Today’s passage: Daniel 11:1-13

Helpful thoughts:

• Remember, 11:1 finishes the paragraph that is 10:18-21.  The conversation moves on in 11:2.
• The fourth king of Persia was Xerxes 1 (486-465 B.C.)
• Xerxes 1 led an attack against Greece, which resulted later in the counterattack of Alexander the Great.
• Alexander’s sons were murdered and so his empire was split into four.  The two portions spoken of primarily in this passage are the Ptolemies and the Seleucid.
• The details of this prophecy are so specific, and they came to pass in exact detail.  So much so that people who want to reject the Bible say that Daniel must have been written much later (There is no other possible explanation).  However, history records Alexander the Great going into Jerusalem and being shown the book of Daniel, and understanding that the prophecies were about him!

Questions to consider:

1. Is it logical to deny the accuracy of the Bible?  Is it logical to deny the existence of God?
2. Why do people reject God? (Romans 1:18-32)

Today’s passage: Daniel 10:15-21

Helpful thoughts:

• The angels minister to Daniel by strengthening him after having been weakened by the shear majesty of the vision.
• When Daniel felt fully strengthened, he was ready to listen.
• The fallen angel that Gabriel was warring against, the “Prince of Greece”, was not going to come for another 200 years approximately.
• Michael is the “Prince of Israel.”
• The first verse of chapter 11 goes with this passage (Daniel 11:1).  The “him” of 11:1 is the angel Michael.  They come to each other’s aid in times of need.

Questions to consider:

1. What have you learned about angels in the last two days?  How would their view of the world and the events of history differ from ours?
2. What is significant about Daniel’s preparedness to listen?  What might we often assume we are strengthened to do?  In what ways does it take strength to listen to the Word of God?

Today’s passage: Daniel 10:1-14

Helpful thoughts:

• This final vision in the book of Daniel happened two years after he was visited by Gabriel.  Daniel is now about 85 years old.  Realize, Daniel had these kinds of experiences a total of eight times in his life.  This wasn’t happening every day.
• The man who Daniel saw at the river was quite possibly God.  These Old Testament appearances are called “Theophanies” and we believe these appearances are probably that of the Messiah prior to His human birth.
• The man who comes in verse 10 to speak to Daniel is a second man.  Perhaps this was Gabriel again.
• The information from this vision will take up all of chapters 11 and 12.
• There are a few things we learn about angels in this passage:
  • They are real.
  • There are angels who serve God and angels who oppose Him.
  • There is a battle going on. (Ephesians 6:12)
  • They can influence the affairs of humans (Including governments and their leaders).
  • They have assignments and focus their attention on regions and nations.

Questions to consider:

1. What are some of the unique things that Daniel saw and experienced during this theophany?  What effects did it have on him?  How does this experience compare to the many times people today say they have experienced “God things” or “God moments”?
2. Is the fight for righteousness and the glory of God in our life all about us?  Who else is involved in this battle?  Do they appear to be casual and nonchalant in their approach?
3. How can this passage encourage you to fight for righteousness in your life before our holy God?

Today’s passage: Daniel 9:20-27

Helpful thoughts:

• Daniel was praying for an end of the exile and a return of Israel to worship God in Jerusalem.  God reveals to him the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, the future of Israel, the end of sin, and the atonement for iniquity.
• “Weeks” are units of seven.  The phrase “seventy weeks” could also be translated, “seventy sevens”.
• The seventy sevens (490 years) are broken into three sections:
  • Seven sevens (49 years) – From the time of the decree to go rebuild to the completion of the work under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah.
  • Sixty-two sevens (434 years) – From the time of Ezra-Nehemiah to the time of Jesus Christ (The “Anointed One” who shall be cut off).
    • Events are given after this time… Including the destruction of Jerusalem by the hands of the “people of the prince who is to come”.
      • Those people are the Romans (See Daniel 7) and the prince is the Anti-Christ.
      • The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70
  • The final week (7 years) – The Tribulation period
• There are many views as to when the seventy weeks start, stop and carry on.  It seems this view above makes the most sense as the years given line up with the events in history as prophesied.

