This book deals with the cultural movement that humanity is undertaking and some of the Biblical scriptures concerning the topic, giving a sober and practical view of what could happen in the coming days. No one knows the day or the hour, but Jesus left us indications about the last times through which we can be guided and not remain in the dark. These indications through which we can see the signs of the times are found in God’s word, (the Bible), which is composed by the Old and the New Testament. This is the word to which, now more than ever before, we need to pay attention.
We can say together with apostle Peter:
“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;” (NKJV, 2 Peter 1:19)
Besides dealing with some of the events of the end times, this book also prepares the believer for those times by guiding him on what kind of attitude he needs to have in order to be ready.
The part speaking of how the present time in which we live is getting closer to what the Bible is pointing out as some of the signs of the End times.
Here, we see a situation that happened in Babylon, the greatest empire of that time, around 580 BCE. To better understand the book of Daniel, we need to know what Babylon actually represents. The book of Daniel is full of prophecies concerning the end times. Daniel interpreted the dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar (the king of Babylon). One was about the end times. Daniel himself had visions and dreams about the end times, the coming of the Messiah, that is Jesus Christ, and His return (Daniel chapters 7, 8, 10, 11, 12). Therefore, we can conclude that this book has to do with prophecies that have been accomplished and the times about to come.
Another prophetic book in the Bible is the book of Revelation. Obviously, we can find prophetic passages in the Gospels, as well as in other books in the Bible. Still, particularly these two, the book of Revelation and the book of Daniel, are more centered on this topic. We can see how these two go hand in hand, completing and confirming each other. What is interesting is that in Revelation, the name Babylon appears again (Revelation 14:8, 16:19, 17:5, 18:1, 2, 18:21). And this is obviously after the end of this empire as it was written after that and concerns times to come. It means that some place or country in the future will have many similarities with that empire. I personally don’t believe that it will be literally called Babylon, but it is just compared for its similarities. “And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (Revelation 14:8).
This name has been used since ancient times when the people united and wanted to build the tower of Babel, which was supposed to reach heaven so they could make a name for themselves.
“And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth’ ” (Genesis 11:4).
Babel and Babylon are written similarly in Hebrew. The people of that period started building the tower of Babel (which means confusion, as their languages were confused there) in the same place where the Babylonian empire appeared later.
They wanted to do something, but they wanted to do it apart from God. Obviously, this didn’t please Him, and He confused their languages because they got together to build a name for themselves. He didn’t want them to do that as that would drive them further away from Him. It would bring them pride, something God really cannot bear. In His nature, He cannot accept it. So, to prevent them from sinning further, He confused their languages for their own good (Genesis 11:7-8).
This is very similar to what is happening today. People and nations desire to be united, and there’s nothing wrong with it if it is done with the right purpose, but they are doing it in their own name, to bring glory to themselves. This is what is actually happening. The people are putting God more and more aside, and the idea of getting strong and together, not in His name but in the name of humanity, is increasing.
Why is this wrong if, at first sight, it seems good? It is because rejecting God is not good for us. We are meant to be with God. To be together with Him. We are His creation, and we are part of Him. We cannot exist without Him. What is keeping us now alive in this world is His mercy, giving us a chance to repent and accept Him. Unfortunately for some people, this mercy and opportunity will eventually end, and they will find themselves definitely separated from Him. Then, they will see what that really means. We have to make the most of this time of mercy to accept Him. The people, however, are uniting and putting God aside, not knowing what they are doing.
Looking at the situation in the empire of Babylon in the time of Daniel, we see that it was an empire with various nations under its rule. Amongst those nations were also God’s people (the nation of Israel). Why do we compare, or better said, why does the Bible compare this empire (Babylon) with what will happen in the end times, as it mentions it again in the book of Revelation?
We see that exactly in this empire—Babylon—is where Daniel received the visions and revelations of the prophecies concerning the end times, likely because there were many nations united under one rule, in this case, the empire of Babylon. In the same way, nations will be united under one rule in the future. The book of Revelation speaks about a ruler figuratively called the beast. It says that all the world marveled and followed the beast (Revelation 13:3-4), so we can assume that it will be a ruler.
The book of Daniel also speaks about a ruler who will come in the end times, will make war against the saints, will speak against the Most High, and intend to change times and laws (Daniel 7:25). A large part of the book of Daniel deals with prophecies about the future. It includes prophecies concerning the first coming of Jesus, His second coming, and the very end times (Daniel 12:4, 9). For these reasons, we can conclude that this book is prophetic in many aspects and even in its story in general. That’s why Babylon is also mentioned in the book of Revelation. There will be many similarities between what will happen in the future and what Babylon was in the past.
It was not by chance that God gave these prophetic revelations to Daniel when he was in Babylon. He could’ve given them to any other prophet at any other time, but He chose this time and place, and we know God never does things by chance but with a purpose instead. We can see, in general how the kingdom of Babylon can be compared to the future one that is about to come.
However, when we read the story in Daniel 3 when King Nebuchadnezzar erected a golden statue and all the people of all the nations and languages were compelled to bow down and worship that statue, we see a similarity with what is going on in Revelation 13 when again people of all nations and languages will be compelled to bear the mark of the beast and worship the beast. That is something that will not please God, and He will oppose it. We see how these two situations, the one in Daniel 3 and the one in Revelation 13, are very similar and confirm how things will happen. Babylon is also mentioned in the book of Revelation.
What the world aims at today is unity and peace. It doesn’t sound bad at all, and it is something right to do. The problem, as we said before, is that they are trying to achieve it without God. Jesus said: “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matthew 12:30). Even though there are still conflicts and separations in the world today, this is what they desire. This is the vision they have for peace. We know that the only prince of peace is Jesus Christ, and one day, He will bring ultimate peace. The problem is that even having good desires, man cannot achieve them till he surrenders to God. The enemy is aware of people’s desire for peace and will come one day to offer a solution they will accept. This will obviously be a deceit in which many nations and almost the whole world will fall. Many nations will probably be gathered as one, but not for the right cause. It is the same as there were many nations united together in the time of the Babylonian empire.