DANIEL (LECTURE ONLY)

 

Dr. W. A. Criswell

 

Daniel 2:48

 

09-15-96

 

 

I am very sensitive to any kind of rain.  As a boy, we lived across the line from Texline.  And that is desert country, as I look at now.

And I remember, one time, my father, who was so quiet and reserved—my father was standing in the back door of that house he had built on the farm.  And he was shouting at the top of his voice.  And I looked up into his face, and I said: “Daddy, why are you shouting so?”

And he took his hand and made a gesture.  And he said, “The rain—Son, look at the rain.  God has sent us rain.”

You know, I have never gotten over that.  Any time it rains, I look up and say, “God, thank you.  You have sent us rain.”

And that is everlastingly true from all of our souls.  It is a beautiful, beautiful thing that God sends us rain.

Now, I have an apology to make.  Last Sunday—I had no plan, no thought for it at all—just incidentally, I mentioned this passage in Romans 11:26: “And so all Israel will be saved.”

I had not planned on any such thing.  I can’t even remember why it was.  I just incidentally referred to that passage. 

But, several people have come up to me and said, “Pastor, we don’t understand.  This is what you said.”

Well, I was not thinking.  It was just incidental, as I was talking about something else.  So, this morning I wanted to clarify what is the truth of God in that avowal of the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:26 that all Israel will be saved.

Now, it goes back to this Book of Daniel that we are looking at today.  Daniel—in the ninth chapter of his prophecy, Daniel speaks of the course of human history—all of it.  And in that course of human history, it is translated 70 weeks—70 heptads.  Until the end of the age from Daniel’s day is 70 heptads—70 weeks of years.

And then, Daniel divides it into thee parts.  There are seven heptads that he starts off with.  And that is the period from Artaxerxes, the Persian king, until the rebuilding of the Temple, the rebuilding of the city, the dedication of the Temple—the seven heptads, the seven weeks of years.

Then, the second group of heptads numbers 62.  And that’s 434 years.  It will be 434 years when we come to the death of Christ.

Then, in an amazing prophecy, he adds one more heptad—all by itself, not identified with the other at all.  There is a week of seven years that encompasses the end of the age—the end of time.  These are the three groups of those 70 heptads.

Now, when we look at that, as it is presented and as it has come to pass, that last heptad—that last seven years is separated from the other 483 years.  And that is the age in which we live.  We live in that vast expansive time—it is 2,000 years now—from the death of our Lord, which ends the second group of heptads, and the consummation of the age—the end time.

We live in that expanse of time.  But, the Jews never saw it.  The Lord never revealed it to them—this expanse of time in which we live, now 2,000 years from the death of our Lord—the Christian era—this vast time in which the gospel is preached between that day of the Lord’s death and the last heptad are the present generations in which we live.

The Apostle Paul commented on that—expatiated on that—in the third chapter of the Book of Ephesians.  And he calls this era in which we live a musterion.  We have taken the Greek word exactly and spelled it out in English.  And it comes out “mystery.”  But, the word did not carry with it, when it was spelled out in English, the meaning.  To us, a mystery is something that is un-understandable.  A musterion in the Bible is a secret that God kept in His heart until He revealed it to His apostles.

And this era—this Christian dispensation—is never mentioned.  It is never seen in the Bible—in the Old Testament.  It was a secret that God kept in His heart until it came to pass in revelation. 

So, in that musterion the Book of the Revelation reveals what that last heptad is.  It is the consummation of the age.  And the age in which we live comes to an end in the glorious transfer to the Lord’s kingdom in heaven.  It is going to be a glorious, glorious day when the Lord calls His people to heaven.

You call it the rapture of the church.  And when you come to the rapture of the church, when we are translated to heaven, you begin that last heptad—that last seven years.  And that last seven years are described and presented by Revelation—in the Book of the Apocalypse, in the Book of Revelation, in chapters 4-19.

Now, you look at this.  Paul wrote that: “All Israel will be saved.”  When you come to those seven years—that last heptad, it is divided into two parts: “time, times and half a time”—a “time”: a year; two times: two years; and half a year.

Now, the first three and a half years of that heptad—hidden back yonder, but now revealed—when you come to the first half of that heptad, you are introduced to the greatest revival that you could ever imagine, the greatest revival that mankind has ever known, three and one-half years of it. 

