Your Kingdom Come

HBI - The messiah is going to come again to be awarded universal dominion and to be appointed as universal Lord and Judge which should reach our hearts, pull us out of our sin, affect our conduct and change our lives.

Intro

In spite of present appearance our God is in control! There is hope for faithfulness in spite of a hostile world around us. we have been going through the narrative accounts of Daniel and his friends and what they went through. We see again and again that there is hope for faithfulness in the midst of this hostile world that we live in. This does not mean that we will escape harm, this is another thing that we see time and time again throughout the Bible and here as well in the book of Daniel. That the hostility the world throws at us as followers of Jesus, we will not always escape, but we are told to live our lives for Jesus none the less.

we move from narrative to prophecy or more specifically Eschatology (who can tell me what that means). We will be going through the visions Daniel received from the Lord in regard to a time that was going to come in the future. We know that it is referring to the end times when Jesus comes back again. There is so much written on Eschatology (the study of the end times) and so many arguments within the church about what this is going to look like. Prophecy is an interesting thing.

We have people who believe that they are modern day prophets like the prophets of old. There are still people that even believe that they have received new revelation from God apart from the scriptures. I have not heard to many people in Christian circles who hold to this, though you do see it in other circles. Sarah Young, who wrote Jesus calling says in her book that she had received new revelation from God that is apart from the complete word of God that we now have. Be very wary of people that claim that they hear new word from God apart from the bible and hold it up to being equal to the word of God or needs to be added to the word of God. What Daniel heard was from God, concerned the end of time, future events. Even this we see happening, people claiming that God is revealing things to them about what is happening in the future apart from what has been revealed in the word of God, Like Jeremiah Johnson, a 33-year-old self-described prophet.

He was one of the few evangelical Christians who took Donald J. Trump’s political future seriously back in 2015. This track record created a loyal audience of hundreds of thousands of people who follow him on social media and hang on his predictions about such topics as the coronavirus pandemic, the makeup of the Supreme Court, and the possibility of spiritual revival in America. And they took comfort ahead of the presidential election last fall when Mr. Johnson shared a prophetic dream of Mr. Trump stumbling while running the Boston Marathon, until two frail older women emerged from the crowd to help him over the finish line. So when Joseph R. Biden Jr. was certified as the winner of the election, Mr. Johnson had to admit he had let his followers down. (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/us/christian-prophets-predictions.html)

we wont get into what the gift of prophecy is and what it might look like today but I want to point to a reminder about it we have here. All the false prophecy we see like this in the world concerning things in the future is very unlike the prophecy we see happening in the Bible. False prophets now think that they have discovered a great truth they need to shout from the mountaintops. when Daniel and the other prophets would hear from the Lord it was not a fun time. Daniel was so alarmed by what he heard he became ill and was unable to work.

The prophecy we read of old can be scary and force us to rethink our lives. But with the prophecy we are going to go through, despite the fear that we might face, there comes with it great Hope. This revealed end times should cause us to look back on our lives and ask questions. If Jesus is really coming back again then how is that affecting our lives? Is it placing within us a sense of urgency to seek God and ask Him to change our lives? Are we willing to run to the Lord in forgiveness when we see all that the Lord has done for us?

1-8, 15-28 - The Beasts and what they mean

Chapter 7 has its pair in Chapter 2. You may wonder where I get this from but both chapters deal with Kingdom prophecies, this is what we are going to look into today and for the next couple of weeks, The promises that God gave us on what the end of time is going to look like, and let me tell you it does not look like the getting there is going to be to much fun. But the end of the race is what we look forward to.

for the prophecy part of the book of Daniel we go first back in time a little bit

Daniel 7:1 (CSB)1 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream with visions in his mind as he was lying in his bed. He wrote down the dream, and here is the summary of his account.

In the first year of Belshazzar we are told. The visions Daniel received happened about 20 years earlier then the the previous chapter. He had been given visions about the end times from the Lord God and he wrote them down and this is what we see here. It is a vision of 4 huge beasts that came down from the heavens.

Daniel 7:3 (CSB) 3 Four huge beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.

The four huge beasts. I found this artist rendering on what they could have looked like. The beasts are not an actual thing that is going to appear in the end abut rather they represent certain things. We have something like a lion with the wings of an eagle. The lion had its wings torn off and then given the mind of a man.

There was a beast that looked like a bear, it had 3 ribs in its mouth and was told to gorge itself on flesh.

the third beast was like a leopard. but this leopard had 4 heads, 4 birds wings on it’s back. This beast was given dominion over the land.

the fourth beast was frightening and dreadful. As if the rest of the beasts where not frightening enough. It was a strong beast with large iron teeth. Whatever was left over from the other beasts it crushed and destroyed. It had ten horns.

before we go on from here we can go on to the last half of the passage to get an understanding of what it means. Along with the vision God provided Daniel with the interpretation of the vision. Daniel was deeply distressed after what He had seen. Daniel 7:16-17

Daniel 7:16–17 (CSB) 16 I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him to clarify all this. So he let me know the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘These huge beasts, four in number, are four kings who will rise from the earth.

We are told that the 4 beasts represent 4 kings of the earth.

the last and the worst beast of all came out with 10 horns on it’s head. 1 horn rose up, smaller then the rest uprooting 3 of the other ten horns. . It had eyes and a mouth like a human that spoke arrogant blasphemies and boasts against God.

