Simply teaching the Bible, simply

This teaching on Daniel chapter 10 was given on the 4th July 2021 by pastor Barry Forder at Calvary Chapel Portsmouth. 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. We are now two years on from events of the previous chapter (about 536 B.C.). As we have already noted, Cyrus and Darius both started their reigns simultaneously, so this would have also been the third years of Darius. The fact that Daniel doesn’t mention Darius here is probably due to the fact that Darius has now died. From what we know from secular history, Gubaru the Mead (whom we are certain changed his name upon receiving the throne to Darius the Mead) only lived for a short time after he was appointed as king of Babylon by Cyrus. One of the most common attacks on the book of Daniel by the critics, is to state that there is no record of a person called ‘Daniel’ in the ancient Babylonian records that have been found, and therefore he must be a fictional character, and the book must have been written much later by psudo-Daniel. As Proverbs tells us, the first to state his case seems right until his neighbour comes and examines him! And so it is here. The critics arguments can sometimes seem plausible until one looks at the facts! For why would anyone expect to find Daniel’s name on any of the official documents of the day? Daniel was his Jewish name, and the Jews were mere captives in the land of the Chaldeans. As Daniel reminds us here, even as late as the third year of the reign of Cyrus – two years after Daniel had retired from public office (see Dan 1:21) – he was know as Belteshazzar. As Professor Robert D Wilson points out, there is ample evidence to confirm that a man by this name did indeed hold a high public office during this period in Babylon. As David said: “Your Word is true from the beginning!” (Ps 119:160) Daniel here explains that something was revealed to him, and it was true. He also tells us that the fulfilment for that which was revealed to him was to be in the distant future; and as we will see, the last three chapters of the book of Daniel span human history from the time of Daniel to the time when Jesus will return to establish his kingdom and reign on the throne of David. The good news is that Daniel says he understood what he was told – so with 2,500 years of history on our side, we should be able to understand too!