Transcription
Daniel is one of the most extraordinary prophets in the Old Testament, exiled to Babylon by the Tyrant King Nebuchadnezzar. God bestowed upon Daniel wisdom and granted him dreams and apocalyptic visions of things to come. In this video, we are going to examine some of Daniel's astonishing prophecies that all point to the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace.
Daniel chapter 2 informs us about a dream that greatly disturbed the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar: “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood an enormous, dazzling statue. The head of the statue was made of pure gold; its chest and arms of silver; its belly and thighs of bronze; its legs of iron; its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.” Here, we are informed that the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar dreamt of a dazzling statue comprised of the materials of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay. Daniel interpreted the dream as follows: “Your Majesty, you are that head of gold. After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third Kingdom, one of bronze, will rule the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. As iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. This kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.” According to Daniel, the different sections of the statue represented four successive kingdoms who would rule on Earth. Daniel explicitly tells us that the first of these kingdoms, represented by the statue’s head of gold, is Babylon, the kingdom which was in power during his day.
The identities of the second and third kingdoms are revealed in a later vision in Daniel chapter 8: “In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision. There before me was a ram with two horns. No animal could stand against it. Suddenly, a goat with a prominent horn came toward the two-horned ram and charged at it in great rage. The ram was powerless to stand against it. The goat became very great, but at the height of its power, the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up.” The prophecy goes on to inform us that the ram with two horns symbolizes a combined kingdom consisting of Medo-Persians: “The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.” The two-horned ram is an excellent symbol, as the two horns represent the two powers of the Medes and Persians who historically united under Cyrus the Great. So, where in the sequence of kingdoms does the Medo-Persian Empire fit? The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah answer this question for us because they informed us that Babylon would be defeated by the Medes: “See, I will stir up against them the Medes… Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, will be overthrown by God… The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon.” Historically, King Belshazzar, who we have been told was in power at the time of Daniel’s vision of the two-horned ram, was the last Babylonian ruler. In the year 539 BCE, he was defeated by Cyrus the Great, who commanded the Medo-Persian Empire. Thus, we can conclude that the Medo-Persian Empire is the second kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the kingdom that is depicted as the statue’s silver chest and arms and is said to defeat Babylon. What about the symbol of the goat as the animal that will defeat the two-horned ram, with the goat’s prominent horn then splitting into four smaller horns? Daniel chapter 8 informs us that the goat represents the Greeks: “The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. The four horns that replace the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.” Historically, Alexander the Great was King of the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedon. He overthrew the Medo-Persians and created a vast empire, the likes of which the world had never seen. He died suddenly in the year 323 BC, with his empire descending into chaos, eventually splitting up into four stable but weaker power blocks. We can see that Alexander the Great perfectly fits Daniel’s vision of the goat with a prominent horn that splits into four horns.
So far, it has been demonstrated how the golden head represents Babylon, the chest and arms of silver represents the Medo-Persians, and that the belly and thighs of bronze represents the Macedonians. We will now switch focus back to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel chapter 2. What about the remaining portion of the statue, which is said to have legs of iron with feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay? Daniel interpreted this fourth kingdom to be strong as iron: “As iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.” We can see that the fourth kingdom is described as being far stronger than those kingdoms which come before it. Historically, the emergence of the Roman Empire perfectly matches this description. The Romans annihilated the Macedonian Empire, dissolving their territory into Roman provinces. The Roman Empire went from strength to strength, eventually ruling over vast parts of the world, more than any other empire before it. Daniel also mentioned that this fourth kingdom will be a divided kingdom, partly strong and partly brittle. Again, this perfectly describes the Roman Empire. By the end of the 4th Century CE, it had split into two, with the western part ruling from Rome and the eastern part ruling from Constantinople. Although it was weakened, both halves of the Roman Empire continued to be among the strongest powers in the world.
