Daniel

 Daniel 9: The Seventy Weeks v1-v19: Daniel prayed for Israel.  This prayer happened during the first year of King Darius of Mede, who took over the throne from Belshazzar of Babylon. This is around 539/538 BC.  Daniel read the book of Jeremiah, and discovered that 70 years must pass before the end of the desolation of Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 25:11-13 and Jeremiah 29:10) In other words, the exile of the Jews will end after 70 years. At the time of this vision, the 70 years have not expired yet. (See Q&A on 70 year calculation).  Daniel believe that God will end the exile as Jeremiah prophesied. But at the same time he realised that all these happen was due to the sin of Israel, just as Jeremiah had warned them. Daniel felt profound regret and remorse of what they have done against God.  Daniel turned to God and prayed for forgiveness and mercy, and fasted in sackcloth and ashes. In those days, wearing sackcloth and ashes represents remorse and mourning. Daniel ...

Daniel 8: The Kingdom of Greece v1-v2: Introduction  This chapter's vision happened during the 3rd year of Belshazzar's reign. Daniel saw himself at the Ulai Canal near the city of Susa. Susa was also mentioned in Esther and Nehemiah as a place where some of the Jewish exiles were staying.   Susa was located at the foot of the Zagros Mountains near the bank of the Karkheh Kūr (Choaspes) River in the Khuzistan region of modern-day Iran. The distance between Susa and Babylon was 2860 kilometers.  As the distance is very far, it appears that Daniel has been there before, as he recognised where the place was.   In the first half, Daniel describe his vision. On the second half, Daniel saw someone who looked like a man, asking Gabriel (the angel) to explain the vision to him. (v15-16). This person than looked like a man is likely to be the pre-incarnate Christ. (See Q&A regarding Pre-incarnate Christ) When Gabriel came near to Daniel, he fell down and lied fl...

Daniel 5: Writing on The Wall v1-v4: Introduction In the previous chapter, it ended with Nebuchadnezzar resume his position as the King of Babylon. In this chapter, it jumps to the time when Belshazzar was the king of Babylon, and skipped a few other kings before him.  Historians said that Nebuchadnezzar reigned for 43 years. His son, Evil-Merodach (2 Ki 25:27-30; Jer 52:31-34) ruled for two years and was assassinated by Neriglassar who took over for 4 years. After his death, his son Laborosoarchod rule only for 9 months and was killed by conspirators, who then appointed Nabonidus as the king. He ruled until Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon.  Historians had believed that Nabonidus was the last king of Babylon; however, the discovery of the Nabonidus Cylinder in 1854 revealed that in later years of Nabonidus, he went to Arabia and lived there. It also showed that Belshazzar became co-regent in 3rd year of Nabonidus reign (553 BC), and continued until the fall of Babylon in 5...

Daniel 7: The Four Beasts v1-v8 - The Four Beasts Daniel went back to the first year of Belshazzar when he had a vision dream. While it is difficult for us to remember the details of our dream, Daniel was able to record the vision had, though may not be as detailed as what he saw.  He wrote about the four winds of heaven churning up the sea. The "winds of heaven" may represent God's divine action to call up the four kingdoms for his purpose. The beasts came out from the "sea", which usually represent the world, such as Rev 17:15, where the angel said to John: "The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages."   In the context of the parable of the dragnet in Matthew 13:47-50, when fish are caught in a net thrown in the sea, it signifies that members of the church are “called out" from the world. The four beasts are represented in the following manner: 1)  A lion with eagle wings. It...