An Overview His-Story Fulfilled Prophecies Yet-Future Prophecies Life Lessons
What prophecies in the book of Daniel are awaiting future fulfillment? Find out with hosts Tim Moore, Nathan Jones, and Dave Bowen on the television program, Christ in Prophecy!
Air Date: February 24, 2024
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Transcript
Tim Moore: Welcome back to another episode of Christ in Prophecy. We’re eager to jump back into our study of Daniel. We began with an overview of this important book of prophecy with Todd Hampson, who wrote a wonderful “Non-Prophet’s Guide to the Book of Daniel,” more on how to get a copy of this great book later. Over the last few weeks, Nathan and I have considered the narrative portions of Daniel, along with those prophecies that have already been fulfilled. Today, we’re joined by our teaching evangelist Dave Bowen as we move into those portions of Daniel’s prophecies that deal with yet to be fulfilled prophecies. Welcome back, Dave.
David Bowen: It’s great to be with you again.
Nathan Jones: Good to have you here, Dave. Well, last week we offered a whirlwind overview of the prophecies recorded in Daniel that deal with history that is passed to us, although it was still future when Daniel was alive. But some of the visions he interpreted were actually given to pagan kings like Nebuchadnezzar, or seemed to be directed at others like Belshazzar. But it took an anointed man of God to understand and correctly interpret those visions. We believe that everyone who’s put their trust in Jesus Christ has been filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling us to understand God’s prophetic Word in a way that the unbelieving world never will. But that does not relieve us of the responsibility of reading, studying, and heeding Bible prophecy.
David Bowen: You know we could point to Revelation which contains an actual promise of blessing for all who do just that, read and heed the words of that prophecy. But that principle applies to the entire Word of God, opening it, reading and studying it, and then putting it into practice, always providing a blessing to the faithful child of God. As Christians, we cannot ignore any portion of what God has chosen to reveal to us because this was provided for our understanding and our encouragement. Or, as Paul said to Timothy, for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
Tim Moore: And we certainly believe that. And we pray that our conversation today is a blessing to you as well. So, let’s turn our attention to those prophecies in Daniel that still await fulfillment. Obviously, they are sometimes blended in with other prophecies that have already come to pass, as with the series of empires outlined in Daniel 2 & 7 as a mighty statue and a series of beast that will be superseded by Jesus Kingdom, both in the Millennium and through eternity. Nebuchadnezzar saw a stone cut without hands that struck his mighty figure on its feet and toes, obliterating the gold, silver, bronze and iron and clay statue. Then he saw the stone grow to be a mountain that filled the earth. We are still awaiting that final iron clay empire, and we are certainly awaiting the final blow from the Messiah to eradicate those self-serving kingdoms of men.
Nathan Jones: We also know that while Jesus is the Son of Man as described in Daniel 7 He has not yet exercised His everlasting dominion over the peoples, nations and men of every language.
Tim Moore: So, Dave, what do you think? I mean, you’ve made a point that Daniel 2 & 7 harken to ages in the past, so what’s your point that you would like to make on this?
David Bowen: Well, we understand that Daniel chapter 2 is the human perspective on what’s happening. The whole theme of the Book of Daniel is the time of the Gentiles. So, chapter two is the human perspective, that’s why we have those. And chapter 7 is God’s perspective on the theme of the Book of Daniel.
Tim Moore: Okay, so I want to come back to another point that Nathan just made that some would claim Jesus is reigning right now. He is obviously ascended to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. How would we respond to that assertion, since it basically determines our understanding of the prophetic timeline for the end times? In other words, are all the things outlined in Daniel fulfilled in the past or are they fulfilled in the present, or are they awaiting future fulfillment, including the reign of the Messiah?
