The Book of DANIEL Session4 ThePersiansarehere!Butnotforlong ExaminingDaniel6,9,10 12 HavinglookedatboththeNebuchadnezzarandBelshazzaryears(chapters1 4,7,8,&5), we now turn our attention to the remainder of the book (chapters 6, 9, 10 12). Though theseremainingchaptersnametwoseparate rulers andpertaintotwoseparateempires, theyaretwoempiresthatarebestconsideredtogether(kindoflikethe2hornsofaram if yourememberthatvisionfromchapter8). Meditating on the Medes! Let s start with some history. The Medes hadbeenaroundfor alongtime,goingbackasfaras 1400 1000 BCE, when they were nothing more than bands ofnomadictribes. These tribe were later united, shaped into a kingdom and after having overthrown the Assyrian Empire with the help of the Babylonians (c. 612 BCE) and solidified their own empire in the lands east and north of the Tigris River. Always in the background, the Medes were eventually conquered by the rising Persian Empire under Cyrus II (c. 550 BCE). Though conquered by the Persians, the Medes continued to hold a place of honour in the Persian Empire. Media was considered the second mostimportantpartofthepersianempireafterpersiaitself,andmedeswereoften appointed to positions of power within the Persian Empire as governors, provincial rulers or satraps (meaning protectorsofthekingdom ) Asaresult,it slikelydariusruledbabylonunderasahighrankingofficialrepresentingthe biggerpersianempire(whichmightexplaindaniel9:1,wheredariuswas maderuler over the Babylonian kingdom especially if he was made ruler by appointment of Cyrus of Persia).Regardless,DariusisaMede,anthereforerepresentsthe2 nd kingdominvolvedin bothworldpoliticsofthetime,anddaniel svisions.
Dealing with the Lions Den The story of Daniel 6 is perhaps one of the most familiar stories from the book of Daniel. You might even know it yourself! Daniel 6 is also a good opportunity to develop some of your very own bible study skills. So give it a try. Feel free to use the questions provided below to help guide your thoughts and discussion. Whatisthecentralproblem(orcrisis)thatarises? o o o Howdoesitarise? Whoisitaproblemfor? What satstake? Howdoesthepersonfacingtheproblemrespond? o Whatdecisionsdotheymake? o Whymighttheymakethosedecisions? o Whatmightthistellusaboutthem/theirfaith? Howistheproblemresolved? o Whathappensintheend? o Howdoestheoutcomeeffectthedifferentcharacters? WhereisGodinthestory? o WhoisGod with? o WhatdoesGoddo? Whatmightwelearnfromthisstory? o i.e.aboutthenatureoflife,humanity,ourselves,faith,andgod? Howdoesthisstorycomparetootherslikeit?(i.e.Daniel3) o What sthesameordifferent? o Whatmightwelearnfromsuchacomparison? Relying on the Word of God Thefirsthalfofchapter9tellsusthatDanielwascertainlyastudentofscripture,andwas, at the very least, familiar with the Torah (Mosaic Law) and the writings of the Prophet Jeremiah.Fromthis,it sworthreflectingonthefollowing: ConsiderhowpassagessuchasLeviticus26:14 19,Jeremiah25:11,andhowthe writingsofotherpre exilicprophetssuchasisaiah39:5 7andMicah3:9 12 describetheworldofjerusalembeforeitsfalltobabylon,mighthaveaffected Daniel sunderstandingofnotonlyworldevents,butofhisownimmediatesituation asoneofgod speoplein exile.
ConsiderhowpassagessuchasLeviticus26:40 44mighthaveinfluencedDaniel s actions,andinparticular,hisactionsonchapter9. ConsiderhowpassagessuchasJeremiah25:11 13,and29:10mighthaveinspired hopeforbothdaniel,andforgod speople. The 70 sevens As Daniel s praying in chapter 9, he receives yet another vision, complete with an interpretation albeitasomewhatconfusingone,butlet stakeacrackatit. The Vision of The Seventy sevens 24 "Seventy 'sevens' [a] are decreed Some Helpful Footnotes? foryourpeopleandyourholycityto finishtransgression,toputanendto sin,toatoneforwickedness,tobring in everlasting righteousness, to seal upvisionandprophecyandtoanoint themostholy. 25 "Know and understand this: From theissuingofthedecree [b] torestore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, [c] the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' [d] and sixty two'sevens.' [d] Itwillberebuilt withstreetsandatrench,butintimes of trouble. 26 After the sixty two 'sevens,'theanointedonewillbecut offandwillhavenothing.thepeople of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolationshavebeendecreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many forone'seven.' [d] Inthemiddleofthe 'seven'hewillputanendtosacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the templehewillsetupanabomination that causes desolation, until the end thatisdecreedispouredoutonhim." (a) We know Daniel s been reading Jeremiah and Moses. Compare this verse to Jeremiah 29:10.& Daniel 9:2. Just as beasts can equal kingdoms, so sevens equals years. (If you d been reading what Daniel s been reading, you d already know how to decode that!) (b) The Edict of Cyrus in 539 BCE allowed the God s people to return home to rebuild Jerusalem &the temple. (c) Or an anointed one. Before he comes, and even after he arrives Jerusalem and its temple will be rebuilt though it won t be easy! (Consider Nehemiah 2:1-10) (d) 7 + 62 +1 = 70 years; a number symbolic of God s judgement and wrath.. Here it is against earthly powers opposed to God & his people. (see Jer. 25:11-13) It is not immediate, but spread over time, reaching a climax against a ruler who blasphemes God, desecrates the temple, and brings destruction (Sound familiar? If not, you might want to reread Daniel 7 & 8)
