You can turn in your bibles to Daniel 7. Daniel 7. I hope you have the two handouts, the chart as well as the outline. There's so much we have to cover here from Daniel 7 that I think it will greatly help you to be able to follow where we're going in the outline. And I won't refer explicitly a lot to the chart, but you'll just have that handy because the dream, Daniel's dream in Daniel 7, which he recounts for us and gives us the interpretation of, that dream is along the similar lines, along the same lines as Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue in Daniel 2. We already covered that earlier. But this chart will be a good reminder for you of how they fit together. And I would take basically what's called position number two in the chart there as far as the interpretation. This, like most sermons, most of the sermons from the second half of Daniel, is not going to be an easy sermon to digest. And it will be heavier on doctrine than extended application. This sermon, like its text, will have obvious implications for our interaction with both earthly dominions and the sovereign Lord of all. The realities depicted in Daniel 7 should mold our expectations, our hopes and fears, our loyalties and our affections. They should even sharpen our sometimes vague notions of God's plans for history. But perhaps the best thing we can do as we approach the text is to mostly forget about our own little lives and worlds for a moment. There will not be a lengthy section of application in this sermon. We will mostly spend our time seeking the basic meaning of the dream that Daniel records and comparing scripture with scripture along the way. Daniel 7 is the hinge, the very important hinge, of the rest of the book. And I think we will have more time for application as we move further into the book and more visions unfold the sorts of things talked about in Daniel 7. But some truths are of great importance in themselves, even aside from their personal relevance to us individually. Certainly, we must live in light of the big picture. Sometimes we have to work hard to simply grasp what the big picture is. Daniel 7 is one of those places, I think. And there's one more issue, which, at the risk of overshadowing what is an even greater theme, the even greater themes of Daniel 7, which I think I should introduce before we get into the chapter. So hopefully this isn't a distraction, but I think I need to deal with it first. And those of you without much background in certain doctrinal controversies will just have to bear with me for a minute while I talk about this. But I think many of you will quickly catch the importance of this next part. Some of you might be surprised or even unsettled by certain details of our text which are yet to be fulfilled. I fear that many good men, after rightly rejecting the central errors of what's called a dispensational approach to Scripture, have been too hesitant to deal with the specific details of texts like Daniel 7. Sometimes folks of a thoroughly Reformed persuasion, like myself, Sometimes they become rather reactionary in their desire to avoid quirky interpretations of prophecy. Maybe you've been in a church that was really far out on this stuff and you're like, I don't want to touch that with a 10 foot pole. So then we don't talk about it. And it might sound strange to our ears when we do talk about it. Some of you might even accuse me at the end of the sermon of importing dispensationalism into my doctrine of last things. I assure you that, though I was once a zealous dispensationalist in my interpretation of Christ's return and related events and their good brothers, I have soundly rejected the core tenets of that system. For instance, I no longer accept their absolute distinctions between Israel and the Church. I affirm the New Testament Church as the new covenant Israel of God. I now have a much richer view of Bible hermeneutics, Bible interpretation that imitates the practices of Christ and his apostles as they interpreted the Old Testament. I no longer divide the return of Christ into two different events separated by a seven year period of tribulation on earth. I recognize that Christ's return for his church is also his visible return in great power and glory. It's the same as his return to judge the living and the dead and to banish evil from his everlasting kingdom. And neither do I believe that Christ will visibly rule on this earth for 1,000 years prior to the eternal kingdom and the new creation. So in the historic labels for these kinds of distinctions, I'm amillennial rather than premillennial. But there's one main doctrine which is unavoidable in Daniel 7. It's a doctrine which many people assume to be a dispensational invention. That's the doctrine of a future personal antichrist, to end all antichrists. A man who will be briefly empowered by Satan to blasphemously claim that which only Jesus Christ can claim. He will attempt to establish his own weak imitation of Christ's glorious kingdom. He will exalt himself as God above all gods. He will reveal himself Amid convincing miraculous signs in a weak parody of Christ's own glorious appearing, he will be both a political and a religious figure attempting to establish some sort of theocracy with himself at the top. He will seek to replace Christ in his church, and he will seek to stamp out two churches of Christ. The Apostle Paul clearly states in 2 Thessalonians 2 that this individual will be revealed immediately prior to his damnation. at the return of the Lord Jesus. Paul does not speak of a succession or a dynasty of men, such as that of the Roman popes, but he speaks of one man. Although many antichrists and false prophets appear throughout church history, there is a final outstanding antichrist to come. He could begin as a pope, or a bishop, or an evangelist, or a king, or a prime minister, or any number of