Category Archives: Daniel

Church History, Daniel, Eschatology, Revelation

Wounded to Death, Part 3

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“Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land” — Daniel 11:19

In our previous post, we assessed the cryptic references to the mortal head wound administered by a sword to one of the heads of the Sea Beast (Revelation 13:3, 12, 14). With the Scriptural data, we were able to discern not only that the head wound must have been administered to one of the seven heads but also, like the wounds of the Lamb (Revelation 5:6), the mortal head wound must have occurred prior to its rise. John uses the same Greek phrase to refer to the Lamb “as it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6), as he does for the Beast’s head, “as it were wounded” (Revelation 13:3). The mortal wound did not follow the rise of the Beast. It preceded it. The Beast is made up of the preceding empires (Revelation 13:2), and one of those heads received a mortal wound.

Our challenge is to discover which of the seven heads had been slain, for John says only one of them was wounded: either the Lion head, the Bear head, one of the four Leopard heads or the terrifying Roman head. Upon inspection, and having ruled out the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Roman heads, we concluded that one of the four Leopard heads must have been wounded to death. Then, eliminating the Eastern, Western and Southern heads from consideration, we discovered the mortal wound administered to the Northern head. That mortal wound of the Northern Head is depicted in Daniel 11 by its  disappearance from the narrative after “he turn[ed] his face unto the isles … [but] he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land” (Daniel 11:18-19). Here Daniel has foreseen Antiochus III’s invasion of Greece and his defeat at the hands of Rome at Magnesia in 190 BC. As a result of that loss, Antiochus was forced to evacuate the Northern Territory entirely, and to remain in the Seleucids’ original holdings in the East. The Northern Head had been eliminated altogether.

This week, we provide the political, geographic and historical data related to the defeat of the Seleucids and their exile from the Northern territory (indicating the complete disappearance of the Northern Leopard Head from the narrative for more than a century) and its remarkable recovery and reappearance at the end of Daniel 11. The return of the King of the North at the end of the chapter sets the stage for the rise of Imperial Rome to rule over earth after an apocalyptic conflict with the King of the South depicted in Daniel 11:40-45. The Beast that follows Imperial Rome is none other than Roman Catholicism, and that mortal wound administered to “one of his heads” (Revelation 13:3) — an obscure reference subject to millennia of speculation since John recorded the vision — is an indictment of the Beast, for that mortally wounded head, as we shall see, grew back from Pergamos “where Satan’s seat is: and … where Satan dwelleth” (Revelation 2:13). And the Beast receives its “power, and … seat, and great authority” from him (Revelation 13:2).

Continue reading Wounded to Death, Part 3 →

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Daniel, Revelation

Wounded to Death, Part 2

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“… the beast … had the wound by a sword, and did live …” — Revelation 13:14

Last week we introduced our analysis of the “mortal head wound” of Revelation 13, highlighting an oft-overlooked fact: the Beast arose with the mortal wound already dealt to one head, and that head had already recovered from the deadly wound at the time the Beast arose. ln our analysis we first showed that the Seven-headed, Ten-horned Beast makes three appearances, each indicating something significant about it: the Beast is Next after the Roman Empire (Revelation 12), Satanic in power (Revelation 13), and geographically and empirically Roman (Revelation 17). The mortal wound is mentioned only three times, and only in Revelation 13. Each time it is mentioned, it is in relation to the object of worship by the people of the world: they worship the Dragon (Revelation 13:4a), the Beast (Revelation 13:4b, 12) and the Image of the Beast (Revelation 13:15). Each time the world is said to worship the Dragon, the Beast or the Image, John places it in the context of that mortal head wound. There is something about that head wound that reveals to us that the power and authority of the next empire after Rome is evil to its core. It is a warning, and as such, we should be able to identify that wounded head and the significance of its recovery from the mortal wound.

But to identify what the head wound is, we must first identify what it is not.

Continue reading Wounded to Death, Part 2 →

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Apparitions, Daniel, Eschatology, Eucharistic adoration, Eucharistic Miracles, Idolatry, Revelation

Wounded to Death, Part 1

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Mortal Head Wound
“…and his deadly wound was healed…” — Revelation 13:3

We have made no effort to hide our view that the Papacy of Rome is the prophesied fifth earthly kingdom in Daniel’s succession of empires (Daniel 2 & 7). The Papacy is the Sea Beast of Revelation 13:1, the Seven Headed, Ten-horned Beast that succeeds the Roman Empire.  Christ’s future earthly kingdom, of course, will be the sixth. Nor have we hesitated to identify the False Prophet, which is none other than the Apparitions of Mary, the Land Beast of Revelation 13:11, the Two-horned, Lamb-looking, Dragon-speaking False Prophet that can make “fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men” (Revelation 13:13). It is that False Prophet that “deceiveth them that dwell on the earth” and convinces them “that they should make an image to the beast” (Revelation 13:14), which refers to the Eucharistic bread idol of Rome that can come to life and speak, “the source and summit” of the Roman faith (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1324).

What we have not discussed yet is the mortal head wound of the Beast. John mentions it three times:

“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast…” (Revelation 13:3-4)

“And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” (Revelation 13:12)

“And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. … as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” (Revelation 13:14-15)

Whatever that head wound may be (and we shall identify it in this short series), it factors significantly into the object of the world’s worship.

Continue reading Wounded to Death, Part 1 →

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Daniel, Eschatology

The Ashes of Isaac

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Isaac on the altar
“…and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.” — Genesis 22:9

As our readers know, we have long held that the 70 Week prophecy of Daniel 9 is Mosaic rather than Messianic. Thus the prophecy finds its fulfillment under the Old Covenant rather than under the New. Instead of prophesying the advent of Christ and the end of sacrifices, the prophecy was rather that Cyrus, King of Persia, an anointed ruler (Isaiah 45:1), would be raised up to rebuild Jerusalem, that Onias III, the anointed high priest would be murdered, and that Antiochus IV would come and end sacrifices, but that faithful Jews would cleanse the sanctuary, anoint the altar, the most holy (Exodus 40:10) and restore Mosaic sacrifices. The fulfillment of that Seventieth Week, from 171-164 B.C. was Mosaic, not Messianic. Continue reading The Ashes of Isaac →

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2 Thessalonians, Church History, Daniel, Eschatology, Eucharistic Sacrifice, Mariolatry, Revelation

Come Hell or High Water, part 7

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“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness…” (Revelation 12:14)
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness…” (Revelation 12:14)

We continue now with our series on Revelation 12, a chapter that is an Exodus narrative in which the Woman is shown fleeing from the error of that proceeds from the mouth of the devil and seeking her place of safety in the wilderness. As we have noted in this series, the Woman of Revelation 12 must have taken her leave sometime between the end of the Diocletianic persecution (313 A.D.) and the rise of Roman Catholicism to the seat of civil power among the fragments of the Roman Empire in the last decade of the 4th century. Continue reading Come Hell or High Water, part 7 →

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Daniel, Eschatology, Revelation

Come Hell or High Water, part 5

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“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness…” (Revelation 12:14)
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness…” (Revelation 12:14)

We continue this week with our series on the Woman of Revelation 12. As we have maintained thus far, the Flood of Revelation 12 is the sudden irruption of error toward the end of the fourth century, which error in practice became known to the world as Roman Catholicism. The flood that emerged from the Serpent’s mouth was nothing else than the sudden step-wise emergence and nearly universal acceptance of Roman Catholic doctrines beginning at the end of the fourth century. In our pursuit of the Woman of Revelation 12, we seek out those late fourth century saints who resisted the flood of error, and escaped from it. Continue reading Come Hell or High Water, part 5 →

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Daniel, Eschatology, Revelation

Come Hell or High Water, part 4

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“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness…” (Revelation 12:14)
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness…” (Revelation 12:14)

We continue our series this week on the Woman of Revelation 12, turning our attention now to the Flight of the Woman, the Flood of Error from the Serpent and in particular the Woman’s resistance to the Flood by the Word of God. As we noted in part 2, the Flight, and therefore the Flood, must occur in the period of the Toes of Daniel 2—after the 5th Seal of Revelation 6 is opened but before the Little Horn of Daniel 7 accedes to civil dominion. As we described in Do Not Weep for Nicomedia, the 5th Seal occurred in 311 A.D., and as we described in The Fifth Empire, part 3, Roman Catholicism took up the mantle of civil power in 395 A.D.. The Flight and the Flood occur between those two events. This week, we begin to examine the fledgling resistance movement—the first signs of protest against the emerging Roman leviathan. What we find is a group of godly Christian men who, against all odds, stood on the Scriptures to withstand the Flood of error that proceeded from the mouth of the Serpent. The whole world was swept up in the novelties being introduced at the time, but the Church was not.
Continue reading Come Hell or High Water, part 4 →

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Church History, Daniel, Eschatology, Revelation

