Verse 17. 27 Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. The beasts emerge out of chaos and confusion; the heavenly court is calm and dignified. The account of the writing on the wall and the death of Belshazzar (obviously the last year of his reign) is found in Daniel 5. 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. Salvation is likewise a process involving sufferingand then glory. The vision recorded in chapter 8 took place in the third year of Belshazzar. 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. 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. For this reason, I wish to clearly state the foundational presuppositions and principles on which this exposition of Daniel is based. The chapter falls into two major parts. We are not told precisely what it is that troubles Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar was the first ruler of Babylon to have contact with Daniel. 2 Daniel said, I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. Two weeks ago, we covered the first 14 verses, Daniels summary of his dream. - Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995, [3]Walvoord, John F.; Zuck, Roy B.; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. (7) Prophecy is revealed, not to give us the particulars of things to come, but to change our perspective. These will continue to be separate nations in the confederation but will come under the little horns control and authority. Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 B.C., some 9 years before Belshazzars reign began. The nation of Israel has been set aside by divine discipline in the present times of the Gentiles, which began with Nebuchadnezzar. From Daniel 2:4b to the end of chapter 7, the original text was written in Aramaic (the language of Babylon in that day). The timeline reads as follows: "He's home just in time for #gogglebox we are not on this week as Daniels been away . At-A-Glance 1. 3:15; Zc. Now, in verse 23, the angelic interpreter explains the relationship of the boastful beast and the coming of the eternal kingdom of God. As Daniel sought to discover more truth about the fourth beast he added some details that he had left out of his first description. Jesus quoted the words of Daniel 7:13. Daniel was an intelligent young Jew living in Jerusalem during the late 600s B.C. This is describing an event that has never happened in the history of the world and is yet future. Here is a man that has faithfully walked with his God his whole life. Neither is prophecy written to make us happy or to feel good. The interpretation of the events Daniel witnessed in his vision is given in its most concise form in verses 17 and 18: The four beasts were four kings, who will arise from the earth. 2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. His followers too must be alert and ready for His return (24:44). His vision in chapter 4 should have produced more distress than it did. Daniel made it very clear that the dream and the interpretation had come for the one true God. 9 If any one has an ear, let him hear. Chapter 7 reveals in broad terms what the future holds. The First Vision is a dream of the king that is interpreted by Daniel. Daniel 7 indicates in the clearest way that prior to the coming of the kingdom of God the saints will suffer at the hand of the final horn and even be overpowered by him. In addition to the beasts iron teeth, Daniel tells us that the beast had claws of bronze. We know from history that though Persia rose later than Media it soon overshadowed Media in its power. As Daniel continues to watch, someone descends with the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man. He is presented to the Ancient of Days, and to Him is given dominion, glory, and the eternal kingdom. Note that the description of the beasts is written in prose, while the description of the heavenly court in verses 9-10 and of the Son of Man in verses 13-14 is written in poetry form. This scene in Daniel is also similar to a prophecy recorded in the Book of Revelation: 4 and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?. ET. Four kings will establish four kingdoms, and some of these kingdoms have a number of kings. Between the first half of verse 23 and the second half of this verse we have what has been referred to as the great parenthesis in the Old Testament, the mystery of the church and the Church Age which was not revealed to the world until after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Remembering this avoids confusion. When Jesus came, He embraced this expression as a designation for Himself, giving the term meaning vastly beyond that previously held by any Jew. Editing allows an author to set aside details which are not significant and focus on the essence of the message he is trying to communicate. Those of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, and Darius all agree with the prophecy of Daniel 7. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him." There is fairly strong inferential evidence that Nebuchadnezzar was represented by the first beast, the winged lion. Belshazzar came to power several years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar and seems to have turned completely away from the God of Israel. Chapter 2 - The original dream describing the future kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greek, Roman, kingdom of God. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. Daniels first inner turmoil occurs in chapter 7. These are the things Daniel sees in the vision. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. Different from the first three, this beast seems uglier, more powerful, and much more hostile toward God and His saints. Two weeks ago, after studying Revelation 13 and seeing how much it relates to Daniel 7 I decided we needed to go back and review Daniel 7 which we have not looked at since 2011. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints (Revelation 13:1-10). Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, Upon the son of man whom Thou didst make strong for Thyself (Psalm 80:17). (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. The beasts are a horrifying and frightening sight; the heavenly court scene is one of regal splendor and beauty. Je. 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. This was when his life took a sharp turn. 10 If any one is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if any one kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. 