CT]VI (2012): 257-274

Applying Daniel’s Messages

to the Church Today
Sidney Greidanus

Daniel is a wonderful, comforting book for the church today. With his
emphasis on God’s sovereignty, God’s providence, and the certainty of
God’s coming kingdom, Daniel was a Calvinist before John Calvin. What
is more, judging by Jesus’ frequent use of Daniel, it seems that Daniel was
one of Jesus’ favorite Bible books,1 but how many sermons have you heard
on Daniel lately?
I must confess that in my eight years as parish pastor, I produced
only one sermon on Daniel, and that was on a relatively easy passage:
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream o f a huge statue of different metals representing
successive human kingdoms (Dan. 2). I preached this sermon with the
theme, “The Kingdom of God Will Replace All Human Kingdoms” (March
3, 1974). Looking back I realize now how much good news I missed by not
preaching more sermons on Daniel.
There are several reasons why we prepare and hear so few sermons on this
marvelous book today. One reason is that Daniel has often been misused
to predict the end of the world.2 Another reason is that Daniel 7-12 is
apocalyptic literature, which is extremely difficult to interpret and preach,

1Cf. Zdravko Stefanovic, Daniel: Wisdom to the Wise (Nampa, Ida: Pacific, 2007), 36, “Daniel
was one o f Jesus’ favorite books, perhaps ^ fa v o r ite one.” Cf. Craig A. Evans, “Daniel in the
New Testament: Visions o f God’s Kingdom,” in Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception, vol. 2,
ed. John Joseph Collins and Peter Flint (Boston: Brill, 2001), 490: “The book o f Daniel is one
o f the books of Scripture that is quoted or alluded to in most of the New Testament writings ....
The index in the Nestle-AIand Novum Testamentum Graece (27th ed.) ... lists some 200
references. Proportionately, this puts Daniel in the same category as Isaiah and the Psalms, the
books most frequently quoted and alluded to in the New Testament.”
2For example, in the 1840s W. Miller, leader o f the Millerites, understood the 2,300 days of
Daniel 8 as 2,300 years and concluded that Christ would return sometime between March 21,
1843, and March 21,1844. Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1970) became a best-seller in the 1970s. Recently the California radio host Harold Camping
declared on billboards, “Save the Date. Return of Christ. May 21, 2011.” When that did not
happen, he changed the date to October 21, 2011. Subsequently, Camping asked God “for
forgiveness for making that sinful statement.” It seems rather presumptuous for followers o f
Christ to set the date when Jesus himself said, “about that day and hour no one knows, neither
the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matt. 24:36).

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but the most important reason is that Daniel’s date, author (s), and original
audience are widely disputed today. Ever since the Enlightenment and
the rise of higher criticism, the traditional date o f Daniel has come under
attack. Instead of the sixth century B.C., many modern commentators argue
that Daniel was written by an anonymous Jew in the second century B.C.
and that this fictional account was addressed to Jews in Palestine suffering
persecution under Antiochus IV. The author’s “project was to galvanize the
spiritual resistance of the Pious against the persecution o f Antiochus IV
and the Hellenists.”3 It is hard to see how one would apply such a “project”
(goal) to the church today.4
Notwithstanding the popularity of these modern presuppositions, there
are good reasons for maintaining that Daniel’s messages were originally
addressed to Israel in Babylonian exile in the sixth century B.C.5Nevertheless,
even with the traditional presuppositions about Daniel’s date, authorship,
and audience, preachers face some major challenges in applying Daniel’s
messages to the church today, which is the focus of this article.
The classic definition o f application is: “Application, in the strict sense, is
that part, or those parts, of the discourse in which we show how the subject
applies to the persons addressed, what practical instructions it offers them,
what practical demands it makes upon them.”6 Because Daniel contains two
genres, narratives (Dan. 1-6) and apocalyptic visions (Dan. 7-12), we shall
first consider the challenges o f applying Daniel’s narratives to the church
today and second Daniel’s visions.

Applying DaniePs Narratives to the Church Today

We shall concentrate on three main challenges in applying Daniel’s
narratives to the church today: (1) avoiding moralizing, (2) bridging the
gap between Israel in exile and the church today, and (3) overcoming the
explication-application dualism, followed by (4) applying Daniel 4 to the
church today.

3André Lacocque, The Book ofDaniel, trans. David Pellauer (Atlanta: John Knox, 1979), 10.
4Such presuppositions also make it practically impossible to preach Christ from Daniel.

5See, e.g., Stephen R. Miller, Daniel, The New American Commentary, vol. 18 (Nashville:
Broadman & Holman, 1994), 22-51, and Andrew E. Steinmann, Daniel, Concordia
Commentary (Saint Louis: Concordia, 2008), 1-19. Cf. Andrew E. Hill, “Daniel,” in Daniel-
Malachi, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, rev. ed., vol. 8 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008),
25, “The book was probably composed in the Babylonian Diaspora by Daniel, or more likely
by associates who outlived him, sometime after 536 B.C. (the last date formula in the book;
10:1) and before 515 B.C. (since the composition makes no reference to the rebuilding o f the
second temple in Jerusalem).”
6John Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, rev. ed. (New York: Harper, 1944),
211.

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Avoiding Moralizing
The most important challenge, perhaps, is to resist the moralizing
applications many commentators recommend. “Moralizing” is to draw one
or more morals from the preaching text when such morals were not intended
by the author for his original audience. Let us take Daniel 4 as an example.
This chapter relates how God humbles the proud king of all the earth (v.
22) and restores him again when the king acknowledges that Israel’s God is
“the Most High,” “the King of heaven” (w. 34, 37). One commentator writes,
“We can become so like Nebuchadnezzar—especially if our hard work has
brought us some apparently solid achievement.”7 He next moves from the
king lifting his eyes to heaven (v. 34) to the need for pastors to help their
parishioners “to look away from themselves, their emotions and moods,
their difficulties and mental problems, and ‘fix both eyes’ ... on the mercy
of God alone.”8 It is not very likely, however, that the biblical author would
have the exiles identify with and imitate the very person who brought them
into captivity and destroyed Jerusalem and God’s holy temple.
Another commentator finds an application in Nebuchadnezzar’s words
in verse 2, “I am pleased to recount”:9 “‘It is my pleasure’ [NIV] shows that it
was a true joy for the king to share what God had done in his life—delivered
him from madness. This should be the attitude o f any believer. If God has
done something wonderful, an individual should be delighted to share
that experience with others.”10 Again, the pagan king is a rather unlikely
character for Israel’s identification and imitation.
Still another commentator asserts boldly that “Nebuchadnezzar is an
example—a warning of how not to be led astray by power and achievement,
a model o f how to respond to chastisement and humiliation.”11 It is

7Ronald S. Wallace, The Lord Is King: The Message ofDaniel (Downers Grove, 111.: InterVarsity,
1979), 73.

