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death.
Matt 26:60 They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward,
Matt 26:61 and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.'”
Matt 26:62 The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”
Matt 26:63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
Matt 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”
Matt 26:65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy;
Matt 26:66 what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!”
While “sitting at the right hand” of God, Jesus had authority over the church, but in “coming on the clouds of heaven” He received authority over the whole world – “That all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him.” This is the eternal kingdom.
The Vision Interpreted
Dan 7:15-28
Dan 7:15 – We do not have to be as alarmed as Daniel was because we have the four Gospels to tell us what Jesus was like – which Daniel did not have. We also know that all Bible prophecy is fulfilled in Christ.
Dan 7:18 – A reference back to the eternal kingdom defined in Dan 7:13-14.
Dan 7:21-22 – A reference back to the eternal kingdom defined in Dan 7:13-14.
Dan 7:27 – A reference back to the eternal kingdom defined in Dan 7:13-14.
Dan 7:28 – “revelation” – Just because we have received a revelation, dream, or vision does not mean we have to immediately tell someone about it.
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Daniel 8
Vision of the Ram and Goat
Dan 8:1-8
The Little Horn
Dan 8:9-14
Interpretation of the Vision
Dan 8:15-19
Dan 8:16 – “Gabriel“
Dan 8:17 – “son of man“ ***** “the time of the end“
Dan 8:19 – “the appointed time of the end“
The Ram’s Identity
Dan 8:20
The Goat
Dan 8:21-27
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Daniel 9
Daniel’s Prayer for His People
Dan 9:1-19
Dan 9:2 – Daniel is referring to the Babylonian Exile.
Dan 9:4-19 – Daniel’s prayer. ***** “covenant“ ***** “lovingkindness“
Dan 9:6 – “prophets“ ***** “the people“ is usually a reference to Jews
Dan 9:7 – “Judah“ ***** “Jerusalem“ ***** “Israel“ ***** “far away in all the countries to which you have driven them“
Dan 9:10 – “the prophets“
Dan 9:12 – Daniel is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 BC (Key Dates for Ancient Israel).
Dan 9:21 – “Gabriel“
Gabriel Brings an Answer
Dan 9:20-23
Seventy Weeks and the Messiah
Dan 9:24-27
Dan 9:27 – See “abomination of desolation.”
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Daniel 10
Daniel Is Terrified by a Vision
Dan 10:1-9
Daniel Comforted
Dan 10:10-21
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Daniel 11
Conflicts to Come
Dan 11:1-45
Dan 11:35 – “the end time“
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Daniel 12
The Time of the End
Dan 12:1-13
Dan 12:4 – “the end of time“
Dan 12:9 – “the end time“
Dan 12:13 – “the end of the age“
The Duty of a Man 