Daniel chapter 7 verses 1 through 28. Hear for this is the word of the Lord. 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. Daniel declared, I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagle's 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 broken pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it and it had 10 horns. 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. 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. 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. 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. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 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. 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. As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. 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. These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever, and ever. Then I decided 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 broken pieces, and stamped what was left with its feet, and about the 10 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. As I looked, This horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them 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. 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. As for the 10 horns, out of this kingdom 10 kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them. He shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. 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. but the court shall sit in judgment and his dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and destroyed to the end. 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. 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. Thanks be to God for His holy word. I believe nothing has captivated the American church more than the topic of the end of the world and how it will all take place. This can be a good or a bad thing. It is a good thing because God's Word contains revelation about how the world will end. And if it's in the Bible, then it should be important for us to consider. But it can be a bad thing when we misinterpret the visions revealed and inject things which have not been clearly revealed in Scripture, such as modern historical events, like the wars in the Middle East or modern geopolitical nation states like the US, Israel, Russia, or China. But this has been the pattern of the majority of popular American evangelicalism, and it can lead us astray from the true meaning and application of the text. I say all this because today we have come to the apocalyptic portion of the book of Daniel, which ranges from chapters seven through 12. And for us, just like the book of Revelation, this is a very intimidating portion of scripture. We try to avoid apocalyptic literature at all costs, especially in small group Bible studies. I think part of the reason is, one, we're afraid that we won't be able to understand what is being revealed, and two, we're intimidated by the number of views that exist in the field of interpretation. But if we keep the main things, the main things, we will come to realize that all apocalyptic literature is basically saying the same thing. Jesus wins. That is at the essence of what is being revealed. If we focus on what is clear and try not to speculate so much on what is unclear, then we will arrive at a proper interpretation. When we come to an apocalyptic text that is unclear, we only have two choices. We can either use other portions of scripture to help clarify what is being revealed, Or, when that doesn't work, we must come to the conclusion that we're not supposed to know all the fine details. And the proper interpretation of apocalyptic literature will transcend the complicated, this-worldly, confusing versions of interpretation, and it will apply to all believers in all times and all places around the world. But to get there, we need to understand the purpose of why these texts are here. and to understand its purpose is to understand what is apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic literature in the Bible is revelation. That's what apocalypse means. It means to reveal. It is revelation from God which reveals the end of this age and the transition into the new age to come. It reveals the transition between the fallen age, marked by sin and conflict, into the age of peace and righteousness. It reveals how the kingdoms and the nations of this world will be replaced by the one kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. Apocalyptic literature is a genre of its own in the Holy Scriptures, and it is to be interpreted differently than, say, a historical narrative or a text of wisdom or poetry. It uses imagery that is oftentimes mysterious and difficult to understand. It is not meant to be interpreted literally, mainly because of its purpose. Its purpose is not meant to reveal exact times and places, but its purpose. is to comfort believers and to call us to a greater faithfulness and perseverance. Its purpose is to give the believer hope so that we can press on in our pilgrimage in this world. It is not meant for us to go searching in newspapers or turning on news stations to piece together a mysterious puzzle with details we were never given nor meant to know in the first place. Neither is apocalyptic literature meant for us to worry or to panic. American evangelicalism is marked by panic, and it has contributed to our moral panic culture over the last two centuries. But rather than panic, apocalyptic literature is meant to give us hope. It is to remind us that despite what is going on in the world around us, God sits on his throne and he is governing all things to their proper end, which will mean the believer's final salvation. This is what we find in the final chapters of Daniel as we begin with chapter seven. Chapter seven begins with a vision. And in our timeline, we press the rewind button, so to speak, back to where we were in chapter five, before the reign of Darius the Mede, to the first year of the reign of King Belshazzar, the king of Babylon. Daniel was lying in his bed when he saw a dream and visions. What he saw in his vision were the four winds of heaven, which covers the four corners of the earth, stirring up the great sea. The sea, in both mythology and in the Bible, has always been a symbol of chaos and evil. It is the home of sea monsters and demons. We see this in the book of Job, Isaiah, and in the Psalms when referring to