THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE BEAST

The Reappearance of the Beast

A verse by verse study of  Daniel 12

Daniel wrote this book (in Babylon) about 533 B.C.

(Remember: The chapters are not in chronological order.  Chapters 7 & 8 occur between chapters 4 &5).

By reading his account we know that Daniel had several visitations from angels.

But . . . why did he have these encounters?

“. . . I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.  So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting.  I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.  I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: (Daniel 9:2-4).

What were the passages in Jeremiah that impressed Daniel so much that he fasted for three weeks as he read and studied?  Could anything make such an impression on you that you would do this?

Here are a couple of the passages he read that I believe motivated him to fast and pray:

“Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years” (Jer. 25:11).

“This is what the Lord says, ‘You will be in Babylon for seventy years.  But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again’” (Jer. 29:10).

Jeremiah prophesied for about 41 years: 627-586 B.C.  This was such an amazing prediction because he told about it many years before it happened.  And it got him in big, big trouble.

No wonder Daniel sat up and took notice!  He was a very brilliant man and it was easy for him to calculate that the 70 years would expire in about 17 years.

Scholars say several things:  One: 605 B.C. – 538 B.C.; Two: 586 B.C. – 516 B.C.; and Three: a remote possibility is that the 70 years is an approximate number meaning a lifetime.

The 586 B.C. to 516 B.C.  dates are the most commonly accepted.

Daniel accepted the 70 years as a literal number.

So . . . reading THE WORD, and BELIEVING IT, is what inspired him.  And this is why we have the book of Daniel.

Why do we have so much difficulty understanding some of the passages in this book?  I think the answer is very clear.  In Daniel 8:19 the angel told him, “I am here to tell YOU what will happen later in the time of wrath.”

Do you see it?  The angel came to tell Daniel. And the full revelation will only be understood at the time of the end, which many scholars believe is the time in which we are now living.

Daniel 12

Verses 1-2:  “At that time Michael, the archangel who stands guard over your nation, will arise.  Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence.  But at that time every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued.”   

Michael: Hebrew, Me.ka.el (15 times in the Bible)  Michael means “Who is like God”.

Here, very clearly we are told the exact name of the angel who “watches” or “stands guard” over the nation of Israel.  His name is Michael.

Dan. 10:13—“Then Michael, one of the archangels came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia (not named).”

Dan. 10:21—“No one helps me against these spirit princes except Michael, your spirit prince.”

Jude 1:9—“But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body).”

Rev. 12:7—“Then there was war in heaven.  Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels.  And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven.  This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.”

“at that time”;   Greatest:“time of anguish”; Rescued:“at that time”.

Archangel: Hebrew “sar”, means leader or chieftain.

This agrees with Jesus’ prediction: “There will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began.  And it will never be so great again.  In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive.  But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones” (Jesus, in Mt. 24:21-22).

This is a hint pointing to the rapture: “For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.  We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.  First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.  Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  Then we will be with the Lord forever.  So encourage each other with these words” (1 Thes.4:14-17).

“ . . .Then the Lord my God will come, and all his saints with him” (Zechariah 14:5).

“. . .We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!  It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown.  For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever.  And we who are living will also be transformed” (1 Cor.15:51-53).

Books opened: Rev. 20:11-15.

Verse 3:

“Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.”

Shine, (Hebrew, “zahar”, to teach, warn, send out light).  :

This reminds us of what Jesus said in John 7:38: “He that believes on me as the Scriptures have said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water”.

Vs. 4:

“But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

 “Keep this prophecy a secret” until the “time” (Hebrew: “ath”)

“Many will rush here and there”:  There are approximately 50,000 flights per day worldwide, which, rounded off, means 20 million people are flying each day.

About 500 million are riding in cars.

At least one million ride the subway in New York each day.

“Knowledge will increase”—What used to take someone 6 weeks of research can now be done in about 20 minutes on a computer.

Vs. 5-6:

“Then I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing on opposite banks of the river.  One of them asked the man dressed in linen, who was now standing above the river, ‘How long will it be until these shocking events are over?’”

 Daniel saw two “others” standing on opposite banks of the river.  Another angel (not Michael, read the text carefully: Da. 10:12-14) was standing above the river.

“How long will it be?”  This is another reference to time.

Vs. 7:

“The man dressed in linen, who was standing above the river, raised both his hands toward heaven and took a solemn oath by the One who lives forever, saying, ‘It will go on for a time, times, and half a time.  When the shattering of the holy people has finally come to an end, all these things will have happened.’”

 “time, times, and half a time”; this is very, very obscure.  But, in spite of the mystery, many Bible scholars have made some conjectures.  I will not list them all here.  But I will mention the one that seems most credible.

 Bible scholars today tell us that “time” equals one thousand years.  “Times” equals two thousand years.  And “half a time” equals 500 years.”

Using this assumption:  From the “first year of Belshazzar” (552 B.C., Dan. 7:1) to the exact year Israel became a nation (1948) is 2,500 years!

