Is Daniel’s End-Time Prophecy Unfolding Before Us? Rabbi Tovia Singer

How did Daniel know so much? Daniel, who was a source of comfort to his generation, is now a source to our generation 2 and a half thousand years later. This is where Daniel grew up in Judah. But his life took a sharp turn when the temple was destroyed. He went into exile with so many others after the first temple was destroyed. He was only a teenager when Nevadzar discovered him and his companions. And as it turns out, Daniel was a prodigy. He was nothing short of a genius. He was a polymath and more gerine to us, he feared the Lord. He loved that chef very much. He was aim. Nessar knew when looking for someone who might interpret his dreams that he wouldn't be as dumb as Pharaoh who just simply asked for an interpretation of the dream. So Nuetszar cleverly challenged his advisers and those who might tell me what I dreamed and then tell me its interpretation. He was confident that if you knew what his dream was, then you also understood the interpretation. Daniel would interpret the dream after telling him it precisely what he dreamt. The famous statue of made of different metals. This is a soaring prophetic dream in that Daniel was able to see the nations that would subordinate and have schlita over the children of Israel. Daniel 2 3 4 more interpretations of dreams. Uh a remarkable man who throughout his life when people admired him and respected him so for his wisdom and understanding. He made sure that you know that everything that I know is from the Lord. Everything is from Hashem. Why was he like that? He could have had it all. He could have. He wanted to know. He wanted all those who listen that all of his wisdom, all of his knowledge came from the Lord, from the God of Israel. And Daniel will provide remarkable oracles of what was happening in during his time and what would happen in the future. In many many ways, there's no parallel to the prophecies contained in that remarkable safer. Only 12 chapters. In chapter 7, we're told about the nations that would have sovereignty over the children of Israel until the Messiah comes. And as we saw spoke about just a few days ago, Daniel wants to reveal the time of the end. An angel in the very last chapter says, "Seal the book because you're going to give away the time of the end." He then provides a remarkable prophecy >> that's only meaningful to us today. [laughter] at his time when he lived 2 and a half thousand years ago. A prophecy of 1,335 years after the abomination was on the temple mount meant nothing. It does now. From the time of Dadra was built in 691. Well, right now 1,335 years later, right now there's no parallel to this. And be aware that virtually all of messianic prophecy is about stages. It's not about time. It's not about numbers. It's about this must happen and then the following event must occur. Each of them brings us to the very next stage. It's a very much a seder in order of events. And yes, that word should sound like the Passover meal that we're all so familiar with. [snorts] an order of events that bring us to the redemption. We need to go through all these stages to come to this numinous moment that we find ourselves right now. >> Daniel provides the numbers. This is I was going to say this is not typical. It's actually unheard of in Tanakh. And the notion of trying to make calculations is it's not that it's frowned upon. It is, but it's in a sense antithetical because the purpose of each and every stage is to bring us to the next step. Isaiah 59:20. And the Messiah, the redeemer, will come to Zion to those in Jacob who repent. Probably the most famous passage that tells us what would trigger the coming of the Messiah. Now is the most famous passage which we say in our prayers every day. So a number would ordinarily not be compatible with stages because how long does a stage take? Well, it really depends on you. But nevertheless, Daniel provides a number that now only now is meaningful so that we could see the prophecies of Isaiah 11, Isaiah 2, or even more. Germaine Jeremiah 30:3, the Jews returning 30:7, the Holocaust, Zechariah 12, the return of the Jews to the land, the liberation of Jerusalem, the war, Ezekiel 38 and39, the war with Persia. And each of those stages would have a transformative effect on the nation. But nevertheless, Daniel at the very end of chapter 12 provides us with that critical number that now after we have seen so much of this occur, we can now say we can draw a line through it and say it correlates it corresponds to happy is the one that waits 1,335 years in brackets. That would have meant nothing to the generation that Daniel lived in, but it means everything to us now. As it turns out, the very structure of the book of Daniel tells us about the oracles that he explored, the