7 And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. When God granted Daniel the wisdom to interpret the king's dream, it launched Daniel's long career as a political leader, trusted adviser, and well-known prophet. He is more beastly in the beginning and more human in the end, paralleling the character of Nebuchadnezzar. In the second scene, heaven calmly prepares for court, which will determine that the time for judgment has come. 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. 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. Let us listen then, and be sober, enduring the sufferings and trials sent our way, looking expectantly and certainly for His kingdom to come. Prophecy is always practical and relevant to the person(s) receiving it. He distinguishes himself by his ability to overcome the whole earth, crushing it under foot. 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. This is describing an event that has never happened in the history of the world and is yet future. Some of his alarm arose from his not yet having been given the interpretation of his vision. When the court sits for judgment, his dominion is taken from him and he is destroyed forever. Both series of four kingdoms begin well and end badly. Prophecy provides men the opportunity to think and act in a way which pleases God, who determines the future and who reveals future events to men. a. But I want you to notice Daniels reaction to the dream that he had. Lion - Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar died apparently nine years before Belshazzar came to power. He will keep continual pressure on the saints of the Highest One to try to break and destroy and annihilate them. From Daniel 2:4b to the end of chapter 7, the original text was written in Aramaic (the language of Babylon in that day). 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. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. Chapter 7 reveals in broad terms what the future holds. During the times of the Gentiles four empires, Daniel was told, would rise and rule over the land and people of Israel. In Daniels dream the Medo-Persian empire and it king Cyrus was represented by the bear. The second and third beasts are briefly described in verses 5 and 6. Daniel explains that each of these metals represents a kingdom that would rule the world, and the stone is God . 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers [1]to tell him what he had dreamed. 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. In Revelation it is also referred to as 42 months and 1260 days which all work out to 3 years. God answered Daniel's prayer, and Daniel praised the Lord (Dan 2:19-23). The ten horns are of interest to him, but most of all that final horn which arose, surpassing and replacing three others and speaking boastfully. The revelation of the writing on the banquet hall wall, already described in chapter 5, actually happened later, on the last day of Belshazzars life. Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, Upon the son of man whom Thou didst make strong for Thyself (Psalm 80:17). 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?. As Daniel watches, "four great beasts," each different from the others, emerge from the dark waters (verse 3). 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. 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. In fact, Daniel has trouble interpreting some of his own dreams. But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come. Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates. 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. It therefore seems that the two prophecies speak of the same four kingdoms by means of different imagery. It is explained in a way that children can understand, describing his feeling as butterfly's in his tummy.Daniel's Dream takes you on an uplifting adventure with wonderfully expressivedescriptions of the characters, perfectly capturing bodylanguage and . The beasts are hardly worthy of prose, but the court of heaven deserves a description of the finest words. We could never predict the goals God has determined, nor the means He has ordained for history to reach them. She makes it clear in a rather public fashion that she finds him desirable. He would, after His death, burial, and resurrection come in His glory, rewarding men according to their deeds (16:27). 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. At this point the revelation ended. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. Then the saints will receive the kingdom which will never end. The fourth beast receives greater attention and is of the most interest to 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. Daniel described the beast as having iron teeth and that it devours, crushes, and tramples under its feet all that stands in its way. (3) These prophecies must be understood in light of their historical background as provided in Daniel, in the inspired revelation provided by other portions of Scripture, and the cautious use of supplementary information by reliable historical documents or study. 80 During my school teaching days, I tried to make my students think I had eyes in the back of my head so that no matter what they did--even if my back was turned--they could not escape my all-seeing eyes or my discipline. This was when his life took a sharp turn. The next portion of the statue in Daniel 2 was the chest and arms of silver which represented the Medo-Persian Empire which was even larger than the Babylonian empire. Both the statue parts (made of different metals) and the beasts represent kings and kingdoms. Chapter 9, on the other hand, has a historical account of Daniels study of Jeremiah and of his prayers of repentance and petition for Israels restoration and return to the land of promise. March 1, 2023, 6:00 a.m. (4) Prophecies not completely fulfilled cannot be fully understood until after their fulfillment. The expression, son of man, is not new to Daniel nor to the Jews of his day. 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. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:13, NASB95)[5] The more we know about the future the more are hearts should be moved to practical preparation. (12) No distinction between the first coming of Christ and the second is made in the coming of the eternal kingdom of God. Some people have a rather irreverent attitude toward prophecy, they approach it as a pastime and they delight in figuring out complex date schemes and drawing detailed diagrams of the future. Generally, it is agreed that this beast represents the Babylonian empire and king Nebuchadnezzar in particular. The ten horns, Daniel is told, represent ten kings who will emerge out of the fourth kingdom. Hearing this, Nebuchadnezzar affirms that Daniel's god is "the God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries". He had lived through the overthrow of his people, his nation, and his hometown by a foreign power, he had been torn from his family and carried off into captivity. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. The righteous will suffer. He questioned His disciples so that they could confess that He, the Son of Man, was the Messiah (16:13f.). In more detail, the outline would be as follows: (2) The Divine Interpretation verses 15-28. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. Peter reminds us of Gods patience, but His patience has a determined end. Between the first half of verse 23 and the second half of this verse we have what has been referred to as the great parenthesis in the Old Testament, the mystery of the church and the Church Age which was not revealed to the world until after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. There is fairly strong inferential evidence that Nebuchadnezzar was represented by the first beast, the winged lion. Nebuchadnezzar's Threat One night, Nebuchadnezzar awoke frightened by a dream. As the destruction of the last beast and the blaspheming horn came as a complete shock to them, so the Lords coming will catch unbelievers unprepared as well (24:27-39). Liberals reject all prophecies, because they require a sovereign God and a miraculous revelation of future events. How easily we turn from what is revealed to speculate about what has been concealed (see Deuteronomy 29:29). The entire empire was conquered between 334 and 330 B.C., just four years. - As for these four children, God gave them knewledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.Or, as the words might be more accurately rendered, "these lads, the four of them" (Ezekiel 1:8-10).This indicates that somehow they were separated off into a quaternion. 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. 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). God is able to raise up kings and put them down. The dream vortex dies with her, and Rose awakens with her brother, Jed, sleeping next to her. 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. At least the final portion of chapter 7 has not been fulfilled. This also underscores that these four kingdoms go from reasonably good to unbelievably bad. Not only was he greatly alarmed and physically sick, but he says he also kept the matter to himself. When his appointed time is over, God will destroy this king and his kingdom and establish His eternal kingdom on the earth. Two weeks ago, we quickly looked at the description of the beast that John sees in Revelation 13 and he described it as a composite of the first three beasts, the body of a leopard, the feet or paws of a bear, and the head and mouth of a lion. This morning we are going to go back to Daniel 7 and look at the rest of the chapter where Daniel has the dream interpreted. This designation refers to God the Father in a way that stresses His eternality, dignity, and power. What role do they play in relation to the four beasts? Episode 5 of "How I Met Your Father" Season 2 tested the friendships of everyone in the group. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. (2) Chapters 7 and 8, while written in different languages, are written during the reign of Belshazzar and somehow linked by the author in Daniel 8:1. 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. Are we supposed to discover their identity? Each beast has its own unique characteristics. Children need to know that as believers, we are on the winning team and God wins in the end. 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. in 1971. 2 Peter 3:8-9, But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. His vision in chapter 4 should have produced more distress than it did. The beasts emerge out of chaos and confusion; the heavenly court is calm and dignified. The second scene portrays the establishment of the thrones on which the Ancient of Days and those holding court are to be seated to pronounce judgment. In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. In a similar way, Belshazzar becomes blasphemous and is suddenly removed by God for his wickedness. He staying the decree is brought to the king. He wants to know more about this dreadful beast, different from the rest, especially in the destruction he wrought. Editing is often evident in the Bible (see John 20:30-31; 31:25). The saints should also expect the wicked to prosper, for a season. With the commencement of Belshazzars co-regency may have come not only a rejection of the Jewish faith and worship, but a new wave of persecution directed toward it. The inter-relationship between the prophecies of chapters 2 and 7 is demonstrated on the following page: Deterioration: Gold to iron mixed with clay, Deterioration: Nearly human to blaspheming beast. He will abolish all the religious holidays and seek to abolish Gods law in an attempt to destroy the Jewish people. The scene of the four beasts arising from the sea, which Daniel saw in his night vision, is strikingly similar to the account found in the 13th chapter of Revelation: 1 And he stood on the sand of the seashore, and I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. Our attention should be given to what is clearly and emphatically said. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints (Revelation 13:1-10). The toasting of the gods of the Babylonians with the sacred temple vessels, recorded in chapter 5, may have been Belshazzars final act of blasphemy. Time: refers to one year, times is understood in Aramaic (the language this chapter was originally written in) to mean a dual or two, so times refers to two years and half a time refers to one half of a year. Subsequent revelations in the Book of Daniel which Daniel received were closely associated with some kind of agony or distress (see 8:17, 27; 9:20-21; 10:2-3, 7-10, 17; 12:8). Daniel returned to his house and explained the situation to his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The emphasis is positive. As the beast continues to boast, a second scene commences in Daniels vision, and for a period of time both scenes run simultaneously. From an eternal perspective, the coming of Christ and His kingdom is but one coming. Daniel himself had many dreams and visions, mostly related to future kingdoms of the world and the . Just what this means is unclear, but it suggests this arrogant king not only speaks against God, but, like Satan, he aspires to change the order God has established. The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer (1 Peter 4:7). 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