Come Hell or High Water, part 3

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“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness…” (Revelation 12:14)
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness…” (Revelation 12:14)

In our previous installments of this series, we addressed the structure of Revelation 12 in which John provides a time frame for the events described, as well as the identity of the Woman and her Man Child as well as the duration of her time in the wilderness (Revelation 12:1-6).  As we noted in part 1, the time frame of the chapter covers the period of the persecution by the Little Horn of Daniel 8 for “time, times, and an half” (Daniel 12:7) through the persecution by the Little Horn of Daniel 7 for “time and times and the dividing of time” (Daniel 7:25). The chapter thus straddles not only the transition of the Woman from National Israel to Ecclesial Israel, but also the transition of world empires from Bronze to Iron to Iron & Clay in the statue of Daniel 2, from Legs to Feet to Toes. In part 2, we showed that the flight of the Woman must therefore occur in the period of the Toes of Daniel 2—after the  5th Seal of Revelation 6 but before the rise of the Little Horn of Daniel 7. Continue reading Come Hell or High Water, part 3 →

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Church History, Daniel, Eschatology, Revelation

Legs of Iron, part 6

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The Scriptures identify the transition from Legs to Feet.
The Scriptures identify the transition from Legs to Feet.

Historically, the church has had very little trouble identifying the time periods of the Gold, Silver, and Brass of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2. The time periods of the Lion, the Bear, and the Leopard are as easily identifiable in Daniel 7, as are those of the Ram and the He-goat in Daniel 8. Those figures represent a series of world empires, each dominating the world in succession—Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. Continue reading Legs of Iron, part 6 →

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Church History, Daniel, Eschatology, Revelation

Legs of Iron, part 5

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The Scriptures identify the transition from Legs to Feet.
The Scriptures identify the transition from Legs to Feet.

In this series, we have been discussing the dating of John’s vision on Patmos based on the scriptural evidence. Although Irenæaus seems to place the vision at the end of the first century, other early writers of his era place it before Paul’s epistles and even as early as emperor Claudius, as we discussed in Part 1. While the external testimony is inconsistent and contradictory, we believe the date of the vision can be found based on the internal testimony, especially in light of the Danielic nature of the angelic narrator’s language in Revelation 17:10. Continue reading Legs of Iron, part 5 →

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Church History, Daniel, Eschatology, Revelation

Legs of Iron, part 4

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The Scriptures Identify the transition from Legs to Feet.
The Scriptures Identify the transition from Legs to Feet.

One thing that can be said of Jesus’ and John’s eschatology is that it is certainly Danielic. Jesus refers to Daniel both directly (Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14) and indirectly (Matthew 21:44, 24:30, 26:64; Mark 13:26, 14:62) when speaking of the immediate and distant future. John’s descriptions of the dragon of Revelation 12, the sea beast of Revelation 13 and the scarlet beast of Revelation 17 are all derivative of the four beasts of Daniel 7. The scene of the throne room of Revelation 4-5 with “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (5:11) surrounding the Lord is clearly resonant of the same scene depicted in Daniel 7:10 where “thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.” Our eschatology, like Jesus’ and John’s, must be Danielic as well. Continue reading Legs of Iron, part 4 →

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Church History, Daniel, Revelation

Legs of Iron, part 3

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The Scriptures Identify the Transition from Legs to Feet
The Scriptures Identify the Transition from Legs to Feet

In the previous two weeks we have discussed the dating of the book of Revelation based on the internal evidence. As we noted last week, the angelic narrator provides textual cues as to the dating of the book, and three of those cues are found in Revelation 17: the placement of the “scarlet coloured beast” of Revelation 17 chronologically between the red dragon of Revelation 12 and the sea beast of Revelation 13; the description of the beast which “was, and is not; and shall ascend,” and the placement of the vision between the fifth and seventh king of the empire (Revelation 17:10). John’s narrator was clearly providing cues to the dating of the book, and was using Danielic imagery to do it. When understanding Revelation 17 through the lens of Daniel 2, there are only three possible periods during which Revelation could have been written—during the Legs, during the Feet, or during the Toes of the Statue. Last week we ruled out the period of the Toes because the vision takes place when the ten Toes or ten Kings are yet future, and “have received no kingdom as yet” (Revelation 17:12). This week, we will rule out the period of the Feet altogether. Continue reading Legs of Iron, part 3 →

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Church History, Daniel, Revelation

Legs of Iron, part 2

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The Scriptures Identify the Transition from Legs to Feet
The Scriptures identify the transition from Legs to Feet