8Wallace, The Lord Is King, 81.

9Unless otherwise noted, all biblical quotations are from the NRSV.
10Stephen R. Miller, Daniel, The New American Commentary, vol. 18 (Nashville: Broadman
& Holman, 1994), 129.
11John E. Goldingay, Daniel, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 30 (Dallas: Word Books,
1989), 97, quoted approvingly by Ernest C. Lucas, Daniel, Apollos Old Testament Commentary,
vol. 20 (Downers Grove, 111.: Intervarsity, 2002), 118. Lucas himself (p.114) first sketches
Nebuchadnezzar as a positive role model: in contrast to 3:29 where the king relied on the
power of physical force to prevent blasphemy against God, here he relies “on the power o f
personal testimony. Sadly, Christian churches have sometimes given way to the temptation
to act more like the Nebuchadnezzar o f 3:29 than of 4:1-3.” Next (pp. 115-16) he uses
Nebuchadnezzar as a warning example: “There is a message here not only to national rulers:
parents, teachers, business managers, politicians and many others have in some measure the
role of being the ‘tree o f life’ to others. If that role is not carried out with due humility,
the result can be disastrous for all concerned (4:14).” Goldingay, Daniel, 87 and 91, is much
more on target when he writes, “Nebuchadnezzar does not stand for ordinary humanity being

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indeed tempting for preachers to hold up Nebuchadnezzar as an example

o f pride leading to a fall, especially because the narrative ends with the
king’s statement that God “is able to bring low those who walk in pride”
(v. 37). However, God’s ability to humble those who walk in pride is not
the main theme o f this narrative. If we wish to preach against the sin of
human pride, we should select a text that addresses that issue directly—a
text such as Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty
spirit before a fall.”12 In that case, one can certainly use the pride and fall
o f Nebuchadnezzar to illustrate the theme o f Proverbs 16:18. But if the
preaching text is Daniel 4, one needs to focus the sermon on the theme and
goal intended by its author (see below).
If it was not likely that King Nebuchadnezzar would be an example
an d/or model for Israel in exile, Daniel is a more likely character for
Israel’s identification. Here, too, we must be careful not to isolate textual
fragments for imitation. For example, the king says of Daniel that he “is
endowed with the spirit o f the holy gods” (v. 8). This information leads
one commentator to claim, “There was something special about D a n iel. .. .
Daniel’s qualification for interpreting dreams was that God dwelt within
him, and this is the prerequisite for spiritual understanding today.”13
Another commentator uses Daniel’s coming before the king to interpret
the dream (the same v. 8) to make the point that we all need a good friend:
“The fact that Daniel was there with this man at this time is a reminder to us
about our own need for each other at times when things, in a similar way,
are hard for us, and difficult to understand.”14 The same commentator uses
Daniel’s direct, “It is you, O king” (v. 22), to remind preachers that they
should be direct in their application: “Those o f us who are pastors, when
we preach our sermons, slide far too often into an application of the Word
so general and vague that no one can possibly take offence and no life can
possibly be changed.”15 As can be seen, moralizing can spin the application
in almost any direction; it is totally subjective and arbitrary.

judged for ordinary human pride”; and “The chapter concerns the question, who is king?”
12Cf. Prov. 29:23, “A person’s pride will bring humiliation.”
13Miller, Daniel, 131. Cf. Lucas, Daniel, 115, “Although Daniel’s experience depicted in this
story is far removed from that o f the ordinary believer, the intuitive spiritual insight he shows is
something that all believers need ... .Just as Daniel’s insight grew out o f his close relationship
with God (Dan. 4:8), so the Christian cannot expect to ‘have the mind o f Christ’ without
developing a Christlike way o f life.”

14Wallace, The Lord Is King, 79.

15 Wallace, The Lord Is King, 82. Cf. W. G. Heslop, Diamonds from Daniel (n.p.: Nazarene,
1937), 71, “The prophet speaks plainly and pointedly . . . . While we may not rant, rage, or fume
against sinners under the pretext o f being hot or zealous we must not on the other hand use
flattering words and compromise with sin under the pretext o f winning sinners to the church,
or keep the young people.”

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Notice also that these applications are attached to mere elements in the
text and transferred directly to the hearers today. Although these applications
are not necessarily unbiblical, they fail to respect the specific genre o f the
narrative as well as the unity of the narrative and its message, and they fail
to reflect the goal (purpose, aim, intention) o f the inspired biblical author.
These commentators apply Daniel’s narratives as if they were moral tales.
Ever since the Greeks learned morals from the plays performed in their
outdoor theaters, drawing morals from stories seems to be deeply ingrained
in the human psyche.16 The biblical historical narratives, however, are not
Greek moral tales— they are Hebrew redemptive-historical narratives; they
relate God s story with his creation and his people.
This does not eliminate the people in these narratives, o f course. We
need to ask how the author sketches these human characters for his original
audience. Did he want his audience to identify with one or more o f these
characters?17 If so, did he want them to imitate them in some basic way? Did
he expect them to imitate these human characters in every way?
In the case o f Daniel and his friends, the author sketches them as
true Israelites: They refused to defile themselves (Dan. 1:8); even when
threatened with death in the fiery furnace, the friends refused to serve the
Babylonian gods and the golden statue Nebuchadnezzar had set up (Dan.
3:18); Daniel himself, even when threatened with being thrown to hungry
lions, refused to pray to anyone but the God o f Israel (Dan. 6:10). Surely,
these are true Israelites, positive role models for the Israelites in exile to be
faithful to God, even unto death.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that Israel in exile, let alone God’s
people today, ought to imitate their every action. I once heard a preacher
use the young Daniel’s refusal o f the royal rations of food and wine (Dan.
1) for a three-point application to young people: (1) like Daniel, you
should avoid rich food; (2) like Daniel, you should avoid alcohol; and
(3) like Daniel, you should avoid sex. The preacher should have realized
that Israel in exile would never have heard these particular applications:
the first two, rich food and alcohol, were not even on their menu, while
the third, avoiding sex, could hardly have been the author’s intent if the
Babylonians had indeed made Daniel and his friends eunuchs.18 Because of
the progression in redemptive history and revelation, the way we are to be

