The Book of Daniel – Number Six

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Jehoiakim

 

Key Takeaways

• Introduction
  • Thesis: The books of Daniel and Revelation, while distinct, are intricately connected, much like the Old and New Testaments, serving as complementary components of one overarching divine revelation.
• The Significance of the Old Testament in Understanding Christ
  • The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus find profound validation in the Old Testament.
  • Christ’s identity is revealed as clearly in the Old Testament as in the New.
  • The miracles of Jesus are crucial, but the most compelling evidence of His divinity lies in the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.
• Connection Between Daniel and Revelation
  • Revelation serves as the complement and culmination of the book of Daniel.
  • The term “complement” implies bringing to perfection, underlining the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in the history depicted in Revelation.
  • The strongest evidence of Christ’s divinity lies in comparing Old Testament prophecies with their fulfillment in the New Testament; likewise, Daniel’s prophecies find their fulfillment in Revelation.
• The Sealed Book and Unveiling of Revelation
  • Revelation is both a sealed and an opened book, recording events in the last days.
  • The teachings of Revelation parallel those of Daniel, with repeated prophecies emphasizing their importance.
  • The unsealing of Revelation parallels the unsealing of Daniel’s prophecies, both playing crucial roles in understanding the plan of redemption.
• Prophetic Insight from Daniel 1:1
  • The first verse of Daniel contains rich prophetic information.
  • Jehoiakim, the first of the last three kings of Judah, symbolizes the first angel’s message, and his captivity marks the beginning of a prophetic sequence.
• Jehoiakim and the Three Angels
  • Jehoiakim represents the first angel’s message.
  • The last three kings of Judah symbolize the three angelic messages in Revelation.
  • The three kings conquered by Nebuchadnezzar symbolize the three decrees and, by extension, the three angels.
• The Three Decrees and Their Prophetic Symbolism
  • The seventy years of captivity result from Israel’s disregard for the sabbaths-of-the-land laws.
  • The three kings conquered by Nebuchadnezzar mirror the three decrees that initiate the 2,300-year prophecy.
  • The perfection of the prophecy necessitates three decrees, each contributing to its fulfillment.
• Empowerment of the Three Angels
  • The three angelic messages arrive sequentially and are empowered at distinct historical points.
  • The empowerment of each message corresponds to specific historical events, marking the culmination of prophetic fulfillment.
• Symbolism of Seven Thunders and Last Seven Kings
  • The seven thunders in Revelation 10 represent the history of the first and second angel’s messages.
  • The last seven kings of Judah symbolize the historical progression from 1798 to 1844, corresponding to the first and second angels.
• Conclusion
  • Understanding the interconnectedness of Daniel and Revelation provides profound insights into the divine plan of redemption.
  • The sequential unfolding of prophetic events in these books offers a comprehensive perspective on the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in the New Testament, and the unfolding of end-time events.

 

The books of Daniel and Revelation are the same book, in the same sense that the Bible is one book, consisting of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

“The history of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, as that of the Son of God, cannot be fully demonstrated without the evidence contained in the Old Testament. Christ is revealed in the Old Testament as clearly as in the New. The one testifies of a Saviour to come, while the other testifies of a Saviour that has come in the manner predicted by the prophets. In order to appreciate the plan of redemption, the Scripture of the Old Testament must be thoroughly understood. It is the glorified light from the prophetic past that brings out the life of Christ and the teachings of the New Testament with clearness and beauty. The miracles of Jesus are a proof of his divinity; but the strongest proofs that he is the world’s Redeemer are found in the prophecies of the Old Testament compared with the history of the New. Jesus said to the Jews ‘Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.’ At that time there was no other scripture in existence save that of the Old Testament; so the injunction of the Saviour is plain.” Spirit of Prophecy, volume 3, 211.

 

The strongest evidence of who and what Christ is, is when the prophecies of the Old Testament are compared with the fulfillment of those prophecies in the history of the New Testament. So too, with the relationship of the books of Daniel and Revelation.

