Daniel's End Times Prophecies

I think the next prophecies we should consider are those of the prophet Daniel since they too tie in so directly with the book of Revelation. Again, I want to remind you that I’m giving a summary of my understanding of these passages. A more detailed verse-by-verse breakdown can be found at my website. I’m also going to limit my focus in Daniel to those sections that in my mind have direct connection to future events. This will necessarily include reference to fulfilled prophecy in history that is foundational to future events.

Daniel was taken to Babylon as a captive after Nebuchadnezzar’s first siege of Jerusalem. According to Daniel 1:3, he was probably of royal blood. Daniel was committed to serving YHWH, the God of Israel, and was blessed by God to find favor and become established as the leading wise man in Babylon. Daniel’s faith and commitment remained strong throughout his life, even to facing death in the lion’s den for continuing to worship God in disregard of the king’s decree. God miraculously delivered him from death at that time.

In chapter 2 of Daniel we find a story about one of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams and how God revealed the dream and its interpretation to the prophet. Daniel was careful to let Nebuchadnezzar know that it was “God in heaven” who revealed the dream and its interpretation to him. He told the king that God was revealing to him what would happen in “the latter days,” which in the Hebrew is a reference to “end times.” The dream was of a great image with a head of fine gold, a breast and arms of silver, a belly and thighs of brass, and legs of iron with feet and toes made of a mixture of iron and clay. Daniel then goes on to tell the king that he and his kingdom (Babylon) are depicted by the head of gold. After his time three more kingdoms would emerge before God destroys them and establishes His eternal kingdom on earth.

Before identifying the other kingdoms, we need to be informed about a later dream of Daniel’s that is recorded in chapter 8. Daniel gets a vision of a ram with two horns; the second horn grows to be higher than the first. This ram pushed west, north and south and no one was able to stop him. Then Daniel sees a he-goat with a great horn coming swiftly from the west to attack the ram. He destroyed the ram and broke his two horns; no one was able to rescue the ram. The he-goat became very strong, but his horn was soon broken and replaced by four other strong horns. Out of one of these horns emerged a little horn that became very great especially toward the south and east and included Israel. He caused the sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem to stop. Daniel then hears two saints talking about how this man’s rule will be temporary and the sanctuary would again be cleansed.

The angel Gabriel is sent to explain the dream to Daniel. He immediately tells Daniel that it is describing “the time of the end.” This makes a direct connection to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Gabriel explains that the ram with two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia. The goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn is its first king, Alexander the Great. After Alexander dies, four kingdoms will emerge from the vast kingdom of Greece. History affirms that Medo-Persia conquered Babylon and were in turn conquered by Greece; it also affirms the fact that Alexander’s kingdom was divided among four of his generals.
1. Seleucus – Syria, Israel, Babylonia, and Media
2. Cassander – Macedonia and Greece
3. Ptolemy – Egypt, Cyprus, and parts of Asia Minor
4. Lysimachus – Thrace, Lydia, Cappadocia and the northern parts of Asia Minor