The Book of Daniel - A Summary by James Kenny

The Book of Daniel - by Ps. James Kenny 
Chapter One Introduction - The book of Daniel is a vital resource when studying end times as it holds some of the most graphic details of those times but also as it present the lifestyle available to God fearing men and women whilst held in some of the most trying and difficult times we could ever face in life. 
Both Daniel and his colleagues were able to “shine like the stars” even in one of the most immoral and perverse nations that existing during these times on the face of the earth. 
This indeed became a reflection of the meaning of Daniel’s name - God is my Judge or judgement of God. Daniel’s name was later changed to mean May bel (God) protect the King (Belshazzar). 
Daniel was taken into captivity in the 3 rd year of Jehoiakim’s reign which existed from 609-558BC. This captivity was a result of Israel’s sin and prophesied by Isaiah in chapter 39. 
V1. The book of Daniel begins by establishing the time and date of which this book is written. This is important to establish the validity and to confirm the prophecies of Daniel. 
V2. Indicates that the articles from the temple where carried off during the captivity, this is important as not only have the leaders and royalty of the land been taken into captivity but also the articles of faith which inhibit the people from performing their religious duty. Note: This was typical of both the Persian and Grecian invaders to not only conquer but also divide the nation culturally and religiously. It is also these religious articles that we later read about in chapter 5 at Belshazzars feast 
V3-4. Daniel shows that it is the choose of Israel’s men and women that are taken into captivity hence lessening the possibility of an uprising by future members of royalty.  It is noteworthy to add that though we don’t know much of Daniel’s life, he was one of the nobility that was chosen to serve the King of Persia. 
V5. Daniel and his colleagues are assigned choose food, which they reject as food that defiles the body. This would be a continuing mark of both Daniel throughout his life and desire to live holy even whilst in captivity. 
V6. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are listed with those taken into captivity and who like Daniel make an everlasting impact upon the nation about them. 
V9. Even at this early stage we see the hand of God upon Daniel’s life as he finds favour with the Persian King. How many of us today when faced with similar circumstances would shine like Daniel? 
V11-16. Daniel shows beyond doubt that his diet of water and vegetables is by far better than the catfish, snake , pork chops and other foods the Persian’s ate described in Deuteronomy 14:1-21 as forbidden to Jews. 
V 17-21. Once again we see the favour of God upon the 4 Jewish men as they grow above the rest in favour, wisdom and knowledge in the Kings court. James 1:5 says this same wisdom is available to all believers through time. Daniel and his colleagues are given at this point Babylonian names emphasising the name of their God. 

Chapter Two V1-13. When the King orders the wise men to both tell him and interpret his dream things begin to get exciting. When they are unable the king decrees the execution of the wise men throughout the land. This decree naturally includes Daniel and his friends from Israel and it is in this predicament we see the Lord’s hand prevail for Daniel. 
V14-16. Daniel pleads with his executioner for time for the Lord to reveal the dream and it’s interpretation. Daniel pleads with his friends to seek the Lord during this time. 
V16-19. Finally after some time of intercession, the Lord reveals the dream to Daniel and it’s interpretation. 
V20-23. Daniel begins the interpretation by giving glory and thanks to the God of Israel for bringing the interpretation. In turn he acknowledges that he (Daniel) is not the source of these answers taking the spotlight from himself. 
V24-45 Daniel reveals the dream and it’s interpretation to the king. See vs. 29-45 See also diagram 2 of 2/4 articles. 
V46-49 The king acknowledges the power and authority of the Great God and exalts Daniel and upon Daniels request his friends to high positions in the land and lavishes on them many gifts.            
Chapter Two Continued - the following passages are taken from Jim Gerrish Understanding the Times Daniel saw that the image represented the four world empires of the Gentile Age (2:38-43). Successively, they are Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Daniel correctly saw that the kingdoms of Media and Persia would work together like two arms, and that the Roman Empire would have two legs, which seems to accurately picture the eastern and western divisions of that empire. He saw that in the end-days it would divide into ten sections or kingdoms, like a man’s toes. Later in the book (7:8; 8:23-24), he saw that from these divisions a king of fierce countenance would arise and bring a brief age of terror and persecution the likes of which had never been seen before. After that, the kingdom would be given to the triumphant saints of the Most High God (7:18).
 
