Daniel's First Vision
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro
Intro
Last week we read the story of Daniel and the lions’ den. Belshazzar had fallen to Persia in a single night and Darius was not ruling over Daniel. Tonight we are going to take a step backwards into the last years of the Babylonian Empire and look at a vision that Daniel had during that time. This chapter is filled with apocalyptic language and as we read through it we will be slow to draw any specific conclusions regarding the exact meaning of each symbol used. I say it is filled with apocalyptic language because a lot of the descriptions Daniel uses throughout this chapters as well as other chapters throughout the end of this book are used by John in the book of Revelation to communicate the vision he was seeing about the end times. As we read this there will be a couple of tips that help us in our interpretation of the text.
Read with humility
Read to understand the interpretation as the original audience would have understood it
Don’t try to discover a strict chronological map of future events
Take the text seriously, but don’t take it literally
Pay close attention when an image is identified
Look to the historical context of the book when interpreting images and symbols
The Four Beasts
The Four Beasts
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter.
Who is our author? Daniel
When is he writing this? In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon
What is he recording? A vision, not a historical event
2 Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
Daniel sees the four winds of heaven stirring the great sea. This is a picture of God’s sovereignty, its the four corners, almost like the four points of the compass, its the winds of heaven stirring something in the great sea, that being the Mediterranean sea. Out of the sea come these four beasts that are representative of four kingdoms, each different from each other. We know its four kingdoms because of what happens later in the chapter. Daniel describes the beasts as coming out of the sea. These things aren’t of divine origin, they are from the pits of the earth, or the pit of human depravity. In Revelation 13 John uses this same language to describe a new nation that was an amalgamation of all these other empires put together. The beast John describes is not the same as the beasts Daniel describes although they have similar characteristics. Daniel’s vision here in chapter 7 is almost a retelling of the vision Nebuchadnezzar had in chapter 2.
Something to keep in mind. History never repeats itself, but it does rhyme. There are these echoes throughout the human experience. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon would say that there is nothing new under the sun. Everything in human history is just a reshuffling of things that have come before. So when we look at this vision and the one in Revelation there are these truths that are relevant in any context.
Nations of the world serve our enemy the devil and hate the kingdom of God because of it
As citizens of God’s kingdom we will suffer in every generation for the hope of Christ
God is overwhelmingly victorious over the nations of the world and our enemy the devil
Jesus sits on His throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords
Daniel describes what seems to be the four empires leading to the birth of Jesus - Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome
4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
Lets look at these descriptions one by one
Babylon
Babylon
4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it.
Lions are animals of strength and majesty, but also seen as predators seeking prey. Babylon was a mighty kingdom known for the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the ancient wonders of the world. It was a place of power and beauty, but also a terror to the nations around it. In Daniel 4 it says that Nebuchadnezzar was made like a wild beast and his hair became like eagle feathers and his nails like eagle talons, but he was restored and his mind was returned to him. This description could be a reminder of the story of Nebuchadnezzar in that way.
Media-Persia
Media-Persia
5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’
We see Persia described as a powerful bear. Raised up on one side like it is about to attack. It has ribs in its mouth and a command to devour much flesh. This points to the immediacy of the threat Persia posed against Babylon. At this point Babylon hadn’t fallen, but Persia would soon conquer the Babylonian empire.
Macedonian Empire (Alexander the Great)
Macedonian Empire (Alexander the Great)
6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
Alexander the Great led the Macedonian Empire that quickly conquered most of the eastern world. Alexander never lost a battle and expanded his kingdom from Greece to India in 10 to 13 years, which is very fast. A leopard with wings would be a pretty fitting description of this kingdom. What is most interesting is the four heads. After Alexander’s conquest he suddenly got sick and died with no explanation. His empire was then divided into four parts and handed to his generals who would form the Hellenistic empires, the Ptolemaic Kingdom, The Seleucid Kingdom, The Antigonid Macedonian kingdom, and the Attalid Dynasty or Pergamon.
Last is the fourth beast which was different than the three that came before it.
