THE BOOK OF DANIEL |
However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. -- 2:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, "Was
it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?" They replied
to the king, "Certainly, O king." He said, "Look! I see four men
loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the
appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!"
How great are His signs and
how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His
This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men. -- 4:17 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride. -- 4:37 The Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. -- 5:21 Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions' den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, "Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you." -- 6:16 Make a decree that in all
the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of
I kept looking in the night
visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was
coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before
Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all
the peoples, nations and men of
These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come. -- 7:17-18 As for the ten horns, out
of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them,
and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.
He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the
Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law;
and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away,
annihilated and destroyed forever.
Then the sovereignty, the
dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will
be given
Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end. -- 8:17 Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. -- 9:24 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult. -- 10:5-6 Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. -- 12:1-2 But as for you, go your way
to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted
portion at the end of the age. -- 12:13
|
NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM
Then Daniel blessed the God
of heaven; Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times
and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives
wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. It is He
who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with Him. To You, O God of my fathers, I give
thanks and praise, for You have given me wisdom and power.
THE DREAM You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. ITS INTERPRETATION You, O king, are the king
of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the
strength and the glory; and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts
of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand
and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.
After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another
third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. Then
there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes
and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush
and break all these in pieces. In that you saw the feet and toes,
partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom;
but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron
mixed with common clay. As the toes of the feet were partly of iron
and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of
it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common
clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will
not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.
In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which
will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another
people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will
itself endure forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out
of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze,
the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the
king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation
is trustworthy. -- 2:31-45
THE FIERY FURNACE "Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?" Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." -- 3:15-18 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, "Was
it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?" They replied
to the king, "Certainly, O king." He said, "Look! I see four men
loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the
appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!" -- 3:24-25
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL O king, the Most High God
granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your
father. Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the
peoples, nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him;
whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and
whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled.
But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he
behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory
was taken away from him. He was also driven away from mankind, and
his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with
the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was
drenched with the dew of
THE FOUR BEASTS
Daniel said, "I was looking
in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring
up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea,
different from one another. The first was like a lion and had the
wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it
was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man;
a human mind also was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second
one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs
were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, "Arise,
devour much meat!" After this I kept looking, and behold, another
one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast
also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I kept
looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and
terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured
and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different
from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. While
I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came
up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots
before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man
and a mouth uttering great boasts. I kept looking until thrones were
set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like
ITS INTERPRETATION "These great beasts, which
are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth.
But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess
the kingdom forever, for all
THE GENTILE WORLD POWERS
Then I lifted my eyes and
looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of
the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the
other, with the longer one coming up last. I saw the ram butting
westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before
him nor was
ALEXANDER THE GREAT While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the [10] canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power. Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. THE EVENTS OF CHANUKAH:
Out of one of them came forth
a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward
the east, and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew up to the host of
heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the
earth, and it trampled them down. It even magnified itself to be
equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice
from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. And on
account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along
with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform
its will and prosper. Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another
holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, "How long will the
vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes
horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?"
He said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will
be properly restored." -- 8:3-14
THE LAST DAYS:
"Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end."' -- 8:17 He said, "Behold, I am going
to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation,
for it pertains to the appointed time of the end. The ram which you
saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
The shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that
is between his eyes is the first king. The broken horn and the four
horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise
from his nation, although not with his power. In the latter period
of their rule, when the transgressors have run their course, a king will
arise, insolent
THE SEVENTY WEEKS Seventy weeks have been decreed
for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make
an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting
righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy
place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a
decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there
will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza
and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks
the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince
who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will
come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the
middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering;
and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even
until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the
one who makes desolate. -- 9:24-27
A VISION OF THE PREINCARNATE MESSIAH I lifted my eyes and looked,
and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist
was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. His body also was like
beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming
torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound
of his words like the sound of a tumult. -- 10:5-6
FUTURE PROPHECY
Behold, three more kings are
going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than
all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse
the whole empire against the realm of Greece. And a mighty king will
arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.
But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled
out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants,
nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will
EGYPT AND SYRIA:
He will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. -- 11:30-32 THE LAST DAYS:
Some of those who have insight
will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time;
because it is still to come at the appointed time. Then the king
will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every
god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will
prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will
be done.
THE LAST DAYS:
Now at that time Michael,
the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise.
And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there
was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who
is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who
sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life,
but the others to
"How long will it be until
the end of these wonders?" I heard the man dressed in linen, who
was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his
left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be
for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering
the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.
As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, "My lord, what
will be the outcome of these events?" He said, "Go your way, Daniel,
for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Many
will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly;
and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will
understand. From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished
and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!
But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and
rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age." -- 12:6-13
|
|
"Daniel," by Marc Chagall Background by SilverBerch, copyright © 2000 from cover art, Daniel, Decoder of Dreams, Victor Books |