Scofield Prophecy Studies

Dr. Paul Benware

April, 2015

DANIEL WAS A PREMILLENNIALIST

Daniel spent most all of his life in Babylon living throughout Judah’s period

of captivity. If someone had asked him if he was a premillennialist, he, of course,

would have no idea what was being asked. This term would not come into

existence until many centuries later, but nevertheless, Daniel would be a

champion of a premillennial point of view because he understood God’s covenant

promises to his people Israel must be fulfilled.

Premillennialism, as most of our readers know, holds firmly to certain

points. First, it believes that the return of Jesus Messiah to the earth will be

prior to the start of His messianic (millennial) kingdom. Second, He will rule on

this present earth (not on the new earth) for a literal period of 1,000 years.

David’s throne is an earthly throne, not one in heaven. Third, at the beginning of

His reign the resurrection of believers (the “first resurrection”) takes place and at

the end of His thousand year rule, there will be the resurrection of the unsaved

dead. Fourth, this period of time is necessary because God has made, on oath,

promises to Israel which have not yet been fulfilled.

The Great Statue Vision (Daniel 2). When Daniel was taken into captivity by

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, along with others he was educated so that he

could more effectively serve the Babylonian king. When the King had a dream

(more like a nightmare), he wanted to know the meaning of the dream, and so, he

summoned a group who were allegedly able to interpret the dream for him. They

were unable to do so. The result of this failure on the part of these who were on

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the King’s payroll was that they would be put to death. Daniel, who

unfortunately was a member in good standing of this elite group, told the King

that he could interpret the dream if given just a little time. After cooling down a

little, the King recognized that killing off all these scholars of his would bring him

no closer to getting what he wanted, which was to know the meaning of his

dream. He decided to give Daniel a little time. After prayer with his friends,

Daniel received from God all the needed information about the dream as well as

its interpretation.

The Content of the King’s Dream. Daniel 2:31-35 records the basic substance

of the dream. The dream centered on an immense statue made of a variety of

metals. The head was of gold; the chest and arms of silver; the thighs of bronze;

the legs of iron; and the feet and toes were of iron combined with clay. But

strategic to the dream was the next part; the appearance of a stone. There was a

stone which came crashing into the statue, hitting it on its feet. The stone was a

“raw” stone in that no human hand had sculpted it. The stone hit the statue with

such incredible force that it knocked it over and pulverized each and every part of

the statue. After that, a strong wind came and blew away everything, so that not

one grain, one flake or bit of residue of the statue remained. It was then that the

stone grew and grew until it became a great mountain, dominating the world.

Nebuchadnezzar was deeply impressed with Daniel’s ability to relate back to him

his dream, and so, was quite open to the interpretation that Daniel would give.

The Interpretation of the King’s Dream. Daniel 2:36-45 is Daniel’s

interpretation of the dream. Basically, the various metals represented the next

human kingdoms that would rule the world, beginning with Babylon itself. After
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Babylon would come Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and then Rome in another form

that will appear at the end of human history. The focal point of Daniel’s

interpretation was on the feet and toes of the statue where the stone hit. The toes

are said to represent “kings” which will reign at the end of times. (Later in Daniel

7, we learn that these kings exist at the same time as one another and will be

dominated by someone known as the “little horn”. This “little horn” is the first

discussion in the Bible of the man we commonly refer to as “the Antichrist”). It is

in the days of those 10 kings that God will establish His kingdom.

The uncut stone forcefully strikes the statue on its feet (not in the head or

on the knees) which means that God’s kingdom (the stone) will be established at

the end of human history. Now, it is very important to note that the kingdom of

God that is going to be established is done so only after the total and complete

removal of all of man’s kingdoms. There are no traces of the statue to be found

anywhere. The sequence of events in the dream is absolutely clear and is

fundamental to the interpretation of this dream.

Important Applications of the Statue Vision. There are a number of key facts

which point to God’s kingdom (the messianic/millennial kingdom) being

established in connection with the Second Coming of Christ and not in

connection with His first coming (which is the position of amillennialism). First,

the destruction of the statue is sudden and violent, and is, neither tranquil nor

gradual. A quiet, imperceptible victory of a spiritual kingdom is not in view (the

position of post-millennialism). The world is not going to be cleaned up, reformed

or “Christianized” by the activities of the church. The kingdoms of this world will

never be changed by the efforts of man, whether believer or unbeliever. These

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kingdoms will be suddenly terminated by the Stone. Second, the “stone kingdom”

only comes into existence after the total destruction of the kingdoms of man. It is

after the statue is totally pulverized and blown away that the stone kingdom fills

the whole earth. There is simply no allowance of a parallel existence or a co-

existence of man’s kingdoms with the Messianic kingdom. The viewpoint of

amillennialism is that the kingdom of Jesus Messiah began at the first coming,

exists today and will end at His Second coming. It is obvious that man’s

kingdoms not only exist, but dominate the world today. But this is NOT allowed

by what is seen in Daniel’s vision.

Third, the kingdom of iron was not destroyed at the Jesus’ first coming.

When Jesus came into the world the Roman Empire dominated. When Jesus

returned to heaven after His resurrection, the Roman Empire dominated. He did

not destroy or remove it which is what is required in this vision. Fourth, the

kingdoms of iron and clay did not exist at the first coming. There was no such ten-

fold division of the Roman Empire when Jesus was here on earth which would

also be required in this vision. He could not have commenced His kingdom at His

first coming because this ten-fold division did not exist. Fifth, all of the kingdoms

in the vision are political/physical kingdoms. In interpreting the vision, it would

be highly questionable to have all the kingdoms be political/physical kingdoms

and then to have God’s kingdom not to be of the same kind. The text ought to let

us know that we are looking at an entirely different kingdom form if that were the

case. Now to be clear, the rule of Christ will be the most “spiritual” of all

kingdoms anywhere and at any time. It will be a time where the glorious Christ is

present on the earth; where true righteousness dominates all of life on the earth;

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and where peace, justice and joy are everywhere. But it is still a physical/political

kingdom in that a king rules from Jerusalem over all the nations and peoples of

the earth.

It is safe to say that Daniel is indeed a premillennialist. His interpretation

of the King’s dream makes it abundantly clear that the facts about God’s coming

kingdom fits exactly the premillennial pattern but simply does not align itself with

either amillennialism or postmillennialism.