From the 3^rd year of Cyrus (Da. 10:1, 533 B.C.) until 1967 (when Jerusalem was free from Gentile rule) is 2,500 years!

Mathematically, it is almost impossible for these two events to be a coincidence!

This is a quote from Bishop Sophronius (560-638 A.D.).   He was the patriarch of Jerusalem who negotiated the surrender of Jerusalem to the Muslim caliph Umar I in 637.

“When Khalifah Omar (the Caliphate) entered Jerusalem in 637AD (5 years after Mohammed died), he was met at the gates by Bishop Sophronius who ushered him through the city.  Seeing the temple mount (then in ruins), Omar declared that he was going to build a memorial to Muhammad on the original site of the temple of God. Sophronius exclaimed in horror, “Verily, this is the Abomination of Desolation (God forbid that he should have a son”) as spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and it now stands in the holy place.”

Though Sophronius was an old man of 80 years, Khalifah Omar put him in prison and forced labor, the rigors of which killed him.

Somehow, we have managed to forget the truth for which Sophronius gave his life. The Dome of the Rock being the Abomination that maketh Desolate is not new theology.

This knowledge has been in the Church for 1373 years!

Mohammed was born in 570 and died in 632.

His full name: Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim

 

Vs. 8:

“I heard what he said, but I did not understand what he meant.  So I asked, ‘How will all this finally end, my lord?’”

  Intellectual knowledge is not enough.  He “heard” what the angel said, but he did not really understand.  When we read the Bible we certainly must use our minds.  But merely hearing is not enough.  Faith must come with the hearing, and something must enlighten us supernaturally.

Vs. 9:

“But he said, ‘Go now, Daniel, for what I have said is kept secret and sealed until the time of the end.’”

“kept secret” (Hebrew: raz) and sealed (kha.tham) until the time of the end.  Does this mean that the “secret” will become known when we approach the time of the end? Many people believe that it will.

“All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them” (Is. 20:11).

“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one.  We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions” (Dt. 29:29).

“ . . . I know that the Spirit of the Holy Gods is in you and that no mystery is too great for you to solve . . .” (Dan. 4:9, King Nebuchadnnezzar speaking to Daniel).

“Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

“ . . . I will speak to you in parables.  I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world” (Mt.13:35).

“For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light” (Mk. 4:22).

Vs. 10:

“Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials.  But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand.  Only those who are wise will know what it means.”

 “purified, cleansed, and refined by trials”

         “wicked will continue in wickedness”

         “those who are wise will know what it means”

There are prophecy scholars who insist that the Jewish people cannot begin sacrificing animals again until the Third Temple is built.

Number One:  some Jewish people are already sacrificing animals in Israel without a Temple.

Number Two:  We Christians assume so much without actually studying our Bibles!

Did you know that even before the Temple’s foundation was laid animals were being sacrificed.

“Show me that in the Bible!”

O.K., it is in Ezra 3:6.  “ . . . the priests began sacrificing animals . . . before the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid!”

Verses. 11-12:

“From the time the daily sacrifice is stopped and the sacrilegious object that causes desecration is set up to be worshiped, there will be 1,290 days.  And blessed are those who wait and remain until the end of the 1,335 days.”

Although the Temple was destroyed in 586 B. C., there was still a remnant of Jews left there who continued sacrificing animals until 583 B.C.

One of the errors that is being taught today is that the Jews can't sacrifice animals until the THIRD TEMPLE is erected.  I can easily refute this claim with Scripture.

Ezra 3:6 clearly tells us that a Temple is not necessary for animal sacrifice: " . . . the priests began sacrificing animals . . . BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE LORD'S TEMPLE WAS LAID."

And all you have to do is travel to Israel today to discover that some of the Jewish people are already performing animal sacrifices (to the great dismay of the animal rights people).

When we read Jeremiah 52:30, it says: “The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh  year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (599 B.C.) was 3,023.  Then in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year (588 B.C.) he took 832 more.  In Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year (583 B.C.) he sent Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who took 745 more---a total of 4,600 captives.”

Important note: The 1^st year of Nebuchadnezzar was 606 B.C.

So this is absolute proof that all the Jews were not deported in 586 B.C.  This passage clearly tells us that there were three different deportations, years apart.

And we are told in Ezra 3:6 that the Jewish people actually sacrificed animals WITHOUT A TEMPLE.

And the remnant of Jews continued sacrificing until the last group left Jerusalem.

  “From the time the daily sacrifice is stopped”—583 B. C.---until the sacrilegious object is set up will be 1290 days.”

What year would it be if you subtract 583 B.C. from 1290 A.D?

The answer is simple: 707 A.D.

Did anything happen in 707 A.D. that would help us understand this text?

No!

Then how can we make any sense out of this passage?

The answer is really very simple, once we realize that the calendar used in the Old Testament is not the same as our calendar.

The Jewish Calendar (used in the Bible) and our calendar, The Gregorian Calendar, are many years apart.  For example: at the time of this writing our calendar tells us that the current year is 2012.  But the Jewish calendar this year is 5773.  This is a huge 3,761 year difference!

