Dan
7:1-28
Key verse 27 Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms
under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His
kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey
him.'
In
Ch 2, God gave a dream of the kingdoms of the world to King Nebuchadnezzar.
This laid the foundation of God’s revelation of all the kingdoms of the world
reaching to the end of the age. Today’s passage is a reaffirmation of this
revelation and at the same time explores different facets of these kingdoms, particularly on the fourth kingdom. After
this vision, God gave three more visions (ch 8, 9, and ch 10-12), making of four. All three cover the history of Israel and her
people to the end of ages. The first of
these three is this chapter (this vision). This vision is an unpacking of the
dream given to King Nebuchadnezzar (ch 2), focusing on what would happen to the
people of God, narrowed to the period of the fourth kingdom of King
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. This is the last chapter written in Aramaic (ch 2-7), signifying
that it was intended much for the people of the kingdoms of the world as it was
for the people of Israel as well.
The
main focus of this vision is two: first, it is an unpacking of the four kingdoms
in view of their character in administering the people. Second, it details what
the fourth kingdom will do, especially against what God set up through his
people.
- A. First vision was given to Daniel about the kingdoms of the world (1-14)
A dream came to Daniel in the first year of Belshazzar king
of Babylon (553BC). This dream was not God’s response from Daniel’s prayer but was God’s will to reveal this to him. We
know that Daniel prayed to the Lord all along throughout his life in Babylon
as noted in Ch 6:10 (about 537 BC) and the subject of his prayer at this time
was a restoration of the city and its temple (9:4-19). In other words, the
visions that God gave to Daniel in ch 7, and ch 8 became the source of his
information and out of this information, he asked Lord’s mercy concerning the
future of his people, Jerusalem, and the temple in it.(ch 9)
“The four winds of heaven churning up the great sea” denotes
the power of God effecting his will over the multitude of people over the vast
land, covering four corners of the earth (2). Simply God was effecting a certain spirit to
sweep the entire earth to cause the people of the earth to do what their hearts
desired. (Cf. Gen 1:2).
In Ch 2, the kingdoms of the world were pictured as a static
object, a human statue. Each of the
kingdoms was noted by its substance—the basic element, gold, silver, bronze, and
iron/clay. Since the primary concern was ‘the substance’ that constituted these
kingdoms’, these substances were assessed with respect to their godly value. Gold
was the best and prime standard quality. Iron/clay was the least valuable and far
inferior quality to gold.
Here God effected his will on these kingdoms to act as their
hearts’ desires. For this purpose, God blew over them the four winds, a spirit
inducing them to act to reveal what they were. How did they act or live? Their
actions or behaviors were like four animals; lion, bear, leopard, and one a
terrible looking. They were not just animals but beasts. That is that they were
all carnivores, living by eating the flesh of other animals.
The first kingdom behaved like a lion. He had the wings of an eagle but
these wings were plucked. God took away the spirit to fly high by plucking out
its wings. As it stands on its two feet like a man, God gave a mind of a human.
It was a depiction of what and how God did to the king Nebuchadnezzar. His mind
was similar to the mind that God gave to Adam. But when he knew that the whole
world was under him, his mind went up high reaching to heaven, defying God’s
authority who gave this glory. So God deposed him and made him to eat grass.
When he repented and acknowledge the God of heaven, he was restored back to his
glory. In the essence of his being, he was a lion. But God’s work on his life
made him to have the mind of a human being. What it had become was the model for
the rest of the beasts and they were to emulate the kingdom of gold. But did
the following kingdoms learn from the lion?
The second kingdom,
the arms, and chest of silver, was like a bear. It had a voracious appetite and
ate up so many people. Three ribs in his mouth revealed his satisfaction after
eating fleshes to his fill. The third kingdom, the belly, and thigh of bronze were like a leopard. It was so fast in
catching its prey that no animals could escape from its domineering power.
The fourth one,
the iron leg and iron/clay toes, was an animal, dreadful and terrifying and
extremely strong; having large iron teeth. It was so ugly and terrifying that
none of the existing beasts could match up to this animal. Its behavior was far
gruesome: it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever
was left. It looked that this animal was a totally different class from all the
former beasts. Even it had ten horns!