In the seventh chapter of that heptad, it describes what happen.  There are 144,000 Jews that are going to evangelize this world—144,000 of them.  And after we are presented with those 144,000 Jewish evangelists, then you have the rest of that chapter describing the thousands and thousands and thousands multiplied by thousands that are saved.  There’s nothing like it in the mind of man: that seventh chapter of the Book of Revelation—those 144,000 Jewish evangelists preaching the gospel.

Now, it also reveals a coming to pass of what Daniel speaks of again and again: the coming of the “man of sin” or the “Antichrist.”  And in that last time, times and half a time—that last three and a half years—this man of sin, having arisen before—this man of sin—this Antichrist—arrogates to himself god-hood.  He is the god of this creation.  He is the god of this world.

And in that declaration of his deity, he persecutes the Jewish Christians.  He is slaying them.  They are being slaughtered all over this earth.

Now, the consummation of that is—according to Daniel and according to Revelation—the consummation of that is the Prince of glory—the Son of God, the Son of Man—comes at the end of that heptad to end what is called the battle of Armageddon.  At the end of that, the Lord Jesus comes and He brings victory and life for His people.  And that’s what Paul was referring to when he said: “All Israel will be saved.”

There is this last heptad—they are being faced with persecution wherever they are by the man of sin, the Antichrist.  The Lord looks down and the Lord comes and saves His people: those Jewish Christians. 

“So all Israel will be saved.”  That’s what that verse refers to.  I tell you: the Bible is beyond anything you can possibly imagine as it predicts the consummation of the age.

Now, may the Lord help us.  In preparing for this lesson today, there was no thought for this explanation—for this expiation.  Now, the title for the study today is: “The Two Great Apocalypses of the Bible”—Daniel and the Revelation.

The Book of Daniel had a tremendous influence upon the life and literature of the Jewish people, during the centuries following its writing—also in the New Testament community through the years.  The Book was known, loved, studied and quoted by our Savior.

For example, in Matthew 24:14, the Lord refers to Daniel the prophet.  In Matthew 24:21, quoting Daniel 12:1, there is a “great tribulation.”  In Matthew 24:30 and 26:24 there is quoted, from Daniel 7:13-14, the coming of the Son of Man at the end of the age.  In Matthew 13:43, quoted from Daniel 12:3, the righteous shine as the stars in that consummation.  And in John 5:28-29, Daniel 12:2 is quoted—the resurrection of the righteous.  And Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6:2, refers to Daniel 7:22: that the saints will judge the world.  In Hebrews 11:33, referring to Daniel 6:22, he speaks of those who stop the mouths of lions.  In Hebrews 11:34, referring to Daniel 3:27, he speaks of those who quench the violence of the sword.  In 1 Peter 1:10, quoting Daniel 9:3, and Daniel 12:8, he refers to the mind of God.

So the book was loved by the Apostle John and quoted by Him in the Revelation.  From a heavenly viewpoint, the Revelation is from Christ.  But, from an earthly viewpoint, the Revelation is from the Book of Daniel.

When you read the Book of Daniel—I just wish we had time to see how the words that are used in the Book of Daniel are copied and repeated in the Book of Revelation—so, in the little time we have, we’re going to compare the two men and the book.

Both men—Daniel and John—were favored of heaven.  They were greatly loved by men and angels.  Daniel three times is called “greatly beloved”: in Daniel 9:25 and 10:11,19.  John five times is called “the disciple whom Jesus loved”—John 19:26, 20:2, 21:7 and 20. 

These men were chosen of God to see the whole course of human history from 605 B.C. to the second coming of Christ and the consummation of the age.  I just can’t imagine such a thing: seeing 2,600 years.  And they saw it all.  It’s beyond my imagination.

And both men wrote apocalyptically.  Both were unique among the writers of the Bible.  Daniel held the same office among the Old Testament writers that John did among the New Testament writers.  The Book of Daniel is the apocalypse of the Old Testament, the first of centuries of apocalyptic literature that followed.  The Book of the Revelation is the first apocalypse of New Testament literature.  After that, there was a flood of them.

