Daniel 7
Welcome! Today we continue our series in the Book of Daniel, beginning the second half of the book and focusing in on Chapter 7. In the first six chapters we saw primarily a historical account of the events surrounding the life of Daniel, with a little prophecy thrown in. In these second six chapters, we see the reverse: primary a series of prophecies, with a little historical account thrown in.
I believe it is helpful to start with a very brief review of the highlights of the first 6 chapters. Daniel was captured with his friends from Jerusalem at the time of the fall of Israel, the culmination of centuries of warnings from God’s prophets and the fruit of centuries of disobedience, ignoring God’s laws and increasingly forsaking God altogether. And so Daniel, likely a teenager at the time, was made to serve in a foreign nation, the nation of Babylon.
Despite efforts to “assimilate” Daniel and his friends into Babylonian culture, they stayed true to God and followed as many of the laws of Moses as they could. And over time, God raised Daniel up until he was one of the most important administrators in the empire. And through this time, God also made Daniel one of His prophets, revealing truths about the future to him in dreams and visions.
One such vision is detailed in Daniel 2. This vision was actually given to the Babylonian leader, Nebuchadnezzar, and it described a giant statue of a man, with four main parts: a head of gold, a chest and arms of silver, a belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron, including feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. God gave the same vision to Daniel so that he was able to tell Nebuchadnezzar the dream without being told, and he went on to interpret it. The Babylonian empire was represented by the head of gold; future empires represented the lower parts, one after another. Following this in the vision, and prophetically, following this in history, was to be a rock that smashes the whole statue, representing an end to the series of empires. The rock, “not cut by human hands,” would become a great mountain, representing “kingdom that will never be destroyed but … itself endure forever.”
Daniel interprets another vision of Nebuchadnezzar in Chapter 4, one that predicts Nebuchadnezzar himself turning to madness, acting like a beast of the field, and because of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride this did literally happen a little later and lasted for years until Nebuchadnezzar finally looked to God and was restored both in body and with regards to his kingdom. Thereafter it seems Nebuchadnezzar became a worshiper of the true God, and in Chapter 4, glorifies God for His future eternal kingdom, quite a dramatic change from the past, where Nebuchadnezzar only seemed interested in his own power and kingdom.
Decades later, Nebuchadnezzar died, and a series of ever-weaker kings took his place. Meanwhile, the Medes and Persians joined forces and began to become the next great empire (the silver chest and arms in the vision of Daniel 2), eventually with pretty much only the city of Babylon still standing. One night a miraculous disembodied hand wrote with writing that the king at that time, Belshazzar, could not understand, nor could his regular advisors. He eventually sent for Daniel who interpreted it as a sign of the imminent fall of Babylon. And this is exactly what happened; Babylon fell and Belshazzar was killed that very night. Darius of the Medes and Persians became the new ruler, and with him, Cyrus.
As we have gone through Daniel 1 through 6, we have seen a recurring theme of deliverance. Again and again, God delivers Daniel or his friends from certain death, from the executioner’s sword in Daniel 2, from the fiery furnace in Daniel 3, from the fall of a ruler in Daniel 4, from the fall of an empire in Daniel 5, and from a den of hungry lions in Daniel 6. And again and again, God uses the deliverance to help bring glory to Himself. The combination of Daniel’s impeccable character, his telling leaders about the one true and holy God, and these miraculous deliverances brings both Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, two of the most powerful emperors the world had yet seen, to a point of belief and even faith in Him.
And so, with this historical and thematic backdrop, let’s dig into Daniel 7.
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. – Daniel 7:1
This takes place during the reign of Belshazzar, the last king of the Babylonians. This takes place before the fall of the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians. Thus Daniel 7 involves a rewinding of time relative to Daniel 6.
It is interesting to note that this dream, or prophecy, was not given to Belshazzar or any other Babylonian. This dream was given directly to Daniel. As we will see, this dream was not for the Babylonians, but for Israel.
It is helpful to think about what “Israel” really was at this time. It had been more than a generation since the fall of Israel. Many Israelites had been deposed now for decades. What was it like for them? Some of them no doubt went “native,” completely forgetting God and essentially becoming Babylonians themselves. But some stayed true to God, as best as they could, and they hoped and prayed for a future day when they could go back home and begin to rebuild what had been destroyed, which was pretty much everything. The Temple of Solomon lay in ruins. Pretty much the whole city of Jerusalem lay in ruins.
