I'd like you to open your Bibles, please, at that Old Testament reading, Daniel 7, that's page 863.
Over these past weeks, we've been looking at the life of Daniel.
And now, in this chapter, there is a fundamental change in the whole character of the book.
And as Mari read to us that first half of chapter 7, it's to do with this vision which Daniel had.
It all made sense, didn't it?
Let's pray.
Father, we do ask for your grace to be able to just understand what you are saying to us in this passage.
And we ask it in Christ's name.
Amen.
From this point onwards, and by the way, that vision belongs chronologically between chapters 4 and 5.
So it's inserted here as a separate thing from what we've been looking at in these past weeks.
What this vision does is it broadens our perspective, or certainly broadens Daniel's perspective beyond his own time.
In fact, it broadens it beyond our time.
Right up to the judgment day.
And it gives us an insight into what's going on behind the scenes in our human history.
And there are two things we're going to see.
We're going to see the world manipulated by evil powers, but a world under the control of our sovereign and omnipotent God.
No wonder Steve has entitled this sermon, Life in a Hostile World, the Real Picture.
So it begins with Daniel describing this vision dream.
Remember, he is in exile in Babylon.
So verse 1.
In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream.
And visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed.
And he wrote down the substance of his dream.
I'm very glad he wrote it down.
You ever had a dream and it's been really quite bizarre?
But try writing it down.
Well, the vision tells us a great deal about the end chapter of history.
And so the question that the Jews would have been asking in exile, where is God in all this?
What's he doing?
What about all those great covenant promises that he made to Abraham?
It all just seems to have fallen flat.
What is happening?
And as puzzling as the vision may have been, I don't doubt it was an encouragement to Daniel, even if he wasn't quite sure what it meant.
But the message is no less relevant to us as it was to him.
Because we too can lose hope if we're not careful.
Things can go out of focus just in the events of our own personal lives, let alone in world events.
And if we're not careful, our perspective can just become distorted.
Now the thing I want to just make very clear so that we understand where we're heading is that Daniel's descriptions here in this chapter are in symbolic language.
And it's the same sort of language that's used in the book of Revelation.
In fact, many of the things which Daniel says here are virtually repeated in the book of Revelation by John.
So just look at verses 2 and 3.
Daniel said,
Remember, it's apocalyptic language.
It's symbolic of reality.
There's a difference between apocalyptic language and literal language.
And these descriptions are intended to convey a picture of reality, but are not literally describing that reality.
Do you follow what I'm saying?
It's exactly the same in Revelation.
Let me just give you a simple illustration.
In Revelation, John talks about a bottomless pit.
Now I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a bottomless pit.
But have you ever felt like you were in a bottomless pit?
Yeah.
So that's the point.
It's language which is symbolic.
It's describing something which in itself is not the reality, but it's telling us the reality.
Pictorial language.
All right, four beasts.
And we read of them there in verses 6 to 8.
Horrible beasts rising from the sea.
Now in both Daniel and Revelation, the sea is a metaphor for the nations.
It's the sea of restless humanity.
The sea of the nations as they rise and fall.
And we read in Revelation, the waters, the sea that you saw, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
Are you with me?
It's out of these nations that these four beasts arise.
What are they?
What do they represent?
Well, Daniel was so distressed by what he saw that he prayed for understanding.
Now we've only read the first half of the chapter.
You turn over and look at the second half of the chapter and look at verses 15 through to 16.
Because this is the interpretation.
Verse 15.
I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.
I approached one of those who was standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this.
So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things.
The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will arise from the earth.
But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever.
Yes, forever and forever.
Four beasts, four kingdoms.
Now it was the fourth of these beasts that so disturbed Daniel.
Remember we read in verse 7, he was terrifying and frightening and very powerful.
And Daniel's description is repeated in Revelation.
John said, and I saw a beast coming out of the sea, rising out of the nations.
He had ten horns, seven heads, ten crowns in his horns and on each head a blasphemous name.
Same in principle is what Daniel saw.
Now what we're not told in Daniel, but which John tells us in Revelation,
is that behind this fourth beast is the dragon.
Satan himself giving his authority to the beast.
No wonder he's incredibly powerful.
Behind this beast is Satan himself, who more than anything else wants to be seen as supreme and in authority.
He wants to be God.
What is this beast?
What's its mission?
What's it represent?
Now many over the centuries have tried to work out what this beast was and what these various things represent.
And so some have said, oh it's this, it was Rome or it was Greece or it was the Medes and the Persians or it was this happening or it was Hitler.
And I think if we try to link it just to one particular individual or a period of time in history,
then we may well just miss the whole point of what this is intended to convey.
Having said that, there are many examples of this beast operating in our world history.
And we can take Hitler as an example, if you like.
He was an evil man.
