(Work in progress.)
(Work in progress.)
| Daniel Passage | Daniel Text | NT Passage | NT Text | Remarks |
| “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. | Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. | The period of testing for the church of Smyrna matches that of Daniel’s request to be tested while forgoing the king’s food. Rather than Revelation referring to Daniel, they both reflect a similar use of the number five (the number of provision). “Although perhaps more subtle than other biblical numerology, five appears to be associated with the idea of provision [and] fullness”3 . The doubling of five to form ten may denote the combined idea of witness (two) and provision (five).4 | ||
| He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. | But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. | Natural knowledge, common to all men, cannot obtain information hidden with God. Only those in relationship with God have spiritual knowledge which is discerned and revealed by God’s Holy Spirit. | ||
| Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets . . .” | And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ” | The wise men, astrologers, magicians, and soothsayers cannot provide information which only God reveals because they have no relationship with God. Nor will He provide what they seek since He is opposed to the occult (and humanist sophistry).7 The advisors which Nebuchadnezzar had sought information from where those which Jesus refers to as “those who are outside” and therefore excluded from the special revelation and understanding needed to answer the king’s inquiry. | ||
| But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: | Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. | Nebuchadnezzar was used as a chosen vessel through which God revealed information concerning the period of history culminating in the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth at the return of Jesus. The portion of the book of Revelation given through John which concerns “the things which will take place after this” has the same historic period in view and augments the information given to Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted by Daniel. (This is made clear by the many allusions and references from the book of Revelation to various chapters in Daniel shown below.) | ||
| (see above) | Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. | Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, interpreted by Daniel, concerns many of the same topics as the revelation which the angel shows John in the book of Revelation. John’s vantage point, following upon the first advent of Messiah is closer to the time of fulfillment. | ||
| As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. | After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” | Nebuchadnezzar is given revelation-in-advance concerning history subsequent to his time concerning the end of his kingdom and those which will follow. John is given revelation-in-advance concerning history following upon the age of the church (following upon Revelation 2+ and 3+). | ||
| You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. | And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. | The stone cut out without hands in Daniel represents the Messianic kingdom headed by the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus explains that he is the “precious corner-stone” worthy of trust as mentioned in the Old Testament (e.g., Isa. 8:14; 28:16). Individuals will fall into one of two categories based on their response to Him: 1) the humble who will fall on the stone—giving up their pride and trusting in Christ; 2) the proud will reject Christ in their self-righteousness, eventually to be “crushed” in judgment (Rev. 20:12-15+). This latter group constitutes the kingdom of man (the four different metals of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue) in whatever age they live. In the same way all the man-made kingdoms are destroyed, those who remain in those kingdoms are eternally lost. | ||
| You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. | Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death | This pair of verses is thought by some to be related. [Ibid.]. This indicates an amillennial or postmillennial belief that the action of the stone striking the image occurred at the cross (the first advent of Messiah). There is considerable evidence that this is not so—that the stone does not strike until the second advent. See When Does the Stone Strike? | ||
| And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. | For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. | In a passage which concerns the resurrection of believers, Paul describes an important eschatological sequence. First, Christ was resurrected. Second, His own are resurrected at His coming (the Rapture). Third, at the end (the Second Coming) all competing rule is put to an end. This establishes that the stone did not strike Nebuchadnezzar’s image at the cross, but will do so at the Second Coming. | ||
| And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. | Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” | When the seventh angel of Revelation sounds, the proleptic statement is made that the kingdoms of this world have been (de jure) transferred to the authority of Jesus. This is so certain it is pronounced in advance. It does not actually occur (de facto) until the seven bowls of wrath within the seventh trumpet are completed and Jesus returns at the second advent. Once again, we find evidence that the stone did not strike at the first advent in association with the crosswork of Jesus. | ||
| And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. | And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. | The stone cut out without hands in Daniel represents the Messianic kingdom headed by the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus explains that he is the “precious corner-stone” worthy of trust as mentioned in the Old Testament (e.g., Isa. 8:14; 28:16). Individuals will fall into one of two categories based on their response to Him: 1) the humble who will fall on the stone—giving up their pride and trusting in Christ; 2) the proud will reject Christ in their self-righteousness, eventually to be “crushed” in judgment (Rev. 20:12-15+). This latter group constitutes the kingdom of man (the four different metals of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue) in whatever age they live. In the same way all the man-made kingdoms are destroyed, those who remain in those kingdoms are eternally lost. | ||
| (see above) | Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. | (see above) | ||
| Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold-the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. | And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. | Both Daniel and Jesus are making known what will come to pass in the distant future. The violence associated with Daniel’s passage is due to the return of Jesus to overthrow the kingdoms of the world. The violence associated with Matthew’s passage is due to ongoing conflict among the kingdoms of the world and is not to be expected rather than taken as an indication that the end is near. | ||
| (see above) | But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. | (see above) | ||
| (see above) | But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately. | (see above) | ||
| (see above) | The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John | In both passages, God gives revelation through an intermediary for the benefit of all God’s people. | ||
| (see above) | After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” | (see above) | ||
| (see above) | Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. | (see above) | ||
| The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” | But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. | Secrets of unbelieving Nebuchadnezzar’s heart were revealed to Daniel. This impressed Nebuchadnezzar such that he was led to recognize the divine origin of Daniel’s knowledge resulting in Nebuchadnezzar’s spontaneous worship. This is similar to what Paul predicts would happen when an unbeliever encountered prophecy within the NT church. |
Notes
1 Image created from a public domain image in the Open Clip Art Library and released to the public domain.
2 Eberhard Nestle, Erwin Nestle, and Kurt Aland et al., Novum Testamentum Graece, 27. Aufl. (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelstiftung, 1993), 797.
3 Anthony C. Garland, A Testimony of Jesus Christ : A Commentary on the Book of Revelation, Vol. 1 (Rev. 1-14) (Camano Island, WA: SpiritAndTruth.org, 2004), 2.7.5.3.4.
4 For additional uses of ten in the OT which may have this connotation, see Gen. 31:7, Gen. 31:41; Num. 14:22; Ne. 4:12; Job 19:3. “The number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number of completeness. Cf. Dan. 1:20+; Zec. 8:23; Rev 2:10+.”—New English Translation : NET Bible, 1st ed. (Dallas, TX: Biblical Studies Press, 1998,2006), Dan. 1:14.
5 Nestle, Novum Testamentum Graece, 797.
6 Ibid.
7 Concerning God’s opposition to occult practices: Ex. 22:18; Lev. 19:26, 31; 20:6, 27; Deu. 18:10; 1S. 15:23; 28:3, 9; 2K. 17:17; 21:6; 23:24; 1Chr. 10:13; 2Chr. 33:6; Isa. 8:19; 19:3; 44:25; Eze. 12:24; 13:7, 9; 13:18-23; Zec. 10:2; Mal. 3:2-5; Acts 16:16; Gal. 5:20; Rev. 18:23+; 21:8+; 22:15+.
8 Nestle, Novum Testamentum Graece, 797.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid.
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
