Book of Daniel - Lesson 6 - Chapters 9-12

We finished Lesson Five with Daniel’s prayer to God for help for him and for the people in Israel, in captivity in Babylon because of their sins. Daniel knew from his study of God’s Word, prophecies from Jeremiah, that the captivity would last for 70 years. But he did not know the timing. Daniel prays, “We do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy.” He and his fellow Jews can only say, “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive... Delay not, for Your own sake” (Daniel 9:18-19). Rescue and forgiveness would come only by the grace of God.

While Daniel is still praying, God hears and responds to this prayer. He knows what we wish and what we really need. He quickly sends the angel Gabriel, who had appeared already to Daniel in Chapter 8:16ff. Gabriel has more to reveal, that would give hope not only for the end of the captivity, but for much more (Daniel 9:20-23).

In fact, God was already moving a pagan leader of the new Medo-Persian empire, Cyrus, to let God’s people begin to return to Israel and even to provide help for them in rebuilding their temple. You can read about his decree to give them freedom, issued in 539 or 538 BC, in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 and in the very next Old Testament book, Ezra 1:1-4. (Cyrus was much more open to giving people some religious freedom. Daniel was one of the advisors for the new empire, and maybe he had some influence upon Cyrus in making this decree, too. Daniel was elderly by this time, and God had other things for him to do, so he does not go back to Israel.)

In Daniel 9:24 the angel Gabriel tells Daniel, in effect, to forget about the 70 years of captivity and to focus on “seventy sevens” to come. The ESV translates this as “seventy weeks,” and others like the RSV translation say “seventy weeks of years”; but it seems best to leave it as it literally reads, “seventy sevens” - indefinite periods of time, according to God’s own perfect and complete planning and timing. No historical events seem to fit in neatly with “weeks” or “years” in what is described.

In verse 24, God’s whole saving plan in Jesus is described, with the coming of the “anointed,” “most holy” One, and His “atoning” sacrifice “for sin” and His “putting an end to sin” and “bringing in everlasting righteousness” for us. Key to this is the last phrase, which literally says “to anoint the holy of holies” which was the place where God showed His presence and forgave His people, in the “holy of holies” in the temple, when the high priest entered there, only once a year. The most important thing was not the place but the presence of God in this place to do this forgiving work for His people. The New Testament then clearly says that Jesus is that Person, God’s Son, the Son of Man, as we have heard; and His names,  “Messiah” and  “Christ” literally mean “the Anointed One” Who will complete all this saving work for us. When He has completed all His work of salvation, that will be the end, the “sealing of vision and prophecy” as all believers will be with Him in heaven. (See Hebrews 1:1-3 and 1 John 3:1-3, for example. As we will hear later, the temple in Jerusalem will no longer be needed, but the Most Holy One, Jesus, will be our hope and salvation.)

Daniel 9:25-25 is even more difficult, as we do not know why the “seventy sevens” of time to come are divided as they are. But here is what seems to be said. From the decree of Cyrus that Jews could return to Israel and rebuild the temple to the time of the coming of “an anointed one, a prince,” (Jesus, the Anointed One, the Prince of Peace - Isaiah 9:9 and 61:1) shall be seven sevens.(v.25) In human time, that would be about 538 years. Then, there is a troubled time of 62 sevens, of building, from the birth of Christ to His death, about 33 human years (v.25.) This is the very important time of Christ’s birth, life, ministry, teaching and proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

Then, after this 62 sevens, in God’s timetable, the “Anointed One” “shall be cut off and shall have nothing” (v.26). That refers to the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross. The prophecy in Isaiah 53:8 says of Him, “By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death.” The New Testament Letter to the Philippians, 2:5ff, tells us that “though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing... He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” On the cross, Jesus had nothing, and even His Heavenly Father left Him forsaken for a time, as he suffered the punishment of hell for us and the whole world. When Jesus died, we hear that, “Behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51).  