“In the Revelation all the books of the Bible meet and end. Here is the complement of the book of Daniel. One is a prophecy; the other a revelation.” Acts of the Apostles, 585.

 

The word “complement” means to bring to perfection. The fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament were “the strongest” “proof” of Christ’s “divinity.” The strongest evidence of the divinity of the prophecies in the book of Daniel, are the fulfillment of those prophecies as represented in the book of Revelation. The prophecies in Daniel are continued in the book of Revelation, and they are brought to perfection in the last days, when the Revelation of Jesus Christ is unsealed.

“Revelation is a sealed book, but it is also an opened book. It records marvelous events that are to take place in the last days of this earth’s history. The teachings of this book are definite, not mystical and unintelligible. In it the same line of prophecy is taken up as in Daniel. Some prophecies God has repeated, thus showing that importance must be given to them. The Lord does not repeat things that are of no great consequence.” Manuscript Releases, volume 9, 8.

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. Daniel 1:1.

 

The first verse of the book of Daniel has a wealth of prophetic information when rightly considered. We will begin our consideration with Jehoiakim.

Jehoiakim was the first of the last three kings of Judah. As such, he represents the first angel’s message. His son Jehoiachin, who was also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, represented the second angel’s message. Jehoiachin was followed by Zedekiah, the last of the three final kings of Judah. Zedekiah represents the third angel’s message. There are several prophetic witnesses that uphold that Jehoiakim is a symbol of the first angel’s message. It is important to understand these proofs, for it identifies that the first verse of chapter one of Daniel is identifying the first angel’s message, and that fact is an anchor that allows the first chapter to be understood as the first angel’s message of Revelation fourteen. We will begin in Second Chronicles.

And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. 2 Chronicles 36:20, 21.

 

The captivity in Babylon for seventy years was so the land could enjoy the sabbaths that had not been fulfilled in agreement with Leviticus twenty-five. Seventy years of sabbaths amounts to four hundred and ninety years, that ancient Israel had disregarded the direction of Leviticus twenty-five. Four hundred and ninety years of rebellion preceded seventy years of captivity. At the ending of the four hundred and ninety years, three kings would be placed into subjection by Nebuchadnezzar.

At the end of the seventy years of captivity, the Lord raised up Cyrus, who was the first of the three kings that would decree that Israel could return and rebuild Jerusalem. Artaxerxes was the third of those three kings and he made the third decree in 457 BC. The third decree began the twenty-three hundred years of Daniel chapter eight, and verse fourteen. In 1798, the first end of the indignation ended, the book of Daniel was unsealed and the first of the three angels arrived. The third angel arrived on October 22, 1844.

The three last kings of Judah were all confronted by Nebuchadnezzar, and at Jehoiakim’s captivity, the seventy years began. It continued until Babylon was destroyed, and the general (Cyrus) that had destroyed Babylon, and who shortly thereafter became the king, passed the first of three decrees. The third decree began the prophecy of the evenings and mornings that ended with the arrival of the third of three angels. Christ always identifies the end with the beginning.

The beginning of the seventy years took place with Nebuchadnezzar’s first attack against Jerusalem. The ending of the seventy years was marked by the destruction of Babylon. The final and complete destruction of Jerusalem was brought upon the third of three kings who had all been attacked by Nebuchadnezzar. The destruction of Jerusalem was progressive. The last three kings represent one prophetic symbol, in the sense that they all had been attacked by Nebuchadnezzar. They typified the three decrees that were all one symbol, as were the three angels at the end of the twenty-three hundred days.

“In the seventh chapter of Ezra the decree is found. Verses 12-26. In its completest form it was issued by Artaxerxes, king of Persia, 457 B.C. But in Ezra 6:14 the house of the Lord at Jerusalem is said to have been built ‘according to the commandment [‘decree,’ margin] of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.’ These three kings, in originating, reaffirming, and completing the decree, brought it to the perfection required by the prophecy to mark the beginning of the 2300 years. Taking 457 B.C., the time when the decree was completed, as the date of the commandment, every specification of the prophecy concerning the seventy weeks was seen to have been fulfilled.” The Great Controversy, 326.

