After reading through a number of articles and a few books dealing with modern dispensational millenialist viewpoints on prophecy, I decided to take a look at the underlying assumptions in their interpretation of especially the (pseudo-)prophecies of Daniel. One thing that stands out glaringly is the capricious nature of their selection of succession of nations or kingdoms which are fitted to the various metals, horns, or beasts of the visions in Daniel. That which seems to me entirely obvious, and beyond debate, is the fact that these “prophecies” are clearly centered on Jerusalem, the rulership of which is the central concern of the author. This should similarly be the central concern of one seeking to interpret these “visions” in particular regards to their original setting.
In order to learn whether the rulership of Jerusalem after the Seleucid age would display any discernible patterns to which Daniel’s imagery might be applied, I put together the timeline below. Where I have found precise dates, I have used them. My primary conclusion, which I had already suspected, is that it’s beyond doubt that any so-called historicist position is simply not tenable given Jerusalem as the center of the prophecies. The history of Jerusalem is one of many conquerers and many conquered. There is no way to tie this history to a limited series of changes of dominion represented by the spectacular imagery of Daniel subsequent to the original Seleucid period to which it first applied. At such a large scale as the change of dominion over Jerusalem between nations, which is usually the scale at which these various modern interpreters work at, there is no pattern which fits. Certainly none of the traditionally claimed equations are valid.
I may work on the presentation a bit more, but the initial version given here will, I think, suffice.
| Native local rulers | ???-1550? BCE | |
| Egyptian overlords | 1550?-1200? | |
| Canaanites | 1200?-1000? | |
| Judah | House of David | 1000?-587 |
| (Shishak takes Jerusalem’s treasures | 928) | |
| (Assyrians besiege Jerusalem | 701) | |
| Babylonians | Babylonians | 587-536 |
| Persians | Persians | 536-332 |
| (Artaxerxes III burns Jerusalem | 350) | |
| Greeks | Alexander | 332-323 |
| Ptolemids | 323-200 | |
| Seleucids | 200-164 | |
| Jews | Hasmoneans | 164-63 |
| Rome | Pompey takes Jerusalem | 63 |
| Jews | Herod the Great | 37-4 |
| Archelaus | 4 BCE-6 CE | |
| Rome | Roman Procurators | 6-41 |
| Jews | Herod Agrippa I | 41-44 |
| Rome | Roman procurators | 44-66 |
| Jews | Jewish Revolt | 66-70 |
| Rome | Romans | 70-132 |
| Jews | Bar Kokhba | 132-135 |
| Rome | Romans/Byzantines | 135-4 May 614 |
| Persians | Persians take Jerusalem | 4 May 614 |
| Rome | Romans/Byzantines retake Jerusalem | 628 |
| Muslims | Omar takes Jerusalem | 638 |
| Ummayads | 660-750 | |
| Abbassids begin | summer 750 | |
| Tulunids annex Palestine to Egypt | 878 | |
| Abbassids retake Palestine | 905-940 | |
| Ikhshidis take Egypt | 941 | |
| (Fatimids take Egypt | 969) | |
| Fatimids take Palestine | 970-972 | |
| (Great earthquake in Jerusalem | 5 Dec 1033) | |
| Seljuks take Jerusalem | summer 1073 | |
| Fatimids retake Jerusalem | summer 1098 | |
| Crusaders | Crusaders take Jerusalem | 15 July 1099 |
| Muslims | Saladin takes Jerusalem | 2 October 1187 |
| Ayyubids | 2 Oct 1187-18 Feb 1229 | |
| Crusaders | Frederick II given ruined Jerusalem | 18 Feb 1229-1239 |
| Muslims | al Nasir al Daud of Kerak | 1239-1241 |
| Crusaders | Franks | 1241-23 Aug 1244 |
| Muslims | Khwarizmian Turks take Jerusalem | 23 Aug 1244-1260 |
| (Mamluks defeat Mongols at Ayn Jalut | 3 Sept 1260) | |
| Mamluk | 1260-1516 | |
| (Baybars sacks Jerusalem, Bethlehem churches | 1263) | |
| Ottoman | 1516-11 Dec 1917 | |
| (Mohammed Ali of Egypt rules Jerusalem | 1832-1840) | |
| British | British | 11 Dec 1917-14 May 1948 |
| Muslims | Jordanian | 14 May 1948-7 June 1967 |
| Jews | Israel | 7 June 1967-present |