No longer would the temple and the temple sacrifices be needed because, as Hebrews 9:26-28 tells us, Christ “has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself... So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sin of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.” We are now, then, in the age of “a strong covenant,” a new covenant, centered in Christ our Savior. See 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 and Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Hebrews 8:6-13, for example. This is good news for “many” and that word often really means for “all” people. We seek to share it with all, because Jesus died for all, though not all will believe it (1 Timothy 2:3-6). This last period of time is called “one seven.”  It covers all the time from Christ’s death and resurrection and ascension until the return of Christ on the last day. It includes more events mentioned in Daniel 9:26-27, also, which we will hear about in Chapters 10 and 11 of Daniel.

This “one seven” has now been almost 2000 human years, but we are really only waiting for one more great event - the return of Jesus on the last day - which could be at any time. In the meantime, we share the Good News of Jesus with as many as we can, so that more will be prepared for that day by faith in Him, brought by the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God and Baptism. See some of the final words of Jesus, at His ascension into heaven, in Acts 1:6-11. The disciples want to know more details and times about the future, Jesus says, “It is not for you to know times and seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.” He then ascended into heaven, as “a cloud took Him out of their sight.” Angels then appeared to announce that He would return in the same way, “with the clouds of heaven,” as Daniel 7:13 says of the Son of Man.
    
God also gave Daniel a glimpse of what will happen on that last day, the day of Christ’s return, in Daniel 12:1-3. There will be the resurrection of the dead, with eternal life for those “whose names are written in the book,” who have faith in the Lord. (See Isaiah 25:8 and 26:19, as similar Old Testament promises of the resurrection. See New Testament Scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 for similar promises for us who live and die in faith in Christ.) This gives great joy and hope for believers, even though Daniel 12:1 also says that there will be great times of trouble coming, also, before Christ returns. Sadly, there is also the warning of a resurrection “to shame and everlasting contempt” for those apart from the Lord - the sorrows of hell.

In Chapters 10 and 11 of Daniel, then, we hear more about the troubles coming, first for God’s Old Testament people of Israel. These then become a symbol for trouble for New Testament Christians, throughout the history of the Christian Church, and difficult trials near the end just before Jesus returns. Chapter 10 is a prelude to the very long vision in Chapter 11. Daniel is mourning and fasting, maybe because it is now 536 BC, and things are not going so well and not many Jews are yet returning to Israel (10:2-3). Daniel sees a vision of a radiant man clothed in linen with lightning and fire about him, like the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:9-10 and the resurrected Jesus in heaven in Revelation 1:12-18. Some think it may have been God the Son before He became man; or it may just have been an angel, since the angels Gabriel and Michael are also mentioned in this vision (10:3-6). 

Clearly, God is communicating with Daniel. Some people are with Daniel. They cannot see the vision, but they can tell something frightening is happening, and they run and hide (Daniel 10:7). (See also Acts 9:7, where Saul sees a vision of Jesus, but others cannot see it all.) Daniel himself loses his strength and falls on his face and trembles in fear. It is what so often happens when sinful humans realize they are in the presence of the Lord or even of His angels. It is a vision for the distant future (10:14) but still Daniel is struggling with it all. Daniel has to be helped to his feet, trembling, and still cannot talk (Daniel 10:8-17).

Finally, very comforting words are spoken to Daniel, and he is strengthened. See Daniel 10:19. The really good news is that words like these are often spoken to other weak, sinful people in the Bible too, and they are true also for us, in Christ. Here are the phrases and related Scripture passages:

“O man, greatly loved” - John 3:16-17, 1 John 4:9-10, Colossians 3:12

“Fear not” - Luke 1:12,30; Mark 6:49-50, Isaiah 43:1, Luke 12:32

“Peace be with you” - John 20:19,21,26, John14:27, Philippians 4:7, and in our liturgy

“Be strong and of good courage” - Joshua 1:5-6, Psalm 31:24

Notice also in this chapter that there is a strong emphasis on angels helping and strengthening and even fighting for God’s people against Satan and evil, as they strengthened Daniel. In Daniel 10:13,20 and 21, we hear of angels battling princes of Persia and of Greece and contending against them. The enemies might have been evil leaders or evil angels or both. Remember how angels also earlier protected the three men in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3) and Daniel, in the lion’s den (Daniel 6). There are plenty of other examples in the Old and New Testaments, too. Read of the battle of good and evil angels, long ago, in Revelation 12:7ff. See how angels helped Joshua at Jericho when the walls came tumbling down and throughout his time leading the Israelites in Joshua 5:13-14 and 23:9-10. See Psalm 91:11-12, Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11, and the promise of guardian angels for little ones in Matthew 18:10-13. 