salvation of Israel. So, there are some strange things about the way the book of Daniel is structured and I just want to share this with you and they're extremely striking. Uh let's make this very very simple. Uh Daniel 1-6 is very different than 7-12. Just so you know, 1-6 is very easy to read. It It's kind of like reading the book of Genesis. So, I'm just going to say with a certain amount of confidence that you're probably more familiar with the book of Genesis than any other book in Tanakh. I'll just assume that. So, we read Genesis, the record of creation, the flood, Abraham, so on. We understand what's going on. There's almost no poetry in the book of Genesis with very rare exceptions. It's a it's a historical narrative that's easy to follow. When I use the word easy here, I don't mean that you won't have questions. You will have hundreds maybe thousands of questions but you get what's happening in the narrative and you understand what's being conveyed. Why did that happen and who exactly you'll have those questions but none of them uh in any way make it difficult for you to navigate what's happening and why did it happen. So the book of Daniel contains six chapters, the opening six chapters that use the historical narrative. And I assure you there it's very easy to read. You can read it, study it tonight, and you would get it all. You would have many questions, but it's very easy to read. And forgive me, but when you're 120 and you stand before God and you haven't read the first six chapters, it's going to be very difficult for you to explain. It's very easy. It's about events in Daniel's life that are really very striking. In contrast, and a very sharp contrast, Daniel 7 through 12 are difficult. They're not that easy. It's not impossible to understand. In fact, it's easy to understand like everything else once you understand it. But it it doesn't use that kind of language of historical narrative that's let's say conventional to books like Joshua and Judges or Genesis. And you know where I'm going with all this. It's quite different. But the differences don't stop there. the language itself. The book of Daniel is written in two different languages. Listen very carefully. Daniel 1, right from the get-go until chapter 2:4 is written in biblical Hebrew, the kind of biblical Hebrew you would expect. However, to verse 4b, we're actually told that from this point going forward, we're going to be relating everything in the Aramaic language. From 24 all the way to the end of chapter 7 is written in the Aramaic language. And then from 81, from the beginning of 8 to the end of chapter 12 is all in biblical Hebrew. that middle part and that is Daniel 2:4 until the end of chapter 7 is in Aramaic. Okay. But here's where everything becomes very striking. And I think those of you who have even a prefuncter knowledge of the book of Daniel know where I'm going with this. This is very striking. There's another massive literary shift in the book of Daniel and probably the most explosive one of all. And that's who's speaking. Meaning Daniel 1-6 is written in the third person. Daniel is there along with his companions for sure. But Daniel is spoken of in the third person very much like Abraham of blessed memory is spoken of in the third person in the book of Genesis. Okay. However, from Daniel 7 to the end, so right down the middle, Daniel is speaking in the first person. This is very important. So, it's just simple. 1-6, Daniel is spoken of in the third person. 7-2 in the first person, Daniel is speaking about himself. This fuels a monumental question. Why is chapter 7 in Aramaic? Why is chapter 6 and seven bound together in the same language? At first glance, at second, this makes no sense at all. Logically, again, the literary feature is undeniable. 1-6 is third person. From 7:1, Daniel begins to speak. Why is he speaking in Aramaic? What is being conveyed here? So within the structure of the book of Daniel, we encounter what Daniel was trying to do all along. Tell us about a time, >> a time in the future and hold our hand through some difficult times to a glorious future. Listen very carefully. Daniel chapter 6 is very famous. You might not know what it's about, but you will in just a moment. The Babylonian Empire [sighs] is done with. Darius the me emerges. He's the king of the Median Empire, which launches into the Persian Empire. Daniel is in the center of it all because Daniel was the person who was brilliant and he was a very senior officer not only cabinet during the Babylonian Empire but then in the Persian Empire. It's kind of like an embaranel figure who just was front and center in Portugal and then he just transitioned to Spain. The key point is that there were many high officials in the empire of Darius the maid who were very jealous of Daniel. You know