Apocalypse Soon

Introduction

Personally I’m one of those individuals who find the book of Revelation very interesting. I’m fascinated by it. It’s so graphic & it is amazing to read how God will finally wrap things up here on earth.

Clearly I’m not alone here. Even people who know nothing about the Bible know (or at least have heard) about Armageddon, the four horsemen of the apocalypse & Satan having the number 666.

However, even though it holds a fascination to most Bible readers, it’s rarely preached from the pulpits & when it is, it is hardly ever treated seriously, the result being that what is typically preached is a white washed shadow of what is a wonderful & powerful work of God. It is little wonder that so much confusion exists about this fantastic finale to the Bible. For example, many will preach from the pulpits stating that 666 is code for Nero Caesar & that Christians at the time all knew what & who the 666 was referring to. This is total nonsence of course as Revelation was written in 95 AD & is a prophetic vision on the future of mankind. Nero Caesar had died in 68 AD, so when John penned Revelation, Nero was pushing up the dasies & had been for the past 27 years. The only code that any mention of Caesar conveys is that the person making that claim has no clue whatsoever about John’s Revelation.

To understand the message, structure & encoding of Revelation you need a good knowledge of both the Old Testament & the New Testament. Sadly the level of education within the UK has dropped to such a low level in the population that the majority of what is being preached now is only suitable fodder for a children’s Sunday school class, but is currently being peddled to adults.

The letter to the Hebrews (6: 1 – 3) clearly states that we should leave these elementary teachings behind & go onto maturity. This book is meat, not milk. If you want to learn the truth about John’s Revelation, this book will guide you. It will show how world history & the Old Testament is the key to unlocking the future & step by step this book will go through Revelation & reveal what is laid out within it.

The very first paragraph of revelation clearly states that ‘blessings await those who read the words & blessed are the ones who hear it & take to their heart what is written in it.’ Clearly this is not only a clear invitation to read it, but also a promise to be blessed by it.

So what are you waiting for; it’s best to jump straight in, it is expected of you & it will be a blessing.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Table of contents

Notes

Chapter 1 A quick note on prophesy

Chapter 2 Daniel 2

Chapter 3 Daniel 7

Chapter 4 Daniel 8

Chapter 5 Daniel 9

Chapter 6 Daniel 10 & 11

Chapter 7 Daniel 12

Chapter 8 Lessons from Daniel

Chapter 9 Other sources

Chapter 10 The book of sevens

Chapter 11 Revelation 1

Chapter 12 Revelation 2

Chapter 13 Revelation 3

Chapter 14 Revelation 4

Chapter 15 Revelation 5

Chapter 16 Revelation 6

Chapter 17 Revelation 7

Chapter 18 Revelation 8

Chapter 19 Revelation 9

Chapter 20 Revelation 10

Chapter 21 Revelation 11

Chapter 22 Revelation 12

Chapter 23 The unholy trinity

Chapter 24 Revelation 13

Chapter 25 Revelation 14

Chapter 26 Revelation 15

Chapter 27 Revelation 16

Chapter 28 Revelation 17

Chapter 29 Revelation 18

Chapter 30 Revelation 19

Chapter 31 Gog & Magog

Chapter 32 Revelation 20

Chapter 33 Revelation 21

Chapter 34 Revelation 22

Chapter 35 Lessons from Revelation

References

About the author

Picture credits

Notes

This work is by the author & as such, all copyright belongs to the author. You are not permitted to copy any text without the authors express permission, but you are permitted to tell everyone about this book (either verbally or electronically, but not necessarily limited to these versions) & its contents, thereby creating a healthy debate.

All images are in the public domain & have been sourced from www.wikipedia.com & other sources where images are copyright free, unless created by the author.

This work is fully referenced to aid the reader in any future studies. That being said, internet references have been used to aid study as most individuals do not have huge libraries at their disposal, so it is far easier to research material online than to go through the expense of ordering specific books at a public lending library.

Bible passages have been paraphrased as copyright laws do not allow large sections of text to be copied verbatim. However, I have endeavoured to include salient points & it would be preferable for the reader to read along with your own Bible so as to use a translation that is most comfortable for the reader.

Chapter 1

A quick note on prophesy

Most readers of the Bible would describe the book of Revelation as a work of prophesy. But what is prophesy?

The definition in the author’s dictionary describes it as:

Prophesy¹:

a prediction.

a message revealing God’s will.

the act of uttering such a message.

the function or activity of a prophet.

Revelation is most definitely a prediction; it is also a message revealing God’s will. John (the author of Revelation) communicated it in writing for everyone’s benefit, so it can safely be said to be a book of prophesy as a, b & c (above) best describe this last book of the Bible, a.k.a. John’s Revelation.

The word prophesy originated from the Greek word prophemi², meaning ‘to say beforehand’, or to ‘foretell³’.

The western world is generally familiar & comfortable with this ‘Greek’ model of prophesy; however it is not the only type of prophesy. There is also the ‘Hebrew’ model⁴, in which prophesy is when a certain act is repeated.

