The Times of the Gentiles
2:1 to 7:28
At this point, ADONAI begins to reveal to Dani’el the first pieces of information regarding the Times of the Gentiles. He provides an initial overview of the four empires that will govern this period. But as the book progresses, God’s revelation becomes increasingly specific, reaching their climax in Chapter 12.
Understanding prophecy means understanding the times of the Gentiles. A definition of the times of the Gentiles can be gleaned from Luke 21:24 that says: They will fall by the sword and be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. The times of the Gentiles can best be described as that long period of time from the Babylonian captivity in 586 BC (see the commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule), to the Second Coming of Messiah at the end of the Great Tribulation, during which time the Gentiles will dominate the City of Jerusalem and the Jews. This does not rule out temporary Jewish control of the city, but all such Jewish control will be temporary until the Second Coming. Such temporary control was exercised during the Maccabean Period (164-163 BC), the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (AD 66-70), the Second Jewish Revolt (the Bar Cochba Revolt) against Rome (AD 132-135), and since 1967 as a result of the Six Day War. This, too, is temporary, as Gentiles will continue to trample Jerusalem down for at least another three-and-a-half years during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 11:1-2). As a result, any Jewish takeover of the city of Jerusalem before Messiah returns must be viewed as temporary and does not mean that the Times of the Gentiles have ended. There is no phasing out, but a sudden end once and for all. Thus, the Times of the Gentiles can only end with the climatic Second Coming of Yeshua Messiah.
To understand the course of the times of the Gentiles there are four passages in the book of Dani’el and two passages in the book of Revelation that need to be studied. In this section we will study Dani’el 2:31-45, 7:1-28, 8:1-25, and 11:3-45. But later, while we study the book of Revelation itself, we will look more closely at Revelation 13:1-10 and 17:7-14. There are several visions in Dani’el, but four visions specifically pertain to the times of the Gentiles. Each one of these visions builds and elaborates on the previous ones.
First, in Daniel 2:31-25, King Nebuchadnezzar had a vision that Dani’el successfully interpreted. Dani’el saw an awesome statue having a head of gold (Babylonian Empire), the breast and arms of silver (Medo-Persian Empire), the belly and thighs of brass (the Greek Empire), legs of iron (the Imperialists), ending with the feet and toes of part iron and clay (the Ten Kingdoms Stage). This passage provides a timeline of all that will follow.
Secondly, in Chapter 7, Dani’el elaborated on the four Gentile kingdoms that were seen in the statue of Chapter 2. We can compare these chapters in three ways. First, they are visionary. In Chapter 2 the visionary was a pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar, but in Chapter 7 the visionary was Dani’el himself. Secondly, we can compare the interpreters. Dani’el was the interpreter in Chapter 2, but an angel was the interpreter in Chapter 7. Thirdly, we can compare the two perspectives. Dani’el 2 gives us the perspective of the times of the Gentiles from a human viewpoint as something majestic, but Dani’el 7 gives us the perspective from God’s viewpoint as something dreadful. There were four kingdoms, pictured as four beasts.
Thirdly, in Chapter 8, Dani’el describes the second vision ADONAI gave him. The vision concerns a portion of the overall period of time symbolized in the first vision; namely, regarding Medo-Persia and Greece. Reference is made also to the antichrist of future time in the interpretation of the vision in this chapter. Once more, animals are used for symbolism, but in place of the bear and leopard that were used in the first vision, a two-horned ram and a one horned goat are used. In this vision also, a little horn appears. He would be a foreshadowing of the antichrist that will follow his pattern in the Great Tribulation of the future.
Lastly, in his third vision, Dani’el first describes the near historical future of the ensuing battle between the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria after Alexander’s death (Dani’el 11:5-35). Then he turns to the far eschatological future to give us a more detailed look at the antichrist (Dani’el 11:36-39). Daniel prophesies about the Ten Kingdoms that the antichrist will conquer to establish his absolute imperialism (Dani’el 11:40-44), and then Dani’el even goes on to describe his eventual death (Dani’el 11:45).
Thus, four Gentile Empires will control the times of the Gentiles before it is succeeded by the Messianic Kingdom (Dani’el 7:17-18). First would be the Babylonians (see Ay – The First Empire: A Head of Gold), second would be the Medo-Persians (see Az – The Second Empire: Chest and Arms of Silver), third would be the Greeks (see Ba – The Third Empire: Belly and Thighs of Bronze), and fourth would be the Imperialists (see Bb – The Fourth Empire: Imperialism). But, the last Empire, or more accurately, Kingdom, will crush all those kingdoms, and it will be the Messianic Kingdom (Bg – The Fifth Empire: The Messianic Kingdom).37
Leave A Comment