4 great kings that are going to arise on the earth and be united against the Lord God and His people. Oh the evil of sin of people. There re going to be horrible things that happen to the people of God from those that have turned against God. Satan will do all he can to turn people away from God. We will look into this a little more as we see a little more of the prophecies of the end times.

9-14, 15-28 - The son of Man and what it means

so we have the four beasts that come trampling and killing and gorging themselves on flesh. these frightening beasts that have been given authority on earth to destroy for a time. but before that we get into where God’s role fits into this.

we have the ancient of days who is in his place on the throne, though sometimes we forget. Daniel 7:9

Daniel 7:9 (CSB)9 “As I kept watching, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white like snow, and the hair of his head like whitest wool. His throne was flaming fire; its wheels were blazing fire.

what we get is the scene of judgement. A courtroom where everything and everyone is going to be judged. We see the imagery of a blazing fire being used. It represents the magnificent brilliance of God and the intense and fierce heat of His judgement on all who had opposed His authority. The great destructive power of the judgement of the Lord God on all who have turned against Him.

There is some more explaining to do before we get into the last bit. The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom according to 7:23. It represents a great kingdom that is going to wage a war against the holy ones of God, it seemed as if this great kingdom was going to win. But The Ancient of Days/God arrived to give judgement to the kingdom and all of those that turned against God.

the beasts are all great kingdoms and kings that are going to wage war against the people of God, eating and crushing and destroying. But in the end God will prevail. There is a plea for the people to turn to God because when the judgement comes all people including the great kings will be held accountable for what they had done.

the fourth king will be the worst of them all. Daniel 7:25

Daniel 7:25 (CSB)25 He will speak words against the Most High and oppress the holy ones of the Most High. He will intend to change religious festivals and laws, and the holy ones will be handed over to him for a time, times, and half a time.

The great beast will be given the authority for a short time to have dominion over the whole earth. To give people one last fleeting chance to turn to God. For a short time, I wont get into the dates that are given here because right now, that is not the main point. the main point is that there will be one like the son of Man.

Daniel 7:13 (CSB)13 I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him.

The son of man is in reference to the messiah. It is a title which was given for the messiah and one in which Jesus claimed for Himself in the gospels. We also see this in the reference to Him coming riding on the clouds. This again is a symbolic thing that is only said in reference to God. God, many times, has been symbolized with cloud and fire. The son of man will be given dominion over everything and his glory and kingdom will be eternal.

The last, most evil king will do many horrible things to the people of God, but in the end the court will convene and he will be destroyed forever.

Daniel 7:26 (CSB) 26 But the court will convene, and his dominion will be taken away, to be completely destroyed forever.

after this the son of man we are told will set up His eternal kingdom and those that are his children will reign with Him for eternity.

So What?

Prophecy is not always sunshine and roses. Prophecy is not something we should ever take lightly. It is not for the faint of heart.

A.W. Tozer: “The Bible doesn’t approve of this modern curiosity that plays with the Scriptures and which seeks only to impress credulous and gullible audiences with the ‘amazing’ prophetic knowledge possessed by the brother who is preaching or teaching!

I agree with him on this. It is not there to impress people but the prophecy we read in the Bible should be life changing. What we are going to go through in the next little while regarding the end times should be life changing, it should scare us a bit, just look at the reaction that Daniel had after hearing from God. There is no knew word from God and any word we do hear that claims to be prophetic should always be able to be backed up by the word of God.

The first thing we need to get from this is ...

The horrifying picture of human evil

The kingdoms and kings that the beasts represent are going to represent a group of people that are going to back the despicable things that they do. It is going to get bad for anyone alive during this time. Christians all over the world even now are facing the horrifying results of human sin and evil. They are facing intense persecution in other countries just for believing in the name of the Lord jesus.

Another thing that this teaches us is that every man woman and child is at heart a sinner in need of Jesus. This is going to be the last chance for those people to turn to God. This is just showing the true nature of sin. But the Children of God who stand firm in their beliefs are a testimony to the grace and peace and strength of God. They are a shining light for the word of God, being willing to literally take up their cross and die for the one who already died so that we might live in eternity with Jesus.

sin is a horrible thing that turns us against God and His people. we are all guilty and here we see the true picture of what sin can do in the lives of people.

God’s word should change our lives

Secondly what we read here in the word of God should change our lives. This prophecy should cause us to get on our knees and bow before the Lord. It reminds us of the horrible condition that we are in before we know the Lord as our savior. But you may think, like I did at one point in my life before I knew Jesus, that it is not a big deal. You may have family and friends that do not see the big deal with their sin.

but what we read here is that there will come a day when Jesus, our eternal judge is going to hold court and all thos who have not turned to Him are going to be found Guilty and be sentenced to eternity without Him. this is the main point. We are given a short time on earth and we need to allow the Lord to change us, we need to come to Him on our knees in forgiveness. The word of God should not just create an emotional experience in us but change our lives.

Are you prepared?

And lastly are you prepared? Life is going to get worse during the last days. Do not wait till it is to late, you need to turn your life to Jesus today. We need to be prepared to kneel before the Lord. The end times will be one last chance for you to turn to God, you may see Him before that happens.

one thing we can be certain about, whether you believe it or not, in the end Jesus wins, those lost in sin lose. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, are you prepared?