In this instance, a specific act from the past is looked for, awaited or anticipated to re-occur at some time in the future. John, the author of Revelation had a Jewish background, so would have been familiar with this type of prophesy model, not the Greek model, it would therefore also make sense to conclude that he would have been aware that some of what he had read in scripture had previously occurred &/or been previously prophesied by Daniel (which he would have been familiar with due to his knowledge of the Old Testament) & therefore he anticipated certain things to happen again due to his ‘vision’.

This does not however exclude the Greek model from within John’s book, so any student should be aware of both these types of prophesy & therefore look for the possibilities for each prophesy type being contained within it.

Clearly then, Old Testament books should be studied to give clues that can help to decode Revelation. It would be the obvious place to start. This ‘study’ is called eschatology, which is described as:

Eschatology⁵:

The branch of theology concerned with the end of the world.

Eschatology originated from the Greek word eskhatos⁶ meaning ‘last’.

So the work will be an eschatological study, with the books of Daniel & John’s Revelation forming the primary focus of the study.

The book of Daniel

When Jesus was questioned by His disciples about the ‘sign of your [Jesus] coming & the end of the age?’ ⁷. Jesus’ response was to point them to the book of Daniel; so clearly He understood that all the information His disciples needed ‘to understand’, was to be found within that book. So evidently, that is where any serious study on the end of times should begin. Jesus clearly said so. But before looking in to Daniel, it would be beneficial to become familiar with Matthew 24 & 25 to see exactly what Jesus said.

The book of Daniel plainly has, in part, similar themes & subjects to Johns later Revelation. Therefore a model exists which can not only provide a framework to follow, but will also educate any student on the symbology that occurs within the later book.

A number of years have also passed between when the book of Daniel was first penned, so any predictions Daniel made concerning the last 2,000 years (current past, his future) should theoretically be confirmed just by studying history books. The history of the world can also therefore be used to interpret any symbology that would be unfamiliar to the reader as it will highlight the validity of the Hebrew model of prophesy.

Also, as this work’s focus is on Revelation, the book of Daniel should therefore be seen to be merely as an introduction to Revelation. The salient points have been highlighted, but only those things that are applicable to Revelation are explored in detail. The sections on Revelation are therefore far more detailed in interpretation.

Chapter 2

Daniel 2

The book of Daniel is generally acknowledged to have been penned circa. 536 BC & records events between 605 – 535 BC⁸. It is a unique book within the body of the Old Testament as it was, in part, written in Aramaic (2:4b – 7:28) ⁹. It covers a time when Daniel & many others were taken into exile in Babylon (10,000 people¹⁰ for 70 years), where the language was Aramaic¹¹. The fact that it is not written entirely in Hebrew is the first clue, it is, in part concerning the Gentiles. It is also unique as Chapter 4 was written by a Gentile, not Daniel who was a Hebrew. Daniel chapter 4 is written by King Nebuchadnezzar, some of it in the first person. So it could be said that the book is a bit of a mix. Even more so when it is realised that it is part narrative or historical (Chapters 1 – 6), part prophesy (Chapters 7 – 12) & that the book does not follow in a chronological sequence as would be expected¹², so it could also be said that it is a bit of a hash, but it is important to remember that Jesus’ conviction was that this is where to look regarding relevant information on the end of times (as previously detailed).

Also, Daniel chapter 2 is not generally acknowledged as prophesy, but Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is clearly prophetic. Daniel’s life was changed for the better as a result of the king’s dream & it was Daniel who God gave the knowledge & ability to interpret it. Its subject clearly outlines of the transfer of political power within that geographical region, so will form the starting point of this study.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream

The king, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which troubled him. This was the second year of his reign (604 BC). It appears that he used this as an opportunity to test the mettle of his court (which he had inherited) & probably wished to remove all the sycophants. As such, he gave them a task. He asked them to narrate to him his dream & interpret its content. Clearly if he had just asked for an interpretation, they would have concocted some story to appease the king, but in asking to narrate the dream & also the meaning, it would expose the hypocrisy that surrounded him. It transpired that none of his astrologers could achieve this task, so they were obviously charlatans. Nebuchadnezzar commanded them to be executed, along with all the other royal advisors or wise men, which included Daniel as he was at that time in training to serve the king¹³.

When the guards arrived to kill Daniel & his friends, he asked to plead with the king for time. That night they [Daniel & his 3 friends] prayed & the mystery dream & interpretation came to Daniel from God¹⁴.

The following day, Daniel stood before king Nebuchadnezzar & explained that none of the king’s advisors would be able to complete this task, but God in Heaven could do so as He is the one who reveals mysteries. He then added that God in Heaven had shown the king [Nebuchadnezzar] what will happen in days to come¹⁵.

He went on to say that he [Daniel] had been given the interpretation not because he had greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but solely so that he [Daniel] could help the king know & understand the vision¹⁶.

