Daniel 7-8 Lesson 9

WELCOME Ladies my head has been spinning reading about all these Kingdoms. I will attempt to give you nuggets gathered from a great many sources.

Daniel 7 The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men

·                  Kingdoms of Man- Four Beasts

·                  ANCIENT OF DAYS-God the Father

·                  SON OF MAN-Jesus Christ

Daniel had four major prophetic dreams that took place over twenty two years. You will recall the statue from Nebuchadnezzar dream in chapter 2 was interpreted by Daniel. However Daniel’s dreams in chapter 7 and 8 were interpreted by angels.

Chronologically, this dream and the visions occur between chapters four and five. Daniel was about seventy years old and apparently was no longer an active official of Belshazzar’s court.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream shows history from a pagan kings viewpoint in statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay. Men see the kingdoms of the world as the great accomplishment of humanity and power is symbolized by the image. On the other hand, God shows Daniel how He sees kingdoms by the moral character of the rulers. The kingdoms of the world are as wild and brutal beasts which crush and devour humanity.

v.17 Each of the four beasts appears in sequence and represents the kingdoms that correspond to the four parts of that Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. While deterioration in the quality of the kingdoms is depicted in the metals of the image, there is a heightened degree of brutality and corruption depicted in each successive beast.

We can understand the first three beasts with help of our commentary. Out of the sea, there arose three great beasts, followed by the fourth monstrous beast. The book of Revelation sees the beast (the Antichrist) coming out of the sea—that part of the world, which surrounds the Mediterranean Sea. There has been much speculation about the beast. John’s reference to many antichrists meant that many would and have come who powerfully opposed Christ. But rest assured The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men then and now.

The Lion is regal with majestic wings represents Babylon from 605-539 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar-is the lion with eagles wings plucked off to humble him. When he looked up and recognized Daniel’s God, he was allowed to stand erect and was restored with the mind of a man.

The Bear is both the Medes and the Persian kingdom ruling from 539-330 B.C. The Persian is the strongest and their reign lasts longer.

Each animal is mighty, but dominates its prey in a different way. (Strauss)
“The lion devours, the bear crushes, and the leopard springs upon its prey.”

The leopard represents the Greek Empire. Alexander the Great quickly conquered the civilized world by age 28. He died young at age 32.

(Clarke) "Nothing in the history of the world, was equal to the conquests of Alexander, who ran through all the countries from Illyricum and the Adriatic Sea to the Indian Ocean and the River Ganges; and in 12 years subdued part of Europe, and all Asia."

After his death his empire was divided into four parts (four heads) representing, his four generals, who inherited Alexander’s domain after his death.

The fourth beast represents the Roman Empire, which was the largest, strongest, most unified and enduring of them all.

 “There is an unmistakable correspondence between these horns and the ten toes of the dream image (ch. 2), and the mention of iron in the teeth suggests the legs and toes of iron in that image.” (Archer)

Each horn of the fourth beast represents a future king and kingdom. All ten horns are present at once; therefore, they are a ten-kingdom confederacy. Some understand there are two distinct and separate 10 nation alliances being referred to in these scriptures. Prophetically, the time of the fourth beast is not completed. The ten horns may not be the same as the ten toes of Daniel 2:41 and ten horns of Revelation 13:1:

Ladies praise God we don’t have to understand everything in Daniel and Revelation. We know who hold the future and The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men

Daniel repeats “I kept looking,” literally (“I was looking” or “I was watching”) an Aramaic phrase 10 times in this chapter, indicating continuation of action. This Daniel’s attention was deeply fixed on the four great beasts and the one like a son of man, coming in the clouds.

God’s Heavenly Kingdom-ANCIENT OF DAYS  We will leave the evil beasts for awhile and focus on God and Jesus our Savior from the coming Tribulation.

Ancient of Days is only used 3 times in scripture referring to God: Daniel 7:9, 13, 22

9"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. This phrase is obviously referring to God; the white garments and white hair stress the eternal character of God the Father.

Isaiah 66:15-16 describe the judgment of God in terms of fire: For behold, the LORD will come with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword the LORD will judge all flesh; and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men

The wheels of fire could represent continuation of His Kingdom. In verse 10 God is holding court surrounded by angels and those to be judged. The books were opened.

The Bible describes several books before God.

· The book of the living (Psalm 69:28)

· The book of remembrance (Malachi 3:16)

· The Book of Life (Philippians 4:3, Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27 and 22:19)

Sisters we can be assured that our name is in the Book of Life. Our rescue from the Tribulation is secured when Jesus Christ returns to call His children home. Are you ready?

