The Promise of a Greater Kingdom
The kingdoms of men are temporal in light of the sovereign rule and reign of God in Christ Jesus who will set up His kingdom rule.
Introduction
Biblical apocalyptic should be understood as an actual account of what the writer saw and heard rather than contrived literature employed by a writer merely as a communicative tool.
Symbolism is a key element in apocalyptic, and these symbols sometimes have baffled readers of books like Daniel and Revelation. Usually the meaning of figures is explained in the text itself. When this is not the case, their significance is often found in other Scriptures.
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.
I. The Kingdoms of Men (Daniel 7:1-7; 15-23)
Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.
And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven,
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”
Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the LORD.
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.
Ah, the thunder of many peoples;
they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
Ah, the roar of nations;
they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,
but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind
and whirling dust before the storm.
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
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.
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.’
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.
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