timeline of ruling kingdom in book of daniel

The Greek Empire tried to wipe out the Jewish people during the reign of Antiochus IV, when he attempted to kill every Jew who did not renounce their commitment to God and embrace Greek culture.

The Persian Empire tried to wipe out the Jewish people during the reign of Xerxes, through the plot of Haman (as shown in the Book of Esther). Persia… Greece: These visions and insights regarding the future of the Persian and Greek Empires were relevant because each empire attempted to wipe out the people of God at some time. Either the angel omitted the current king (Cyrus), looking only to the future, or he ignored King Smerdis of Persia (522-21 B.C.) because he ruled less than one year and was an imposter to the throne.Ĭ. The fourth shall be far richer: In fulfillment, there were actually four kings from the time Daniel spoke of until Xerxes, the one who did stir up all against the realm of Greece. This strong, rich fourth king was fulfilled in the Persian King Xerxes.ī. The fourth king would be strong, rich, and oppose the realm of Greece. Three more kings will arise in Persia: Simply, the angel told Daniel that there would be three more kings in Persia until a fourth arose. (2) Four future kings.Īnd now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.Ī. If the late dating theory is correct, then “the so-called revelation was in fact nothing of the sort… it follows that the preparation for the vision in chapter 10 was also a fiction put in as local colour for the sake of effect.” (Baldwin) A. Such a view must undermine confidence in the entire book.

The intention would be to show that the course of history was under God’s direction, and so achieving His purposes… When the history becomes prophecy the transition can be detected, because events proved him wrong.”Ī. Commentator Joyce Baldwin explains the mindset of late-daters: “Though all of this is presented as if it were future, the considered opinion of most scholars is that the writer was using an accepted literary form, which would have deceived no-one. Because of the detail of the prophecy, we will be forced to frequently summarize and the fulfillment of the prophecy will be observed as it is described. The chapter is so specific, that many critics who deny supernatural revelation, have insisted that it is history, written after the fact, fraudulently claiming to be prophecy.Ī. This chapter contains one of the most specifically fulfilled prophecies of the Bible, predicting history over some 375 years, and to the end, with amazing accuracy.

Timeline of ruling kingdom in book of daniel