Daniel then recounted the kings dream, explaining that he’d [Nebuchadnezzar] stood before a huge statue that had a head of gold, arms & chest of silver, belly & thighs of bronze, legs of iron & feet of iron mixed with partly baked clay. Whilst he looked at the statue, a stone that wasn’t cut by human hands struck the statue on its feet & smashed the statue into tiny pieces, which the wind then blew away until there was no trace left of the statue. The stone then grew bigger & bigger until it filled the whole earth¹⁷.

He [Daniel] then detailed the interpretation to that dream/vision that God had given him.

He stated that God had given Nebuchadnezzar dominion, might, glory & power over men & animals wherever they may be. He [Nebuchadnezzar] was therefore the golden head of the statue. He then said that after him, an inferior kingdom will rise (silver), then another (bronze), then a fourth (iron) which is the strongest & will break & smash everything. Then there will be another kingdom, partly of iron, so partly strong, but divided as it is mixed with clay & therefore partly brittle. Their people would be a mix & therefore not united. During the period of these kings, God in Heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be crushed, but will crush the others & then endure forever. The rock that breaks the iron, bronze, clay, silver & gold¹⁸.

The king acknowledged the power of God in Heaven, lavished gifts on Daniel & set him up as ruler over the province of Babylon. But Daniel requested the job went instead to his three friends & that he stay at the king’s court in his service, which the king granted¹⁹.

The dream is fulfilled

It is now many years after this event, so it is possible to look within the history books & check the accuracy of Daniels account.

If the head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar, then that represented the Babylonian Empire which spanned between 606 – 539 BC. The Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Persian Empire ((silver) a.k.a. the Medo-Persian Empire) when Cyrus the Great²⁰ conquered Babylon. This empire spanned the period between 539 – 332 BC. The Persian Empire was in turn conquered by the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great²¹ (bronze) which was 332 – 68 BC. The Greek Empire was in turn, subjugated by the Roman Empire²² (iron) which covered 68 – 476 AD.

Each of the above Empires conquered their predecessor, so there are distinct differences with clear boundaries between the various metals. However, the Roman Empire (iron) was never conquered; it fractured & split before its demise²³, so it is blended with the clay. Also, the monetary value of these metals decreases through time as silver is worth less than gold, bronze less than silver & iron less than bronze. Also, the specific gravity of the metals (density) also decreases²⁴, but their hardness increases²⁵ when moving downwards from the head & therefore through time.

In Daniel’s interpretation there is also a reference to the fourth kingdom (iron) breaking & smashing everything, which is not mentioned for any of the previous kingdoms. This relates to the way the Romans conducted themselves. All the previous Empires would absorb the cream of the population after they had defeated the army & plundered the wealth. That is exactly why Daniel was in Babylon. He was one of the elite, taken to serve king Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. The strategy of the Roman Empire was somewhat different. When they defeated an army, whoever was not killed would become their slaves. They would plunder the wealth, but then instead of assimilating the general population, they would instead kill every man, woman & child before destroying the buildings. It was very much a scorched earth policy (called vastatio, which is a Latin word that translates into English as ‘desolating’, ‘ravaging’ & ‘devastation’) that their army practiced²⁶. This is why they were set apart in Daniel’s interpretation, clearly to demonstrate the difference from those who had gone before them.

So that covers the first four neatly, however, there is the iron mixed with clay part to consider. It has already been demonstrated that iron represents the Roman Empire, but there were two phases to this Empire. The first phase was all controlled from Rome which grew & spread throughout the known world. This first part is symbolised by the iron legs of the statue. But by the time of Emperor Theodosius I 379 – 395 AD, the Empire had started to fracture & then split into two distinct parts, the East & the West.

The West was being controlled from Rome & the East being controlled from Byzantium (later called Constantinople). The last Roman Emperor (of the Rome based Western part) Romulus Augustus was deposed by the Germanic King Odoacer on 4th September 476 AD²⁷. This brought an end the Western part, but the Eastern part having severed its ties with Rome went on under the title of the Byzantine Empire until Constantinople finally fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD²⁸.

So it can be clearly seen that it was divided, it did not mix together & it eventually fell, so Daniel’s accuracy on all this was 100% correct. This is clearly because God caused Nebuchadnezzar to have the dream, explained it to Daniel in a vision, then He [God] caused it all to happen, just as Daniel had detailed. The Lord God in Heaven had allowed each kingdom to rise & fall due to His will, which clearly demonstrates why each emerging power was so quick at attaining victory. Their time had come & God was in control.

During the Roman Empire (iron) 68 BC – 476 AD, the Lord God in Heaven set up a kingdom that will never be crushed. (This was the birth, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ). Part of this is yet to be fulfilled, that is ‘He will crush the others & then endure forever. The rock that breaks the iron, bronze, clay, silver & gold.’

So it can be said that there was a prophesy that came to Nebuchadnezzar, which was interpreted through Daniel & is clearly now demonstrated to have been fulfilled over the fullness of time. As can be seen looking back at these events, it is all clear.

Also, it should be noted that there are no names in the prophesy, or the interpretation. This will form a constant theme during the rest of Daniel & in most of John’s Revelation. Also, as Daniel was written in 536 BC, it should be realised that this was during the Iron Age²⁹, so in the case of Daniel, he understood only Iron Age things. That was his experience & his world.

