2. The secrets from the book of Daniel unraveled, with enlightening insight.

Daniel part 2.pdf

CSB (Daniel 12: 4) 4 But you, Daniel, keep these words secret and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam about, and knowledge will increase.
.                           (All quotations from the New King James translation)
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After interpreting the first dream, Nebuchadnezzar called the God of Daniel ‘the God of gods and Lord of kings’. Daniel was taken up in a high position at the court of Babylon as ruler over the entire province of Babel and, at Daniel’s request, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were appointed over the administration of the province of Babel (Dan. 2: 47-49).

Summary part 1:
The temple of Jerusalem, the place of worship of God, destroyed around 586 BC.
With the great apostasy of Christians in these days, God’s spiritual temple is being destroyed.
Because of the apostate Jews who had forsaken their God and engaged in idolatry, the faithful Jewish people also fell into slavery of Babylon.
Because of the great Christian apostasy who have forsaken God, faithful Christians have also become enslaved to the great Babylon, the empire of the financial world.
The Gentile domination of God’s people, in those days the Jewish people, to the time of the end.
The domination of God’s people in these days, now Christians, to the time of the end.

Theme: The book of Daniel, from which Christians can draw strength in the last days

Daniel chapter 3
The worship of the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar and the rescue of the faithful Jewish young men from the fiery furnace.
The worship of the image in the near future and the salvation of faithful Christians for the fire.

Daniel and his 3 companions were given Babylonian names, as a sign of submission:

(Daniel 1: 7) 7 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made, the height of which was sixty cubits (+/- 30m).
The golden idol was a symbol of world power, Babylon was the great world power in those days. That the image was made of gold indicates the exalted position of the empire.

Nebuchadnezzar had a message sent to all notables and leaders in his empire to dedicate the new image. He wanted to see a committed level of government confirmed by communal unity and worship: 

(Daniel 3: 2) 2 And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The moment those present heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lute, lyre, pan flute and all kinds of musical instruments, they should fall down and worship the golden image.
Whoever would not fall down and worship would be thrown into the fiery furnace. The golden image was an idol.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were also invited to serve as administrators of the province of Babel (Daniel 2:49). They attended the ceremony out of obedience, but they realized that according to their belief, bowing to the image was not permissible. When the Chaldean people heard the sounds, they all fell down and worshiped the image that King Nebudkadnezzar had set up. But not the Jewish companions of Daniel, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. They strictly adhered to the Law of Moses. Moses had received the two tables of stone with the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai. The second commandment was that the Jewish people should not worship or bow to idols:

(Exodus 20: 4-5) 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me….

Some Chaldean men accused the Jewish young men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego of not worshiping the image:

(Daniel 3: 8-12) 8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews. 9 They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image; 11 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.”

This is what these faithful companions of Daniel answered King Nebuchadnezzar:

(Daniel 3: 17-19) 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego – with their garments tied – were thrown into the fire:

(Daniel 3: 23-25, 28) 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.“….28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!

These three youths were extremely tested for their faith but were saved by an angel in the extra-heated fiery furnace, while those who had to throw them into the furnace were killed by the extraordinarily hot fire (Daniel 3: 20-25).
They did not smell of fire and no hair on their heads was scorched (Daniel 3: 26-27).
King Nebuchadnezzar praised the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, in whom they had trusted, and commanded that any people, nation, or language that would blaspheme their God, would be killed (Daniel 3: 28-29).

Why is this part so interesting to Christians?
Revelation also describes an image that all people have to worship.
he image that will have to be made by the earthlings for the wild beast (with 7 heads), of which the last head or world power was healed.
It resembles the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. Nebuchadnezzar’s image represented his world power. So the image of the wild beast – just like the image of Nebuchadnezzar – represents world power, now the USA. This image that hasbto be made by the Earthlings can speak through the agency of ‘the beast with the 2 horns’ and has the power to kill those who do not worship the image: 

(Revelation 13: 14-15) 14….he (the beast with the 2 horns, the Antichrist) is telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 He (the beast with the 2 horns, the Antichrist) was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

The false prophet or Antichrist is given the power by Satan to give this image a spirit. Satan is a spirit. Remember that Satan has indicated that he wants to be worshiped:

(Luke 4: 6-7) 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

So it will not be an ordinary spirit or demon, but he (Satan) will take possession of that monstrosity.
Everyone will have to worship that image or you will be killed. (Rev. 13:15)
It is without question the worship of Satan.
Once the monstrosity, a product of Satan, is assembled, the next step comes.
That monstrosity will even be able to speak and that we have seen before, demonstrated by Satan in Genesis 3: 1.
Just as with the Jewish young men in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, faithful Christians will never give in to worship this idol or Satan. In Revelation it is written what awaits those, who do worship the image:

(Revelation 14: 9-10) 9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God,….