things. but he will end as the consummate rival to Emmanuel, who alone is God in the flesh. This is one place in which I and various other Reformed Baptists take minor exception to the wording of our own Confession of Faith, the Second London Confession. It says in Chapter 26, Paragraph 4 of our Confession, the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order, or government of the Church is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner. Amen. Neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense behead thereof, but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition that exalts himself in the Church against Christ and all that is called God, whom the Lord shall destroy with the rightness of his coming. Now, that's what it says, and I affirm that the popes of Rome act as antichrists, plural, and usurp Christ's place in the church. But the pope is not, for that reason, the final man of sin prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2. Dr. Sam Waldron, who authored an outstanding exposition of that confession, writes about this section of our confession. He says this. He says, many of those who hold staunchly to the 1689 Confession doubt the value of its dogmatism regarding the Pope being the Antichrist. The writer is among these. That is, he agrees with that doubt. This is one of those statements which would properly be deleted in a revision of the Confession. Such a deletion must, however, be made not because of any weakening of our convictions about the apostate condition of the Church of Rome, or the wicked and heretical character of the claims of the pope, but out of the exegetical conviction that the statement of the confession is false or without adequate basis." Waldron then adds in a footnote, he says, the writer's own conviction is that 2 Thessalonians 2 is speaking of an individual destroyed at the second coming of Christ, not a line of popes. Of course, it is possible that a future pope could be that individual. Dr. Waldron is not alone. among confessionally reformed theologians to affirm the doctrine of a final personal antichrist. Kim Rivelbarger has written an entire book on the subject entitled The Man of Sin. I could also cite numerous other amillennial writers, G.K. Beale, Meredith Klein, Dean Davis, others. And though he's not an amillennialist, I'll mention that John Piper actually preached an outstanding sermon on the man of lawlessness from Second Thessalonians 2. Bethlehem 2020 Conference for Pastors and Church Leaders. You can find that on the Desiring God channel on YouTube. But furthermore, this doctrine is not a modern or recent doctrine. The doctrine is not automatically true just because it's old. We have some very old heresies. But a doctrine that's not old is suspicious indeed. Some Christian writers in the first few centuries after Christ held some weird beliefs about the end times. That is true. But these church fathers, as they are called, they consistently avoided many strange doctrines that are now common. You will not find the notion of a pre-tribulational rapture of the church in their writings in the first several centuries after Christ. And they all assume that the New Testament church is the Israel of God. But you will find the doctrine of the final antichrist. and I'll just give you two sample quotations before we get on with Daniel. Justin Martyr in his dialogue with Trifo. Now Justin had some other interesting views, but here he's just expressing that which they all expressed at the time. He says, oh, unreasoning men, understanding not what has been proved by all these passages, that two advents of Christ have been announced, two comings. The one in which he is set forth as suffering, inglorious, dishonored, and crucified, but the other in which he shall come from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us, the Christians. who having learned the true worship of God from the law and the word which went forth from Jerusalem by means of the apostles of Jesus have fled for safety to the God of Jacob and the God of Israel. One other place, and just Martyr is, I think he's the second century. So very shortly after Christ. Another writing which might actually be first century, might've been written while some apostles were still living. It's that early, the Didache. or teaching of the 12, I believe it's called. Chapter 16, this is how that doctrinal treatise ends. It says, watch over your life. Do not let your lamps go out and do not be unprepared, but be ready for you do not know the hour when our Lord is coming. Gather together frequently, seeking the things that benefit your souls. For all the time you have believed will be of no use to you if you are found, if you are not found perfect in the last time. For in the last days, the false prophets and corruptors will abound, and the sheep will be turned into wolves, and love will be turned into hate. For as lawlessness increases, they will hate and persecute and betray one another. And then the deceiver of the world will appear as a son of God and perform signs and wonders, and the earth will be delivered into his hands, and he will commit abominations the likes of which have never happened before. Then all humankind will come to the fiery test, and many will fall away and perish. But those who endure in their faith will be saved by the accursed one himself. And then there will appear the signs of the truth. First, the sign of an opening in heaven, then the sign of the sound of a trumpet, and third, the resurrection of the dead. But not of all, rather as it has been said, the Lord will come and all his saints with him. Then the world will see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven. That was a lot of difficult material, and we haven't even gotten to Daniel 7. So now I'll ask you to shift gears with me and prepare to hear what Daniel has to tell us. And