Preface to Daniel
The non-negotiable rules for reading Daniel's prophecies.
The Book of Daniel is the prophetic backbone of the New Testament. It provides the exact chronological roadmap from the Babylonian exile down to the arrival of the Messiah and the destruction of the Old Covenant temple system.
However, modern futurism has severely distorted this book to invent "end-times" timelines that stretch into the 21st century. This preface establishes the core, non-negotiable framework for reading Daniel in its proper, fulfilled context.
1. The Four Empires Framework
In Daniel 2 (the great statue) and Daniel 7 (the four beasts), God reveals a strict succession of four earthly empires that will rule over Israel before the everlasting Kingdom of God is established. History perfectly validates this succession:
- Babylon (Head of Gold / Lion)
- Medo-Persia (Chest of Silver / Bear)
- Greece (Thighs of Bronze / Leopard)
- Rome (Legs of Iron / Terrifying Beast)
The Rule: We cannot invent a "revived Roman Empire" or a future fifth empire. Daniel is explicit: the Kingdom of God arrives and shatters the statue during the days of the fourth empire (first-century Rome).
2. The Stone Cut Without Hands
In Daniel 2:44, a stone cut out without human hands strikes the feet of the statue, shatters the empires of the world, and grows into a mountain that fills the whole earth.
Futurists claim this stone represents a future, physical, political kingdom that Jesus will establish when He returns. But Jesus Himself corrected this in the first century. He looked at the religious leaders of Israel and said, "The kingdom of God will be taken away from you... And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him" (Matthew 21:43-44).
The Kingdom of God is not postponed. The Stone has already struck. The Kingdom was inaugurated by Christ at His first coming and consummated at the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.
3. Destroying the "Gap Theory" (Daniel 9)
Daniel 9 contains the famous "70 Weeks" prophecy. The angel Gabriel tells Daniel that exactly 490 years (70 weeks of years) are decreed for his people (Israel) and his holy city (Jerusalem) to finish transgression, make an end of sin, and bring in everlasting righteousness.
Modern dispensationalism teaches that the prophetic clock stopped ticking after week 69. They claim there is a massive, unbiblical "gap" of 2,000+ years before the 70th week begins, which they label "The 7-Year Tribulation" featuring a future Antichrist.
The FPBible Standard completely rejects the Gap Theory. A gap destroys the definition of a timeline. The 70 Weeks ran consecutively. Jesus Christ arrived exactly on time to be "cut off" (crucified) in the middle of the 70th week. It was Christ—not a future Antichrist—who "put an end to sacrifice and offering" by offering Himself as the final, perfect sacrifice on the cross (Hebrews 9).
4. The "Time of the End" vs. The "End of Time"
Daniel is frequently told that his visions concern the "time of the end" (Daniel 8:17, 12:4). Our modern minds immediately assume this means the end of the physical planet or the end of human history.
But Daniel was an Old Covenant Jew. The angel explicitly told him that these prophecies concerned "your people and your holy city" (Dan 9:24). The "time of the end" is the end of the Old Covenant age. It is the end of the Levitical priesthood, the end of the animal sacrifices, and the end of the physical temple in Jerusalem.
Daniel 12:7 provides the absolute definitive marker for when this "end" would occur: "When the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished." The power of the holy people (the Jewish nation) was shattered by the Romans in AD 70. Therefore, all of Daniel's prophecies have been completely fulfilled.