He epitomised the beastliness of fallen humanity, if you like.
But behind all that he did and others like him is the dragon, Satan.
And so it is out of man's beastliness that these tyrants are supported and given power by Satan.
And my friend Jeffrey Bingham once wrote about this beast.
He said, nothing beastly arises which has not come from that which is already beastly.
Beastliness we understand.
It's being animal-like in the worst forms when in fact we've been created human.
No one can criticise a beast for being beastly.
But humans are not essentially beasts.
The truth of history is that beasts have always arisen from the human beastliness of pride and ambition and selfishness and anger and hatred and wrath.
And the principle of history found here in Daniel burgeons out into terrible ways in the dragon and his beast.
And we will miss the whole point of this prophecy if we do not recognise the elements working in the world today.
Understanding the principle of beastliness, of seeming defeat of the people of God, of the ultimate triumph of God and his kingdom.
We would be wrong if we linked the beast with some past kingdom, say Rome or some present kingdom, say Hitler's Germany or put it all into the future when we will not be here to see it.
Now the important thing is to step back and take the big picture.
On one of my business trips in Europe I visited the Louvre.
And it was very crowded and I remember being sort of, you know, pushed along with the crowd and into one of these very big rooms.
And as I turned here was this big picture and all I could see was just this section right here in front of me with very rough paintwork.
And I just kept walking.
And it wasn't until I got to the end that I turned back and suddenly saw this vast canvas of this magnificent picture.
And we can look at the details and miss the big picture.
Romans 13 tells us that all ruling powers are ordained by God.
But Satan is forever perverting those powers.
So he just takes what God has given and instituted for our welfare and he turns it, he twists it into an instrument of oppression.
That's what he's been doing right down through history.
And that's when we see beastliness in action.
Well, Daniel saw something further in his vision.
He saw the eternal kingdom of God, the ancient of days.
Look at verses 9 and 10.
As I looked, thrones were set in place and the ancient of days took his seat.
That's just a way of describing God, the Father.
His clothing was as white as snow and the hair of his head was white as wool.
His throne was flaming with fire and his 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.
Now the Bible clearly speaks about the kingdom of God.
And we are told unambiguously that God is in control of all things.
But history and our own experience often gives us a contrary message, doesn't it?
It seems as if everything's out of control at times.
And we go, well, where's God in all this?
Is he really in charge?
And what we forget is that there is a duplicate kingdom.
A counterfeit kingdom headed up by Satan.
Jesus spoke of it.
Paul spoke of it.
John speaks of it many times in Revelation.
Satan has a kingdom and he has a throne.
Read of that in Revelation.
It talks about Satan's throne and the throne of the beast.
So the purpose of these visions, both here in Daniel and in Revelation,
is to show us in symbolic language that all things, including Satan and his pretend throne,
are governed by our Lord, who is on the throne.
And like John, Daniel saw the Lord God take his place on this throne,
the seat of all authority and judgment.
As I read, thrones were set in place and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
But Daniel saw around this throne this vast throng.
Thousands upon thousands attending him.
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
Remember John in Revelation said exactly the same thing.
I looked and there was a great multitude that no one can count from every nation,
from all tribes and peoples and languages,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
And then Daniel saw something even more amazing.
Verse 13.
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.
And he was given authority, glory and sovereign power.
And all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away.
And his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
And that's what Jesus was alluding to in that second passage that was read to us from Mark.
This is a wonderful description of the Lord Jesus Christ because he's the son of God,
the son of man.
And to him God has given all authority and power.
We read in both Corinthians, 1 Corinthians and Ephesians,
that he's put all things under his feet.
John saw the same thing in Revelation.
Do you remember that he saw that this scroll was brought
and the question was asked,
who is worthy to open up this scroll,
to take up this unroll of seals and open the scroll?
And no one could be found who was worthy.
Remember, and John was very distressed.
And then it was said,
ah, yes, no, but here is one who is worthy.
The lamb that was slain.
And so we read in Revelation
that he went and he took the scroll from the right hand
of the one who was seated on the throne.
And he was able to open the seals.
And it was as if the father was saying to him,
here you are, son.
Here is the scroll with the seven seals.
You are to open those seals.
And every seal you open
will be something that happens in history
that will be of enormous significance.
And it can never happen unless you control history.
And then the seventh angel blew his trumpet
and there was loud voices in heaven saying,
the kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and his Messiah
and he will reign forever and ever.
And so it is through Christ
that God is at work in our human history
to control it,
to sustain it
and to bring salvation to his people
and the final defeat of all evil.
He's the Lord of history.
He's the king of the kingdom.
And he alone has the right
as sovereign to rule the nations.
He alone has the full authority of the father
and is competent to take the whole world
to its final destiny.
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.
This is the sovereign Lord,
the son of man.