how this goes. So Daniel was this brilliant luminary who provides wisdom for time and understanding and always giving the glory to the Lord. Always giving all the glory to Hashem. But other people who were in the cabinet of Darius were wanted to destroy him and hatched a plot. Explained to Darius to me that he had to pass a a ruling, a law, a binding law under the threat of death, that it was forbidden to pray to anyone except for you, Darius the me, the brand new leader of the empire. They knew very well that Daniel would only pray to the God of Israel. And thus Darius the me reluctantly signed off on the law that anyone who prayed to any other god would be executed. You can only pray to Darius the me. But Daniel does something really quite striking. So now there's a law that if you pray, you have to pray to Darius the me. Daniel wasn't going to pray to anyone but the God of Israel. Daniel was interested in making a keshashem meaning he wanted to sanctify the name of the Lord publicly. What did he do? He goes up into his tower. Instead of closing the drapes and closing the covers of the windows, he opens them all so everyone could see. And there in Babylon, he turned his face to this place to Jerusalem and prays three times a day. and he made a a public stance. Darius the me was left with no choice. Daniel would be executed and he was thrown into a pit of ravenous lions. Darius the me the text says thought that the God of Daniel might save him. But Daniel had no such security. As far as Daniel was concerned, he was about to die for worshiping the God of Israel. He had no expectation of being delivered. Ravish lions would tear him to pieces. Daniel is thrown to this pit and the lions sit there and don't touch him. In the morning, Daryus Tamid discovers that Daniel was safe and that the God of Israel had delivered him and makes a proclamation that everyone acknowledged the God that Daniel worshiped and those officers and high officials that hatch this plot, they were all summarily executed by being thrown to the lions. The key point of Daniel chapter 6, Daniel in the lion's den, is a story about Daniel about 2500 years ago, while he should have died surrounded by beasts that would have torn his flesh to pieces, would have crushed his bones, God saved him miraculously. Okay, Daniel 7. Remember, for some reason, Daniel wants seven and six to be in the same language. It the shift is so dramatic because chapter 7 begins with Daniel speaking in the first person about a night vision. So, he's speaking Aramaic, the same language as chapter 6. So, they're snapped together. They didn't have to be, but Daniel warned them to be snapped together. And Daniel sees the enemies of Israel. He sees a lion, an unusual lion. He sees a bear with ribs in its mouth, an unusual bear. He sees a leopard. The leopard has four heads. And then he sees something so horrible. It's some sort of beast with 10 horns and then a little horn. >> [snorts] >> These four beasts represent the four enemies of Israel that would subjugate us and subjugate well Jerusalem the children of Israel in the Holy Land. The lion Babylon the neoablonian empire that would be reduced would be given a human heart instead of a lion's heart. Lion's heart is about five times the size of a human heart. the bear and the the leopard represents the the Greek empire, the four heads because Alexander the Great dies suddenly and young and four people, four generals would take over for him and divide the Greek Empire. And that last beast that was so horrifying and Daniel asked the angel, "What is that? What could that possibly be?" That's Edom. That's the most horrible one of all. Just very briefly, the 10 horns represent the Roman Empire. I'm going to say something now and then I'm going to correct it, but I it's important for you to know. So the 10 horns are from the first emperor, Julius Caesar, to the last emperor who presided during the destruction of the second temple, Vespasian. Those are the 10 horns. I said I would correct that because Julius Caesar, as it turns out, wasn't tackling an emperor. He was a dictator. But nevertheless, these are the 10 rulers of Rome from the time of Julius Caesar until Vispasian. You probably figure out who the little horn is. That's Titus Titus, his general during the destruction of [snorts] the second temple. and he would emerge to be the next emperor after the temple was destroyed. And that would be the most horrific of all the kingdoms that would have sovereignty over the children of Israel. In fact, the Edom that would be our implacable enemy throughout history to this day would be destroyed. And in fact, we have books in the Hebrew Bible that are devoted to exactly that point. that is that Edom one day would be destroyed. But it's a horrifying enemy. It's not an enemy that comes and goes like the neoablonian empire that stuck around for just 70 years. This one is a nightmare. The key point is that ultimately the Messiah comes in Daniel 7:13. One like a son of man, meaning immortal, comes with clouds of heaven, the clouds of glory that protect us like the suka. People who trust in the clouds and the suka, they don't trust in the go, the roof, the reinforced concrete roof. Oh, no. The people, the saints at the end of days trust in the clouds of glory. Those clouds that follow the children of Israel for their 40-year wilderness and guard them, protect them from the elements. It was those clouds that traveled with our people and protected us. will one day protect us in the future. And we're there right now. And those that rejected the roof, gag means roof in Hebrew, but embrace the clouds, they will be the saints that will dare to receive it all. And we're told Zechariah 14 verse 16 that in fact it will be the festival of Suka that not just the Jews, but all the nations that survived this whole thing will survive. But that's what we're heading into right now. Sukkot. Why would all the nations be celebrating Sukkot? After all, Leviticus 23 is very specific that these holidays ordinarily are assigned to the children of Israel. In what universe did non-Jews celebrate a Jewish festival? Well, this one's really quite different because if you trust in the clouds of heaven and you you held on to the Jewish people, Zechariah 8:23, and you trust in the clouds, you're going to be celebrating Sukkot soon as well. Sukkot is so special here. And therefore, the nations who survive, somehow put their trust with the children of Israel, >> they'll be with us. And that's what the messianic age is all about after all. Whereas the deliverance, the exodus from Egypt, a single nation >> was saved, Israel, the messianic age is so much about the world being not just transformed but saved. The messianic age is that the nations of the world be saved. The knowledge of God will cover the world as the water covers the sea. Isaiah 11:9. Zechariah 14:9. God will then be king of the whole world. He will be one. His name will be one. All these different religions won't exist. They'll just worship the God of Israel. Okay. Now, now we have a better understanding of what Daniel was conveying to us. Why Daniel did you put chapter 6 and seven in the Aramaic language binding them together? After all, six is very different than seven on so many levels. Or it would appear six is in Aramaic like seven, but six is in the third person. And it's a story about Daniel being saved miraculously from [snorts] ravenous beasts that would ordinarily destroy him. And chapter 7 is strikingly not about Daniel but about the children of Israel. The large the big picture that the children of Israel would be delivered from all these beasts. God would deliver the children of Israel. So Daniel's life example becomes a a light a light for us then and today that while we are surrounded on every side Iran is straight that way to the north it's proxies as bolo and beyond that who knows kutis in the south. It seems quiet here in Jerusalem, doesn't it? But this is one of the bad neighborhoods in the world. Yet, despite this, God's hand is upon this land, not because of our righteousness, because of a promise rather that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The book of Daniel was therefore structured in such a remarkable way is to convey that just like God delivered Daniel from beasts that ordinarily would have torn him to pieces and destroyed him. And the children of Israel too throughout our history would be surrounded by enemies. Wild beasts ordinarily would destroy us. But somehow someway, it's the God of Israel who's there. And Daniel wants you to know that six and seven, they're coupled together by the language of Aramaic. And if you bow before the God of Israel, you fear no one. Just that simple. Because the God of Israel is our rock. He's our only redeemer. He's shad. He dwells on eternity. He is after all the ancient days to which the Messiah comes to with the clouds of heaven. Daniel 7:13. In the following verse, we're told that the Messiah, the Messiah will be elevated. And unlike today where people don't like many different leaders in the world, the Messiah who will be the heir to the Davidic throne, David Solomon, everyone will recognize that he is the human king which God had designated and his sovereignty will be around the world. And Daniel, he wanted you to know that sometimes it's so dark. This exile, it was a tough one. How do we survive the promise? Where are we now? This long bitter darkness is coming to an end. >> Arise and shine for your light has come. Are you ready? Shalom. If you enjoyed this program, please like and subscribe. [music] [singing] >> [music] [singing]