Nathan Jones: I would say yes, yes, and yes. Because we’ve got to understand that God is eternal, right? So you have to go to the Bible to see is God reigning, is Jesus Christ sitting on the throne up in Heaven? Yes, He is. He reigns eternal. He’s sovereign. He reigns over the Church as the head of the Church. But is He sitting on the Davidic throne, the throne promised Him to be on this earth during this kingdom. And I think all we have to do here is go to First Corinthians 15:28 and it says, “Now when all things are made subject to Him (the Father), then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” And then Hebrews 2:8, “We do not yet see all the things that are put under Him.” So these verses are telling us, and others, that Jesus Christ hasn’t yet accepted this kingdom, that He was promised to sit on the Davidic Throne. So yes, He’s sovereign over all, but He’s not ruling and reigning over this kingdom now.
Tim Moore: He’s not exercising that dominion, so to speak.
David Bowen: But don’t you see Daniel being like the book of Revelation to where it moves from earth to heaven, from heaven to earth, and we keep going back and forth. Because yes, He’s still in heaven with that fourth kingdom, the little thorn that comes up in Daniel, we know that’s going to be the Antichrist. Well see that on earth, but then the heavenly kingdom will come back and destroy all that when you get to the ten toes. So you see the earth, heaven, heaven, earth, you see that going back and forth. So, to ask that question, I think it’s a combination of both.
Tim Moore: It is.
Nathan Jones: If the stone is supposed to grow and fill the entire, that’s Jesus Christ. That’s His kingdom. And part of the aspect of the Millennial Kingdom is that all the peoples know Jesus. They go up to Jerusalem and see Him, at least for the Feast of Tabernacles. And He’s ruling and reigning with a rod of iron. Do we see that today? Absolutely not. We’re still in the times of the Gentiles, meaning human Gentile governments are running the world.
Tim Moore: And really the ruler of the world in a great sense is still Satan. And we can look at Paul’s writings to the church at Corinth in chapter four, verse four, he calls Satan the god of this world. Little “g” god, Nathan we will make that clear. Little “g” god of this world. We can go to Ephesians 2:2 where Satan is called the prince of the power of the air, and the spirit who is now working in the sons of disobedience. So, we know that Satan has been given for a time authority over earth. We could almost argue that mankind relegated the dominion we were given in the Garden because of sin to Satan. And that’s why when Jesus was tempted by Satan, Satan could offer him the kingdoms of the world. And it wasn’t an empty offer, he possessed them. And Jesus declined at that moment because it was not yet time for Jesus to exercise His dominion. And that’s by His own power and authority and choice. The will of the Father.
Nathan Jones: Yeah, and that’s why we’ve seen the Catholic Church, traditionally people who take the Amillennial or spiritualizing of Scripture, they look at the Ecclesiastical Kingdom, the kingdom over the church where Jesus is the head and the church rules and reigns over this earth, supposedly. But it’s very different than the prophecies dealing with the Davidic Kingdom, that fourth aspect of Christ’s kingdom where He’s physically ruling and reigning from Jerusalem and He rules over all the Gentile nations. The Jewish people are a priestly group and we in our glorified bodies serve Him. I don’t know about you guys, but I look out the window, I do not see that now. So no, Jesus is ruling and reigning from a spiritual and ecclesiastical position, ecclesiastical means church. But he’s not ruling His kingdom, His Davidic Kingdom which we know better as the Millennial Kingdom.
David Bowen: And we have to understand that Daniel, again, all the prophecy given to him is about his people, so it’s about Israel, and the Jewish people. And you talk about, again, the theme of the book of Daniel being the time of the Gentiles. But what is that time? When does it start and when does it end? It starts with Nebuchadnezzar, basically, because that’s when Gentiles.
Nathan Jones: The head of gold, right.
David Bowen: Yeah, that’s when Gentiles are oppressing both the people and the land of Israel. But people in the Christian realm, I think, have said, well, it ends at the Rapture then when the church is pulled out. But no, because Gentiles will still rule over Israel in the land. So, it doesn’t end until we get the Lord Jesus Christ coming back, in that last kingdom, when the little horn is defeated.
Nathan Jones: And that’s a long time. We are talking about Nebuchadnezzar in 586 when he finally conquered Jerusalem to the near future.
