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Scripture Introduction:
In just a moment we are going to read from Daniel 7. As we read from there I want you to listen for Daniel’s emotion and response to everything he is seeing.
We will start in verse 15, but let me catch us up to speed. First part of chapter 7, Daniel sees this big scary vision. 4 large beasts coming out of the sea—devouring one after another. Out of chaos comes opportunity—human history is self-consuming. The vision seems to come to an end with this boastful little horn.
But then the whole scene is interrupted—or rather set right—when the Ancient of Days and one like a Son of Man enters the picture. As we saw last week this is a vision of Jesus ruling over all nations. As it ends “and to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
God prevails. Kings will come and go. Nations will come and go. Rise and fall. Over and over. But there is one kingdom that is unshakeable—the kingdom of Daniel’s God.
How does this truth make you feel? How do you expect it to make Daniel feel? Big sigh of relief? Listen.
“As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’
“Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.
“Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast,
there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,
which shall be different from all the kingdoms,
and it shall devour the whole earth,
and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
As for the ten horns,
out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise,
and another shall arise after them;
he shall be different from the former ones,
and shall put down three kings.
He shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to change the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for a time, times, and half a time.
But the court shall sit in judgment,
and his dominion shall be taken away,
to be consumed and destroyed to the end.
And the kingdom and the dominion
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;
his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’
“Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.”
Sermon Introduction:
Did you notice Daniel’s response. He’s anxious and alarmed in verse 15. And then God explains even more detail and once again reassures him that the kingdom of God will stand…and how does it end? With Daniel still alarmed and his color changing. That’s a figure of speech kind of like we might say, “shaking in my boots” or something like that.
Now, I’ll confess that Daniel’s response here kind of baffles me. But as I think a little more about this, I find it rather beautiful. I’ll show you why in just a moment…but before we do that, we need to talk about what is going on in this passage.
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Daniel is alarmed at what he sees. What does this all mean? God graciously give him even more information.
We find that the four beasts are four kingdoms. We saw last time that most identify this with Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. But that’s also not the main point—as we saw last week, it’s not necessarily to identify each kingdom but rather to tell a big picture story. Human kingdoms are self-consuming and all will eventually falter.
But there’s something that sticks out to us—and also to Daniel. What’s with this fourth beast, why is it so different? And what’s with that little horn. What’s this all about?
Here we get a little more information as well. This little horn makes “war with the saints” and catch this “prevailed over them”. Until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given and then the saints possessed the kingdom.
What’s happening there? Verse 23-27 answers that.
Fourth kingdom. Devour the whole earth.
Ten kings arise out of this kingdom—the little horn is different than the others—puts down three kings.
Speaks words against the Most High.
Wears out the saints.
Changes times and the law.
And they are given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
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Now let’s pause for a second. When is this talking about? What specifically is this referring to?
This is where some are divided. Some believe that this already happened with Antiochus Epiphanes. Note that little part about “changing times and the law”. 2 Maccabees---not a book in the Bible, Apocrypha, but still some valuable historical information...
Daniel: Evangelical Exegetical Commentary Commentary
2 Maccabees 6:6 says that a Jew ‘could neither keep the Sabbath nor observe the feasts of his fathers’ but had to participate in pagan sacrifices and celebrate the festival of Dionysus. The point of issue was apparently the suppression of the traditional Jewish observances and their replacement with pagan rites, rather than a change in the calendar of the traditional cult.
This little horn changes the times and tries to coerce the whole world into worshipping him. Some believe that this happened with Antiochus…and it did.
But others say, not so fast. This seems like something which is yet to come. And they would look at this and see a great tribulation period at the end of days, and that the Antichrist is who this little horn is.
Personally, I tend to read this as a both/and. As I said last week, I think much of this is meant for every generation and not merely a “here is the story of the end.” It’s meant to tell a big picture story.
What that means is that if we get lost in the weeds of trying to figure out the specific details and match it to a certain historic event---we might be right, but only kinda. It might find some sort of fulfillment in something like the European Union. Or it might not.
Biblical prophecy is coming true on a daily basis. Well yeah, kinda. But that’s been the case for thousands of years. Let’s be very cautious with matching our newspaper up with what we see in the Bible. I think it’s healthiest to do something like this...
What’s the overarching story of this? The kingdom of the world is self-consuming. Devouring one another. Warring against the people of God. Trying to change worship, trying to gain worship. Boasting against the most high God, wearing out the saints, etc. etc.
But ultimately the beast, the little horn, doesn’t triumph. Jesus does. His kingdom will never end.
And so, what we do is we see things in history that kinda match up…or maybe someday they totally match up…and we place that into this story. The Son of Man triumphs. It’s not meant to be like a crystal ball. It’s not meant to give you special insight into specifics that others around you don’t have. It’s meant to give you that story! Jesus wins! No matter what.
How silly, then, to argue about the details of when and how and such. I like how one commentator sums it up:
Daniel The Message of the Vision
The challenge of Daniel 7 for us is therefore not to work out the specific identity of the different beasts, in case ours should be the final hour. Rather, in the midst of this beastly world, our challenge is to live our lives with our eyes firmly fixed on the heavenly throneroom. Instead of being terrified by the beasts, we must daily live remembering the one who will deliver the final and decisive judgment.
I like that.
God’s purpose in giving this to Daniel and to us, is to calm our nightmares....Jesus is on the throne! Relax.
But there’s just one little problem…I feel like Columbo…oh, just one more thing...
