God is eternal, and so is His plan for all creation. The wicked will prosper and appear to get away with their opposition toward God and His saints. A number of lessons from our text have broad application to our thinking and conduct as Christians. If you need one see me after the service and I will get you a copy. 21 I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. 11 Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. This little horn is more intelligent and more arrogant than the other horns. Usually it refers to a person as a human being. Daniel still dreaming said he approached one of those standing there. In chapter 5, King Belshazzars dream should have greatly alarmed him, but apparantly it did not. The beast was lifted up and made to stand like a man. In our passage, Daniel asks for and receives an explanation. I did not include the insert today because I have already included it several times. Dwight Pentecost writes, The existence of the church in the present Age was nowhere revealed in the Old Testament. 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. Even the fate of this fourth beast is different than his three predecessors, as his life and his kingdom seem to end at the same moment. This also underscores that these four kingdoms go from reasonably good to unbelievably bad. Each of the four beasts represent a king and thus a resulting kingdom. (6) Prophecy is written to sober the saints. As the saints suffer at the hands of the wicked, it may appear all hope is lost. 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. This chapter is a history, but it is the history of a prophecy, by a dream and the interpretation . When mentioning the little horn that grew up and uprooted three of the first ten horns, Daniel now tells us that this little horn grew until it was larger in appearance then the remaining seven horns. Hosted by Michael Barbaro and Sabrina . The Old Testament prophet did not see the gap because he viewed the coming of Christ as God does. 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. First, the prophecies of Daniel are divinely inspired and revealed, and thus they are true and reliable. 12 and he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. We will deal with the meaning and application of Daniels vision later on in our questions and answers. How was the fourth beast different from the first three? How easily we turn from what is revealed to speculate about what has been concealed (see Deuteronomy 29:29). Belshazzars rise to power and ascent to the throne seems to have inaugurated a new age for Babylon. 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. What God says, He will do. It should give you a caring heart toward the unsaved as you seek to win them to the Lord. 8 While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts. But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995, [7]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. The fourth beast appears to differ from the other three in that he is more beastly, more powerful, more destructive, and more arrogant. Interpretations of Daniels prophecies differ widely. Abraham had to believe and behave on the basis of Gods promises, rather than on the basis of his perception. Part of the dream seemed good, and part of it seemed bad. As Daniel watches, "four great beasts," each different from the others, emerge from the dark waters (verse 3). 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. These both represent Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire. The Son of Man had the power to forgive sins, as well as to heal a paralytic (Matthew 9:6). (2) While the timing of the fulfillment of divine prophecy may seem remote to the recipient, it still has relevance for him. Gods plan and program are carried out on His schedule, not ours (see 2 Peter 2:8-10). 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). The death of this king brings about the end of his kingdom. Things are not as they appear to be! Verses 15-28 contain the divine interpretation of this vision. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. (1) Daniel 7 is the last chapter written in Aramaic in the Book of Daniel. 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. A Vision of Judgment (Daniel 7:9-12) 2. In Daniels dream the Roman empire was represented by such a terrible beast that Daniel could name no animal which fit its description. He distinguishes himself by his ability to overcome the whole earth, crushing it under foot. Daniel 2:1-13 - Nebuchadnezzar's Dream. Consider the birth of a child, remembering that Gods deliverance and salvation is likened to birth. The precise meaning of the symbols of the raised side and the three ribs is illusive. Je. This beast is also unique among the four in that he grows 11 horns. 77 According to Baldwin, This verse [13] has been the subject of more scholarly papers than any other in the book, so indicating its centrality, not only for Daniel but for the New Testament also. Baldwin, p. 142. Daniel described the beast as having iron teeth and that it devours, crushes, and tramples under its feet all that stands in its way. 13 And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. (Numbers 23:19). ), Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation, Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular, Daniel -- 'God is my judge', an Israelite leader in Babylon, Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular, Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular, Preposition | third person masculine singular, Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct, Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular determinate, Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular determinate. For the time, it was these Jewish leaders who were beastly, arrogant, and blasphemous, and because of this they would suffer divine judgment. Students will learn that they can trust God in difficult times because in the end God wins the battle over the enemy of this world Satan. These will continue to be separate nations in the confederation but will come under the little horns control and authority. Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. Encouraged to do so, it savagely devours. Daniel approached one of theses angels and began to ask him to explain to him the meaning or the truth concerning all that he had seen in his visions. Nothing has caused him to panic or depart from his faith and practice as a godly Jew. A look through the Scriptures shows that Daniels response to the prophecies he received was not unique. Lion - Babylon. So, this phrase refers to 3 years. (10) Daniels preoccupation is with the last beast, rather than the first three. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 states, For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:910, NASB95)[6] Finally, the more we know about the future, the more our hearts should be moved to prayerful petition for those who will face the judgment of God if they do not turn in faith to Jesus Christ. The other prophecies were revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar and interpreted by Daniel. 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. Nevertheless, Daniel tells no one, keeping the matter to himself and suffering a quiet agony over the future events God has revealed to him. When the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, having added perfect humanity to His undiminished deity, He spoke of Himself very often as the Son of Man. In the Gospels, Jesus began not only to identify Himself as the Messiah, the promised Son of Man, but also to explain all that this involved. 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. Thirdly (and most importantly), the prophecies of Daniel mean exactly what God says they mean, nothing more and nothing less. God will establish His kingdom, and that kingdom, unlike the kingdoms of men, is eternal. He will abolish all the religious holidays and seek to abolish Gods law in an attempt to destroy the Jewish people. (5) While the process involves wicked kings and nations and the suffering of the saints, the culmination is the establishment of Gods eternal kingdom. He not only speaks against the Most High, he oppresses the saints. If, in Gods eyes, a day is as 1,000 years and 1,000 years as a day (2 Peter 3:8), then the coming of our Lord has only been a few days from beginning to end. (12) No distinction between the first coming of Christ and the second is made in the coming of the eternal kingdom of God. 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. Please stand in honor of the reading of Gods Word and follow along as I read verses 15-28. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995, Embedded video for Daniel's Dream Interpreted - Daniel 7:15-28. 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