Our Unshakable Hope

The first half of Daniel is a lot of fun—it’s full of stories many of us have heard all our lives: Daniel taken into exile, Daniel interpreting dreams, a few chapters on Nebuchadnezzar; Daniel’s friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (better known to us as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego or for all of you Veggie Tales fans, “Rack, Shack, and Benny”, being thrown into the fiery furnace).

We love the first half of Daniel. In fact, when it was suggested to me by some church members that I preach through Daniel, my initial thought was excitement; excitement followed by fear and trepidation. Excitement for Chapters 1-6, fear and trepidation for Chapters 7-12.

You see, most people ignore the second half of Daniel the way they ignore the book of Revelation.

Daniel 7-12 has more in common with the book of Revelation than it does with any other book of the Bible, even more so than it does with the first half of Daniel.

These chapters (Daniel 7-12) describe Daniel’s apocalyptic visions.

‘Apocalyptic’ is one of those words. Someone mentions ‘apocalyptic’ and somehow you know that you should wrinkle your brow, narrow your eyes, and nod somewhat knowingly as if you have some understanding of what the term means. “Ah, yes, apocalyptic…of course…”

Biblical apocalyptic literature is a sort of prophecy that seeks to enlighten and encourage a people—a people hated and cast off by the world; a sort of prophecy that gives a people a vision of the God who will come to impose His kingdom on the wreckage and rebellion of human history.

What’s more, apocalyptic literature communicates its message through the use of wild, scary, imaginative, bizarre, and head-scratching imagery.

It’s that wild, scary, bizarre, head-scratching imagery that scares most people off. We’re scared off or don’t understand Daniel 7-12 or the book of Revelation at first blush, so we move on; we skip over. We ignore and come just short of tearing those pages out of our Bibles a la Thomas Jefferson.

Here’s the thing, though: if we give ourselves to the study of this Book in its entirety, if we give ourselves to this Book and don’t give up, if we give ourselves to this Book and refuse to skip over parts of it we dislike or have difficulty understanding, we will be blessed.

It was way back in 2012 when our Wednesday evening Bible Study decided that we should study the book of Revelation. I was nervous, as you can imagine—a pastor in his first couple of years working through the book of Revelation usually leads to termination.

Initially, I hesitated and suggested we should pick an easier, less-debated, less-controversial book.

But many of you persisted. I agreed that we would study the Apocalypse of John (another name for Revelation) only if we could all promise to behave ourselves, to not get all tied-up in our own opinions, and keep from arguing over various interpretations.

What resulted was the single most encouraging Bible study I’ve ever been apart of. I’m serious. There’s far more hope in Revelation (and Daniel) than there is anything else.

That’s the key to apocalyptic literature like Revelation and Daniel 7-12 (and parts of Ezekiel). It’s meant to encourage us! Even with all its scary, wild, bizarre, head-scratching, argument-inducing moments, apocalyptic literature is written in order to encourage the people of God.

So it is with Daniel 7-12. We are going to see some weird stuff, we’re going to be confronted with some odd images, some scary pictures, some confusing verses. But, I believe, I know that we will be encouraged.

“Apocalyptic literature proclaims a theology of hope to those the world hates and pushes to the side: it reminds us that God is presently on the throne and that He will ultimately triumph.” - Iain Duguid

What Daniel sees in his dream would be of interest to many in our culture who are growing more and more obsessed with the end of the world—there are endless movies and television shows in which the future of life on our planet is threatened by aliens, asteroids, floods, viruses, machines, zombies, etc.

Apocalyptic literature, of which Daniel 7-12 is part, is concerned with the end of the world. If people want to know how the world will end—whether with a bang or a whimper—what better place to turn than to the Word of the Sovereign God, the One who controls all history?

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Daniel who has been in the habit of interpreting dreams, whose job it was to interpret dreams, now has a dream himself. We open Daniel 7 and we read:

Daniel 7:1 NIV

1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.

I’m not sure what these people in Babylon and Persia are eating or watching on TV before they go to bed, but something’s causing them to have some pretty messed-up dreams.

Daniel will tell us his dream caused him to be troubled in spirit and disturbed by what he saw. You’ll understand this as we read.

[Kids, I’ve made a sheet for you to draw on during the sermon. I’d be really interested to see what you come up with. There might even be a prize for the best depiction of the characters in Daniel’s dream.]

This, then, is the substance of Daniel’s dream:

Daniel 7:2–8 NIV

2 Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. 4 “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. 5 “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ 6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. 7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. 8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

Talk about disturbing. It’d be one thing to dream of regular predators like a lion or a bear or a leopard, but to dream of the kinds of animals Daniel did—yikes!