Daniel saw that the image would fall at one time (2:35). The Babylonian head didn’t just topple off in 539 B.C. when that nation was overcome by the Medes and Persians. It is still in place today and is still directing the affairs of this world. We can be assured that all the godless principles of these world governments still affect our society today, although the nations themselves have long passed from the scene. As we look at these world empires we can only speculate about the evil principles within them that will ultimately bring the judgment of God on the whole system. Babylon probably represented religion without God. It surely represented a defiled and adulterated religious system mixed with sorcery. It seems that Media-Persia represented a system of law and government without God. The laws of the Medes and Persians could not be changed even if they were wrong or stupid (6:8). Greece undoubtedly represented knowledge without God. It represented humanism, and rationalism, which are very much in vogue today. Rome probably represented power without God - naked military might, and we still have plenty of that around. In chapter 7, Daniel will be shown the very same view of history again, but with the symbols of beasts. This probably emphasizes that the religious-political-economic world system is not only a "man" system, as seen from the number "666" in Revelation 13:18, but it is essentially a "beast" system, implying great savagery (Rev. 13:1-2). Nebuchadnezzar’s vision also gives us an interesting assessment of our present world. Modern humanistic thinkers have informed us that our world is ever evolving toward newer and better things. However, Nebuchadnezzar’s vision assures us that world history is rapidly degenerating and heading in an ever downward spiral. As the commentator, Guzik, states: "The image describes devolution , not evolution . Instead of man beginning in the dust and evolving into gold, this vision declares that man’s dominion begins with gold and devalues into dust." (3) The very quality of governments and nations is becoming cheaper and baser by the moment. This fact is being made more apparent to us as we watch our once-stable western governmental systems decline and crumble. In the end, all the world’s governments will be totally controlled by the grossly evil Beast or Antichrist. Of course, the end-day Beast is just the fulfillment of all that the Babylonian/Roman system has really stood for all the time. Some questions may arise as to why Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold and so superior in God’s eyes to other kingdoms that would follow. Even with all his flaws, several good things stand out about this king. God was able to reveal his secrets to Nebuchadnezzar and he has done this for few other rulers. Nebuchadnezzar had divine authority not just to rule over humankind but over the beasts of the field and the birds of the air (2:38). In some way he was fulfilling God’s original decree for mankind, that of ruling over the earth (4) . Nebuchadnezzar was quick to recognize divine authority (2:47; 3:28- 29). He was also quick to recognize and reward the servants of the true God (2:48-49; 3:30). It is seldom that even one of these golden characteristics is found in rulers since the king’s day. We cannot pass over this Gentile governmental system without stopping for a moment to examine some of the principles involved in Babylon itself. It is clear that Babylon remains the head of the present evil age or Times of the Gentiles. We know from the Bible that ancient Babylon was founded by Nimrod, the Hebrew root of whose name means "rebel" (Gen. 10:8-10). We know from Genesis 11 that the famous Tower of Babel was located there. These rebellious people were trying to make a name for themselves (Gen. 11:4). They were trying to build a tower that would reach to heaven, and they were building it by their own efforts, using man-made bricks. No doubt there were some religious elements and even some sorcery involved. How different is this attitude from that of Abraham who would later come upon that very scene. We are told in Hebrews 11:10 that "he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." The city and empire of Babylon clearly represents spiritual bondage. It was to Babylon that the children of Israel were carried captives. They hung their harps upon the willows of Babylon and refused to sing the songs of Zion in their bondage (Psa. 137:2-4). Babylon not only represents spiritual captivity for Israel, but for the church as well. It is one thing to make bricks in Egypt because a person is a slave, but it is quite another thing to make bricks in Babylon for some lofty but questionable religious purpose. In both cases a person is still making bricks and is still a slave. It is true that Babylon is very mysterious (Rev. 17:5). Yet, we are able to penetrate this mystery somewhat by looking at scripture. There are several extended passages in the Bible that deal with this subject. We see these in Isaiah 47; Jeremiah 50-51; and Revelation 14:8 through 19:3. It is amazing that in a time when materials were expensive the writer of Revelation used so many pages and chapters to deal with the fall of Babylon at the end of this age. Truly this must be important! We see in scripture that God wants to talk to us about this subject (Psa. 87:4), so let us go further. The sins of Babylon are principally pride, sorcery, covetousness, adultery, idolatry and murder. Jeremiah says: "For she has been proud against the Lord" (50:29 NKJV; cf. vs.30-31). Isaiah 47:8 and Revelation 18:7 speak also of her pride and how she has glorified herself. Babylon was an ancient center of sorcery. It has been said that the art of divining was invented by the residents of that area. Babylonians were experts at magic, incantations and spells. The skill of the "Chaldeans" was proverbial throughout the ancient world. We also can strongly suspect that the famous tower built there was in some way aligned with the planets. The king of Babylon may have at times acknowledged the true God, but he was a worshipper of the pagan god, Bel-Marduk. He was also a sorcerer at