When he was given a vision of the future, not only would he not be able to comprehend what he was seeing, but he would describe it as best he could using his limited Iron Age vocabulary. If it is imagined how Daniel could describe a bus or a television & it will be seen just how difficult it would be to understand what he was describing. In the case of the bus he may have described it as an iron beast that ate people. The people who had strangely waited patiently for the iron beast to find them, before eating them. The beast then would move around with an unseen power until it found another queue of people to eat. Basically, he would not know what it was or how to describe it, so even though it was stated that this was a bus, someone now can appreciate the description by the actions. If it had not been stated that it was a bus, the reader would probably think it was a crazy description of something that couldn’t ever exist or ever happen in reality. So it is important to appreciate that Daniel, & later John, are always explaining what they had seen, but couldn’t possibly fully comprehend what they were seeing, so ultimately struggle to convey what had been seen. Many times it is written ‘it was like’ written, because Daniel & John attempt to convey what they had seen in their visions. As mankind move closer to the time when these prophetic visions will be realised, so too will the accuracy of any interpretation, mainly because what has been described will suddenly be recognised.

At this point, the focus will now move on to Daniel chapter 7 as this is the starting point of the prophetic chapters, which contain the visions & dreams that will help when deciphering John’s Revelation.

Chapter 3

Daniel 7

In this chapter, Daniel states that he had a dream & visions as he was in bed. So he wrote down his dream. He said that he looked & saw four winds of Heaven churning up the great sea. There were four beasts & each was different from the others³⁰.

The first was like a lion & had eagle’s wings. The wings were pulled off & it stood upright like a man, then it was given the mind of a man³¹.

The second was like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides & it was chewing on three ribs. It was told ‘Get up & eat your fill of flesh³²’.

The third beast was like a leopard that had four wings on its back. It had four heads & authority to rule³³.

The fourth was terrible, frightening & very powerful. It had teeth of iron. It crushed & devoured its victims, then trampled on whatever was left. It was different to the others & had ten horns³⁴.

Whilst Daniel was pondering the ten horns, a small horn sprang up, uprooting three of the others. This small horn had eyes like a human & a boastful mouth³⁵.

Thrones were set in place, the Ancient of Days took his seat, His clothes were white, His throne was flaming with fire, as were its wheels. A river of fire flowed out before Him; thousands attend Him, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated & the books were opened³⁶.

Then Daniel continued to watch because of the little horn’s boasting, but then the beast was slain & its body destroyed, then thrown into the blazing fire. All the other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a time³⁷.

Then, there was one like a Son of Man who came with the clouds of Heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days & was led into his presence. He was then given authority, glory & sovereign power; people of all nations & languages worshiped Him. His domain is everlasting & will not pass away, His kingdom will never be destroyed³⁸.

At this point, Daniel was so troubled by this vision, that he asked ‘one standing there’ for the meaning, so that one gave to Daniel the interpretation of the vision.

The four beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth, but the holy people of God will receive the kingdom & keep it forever³⁹.

Then Daniel asked ‘what was the meaning of the fourth beast & its ten horns & about the little horn that grew up then uprooted three of the ten. The horn that was more imposing than the others & had eyes & also a mouth that boasted. As he watched, that horn was waging war against the holy ones & winning. That is until the Ancient of Days came & pronounced judgement in favour of the holy ones & the time arrived when they were to possess the kingdom⁴⁰.

The response was as follows: The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom. It is different to the others as it will devour the whole earth & trample on it & crush it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them, another king will rise, different from the previous ones. Three will be subdued. He will speak against God & oppress His holy ones whilst trying to change the set times & the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for 3 & a half years. The court will sit & his powers will be taken away forever. All the kingdoms under Heaven will be given to the holy people. This will be forever⁴¹.

That was the end of the vision & the interpretation. It troubled him enough to make his face turn pale, but he told no-one about this vision⁴².

Decoding the vision

As previously stated, it is now many years after this vision, so there is not only thousands of years of knowledge & history to draw upon, but also the New Testament to help unravel this problematic vision. As before, each element will be tackled from start to finish.

The date indicates that at this time, Daniel was in his sixties⁴³. The vision starts with the four winds of Heaven⁴⁴, which is typically a euphemism for the whole earth, such as we now say the four corners of the earth⁴⁵. When it is found in the Bible, it is generally taken to mean a remarkable or devastating event⁴⁶. In John’s Revelation it is used in the context of judgement⁴⁷ & the great sea⁴⁸ is the Mediterranean Sea⁴⁹.

At the time Daniel had this vision, the Mediterranean Sea & the land surrounding it was the whole of the known earth, so it can be said that the four beasts (who churned up the great sea) disturbed the whole of the known world. These beasts are acknowledged as being the same as those in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. In this instance, the winged lion is representing the Babylonian Empire. This winged lion was a protective deity called a lamassu & was typically found outside city gates acting as sentinels protecting the city⁵⁰. There is a great example of one of these lamassu’s in the British Museum & others throughout the world in various museums.

