Dreams and Visions... Visions and Dreams

Daniel Chapter 7

Oh God, King of the Universe, thank you for sending your Son, my Messiah, to die on the cross for me. Your name is great amongst all nations, and I await for the day that you will establish your eternal kingdom here on Earth. May Your will be done always across the universe. Bless me with provision for a healthy body, and please forgive the wrongs I have committed against you or any person in my life. Keep me on the narrow path that leads straight to You. May Your Kingdom reign eternally. May you come quickly full of power and glory forever. Amen.

"We better get back because it will be dark soon. And they mostly come at night... mostly."

-Newt, Aliens 1986

I remember as a child being scared of monsters. I distinctly remember a shadowed figure who followed me around on the play ground in Intermediate school. I was afraid of ghosts, and the one in my room was a terrifying old granny. Also at night is when most of those visions an creepy things came to my mind. Why was that?

Now that I am older, I have come to realize that a lot of those scary things were just scenes from movies replaying in my mind. That ghost granny looked a LOT like that ghost in the library scene of old Ghostbusters film. There are different things that scare me now. The health of my child scares me at times. My son went through a bout of undiagnosed seizures for 3 months. It was incredibly frightening. I am also scared when I hear about an accident on a road my husband, family or close friends usually take at that time. I get scared when someone does something dumb on the road that puts my children in jeopardy. I also remember feeling fear about getting married. Was I making the right choice? It is a forever choice...am I sure? (I definitely was and I definitely still am!)

Fear is a common attribute to being human. There are lots of things in life that make us fearful, and usually they are tangible/touchable things. Some people are scared of spiders, the dark, bees, heights, water, etc. The list goes on and on of fears or phobias. The difference for us is we have history, media, the internet, other people all at our fingertips if we need guidance or understanding or consolation. Daniel did not have those things. He dreamed a dream that shook him to the core, and that is where we will start our study.

Facts

Text Change

Daniel 2:4-7:28 was written in Aramaic, the language of the Babylonian Empire. The "narrative is personal." (Akin, pg. 83)

Daniel 1:1 -2:3 & 8:1-12:13 was written in Hebrew, the language of the Jewish people. The narrative "is apocalyptic and cosmic."

(Akin, pg. 83)

What is the purpose of chapter 7?

God is sovereign in all things. This chapter is the first time in Daniel that he sounds like the other prophets: Isaiah, Ezekiel or Jeremiah. He is seeing visions and dreams which prove God's sovereignty over all things. The visuals are stimulating, and according to Akin, "Truth will be conveyed symbolically through wild, crazy, and strange imagery." (Akin, pg. 84)

Daniel 7:1-8

Verse 1:

We must time hop here back to chapter 5 because we are dealing with the same King, Belshezzar, who drank from the stolen temple wine goblets and cursed God. God sent down a floating hand to let the King know who was boss and later that night the King died. This very King is reigning when this vision appeared to Daniel who was now in his mid sixties.

Verse 2-8:

The winds were raging from all four directions, churning up the seas and out of the seas came four beasts.

Reference in Isaiah 17:12: "Woe to the many nations that rage-- they rage like the raging sea!

Woe to the peoples who roar—they roar like the roaring of great waters!"

Each beast looked different. These beasts will symbolize four kingdoms much like in Daniel 2. It is interesting to note that nations today use an animal for symbolism. Can you think of any?

Beast #1-Lion with eagle's wings whose wings are torn off and it stood on two legs. The heart of a man was given to it.

This beast is representative of Nebuchadezzar. A lion is utilized in Jeremiah and Ezekiel to represent Babylon. The torn off wings is an illustration of Nebuchadnezzars time spent as a wandering animal. He was eventually restored and proclaimed God's power and sovereignty which is the standing up on two legs (not four like an animal) and given the heart of a man.

A heart that was changed.

Beast #2- Like a bear that raised itself on one side. He was biting through three ribs with his teeth. It was told, "Arise, devour much flesh."

Seems pretty pleasant to me. Nothing to be scared of at all. This beast is Medo-Persia, and the raising on one side would symbolize the Persian supremecy over the Medes (Akin, pg. 85)

What about the three ribs? There is much dispute over this topic. Some think it is three different groups/lands of people. Some think it is a commentary on how hungry the beast was or that he definitely was not fasting.

Beast #3- Four headed leopard with four wings. To it was given the authority to rule.

"This is clearly Greece and Alexander the Great. with speed and agility that was unprecidented, he conquered the world of his day...(Akin, pg. 86)."

After Alexander the Great died, his kingdom was divided into four --the four heads.

Beast #4- A beast unlike any others. Huge gnashing teeth with which it devoured everything. Anything that was left was trampled under foot. This beast was frightening, and tremendously strong. It had ten horns, and after a bit, another horn grew up out of them. This horn uprooted three of the other horns, and it had human eyes. The horn's mouth spoke boastfully.

This beast is Rome, and much more. A first glimpse at the Antichrist.

Read Revelation 13:1-10

Daniel 7:9-14

Verses 9-10:

The "Ancient of Days" took his seat on the throne. I find it funny that when we think of the word ancient we assume VERY OLD or even SENILE. Truly this is talking about God's omnipresence and omnipotence. He is a VERY BIG GOD. This particular dream reiterates his greatness to Daniel.