That's what Daniel saw in this astounding vision.
Now whether we realise it or not,
we're engaged in a spiritual battle every day
and we're faced with a powerful enemy
who was out to destroy God's people.
Paul tells that to us in Ephesians,
you remember?
He says our struggle
is not against flesh and blood
but against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil
and the heavenly places.
That's the battle we're in
every day,
whether we realise it or not.
I think most Christians don't.
And we're told this many times in scripture.
But none more clearly than here in Daniel 7.
Look at verse 19.
Then I wanted to know the true meaning
of the fourth beast,
which was different from all the others
and most terrifying.
Just go down to verse 20.
I also wanted to know about the ten horns
and its head
and about the other horn that came up.
Verse 21.
As I watched,
this horn was waging war
against the saints
and defeating them.
Until,
verse 22,
until the Ancient of Days came
and pronounced judgment
in favour of the saints
of the Most High
and the time came
when they possessed the kingdom.
Verse 23.
He gave me this explanation.
The fourth beast
is a fourth kingdom
will appear on earth.
It will be different
from all the other kingdoms
and will devour the whole earth,
trampling it down
and crushing it.
And just skipping to verse 25.
He,
that's this beast,
will speak against the Most High
and oppress his saints
and try to change
the set times and laws.
Just think a moment
about that verse.
What's behind the beast?
Who's behind the beast?
Satan himself.
What is Satan trying to do
all the time?
He is constantly speaking
blasphemies against God.
We get that from both
Daniel and Revelation.
Never lets up.
What else is he trying to do?
He's trying to oppress the saints.
Never lets up.
What's the third thing
he's trying to do?
He's trying to change history
to his favour.
There it is,
there in verse 25.
He will speak against
the Most High,
oppress his saints
and try to change
the set times and the laws.
And the saints
will be handed over
to him for a time,
times and half a time.
Now that's exactly
what John saw
in his revelation
in that vision he had.
Let me read one verse.
The dragon was allowed,
allowed,
to make war on the saints
and to conquer them.
It was given
authority over the tribe
and people
and every tribe
and people
and language
and nation.
Job's a good illustration,
isn't it?
Yes,
here was Satan
and he was allowed
to afflict Job
but only up to a certain point.
We're in a monster battle.
The New Testament
tells us
that defeated forces of evil
and not yet destroyed.
They still have tremendous power
to work havoc
and so we must be realistic.
Yes,
of course,
the great victory
has been won on that cross.
And we must never forget that,
never lose sight of that.
But meantime,
Satan is out to destroy us
and he sometimes
is permitted to succeed
as these passages
tell us so clearly.
Do you know
that in the 20th century
it's estimated
that some
210 million Christians
were martyred?
Yes,
Satan is allowed
to have authority.
We must never forget it.
But above him
and over him
is our sovereign God.
Notice that
Satan's power
is limited.
He's not allowed
to continue his war
on God's people forever.
Daniel is specifically
told
that they would suffer
under Satan's hands
for a time,
times
and half a time.
Don't worry about
what that means.
What it says,
it is for a set period
set by God.
God is sovereign.
John was told
exactly the same
in Revelation.
So Satan's days
are numbered
and so too
are those
who refuse
to come
under Christ's lordship.
God's judgment
will fall.
And that's what
Daniel saw
this day of reckoning.
Verse 10.
The court was seated
and the books
were opened.
And John wrote,
I saw the dead
great and small
standing before the throne
and books
were opened.
Also another book
was opened,
the book of life
and the dead
were judged
according to their works
as recorded in the books.
So as the pages
of the books
are opened,
so the judgment
of God
is issued.
And the arrogance
and the pride
and the power
of the beast
are now assigned
to destruction.
Look at verse 11,
Daniel 7,
verse 11.
Then I continued
to watch
because of the boastful
words the horn
was speaking.
I kept looking
until the beast
was slain.
And his body
destroyed
and thrown
into the blazing fire.
And then just
turn over
to verse 26.
But the court
will sit
and his,
that is,
the beast's power
will be taken away
and completely
destroyed forever.
John says
exactly the same
thing
in Revelation 19.
Well,
how has this
great victory
been accomplished?
Daniel's not told.
But John knows
and so do we.
Do you remember
Jesus said
in John 12,
now is the judgment
of this world,
now shall the ruler
of this world
be cast out
and I,
when I am lifted up
from the earth,
will draw all men
to myself.
He's talking about
the cross
and the great
victory of the cross.
And so John wrote,
worthy is the lamb
that was slaughtered.
What for?
Well,
in order to receive
power and wealth
and wisdom
and might
and honour
and glory
and blessing.
And then he said,
I heard every creature
in heaven
and on earth
and under the earth
and in the sea
and all that's in them
singing to the one
seated on the throne
and to the lamb
be blessing
and honour
and glory
and might forever.
