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In 605 BCE, as a teenager, Daniel was captured by the Babylonian army, during its first attack on Jerusalem. He had been a member of the royal house or of the nobility. Daniel survived a castration operation and spent the rest of his long life in the city of Babylon, in the service of the royal court. He went by two names: Daniel and Belteschazzar.

That city was generally regarded as the most beautiful in the known world. Ancient authorities, not known for accuracy, claimed that its walls were 60 miles long, 300 feet high and 80 feet thick. The Euphrates river divided the city in to two roughly equal parts.

Isaiah 13:17-22 described it as “Babylon, fairest of kingdoms, proud beauty of the Chaldeans“  It contained one of the seven wonders of the world: the hanging gardens of Babylon, which Nebuchadnezzar build for his Queen. Both a passage in Isaiah and Jeremiah 51:37-43 prophesized that Babylon would be destroyed and never occupied again. The prophecy was partly correct: the city was destroyed. But part of it has been inhabited in recent years. It is now being rebuilt by the Government of Iraq.

Daniel is described as living in Babylon for the entire duration of the Babylonian empire, a period of 72 years. He arrived during the last year in the reign of Nabopolassar, stayed through the entire 45 year reign of Nebuchadnezzar, assisted 5 succeeding kings, survived through the occupation by the Medes and into the occupation of the Persians. He was present as Israel was taken into captivity; he died two years after a fragment of the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem.

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About apocalyptic writings:

Revelation is the final entry in the bible – basic the whole world ends art. It describes a coming period of great danger, destruction, and transition. “The apocalypse…used a symbolic or allegorical language to convey the message about the imminent End…Christian apocalypses are thoroughly frightening for the sadistic punishments inflicted on the inhabitants of hell, for the inventions of extreme torture and dismemberment. The descriptions of Heaven are scarcely less awesome, with pictures of angel servants in the Heavens, singing eternal hymns of praise to a bejeweled Lord whose face is too bright to be perceived.”

Apocalyptic literature has been found throughout the Middle East. The first examples of this theme is found in the ancient writings of Babylon and Persia. According to theologian and author Tom Harpur, “British orientalist Gerald Massey wrote that Revelation itself…is really a Christian version of the Mithraic apocalypse ‘Bahman Yasht.’ Massey says the latter has the same drama drawn out as in Revelation and that all ancient Parsee or Persian sacred books referred to the original scriptures as apocalypses.” 2

Apocalyptic literature typically includes a number of concepts:

• Time is divided into 2 ages: the present age is ruled by Satan and his demons and the age to come will be ruled by God.
• the transition will occur very quickly
• the end of the present age will happen in the very near future
• the transition will include wars, plagues, famine, earthquakes and other natural disasters
• A general resurrection of the dead.
• A final judgment.
• Satan’s supporters will be annihilated.
• God’s supporters will enter a period of peace and happiness.

The first suggestions of an apocalypse within the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) is found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and  Micah. They discussed the coming “day of Yahweh.” Many dozens of apocalyptic books appeared during the period 165 BCE to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE. One well known example is the “War Scroll” found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and probably written by the Essenes.  Another example is preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures as the book of Daniel.

Old Testament Apocalyptic Literature: The Book of Daniel

Chapters 1 to 6 describe Daniel’s interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; the attempted execution of Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace; the handwriting on the wall of King Belshazzar‘s banquet hall, Daniel survival in the den of lions, and Belshazzar’s feast. Chapters 7 to 12 describe a series of visions that he experienced: a dream about  4 beasts (a lion with eagles’ wings, bear, leopard, and a terrible beast); a vision of a ram and  goat; a prayer of confession to and trust in God, and a momentous vision of Israel’s future, leading to the end of the age.