These monsters aren’t terrifying because simply because they’re large and dangerous. They’re terrifying because they are evil, opposed to God; they are the agents of chaos and destruction—they have come up out of the sea, an ancient symbol of chaos and rebellion against God.

These are horrific creatures, four in all, one more frightening than the next. They are enormous, composite, misshapen animals like nothing you’ve ever seen.

(Verse 4) A lion with eagle’s wings which then has its wings stripped off, it was raised to its feet like a man and it was given a human mind.

(Verse 5) A bear raised on one side—either poised and ready to attack or because it was deformed like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. This lop-sided bear already had a mouth full or the ribs of its previous victim, but it was told: “Get up and eat your fill of flesh!”

(Verse 6) Part leopard, part bird, with four heads. A lying leopard would combine ferocity and speed, so that no one could run from it. Four heads would render it capable of seeing in all four directions, so that no no could hide from it.

(Verse 7) The most frightening creature can’t be described in terms of earthly animals. Daniel has no category for this fourth beast. It’s frightening and dreadful, incredibly strong, with large iron teeth that devour and crush; it tramples whatever it doesn’t eat. It has ten horns, and since horns are symbols of strength in the Bible, ten horns symbolize massively multiplied strength. As if that’s not enough, another horn appears, uprooting three others. And this horn had eyes and a mouth that spoke arrogantly. What in the world?!?

By this point, we should certainly be a little scared. Spending a night in a den of lions sounds pretty nice compared to the thought of confronting any one of these four beasts.

Daniel’s troubled by this. He’s disturbed, just as we should be—Daniel wants us to see everything he’s seeing.

Do you have a picture in your mind of these beasts? Do you wonder who these beasts symbolize?

What we know from verse 17 is that each of these beasts represents a worldly king: the authorities in charge of the world in which we live.

The point: our world is being run by a succession of fearsome monsters (one right after the other) that will go from bad to worse, each one more frightening than the one before.

The temptation is to want to identify which four earthly kingdoms match-up with the beasts. This is a fool’s errand. The text doesn’t give us nearly enough information.

You might have a study Bible that is more than willing to tell you which beast is which kingdom—Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, Russia, etc.—as if they know this for certain.

This is where the study of apocalyptic literature can slip off the tracks and quickly derail any Bible study or sermon. I’m not about to tell you that this or that beast symbolizes this or that kingdom, mostly because I don’t know (and neither does anyone else).

We don’t know, the text doesn’t tell us, and, in fact, the text addresses our curiosity. In verse 16, Daniel asks for the meaning of all that he’s seen.

Daniel 7:16 NIV

I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this. “So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things:

And what he’s told is as non-specific as it gets:

Daniel 7:17 NIV

17 ‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth.

That’s it. That’s all the more information we have. And if we’re being good Restoration Movement Independent Christians, we will be content to speak where Scripture speaks and to be silent where Scripture is silent.

We don’t know who or what specifically these beasts represent, we simply know that these beasts are four (a complete number of) earthly kings.

What’s actually important, what’s worthy of our time and contemplation is understanding that there is an end to each of these kingdoms, an end to each of these beasts.

Daniel 7:11–12 NIV

11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)

The beast—Beast #4—is slain, killed; its body destroyed and thrown into the fire. The other beasts—Beasts #1, #2, and #3—are stripped of their authority and are allowed to live for a time, but not forever.

This is our hope, our unshakable hope.

We aren’t to believe that this life will be all fairy tales and rainbows and puppy dog kisses; we know that there will be some truly horrible, truly terrifying moments to face.

The kings and kingdoms of this world are, without exception, beastly; they are scary. The world seems out of bounds, out of control. Men and their kingdoms are out of sorts—beastly, wild, savage, scary.

Here’s the hope that Daniel was given, the hope that we have: whatever is fearsome, whatever is scary, whatever is beastly and terrifying in this life will come to an end.

>As Daniel is watching this parade of evil, the progression of beasts, it’s interrupted. Just as the fourth beast makes its appearance in Daniel’s dream and its eleventh horn pops up, there’s an interruption.

I’m not very good at dealing with interruptions. I’m getting better, but I still struggle with being interrupted. When I’m in the middle of a thought and the phone rings, when I’m deep in study and the doorbell rings, when I’m fast asleep and the alarm goes off…if only all interruptions had a snooze button.

I don’t deal with interruptions as well as I’d like, but I’m starting to believe that some interruptions are from the Lord.

So it is here, in Daniel. If we were to read Daniel chapter 7 and leave out verses 9-14, it would be very bleak; it’d be very depressing. Daniel 7 without verses 9-14 would be dominated by the beasts, dominated by evil and fear.

Thank the Lord for this interruption.