And then they cried
out in a loud voice
saying,
salvation belongs
to our God
who is seated
on the throne
and to the lamb.
He is our sovereign Lord.
And so God
has placed a cross
in the centre of history
where all evil
was defeated
and destroyed forever.
And so it is the shed
blood of the lamb of God,
the eternal son
by whom God
accomplishes
this staggering victory
over the beast
and his cohorts.
And as men
and women of faith
we share now
in that victory.
But Daniel sees
even more
in his vision.
Verse 18,
look at verse 18.
And the saints
of the most high
will receive the kingdom
and will possess it
forever.
Yes,
forever and ever.
And then turn
to verse 27.
Then the sovereignty,
power
and greatness
of the kingdom
under the whole heaven
will be handed over
to the saints,
the people of the most high.
His kingdom
will be an everlasting kingdom
and all rulers
will worship
and obey him.
Daniel saw
that the kingdom
is going to belong
to the people of God.
God,
this staggering promise
is in the process
of being fulfilled
right now.
Here we are
sitting in St. Paul's
Chatsford
and right now
you and I
are part of the
fulfillment
of that very promise.
We're not there yet.
You've probably noticed.
We're on our way
and the full blessing
of the kingdom
lies ahead
and though we have
all the promises
the father inheritance
is yet to be experienced
in all its fullness
and it's that
for which we hope.
That's the substance
of Daniel's message
and his vision
and indeed
it's the message
of the whole of scripture.
We're going to reign
with Christ
the father.
Is that an encouragement?
Are you bored?
Or does this
change your perspective
on where you are now
in your life
and within the context
of where we are
in the world today?
None of us
have got any right
you know
to God's grace
and so our pressing
need and responsibility
is to repent
of our obscene
rebellion and sin
to capitulate
and to live
obediently
to Christ
as Lord of all.
Throughout
human history
there's always been
this ebb and flow
of evil
and the activity
of the beast.
It's always been
that way
but our sovereign God
has the final word.
Let me conclude
just by
quoting to you
Psalm 2
the most quoted
psalm
in the New Testament.
He who sits
in the heavens
laughs
the Lord
has them
in derision.
In other words
the rebellious nations
and behind them
Satan himself
he just laughs
at them.
Then he will
speak to them
in his wrath
and terrify them
in his fury
saying
I have set
my king
on Zion
my holy hill
I have put
the son of man
King Jesus
in the place
of supreme authority
and power.
He says
I will tell
of the decree
of the Lord
he said to me
you are my son
today I have
begotten you
ask of me
and I will
make the nations
your heritage
and the ends
of the earth
your possession.
The nations
are going to be
given to Christ
to rule
as their Lord.
And the psalmist
says you shall
break them
with a rod
of iron
and dash
them in pieces
like a potter's
vessel.
This is God
speaking of course
though they
reject the son
he will be
their judge.
Now therefore
O kings
be wise
be warned
O rulers
of the earth
serve the Lord
with fear
with trembling
kiss his feet
kiss the feet
of Christ
or you'll be
angry
and you'll
perish in the
way
for his wrath
is quickly
kindled.
Gentle Jesus
meek and mild
well we read
in Revelation
of the wrath
of the Lamb
ultimately all
humans will bow
before the judgment
of the Son of God
and have to face
the wrath of the Lamb
but that psalm
finishes
happy are all
those who take
refuge in him
so you and I
dare not reject
Christ whom God
has appointed
as the redeemer
and judge of all
believe in him
trust him
bow before him
take refuge
in Christ
that's the overall
picture of Daniel
7
our Lord God
is sovereign
and even though
we live in a
hostile world
headed up
with the beastliness
of Satan
himself
we must see
the big picture
the real picture
and maintain
an eternal
perspective
so verse 27
of Daniel 7
says
the greatness
of the kingdom
under the whole
heaven
shall be given
to the saints
of the most high
we're going to
reign
in triumph
with Christ
Paul tells us
in Ephesians
God the Father
has put all things
under his feet
and has made him
head over all
things
does anyone know
how that verse
ends
God has made him
head over all
things
for the church
for us
that's the
perspective we
need before us
every day
let's pray
Father thank you
so much for this
word
thank you Lord
for this
incredible chapter
and how it opens
up to us
the vast
panorama
of history
where we see
that you are
Lord and
sovereign
even over
Satan and
all his
cohorts
help us to
recognise
that we are
in a monster
battle
but it's a
battle where
the victory
has already
been won
on that
cross
may we
live
in the
fullness
and the
freshness
and the
reality
of our
forgiveness
and the
grace
that's
come to us
in Christ
and know
that at
the end
we're going
to reign
with him
thank you
our father
in Christ's
name
Amen