READ/LISTEN ONLINE:
SOME STUDY GEMS:
Click on the gem below to read the study notes:
The Beast
Daniel 7:3 “And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other”
The Hebrew word for beast is Heva H2423 – ḥêvā’, and it’s root is Haya H2418 – ḥăyā’ – a word we have posted about before in Psalm 63 about Life in reference to body, soul and spirit, and in 1 Kings 17 about the term Resurrection. And although Life or resurrection is HAYA H2421 – ḥāyâ, this Hebrew word H2418 Haya means to “be kept alive” or allowed “to let live”.
Even though Daniel goes into way more detail than John from Revelation 13 about the beast, describing each animal separately, from Revelation we can see this is one massive beast and there is one drives and gives the power to each beast/kingdom. Revelation 13:2 says, “Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.” From Daniel we read about the lion, bear, leopard and a great beast, which is the dragon. The iron teeth from the dragon, represents the Romans. They came into power right after the lion (Babylon), bear (medo-persians) and leopard (greeks).. and they are still here today. The Roman influence is world-wide, think of the Roman Catholics for example. There is a lot of Roman influence and roots still in the United Kingdom right through to the United States.
Calendar and Laws, Sabbath to Sunday, Persecutions
Daniel 7:25 “He shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.”
There was a period in history, that saw these exact 3 things happen: Change of YHWH’s laws, Change of YHWH’s time and Persecution of the saints. During the first three centuries AD, the Roman Empire created state-sanctioned persecutions against Christians, primarily driven by their refusal to worship Roman gods and the emperor, which was considered treason. Emperor Nero reigned from 54 to 68 AD and is known for his persecution of Christians, which began after the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. He blamed Christians for the fire, leading to brutal executions, and this event is considered the first major persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Persecutions continued for the next 3 centuries, when a significant period of persecution began under Emperor Diocletian in 303 AD and lasted until the Edict of Milan in 313 AD officially legalized Christianity, issued by Emperors Constantine and Licinius.
Rome changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday with Emperor Constantine’s edict of 321 AD, which declared Sunday a day of rest, and was later cemented by the Council of Laodicea in 365 AD, which formally established it as the Christian day of worship. Constantine’s decree, initially a political move to unite the empire under a common day of rest, made the “venerable Day of the Sun” a civil holiday, which contributed to the shift from the traditional seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday as the Christian’s primary day of worship. After Emperor Constantine’s 321 AD Edict of Sunday rest, the primary persecution was not a violent crackdown but rather excommunication and exclusion from the Christian community for those who continued to observe the 7th-day Sabbath. The Council of Laodicea, around 364 AD, formalized this by, declaring Sabbath-keepers (if found resting on Saturdays and working on Sundays) as “heretics” and formally cursed by the pope or the council of the Church, excommunicated and denounced as a Christian.
Today, the list of books in the Bible is officially called the biblical canon, or the canon of Scripture. The word “canon” comes from the Greek kanōn, meaning “rule” or “measuring stick“. The content of the canon (list of books in a bible) varies between different denominations and faiths. The Catholic Church’s biblical canon was established through a series of influential councils, beginning with the Council of Rome in 382 AD. In the 16th century a great divide occured between the Catholic and Protestant, creating two canons, with the Protestants (the general bible version sold today) having less books than what was used since the 1st century.
With this great divide, called the Reformation of the 16th century led mostly by Martin Luther, he advocated that salvation came through faith alone. While the Catholics with the Vatican City-State, which is an independent political entity, have their own laws and ideas on salvation. Neither Catholic nor Protestant believe in following the Torah, the Sabbath and the 7 High Sabbath and Feast days (click here to read more on YHWH’s feast days) as was done by the initial followers of Yeshua. Yeshua’s disciples and followers, didn’t call themselves christians, but rather followers of the Way (click here to read more on this). The earliest recorded use of the term “Christianity/Christianism” was by Ignatius of Antioch around 100 AD, and was a term used to criminalize those not following the Roman worship, however Emperor Constantine decriminalized Christianity, and by then the view of a “christian” changed completely to what it was 200 years earlier – “christians” (term used to persecute) who followed Torah and kept Sabbath (before 300AD and persecuted), versus “christians” that don’t follow Torah Laws and keep to Sunday worship (after 300AD).