We still need the armor of God and the help of angels, along with our Lord today. See Ephesians 2:1-4 and 6:10-18. Did you ever wonder how often you have been helped and protected by “angels unaware” (Hebrews 13:1)? The Lord is our greatest strength, but angels are a great blessing, too, as we hear from Daniel.

The message, as Chapters 10 and 11 go on, is that there will be difficult, chaotic times for God’s people, even when they are able to return to Israel. They will be mostly under the control of the Medo-Persian and then the Greek and then the Roman Empires and more to come. There will be one especially bad time under a Greek leader to come.

There are 30 prophetic verses leading up to this bad time. One Lutheran commentator, Walter Roehrs, writes: “No other prophecy deals at such length and in such detail with events that were to take place between two Gentile nations (Daniel 11:5-36). Thirty verses are devoted to describe the sordid drama of battles, intrigues, assassinations, cruelty and duplicity which was to begin some 200 years after Daniel’s time and to last about a century and a half.” (We are not going over these verses in this study, but you could read them on your own, with a good Bible commentary, for history of the Greek empire especially.) Why would God choose to include these verses in His Word? Probably because this is the reality of our sinful world, ever since the fall into sin, a very unpleasant reality of sin and evil that is still around today. Compare Roehrs’ description with what still goes on today in the world.

Daniel 11:31-35 speaks of how God’s people of Israel would be affected terribly, too. We know from this passage and from literature from that time, including parts of the Apocrypha, that a Greek leader, Antiochus Epiphanes, rose to power and was very cruel. He controlled Israel and tried to force the Jews to follow Greek ways and gods. He massacred many Jews. He stopped the practice of circumcision, which was an important Old Testament ritual for all baby boys. He let garrisons of Greek soldiers stay in the temple in Jerusalem. He stopped all true temple worship and all Jewish animal sacrifices. Worst of all, “the abomination that makes desolate” (11:31), he set up in the temple an altar for the Greek god Zeus Olympus in 168 BC. He sacrificed pigs and other animals unclean to the Jews there. It was a terrible time for God’s people.

Finally, Jews rebelled and fought against Antiochus and in December of 165 BC, they were able to overthrow him and rededicate the altar and temple to the one true God. The Festival of Hanukkah came from these events and is still celebrated today by Jews. It is called the Feast of Dedication in John 10:22, when Jesus was in the temple in Jerusalem.

All this shows that God continued to help His chosen people of Israel and protected them, even through terrible times, so that the Messiah, Jesus, could come from the line of the Jews and do all that was prophesied about Him earlier in the Scriptures, including the Book of Daniel. Sadly, we read that when Jesus came, and Jews asked Him at the Feast of Dedication, “’How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe... You do not believe because you are not part of My flock. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, I give them eternal life... I and the Father are One.’ The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him” (John 10:24-31).

That rejection of Jesus eventually led to His crucifixion and death. Jesus also had predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in Matthew 24:1-2. He used the same term that Daniel used for the time of Antiochus Epiphanes to describe the coming destruction of the temple. He said in Matthew 24:15-16, “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand) then let those that are in Judea flee to the mountains.” All this was fulfilled, just as Jesus said.

There was a Jewish revolt against the Roman empire later, and in 70 AD the Roman general Titus conquered Jerusalem and totally destroyed the temple, never to be rebuilt, to our present day. Many Jews died, but almost all Christians escaped the trouble because of the warning of Jesus quoted above. 

The troubles continued, with another Jewish revolt against the Roman empire in the 130s AD, the Bar Kochba revolt. Emperor Hadrian sent troops who decimated what was still left of Jerusalem. An estimated 580,000 Jews died and others were carried away as slaves. Jews were banned from Jerusalem for 100 years, and few ever came back, until the restoration of Israel after WW II. The name of the land was changed to Palestine. Hadrian built a new Roman city on the ruins of part of Jerusalem, with temples for the gods, Venus and Aphrodite. The troubles continue, with the tensions we still see in that part of the world, between Jews, Palestinians, Christian and Muslims, to this day.

