At the Corner of Broadway and Babylon - 8

At the Corner of Broadway and Babylon - 8

Daniel 7:1-28

Introduction

When I was in middle school my mom had to have a rather invasive and difficult surgery. After a couple days it was clear that her recovery was not going well. The doctors were concerned that she had internal bleeding and that they were going to have to go in again to find the problem and fix it. The afternoon we received that news was tense for us all. Mom was in pain and struggling. Dad was noticeably bothered. My brother and I were worried. It was stressful and confusing. But right at that moment, when things seemed so dark, there was a slight knock on the door of mom’s hospital room, and our preacher walked in. It was the strangest thing…the mood of the room instantly changed. His very presence, and the words of hope he offered transformed the atmosphere. We were no longer worried. We were reminded that God is in control. I had never experienced anything like it before. At just the right time, when things seemed the darkest, we received good news that changed everything.

Has something like that ever happened to you? Stuff was hard and it felt like the world was pressing in around you, but you received some good news that changed everything? God has a habit of doing this very thing. I think of Abraham in Genesis 15. God had made him some promises, but the years have passed and nothing has happened yet. Abraham is in a dark place. But then God shows up in a vision, at just the right time and tells him exactly what he needs to hear.

Or I think of the OT prophet Isaiah. When the nation of Israel was reeling after the death of their king, wondering what was coming next for them, God shows up at just the right time with a vision.

Isaiah 6:1-3 - In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

When we come to Daniel 7, we find that God has done this very thing yet again. Before we jump into it, let me set some context. The first six chapters of Daniel are a genre of literature called ‘historical narrative.’ They are simple accounts of all that took place historically with the Kingdom of Judah, the Babylonian Empire, King Nebuchadnezzar, and Daniel and his friends. At chapter 7, Daniel now has a major shift and becomes more prophetic. Chapters 7-12 carry a series of four visions given to Daniel by God about Daniel and Israel’s future. These chapters are a genre of literature called ‘apocalyptic.’ We are somewhat familiar with that genre. The NT book of Revelation is this same genre. The Greek word for Revelation is apocalupsis.

Apocalyptic literature has several characteristics that make it quite unique. They are filled with visions full of symbolism and metaphor. The numbers are symbolic, not literal. There is a focus on the vindication of the good and the just punishment of the evil. The danger of this kind of literature is that people like to get caught up in all the little details and assign every little thing some spiritual meaning. This is how books like Revelation become used in ways they are not intended. The end chapters of Daniel are no different. As we wade into them, keep in mind that there is a lot of gray, not as much black and white as you’d like. Scholars fiercely debate what means what. We aren’t going to get into end times debates with all this…precisely because that is not at all the intent of Daniel’s writings.

Remember, a text can never mean what it never meant. Daniel did not write this so that 21st century American Christians could chart end times events and schedule the return of Jesus. This was written down by Daniel so that the ancient Israelites would be encouraged by God’s work in the world. These ancient believers were reeling. Their king and their nation had been utterly destroyed by a foreign, pagan empire. Many of those who had survived were carted off to the foreign land to serve that pagan empire. They have been in Babylon for almost 70 years. They are questioning God’s love for them, his faithfulness to his people, and his sovereignty over the world. When Daniel gets this vision in chapter 7, it is perfect timing.

Daniel 7:1 - 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.

While we have looked at all the historical events through chapter 6 with the defeat of Babylon and the new reign of the Persian Empire, this vision actually took place earlier, given by God to Daniel between the events of chapter 4 and chapter 5. We are told in the first sentence that this vision came in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon. Which means what? It means that King Nebuchadnezzar has just died. Nebuchadnezzar, the king who had been through so much with these people. The king who had met God. The king who had finally converted in chapter 4 and placed his trust in the one, true God. I imagine that was a happy and holy moment for Daniel and his friends. They are in a foreign, pagan land with all the challenges that come with that. But their king, their ruler has joined their faith. How incredible! That likely made it a bit easier to swallow all the terrible things that have happened to them.

But now that king is dead. Now what? What is God up to? Why would he allow this pagan king to become a believer and then die? And then to be replaced by Belshazzar, who is far worse than Nebuchadnezzar ever was? Well, much like Isaiah 6 when Uzziah died and God gave Isaiah a vision that settled his worried soul…in the year that King Nebuchadnezzar died, Daniel saw a vision from the Lord that would both unsettle and settle his worried soul. God shows up at just the right time with some very good news, though that good news was packaged in a frightening dream.

Daniel 7:2-8 - 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. 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.

TS - quite a dream! This vision actually has a twin passage…Daniel 2. Remember, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream of a giant statue with a golden head, silver chest and arms, bronze belly and thighs, and legs of iron. They represent four kingdoms to come - Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires. Then a small stone smashed the statue and grew to become a mountain that filled the Earth. This is the same vision, but given to Daniel, with more detail. An angel interprets the dream later in the chapter.

