The Greatest Deception In Modern Christianity (Part 3) -By Joe Dauda

“If there were no lies, the truth would be easy to tell. It is the presence of lies that must be debunked that makes truth-telling sometimes tedious.” Anonymous.

THE 70 WEEKS OF DANIEL’S PROPHECY

In Daniel 8:27, Daniel confessed his lack of understanding of the vision he had seen in Chapter 8.

Daniel 8:27

“And I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.”

Daniel’s statement in Daniel 8:27 is different from what he had said in Daniel 2:28 because, in that earlier case, not only was King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream revealed to him by God, the meaning of the dream was also revealed. Thus, Daniel’s statement in Daniel 8:27 could not have been with reference to the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, which was told and interpreted in Chapter 2. It could not have been with reference to his Chapter 7 vision either, which was also fully interpreted.

Daniel 7:16
“I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.”

The above is crystal clear: Daniel was given perfect understanding of the vision he recorded in Chapter 7.

In fact, Daniel’s confession of lack of understanding (in 8:27) could not have been with reference to the entire Chapter 8 vision also because the vision of Chapter 8 was from verse 3 to verse 14. But at least verse 3 to verse 12 was fully explained in verses 20 to 25.

Therefore, the vision Daniel did not understand (according to his confession in Daniel 8:27) was the vision of the evening and the morning (Daniel 8:14) which he was even commanded to shut up/seal, in Daniel 8:26. This issue was explained in Part 2 of this series.

The only part missing in the explanation of the Chapter 8 vision (stated from verse 3 to 14) is Daniel 8:14, which actually begins in verse 13. As if to tell Daniel not to bother about that part, angel Gabriel said:

Daniel 8:17

“Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall the vision be.”

In other words, “Daniel, do not bother about this Daniel 8:14 vision of the evening and the morning for at the time of the end, it shall be (understood).”

It was after the above statement that Gabriel then went on to explain Daniel 8:3-12, and he did this from verse 20 to verse 25. No wonder, after this explanation, he basically reiterated what he had said about the verse 14 vision being for the time of the end by commanding Daniel with the words: “shut thou up the vision.” Daniel 8:26

“And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore, shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.”

Later, in Daniel 12:4, it was said that this vision shall remain shut “even to the time of the end.” We already proved, in Part 2, that the vision of the evening and the morning is the vision of Daniel 8:14. See Daniel 8:26 and the margin of 8:14 in the KJV. Interesting enough, you don’t even need the margin in the NIV because the world word, “days” in Daniel 8:14 is rightly rendered as “evenings and mornings.” This is by no means an endorsement of the NIV, which has several important issues one has to be aware of. But that is a matter for another day.

In other words, Daniel 12:4 is saying that, until the time of the end, the sealed portion of Daniel’s vision shall remain sealed. Reading the vision will not result in a true understanding of it – until the time of the end. In the same vein, when the correct understanding of the Daniel 8:14 vision is given, that time must be the “time of the end.” Other evidences to understand that the “time of the end” had arrived was to be the increase in knowledge (apparently knowledge that would include the understanding of Daniel 8:14) and the fact that men shall begin to run to and fro.

Daniel 12:4
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

Note that Daniel 8:1-12 basically contains a repetition and expansion of what had already been revealed to Daniel through the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar (in Chapter 2), and the dream and visions Daniel himself had seen, as recorded in Chapter 7. It was all about the rise and fall of world empires — Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and then Rome. But Rome, unlike the others, did not fall: it was divided into ten kingdoms, Daniel 7:7, 24. The dream and visions Daniel saw in Chapter 7 also contained information that gave details of things that were set to occur hereafter, both in heaven (see Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, and 26) and on earth.

In Daniel Chapter 2, through King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation, God informed us that the Babylonian Empire, then led by King Nebuchadnezzar, will not last forever. It was going to be succeeded by the kingdom of Medo-Persia, which, in turn, will be succeeded by the kingdom of Greece, which in turn will be succeeded by Rome. These empires (or kingdoms) were represented by gold, silver, bronze, and iron respectively in parts of the image King Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The breakup of the Roman Empire was portrayed by the ten toes of the feet of the image. At the end, the whole structure was replaced by the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ, signified in Daniel 2:45 as a stone cut out “without hands,” which struck the image at the feet and completely destroyed it, turning it to dust.