Rome
Rome
7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
Horns in the Bible tend to represent power or strength and the number ten is seen as a number of completeness like in the ten plagues or ten commandments. This kingdom Daniel sees is more powerful than any that had come before it. The use of iron as a descriptor ties it back to the iron feet in Daniel 2. We don’t get an animal comparison for this beast, probably as a way to point to its uniqueness as a kingdom. What is important is that this beast was greater than the other three and spoke great boasts against the Lord.
As we look at these four beasts they are described as monsters and abominations. They are also new kingdoms who are short lived. Daniel is going to introduce us to a new power, one that is ancient and everlasting. One that is pure and holy.
The Ancient King
The Ancient King
9 “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. 10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. 11 “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
This Ancient of Days is the Lord who sits on His throne above all other kingdoms. He is pure as snow and hair like pure wool . His throne was fiery flames which serve as a symbol of refinement and also divine justice. He is served by multitudes. Perfect in His justice and perfect in His power. The beast that stood in opposition to the ancient of days was killed and destroyed and its reign was no more and the nations that remained were allowed to remain because the Lord allowed it. What a powerful explanation of the Lord’s power. Isn’t that what we have seen from the Lord throughout this entire book? Even all of human history? God is King on His throne, ruler over all nations. There are none who can stand against Him or overthrow Him. He is the ancient of days, His kingdom has always existed and will always exist. Earthly kingdom s come and go but the reign of the Lord is everlasting.
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Psalm 2 speaks of the begotten Son who would receive all power and authority. We know that in the New Testament context to be the begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ
Son of God - Son of Man
Son of God - Son of Man
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
See it is through the Son that salvation is offered to the world. The very nations that stand in opposition to the Lord are the ones He loves and sends His Son to redeem and in that the power of the enemy is defeated in the death and resurrection of Jesus and now God’s Kingdom has been brought near. Daniel sees this first hand in his vision.
13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 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.
John calls Jesus the Son of God, but over and over again Jesus refers to Himself throughout the gospels as “the son of man”.
9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
In the incarnation, Jesus is fully God and fully man. Son of God, Son of man. It is a description of His two natures. We call this the hypostatic union. Jesus Christ, the second person in the trinity, was born into human flesh. He possesses a divine nature and a human nature. Jesus was born of a virgin, because sin was passed through the line of Adam. Because God is His Father and not Joseph, Jesus is born without original sin.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Sin entered the world through Adam and existed before the law, and death reigned over mankind even before the law came. But Jesus is born of God through Mary, free of sin so that He might do what Adam could not.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
But Jesus Christ was born as a man free of sin so that in His righteous work we as mankind might be set free from sin and death by His life, death and resurrection. Jesus, who is God, became a man so that He might die for our sins and bring freedom and grace to humans in Himself by faith. Because of this, because of what Christ has done, He takes His place in glory as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Jesus, the son of man, takes His place of honor. All nations bow down before Him. Jesus takes His place as king forever.
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” 7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” 10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” 13 And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is this Jesus, who, though we were enemies of God and citizens of the world, made us friends of God and citizens of His kingdom.
18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’?
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
The Vision Interpreted
The Vision Interpreted
15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. 16 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. 17 ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’ 19 “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, 20 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. 21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 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. 23 “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. 24 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. 25 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. 26 But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. 27 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.’ 28 “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.”
Daniel goes and talks this vision out with someone that was with him and it distressed him. He saw the saints of God suffering under the rule of this fourth kingdom. If the 10 horns are 10 kings of Rome than the 11th horn or emperor would be Domitian, who severely persecuted the Christians and it is under his rule than many people believe John saw the vision of Revelation. What we learn from this is that for all the power these kings had, for all the authority they abused over the course of their reign, it says that they sit in judgement before the Lord. No amount of earthly power can help you escape the judgement of God.
Nations of the world serve our enemy the devil and hate the kingdom of God because of it
As citizens of God’s kingdom we will suffer in every generation for the hope of Christ
God is overwhelmingly victorious over the nations of the world and our enemy the devil
Jesus sits on His throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords
