Crossroads of ProphecyPRINCIPLES OF PRoPHETIC 1NrERPRETATION- 2

by Desmond Ford

The prophecies of Daniel grow out of Daniel'ssacred stories about God's deliverance of his people

second illustrationof the principles of

L- ----l prophetic interpre-tation is found in Daniel 1:1-2 (NIV).

In the third year of the reignof Jehoiakim king of Judah,Nebuchadnezzar king of Babyloncame to Jerusalem and besiegedit. And the Lord deliveredJehoiakim king of Judah into hishand, along with some of the ar-ticles from the temple of God.These he carried off to the templeof his god in Babylonia and put inthe treasure house of his god.

A Tale of Two CitiesDaniel's book is like Dickens's A

Tale of Two Cities. In fact, the wholeBible is a tale of two cities. In the firstbook of the Bible, we have Babel andJerusalem introduced. We find the sametwo cities in the last book of the Bible.

The key to Daniel's book is hereat the beginning of the book. In thenrst verses Babylon and Jerusalem arepictured in conflict.

Daniel's book is about the follow-ers of the woman Qerusalem) and thefollowers of the serpent (Babylon), andthe enmity between the two.

Persecution and DeliveranceWhen we think of all the bad men

in the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar,

Belshazzar, and Darius, they all havethe same characteristics. They areidolaters, blasphemers, and persecu-tors.

In each of the stories in Daniel,the children of God are menacedand delivered. In chapter 3, the threemen are thrown into the fiery fur-

nace. They lose only their bonds.Even in the fire of persecution, thatis all we lose. The Son of God comesdown and walks with them in theflames. The theme of deliverance re-curs throughout Daniel. In chapter3, God's people are saved from theflames; in chapter 6 Daniel is deliv-

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ered out of the lion's den.

Daniel's Sacred StoriesIn "The Image of God and the

Fiery Furnace" story earlier in Daniel,the king says, "Who is the god thatwill deliver you out of my hands?"(Daniel 3:15 NRSV). The three He-brew worthies reply, "If our Godwhom we serve is able to deliver usfrom the furnace of blazing fire andout of your hand, 0 king, let himdeliver us" (3:17).

When the king sees the deliver-ance of the three from the fire,"Nebuchadnezzar said, 'Blessed bethe God of Shadrach, Meshach, andAbednego, who has sent his angeland delivered his servants whotrusted in him'"(3:28).

The same theme is found in thestory of "Daniel in the Den of Lions"in chapter 6. The king desired thedeliverance of Daniel. "May yourGod, whom you faithfully serve, de-liver you!" (Daniel 6:16). Later, theking asks, "0 Daniel, servant of theliving God, has your God, whomyou faithfully serve been able to de-liver you from the lions?" (6:20).

Daniel answers, "My God senthis angel and shut the lions' mouths"(6:22). Daniel is delivered, and theking issues a decree identifying Godas a great Deliverer (6:25-27).

Daniel's PropheciesWhen we arrive at Daniel's proph-

ecies, the key is the stories of the earlierchapters. Prophecy always grows outof the sacred story.

In Daniel 7, when we read of thelittle horn, he has already been pic-tured in Nebuchadnezzar, the proudman, persecutor and blasphemer. Whatthe Antichrist does is whatNebuchadnezzar did: he builds an im-age. On Revelation 13.14 the beastbuilds an image.) The Antichrist willpersecute the saints, just as Darius,Belshazzar, and Nebuchadnezzar did.But God delivers the saints out of thehands of the persecutors.

The connection between story andprophecy is also in Daniel 12:1. "Atthat time Michael, the great prince whoprotects your people, will arise. Therewill be a time of distress, such as hasnot happened from the beginning ofnations until then. But at that time yourpeople-everyone whose name isfound written in the book-will be de-livered."

Just before this, Daniel pictures theking of the North (that is, spiritualBabylon)coming down upon Jerusalem(symbol of the people of God) to de-stroy them. At this moment of crisis,Michael (the preexistent Christ) standsup and delivers his people.

God's People DeliveredWhat is the book of Daniel saying

to us? Only this. If we want to knowwhat is going to happen at the end oftime, the message is clear. In the lastgreat conflict between Babylon andJerusalem, between the people of thedevil and the people of God, betweenthis world and the citizens of heaven-God's people will be delivered!

God will deliver his people at theend of time, just as God delivered thethree Hebrew worthies out of the fire,and Daniel out of the lion's den. Thestories of Daniel are the key to theprophecies. The prophecies are Christ-centered, church-centered, and gospel-centered. It is God who does the de-livering; and Christ who is the Deliv-erer.

Prayer and Prophecy in Daniel 9Let us look at one more example

in Daniel, that of chapter 9. In verses

24-27 there is the great prophecy thatSirIsaac Newton called the cornerstoneof the Christian religion.

These verses speak about the holycity, iniquity, righteousness, the proph-ets, and the sanctuary. But the key to

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all this is in Daniel's prayer in the pre-ceding verses (Daniel 9:4-19). All thegreat terms of the prophecy are in theprayer. If we want to understand theprophecy, we must firstunderstand theprayer.

Daniel is studying what the Scrip-tures say about the number of yearsbefore the end of the desolation ofJerusalem (9:2). He then begins to pray,acknowledging, "We have sinned anddone wrong. We have been wickedand rebelled; we have turned awayfrom your commands and laws" (9:3).When he intercedes with God, he con-fesses, "We have sinned" (9:8); "Wehave rebelled," (9:9); "Transgressedyour law and turned away, refusing toobey you" (9:11). Daniel is praying forGod to finish transgression, make anend to sin, and wipe out iniquity. Allthe key words and thoughts of Daniel'sprophecy are in Daniel's prayer.

Daniel and ChristDaniel is a righteous man (against

whom no sin is ever recorded in Scrip-ture), a prince of the house of Judah.He takes the sins of the people uponhimself. "We have sinned, we havebeen wicked, we have rebelled," heprays. This prince becomes a sin-bearer.

What happens as a result?An an-gel comes and comforts him (9:21-22).

When we move on six hundredyears, we find another righteous Princeof the House of Judah becoming thesin-bearer. Jesus is in Gethsemane, andthe Bible says he is "deeply distressedand troubled" (Mk 14:33). The Greekwords mean 'beside himself.' Hestruggles with the guilt of his peopleas he takes that guilt upon himself.Anangel comes to comfort him (see Jn18:6).

Daniel was praying at three in theafternoon (Dan 9:20-21). Here, in theintroduction to the prophecy, is anembryonic reference to the Messiahbeing cut off. Daniel enacts theMessiah's passion. As a sinless prince,Daniel takes the burden of Israel's guiltupon himself.He is beside himself.Theangel comes to him with a message. Itis the hour of the evening sacrifice-which is three in the afternoon, thehour of Calvary.

History,or the sacred story, is againthe key to the prophecy. .:.