The Book of Daniel

INTRODUCTION

Daniel is one of the most exciting and interesting books of the entire Bible.  It is the only book that covers the history of the world from its first great kingdom, Babylon, to the last great kingdom, the Revised Roman Empire.  By studying Daniel, one can see that we are living in the Last Days and that the rapture of the Church is right at the door.

Sir Robert Anderson is the person that opened the book of Daniel so people could understand it.  The book of Daniel was closed, or sealed, until the time of the end and, at that time, the Lord would unseal the book so we would know that we are living in the end of time.

The book is unsealed and for the last 110 years, we can see how prophecy is being fulfilled and how the Bible continues to be alive.  The things, that the Bible stated will happen in the Last Days, are happening and things that we never thought we would see, we are now seeing. 

At this time, I would like to give you information about Sir Robert Anderson and about other things that I believe will be of interest to you, the reader.

Sir Robert Anderson

Sir Robert Anderson is the author of one of the most popular books about the End Times, The Coming Prince.  His book unlocked the mystery of the Book of Daniel, which had been sealed from the time that Daniel wrote the book, somewhere around 533 B.C., until Sir Robert Anderson  published his book in 1894.

Sir Robert Anderson was born on May 29, 1841, in Mountjoy Square, Dublin, Ireland.  His father, Matthew Anderson, is named but his mother is not named in his writing and I have never found anything about his mother.  His father was an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Ireland.  Since we do not know anything about his mother, we can probably assume she was a very religious woman, as was his father, and that is where Robert first received his early training in religion. 

After leaving school, he embarked on a business adventure with a brewery, in an apprenticeship.  After 18 months, Robert decided that the brewery business was not for him.  His sister had attended an Irish Evangelical Revival and she persuaded him to attend one of the services.  Robert was not impressed with the preacher, or his sermon.  The following week he decided to go to his own church where John Hall was preaching.  The preacher gave one of his sermons on Christ’s forgiveness of sin and what the free gift of grace was all about.  After hearing the sermon, Robert was certain the preacher delivered unscriptural doctrines to the congregation and he wanted to confront him with those accusations.  Here is what Robert wrote about John Hall:

Hall boldly proclaimed forgiveness of sins, and eternal life as God’s gift in grace, unreserved and unconditional, to be received by us as we sat in the pews.  His sermon thrilled me, and yet I deemed his doctrine to be unscriptural.  So I waylaid him as he left the vestry, and on our homeward walk I tackled him about his heresies... At last he let go my arm, and facing me as we stood upon the pavement, he repeated with great solemnity his gospel message and appeal. ‘I tell you,’ he said, ‘as a minister of Christ, and in His name, that there is life for you here and now if you will accept Him.  Will you accept Christ, or will you reject Him?’  After a pause - how prolonged I know not - I exclaimed, ‘In God’s name I will accept Christ.’  Not another word passed between us; but after another pause he wrung my hand and left me.  And I turned homewards with the peace of God filling my heart.

After this encounter, he decide to further his studies at Boulogne-sur-Mer, in Paris, and then he attended Trinity College, in Dublin, where is received his Bachelors Degree in Arts in 1862.  The following year he was called to join the Irish Bar and later he received his Bachelor of Laws in 1875.

He married Lady Agnes Alexandrina Moore, sister of Ponsonby Moore, 9th Earl of Drogheda in 1873.  They had five children

During his career in criminal justice, he was appointed secretary to the Prison Commission.  He also worked against the Fenians.  Later in his career, he was promoted Commissioner of Crime at Scotland Yard.  He held that post until he retired.

During his younger years, he was thrilled to hear about prophecy and other things pertaining to the End Times.  After he accepted Christ, he started to study End Times and that is when he decided to write a book on the subject.  His book on Daniel was a masterpiece.  His criminal background set the stage for him to investigate the writings of Daniel. 

Many, many men had written books on Daniel and none of the books held any water.  Each book that was written had flaws in them.  However, when Robert wrote his book it opened the book to a whole new world.  The world of Bible Prophecy.  Once we get into the book, you will see what I mean.

During the life of Robert, he had many important friends and associates which we knew by name.  Men such as C. I. Scofield, A. C. Dixon, James M. Gray, E. W. Bullinger, and J. N. Darby.  All of these men helped influence his thinking of religion, theology, and the end times. 

One of the most famous cases Robert worked on was Jack The Ripper.  During the investigation, he decided to take a vacation to France, but because of the publicity of the case, he was called back to London.

Sir Robert Anderson retired in 1901 and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.  He would die during the Spanish Flu Epidemic on November 15, 1918.

