Upon the utter defeat of Antiochus The Great by the Romans, near Ephesus in 190 B.C., the Romans deemed it necessary to give the Syrian King a strong incentive to never again invade territory held by Rome. As we have previously discussed, the Romans imposed heavy war reparation taxes upon Antiochus, which left his kingdom in serious financial distress. As if this weren't enough, they decided to take Antiochus' youngest son, Mithradates, along with other captives to Rome in order to insure the Syrian King's total compliance. Mithradates, who was only 25 years old at the time would be held as a Roman captive for approximately fourteen years. This is a possible explanation for the deep seated anger and cruelty that were to become ingrained into the character of the young Syrian prince, for he would one day return to his homeland and take out his uncontrollable rage on any who dared to defy his will. In short, he became a monster, a psychopathic tyrant with all of his fathers ambition for power, coupled with a sadistic compulsion to revel in the suffering of his enemies.

Introduction Upon the conclusion of Daniel's prayer, the Archangel Gabriel (whom Daniel had previously met in Chapter 8) is immediately dispatched with the answer. Gabriel's arrival coincides with the time of the evening sacrifice (vs. 21). When the Jews were still living in their beloved homeland, two sacrifices would be offered to God every day; one in the morning and one in the evening. The time of the evening sacrifice came at 3 p.m. each day, which was precisely the time of day that Christ would later yield up His spirit upon the cross (Matt. 27:50). This is no coincidence, considering that Jesus was the Lamb of God, given for the sins of the world (John 1:29). He was the final evening sacrifice, the last one to ever be required. It is fitting therefore, when Gabriel brings the revelation of the seventy weeks foretelling the suffering of the coming Messiah, that he arrives at precisely the time of the evening sacrifice! Our God is an Awesome God! He pays careful attention to every detail.

Daniel in the Den of Lions 1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2 with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.