When the child is born, the pains of suffering are quickly lost in the joys of seeing a new life. All distinctions of race and colour and nationality are stripped away and one apparently human figure represents the whole human race. Joyce C. Baldwin, Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1978), p. 150. In Daniels dream the Greek empire and Alexander the great were represented by the four-headed, four-winged leopard. As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. These both represent Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire. As Daniel watches, the wings are torn off the beast, and the creature stands erect like a man and a human mind is given to it. God also allows the wicked to persist and even to prosper, so that those whom He has chosen might be saved (Romans 9:22-24). Having related the dream, Daniel then interprets it: it concerns four successive kingdoms, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, which will be replaced by the everlasting kingdom of the God of heaven. The saints should expect to suffer because of their faith, especially as the last days for the kingdoms of men draw near. God is eternal, and so is His plan for all creation. Daniel uses the expression Son of man twice. The prophecy of Daniel 7 nevertheless had great relevance and application to those in Daniels day. It should give you a caring heart toward the unsaved as you seek to win them to the Lord. Their perception is wrong, for suddenly and without warning their day of destruction will come upon them. In a similar way, Belshazzar becomes blasphemous and is suddenly removed by God for his wickedness. His final offspring, so to speak, is the little horn which becomes the great blasphemer, whose life and kingdom is suddenly cut off by the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:1352, [4]LaHaye, Tim and Hindson, Ed., editors, The Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary. The fourth portion of the statue in Daniel 2 is the iron legs and feet and toes of partly iron and partly baked clay which represented the Roman empire. A person should not take credit for what God does through him. The first recorded vision comes to Daniel in the form of a night vision, like those of Nebuchadnezzar (2:1; 4:5) during the first year of the reign of Belshazzar. I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. Chapter 2. The implication here is that this is a repeated dream, one that is . The eleventh horn may hope to change the time, but in Gods plan this king is granted a time, times, and half a time three and a half years to oppose and oppress the saints. No wonder interpreters differ about the details. The seriousness of the prophetic truth personally affected Daniel, motivating godly fear and self-examination. Nebuchadnezzar's dream to him. What it does not destroy or consume with its teeth, it crushes under foot, much like a bull in a china shop. Prophecy reveals that which we would not and could not expect apart from divine revelation. The identity of the kingdoms represented by the other body parts and metals was not revealed. It therefore seems that the two prophecies speak of the same four kingdoms by means of different imagery. Wherever I see the Scriptures speak of the coming kingdom of God, I find suffering closely associated with it. Child-bearing is a process which involves suffering and glory. Lets pray and ask God to teach us and guide us as we look at His prophetic word. "He's home just in time for #gogglebox we are not on this week as Daniels been away . (9) What is the relationship between Daniels vision in chapter 7 and the events described in Daniel 5? The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer (1 Peter 4:7). We are told the Old Testament prophet could not see the distance between the first and the second coming of our Lord, just as one cannot see the distance between two mountains, when viewed from afar. Daniel 2:1-23 - The King's Dream (Pastor Nate Wagner) A. Nebuchadnezzar's dream. 81 See Ezekiel 29:21 for a similar use of the imagery of making a horn grow to describe a kings promotion to power. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. His declaration, which resulted from the deliverance of the three Hebrews, made it unlawful to hinder the worship of the Jews; his decree recorded at the end of chapter 4 went much further. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. All of this is by divine design. If we go back to Daniel 2 and look at the statue in Nebuchadnezzars dream, we find that it too represented four kings and their kingdoms. (6) Prophecy is written to sober the saints. 31-35). (12) No distinction between the first coming of Christ and the second is made in the coming of the eternal kingdom of God. Hearing this, Nebuchadnezzar affirms that Daniel's god is "the God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries". Daniel obtaining some respite finds the dream. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself.. Verse 17. In the first scene, heavenly winds are employed to whip up the sea from which the four beasts emerges. It's build upon the passage in Daniel 7 where he has a disturbing dream. 