The information listed above was found on the web.  To find more about Sir Robert Anderson, go to www.yahoo.com and type in Sir Robert Anderson. You will find web site after web site of valuable information about this man.  I used several of the sites for my information.

God’s Time Clock

God’s time clock does not start with the Book of Daniel, or with the Book of The Revelation, or with the Rapture. It does start with the nation of Israel.  In chapter 9 verse 27, Daniel speaks about a peace treaty that will be signed by the Antichrist, the Arab Block of countries and the nation of Israel.  At the time that Sir Robert Anderson wrote The Coming Prince, there was no nation called Israel. 

Israel did not come into being until May 14, 1948.  Since Israel did not become a nation until May 14, 1948, that means that there could not be a peace treaty with a man called the Antichrist or with a nation called Israel, before that date. 

Jesus gives us a glimpse of what it will be like during the last days.  In Matthew 24:4-7: ‘And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.  And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.’  Jesus also stated in Matthew 24:34: ‘Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.’  The generation, who saw all the things that He said would occur in the Last Days, would not pass away until all those things would be fulfilled.  The generation that sees Israel become a nation will not die off until the rapture of the Church.  Since we know that a generation is approximately seventy years, that means that we are that last generation and we will be the generation that will be raptured.

I have heard many, many times, people say that Christians, for thousands of years, have stated that they are the generation that will be raptured.  The one thing that I always point out is that people can say what they want, but until Israel became a nation, God’s Time Clock DID NOT start ticking.  God’s Time Clock has started ticking and it is ticking down to one of the greatest days in the history of the world.  The day the Bride is called home.

THE BOOK OF DANIEL

AUTHOR - The prophet Daniel is the writer of this great book.  Judah followed Israel into sin and apostasy and God sent Babylon to judge Judah.  Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were taken captive in the first deportation of the children of Judah to Babylon in 606 or 605 B.C.  It is assumed that Daniel was twelve to sixteen years old at the time of deportation.  Daniel will gain favor in Nebuchadnezzar’s court as a revealer of dreams.  Daniel will foretell the future of the coming world powers up to the end of the tribulation.  It is best to study Daniel along with the Book of The Revelation.  Daniel and his three friends will have their names changed to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Many, many times since Daniel wrote the book, there have been skeptics and unbelievers that say the book was not written around 533 B.C.  They will say the book was written somewhere around 150 B.C., because God does not reveal the future of the world to man.  They also don’t want you to believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. 

However, I believe it is best to let the Bible speak for itself.  Jesus states that Daniel was a prophet and he also states the authenticity of the Book of Daniel.  In Matthew 24:15 - ‘When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whosoever readeth, let him understand),’

In Mark 13:14 - ‘But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, standing where it ought not (let him that readeth understand), then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains.’  Not only does Jesus verify that Daniel is a prophet, but both Mark and Matthew state the same thing in their books of the same name.

DATE - The date of the writing of the Book of Daniel is unknown.  We know that Daniel had his last vision in 534 B.C. so it is assumed that 534 or 533 would be close to the dating of the Book of Daniel.  Daniel may have been instructed to write the book as things happened in his life and that the last vision would be the last portion of the book before he died.  The latest date we could possibly place on the book would be 530 B.C., which would put Daniel at the ripe old age of 90, that is if he was 15 years old when he was deported to Babylon in 605.

THEME - THE FUTURE - The Book of Daniel is the only book in the Bible that foretells the FUTURE of the upcoming world powers.  Daniel tells who the nations will be and who will succeed each nation, up to the end of the Tribulation.  The book will also give us a time line for the beginning of the millennium.

RECOMMENDED - There are twelve chapters in the Book of Daniel and it is recommended that it be studied in blocks of three or four chapters at a time.  Each block should take one quarter or three months.  This book is so important that going faster could lead one to miss some of the important points in Daniel.

HISTORICAL SETTING - The Book of Daniel has two historical settings.  The first is 606 or 605 to 539, while a captive under the Babylonian Empire.  The second is 539 to 533, while a captive under the Medo-Persian Empire.

UNDERSTANDING DANIEL - In order to understand the Book of Daniel, we must first go back in history and see why God would use heathen nations to chastise his people.  Upon the death of Solomon, Israel did not have a king.  Solomon’s son Rehoboam took over as king and increased the yoke on the people.  Jeroboam rebelled against Rehoboam and took the ten northern tribes with him, leaving only Judah and Benjamin, the southern tribes.  Jeroboam led the ten tribes into apostasy, idolatry, and other things that were forbidden by the law.  The ten tribes would be the nation of Israel and would continue in sin, until they were taken captive in 721 B.C. by Assyria. 