Daniel 7:9–14 NIV

9 “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. 11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) 13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

At the end of verse 8, as the detailing of the fourth beast goes along, we’re all prepared to hear more about the final beast and hear more from the little horn in all its arrogance.

Instead, we’re suddenly cut from the fourth beast and its horns; all of that is interrupted and we find ourselves watching and judgment scene in the throne-room.

This interruption (vv. 9-14) is positioned here to remind us: Don’t focus so much on the beasts; instead, fix your eyes on what’s above.

Even the structure of this interruption is significant. There are three scenes in these 6 verses:

The Ancient of Days (vv. 9-10)

Little Horn/Beast (vv. 11-12)

The Son of Man (vv. 13-14)

The structure of these scenes minimizes the effect and the importance of the little horn and the beast; it’s as if the little horn and its beast are scrunched and squeezed between the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man.

That, really, is a pretty good visual. Here’s trouble, darkness, and evil, but it’s not unrestrained. Here’s trouble and darkness and evil, but it’s not in control. There’s the Ancient of Days on one side and the Son of Man on the other.

I love that term, Ancient of Days. It’s one of those names for God that really makes you feel His eternal existence.

Used only here in the Bible, Ancient of Days describes the everlasting God. Literally Ancient of Days means, “one advanced in days” or “one who forwards time or rules over it.”

This is probably where we get the idea that God is an old man with white hair, a long white beard, sitting on a throne. Remember, though: this is apocalyptic literature. This isn’t a physical description of God. Each of these descriptors points to something.

The fact that His clothing is white as snow represents uncompromising and radiant purity and that His hair is as white as wool symbolizes His great wisdom.

His throne has wheels (kind of sounds like a chariot), and it’s all on fire, along with the river of fire flowing from before Him—all images of the divine warrior’s power to judge and destroy His enemies.

He is rightly worshipped/served by thousands and thousands, ten thousand upon ten thousand—an innumerable number of angels attending Him.

He is sitting on His throne, books opened before Him, getting ready to hold court. He is a judge who has the wisdom to sort out right from wrong, the purity to always choose the right, and the power to enforce His judgments.

The first half of this interruption serves to highlight this one truth: evil will not go unchecked. Evil kings and evil kingdoms will be judged, this is certain.

But the Ancient of Days is not alone.

Daniel sees another, one like a son of man. This being appears to be like us, appears to be human. But the fact that He is seen coming with the clouds of heaven and that he’s worshipped by all nations and peoples of every language makes it clear that He is something more than human.

Riding on the clouds is something that only ever refers to God (Psalm 68; Isaiah 19). He also receives the worship of all people.

So the description Son of Man combines, in one person, both human and divine traits.

The Son of Man is both fully God and fully man. [Kids, who does that sound like?] Absolutely, it’s Jesus.

Jesus, we know, applied this title to Himself. Over and over in the New Testament, Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man.

Eugene Petersen writes about Jesus as the Son of Man, the One who took the form of a human, all the while being very God:

“This Son of Man has dinner with a prostitute, stops off for lunch with a tax-collector, wastes time blessing children when there were Roman legions to be chased from the land, heals unimportant losers and ignores high-achieving Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Jesus was fully human.

And Jesus was fully God—He healed people, forgave their sins, taught with an authority unlike any other person ever had, possessed a Kingdom that had no end.

It’s this Son of Man, Jesus, who is given authority, glory, and sovereign power…an everlasting dominion and a kingdom that will never be destroyed.

This should fortify us against whatever evil we’re up against. This knowledge should give us strength:

The Ancient of Days and the Son of Man are not absent nor are they tardy.

The Ancient of Days and the Son of Man will easily deal with the beasts.

The majestic Judge and reigning King have not misplaced one ounce of their sovereignty over history.

What a well-placed, much-needed interruption/reminder.

The Lord who has made us will surely keep us through the worst we have to face.

As Walter Luthi puts it: “We know the Son of Man, who is at the same time the Head and Shepherd of the fellowship. The Shepherd sees the lion coming, and the bear, and the leopard, and the Fourth Beast, and He does not flee.”

Our unshakable hope is in these two glorious realities:

All the terrifying, beastly, destructive kingdoms of this world will come to an end. We will not languish here forever. We will not suffer forever under the cruel thumb of earthly kings. The true and only King is coming—He has already dealt the death-blow to the Great Beast, that Great Dragon, Satan.

As John writes in Revelation:

Revelation 11:15 NIV

15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”

2. Our God—the Ancient of Days—sits on His throne. Our Savior—the Son of Man—is coming back. We, then, have nothing now to fear. There is no beast, no king, no kingdom that can dethrone our God. And no force of earth or evil can stop Jesus from returning to set all things right. These are the bookends of history: the eternal, always existing God and the Coming King who will reign for ever and ever.

This is our hope—our unshakable hope.