While his mind was stalled on this terrible looking animal,
he saw something more coming of this beast.
Another little horn came out of the ten and uprooted the
three of the ten and grew big, bigger than the rest of the horns. The animal
itself was terrifying but this horn was more threatening than any other thing
of this animal. Looking at it carefully, he saw its eyes and they looked like
the eyes of man. The eyes are the window through which we can see the inner
being of the person. This animal had intellectual
power and knowledge not like beasts but like a man, superior to all other
living beings. The out of his mouth came boastful words.
Immediately after this, he was shown the throne in the court
of heaven. The Ancient of Days took his seat. In his look, he was all white,
his clothing, his hair, that even a tinge of the dark spot could be seen or
disclosed or cannot be hidden. But his throne was flaming with fire and its
wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire
was flowing from before Him. This court was attended by thousands upon
thousands of people. Then they were all seated to convene His court to bring
judgment on this fourth beast. The books were open and judgment was delivered
on the fourth beast.
Soon, there he saw the beast that was speaking boastful word
was slain and its body was destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. The
other three beasts were stripped of their authority. There were no beasts who
could challenge the authority of the Ancient Days, the Eternal GOD. Then he saw a remarkable scene in the heavenly
court.
One like a son of man coming with clouds of heaven
approached the Ancient of Days. He was led to His presence and given the
authority, glory, and sovereign power. All nations and peoples of every language
worshiped him. He was the only authority of all nations for all other
kingdoms were gone. The kingdom that one like a son of man lead is an
everlasting dominion and will not be destroyed like the previous kingdoms.
These came to Daniel as a vision. Yet this vision was not about
something of a metaphysical or spiritual realm that had very little relevance to
Daniel but about real kingdoms that were to come in the coming years. The life
experience that Daniel had so far wasn’t an easy one. The wars that King
nebuchadnezzar carried on, especially knowing and understanding of her
destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, was a horrendous one. But these
kingdoms coming after Babylon would be much worse and much more terrible to
endure even though he saw and understood the destruction of these beasts and
the coming of the eternal kingdom.
B.
The meaning
of the vision (15-28)
What Daniel saw was a symbolic vision. Symbols are used to
convey an abstract idea or concept of something. These beasts were symbolic of
something. What are these beasts? He wanted to know it with certainty. Here the
word, ‘know’(15) and the word ‘meaning’(19) share the same root of Hebrew
(ysb), which means to know with certainty or the exact
meaning. In other words, Daniel wanted to know what the vision
means with some concreteness in understanding. Also, whenever a symbol was
given, there are two parts, one aspect that is hidden and the other aspect that
are disclosed and obvious. Here the things that were disclosed were beasts and
their character to prey on other animals and how they do it. The things that
were undisclosed were what were the true entities of these four animals.
If we have a vision like this and that vision could not
stash away or forget, it would be very troublesome. This is especially when we
do not know clearly what they mean. What does it mean to us then? Until we come
to have a firm grip on this revelation of the history of the kingdoms of the
world, we will remain in uncertainty and our hearts will be fleeting in search
of a concrete answer to the evolving events in life. The thing is that there is
no other revelation of the kingdoms of the world than what God has given to
Daniel and Ezekiel and Revelation. Out of these three, Daniel’s visions are
foundational in an understanding of the other revelations. Can we find such a
concrete understanding apart from God’s revelations? Historians make efforts to
see the future through the histories of kings and kingdoms of the world. But even
renowned historians have no idea how the kingdoms of the world will evolve and
how the world would end. This means that
without believing what God revealed, people’s minds will be like shifting sands
on the seashore.
What are we to come out of this vision? Or what did God want
Daniel to know concretely through this vision? What he had to know is what we
are to know firmly. So I want and pray that we all come to know with certainty
through what had been revealed through this vision.
The four beasts are the four kingdoms that will arise from
the earth. God revealed this before through the dream of King nebuchadnezzar
(ch 2). There, the world kingdoms were lined up as a single human statue. It’s a human being
and each part of the statue of a human being had different material;
gold, silver, bronze, and iron/clay. Likewise, each of these parts represented a different kingdom. In the end, that statue was destroyed thoroughly by a stone
cut out not by human hand and it was blown away by wind and the stone-filled The whole earth becoming like a huge mountain. Likewise, these four beast kingdoms
in this vision were destroyed by God’s delivery of His judgment. And then one
like the Son of man received the authority over all human races to establish an
everlasting kingdom.