Imagine what it was like to be such an Israelite, waiting for a generation, watching Nebuchadnezzar as a fierce tyrant, and then as a crazy person acting like a beast of the field, and then, miraculously, not only becoming healed but now acknowledging and worshiping the God of Israel! I am sure their hopes soared of a time in the near future when the land would be restored to them.
But then Nebuchadnezzar died, to be followed by weak and corrupt and evil leaders, and with Nebuchadnezzar’s death also died their hopes. And now, Belshazzar, perhaps the worst of them yet, was in power, and there were signs that the empire was falling. It was growing smaller day by day as the Medes and Persians took over piece by piece. And so in the midst of this, what was an Israelite to think? It was a dark and anxious time, one in which few would even dare to hope.
And at this time, God gave a vision to Daniel, a vision for the people of God, a vision of what was to come. Let’s look at the substance of the vision:
Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. – Daniel 7:2-3
Now does the number four seem familiar? Yes, the four parts of the giant statue, representative of the four great kingdoms of the history of the world from the time of Daniel until the time of the end, the last day. Later in this chapter, Daniel asks someone in the vision for understanding, he says that these beasts as well represent four great kingdoms. The vast majority of commentators agree that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the beasts and the four parts of the statue, although a few suggest that the beasts all represent different nations at the end times. As we talk about these beasts one by one, I will present the first view, what we might call the “historical” view.
But before the beasts is the great sea itself. This is not a calm sea, but a sea in turmoil, churning, with giant, irregular waves. Sailors and poets use the term an “angry sea” not without reason. And if the beasts represent kingdoms, I think the clear intention of the poetic use of the sea is to represent that the history of the world is a stormy one, one of turmoil and churning. And does this not perfectly describe the history of the world, even our modern history? Imagine if an alien came from another planet and you had to tell him the history of our world. It’s, well, embarrassing. And depressing. It’s a painful story to tell, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, does it? We may be progressing in the area of technology, but in the area of human suffering – apart from medical advances pretty much restricted to the rich countries – we don’t seem to be making any progress; if anything, it almost seems like we are going backwards. Our great sea of history is certainly still churning.
“The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. – Daniel 7:4
If we match the four beasts with the four parts of the statue in Daniel 2, this first beast, “like a lion with the wings of an eagle,” corresponds to the Babylonians. The image of a lion with eagle’s wings can be found on many relics from that time period. There are multiple theories about the meaning of the wings torn off in the context of ancient Babylon, from the piece-by-piece destruction of the empire, to the period of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity. (Being lifted from the ground is more literally lifted up from out of the dirt; recall that Nebuchadnezzar like an animal was bent over eating grass.)
“And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ – Daniel 7:5
The second beast, like the second part of the statue in Daniel 2,pretty clearly seems to represent the Medes and Persians. The lopsided nature of the bear-like beast might represent the fact that the Persians strongly dominated the Medes in this empire. The three ribs may represent the three large nations they destroyed, Babylon, Egypt, and Lydia. Recall from Daniel 6 that we saw they kept much of the governmental structures intact when they took over. (This is why they selected Daniel as a key governor.) So saying that the beast kept the three ribs in its mouth is perhaps a way of saying this.
“After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. – Daniel 7:6
Again based on our discussion of the statue in Daniel 2, and looking at history, the leopard-like beast would be the Greek empire. The leopard (or panther) was known for its incredible speed, and the wings would only add to this speed. This was an appropriate symbol for the Greek empire, made vast by Alexander the Great who conquered with blinding speed unlike anything ever before seen; he had basically conquered the whole known world by the time he was 33 years old. As for the four heads, at the end of Alexander the Great’s reign, the empire was divided among his four generals, Cassander (Greece and Macedonia), Lysimachus (Thrace and Asia Minor, east of Greece), Seleucus (Middle East), and Ptolemy (Egypt).
“After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. – Daniel 7:7
And the fourth beast represents the Roman Empire, which in a real sense is still with us today; much of our ideas from philosophy, government, and even half the words in our language and most words in many European languages come from Rome. As we mentioned in Daniel 2, Rome used iron widely and so iron was an appropriate image for the Roman Empire.
What about the ten horns? Most commentators think the ten horns refers to something yet to come, perhaps a union of ten nations. As the European Union was coming together, initially as ten nations, a number of people suggested that this was the ten horns. The Union has since expanded however, so who knows? There are enough challenges in figuring out the past without having to guess at the future, so let’s continue reading.