The remaining part of verse four is likely to relate to king Nebuchadnezzar himself. God punished him⁵¹ by making him live & act as an animal & then restored him after seven years.

Seven will become a theme in John’s Revelation as a time of judgement, so it can be clearly seen here that Nebuchadnezzar was judged by God, punished, then given back his life as a human (remade as a man), whilst John’s Revelation outlines the world being judged, punished & also being remade.

Image 1: A picture of a lamassu⁵².

Almost as if Nebuchadnezzar’s experience was a prototype of the world’s final judgement. So this could clearly fall into the realms of a Hebrew prophesy as it will be repeated in the future, but not to an individual, this time to the whole world.

Also, the number seven in the Bible is the number of completeness or perfection (both physical & spiritual). It derives meaning from the creation narrative. According to Jewish tradition, the creation of Adam occurred on October 7th 3761 BC (or the first day of Tishri, which is the 7th month in the Hebrew calendar). The word created is used 7 times describing God’s creative work⁵³. There are 7 days in a week & God's Sabbath is on the 7th day. The Bible, as a whole, was originally divided into 7 major divisions⁵⁴, which were:

Law

History

Poetry

Prophesy (Old Testament)

History (New Testament)

Epistles

Prophesy (New Testament)

The total number of originally inspired books was forty nine, or 7x7, demonstrating the absolute perfection of the Word of God⁵⁵. Seven is a holy number⁵⁶ & therefore also multiples of the number seven.

The second beast in Daniel’s vision is generally acknowledged to be the Persian Empire.

The bear symbolised the strength of Xerxes’ army. Herodotus estimated Xerxes’ army as being one million strong, not including another 10,000 elite warriors⁵⁷. Clearly an army of this size would be a slow lumbering beast. The ribs that the bear chewed are said to be three decisive & important battles which it won. These were against Lydia⁵⁸ in 547 BC, Babylon⁵⁹ in 539 BC & Egypt⁶⁰ in 525 BC.

The third beast in Daniel’s vision is acknowledged to be the Greek Empire. The Leopard is a fast runner, but with the addition of wings it symbolises even greater speed & Alexander the Great amassed the largest empire in the entire ancient world in just 13 years⁶¹. Upon his death in 323 BC, his kingdom was divided up between his four generals (which are represented by the four heads on the leopard). They were Lysimachus who inherited Thrace, Asia Minor & Macedon⁶², Cassander who inherited Macedonia & Greece⁶³, Seleucus who inherited Syria, Babylon, Persia & India⁶⁴, whilst Ptolemy had Egypt, Palestine, Cilicia, Petra & Cyprus⁶⁵.

The fourth beast of the vision is acknowledged as the Roman Empire. Iron as it was in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; this time not iron legs, but iron teeth & was described as crushing, devouring & stamping. This one is again described as being different to the previous beasts (Daniel could not even find an animal from which to compare it to) & as having ten horns.

These horns are representing the areas of the Western part of the Roman Empire (before the split around 476 AD). They were: Huns or Alemani (current day Germany), Visgoths (current day Spain), Franks (current day France), Suevi (current day Portugal), Burgundians (current day Switzerland), Anglo-Saxons (currently England), Lombards or Bavarians (current day Italy), Ostrogoths (a wiped out tribe from the Black Sea who settled in Germany)⁶⁶, Vandals (a wiped out tribe from Germany)⁶⁷ & Heruli (a wiped out tribe from Scandinavia who had settled in Germany)⁶⁸.

Of these ten, only seven remain as three were uprooted in the vision⁶⁹, however, even though this has once again been fulfilled through the fullness of time, the next part has not.

There was another horn which appeared whilst Daniel was pondering what the ten horns were. This was a small horn that sprang up, indicating that it appeared somewhat quickly. That small horn then uprooted three of the horns leaving just seven of the original ones, plus itself. So there were now eight horns. The smaller one had eyes like a human & had a boastful mouth⁷⁰. Also it should be worth noting that in that paragraph, the timeline jumps. The timeline jumps from the Roman Empire to ‘our’ future. There is therefore a pause somewhere between the appearance of the ten horns & the sudden arrival of the small horn, but this pause was either not shown to Daniel, or he did not convey it within the text, but there is a pause & the little horn represents Satan.

It is fairly clear that Satan did not appear as the head of a country or government at the end of the Roman Empire after deposing the Ostrogoths, Vandals & Heruli, so it is safe to assume that the timeline has jumped forward & therefore this part clearly relates to another point in time, despite the fact there is no pause with Daniel’s text. This particular point in time will be dealt with in detail within the chapters on John’s Revelation which are later in this book, so will be covered only briefly here.

