Daniel - Historian of the Future

Week 17 - The End

Herod's Fury - 11:44-45

We now return to Herod in Judea.

11:44 The magi bring tidings of a King of the Jews from the east. In his fury, Herod slaughters the babes of Bethlehem. At about the same time, Antipater, his oldest son (whom he had banished from Judea, and now a despicable character), then at Rome ("the north") conspired to have letters written to his father giving information that two other of his sons, whom he planned to make his successors, had denounced their father to Caesar. This caused Herod again to break forth with intense "fury" against his own sons, and their supposed abettors, causing him to murder his favorite sons and favorite wife, Mariamne. (Ant. XVII 4-7; Wars 1:30-33)
Many others were murdered. When a rumor circulated that Herod had died, 40 youths pulled down the golden eagle above the temple gate - but were arrested by soldiers. Herod ordered them burned alive. Concerned that no one would mourn his impending death, he ordered all the Jewish elders arrested and confined to the hippodrome, with orders to kill them all upon his own death. These orders were not carried out.
11:45 Herod built his principal palace in the temple area on the NW wall of the upper city. He also built a palace at Masada on the Dead Sea, Herodium in the desert, and Caesarium Maritima on the Mediterranean. As he lay dying of his last illness, no one would come near to help him - for they were all afraid of being the next victims of his fury.

The Great Tribulation - 12:1-13

We now turn to a time of tribulation. While the Daniel text and the Luke text fit the destruction of Jerusalem, the way it is quoted by Jesus hints at yet another great tribulation.

12:1 Notice it says "even to that same time", it is the worst tribulation so far in their history - not necessarily the worst of all time. However, compare how Jesus quotes this in Matthew 24:21, Mark 13:19, Luke 21:22. "Nation": Hebrew "goy" - gentile nation. "Your people shall be delivered, everyone written": Matthew 24:13, Mark 13:20, Luke 21:18.
12:2 Matthew 27:52 echoes this, but does not include the unredeemed. This is a strong hint that another tribulation beyond 70 AD is also in mind.
12:3 "Stars" - a reference to the Children of Abraham. Genesis 22:17 For both the 70 AD and future tributation, these are believers. Every Christian is a "descendant of Abraham".
12:4 "travel to and fro" - what Christians and others did in the first century thanks to roads, ships, and Pax Romana. Often interpreted as a hint at future travel technology. "knowledge shall be increased" - knowledge of God's salvation in the first century. Often interpreted as a hint at future scientific advancement.
12:5 We return to the vision of Chapter 10.
12:7 A clear reference to Daniel 7:21-25 and Revelation.
12:11 40 AD, Gaius Caesar Caligula the transvestite gets serious about his divinity, and sends Petronius to Jerusalem to install a statue of Gaius in the temple. All the leaders of Jerusalem gather, and declare that they are all ready to die rather than disobey God their commander. They offer to present daily sacrifices on behalf of Caesar in lieu of allowing his statue in the temple.
Petronius is impressed and sends a letter to Gaius explaining the situation. Gaius responds with an order to execute Petronius for delaying his orders, but the execution order is delayed by a shipwreck, Gaius is assassinated, and all his statues ordered destroyed in an effort to forget his reign. The news of his demise arrives in a timely manner.
April-May 66 AD, the daily sacrifice for Caesar is suspended by zealots. In November of that year, Nero dispatches general Vespasian to put down the rebellion, and Vespasian slowly squeezes the life out of the resistance as he advances toward Jerusalem. 70 AD, 1290 days after the rebellion, Vespasian surrounds Jerusalem.
12:12 There is chaos in Rome, known as the "time of four caesars" following Nero's suicide in 68 AD. Just as he is about to finish off Jerusalem, Vespasian is declared emperor and leaves, lifting the seige for 45 days until Vespasian's son Titus arrives to finish the job. Titus quickly breaches the outer walls and destroys the temple, systematically ransacking the city and killing or enslaving all they find there.