The lion with eagle’s wings is King Nebuchadnezzar. The OT prophet Jeremiah referred to him with both of these images of lion and eagle. His wings were plucked…he was humbled and then restored (events of Daniel 4). The bear is the Medo-Persian Empire, which is the one that rules at the end of Daniel 5 and chapter 6. It is raised up on one side because the Persian part of that Empire was much more powerful than the Mede part. It has three ribs in its mouth, because that Empire defeated three major kingdoms to conquer the world…Babylon, Lydia, Egypt. The leopard with wings is the Greek Empire. The leopard is known from speed, especially if it has wings. Alexander the Great conquered the world with shocking speed…once he invaded, he defeated the known world in ten years, all by the age of 32. This beast has four heads because upon the death of Alexander the Great, the Greek Empire was divided into four kingdoms, each headed up by his military generals.

Then there is the fourth beast. It is unlike any of the others, so strong and terrifying that there isn’t even an animal to compare it to. This is Rome. The iron rule of Rome swept across the world and smashed it to pieces. It accumulated more countries and kingdoms that anyone else in history. Their power was unmatched. Their rule was unequaled. The world had not seen anything like the universal rule of Rome, either before or since its fall. It has ten horns…horns represent power…ten is a number symbolic of wholeness and completion. Rome had a fullness of power beyond comprehension.

What a message for Daniel to receive, and then pass on to the rest of the nation. They had been defeated by a superpower. And it will happen again…and again and again. Nations will war against nations, power will rise and fall. The world will be upended multiple times. That part of the vision isn’t very settling…but the next one is.

Daniel 7:9-12 - 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.

Yes, the nations will rage. But God will always rule. As the nations do their thing, court is in session. God, the Ancient of Days, takes his seat in his flaming chariot-throne and opens the books, judging the deeds of the nations. He is clothed in white…radiantly pure in his judgments. His hear white wool…perfectly wise in his judgments. Fire surrounds him and emanates from him…wonderfully holy in his judgements. Surrounded by an army of angels without number…shockingly powerful in his judgements.

And here is his judgment…the arrogant fourth beast, boasting his great words…is killed without battle and burned. The rest of the beasts lose their power. Babylon, Medo-Persians, and the Greeks were all simply acclimated into their new kingdoms when they were defeated. But when Rome fell, it did not get swallowed up into a new superpower…it died, never to return.

TS - What now? The ruling kingdoms have come to an end. What is God’s plan for the world?

Daniel 7:13-14 - 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.

For the last several weeks I have said almost every week that our hope is in the eternal ruler over the eternal kingdom…we are now finally introduced to that eternal ruler. He is the son of man. Meaning, he has a human appearance. But where has he come from? With the clouds of heaven. So though he appears human, he is of divine origin and has divine authority. He is given dominion, glory, and a kingdom…one that will rule over all the world, forever.

In the days of the Roman Empire (as we also saw in chapter 2), God himself will set up a kingdom that will rule over the entire world. And who will sit on the throne ruling over that universal kingdom?

Luke 1:26-33 - 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Matthew 28:18 - 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

2 Peter 1:11 - 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Revelation 11:15 - 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Of all the titles Jesus has been given, of all the ways he defined and described himself to those around him, his personal favorite title was Son of Man. He refers to himself by that title of supremacy over 80x.

TS - What are the takeaways, both for God’s people then, and for God’s people now?

The Nations will always rage; God will always rule.

This is the lesson that King Nebuchadnezzar had to learn. Three times in Daniel 4, and repeated again in chapter 5 is the truth that all must come to learn: the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to whom he will.

That same lesson is taught again here in chapter 7. Go back to the vision of the four beasts. Pay attention to the language. Beyond Daniel and the four beasts, there is another one involved…there is one who is silently behind the scenes pulling all the strings. The vision is full of what are called Divine Passives.

v. 4 - the lion’s wings ‘were plucked off’

v. 4 - it was lifted up off the ground and made to stand

v. 4 - the mind of a man was given to it

v. 5 - the bear ‘was raised up on one side’

v. 5 - it was told ‘devour much flesh’

v. 6 - the leopard had ‘dominion given to it’

What is God teaching Daniel in this vision? That God alone is sovereignly orchestrating the events of the nations of the world. We need not become anxious or overcome by the raging of the nations. Instead we become settled by the sovereign ruling of our God.

Jesus Christ is the eternal ruler over God’s people, the one in whom we place our hope.

In a desperate time for Daniel, after his own king (Jehoikim of Judah) had been defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, and now after Nebuchadnezzar has died, with the news that numerous kings and kingdoms will arise in the future…it was good news to hear of an eternal ruler. As each kingdom would rise, the world would be shaken yet again. In fact, when the vision begins, it says these four beasts, the kingdoms, rise out of the sea…the sea was the sign of chaos and despair…that is the symbolic way of saying that they arise out of chaos and will create chaos. But Jesus, the eternal ruler, will settle all of that.

For some of you, this past week was great and you love how the election turned out. For others, this past week was terrible and you hate how the election turned out. But regardless of who sits in the White House, nothing has changed really. Not for the Christian. We simply continue to place our trust in the eternal ruler. We simply continue to love the eternal ruler. We simply continue to place our hope in the eternal ruler.

And here is why…after Daniel receives the interpretation about what his vision meant, he inquired more about the fourth beast, the terrifying kingdom to come. Daniel is told of the arrogant ruler of the world and his ultimate end:

Daniel 7:25-27 - 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.’

Just when the good news was needed the most, when it was the darkest hour, God came through. That is how the Gospel works too. Romans 5 says that when humanity was at its worst, when we were still sinners, in utter darkness, God came through. He brought Good News when we needed it the most.

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