David Bowen: Yes.
Nathan Jones: That’s 2,500-2,600 years is the times of the Gentiles.
David Bowen: Yeah, 605 was the first time when he came in so basically 19 years.
Tim Moore: We can make a dramatic application right now to us. First John 5:19 tells us that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And that’s a present tense lies. It’s not that he lied in his power before or at some point in the past, right now, as John was writing that epistle, the world lies in the power of the evil one. There is an exception to that rule, and that is the child of God. I do not lie in the power of the evil one. So through the power of Christ in me, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, Satan has no authority over me by virtue of my faith in Christ. And so I can say, get thee behind me, Satan, even as he nips at my heels constantly, he doesn’t have power over us who are followers of Christ.
David Bowen: But you can only say that because you know the Word of God.
Tim Moore: Yes.
David Bowen: And we have to be in the Word of God to understand that. Daniel had the Word of God. He knew through Jeremiah that the time they would be in Babylon would be 70 years. He knew that Isaiah that Cyrus would be there. He knew things, he knew repentance was important to have the Kingdom of God come. But he also did not understand the timing of it, as you’re talking about that. Because as he’s praying in Daniel 9, we look at 70 Weeks of Daniel in Daniel 9, but as he’s praying, we see that the angel Gabriel interrupts him, and he kind of stops in his prayer, because Daniel’s thinking that the kingdom, God’s Kingdom will come after the 70 years are done, at that point that everything’s happened. And he saying, No, no, no, no, there’s going to be many more years after that.
Nathan Jones: More years, and there’s other kingdoms to rise.
David Bowen: Absolutely.
Tim Moore: So, let’s go to that point. So, the next entity I think we need to discuss. We’ve talked about Satan uncapitalized for you, I know Dave.
David Bowen: He’s a loser.
Tim Moore: Yeah, he’s a loser. But we also have another entity that is going to rise in the end times in this final kingdom that appears both in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the statue, and of Daniel’s vision of the beast, and rising from that final kingdom of iron is this iron clay mixture of an empire represented by feet and toes in the statue, and the dreadful and terrifying beast with ten horns in Daniel’s vision. This coming kingdom is described in great detail in chapter seven verses 19 through 26. So, what does this prophecy involve? Who is this pointing to? What entity am I alluding to?
Nathan Jones: Well, the little horn is another name for the Antichrist. The eventual culmination of global government will be a one world ruler. So, we started with Nebuchadnezzar, who, even though he didn’t rule the entire world as it relates to Israel, he was the ruler, he was the head of gold. We go through the Medo-Persian Empire, then the Greek, then the Roman Empire. It finally gets to this ten toe configuration, which we believe will either be Europe divided into ten regions, but I think it’s more the entire world. And the U.N. for the last since the 1950s, has been talking about dividing the world into ten regions, ten toes and a little horn will rise up, subdue three, and he will be elevated to be king of the world. You only have to watch Davos, which is, you know, the World Economic Forum meetings. That’s what they want, they want this world leader who will usher in peace and force the world into their agenda. And we’re seeing that played out today.
David Bowen: Well the Club of Rome has also divided the world into 10. I don’t know if that will last, but the Club of Rome has done that. But you’re saying verses 19-26, again, that’s where it moves from earth to heaven, because 19 is the little horn as you’re talking about, but 26 is the Ancient of Days.
Nathan Jones: Yes.
David Bowen: And we cannot you know, we’ve got to stay focused on the Ancient of Days, we’ve got to stay focused on the Lord Jesus Christ and what’s going to happen.
Tim Moore: Ever and always. As a matter of fact, even when we talked about the Antichrist and Satan in recent shows, we emphasized that, yes, we’re going to talk about these nefarious characters, these losers, as you call them, but we’re always going to turn our attention back to Jesus Christ. And that is where our Blessed Hope lies. So, there’s one other great prophecy from Daniel that we all long to be fulfilled, and that is the coming of the Messiah in glory. That’s outlined also in chapter 7 and 11. But before we get to the Messiah who will overthrow the Antichrist and his global empire, the world has to endure a period of Great Tribulation, terrible tribulation and great tribulation, something you alluded to. Daniel was expecting a soon fulfillment of other expectations and the angel said, “No, Daniel, your timing is off.” So, where’s the evidence for this seven-year calamity in Daniel? And why did he not see this portion of the prophecy with such great clarity?
Nathan Jones: Well, you have to go to Daniel 9 and understand what’s called the 70 Weeks Prophecy. So basically, not to go into sevens and sevens and all that, but let’s just say 490 years were prophesied from a decree that was given for the rebuilding of the Temple to the Messiah being cut off. And so, we know 490 years. If you use Sir Robert Anderson’s calculation Artaxerxes made that decree on March 14th, 445 BC. You adjust for, this is 360 day calendar years, you adjust for leap years and all this, you go right up to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I mean, it’s that specific. It’s just, every time I go through those calculations, it blows my mind that he prophesied that the Messiah would be cut off and that was what we call Palm Sunday.
Tim Moore: And 483 years of those 490.
Nathan Jones: So what we’re left what we’re left with is a seven year time period that because He’s cut off, has to be tacked on to the end. And we know that there’s time and times and half of times, there’s three and a half years, which is the second half of that seven years, to the Great Tribulation. So, it gets kind of complex when you do all the calculations. But to me, the fact that these calculations came out exactly to Jesus’s Triumphal Entry, proves the Bible is the Word of God. Because these prophecies were given, and this calculation came out exactly.
Tim Moore: So, why didn’t Daniel understand all that with any greater clarity than he did, do you think?
David Bowen: Well, he didn’t have the insight with it. He had the scriptures. He understood what was going to happen, but he thought the Kingdom of a God would come once Israel was brought back to the land. And when we told after 70 years, you come back, Jeremiah told him that, well, that must be when the Kingdom a God would come. Disciples thought the same thing. That the kingdom would probably come.
Nathan Jones: Yeah, how could the Messiah be cut off?
David Bowen: What’s interesting to me, though, is that the Jewish people, this all about the Jewish people. He keeps saying, Daniel your people, you know about your people. Why did the Jews still reject Jesus? It becomes part of this timing that you’re talking about here, Nathan, because in Scripture, this nine end times prophecy that they’re looking for, that the Messiah will come. You got to put the church age in there because Jesus only fulfilled three of them. You know, there was oppression, there was a forerunner, He was proclaimed to be God. But the rest Jerusalem was not attacked, the world didn’t come against it. But the Church Age, what you’re talking about is in there and then everything will come together very quickly.
Tim Moore: This idea of having a false expectation, seeing some things clearly, but maybe a little bit skewed is proven even after Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection. In Acts chapter one, right before Jesus ascends into heaven, it records in verse six, “So when they had come together, (meaning the apostles, the disciples,) they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’” They still didn’t get that there would be a delay, that there was much work for them to do. They still didn’t get it, that there would be a delay, that there was much work for them to do. And Jesus said, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” And then He goes on to describe their mission, just go your way to do what I’ve told you to do. It’s not for you to know the times and epochs. I think Daniel, as great a prophet as he was, and I revere him highly, he was looking forward through a glass dimly. We likened it to standing on a mountaintop and looking at other mountaintops down the cascading range and not realizing that there are intervening valleys between those mountaintops. And so, he saw the mountaintop, sometimes they were a little misty and he recorded what he saw, but he didn’t have the blessing even that we have of hindsight, we know that there was a period of time until the Messiah came. We know that the Messiah was given a name Jesus, by which we can be saved. And we know that there have thus far been almost 2,000 years from His ascension, as we still await the fulfillment of even the prophecies Daniel described.
Nathan Jones: And yet Daniel’s students, the Magi 500 years later, knew the calculations. They knew the Messiah had arrived, and they made a four-month journey to go visit Him. Jesus, chides the Pharisees because they had the Daniel’s prophecy.
David Bowen: Yes.
Nathan Jones: They knew to the day that this had to be the Messiah, His miracles proved it. And like His parable about the workers in the vineyard who reject the son and kill him, they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew He was the Messiah because they knew Daniel, nobody better. Now, the Apostles they were fisherman, they weren’t as studied in Torah as them, but there’s no excuse for the Pharisees. They knew exactly what they were doing.
Tim Moore: And therefore, there’s really no excuse for us because we have the completed canon of Scripture.
Nathan Jones: Yeah, we have even more.
Tim Moore: And hindsight.
David Bowen: We have the Holy Spirit.
Nathan Jones: Amen.
David Bowen: Because Peter says, we didn’t get it until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came then we got it. So, you look at this, we can have the Word but without the Holy Spirit.
Tim Moore: And the Holy Spirit was sent both as a comforter and to lead us into all truth, to give us understanding and discernment. So, we too folks are without excuse. We still look through a glass dimly toward the future, but let’s be very frank, the whole idea of being blessed by reading and heeding requires first that we read and study. All right, for just a moment, we’re not going to fixate or focus very long, but let’s talk about this nefarious character. We’ve discussed Satan’s role. Let’s hit some of the high points in describing the Antichrist. Who is he? Is he around today and will he be manifest prior to the Rapture?
Nathan Jones: Well, let me read you some of the descriptive verses that the Bible gives so we can identify him, which, again, if we’re Christians, we’re going to be raptured, we won’t recognize him, but the world has prophecy whether they read the Bible or not. This is what he’s like. He’s a bragger, he’s an egotist, he’s a blasphemer. He’s always blaspheming God. He persecutes Christians and Jews. He’s insolent. He’s deceptive. He’s very shrewd. He’s probably one of the smartest men ever, but he’s demonically possessed by Satan. He’s destructive. He’s very willful. He’s a sexual pervert, totally fitting of this time period. He’s militaristic, he comes in peace, but he brings global war. And he’s very materialistic, he loves the pleasures. He is the Antichrist, the opposite of Jesus Christ.
Tim Moore: Well said, Nathan. Well said.
David Bowen: And we get that even in Matthew 24, we get in other places in the Scripture, too, where Jesus said, beware in the end times these things will happen. And it’s just to look around our world today. It’s again they could not understand it, we have the hindsight to look back and say, that’s exactly what God was talking about.
Tim Moore: Okay, so with hindsight, there are people today who like to play the parlor game of trying to determine who is the Antichrist. We don’t.
Nathan Jones: It’s Justin Trudeau.
Tim Moore: Yeah, we don’t believe, you heard it here first. No, folks, we’re joking.
David Bowen: Send the emails to Nathan.
Tim Moore: Yeah, the emails to Nathan. But if he’s not going to be manifest prior to the Rapture, do you think Satan has a candidate ready to go right now?
David Bowen: I think he’s had one for every generation because no one knows the day or the hour, including that loser. So, he had to have somebody that could fit that profile in every generation.
Nathan Jones: But we do know we can narrow it down to he will be a descendant of the people who destroyed the temple in 70 AD, that was the Romans. Sure, the Romans conscripted a lot of Syrians, but all four legions were based around Rome. So, we know that he will be southern European. So, he’s not a Muslim from Pakistan. He’s not an American president. He is going to be a European because the European Union, according to Daniel, will rise and the world will be like what? The Roman Empire has returned! And he will be head of that. So, after we’re gone, we’re raptured and someone’s watching this episode, please know that the Antichrist who rises out of Europe and becomes the world leader who has these characteristics, he will persecute all Christians and Jews and try to kill them.
Tim Moore: And arguably the world is already clamoring for a little less “s” savior. Actually, they would probably give him a capital “S”. They want a messiah figure to come and rescue us from the calamities that befall us. We’ve quoted Paul-Henri Spaak, who said “Whether he be god or devil, we will embrace him if he can lead us out of the social and the political and the financial morass.” And as the world grows greater and greater in chaos, I think more and more people will clamor for this kind of great leader, just as they did in Germany in the thirties. So, let’s turn our attention back for just a moment to this period between the 69 weeks, as you described them, Nathan, with the 483 years and the final week of years, we have a very detailed description of that horrific period that’s going to fall on the earth. So, what are some of the calamities prophesied in the Word of God for those who reject the Lord’s offer of salvation?
Nathan Jones: We’re talking about the Book of Revelation because the Book of Revelation fills in what’s going to happen during those seven years. The Church, according to now you have to go Paul’s teaching and first Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15, the Church, in other words, if you’re saved, you’re a member of the Church, we will be raptured out of here. The world will go into chaos. And then when you start reading the Book of Revelation, Daniel prophesied that a peace treaty will be made between the Antichrist and Israel and the many for seven years, which is the exact amount of time. And it’s called Daniel 70th Week Prophecy. And that’s how we know the Tribulation will be seven years. With the first half being pretty good for Israel, they’re protected from the Antichrist taking over the world during that treaty. But the second half when he’s possessed by Satan. Yeah, the Great Tribulation. You could probably tell us more about that.
David Bowen: Well the Jews will think it is the Millennial Period, they got everything they wanted back in that first part when the when the promises made. But when you look at again the Roman Empire, you mentioned that all this other world empires, the statues, the toes, they were defeated. Romans weren’t they imploded. So the Antichrist would come in. Some kind of global event has to happen, i.e. the Rapture.
Nathan Jones: That’s what we think.
David Bowen: And when something like that happens, you know, the world be in chaos and someone would come in, say, I have peace with you. I have a plan. And why peace? I think God is supernaturally protecting Israel. You get Psalm 83, you get things happening in our world right now that could lead to that. God was supernaturally protecting Israel. So the prophet, I mean, the Antichrist would come in and say, let’s do a peace pact with Israel because now everybody will grab it, and people would be so hungry that they’re going to gravitate to anybody.
Tim Moore: That’s a good point. The Jews initially during that seven-year period when the Antichrist offers them peace, you can rebuild your temple, which they will very quickly. They’ll think we’ve finally arrived back at a moment of primacy and they’ll be happy. But the Antichrist will turn on them halfway through, when Satan indwells the Antichrist and he turns his rage once again on the Jewish people.
Nathan Jones: And Revelation tells us there will be 21 judgments from God happening at that same time. So, as the Antichrist is roaring over the earth and demons are released to punish mankind, they’ll also be horrific, natural disasters that which all but destroy most of the earth. And I think the reason for that is if you look back to the ten plagues on Egypt, God knocked down each of those Egyptian gods. He’s going to knock down the god of earth worship that seems to be prevalent.
Tim Moore: He certainly is. Well, you’ve given actually a good preview of a coming series we have on Revelation, this grand finale of the Word of God. But is there any other reference to this period, the Tribulation in Scripture, that which is still to come described in Daniel, that we can find, and specifically, did Jesus have anything to say about this period?
David Bowen: Oh, Matthew 24. It’s very easy.
Nathan Jones: Luke 21. Mark 13.
David Bowen: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, the guys are coming out of the Temple and they’re looking at the structure, Herod was a master builder. He should have been known for his buildings; he was a mad man. You know, and while they’re looking at that, He takes them through the Olivet Discourse, the teaching on the Mount of Olives and begins the end times. And people say, well, everybody has earthquakes and famines and all those things that’s been happening for ages. Why is it different today? Why is it any different for us? Well, Israel’s a nation, Jerusalem is the capital, and the Jews are back in the homeland. Those three things had to happen for everything else to kick into place.
Tim Moore: And we believe that those things could have happened very quickly, even throughout this last 2,000 years. So, Christians were always told to be alert, to watch for the Lord’s coming because things can happen very quickly. Today there are some who claim, well, there are prophecies that have to be fulfilled before Jesus can come. No, the Rapture can occur at any time, but the Second Coming is preceded by some other signs like the Temple being rebuilt.