One cannot be understood without the other.  You can’t understand Revelation without Daniel.  And what Daniel says comes to fruition in the Book of Revelation.

Now, what is apocalyptic writing?  Apocalyptic writing is with signs and symbols and visions, carrying a message of hope and victory and encouragement for a persecuted and distressed people.  Both saw their visions in exile: Daniel in Babylon and John on the isle of Patmos.  Both men used the apocalyptic message to write their books of prophecy.  Revelation is a book of prophecy.  Five times it is so described.  Consequently, the things I read have a meaning beyond themselves.  They represent something else.

Let me give you an illustration: the seven churches of Asia.  Why is not Heirapolis in there?  It’s right across the Lycus River from Laodicea.  John’s disciple, Papias, was the pastor of that wonderful church.

The reason for it is that there was a prophetic purpose in those seven churches.  And they represent the history of the era of the church in which we live.  Each one of those churches was chosen to represent a facet of the developing history of the church.  And we live, I think, in the Laodicean age.

Dear me.  How many of these churches and great cathedrals and these marvelous buildings are rich and increased with goods?  But, god says you are poor and wretched and you ought to buy—Ah, I’ve been over this world again and again.  And I just see that everywhere.  And ease in Zion—not wanting anything.  They’ve got it all.

So, John’s Gospel never uses the word “miracle,” but semeion: “signs.”  Everything you read in John’s Gospel is a sign of something else. 

For example, the wine made out of water: that’s a picture of the filling up of the Old Testament.  In Jericho, a blind man is given a sign.  That’s Jesus, the light of the world.  In the raising of Lazarus from the dead, that’s the resurrection and the life.  Whatever you read in John, he’s says that’s a semeion. 

Do we are to remember in the Book of Daniel that it is primarily a book of prophecy and apocalyptic.  It represents something else.  Daniel was a statesman.  But, he was also a prophet.

Now, the Book is divided in two divisions—two very separate divisions: chapters 1-6 and chapters 7-12.  Let’s see if I’ve got enough time just to review.

Let’s take the first division. 

Chapter 1- The Captivity: God’s Care for His Distressed People

Chapter 2- The Times of the Gentiles: That Great Image

Chapter 3- Israel in the Tribulation: In the Fiery Furnace

Chapter 4- The Tree Cut Down, but Raised Up to Glorify God

So we in our troubles—God, out of it always brings glory to Himself.

            Chapter 5- The Writing on the Wall

That’s the judgment on Gentile governments.

            Chapter 6- Israel’s Preservation through Gentile Dominance

That’s in the lion’s den—and an encouragement for all who suffer.  There is always a word beyond it.

            And now, chapters 7-12: these are prophecies and I just ought not to take time to read them.

I’d like to take a minute about chapter 11.  Chapter 11 foretells the struggles of Persia and Greece and the terrible wars between the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria and how it affects the people of God.  And chapter 12 refers to the great tribulation, the two resurrections and the prophecy of the end times, which is hidden away.

The twelfth chapter of the Book of Daniel closes that way: “Daniel, you go your way.  It will be sealed until the end times.”

Now, as you can see, both prophets, Daniel and John, deal with the events of this age, in which we live, and with the end of the world.  There’s just this difference: so much that was sealed in Daniel is openly revealed—opened up—in the Revelation.

This accounts for the differing emphases in the two books.  In Daniel, the consummation of Gentile history is largely hid from his eyes.  It is in that last seven—that last heptad—and Daniel never saw it.

But, in the Revelation is the unsealing of the course of the end times.  How is this world and this civilization—how is it going to end?  That is revealed to us in the Revelation.  Revelation 2-3 follows the history of the church—unknown to the Old Testament, never referred to, never seen.  Revelation 4-19 details Daniel’s seventieth week and a most definite description of the chief actor of the tribulation: the Antichrist, the man of sin.

And both describe the glorious coming kingdom of our Lord.  I’m going to try to read that, if I can.

Now, if we have a minute, let’s make a comparison of the books.  Here, in the Book of Daniel, I’m going to read from chapter 7, beginning at verse 9—Daniel 7:9:

I beheld till the thrones were cut down, and the Ancient of days—that’s the Lord—did sit, whose garment was as white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered before him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

            Then, 13 and 14:

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

            Now, remembering that language, I’m going to turn to the Book of the Revelation, chapter 1.  And you see—I don’t have time to read all of it—and you see if you don’t find here in the Revelation the same kind of language that you just heard me read in the Book of Daniel.