Similarly, Daniel Chapter 7 prophesied the rise of the same four empires – Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome – but, rather than metals, these empires were represented as beasts. To depict the ten kingdoms into which the Roman Empire disintegrated, the fourth beast (representing the Roman Empire) was said to have ten horns. In repeating and expanding these earlier prophecies of Chapter 2 and Chapter 7, Daniel was given some more details in the Chapter 8 vision. Notably, the vision of Chapter 8 did not begin from Babylon but from Medo-Persia, as seen in Daniel 8:3 and 8:20. And it had more details. For example, while the silver of Chapter 2 and the bear of Chapter 7 represented the kingdom of Medio-Persia, this could only be inferred on the basis of the fact that it was that kingdom that succeeded the kingdom of Babylon. But, in Chapter 8, the Medes and the Persians were mentioned by name.

Daniel 8:3, 20
“Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram, which had two horns . . . The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.”

In like manner, the historical figure, Alexander the Great, was specifically referred to. He is the great horn between the eyes of the rough goat in Daniel 8:21. In fact, the Empire of Alexander the Great – the Greek Empire – was mentioned by name.

Daniel 8:21
“And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.”

Not only did the Bible mention Grecia (in reference to the Greeks) but referred to Alexander (its first king) as “great.” Amazing!

To underscore how accurate this biblical prophecy is, note the fact that, after Alexander the Great died prematurely, his kingdom (the Greek Empire) was divided between his four generals. And you can read about this in secular documents, including the history of Europe or any veritable Encyclopedia, such as Encyclopedia Britannica. These four generals that succeeded Alexander the Great were Antigonus, Cassander, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. Now behold the omniscience of our Great God, Jehovah, Who foretold these developments to Daniel through angel Gabriel around 555BC, according to the margin of the King James Bible.

Daniel 8:8, 22
“Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken: and for it came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven.
Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.”

Note: first there was a great horn. Then that great horn (mentioned in Daniel 8:21), was broken and replaced by four “notable” horns.

The great horn which was broken was, no doubt, the young Alexander the Great, who basically killed himself after celebrating a military victory with an overdose of alcohol. And, of course, the “four notable” horns that came up to replace the “great horn” were the four Generals of Alexander the Great already mentioned.

Anybody privileged to understand some world history who also has evidence that the prophecy of Daniel was written over 500 years before Jesus Christ was born has no business being an atheist.

Why?

Because the God of heaven showed His omniscience and His omnipotence by foretelling the history of the world to Daniel, both through the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel’s own dreams and visions. Interestingly, this was at least partly the reason why Sir Isaac Newton, the notable physicist, believed the Bible so much he even wrote about the prophecies of Daniel in a book he published titled: Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel. This great scientist, mathematician and astronomer who formulated the Laws of Motion and Universal Gravitation, among other seminal laws of physics, also wrote about the Book of Revelation in a book aptly titled:The Apocalypse of St. John. This is how powerful the Book of Daniel is. Its prophecies are so accurate and have proven accurate so far it tantalizes the minds of superbly intelligent individuals — like it did the mind of Sir Isaac Newton. The prophecy of Daniel is the reason why, after two World Wars, the effort of the European powers to reestablish the Roman Empire (which was what broke up into Western Europe) has consistently failed. The prophet had said “they shall not cleave one to another” (Daniel 2:43) and this has remained true today, in spite of the establishment of contraptions like the European Union and its predecessors, such as the European Economic Community, EEC.

So, in summary, it was Daniel 8:14 that Daniel did not understand, and not the whole chapter, which contains things he already knew about, such as the fact that Medo-Persia will be succeeded by Greece and Greece etc.

The next thing we see in the Book of Daniel was during the first year of King Darius. By studying the prophecies of Jeremiah, Daniel got to understand that the time was near for the restoration of Israel back to the holy land after the 70 years of their banishment. In other words, the time of Israel’s stay in Babylon was nearing the 70 years God had vowed they must remain in exile for their disobedience. Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10. See Nehemiah 13:15, 18; Jeremiah 17:21, 22, and 27.

Daniel 9:1-2
“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem.”

Although Daniel’s prayer was clearly about the restoration of Israel back to the holy land, the answer he got from heaven went far into the future and includes details of when the expected Messiah will be revealed, the number of years His ministry would last, and the fact that He will be killed, even though He will absolutely be innocent. This fact of the Messiah’s innocent was even stated. The answer Daniel received also foretold when the gospel would begin to be preached to the Gentiles. Sadly, the answer (given to him by angel Gabriel) also included the fact that the second temple, which the prophecy says will be rebuilt “in troublous times” will eventually be destroyed by a coming prince, just like the first temple built by King Solomon was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar. It was while Daniel was praying (as recorded in Daniel 9:1-19) that angel Gabriel was dispatched from heaven and mandated to respond to Daniel’s petition to God for the restoration of the Israelites back to the land of Israel.

Daniel 9:21.
“Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.”

Thus, everything you read from Daniel 9:22b to Daniel 9:27 are the very words of angel Gabriel.