Leviathan, which is a sea monster symbolic of Satan. And think of when Jesus healed the two demon-possessed men in the Gadarenes and cast the demons into a herd of pigs. The demons led the herd of pigs into the sea to drown in the waters. So, in this vision, following what we see in all of the Bible, the four beasts were raised out of the sea, all different from one another. The first beast was like a lion with eagle's wings that had been plucked off. I think this is to say that this was an unclean mixture or deformed in some way, just as the other beasts that follow. And this beast was made to stand on two feet like a man and was given the mind of a man. The second beast was like a bear with one side raised. This means it was either deformed In its appearance, it had kind of like a hunchback, or it was positioned ready to attack its prey, because although it had three ribs between its teeth from a previous meal, it was told to arise, devour much flesh. The third beast was an unclean mixture of a leopard with four wings of a bird and four heads, and it was given dominion. This is speaking of this beast's power, sight, and speed. It had great authority. With four heads, it had the ability to, quote unquote, see all things. Think of Big Brother. And it was fast in catching its prey and devouring its enemies. And finally, the fourth beast is described as even more terrifying, dreadful, and strong. Unlike the other beasts, it is not even described in much detail. All we know is that it was different from the other beasts. It had great iron teeth, with which he devoured and broke into pieces its prey. Its feet were strong enough to stamp out its enemies. Also, it had ten horns. And out of it grew one little horn, which uprooted and grew in the place of three of the 10 horns. And on this little horn were eyes like a man and a mouth speaking great things. It was arrogant and boastful." Now, Daniel has gone through so much already. Now he's even more terrified by these visions. And this is how we find Daniel. when he sought the interpretation of the dream. If we skip ahead and read verses 15 through 18, we see that Daniel was anxious and alarmed by the visions he had seen. I mean, who wouldn't be? This is absolutely terrifying. It says that he approached one of those who stood there, presumably an angel, and Daniel asked him about the truth. So the angel gave him the interpretation. These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. So these beasts represent those in power who are controlling the world. Seeing that they arise out of the sea, this is to suggest that they are empowered by demons and they control the world. But who are these four kings? Notice he doesn't say. In fact, he would later add to their number. I think there has been much ink spilled on speculation about who is who. Who represents which beast? Some have concluded that the four beasts, the four kings, represent four kingdoms. The first being Babylon. Now, this makes sense because the first beast is said to have his wings plucked off and stood up like a man with a human mind. This could be speaking of the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar and how the Lord drove him out of his kingdom and drove him out of his mind and made him to eat grass like an ox. But then the Lord restored him to a human mind. Yet the details aren't laid out for us. Many scholars have argued that the four kingdoms are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. And the characteristics of each beast coincides with the nature of how they ruled. Now the problem with this is threefold. First, a lot of these characteristics overlap when describing any one of these kingdoms. especially when speaking of their fierce quest for dominance and beast-like governance. Secondly, this gives us the false impression that this is the way the world was and not the way the world is right now. This was the way the world was until Rome fell in 476 AD. Now we live in a more civilized, Christian, and less beastly world. And three, it leaves out a host of other nations and other beastly empires down to the modern day period. It leaves out Hitler and Nazi Germany, Italy under Mussolini, Communists China and Russia. It leaves out all the nations and governments who are persecuting Christians today as we speak. But see, that is why I don't believe that the point of this text is to try and figure out exactly who is who. Today, when people try to assign specific modern day geopolitical nations to the beast in the Bible, I believe it is mainly driven by, one, the politics of today, and two, because beasts are all used to represent our nations. China, a dragon, Russia, a bear, America, an eagle, on and on goes the debate. But that is not the point of any of these texts nor any other apocalyptic literature in the Bible. What difference does it really make to the Christian if we know who is who? The angel who interprets the dream doesn't give Daniel any names because that is not the point. when we get into all the speculation, it actually moves us away from what this text is really about. Because right after the angel says that these four beasts represent four kingdoms, he qualifies that to say, but, one of the greatest words in all of the Bible, but the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever, and ever. That is the point of the entire chapter. It is not about trying to figure out which king is which, but it is to look forward and beyond all these kings, beyond this world, beyond this age to the next, when we will receive the kingdom. In other words, it is to have hope. See, the number four, just like the number seven, represents completeness. Think of the four winds of heaven, the four corners of the earth, and there are four beasts who govern this world. Also, from other parts of the Bible, there is one beast who controls all these other beasts. This is who Paul calls the prince of the power of the air, or the god of this world, little g. We read about this in Revelation chapter 13. The beast that gives the other beast authority, he is called the dragon, or the serpent, who was in the Garden of Eden, namely, Satan. So what this text is saying is that this world, the entire world, the four corners of the earth, and the governments of this world, this age, is completely governed by beasts, and it is going from bad to worse. It always has, and it always will, until the saints receive the kingdom. Only in the new age will we see true and lasting change forever and