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Daniel Unlocked #9. Repetition and God’s Timescale.
Apocalyptic prophecy is unconditional and only has one single fulfilment. No ‘if’s and ‘but’s as in some traditional prophecies.
Daniel and Revelation both use the principle of repetition. Daniel 2 provides the standard outline of world history from the times of the prophet to the end. Then chapters 7, 8-9, and 10-12 repeat the basic outline of Daniel 2 with the addition of details and perspectives. Daniel 2 depicts the restoration of the kingdom; Daniel 7, the restoration of the King; Daniel 8, the restoration of the sanctuary; Daniel 10-12, the restoration of God’s people. A clear understanding of the principle of repetition and enlargement provides an interpretive control for the study of the various prophetic chains of Daniel, including the challenging prophecy of Daniel 11.
Another important concept that we need to keep in mind as we study the book of Daniel is the historicist approach to apocalyptic prophecies. Historicism holds that in apocalyptic prophecy God reveals an unbroken sequence of history from the time of the prophet to the end of time. As we study the book of Daniel, we will see that each major vision in the book (Daniel 2, 7, 8, 11) repeats this historical outline from different perspectives and with new details.
As we study the apocalyptic books, we should also keep in mind that prophetic time is measured according to the year-day principle. (Refer to Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:5,6 for examples of this).
A day in prophecy usually equals one year in actual historical time.
Thus, for example, the prophecy of the 2,300 evenings and mornings should be understood as referring to 2,300 years (Dan. 8:14). Likewise, the prophecy of the 70 weeks should be understood to be 490 years (Dan. 9:24-27).
This time scale interpretation seems to be correct for some obvious reasons: (1) Since the visions are symbolic, the times indicated must also be symbolic. (2) As the events depicted in the visions unfold over long periods of time, even to the “time of the end” in some cases, the time spans related to these prophecies should be interpreted accordingly. (3) The year-day principle is confirmed by the book of Daniel. A clear example comes from the 70-week prophecy, which extended from the days of King Artaxerxes to the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. So, the most obvious and correct way to make sense of the prophetic time periods given in the book of Daniel is to interpret them according to the year-day principle.
Some of these time prophecies cover hundreds, even thousands of years. What should this teach us about patience? God’s ways are not our ways! The great lengths of time to us may seem huge but in the light of eternity they are but the snap of our figures. Most importantly all the time prophecies mentioned in Daniel and Revelation have run their course and we await “the trumpet call” that announces Jesus second coming to all the world – those living and those sleeping. (1Thess 4:15-16)
Yes every time i read and study Daniel i learn something new and i believe each time i study it it helps me understand revelation and taking us from Daniel to Revelation it takes us a day closer to Jesus returning to take us home God bless your day Robyn
PTL
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