“While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully. – Daniel 7:8
We will have much more to say about the little horn as we go through the rest of Daniel, and even later in this chapter, we will see more about this. For now let me just say that this is referring to the person described in multiple places in Scripture as the antichrist.
“As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of His head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands attended Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened." – Daniel 7:9-10
We are looking at the seating of the King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s an awesome scene. The whiteness symbolizes purity and holiness; the fire, judgment and purifying; the books, also a sign of judgment.
The throne of God, a time when an eternal kingdom is set into place, when all nations are judged and then ruled is a theme that has strands throughout the Old Testament. Even in Genesis – chapter 49 – we see the first signs of it:
I believe it is helpful to start with a very brief review of the highlights of the first 6 chapters. Daniel was captured with his friends from Jerusalem at the time of the fall of Israel, the culmination of centuries of warnings from God’s prophets and the fruit of centuries of disobedience, ignoring God’s laws and increasingly forsaking God altogether. And so Daniel, likely a teenager at the time, was made to serve in a foreign nation, the nation of Babylon.
Despite efforts to “assimilate” Daniel and his friends into Babylonian culture, they stayed true to God and followed as many of the laws of Moses as they could. And over time, God raised Daniel up until he was one of the most important administrators in the empire. And through this time, God also made Daniel one of His prophets, revealing truths about the future to him in dreams and visions.
One such vision is detailed in Daniel 2. This vision was actually given to the Babylonian leader, Nebuchadnezzar, and it described a giant statue of a man, with four main parts: a head of gold, a chest and arms of silver, a belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron, including feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. God gave the same vision to Daniel so that he was able to tell Nebuchadnezzar the dream without being told, and he went on to interpret it. The Babylonian empire was represented by the head of gold; future empires represented the lower parts, one after another. Following this in the vision, and prophetically, following this in history, was to be a rock that smashes the whole statue, representing an end to the series of empires. The rock, “not cut by human hands,” would become a great mountain, representing “kingdom that will never be destroyed but … itself endure forever.”
Daniel interprets another vision of Nebuchadnezzar in Chapter 4, one that predicts Nebuchadnezzar himself turning to madness, acting like a beast of the field, and because of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride this did literally happen a little later and lasted for years until Nebuchadnezzar finally looked to God and was restored both in body and with regards to his kingdom. Thereafter it seems Nebuchadnezzar became a worshiper of the true God, and in Chapter 4, glorifies God for His future eternal kingdom, quite a dramatic change from the past, where Nebuchadnezzar only seemed interested in his own power and kingdom.
Decades later, Nebuchadnezzar died, and a series of ever-weaker kings took his place. Meanwhile, the Medes and Persians joined forces and began to become the next great empire (the silver chest and arms in the vision of Daniel 2), eventually with pretty much only the city of Babylon still standing. One night a miraculous disembodied hand wrote with writing that the king at that time, Belshazzar, could not understand, nor could his regular advisors. He eventually sent for Daniel who interpreted it as a sign of the imminent fall of Babylon. And this is exactly what happened; Babylon fell and Belshazzar was killed that very night. Darius of the Medes and Persians became the new ruler, and with him, Cyrus.
As we have gone through Daniel 1 through 6, we have seen a recurring theme of deliverance. Again and again, God delivers Daniel or his friends from certain death, from the executioner’s sword in Daniel 2, from the fiery furnace in Daniel 3, from the fall of a ruler in Daniel 4, from the fall of an empire in Daniel 5, and from a den of hungry lions in Daniel 6. And again and again, God uses the deliverance to help bring glory to Himself. The combination of Daniel’s impeccable character, his telling leaders about the one true and holy God, and these miraculous deliverances brings both Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, two of the most powerful emperors the world had yet seen, to a point of belief and even faith in Him.
And so, with this historical and thematic backdrop, let’s dig into Daniel 7.
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. – Daniel 7:1
This takes place during the reign of Belshazzar, the last king of the Babylonians. This takes place before the fall of the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians. Thus Daniel 7 involves a rewinding of time relative to Daniel 6.
It is interesting to note that this dream, or prophecy, was not given to Belshazzar or any other Babylonian. This dream was given directly to Daniel. As we will see, this dream was not for the Babylonians, but for Israel.
It is helpful to think about what “Israel” really was at this time. It had been more than a generation since the fall of Israel. Many Israelites had been deposed now for decades. What was it like for them? Some of them no doubt went “native,” completely forgetting God and essentially becoming Babylonians themselves. But some stayed true to God, as best as they could, and they hoped and prayed for a future day when they could go back home and begin to rebuild what had been destroyed, which was pretty much everything. The Temple of Solomon lay in ruins. Pretty much the whole city of Jerusalem lay in ruins.
