When
the first
edition of Daniel
Unsealed,
my 224-page
commentary on
the Book of
Daniel, was
published in
2009, I
assumed that
the world of
biblical
scholarship
and expository
preaching
would welcome
a new
conservative
commentary
offering a
modern
exposition of
the
chrono-specific
predictive
prophecies in
the Book of
Daniel. The
new
interpretations
it introduced
were faithful
to the
biblical text
and documented
history, but
unlike those
found in older
traditional
expositions,
faithful to
both at the
same time. I
was hopeful
that
traditionalists
would
recognize my
exposition as
a step forward
and rejoice,
but found that
apathy caused
by
unquestioning
belief in the
pedigree of
their
traditional
expositions
often
prevented mine
from being
considered at
all.
On
those
occasions when
my commentary
was given
consideration,
its new
interpretations
were usually
treated as
nothing more
than a
sciolistic
challenge to
the expository
status quo.
Proponents of
traditional
expositions of
Daniel, those
formulated by
19th-century
expositors
using outdated
historical
details and
approximated
fulfillments,
answered the
challenge by
arguing that
endorsements
by past
expository
giants made
the older
interpretations
all but
sacrosanct.
Questioning
the basis for
my exegesis,
they made it
difficult for
my exposition,
with its new
interpretations
based on new
knowledge
gained from
prophecies
fulfilled in
modern Israel,
to get a
merit-based
hearing in
their exalted
expository
circles.
By
now you are
probably
attributing
the above
observations
to a display
of author’s
hubris, and I
can understand
how you might
think so.
However, my
claim that the
interpretations
of the
prophecies in
my commentary
are superior
to those of
past
expositors can
be explained,
not by egotism
on my part,
but instead by
my heeding
God’s
timetable for
unsealing the
prophecies.
Let me
explain. When
the prophecies
were given,
God commanded
that their
meanings
should remain
hidden from
understanding
until the time
of the end, so
waiting for
them to be
unsealed was
critical to
achieving
correct
exegesis. For
that reason,
the
interpretations
in this book
were developed
after the
prophecies
were unsealed
as prescribed
in Daniel, as
opposed to
those offered
by past
expositors who
claimed to
have
interpreted
the prophecies
without saying
how and when
they had been
unsealed.
In
the final
chapter of
Daniel, God,
speaking
through his
angel, said
and then
repeated it
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 time delay
ordained by
God for
keeping the
prophecies
sealed to
prevent them
from being
prematurely
understood,
the list of
Daniel
expositors who
have chosen to
ignore God’s
stated
intention
about the
duration of
the sealing
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,
Leon J. Wood,
and Edward J.
Young, to name
but a few who
have enjoyed
wide-spread
popularity
over the
years.
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 jumped
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.
In
Daniel 12:4,
after
commanding
that the
prophecies be
sealed from
being
understood,
God made a
promise to the
future when he
said: “and
knowledge
shall be
increased.”
Those of us
alive today
are blessed to
be living in
the promised
days of
increased
knowledge.
Recent events
in Israel have
allowed us to
recognize the
meaning of,
and thus to
unseal, the
prophecy in
Daniel,
chapter 8,
verses 1-14,
the
fulfillment of
which was made
manifest on
June 7, 1967,
the third day
of the Six-Day
War. As the
world watched
on television,
the Old City
of 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
[returned to
Jewish
sovereignty]’
” (ESV).
Prior
to the
restoration of
the Temple
Mount to the
Jews in 1967,
it was not
humanly
possible to
accurately
interpret any
of the
prophecies in
Daniel that
God had said
were sealed
away from
understanding
until the
appointed time
of the end.
Now that the
actual
unsealing
event for one
of the
prophecies has
occurred in
history, my
new commentary
begins where
all past
expositions of
the
chrono-specific
predictive
prophecies in
Daniel should
have begun, by
explaining how
God used the
fulfillment of
the prophecy
in Daniel,
chapter 8, to
signal that
all of the
prophecies he
had commanded
to be sealed
are now
unsealed for
understanding
by us in this
day and age.
Because
the prophecies
in Daniel have
been unsealed
by recent
events in
Israel, as God
promised they
would be, the
leaders of
conservative
Christianity
are faced with
a dilemma. The
expositions
that they have
been teaching
for decades in
conservative
Christian
circles are
now in need of
serious
correction.
Unfortunately,
the correction
will probably
not be
forthcoming
from those who
have been
teaching and
preaching the
wrong
interpretations
of the
Danielic
prophecies.
They seem to
be unable to
see that
events have
passed them
by, making
their outdated
expositions of
Daniel
obsolete.
You,
on the other
hand, have a
unique
opportunity to
understand the
correct
end-time
interpretations
of the
prophecies in
Daniel. All
you have to do
is read my
book with an
open mind. At
present, it is
the only place
in all of
Christianity
and Judaism
where you can
find a
complete and
accurate
exposition of
the
chrono-specific
predictive
prophecies
recorded in
chapter 4 and
chapters 7-12
in the Book of
Daniel, an
exposition
that is
faithful to
both the
biblical text
and documented
history at the
same time as
all correct
expositions of
God's word
must be. I
hope that you
will take
advantage of
what God is
making
available to
you through my
ministry!
Best
regards,
Dan
Bruce, Author
DANIEL
UNSEALED -
2015 Edition -
ISBN
978-1489505415
The
Prophecy
Society
www.prophecysociety.org
Atlanta,
Georgia
770-679-0633