The Appointed Time

Daniel's apocalyptic aura and prophetic nature have generated a flurry of “end-times” predictions by both Jewish and Christian theologians. This is expected as people try to understand mortality. Many different images and phrases from Daniel have piqued the interest of readers and generated rampant speculation for the future of God’s followers, both Jewish and Christian. What is the meaning of the “seventy sevens?” (9.24) Does Nebuchadnezzar’s statue represent nations with implications for the past or future? (2) Who is the “little horn?” (7.8) Why are the calculations of days in chapter 12, predicting future events, different by 45 days and what do they represent? (11-12) Indeed, numerous American churches have become more fascinated with “end-times” gossip than any other theological topic in the Bible. Most believers read Daniel with a historicist intrigue in which they believe the book describes a continuous flow of world events that begin with Daniel’s time in sixth century Babylon and extends to the consummation of all things at Jesus’ future, Second Advent. Others apply a more localized approach by which Daniel is exclusively concentrating on the immediate future of Israel as they suffer under the dominion of pagan rulers. Some, more eccentric thinkers interweave elements of the past, present and future into simultaneous portions of the narrative to make sense of modern-day, one-world-order conspiracy theories. For example, they concede that while the first four metallic elements of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue (Dan. 2) represent past empires before the common era (BC), the statue’s ten toes made of iron and clay represent a, yet, future (21st century) confederacy of religions or nations that will form a one-world government under the final Antichrist. Indeed, one of the great philosophical ironies from which the modern church suffers is its proclivity for internal division based on this diversity of interpretations. However, the most popular contemporary eschatology held by the evangelical church is known as Futurism. This Christian “end-times” perspective interprets the prophetic portions of the Bible’s most apocalyptic books like Revelation, Ezekiel, and Daniel as describing exclusively future events. Such an understanding holds that major predictions regarding wars, catastrophes, and perpetually declining morality are indicators of the forthcoming consummation of all things at which point the world will experience the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. And the eschatological blueprint that has gained the fiercest momentum in recent decades has been that which was put forth by the release of the fictional Left Behind Christian book series from the mid-1990’s by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It goes something like this (along with the scriptures used to support it). Sometime, in the very near future, a Rapture of the Christian church will occur at an unexpected moment (Matt. 24.42). This event, evangelicals believe, is the sudden and privileged removal of all Christ-followers from the earth for transportation to heaven that will leave the rest of an unbelieving world behind in its transgressions (1 Thes. 4.15-17). This unexplainable and mysterious departure of billions of people will confuse those remaining into unprecedented chaos, paving the way for the commencement of the “last days” and the coming Great Tribulation (Matthew 24.21) that futurists believe is prescribed upon the earth by God and executed by His archenemy – the Antichrist (2 Thes. 2.3, Matt. 24.15, 2 John 1.7). Immediately after the Rapture, this Antichrist will catapult into global power through deception, masquerading as the earth’s white knight, ushering in peace and unity. In a display of unparalleled diplomatic expertise, he will make a peace treaty with Israel for seven years (Dan. 9.27) deceiving the Jews into a sense of false security as the world recovers from the Rapture event. During this time, Israel will be permitted to rebuild its temple and re-implement its Old Covenant sacrificial system of national atonement. He will break this covenant at its mid-point (3 ½ years). At this moment, this man will come under the influence of the Devil, himself, and will trigger a time of extraordinary global persecution of both new Christians and the Jewish people. At some point, God’s appointed wrath will intervene and destroy not only the Antichrist, but all remaining earthy people who declared allegiance to his rulership (Rev. 4-19). Once God’s portion has been completed, Jesus will Return and reign over an earthly kingdom for 1,000 years (Rev. 20.2), after which Satan will be given one more chance to rebel (20.7) and suffer an eternal defeat (Rev. 20.10). And, finally, the culmination of all things arrives with the long-awaited New Heavens and New Earth (Rev. 21) where all manner of pain, suffering, and death have been vanquished and eternal life with the Creator achieves its fullness. I pray that I have conveyed this narrative clearly to those not already familiar with it, because it dominates modern evangelical eschatology. One can see, by the references provided, that this evangelical tale is derived from three primary apocalyptic, biblical sources – Matthew, Revelation, and Daniel. The more one studies Christian eschatology, one will find additional support for this theory in books like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Joel; however, Daniel’s portion in this narrative is what concerns our study from which two main concepts are devised by futurists. The first comes from Daniel’s ninth chapter. Though fairly straightforward in its basic explanation, this, in no way, fits the true meaning of the passages – which you will see in this commentary.