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CHAPTER TWELVE
THE MORAL PURPOSE OF THE
PROPHECIES OF DANIEL
Prophecies were not written
merely as milestones to the kingdom of God. While the church may
find joy in measuring the distance still to travel on the highway of
time, by noting how many milestones have been passed and how many more
there are yet to pass before the coming of Christ, it should be
emphasized that this is not their greatest purpose. The prophecy of
Daniel, chapter two, was given to teach that the rise and fall of
empires is not due to the fluctuating fortunes of monarchs and
dictators, but to the overruling providence of God (Dan. 2:20-22); that
nations are overthrown when they oppose and hinder God's moral purpose
in the earth; that because men are selfish they cannot build a lasting
empire; that God will establish a kingdom made up of people who have
learned to obey the will of God. In Matt. 21:44 Jesus applies this
prophecy in connection with the individual who either accepts or
rejects the gospel. Our Lord does not employ this prophecy to declare
that the fourth of the kingdoms (represented by the legs of iron) had
come, therefore the end must be drawing near, but He did apply the
setting up of the kingdom of stone - His own everlasting kingdom - in
relation to the present and applied it to the moral choice of the
individual.
Daniel, chapter three, shows
the conflict between the kingdoms of God and of Satan. The king of
Babylon, under Satan's leadership (see Isa. 14:4, 12), sought to
frustrate the fulfillment of the prophecy given by Daniel recorded in
the previous chapter. In his efforts he endeavored to compel the Hebrews
to break God's moral Law. The book of Revelation applies this moral
conflict between the law of the king of Babylon and the Law of God in
connection with the present and in connection with the individual. The
people in literal Babylon were to "worship the golden image"
that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had set up. This fact is
stated six times - Dan. 3:5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 18. In the Revelation, God's
warning against worshipping the beast and his "image"
is mentioned six times Rev. 13:15; 14:9, 11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4. "If
any man worship the beast and his image."
God's care over His loyal
children is illustrated by the fact that He "delivered His
servants that trusted in Him" (Dan. 3:28). Daniel, chapter six,
reveals the plottings of men and demons to turn people from their
allegiance to the Law of God, and the testing and the triumph through
God's power of those who remain loyal to Him. Again, the emphasis is
placed upon the deliverance of those who serve God
"continually." (See Dan. 6:14, 16,20-27.) The deliverance
mentioned in Dan. 12:1 is not unrelated to the other deliverances
mentioned earlier in the book of Daniel; but, rather, the previous
deliverances illustrate the deliverance mentioned in Dan. 12:1. The
purpose for which the last, long prophecy of Daniel was written was not
to point to a supposed gathering of nations to Palestine for an
"Armageddon" which has nothing to do with God's moral purpose
(a war between nations has no moral significance for the Christian's own
experience). Actually this prophecy says absolutely nothing regarding a
supposed conflict of nations in Palestine; it says nothing concerning a
military "Armageddon," but it does point to the deliverance
from death at the hands of spiritual Babylon of those who have obeyed
the Law of God.
The time of trouble mentioned
in Dan. 12:1 occurs at the time of the outpouring of the seven last
plagues of Rev. 16. When Jesus ("Michael") stands up He ceases
to mediate on man's behalf; no longer will His intercession hold back
the winds of strife and world-wide commotion and trouble. To-day Jesus
intercedes on behalf of those who are seeking Divine aid in the
development of character. This prophecy warns of the time when Jesus'
intercessory work will cease. It is to this great decisive event that
Dan. 12:1 points us. The eternal destiny of all the human family will
then have been decided. Surely this is a most solemn moral reason for
giving this prophecy. When Jesus completes His heavenly ministry the
seven last plagues of Rev. 16 fall upon those who have rejected Christ's
last-day Message; they fall upon people because they have worshipped
the beast and his image (Rev 16:2), and because they have planned the
death of God's people (v.5, 6, etc.). They fall upon "the seat of
the beast and his kingdom" (v. 10); they fall upon "Babylon"
(v. 19). To interpret the sixth plague in connection with purely
military matters is distinctly out of harmony with God's clearly-stated
moral purpose for sending the plagues. The plagues are poured upon the
devotees of a false system of worship; upon those who worship the beast
and his image; upon those who, by following that false system of
worship, are found living in disobedience to the Holy Law of God. The
plagues are definitely said to be Babylon's plagues. (See Rev.