Questions to consider:

1. Beyond the timing of certain events, what is God promising in this passage? (Don’t think about when, but what. See verse 24.)
2. Why does God fulfill His promises?  Should we trust God because these first two prophecies have already been fulfilled or because God is who He is?  In other words, does God’s record of fulfilling promises make Him trustworthy, OR does God’s perfect nature make him trustworthy, which is why He always fulfills His promises?

Today’s passage: Daniel 9:1-19

Helpful thoughts:

• The passage in Daniel read that declares a seventy year length for the exile is in Jeremiah 25:8-14.
• For an example of what Daniel referred to as being written in the Law of Moses, check out Leviticus 26.
• In Daniel’s confession he repeatedly acknowledges that God has remained faithful, steadfast, kept His covenant, and is righteous.  Israel was the party who had failed and sinned.
  • Daniel was not asking for God to bail Israel out of a tight spot.  He was confessing sin and pleading for mercy.  Those are two very different approaches, and only one of them was appropriate.

Questions to consider:

1. Why had Israel (and Judah) suffered as it had?  Why did God allow “bad things” to happen to them?
2. What was the purpose of the discipline of God?  How should Israel have responded?  How should we respond when discipline comes our way?
3. What was the basis of Daniel’s request for mercy?  Was he simply asking for a better life?  Whose name was on the line?
4. Why do we ask God for things?  Who stands to benefit the most from your prayers?

Today’s passage: Daniel 8:15-27

Helpful thoughts:

• It seems in this passage that God instructs Gabriel the angel to give Daniel the interpretation.
• The ram and its horns are for the Medes and Persians.
• The goat is Greece.
  • The first horn was Alexander the Great.
  • The four that came up after were for the four divisions of Greece which came to be after Alexander’s death.
• Many believe the horn that grew out of one of the four horns is the Greek leader Antiochus IV, who set up a statue of Zeus in the Temple in 167 B.C.
  • This leader became great:
    • “Not by his own power.” (Vs. 24)
    • “in his own mind.” (Vs. 25)
  • And, the leader was “broken – by no human hand.” (Vs. 25)
    • Antiochus died without being touched by any aggressor.  He was told of losing a battle to the Jews while he was in Persia, and supposedly died of grief.

Questions to consider:

1. How should the fact that each of these prophecies has already been fulfilled give us confidence in the Bible?
2. Is there anything that God does not know?  Did the Greeks, the Romans, or anyone else ever accomplish anything without God knowing about it and sovereignly orchestrating it?
3. Does the Bible’s accuracy and God’s sovereignty mean that we will never have to endure anything hard?  What can we be sure of when we are suffering?  What is the longest our suffering could possibly last?  How long will eternity with Christ be?

Today’s passage: Daniel 8:1-14

Helpful thoughts:

• This vision now follows the previous from two years prior.
• The animals in this vision:
  • A ram with two horns (One higher than the other)
    • It charged every direction but north.
    • It seemed as though no one could stop it.
  • A goat with a conspicuous horn
    • He destroys the ram.
    • In his strength, the single horn was broken and four new horns grew in its place.
    • One of those horns grew a horn of its own.
      • The new horn considered himself to be as great as God Himself.
      • This new horn would stop the Temple from functioning as it should and desecrate it (More to come on that in the next passage tomorrow).
      • This desecration/transgression/desolation would last 2,300 days.

Questions to consider:

1. Knowing that Daniel had seen these visions before the the hand appeared which wrote on the wall, how do you think these visions and their meaning helped him to know the bigger picture when he spoke to King Belshazzar?
2. In what ways can the word of God give us perspective that helps us through the ups and downs in every day life?

Today’s passage: Daniel 7:15-28

Helpful thoughts:

• “The saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.”  That’s us!
• The eleventh horn that becomes great is the Anti-Christ.
  • He makes war with the saints (See note above…)
  • The judgment of the Ancient of Days (God the Father) will put an end to the work of the Anti-Christ.
• A time, times and half a time = a year, two years and a half year =  3.5 years.
  • The second half of the Anti-Christ’s time in power (The seven year Tribulation) will be a time of great persecution for the saints.

Questions to consider:

1. Why was Daniel right to be so alarmed by everything he had just seen?  What time did God reveal to him?
2. Who is going to make everything right?  Who is going to judge righteously and usher in the kingdom that lasts forever?
3. How do God’s promises of victory and the kingdom give you confidence and rest even in the midst of trial…or even persecution?