An Invisible War
Throughout our time studying the Book of Daniel, we have read of YHWH using dreams and visions to reveal to his prophet information about the future of the land of Judah, the people of Israel, the city of Jerusalem, and the temple of YHWH. The purpose of this prophetic revelation is to encourage those Jews then living as exiles in Babylon–the former capital of the Babylonian empire, now occupied by the Persians. The exiles find themselves under YHWH’s covenant curse because of Israel’s past idolatry and unbelief. The good news is that this time of exile is about to end. The bad news is that their struggles will not. Daniel now learns that there is an invisible and spiritual war behind the day to day struggles of God’s people, a war which will be won by a coming of the Messiah.
During his remarkable life in exile, Daniel was called and equipped by YHWH to serve two of the greatest kings of that age: Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon) and Cyrus (the Persian empire). YHWH has also revealed to Daniel that four great Middle Eastern empires will successively rise and fall–the Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek, and then finally, Rome. Through the prophetic revelation given to Daniel, the exiles learn that they are about to return home and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. But YHWH will also reveal that the glory days for Israel are past, and they will not return until the mighty fourth empire of these visions, Rome, is finally subdued after its direct opposition to YHWH and his kingdom. YHWH’s final conquest will take the form of a messianic kingdom which conquers all of God’s enemies apart from the use of armies and political power. This will be a victory won by a suffering Messiah who breaks the power of sin and undoes the curse.
YHWH – The Author and Lord of History
As recounted in chapter nine, Daniel was well aware that Judah’s seventy years of exile foretold by the prophet Jeremiah was coming to an end. Worried about his people, Daniel fervently prays for Judah (vv. 1-19 of Daniel 9). YHWH answered him by sending the Angel Gabriel who revealed to Daniel that a time of seventy weeks has been decreed for God’s people, a period which begins to unfold with the Persian king Cyrus’s decree in 538 BCE. This decree will allow the Jews to return to Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Furthermore, Gabriel explains that the seventy weeks will be fulfilled when a coming Messiah will finish the transgression, put an end to sin, atone for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal both vision and prophet, and anoint a most holy place (v. 24). Gabriel also reveals that in the process of the Messiah redeeming his people, both Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed, and then Jews will be dispersed into the ends of the earth. But the Messiah will complete his redemptive work and usher in the final jubilee and the eternal Sabbath at the end of the age.
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