Last week, we began a discussion on the date of authorship of the book of Revelation, highlighting the angel’s discussion with John regarding the “scarlet coloured beast … having seven heads and ten horns” (Revelation 17:3). That seven-headed, ten-horned beast is a figure used repeatedly in Revelation (Revelation 12:3, 13:1, 17:3), and shows the significant symbolic unity the book shares with Daniel’s prophecies in Daniel 7. The Four Beasts of Daniel 7 together have seven heads and ten horns (1 Lion Head, 1 Bear Head, 4 Leopard Heads, 1 Beast Head with 10 horns upon it). Whatever the differences that exist between the “red dragon” (Revelation 12:3), sea beast (Revelation 13:1) and the “scarlet coloured beast” (Revelation 17:3), they are unified in their symbolic relationship to Daniel 7. Because the beasts of Daniel 7 share a strong chronological unity with Gold, Silver, Brass and Iron kingdoms of Daniel 2, we can also draw on that chronological unity to understand the date of John’s vision.  Continue reading Legs of Iron, part 2 →

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Church History, Daniel, Revelation

Legs of Iron, part 1

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The Scriptures Identify the Transition from Legs to the Feet.
The date of John’s vision is contained in the Scriptures.

The dating of the Book of Revelation has been a matter of no small controversy throughout the history of the church, some writers placing its authorship during the reign of Claudius (41 – 54 A.D.), others placing it during the reign of Nero (54 – 68 A.D.), and others placing it in the reign of Domitian (81 – 96 A.D.). In the realm of eschatology, Preterists choose an early date, while Dispensationalists and Historicists choose the later. It is not a matter that can be resolved by external testimony, because the external testimony itself is contradictory. But the internal evidence is quite compelling. Continue reading Legs of Iron, part 1 →

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2 Thessalonians, Church History, Daniel, Eschatology, Revelation

“The Kingdom of Earth is at Hand”

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Jesus warned us about those who would say, 'The kingdom of earth is at hand!'
Jesus warned us about those who would say, ‘The kingdom of earth is at hand!’

When John the Baptist was sent forth preaching, he went about saying “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). When Jesus received the news that John had been imprisoned, He took up John’s message and went forth preaching, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). When His disciples tried “to make him a king,” Jesus fled from them (John 6:15). When Pilate questioned Him about His kingship, Jesus insisted, “My kingdom is not of this world … my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36).  When the Pharisees asked him “when the kingdom of God should come” he said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there!” (Luke 17:20-21). When His disciples asked him if He would “at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6), Jesus responded that the time for establishing an Earthly Kingdom was not theirs to know, and instead of seeking to establish an Earthly Kingdom, they should focus rather on the preaching of a Heavenly one: Continue reading “The Kingdom of Earth is at Hand” →

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Daniel, Eschatology

Convention of the Angelic Narrators

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The two banks of the Tigris River
Daniel’s Narrators were separated for a purpose.

Last week we concluded our analysis of Daniel 11, showing that it is a prophecy that spanned the period from Persia’s confrontation with “the realm of Grecia” and the rise of the Alexander in 336 B.C. (Daniel 11:2-3), until the waning days of his divided empire at the death of Pompey in 48 B.C. (Daniel 11:45). As we noted, the entire prophecy is fulfilled during the Greek period of Daniel’s visions, in a single Alexandrian Frame of Reference in which North, South and East refer to the same respective geographic territories from start to finish, and the “kings” of those cardinal directions are the kings that reign over those respective territories. Under the single frame approach, Daniel 11 ends just four years before Julius Cæsar was declared Dictator perpetuo, Dictator in Perpetuity, in 44 B.C.. The Empire of Rome had its first “king.” Julius was its first “emperor”—in function if not yet in name. He would be assassinated only two months later, but his descendants and relations would govern the Empire for the greater part of the next century. Continue reading Convention of the Angelic Narrators →

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Daniel, Eschatology

The Single Frame Hypothesis

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When Daniel 11 is read in a Single Alexandrian Frame of Reference, the Cardinal and Historical discontinuities disappear.
When Daniel 11 is read in a Single Frame of Reference, the cardinal and historical discontinuities disappear.

