The Apocalypse of Daniel: Introduction

Introduction

What do you think of if you hear the word apocalypse? Maybe you get images of the end of the world. Maybe you equate it with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a phrase that looks at a specific portion of Revelation chapter 6. The word Apocalypse is not really a scary term. It is a Greek word which means: the unveiling or the revealing, hence the name of the book of Revelation is just a translation of the word Apocalypse. While we have been looking at the life of Daniel in Babylon from the time he was around 15 years old to the time he was in the mid to late 80s we have seen the example of consistent faithfulness in his life and the life of his three friends. Last Sunday I look at several lessons we have learned as we have journeyed through this book. The focus of the book turns now for the last six chapters as we move into visions that God gave to Daniel. Up until now it has been others that have been having the dreams and visions, now we dive back inside of the story and see some of the events that happened while Daniel was in Babylon and how God revealed or unveiled Himself and the future to Daniel.

The Purpose of Prophecy

Before we start turning into these visions and prophecies I want to remind you of something I have mentioned before in regards to prophecies. When God gives a prophecy it is to affect real time change in the people who hear it. We can get so caught up looking at prophecy for meaning of words and who could be this person, and where is this going to happen, and so forth (and there is a time to do that, it is a fun mental exercise), but if you the reader or the listener are not changed by it, you missed the point. If the warnings of the prophets like Jeremiah or Isaiah don’t hit a cord with you and make you examine your life, you need to read it again and look again. The same this is true with what we are going to cover in Daniel and if you read Revelation in the New Testament. How does reading, studying, listening, and meditating on these words affect your walk today? How does it change you today? If you believe that Jesus could come back at any moment, how does that affect what you are doing right now?