If that is what is supposed to happen? Why doesn’t it happen with Daniel? I’m okay with him shaking in his boots in verse 15. It’s okay that he’s still alarmed. But he’s got more information by verse 28. Why is he still color-changingly terrified?
And this is why I love the Scriptures. Don’t ever let people tell you that the Scriptures are so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good. Don’t ever believe that the Scriptures are just “out there” and that they don’t touch into every day life. They are more realistic about life than we are. Scripture is more honest with human suffering than we like to be. It’s gritty. It’s gutsy. It’s honest.
Yes, the big picture of Daniel 7 is that God reigns. The Son of Man conquers. The Ancient of Days sits on the throne. But Daniel is still terrified.
Why?
Because suffering hurts. The beast at times will be victorious. The world system will sink its teeth into you, chew you all up, and then spit you out. That hurts. When Daniel sees this—he doesn’t just see the victory parade. He sees all the suffering getting there.
And it hurts. And he’s honest about it. He doesn’t just say, “Oh glory! We win! Suck it up buttercup! You know the end of the story....why are you crying...”
I mean, I love John Newton. And I love this quote…I’ve used it several times.
Suppose a man was going to New York to take possession of a large estate, and his [carriage] should break down a mile before he got to the city, which obliged him to walk the rest of the way; what a fool we should think him, if we saw him ringing his hands, and blubbering out all the remaining mile, “My [carriage] is broken! My [carriage] is broken!”
That IS true. But whatever there is another truth that’s running alongside of that one. And it’s that it stinks when your carriage breaks, and sometimes you do ring your hands b/c you know that you’re going to get to the city but you aren’t exactly sure how and sometimes the pain is so brutal that you feel it even more than the hope?
The Bible is realistic like this. That’s why we have the Psalms. Oh, Lord am I going to make? How Long, O Lord? Why do you hide your face from me?
Do you want to see how this plays out in the New Testament? Look at 1 Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
You can see both these threads here. Do you see where it says, “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God...”
That’s kind of the carriage is broken part. It’s the part where we realize with Daniel, with Peter, with others in the Scriptures, that God is in control of human history.
As Tom Schreiner notes, “the humbling enjoined probably means that they are to accept the suffering God has ordained as his will instead of resisting and chafing against his will while suffering”.
Daniel—the saints are going to be terrified. The beast will chew up at times.
We see this in vivid technicolor in the crucifixion of Christ. Suffering. Painful. Dark. Somehow all part of God’s will. God is in control, trust him. He’s taking you somewhere.
But then Peter says, “casting all your anxieties on him.”
The NIV actually says “cast all your cares upon him”. And I think that’s unfortunate that they break it up that way. The word there for casting is a participle. Let me explain what that means. The relationship between verse 6 and verse 7 is what would be called an action-manner. In other words it is saying, “Humble yourselves...and you do this by…casting all your anxieties on him” It’s not humble yourselves. And then cast all your anxieties. It’s humble yourselves, casting all your anxiety upon Him.
How do you humble yourself before him? You do it by crying out to Him. Maybe even saying, “my carriage is broken, my carriage is broken!”
Psalm 55 is likely in Peter’s mind as he writes these words.
Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
God will give ear and humble them,
he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not change
and do not fear God.
Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
There is no rebuke of Daniel here in this text. God doesn’t chide Daniel for seeing a picture of the suffering AND the glory and still having color-changing alarm.
And there is no rebuke here from Peter when he says “cast all your anxiety upon him.” Some preachers take this verse as if anxiety is this thing that’s odious and ugly and awful and should be avoided like sin. Like the worse thing you could do, the biggest lack of faith you could have, is to look at suffering and look at this picture and be quaking a bit—oh, why don’t you just trust in God.
But that casting all your anxiety upon him is realistic. It’s like saying—your enemy is prowling around looking to devour you—there are beasts wanting to grab ahold of you and chew you up.
Listen, if you’re walking through a field of hungry lions wearing a meat necklace—anxiety isn’t stupid, it’s a God-given reality. And what do you do as you walk through that field… You take that anxiety to the Lord. I’m scared, Lord. I’m not sure what the future holds, Lord. This is painful, God.
But there is a message in Daniel 7 that’s bigger than Daniel’s anxiety. It’s more true than his fear. And the same is true in 1 Peter as well.
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Or in Daniel 7:26-27
But the court shall sit in judgment,
and his dominion shall be taken away,
to be consumed and destroyed to the end.
And the kingdom and the dominion
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;
his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’
Jesus does win! He does conquer. The beast, the devouring lion, the little horn, every human kingdom will fall before the mighty King Jesus. Justice will be done. Righteousness will win the day.
The Son of God, the Son of Man, will triumph. But how did he triumph? He triumphed through suffering.
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me...”
“My heart melts like wax...”
“My tongue sticks to my jaws...”
“You lay me in the dust of death...”
“Evildoers encircle me...”
“They divide my garments...”
O, Lord, be not far off…you my help…come quickly to my aid…same me from the mouth of the lion...
Breathe!
Feel the pain, the agony of the cruel roman cross, sucking out every ounce of your precious breath…the twisted crown of thorns on your head...
Breathe! Labored breathe, Son of Man...
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Tell a better story....
Tell the bigger story....
I will tell of your name to my brothers...
You who fear the Lord, praise Him...
He has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him...
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Oh, Son of Man, Son of God…you are heard....
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
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From noon on, darkness came over the whole land, until three in the afternoon...
Breathing has slowed to a crawl...
One last exuberant shout…Tetelestai! It is finished!!!!!
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Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!
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And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.