One of the key factors in understanding the sealed portion of the Book of Daniel is to understand that there is a connection between the answer Daniel received in Daniel Chapter 9:22b to 9:27 with the vision of the evening and the morning, stated in Daniel 8:14. Daniel had prayed that the children of Israel be restored back to Jerusalem, the holy city. But angel Gabriel, in answering Daniel, made a statement that references the 2300 years of the vision of the evening and the morning.

Daniel 9:24
“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”

For now, our interest is in the word “determined.”

It was translated from the Hebrew word “chathak” – H2852 on Strong’s Concordance – and it means to cut off. It might interest you to note that the word “chathak” only appears once in the whole Bible — and this is in Daniel 9:24.

The clear implication is as if someone gave you a thousand dollars and then said, 200 dollars is earmarked for this and for that. You don’t need to be told that the 200 dollars is from the 1000 dollars. There must be a whole from which the piece is earmarked. The whole, in the above case of Daniel 9:24, is nothing else but the 2300 years of the vision of the evening and morning, which Daniel did not understand and which forms the sealed part of his book. That word, “determined” in Daniel 9:24 can be replaced with “earmarked” in the case of the 1000 dollars hypothesized above. No wonder the Hebrew understanding of it is “cut off.” Indeed, the 70 weeks mentioned in Daniel 9:24 is with reference to the 2300 years mentioned in Daniel 8:14 because it was from there that it was “cut off.” Below is the evidence.

The first time angel Gabriel was ever mentioned by name in the whole of the Bible is in Daniel 8:16.

Daniel 8:16
“And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.”

Note that this first mention of angel Gabriel in the Bible is in Chapter 8 of Daniel. And it was in reference to the vision Daniel had seen from verse 3 to verse 14 of the same Daniel Chapter 8. But, as we already pointed out, Gabriel, acting no doubt on God’s instructions, only explained the vision from verse 3 to 12 and left verse 14 (which begins in verse 13) unexplained. He later even specifically mentioned the vision of Daniel 8:14 and said Daniel was to shut that vision up. See Daniel 8:26.

Bearing the above in mind and the fact that Daniel had no other contact with Gabriel after Gabriel’s explanation of the Chapter 8 vision, note the following, which is an account of Daniel’s second interaction with Gabriel and also the second time in the whole of the Bible angel Gabriel will be mentioned by name.

Daniel 9:21
“Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.”

(For those who do not know that the Bible sometimes calls angels men, compare Genesis 19:1 and Genesis 19:10 and See Hebrews 13:2)

This “vision at the beginning” which Daniel mentioned in Daniel 9:21 is, without controversy, the vision of Chapter 8 because that was the first time angel Gabriel was mentioned by name in the Bible (this Daniel 9:21 case being the second time) and that was the first time Daniel made contact with an angel called Gabriel. With 100% certainty, we know that, when Daniel says, in Daniel 9:21, “even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning” he was referring to his encounter with Gabriel with respect to the Chapter 8 vision, which contained the sealed portion in Daniel 8:14.

The words of angel Gabriel in Daniel 9:22 proves that, whatever he was going to say was with reference to the 2300-year prophecy because the “vision at the beginning” included the vision of the 2300 days/years. In fact, Gabriel said he had come to give Daniel understanding. Remember that Daniel 8:14 was the only part of Daniel’s vision that he confessed he did not understand. For Gabriel to say he had come to give Daniel understanding, this understanding must be connected with the vision Daniel did not understand. Hear Gabriel:

Daniel 9:22
“And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.”

Without reference to any other vision or prophecy, Gabriel could easily have said:

“In seventy weeks, such and such and such would happen.”

But what did he say?

Daniel 9:24
“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, etc.”

And we have already explained how the word translated “determined” is the Hebrew word “chathak” which means to cut off.

In other words, Daniel must understand that, out of the 2300 years prophecy, 70 weeks (actually 70 weeks of years, that is, 490 years) are determined or have been “cut off” for the people of Israel. This will become clearer as we go along but the critical point here is that the 490 years allotted to the children of Israel was “cut off” from the 2300 years after which, according to Daniel 8:14, the sanctuary shall be cleansed. Angel Gabriel said a lot of things to Daniel (especially from verse 24 to verse 27 of Daniel Chapter 9) but he did not say anything about the cleansing of any sanctuary, which is the meat of Daniel 8:14 for it says, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”

Truly Gabriel did not say anything to dissolve the mystery of the cleansing of the sanctuary. Rather, before the Book of Daniel came to an end, we see a reiteration of the command for Daniel to seal the prophecy; that reiteration is, of course, in Daniel 12:4. Since Gabriel had already indicated (in Daniel 8:26) that the prophecy to be shut up was the prophecy of the “evening and the morning” (stated in Daniel 8:14), we know that the reiteration of this command to “shut up the prophecy” in Daniel 12:4, was with reference to that same prophecy of Daniel 8:14.