16 For the wide-ranging influence o f this approach, both historically and geographically,
see my Sola Scriptum: Problems and Principles in Preaching Historical Texts (Toronto: Wedge, 1970;
reprint Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 2001), 8-18.

17For some cautions on the modern notion o f “identifying” with biblical characters, see my
The Modem Preacher and the Ancient Text (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), 175-81.

18This claim is based partly on Isaiah’s prophecy to Hezekiah, “Some o f your own sons who
are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace o f the king o f Babylon”
(Isa. 39:7; 2 Kings 20:18). See Steinmann, Daniel, 89-91.

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faithful to God today may be quite different from what faithfulness was for
Daniel, his friends, and Israel in exile.19
Moreover, we must remember that application does not always consist
of urging the congregation to do something or other. It all depends on
the author’s goal. Many biblical texts, such as law, require people to do
something, but when the goal o f the author, frequently in Daniel, is to
comfort Israel in exile or to give them hope, they are not required to
actively do anything; God will do it. The Holy Spirit takes the inspired words
and comforts Israel and us with them, gives us hope, and strengthens our
faith. All the hearers have to do is to let the comfort and hope o f God’s
message wash over them and refresh them in their grief and pain.
The key, then, to overcome moralizing and still produce a relevant
sermon is to discern the inspired author’s goal and follow his lead for o n e’s
sermon goal and application.

Bridging the Gap Between Israel in Exile and the Church Today
A second challenge for applying Daniel’s narratives to the church today
is that Daniel addressed these messages to Israel who was suffering in exile.
The most direct application of these messages, therefore, would be to a
church suffering persecution today. However, most preachers, at least in
North America, address their messages to churches that do not suffer from
state-sponsored persecution. How can we bridge this gap? How can we apply
the messages aimed at Israel in exile to churches living in relative freedom?
One way to do this is to remember the unity o f the church (Eph. 4:4-6)
and Paul’s assertion: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it”
(1 Cor. 12:26). Because the church is one and because there are many
persecuted churches in the world, all churches suffer together with them.
It is because of this solidarity with the persecuted churches that Daniel’s
messages can be applied to the church today.20
Another way to cross the gap between Israel in exile and churches living
in relative freedom today is to find some continuity between these two
distinct audiences—continuity that can function as a bridge for application.
That continuity does indeed exist. The church today, even when it lives in

19Compare, for example, God’s laws for Israel about unclean foods (Lev. 11; 17:10-14;
Deut 12:23-25; 14:3-21) with Mark’s claim that Jesus “declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:19)
and the Lord, in Peter’s dream, saying, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane”
(Acts 10:15).
20 Cf. H elge Kvanvig, “The Relevance o f the Biblical Visions o f the End o f Time,” Horizons
in Biblical Theology 11, no. 1 (1989): 52: “Directly, the apocalypses are addressed to those who
have lost every possibility to stand up against anything . .. . They are written to those who suffer
under the tyranny o f oppression and persecution . . . . And when we, who are only indirectly
addressed in the apocalypses, read them, we can only do so in solidarity . . . . with those directly
addressed, because we share their hope.”

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relative freedom, is also in exile. Ever since God expelled our ancestors from
Paradise, we have been living in exile, east of Eden. This violent, pain-filled
world is not our true home. Jesus says to his followers, “If you belonged to
the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to
the world, but I have chosen you out of the world— therefore the world hates
you ... .I f they persecuted me, they will persecute you” (John 15:19-20). We
may call ourselves citizens of a certain country, but really, as Paul says: “Our
citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). Peter addresses his first letter “to the
exiles of the Dispersion” (1 Peter 1:1) while James writes “to the twelve tribes
in the Dispersion” (James 1:1). People in North America may not realize it,
but here also the church of Jesus resides “in the Dispersion.”21
Therefore, even if the churches we address do not suffer from overt,
state-sponsored persecution, they still suffer the consequences of living
east of Eden. The people we address struggle with thorns and thistles,
earthquakes and tornadoes; they suffer from broken relationships, pain,
death, and murder (Gen. 3-4). Also in North America, the church of Jesus
endures exile, suffering the pain o f not yet living in the perfect kingdom o f
God, being away from their real home with God, and subject to the attacks
o f Satan and his cohorts. Thus the comforting messages o f Daniel aimed at
Israel in exile are also relevant and life-giving for churches living in relative
freedom.

Overcoming the Explication-Application Dualism

Another challenge for preachers is to overcome the explication-
application dualism that divides the sermon into two parts, an objective
explication followed by a subjective application. Overcoming this dualism
pertains not only to the Daniel’s narratives but also to all genres o f literature
and all preaching texts. At one point, the Dutch Reformed tradition turned
this vice of dualism into a virtue: sermons were expected to consist o f two
parts: (1) Explication and (2) Application. The two-part structure was
accentuated by singing a Psalm between the two parts. Perhaps the habit of
sharing King peppermints at the start of the sermon arose in order to stay
awake during the lengthy, irrelevant explications.
Given the seemingly natural progression from explication to
application, the challenge for preachers, it seems to me, is to preach
unified sermons that are relevant from beginning to end. How can we

21 Cf. Arie C. Leder, “Historical Narrative and Wisdom: Towards Preaching Esther ‘for Such
a Time as This,’” Acta Theologica, 31, no. 2 (2011): 146, “The New Testament, no less than the
Old Testament, ends with God’s people scattered and persecuted among the nations. Scattered
Christians await the New Jerusalem, and an earth in which righteousness dwells; only then will
they be at home. In the meantime, homelessness characterizes the socio-historical location of
G od’s people, although western Christianity may not even notice this, being too busy enjoying
the good life, or building their version o f Jerusalem in this corruptible and corrupting world.”