remember that no prophecy of Scripture is merely the prophet's personal interpretation of anything. As Peter reminds us, Daniel, born along by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God. These words are breathed out by God. So let's begin with verses 1 through 14. Verses 1 through 14, the sites, of Daniel's dream. The sights of Daniel's dream. What he sees. First of all, he sees the fearsome sight of earthly kings in verses 1 through 8. The fearsome sight of earthly kings. Starting in verse 1. In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. Daniel declared, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. Then as I looked, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one like a bear, It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And it was told, arise, devour much flesh. After this I looked, and behold, another like a leopard with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broken pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had 10 horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things." That's the first eight verses, the fearsome sight of earthly kings. Andrew Steinman comments that Daniel received this revelation in Daniel 7 at an important time. 550 BC was the year that Cyrus the Persian defeated his Median grandfather and took over the Median Empire, and so Cyrus became the ruler of the Medo-Persian Empire. Thus, Daniel's dream of the future kingdoms took place around the time when Cyrus positioned the Medo-Persian Empire as Babylon's new rival for dominance in the Near East. About a decade after Daniel received division in Daniel 7 in 553 or 550 BC, Cyrus would defeat Babylon in 539 BC, and then his empire would become the second world kingdom depicted in both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. Note that not only was this in the first year of Belshazzar, King of Babylon, at this pivotal time in history when Daniel saw the dream, had the dream, but as he starts to describe the dream, he says, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. The four winds of heaven, perhaps symbolizing the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, they're stirring up the great sea. might be a reference to the Mediterranean Sea, but it's probably a symbol of the nations. Four beasts, each different from the last, emerge one after another from this raging sea. And Daniel is later told in verse 17 that they are kings, or kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth, it says. Out of the turmoil of the nations emerge these four beasts. First of all, verse 4, we see the winged lion and its humanization. The winged lion and its humanization. This is Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. There's this lion with eagle's wings, but then, as Daniel watches, the wings are plucked off. It's lifted up from the ground, made to stand upright on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. So the plucking of the wings, the human posture, and the human mind, There is disagreement here, but they may refer to the humbling first of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, perhaps, and then of the entire kingdom when they are proven to be but men. They seemed so unstoppable and invincible in the beginning, the Babylonian Empire did, but then they were shown to be very human. They were humbled. Now we have the ravenous bear and its commission in verse 5. This is Cyrus and the Medes and the Persians. Stuart Olyot, in his commentary on Daniel, says, I simply do not know what the three ribs in the bear's mouth signify. We are in a symbolic section of the book, and so we must always entertain the possibility that the numbers are symbols and are not necessarily to be interpreted as literal numbers. But the picture is clear. The bear has an insatiable desire to devour And this was most certainly a feature of the Medo-Persian empire at the time of the vision. It was hungry for conquest. If the three ribs refer to anything at all, they must be the three empires which were conquered by Medo-Persia, namely Babylon, Lydia, modern Turkey, and Egypt. When it says, here it would be in verse 5, Said the second piece was like a bear. It was raised up on one side. Some say that has to do with the Persian side being more dominant than the medium side. That's just a guess. Says it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth and it was told, arise, devour much flesh. The Achaemenid, or the Persian Empire, devoured much of the known world in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. It gulped up far more territory than the Babylonians had. Esther 1, verse 1, tells us that King Ahasuerus, or Xerxes in secular history, he reigned over 120 provinces, stretching from India to Ethiopia. In terms of modern nations, the Iranians, the Persians, ruled Iran. Iraq, Kuwait, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and parts of India, Libya, Bulgaria, and Greece. It was insatiable. It devoured a lot of flesh. But the Persians failed to maintain control of the Greek city-states in the West. And that brings us to the third beast, because it would be a young Macedonian king named Alexander, who would unite the Greek-speaking peoples to conquer and transform the Persian Empire. The four-winged leopard with its four heads in verse six. It says, after this I looked, and behold, another like a leopard with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. This is Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic, or Greek-speaking, successors. Stuart Oliot again. In biblical symbolism, the number four speaks of the world, like four points of the compass. The way that the scriptures speak of the four winds and the four corners of the earth bears this out. What we have before us now is a kingdom which conquers swiftly and which conquers the world. It has four wings, four heads. And four wings