Do you believe Christ is coming and we are in the end times?  Do you sense that what is unfolding in the news doesn’t seem to be converging with what we think we know about the end-times?  Do you feel you are missing something; that God is working out His plans but we are all missing it?  Well, no offense meant, but much of what you thought you knew and we have all been taught about the end-times may very well be wrong.

Oh, the Rapture, seven-year Tribulation, and visible and glorious return of Christ are all still there of course. But the circumstances by which they occur and the events to happen prior to the Tribulation and Rapture have been missed by prior generations of Bible commentators.

Remember the Parable of the Ten Virgins.  All of the virgins – all of the Church – fell asleep; the wise and the foolish.  This is not to say that those who have repented and follow Christ everyday have fallen asleep and no longer do the Lord’s bidding.  No, it says that we have all fallen asleep and are not alert; we are not attentively watching the real Biblical signs showing the approach of the Lord’s coming.  We are blind and not alert because we have allowed our false assumptions to tell us how to interpret prophetic Scripture, without reading it plainly.

In the Parable of the Virgins the cry rang out (literally in the Greek), “look, the Bridegroom comes out!”  (Some of our Bibles say “the Bridegroom is here” but that is a presumption made by the translators from the actual Greek text.)  That cry will ring out when the Church sees the real next imminent prophetic event.  It is the next event that is clearly predicted from the Biblical text in Daniel 8, which will be the next sign showing the Church that the Bridegroom is coming.  At that time He will indeed be only a few years away, and that His Return is specifically confirmed as near as only a few signs will remain between us and Christ’s Return.  What is the next prophetic event?

In Daniel Revisited: Discovering the Four Mideast Signs Leading to the Antichrist, author Mark Davidson shows how ancient and medieval history shines a light on Daniel chapters 2 and 9, so that we can understand what God is really trying to tell us through His word in Daniel.  This understanding includes casting aside false assumptions, and once cast aside, Daniel chapters 7 and 8 plainly tell us of four major events to occur prior to the Rapture and Tribulation.  Davidson calls these the Four Signposts.

Daniel chapters 7 and 8 lays out the Mideast nations involved with those events.  These events will lead the world to the Antichrist and Tribulation and then the glorious Return of Christ.  Have you never read Daniel 8:17 where it says that the vision of the ram and goat pertains to the end-time?  And again in Daniel 8:19?  And again in Daniel 8:26?  Daniel 8 is not about Alexander the Great and Antiochus Epiphanes, but about the nations and leaders to come shortly here and now prior to Christ’s return.

So what is that next event to come very soon?  It is the massive and jolting invasion by Iran of most of the Middle East, which is the Second Signpost.  If this is to be the Second Signpost, what was the First?  It was the democratization of Iraq.  Returning to the invasion by Iran, it is then responded to by four Sunni Muslim nations which combine into one nation to completely conquer the Mideast (with the exception of Israel) and thus finish this Mideast-wide and devastating World War.  The Sunni nations’ response is the Third Signpost.

It is then from this new and mighty Sunni nation that four new nations emerge.  And from one of these new nations in the Middle East, the man who will be Antichrist emerges, reunites the other three new nations as well as the remainder of most of the Islamic realm.  That is the Fourth Signpost.  At that point the Tribulation will be ready to commence.  If the Rapture is to be pre-Tribulational, it will occur then.

Why do we know about this change in the end-times only now?  Because the prophetic book of Daniel which contains the answers has been sealed until the end-times!  It says so in Daniel 8:26 and Daniel 12:4!  But every other generation before us also thought they were in the end-times. So what makes us think this time it is for real?  The answer is that the geopolitics and events of the Middle East are presently giving us an exact match, an exact fulfillment, and setting us up for the next fulfillments of Daniel 7 and 8.

With these events – these Signposts – in the years ahead, it will feel to many in the West that a Tribulation of sorts has already been going on.

For you see, Iran’s initial invasion – the next event – will involve conquering and occupying the Gulf oil fields.  This will result in two major catastrophes.  The first is physical – Iran will control who, if anyone, gets the oil, and to whom and how it gets sold.  This leads to the second catastrophe which is economic – the US Petrodollar will be officially ended.  Of course this will start an economic storm of destruction with the United States at its center.  It is this event that sets the world up for receiving the Muslim and Arab Antichrist.

But it turns out Daniel 8 is only one side of the story; one explanation of the events to come.  Daniel 7 and the first 8 verses of Revelation 6 give the remainder of the story from their perspective.

Daniel Revisited, therefore, lays out a revolutionary new study in Biblical end-times prophecy.  It is one that is unexpected, and yet is compellingly true.

In Section 1, Daniel Revisited shows why the Antichrist must be an Arab Muslim from the region of Syria.  Real and documented history shows in Daniel 2:40 that the only true candidate for the empire of the iron legs in the metal statue is the Islamic realm, and not Rome.  Real and documented history also shows us in Daniel 9:26 that “the people of the ruler to come” who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, were Syrians and Arabs.  They were the soldiers in Roman uniform.  Once the assumption of a European Antichrist is put aside it opens one’s mind to better interpretations of Daniel 7 and 8.

In Section 2, Daniel Revisited then proves why Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 apply only to the end-time, and how they are incredibly supported by the geopolitics and the events in the Middle East today.  Daniel Revisited also shows why the so-called four horsemen of the apocalypse do not begin at the start of the Antichrist’s reign at the start of the Tribulation, but they start at the very first event prophesied in Daniel 7, the democratization of Iraq!  It is shown that Daniel 7 and 8 are proclaiming four events – the Four Signposts – that are to occur prior to the Tribulation.

Finally, In Section 3, Daniel Revisited carefully defines each of the Four Signposts, per each verse of Daniel 7, Daniel 8, and Revelation 6.  It is shown that the First Signpost was fulfilled in every detail.  It is also shown how the invasion by Iran, the Second Signpost, is being fulfilled and how current events in the Middle East are pointing to this next great prophetic event.  The book also explains how the current geopolitics of the Middle East would easily yield to the Third and Fourth Signposts.

Daniel Revisited teaches us to watch the Middle East with a new understanding.  Do not let yourself stay asleep with the idea that the Rapture is imminent – no, instead please realize and prepare for some truly tough years to come for which we must be ready and awake.  Jesus our Lord told us to WATCH for His coming!

SOME READER COMMENTS

Go online read or watch the news and you’ll be seeing biblical prophecy fulfilled.  Mark Davidson helps us understand how today’s headlines and biblical prophecy fit together like a hand in a glove. His new approach in “Daniel Revisited” may take some getting used to, looking at things from another viewpoint.  Time will tell, the second signpost is almost before us. A must read for anyone looking forward and asking the question “God how does all this come together?”
– JH Pilcher

Clearly written, great exegesis. as good Bereans, we should be reading this. The Prophecies of Daniel in the Old Testament should be such an integral part of our study of  God’s Word especially concerning ‘End Times’ events.
– B Weston

Rarely have I found a book, since Joel Richardsons’, that I felt compelled to read a second time through. Since reading this book I have looked at the world with different eyes. I have read the Bible verses that Mr. Davidson quotes, including the verses above and below for context, and have not found him to be wrong at any point. I believe the Holy Spirit has, indeed, given Mr. Davidson a true understanding of the book of Daniel and Revelations. Further confirmation of his insight can be seen daily in the news. I thank you, Mr. Davidson, for your courage and conviction in writing this book, Daniel Revisited.
– KVA