In summary, we have now identified all four kingdoms symbolized by the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: Babylon, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Macedonian Empire, and the Roman Empire. This brings us onto the final part of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: “While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue, then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were all broken to pieces. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.” Daniel interprets this portion of the dream as follows: “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. It will crush all those kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.” We can see that the rock in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is interpreted by Daniel to be a fifth kingdom. Note the key characteristics of this coming kingdom: first, it is said that God of heaven will set it up; second, it will become a huge mountain that fills the whole earth; third, the kingdoms which preceded it will be crushed. Historically, it is only Islam which fulfills all these characteristics of the rock. The 7th Century CE saw the emergence of Islam as a force to be reckoned with. In the words of Daniel, Islam crushed and brought to an end the world empires at the time, including the mighty Romans and Persians. The early Muslims defeated them in war, capturing many of their lands which remain under Muslim rule to this day. The Islamic empire spread rapidly and went on to become one of the largest that the world had ever seen. Unlike the idolatrous empires that came before it, Prophet Muhammad and his companions were godly in character, preaching monotheism and implementing the law of God as divinely revealed in the Quran. Note how Daniel relates the kingdoms to one another: he spoke of five consecutive kingdoms which would emerge one after the other, beginning with Babylon and ending with God’s kingdom. In all of history, there is no series of events which fits Daniel’s sequence other than the emergence of the kingdoms of Babylon, the Medo-Persians, Macedonia, Rome, and Islam.
Critics may cite the fact that Jewish commentators have traditionally associated Islam not with God’s kingdom but rather the fourth evil kingdom. One of the ways they do this is by merging Rome into the third kingdom to create a combined Macedonian-Roman Empire. However, such interpretations are highly problematic because there is nothing in the prophecy which indicates that the third kingdom is a joint empire. It’s important to note that not a single Jewish commentator prior to the advent of Islam interpreted the fourth kingdom to be the rise of an Ishmaelite empire. Professor John J. Collins, a leading expert on Daniel, acknowledges that rabbis distorted its interpretation after the rise of Islam. The prevailing interpretation identified the kingdoms as Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Eventually, the sequence was adapted to take account of the new developments, specifically the rise of Islam. It’s apparent that Jewish commentators only started to link the fourth evil kingdom to Ishmael after the advent of Islam and its subsequent establishment as a world power, as they knew the implication was that Islam is the foretold kingdom of God. This is made clear in Jewish writings just prior to the advent of Islam, where fifth-century rabbis who were living under the oppressive Roman Empire were anticipating the imminent arrival of a salvific figure who would defeat the fourth kingdom, Rome, and usher in the Messianic age. Rabbis wrote in the Babylonian Talmud: “Those empires subjugated the Jewish people. With regard to Rome and Persia, their kingship extends until the coming of the Messiah.”
A final point worth mentioning is that the early Muslims were fully aware of such prophecies in Daniel. For example, a leading expert on Jewish scriptures and also a direct student of famous companions such as Ibn Abbas said the following: “Nebuchadnezzar saw a dream that there will be a statue with a head of gold. Daniel said that you are the head of the statue that you saw. As for the stone that will come down that will fill the heavens and the earth, that is about the prophet who will come at the end of times.”
