Is This All There Is? (Part 1)

In 1969, there was a very melancholy song made famous by Peggy Lee entitled, Is That All There Is? When presented with the demo, she demanded that she be given the opportunity to record it. She knew that it was a depressing song, but felt it described her own life perfectly. Listen to the words to this song.

I remember when I was a little girl, our house caught on fire

I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up

In his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement

And I stood there shivering in my pajamas

And watched the whole world go up in flames

And when it was all over I said to myself

"Is that all there is to a fire?"

Is that all there is, is that all there is?

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

Let's break out the booze and have a ball

If that's all there is

And when I was 12 years old, my daddy took me to the circus

The greatest show on earth

There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears

And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads

And as I sat there watching

I had the feeling that something was missing

I don't know what, but when it was all over

I said to myself, "Is that all there is to the circus?"

Is that all there is, is that all there is?

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

Let's break out the booze and have a ball

If that's all there is

And then I fell in love

With the most wonderful boy in the world

We'd take long walks down by the river, or just sit for hours

Gazing into each other's eyes, we were so very much in love

And then one day, he went away and I thought I'd die, but I didn't

And when I didn't, I said to myself, "Is that all there is to love?"

Is that all there is, is that all there is?

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

Let's break out the booze and have a ball

If that's all there is

I know what you must be saying to yourselves

If that's the way she feels about it, why doesn't she just end it all?

Oh, no, not me, I'm not ready for that final disappointment

'Cause I know, just as well as I'm standing here talking to you

That when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my last breath

I'll be saying to myself

Is that all there is, is that all there is?

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

Let's break out the booze and have a ball

If that's all there is

This song could be sung today with its unique dissonant melody and depressing words and disappointment. There is the same type of emptiness and vacuum in the lives of people who don’t know Jesus as their personal Savior. Humanity keeps chasing after a heaven on earth. One person’s perfect world is another person’s hell. One person’s economic and social equality is another person’s enslavement and torture. The world around us continues to shout that things are improving. The world suggests that humanity is capable of controlling weather (good or bad), providing perks and benefits of all kinds to everyone. Yet it’s all meaningless. You see, all which seems to be getting better, stronger, and more powerful will one day be destroyed by the only All-powerful, Mighty God. And then the phrase sung in the Hallelujah Chorus and found in the book of Revelation will sound: And He shall reign forever and ever more . . .

Much of prophecy is difficult to find a personal application. A lot of it is spent in explaining for understanding and clarity. All of it is meant to be seen and understood as a blessing and encouragement for God’s people. As we reflect upon our blessings and our frustrations, as well as our fears, we need a correct perspective. In light of the world’s chaos and calamity, we are preparing for Christ’s conquest and Kingdom.

In these next 2 chapters, we are going to see Daniel personally experiencing visions from God which have to do with his own people; God's chosen people, the Jews. It is helpful to understand that these next 2 chapters actually take place before the events we read about in chapter 5. In chapter 7, we realize that Babylon had not yet fallen to the Medes and Persians.

Several commentators suggest Daniel 7 is one of the most important chapters in the Book of Daniel. This chapter is a transitional chapter; as it goes from an historical relating of events, to visions given to Daniel, relating specifically to the end times. From a prophetic perspective, it is considered one of the most influential and profound chapters in all of the Bible. The theologian, Walvoord, states: “As interpreted by conservative expositors, the vision of Daniel provides the most comprehensive and detailed prophecy of future events to be found anywhere in the Old Testament.”

Before chapter 7, Daniel had been writing in the third person. From this point forward, Daniel writes almost entirely in the first person. Also, the majority of the first 7 chapters was written in Aramaic. The last section was written in Hebrew. The parallelism with these two sections helps in knowing that this was indeed from God.

We may wonder why such prophecy, dealing with the end, was given to Daniel during that time, or why we even study it today. After all, we do not know the specifics of the who's and the when's of the end times. However, we do know the final outcome. That is a source of encouragement and reminds us to continue living in obedience to God.

Then there always comes the question as to how does one interpret apocalyptic writings, or prophecies concerning the end times. I appreciate the simplicity of one scholar who gives us a perfect guideline: A valid principle for interpreting prophecy is to accept the plain sense of the text unless there is good reason to adopt some other meaning.

This morning, we’ll be covering a lot of information that is necessary to help in our overall understanding.

Setting - 7:1-2

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related the following summary of it. Daniel said, “I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.

In these first verses, Daniel describes the setting. Regarding the time frame, it would appear that Nebuchadnezzar had been dead about 9 years. This means Daniel was around 67, assuming he was around 15 when he was taken captive. Belshazzar would have been around 37; being about 14 years before Babylon fell. The importance of God giving this particular vision to Daniel at the beginning stages of Belshazzar's reign may have been because the king was considered a fairly wicked leader. We know from later on that he considered himself greater than God, thinking nothing of mocking God and God's people. We saw this from the previous chapter of Daniel, right before Babylon fell. Thus, this vision, as well as those following, should have been encouraging to the Jews. Why? It would encourage them that they were going to survive and their generations to come would play a vital role in the events of the end times.

So, Daniel basically summarized the key components of the dream. Daniel recalls observing that in this night vision, he saw that the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.

