Daniel Chapter 10 Vs. 1

 

Daniel's Terrifying Vision of a Man

Many wars before all these things are fulfilled:

Daniel 10:1 "In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing [was] true, but the time appointed [was] long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision."

third year, 536 B.C.... This was 5 years after the vision of the 70 weeks of Dan. 9:1-27 (cp. Dan. 10:1 with 9:1).

Cyrus king of... Cyrus king of Persia, this was not Darius the Mede of Dan. 5:31; 6:1; 9:1. He was a Persian prince and became king of the Medo-Persian Empire after Darius had reigned two years. There are no less than four traditions about the birth of Cyrus. Herodotus says that he was the son of Mandane, daughter of Astyages who sought to kill the child because of dreams he had of his own defeat at his hands. Xenophon says he was the son of Cambyses, king of Persia, that he was educated in Persia and was later sent for by Astyages who made him commander-in-chief of his armies. Nicolaus says that Cyrus was the son of Atradates, a Mardian bandit, and that he became the adopted son of Artembares, cupbearer to Astyages, later becoming prominent in the service of Astyages. The truth of the matter seems to be that Cyrus was the son of Astyages and Queen Esther of the book of Esther (see Kings of Persia). This being true, then many prophecies of Isaiah take on new interest and meaning. Cyrus was the subject of a number of prophecies of Isaiah concerning the restoration of Israel from Babylon and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple after the captivities. See notes on Isaiah 44:28-45:1. In the Bible his name was predicted 175 years before he was born, the prediction even foretelling his decree to liberate the Jews and rebuild Jerusalem (2Ch. 36:22-23; Ezr. 1:1-8; 3:7; 4:3-5; 5:13-17; 6:3, 6:14; Isa. 44:28; 45:1).
Cyrus was the leader of the Persians which overthrew the Babylonian Empire.

thing was revealed... A term used 25 times in Daniel and 45 times in Revelation, emphasizing the subject matter of both books.

revealed unto Daniel... Note the price Daniel paid for this revelation and the method whereby he received it (Dan. 10:2-12:13). Divine revelations have always had an impressive effect upon their receivers (Dan. 2:1-49, 4:1-37, 5:1-31,7-12; Isa. 6:1-13; Rev. 1:1-20; Gen. 15:1-21).

Belteshazzar was the name Daniel had been given, while he was captive in Babylon. It is explained that by a vision God revealed to Daniel, things which would take place far in the future.

time appointed was... The time for fulfillment was in the far distant future (Dan. 10:14,35). Even yet it has not been completed. At least all of Daniel 11:35-12:13 is yet to be fulfilled. The Hebrew: tsaba’ gadowl means long warfare. The true idea is that there will be many wars before all these things are fulfilled.

The Vision of Wars

1. The war between Gabriel and the satanic prince of Persia who resisted him and sought to keep him from giving this vision of wars to Daniel (Dan. 10:12-13, 10:20)

2. That between the Persians and Greeks (Dan. 10:20-21, 11:2-3; 8:20-21)

3. War of the Medes and Persians with the Babylonians (Dan. 11:1; 5:25-31)

4. That of the generals of Alexander the Great seizing control of his empire and dividing it into 4 parts (Dan. 11:4; 8:8, 8:22).

5. The 1st war between Syria and Egypt, 2 of the 4 divisions of Alexander’s empire (Dan. 11:5)

6. The 2nd war between Syria and Egypt (Dan. 11:7-9)

7. The 3rd war between Syria and Egypt (Dan. 11:10-12)

8. The 4th war between Syria and Egypt (Dan. 11:13-16)

9. The 5th war between Syria and Egypt (Dan. 11:17)

10. The war between Syria and Greece and Rome (Dan. 11:18-19)

11. The 1st war between Syria and Israel (Dan. 11:20)

12. The 2nd war between Syria and Israel (Dan. 11:21-24)

13. The 6th war between Syria and Egypt (Dan. 11:25-27)

14. The 3rd war between Syria and Israel (Dan. 11:28)

15. The 7th war between Syria and Egypt (Dan. 11:29-31)

16. The 4th war between Syria and Israel (Dan. 11:32-34)

17. War between Syria and God (Dan. 11:36-39)

18. The 8th and last war between Syria and Egypt (Dan. 11:40-42)

19. The 5th war between Syria and Israel (Dan_ 11:41)

20. War between Syria and other nations (Dan. 11:41)

21. Syrian war with the Libyans and Ethiopians (Dan. 11:43)

22. War between Syria and the 10 kingdoms under her and Russia and the nations north and east of the old Roman Empire territory (Dan. 11:44)

23. The 6th and last war between Syria and Israel (Dan. 11:45; Zec. 14:1-5, 14:14)

24. War between Syria and Christ at His second coming (Dan. 11:45; 7:21-22, 7:25-27; 8:23-25; 9:27)

25. War in heaven between Michael and his angels and Satan and his angels (Dan. 12:1; Rev. 12:7-12)

understood the thing... If Daniel understood the vision before the now historical section (Dan. 11:2-34) was fulfilled, we today can surely understand the vision after the fulfillment of this section. The whole vision is very plain, as we shall see.

The Preparation of the Prophet

The occasion of the vision

The final vision given to Daniel came in the third year of the reign of Cyrus which was 536 b.c. Exiles had returned from Babylon and had begun rebuilding the temple. (Perhaps Daniel had not returned with the exiles because of his age.)