The next prophecy we are going to examine can be found in Daniel chapter 7, which informs us that Daniel experienced a terrifying dream of four beasts: “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. Then a second beast, which looked like a bear; it was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth. Then another beast, one that looked like a leopard; it had four wings like a bird and four heads. After that, a fourth beast, terrifying and frightening and very powerful; it had large iron teeth; it was different from all the former beasts, and it had 10 horns.” Daniel interpreted the four beasts to represent the emergence of four kings: “The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth, as shall now be seen.” These four beasts symbolize the same four kingdoms depicted in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream about the statue which we covered previously. Here, Daniel described the first beast as a lion with the wings of an eagle. Prophet Jeremiah identified this kingdom when he forewarned of Jerusalem’s impending destruction: “A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out; his horses are swifter than eagles… Woe to us, we are ruined!” Note Jeremiah’s prophecy, which characterized Jerusalem’s destroyer as a ferocious lion swifter than an eagle, which mirrors Daniel’s symbolism of the first beast. Historically, this points to Babylon, as shortly after Jeremiah’s prophecy King Nebuchadnezzar laid waste to Jerusalem and took the Israelites to Babylon in captivity. With regard to the second beast, Daniel described it as a bear raised up on one of its sides. This mirrors the imagery of the ram with one horn longer than the other that we discussed earlier. Recall that Daniel specifically associated the two-horned ram with the Medo-Persians. Daniel’s mention of the three ribs in the bear’s mouth also relates to the Medo-Persians from a historical perspective, who at the height of their power had an empire which spanned three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. Regarding the third beast, Daniel described it as a leopard with four heads and four wings. This description mirrors the imagery of the goat that we discussed earlier. Recall that Daniel specifically associated the goat with the Greeks. Like the goat’s prominent horn that Daniel mentioned would split into four smaller horns, the mention of the leopard’s four heads and four wings also historically mirrors the Macedonian Empire, which we’ve seen split into four smaller power blocks after the death of Alexander the Great. We now come to the fourth and final beast, which Daniel described as having iron teeth and 10 horns. This description mirrors the imagery of the fourth kingdom from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, with the iron teeth matching the statue’s iron legs and the 10 horns matching the statue’s 10 toes. All of these parallels between the fourth beast and the fourth kingdom indicate that both are talking about the same entity, which we previously concluded was the Roman Empire. Rabbis also understood this fourth beast to represent the Roman Empire. For example, they wrote in the Babylonian Talmud: “As it is written in the Book of Daniel, with regard to the fourth empire, this empire that will devour the earth is the wicked Roman Empire.”
In summary, we can see that the four kingdoms symbolized as beasts in Daniel’s dream are the same four kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream about the statue. Why does the Book of Daniel repeat the same prophecy using two different dreams with different symbolism in each? Their symbolism differs because of the recipients of the dreams. Nebuchadnezzar visualized the kingdoms as a dazzling statue made of precious metals. This could be a reflection of his disbelief as a pagan king. By contrast, Daniel visualized the kingdoms as terrifying beasts. As a prophet, he understood the true vicious and ugly reality of the kingdoms because of his god-given spiritual insight. Coming back to Daniel’s dream, he goes on to describe the fourth beast, Rome, in more detail: “The 10 horns are 10 kings who will come from this kingdom. After them, another king will arise; he will subdue three kings; he will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and change the set times and the laws; the holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times, and half a time; but the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the power of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High.” As we are going to see, there is only one Roman ruler in history who fulfilled all of these details: Constantine the Great. At the end of the 3rd Century CE, the Roman Empire had a form of government where power was divided among four individuals. During this time, Constantine was a military commander in Rome’s armed forces who served under his father, Emperor Constantius I. First, Constantine rose to power upon the death of his father. Soon after his ascension, a series of civil wars broke out among the four rulers, with Constantine emerging triumphant over his three rivals and ending up as the sole ruler of the Roman Empire in the year 324 CE. This is a fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy that the prominent king will defeat three other kings. Constantine inherited a Roman Empire which was religiously divided, with Christians holding varying theological beliefs about the nature of Jesus. In the year 325 CE, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea in the hope that he could unite Christians by coming up with a universally acceptable definition of the nature of Jesus. According to historians, it was Constantine himself who proposed the most controversial clause in the Nicene Creed, known as Homoousios, that is, the concept that Jesus shares the same substance as God the Father. From a Jewish perspective, Constantine’s Council of Nicaea was an act of blasphemy as it attributed supreme divinity to a human being. So Constantine, when viewed through the monotheistic lens of the Old Testament, can absolutely be