Daniel and Revelation Unsealed!
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time if the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Daniel 12:4
"And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open . . . and the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey: and I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." Revelation 10:1, 2, 8-11
In Daniel 12, the prophet Daniel is instructed by the angelic being to seal his book until the time of the end. In the book of Revelation, we see another angel holding a little open book in his hand. Is there any connection between the sealing of Daniel's book and the little open book in Revelation 10?
The evidence for just such a connection is astounding. Besides the obvious literary parallels (eg the sealing and opening of a little book), the Revelation borrows a great deal of its imagery and symbolism from Daniel, to wit: The ten-horned beast of Daniel (Daniel 7:7, 8, 23-25) and the sea beast having seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 13:1) represent the same blasphemous antichrist power that persecuted the saints of God during the Dark Ages. There are the angel messengers who bring the message of God to Daniel and John. There are the lion, leopard and bear of Daniel 7 making a brief appearance again in Revelation 13:2, bringing the reader's attention back to the little book of Daniel which is being opened in the book of Revelation. And not least of all, there is the theme of judgment and deliverance of Gods people in the last days, and the destruction of Satan and his hosts.
The preponderance of literary evidence strongly suggests that the little book in the Angel's hand is none other than the prophecy of the book of Daniel being opened in the book of Revelation. Revelation in this sense explains and expands upon the symbolic beasts and time periods introduced in the book of Daniel. Conservative bible commentators agree upon this point.
We conclude therefore that the apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are not closed, but unsealed to the understanding of those who come to the study thereof as teachable learners earnestly seeking God's precious end-time truth, to diligently apply its counsel to their daily walk with Jesus. The prologue of Revelation does not leave us guessing as to God's revelatory intent in these books: "The revelation (or unveiling, from the Greek apokalupsis) of Jesus Christ, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." Revelation 1:1. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, God the Father has unsealed these complimentary prophetic books to give a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ our Deliverer who redeems his people from Satan and his hosts in the final, decisive conflict between good and evil. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." Revelation 1:3.
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"And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open . . . and the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey: and I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." Revelation 10:1, 2, 8-11
In Daniel 12, the prophet Daniel is instructed by the angelic being to seal his book until the time of the end. In the book of Revelation, we see another angel holding a little open book in his hand. Is there any connection between the sealing of Daniel's book and the little open book in Revelation 10?
The evidence for just such a connection is astounding. Besides the obvious literary parallels (eg the sealing and opening of a little book), the Revelation borrows a great deal of its imagery and symbolism from Daniel, to wit: The ten-horned beast of Daniel (Daniel 7:7, 8, 23-25) and the sea beast having seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 13:1) represent the same blasphemous antichrist power that persecuted the saints of God during the Dark Ages. There are the angel messengers who bring the message of God to Daniel and John. There are the lion, leopard and bear of Daniel 7 making a brief appearance again in Revelation 13:2, bringing the reader's attention back to the little book of Daniel which is being opened in the book of Revelation. And not least of all, there is the theme of judgment and deliverance of Gods people in the last days, and the destruction of Satan and his hosts.
The preponderance of literary evidence strongly suggests that the little book in the Angel's hand is none other than the prophecy of the book of Daniel being opened in the book of Revelation. Revelation in this sense explains and expands upon the symbolic beasts and time periods introduced in the book of Daniel. Conservative bible commentators agree upon this point.
We conclude therefore that the apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are not closed, but unsealed to the understanding of those who come to the study thereof as teachable learners earnestly seeking God's precious end-time truth, to diligently apply its counsel to their daily walk with Jesus. The prologue of Revelation does not leave us guessing as to God's revelatory intent in these books: "The revelation (or unveiling, from the Greek apokalupsis) of Jesus Christ, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." Revelation 1:1. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, God the Father has unsealed these complimentary prophetic books to give a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ our Deliverer who redeems his people from Satan and his hosts in the final, decisive conflict between good and evil. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." Revelation 1:3.
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