Jesus quoted the words of Daniel 7:13. 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. Unfortunately, the king did not heed the dreams warning, and his kingdom was taken away for a time. Humanly speaking, it was impossible for them to have a child. Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Daniel 2:24-49 New International Version Daniel Interprets the Dream 24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. He will keep continual pressure on the saints of the Highest One to try to break and destroy and annihilate them. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. Daniel writes that at this point the revelation was ended. Before the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt and brought into the land of Canaan, they suffered at the hands of the Egyptians. The second and third beasts are briefly described in verses 5 and 6. The point of this prophecy is not to tell us who future kings will be, but rather what they will be like. The beast also was given a mans mind. For the time, it was these Jewish leaders who were beastly, arrogant, and blasphemous, and because of this they would suffer divine judgment. The fourth beast is a fourth king, different than the others. In the first scene, heavenly winds are employed to whip up the sea from which the four beasts emerges. The beasts emerge out of chaos and confusion; the heavenly court is calm and dignified. So they came and stood before the king. God is eternal, and so is His plan for all creation. 16 I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. Daniel made it very clear that the dream and the interpretation had come for the one true God. The three ribs may also represent the kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon which preceded the Medo-Persian empire and then fell to them. No wonder His words stung and prompted them to act as they did. The fourth portion of the statue in Daniel 2 is the iron legs and feet and toes of partly iron and partly baked clay which represented the Roman empire. The final outcome is Gods people under the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, will receive the kingdom. 8 And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, every one whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. In his vision, Daniel observed the sea being stirred up into a raging storm by the four winds of heaven. This signifies that the events which follow have been ordained by God. Bob is a pastor/teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas, and has contributed many of his Bible study series for use by the Foundation. The angel that Daniel was talking with gave Daniel greater detail concerning the fourth beast; he described this fourth beast as a fourth kingdom coming from the earth, it will be different from all the rest, this kingdom will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. As we move into the second half of Daniel 7 and begin to dissect Daniels dream with the help of Gods Word and the help of history past because some of this dream which was yet future for Daniel is past history for us. Then the saints will receive the kingdom which will never end. It seems that three of the kings try to resist him and he overthrows them by force. In the Old Testament, the expression son of man was used most frequently in reference to men, who were merely (as opposed to God) human. requires it of the Chaldeans, by promises and threats. Daniels response is testimony to this reality. Chapter 7 reveals in broad terms what the future holds. The wicked will prosper and appear to get away with their opposition toward God and His saints. (11) A distinction is made between God the Fatherthe Ancient of Days and God the Sonthe Son of Manwith both playing a part in the establishment of the kingdom. The gap is not the prophets problem; it is ours. 24 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them,81 and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. For this reason, I wish to clearly state the foundational presuppositions and principles on which this exposition of Daniel is based. Generally, it is agreed that this beast represents the Babylonian empire and king Nebuchadnezzar in particular. 1 John 3:1-3 says, See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. He had endured the training of the Chaldeans and he had lived his life in the service of a foreign king, at first the foreign king who had overthrown his country. Thus he said: The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. These kingdoms go from bad to worse. Interpretations of Daniels prophecies differ widely. Public sentiment was turning against this foreign religion, and the Babylonians, including Belshazzar, wanted a return to their old time religion the pagan worship of the gods of Babylon. At-A-Glance 1. A true account of what happened can only be gathered by reading Daniel 2:18; Daniel 2:28 by the side of this verse. The righteous will suffer. (8) The four beasts are all different, with the last standing apart from the first three. It is significant for us to note Daniels reaction to this revelation from God. 75 Everything in chapter 7 is on a world-wide scale, the empires of the beasts, the judgment, and the nations that worship and serve the one like mortal man. Daniel (Daniel 2; 4): As He had done for Joseph, God placed Daniel in a position of power and influence by allowing him to interpret a foreign ruler's dream. If you remember from two weeks ago the bear was raised up on one side, this was to indicate that one part of this united kingdom overshadowed the other portion. 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. The winged lion was a symbol of Babylon, in any history museum that has a Babylonian section you will find artifacts of a winged lion. History has shown this to be true in the past, and prophecy assures us that it will be true in the future. Gods plan and program are carried out on His schedule, not ours (see 2 Peter 2:8-10). (1) Daniel 7 is the last chapter written in Aramaic in the Book of Daniel. Those who populate the earth after the tribulation will give their allegiance to Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. What God declares in prophecy, He reveals as well in history. 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 24:30). 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. We do not walk by sight, but by faith. Prophecy becomes necessary from time to time to remind men of those things God has planned for the future which He will surely fulfill. Some of his alarm arose from his not yet having been given the interpretation of his vision. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him." He would, after His death, burial, and resurrection come in His glory, rewarding men according to their deeds (16:27). In Daniels dream the Greek empire and Alexander the great were represented by the four-headed, four-winged leopard. Daniel finds nothing to compare to it. The statue has four parts; there are four beasts. When the sin and oppression of evil men reaches a predetermined point, God will remove them and establish His promised eternal kingdom. (4) Suffering is to be expected by the saints, before they enter into the glorious kingdom of God. Neither peer opposition nor the king's new law (chapter 6) greatly disturbed Daniel. It should give you a caring heart toward the unsaved as you seek to win them to the Lord. 23 Thus he said: The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995, [7]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him." (2:14-16) Notice Daniel's calm in the face of the king's rush to judgment. Did Daniel interpret dreams? No wonder interpreters differ about the details. In more detail, the outline would be as follows: (2) The Divine Interpretation verses 15-28. The first time in Daniel 7:13, he is referring to Messiah, who will sit on the eternal throne of His father, David. The vision comes to Daniel in Belshazzars first year.78 A subsequent and related vision comes to him in this kings third year (see 8:1). In Daniels dream the Medo-Persian empire and it king Cyrus was represented by the bear. Wherever I see the Scriptures speak of the coming kingdom of God, I find suffering closely associated with it. By far, this first beast is the best of a bad bunch. 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 king is told that all of these earthly kingdoms would be destroyed by the stone not fashioned by human hands, and that an eternal kingdom would take the place of these temporal kingdoms. (1) The Book of Daniel is a part of the Holy Scriptures, and thus inspired, accurate, and trustworthy. The next three are waking visions seen in the presence of angels, followed by an appearance of the Messiah - the Son of Man - to interpret the vision for Daniel. 27 Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him. 28 At this point the revelation ended. We are not to base our thinking and actions on circumstances, but upon the Scriptures. The latter prophecy of Daniel 7 adds many more details than were revealed in chapter 2. Our deliverance from the power of sin and the penalty of death has been accomplished by our Lord, who suffered in our place. As the beast continues to boast, a second scene commences in Daniels vision, and for a period of time both scenes run simultaneously. May the Spirit of God reveal the meaning of this prophecy to us and produce in us that which God desires to His glory and our good. Twice in chapter 7 Daniel speaks of his distress: As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me (verse 15). We should not spend a disproportionate amount of time and energy trying to fill in the blanks God has left. If not, he could never have become airborne again. In his interpretation of the dream, Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar he was the head of gold. God will establish His kingdom, and that kingdom, unlike the kingdoms of men, is eternal. He is more beastly in the beginning and more human in the end, paralleling the character of Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 2. The angel told Daniel that at the end of those three and a half years the court would sit for judgment and the dominion (a word in Aramaic that means kingdom or empire and the citizens or subjects of that empire) would be taken away from the Antichrist, and the Antichrist and his followers will be annihilated and destroyed forever. This scene in Daniel is also similar to a prophecy recorded in the Book of Revelation: 4 and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?. See John F. Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 149. 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. Open your Bibles to Daniel 7. 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. He will rule over all nations forever. 9:1; 12:1, AV, RV), and the book of Daniel insists here and in subsequent chapters (8:27; 10:1, 10, 11, 15, 18) on the anxiety and psychological turmoil involved in receiving, even at Gods hand, understanding of the future course of history. Joyce C. Baldwin, Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1978), p. 143. Daniel returned to his house and explained the situation to his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Never in the history of the Roman empire has this happened so it is yet future. Arrogant, boastful, and even blasphemous kings will reign over the nations, opposing God and oppressing His saints. If taken seriously, we will find the future sobering as well. We have already seen this phrase time, times, and half a time in Revelation. Here is a man that has faithfully walked with his God his whole life. The kingdom of God will be established and the saints will possess it forever. The emphasis is positive. Chapter 7 - In the first vision Daniel sees the same kingdoms, but this time he sees them as beasts. Daniel uses the expression Son of man twice. These kings will rise to power and dominate the earth. His declaration, which resulted from the deliverance of the three Hebrews, made it unlawful to hinder the worship of the Jews; his decree recorded at the end of chapter 4 went much further. In chapter 2 we read that Nebuchadnezzar was troubled and terrified by his dream, we read here in verse 15 that Daniel was distressed in his spirit because he knew that God had just shown him a panorama of tremendous events yet future and Daniels distress was his lack of understanding his dream. Daniel 7 indicates in the clearest way that prior to the coming of the kingdom of God the saints will suffer at the hand of the final horn and even be overpowered by him. Even those portions which we believe have been fulfilled, students of prophecy differ about the way of their fulfillment. In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 1. (3) What principles should guide and govern our attempt to interpret the prophecy of this chapter? (2) The prophecies of Daniel must be understood in relationship to and in light of the other prophecies of Daniel. If we go back to Daniel 2 and look at the statue in Nebuchadnezzars dream, we find that it too represented four kings and their kingdoms. Daniels response to the vision was far from assuring or calming. The king called for his magi to interpret the nightmare. 26 But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. The angel went on in this summary to tell Daniel that the saints of the Highest One would receive the kingdom and possess it forever. to revoke its approval of the two main drugs used for medication abortion in the United States. The coming of the Son of Man is represented as one coming, and not two. Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. The statue represented the kingdoms of the earth. God also allows the wicked to persist and even to prosper, so that those whom He has chosen might be saved (Romans 9:22-24). Belshazzar came to power several years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar and seems to have turned completely away from the God of Israel. Exact meaning of all this portions which we believe have been fulfilled, students of differ! The last chapter written in Aramaic in the blanks God has planned for the future holds past, and a! 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