Imagine what it was like to be such an Israelite, waiting for a generation, watching Nebuchadnezzar as a fierce tyrant, and then as a crazy person acting like a beast of the field, and then, miraculously, not only becoming healed but now acknowledging and worshiping the God of Israel! I am sure their hopes soared of a time in the near future when the land would be restored to them.
But then Nebuchadnezzar died, to be followed by weak and corrupt and evil leaders, and with Nebuchadnezzar’s death also died their hopes. And now, Belshazzar, perhaps the worst of them yet, was in power, and there were signs that the empire was falling. It was growing smaller day by day as the Medes and Persians took over piece by piece. And so in the midst of this, what was an Israelite to think? It was a dark and anxious time, one in which few would even dare to hope.
And at this time, God gave a vision to Daniel, a vision for the people of God, a vision of what was to come. Let’s look at the substance of the vision:
Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. – Daniel 7:2-3
Now does the number four seem familiar? Yes, the four parts of the giant statue, representative of the four great kingdoms of the history of the world from the time of Daniel until the time of the end, the last day. Later in this chapter, Daniel asks someone in the vision for understanding, he says that these beasts as well represent four great kingdoms. The vast majority of commentators agree that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the beasts and the four parts of the statue, although a few suggest that the beasts all represent different nations at the end times. As we talk about these beasts one by one, I will present the first view, what we might call the “historical” view.
But before the beasts is the great sea itself. This is not a calm sea, but a sea in turmoil, churning, with giant, irregular waves. Sailors and poets use the term an “angry sea” not without reason. And if the beasts represent kingdoms, I think the clear intention of the poetic use of the sea is to represent that the history of the world is a stormy one, one of turmoil and churning. And does this not perfectly describe the history of the world, even our modern history? Imagine if an alien came from another planet and you had to tell him the history of our world. It’s, well, embarrassing. And depressing. It’s a painful story to tell, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, does it? We may be progressing in the area of technology, but in the area of human suffering – apart from medical advances pretty much restricted to the rich countries – we don’t seem to be making any progress; if anything, it almost seems like we are going backwards. Our great sea of history is certainly still churning.
“The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. – Daniel 7:4
If we match the four beasts with the four parts of the statue in Daniel 2, this first beast, “like a lion with the wings of an eagle,” corresponds to the Babylonians. The image of a lion with eagle’s wings can be found on many relics from that time period. There are multiple theories about the meaning of the wings torn off in the context of ancient Babylon, from the piece-by-piece destruction of the empire, to the period of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity. (Being lifted from the ground is more literally lifted up from out of the dirt; recall that Nebuchadnezzar like an animal was bent over eating grass.)
“And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ – Daniel 7:5
The second beast, like the second part of the statue in Daniel 2,pretty clearly seems to represent the Medes and Persians. The lopsided nature of the bear-like beast might represent the fact that the Persians strongly dominated the Medes in this empire. The three ribs may represent the three large nations they destroyed, Babylon, Egypt, and Lydia. Recall from Daniel 6 that we saw they kept much of the governmental structures intact when they took over. (This is why they selected Daniel as a key governor.) So saying that the beast kept the three ribs in its mouth is perhaps a way of saying this.
“After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. – Daniel 7:6
Again based on our discussion of the statue in Daniel 2, and looking at history, the leopard-like beast would be the Greek empire. The leopard (or panther) was known for its incredible speed, and the wings would only add to this speed. This was an appropriate symbol for the Greek empire, made vast by Alexander the Great who conquered with blinding speed unlike anything ever before seen; he had basically conquered the whole known world by the time he was 33 years old. As for the four heads, at the end of Alexander the Great’s reign, the empire was divided among his four generals, Cassander (Greece and Macedonia), Lysimachus (Thrace and Asia Minor, east of Greece), Seleucus (Middle East), and Ptolemy (Egypt).
“After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. – Daniel 7:7
And the fourth beast represents the Roman Empire, which in a real sense is still with us today; much of our ideas from philosophy, government, and even half the words in our language and most words in many European languages come from Rome. As we mentioned in Daniel 2, Rome used iron widely and so iron was an appropriate image for the Roman Empire.
What about the ten horns? Most commentators think the ten horns refers to something yet to come, perhaps a union of ten nations. As the European Union was coming together, initially as ten nations, a number of people suggested that this was the ten horns. The Union has since expanded however, so who knows? There are enough challenges in figuring out the past without having to guess at the future, so let’s continue reading.
