Stagione 1
There are many remarkable prophecies in scripture, but this must be the most amazing of them all. Sadly, a dispensational perspective tries to steal the thunder from Jesus and give it to the 'AntiChrist.' We are not even sure there will even be an AntiChrist. But once we get the perspective fixed properly, this is an incredible prophecy about Jesus and what he was going to do for the Jews and also for the Gentiles. We also consider the symbolism of the number 490 which is found int he Bible in a number of places from Genesis 4 and 5, right through to Matthew's gospel where Jesus talks to Peter about forgiveness. The seventy sevens of Daniel is a passage of scripture that should bring awe to the heart of every believer and show us a new perspective of God's wonder working grace.
In this marvellous vision of the future, Daniel sees a vision of a goat, which represented Alexander the Great, who conquered the Persian Empire, but then his horn snapped off and was replaced by four horns, which were the four empires that came from him. This vision is so accurate that it prompted some people to think Daniel could not possibly have seen this vision, and the book must be a made up book later after the events. Is that the case? The answer is stranger than you think.
We now get to the prophecy part of Daniel's book which is no less interesting than the story part was. We are thrown right in with the vision of the four beasts, the fourth of which is..... terrifying. And what is that little horn that Daniel sees?
Daniel survives an elaborate ruse to get rid of him, and the lions as well. But those who plotted the ruse had short-sighted thinking and end up as lion chow. This chapter is more than just a great sunday school story - it has meaning that applies to our lives today, and is also a picture of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection and his intercession on our behalf.
As King Belshazzar has a wild party using cups from God's temple in mockery, a hand appears and there is mysterious writing on the wall. TEKE TEKE MENE PARSIN It was all over for the Babylonian empire and that night the Persians invaded the city via an elaborate trick that involved lowering the water level in the river and entering the city through the moat. Daniel explains the mysterious writing and becomes the third highest ruler in Babylon.... for a brief time.
In my opinion (David Alley's) this is one of the most remarkable chapters of the entire Bible, because it was written by the evil King Nebuchadnezzar and seems to show us that he became a believer in God, and then encouraged the entire Babylonian Empire to know Him. How is it that Israel for 500+ years have so little effect on the surrounding nations, to show them God's love, but one person (Daniel) has such a big effect in just a short amount of time on this King, resulting in this incredible chapter.
Inspired by his dream, but apparently not having learned the lesson, Nebuchadnezzar builds a giant statue and compels the people of Babylon to worship it. This presents an ethical dilemma to three of Daniel's friends. In this chapter we consider what faith is - do you obey God when it appears you are gong to die for it? What do we learn about how we should walk and trust the Lord?
Nebuchadnezzar has a terrifying dream, and calls his expert dream interpreters (the wise man, enchanters and the magi) to figure it out.... except he will not tell the the dream. They must tell him the dream AND the interpretation or he will kill them. Daniel seeks the Lord and has the same dream and the Lord gives him the meaning. It was a dream of a giant statue with a gold head, and a rock that flew in from outer space and destroyed it. What does it mean? How does this affect us today?
Daniel, and his three friends Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael are among the earliest Jewish people taken into exile in Babylon. They are presumably castrated and put into the public service under the watchful eye of Ashpenaz the caretaker of the eunuchs. While in Babylon Daniel is renamed after a foreign god, taughter a foreign way of life and language, and is surrounded by worldliness. How does he maintain his faith, while maintaining friendliness and kindness to those wanting him to change?
In the final chapter of Ezekiel's grand vision, he is shown how the promised land is to be divided up. The tribes get a strip each from left to right starting with Dan at the top, each tribe in turn all the way to Gad at the very bottom. In the middle is a giant chunk designated for the priests. What should we make of this unusual and quite impractical breakup of the land?