Daniel 8 - Ten Dual Prophecies in the Bible

         Scholars all agree that Daniel 8 talks about the Medo Persian empire being overtaken by Alexander the Great and after his untimely (there's no such thing with God) death, he divides the kingdom between 4 generals, the most prominent being the Seleucids in the North and the Ptolemies in the south. Eventually a king arises named Antiochus, who gives himself a god-like name, Epiphanes, who then proceeds to terrorize Israel and desecrate the temple by offering a pig on the altar, making the priests eat its flesh, fornicate in the temple, put out the candles, set up a statue of Zeus in the temple and sprinkle pig's blood throughout. He is the abomination of desolation - yet Jesus in Matthew 24:15 talks about the abomination as having not yet come? Why? Because the Bible is filled with prophecies with dual fulfillment. Let's discuss 10 of them.

    1. Abomination of desolation - Antiochus Epiphanes is spoken of in Daniel yet the Antichrist will come in the last days and at the 3.5-year mark of the tribulation, will defile the temple and bring about great persecution and be the dual fulfillment of this prophecy

   2. "A virgin will conceive..." - Ahaz was about to be conquered. It was too late for the Northern kingdom who due to their wickedness were about to be overrun by the Assyrians. Isaiah gave the king a prophecy that a young virgin would conceive, have a baby, and before it could become a toddler, defeat would come. This came true but yet a second fulfillment of this prophecy came true with Jesus, Matthew 1:23, who was born of virgin Mary.

  3. "I will pour out my Spirit..." - Joel 2:28,29 says that in the last days God will pour out his Spirit and the disciples preached this at Pentecost as having happened in Acts 2:17,18. Yet a second fulfillment is coming. Joel 2:30,31 along with 3:1,2 describe wonders in the heavens and Earth which relate to the 7 years of tribulation, so there will be a second pouring out in the end times which many people believe will happen to the Jewish nation with great revival.

 4. David's son will build the temple and sit on the throne - 2Samuel 7:11-13 is a prophecy from Nathan telling David that his son, Solomon, would be the next king and build the temple. But then he goes on to say that he will sit on the throne forever. Solomon? No, Jesus. Jesus, from the line of David, will be king forever. (Luke 1:32,33)

  5. Gog and Magog - There will be a battle involving Gog and Magog described in Ezekiel 38 and 39. This has not occurred yet, but we anticipate it coming in the near future. There is another battle of Gog and Magog discussed in Revelation 20:7-9 which is completely different and so we can only assume that this is a later one probably during the tribulation.

  6. "all things under his feet" - Psalms 8:4-6 discusses creation and how God has put mankind in charge of creation, and we are to take dominion. Yet we see in Hebrews 2:7-9, this also was fulfilled in Jesus who has been given all authority in Heaven and Earth.

 7. Elijah is coming - This may be a triple prophecy! Malachai 4:5,6 says that before the Messiah comes, Elijah will come to introduce him. This is why Jews, even today, leave an empty chair at Seder as a sign they are waiting for him. Jesus states in Matthew 17:12 that John the Baptist is who that was referring to. Yet we see at the transfiguration, the actual Elijah shows up and in the last days, Rev.11:3, it is believed that one of the 2 "witnesses" will be Elijah. As someone in my life group said, "He ain't gettin' no rest!"

  8.A new covenant is coming - Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezek.36:24-31 speak of a New covenant coming where we are not under the law but under grace. The Holy Spirit will no longer come and go upon people but will come to live inside believers and change them internally. This happens in Acts 2. However, inside these passages, as in Joel, we see a later time prophesied where Israel will receive an outpouring and there will be a revival among the Jews.

 9. The Kingdom of God - Jesus announced, and had the disciples announce that the Kingdom of God had come to Earth when He began his ministry. We also know, in the Lord's prayer, He instructs us to pray that His kingdom will come. God will, when He returns to judge the Earth, set up His kingdom here on Earth.

 10.Roman Empire - Daniel 2 talks about the Roman empire taking over the Greeks. Yet the Roman Empire has come and gone and the rock that's going to knock it over and set up an eternal kingdom, technically can't unless there is a revived Roman Empire. Therefore, although the legs of the statue in Daniel 2 and the beast with iron teeth in Daniel 7 has come, it must come again in the future - a dual fulfillment.

      The Bible has complex prophecies and just as the Jews missed the dual prophecies of the Messiah, the suffering servant and later the conquering king (okay, 11 dual prophecies), we must make sure we interpret prophecy carefully, lest we miss it's fulfillment.

Daniel 2 - A Reason to Trust the Bible

           If God is outside of time, like we believe He is, then we should expect the book He gave us, the Bible, to also have elements outside of time. It does! It is estimated that 30% of the Bible is prophecy and Daniel 2 is unique in that in approximately 600BC, Daniel gives the history of the world's empires from then on including the future coming kingdom to finish out world history.

        I like to think of time as a long train of box cars going down a track. If you are sitting at an intersection waiting for it to pass, you see one car at a time. If you are in a helicopter high above it, you see the whole train all at once from the engine to the caboose and everything in between. God is in that helicopter. He is outside of time and sees it all at once. We are in the auto watching cars go by one by one. We have seen some of the past but we can't see beyond the present. Daniel 2 sees it all because God wrote the Bible and gave this prophecy actually in a dream to Nebuchadnezzar but interpreted by Daniel.

        Of note is that the Babylonian empire, that Daniel was seeing in the present was seen by Isaiah 140 years prior to this along with the Medes and Persians 70 years later, even naming the Medo Persian king who would release the Jews from bondage, King Cyrus. The Greeks were mentioned so specifically in later chapters of Daniel that it is said when Alexander the Great came to Jerusalem to capture it, the High Priest showed Alexander where he was described in Daniel and Alexander, so impressed, left Judea alone. Micah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and the Revelations of John all deal with this text, also. These prophecies are so specific that skeptics have believed that they were penned after the fact until the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered which authenticated their early dating.

        Someday soon, however, this statue will come crumbling down. Daniel describes a rock, which symbolizes our solid rock, Jesus, like a bowling ball headed for the pin or a meteor coming down from the sky, destroying the statue. This Rock will set up a kingdom, the Kingdom of God (which BTW I'm already a citizen of) that will last forever at His Second Coming.

         God is sovereign. These things have occurred and will occur. As Handel said in the Hallelujah Chorus

The kingdom of this world (or, The Kingdoms of this world have become...)

(Is become) the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
For ever and ever, forever and ever,

King of kings, and Lord of lords,
|: King of kings, and Lord of lords, :|
And Lord of lords,
And He shall reign,
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

  Aren't you glad you are following the one who controls it all?

 Aren't you glad you are on the winning side?

 Aren't you glad that book you're reading is true and can be trusted?