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accomplish this? The sermon introduction is the key. We can use the
sermon introduction for more than merely “leading into” the topic o f the
sermon. We can use the sermon introduction to focus the congregation
on the need this sermon addresses, on the void it seeks to fill, on the
reason why this is a vital word o f the Lord for them. If this is done well,
the exposition that follows will be heard as relevant not only for Israel but
also for the church here and now.

Applying Daniel 4 to the Church Today

Let us see how this would work in preparing a sermon on Daniel 4.
We first have to determine the text’s theme and the author’s goal. This
narrative juxtaposes the sovereignty o f the mighty King Nebuchadnezzar
and the sovereignty o f Israel’s almighty God.22 The passage begins (4:2-3)
and ends (4:84-37) with Nebuchadnezzar’s praise o f God: “His kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom, and his sovereignty is from generation to
generation” (v. 3b; cf. v. 34c). “By this framing, the key theological issue
in this chapter is identified as the sovereignty o f God over against human
kingship, and for this reason the terms for sovereignty and kingship ... are
reiterated throughout the chapter (w. 3,1 7 ,1 8 , 22, 25, 26, 31, 32, 34, 36).”23
Note also that the narrator clearly states the goal o f this narrative in
the words of the holy watcher: “The sentence is rendered by decree of
the watchers ... in order that all who live may know that the Most High is
sovereign over the kingdom o f mortals; he gives it to whom he will ” (V. 17 ).
This idea is repeated two more times (w. 25, 32; cf. v. 26). Because theme
and goal are related, we can often back into the theme from the stated goal.
We can, therefore, formulate the theme as follows: “The Most High God,
being sovereign over earthly kingdoms, gives them to whom he will.”24
With the holy watcher’s emphasis on “in order that all who live may
know” (v. 17), preachers may be tempted to formulate the author’s goal as,
“to teach people that the Most High God is sovereign over earthly kingdoms
and gives them to whom he will.” Preachers could do a lot worse, but we
may be able to formulate the goal more poignantly by taking into account
the circumstances o f the original audience addressed by this book: Israel

22Cf. W. Sibley Towner, Daniel (Atlanta: John Knox, 1984), 59, “Chapter 4 is a story about
two sovereignties. It comes to juxtapose the strength or power o f the greatest o f all human
sovereigns (making the Aramaic term t-q-f, ‘grow strong, mighty,’ a kind o f pivot— cf. w. 11,
20, 22, 30 as applied to Nebuchadnezzar, and v. 3 as applied to the Most High God) with the
strength and power o f the Most H igh.”
23Choon-Leong Seow, Daniel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2003), 64.
24Cf. Norman W. Porteous, Daniel: A Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1965), 65,
“The theme of this chapter is summed up in verse 25 in what is to be Nebuchadnezzar’s
discovery after he has been disciplined by God, that is, that ‘the Most High is sovereign over
the kingdom o f men, giving it to the man o f his choice.’”

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suffering in exile in Babylon. For Israel, it looks like the Babylonian gods
have conquered their God. By means of this letter from the mightiest king
on earth, however, the author informs the exiles that their God brought
down the mighty Babylonian king until even he confessed that their God is
the Most High who gives earthly kingdoms to whom he will. The author’s
goal, therefore, is more than simply to teach; he seeks “to assure the suffering,
bewildered Israelites that, despite appearances, their God is sovereign over
earthly kingdoms and gives them to whom he will.”25 The sermon goal can
be very similar: “to assure God’s suffering, bewildered people today that,
despite appearances, our God is sovereign over earthly kingdoms and gives
them to whom he will.”
This goal points to the need that should be addressed in this sermon:
Because o f worldwide persecution, or because of their own distress east
of Eden, God’s people today begin to question whether God is indeed
sovereign. The sermon introduction could begin with an illustration o f this
questioning. For example, after the murder of six millionjews and countless
Christians in the Nazi concentration camps, many people in Europe lost
their faith in a sovereign God. Why did God not stop this slaughter if he was
indeed sovereign? We have probably had similar questions when disaster
struck our lives. Then transition to Israel’s questions as they suffered in exile:
Are they suffering in exile because the Babylonian gods had conquered
Israel’s God? Was their God not sovereign over all gods? Why were they
dying far from the Promised Land?
After this introduction, the explication will be heard as relevant
exposition that also answers our questions; the message of the text that the
Most High God is sovereign over earthly kingdoms will address both Israel’s
questions then and our questions today. The Babylonian kings may seem
great, but Israel’s God is greater. The Babylonian kings may seem mighty,
but Israel’s God is almighty. He can take down the mightiest human king
just by confusing his mind. Israel’s God is King of kings. Israel may not
understand why they are still suffering in exile, but the message that their
God is sovereign over human kings gives them hope for deliverance. Surely,
this God can set them free and bring them back to the Promised Land.
Fast-forward to the New Testament.26 God reveals his sovereignty not only

25Cf. John Joseph Collins, Daniel: With an Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1984), 65, “The significance o f this message for Jews in the service o f a pagan king
was that it assured them that their God was in control, despite appearance to the contrary.” Cf.
Tremper Longman, III, Daniel, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1999), 122, “The purpose o f the story is to encourage their (Israel’s) confidence in the light o f
their helplessness before a seemingly all-powerful ruler.”
26 If one wishes to preach a Christian sermon rather than an Old Testament sermon, one
must interpret the text in the context o f the whole canon. For this distinction, see Edmund P.
Clowney, Preaching and Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961), 75: “The Christian
proclamation o f an Old Testament text is not the preaching o f an Old Testament sermon.”