heart. In Ezekiel 21:21 we read, "For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver." His divination led him up to destroy God’s city, Jerusalem. In Revelation 18:23 we read that the sorceries of Babylon have now corrupted and deceived all the nations on earth. One evidence of this is that many of today’s nations are still pursuing an identical and maniacal plan of destroying Israel. Another sin of Babylon was her covetousness (Jer. 51:13). We see in Revelation 18, that her covetousness extended to and primarily focused upon religious things. She has made merchandise of the most holy things, even the things of God’s holy offerings, and even the souls of men (Rev. 18:13). John, in the Book of Revelation, perceived that lady Babylon was also an adulteress. On many occasions she has pretended to be the bride of the Lamb, but her testimony has never borne this out. Long before, Jeremiah saw that the nations were mad from drinking at her cup (51:7), and the writer John in the Book of Revelation simply calls her by what she is, the great whore and the mother of all harlots (Rev. 17:1). Her cup always represented mixture, defilement, and weakening of true religion. We remember that it was also in Babylon that the people partied and drank from God’s precious and holy Temple vessels. What an ungodly mixture! Babylon was also famous for her idolatry. We are told that there were 53 temples and 180 altars to Ishtar in Babylon. It was a land of graven images (Jer. 50:38). Babylon had some 300 gods of heaven and another 600 of earth. This did not count the many spirits who were also worshipped (5). We can gather from all this that Babylon always leads God’s people into false religion, and thus into religious captivity. At last, lady Babylon was a murderess. John sees her as drunken with the blood of the saints (Rev. 17:6). Through her religious and political machinery she has somehow managed to pursue and destroy godly people in every age. Often they have been killed in the very name of religion. It should not surprise us that in the physical area of Babylon today hundreds and thousands of people are being senselessly slaughtered by suicide bombers and other terrorists. Well, God wants his people out of this wretched religious-political-economic system. He wants both Israel and the church freed from these confusing, bewildering, and dividing influences. We are commanded to come out of her midst (Jer. 51:45), and even to flee out of her (Jer. 51:6). We must do this lest we partake of Babylon’s sins and receive her plagues (Rev. 18:4). As we can see, our coming out of her is largely a spiritual thing. In Jeremiah 51:50, we are challenged to set our faces toward Zion: "You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the LORD in a distant land, and think on Jerusalem." At the end of the age, God will deal with Babylon and with her vain idolatry. Jesus, the stone hewn out of the mountain, will smash this image and turn it into dust (2:34-35). Then the government of the whole earth will return to Zion and to her Messiah. The Psalmist says that he will then rule hateful nations with a rod of iron, and will dash them to pieces like pottery (Psa. 2:8-9). His kingdom will then become a great mountain filling the whole earth (Dan. 2:35).     
Chapter Three The final verse in chapter two would indicate that Daniel received great authority as a result of his favour with the king sitting in the gate of the king. But Daniel also remembered his friends and ensured their future role in the kingdom. These men could be compared to the witnesses of Rev.11 
V1-7 Begins with the king’s power going to his head and the establishment of a golden image of himself, this is precisely a picture of the anti-christ who will call upon mankind to bow down and worship him. This self exalting possibly came as a result of the interpretation of the dream with the king being the golden head? It is during the height of this idolatry that a conspiracy is devised to trap the Jews. As we will see in the last days, see Rev 13:7-8 
V8-15 Once again the sanctity of the young captives shines through as they refuse to bow to the image of gold. What a twist we see in the king compared to v47 of chapter two where the king falls prostrate before Daniel and acknowledges his God to be the God of gods. There is obviously a different spirit in him, this same spirit I believe is what we will see in the beast and Anti-Christ in the last days. A spirit that exalts itself above all others. The King’s favour shown to Daniel is not transferred to his friends as he commands for them to be thrown into the fiery furnace. Ultimately it is the lake of fire we read about in revelation that is due for the enemy of Christ, the serpent devil. 
V16-18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego bring their cause before the king who by now is in a rage of fury. Once again these mighty men explain that even if they are thrown in the fire that it is their God who will save them from the furnace and from the hand of the king and even if they are not saved they will defiantly not bow to the golden image (see v17). As Christians in the end days, it is this sort of faith that is required to bring us through the flames of tribulation. 
V19-23 The flames are heated seven times hotter, and as an indication of the uncontrollable rage felt by the king. The men escorting the young Jews to their deaths end up dying because of the heat. 
V24-25 We see the three men dancing in the flames with a fourth person, who is called an angel but who could have been the Lord himself. In the Septuagint v24 is translated “They heard them singing
praises from the furnace”. This very verse fulfilled the prophecy of Isa 43:2. It is believed that this event took place in the 18 th year of Nebuchadnezzar the same year Jerusalem was besieged and burnt to the ground. 
V26-30 Once again the king is humbled by the experience and promotes the three men and commands no many to speak against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. An amazing account that despite the clear hand of God at work the Babylonians continued to worship their demon gods. 