In the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about with a golden girdle.

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire.

And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of any waters.

And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

And I never read this in Daniel, but: “When Daniel saw that, he feel down as one dead.”  And of course, the Lord raised him up and gave him the message he was to write.

Now, that is just like Daniel.  It’s just over and over and over again like Daniel.  So, I make the mention that so much of Daniel is in the Revelation.  We’re not surprised, because the great God of heaven has revealed to both of them this program for the end of the age.

Now, here are passages from the historical section of Daniel—remember, chapters 1-6.  Now, these are passages that are re-echoed in the Revelation.

Quote: “the things that shall come to pass hereafter.”  That’s from Daniel 2:9, 15, and quoted in Revelation 1:19.

The “ten days of trials”—that’s in Revelation 2:10, quoting Daniel 1:12, 15.

“Worshiping the gods of gold and silver”: that’s in Revelation 9 and Daniel 5.

The “forty-two months,” “the twelve hundred sixty days” and the “time, times and half a time”: that’s found several times in Revelation 11:2, 3 and 12:14 and its in Daniel 7:25 and Daniel 12:7.

“Compelling all men to worship the image”: you read that in Revelation 13:15 and Daniel 3:6.

“The great Babylon”: you will find that in Revelation 18.  You will find it in the same way in Daniel 4.

The sweeping away of the fragments of world power: you will find that described in Revelation 20:11.  You will find it exactly the same way in Daniel 2:35 and 45.  The two are so much like each other.

Now, verses in the prophetic section of Daniel.  That is chapters 7-12.

Daniel 7:13-14 is Revelation 1:7: the coming of the King of glory.  It’s also referred to in Matthew 24.

Also Daniel 7:13 is found in Revelation 14:14: “one like unto the Son of man”—the very expression, “one coming to reap the harvest of the earth.”  So much of Daniel you will find in the Revelation.

Now, the promises that are for our time and our day: in Daniel 2:44-45 and Daniel 7:9-14, you have a description of the coming king.  In Daniel 2:34-35, you have this coming God of glory, smiting the feet of the nations of the world.  And the fragments are swept away.

Remember that first avowal that I spoke of, in looking at the Book of Daniel as a whole: it prophesies that there will be no more world empires.  You have the Persian; you have Babylon; you have the Greek; you have the two-legged Roman Empire—East and West.  But, you never have another one.  That also is in the Revelation.

Then, you have the Lord smiting the feet of that great image: the divided nations, that, increasingly, become anti-God.  That refers to a time when the Lord will come.

And then, in Revelation 19:1 and following and Revelation 20:1 and following, you have the intervention in human history of the coming of the Son of man.  Both of them conclude the history of the world exactly alike.

Now, may I make one other observation: in 2 Peter 3:8, he says, “A thousand years is, in God’s sight, as a day; and a day as a thousand years.”  You have to remember, when you start following the mind of God: to us, time is very pertinent—your age, how long you live, all the things that concern you—You know, when I look at that, I think of the United States.  The United States is about 200 years old.  My lands!  Some of these prophecies that are continuing are 2,600 years old.

When you come into the presence of God, time is of a different quality than it is for you or for us.  So, the Apostle writes, “A thousand years is as a day and a day is as a thousand years.”  And we must remember that when we look at prophecy and the development in this world of what God has to say.

Now, may I make a brief comment about that: a thousand years is as a day in God’s sight and a day is as a thousand years?  Our gracious Savior has been gone two days in God’s sight.  A thousand years: a day—our Lord has been gone for two days.  And I just wonder in my heart if He will return the third day.  That will be the day in which we will live: the third millennium since our Lord went away.

O Lord, how we ought to live in the prophetic future, so open to us in the Bible; so—again and again and again—consummating in the coming of the Son of glory, the King of heaven, the Lord God, our Savior.

So, come, Lord Jesus.  Whether its midday or midnight, we’re ready.  We’re ready.  And God, bless us as we pour our lives into His blessed service and live according to His wonderful will.

           

 

 

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