Nathan Jones: And that’s the glorious end to the Tribulation, when the world is at its darkest, when people are suffering, when the Antichrist is going mad and assembling the world to Armageddon for one last battle, Jesus Christ rips through the sky. The saints, that’s us, follow Him. The angels follow Him, and we watch Jesus Christ just speak a word, and the armies melt before him and He sends Satan to the deep pit, and the False Prophet and Antichrist go into the Lake of Fire or Hell. What a glorious end to the worst time in human history.
Tim Moore: What a glorious end.
David Bowen: It’s important for urgency. You mentioned that before. We should always have urgency because Daniel had a heart for his people. If there’s one thing I preach about the Book of Daniel, it’s the heart that he had for his people, the Jewish people. He repented. He was a righteous man, yet he took on that repentance for his people. And we need to do the same thing, we love you and care for you as much as Jesus does. And He cares for you and wants you to understand what day we live in and how important it is to know Him.
Closing
Tim Moore: Many of the same people who scoff at the idea that Daniel could have recorded his book of prophecy prior to events transpiring, just as he foretold have a hard time believing that his still future prophecies will come to pass. They remind me of scoffers of Revelation that complain the visions John recorded are just too hard to understand. Henry Morris, the founder of the Institute for Creation Research, hit the nail on the head when he said, “Revelation is not hard to understand. It is hard to believe. But if you will believe it, you will understand it.”
Nathan Jones: Well, I find it tremendously encouraging to know that God has revealed His plans for humanity to His prophets, and that the record of His revelations has been faithfully passed down to us today. Daniel demonstrates that God is God and that He knows the beginning from the end, and has chosen to tell us in advance that He has everything under control.
David Bowen: Oh, absolutely. Daniel also offers encouragement that we determine to live godly lives, even in a pagan society, that we will be able to be lights even in the darkness. I’m also encouraged to know that we can understand aspects of Daniel’s prophecies that even that highly esteemed man found perplexing. We have the gift of hindsight to things he looked through a glass dimly to see, and we can witness many prophecies coming to pass all around us right now.
Tim Moore: One of our recurring themes in recent years is the acceleration of prophetic signs and their convergence. So, Nathan, how do you see that playing out with regard to Daniel’s still future prophecies?
Nathan Jones: Well, Daniel was told to “Go your way for the words are concealed and sealed up to (when?) the end of time.” As the end of time approaches, we’re able to understand some of the very prophecies Daniel found elusive. Contrasted with the wicked who act wickedly, those of us who follow after Jesus Christ are assured that we will have insight to understand, and that is tremendously encouraging.
David Bowen: Oh, yes. I’m also encouraged by the final words in Daniel. The prophet was told to go your way to the end, meaning his end. He was told that he would enter his rest and rise again for his allotted portion at the end of the age. Now, whether we live to see the Rapture with our mortal eyes or not, we simply need to go our way, the way to our end. If we have entered our rest from this life, we too are assured that we will rise again for our allotted portion, meaning the glorified body we will receive at the Rapture. The crowns He will give us, and the work He assign us in the Millennial Kingdom.
Tim Moore: Amen and Amen. You know, Daniel is such an exciting book for those who trust in God. It is filled with exemplars or what I call role models for us to emulate. Next week we will return once again to Daniel to make some very specific and timely applications for our lives today. If you haven’t already acquired a copy of Todd Hampson’s wonderful “Non-Prophet’s Guide to the Book of Daniel,” I’d encourage you to order one today. Just visit our online store or call the number on the screen for only $20 we’ll be glad to send you Todd’s wonderful book.
As we look forward to the Rapture of the church and the Second Coming of our Lord, we remain determined to serve Him until the end. If He tarries for another week, we’ll also look forward to seeing you back for another episode of Christ in Prophecy. Godspeed.
End of Program