Chapter Four V1-18 King Nebuchadnezzar has a second dream but begins by giving praise to the True God whilst continuing to serve his demon god. Matt 12:38 says “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign,” The king is afraid by what this dream tells him without knowing it’s interpretation, or perhaps he understood the dream better than he thought he did. Once again it is only Belteshazzar (Daniel) who is able to interpret the dream for the king. The king explains the dream to Daniel. 
V19-27 Daniel like the king is troubled by this dream, showing Daniel genuine concern and love for the king. He knows this dream means certain humiliation for the king and uncertain times for the nation. 
V28-33 After just 12 month the dreams comes to pass precisely the moment king Nebuchadnezzar is praising himself for his works and not giving glory to the true creator of all things. Perhaps had the king humbled himself, this dream may not have come to pass. Proverbs 8:15-16 says 15 “By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. 16 By me princes rule, and nobles, All the judges of the earth.” 
V33-37 After the allotted seven years pass for the kings time of torment the king finally lifts his eyes to heaven in a sign of humility and retains his position . It is interesting that the king is bound with iron and bronze. This is similar to the beast who will be wounded for a time in revelation but is later restored or healed of his wound. 

Chapter Five After some time, probably as a true believer, Nebuchadnezzar dies and after a number of other kings come and go, the empire is handed to his grand son, be it a short time. Belshazzar was regent with his father Nabinidos who was officially king from 555-538BC. 
V1-5 The chapter begins with Belshazzar holding a banquet at which he praised the gods of gold and silver using the goblets taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. The shear idolatry would have provoked the Lord, but even more so using articles used to give him praise. 
V8-16 Like his grandfather, the king calls on the wise men, enchanters and magicians who by this time had a very poor record for interpretation and would naturally been concerned for their lives. Once again, it is Daniel who is remembered by the Queen as man who has the spirit of the gods in him and is called upon. This I believe is a true sign of days to come when all the world will seek out the wisdom and strength of those who believe and stand strong in the eye of opposition. 
V17-21 Daniel explains himself and his history with the king grandfather establishing relationship and genuine care for the morality of the Babylonian kingdom. Interesting that it is in the last days that the church will be the only source of genuine moral standard to society. V22-30 Daniel begins the interpretation of the dream by pointing out the young kings downfall in the sight of his God. Daniel also refuses the gifts and adoration of the king, perhaps knowing that his kingdom is about to fall. Finally the decree of the removal of the kings kingdom is made and even that night comes to pass. It was king Darius at age 62 and forces that had been besieging the city for many months and finally got the victory by diverting the river and entering the city through it’s river channels. It was also this same king by the Lord’s hand who would start the rebuilding of Jerusalem with the 1 st decree in 520BC.                                      
 
Chapter Six Daniel is now 85 years of age and has seen a number of kings come and go, similar to the church which has been around now for over 2000 years and has seen kingdoms come and go. But the kingdom we serve is of the millennial kind which is unending. It is in the God of creation and eternity that Daniel has put his faith and trust for many years of captivity in Babylon. 
Under the reign of the Medes King Darius, Daniel has been exalted to third in the empire. This naturally causes him to gain a number of enemies who are jealous of his position and influence throughout the land especially as he was himself an exile. 
The Medes were an ancient culture and race from the Iranian region who ruled Iran and Persia from 530-522BC by the hand Canbyses II and later his son Darius who we now see ruling the Babylonian empire. It is interesting to note at this point that Cyrus the Great claimed victory over Babylon only weeks after Darius had besieged it and won. So integrated were the two empires at the time. 
V1-9 The chapter speaks predominantly of the plot to undermine and remove Daniel from the land. Those plotting against Daniel knew that he was a man of impeccable integrity and the only way to remove him is by persecuting him in his faith. Psalm 37:14-17 says “The wicked have drawn the sword  And have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay those who are of upright conduct. 15 Their sword shall enter their own heart, And their bows shall be broken. 16 A little that a righteous man has Is better than the riches of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, But the LORD upholds the righteous.” 
A plan is devised and a decree made that all knew Daniel would most certainly break as Daniel lived out his faith in his everyday life. (at this point, I would like to note that faith is seen, both Hebrews and James expresses this). Under Medes law, once a law or decree was made, it was impossible to break, this included the King. Hence we see the stress of the king when he learns of Daniel’s act of defiance. Once again we see Daniel living in the world, but not being of the world. 
V10-17 The king must follow through on his decree and orders Daniel to be thrown into the Lion’s Den, not first without finding any possible way in which Daniel could be forgiven. The King then begins a long night of anxiety as he believes for Daniel to be saved by the hand of his God. 
V17-28 Once again we see the hand of the Lord upon Daniel who kept the lion’s from devouring the servant of God. It is this same hand of our Lord that will protect his people in the end times. 1Pet 5:8 says “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The word sober means to be of sound mind. The Lord has promised to give is “love, power and a sound mind”. Daniel once again walks away unhindered whilst his enemies enjoy breakfast with the lions.

Chapter Seven V1-2 During Belshazzar’s reign Daniel has a dream, it begins with the churning of the great see as one version describes it. This churning of the see could be analysed as the gentile nations. Both Isaiah and Jonah describe the nations in this way see Jonah 1:1 and Isaiah 57:20. 
V3-7 The four beasts are described from Daniel’s vision, each of them more terrifying than the other.
 
Most scholars agree that this is not a new vision but a clarifying of the vision that Nebuchadnezzar had in chapter two. Once again, we see the degradation of society and life in each of the beasts represented as being worst then each other. These animalistic symbols seen in this chapter were in fact pictured in the rise and falls of the corresponding empires.      
The following is an exert from Jim Gerrish’s Understanding the Times. The prophet is really giving us another glimpse of the Gentile Age (Lk. 21:24). Beginning with verse fifteen, he also gives us the detailed interpretation of the vision. The first kingdom is like a lion with wings of an eagle (7:4). We see it also standing upon two feet like a man (7:4b), and by this we realize that it matches very well the image of chapter two. The lion is surely Babylon (cf. Jer. 4:7). The second beast is like a bear and we are informed that the bear has three ribs in its mouth (7:5). This is certainly a reference to Media-Persia. Some scholars feel that the ribs in its mouth represent the great military victories of Media-Persia, over Lydia in 546 B.C., over Babylon in 539 B.C., and over Egypt in 525 B.C.. This beast is told to arise and devour much flesh (7:5). The Persian Empire from Cyrus to Xerxes conquered most of the Middle East plus other areas. On two occasions the empire even attacked Greece and was repelled at the famous battles of Marathon and Salamis. Nevertheless, the vast kingdom of the Persians still spanned 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia (Esther 1:1).
Chapter 2 Image  Chapter 7 Image  Interpretation
Head of Gold  Lion with eagles wings
Babylonian Empire (606-538 BC) - Known for it's use of gold and the swiftness of it's conquests (eagles wings) until it's wings were torn off and the heart of a man was given to it (Nebuchadnezzar's conversion).
Silver Chest and Arms 
Bear raised up on one side
Medes and Persian Empire (538-331 BC) - The Persians were more powerful than the Medes and were known for their use of silver 
Thighs of Bronze 
Leopard with four wings and four heads
Greek Empire (331-168 BC) - Emphasizing it's swift conquests and the split between four generals after the death of Alexander. 
Legs of Iron 
Powerful beast with iron teeth
Roman Empire (168 BC - 476 AD) - Known for their use of iron and the iron represented their immense strength
 