 

Sister White identifies that the three decrees were necessary for the perfection of the prophecy. She defines their relation to each other, and in so doing, identifies the grammatical characteristics of the Hebrew word “truth.” She says the first decree originated, the second decree reaffirmed, and the third decree completed “every specification of the prophecy concerning the seventy weeks.” The Hebrew word “truth” is created by the combination of the first, thirteenth and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The first decree originated, the second reaffirmed and the last decree completed the prophecy. The three decrees contain the signature of Alpha and Omega, and they were fulfilled at the end of the seventy-year prophecy of the captivity in Babylon, even though the third decree arrived well after the seventy years ended. The three decrees were progressive, and though they were three decrees, they were still one prophetic symbol.

The first angel arrived in 1798, the second angel arrived in the spring of 1844, and the third angel arrived on October 22, 1844. Those three angels are one prophetic symbol, representing the everlasting gospel of Revelation chapter fourteen.

“The first and second messages were given in 1843 and 1844, and we are now under the proclamation of the third; but all three of the messages are still to be proclaimed. It is just as essential now as ever before that they shall be repeated to those who are seeking for the truth. By pen and voice we are to sound the proclamation, showing their order, and the application of the prophecies that bring us to the third angel’s message. There cannot be a third without the first and second. These messages we are to give to the world in publications, in discourses, showing in the line of prophetic history the things that have been and the things that will be.” Selected Messages, book 2, 104, 105.

 

The last three kings of Judah were one symbol, for they were all brought into various degrees of subjection by the king of Babylon. The last three kings of Judah, the three decrees and the three angels, though distinctly three are also represented as one prophetic symbol.

The last three kings are part of the prophetic setting of the beginning of the prophecy of seventy years of captivity, and as such they become part of the beginning that illustrates the end of the seventy years of captivity. The captivity began with the progressive subjection of three kings, ending with the destruction of the kingdom and its capital city. The end of the prophecy marks the destruction of the nation and capital of Babylon, which marks the arrival of the three progressive decrees. The beginning of the twenty-three-hundred-year prophecy is marked by three progressive decrees, and it illustrates the ending of the twenty-three hundred years prophecy, which consists of three progressive messages.

The three angels, and their respective three messages, had been typified by three kings and their three progressive decrees. The three kings that proclaimed their respective three decrees had been typified by three progressive kings, who had each presented their messages of rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar. Three messages of rebellion, typified three decrees, that in turn typified three messages. One begins the prophecy of seventy years, that in turn ends with the beginning of the twenty-three-hundred-year prophecy, that ends at the arrival of the third angel in 1844. The seventy years that the land was to enjoy its Sabbath cannot be separated from October 22, 1844.

Jehoiakim represents Cyrus’ first decree and also the first angel’s message of Revelation chapter fourteen. Beyond this, the three witnesses of the last three Judean kings, the three decrees and the three angel’s messages, provide precise information of the symbol of Jehoiakim, for the prophetic history of the three angels has been very carefully marked by inspiration. All three messages have a historical arrival and thereafter a historical empowerment.

The first angel arrived in 1798, and was empowered on August 11, 1840, with the confirmation of the day for a year principle.

“In the year 1840 another remarkable fulfillment of prophecy excited widespread interest. two years before, Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent, published an exposition of Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the Ottoman Empire. According to his calculations, this power was to be overthrown . . . on the 11th of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power in Constantinople may be expected to be broken. And this, I believe, will be found to be the case.’

“At the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted the protection of the allied powers of Europe, and thus placed herself under the control of Christian nations. The event exactly fulfilled the prediction. When it became known, multitudes were convinced of the correctness of the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted by Miller and his associates, and a wonderful impetus was given to the advent movement. Men of learning and position united with Miller, both in preaching and in publishing his views, and from 1840 to 1844 the work rapidly extended.” The Great Controversy, 334, 335.