17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The king called for his magi to interpret the nightmare. Suddenly, the boasting beast is silenced by death, and his body is cast into the burning fire. Nebuchadnezzar may have started badly, but by the time we read of him in Daniel 4 he seems to be a true believer in God, urging the citizens of his kingdom to worship and serve Him. Daniel 5 is an illustration and a prototype of what will happen in the end times, as described in the prophecy of Daniel 7. Rome did conquer much of the known world, but it never conquered the whole world as this is describing. A look through the Scriptures shows that Daniels response to the prophecies he received was not unique. Then the time had arrived for the saints to take possession of the kingdom. What so upset Daniel about the future? From an eternal perspective, the coming of Christ and His kingdom is but one coming. That night his life and his kingdom came to an end. Suffering and glory are a part of one work. Bob is a pastor/teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas, and has contributed many of his Bible study series for use by the Foundation. Nebuchadnezzar's Threat One night, Nebuchadnezzar awoke frightened by a dream. At least the final portion of chapter 7 has not been fulfilled. It seems that three of the kings try to resist him and he overthrows them by force. What God says, He will do. The vision comes to Daniel in Belshazzars first year.78 A subsequent and related vision comes to him in this kings third year (see 8:1). 3:15; Zc. Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13). 25 And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. Our text challenges such a conclusion, and later prophecies in Daniel further document that the coming of the King and of the kingdom will be some time further in the future. This was when his life took a sharp turn. We know that Jesus came the first time to die and that He will come again to subdue His enemies and establish His kingdom. Belshazzars rise to power and ascent to the throne seems to have inaugurated a new age for Babylon. Whether liberal or conservative, our conclusions grow out of the premises and presuppositions governing the process and the product of our interpretation. (5) Prophecy is not written as hype but revealed to produce the hope of glory and endurance in present tribulation. (Numbers 23:19). Some people have a rather irreverent attitude toward prophecy, they approach it as a pastime and they delight in figuring out complex date schemes and drawing detailed diagrams of the future. Agreeing with God that they are sinners but believing that Jesus Christ death paid the penalty for their sin, that He was buried, and rose from the dead three days later triumphant over sin, Satan, and death forever. When Jesus came, He embraced this expression as a designation for Himself, giving the term meaning vastly beyond that previously held by any Jew. Old Testament Jews would likely regard the reference to the Son of Man in Daniel 7 as a reference to the Messiah, although they would probably not understand Him to be both divine and human. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995, [2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel tells him, was about a statue with a golden head, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron, which is crushed by a giant stone, which itself becomes a mountain (vv. Both the statue parts (made of different metals) and the beasts represent kings and kingdoms. This angel, beginning in the second half of verse 23 is describing the revived Roman empire which is yet future. The Ancient of Days is a designation for God, not found elsewhere in the Bible. Abraham and Sarah were elderly and childless. Daniel was not satisfied with just a summary of his dream, especially of the fourth beast that was so different than the other three, he wanted more detail. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. (1) The Book of Daniel is a part of the Holy Scriptures, and thus inspired, accurate, and trustworthy. 27 Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him. 28 At this point the revelation ended. He gave Daniel a general summary of the dream, These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. Because of this we can have a greater understanding of this dream than Daniel did. The final push of the times of the Gentiles will last for 3 years, then the end will come, the end of the times of the Gentiles., THE JUDGMENT AND THE FIFTH KINGDOM (Daniel 7:26-27). May the Spirit of God reveal the meaning of this prophecy to us and produce in us that which God desires to His glory and our good. But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come. Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates. In my opinion, the most dramatic reference of our Lord to His identity as the Son of Man comes as the Lord Jesus stands on trial before the Sanhedrin and the high priest: 59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, in order that they might put Him to death; 60 and they did not find it, even though many false witnesses came forward. Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed. The angel told Daniel that at the end of those three and a half years the court would sit for judgment and the dominion (a word in Aramaic that means kingdom or empire and the citizens or subjects of that empire) would be taken away from the Antichrist, and the Antichrist and his followers will be annihilated and destroyed forever. In his vision, Daniel observed the sea being stirred up into a raging storm by the four winds of heaven. This signifies that the events which follow have been ordained by God. 