In summary, God gave Daniel a vision in Chapter 8 that contains information about things he already knew – from the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar and his own dreams and visions. The vision of Chapter 8 was partly explained by angel Gabriel and the unexplained part forms the sealed portion of the Book of Daniel. And that sealed portion is Daniel 8:14. Daniel confessed in Daniel 8:27 that he did not understand the vision, even though verse 3 to verse 12 was clearly explained between verses 20 and 25, making it clear that it was the sealed portion that he did not understand. Later, Daniel prays about the restoration of Israel to the holy land, only for Gabriel to show up the second time and say he was about to give Daniel “skill and understanding” – a clear reference to the portion of the Chapter 8 vision which Daniel did not understand. And then he says 490 years have been “cut off” for the Jews. The point is that this 490 years (depicted as 70 weeks) could not have been “cut off” from nothing. And the only portion of the prophecy Daniel did not understand (which Gabriel said he had come to explain) contains the 2300-year prophecy. Thus, it is from this 2300 years that the 490 years were cut off. This point is critical to understanding the sealed portion of the Book of Daniel and the painstaking and labourious explanation I have been making is not for the sake of just being didactic but to defeat the prevalent lie about the Book of Daniel, which seeks to discount this biblical fact that the 490 years (the 70 weeks) were cut off from the 2300 years.

When you finally understand the sealed portion of the Book of Daniel, you will see that angel Gabriel used the Hebrew word “chathak” (translated as “determined” in the Bible) because the 70 weeks vision he explained and the 2300 years vision he commanded sealed all began from the same point. Please pardon me for yet another example to buttress this point: It is like someone saying to you on a given day: “you have five hours off duty today; but use the first two hours to do this and that.” Those two hours must be part of the five hours. The 70 weeks vision is part of the 2300 years vision and actually the first part of it, as would be proven.

Not surprisingly, it is all about the ministry of Jesus Christ. You will finally have a practical understanding of what the Bible means in passages such as the one below, which proves that the whole Bible is basically about Jesus Christ.

Luke 24:27
“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

When you get to understand the sealed portion of Daniel’s prophecy, you will see that it simply prophesies about the work of Jesus Christ as He ministered from the first apartment of the sanctuary and then moved into the second apartment – in line with the ministry of the Levitical Priesthood, which mirrored His own ministry, the major difference being that, while the Levitical Priesthood was earthly, the Priestly Ministry of Jesus Christ is heavenly. This understanding would prove to be the most consequential knowledge you have received, especially if you are Christian and if you did not know about this before now. It will lay the wisdom of God bare for you to admire and you will see that the rituals of the Old Testament were so full of meaning and serve as the key to understanding the science of our salvation.

What Did Gabriel Say To Daniel?

Please read that for yourself in Daniel 9:24-27 and be patient because this will eventually be explained.

The people of God never fully understood the real meaning of Daniel 8:14 and the event scheduled to occur at the end of the 2300 years until after that sweet-bitter experience recorded in Revelation 10. That is how deep Daniel 8:14 is. It holds the key to the knowledge the people of God need to defeat the Antichrist of the last days and the matter is so serious that anyone who lives through the reign of the Antichrist will be deceived, except they understand this sealed portion of the prophecy of Daniel. Not everyone who understands the sealed portion will be able to defeat the Antichrist; but nobody who does not understand it will be able to withstand the deception of the Antichrist. It is that serious. The good news is that understanding the real meaning of Daniel 8:14 is possible and it opens up a torrent of biblical knowledge. Suddenly, the Old Testament comes to life and we understand that all those ceremonies are not as boring as they first appear. God was communicating His strategy for saving mankind and it is quite an interesting experience. Like Daniel 12:10 declares, understanding this sealed portion of the Book of Daniel will make you wise. It will make the end times easy to understand and take away fear and worry from your mind and heart.

To get a correct explanation of the 70-week prophecy of Daniel Chapter 9, read Part 4 of this series. Thereafter, we would unseal the sealed portion of Daniel, as unsealed by God Himself through the experience recorded in Revelation Chapter 10. Please note that Part 4 is critical to this study because it was through the faulty interpretation of Daniel’s 70-week prophecy that many sincere Christians were misled into misunderstanding end time prophecy and believing several false doctrines, such as the doctrine that the rapture will take place before the revelation of the Antichrist and the onset of the Great Tribulation.

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