The Prophecy Timeline
Messianic prophecy in the order it was spoken: from the patriarchs to the fall of Jerusalem. Each era carries the promises made inside it, in its own words, with the passage where the New Testament says it landed.
Judah Falls & Exile
586 BC – 400 BC · 5 propheciesWorld Empires ForetoldAntiochus Epiphanes Predicted
FulfilledDaniel 8:9-12awaiting fulfillment“Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. It grew great, even to the host of heaven... He removed the regular burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown.”
Read the promise and its fulfillment →
Antiochus Epiphanes Predicted
“Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. It grew great, even to the host of heaven... He removed the regular burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown.”
Recorded as fulfilled, no New Testament fulfillment passage is cited for it yet.
A ruler would arise from one of the four Greek kingdoms who would desecrate the temple.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC) arose from the Seleucid kingdom, invaded Israel, stopped temple sacrifices, and desecrated the temple with a pig sacrifice.
This desecration triggered the Maccabean revolt, commemorated in Hanukkah.
Daniel 11 provides even more detailed predictions about Antiochus that match historical records precisely.
World Empires ForetoldFour World Empires
FulfilledDaniel 2:31-45awaiting fulfillment“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image... The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.”
Read the promise and its fulfillment →
Four World Empires
“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image... The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.”
Recorded as fulfilled, no New Testament fulfillment passage is cited for it yet.
Four successive world empires would rule: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.
The four empires ruling the ancient Near East: Babylon (gold), Medo-Persia (silver), Greece (bronze), and Rome (iron) appeared exactly in this sequence.
Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream c. 603 BC, when only Babylon existed as an empire.
Critical scholars date Daniel to 165 BC to avoid predictive prophecy. However, Daniel 2 describes Rome, which didn't yet dominate the region then.
World Empires ForetoldGreece Conquers Persia
FulfilledDaniel 8:5-7awaiting fulfillment“As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. He came to the ram... and struck the ram and broke his two horns.”
Read the promise and its fulfillment →
Greece Conquers Persia
“As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. He came to the ram... and struck the ram and broke his two horns.”
Recorded as fulfilled, no New Testament fulfillment passage is cited for it yet.
A king from the west (Greece) would rapidly conquer the Medo-Persian Empire.
Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire from 334-330 BC with unprecedented speed ('without touching the ground'). The two horns represent Media and Persia.
Greece was insignificant when Daniel wrote; Persia seemed invincible.
Daniel 8:21 explicitly identifies the goat as Greece. Alexander's campaigns are among the most documented in ancient history.
World Empires ForetoldGreek Empire Divided Four Ways
FulfilledDaniel 8:8, 21-22awaiting fulfillment“Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven... The great horn being broken and four horns arising in its place, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation.”
Read the promise and its fulfillment →
Greek Empire Divided Four Ways
“Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven... The great horn being broken and four horns arising in its place, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation.”
Recorded as fulfilled, no New Testament fulfillment passage is cited for it yet.
The Greek Empire would be divided into four kingdoms after the great king's death.
After Alexander died at 32 (323 BC), his empire was divided among four generals: Ptolemy (Egypt), Seleucus (Syria/East), Lysimachus (Thrace), and Cassander (Macedonia).
The prophecy specifies four, not three or five - exactly as history records.
The Diadochi (successors) wars and the resulting four kingdoms are well-documented by ancient historians.
World Empires ForetoldThe Medo-Persian Dual Empire
FulfilledDaniel 8:3-4, 20awaiting fulfillment“Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great... The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.”
Read the promise and its fulfillment →
The Medo-Persian Dual Empire
“Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great... The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.”
Recorded as fulfilled, no New Testament fulfillment passage is cited for it yet.
Daniel described the Medo-Persian Empire as a ram with two horns, one higher than the other, with the higher arising last—and predicted its expansion westward, northward, and southward.
The Medo-Persian Empire was a dual empire with two distinct ethnic components. The Medes were dominant initially (the shorter horn grew first); then Persia under Cyrus (the higher horn that came up last) became dominant, absorbing and leading the alliance. The empire expanded: westward (conquering Babylon 539 BC, Asia Minor 547 BC, Egypt 525 BC), northward (into Central Asia and the Caucasus), and southward (into Arabia and the Arabian Gulf)—exactly the three directions Daniel specified. This geographic expansion precisely matches the historical record from c. 550-486 BC under Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius I.
Spanning 2100 BC to 100 AD of biblical history.
Browse all the prophecies by theme →