Daniel's Legacy

The prophecies of Daniel were incredibly accurate in predicting the future that lay ahead for the Jews in Babylon.  So accurate, in fact, that many scholars cannot believe that the real Daniel wrote them in Babylon, in the 6^th century BC. They suggest that someone else, in the first or second century BC, must have written them. Those scholars simply do not have much faith that God could use a God-fearing man to foretell His plans and purposes, in order to guide and inform His chosen people.

Daniel is not only renowned for his prophecies, but also for his righteousness, faithfulness, prayers, and trusted leadership. His amazing stories of faith, alone, would be an honorable legacy. But his prophetic visions and interpretations are perhaps his greatest legacy.

Three visions, in particular, played a prominent role over the years as I re-examined prophecy. First, Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of a statue, representing five nations (chapter 2). Second, Daniel’s own vision of the five beasts (chapter 7), corresponding to the vision of the statute. The third vision is the vision of the seventy weeks (chapter 9), but I will discuss that vision in a separate article, “The Tribulation Hoax”.

Let’s consider, ever so briefly, the visions of the statue and the beasts. They both prophetically foretell four kingdoms which would be oppressive world-rulers (Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome). Each of those kingdoms would have a great impact upon the Jews over the next 600 years. But both of these dreams also predict a fifth nation, one which would rule in the distant future (compare Rev 17:10, “five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come”). Why this fifth nation receives so little consideration is beyond my understanding. It is haplessly misinterpreted, leaving its profound impact upon the end of the age woefully mired in a fog of ambiguity.

This fifth nation is America. In the statue vision America is prophesied by the feet of iron mixed with clay, and its description is far more detailed than the other four kingdoms. And it was the feet of the statue where the great rock struck. That rock represents a kingdom that will never be destroyed, a repetitive theme throughout Daniel’s writings. In the vision of the beasts, it is once again easy to identify the first four – same four as the statue. History has a way of clearly interpreting prophecy. But a fifth beast is uniquely envisioned by a little horn, a new nation, that rose up amongst ten horns, European countries that emerged from the old Roman empire. The little horn subdued three of the ten horns (i.e., England, France, and Spain) and became very powerful. Once again, this little horn is discussed at length (7:20-25).

The feet of clay and iron and the little horn are identical to the seventh head of the beast prophesied in Revelation 13. They are all three prophecies of America, the world-dominating nation of the last days. The importance of this identification is twofold. First, history confirms prophecy – we are in the last days. Secondly, we are warned that America will be destroyed – in the beast vision (Dan 7:11, 26) in the statue vision (Dan 2:34), and confirmed in Revelation 17 and 18. Accordingly, we need to prepare for great turmoil and distress. The destruction of America will surely happen – concurrent with the eighth beast rising up, before the battle of Armageddon, and before the rapture at the second coming of Christ. Jesus said, “Be ready, be prepared, don’t be caught unaware.”