Our calendar, the Gregorian Calendar (also called Western Calendar and Christian Calendar) was named by a decree signed February 24, 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.  It is the most widely internationally accepted civil calendar in use today.

The Jewish Calendar is lunar.  The Gregorian Calendar is solar.  The Jewish Calendar has 360 days per year.  The Gregorian Calendar (the one we use) has 365.25 days per year.

You might ask, “What is the .25 number?”  Remember leap year every four years?

So when the Bible mentions 1290 “days”, the way to calculate the number to our “days” is by dividing 360 by 365.25.  The answer we get by this division is .985626283.

Then we multiply 1290 by .985626283 and the result is 1271.45.

We use the same math for the 1,335 “days” and the result is 1315.81.

So the 1290 “days” end up as 1271.45 “days”.

And the 1,335 “days” end up as 1315.81 “days”.

But someone may ask, “The Bible (in Daniel) says “days” not years.  How can you switch from days to years?  What Biblical foundation is there to make the change?”

The answer is found in several passages:

Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:4-6;  Psalm 90:4;  and 2 Peter 3:8.

“Because your men explored the land for 40 days, you must wander in the wilderness for 40 years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins.  Then you will discover what it is like to have me as your enemy (Num. 14:34).

“Now lie on your left side and place the sins of Israel on yourself.  You are to bear their sins for the number of days you lie there on your side.  I am requiring you to bear Israel’s sins for 390 days—one day for each year of their sin.  After that, turn over and lie on your right side for 40 days—one day for each year of Judah’s sin” (Ez. 4:4-6).

2 Peter 3:8—“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.”

Psalm 90:4—“For you a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.”

So . . . at least four times the Bible tells us that “days” can also represent “years”.

But if God only said it once, wouldn’t that be good enough?

Using this Biblical foundation of “days to years” we can proceed and make some sense out of Daniel 12:11.

We know from changing lunar years to solar years that 1290 becomes 1271 days.

1271 minus 583 B.C. equals 688 A.D!

Did anything significant take place in 688 A.D.?

Yes!  The Islamic Dome of the Rock was built in 688, on the Jewish Temple Mount.

What about the next number (1335 days) in this verse?

O.K., change 1335 to solar days and we get 1315.

1315 minus 583 equals 732.

Did anything significant take place in 732 A.D.?

Yes!  A major battle took place in 732 A.D. in France called the Battle of Tours.

Those of us who went to school and church here in the United  States probably never heard of this battle.

Charles Martel (the Hammer) defeated the Umayyad Caliphate led by Abdul Rahman Al ghafiqi in 732 A.D.

Historians interpret this battle as divine judgment of Christianity over Islam.

The battle was fought near the cities of Tours and Poitiers in north-central France.

It was the decisive turning point in the struggle against Islam.

Leopold Von Ranke (German historian in the 1800’s) said, “This was the turning point of one of the most important epochs in the history of the world.”

“I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery (732 A.D.?)---but the fatal wound was healed (during our time?)!  The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast” (Rev. 13:3).

“He exercised all the authority of the first beast.  And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed” (Rev. 13:12).

When we were growing up most of us had never heard about Islam!

But a little after 1990 we all began reading about the angry muslims and their Islam faith that urges them to kill infidels.  In case you did not know it---infidels are people who are not muslims.

Today there is probably no one in our country who has not heard of muslim terrorists.

Was the first beast Islam?  And then the second beast is also Islam?  We cannot be absolutely positive about this concept, but it sure makes sense. 

And . . . if this approach is not the truth, then what do we have to replace it with?

Revelation 17:8 mentions “the reappearance of the Beast”.  Did this “reappearance” take place in the time in which we now live?  To tell the truth, most of us had barely heard about Islam before 1990.

Vs. 13:

“As for you, go your way until the end.  You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you.”

  This last verse tells us that there will be an “end” (#7093, Hebrew “kats”).  It is also interesting to note that from the time Daniel died until the “end of days” he would be “resting”.  But the promise is clear: “you will rise again”.  We have the hope of eternal life.  The grave is not the end for believers.  There will be a glorious inheritance.

I welcome comments and feedback. 

Email: wesed@hotmail.com


EXTRA NOTES:

Extra Notes:

If you really want to do a serious study of the book of Daniel:  The Coming Prince, by Sir Robert Anderson.

Three key dates to know in Daniel:

586 B.C.: the destruction of Jerusalem.

583 B.C.: the year when sacrifices were stopped (12:11).

March 14, 445 B.C.,when Artaxerxes ordered Jerusalem to be rebuilt, to April 6, 32 A.D., the exact date Jesus’ presented himself as King (9:25).

These dates are absolutely amazing.  We have 173,740 days, plus 24 days (from March 14 to April 6), plus 116 days (leap years) for a total of 173,880 days.

Gabriel’s margin of error was ZERO!

GABRIEL TOLD DANIEL THE PRECISE DAY THAT JESUS WOULD PRESENT HIMSELF AS KING! (LUKE 19 AND Psalm 118).