I opened the introduction of my commentary with a question – why is it necessary to have yet another commentary on Daniel? Surely the subject has received sufficient treatment by various commentators both Christadelphian and otherwise? Unfortunately this is not the case and Daniel is either regarded as a book that contains “children’s stories” of miraculous deliverance (and therefore not treated seriously) or it is used as a “prophetic” battle ground between conservative and liberal exegetes. Conservative scholars believe that Daniel was written in the Babylonian period and contains predictive prophecy. On the other hand liberal scholars believe that it was written much later (during the Greek period) and that it contains “quasi-prophecy” based on the desecration of the temple wrought by Antiochus Epiphanes. Critics believe that the strange numbers in Daniel (1260/1290/1335) are actually “revisions” of the expected end – the author got the “end date” wrong (the demise of Antiochus and the resurrection in chapter 12) and had to constantly “update” his predictions.
Another problem for conservative and liberal exegetes is the role of Cyrus in Daniel. The temple was not restored during the reign of Cyrus and Cyrus does not feature as a major character in any of Daniel’s stories. For this reason some have proposed that “Darius the Mede” is actually another name for Cyrus, or that perhaps he is one of Cyrus’ generals acting on Cyrus’ authority. Added to these problems is the intensely historical account in Daniel 11 which nearly everyone agrees has some sort of application to the Syrian-Egyptian wars but little relevance to the Jews apart from the description of the desecrations wrought by Antiochus Epiphanes.
Finally, there is the 490 year prophecy of Daniel 9 that is understood by Christians to be related to the crucifixion and “confirming” the new covenant. However, Christ himself used this prophecy to point to the destruction of the temple not to his crucifixion. The Jews also believe that the prophecy is related to the destruction of the temple but they “cheat” by leaving out 166 years of Persian era history in their calendar in order to make the interval between the destruction of the first and second temples exactly 490 years instead of the 656 years that is confirmed by historical accounts.
As all these problems have not (in my view) been adequately addressed it was timely that a new intertextual approach be adopted – “interpreting scripture with scripture”. It is fundamental to recognise that Daniel’s main concern is the temple and true worship. Even the stories of the three friends in the fire and Daniel in the lion’s den have this background as they reflect the burning of the temple in the Babylonian period and the “resurrection” of the nation under Darius Hystaspis.
It was Darius Hystaspis (Darius the Mede) not Cyrus, who actually rebuilt the temple exactly 70 years after it had been destroyed. Cyrus is irrelevant to the book of Daniel and therefore Daniel deliberately “skips” the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus and proceeds directly to Darius the Mede, who also conquered Babylon and liberated the captives. Cyrus did not rebuild the temple Darius did. So effectively Daniel comes out of retirement 21 years after Cyrus at the beginning of Darius’ reign to question why Jeremiah’s prophecy is (apparently) unfulfilled.
This places a large section of Daniel in the Persian period, making it contemporary with the ministries of Zechariah-Haggai, with their vision of the “two lamps” and the promise to restore the temple under Joshua the priest and Zerubbabel the governor. The promise to bless their endeavours was given the day before the Jewish “feast of lights” known as Hanukkah.
It is proposed that the Maccabees deliberately instituted this day (the 25 December) as an “official” feast day when they cleansed and rededicated the temple during the Antiochene crisis 420 years (4×70) after it had been rebuilt under the guidance of the “two lamps” (Joshua/Zerubbabel). The strange numbers of Daniel (1260/1290/1335) are not related to the Antiochene crisis (even though they approximate that period of persecution) but are related to Jewish feast days. It can be shown that the numbers are related to intervals in the Jewish festal calendar that commemorate the destruction of the first temple and the feasts of Hanukkah, Atonement, Passover and Purim. Two of these feasts (Hanukkah and Purim) are Persian era feasts. Therefore the fast that commemorates the destruction of the temple is the starting point of these calculations. Daniel’s prophecies had a partial fulfilment during the Maccabees’ period and in the first century – here we speak of an “already/not yet” fulfilment – the kingdom of God was “already” present in the person of Christ but the final consummation has “not yet” occurred until the Second Advent.
Daniel is concerned with the temple and the restoration of true worship. The book attempts to demonstrate that Jesus is the temple that Daniel looks forward to and shows that the “two lamps” who build the new temple are Jesus and John the Baptist. A chronology is presented that has John born on “Lights” and Jesus on “Pentecost” (the fruit of the spirit). These two men were born 70 years before the Jewish war started. After three-and-one-half years of war the “old” temple was removed, thus “confirming” the “new covenant” – Jesus and his ecclesia form the new temple.
This theme is picked up in the book of Revelation which is rich in temple-language and Day of Atonement ritual. In Revelation 11 we encounter the measuring of a temple and the feast of “Lights” (two-lamps) and “Purim” (exchange of gifts) from the Persian period. The witnessing period is 1260 days – the last three-and-one-half years of Daniel’s prophecy. So once again we can speak of another delay of the 490 year prophecy – a long interruption of the prophetic programme from AD 70 to the present time (cf. the delay during the reign of Cyrus and during the Maccabees’ era). After this three-and-one-half year witnessing and “measuring” of the temple, the true temple will be revealed – one that descends from heaven – the New Jerusalem, consisting of the saints of all ages. The 490 years of Daniel’s prophecy will culminate in an eschatological Jubilee of Atonement.
For an abstract from the book see:
http://www.biblaridion-media.com/
See also the publication page on the EJournal website.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)