16:19; 18:4, 8, 10, etc.)
In the first chapter of Daniel
we see demonstrated the fact that eating good food is important in the
life of the Christian. Clean, wholesome foods affect clean living and
clear thinking. The Christian needs all the mental and spiritual
strength he can muster in the great battle of life. In Daniel, chapter
one, God shows the moral connection between food and religion; He
indicates that the deep prophecies of Daniel will be better understood
when care is observed in eating the best available foods.
In the other chapters of Daniel
(which in this brief outline we have not directly discussed), their
moral purpose is surely patent to all who have adequately studied them.
In chapter four, pride is humbled. Chapter five teaches nations and
individuals that there is a limit to sin and blasphemy beyond which they
are not permitted to pass. The close of spiritual Babylon's probation to
which we are directed in Dan. 12:1, is illustrated by the close of
literal Babylon's probation mentioned in Daniel, chapter 5. The downfall
of literal Babylon by armies from the east (Isa. 41:2; 46:11) occurred
after their probation had closed (Dan. 5:27-30), just as the downfall of
spiritual Babylon by armies from heaven appearing in the eastern skies
(Rev. 16:12; 19:11-20) will occur after their probation has closed (Rev.
15:6-8; 18:4-8).
In the seventh chapter of
Daniel we trace the onward course of the controversy between Christ and
Satan from literal Babylon, the center of Satan's kingdom, down to
spiritual Babylon, which is now the center of Satan's kingdom. Satan's
kingdom succeeds in persuading people that the Law of God has been
changed (Dan. 7:25), but the Judgment sits (Dan. 7:9-18) and Christ's
kingdom will be eventually established and peopled by those who remain
loyal to the moral law. (Dan. 7:14, 22, 26, 27.)
In chapters eight and nine the
moral purpose of prophecy is conspicuously manifest. The emphasis is
upon God's true system of worship and Satan's counterfeit system of
worship. Verses 23-25 of chapter eight depict the work of both pagan and
papal Rome; pagan Rome's depredations were against the literal Jews;
papal Rome's depredations were against the spiritual Jews. Once again
papal Rome, which is the center of Satan's kingdom - spiritual Babylon
of the book of Revelation - is connected up with ancient Babylon. The
2,300 days of Dan. 8:14, and the 70 weeks (of this time period) which
were cut off upon the literal nation of Israel (Dan. 9:24) were to
commence with the decree enabling the Jews to return to Palestine from
their Babylonian captivity. The Babylonians had destroyed their temple
and their beloved city, Jerusalem (2 Chron. 36:19; Dan. 9:16-19), and
the providences of God enabled them to go out of Babylon and return to
rebuild and restore the temple and Jerusalem and their national life.
(Dan. 9:25.) Subtracting the 70 weeks or 490 years, allotted to the Jews
as their probationary period, from the 2,300 days or years, leaves 1810
years. Many expositors have seen that this long prophecy terminates in
or about 1844. But how do they apply this prophecy and in what
connection? They apply it in connection with the return of the literal
Jews to Palestine, and their eventual national rehabilitation. In
this way they lose sight of the moral purpose of prophecy in
connection with the present spiritual kingdom of our Lord. The coming
out of Babylon by the ancient people of God is applied in Rev. 18:4 in
connection with the moral choice of people who heed the call of
Christ to serve Him and to leave spiritual Babylon, the place of false
worship. In the New Testament, the "temple" is applied in
connection with the moral condition of a group of people (the church) or
of each individual. Thus the national application of events to
transpire at the terminal of the 2,300 days' prophecy forsakes the moral
application employed in the New Testament. Today, God's people are
coming out of spiritual Babylon and are returning to spiritual
Jerusalem, and are repairing the breaches in the wall of the city of our
God, and the temple service of true worship is being rebuilt. |