The next paragraph⁷¹ clearly describes Jesus in Heaven & this will also be covered in great detail within the section on John’s Revelation. However, at this point it should be recognised that the ‘fire’ element here relates to both God’s judgement & wrath. That therefore is a clue as to which point in time this relates to. That is the final judgement or apocalypse. Also, the thrones in the first & last sentences will also be covered in John’s Revelation. These refer to ‘the church’. The detail of these are hidden from Daniel’s eyes & so he was unable to see them in detail (apart from saying there were thrones & that the court was seated) as the Old Testament cryptically points towards Jesus. What comes after him is therefore veiled within the Old Testament. It was not until Jesus had completed His mission on Earth that ‘the church’ was revealed, so greater detail can be gleaned from within the body of the New Testament regarding these thrones & ‘the church’.

Continuing in Daniel⁷², the horn (Satan) continued boasting. Daniel watched until Satan was slain & its body was destroyed, then it was thrown into the blazing fire (again, clearly this will not happen until the end of days, so another confirmation that this relates to the end times). It also mentions some other beasts that were allowed to live for a time, but they had been stripped of their authority.

Following this⁷³, the text switches back to Jesus again. Daniel sees in his vision, Jesus’ return & glory.

Decoded in Heaven

At this point, Daniel is clearly perplexed about what he had witnessed, not to mention disturbed, so he asked someone who was there in the throne room to explain to him what it all meant⁷⁴.

So that individual explained to Daniel what had transpired & also gave him the interpretation. That was the four beasts being four kingdoms (Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek & Roman Empires) that will rise from the earth⁷⁵ (not from Heaven. They were given power from Heaven to rise & were of the earth, so it was said ‘they will rise from the earth’, but only for a time as they were all superseded). But, the saints of God (that is the church, so again not much detail) will be given the kingdom & possess it for eternity⁷⁶.

At this point⁷⁷ Daniel wanted to know more detail about the fourth beast & its small horn which uprooted three of the ten horns on that beast & waged war against the saints, so he enquired about this too.

The response was that this fourth beast was a fourth kingdom⁷⁸ (Roman Empire), the ten horns were ten kings⁷⁹ who will come from this kingdom⁸⁰. After them, another power or kingdom will arise. This one is different from the previous ones & will subdue (this word translated from the Hebrew word meaning to ‘abase⁸¹’, ‘humble’, ‘put down’ or ‘subdue’) three of the ten⁸². This one is know to be Satan. Satan will speak against God, oppress God’s saints (the church) & try to change the set times & the laws. The saints will be handed over to Satan for a time, times & half a time. Which is, a time⁸³ (1 year), times (this means a pair, or two, there is no English word that exactly translates as there is no equivalent word except ‘a pair’, meaning two) & half a time (half a year or 6 months), so that is 3 & a half years (or 42 months).

In verse 26, the court sits (that is the Church in Heaven) & Satan’s power will be taken away & destroyed for eternity. The kingdoms of the earth will then be handed over to the Church & all rulers will worship God⁸⁴.

This was the end of Daniel’s vision.

He states that it greatly troubled him. So much so that his face had turned pale⁸⁵, which is understandable, as Daniel being an Iron Age man seeing visions of the future, of destruction on a scale unimaginable to him would have clearly been beyond his comprehension. State of the art technology at that time would have been a horse drawn chariot. For Daniel, it would have been an awesome spectacle to watch & comprehend. Heaven, the apocalypse & he had a front row seat. In colloquial terms, he would have been totally freaked out!

Chapter 4

Daniel 8

Moving on to Daniel 8, Daniel explained that two years following the previous vision⁸⁶, he had another. In this one, he reports, he found himself beside the Ulai canal (A river near Susa), in Elam⁸⁷, in the citadel of Susa⁸⁸.

When he looked up, he saw a ram with two horns. One horn was larger than the other, but the smaller one grew up later⁸⁹.

Daniel watched as the ram charged west, then north, then south. No other animals could stand up against it & none could be rescued from it. It did as it pleased with impunity & became great⁹⁰.

As he continued to watch, a goat with a horn between its eyes came from the west & crossed the whole earth. In a great rage, it charged against the two horned goat that was standing beside the canal. It struck the goat & shattered its two horns⁹¹.

It got knocked to the ground & trampled & no one could rescue the trampled goat⁹².

The two horned goat grew into a great size, but at the apex of its power, the large horn was broken off & four large horns grew in its place. Out of one of them grew another horn, small at first, but grew in power towards the south, east & also toward the ‘Beautiful Land⁹³’. It continued growing until it had reached the host of heavens, then it threw some of the starry host down to the earth. It then trampled on them & set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord. It took away the daily sacrifice of the Lord & the sanctuary was thrown down. Because of the rebellion, the Lord’s people & the daily sacrifice were given to it. It continued to prosper & truth was discarded⁹⁴.

Then Daniel heard a voice asking ‘how long will it be until the vision is fulfilled, the rebellion that causes desolation? He answered to Daniel ‘It will take 2,300 evenings & mornings, then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated⁹⁵.

Decoding the second vision

The vision starts strangely, as it takes place in Susa, which was in the province of Ulai. The strange part is that Daniel was in Babylon, but this vision is staged in Persia. As Daniel had an important role in the Babylonian kingdom, he would likely have gone on errands for the king. Perhaps even to Susa at one point (which is in modern day Iran), so this may explain why he was familiar enough with this foreign city so as to be able to recognise it & its landmarks within this vision.

