The Final Vision

Spiritual forces are real and work in our lives

This final section tells us what the rest of the book has told us. That God is in control and that He will win in the end.

Only two empires are represented in this vision. Persia and Greece.

This happens around the time of the lions den, as it says that Cyrus was in his third year. Daniel is in his 80s. Some have already started being removed from exile.

The vision is about a conflict that is going to happen in the future. But unlike his last vision, this one Daniel understands.

Daniel was in a time of honoring God through removing many of the pleasures he had probably grown accustomed to. But HE was in a time of prayer.

Then, while he was standing at the Tigris river, the great river and still a great river.

While here Daniel saw an angel. An angel that terrified the rest of those who were with him. Makes us think of Paul’s visit by Jesus. They came in white clothes (which signify purity). It also reminds us of Jesus coming to Paul because this appearance reminds us of what Revelation and Ezekiel tell us about Jesus appearance. And it is very different from what has been told to us about Gabriel.

Then another angel comes and talks to Daniel. This other angel tells Daniel that “you are treasured by God.” Why is this the title Daniel is given? We see that it was because of Daniel’s prayers that this message has been given him. Daniel had stayed close to God and so God was going to help Him look to the future of Israel.

And Daniel is told to listen very carefully to what is about to be told to him. It tells us that Michael came, the angel entrusted with the nation of Israel. He was fighting against the spiritual forces presiding over Persia. This reveals to us.

Angels are real

There are good angels and evil angels

Angels influence human affairs, including governments and leaders.

We know this from other things in the book that show us how spiritual forces lead to nations rising and falling and people being killed or saved.

We can see the world we live in and see the wickedness in the world, atrocities that are committed, corruption that is rampant.

Hospitals, schools, sports, even churches are all impacted by spiritual forces that corrupt and lead astray.

These spiritual forces impact us.

Angels are sent to protect us and other demons are sent to harm us. From the Garden we have seen how these spiritual forces are at work in the humans struggle with sin.

And now spiritual forces try to impact your hearts and every human heart. Evil forces try to turn you away from the Gospel, it tries to make you believe that it doesn’t matter if your friend believes in Jesus and that He rose from the dead.

If you feel like it is hard to tell your friend that you are a Christian or to invite them to church or share the Gospel with them, you should recognize it is because there is a battle warring spiritually in you and in your friend.

Ephesians 2:1-3“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

In fact, it is Daniel’s prayer that leads to the intervention by the angels in Israel.

God gives us spiritual tools in this battle.

No demon can go past the limit of God but God does spiritual forces to play a part in our life.

BUT if we are believers we also know that we have a “new self” that even when we know what we should do we often want to go back to sin. It goes to our emotions, our thoughts, our actions. Life is a battle.

But God gives us spiritual tools to help us in this battle.

Ephesians 6:10-18 “Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.”

We have on one hand the angel in charge of God’s heavenly army and on the other hand “the prince of the Persian kingdom.”

-Even Daniel himself is weakened by this vision other than the fact that supernatural forces helped him to understand what was happening.

-There is human evil and spiritual evil. This chapter shows how they are intertwined

What we see in this is that for 3 weeks Daniel had to wait for an answer but God was preparing the right time. And what Daniel would see next would be about the kingdom of God.

Human authority and wealth has already passed away

What we witness from 11:2 to 12:4 is essentially a historian detailing many things that will take place for about 600 years…but he is doing it before it happens. In fact it is so accurate that there are many who would rather believe that it was written after all the events took place even there is no evidence to support that fact.

What we see is cycles of rulers who “rise” who are “strong”, who “stand” but at some point they will fall, they will break, they will run away. What seems like something that will last forever is fleeting even when one believes themselves to be a “victor”.

“The vision is intended to give unshakeable assurance that, desperate as the situation will be, God is so fully in control as to be able to disclose the sequence of events before they happen.” How do they know this? Because it is already recorded in the “book of truth”. It has already been written. This was made known from the fact that many Israelites had been freed to go back to Jerusalem.