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in the Old Testament but also especially in the New. God sent his Son Jesus
to this world to do battle with the most powerful “ruler of the world,” Satan
(John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). As soon asJesus began his mission, Satan attacked
him: “The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the
kingdoms o f the world and their splendor; and he said to him, ‘All these I
will give you, if you will fall down and worship m e.’Jesus said to him, ‘Away
with you Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only
him’” (Matt. 4:8-10). Jesus withstood the temptation of Satan and began to
win this fierce battle. Jesus healed people and cast out demons. When he
sent seventy followers on a mission trip, they reported, “Lord, in your name
even the demons submit to us!”Jesus responded, “I watched Satan fall from
heaven like a flash o f lightning” (Luke 10:17-18; cf. Col. 2:15).
Nevertheless, Satan managed to have Jesus killed, and it appeared that
he had won the battle. Satan’s victory was his defeat, however, for Jesus
rose victoriously from the dead, conquering sin and death. From that time
forward, the power o f Satan was severely limited. The Bible describes Satan
as a ferocious dragon who is now bound with a great chain (Rev. 20:1-2).
He can still do harm but is not free to do his worst. The Bible also predicts,
however, that at the end of this period o f time27 Satan will be released
and will seek to destroy the church worldwide (Rev. 20:7-9). The book of
Revelation describes it as a war: Satan and his hosts “will make war on the
Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord o f lords and King
o f kings” (Rev. 17:14).28 The Lamb, Jesus, will be victorious. Then, in the
familiar words of the book of Revelation, “The kingdom of the world has
become the kingdom o f our Lord and o f his Messiah, and he will reign
forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).
The sermon conclusion should clinch the goal. Today we live in the time
between Jesus’ first coming and his second coming. Even though Satan is
bound, we are bewildered by all the persecution we see in the world. The
church is still at war. Some nations seek to wipe out the Christian church.
Thousands of Christians are killed every day. Others are imprisoned,
tortured, or blacklisted. According to the latest estimates, 100 million
Christians are persecuted worldwide in countries such as North Korea,
Saudi Arabia, and Iran.29 When we think of the millions o f Christians

27 The “thousand years” in this New Testament apocalyptic book is a symbolic number like
many o f those in Daniel. Ten is the biblical number o f fullness (cf. the Ten Com mandments).
A thousand years is 10x10x10, that is, a full period of time.
28Cf. Rev. 14:8, “Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon
the Great!”’

29“Open Doors’ 2009 World Watch List.” Paul Marshall, Their Blood Cries Out: The Worldwide
Tragedy of Modem ChHstians Who Are Dyingfor Their Faith (Dallas: Word, 1997), 4, estimates that
“over two hundred million” Christians suffer from “massacre, rape, torture, slavery, beatings,
mutilations, and imprisonment ... . [as well as] extortion, harassment, family division, and
crippling discrimination in employment and education.”

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suffering persecution today, we may begin to question God’s sovereignty. If

God is a sovereign and loving God, why do his people suffer so much in this
world? If God is sovereign, why does he not rescue his people from their
distress? There are no easy answers to these questions, but the message of
Daniel 4 is beyond doubt: God is sovereign over earthly kingdoms. He can
replace rulers at will. Nebuchadnezzar is long gone. Nero is long dead.
Hitler, Stalin, Chairman Mao (Zedong), Kim Jong II— they are all gone.
God still rules, and his kingdom advanced greatly with Jesus’ first coming
and will come in perfection when Jesus comes again. Then God’s kingdom
will replace all flawed earthly kingdoms, for the new earth will overflow with
justice and peace and all will praise the King o f kings and Lord of lords.30

Applying D aniel’s Visions to the Church Today

In preaching Daniel’s visions, the most difficult task is to understand
correctly the different times and characters. For example, in preparing a
sermon on Daniel’s third vision (Daniel 9), preachers encounter a wide
variety o f opinions on the meaning of the “seventy weeks,” “seven weeks,”
“sixty-two weeks,” and “one week” (w. 24-27), and the identities of “a most
holy” (v. 24b), the “anointed prince” (v. 25), the “anointed on e” who shall
be cut off (v. 26a), “the prince who is to com e” (v. 26b), the “h e” who
“shall make a strong covenant with many for one week” (v. 27a), and the
“desolator” (v. 27b).31 In addition, preachers face challenges in applying
the messages of these visions to the church today.32 In fact, the same three

30Jesus may have had Nebuchadnezzar’s dream o f that gorgeous tree in mind when he
said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that som eone took and sowed in his
field; it is the smallest o f all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and
becomes a tree, so that the birds o f the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matt. 13:31-
32). The kingdom o f God is like a great tree that spreads its branches around the globe. But
unlike Nebuchadnezzar’s tree, this tree will not be cut down. This kingdom “is an everlasting
kingdom”; this kingdom “endures from generation to generation” (Dan. 4:3, 34).
31 Daniel I. Block, “Preaching Old Testament Apocalyptic to a New Testament Church,”
Calvin TheologicalJournal41, no. 1 (2006): 21-22, warns against “domesticating” this profound
literature: “This illicit domestication occurs in three dimensions, each of which is expressed
in polar opposite forms: (1) through overly symbolic or overly spiritual readings; (2) through
overly futuristic or overly historicized readings; and (3) through overly credulous or overly
suspicious readings ... . [In classical dispensationalism] excessively symbolic, futuristic, and
credulous interpretations tended to drown out the message o f the book as the original
audience might have heard it. The critical scholarly world tends to be plagued by excessive
historicism and suspicion, as if specific prediction o f distant events is impossible.”
32Block, “Preaching Old Testament Apocalyptic,” 52, advises, “The authoritative preaching
o f the message o f apocalyptic texts requires ... that we draw the applications for the present
from the main points— rather than engaging in endless speculation about the spiritual
significance o f details.” Cf. Luther’s advice: “Whoever wants to study them [the visions]
profitably dare not focus his attention on the details o f the visions and dreams, but will find
comfort in the Savior Jesus Christ whom they portray and in the deliverance he brings from

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challenges that pertain to applying Daniel’s narratives (see above) hold also
for applying Daniel’s visions. We need not repeat how to bridge the gap
between Israel in exile and churches today living in relative freedom nor
how to overcome the explication-application dualism; these challenges can
be resolved in similar ways for Daniel’s visions as they are for his narratives.
We do need to mention the pitfall o f moralizing once again, however,
because it is so surprising that commentators would still nudge preachers in
the direction o f moralizing when these visions clearly are about what God
will do in the future, not what Israel in exile should do.