The third beast is pictured as a leopard with four wings and four heads (7:6). This corresponds very well to the kingdom of Alexander the Great, who with incredible swiftness and brilliance conquered Persia and most all the lands held by that empire. His kingdom immediately split asunder at his early death. His heirs were a mentally retarded half-brother, an illegitimate child, and a baby born after his death. Thus his four generals, Cassander in Macedonia and Greece, Lysimachus in Thrace and Asia Minor, Seleucus in Syria, and Ptolemy in Egypt, ultimately ruled in his stead. The fourth and last kingdom is clearly a reference to Rome. Once more we have it pictured as a kingdom of iron (7:7). Also, this beast has ten horns on its head, corresponding well to the ten toes of the first image (7:7). 
V9-10 We see the scene set for the Ancient of days to take His place as the ultimate judge over the battle of the earth. Acts 17:31 says “ He has set a day when he will judge the world’s people with fairness. And he has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him. God has given proof of this to all of us by raising Jesus from death.” 
V11-14 Because of the blasphemies spoken by the beast he is slain and thrown to the eternal flames and the other beast lose their positions and power. This is the ultimate end for the enemy of God, the eternal lake of fire (see Rev 19:20; 20:10; 20:14,15 & 21:8). It is righteousness that triumphans over evil NOT visa versa. And we see the King of glory, the son of man receiving an everlasting kingdom and dominion over His people. 
V15-28 Daniel, grieved and troubled by the vision asks one of those witnessing these events to explain the vision for him. The four beasts are four kings that shall rise over the earth. Note they arise out of the earth explaining their reign is not given by God but by man. Similar to that of Saul! 
Note: horns throughout the bible represent symbols of power and authority. 
Out of the fourth beast arose ten kings or kingdoms. One horn however arose out of the defeat of three. Indicating that three kings or dominions will be slain for the rise of this more powerful king who only appears greater than his opponents, see v20b. 
The king had eyes and a mouth to speak blasphemies indicating that his reign would be one of words and visual display. It is this king that makes war against the saints. The word saints is not just a termed coined in our day and age, but means “holy ones” and could speak of anyone who worshipped God. 
After trampling the earth, this small horn speaks pompous words against the Most Holy who speaks judgement over him. This word means to self boast. During his reign he shall change laws and times, Matthew Henry says “He shall think to change times and laws, to abolish all the ordinances and institutions of religion, and to bring every body to say and do just as he would have them. He shall trample upon laws and customs, human and divine. Diruit, aedificut, mutat quadrata rotundis—He pulls down, he builds, he changes square into round, as if he meant to alter even the ordinances of heaven themselves. …The pope assumes a power to change times and laws, potestas autokratorikeµ— an absolute and despotic power, as he calls it.” 
It is finally after a period of three and a half years that Jesus returns to pour judgement upon the king and issue in his eternal kingdom on the earth.
 
Chapter Eight V1-14 Once again we see a clarification of the vision that Daniel saw in chapter seven of times of wrath. Daniel whilst standing by the canal Ulai when he saw the events unfold. Again, a ram symbolic of the Persian-Medes empire standing by the canal. The ram has two horns but one is longer than the other, it was the Persian side of the empire which was obvious to be the greater and more powerful horn of the ram, probably under the reign of Cyrus the Great. In the book Understanding the Time, Jim Gerrish says “The Persian kings were often crowned with a ram rather than a diadem.” 
As Daniel watches, a goat, symbolic of the Grecian empire, comes with great speed and smashes into the ram. Under the leadership of Alexander the Great, the Greeks move with great speed and ferocity to every part of the known world. “It was once said of Alexander the great that he wept as there was no more lands to conquer.” The goat to this day is a symbol of power to the Greek people. 
From the height of his power, Alexander the Great is cut off and is replaced by four generals. From these four generals, as indicated by four horns in the visions, one horn grows out and becomes great. We know this is not the fourth empire as it comes from the fourth horn of the goat. This must therefore represent the four regionss of the Greek empire that arise after the death of Alexander. 
This fourth kingdom we know from history is the Seleucids who ruled from 312 to 145BC. In particular one of these rulers became more evil and greater than the others, he Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled from 175-164BC. In 167BC Antiochus invaded Egypt only to be repelled by the Roman Fleet. Upon returning to his land he vented his rage against the small nation of Israel. Included in his destruction of the Jewish people, he stripped the temple of the remaining articles of faith, set up an abomination by slaughtering a pig upon the alter, established a statue of the god Zeus in the Temple and forbade study and possession of the Torah (Pentateuch or first five books of the Law of Moses). He then sent soldiers throughout the land to enforce his new laws. 
It was because of this action that the Maccabee’n revolt started in Israel. It is this uprising which is documented in the book of Maccabees today. Nelson’s Illustrated bible dictionary says the following;  “The revolt began with Antiochus’ edict that sought to unite all the peoples of his kingdom in religion, law, and custom. The Jews were the only people who would not adhere to this edict. Antiochus issued regulations against observing the Sabbath, practicing circumcision, and keeping all food laws. These regulations were followed by the “ABOMINATION OF D ESOLATION ” (Dan. 11:31)—the desecration of the altar of the burnt offering in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews were forced to participate in heathen festivities and were put to death if they were caught with the Book of the Law in their possession. As the revolt, led by the pious priest Mattathias and his sons, gained momentum, the Jews united to overthrow Seleucid domination of their land. The Syrians were routed and the Temple was cleansed on the 25th of Chislev, 165 B.C. This cleansing is now observed by the Jews as the Feast of Lights (Hanukkah), around December 25. According to ancient writers, Antiochus IV withdrew into the East following his defeat. He died in Persia a madman. The “little horn” of Daniel 8:9 is a reference to Antiochus IV Epiphanes.” Miraculously, when they re-entered the Temple, there was only enough oil to re-light the Menorah for one day. However, it lasted the full eight days until more oil was found, it is through this miracle the Jewish people celebrate “Hanukkah”. 
It is revealed that this will take 2300 evenings and mornings before the temple is reconsecrated.
 
