Buckle your seatbelts.
Prophecy Ahead.
As we turn the page from Daniel chapter six to seven,
rather than moving forward chronologically, we drop back about a dozen years (around
553 BC). Back to when Belshazzar was still king.
Daniel is somewhere around 70 years old.
The writing pivots from narration to end time
prophecy.
This is the last chapter written in Aramaic (It was
Aramaic from Dan. 2:4b). The rest of Daniel was written in Hebrew. Aramaic was toward
an audience of gentiles. Hebrew toward an audience of Jews.
Daniel 7:1
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a
dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote
down the dream, telling the main facts.
Have you ever had a God given dream?
The same one more than once?
Just as Pharaoh’s dreams were repeated in, Gen. 41:32,
to confirm that the thing was established by God and would surely come to pass,
so too, the Lord gave Daniel this dream to confirm and expand on the dream
given to Nebuchadnezzar some 50 years prior in Daniel chapter 2.
2 Daniel
spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of
heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.
Four winds,
north, south, east and west, stirring up the Great Sea.
Picture the great sea of humanity, stirring, and
churning with tumultuous unrest.
3 And four great beasts came up from
the sea, each different from the other.
4 The first was like a
lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it
was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and
a man’s heart was given to it.
This dream, alongside Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel
2) and the benefit of history and hindsight we’re able to identify the players
in the dream.
Notice, the first beast was like a lion, the
king of beasts, with eagle’s wings, the chief of birds of prey.
Winged lions were often used on the doors of
Babylonian palaces.
This first beast, like the head of gold in
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, reflects the Babylonian empire.
This dream would’ve helped Daniel personally, since he
did not have the benefit of hindsight. He was sitting about four kings removed
from Nebuchadnezzar and the dream he had, that revealed there would be four world
rulers and then the glorious Rock of Ages would crush them all and fill the
earth.
So, this dream helped him to know, the dream is
certain, the interpretation sure, the end will come, but not right now.
Now, just to be clear, the dream revealed, the wings
were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two
feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
When Nebuchadnezzar soared to greatness, he became proud.
God humbled him, plucked his wings, and he became like a cow eating grass, for
seven years, but, when he lifted his eyes to heaven, he was lifted up, made to
stand, and given the heart of a man. And his last recorded words are these:
“I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and
honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice.
And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.” Daniel 4:37.
God bearing witness to every king of every kingdom, if
the king of wicked Babylon can turn from an animal to a man worshipping God,
you can too.
5 “And
suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side,
and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus
to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’
As with Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream in Daniel 2, with
the chest and arms made of silver, this second beast like a bear represents the
Medo-Persian empire. The bear raised on one side reflects how the Persians were
notably more prominent than the Medes.
The three ribs point to the three territories they
encompassed, Media, Persia and Babylon.
6 “After this
I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four
wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to
it.
The third beast, like the bronze on Nebuchadnezzar’s
image reflects Greece.
The leopard is known for its speed; Alexander the
Great was known for how swiftly he expanded the Grecian empire. He was only 20
when he began his conquest and by 26, he had conquered the entire Medo-Persian Empire.
He lived fast and died young. Before he turned 33, he
was dead.
With no heirs the kingdom went to four wings of a
bird, his four heads, his four generals.
7 “After this
I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and
terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring,
breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different
from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten
horns.
The fourth beast was hard as iron and brutal, a
picture of the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire was the last world dominating
empire, though others have tried, like Napoleon, Stalin, and Hitler.
NOTE: This is not just a history lesson but fulfilled
prophecy that gives credibility and validity to God’s ability to tell the end
from the beginning, so we can be sure that the prophecies yet to be fulfilled
will come to pass just as He has said.
Speaking of prophecies yet to come. Rome won’t be the
last world dominating empire.
As with the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, notice
the ten horns, and compare that to the companion verse in Revelation
13:1-2.
Then
I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the
sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten
crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was
like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his
mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his
throne, and great authority.
A leopard, a bear and a lion, oh my, they are the same
as in Daniel’s dream.
8 I was considering the horns,
and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before
whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this
horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth
speaking pompous words.
Did you notice each of the first three empires were
conquered by the next? However, Rome was never really destroyed, they collapsed
from corruption within.
One day, a little horn, with a big mouth, will come up
from among them, the antichrist, will revive a form of Roman empire, a world
dominating ten nation confederation, represented by the ten toes, ten
horns, ten crowns.
It’s also spoken of, in Revelation 17:12-14.
“The
ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as
yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with
the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power
and authority to the beast [anti-Christ].
These
will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is
Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called,
chosen, and faithful.”
Which brings us right back to our text in Daniel:
9 “I watched
till thrones were put in place,
And the Ancient of Days was seated;
His garment was white as snow,
And the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame,
Its wheels a burning fire;
10 A fiery stream issued
And came forth from before Him.