Conservative Christians generally believe that Daniel was captured by the Babylonians circa 605 BCE, spent the rest of his life in Babylon, and wrote the book circa 540 BCE. Much conservative Christian prophecy concerning the second coming of Christ is based upon this book and in particular upon King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s dream of 4 beasts. The four empires in both dreams refer to the Empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The Roman Empire exists in two parts. The first is the historical Roman Empire which has faded from the scene. The second phase has not yet risen to power; its foundation can be seen in the European Common Market. As we approach the year 2000 CE, many sermons by conservative Christians interpret the book of Daniel as predicting the end of the world as we know it. This book is one of the most important books in the Hebrew Scriptures to Evangelical Christians, next to Genesis.

Liberal Christians generally believe that the book of Daniel was written by an unknown person circa 169 BCE. It was based on stories probably transmitted orally from the time of the Babylonian exile until the 2nd century BCE. The 4 beasts in Daniel’s dream (Chapter 7) refer to 4 ancient civilizations:

• the lion/eagle vision is a blending of the most powerful land animal and the most powerful bird; it represented King Nebuchadnezzar’s Neo-Babylonian empire.
• The bear represented the Median Empire.
• The leopard is the Persian Empire.
• The terrible beast represents the Seleucid Empire.

Since the book was written after the rise of the final empire, the author had the advantage of hindsight; the book is a history of past events, not prophecy of the future.

What are the 7 signs for Armageddon? What are the seven signs of the Apocalypse?

The White Horse: The First Sign: Its rider carried a bow and went forth conquering and to conquer.

Next to Satan – this is the worst, this is the Antichrist. This seal portrays the going forth of Yahweh’s Warning Truth concerning. He will teach peace and folks will be drawn to this leader over God.

A Red Horse: The Second Sign – Its rider was given a great sword and proceeded to take peace from the earth

This seal tells of wars, revolutions and bloodshed on an unparalleled scale. The great sword symbolizes world wars involving many nations.

A Black Horse: The Third Sign: Its rider held a pair of scales and weighed out food at extremely high prices.

This seal brings to view world-wide famines when prices for even the barest of life’s necessities will spiral out of control.

A Pale and Sickly Horse: The Fourth Seal: Its rider’s name was Death and Hell followed him.

pestilence and disease epidemics of various kinds which will lay low millions of people.

Souls Under the Alter: The Fifth Seal: Souls were heard crying for justice. They were told to wait for a while till a further martyrdom took place.

This seal reveals a further persecution of God’s people, a persecution as intense as any which occurred in the past.

Celestial Signs: The Sixth Seal/Sign

1. A great earthquake.
2. The sun turned black
3. The moon turned blood-red.
4. The stars (meteorites) fell.
5. The sky was rolled back as a scroll.
6. Earth’s population was terrified.

These are literal signs in the physical universe. When they occur people will freak out.

The Sealing of Yahweh’s Servants: the Sixth Seal/Sign: By divine authority the devastation of the earth, the sea and the trees was delayed till the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads and right hands. 144,000 Israelites were sealed.

Trumpet
1
A third of the earth, a third of the trees and all the green grass were burned.
Trumpet
2
A third of the sea became like the blood of a dead man. A third of the fish perished and a third of the ships sank.
Trumpet
3
A third of the rivers of water were made bitter and many people died.
Trumpet 4 : The sun, moon and the stars were then darkened by a third.
Trumpet 5: The Bottomless Pit (Abyss) was then opened and an evil host led by Abaddon the King of the Abyss came forth. They proceeded to torture all mankind for five months – all except those who had received Yahweh’s Seal at the time of the sealing.

Trumpet 6: Four mighty angels were then loosed from the Great River Euphrates. Aided by a force of 200,000,000 they killed ONE THIRD OF MANKIND. At this time the holy city is trampled under foot for a period of 42 months (3½ years).

Trumpet 7: This is a time for God’s anger, his judgment of the nations and the rewarding of his saints. At this Trumpet the kingdoms of this world will pass to their rightful ruler, the Messiah of Israel.

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