ever. Now, this may sound hopeless, but it's only hopeless if you miss the point or if this world is all that you're living for. What we know from this text is that this world system governed by beasts that stands opposed to God will soon come to an end, and the kingdom made for the saints will come in its place. So there is a judgment day set for these four beasts." Now, this was a hopeful word for Daniel, who lived in exile under the rule of these beasts. In fact, he will never see Israel restored in this world. And the judgment of these beasts is revealed here in verses 19 through 28. as Daniel inquired of the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, who was exceedingly terrifying, teeth of iron, claws of bronze, had ten horns, and a little horn that replaced three of the horns. This little horn had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions." Notice there it says, seemed, doesn't mean that it was. And this little horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them. This sounds a lot like the beast in Revelation 13, who was given authority by the dragon. It says that it was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words against God. Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. But there is an end point. which is the main point. It says he made war against the saints and prevailed over them 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. Then the angel goes on to interpret the meaning behind the fourth beast and its horns and the final judgment of this kingdom. Thus he said, as for the fourth beast, that 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. As for the 10 horns out of this kingdom, 10 kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them. He shall be different from the former ones and shall put down three kings. 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, that is, he will change the old covenant calendar which dictated to the people of God how and when to worship. And they shall be given into his hand for a time, times and half a time. Many have concluded that this sounds a lot like Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who persecuted the people of God in the 2nd century BC, who was an outright blasphemer of God. Or that it was one of the Roman emperors who persecuted Christians, such as Nero or Domitian. Or the Antichrist, whom Paul described in 2 Thessalonians 2. But again, there is not enough information here for us to conclude exactly who this little horn is or was. We will get a little more detail as we move on, but for now, the angel's concern is not so much about the identity of the horn, but rather he is more concerned with the vindication of the saints and the victory of the Most High God over these beasts. The point of the vision. was to bring hope to the people of God who suffer under Satan's tyranny in this world. He continues, but whoever this horn is and whatever this horn has done to the saints, the court shall sit in judgment and his dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and destroyed to the end. 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." And although this was a word of hope, Daniel didn't quite get it yet. He said, here's 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. So where is the hope of the saints to be found? I covered this text out of order on purpose, because what was to ground Daniel's confidence is found back in verses 9 through 14. In the vision of the Ancient of Days, and the Son of Man who comes before his throne. Remember that verse 26 said that the court shall sit in judgment. What court? Well, he described the vision of the heavenly court in verses nine through 12. It is the judgment seat where the Ancient of Days sits enthroned. It is this Ancient of Days who truly governs this world and those four beasts. The title Ancient of Days is ascribed to God to describe his eternality. He is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. And Daniel said that in his vision, 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. The white radiance of his clothing and hair symbolizes his holiness and his purity. And his throne is described as a fiery chariot with wheels of burning fire. This vision reminds me of the visions in Ezekiel, but with greater detail. Throughout the scriptures, there are visions of the throne room of God. And as you move through these visions, such as Jacob's ladder in Genesis, Then you move to Isaiah, then to Daniel. They get clearer and clearer until you arrive at the vision revealed in Revelation. And from God's throne, a stream of fire issued and came out before him. This symbolizes the fact that he has the power to destroy his enemies. And before him were a thousand thousands who served him, and 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. This is describing the great multitude which we cannot count that stand before him, the myriads of myriads from all nations who worship the Lord. And once the Ancient of Days took his seat, the court sat in judgment and the books were opened. The books are also referred to in Revelation chapter 20, where the deeds of the dead were recorded and they were judged by what they had done. And just to note, Revelation 20 verse 13 says that the sea, the place of chaos and evil, gave up the dead who were in it. So here we have a picture of the judgment day. Why should that be a comfort for Daniel? Well, Daniel's name means God is judge. That is the point of the entire book of Daniel. God is judge. And Daniel was not to worry about the beasts. The beasts can try their best to harm the saints, but they can only kill the body. They cannot kill the soul. This was to motivate Daniel to continue in his faithfulness. This is a call for us to continue in our faithfulness. And in the end, God sits as judge and he will vindicate his people. because of what happened before his throne of judgment. The little horn, the beast, was still talking away with great and arrogant words, but then the beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged. for a season and a time until finally their judgment comes and the everlasting kingdom will belong to the saints forever. So what matters for us is whether our names will be found in the book. Not this book, the book of judgment. No, but rather the book of life, or better, the book of life of the lamb who was slain. And there is only one way to be found in the book of life, and that is to be united to the Son of Man who was presented before the Ancient of Days. Because we know that if we were to be judged solely by our deeds, we wouldn't have any hope. We shouldn't have any hope, and we shouldn't look forward to this judgment day. So we need to consider how the kingdom will be handed over to the saints. It is only through one man who represents the saints of the Most High, the only one worthy to stand before God's throne. Remember in Revelation 5, there was only one who could stand worthy before the throne. It was the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. This is Daniel's vision of the Son of Man. Listen to his description. 