1 rather long vision with 1 short explanation Chapters10 12makeupasingleunit,orasinglevision.Thisvision,accordingtoDaniel 10:1,datestothethirdyearofCyrus,KingofPersia(c.536/535BCE).Spanningchapters 10 12,thisisthelongestvisioninthebookofDaniel,yet,despiteitslength,theexplanation mayinfactbearathersimpleone onewecanperhapsexamineifwelookatitinthree parts(10:1 11:1;11:2 45;and12:1 13),andconsideroftheirkeypoints. Part 1: The Messenger (10:1-11:1) TheMessengerwhodeliversthevisiontoDaniel(10:4 9) Thismessenger: Wasdressedinlinen (generallyattireassociatedwithprophetsandpriests) Waswearingabeltofgold (generallyametalassociatedwithkings,nobility,andthe wealthy) Hadabodylikechrysolite(beryl) (agem,generallyassociatedwithstone) Hadafacelikelightning (lighted,glowing,blinding) Hadeyeslike flamingtorches (generallyassociatedwiththepresenceofgod) Hadarmsandlegslikeburnishedbronze (asrefinedbyfire,or shining ) Hadavoicelike thesoundofamultitude (great,loud,authoritative) HeavenlyWarfare(10:13 14,20 21) Thiswasn tanewideaintheancientworld.warwasn tjustsomethingbetween nations itwasabattleoftheirgods(guardianangels/deities/spirits)aswell.the winning side,wasthoughttohavethe strongergod(s).heredanielistoldheavenly wariscoming andthereforemoreearthlywarfareaswell.however,throughitall,the God speoplehavemichael(meaning, whoislikegod? )ontheirside.thatmeansthey haveheaven sarmyfightingforthem,becauseultimately,theonewhowilllookafter themisgod.[alsonotedaniel11:1 areminderthatgodissovereignovereverything andeveryone,jewornot!] Part 2: The Conflict (11:2-45) This part of the story gets confusing with kings of the north, kings of the south, and whole lot of fighting back and fourth and it might very well be hard to figure our what s going on here. However, history might be able to help us out here. First, Persia fell to Greece (11:2-3) under the rule of Alexander the Great who, while still young, died of sickness (11:4).
Afterhisdeath,hiskingdomwasdividedupamonghis4chiefgeneralsLysimaches(ruling Thrace & Phrygia), Cassander (ruling Macedonia), Seleucus (ruling Syria), and Ptolemy (rulingegypt). These two latter rulers founded their empires to the north and south of Judah respectively, and given the valuable trade routes running through Judah, they fought back and forth for control of them hence a war between the kings of the north, and the kings of the south which dragged out for generations. And it s this war that, in the vision, comes to an end (at least in Judah anyway) under the reign of king from the northern kingdom who persecute God s people, kill God s people, pervert the Law, desecrate the temple, and among other things blaspheme God! With this information one can return to the other visions and better pinpoint the end time in question. Based on Daniel 7, 8, and now 11, if one assumes Alexander s 4 generals to represent the 4 horns of 8:8, then look to the Northern Kingdom (the Seleucid Empire) and count down 6 more kings (4+6 =10), the next king in succession (Antiochus Epiphanes IV) would be the little horn. Egypt (KingsoftheSouth) PtolemyI(323 285) PtolemyII(285 246) (Philadelphius) PtolemyIII(246 221) PtolemyIV(221 203) PtolemyV(203 181) PtolemyVI(181 146) (EgyptcontrolledbyRome after180bceandbecame Romanprovincein30BCE) Struggle over Judah Judah 323 198BCE:Judahunder controloftheptolemiesofegypt 198BCEBattleofPaniumin whichseleucidsgainedcontrol ofpalestine 167BCEMaccabeanrevolt 165BCEReligiousemancipation ofjews 142 63BCEJewishpolitical independenceuntilpompey establishedromanruleover Jerusalem Syria (KingsoftheNorth) SeleucusI(312 280) AntiochusI(280 261) AntiochusII(261 246) SeleucusII(246 226) SeleucusIII(226 223) AntiochusIII(223 187) (thegreat) SeleucusIV(187 175) AntiochusIV(175 163) (Epiphanes) AntiochusV(163 162)
Part 3: The End Daniel12:1 4speaksofthefollowing: God speople beingprotectedbymichael(meaning: WhoislikeGod?) Thosewhosenamesare inthebook willbe delivered. Thedeadwillberaised some( thewise /faithful/martyrs)toeternallife,someto shameandeverlastingcontempt. Daniel12:5 13canbeconfusinggiven: The atime,times,andhalfatime isvague,andperhapsevencontradictory,whatis insteadidentifiedasthecertainmomentis whenthepowerofholypeoplehasbeen finallybroken Two numberofdays aregivenintheclosingverses 1290&1335respectively,yet theblessinggoestotheonewhowaitandreachesthelaterdate. Here, God not only promises to protect the faithful, but the resurrection of those faithful whohadperished(12:1 4).Thisisofimportance,giventhata)martyrdomhasbecomea hardrealityconfrontinggod speople,andb)theimplicationbeingthatthereisnoescaping God sjusticeandjudgment. What follows (12:5 13) is a seemingly rather enigmatic lists of times (numbers of days) afterwhichthe end willarrive however,verses1 4assureDaniel,thereader,andus,that whentheenddoescome,itwillbeahappyoneforgod sfaithfulpeople!