The Book of Daniel, Daniel’s First Vision Interpreted Daniel 7:15-28 - Lesson 30

Daniel 7:15-28,  I  Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.  I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.  These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.  But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.  Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;  And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.  I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;  Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.  Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.  And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.  But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.  And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.  Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

We can get into varied discussions about this prophecy but I believe God intends for us to concentrate on the crux of it and not get involved in much speculation or conjecture.

He gives us a finite number of details and from these details we learn that before the kingdom of God is established on the earth, four kingdoms will rise and all four kingdoms will fall.

Every one of these kingdoms begin with kings who are arrogant, boastful, and blasphemous who will reign over the nations, while opposing God and His saints.

But we are assured that all of this is in accord with God’s plan.

Even though we will see the saints oppressed and persecuted during the period of these kingdoms God places hedges around the saints which hinder the enemy’s hand to go no further than God’s hand will allow.

The kings are simply given a season to carry on their deeds but God’s hand will stay and the saints will inherit the earth and receive a kingdom which will never end.

So prophesy brings a glorious message to the Christian for we are insured that God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The passage we have just read concerns the interpretation of the things that Daniel was given to see.

This interpretation begins and ends by Daniel telling us that the vision caused him much grief in his spirit including pain in the midst of his body.

The word grief in the Hebrew means a piercing, so seeing this vision was felt by Daniel as a piercing of his belly.

He ends this passage again telling us that his cogitation much troubled him, cogitation meaning the fixed mental image that he had in his head of that which he saw in his vision.

He could not get the images of the beasts and their actions out of his mind and it even changed his countenance.

That word countenance in the Hebrew is associated with cheerfulness.

Remember the measure of Daniel by King Darius was that he had an excellent spirit.

We get a glimpse of that spirit here where we see his constant cheerfulness affected greatly by this vision.

But he kept the matter in his heart.

He kept to himself until he had this situation under control.

He did not seek counsel or help from others in spite of the great influence it had on his spirit.

But during the vision Daniel tells us that he was able to converse with someone standing by who was in the vision with him.

So Daniel sees himself in the vision and is able to talk to another in the same vision.

Daniel was able to ask the meaning of what he saw from someone who may have been an angel.

God undoubtedly had him in the vision in order for Daniel to receive understanding.

Now this individual was not a long winded creature for only two verses are used to provide the interpretation of the vision and had Daniel not asked for further information these two verses might have been all that he received.

There is an interesting lesson here for Bible students for God on many occasions only provides a few verses, expecting his children to ask for further enlightenment which he will provide to the diligent student who compares scripture with scripture.

In verses 17 and 18 the angel told Daniel that the four beasts are four kings which come out of the earth.

Then he tells the rest of the story, the exciting part of the story, and that is that the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

I think this is what hurried the angel along for he simply sped toward this conclusion passing through the kingdoms of man at warp speed so he could announce the glorious victory of his God and the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ.

The angelic mind is eternal and the histories of man are incidental and of little importance in light of eternity.

So the history of the kingdoms down through the ages including the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ is given in two verses.

That is some brief summary is it not?

But the emphasis of this two-verse description is not on the enemies of God, not on their power, their brutality or boasting, but the emphasis is on the kingdom of God, a kingdom which is permanent, an eternal kingdom for all the saints of the ages.

But Daniel was not ready for the angelic visitor to conclude with such a summary for he immediately asked for further information about the fourth beast, the most dreadful and fearsome beast of the lot.

This beast was so unique and terrible it excited Daniel’s mind to know more, for which we who live in the days before these kings, the ten horn kings and the little horn king, are thankful.

So Daniel does not hesitate to ask for a more detailed explanation of the fourth beast and the angelic witness complies.

He wants to know about the terrible destruction, far exceeding the violence of the first three.

He wants to know about the ten horns and the little boastful and blasphemous horn that arises from the ten horns, concurrent with the demise of three of the ten horns.

He asks for more information in the midst of the vision and the vision plays on in answer to his query.

The fourth beast shows his aggression even more, waging war with the saints and in fact overpowering them for a time.

Seeing the saints being overpowered of course would cause great distress to anyone of us and Daniel is sick over what he sees.

But this seeming victory by the fourth beast is thwarted in its midst for Daniel sees the Ancient of Days come and judgment is given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

So this fourth beast, picturing the fourth kingdom and different from all the others, is the kingdom which will be in place when the Ancient of Days makes things right.