When Daniel looked up, he saw before him a ram with two horns. One was larger than the other, but the smaller horn grew larger⁹⁶. This, scholars acknowledge, refers to the Medo-Persian Empire once again. This was in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream signified by silver & in Daniel’s previous vision it was a bear. The first horn signifies the Meades⁹⁷, the second horn (which over time became more dominant⁹⁸) was the Persians⁹⁹.

The ram pushed west, north & south (because it came from the east, or east of Babylon). No-one could stand against the ram¹⁰⁰, which has been demonstrated to be Cyrus the Great. As Daniel continued to watch, a goat with one horn came from the west¹⁰¹.

Not only are rams & goats symbolised in the Old Testament as symbols of power, but that different signs of the zodiac are attributed to certain lands according to astronomical geography. Persia is under the sign of Aries the ram¹⁰² & Greece the sign of Capricorn the goat¹⁰³. The one horned goat attacked with such great speed & ferocity that no-one could rescue the ram¹⁰⁴. This is borne out in history & refers to the Greek retaliation for an earlier Persian attack & battle at Thermopylae¹⁰⁵. Alexander the Great (the horn of the goat) first retaliated against the Persians at the Granicus River in May 334 BC¹⁰⁶.

He continued his campaign of Persia & finally defeated the Persians at Guagamela near Nineveh in 331 BC¹⁰⁷, which is now in modern day Iraqi Kurdistan.

At the apex of Alexander the Great’s power (at the age of 32), he died. This is where the horn was broken. Four horns then take its place. As was shown previously, this was four of his generals. They were Lysimachus, Cassander, Seleucus & Ptolemy.

Out of one of these four grew another horn, small at first¹⁰⁸ (not to be confused with the little horn of Daniel 7, this horn is a different little horn), but it grew in power towards the south, east & toward the ‘Beautiful Land¹⁰⁹’. This is referring to Antiochus Epimanes¹¹⁰, who had a blind hatred against Israel & the Jews. This will be mirrored & repeated in the ‘end times’, so it should be said that what is described here in Daniel 8 is a double identity¹¹¹.

Antiochus Epimanes therefore forms a prototype for the final world leader & will be covered in greater detail in Daniel 11.

Antiochus invaded Egypt & defeated Ptolemy VI (represented in the vision by growing in power towards the south). Rome orders his withdrawal & so he attacks Israel, plundering & desecrating the temple. He ordered everything he could think of that was in juxtaposition to God’s laws, forcing the Jews to stop the daily sacrifices, built an altar to an idol (Zeus) in the holy of holies, sacrificing pigs & other unclean animals as well as ordering that they should leave their sons uncircumcised. He basically outlawed Judaism. His mission appeared to be that Israel was to make themselves abominable in the eyes of God. This is the rebellion that causes desolation.

The 2,300 evenings & mornings¹¹², which is between 6 & a half to 7 years, is the approximate time that it took between the start of the desolation & the end of the Maccabean revolt¹¹³, when Israel defeated their oppressors & rededicated the temple. It could also equate to just over three years. 2,300 morning & evening sacrifices (as the original description was 2,300 evenings & mornings) is 1,150 days, which is just over 3 years, which is approximately the time it took Israel to win back their country. They rededicated the temple (in 164 BC under Judas Maccabeus) & that ceremony is celebrated to this day & called the ‘Feast of Lights’, or Hanukkah¹¹⁴.

Decoded in Heaven

Whilst Daniel was pondering all that he had seen & trying to comprehend it, he noted that before him was ‘one that looked like a man¹¹⁵’. He then heard a voice saying ‘Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision’. As Gabriel approached, Daniel fell prostrate as he was so terrified. Daniel then states that Gabriel explains that the vision relates to the ‘time of the end’, the ‘appointed time of the end’ ¹¹⁶(pointing to the duality as was previously seen).

Gabriel then relayed to Daniel that the two horned ram represented two kings of Media & Persia, which confirms what is detailed about Medo-Persian Empire earlier in this chapter. Gabriel continues stating that the goat is Greece & the first horn is the first king (so that would be Alexander the Great), which is replaced by four horns which emerge from his kingdom, but they do not have the same power ¹¹⁷(Lysimachus, Cassander, Seleucus & Ptolemy).

Then there is a shift here, where the duality starts this is historically the time of Antiochus Epimanes (in the vision), but also after the ‘time of the gentiles’ which began with Jesus.

Gabriel then states that in the last part of their reign, when the transgressors have become completely wicked, a wicked ‘king of fierce countenance’ (this is one of the acknowledged titles of Satan in the Bible) would arise & become very strong, but not under his own power (perhaps under Satan’s power, so he could just be a puppet of Satan). He will cause great devastation & succeed in whatever he does, even destroying the holy people. He will cause deceit to prosper & will consider himself superior (Satan glorifying himself) & by peace shall destroy many (Satan will first come under the cloak of peace – see the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6 later in this book, so it is actually a ‘false peace’), then stand against the Prince of Princes (this is one of the acknowledged titles of Jesus in the Bible), but he will be destroyed [Satan, not Jesus], but not by human power¹¹⁸ (by God’s power).