The Hebrew word used in this verse for persecute is Bela H1080 – bᵊlā’, meaning to wear out and harass constantly. These 300 years was a long drawn-out persiod, by just constant harassment and bit by bit changings the laws and the times, to fit in with roman sunday worship and each to their own laws, fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel 7:25.
Holy Place and Offerings
Daniel 8:11 “and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.”
Part of the history on the topic above (Calendar and Laws), a great fire broke out in Rome on the night of July 19, 64 AD. After burning for six days, it subsided only to reignite and burn for another three days, eventually destroying two-thirds of Rome. After the Fire of Rome, Christians were blamed and persecuted, which led to a very heavy-handed rule by the Romans. This caused a major Jewish revolt against Roman rule, and as a result Jerusalem and the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD as the culmination of the First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 CE).
During this time there was a man named Flavius Josephus lived, who was a Roman, Jewish historian and military leader. His story is quite fascinating, and he wrote many books and letters, recording the historical events that took place. His two famous books includes “The Jewish War” and “Antiquities of the Jews”. Before the destruction of the Temple, for a couple of years Josephus wrote about many strange and amazing miracles and events that was happening. Some included “strange” lights surrounding the altars, the lamps that refused to burn in the Temple (that was suppose to burn 24/7), stars and comets and signs in the skies, and many more.
Since the Temple had been destroyed by then, the 3 yearly pilgrimage feasts have ceased as well as all offerings and sacrifices. For Daniel, who was a very Righteous man, found this prophecy that occurred after 70AD, extremely disheartening that he fainted. Daniel kept asking the question, “for how long is this going to go on?” When will the sacrifice system be restored? In verse 14 we read, “And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”” This part of the end times is repeated in Daniel 9:27, “But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.” and again in Daniel 12:11, “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
To us, the meaning of these numbers are still “sealed up”, as they are very confusing. Not to mention that our history books have been distorted, and with the Middle ages (or called dark ages for a reason), and satan being the greatest deceiver, and Rome changing the canon, adding and removing scriptures – much is hidden from us today.
Gabriel and Michael
Daniel 8:16, Daniel 10:21 – 11:1 “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”, “But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince. Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him.)
These couple of verses sound very strange, as many translators have put their own spin on it. But one this that it could mean, is that Gabriel is speaking, saying he stood to strengthen and protect Darius the Mede in the first year of his reign after the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, acting in divine service to enable the Jewish return to Jerusalem and the temple’s rebuilding, thus setting the stage for the historic prophecies about the rise and fall of empires in Daniel 11:2-45, an answer to the prayer of Daniel 9.
The Hebrew name Gabriel H1403 – gaḇrî’ēl, has the words El in, for YHWH Elohim. The rest of his name is Geber H1397 – geḇer, meaning man, strong man, warrior. So Gabriel is the “Warrior of El“.
The Hebrew name Michael H4317 – mîḵā’ēl, has the words El in, for YHWH Elohim. The rest of his name is made of Mi H4310 – mî, meaning Who or What; and Ki H3588 – kî, meaning surely, indeed, doubtless. So the full meaning of his name is “Surely Who is like El?”
Deceit and Lies
Daniel 8:12,25 “..and he cast truth down to the ground. “, “Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule”
The Hebrew words used here are Sekel H7922 – śēḵel (great cleverness, understanding); Saleah H6743 – ṣālēaḥ (to rush, advance, make quick or urgent); Mirma H4820 – mirmâ (fraud, tell lies, twist truth, treachery, subtil craft)
We see this same warning from Revelation 13:14 “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth“, and Revelation 20:8, “and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea”. At this point, people will have to make a choice: do we join the crowd (that is everyone on earth standing together for one cause), even though the cause might seem to be for our freedom or rights? One should consider, what is the majority of the world/crowd following and rooting for today? If a worldwide war would break out, even against “aliens”, are we awake enough to know when not to follow a crowd and be deceived of something called “alien”, for example?