Clothing White as snow-holiness, righteousness and power (Akin, pg. 88)
Hair like wool-eternality, purity and wisdom (Akin, pg. 88) He is wise and always existed.
Throne of Flaming Fire- "purifying and righteous judgement" (Akin, pg. 88)
Wheels of Burning Fire- no restrictions on "space" in His judgement. He is everywhere all the time.
River of Fire flowing out - Psalm 97:3-"righteous fury and wrath of his judgement" (Akin, pg. 88)
Thousands, Tens of Thousands- Revelation 5:11- angels
Court was in session and the books were opened-God's judgement is pure and fair ALWAYS

Verses 11-12:

This fourth beast was boasting and bragging. You know how you see something awful happening and you can't look away? Like the deep cleaning of a wound, the actual birth of a child, etc? This is exactly like those moments. The beast was saying the most slanderous things and Daniel watched as it was torn apart. The burning fires are where this beast ended up as stated in Revelation 20:10. The other kingdoms/beasts were treated a little less harshly. Their kingdoms were removed from them and they were allowed to live a little while longer.

Verses 13-14:

Hillsong said it best in the opening lyrics to Hosanna, "I see the King of Glory, Coming on the clouds with fire." The Ancient of Days was approached by the One Like the Son of Man. Dominion, glory and honor were given to this Son, and all would serve Him. Reference: Exodus 16:10, 19:9, 24:16, 34:5

So who is this ONE LIKE THE SON OF MAN?

In Daniel's time it could have the tribe of Israel? Michael? Gabriel? the Tribe of Israel? Do any of these measure up? Absolutely not! In Mark 14:62 Jesus tells the high priest after being questioned whether or not Jesus himself was the Messiah, “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” This is one of Jesus's favorite things to call himself in the scriptures. "The title appears sixty-nine times in the synoptic gospels and twelve times in John. Jesus is this One Like the Son of Man. Where Adam failed to be the son of man, Jesus prevailed.

Daniel 7:15-18

Want To Know What Angels Actually Look Like?

I am disturbed.

I am alarmed.

These adjectives are how Daniel describes his mental state upon seeing these four beasts. He asked those standing by, Angels, what does this mean? The angel responds with the Kingdoms come from the ground while One Like the Son of Man's kingdom comes from the heavens.

The greatest thing is the end of verse 18 where we get to share in this never-ending kingdom. We are joint heirs with Christ not joint heirs with the four kingdoms who will be destroyed.

Daniel 7:19-26

Verses 19-22:

Now it was time to ask the angel about the fourth beast which was CLEARLY different from the rest. This particular beast was the most menacing and destructive. The ten horns which were interrupted by another horn dislodging three of them. This little horn began to taunt and overcome the saints (See Revelation 13:7) UNTIL the Ancient of Days came with judgement.

"The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will be different from all other kingdoms." Daniel 7:23a (TLV).

Verses 23-24:

The following images are what the fourth beast will do.

Devour the Earth

Trample and Crush

the Earth

Ten Kings will Rise and One More After

This One will Defeat Three of the Ten Kings

Verses 25-26:

This horn will speak against God and harass His kingdom. He is the orchestrator of change and deception. Akin describes Daniel 7:25 as "He...will speak agains the Most High, oppress the saints, and intend to change the laws and time (Akin, pg. 92)." It will not prevail. This horn will reign "for a time, times and half a time (vs. 25 TLV)." He will be "decisively judged and destroyed by God in the end (Akin, pg. 92)." FOR ALL TIME, this horn will be defeated. NEVER TO RISE AGAIN!

Daniel- Commentary by Sinclair Ferguson

Who is this little horn?

No one can really say. In the book of Daniel, we see that this horn is the zenith of evil. This is at THE END. There is no name given. An interesting inference made by Pastor Sinclair Ferguson states the following:

"It should not surprise us that there will be continual expressions of the characteristics of the little horn that will reach their apex in appearances of the little horn in the last days as described in Daniel's conclusion. Nevertheless, it is not surprising that many dictators and emipre builders have been identified with the little horn and have shared some of its worst features. We have been told that the Antichrist will come in the final days, but that does not preclude our recognizing that many antichrists have already strutted across the pages of history (1 John 2:18). (Daniel, 147-148)

Who from history do you think could qualify

as a "little horn" or "little antichrist?"

Verses 27-28:

After all of this, the Kingdom of God will reign and we will partake in it alongside the One Like the Son of Man, our Messiah Jesus. Another feature is that it will be a UNIVERSAL kingdom. We will all be together. Singing together no matter the language. Worshiping together no matter the denomination. Loving each other no matter the color of our skin. We will be unified in Christ for all eternity!

"This is the conclusion of the matter." Daniel 7: 28

No one can say it better. No matter what you say or anyone else says. This is how it ends and there is nothing else to say. This does not mean that Daniel was not disturbed. In fact the Bible says he was. The "color drained from my face" says Daniel in verse 28. He kept these matters to himself. WHO WOULD BELIEVE HIM NOW????

Let's go to the Father in prayer:

Father, Adonai, King of the Universe, thank you for your word. It is truly a blessing to have your word available to us so that we can seek a deeper relationship with you. The kingdom that you have promised is much desired, but I pray that you will help me to tell others about it. Please help me to go wherever you tell me to go. Thank you for you love, mercy and grace! Amen.

Resources:

Akin, Daniel L.. Exalting Jesus in Daniel. Christ Centered Exposition, edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida. Nashville. : B&H Publishing Group, 2017.

Ferguson, Sinclair. Daniel. Mastering the Old Testament, edited by Lloyd J. Ogilvie. Thomas Nelson, 1993.

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