V15-27 The Son of Man comes to Daniel and explains the vision. The Antichrist of the old testament is finally destroyed but not by human hands. Paul says in 2Thess2:8 “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” The vision concerns the future and is to be sealed up for this time. Daniel is exhausted and ill from these revelations! 

Chapter Nine V1-19 Daniel in the reign of Darius, understands the scripture, most probably from Isaiah and Jeremiah who prophesied the Babylonian captivity (see Isaiah 44 & Jeremiah 25) and begins to pray for the forgiveness of sins for his nation and it’s release from captivity. 
If only all believers would stand in the gap as did Daniel as intercessors for their nations, what a marvellous transformation we would see. 
V20-27 The angel Gabriel arrives to explain the “seventy sevens” but not without letting Daniel know his prayer was heard immediately. In fact within three years under the first decree of Cyrus the Great, 50,000 Jews would be headed home. 
Jim Gerrish says “Daniel is then introduced to the final period of "seven." It will obviously come at the end of the age do to the presence of the Beast or Antichrist pictured in this period. At that time the covenant will be renewed with Israel for a short and turbulent period of seven years. This period may well be marked by the building of a new Temple in Jerusalem and even by the renewal of animal sacrifices. In the middle of this period the Beast or Antichrist spoken of in Daniel and in Revelation will put an end to sacrifice and proclaim that he himself is God (cf. 2 Thess. 2:4). He will set up the abomination of desolation in a wing of the Temple, but his awful reign will be brought to an end (9:27). Now what can we make of this whole mysterious passage of scripture? We first need to decide exactly which decree the angel was speaking about. We learn from the Bible that there were four such decrees. There was the decree of Cyrus in 538 B.C. (Ezra 1:1-4). Then there was the decree of Darius in 517 B.C. affirming that original decree (Ezra 6:6-12). Later, there was the first decree of Artaxerxes in 458 B.C. (Ezra 7:11-26). Then, finally there was the second decree of Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-9). For the sake of simplicity let us assume that Daniel was speaking about normal 365 day-years just like we have today. If we exclude the last mysterious period of "seven" and multiply 69 x 7, we get a total of 483 years as the period encompassed by the first sixty-nine sevens. Now with our calculators in hand let us go to work. If we take the decree of Cyrus in 538 B.C. and subtract 483 years from it, we arrive at a date of about 55 B.C. This does not seem to be a particularly significant date in the history of Israel. The same would apply to the decree of Darius. But if we take the first decree of Artaxerxes in 458 B.C. and subtract 483 years from it we arrive somewhere in the vicinity of A.D. 25. This date seems quite close to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. If we take the second decree of Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. and subtract 483 years from it we end up at about A.D. 38. This appears to be slightly after the ministry of Jesus. Many scholars feel that Jesus was born somewhere around 4 B.C. We are told in Luke 3:23 that he was about 30 years old when he began his work. His ministry dates are generally estimated to fall somewhere around A.D. 28 - 32. We can now see that either of the last two decrees could possibly be predictions of Jesus’ ministry, and even of his atoning death. Now we must consider some complications to our simple way of calculating. In the first place, it is likely that the angel was speaking to Daniel about lunar years, the kind that Israel still observes today. The lunar year was made up of 360 days, not 365 as in our solar years. This type of 
calculation was common in the Bible as we can see from Genesis 7:11 and 8:4. We learn there that the flood began on the 17th day of the second month and ended on the 17th day of the 7th month. That is clearly a period of five months. However, we are told in Genesis 7:24 and 8:3 that the flood lasted exactly 150 days. Obviously each month was based on the 30 day lunar calendar. If we recalculate based upon the lunar year we will shorten the period by about 6 or 7 years. With this new calculation, the first decree of Artaxerxes would bring us to about A.D.18, again not a significant date. The second decree would bring us to about A.D. 31. This would be an extremely significant date, about the time of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his crucifixion. There are other factors, however, that complicate our calculations. From the year 1 B.C. until the year A.D. 1 is not two years, but one year. Even the solar year does not have 365 days, but 365.25 days. Also, the exact dates of Jesus ministry are still somewhat contested. So, we have probably done about all we can do with these dates and figures. It seems from what we see that the second decree of Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. is the likely beginning of this time period. It should be noted that this decree was the only one of the four that specifically spoke of rebuilding Jerusalem (Neh. 2:5). It is plain from our calculations and from the implications of these verses that the Messiah of Israel would have had to be cut off after the total of "sixty nine sevens" had elapsed and that his ministry and death would have preceded the destruction of the Second Temple by Titus in A.D. 70. This is astounding information for us and for all Israel, and it is a confirmation of all that is spoken of by the prophets. It certainly sheds light on the mysterious words of Jesus uttered shortly before his crucifixion, words recorded in Luke 19:42 (NKJV). He said to Israel: " If you had known, even you, especially in this your day , the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes" (emphasis mine). In Luke 19:44 Jesus says: "They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." Other statements of Jesus in the Passion Week also connect his approaching death to the destruction of Jerusalem (cf. Lk. 21:20-24; 23:28-31). (17) This whole interesting passage of Daniel also sheds some light upon the biblical time frame used in the New Testament. The New Testament writers felt they were living in the very last days. John even says, "Dear children, this is the last hour" (1 John 2:18). Either these writers were living in the last time or they were sadly and tragically mistaken. This passage in Daniel helps us understand this apparent discrepancy. We learn here that the end-day time clock began running with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem in 445 B.C. By the time Jesus was crucified, sixty- nine of the seventy time periods had elapsed. Shortly after that, Jerusalem and the Holy Temple were destroyed by Titus (A.D. 70). Writers in the New Testament era knew they were living in the last period or last hour of history and they were right. What happened? Almost two thousand years have now elapsed and the end has not come. How do we explain this problem? The secret is that the biblical clock must have stopped, probably at the destruction of Jerusalem or of the Temple. God’s end-day program was thus suspended. We remember that the end-day time clock began running with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Obviously, Jerusalem’s destruction would have had great bearing upon this divine timing mechanism. Today the clock still indicates seven minutes until midnight, so to speak. We are still very near a new day, and we are still living in the last hour of history. The clock still remains stopped. When will it start again? It could start at any moment especially now that Israel and Jerusalem are being restored once again, but the event that will start the clock will likely concern the building of a new Temple. Even the beginning of a new Temple could start the clock. When the clock starts, we could have only a period of about seven years until the end of the age. This period will surely include the time of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation. 
 