Avoiding Moralizing
In analyzing Daniel’s visions, I came to the conclusion that not one of
them was written in order to admonish or encourage Israel to do something
or other.33 The goal of Daniel’s first vision (Dan. 7) was “to reassure God’s
people in exile that their sovereign God is in control of evil empires and
will in the end give his people his everlasting kingdom through a divine
son o f man.”34 His second vision (Dan. 8) seems to have had a dual goal:
“To forewarn Israel about a period o f severe persecution in the future and
to assure them that their sovereign God will limit the days o f persecution
and destroy the persecutor.”35 The goal o f his third vision (Dan. 9) was “to
give hope to Israel in exile by reassuring them that their time of exile is
almost over because their faithful covenant God has decreed seventy weeks
in which not only to restore Jerusalem but also to bring in his everlasting
kingdom.” The goal of his final vision (Dan. 10-12) was “to encourage and
comfort God’s persecuted people by giving them an understanding o f God’s
intent to deliver his people, even from death.”36 Not one of these goals

sin and its misery.” Martin Luther, Saemmtliche Schriften (St. Louis: Concordia, 1880) quoted by
John C. Jeske, Daniel (Milwaukee, Wis.: Northwestern, 1978), 228.

33 See my Preaching Christ from Daniel: Foundations for Expository Sermons (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 2012). Cf. Block, “Preaching Old Testament Apocalyptic,” 52, “The intention
[goal] o f apocalyptic is ... to assure the present generation [Israel in exile] that— perhaps
contrary to appearance— God is still on the throne (cf. Dan. 7:18, 21-22, 27; 8:25; 12:1-4), and
that the future is firmly in his hands.”

34Cf. Paul M. Lederach, Daniel (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald, 1994), 150, “The chaos that results
from the kingdoms o f this world exercising their power is not the last word. The court of
heaven sits in judgm ent on the beasts o f history. They are destroyed, while the faithful saints
receive the rule and dom inion that only the Most High can give. No greater message o f hope
could be given to a people in exile, to a people enduring bitter persecution, or to the faithful
today living in the midst o f violence, bloodshed, and corruption!”

35Cf. Steinmann, Daniel, 421, “For the original readers in the sixth century B.C. and for
all those who lived before or during the persecution o f Antiochus in the second century B.C.,
Daniel offered hope and comfort that God had already determined an end to the fierce
persecution before it happened.”

36Cf. Longman, Daniel, 245-46, “The prophecy ... is more like a provocative glimpse at the

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includes that Israel is to do something. Instead, they are simply invited to

let the good news o f these visions soak in, refresh them, comfort them, give
them hope, strengthen their faith. Yet, commentators still lure preachers
into searching for moral lessons in Daniel’s visions.
Let us take Daniel’s third vision (Dan. 9) as an example. Daniel writes,
“In the first year of his [Darius’s] reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the
number of years that ... must be fulfilled for the devastation of Jerusalem,
namely, seventy years. Then I turned to the Lord God, to seek an answer by
prayer and supplication” (9:2-3). One commentator offers the following
applications: like Daniel, we should open “the books”—in our case,
especially the Gospels. As Daniel confessed his sins, so should we. As Daniel
pleaded with God, so should we.37 Another commentator writes, “This verse
[v. 3] teaches that biblical prophecy should bring us to our knees, as it did
Daniel.”38 Several commentators call Daniel’s prayer a model prayer for
Christians. One writes: “This prayer is a model for believers today as they
approach God . .. . Here is the proper order [of the components of prayer]
for only after the Lord is praised and sin confessed is the believer qualified to
offer requests to the holy God.”39 My objection is not that these admonitions
are unbiblical but that they are not the point o f the passage. In fact, given
the time constraints of a twenty-five minute sermon, they get in the way of
the point of the passage and its proper application for the church today.
Some commentators recommend preparing two sermons on this chapter,
the first on Daniel’s prayer (w. 1-19) and the second on God’s answer (w.
20-27),40 but preaching only on Daniel’s prayer is to preach on half the
literary unit. Moreover, in preaching just on this unique prayer and seeking
to apply it to Christians today, one can hardly help but fall into the traps of
generalizing and moralizing.
While Daniel’s prayer is passionate and powerful, it is not presented as
a model for Christian prayers as is the Lord’s prayer. Daniel’s prayer is a
unique prayer for a specific time in redemptive history: Israel is in exile;
Daniel realizes that the seventy years foretold by Jeremiah are almost up
(9:2); he knows about the covenant curse (9:11) that brought about the
desolation (9:17, 18)—the word used in the very chapter on covenant

future than anything a later reader can use to predict dates of specific events, but it is enough
to serve its purpose: comfort and encouragement in spite o f present suffering.”

37Wallace, The Lord Is King, 148-54.

38Charles Lee Feinberg, A Commentary on Daniel, the Kingdom of the Lord (Winona Lake, Ind.:
BMH Books, 1984), 119.
39Miller, Daniel, 243.
40E.g., Iain M. Duguid, Daniel (Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian 8c Reformed, 2008), 148—
75, suggests a sermon on Daniel 9:1-19, “Praying in the Darkness,” followed by a sermon on
Daniel 9:20-27, “H ope in the Darkness.”

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blessings and curses (Lev. 26:22, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 43); he also knows that
in that same chapter God promised, “If they confess their iniquity ... then
I will remember my covenant with Jacob” (Lev. 26:41-42). Therefore, this
is a pointed, specific prayer o f confession41 and supplication for God to
restore his “desolated sanctuary” and city without “delay” (9:19) and God’s
immediate response (9:20-21).

