A New Look At Daniel
In this time of great turmoil people want to know what the future holds. God is the one who charts the future, and I believe the only correct answers are in the Bible. From my scripture study I believe the next president of the U.S.A. will preside over a military defeat of American forces in the Middle East, and the little country called Israel will be overrun by the enemy. However, I believe God will save the U.S.A. from destruction. He wants to cleanse the Israel nations and remove any Edomite leaders. Fourteen years ago, I wrote a couple of articles on prophecies in Daniel. I said we could see the end of the Third World War in 2026. I would like to revisit the book of Daniel and add to what I wrote.
In chapter ten of the book of Daniel he has an encounter with an angel who tells him about the empire of Greece to succeed the empire of Persia. In chapter eleven there are prophecies of kings of the North and kings of the South in continual conflict. Howard Rand, in his book Study in Daniel, identified the kings of the South as Ptolemy Soter (vs. 5), Ptolemy Philadelphus (vs. 6), Ptolemy Evergetes (vs. 7), Ptolemy Philopater (vs. 10), and Ptolemy Epiphanes (vs. 14). Then the Romans rose in power, and the age of Greece faded. The kings of the North were Seleuctus Nicator (vs. 5), Antiochus Theos (vs. 6), Seleucus Callinicus (vs. 7), and Antiochus the great (vs. 10). Rand did not write about wars in Roman times from Daniel 11:20-31 but mentioned the taking of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the final abomination of desolation on temple mount as the mosque of Omar (vs. 31). He referred to the pope as the king (vs. 36) succeeding the fallen Roman empire. Rand believed there was a double fulfillment of vs. 37 to 39 in Napolean and Hitler, both of whom went up against Russia. He predicted the final battle of the king of the South against the king of the North (vs. 40 to 45) as Britain against Russia.
I cannot comment on everything Howard Rand wrote. It is all theory. My interest is the last part of the chapter (vs. 40 to 45), and I believe instead of calling Britain the king of the South, I would say it is America. I believe the verses are about the coming Middle East war which the king of the North (Russia) will temporarily win, and they will sweep over the little country of Israel, (the glorious land in vs. 41). In the end Russia will lose (vs. 45). This agrees with Zechariah 14:2 “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” The mistake Russia will make is deciding to attack North America, the land of the unwalled villages (Ezekiel 38:11). At that point God will intervene and bring about destruction to Russia and its allies. I am just a Bible student, calling the future the way I see it. Now I will deal with the timing of it.
In Daniel chapter 12 he saw two angels on either side of the river, and another person clothed in linen stand on the water in the middle of the river. Guess who else walks on water in the Bible. “And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” Daniel 12:6-7. This cannot refer to the final resurrection which takes place at the end of the millennium. I believe it is about the wars listed in chapter eleven. A time is 360 years, so time, times and a half are 1260 years. Holding up two hands means the period is doubled, making 2520 years. The beginning of it would be the first year of Darius the Mede, indicated by the angel in Daniel 11:1 as the beginning of the prophecy of empires and wars. Cyrus conquered Babylon and appointed his son-in-law Darius as ruler in 539 B.C. Adding 2520 years brings us to 1982. Then according to the prophecy, there would be a period of scattering (shattering) of the power of the holy people (Israel – the Anglo-Saxon and kindred people). This would be a period of economic destruction and finally war. Then the angel gave Daniel more information on the timeline. “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. Daniel 12:11-12. Howard Rand identified the sacrifice taken away as 70 A.D. in the conquering of Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus, and the abomination of desolation as the mosque of Omar set up on temple mount. It was built in AH 72 by Muslim chronology according to markings on the mosque which would be 691 or 692 A.D. Adding 1290 years would bring us to 1981 or 1982. Adding 1335 years to the date would be 2026 or 2027. Perhaps a period of 45 years from 1981 to 2026 is for the shattering of the power of the Anglo-Saxon and kindred people, to the end of the Third World War. It could be 2027 due to discrepancies in historical dates. After that we would have a very short time to wait until the Kingdom of God. I realize this is a different way of looking at these scriptures compared to most Israel truth interpretations, but maybe there is more than one way of analyzing the time periods.