Daniel 7 - Keep Looking

The Bible's teaching about the future is meant to comfort, not frighten you.

Faithlife.com

Daniel 7:1–14 (NASB95)

¹ In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related the following summary of it.

² Daniel said, “I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.

³ “And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.

⁴ “The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. 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.

⁵ “And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’

⁶ “After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, 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.

⁷ “After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

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.

⁹ “I kept looking

Until thrones were set up,

And the Ancient of Days took His seat;

His vesture was like white snow

And the hair of His head like pure wool.

His throne was ablaze with flames,

Its wheels were a burning fire.

¹⁰ “A river of fire was flowing

And coming out from before Him;

Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,

And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;

The court sat,

And the books were opened.

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.

¹² “As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.

¹³ “I kept looking in the night visions,

And behold, with the clouds of heaven

One like a Son of Man was coming,

And He came up to the Ancient of Days

And was presented before Him.

¹⁴ “And to Him was given dominion,

Glory and a kingdom,

That all the peoples, nations and men of every language

Might serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

Which will not pass away;

And His kingdom is one

Which will not be destroyed.

Belgic Confession

Article 37: The Last Judgment

Finally we believe,

according to God’s Word,

that when the time appointed by the Lord is come

(which is unknown to all creatures)

and the number of the elect is complete,

our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven,

bodily and visibly,

as he ascended,

with great glory and majesty,

to declare himself the judge

of the living and the dead.

He will burn this old world,

in fire and flame,

in order to cleanse it.

Then all human creatures will appear in person

before that great judge—

men, women, and children,

who have lived from the beginning until the end

of the world.

They will be summoned there

by the voice of the archangel

and by the sound of the divine trumpet.

For all those who died before that time

will be raised from the earth,

their spirits being joined and united

with their own bodies

in which they lived.

Summary

The book of Daniel takes a big turn here in chapter seven. The first six chapters are historical narrative - they tell the story of Daniel and his friends in Babylon. Now the genre shifts to eschatology - that is, focused on understanding the end times. And, as is often the case in eschatological books like Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation, it all begins with dreams and visions that men like Daniel experienced.

Often these visions are quite fantastic, as Daniel's initial dream is, beginning with four beasts coming up from the sea. Oftentimes eschatological passages like this can be so difficult to understand - what are we supposed to make of an eagle winged lion, a bear with three ribs between its teeth or a four winged, four headed leopard?

There's no shortage of creative interpretations and applications trumpeted by enterprising preachers plying for a following on late night television or YouTube. Somehow they conjure up all sorts of interesting allusions with the current events of today, working people into a frenzy that various geopolitical events are sure signs that the apocalypse is imminent.

We don't need to wonder what this particular vision is all about, or about what the beasts represent, because Daniel goes on to ask for the exact meaning of all this later on in the chapter. He's told that the four beast represent four kings who will arise from the earth. But all in all, the explanation Daniel gets raises more questions than it answers.

So that just leads the speculators to develop elaborate schemes demonstrating which historical kings correspond to each of the beasts as they prognosticate what nation or dictator will be / or already is the beast that devoured and crushed and trampled down the others or who the little horn with eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts will be.

  Dig Deeper  

As interesting as all of these bizarre details seem, they're not the primary point of these types of passages. Rather than focus on endless speculations about how Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump or the Iranians are exactly what Daniel envisioned or make grand charts showing what's been fulfilled and what sort of signs we ought to still be looking for, put your emphasis on understanding the big sweeping picture theses passages paint.

And that big picture shows good news. It shows the Ancient of Days, seated on a blazing throne, attended by thousands upon thousands with myriads standing before Him. What an amazing description of God Almighty! But at this point, the picture is ominous, as the court sat, and the books were opened - books recording actions that would condemn all people in the holy presence of this mighty King.

That's when we're introduced to the Savior - One like a Son of Man, coming on the clouds of heaven - a description that Jesus claimed for Himself as He stood on trial. Not only was this Son of Man presented before the Ancient of Days, but He was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom. He was given exactly what was taken away from the beasts, so that peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him.

It's good to have a firm grip on these difficult eschatological passages, but don't be too consumed and anxious about how the details will work themselves out. The Bible makes clear what we need to know. As John Calvin famously wrote, "where God closes His mouth, there I will desist my inquiries." But hold on tightly and confidently to the massive good news that these passages present.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the Ancient of Days

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that passages like today's bring you confidence in Christ rather than anxiety from their details;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

---