described as a fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy that the prominent king will speak against God. Constantine was not just a catalyst for theological changes; he was also responsible for changes to ritualistic aspects of religion. For example, he officially established a Sunday Sabbath in Roman law, which stands in opposition to the Saturday Sabbath of the Old Testament. Hence, Constantine is also a fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy that the prominent king will change the set times and laws of God. The Roman Empire’s fortunes radically changed in the 7th Century with the advent of Islam. The early Muslims militarily defeated the Roman Empire, capturing many of their lands. Significantly, Constantine’s Imperial Palace, which was built in the capital city of Constantinople (a Greek word meaning the city of Constantine), was also captured by the Muslims. For nearly a millennium, Constantinople was the jewel of the Roman empire, being the largest and wealthiest city in Europe. The city fell to the Muslim Ottoman Empire and remains under Muslim control to the present day, now being known as Istanbul. Hence, the advent of Islam is a perfect fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy that the prominent king’s court and power will be taken away. Daniel even goes on to provide us with an exact timeline as to when God’s kingdom would emerge. Daniel foretold that God’s people will be oppressed by the prominent king for a duration of time described as a time, times, and half a time. With regards to the mention of times, how should this be interpreted? The word used in the prophecy for times is the Aramaic plural form ‘ananin’, which generally means two or more units of time. The majority of interpreters, however, understand it in the dual sense, i.e., two units of time. A Bible commentary on this prophecy informs us the plural word ‘times’ can only designate the simple plural, i.e., two times used in the dual sense. Now, Daniel does not define how long a unit of time is; however, if we classify one unit of time to be a century and if we go with the majority interpretation of times to be two units of time, then Daniel gives us a calculation of 350 years as follows: one century plus two centuries plus half a century. Remarkably, this timeline also points to the rise of Islam. It just so happens that 350 years is the exact span of time from the birth of Constantine in the year 272 CE to the year of the Hijra in 622 CE. The Hijra is a monumental milestone marking the start of the Islamic calendar and the year in which Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, fled Meccan persecution and set up the first Muslim state in the city of Medina. We can see that the advent of Islam perfectly fulfills Daniel’s timeline for when God’s kingdom would emerge. Such calculations are standard methods employed by rabbis when interpreting scripture. For example, Rabbi Ben Abrahamson used similar calculations based on other prophecies in Daniel, and he also arrived at the year 622 CE, which is when he says the true warrior Messiah was foretold to emerge in Arabia. Daniel had prophesied that 490 years had passed until this year 622 CE. Now would come the true warrior Messiah. Although rare, even in Arabia, parents hoping that their child might be this Messiah might name him after Daniel – Ish ha-mud, “man of delights” – Muhammad.
In summary, the prophecy of the four beasts in Daniel chapter 7 has been analyzed in great detail. We have seen that the four beasts represent the same four kingdoms from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream about the statue in Daniel chapter 2. We have also seen that the kingdom of God, which is said to save holy people from the oppression of the fourth beast, is the same kingdom symbolized as the Divine Rock which was foretold to smash the statue to pieces in Daniel chapter 2. Upon analyzing Daniel’s sequence of these kingdoms and correlating them with real-world events, we must conclude that in all of history these prophecies can refer to none other than the advent of Muhammad’s prophethood and the rise of Islam as a world power.
Now, the biggest objection that a Christian will raise is that Daniel is not prophesying about Muhammad but rather Jesus Christ. In response, there are serious issues with Jesus as the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecies. Firstly, the New Testament teaches that Jesus was humiliated, tortured, and executed by the fourth beast, Rome, which completely contradicts the prophecies in Daniel 2 and 7, which we have seen describe the emergence of a Messianic figure who will be powerful and have dominion on Earth, symbolized as the Divine Rock who will smash the other kingdoms and save God’s holy people from the oppression of the fourth beast, Rome. Secondly, recall that Daniel foretold that the coming Messianic figure will emerge after Constantine and usher in God’s kingdom on Earth. Jesus was born in the first century CE, which is several centuries before Constantine, so Jesus violates the chronology set out in Daniel. The renowned Christian biblical eschatologist Joel Richardson fully acknowledges the historical problem that Islam poses to Christians when interpreting Daniel’s prophecies: “But you have the historical problem of Islam. Several hundred years after Jesus, Islam arose, and it actually better fulfills the biblical criteria than the first coming of Jesus, because Islam conquered Babylon, Meo-Persia, Greece, and it was the entity responsible for the final collapse of Rome.” We can see that the only way Christians can shoehorn Jesus into Daniel’s prophecies is by ignoring the facts of history. It is clear that when we let Daniel speak for itself and factor in history as it actually unfolded, the only conclusion one can reach is that Islam is the fulfillment of Daniel’s foretold kingdom of God here on Earth. For more information on biblical prophecies about the coming of Muhammad, upon whom be peace, please download your free copy of the book.
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