A thousand thousands ministered to Him;
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.
The court was seated,
And the books were opened.
The only time we see the name, “Ancient of Days” in
Scripture.
A powerful picture that makes you want to fall down
and worship.
But this is no worship service, it’s a day of Judgement.
11 “I watched
then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was
speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed
and given to the burning flame.
12 As for the
rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were
prolonged for a season and a time.
This is what John was speaking of in Revelation 19:20:
Then
the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked
signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the
beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast
alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
13 “I was
watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
When Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream there
was a fifth kingdom that came sailing on the scene, the Rock of Ages that
crushed the image to powder and then became a mountain that filled the whole
earth. This is that coming of the Son of Man in all His glory.
After Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave at the
cross, He received glory and honor and praise and a name above every name. This
Jesus will return in a blaze of glory to destroy His enemies and set up His kingdom
that shall never end.
15 “I, Daniel,
was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my
head troubled me. 16 I came near to one of those who stood
by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the
interpretation of these things: 17 ‘Those great beasts,
which are four, are four kings which arise out of the
earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall
receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’
Danny was likely thinking, “Okay, yeah, I get that, but
there’s got to be more that fourth beast was really wicked and weird, different
from all the others.”
19 “Then I
wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all
the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its
nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the
residue with its feet; 20 and the ten horns that were on
its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell,
namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words,
whose appearance was greater than his fellows.
21 “I was
watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and
prevailing against them, 22 until the Ancient of Days
came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most
High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.
23 “Thus he
said:
‘The fourth beast shall be
A fourth kingdom on earth,
Which shall be different from all other kingdoms,
And shall devour the whole earth,
Trample it and break it in pieces.
24 The ten horns are ten kings
Who shall arise from this kingdom.
And another shall rise after them;
He shall be different from the first ones,
And shall subdue three kings.
25 He shall speak pompous words against the
Most High,
Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,
And shall intend to change times and law.
Then the saints shall be given into his hand
For a time and times and half a time.
You probably already know this is the antichrist, he ushers
in a one world government, “devours the whole earth”.
Intense persecution for the saints who refuse to take
his mark will begin the last half of the tribulation for a time and times
and half a time; three and a half years.
Revelation 13:5 tells us the big mouthed little horn
is given authority for “42 months”, that’s 3.5 years. Daniel 4:16, 12:7 and Revelation 12:14, use the
word times, referring to years. Interestingly, they are
all talking about, the Tribulation.
The devil has a time limit.
So do we.
There’s no time to waste when the shadows of the Tribulation
are already darkening our doors.
Some think they’ll just play with the devil until the
rapture happens, then, they’ll know it’s true and they’ll just let the
antichrist chop their head off instead of taking the mark of the beast, so that
way they still get to go to heaven.
Foolishness!
It doesn’t work like that. It was never about works.
It was always about the heart. So even if you bow and let your head get chopped
off, if you haven’t bowed your heart to Jesus, you’ll still miss the mark and
land in hell.
Today, if you hear His Voice, harden not
your heart.
26 ‘But the
court shall be seated,
And they shall take away his dominion,
To consume and destroy it forever.
That court will actually show up for work and do its
job.
Today, our appetites are whetted for a taste of
justice. Year after year, we’ve witnessed crimes going unpunished, leaders getting
away with murder. We pray for peace, stand for peace, fight for peace.
But according to the Scripture we just read, the beast
will rage until the Prince of Peace, the Ancient of Days, seated on His fiery throne,
calls His court to order, opens the books and commands justice to be served.
Revelation
20:1-3
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless
pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon,
that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand
years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the
thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a
little while.
27 Then the kingdom and dominion,
And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’
Jesus will set up His earthly kingdom and rule and reign
over the whole earth from Jerusalem, for 1,000 years, with Your help, if You’re
one of His saints.
He will give the earth a Sabbath rest and allow
everyone to see how it was supposed to have been done in the first place.
Peace through Strength will reign.
Isaiah 11:6-9. The
wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young
goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child
shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze; Their
young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play by the
cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My
holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
28 “This is the
end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled
me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart.”
So, dear Danny, dear saint, dear sinner, know for sure
and certain, the dream is certain, the interpretation sure, the end will
come, it might be today.
Are you ready?
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank You for telling us, the
end from the beginning. Not to scare us but prepare us, to meet You face to
face and hear You say, “Well done.”
However, if any of us won’t hear You say, “Well
done” please have mercy, convict our hearts, make us miserable until we lift
our eyes completely committed to You. Keep us from the fires of hell.
Help us Lord, to serve You and love You,
forever.
Amen.
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