Buckle up. This is dense and very interesting.
This is the first chapter in the second half of the book of Daniel. The first six chapters were chronological and they were basically narratives of events that happened in the life of Daniel. As such, he was often the interpreter of visions and dreams. Now, we move into a series of stories from Daniel, but they are visions and dreams that he had personally. These are very consequential because they accurate predict the near time events for the Israel and the world following captivity, but also end time events for all of us. It's so interesting to see God plan laid before us, veiled but still for us to consider.
Buckle up.
We start off in verse 1 going back to the future. Daniel is back in the beginning of Belshazzar's reign. This is 12 years before the writing on the wall incident that ended Belshazzar. Ryrie places it at 553 BC, so about 150 years before God goes silent and we wait for the Messiah.
Daniel calls these a dream and visions that were eventually written down.
Daniel said, “I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. Daniel 7: 2–3
The four winds of heaven is most likely the four directions, indicating that these visions are relevant to the whole world. The four beasts were the four empires seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his dream from Chapter 2.
Verse 4 describes the first beast, a lion with wings like an eagle. These were symbols associated with Babylon. It gets plucked...this eagle only has about 12 more years and then Babylon is lost. I'm unclear what what "given the mind (heart)" means. It probably connects to Nebuchadnezzar becoming a beast and then a man again; but maybe that was metaphor as well. Nations rage, but they eventually succumb to human weakness. Or maybe it's a compliment, the mind of humans are created by God for great things. Or maybe it's somehow connected to Babylon in the end times, although that human is personified as a woman. Either way, the first empire was grand is its time is coming to an end.
Verse 5 is the second beast, a bear. It has three ribs in its mouth and it raised up on it haunches. This is the Medo-Persian empire that will defeat Babylon. They were fierce fighters.
The third beast to come out of the water, in verse 6, is a leopard, with four bid wings and four heads. Again, four wings probably indicates great speed and all four directions. Greece is coming, baby, and they will literally change the whole world. Alexander the Great ruled from Europe to Africa to India. However, his kingdom can't hold together after him, which is why the beast has four heads, for the generals who take over and rule. Verse 6 ends by emphasizing that "dominion was given to it". That is factually, historically shown. Greece forms the foundation of the modern Western world, which shapes the whole world. This is when small kingdoms really break containment and we see complete dominion. More on this to come.
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. Daniel 7:7
It sounds like this took place over time, with multiple visions. He originally saw four beasts, but they are making their way out of the water one by one. It seems like some time passes before the fourth beast emerges, which makes sense with the domination of the Greek empire. But when it does…it's a doozy.
- The first three seem pretty scary to me, but it's not until this one that he describes it as dreadful and terrifying. that means it's exponentially more scary than the first three.
- It had large iron teeth. Sound familiar? In the Nebuchadnezzar's statue vision iron was mixed in with the fourth layer.
- It devoured, crushed, and trampled the other beasts. Complete domination and control.
- Different from everything else.
- 10 horns, which we'll get to.
- This is Rome! And once it arrives, it's the last until the end times. Roman ruled laid the infrastructure to spread Greek culture around the world, followed closely by Christianity. There are a lot of twists and turns in that historical timeline, but it led us straight to here.
Verse 8 describes the early changes to Rome. Ten horns, three plucked out and one other boastful horn arise. We'll find out that this is the precursor anti-Christ who will defile the rebuilt Jewish Temple and the end times anti-Christ, who will be the anti-Christ. More on that to come in future visions as well.
And finally, we arrive at verse 9 as a palette cleanser from all of the beasts. We flash forward to the end times.
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. Daniel 7:9
The Ancient of Days took His seat.
God is on His throne. Nations will rage. Empires will come and go, but they will all be subject to their Creator. God is sovereign and we are in His hands. It's interesting to learn about the past and look forward to the future; but He is in control and firm set on His throne.
Hallelujah!
Note that the throne was ablaze and had wheels with fire, witch should remind us of what Ezekiel saw. The visions were consistent. More about the Ancient of Days in verse 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. Daniel 7:10
- A river of fire flowed from Him, which also matches Ezekiel's vision of the river flowing from the Temple.
- Many thousands (people? angels?) attend Him.
- Myriads were standing before Him. Every knee will bow!
- We're in court. The Ancient of Days is the judge.
- The books were open!
Now, in verse 11, we flash back to the fourth beast with the 10 horns, minus 3, plus 1 horn. The one boastful horn keeps going until the beast is slain and its body is destroyed by flame. So the Roman kingdom is the last kingdom until the end times. When the Anti-Christ dies, the human kingdom system will die as well. The rest of the beats have their dominion taken away, but remain for an appointed time.
