The Everlasting Kingdom - Daniel 7
Introduction
Major Idea
We live in an age of monsters (vv. 1-8)
three ribs held between the second beast’s teeth. But if the kingdom is that of the Medes and Persians (considered together), then the history fits quite well. Cyrus, the Median-Persian king, and his son Cambyses conquered (1) the Lydian kingdom in Asia Minor, which fell to Cyrus in 546 B.C.; (2) the Chaldean Empire, which he overthrew in 539 B.C.; and (3) the kingdom of Egypt, which fell to Cambyses in 525.
The animal has ten horns; these find a parallel in the ten toes of the statue, presumably representing ten confederated kingdoms.
The horns (and toes) would seem to be kingdoms. But this horn has characteristics of an individual ruler. This seems to be the first biblical reference to the individual later described in the Bible as the Antichrist. He appears in 2 Thessalonians 2 as “the man of lawlessness … doomed for destruction” (v. 3) and is seen again in Revelation.
7:8 A little … horn represents a king who starts small in power but becomes dominant. The little horn’s eyes like the eyes of a human indicates its shrewdness and its mouth that was speaking arrogantly points to its boasting blasphemously against God (cp. v. 25). This little horn is a future world ruler whom Scripture also calls “the coming ruler” (9:26); the king who “will do whatever he wants” (11:36); “the man of lawlessness,” “the man doomed to destruction” (2Th 2:3); “the beast” (Rv 13:1–10); and the “antichrist” (1Jn 2:18).
Even in our time, the eagle and the bear have been used as symbols for the U.S. and Russia. We generally understand that superpowers are represented by beasts of prey. It would indeed seem strange if a superpower were represented by an animal perceived to symbolize peace and gentleness. Instead of the eagle, would not the average American be embarrassed had his forefathers accepted Benjamin Franklin’s urging that the harmless turkey should be the symbol of the nation?
The Messiah (vv. 9-14)
The scene depicts in powerful imagery a judge who has the wisdom to sort out right from wrong, the purity to persistently choose the right, and the power to enforce his judgments.
Daniel looked back at the other beasts and their dominion was taken away, but they were not destroyed like this last beast. Their kingdoms remained for a time set by God and then were incorporated into the following kingdom.
7:13–14 The Coming of the Son of Man. The one like a son of man combines in one person both human and divine traits. Elsewhere, this phrase “son of man” often distinguishes mere human beings from God (e.g., Ps. 8:4; Ezek. 2:1). However, this son of man seems also greater than any mere human, for to “come on the clouds” is a clear symbol of divine authority (cf. Ps. 104:3; Isa. 19:1).
The Message (vv. 15-28)
The beasts in general show the present world order as an ongoing state of violence and lust for power that will continue until the final coming of God’s kingdom
To some extent, the description fits several historical tyrants, particularly Antiochus IV Epiphanes (reigned 175–164 B.C.; see note on 8:23), who oppressed God’s people in the second century B.C., yet at the same time it is non-specific enough to leave the identity of this horn somewhat uncertain. The angel seems more concerned to drive home his earlier words about the judgment to come and the triumph of the saints than to identify the little horn.
The central point of the vision is that the time when the beastly kingdoms of the earth will oppress the saints is limited by God, and beyond it lies the scene of the heavenly court, where the beasts will finally be tamed and destroyed (cf. Rev. 20:1–4, 10).