James T. Harman. Daniel’s Prophecies Unsealed. Prophecy Countdown, 2018.
___. Daniel’s Prophecies Unsealed: The Final Countdown. Prophecy Countdown, 2023.

In spite of the similar titles, these are two different books with little overlap. The Final Countdown builds on the first one, Daniel’s Prophecies Unsealed.

The author assumes, as many writers have done so since the 1970s, that we are in the last days of the earth’s present state. The title of the first book comes from the Book of Daniel 12:4-5:

But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.

The author understands that much of the prophetic pictures and explanations in the Book of Daniel are not easily understood, but that the meanings will remain obscure “until the time of the end.” The book purports to “unseal” Daniel so we can understand it in terms of the end times. The second book focuses on one thesis which we will take a look at.

Chapters 2, 7, and 8 of Daniel have similar images of four kingdoms represented by four different creatures or images that show the four kingdoms or empires that will rule Judea or Israel. Generally, interpreters have understood that the three chapters describe the same four empires: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Indeed, chapter 8 names specifically the first three empires and tells us that the fourth empire will conquer the Greek. Alexander’s empire was divided by his generals into four regions, all later conquered by Rome, so Rome is generally understood to be the fourth empire.

However, Harman sees the four creatures in Daniel 7 differently, He sees them referring specifically to the end times since the culmination is the Son of Man being given rule over the earth, something that has not physically happened yet. If we are in the end times, then, he sees the four creatures as Great Britain, Russia, an Arab or Muslim Alliance, and a fourth, possibly the United States but perhaps another nation.

While Harman basically agrees with the traditional interpretation of the four creatures in Daniel 8—after all, three of them are specifically named—he does note that some of the latter verses that chapter parallel descriptions of the Antichrist (“Beast”) and False Prophet of Revelation. Verses 3-8 describe the four historical empires, but verses 9-14 and 23-25 speak of end times. We can see parallels between Daniel 8:23-25 and Revelation 13:11-18, so it does appear that part of the prophecy is about the Second Coming of Christ, not the first time He came.

He also notes a few things about Christ and Antichrist that may be overlooked. The description of the man in Daniel 10:5-6 who prophesies to Daniel is virtually identical to the vision of Jesus that John has in Revelation 1:13-14. I also note that Daniel calls him lord and is not corrected for it, the way the angel would correct John in Revelation 22:8-9. The “abomination” of Daniel 12:1 and 12:11 is similar to Matthew 24:15 and 24:21.

This close reading gives us some things to consider.

The Final Countdown contains some of the same things as the first book but emphasizes a few new things, or things not emphasized in the first book.

One is that the author believes in two raptures of believers. He understands the parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 a bit differently from traditional teaching. He states that the virgins all belong to Christ: they are virgins and they were all given oil. But the five virgins who enter in are those who are ready for Jesus’ coming and they are raptured before the tribulation. The others have to learn faithfulness through the tribulation and will be raptured later. He says that Revelation 12:17 notes the Antichrist will war against “the remnant” of the godly who will have to learn to overcome.

But the main theme of The Final Countdown is based on Daniel 9. In an article we posted here, we showed that Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem being hailed as king on Palm Sunday was precisely described in Daniel 9:25. From the time the order was given to rebuild and restore Jerusalem until He comes was described to the very day—if we accept the idea that prophetic years are 360 days. This has been pointed out by many others. (My personal contribution to the discussion was noting a connection with Psalm 118.)

Harman takes issue with this interpretation and says that the year that Artaxerxes gave the order to rebuild was not 444 B.C. but 454 B.C. He cites Floyd Nolen Jones who gives the second date. The book would have us believe that this was a new discovery by Dr. Jones. It is simply a different interpretation. The order was given in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2:1). Artaxexes co-ruled with his father Xerxes I for ten years. It depends on how one interprets Nehemiah 2:1. Was it the twentieth year beginning when he was installed as co-regent, or when he began ruling on his own?

So Harman takes the earlier date and assumes regular 365.24 day years, and the 483 years come out to A.D. 26 or 27. Harman then takes this as the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and the year of his crucifixion as A.D. 30. (It has to be either 30 or 33 as those are the only two years in which Pilate ruled Judea and Passover began on a Thursday evening.)

Perhaps the most interesting thing Harman does, then, is he says that the final seven years in the prophecy describe Jesus’ earthly ministry, about three and a half years followed by the Jews hearing the Gospel. The “strong covenant” becomes Jesus’ ministry to the Jews and the conversion of many of them. Halfway through the seven years He will put an end to sacrifice because he would die as the perfect and complete sacrifice (see Hebrews 9:12 and 10:10). At the end of the seven years, approximately three and a half years after Jesus’ resurrection, the ministry of His church would begin to focus on Gentiles with the salvation of Cornelius or conversion of Paul. This is certainly plausible, though the New Testament is fuzzy about dating many of the events.

The Final Countdown sees a second significance of the prophecy of years in Daniel 9. He points out that between 1537-1541 the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent began a program to rebuild Jerusalem. The rebuilding included a moat, a term used in many of the English translations of Daniel 9:25. What if that also was prophetically significant? Then 1537 plus 483 (using calendar years) comes out to 2020. Does this mean we are in the last days? Harman thinks so.

As with all writings about prophecy, even what I have done as noted above, we need to examine the evidence and realize that we may not truly understand the prophecy until it happens. Nevertheless, Jesus’ words apply to us as much as they did to his disciples twenty centuries ago:

Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour. (Matthew 25:13 HCSB)

Yes, let us be alert.