Here God revealed two concrete things:
First,
there would come four kinds of kingdoms in the world and these kingdoms would
be eventually destroyed. Though they were to come in sequence, actually they
would exist till the last beast is destroyed (7:12; Cf. 2:45).
Second, God
brought a change in the first kingdom. This was like a lion, a beast chasing
after his prey and claiming his glory as the king of the beasts. But God took
away its wings and humbled it to stand like a man and gave it a mind of a human. In
this way, out of the kingdom of gold head/operating with the mind of the beast,
lion, God established what must be the norm
of the kingdom of men. That is to say that God set the gold
head/lion kingdom to be what the world kingdoms should be like.
Third, the
succeeding kingdoms failed to follow its head, instead, they lived according to
their desires, beastly desires. This became evident in the next three beasts.
That is to say that they established themselves and lived as carnivores of
human beings instead of fulfilling God’s purpose as God purported at the
beginning of the creation of man (Gen 1:27-30).
Fourth, the last beast was the powerful one and yet the worst one among the four. In it,
there was no trace of ‘humanity’ that was seen in the first kingdom(gold/lion).
It was evidenced in what it did: it prided itself over all the humans as if
all humanity, including their lives, is under his discretion. It was a direct offense to the God of heaven
who created all human beings and has authority over their lives. He was
sentenced to destruction and thrown into eternal fire.
Fifth, in
place of these kingdoms, an everlasting kingdom was established through one
like a son of man, who was a heavenly figure. We know that this is none of
other than Jesus, who called himself a son of man though in his essence of his
being he was the Son of God.
These are the fact that came with certainty through this
vision and its explanation in v 17-18.
C.
Details of
the fourth beast’s imposing character than the previous ones (19-22)
Though Daniel came to know these things with certainty, he
was not sure what to make of the fourth beast, esp. what it did and what
happened to it.
19 "Then I wanted to know the
meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most
terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws--the beast that crushed and
devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. 20 I also wanted
to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up,
before which three of them fell--the horn that looked more imposing than the
others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. 21 As I watched,
this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until
the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of
the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.
Here he raised three concerns: first the fourth beast’s
terrifying nature and actions; second the ten horns and another horn that came
up and became dominant power over the fourth beast. Third this horns war against
the holy people and its defeat of them. Fourth, final delivery of judgment on
the horn on behalf of the holy people of God.
The fourth beast is the fourth kingdom. It would be
different from all other kingdoms in two ways; first, it will devour the whole earth by
trampling it down and crushing it. Second, ten
kings will come out of this
kingdom, and one of them will become strong and subdue the three kings. Third, as this little horn
took the helm of the kingdom, he will do three things to set himself up as the lord of all
1)
He will speak
against the Most High and
oppress his holy people: as he took the control of the whole world, he would
not tolerate anyone who serves an authority other than himself. His demand would
be very similar to King Nebuchadnezzar who called all people to bow down to the statue he set up. As Daniel’s three friends were the one who was not willing
to bow down, so will God’s people only not willing to submit to his authority.
the holy people are those who uphold their God YHWH as the Lord of all.
2)
He will try to
change the set times and the laws. What this means is not clear
for now. But within our understanding of the history of Israel, we know that
God sets the times and laws (1:21). The times are the history of what God
did for His people and they were to celebrate these occasions according to the
law. So, the times and laws of God are bound together, inseparable. Exodus is
tied up with the Passover. Wilderness life is tied up with the feast of
Tabernacle. They were to observe the Sabbath every week, Sabbath year, and the
year of Jubilee. In other words, life in the Lord is to live according to the
Law in fear of Him who saved them. What God did in history must be living in
the lives of men. Dismantling the
time/seasons and the law means to erase what God has done in their lives.
This is an attempt to recreate history in an effort to discredit or erase the
works of God in history for them. Simply
he made attempt to uproot their faith in the Lord.