The vision of the mornings & evenings is true, but sealed up as it concerns the future¹¹⁹ – said Gabriel & this concerns the Maccabean revolt, so this has now shifted back to history once again, but it was the future for Daniel.

That is the end of Daniel’s account, except for the fact that he reports that he was so exhausted that he had to lay down for several days. He was appalled by what he had witnessed & it was ‘beyond his understanding¹²⁰’ he said. So yet another traumatic vision for Daniel.

Chapter 5

Daniel 9

At the start of Daniel 9, the text states that several years have again passed¹²¹. It is now the first year of Darius¹²² son of Xerxes & as Daniel had studied the Hebrew Scriptures, he understood that Israel would be in bondage & servitude in Babylon for 70 years, as it had been foretold & written by the prophet Jeremiah & also the prophet Isaiah¹²³.

Daniel made no mistake; he took the word of scripture literally, not as an allegory. A mistake that many today would fall into. Many churches teach that there are lots of things contained within the Bible that are allegorical. They say ‘it says this, but it means something completely different’. This is generally incorrect; the Bible does contain some allegory, but in far less quantity than is generally acknowledged. Again as previously mentioned, this misconception is down to a lack of education.

Daniel (as previously stated) took it literally. As such, he realised that the 70 years of bondage was now close to completion, therefore he decided to pray ‘to God & pleaded with Him in prayer & petition, fasting & in sackcloth & ashes¹²⁴’.

During Daniel’s prayer, he was interrupted (at the time which would have been that of the evening sacrifice), by Gabriel who he recognised from his previous vision & he said to Daniel that ‘he [Gabriel] had come to give insight & understanding¹²⁵’. He went on to say that as soon as Daniel had began to pray a word went out, so he had come to Daniel to tell him that as he is highly esteemed, so he, [Daniel] was to consider & understand this vision¹²⁶.

Seventy sevens (he said) were decreed for Israel & the holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness & to bring everlasting righteousness & to seal up vision & prophesy & to anoint the most holy place¹²⁷.

He continued; know & understand that from the time that the word goes out to rebuild Jerusalem until the time of the Anointed One, the ruler, who comes, there will be seven ‘sevens’ & also sixty two ‘sevens’. It’ll be rebuilt with streets & a wall, but there will be times of trouble. Following the sixty two ‘sevens’, the Anointed One will be executed & will have nothing. The people of the ruler will also come to destroy the city & the sanctuary. This will come like a flood. War will continue until the end & desolations have been decreed¹²⁸.

He will confirm a covenant with many, for one ‘seven’. In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will cease the sacrifice & offerings. At the temple he will set up the abomination that causes desolation. This will continue until the end that is decreed which will be poured out upon him¹²⁹.

Decoding this vision

This vision is somewhat different to those that have been previously looked at. The first (Nebuchadnezzar’s dream), Daniel had received the interpretation from God after requesting so in prayer.

In the second, Daniel himself had the vision whilst he was in bed, but had to ‘ask one standing there¹³⁰’ (who was present in his vision) to explain to him the things he’d seen as he hadn’t understood what he’d seen.

In the third, again in the vision, one who was there explained to him what he had seen, but this time, that one was asked by another to explain things to Daniel (clearly that one knew that Daniel would need a bit of help to understand) & the narrator identified himself as Gabriel.

In this vision, again Gabriel has been tasked to communicate to Daniel, but this time, no explanation is given to the vision. Also, it appears that as this vision came to him during his prayer, interrupting him mid flow, so it could be said that he was in some sort of trance, his body being on earth, whilst his spirit is (clearly being elsewhere) experiencing this vision.

Therefore, either no explanation was needed as the previous explanations given to Daniel would be sufficient for him to understand, or there was no need to supply an explanation as the interpretation was not for Daniel. It is unclear from this chapter in Daniel which would be an appropriate explanation.

Before examining Daniel’s vision, it is important first to look at the ‘sevens’ that Gabriel spoke of.

Seventy¹³¹ (as in three score & ten = 70) & sevens¹³² (as in 7 ‘days – possibly’). The word translated as weeks, is a period of time times seven, therefore a week of days equates to what is generally known a week¹³³ (as in seven days). There can also be a week of weeks. That would be 7 weeks¹³⁴, also there could be a week of months¹³⁵, even a week of years¹³⁶.

Seventy sevens¹³⁷ are decreed for your people (that would obviously be Daniel & his fellow Jews) & upon the holy city (that would be Jerusalem). This is to achieve six things. They are:

To finish transgression.

To put an end to sin.

To atone for wickedness.

To bring in everlasting righteousness.

To seal up vision & prophesy.

To anoint the holy of holies.

If this list¹³⁸ were a tick list, only one could possibly be