Jesus had also predicted troubles for the New Israel, the Christian church, living in an evil, often hostile world. He said in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” In Daniel’s prophecy, the troubles of the Jews with Antiochus Epiphanes  become a symbol also for the troubles Christian will have, and especially for troubles in the end times, as we have already seen in Daniel 12:1.

In Daniel 11:36-37, we have a description of a leader who goes beyond even the terrible things that Antiochus Epiphanes did to the Jews, in 11:31-35. This one will exalt himself as a god above all gods, including the one true God. He will speak astonishing things against the true God. He will pay no attention “to the one beloved by women,” which may mean that he rejects all true sense of love of others, and may, some think, refer to his having unnatural love, like homosexuality. (Emperor Hadrian, for example, practiced and promoted homosexuality.) This one will gain much power and influence (11:38-43) and bring much destruction... “yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him” (11:44-45).

Many think that this description fits best with the New Testament idea of antichrists and antichrist. See the warnings of Jesus in Matthew 24:21-27 and Scriptures such as 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8. John speaks of “antichrists” around already in his own day, as he says that Christians are in “the last hour” (1 John 2:18) and warns of “the spirit of the antichrist,” already around (1 John 4:1-6). (Remember that in Daniel 9:27, the Age of the Christian Church and the New Covenant is the one last “seven” of the “seventy sevens.” We are in the last times and will be until Jesus returns. For the purposes of this study, we do not have time to go into all this in detail. That is a subject for another Bible study. But go back and note, above all, that in each of the New Testament passages in this paragraph, there is the certainty of Christ’s return and ultimate victory for believers in Him. I’ll give just one example. Jesus describes much trouble, but concludes in Matthew 24:27, using the “Son of Man” image of Daniel, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far is the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”) 

The same comfort and hope is given to Daniel and to us in Daniel 12:1-3. Even in great trouble, Michael, the great prince, the angel of God will be with us, and God’s people will be delivered, as we have heard, with the resurrection of the dead and everlasting life, when the Son of Man, Jesus, returns. 

In the final verses of Daniel 12, it is as if Daniel and others want to keep asking more questions and get more detail, (as we might want, too, even after this long study). “How long will it be till the end of these wonders” (Daniel 12:6)? “What shall be the outcome of these things” (12:8)? There are no specific answers, except that “the wicked shall act wickedly” and yet God’s people can be strengthened and “purified” and “refined” through trouble, as God watches over them (12:10). Daniel also used such terms in Daniel 11:35. See also such Scriptures as James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:3-7. 

The angels also give some more numbers, which again seem to be symbolic: “a time, times, and half a time” (12:7) and “1290 days” and “1335 days” (12:12). All these numbers fall short of seven, the perfect number for God. He will end troubles as He knows best, for the Jews of the Old Testament, in our own lives and at the end.

In the meantime, Daniel is told to shut up the prophecy until the end (12:4,12:9) and “go his own way” (12:9, 12:13) with his daily life and work. “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (12:4). Daniel is not told to get all wrapped up in end time speculation and ideas, as many churches do. Daniel simply is told, “Blessed is he who waits” on the Lord and just trusts His promises (12:12). Daniel is also told, “You shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days”(12:13). Death would come to him, but his eternal future is secure in the Lord, just as Job also says in Job 19:25-27.

As this study closes, this is a great message from the Lord for all of us, too. Go your way. Carry on with your life, wherever the Lord has placed you. Wait upon Him and trust in Him, and He will see you through good and difficult days; and eternal life is waiting, through Christ. (As you have time, see also these great Words of God for you: Psalm 130:5-7, Psalm 31:14-16, 2 Corinthians 12:9-12, Colossians 1:11-14, etc.)

I have done the best I can in a challenging portion of Scripture, in a short time. Again, my apologies for the length and yet issues I could still not cover. Questions are always welcome.  If you want to read more about the time of Antiochus Epiphanes and the Jews, you could look at the Apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees. It is not Scripture and is not entirely reliable, but gives the history, as Jewish people know it. If you have the latest Lutheran Study Bible, you could read more about this period between the end of the Old Testament and the New Testament on p. 1551-1558. You could also read an interesting summary of people and groups that were sure that they had the end times all figured out and made many false predictions. This is on page 307 of the Lutheran Study Bible.