The Color of Prophecy: Visualizing the Bible in a new light

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Each of the 63, cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect. This time I wanted to better capture the story, most notably the people and places, and the interactions between them. I did this by building a list of biblical names in total and parsing a digital copy of the King James Bible. Each time two names occurred in the same verse, a connection was created between them. This produced essentially a social network of people and places.

Because such relationships had no ordering or structure unlike the cross references , I used a spatial clustering algorithm I developed for one of my other projects. This process causes related entities and highly connected groups to coalesce. I themed the output like an old piece of parchment. Entities with less than 40 connections are drawn at an angle. Those with 40 or more connected entities are rendered horizontally - size is linearly proportional to the number of connections.

The graph contains over 10, connections, too many to be useful and thus made purposely faint as not to overwhelm the piece.

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The names On, So, and No were excluded since they are both names and words and I wasn't doing anything clever like named entity recognition when parsing the text. With the biblical names list already compiled and a copy of the King James Bible sitting on my desktop, another visualization was inevitable. I settled on a classic distribution visualization, which shows where various people and places occur in the text. Much of the Bible is chronological, so there is a strong temporal ordering. Visually, this is the entire Bible printed on a single piece of paper you'll need to look at the high-res version to see it.

Floating above the text are the people and places that appear in the Bible - more than 2, names in total. These are positioned according to their average location in the text. Faded lines are rendered to show where they occur. God is in no hurry to fulfill His promises, whether His promise of the eternal kingdom for all the saints or the promise of eternal destruction and judgment for sinners.

Prophecy is necessary then so that men are reassured of divine deliverance and blessing, as well as divine judgment see 2 Peter 2: Through the ages, the saints have learned that they must wait for the promises of God to be fulfilled and that this may not happen in their lifetime see Hebrews God also allows the wicked to persist and even to prosper, so that those whom He has chosen might be saved Romans 9: Prophecy becomes necessary from time to time to remind men of those things God has planned for the future which He will surely fulfill.

According to our text, the prophecies of Daniel 7 will not be fulfilled for a considerable period of time. Four kings will establish four kingdoms, and some of these kingdoms have a number of kings. The last kingdom has at least eleven kings. Centuries must therefore pass before the prophecies of Daniel are fulfilled. It would be but a very few years until Cyrus would come to power and assist the Jews to return to Jerusalem and the land of Israel.

In the euphoria of this grand event, someone might well conclude the kingdom of God was to be established within the lifetime of those returning to Israel. Our text challenges such a conclusion, and later prophecies in Daniel further document that the coming of the King and of the kingdom will be some time further in the future.

In those days, as in our own, there are always those are too quick to conclude that the kingdom of God has come see Matthew Nebuchadnezzar may have started badly, but by the time we read of him in Daniel 4 he seems to be a true believer in God, urging the citizens of his kingdom to worship and serve Him.

While most of those in this kingdom may not have had a true conversion, at least they tolerated the Jewish faith as the religion of the state. Belshazzar came to power several years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar and seems to have turned completely away from the God of Israel. Consequently, it is little wonder that in the events recorded in Daniel 5, Belshazzar was ignorant of Daniel and the abilities God had given him.

He only called on him in a moment of sheer panic when no one else could help, and only then because of the recommendation of the queen mother. The reign of Belshazzar was, in some measure, a foretaste of what was yet to come in full measure during the reign of the fourth beast, especially of the eleventh horn.

God would strike him down in the moment of His choosing to silence him once and for all and put an end to his kingdom. Would Belshazzar toast the gods of gold, silver, wood and stone with the sacred temple vessels? God would strike him down suddenly too and bring his kingdom to a swift end.

The prophecies of Daniel 7 speak of a future day of reckoning, foreshadowed by the actions of Belshazzar and the judgment of God on him and his kingdom. As I read through the statements men have made about the God of Israel in the first six chapters of Daniel, I find that what men came to know and to acknowledge through history, God declares through prophecy.

I encourage you to compare the statements of Daniel 2: What God declares in prophecy, He reveals as well in history.

We are in harmony with God when our declarations conform to his. Those of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, and Darius all agree with the prophecy of Daniel 7. God is able to raise up kings and put them down. God will establish His kingdom, and that kingdom, unlike the kingdoms of men, is eternal. The Son of Man had the power to forgive sins, as well as to heal a paralytic Matthew 9: He would rise from the dead He will also send forth His angels to gather those who do not belong in His kingdom He would, after His death, burial, and resurrection come in His glory, rewarding men according to their deeds His disciples were promised that they would share in His reign as King The transfiguration of our Lord was but a foretaste of His coming glorious kingdom When He came with His kingdom, they would be sure to recognize Him However, the Son of Man must first suffer at the hands of men Those who rejected the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of Man, would mourn when they saw Him returning in the clouds:.