Chapter Ten Once again we see Daniel troubled and grieving over a vision he has whilst by the river Tigris on the 24 th day of the first month. This message concerned a great war to come, and yet as we read this chapter we once again find it to be a clarifying of previous vision. As before, each vision beginning with King Nebuchadnezzar involved the rise and fall of empires from the time of Persian rule until the coming of the son of man who will be victorious in dealing with the lawless one as described by the apostle Paul. Just as each vision revealed more knowledge of the events, so too does this vision that Daniel now sees! 
V1-3 Daniel simply gives an introduction to the events and describes the timing of the vision. 
V4-14 Daniel now brings a greater description of who can only be recognised as Jesus and sounds very similar to Rev.1:13-15. However, as we read on we discover that this angelic being was detained for 21 days. Hence, how could this be the Christ? Most scholars argue that this was Christ prior to his incarnation. Once again this is arguable as the pre-incarnate Christ was in the beginning, see John 1:1 and all things were made through him. On the other hand, we must also consider that Satan and his co- orts also have a certain degree of power within their dominion. A dominion which was handed to Satan by Adam and Eve in the garden. 
V15-21 Daniel is overwhelmed with what he is told and sees and is at the verge of collapse. It is a man who through this gives Daniel strength to carry on just as it is the son of man who will give every believer the strength to endure to the very end. 