As our readers are aware, and as we explained in our article, The Shifting Frame, we maintain that Daniel 11 ought to be read in a single frame of reference from start to finish. The commentaries almost universally recognize what we call an Alexandrian Frame of Reference at Daniel 8:8 and 11:4. In those verses, Daniel’s narrators describe post-Alexandrian Hellenism as “four kingdoms” (Daniel 8:22) that are divided “toward the four winds of heaven,” North, South, East and West. For the rest of the chapter, the warring kings and the events related to them are described in terms of these cardinal directions. And yet, no sooner does the narrator of Daniel 11 establish an Alexandrian Frame of Reference at 11:4 than the commentaries introduce a Judæan Frame at 11:5. The reason for the introduction of a Judæan Frame is that the prophecy of a series of interactions between the North and the South—which ought to have been fulfilled between the kings of Asia Minor and Egypt—appears to have been fulfilled by the Seleucids and Ptolemies, ostensibly rulers of Syria and Egypt, respectively. The Judæan Frame, centered as it is on Judæa rather than on Alexander’s empire, is offered as the solution to the dilemma of a cardinal discontinuity that manifests at 11:6. Continue reading The Single Frame Hypothesis →

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Daniel, Eschatology

Pirates in the Bay

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The promontory of Coracesion, in the Bay of Pamphylia.
The promontory of Coracesium, in the Bay of Pamphylia.

In the last few weeks we have highlighted the significance of the Treaty of Apamea in 188 B.C., by which Rome imposed terms of peace upon Antiochus III after his devastating loss at Magnesia in 190 B.C.. As we noted in “When North was North…“, Asia Minor with Thrace comprised the Northern Kingdom under Lysimachus when Alexander’s empire was divided “toward the four winds of heaven” (Daniel 11:4). The North-South narrative only begins after the Seleucids have already taken the North from Lysimachus, and the Seleucids are then called “King of the North” by Daniel so long as they hold that territory. At Apamea, Rome evicted the Seleucids “from Europe and from all Asia on this side [of the] Taurus” (Polybius, The Histories, Book 21.17.3), dispossessing them of the Northern territory. Magnesia and the subsequent treaty at Apamea are depicted in Daniel 11:18, and from Daniel 11:19-39 the Seleucids remain in view, but are never again called “King of the North.” This gives rise to two important conclusions: first, Syria is not the Northern Kingdom at 11:6, and second, the title “King of the North” does not attach to the particular dynasty, but rather to whomever happens to be ruling the particular geography. When the Seleucids possess Asia Minor and Thrace, they are “King of the North.” When they are evicted, they are no longer “King of the North.” Continue reading Pirates in the Bay →

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Daniel, Eschatology

…and South was South

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When Daniel says "King of the South," he is not referring to Egypt alone.
When Daniel says “King of the South,” he is referring not only to Egypt, but also to the territories south of the Taurus mountains.

Over the last few weeks we have addressed the matter of the four kingdoms that arose out of Greece after Alexander’s death in 323 B.C.. As we described in Reduction of the Diadochi, The Bounds of their Habitation, and The Shifting Frame, Asia Minor and Thrace together comprised the Northern Kingdom; Syria, Babylon and beyond, the Eastern. Yet even though the commentaries at Daniel 8:8 and 11:4 almost universally agree that Asia Minor with Thrace comprised the Northern Kingdom in an Alexandrian Frame of Reference, the commentaries just as universally shift to a Judæan Frame at Daniel 11:5. In that shifted frame of reference the “King of the North” in 11:6 is presumed to refer to Syria, which only two verses  earlier had been part of the Eastern Kingdom. No explanation is given for this change of reference except that it appears to make sense of the chapter, and further that the tradition of the shifting frame is to be received as authoritative for its antiquity. It is, after all, an ancient tradition. Continue reading …and South was South →

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Daniel, Eschatology

When North was North…

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"North" means "North," and "North" is exactly what Daniel meant.
“North” means “North,” and “North” is exactly what Daniel meant.

As we noted last week, the traditional approach to Daniel 11—whether Historicist, Dispensationalist, or Preterist—is to impose multiple frames of reference on the text, and then to interpret the chapter through those additional frames. One frame of reference—the only one explicitly identified in the chapter—is the Alexandrian Frame, centered on Alexander’s divided empire (Daniel 11:4). To this there is then added a Judæan Frame, centered on Israel, and then sometime later an Eschatological Frame, centered on the geographic location of a future antagonist who could be Antiochus IV, Imperial Rome, the Turks or Papal Rome, depending on the interpretation. The text does not so much as even hint at this shifting frame of reference, and yet it has been imposed upon Daniel 11 universally for almost two millennia to make sense of the chapter. Ironically, those additional frames of reference have had the opposite of the intended effect and have actually prevented us from making sense of it. Continue reading When North was North… →

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