The Significance of Dani’el Chapter 1
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. This, too, was temporary, since Gentiles will trample down the holy City for at least another 1,260 days (see the commentary on Revelation Bx – The Tribulation Temple). Therefore, any Jewish takeover of the City of Jerusalem before the Second Coming must be viewed as temporary and does not mean that the Times of the Gentiles have ended. The Times of the Gentiles can only end when the Gentiles no longer trample down the City of Jerusalem.36
As Arnold Fruchtenbaum teaches in his commentary on Dani’el, each of Dani’el’s historical chapters provides certain lessons for the main theme of the book, the time of the Gentiles. There are two lessons in Chapter 1. The first lesson is that there is always a believing remnant of Isra’el. The concept of a remnant is important when studying eschatological events. It began with Elijah (First Kings 19:18) and was primarily developed by Isaiah (for example, Isaiah 8:9-18, 10:20-23, and 28:5). The principle, however, is seen throughout the Scriptures: ADONAI always had a remnant among the Jewish people who believed in Him and were faithful to Him. Dani’el’s prophecies regarding the future of Isra’el confirm this concept. Today, Messianic Jewish believers in Yeshua Messiah form this remnant. One of the reasons for the Babylonian Captivity was Jewish disobedience to the Torah. The people were involved in the most wicked forms of idolatry. Yet, Dani’el, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were not guilty of this sin, nor did they wish to break any other mitzvot of the Torah. In summary, regardless of how far into sin the nation as a whole has gone, there is always a believing remnant of Isra’el.
The second lesson is that this believing remnant may not be guilty of the sins of the nation, but it still suffers divine punishment. In Jewish history, the only exception to this rule was the destruction of Jerusalem (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Mt – The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple Remembered on Tisha B’Av in 70 AD). That destruction and the subsequent Diaspora of the Jewish people were physical punishments for the national rejection of the Messiahship of Yeshua. It was a divine judgment. It was inevitable and deadly, but believers in Messiah had a chance to save their physical lives and leave their country before it was destroyed by the Romans during the First Jewish Revolt against Rome from 66 AD to 70 AD, when Jerusalem was destroyed. Consequently, there is not one account of a Jewish believer who died in 70 AD due to the Roman attack. At the same time, Jewish believers today are still living in the Diaspora because of Isra’el’s rejection of the Messiahship of Yeshua. Among the six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust, an estimated 250,000 were believers. Dani’el, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and Ezeki’el were not guilty of idolatry. Yet, they still went into the Babylonian Captivity. The remnant suffers the fate of the whole nation.36
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