“While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully. – Daniel 7:8
We will have much more to say about the little horn as we go through the rest of Daniel, and even later in this chapter, we will see more about this. For now let me just say that this is referring to the person described in multiple places in Scripture as the antichrist.
“As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of His head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands attended Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened." – Daniel 7:9-10
We are looking at the seating of the King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s an awesome scene. The whiteness symbolizes purity and holiness; the fire, judgment and purifying; the books, also a sign of judgment.
The throne of God, a time when an eternal kingdom is set into place, when all nations are judged and then ruled is a theme that has strands throughout the Old Testament. Even in Genesis – chapter 49 – we see the first signs of it:
The scepter will not depart from Judah,nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs(until Shiloh comes) and the obedience of the nations is His.
The scepter is a sign of authority, or ruling. And this future ruler will rule the nations. Another example of this theme occurs when David wants to build a Temple for God. God tells him through the prophet Nathan that this is not for David to do. Instead,
“‘The Lord declares to you that the LordHimself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish His kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever. I will be His Father, and He will be My Son." – 2 Samuel 7:11-14
Ezekiel 1 has another powerful image of the King and His throne:
Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire,and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be His waist up He looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down He looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded Him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around Him. – Ezekiel 1:26-28
And then there are the images from the book of Revelations. Here is one:
At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with Someone sitting on it. And the One who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. – Rev. 4:2-3, 5
So, back to Daniel,
“Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)" – Daniel 7:11-12
The judgment and end of the reign of the antichrist is also found in other prophecies throughout Scripture, especially in the book of Revelation. We simply don’t have time today to go into these. Continuing in Daniel:
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." – Daniel 7:13-14
The phrase Son of Man is used repeatedly in Daniel to describe a Messiah figure, one who is given eternal reign and authority and power from the Ancient of Days. And of course this perfectly describes Jesus. And “Son of Man” is the phrase Jesus uses more than any other in the gospels to describe Himself. And when we read and think about Jesus, I think we sometimes can forget His majesty, His glory, the fact that He deserves worship. Yes He is our friend, and yes He loves us and is like a brother to us, but He is also the Son of Man, the one to whom every knee will bow.
Here are some selected quotes of Jesus’ own words from the books of Matthew and John when He calls Himself the Son of Man. Note how it fits in with His authority, His power, His glory:
“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” – Matt. 9:6a
“For the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath…” – Matt. 12:8
“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.” – Matt. 13:41
“For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done.” – Matt. 16:27
“I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” – Matt. 19:28
“For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” – Matt. 24:27
“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” – Matt. 24:30
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory.” – Matt. 25:31
“I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” – John 1:51
“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” – John 3:13
“And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.” – John 5:27
“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” – John 6:27
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” – John 12:23
It’s not one or the other – He is our friend but He is also the Son of Man, Name above all Names, worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!
And so these amazing sights and sounds God revealed to Daniel, and he wrote them down. But there was more.
“I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this." – Daniel 7:15-16
“So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’ – Daniel 7:17-18
Notice the emphasis: it’s not on the four beasts, the four kingdoms, but one what happens after that – the emphasis is on the future eternal kingdom led by the Most High. That word “saints” more literally is “holy ones,” that is, those who have been made holy by the blood of the Lamb, those who have believed in their hearts and confessed with their mouths that Jesus is Lord, those who have been born again by trusting their lives to Christ. Daniel continues:
“Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully." – Daniel 7:19-20
As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. – Daniel 7:21-22
“He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time." – Daniel 7:23-25
This seems clearly to refer to a future time of great tribulation, a time of the antichrist. But the time is limited. This comes up again in future chapters of Daniel and we will go into more detail then.
“‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’ – Daniel 7:26-27
“This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.” – Daniel 7:28
I think what he kept to himself was how troubled he was. The vision he did write down, and I believe it was passed on to other believing exiled Israelites at that time. Imagine what it would be like to be one of them and hear these things for the first time. What would you take away from it? More importantly, what should we as Christian believers take away from it? I can think of four things.
1. God has an eternal, glorious, inexorable plan for those who are His.
2. There is no current promise of an easy life, but there is a promise of eternal life in the perfect eternal kingdom.
3. Jesus, the Son of Man, is our friend, but He is also the one worthy of eternal praise and worship.
4. We should be ready, keeping short accounts with God, for the end may come at any time.
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