Prophecies

Have you ever wondered what the future holds? In Daniel chapter 7, we discover a prophetic vision that not only unveils the ultimate destiny of the world, but also reveals the character of God and the hope we have in Christ. Join us this Sunday as we delve into this powerful chapter and learn how it applies to our lives today.

I want to start with a few comments before we get to Daniel 7. We, human beings, love to make predictions about the future. There’s something inside of us that can’t resist the temptation to forecast what’s going to happen tomorrow. We predict the weather based on everything from extremely sophisticated radar to a groundhog. Every year sports writers predict who will win the World Series. If you’re a basketball fan, you’ll probably try to predict the final four for the NCAA basketball tournament. Every day financial experts attempt to predict what will happen to the stock market tomorrow. Investing legend, Warren Buffet, send his annual letter to investors this week, at a crucial time when interest rates have soared and recession fears are raging. You may not remember anything else today except that you need to get your hands on Warren Buffet’s annual letter. When I was a kid, the way you predict the initials of the person you’re going to marry was to twist the stem off an apple while reciting the alphabet, and whatever initial it stopped on, that’s who you were going to marry. People in Las Vegas will make odds and take bets on anything. They have odds on which cardinal will become the next pope. We have an incurable, unstoppable hunger to know about the future. Well, we’ve been walking together through the Book of Daniel. And we’ve seen him go from being a young man in exile to being with his friends and seeing them face the furnace. We’ve seen Daniel challenge the faith of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. We’ve seen Daniel in the lion’s den. But at the end of the Book of Daniel, God wants his people to know about the future. And he gives a series of visions to Daniel. Now this is a part of what’s called apocalyptic literature or prophetic literature in Scripture. And it often involves visions and images and symbols, which are frequently kind of strange to us. But sometimes people are convinced that they have the details of this kind of literature all figured out. So I want to look today at how we handle this passage. And we’ll start by reading Daniel 7:1-14. In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Daniel 7:1-14 Alright, let me start with what I believe is a wrong approach to Scripture that happens far too often. People look at the beasts and the images in this chapter, and they use them to play a kind of guessing game to see if we can match them up with some current organization or nation. This way we can predict the end of time is coming in our day. This kind of approach to Scripture has been going on for a long time. At one point in history, people thought the ten horns stood for ten kings in the Greek Empire. Some people thought they stood for kings set up by Napoleon. They thought the Napoleon era would be the end of time. Some thought the ten horns stood for NATO. The problem with this approach is you can go around looking for any political organization with ten members and say, “There it is, the ten horns.” I looked up Fresno. Do you know how many members are on the city council in Fresno? Actually, I don’t know. I have no idea how many members are on there. But you see the problem. Certain people have been trying for centuries to match up which beast with which country, and which horn with which ruler. And every time they do it and are wrong, and the world goes on, the gospel loses credibility with the watching world. Now you need to know — I want to make this real clear — this is one of those areas where well intended, well meaning Christians disagree on how to interpret this part of Daniel. But I think this kind of speculation, guessing game kind of thing is the wrong approach. I think in this kind of literature, we always have to start with the context. We always have to start by asking what does the writer intend his readers to understand? Daniel is writing to the people of God in exile. We’re told in the first verse that this is the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon. In other words, Nebuchadnezzar, who was following God — which must have brought hope to the people of Israel — is now dead. And the people are living under a king who is quite twisted. God’s people are in for a long time of suffering, and they’re going to be discouraged. They’re going to be tempted to give up the faith. If I was going to summarize Daniel’s point for these verses, it would be this — expect trouble. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” We should just expect it. That’s one of only two points I’m going to ask you to remember today. I believe the images given to Daniel in this vision are intended by God not to give us insider information about what countries to be on the lookout for. That’s not what this stuff is about. It was meaningful in Daniel’s day and to each succeeding generation and to ours. These images conveyed a destructiveness of human power when it’s used in defiance of God’s will. Let me give you a examples of this. Look again at verse five. And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. Daniel 7:5 Now this is an odd picture — a bear with three ribs between its teeth. What does this mean? Is it like this bear didn’t floss? Did he have some kind of a dental problem? What this is about is violence and aggression. The image here is a ravenous bear. Violence leads to more violence. Hatred leads to more hatred. Killing leads to more killing. I mean, look at history. Look at the holocaust of the Jews. Look at the genocide in Ethiopia. Look at the war in Syria or Ukraine. Look at the gang violence in Haiti. In a more subtle and more sobering way, look at your own heart and see what happens when you hold on to resentment and hostility. That’s the way evil works. It breeds and is never satisfied. The next beast has four wings to show the swiftness with which evil can act. Often in Scripture, wings are used as a kind of picture or symbol of swiftness of motion. It has four heads because human beings are the rational creatures, and it expresses the cunning of evil. The fourth beast has ten horns because horns were an image of power. And ten of them on a single beast meant extraordinary power. Verse eight talks about the little horn with a “mouth that spoke boastfully.” Now we’ve seen this theme throughout the entire book of Daniel. The arrogance of Nebuchadnezzar, the pride of Belshazzar — the pride that goes before a fall. We’ve talked about this theme a lot. And, of course, scheming and posturing and little horns with boastful mouths didn’t stop in Daniel’s day. There’s a story about a new commanding officer that went to an army base. It was his first day on the base, and he was sitting behind the desk in his new office. A private came into his office, and this new CO wanted to look like he knew what he was doing. He wanted to look impressive. He picks up the phone and pretends he’s talking to the General. “Yes sir, General. You can count on me, sir. I’ll take care of it.” Then he slams the phone down. “Yes, Private. What can I do for you?” The private says, “I’m here to install your phone.” The Bible teaches, “Pride goes before a fall.” And that’s what happens in the case of this little horn with a boastful mouth. Now here’s what is clear about this first section of Daniel’s vision — there are forces in this world that are hostile to God, and they’re quite powerful and very real. Therefore, the people of God can expect opposition. And danger. And suffering. And persecution. And when it comes, they are not to be surprised or tempted to give up. This comes out real clearly in verse 21. Daniel says: As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them. Daniel 7:21 Now a key question is — when did this happen? And again, there are differing opinions. Some Christians believe this refers strictly to an event that will take place in the future. I believe this refers to something that was going on in Daniel’s day. Remember Daniel had seen his people defeated in battle. He had seen war waged against God’s people, against Israel, and they had been defeated. That wasn’t supposed to happen. They were carried off into exile and that shook them to the core of their being. That shook their faith. And that needed to be addressed. Daniel had seen a king tell his people they must choose idolatry or death. He had seen his friends thrown into a fiery furnace. He himself knew what it was to be thrown into a den of lions for his faith. That really happened. And that kind of hostility, that kind of war goes on still in our day, in this world. Hundreds and thousands of our brothers and sisters down through the centuries and all around the world right now know all about this. I think it’s important for us to understand this, because life for you and me as followers of Jesus is quite a bit more comfortable. We’re not thrown in jail in this country. We’re not tortured for our faith. We’re not living in desperate poverty. When we look at history, we need to understand that it’s not normal to live in the conditions in which you and I live in as God’s people. We’re tempted to think that when we follow God life is supposed to be easy. We’re tempted to think that part of the gospel message is that circumstances and conditions are going to turn out well, and if they don’t someone messed up. We’re tempted to think that if we face a serious problem with our health, or with a job, or if a relationship goes south, or if we don’t have the possessions that we want — we’re tempted to have our faith all shaken up and wonder if God is not keeping his end of the bargain. So I believe we need to hear these words — there is trouble. And it’s not primarily trouble that involves physical suffering, though it can be. It’s primarily an attack on our spiritual lives. It’s primarily an attempt to pry men and women away from God. And I believe it went on in Daniel’s day, and it goes on today — it goes on in human hearts like yours and mine. And it will happen again in the future. It will. Daniel explains this in a series of extremely vivid images designed to seal this spiritual truth to people — There is trouble. Expect serious problems. Don’t be surprised… and don’t give up. And that’s what we’ll talk about in just a moment. Alright, there’s an abrupt change I want you to notice in Daniel 7, verse 9. Daniel goes on using symbol and imagery, to describe heavenly reality. Look at Daniel 7:9: As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. Daniel 7:9 Using the imagery of this vision that he receives, he talks about God — the Ancient of Days. For as long as people have walked the earth they’ve asked the question — What is God like? Who is he really? Well Daniel uses imagery and symbols to convey what God