Chapter Eleven This chapter is simply a continuation of the previous one with Michael the angel being revealed as Daniel’s own angel who fights with and supports the being which has presented himself to Daniel. This and the previous chapter shed some light on Ephesians 6 and our struggle with spiritual forces over our lands. 
V2-35 Once again details of the great unfolding war are revealed to Daniel, a picture of how the end times will unfold before the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ! Jim Gerrish writes regarding these events; “Daniel once again sees the nations represented in his first vision of chapter two, and his vision of beasts in chapter eight. He sees that there would be three more kings in Persia. After Cyrus there would be Cambyses, Darius and Xerxes (Ahasuerus). The fourth king, Xerxes, would be richer than them all (cf. Esther 1:4-8). This king would also go to war with the Grecian Empire (11:2). Xerxes did just that and attacked the Greeks with a mighty army and navy. Clark citing the ancient historian Herodotus states that the army was over 800,000 men along with over 1,200 ships. (20) Xerxes was still soundly defeated by the Greeks in one of the most important naval battles of history, the Battle of Salamis in 480 B.C. The next figure to arise would be Alexander the Great. We remember his astounding victories, his early death and how the kingdom was divided up by his four generals. These generals are referred to in history as the "Diadochi" (11:3-4).” 
“In Daniel 11:5 , we have mention of Ptolemy I, the strong king of the south and one of his commanders who would later become Seleucus I and would rule Syria. Soon the two empires would try to consolidate their rule. To accomplish this Ptolemy II would give his daughter, Berenice (11:6) as a wife to Antiochus II. Berenice would later be divorced and then murdered along with her child. Daniel 11:7 mentions the brother of Berenice, whom we know as Ptolemy III. He took vengeance for the death of his sister by invading the Seleucid Empire. We know from history that his campaign was successful and that he brought much booty back to Egypt, including many Egyptian gods previously captured by the Persians (11:8). The warfare was to continue with Seleucis II invading Egypt in 242 B.C. but having to retreat (11:9). His sons Seleucus III and Antiochus III (the Great) would then began a massive invasion of Egypt (11:10) but after initially winning the Holy Land they would suffer a disastrous defeat by Ptolemy IV, at what we now know as the Battle of Raphia (11:11). We then see the king of the south (Ptolemy IV) filled with pride (11:12) , but later being humbled. Some years later, the king of the north (Antiochus III) would gather another great army (11:13) and with the help of the Macedonians would once again attack the south. This time the army sent by the king of the south (Ptolemy V) would be defeated at Paneas and later surrounded and forced to surrender (198 B.C.). We now know from history that the place of this surrender was the heavily fortified city of Sidon as is alluded to in 11:15 . After his great victory Antiochus would do as he pleased and would ravage the "Beautiful Land" or the Land of Israel (11:16). Then we see the king of the north making a treaty with the king of the south by giving his daughter, Cleopatra I (not the famous Cleopatra of later Roman times) to Ptolemy V in 195 B.C. (11:17). By this he had intended to overthrow the kingdom but Cleopatra remained loyal to her husband. Later Antiochus III would war against the Aegean coastlands but his plans would be brought to an end by the Romans at Magnesia in 190 B.C. (11:18). Finally he was slain while attempting to plunder a pagan temple and his successor, Seleucus IV, ruled in his stead ( 11:20). Seleucus also did some plundering as he attempted to loot the Temple at Jerusalem. His attempt was unsuccessful due to divine intervention, and he was later murdered by the very servant he sent to plunder the Temple. Thus he was "destroyed not in anger or in battle" (v. 20).” 
Amazingly, over 135 prophecies are fulfilled in the book of Daniel, with scholars asking how is it possible? The answer, “all things are possible for our God’. Portions of the book of Daniel were found with the dead sea scrolls and included in the Septuagint written around 250BC. 
V36-45 “It is apparent that the object of Daniel’s involved history lesson is to bring us to Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) who is finally introduced to us in 11:21 . This evil ruler is of utmost importance to us in understanding the events of the end-days. He is a picture of what the Beast or Antichrist will be like. We see that he was a contemptible person who was not given the honor of royalty. He was not of the royal line but obtained the throne by guile and intrigues (11:21). He would waste no time in oppressing the people of Israel and we understand that the last-day Antichrist will do the same thing (11:22). Later in his zeal to impose Hellenism upon Judah he would sweep away the government of Israel and install his own appointee as the High Priest. He would attack the king of the south (Ptolemy VI) and through intrigues and actual warfare would overcome him at Pelusium in 170 B.C. The two would set down at the same peace table and lie to each other with their hearts bent on evil (11:27). That sounds like many of the so-called Middle East ‘peace conferences’ of our own day. On his return home Antiochus would not resist plundering and sacking Jerusalem (11:28). Later as the king of the south would double-cross Antiochus, he would decide to attack Egypt once again (168 B.C.), but this time the ships of Rome would intervene (11:30). He would be forced to retreat by the Roman legates, but in a great rage he would vent his fury against Israel once more, looting, oppressing and murdering the populace. At this point in history we have the setting for the period of the Maccabeean Revolt (168-165 B.C.) which we have discussed earlier. The Temple would be desecrated, the daily sacrifice would be suspended, and the abomination of desolation would be set up (11:31). This abomination would be the statue of Zeus, the pagan deity, placed in the Temple of God.” 

Chapter Twelve V1-4 We see once again Michael coming to the help of Gods people, and is named as their angel. It is a time of distress such as not happened from the beginning of nations until then. Yet everyone found in the book will be delivered, including those asleep in the dust. This sounds very familiar with the book of life found in Rev 3:5; 13:8; 10:2,8,9,10; etc throughout.  Also, it is note worthy to see that “many will go to and fro throughout the earth and knowledge will increase.” 
V5-12 Once again Daniel brings us to a time period of three and a half years till the time of the abomination of desolation to the time of which the lawless one is dealt with. Yet the angel adds an additional period of 45 days in which those who “wait” for this time will be blessed. One can only imagine what this additional period will bring, but as we will see in the book of Revelation, perhaps it is the image of Zion, the new Jerusalem coming in the sky. See Rev.21 
There is no doubt from the change of tense in the last chapter, that Daniel is picturing a time far beyond his time. The Anti-Christ and beast are no longer spoken of as imagery of a man but for who he really is. This is not only a person, but a spirit that will be at work throughout the land in that day. It is a day that includes saints, not just the chosen nation of Israel who will be persecuted and many of them will suffer and fall away. Similar wording to Christ’s foretelling of end times in Matthew 24. “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8“All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” 
Conclusion The book of Daniel is by far a revealing description of times to come, coupled with the book of Revelation, we the saints of God can see the signs of the times and prepares our lives for His second coming in the clouds, where we will rise up to meet him, as a bride meets her groom.