The Message ^26-27 “‘But when the court comes to order, the horn will be stripped of its power and totally destroyed. Then the royal rule and the authority and the glory of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the people of the High God. (not earned but given)Their royal rule will last forever. All other rulers will serve and obey them.’ The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men

Son of Man Our memory verse: ¹³         "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.¹⁴ 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. Hallelujah

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, identified Christ Jesus as a horn, announcing, “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:69). In other words, the Messiah is a strong and powerful Savior, who is the King of Israel.” I Gordan

Daniel 7:24-25 covers the Tribulation Period (Revelation 6:1-20:3).

MSG 25 Then he (the beast) will blaspheme the High God, persecute the followers of the High God, and try to get rid of sacred worship and moral practice. God’s holy people will be persecuted by him for a time, two times, half a time. This will be explained more in Daniel 12.

NEVER FEAR CHRIST IS COMING.

Verses 26-27 belong to the very end of the Tribulation when Christ comes as the crushing stone and His kingdom, the mountain, fills the whole earth.

“Horns are emblems of power, dominion, glory, and fierceness, just as they are the chief means of attack and defense for the animals endowed with them. Horns are symbolic of kings and their kingdoms in Scripture.

The Antichrist comes to bring havoc on the earth while Christ comes to restore order to this world. The Son of Man will bring everlasting dominion which will not pass away. We know the end of the book- The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men.

Chapter 8  The Ram and the Goat

Two years later Daniel has another vision. In the ancient manuscripts, the Book of Daniel here resumes using the Hebrew language. The section from Daniel 2:4 to 7:28 was written in Aramaic for the Gentile nations. Starting with the interpretation in v.16 From the conversation we can guess that there is another angel talking:

"Gabriel, make this man understand the vision."

²⁰As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹And the goat is the king of Greece.

 The male goat grew very great: The greatness of Alexander's Empire was not only in its vast dominion, but also in its cultural power. Alexander the Great was determined to spread Greek civilization, culture, and language across every land he conquered.

From the human perspective, we think each empire will arise because of war and conquest. In reality, each kingdom exists by the power and authority of heaven.

 As God guided history, He used Alexander's passion to spread Greek culture to prepare the world for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Because of Alexander's influence  Greek became the common language of the civilized world - and the language of the New Testament.

The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men

Daniel 8 the Ram and the Goat

Antichrist and Antiochus IV Throughout history people have tried to speculate the identity of the Antichrist: Hitler, Mussolini, even the Pope and other world rulers. I’m believing as long as the church has not been Raptured that he is not here.

²³ …a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. ²⁴ His power shall be great—but not by his own power; (Satan) and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. ²⁵ By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand.

Antiochus  Epiphanes is an accurate and dramatic fulfillment of this prophecy in history - so much so that critics insist that the Book of Daniel must have been written after his time.

1 Maccebees 1:10. "And there came out of them a wicked root, Antiochus, and he reigned in 137 year of the kingdom of the Greeks,"

Antiochus IV thought that Judea was in revolt. Raging like a wild animal, he set out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm. He ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses. There was a massacre of young and old, a killing of women and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. In the space of three days, 80,000 were lost, to death or slavery.” (Described in 2 Maccabees 6:1–11)

NO Sabbath, NO Holy Days, and NO Circumcision. A Statue of Zeus was placed in the Temple above the altar. The most detestable animals to Jews (the pig) were brought and sacrificed on the altar. (Abomination of Desolation)

 Jesus taught that this was a preliminary occurrence of a greater fulfillment coming in the last days, during the seventieth week of Daniel.

No matter how bleak The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men

JUDAS THE HAMMER, who was called Maccabeus, took command of a small army in place of his father, Mattathias, and he defeated the army of King Antiochus which was commanded by Lysias. Then Judas and his brothers said, “See, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.” So all the army assembled and went up to Mount Zion. The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men

The Jewish festival of Hanukkah celebrates the re-dedication of the Temple following Judah Maccabee's victory over the Seleucids. The victorious Maccabees could only find a small jug of oil that had remained uncontaminated by virtue of a seal, and although it only contained enough oil to sustain the Menorah for one day, it miraculously lasted for eight days, by which time further oil could be procured.

Remember, Satan doesn’t know when Christ’s kingdom will come. He is left to read the signs of the times and coinciding Bible prophecies just as we are. Satan may have potential candidates ready in every generation so that when the time comes, he can inhabit and use his prime choice. I Gordan

The visions that passed through Daniel’s mind deeply troubled his thoughts, and his face turned pale. The Scriptures that make known the wrathful nature of God and His predictions of a turbulent future should deeply frighten and alarm us. Undoubtedly, Daniel was extremely disturbed about what would happen to his own people in the future—how about you? Pray for all the lost ones will suffer during the Tribulation.

Will you choose to believe that The Most High rules in the Kingdom of men?

RESOURCES

The Message

biblehub.com-commentaries Clarke, Barnes, Guzak 

Robert Conway Decoding Daniel online

Warren Wiersbe Be Resolute

David Jeremiah Handwriting on the Wall

jesusplusnothing.com I Gordan

http://jewishencyclopedia.com/