Applying Daniel 9 to the Church Today

The key to applying the message o f Daniel 9 to the church today lies in
discerning its theme, goal, and the need addressed. We can formulate the
textual theme as follows: “In response to Daniel’s prayer for forgiveness
and the restoration of Jerusalem, Israel’s faithful covenant God promises
in seventy weeks not only to restore Jerusalem but also to bring in his
everlasting kingdom.” The question is whether this textual theme can
function as the sermon theme since redemptive history has moved on.
God did restore Jerusalem at the time o f Ezra and Nehemiah but also
foretold that Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed again (9:26)—a
destruction that took place in A.D. 70. The church today is not waiting
for the restoration o f the earthly Jerusalem but for “the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:2). By understanding “the
restoration o f Jerusalem” both as the earthly Jerusalem as well as “the new
Jerusalem,” the textual theme can function as the sermon theme.
As mentioned, Daniel’s goal in sending this message to Israel was “to give
Israel in exile hope by reassuring them that their time o f exile is almost over
because their faithful covenant God has decreed seventy weeks in which
not only to restore Jerusalem but also to bring in his everlasting kingdom.”
Because o f the progression in redemptive history, the New Testament
church is now looking forward to “the new Jerusalem, coming down out
o f heaven from God” (Rev. 21:2). The sermon goal, therefore, can be
formulated as follows: “to give God’s people today hope by reassuring them
that our faithful covenant God has decreed seventy weeks in which to bring
the New Jerusalem on earth as he brings in his everlasting kingdom.”
This goal suggests that the target for this sermon is the hopelessness of
many people who have given up on God’s coming kingdom. We can again
use the sermon introduction to focus on this need. Preachers can begin
with an illustration of this loss of hope because o f the pain suffered in this
broken world. For example, it has been estimated that forty-five million

41 Daniel’s prayer is so specific, it has a special Hebrew name: Todah. “The Todah prayer
was a response by the condem ned vassal-people to the indictment o f the Lord, admitting the
justice o f the sentence.” Meredith G. Kline, “The Covenant o f the Seventieth Week,” in The
Law and the Prophets: Old Testament Studies in Honor of Oswald T. Allis, ed. J. H. Skilton (Nutley,
N.J.: Presbyterian 8c Reformed, 1974), 457.

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Christians were martyred in the twentieth century.42 Jesus promised to

bring in the perfect kingdom of God, but where is it? Meanwhile, forty-five
million o f his followers were slaughtered in the last century. No wonder
many people today begin to lose hope that God’s perfect kingdom will
come. Have you never felt this way?
Then transition to Israel: Israel in exile was also losing hope. They had
been in exile in Babylon for almost seventy years. A whole generation had
died far from the Promised Land. No wonder the Israelites in exile felt
hopeless and despondent.
The sermon body can open with Jeremiah’s prediction, “Thus says the
L ord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and
I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place” (Jer. 29:10;
cf. 25:11-12). When the seventy years were almost up, Daniel turned to God
in fervent prayer. Preachers will have to work their way through Daniel’s
prayer rather quickly so that full attention can be given to the key verses
(9:24-27) containing Gabriel’s announcement: “Seventy weeks are decreed
for your people and your holy city: to finish the transgression, to put an end
to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal
both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place” (9:24).
This vision covers a time frame from the Babylonian exile to the kingdom
of God coming in perfection: “to put an end to sin,” and “to bring in
everlasting righteousness.” In this respect, this vision covers a similar time
frame as do Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (from Babylon to the stone filling the
whole earth, Dan. 2:35, 44); the first vision (from Babylon to the judgment
day and God’s kingdom, 7:9-14, 26-27); and the fourth vision (from Persia
to the resurrection from the dead, 12:2-3, 13).
Gabriel divides the 70 weeks into three periods: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and
1 week. Before going into details, it may be helpful to present an overview
o f these three periods.

7 weeks from 62 weeks 1 week from

troubled time
w ord > to anointed Jerusalem ------------------ an ointed > to troops
to restore prince built with cut off, destroy city,
Jerusalem streets and moat “strong desolator
covenant,” destroyed
no sacrifices

Because this is apocalyptic literature, the numbers can be understood

as symbols: Seven is the number o f perfection, completeness; ten the
number o f fullness. Daniel had prayed for the restoration o f Jerusalem

42 David Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia, 2d ed. (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2001), 1:11.

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and the temple. Here is God’s answer: “from the time that the word went
out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time o f an anointed prince,
there shall be seven weeks” (9:25a). Seven weeks is a relatively short but
com plete period o f time to accomplish the rebuilding o f Jerusalem and
the temple. The seven weeks started “when the word went out to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem,” that is, the edict o f Cyrus in 538 B.C. encouraging
the Israelites to return to the Promised Land to rebuild the temple (Ezra
1:1-4). This period ended at “the time o f an anointed prince,” most likely
the anointed priest Ezra, during whose time the wall around Jerusalem
was com pleted.43
When the Israelites in exile heard about the “seven weeks,” they were
probably reminded of Leviticus 25:8-13 where God had commanded them
to “count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period
of seven weeks o f years gives forty-nine years.” The fiftieth year was to be a
year o f Jubilee when those who had lost their inheritance would return to
their land (Lev. 25:8-13).44 Thus, it was for Israel: God opened the way for
them to return to the Promised Land.
Verse 25b mentions the next complete period of time: “and for sixty-
two weeks it shall be built again with streets and moat, but in a troubled
time.”Jerusalem would be occupied first by Alexander the Great o f Greece,
then by the Ptolemies of Egypt, then by the Seleucids o f Syria when the
Jews suffered terrible persecution under Antiochus IV (167-164 B.C.),
and finally Jerusalem would be occupied by Romans (63 B.C.)—indeed “a
troubled time.”
Verse 26 predicts that “After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one
shall be cut off and shall have nothing, and the troops o f the prince
who is to com e shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall
com e with a flood, and to the end there shall be war.” “After the sixty-
two weeks” means that this verse describes what will happen in the
seventieth week. This final week is a com plete one, but, for Daniel, a
relatively short period o f time. Two major events will take place in that
week. First, “an anointed on e shall be cut o ff and shall have n othing.”
This is a prediction o f Jesus’ crucifixion when he was stripped naked and
deserted by all. The second major event predicted is that “the troops o f
the prince who is to com e shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” The
Romans, under their general Titus Vespatian, destroyed Jerusalem and
the tem ple in A.D. 70.