During the period of this fourth beast the whole earth is affected for we are told this king devours the whole earth and treads it down and breaks it in pieces.

During the course of this history the little horn plays the most prominent part, subduing three of the kings among the ten that precede him and speaking great words of blasphemy against the Most High.

This is the particular king that wears out the saints, thinking to change times and laws.

We do not know what this means but this statement is tied to his great words of blasphemy, so I believe we can infer it has something to do with changing the order that God has established.

I think of the concern that is in the world today concerning climate change or sometimes called global warming.

The argument is over what is the cause.

Some say the cause is man made, others say it is the normal order of things.

But both groups desire to change what is happening to the climate that they think causes global changes.

But if this is God ordained for the earth, if this is what God has established, who are we to try to change this, for we are impotent to change these vast forces.

But in the final analysis this king shows his arrogance for he aspires to change, like the Satan that he is, the order God has put into place.

What the full extent of that is, we do not know however God has established an order.

God’s voice booms throughout the earth, "Whatsoever a man soweth so shall he also reap."

He booms, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."

His word declares in no uncertain terms, "There is none other name given among men whereby you must be saved."

This is God’s order of things but this king rejects such accountability and by blasphemous and boastful words sets himself up as the one to whom to be accountable.

But in spite of this pride and self-exhalation God’s order prevails, for this little horn, this little king, simply has played a role in God’s plan of the ages.

He has simply danced to God’s tune!

The little horn is simply given a time, times, and half a time to wear out the saints, to change the times and laws.

God is in charge. He simply allows three and a half years for this little horn to do his part in His plan for the last days.

God is the doorkeeper of time, he opens the door but he also closes the door.

Here by this prophesy we are to also accept God’s order of things for he allows the saints to suffer, and many saints will die, but in the end the Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified and the saints will be with him throughout all the endless ages of eternity.

It is wonderful to contemplate that God is the ultimate judge.

We are unable to control things on this earth for we have not the perfection of the perfect judge, but God is the perfect judge and will judge these kings.

We saw God’s judgment carried out on Belshazzar and we will see God’s judgment carried out on the little horn who speaks great swelling words.

While the ranting and railing of the little horn is taking place, Daniel is given a vision of God’s court being called to order.

The command goes out to take away the dominion to consume and destroy from the little horn and he is taken and utterly destroyed.

It is at this time that God’s order of things predominates.

There is nothing that can change that for our God is sovereign and at this time the kingdom of our God is established.

The saints may have had a fall for a time but in the end they are given all the kingdoms of the earth for an everlasting kingdom.

The meek indeed are to inherit the earth and they will obey God with all joy and faithfulness and serve Him forever.

Daniel’s vision is complete but it has impressed him with mental distress and even physical pain.

His jaw drops, his face loses its color and agony of heart stays with him for a period of time.

He tells no one and keeps what he saw to himself meditating upon this prophecy until he writes it in a summary fashion to be included in the word of God.

Now what can we as Christians learn from this long ago vision.

One thing we can learn is that God is not in a hurry to bring all things under the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Much time must elapse in order for this vision to be concluded.

Four kings will establish four kingdoms, and some of these kingdoms have numbers of kings, with the last having at least 11 kings which in the ordinary course of time will require centuries to fulfill.

God provides for a season for sin, but only a season and God allows it to continue for that season in order to bring in a full harvest before he performs his reaping.

Like any farmer waits for his crops to come to full bloom, saints must also learn that they must wait for the promises of God to be fulfilled.

Through prophecy God communicates this principle and from it his saints realize that his promises may not be realized in their lifetimes.

Abraham came to know this for he looked for a city whose builder and maker was God but it was not found in his lifetime.

But he is the father of faith and we also learn that God desires us to continue to be faithful in spite of vast time distances in his plan.

Another thing that is taught by this prophecy is the inevitability of the suffering of the saints before they enter into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

This of course takes place in all the kingdoms of the prophesy but it intensifies greatly in the kingdom of the little horn and in fact they will be overpowered by him.

One thing the scriptures teach is that suffering precedes deliverance.

The children of Israel suffered at the hand of Egypt before deliverance came.

Those who will reign with Christ are those who have suffered.

Suffering is an inseparable part of the process which leads to glory.

We know it was so for our Lord Jesus Christ, and so it will be so for his saints.