Ci – The Significance of Dani’el Chapter 7 to the Times of the Gentiles

The Significance of Dani’el Chapter 7
to the Times of the Gentiles

Luke describes this period of time when he wrote: They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (to see link click Ao – The Times of the Gentiles). This can best be defined as that long period of time from the Babylonian Captivity (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule) to the Second Coming of Messiah, during which time the Gentiles have complete dominance over Jerusalem. This does not rule out temporary Jewish control of the City until the Second Coming. Such temporary control was exercised during the Maccabbean Period (164-163 BC), the First Jewish Revolt against Rome in 66 AD, and the Second Jewish Revolt (the Bar Cochba Revolt) against Rome (132-135 AD), and since 1967 as a result of the Six Day War.

The Four Empires that King Nebuchadnezzar saw in Dani’el 2 were the same Four Kingdoms that Dani’el saw in Chapter 7 represented by four beasts (see Bz – Dani’el’s Vision of Four Beasts), which goes through several stages, with an emphasis on the last one. Both Chapters make it clear that the Fourth Gentile Empire began with the end of the Third Empire and will continue until Yeshua Messiah comes to set up His Kingdom (see Bg – The Fifth Empire: The Kingdom of God). This Fourth Gentile Empire is imperialistic and will go through five successive stages (see Bb – The Fourth Empire: Imperialism). At some point, a one-world government will be established. According to Dani’el 2:42 and 7:24, the global government will collapse and break into ten kingdoms. During this stage, the antichrist will begin to rise to power. By the middle of the Great Tribulation, he will be strong enough to kill three of the ten kings, and the other seven will simply submit to his authority. Once this happens, the fifth and final stage of the Fourth Empire will begin (see Cd – The Kingdom of Satan). It will last for three-and-a-half years until the end of the Great Tribulation (Hosea 6:1-3). At that time, the final ruler of the times of the Gentiles, the antichrist, will by killed by Messiah.²¹⁶