It shows us that history repeats itself, everything rises and falls, all the prideful will fall.

The angel references 4 kings in Persia. Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes. Then there is a “might king”, Alexander the great. But “as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and divided.” After some shuffling in leadership Greece eventually was split between Alexander’s 4 leading generals or the “four winds of heaven.”

Then there is this battle between the north and south. Between Ptolemy I of the south who had taken over Egypt for Alexander and Seleucus I who had been given Babylon. Sele sought to avoid war with other powers so they joined together and defeated several others who tried to come against them. But then tension arose between them over a piece of land between them in Syria-Palestine. So they planned a marriage in order to make peace and Ptolemy II gave his daughter to Antiochus II. But then Antiochus and his new wife was poisoned by his first wife, then Ptolemy III sought to revenge his sisters death and waged war against the North and won. He would take their idols and wealth but then he will leave the south alone. But this would be a mistake because Antiochus III (or Antiochus the Great) will grow his army during this time. He would then go and win against the south. Between all this fighting do you know who was in the middle of these two powers? Israel.

But Antiochus the Great will have a beautiful land. And to keep peace he would give his Daughter Cleopatra to Ptolemy V. But she would side with her husband and after he died she would reign in Egypt until her son was ready. One of the sons would die under mysterious circumstances and his son Antiochus Epiphanes would reign.

Antiochus Epiphanes would become a symbol of human power, authority, and wickedness. He will fight against Cleopatra's son. He will overtake him but not be able to take the city of Alexandria. He will try again but the sons of Ptolemy V will join together and stop him from overtaking them.

Then, the high priest of Israel will try and move against Antiochus second in command, only for Antiochus to come and massacred many in Israel. There will be the “wise” (which are the Maccabeus) who will fight against him but they will fall.

v. 36-45 gives us a description of Antiochus ruling over many other nations. But it starts to become mixed with things that will happen in the future with the anti-Christ. It starts to look forward to the end and the completeness of human pride in believing they can rule over God. Where evil will seem to triumph over God but then God will come and triumph over evil.

“Biblical prophecy regularly exhibits this characteristic of telescoping the future, so that the more distant event appears to merge with the nearer so as to become indistinguishable from it.” Jesus will do this when He talks about the destruction of Jerusalem that won’t happen until far after His death. But He foresees it in what His death will mean in connection to a new temple within the people of God.

This is what it says in v. 40 as it says “at the time of the end.” What we see in the end “no one will help him” and this great force will die. He will pitifully die.

When we scroll social media, or hear something at school or on the news, wars, shootings, chaos. It all seems out of control, it seems like evil wins. It can lead us to panic that the world is “winning” that if we don’t do something that evil will win. That the world will overtake good. But that will never win. But God guides it all. He is in complete control.

Many in our world have no believe in this truth. They think everything is random. That science and the universe is in control, it has nothing to do with God.

Ephesians 1:7-10 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.”

God will win

Chapter 12 shows us the vindication of God’s people. Those who follow God will have eternal life, while the others will go down to death.

Believers will:

-Have eternal life

-Will be wise

-Will shine like the heavens

-Will lead others to believe

-Will be like stars forever and ever

It says these words are “Sealed” this means that they can’t be interrupted, it can’t be tampered with, it can’t be changed. IT will be preserved. Others will try and stop it but their attempts will fail.

Daniel is not given an exact time of deliverance, but deliverance is still promised. There will be wickedness, it will seem like it is winning. But God will set things right, reward will come to those who believe in God.

Hosea 6:1-2 “Come, let’s return to the Lord. For he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds. He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence.”

Isaiah 26:19 “Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For you will be covered with the morning dew, and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.”

This is the good news. The wicked and evil aren’t in control, that whatever happens to us on earth is not meaningless and God would turn all wrong things right. God is calling us to trust in Him rather than human authorities because in the end He wins. That the wicked will get their reward and the righteous will get their reward. The question is what reward will we seek to store up for ourselves?

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 “What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the L…”