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. This one like a son of man is described as having both divine and human traits and characteristics. He is referred to one like a son of man which means he had the appearance of a man but he was much more than that. And what distinguishes him from every other man is that he came on the clouds of heaven. Throughout the scriptures, it is known that only God rides on the clouds of heaven. So this son of man is both divine yet distinct from the ancient of days. And in God's presence, it is said that to him, was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve, or a better translation would be worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. So He is said to come with the clouds of heaven. He is given sovereign power and worship from all nations, which would only belong to God. and his dominion is everlasting and will not pass away or be destroyed. This doesn't sound like a regular guy. This doesn't sound like the kings that Daniel served. Nor does it sound like an angel with superpowers. This sounds like the God-man. And this kingdom sounds like God's kingdom that lasts forever and ever. In the end, only God's kingdom will be left standing. All other kingdoms will soon fall. Over the centuries after considering this text, the Jews ascribed the title Son of Man from Daniel 7, and ascribed it to the Messiah as they were anticipating his arrival, and Jesus, was given this title. In fact, he ascribed this title to himself countless times. Throughout the Gospels, he referred to himself as the Son of Man countless times. Just in a small portion of Matthew, in Matthew 8.20, 9.6, 10.23, 11.19, 12.8, 12.32, 12.40, 13.37, 13.41, 16.13, 16.27, that's only half of it. And it goes on and on. He is also given authority. On two occasions, which both give great comfort for the believer, Jesus said, the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. And all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. He displayed some of that authority and dominion when he showed his power over sickness, demons, and even over death itself when he raised people from the dead, like Lazarus. He told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world. Why? Because it's a neverlasting kingdom. It's not a temporary kingdom. But before the kingdom, there was the cross. Now what this text does not tell us is that the son of man will only deliver this kingdom to the saints after he humbled himself and lived as a faithful servant. In his first coming, he didn't come with an army of angels wielding a sword, but he came as a lamb. before its shearers. He came to die for sinners, dying as the son of man, as he said to his disciples, the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. But the glorious truth is that this wasn't the end of the story. Three days later, he would be raised from the dead. He spent 40 days with his disciples, teaching them. And then in Acts chapter one, verse nine, it says, as they were looking on, he was lifted up on what? A cloud. A cloud took him out of their sight. And we now await his return, which will not be like his first coming. We will see all the power, glory, and dominion, and all the nations will bow their knee at the coming of the Son of Man and confess Him as Lord. John said in Revelation 1, verse 7, Behold, He is coming with the clouds again, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. This is what Jesus confessed about Himself. in Matthew 24, verse 30. And he confessed this about himself in front of the kangaroo court of the Sanhedrin when they were trying to catch him and they were trying him. Their final verdict was blasphemy because he said he was the Christ, the Son of God. He said, I tell you, from now on, you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. That made them extremely angry because they knew only the Messiah sits at the right hand of God and only God would come on the clouds of heaven. They were angry because he was quoting Daniel chapter seven. and applying it to himself. And before you think there are two thrones in heaven, one on the left and one on the right, and Jesus sits on the right, no, that's not what he means. The right hand of power means that he shares equal power and equal authority with God. He is omnipotent. and all powerful, all authority has been given to Jesus. The Son of Man is both God and judge. And this, beloved, is the ground of our hope. This world that is governed completely by beasts, this world that is full of sin, darkness, and sorrow, think of all the Christians who are being persecuted right now for the faith, What this text tells us is that no matter what you're going through, God is judge. Remember Daniel's name. And God is also Savior. Remember Jesus' name. It means the Lord is our Savior. So what this text is telling us is to look beyond this world to your only hope in Christ, the Son of Man, who redeemed a people for Himself, who has placed all your names in the book of life. He was killed for our transgressions, for all the times that we've lived like beasts, living after our own cravings and our sinful lusts. Now, because of what He has done on the cross, nothing can separate us from Him. So look to Him. This ought to transform our lives and our whole outlook on life in a fallen world. It ought to fill us with joy and make us useful in all things in this world. It is not to leave us hopeless, but hopeful. So look to Him. You are called to live with your sights on Him and His throne, revisiting Daniel chapter seven with hope, not with fear, not with panic, but hope. So no matter what happens to you, even when the beasts are formed around you, ready to pounce on you, look to Jesus. Look to Jesus because his glory awaits you. There is a promise that we too will reign with Christ in his kingdom. So look forward to that hope and trust in his promises, amen.