The Second Coming, accompanied by fire
The disciples asked Jesus what the Second Coming would be like.
The sun, moon and stars will be darkened. There will be violent reactions in the sky, blood, fire and vapor of smoke:

(Acts 2: 19-20) 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. (See also Joel 2: 29-31) 
(Luke 17: 26, 29-30) 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:….29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

Rev. 8: 7    1st trumpet  1/3 part of the earth burned with hail and fire mixed with blood.
Rev. 8: 8   2nd trumpet  1/3 part of the sea dies and becomes blood by a great mountain of fire.
Rev. 8:10  3rd Trumpet  1/3 of the rivers and springs of water are made bitter by a great burning star

And just as Nebuchadnezzar saw the sight of  ‘a son of the gods’ (Daniel 3:25) saving the faithful young men, so faithful Christians will be saved in haste by angels:

(Matthew 24:31) 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Daniel Chapter 4
From the calling of Abraham on, God’s people would be ruled in 7 periods of world powers by kings who had lost their minds.
The mindless 7 world powers are now ending. What is happening now worldwide is, that the demons are going out to the rulers to gather them for the great climax (Rev. 16:14).

In Daniel chapter 4 is talked about 7 ‘times‘, so first a short explanation about this.
According to several Bible Students, the word ‘times‘ used in Daniel refers to periods of time, to ‘prophetic’ years of 360-days and deviates from the Hebrew calendar.
(For further explanation of the prophetic years see: 2. Future)

Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream
(Daniel 4: 10-17) 10 “These were the visions of my head while on my bed: “I was looking, and behold, A tree in the midst of the earth, And its height was great. 11 The tree grew and became strong; Its height reached to the heavens, And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth. 12 Its leaves were lovely, Its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, And all flesh was fed from it. 13 “I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, And the birds from its branches. 15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, Bound with a band of iron and bronze, In the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven, And let him graze with the beasts On the grass of the earth. 16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man, Let him be given the heart of a beast, And let seven times pass over him. 17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’

From verse 16 on, the root stump suddenly changes from ‘with a human heart’ to ‘with an animal heart’.
That large tree represented Nebuchadnezzar and his dominion according to Daniel 4: 20-22 :

(Daniel 4: 25-27) 25 They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses. 26 And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.”

If Nebuchadnezzar had broken off his sinful and unjust way of life,  it probably would have turned out differently. As with the previous world power, Assyria, where Jonah was commissioned to preach in the capital Nineveh to warn of its destruction. But in Nineveh, the king and the subjects showed repentance and Nineveh was spared (Jonah 3: 4-10). Under Nebuchadnezzar’s dominion, Babylon became a beautiful and rich city:

(Isaiah 13:19) 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride….

But Nebuchadnezzar did not repent of his sinful and unrighteous way of life.
He grew proud and began to glorify himself:

(Daniel 4: 29-31) 29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” 31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!

Satan has temporarily ‘enforced’ ruler ship in order to prove that people do not have to choose on a voluntary basis for obedience to God and His Son:
(See also for this: 8. Give to God what is God’s)

(Luke 4: 6) 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

However, as the rightful King of Kings, God can overrule Satan’s ruler ship by taking away the kingship of a king and possibly giving it back.
The root trunk, enclosed in an iron and bronze band, indicates that God’s rightful ruler ship over His people will remain sealed off for 7 times, until God’s kingdom comes.
It started with the calling of Abraham and will end with the Christians at the end time.
Nebuchadnezzar now had to stay with the beasts of the field for 7 times or ‘7 prophetic years of 360 days’, humbled for 7 periods of ruler ship over God’s people. First the world power Egypt, followed by Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and finally the USA. (We will discuss these 7 world powers in a later article.)
After these 7 times, his sanity came back and Nebuchadnezzar glorified the King of heaven: 

(Daniel 4:37) 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.

The seven world powers of idolatry
Abraham lived in the Chaldean UR, where he was also born.
The worship of the moon god was the main religion in all of Mesopotamia.
The Assyrians (North Mesopotamia) and the Babylonians (South Mesopotamia) knew the word Sin as the name of the moon god.
In the city of Ur and its surroundings, several stele of the moon god Sin have been found:
   
Also in the family line of Abraham this idol (s) was served:

(Joshua 24: 2) 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.

God’s people will be ruled in 7 periods of world powers by leaders who have lost their minds, who act reason less and are now being gathered by the demons (Rev. 16:14).
After the battle, God will take up his kingship again together with His Messiah. Nebuchadnezzar had to know and experience that the Creator has the rightful authority to revoke the kingship. And that during his humiliation all 7 world powers are improper world powers because Satan is the improper ruler of this world:
 

(Revelation 13: 1-2) 1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon (Satan) gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

Daniel chapter 5
Babylon was a depraved city of idolatry and would be conquered.
Great Babylon will be a depraved city of idolatry and will be destroyed.