I am a by confused by the 1000 year reign. But I trust that God is trying to offer every last human a chance to choose life.
Now we flash back to a vision of God.
“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.
“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. Daniel 7:13-14
- The Son of Man appears from the sky (where he had ascended to).
- The fully man; fully God Jesus appears before the Ancient of Days with the books open.
- The Ancient of Days gives to Jesus dominion, glory, and a kingdom.
- all the peoples, nations and men of every language will serve Him.
- this dominion will last forever; all the beasts are gone forever; just the Righteous King
- this kingdom will never be destroyed
Daniel admits he is stressed and alarmed. That's a lot to take in. He seens someone nearby in his vision and asks for an interpretation. He's what he's taught:
- The four beasts are four kings coming.
- But, ultimately, God's saints will end up in the eternal kingdom
Daniel asks for more information on that fourth dreadful beast that did so much damage. Ten horns, minus three, plus one boastful tiny horn. The more Daniel looked he saw the tiny, boastful horn specifically making war with God's saints and overpowering them.
But God:
. . . 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.
Fair warning, the enemy gets in some good shots, but the Lord arrives, judgment comes, and the saints take possession of the Kingdom which is under the eternal reign of the Son of Man. Glory Hallelujah! The stone (Jesus) from Nebuchadnezzar's vision will crush the final beast.
Daniel's vision interpreter circles back around to Daniel's question about the fourth beast. He advises that this beast will devour the whole world and crush it. That sounds bad, but God can use all things for His good and His healing plan. The Roman Empire revered the Greeks and absorbed much of their culture, and then spread it all over Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa, including Christianity. And then it migrates to the America with the explorers. Rome and its offspring are the catalyst which defeated many ancient and sinful civilizations around the world. Human sacrifice, pagan worship, child sacrifice, and many other evils are tamed with the spreading of Christianity. And while some individuals did terrible things under the banner of Christianity, the teachings of Christ win out and crush much of the worst in the ancient civilizations it has encountered so far. Islam does come and take back a large amount of civilizations and enslaves them in darkness, but was somewhat contained until the last decade.
However, when the boastful little horn has his evil reign (near term and end times) we see in verse 25 that he will speak against God and even wear down saint who belong to God. (Sadly, we see how many Christian leaders have come under the sway of governments and social movements, such as masking during the pandemic, Black Lives Matter, and queer theory.) This evil ruler will try to alter time and laws. Unfortunately, the saints will be given over to him for a time. In the end time, some theologians think this will be the second half of the seven year Tribulation.
For the near and end times prophesies, ten kings will arise, one more will come different from the others, and three will be subdued. There was a near term anti-Christ: In 167 BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes accelerated his campaign to forcibly Hellenize (Greekify) the Jewish population. He outlawed essential Jewish practices—such as circumcision, Sabbath observance, and reading the Torah—under penalty of death. The ultimate insult occurred when he marched into the Second Temple in Jerusalem, erected a statue of the Greek god Zeus on the altar, and sacrificed pigs (an animal deemed strictly non-kosher/unclean in Judaism) within the Holy of Holies.
This near term assault ended with the Maccabean Revolt, a guerrilla war launched by a priest named Mattathias and led by his son, Judas Maccabeus ("The Hammer"). Against overwhelming odds, the Maccabees utilized superior knowledge of the local terrain to decisively defeat successive Seleucid armies. In 164 BC, they successfully recaptured Jerusalem and the Temple mount. They cleansed and rededicated the defiled Temple. According to Jewish tradition, the ritual menorah oil miraculously burned for eight days instead of one, an event commemorated today by the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
(A little help from AI (Gemini) summarizing those events.)
We'll get back to Antiochus IV Epiphanes in our next chapter.
In the end times, verse 26 tells us that the Anti-Christ will lose his dominion, and he will be annihilate forever when judgement comes.
We're then reminded in verse 27 that the final Kingdom will be that of the Highest One and it will be forever. We will serve him forever.
Daniel ends the story (chapter) this way:
At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself.” Daniel 7:28
That's a lot for anyone to consider. And he kept it to himself. Nebuchadnezzar coaxed the bad news story from him, and Belshazzar was able to get a negative interpretation from him, but this he kept to himself.
I'm trying to think of something personal to reflect on from this section, but the biggest thing in that all of history is in God's hands. He can move mountains and move kings and shape nations and the world. He can wipe out petty tyrants and murderous civilizations from across oceans. Evil can't run far enough or ebed deep enough that God cannot redeem people.
I can trust Him with my little life.
Amen.