43 For detailed argumentation for these and other identifications, see my Preaching Christ
from Daniel

44Cf. Joyce G. Baldwin, Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary (Madison, Wis.: Intervarsity,
1978), 170, “A mind reared on the law o f Moses, and told to understand ‘seven sevens,’” would
think o f the year o f Jubilee “during which every man was to return to his inherited land and
liberty proclaimed to prisoners.”

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Verse 27 mentions several more things that will take place during that
final week: “He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and
for half of the week he shall make sacrifice and offering cease.”Jesus made
“a strong covenant” with many when he turned the Passover Feast (in
remembrance of God’s deliverance from Egypt) into the Lord’s Supper in
remembrance of God’s deliverance from sin through Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus
said, “This is my blood of the (new)45 covenant, which is poured out for
many for the forgiveness o f sins” (Matt. 26:28).46 With his sacrificial death,
Jesus made the Old Testament sacrifices cease. Matthew reports that when
Jesus “breathed his last,” “at that moment the curtain of the temple was torn
in two, from top to bottom” (Matt. 27:50-51)— the Old Testament way of
atonement was brought to a close. By the end o f that final week, with the
destruction o f Jerusalem and the temple, animal sacrifices at the temple
became impossible.
The last part o f verse 27 reads, “and in their place shall be an abomination
that desolates, until the decreed end is poured out upon the desolator.”
As mentioned, the desolator is Titus Vespatian, “the prince” (v. 26) o f the
troops that besieged and finally destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in A.D.
70. Titus died of a fever in A.D. 79.
This, however, is not the end o f the final week. Verse 24 with its “to put
an end to sin” and “to bring in everlasting righteousness” clearly indicates
that this final week expands until the kingdom of God comes in perfection
on the last day. This is another case o f “prophetic telescoping” in which the
fulfillment of an Old Testament prediction stretches out like a telescope
from an initial fulfillment to a later perfect fulfillment. In the New
Testament, Jesus also predicted the destruction of the temple, but, he said,
“the end is not yet” (Matt. 24:6; cf. 2 Thess. 2:7-8). This final week, then,
runs from Jesus’ birth to his Second Coming.
If the first seven weeks reminded Israel of the year o f Jubilee when
dispossessed Israelites could return to their land, the ten-times-seven weeks
reminds us o f the year of Jubilee at the end o f time when God will bring
all his people home into his perfect kingdom.47John writes that he saw “a
new heaven and a new earth . .. . And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her

45See NRSV footnote, “Other ancient authorities add new. ”Luke 22:20 has, “This cup that
is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Cf. 1 Cor. 11:25 and Heb. 7:22; 8:13;
9:15; 12:24.
46 Cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34. “The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house o f Judah . . . . I will put my law within
them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people ...
. I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” Cf. Heb. 9:11-15.
47Cf. Lacocque, Book of Daniel, 178, “Daniel announces the coming o f the ultimate Jubilee,
the Eschaton.”

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husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See the home
[tabernacle] of God is among mortals’” (Rev. 21:1-3). That is the awesome
future that awaits God’s people: heaven on earth.
The sermon conclusion can clinch the goal: “When we see the continuing
persecution of Christians we can lose hope. Like some in the early church,
we, too, may wonder: Where is the promise of Jesus’ coming again?”48
Daniel 9 encourages us to take heart. Our sovereign God is in control of
his world. He decreed seventy weeks in which to bring an end to sin and
evil and replace these with everlasting righteousness. He promised Daniel
that in seven weeks Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt. They were.
He promised that for sixty-two weeks Jerusalem would continue to exist but
in a time of trouble. It did. He promised that in the final week the Messiah
would come, be killed, and Jerusalem destroyed. It all came about exactly
as God decreed. Jesus came and with his death atoned for iniquity. He also
rose again and ascended into heaven, promising to come again. With these
events, human history has reached “the last days.” We are now traveling
along the edge of time, like walking a trail winding along the edge of a
cliff.49 Any day, we can go over the edge of time. Any day, Christ can return
“to put an end to sin ... to bring in everlasting righteousness” (Dan. 9:24).
Our God is the faithful covenant God. As he fulfilled his earlier promises, he
will fulfill his promises for these last days. So take heart! Any time, Jesus can
come again to bring down to this earth “the holy city, the new Jerusalem”
(Rev. 21:2), his church, and establish God’s perfect kingdom on earth.
•· · · ·

In a time when Israel was suffering in exile, God gave Daniel comforting
good news about God’s sovereignty, God’s providence, and the certainty
o f God’s glorious coming kingdom. I hope this article will encourage
preachers to prepare sermons on this challenging, neglected Old Testament
book. Many people today are struggling with persecution, and the pain and
distress east o f Eden. The messages o f Daniel are able to stimulate their
perseverance in faith, hope, and love.

482 Pet. 3:4.

49I first heard this helpful illustration in a 1965 lecture by Prof. G. C. Berkouwer o f the Free
University, Amsterdam. Recently I found it again in Kvanvig, “The Relevance o f the Biblical
Visions o f the End o f Time,” 47-48: In apocalyptic literature “history does not only move
toward the end, it also moves along the end. History moves on the border of chaos like a track
is winding along a cliff . . . . History is close to the end ... .A t one particular time ... history
will turn over the edge. Then the real end time tribulations will break loose . . . . This means
that all believers who through periods o f tribulations have seen the signs o f the end were not
mistaken. The signs o f the end were present. The mistake was done if they thought that they
could, through these signs, calculate the time when the real end time battle would take place.
Then they were wrong for this is only up to God to decide.”

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