In the valley between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates was the city of Babel, called Babylon by the Greeks.
The last Chaldean king of Babylon was Nabonidus and he made his son, Crown Prince Belshazzar, co-king (according to the Nabonidus Chronicle, a cuneiform script on a clay tablet). Nabonidus was the son of a high priestess of the moon god Sin.
This king of Babylon offered the Jewish people no hope of returning to Judah:

(Isaiah 14: 3-4,16-17) 3 It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, 4 that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: “How the oppressor has ceased, The golden city ceased!…. 16 “Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, 17 Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?

Daniel chapter 5 describes how King Belshazzar gave a great feast for his nobles, his wives, and concubines, and made them drink wine out of the gold objects that Nebuchadnezzar had brought from the temple of Jerusalem. In doing so, they also praised their gods of gold, silver, copper, iron, wood and stone. (Daniel 5: 2-4).
Suddenly, a hand appeared and wrote an ominous, puzzling text on the wall.
Daniel explained the meaning of this: 

(Daniel 5: 22-25) 22 But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. 23 And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. 24 Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written. 25 “And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

Daniel then deciphered the written text and foretold the end of the Babylonian kingdom. Be counted, counted, weighed and being divided. 2x MENE (counted) was written, probably because both Belshazzar and Nabonidus had been weighed and found too lightweight:

(Daniel 5: 26-28) 26 This is the interpretation of each word. Mene: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; 27 Tekel: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 28 Peres: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” (PERES means to divide once, UFARSIN means to be divided) 

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Euphrates was diverted by the Persians so that the water level dropped. This allowed the army to ford the river and enter the fortress city of Babylon.
That same night, Babylon fell to the Persian army and Belshazzar was killed.
Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, was foretold in the Scriptures as the conqueror of Babylon:

(Isaiah 44:28) 28 Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ‘

Cyrus Cylinder

The Cyrus cylinder on which Cyrus the Great describes the Persian conquest of Babylon.
After the victory of Cyrus, Darius the Mede became king of Babylon.
There are many question marks about Darius the Mede, he cannot be found outside of Biblical history. Probably, he was appointed by Cyrus (Daniel 9: 1) as ‘king of the Chaldeans’.
According to the Scripture below, the kings of Medes were involved in the attack on Babel, although the Medes Empire had been conquered by the Persians for some time.
Darius the Mede must, as a ruler, have proved himself a loyal ally to the Persians: 

(Jeremiah 51: 11-13) 11 Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, Because it is the vengeance of the Lord, The vengeance for His temple. 12 Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon; Make the guard strong, Set up the watchmen, Prepare the ambushes. For the Lord has both devised and done What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. 13 O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your covetousness.

Ancient Babylon, according to Jeremiah, was rich in treasures and had a high degree of covetousness.
But what about the great Babylon (Revelation 14: 8)?
Great Babylon is also rich in treasures or assets and also has a high degree of covetousness.
In October 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia announced a construction project for a city with an investment of $ 500 billion.
The financial institutions such as the banks, insurance companies, investment companies, etc. are investing massively in a big city, NEOM.
The project called NEOM encompasses cities and industry and with 25,000 km² will be almost as big as Belgium and according to the promotion as big as 33 x New York.
NEOM means ‘New Future’.

‘The first phase of construction must be completed by 2025’, reported Reuters news agency.

The red marker on the right picture is Mount Jebel Al-Lawz, Mount Sinai.
NEOM is therefore situated on the spot where ancient Midian was located.
This is to be found on their site about the objective of NEOM:

‘Tomorrow’s healthcare will have its start here. The world will look to NEOM for the next generation of gene therapy, genomics, stem cell research, nano biology and bio engineering.

But whoever will exalt himself and who will disdain God, he will know that YHWH is our God:

(Isaiah 46:5, 9-10) 5 “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?…. 9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done,….

For how will it end with NEOM, the great idolatrous Babylon?

(Revelation 18: 17-21) 17….Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ 19 They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’ 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” 21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.

The woman (with the name on her forehead; the great Babylon, the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth) represents the banks and financial institutions. This woman (or banks and financial institutions) will be hated and completely destroyed by the 10 uncrowned kings of the central banks (Rev. 17:16).

Finally:

The book of Daniel shows us, that remaining faithful under tribulation will be rewarded.

Summary part 2 :
The worship of the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar and the rescue of the faithful Jewish young men from the fiery furnace.
The worship of the image in the near future and the salvation of faithful Christians for the fire.
From the calling of Abraham on, God’s people would be ruled in 7 periods of world powers by kings who had lost their minds.
The mindless 7 world powers are now ending. What is happening now worldwide is, that the demons are going out to the rulers to gather them for the great climax (Rev.16:14).
Babylon was a depraved city of idolatry and would be conquered.
Great Babylon will be a depraved city of idolatry and will be destroyed.

In the next article, constructive examples will again be discussed for Christians.

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