December 1-5, Daniel 1-10

I saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.
Daniel 4:5


I'd like to introduce you to our new traveling companion for this week. His name is Daniel, aka Belteshazzar. He was from the royal line of David. He was just a young fellow when he was carried away to Babylon. Couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. Good looking! Intelligent! But above all his attributes, he loved God. He had been given the name "Daniel." That's an interesting name, considering the time he was born. Literally interpreted, it means "my Judge is God."

If ever there was a person who would have had a right to be afraid of the dark, Daniel would certainly have qualified. His visions of the night were so traumatic that they left him weak, sometimes ill, and often perplexed. The prophetic messages of his visions and dreams were so accurate that some godless people find it difficult to believe they were written before the events took place. If we were to study out each verse, we would hear the predictions of the Medes and Persians, Alexander the Great, and the Roman Empire. We would learn about Egypt and her fate, and much more.

But the subject that seems to intrigue readers the most, is the mystery of end-times. To a Jew, end-times refers to the culmination of events that ushers in the Messianic reign. As you listen to Daniel share the words he received, there is one calculation that is really exciting, but often misunderstood. On Friday, you will hear Daniel praying. He has been reading Jeremiah's writings and sees that he, as well as his nation, missed the message Jeremiah brought them. Children are usually influenced by their parents opinions, and I imagine Daniel was no different. When he read what Jeremiah had spoken and saw that his words were true, Daniel didn't excuse himself because he had been a youth; he embraced their error as his own. Rather than wasting time trying pin the blame on someone, he began to intercede. The result was that God sent the angel Gabriel to give him insight. Keep in mind that this was the same angel that came to Mary. This is where the calculation gets interesting. He tells him that they will remain in captivity for 70 weeks. The word translated "weeks" actually means units. We know that the unit was not a week, but was really a year, equaling the seventy years they were in captivity. Why seventy? Because they would remain in captivity one year for each year they failed to give the land its sabbath rest. The land was to be given a sabbath rest every seven years. They failed to do this for 490 years. It goes on to say that after the 7 "weeks" there will be 62 weeks. Remembering that the unit of measure is 7 years, the equivalent of a sabbath for the land, that calculates to 434 years. The 70 years were to make up for the sabbath rests they didn't keep; the 62 "weeks" was God's response to their sins. The years between the rebuilding of the Temple and the coming of Christ were dark years. They were the years of God's silence! You will find no book in your Bible written in that period. The Temple, although rebuilt, never had the shekinah dwelling in the Holy of Holies. The nation did not regain its former glory.

It says that after that time the Messiah would come. It goes on to say that He would be killed and that the city and the sanctuary would be destroyed. If you do the math from the time of their captivity, the 70 years, the years that would follow their release, and the time Messiah would come, you discover that that is exactly what happened. Messiah did come, born in a manger. He was killed, and the Temple that had been rebuilt was once again destroyed.

It's interesting to read what the Jewish teachers say about this period of time. Listen to these words.

"Had the Jews not sinned again during this period, the complete redemption would have occurred upon it completion." (Book of Daniel, Artscroll Tanach Series, pg 260)

The truth is, it was completed!!! This brings even greater light to the words Jesus spoke when He hung on the cross, "It is finished!" Israel's years of punishment were ended. The full price for sin had been paid! Jesus paid the price for us individually and He completed the debt the nation Israel could never pay! How amazing is God's grace!!! And that's why Jesus went about preaching the good news of the KINGDOM!!! How cool is that?!?!?!?!