Monthly Archives: December 2011

My small group wanted to look at Daniel and Revelation.  The theme of both books is basically the same:  God is in control, or God wins out in the end.  In both books the people the book was delivered to … Continue reading →

Truly apocalyptic literature is found rarely in the Bible.  however, the two books which communicate it most are Daniel and Revelation.  As we move into Revelation it would be good to review Daniel and see how the language is used.  … Continue reading →

In Daniel 11 and 12 an extensive overview of the development of Greek dominion in the Ancient Near East is overviewed.  The timeline is increasingly unclear as we read through the chapters and at the end we seem to be … Continue reading →

In Daniel 10 an angel appears and is scary.  He is majestic, but he is scary.  Angels really were objects of fear in the Old Testament.  When an angel brought a message it struck fear into the heart of the … Continue reading →

The seventy weeks in Daniel nine is a point of controversy.  It is generally agreed that the weeks represent years and so we are talking of 70 weeks of years or 70×7=490 years.  After that accusations of sophistry, conspiracy and … Continue reading →

Time for Repentance Some people believe that Daniel 9 doesn’t really fit with the rest of the book.  It is not a simple story like Daniel 1-6 and it is not prophecy like many of the latter chapters.  It contains … Continue reading →

A Type of Antichrist Even with no full knowledge of Christ we see a type of the Antichrist represented in Antiochus IV Epiphenes.  The prophecy here looks forward to what he did in his reign, but Jesus also referred to … Continue reading →

In his commentary on Daniel, Tremper Longman writes: Chapters 7-12 focus on six important themes: the horror of human evil, particularly as it is conducted by the state the announcement of a specific time of deliverance repentance taht leads to … Continue reading →

The concept of a world empire would have meant the civilized world of the Mediterranean basin plus Persia to the ancient readers of Daniel.  So an empire that conquered the whole world could be perceived as Rome.  However, the nature … Continue reading →

Daniel chapter 7 starts with a view from heaven on the rise and fall of empires in the world.  We see human rulers and their empires as bestial at best, although the Babylonian empire finds a semblance of humanity.  After … Continue reading →