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. 1. God would strike him down suddenly too and bring his kingdom to a swift end. The horn of the beast that made war against the saints was one of 10 kings who prevailed until the Ancient of days came and judged against him in favor of the saints. The entire empire was conquered between 334 and 330 B.C., just four years. Many others may have reluctantly professed or actually adopted the Jewish religion. 1. It seems that three of the kings try to resist him and he overthrows them by force. This is represented by the four heads on Daniels leopard beast. One of those gaps is found in Daniel 7. As we move into the second half of Daniel 7 and begin to dissect Daniels dream with the help of Gods Word and the help of history past because some of this dream which was yet future for Daniel is past history for us. Unfortunately, the king did not heed the dreams warning, and his kingdom was taken away for a time. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 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. The message of this prophecy is really quite simple and may be summed up this way. When the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, having added perfect humanity to His undiminished deity, He spoke of Himself very often as the Son of Man. In the Gospels, Jesus began not only to identify Himself as the Messiah, the promised Son of Man, but also to explain all that this involved. in 1971. The Son of Man was also Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8). We should not spend a disproportionate amount of time and energy trying to fill in the blanks God has left. We know that Jesus came the first time to die and that He will come again to subdue His enemies and establish His kingdom. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. Liberals reject all prophecies, because they require a sovereign God and a miraculous revelation of future events. 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. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream ( Daniel 2:1-16) Say: Some time later, the King had a dream. It should give you a caring heart toward the unsaved as you seek to win them to the Lord. A look through the Scriptures shows that Daniels response to the prophecies he received was not unique. This angel responded and gave Daniel understanding into his dream as he interpreted it for him. The angel went on in this summary to tell Daniel that the saints of the Highest One would receive the kingdom and possess it forever. It seems safe to assume the interpreter was an angelic being; at least this is the case in chapter 8 (8:15-26). Would Belshazzar toast the gods of gold, silver, wood and stone with the sacred temple vessels? Prophecy becomes necessary from time to time to remind men of those things God has planned for the future which He will surely fulfill. As the saints suffer at the hands of the wicked, it may appear all hope is lost. These saints are the believing Jews of the tribulation, not the believers of the Church Age. The boastful beast becomes even more aggressive, waging war with the saints and even overpowering them. During this ten-nation confederation another ruler will rise as described by the little horn. The Septuagint renders, "And the king commended that the magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers of the Chaldeans be brought in to tell the king his dream. His disciples were promised that they would share in His reign as King (19:20). How was the fourth beast different from the first three? While God tells neither Daniel nor us that this beast represents Nebuchadnezzar, He does reveal that the head of gold in the vision of the great statue was Nebuchadnezzar (2:36-38). Suddenly, the boasting beast is silenced by death, and his body is cast into the burning fire. First, the prophecies of Daniel are divinely inspired and revealed, and thus they are true and reliable. As the destruction of the last beast and the blaspheming horn came as a complete shock to them, so the Lords coming will catch unbelievers unprepared as well (24:27-39). The other seven will then likely submit out of fear or a sense of the unavoidable consequences of resisting represented by this little horn growing larger than the seven. The first time in Daniel 7:13, he is referring to Messiah, who will sit on the eternal throne of His father, David. (8) Is there any relationship between Nebuchadnezzars dream in chapter 2 and Daniels dream in chapter 7? (7) Who is the Ancient of Days? In the Old Testament, the expression son of man was used most frequently in reference to men, who were merely (as opposed to God) human. In the first use of this expression, being a son of man was contrasted with being God: God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:13, NASB95)[5] The more we know about the future the more are hearts should be moved to practical preparation. 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. In the context of the coming of His kingdom and the suffering and trials which precede it, soberness is a vitally important quality which prophecy promotes: 1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. What so upset Daniel about the future? (6) How important is it for us to identity the kings and the kingdoms mentioned in our text? In the euphoria of this grand event, someone might well conclude the kingdom of God was to be established within the lifetime of those returning to Israel. I have heard a number of attempts to explain the gaps in Old Testament prophecy. Rose withdraws the power from her chest, which takes the form of a ruby heart that then cracks as Unity dies peacefully in her sleep. What is its message to Daniel, to the Jews, and to us? Through the vision of a magnificent, awe-inspiring statue, God reveals the future for Gentile kings and their kingdoms. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 states, For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:910, NASB95)[6] Finally, the more we know about the future, the more our hearts should be moved to prayerful petition for those who will face the judgment of God if they do not turn in faith to Jesus Christ. Him is given dominion, glory, and thus they are true and reliable regal. 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