This phrase, the great sea, can cause confusion if we don't allow Daniel to explain this, as well as look at other parts of the Bible to give further clarity. Here's where we can look briefly at vv. 3 and 17 to bring some understanding. In v. 3 four great beasts are portrayed as coming up from the “sea,” whereas v. 17 states that these beasts rise up from the “earth.” Thus v. 17 interprets the “sea” to be symbolic of the “earth;” and the beasts that rise out of this “sea” are interpreted later in the chapter, as being great “earthly” kingdoms. In addition, the sea often stands for the peoples or nations of the earth as seen in the symbolism of Scripture. We understand this as sinful humanity when compared to the sea in Isa 57:20: “The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud” (cf. Isa 17:12–13; cp. Rev 13:1 with 13:11 and Rev 17:1 with 17:15). Thus the peoples of the earth are portrayed as a great sea of humanity in a constant state of unrest, chaos, and turmoil—an appropriate description of today’s world. “Four winds of heaven” were “churning up” the sea, just like a sudden storm. The participle “churning up” can also mean “bursting forth,” showing the idea that these winds suddenly burst forth upon the sea. The number “four” also signifies the four directions of the earth and shows that the havoc created by the storm winds is universal.

Wow! That is quite the background for what we're about to read from Daniel's vision, as we continue.

The Four Beasts - 7:3-8

And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 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.

The word for beasts refers to animals in general. As we read through these verses, it appears that they were great in power and size. In order to understand what these four beasts represent, we have to look at other places in the passage. Slipping back down to verse 17 we see that they represent four different kingdoms. ‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. This should sound familiar to you. Remember the four kingdoms that were talked about earlier in Nebuchadnezzar's dreams. They are the same. The difference is that in Daniel's vision, there is more information about each of them. The majority of scholars agree that the kingdoms are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. These four empires are different from one another. That would be the same as the earlier vision which Daniel interpreted.

Let's break this down a bit. The first beast was unlike any lion that we could possibly imagine. The first creature was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. The lion and the eagle would be a perfect representation of the Babylonian Empire. Jeremiah and Ezekiel had also referred to Nebechadnezzar as a lion, as well as an eagle. In addition, archeologists have found in the ruins of Babylon, statues of lions with wings. The lion’s wings being torn off, probably refers to the king’s insanity and loss of power. Standing on two feet like a man and receiving a human heart (mind) describes Nebuchadnezzar’s gracious and kind rule after his insanity. The lion being “lifted up from the ground” suggests that it was God who raised the king to his place of honor

After this, comes the second beast. Medo Persia would be the next Empire. The bear would be very appropriate, based upon its massive size and incredible ferociousness. There are different views on why one side was higher than another. However, I like to think, along with many other scholars, which seems to be supported later in chapter 8, that one side of the bear being higher or larger could show that the empire, symbolized by the bear, consisted of two parts, one being greater than the other. If so, the two divisions would be Media and Persia, and the higher side would represent Persia, which rose to a more powerful position in the alliance between the two nations.

Then we need to figure out why there are three ribs in the bear's mouth. Since the beasts represent nations or empires, devouring other beasts would symbolize triumph over them. These ribs may describe military triumphs in general, or possibly three specific kingdoms conquered by Medo-Persia. Interestingly, history shows that this very thing happened. These three kingdoms may represent Medo-Persia’s three major conquests—Babylon (539 B.C.), Lydia (546 B.C.), and Egypt (525 B.C.)

In verse 6, we're introduced to the third beast. By the way, these beasts didn't come all at once; one followed another. This beast was a very strange looking leopard. Four wings like those of a bird were upon its back (or sides), and it had four heads. (The word “like,” which is repeated several times, emphasizes that these descriptions are symbolic.) “Authority to rule” (šolṭān) was given to the leopard, symbolizing the dominion of the empire represented by the beast.

History tells us that after Medo-Persia, represented by the bear, Greece dominated the world. This is the third kingdom. Two outstanding characteristics of a leopard are seen in this beast of prey; they are speed and an insatiable thirst for blood. “Four wings” upon the leopard’s back increased the speed of this already swift beast. Greece seems to be appropriately represented by this flying leopard; for its conquests were carried out with lightning speed, and it had an incredible lust for territory. Again, history gives us further insight. Alexander the Great invaded Asia Minor in 334 B.C. (when he was 22) and within ten short years, (by the age of thirty-two), he had conquered the entire Medo-Persian Empire all the way to the borders of India. According to legend, he then wept because there were no more lands to conquer.

In the Bible, the word “heads” may represent rulers or governments (e.g., 2:38; Isa 7:8–9; Rev 13:3, 12), and that is most likely the case with the leopard’s four heads. Daniel predicted that this one empire would ultimately be divided into four kingdoms, and that is exactly what took place. Alexander died in 323 B.C., shortly after his last conquest. After much internal struggle, his generals divided the kingdom into four parts: (1) Antipater, and later Cassander, gained control of Greece and Macedonia; (2) Lysimachus ruled Thrace and a large part of Asia Minor; (3) Seleucus I Nicator governed Syria, Babylon, and much of the Middle East (all of Asia except Asia Minor and Palestine); and (4) Ptolemy I Soter controlled Egypt and Palestine. A four-part character is definitely implied with the Greek Empire in the next chapter (cp. 8:8 with 8:21–22). So, it seeems reasonable to interpret the leopard’s “four heads” in this way.

We’re actually going to stop here before we get to the fourth beast. A good deal of time needs to be spent studying this fourth beast. Remember, these first three beasts are actually historical. The fourth beast is historical, as well as, in the future. We’ll be starting next week with verse 7.

We understand that things in our world seem totally out of control. Yet, we cannot forget the fact that as terrible as things are now or are going to get, Christ will conquer and set up His eternal Kingdom. Considering our lives today, we dare not sit back and wring our hands. We cannot be quiet as those all around us are preparing for a Christ-less eternity. In light of the world’s chaos and calamity, we are preparing for Christ’s conquest and Kingdom.