The new post-1967 interpretations of the prophecies in Daniel present a credibility challenge to all of traditional Christianity.When the first edition of this book was published in 2009, I had confidence that the world of biblical scholarship and expository preaching would welcome a new commentary offering a 21st-century perspective on the seven chrono-specific predictive prophecies in the Book of Daniel, especially since the interpretations it introduced were letter-faithful to the Bible’s Hebrew and Aramaic text, and to history. In addition, the new interpretations were faithful to both the biblical text and documented history at the same time, unlike traditional expositions of Daniel, so I presumed that Bible expositors everywhere would recognize my exegesis as better and rejoice. But, I naïvely underestimated the power of tradition.The challenge to establishment Christianity set in motion by the improved interpretations in my Daniel commentary meant that proponents of the older traditional interpretations—those formulated mainly by 19th-century expositors whose expositions were based on approximate fulfillments and dubious historical details going back to the time of Jerome in Christianity and Rashi in Judaism—felt the need to defend the older interpretations by reminding everyone that decades of peer review had made them sacrosanct. In that way, they sought to maintain the loyalty of those trained in the older teachings, making it difficult for them embrace my more up-to-date exegesis, with its interpretations based on new knowledge gained from prophecies in Daniel fulfilled in modern Israel.No doubt, some of you will interpret the above comments as sour grapes on my part, and I can see how you might think so. But, the claim that my new interpretations of the chrono-specific prophecies in Daniel are superior to those of past expositors is a result, not of exegetical envy, but of God’s time schedule. Since God had decreed that the meanings of the prophecies would remain hidden from understanding until the time appointed for their unsealing, waiting for the prophecies to be unsealed as God had prescribed was critical to correct exegesis. Consequently, the interpretations featured in this book were developed after the prophecies were unsealed, in contrast to the interpretations of past expositors who claimed to be interpreting the prophecies before they were unsealed.In the closing chapter of Daniel, God, speaking through his angel, said (and said it twice for emphasis), “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4) ... “And he [the angel of God] said, Go thy way, Daniel: the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9). Yet, despite the definite time period specified by God for keeping the prophecies sealed, the list of Daniel expositors who have chosen to ignore it includes such past Christian luminaries as Matthew Henry, Albert Barnes, John Nelson Darby, C. I. Scofield, Sir Robert Anderson, Arno C. Gaebelein, Clarence Larkin, H. A. Ironside, John F. Walvoord, and Leon J. Wood, to name but a few who have enjoyed popularity.All of the above-named expositors were gifted Bible scholars, of course, and each one prided himself on his Daniel exposition. But, to a man, they all made the same exegetical error. By not waiting for the God-appointed time of unsealing before attempting to interpret the God-sealed prophecies, they were jumping the exegetical gun. Even with the best of intentions, what they were trying to do was impossible, and that is why all of them produced interpretations of the Danielic prophecies that are inherently flawed. Likewise, Jewish scholars, constrained by allegiance to centuries of rabbinic tradition, have made the same mistake.Not so for us today. In Daniel 12:4, after commanding that the prophecies in Daniel be sealed from being understood, God made a promise to the future: “and knowledge shall be increased.” Those of us alive today are blessed to be living in the promised days of increased knowledge. Events in modern Israel have allowed us to recognize in that nation’s recent history the fulfillment of the chrono-specific prophecy in Daniel 8:1-14, signaling the start of the unsealing process for all of the prophecies hidden away so long ago. The meaning of the prophecy in Daniel, chapter 8, was made manifest on June 7, 1967, the third day of the Six-Day War. As the world watched on television, Old City Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were liberated from Gentile control and restored to Jewish rule, precisely as foretold in verse 14: “And he [the angel of God] said to me [Daniel], ‘For 2,300 evenings and mornings [Passover nights]. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state [placed under Jewish sovereignty]’ ” (ESV).Prior to that prophesied liberation event in June, 1967, it was not humanly possible to accurately interpret any of the prophecies in Daniel that God had said were sealed from understanding until the appointed time of the end, although many past expositors tried and failed. Now that the end-time unsealing event has occurred in history, this commentary can begin where all past expositions of the chrono-specific predictive prophecies in Daniel should have begun, but could not, by explaining how God used the fulfillment of the gateway prophecy in chapter 8 to signal that all of the prophecies he had commanded to be sealed are now unsealed so that we can understand them in this day and age.Best regards,Dan Bruce, Author