Introduction to Bible Prophecy _____________ page l 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l 6 l 7 l -2-

No Escape: Faulty Interpretations until Daniel is Unsealed

The book of Daniel contains 533 sentences. Daniel wrote the book about twenty-six centuries ago, but unlike the other sixty-five books in the Bible, the book of Daniel was sealed up “until the time of the end.” The angel, Gabriel, said to Daniel, “. . .Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.^[3] The phrase, “Closed up and sealed until the time of the end” means that God hid something in the book of Daniel that would remain “top secret” until the time of the end arrived. I am convinced that the book of Daniel has been unsealed and the time of the end has arrived.

The secret information that God encoded into the book of Daniel is something like the “Rosetta Stone.” French soldiers accidently discovered and unearthed a stone in 1799 near Rosetta, Egypt. The stone bore a message written during the second century B.C. The message was written in two forms of Egyptian script – demotic and hieroglyphic. When archeologists examined the rock, they were thrilled because the inscriptions would help solve a very perplexing mystery. Prior to 1799, archeologists could not read many clay tablets that had been unearthed because no one could decipher the hieroglyphics. When the Rosetta Stone was discovered and translated, the demotic inscriptions on the stone enabled Thomas Young (1773-1829) and J.F. Champollion (1790-1832) to decipher the hieroglyphics of ancient Egyptians.

In a similar way, God buried a set of four self-evident rules in the book of Daniel 2,600 years ago. By God’s grace, I accidently stumbled into this buried treasure. (Of course, the passage of time will prove or disprove the validity of my claim.) These four rules of interpretation shattered my prophetic thinking and I believe in due time they will shatter centuries of prophetic exposition and tradition. Because these four rules have been discovered, I believe that most previous prophetic interpretations are faulty and incomplete. In fact, after I began to personally apply the four rules in my study, they destroyed my own prophetic understanding which was faulty and incomplete. (Even after many years of study and effort since my discovery of the four rules, my conformity to the four rules remains a work in progress.) The four rules buried in the book of Daniel govern four prophetic components: God’s use of time, language, chronology, and fulfillment. I believe God put these rules in the book of Daniel to dethrone the traditions and errors that the final generation maintains are true. A revelation of greater truth is God’s gift to the honest in heart.

Predictable results go with the discovery of greater truth. The arrival of greater truth separates people who exalt tradition from people who love truth. When greater truth appears, the honest in heart rejoice to see it, while those defending the traditions of their elders will rise up and punish those who embrace it. Jesus said to His disciples, “They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.”^[4] I know the parable of the math teacher is silly, but the moral of the story is consistently true. Jesus said, “Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. . .”^[5]

Three Levels of Information

As you might expect, God buried His secrets within the book of Daniel very well. However, when God wants truth to be revealed, He enables ordinary men and women to discover the extraordinary things He has hidden. Through the ages, we find this discovery process at work: On or about the time of fulfillment, elements of prophecy are understood. For example, when the day came to understand the timing of Christ’s birth, wise men from the East figured it out.^[6]

The apostle Paul also noticed the phenomenon of advancing truth. Consider his words: Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”^[7]

The book of Daniel offers three levels of knowledge. They are:

1. Dramatic stories of faith
2. Visions revealing God’s plans
3. Apocalyptic architecture

The Book Unsealed

The first(and easiest) level of knowledge found within the book of Daniel contains dramatic stories of faith in God. These stories of faith and loyalty to God were recorded to benefit all generations. However, Earth’s final generation will benefit the most from these stories of courage since the fiery trials in the first chapters of the book of Daniel are mini-parallels of coming events. For example, in Daniel 3 we read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego facing the mandatory worship of a golden image which the king of Babylon set up.  In Revelation 13:15, we read about the inhabitants of the world facing the mandatory worship of an image which the king of modern Babylon will set up. God placed these parallels and their outcomes in the book of Daniel for our encouragement.

The second (and more difficult) level of knowledge within the book of Daniel concerns the meaning of the visions found there. God gave King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel visions that faithfully predicted the passage of time and the fulfillment of all that would occur. Students of prophecy have generally understood Daniel’s visions for hundreds of years, so we cannot say that Daniel’s visions were sealed up until “the time of the end.” However, an element within the book of Daniel was sealed for the final generation and that element uniquely applies to the people who will live at the end of the world.

The third (and deepest) level of knowledge found within the book of Daniel is the architecture of apocalyptic prophecy. The prophecies in Daniel conform to a structure or pattern that controls their timing and meaning. This structure also exists in Revelation! In other words, when we understand how the architecture of Daniel functions, we will immediately understand how the architecture in Revelation functions!

Daniel’s architecture produces four self-evident rules. These four rules are like a combination to a safe. When the four rules are properly applied, the door to understanding swings open and the prophecies make perfect sense! This point is extremely important. Portions of Daniel and much of Revelation have been a mystery for centuries. Now that the rules are available, both books make sense just as they read.

When the four rules found in Daniel are applied to Daniel and Revelation, a comprehensive story unfolds that is completely harmonious with everything the Bible reveals about God’s love, character, and ways. Even more fascinating, all of the details in each prophecy perfectly harmonize and they synchronize with other prophecies describing the same event. The four rules force all of the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation into a huge matrix that organizes events in an orderly, timely, and predictable manner.

To visualize this matrix, think of the seventeen prophecies in Daniel and Revelation as a wedding cake having seventeen layers. The foundation pieces are the largest pieces and naturally, they are found at the bottom of the cake. Smaller layers are stacked on top of the larger layers. In Daniel and Revelation, the toothpicks that hold the seventeen layers of the cake together represent specific events that hold and align the seventeen layers. The “toothpick events” are important because two or more prophecies often describe the same prophetic event. Because the same event is described in two different ways within two different layers (prophecies), a precise alignment of the prophecies is not only possible, but also essential for understanding the big picture.

Private Interpretation

I consider an interpretation of prophecy which does not conform to valid rules as a “private interpretation.” The word “private” as used in this context does not mean obscure. Millions of people believe and endorse a private interpretation. A private interpretation is an interpretation that cannot be tested with valid rules. Of course, every person is free to believe whatever he wants to believe, but our beliefs have nothing to do with God’s actions. Most of the world did not believe it would rain in Noah’s day, but it had no affect on God’s action.

The joy of every Bible student is to search for “the whole truth and nothing but the truth!” Even if we have valid rules of interpretation, we have no guarantee that we will correctly apply them. Said another way, it is one thing to know the laws that govern algebra, but it is another matter to correctly solve algebraic problems. When valid rules of interpretation are used, the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation will make sense just as they read, because the Bible is its own interpreter. On the other hand, a private interpretation requires a promoter, an interpreter – someone having superior knowledge or authority. A private interpretation produces a layer of explanation that separates the student from the Bible. Valid rules do not require an interpreter and allow the Bible to speak for itself.

Consider again the difference between art and science. A private interpretation (art) makes it all but impossible for people to independently arrive at the same conclusion without the coaxing of a guide or interpreter. A valid set of rules (science) enables people to arrive at a similar conclusion without knowing anyone else or listening to an expositor. Many Christians believe whatever their leaders say about prophecy without actually validating the conclusions for themselves. Lay people usually “go along” because they have no solutions of their own, and their church organization endorses a particular view which aligns with church doctrines and paradigms. Because the average Christian does not study prophecy and the subject of Bible prophecy is complicated, it is just easier to play “follow the leader.”

What do you think? Should the Bible speak for itself or should it have an interpreter? I have concluded after many years of study that the Bible does indeed speak for itself and the Bible is its own interpreter. I do not accept the idea that external authority exists or that it is even necessary.

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