The two southern tribes would be Judah and Benjamin and their judgment would not come until 586 B.C., when Jerusalem would be burned to the ground.  The Bible does not record that Israel had a good king, but that all the kings of Israel were evil in the sight of the Lord.  On the other hand, Judah had one good king after another, but Judah did not keep the law that was required of God. 

Josiah became king of Judah when he was eight years old.  At the age of eighteen, the Book of the Law was found and Josiah made a covenant with God to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, but it was too late. God was going to chastise Judah.  If you want to read about Jeroboam and Rehoboam, you should read I Kings 11:26 - 12.  The story of Josiah can be found in II Kings 22 - 23:30. 

Because of the rebellion of Judah, she would be taken into captivity in 606 or 605 B.C. and would continue to be a captive until the 70 years that Jeremiah spoke about would be fulfilled.

THE KINGS

The following will give you a look at all the kings that reigned in Judah during the life of Daniel.

JOSIAH - Josiah was born in 648 B.C. and he began to reign as king at the age of eight.  Josiah was a very good king that restored the worshiping of God.  Josiah ruled Judah for 31 years.  In 609, Neco wanted to pass through the country held by Josiah, but Josiah refused.  In the valley of Megiddo, Josiah suffered an arrow wound to the chest from the battle with Neco and the Egyptian army.  He was taken back to Jerusalem, where he died.  The life of Josiah can be found in II Kings 22:1 - 23:30 and in II Chronicles 33:24 - Chapter 35

JEHOAHAZ - Jehoahaz was one of Josiah’s younger sons.  After the death of Josiah, the people picked Jehoahaz to be king over Judah.  After the defeat of Josiah and the army of Judah, Pharaoh Neco continued north and fought with the Babylonian garrison at Haran.  Neco broke off his attack and traveled back to Egypt through Judah.  Neco put king Jehoahaz in chains and put his brother Jehoiakim on the throne.  Jehoahaz reigned only three months.  Read II Kings 23:31 - 33 and in II Chronicles 36:1 - 3.

JEHOIAKIM - Jehoiakim was placed on the throne by Neco of Egypt in the last part of 609 or the early part of 608 B.C.  Jehoiakim had to pay tribute to Neco for placing him as king. Egypt would suffer a disastrous defeat by the Babylonian army at the battle of Carchemish in 606 or 605 B.C.  With the defeat of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar would come against Jerusalem, the capital of Judah.  Nebuchadnezzar took certain of the Jews to Babylon, this is called the first dispersion.  Nebuchadnezzar left Jehoiakim on the throne and returned to Babylon.  Jehoiakim was a very evil king. He took part in heathen cult rituals which included child sacrifice. Jehoiakim came to a violent end, just as predicted in Jer. 22:18, 19.  Jehoiakim died in 597 B.C., and he had ruled Judah for eleven years.  Read II Kings 23:34 - 24:6 and in II Chronicles 35:4 - 8. 

JEHOIACHIN - After the death of his father, Jehoiakim, also known as Jeconiah and Coniah, Jehoiachin began to reign as king.  Jehoiachin’s reign lasted only three months.  He was so evil and wicked that the Lord had Jeremiah write about him in Jeremiah 22:24-30.  Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem and Jehoiachin was replaced with Zedekiah.  Read II Kings 24:8 -16 and in II Chronicles 36:8 and 9.

ZEDEKIAH - Zedekiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C.  Zedekiah reigned for eleven years.  He rebelled against Babylon and in 586 the Babylonian army destroyed and burned the city of Jerusalem.  Zedekiah was the last king of Judah.  Because of the rebellion of Zedekiah, the last thing he saw before his eyes were put out was the death of his sons by the Babylonians(II Kings 25:7 - ‘And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.’)  Read II Kings 24:17 - 25:7 and in II Chronicles 36:10 - 13. 

THE PROPHETS

The following prophets were alive during the life of Daniel.  This will give you a better idea of the time period for each of the prophets.

NAHUM - Nahum was probably the oldest prophet during the time of Daniel.  Daniel was 12 to 16 years of age when he was taken to Babylon, which means Daniel was born about 622 to 618 B.C.  Nahum prophesied sometime after 661 B.C. and before 612 B.C. 

The reason we can put exact dates on this time is because in 661 No-Amon(Thebes) was conquered, and in 612, Nineveh fell.  No-Amon is referred to in chapter 3:8 of the Book of Nahum.  Nahum preaches about the fall of the great city Nineveh.  If Nahum began his ministry as a prophet at