And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory Matthew His followers too must be alert and ready for His return In my opinion, the most dramatic reference of our Lord to His identity as the Son of Man comes as the Lord Jesus stands on trial before the Sanhedrin and the high priest:. What is it that these men are testifying against You? In His response to the demand of the high priest, Jesus directly claimed to be the promised Messiah.

Jesus quoted the words of Daniel 7: They surely knew this text to be messianic, but they had always applied it to the Gentiles. They believed that the Messiah would come to establish the kingdom, to bless the Jews and to condemn the Gentiles. Jesus applied this text to them, not as those who would enter into His kingdom, but as those who would be judged at His return. No wonder His words stung and prompted them to act as they did. For the time, it was these Jewish leaders who were beastly, arrogant, and blasphemous, and because of this they would suffer divine judgment.

The words of Daniel which applied to the beasts now found application to them.

Wherever I see the Scriptures speak of the coming kingdom of God, I find suffering closely associated with it. Before the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt and brought into the land of Canaan, they suffered at the hands of the Egyptians. Our deliverance from the power of sin and the penalty of death has been accomplished by our Lord, who suffered in our place. Those who will reign with Christ are those who have suffered see Romans 8: Suffering is an inseparable part of the process which leads to glory. So it was for our Lord 1 Peter 1: Prophecy is not a pep rally, which generates a great burst of short-term enthusiasm but does little to inspire faith and endurance in the midst of suffering.

Holy infographics: the bible visualised

Neither is prophecy written to make us happy or to feel good. In the context of the coming of His kingdom and the suffering and trials which precede it, soberness is a vitally important quality which prophecy promotes:. We are not of night nor o darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Peter 1: The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer 1 Peter 4: We could never predict the goals God has determined, nor the means He has ordained for history to reach them.

Prophecy reveals that which we would not and could not expect apart from divine revelation. We do not walk by sight, but by faith. We do not act on what we see so much as on what God has said. Abraham and Sarah were elderly and childless. Humanly speaking, it was impossible for them to have a child.

And yet God said they would. As the boasting horn of Daniel 7 seems to be getting away with his blasphemies and his oppression of the saints, it seems to him he can do whatever he wishes, including the changing of times and law. As the wicked prosper in their sin, it seems as though they can continue in sin without any fear of divine judgment see Psalm Their perception is wrong, for suddenly and without warning their day of destruction will come upon them.

When that day comes for them, it is too late to repent. As the saints suffer at the hands of the wicked, it may appear all hope is lost. It may seem to them that their defeat is certain and that their hopes of entering into the eternal kingdom are lost. Things are not as they appear to be! When we expect it least, the Lord will return, the wicked will be punished, and the kingdom of God established forevermore.

One of those gaps is found in Daniel 7. The coming of the Son of Man is represented as one coming, and not two. We know that Jesus came the first time to die and that He will come again to subdue His enemies and establish His kingdom. We are told the Old Testament prophet could not see the distance between the first and the second coming of our Lord, just as one cannot see the distance between two mountains, when viewed from afar. The Old Testament prophet did not see the gap because he viewed the coming of Christ as God does.

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From an eternal perspective, the coming of Christ and His kingdom is but one coming. We see a gap—an almost insurmountable gap—between suffering and glory; God does not. Suffering and glory are a part of one work. The process of having a baby involves the pains of childbirth. They are far from pleasant but an unavoidable part of the process. The woman endures in the view of the final outcome of the process. When the child is born, the pains of suffering are quickly lost in the joys of seeing a new life.

Child-bearing is a process which involves suffering and glory. Salvation is likewise a process involving suffering—and then glory. Prophecy is revealed to men to change their perspective, to urge them to see things as God sees them rather than as they appear to the human eye. We are not to base our thinking and actions on circumstances, but upon the Scriptures. What God says, He will do. History has shown this to be true in the past, and prophecy assures us that it will be true in the future.

Let us listen then, and be sober, enduring the sufferings and trials sent our way, looking expectantly and certainly for His kingdom to come.

In verse 1 Daniel indicates his vision came to him in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar. The vision recorded in chapter 8 took place in the third year of Belshazzar. The account of the writing on the wall and the death of Belshazzar obviously the last year of his reign is found in Daniel 5.

Prophecy is not revealed in a historical vacuum. While most prophecies in the Bible reveal events which will take place after the death of the recipient of the prophecy, the prophecy is revealed for impact upon those to whom it was revealed. Prophecy is always practical and relevant to the person s receiving it. At the outset of the account of his vision, Daniel wants his reader to know the historical context in which this prophecy was given and to consider its interpretation and application in the light of that context.

