Between Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great image, and Daniel’s subsequent dreams and explanation of them by the Angel Gabriel, God develops the landscape on the lands of the Bible, as they move through time from Babylon to His return.

And as is God’s custom, the prophecies are laid down without regard for time. The process is one that is used over and over by God to give us the information, but it’s only through the passage of time that we can understand His message.

That’s why in Daniels’s case He sealed the word until it’s time. With all the things that God so specifically shows in the prophecy, it’s almost impossible to miss it’s meaning by the time we arrive at the times, when the word of the prophecy is unsealed.

That’s the point. When you reach the time, the events will be so obvious that if you had been aware of it all along, the trail would have led you out of the dankness of speculation right into the light of the truth of the times. 

Now that that time has arrived, the meaning of the prophecy is so obvious that is seems too simple, but that’s God - after all, God is not the author of confusion. Truth is rooted in simplicity.

Here in this illustration we can see the historical flow of the prophecies and the trail they mark could be followed in the dark!

The story the prophecy tells is simple to follow. There will be a total of nine kingdoms that grow on the land about which God prophesies - The Mideast. By the time Daniel comes on the scene two of them have already done their part and moved on - Egypt and Assyria.

Then, beginning in the time of Nebuchadnezzar God gets very specific about how the landscape would develop from then until His return in vengeance.  

He begins with Babylon, and shows with amazing clarity the flow of the Empires that will grow out of that land. Each phase of the prophecy narrows down and clarifies the stream that needs to be followed to lead to the end. The historical trail is remarkably clear, so those living in the time, foretold as the end times, will know that they are, by seeing the prophesied events occurring on the prophesied landscape, that are prophesied to occur at no other time.  Simple!  When you see this, know this!

There simply is no other way of understanding why God gave us all this history, written in advance, if it weren’t to be used as map to guide us down the trail to the end times. Otherwise why tell us about the end times at all? God has never failed in his word to make his plans known. His revelations are always made known as the time for their occurrence approaches.  When asked for a sign of the Messiah, God said I give this adulteress generation only one sign;  and He gives Jonah as a sign.  The sign of Jonah paints the whole landscape of the Messiah.  The sign of Daniel paints the whole landscape on which the Messiah returns to set up the everlasting kingdom.  And, you're going to see it only one time in history, so you'd better watch for it!

When coupled with the other end time prophecies, the story of where the landscape of the Mideast would be at the time when you would actually see Daniel’s word spilling out onto the stage of history is as clear as a glass of water.

This truth could have only been veiled by time and tradition. Tradition makes void the word of God! But the time of history puts tradition in it’s place, as 20/20 hindsight lays to rest our past misconceptions!

There is no denying the historical landscape depicted in these end time prophecies have occurred in real time. So, following this history right into the present shows us right were we are in the drama, and who the present players on the stage have come to be.

To follow the stream of history as recorded in Daniel in this illustration, simply follow the arrows from prophetic era to prophetic era, and then focus your attention to where they lead. The trail leads to where you are standing in time, on the prophesied landscape,  watching the final end time drama that God intended for you to see, in order to be prepared for your redemption.

The Mideast is the stage, and the present day players are acting out their part with God pulling the strings. Don’t miss it! Watch it closely right up to the day He comes for us. That was Paul’s message, and it hasn’t changed.

Now, lets proceed with the study of Daniel and see just how God uses prophecy and history to lead us to the knowledge we need, to recognize when we are actually living in the end times landscape.

I promise that you'll find this riveting study very interesting.  It's fascinating  and extremely revealing. Enjoy the study and God bless.