is like. And I want to walk through this and explain why it matters, because there are implications to who God is. In verse 9 Daniel says: Thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. Daniel 7:9 What’s happening in this moment when the Ancient of Days takes his seat on the throne? This is not just about seating arrangements. Daniel is saying that God is going to set things right. The day is going to come, and this sorry, fallen world where so many horrible things happen, and we read about them in the news every day, and we shake our heads, and we wonder, “Can they ever be redeemed? Will there ever be justice?” Well one day there will. The Ancient of Days is going to take his seat. There is a throne, and it will be occupied. God is going to set things right. So in this world where there’s injustice and serious trouble, don’t give up. There is a throne. Now Daniel knew all about injustice. He had been captured and exiled by one king, discarded by another, thrown into a lion’s den by a third. He had suffered deep pain from people in seats of power. He must have wondered, “Would justice ever be served?” God says, “The day is coming. There is a throne.” See, in this world there are lots of thrones. There is political power and corporate power and financial power. And there is lots of injustice. But another day is coming. And there’s a very, very important implication to this. The apostle Paul talks about this in Romans. Daniel says, “Justice is coming one day. There is a throne. And there is one seated on the throne, and he is very wise. He is the Ancient of Days.” This means that everyone who defies God is one day going to experience justice beyond our wildest ability to imagine. Therefore, I am not to take justice into my own hands. In Romans 12 Paul says: Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 12:17-19 Justice is coming. Maybe you’ve been treated very unfairly. * Maybe it’s by someone who occupies a seat of power. * Maybe it’s your boss. * Maybe it’s someone in business. * Maybe it’s someone with a lot of money that cheated you out of what belonged to you. * Maybe a spouse hurt you deeply. * Maybe a teacher or a person in authority wounded you. And the thought that they’re going to get away with it eats you up, and you’ve been carrying a grudge against them, hoping for bad things to happen to them. It’s eating you up inside. I want you to hear this — they’re going to face justice one day. God says, “The day is coming when I will come in power. And I’ll set things right. “And every person who has wounded, every person who has hated, every person who has defied my laws — all of those horrible and heinous things that bother us so deeply and we think, “They’re going to get away with it.” We wonder when we read the news — will former dictators who oppressed nations really be brought to justice? God says one day they will — a form of justice you can’t even imagine. God says to his people, “Therefore, do not take revenge into your hands.” Maybe you’ve been hurt, and you’ve been carrying resentment around. God is saying to you today, “The day is coming when the Ancient of Days is going to take the throne and justice is going to rule. Therefore, let it go. Let it go for your sake and for God’s sake — forgive.” Be reconciled if you can. The Apostle Paul said: If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18 Obviously we’re to work for justice on this earth. But we need to guard ourselves from a bitter, revengeful spirit. You and I cannot handle that. We cannot take ultimate justice into our hands. One day it will come. Alright, back to Daniel 7 now. Verse 9: His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. Daniel 7:9 Now this is a picture of purity. This is a common image in Scripture. Isaiah says: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Isaiah 1:18 * This God is perfectly holy. * This God is utterly pure. * This God is infinitely good. Through all eternity, God is a person who has never done a thing, never spoken a word, never entertained a thought that was anything less than noble and honorable and true and beautiful and good. That’s all he has ever been or known or done. How could you not love a God like that? There’s a real important implication here too. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8 1 John 3:3 says: All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:3 So I want to ask you right now — is there anything in your life that needs to be purified? This may be painful. The purifying process is usually painful. * Maybe this involves your finances. Maybe you’ve been involved in financial practices, and you know they’re wrong. You know something needs to get set right. * Maybe it’s about truth telling. Maybe you’re living in deceit, and you know you are. You haven’t done anything about it because you’re not willing to face the pain. Well I’m asking you today to face the pain. * Maybe this involves problems in the area of sexuality. * Maybe there’s cynicism in your spirit, and you’ve just been letting it go unchecked for a long time. * Maybe there’s kind of a judgmental heart inside of you. What is it that needs to get cleaned up? What do you need to confess to God and to another person to set it right? “Everyone who has this hope purifies himself,” John says. Well, that’s the Ancient of Days — pure. Then Daniel talks about another aspect of God. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Daniel 7:9-10 Fire is an image in Scripture of God’s power — the burning bush that was not consumed, the pillar of fire that delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh, the fire from heaven that was called down by Elijah and consumed the altar and defeated the prophets of Baal. This is just power from God. So I want to ask you — Is there any place in your life today where you need power? The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 12:29: for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29 He is an awesomely powerful God. And I want you to see and understand how great God’s power is. Look at verse 11 of Daniel 7 for a moment. Daniel says: Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. Daniel 7:11 Now here is this great beast. Daniel says it has large iron teeth and ten horns in verse seven. It’s terrifying and frightening and very powerful. And we might expect that there’s going to be this giant, knock down battle between this horrible, terrifying beast and God. That’s the way it would be in a movie. That’s the way a lot of people think about this business of spiritual warfare. But notice what happens in verse 11. Here is this very frightening, very powerful beast, and Daniel looks at it. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed. Daniel 7:11 All of a sudden God just snaps his fingers and it’s no contest. You see, our God is an infinite God. His power is not challenged by any force in the universe. God allows the spiritual struggle in this world to go on because his desire is that people should freely choose to turn to him. This is exactly why Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 We live in the day of God’s patience, and so this fallen world goes on. But don’t be fooled. Once he decides that the struggle is over, once he decides that the opportunity for decision is done and the time for judgment has come, he is not going to need a long time and lots of fire power to win that final battle. It’s not like God is going to have to really rev up a lot of octane to try to finish this deal off. It’s not going to be a long struggle. God is infinite. He holds all power. Satan himself could not exist a second if it were not for the sustaining power of God. All God has to do is just stop thinking of him, just stop sustaining him. And any being in this universe is done. When God says it’s over, it will be over. And one day it will. Then Daniel says: In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. Daniel 7:13 You know who that is? If those words sound familiar, it’s because they’re the ones quoted by Jesus in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 to tell what would happen at the end of the age. This is where Jesus got that phrase “the son of man” that he chose to use primarily to describe himself. Daniel leaves us with a scene of worship in the never-ending, glorious kingdom of the son of man. And I want to take a moment to ask you — are you giving God the kind of worship he is due with all your mind and a passionate heart. Think about Daniel for a moment. He comes to the end of his life, and we have followed his life together for the last couple months. When he was a young man he had such hopes and such dreams, and nothing turned out right for him. * His country was defeated in battle. * He was carried off into exile. * He would never be home. * He would never be able to worship in the temple. * He would not be able to be with his people or look on the land that he loved. * So far as we know, he never got married, never had children. But in this strange, faraway, hostile place, what an adventure he had with God! What amazing experiences of God’s power. What horribly frightening moments. What long periods of being discarded by those in power. But even this amazing life he lived is not his ultimate vision. It’s not about his life. Daniel’s hope was not about his life or his strength or his cleverness or his spiritual firepower — and neither is yours. Daniel’s ultimate vision is what will take place one day. Listen to these words. In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Daniel 7:13-14 Daniel had this vision, but he never knew the son of man — Jesus of Nazareth who came one day in humility and walked this dusty earth and died on a cross and was raised from a tomb to be the hope for you and me. But we know him. And I’ll tell you what your one and only hope is. Maybe you’re discouraged today. Maybe you’re confused. Maybe you’re at the top of your game and things are going great. Maybe you feel guilty. Or weak. Or inadequate. It doesn’t really matter — for the Jesus who was crucified and raised again is coming back. He will return. We don’t know when, but this is his promise to you and to me. * This is his promise to his followers who go through life in abundance and see their families do well and prosper and die at an old age. * This is his promise to young men who get thrown into the furnace and thrown into lion’s dens. * This is his promise to all who struggle and suffer but persevere. — One day he will return, and we will see him, and he will receive authority and glory and sovereign power. And on that day, thousands and thousands and tens of thousands and tens of thousands will gather around and will worship him. We’re closing this series and I can’t think of a better way to close it than to sing a song to remind us that God is with us always, everywhere — in exile, in the fiery furnace, in the lion’s den. He is always with us, and he is coming back. So lets pray and then Michaela will lead us. Blue Oaks Church Pleasanton, CA