 

The first angel arrived announcing the opening of the judgment in 1798, but the message was premised on the validity of William Miller’s identification that a day in Bible prophecy represents a year. That principle was confirmed “on the 11th of August, 1840,” and the first message was empowered. With the failure of the prediction of Christ’s return in the biblical year of 1843, which extended into the year 1844, the second angel of Revelation chapter fourteen arrived. With the failure of the prediction in the spring of 1844, the Protestant churches rejected Miller’s rule of a day for a year, and became the daughters of Babylon. That message was thereafter empowered in the summer of 1844, when it was joined by the message of the Midnight Cry. With the fulfillment of the message of the Midnight Cry on October 22, 1844, the third angel arrived with his message.

Due to the disobedience of Laodicean Adventism in 1863, God’s people were assigned to repeat the history of ancient Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. The empowerment of the third message would wait until September 11, 2001. Each of the three messages arrive in history and are thereafter empowered.

Jehoiakim and Cyrus represent the empowerment of the fist angel, not its arrival. Though Jehoiakim was the first of the last three kings of Judah, and though he represents the first angel’s message, the prophetic characteristics that he, and also Cyrus, demonstrate that they are both symbols of the empowerment of the first angel, and not symbols of the arrival of the first angel. The arrival of the first message in the history of Jehoiakim was Manasseh, the first of the last seven kings of Judah.

Seven kings preceded the complete and final destruction of Jerusalem. Those seven kings represent a progressive history, as was the history they typified from 1798 to 1844. The first angel arrived in 1798, and the third arrived on October 22, 1844. The history of 1798 to 1844, is the history of the first and second angels. The history of the third angel began in 1844. When Sister White identifies the symbolism of the seven thunders of Revelation chapter ten, she says the seven thunders represent the history of the first and second angels, but not the third angel.

“The special light given to John which was expressed in the seven thunders was a delineation of events which would transpire under the first and second angels’ messages.” The Seventh-day Adventists Bible Commentary, volume 7, 971.

 

The history of the seven thunders of Revelation chapter ten, emphasize the history of the empowerment of the first angel on August 11, 1840 through to the great disappointment on October 22, 1844, but it none-the-less, includes the entire history of the first and second angels. The general application of the seven thunders is that it represents 1798 through to October 22, 1844. The history of the arrival of the first angel from 1798 to the great disappointment is the history of the first and second angels, and it is prophetically represented as seven thunders. The seven thunders were also  typified by the last seven kings of Judah. The last three of those kings were not only identifying sequential kings, but together they are one symbol made up of a first, middle and last.

In the history of the three angels, the first message was empowered on August 11, 1840, and both Jehoiakim and Cyrus typified that event. We will continue to identify these most important truths in the next article.

“Strict integrity should be cherished by every student. Every mind should turn with reverent attention to the revealed word of God. Light and grace will be given to those who thus obey God. They will behold wondrous things out of his law. Great truths that have lain unheeded and unseen since the day of Pentecost, are to shine from God’s word in their native purity. To those who truly love God the Holy Spirit will reveal truths that have faded from the mind, and will also reveal truths that are entirely new. Those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God will bring from the books of Daniel and Revelation truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit. They will start into action forces that cannot be repressed. The lips of children will be opened to proclaim the mysteries that have been hidden from the minds of men. The Lord has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.

“The Bible should not be brought into our schools to be sandwiched in between infidelity. The Bible must be made the groundwork and subject-matter of education. It is true that we know much more of the word of the living God than we knew in the past, but there is still much more to be learned. It should be used as the word of the living God, and esteemed as first, and last, and best in everything. Then will be seen true spiritual growth. The students will develop healthy religious characters, because they eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. But unless watched and nurtured, the health of the soul decays. Keep in the channel of light. Study the Bible. Those who serve God faithfully will be blessed. He who permits no faithful work to go unrewarded will crown every act of loyalty and integrity with special tokens of his love and approbation.” Review and Herald, August 17, 1897.