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. So it was for our Lord (1 Peter 1:10-12), and so it will be for us. This horn is called by different names in the New Testament: In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 the little horn is called the man of lawlessness. Revelation 13:1-2 calls the little horn the beast. The name he is best known by in found in 1 John 2:18-24 where John calls the little horn the Antichrist.. (11) What is the point of the vision? These are the things Daniel sees in the vision. He had interpreted dreams for this king and yet this dream caused Daniel to be alarmed and to feel physically sick. These beasts, each different from the other, are described in verses 4-7. (1) It follows the narrative concerning Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah in the matter of Nebuchadnezzar's golden image (Daniel 3). How easily we turn from what is revealed to speculate about what has been concealed (see Deuteronomy 29:29). This fourth beast seems to regenerate in the form of subsequent kings and kingdoms. Just so, Christs suffering and glory is but a part of one coming. The Son of Man was also Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8). It is good for us to understand the theology of the end-times, but we must approach it with reverence. (9) The interpretation of Daniels vision comes in two parts, beginning with a general interpretation and then a more specific one based on Daniels questions. Gods plan and program are carried out on His schedule, not ours (see 2 Peter 2:8-10). Daniel himself had many dreams and visions, mostly related to future kingdoms of the world and the . The day of judgment is still future and has not yet been fulfilled. Daniel still dreaming said he approached one of those standing there. These kings will rise to power and dominate the earth. God may choose to delay judgment on the wicked until their sin reaches full bloom; the possession of the land of Canaan would not happen in Abrahams lifetime, but more than 400 years later after the suffering of the people of God (see Genesis 15:12-17). Before long, Daniel was explaining the dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar. When God granted Daniel the wisdom to interpret the king's dream, it launched Daniel's long career as a political leader, trusted adviser, and well-known prophet. A number of lessons from our text have broad application to our thinking and conduct as Christians. This is represented by the four heads on Daniels leopard beast. He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself (verse 28). 1:17) that Daniel had understanding in dreams; and here we have an early and eminent instance of it, which soon made him famous in the court of Babylon, as Joseph by the same means came to be so in the court of Egypt. But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. We need to be waiting and prepared for His return. Yet, his emotional response was valid and changed little after the vision was explained more fully. While most of those in this kingdom may not have had a true conversion, at least they tolerated the Jewish faith as the religion of the state. Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. 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.77 14 And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him. Many others may have reluctantly professed or actually adopted the Jewish religion. requires it of the Chaldeans, by promises and threats. We are not to base our thinking and actions on circumstances, but upon the Scriptures. If you remember as I have already stated, much of the interpretation of this dream could be found in chapter 2. Prophecy is not revealed in a historical vacuum. So they came and stood before the king. And they did! 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. I also told you it corresponded to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 2, but with more detail. Note these general observations about our passage before we turn to a more detailed study. Daniel returned to his house and explained the situation to his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The boastful beast becomes even more aggressive, waging war with the saints and even overpowering them. He would rise from the dead (12:40). Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? We must approach prophecy with fear and reverence. According to our text, the prophecies of Daniel 7 will not be fulfilled for a considerable period of time. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. Just a few years later Alexander died, and his empire was divided into four parts and his four generals became the monarch of a quarter of the Greek empire. (10) What effect did the vision have on Daniel, and why? (2) Why do you think Daniel summarized his dream when he wrote it rather than tell it in full (see verse 1)? According to verse 1, the written record of the revelation Daniel received in his first night vision is but a summary of the prophecy he received. Chapter 2 contains a very significant prophecy, revealed by God to king Nebuchadnezzar. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers [1]to tell him what he had dreamed. This morning we want to look at verses 15-28 and the interpretation of Daniels dream. (7) Prophecy is revealed, not to give us the particulars of things to come, but to change our perspective. Choosing his words tactfully, Daniel asks Arioch why the king has made such a decree. 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. Up to this time, it was simply a synonym for being human, a son of man. (2) While the timing of the fulfillment of divine prophecy may seem remote to the recipient, it still has relevance for him. He will abolish all the religious holidays and seek to abolish Gods law in an attempt to destroy the Jewish people. The process of having a baby involves the pains of childbirth. Daniel explains that each of these metals represents a kingdom that would rule the world, and the stone is God . A revelation from God in his sleep discloses future events which Daniel finds most troubling. Those who will reign with Christ are those who have suffered (see Romans 8:17; Philippians 3:10-11; 2 Timothy 2:12). 23 Thus he said: The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. Verse 2. As the beast continues to boast, a second scene commences in Daniels vision, and for a period of time both scenes run simultaneously. Even those portions which we believe have been fulfilled, students of prophecy differ about the way of their fulfillment. 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. (3) What principles should guide and govern our attempt to interpret the prophecy of this chapter? 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