3)
The holy
people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.
The holy people will resist the change that his little horn makes—times and the
law. God will let this king rule over the holy people under this king for a set
period of time.
Here the word ‘time’
in Hebrew may mean three; indefinite time, a moment or a period of moment, and
a particular situation. Since it is numerated by a time and half a time, it is
about a finite period of time. It can be hours, days or weeks or years. The most fitting comparable to his verse is
in Dan 12:11
Daniel 12:11 "From the time
that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes
desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
1290 days are about three and a half year
(1290/360days-year=3.5 yr). So here ‘time’ is a year and ‘times’ are two years.
Half of the time is half a year. It is
possible that this ‘time’ may indicate a particular period of time that is yet
to be disclosed. But since the event in ch 12:11 is a reiteration of the event
in this passage, this understanding is certain.
Then why did the Lord give Daniel this cryptic ‘language’ rather than to
say it clearly 1290 days from its beginning (now)? It all had to do with
‘certainty’. How could God plant the certainty of this prophecy in the heart of
Daniel or anyone else who would hear of this? God knows what a man can believe or cannot
believe. When God reveals his will, his
truth, and/or a critical message such as coming judgment as this is, God does
not convey His message just once. Instead, he gives at least twice; actually,
most of the time, he gives three times or more before he finally delivers what
he said, particularly when it is about his judgment! The best example is the law of God. It is in
Exodus, and in Leviticus and comprehensively reiterated in the book of
Deuteronomy. Likewise, ch 7 is the most
simple and concise form of revelation that was to come-concerning God’s
punishment. As we come to study the next
five chapters (ch 8-12), God repeated this prophecy two more times,
particularly the suffering of the holy people. In succeeding revelations on this subject,
they progress in depth and exactness of the prophecy. Also, God did not hang
this important prophetic revelation all on one hanger, Daniel. God gave the end-time events to several other prophets in the OT. Their messages are intertwined
to support and to reinforce the truthfulness of God’s will. This speaks of one
thing, the certainty that He would do what He revealed in this prophecy or it
shall happen as God revealed to Daniel. If God’s prophecy remains in our
intellectual realm just to support our prowess, then, it would be very
problematic; for it lacks certainty, and uncertainty never is able to move our
hearts into actions!
Simply for the holy people, there shall be suffering under
this little king that came out of the ten horns of the fourth kingdom of the
earth.
D.
Daniel was
troubled but kept the matter to himself. (28)
At the end of this revelation, Daniel was deeply troubled in
his thoughts. This was because he not only did not know what ‘The holy people
will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time’ exactly
entailed but also what was certain was suffering under this little horn’s
oppression.
If I were Daniel, I would seek two things in this troubled
mind:
1.
I will seek to understand ‘what is the amount of
time that ‘time, times, and a half time’ entails. Suffering is no fun at
all for any man. By all means, we wanted to avoid it if possible. If Daniel and his
people were to go through without an option to escape, then how long will this
time be? Can it be reduced? Is the Lord willing to reduce it?
2.
It is certain that Daniel and his people must go
through suffering under the little horn, then, I must be prepared for it or I
have to prepare my people to prepare for it. Jesus said to his disciples near
the end of his ministry:
John 16:33 "I have told you
these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have
trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Now than ever before as far as I lived in the history of
this world, the lawlessness is becoming the forceful thrust in the hearts of
many. It is rooted in materialistic humanism. Underneath are the desires of men
to control all humanity for the sake of a few. Kingdoms, all dictatorial governments,
and the communist system make the best example of this. As we have seen in these
prophetic visions, all the kingdoms of the world are ‘beasts’; the basic instinct
is to eat the flesh of other beings. Jesus came to give his life. On the
contrary, these beasts conjure up their power and strength to eat the flesh of
others. But only those who stand tall through the oppression of these ‘lawless
little horn’ will receive the crown of life. It will be the first for the Jews
and then for us all gentiles. We gentiles are well-positioned because Jesus
gave himself for our sins and had overcome on behalf of us. We can follow him
without fear and without uncertainty for God’s promise in Christ is a living
witness in the depth of our hearts!
Be merry and victorious in and through all uncertainties in sufferings!
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