Editing is often evident in the Bible see John Editing allows an author to set aside details which are not significant and focus on the essence of the message he is trying to communicate. Daniel boiled down his vision to its essence, so we would not fail to understand the message he meant to convey to us. First, the prophecies of Daniel are divinely inspired and revealed, and thus they are true and reliable. Second, the prophecies of Daniel are to be understood in the light of the entire Book of Daniel, of the Old Testament, and of the Bible as a whole. Thirdly and most importantly , the prophecies of Daniel mean exactly what God says they mean, nothing more and nothing less.

The prophecy of this chapter is divinely interpreted. God has revealed in this interpretation what He wants us to know and has kept back that which we need not know. We dare not ignore that which is revealed nor do we dare go too far afield in speculating about what is concealed see Deuteronomy The chapter falls into two major parts. Verses contain the vision which God gave to Daniel. Verses contain the divine interpretation of this vision. How was the fourth beast different from the first three?

Each of the four beasts represent a king and thus a resulting kingdom. Each beast has its own unique characteristics.

Bible Cross-References

The fourth beast appears to differ from the other three in that he is more beastly, more powerful, more destructive, and more arrogant. This beast is also unique among the four in that he grows 11 horns. These horns are also kings, from whom kingdoms arise verse This fourth beast seems to regenerate in the form of subsequent kings and kingdoms.

His final offspring, so to speak, is the little horn which becomes the great blasphemer, whose life and kingdom is suddenly cut off by the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man. Are we supposed to discover their identity? Daniel was told that the beasts are kings, but he was not told the identity of any of the kings. There is fairly strong inferential evidence that Nebuchadnezzar was represented by the first beast, the winged lion. The point of this prophecy is not to tell us who future kings will be, but rather what they will be like. These kings will rise to power and dominate the earth.

In the latter days, an unusually powerful and evil king will arise, who will blaspheme God and oppress the people of God. When his appointed time is over, God will destroy this king and his kingdom and establish His eternal kingdom on the earth. Who is the Son of Man? What role do they play in relation to the four beasts?

The Ancient of Days is a designation for God, not found elsewhere in the Bible. This designation refers to God the Father in a way that stresses His eternality, dignity, and power. In Ezekiel, and even in Daniel 8: Usually it refers to a person as a human being. But here in chapter 7, as in Psalm When the iniquity of the blasphemous horn reaches full bloom and his appointed time to rule is fulfilled, God will destroy him, casting his body into the fire.

It is at this time that all human kingdoms will become subject to God and to the saints in the eternal kingdom, which the Son of Man will establish when He comes to the earth to judge and to rule. There seems to be a close connection between the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, which is revealed and interpreted in chapter 2, and the vision of Daniel in chapter 7. The statue has four parts; there are four beasts. Both the statue parts made of different metals and the beasts represent kings and kingdoms.

Both series of four kingdoms begin well and end badly.

Both sets of kingdoms are brought to a sudden end and are replaced by an eternal kingdom. It therefore seems that the two prophecies speak of the same four kingdoms by means of different imagery. The latter prophecy of Daniel 7 adds many more details than were revealed in chapter 2. The blasphemous horn of Daniel 7, which goes so far as to oppose the people of God, is suddenly taken by death, and his kingdom is removed. In a similar way, Belshazzar becomes blasphemous and is suddenly removed by God for his wickedness. The death of this king brings about the end of his kingdom.

Daniel 5 is an illustration and a prototype of what will happen in the end times, as described in the prophecy of Daniel 7.

An Interactive Remake

Daniel is greatly distressed by the vision which he sees in chapter 7. We are not told precisely what it is that troubles Daniel. The fact that wicked men will prosper and prevail and that the righteous will suffer is hardly pleasant news. What is its message to Daniel, to the Jews, and to us? In the latter days, before the kingdom of God is established on the earth, kings and kingdoms will become worse and worse. The wicked will prosper and appear to get away with their opposition toward God and His saints.

The righteous will suffer. But in the end, God will judge the wicked and establish His kingdom for His saints. The saints should expect to suffer because of their faith, especially as the last days for the kingdoms of men draw near. The saints should also expect the wicked to prosper, for a season. The saints should neither believe nor behave on the basis of how things appear to be the wicked prospering and prevailing over the righteous.

The saints must believe and behave according to what God has promised about the future —the righteous will possess the kingdom of God forever. An Introduction and Commentary Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, , p. All distinctions of race and colour and nationality are stripped away and one apparently human figure represents the whole human race. Chapter 2 contains a very significant prophecy, revealed by God to king Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar died in B. The Key to Prophetic Revelation Chicago: Moody Press, , p.

Handing Off the Baton 2 Timothy 4: Walking the Romans Road. Facing Winter Seasons 2 Timothy 4: Relating Prophecy to Piety. Introduction Daniel, a godly prophet and a man of unshakable faith, has been steadfast in his daily walk of fellowship with God throughout the first six chapters of the Book of Daniel.

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