means it has all the more ability to move swiftly. The wings probably speak of Alexander's swift conquest of the world. Once he was both king of Macedon and he became general of all Greece after his father Philip died, he launched a 10-year campaign, 10 years, in which he took the Persian Empire as his own, the whole thing, 10 years. He was undefeated in battle. He thought he was a god. But he died, Alexander died in Babylon at age 32 or 33. And his generals, particularly four of them, launched civil wars to decide who would rule which parts of Alexander's empire. So the whole thing remained, it just was fought over to see who would be king of what. But it all became Greek instead of Persian or Babylonian. In the end, the Greek language and culture and worldview transformed the world. The Middle East was dominated by two rival dynasties, the Ptolemies, based in Egypt, and the Seleucids, based in Syria and Mesopotamia. Daniel chapters 8 and 11 will have a lot to say about the Ptolemies and Seleucids. If you thought the Bible didn't talk about that stuff, you never heard of it, well, you're in for some detailed history prophesied beforehand. Then we find the fourth beast, and it's not compared to any beast on earth because it's an incomparable beast. It's unlike anything else. We see the incomparable beast and its outgrowth in verses seven through eight. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broken pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. First of all, notice its iron teeth and its trampling feet. The beast itself, as it first emerges and appears on the scene, quite apparently symbolizes the dominion of ancient Rome. Remember that iron, its iron teeth that Daniel mentions here, iron matches the fourth part of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2, the fourth kingdom of iron. had no rival that was its equal. Sometimes it had the Parthians in the east it worried about, sometimes the barbarians. But in the beginning, Rome was just unstoppable. And it was unlike the kingdoms before it in its dominance, its lasting dominance, its effective ruthlessness. But then notice there's 10 horns on this beast. And we'll find out later, it's made explicit later in the text, in the interpretation of the dream, that these ten horns represent not the beast at the beginning, but something that comes out of the beast later on in the beast's career. Ten kingdoms that emerge from the beast. Horns in scripture often communicate power and authority. So whether the number 10 here is meant literally or more figuratively as a number of completeness, we can call these 10 powers. This is Rome's final legacy. These 10 horns appear again in the Book of the Revelation, but this time they are on a beast who is a combination of all four beasts in Daniel 7. This seems to picture both anti-Christian governments throughout the present age and also their culmination in one great anti-Christian regime just before Christ's return. Turn to Revelation 13. I want you to see the first four verses of Revelation 13. If you hadn't read Daniel 7, you would have no idea, perhaps, that that's where That's what Jesus is pulling from in giving this revelation to John, put it that way. Daniel 13, verse one. And I saw a beast rising out of the sea. That's a familiar sight from Daniel seven. With 10 horns and seven heads. The seven heads are new to revelation. And 10 diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard. So we had a leopard in Daniel 7, but now this beast is like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear's, like the second beast in Daniel 7. Its mouth was like a lion's mouth, like the first beast in Daniel 7. So it's a conglomeration of all of them. And to it, the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. The dragon was just identified in the previous chapter of Revelation, and again in Revelation 20, as Satan, the ancient serpent. So Satan gives his power and his throne and great authority to this beast. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed. Whatever that's talking about, it's an imitation of the slain and risen lamb of Revelation 5. The lamb appeared as if it had been slain, but it lived. And here, it's a weak imitation of that. And the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, who is like the beast, and who can fight against it? We'll go back to Revelation in a bit for some other things. But back in Daniel, we see then a final horn, first called a little horn. We see the final horn's power and personality. Verse 8, I considered the horns and behold there came out among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. So there is a final heir, you could say, dominating the others, even possibly replacing some of them, or at least suppressing some of them. So this final horn begins little, but it quickly overshadows the other 10, as Daniel will later elaborate. And this final horn is not simply a kingdom or regime, but a man, a man with a boastful mouth, a mouth speaking great things. Here, we need to go back to Revelation 17, where the beast of Revelation 13 appears again and is explained more in relation to the very end of history. Revelation 17, eight through 14. The angel tells John, Revelation 17, 8, the beast that you saw was and is not and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast because it was and is not and is to come. This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads of the beast, that is, are seven mountains on which the woman is seated There's a whole bunch here we can't get into. They are also seven kings, or as in Daniel 7, they could be kings or kingdoms. Five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. And when he does come, he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. So although in one sense the beast is a long succession of past and current world empires, In another sense, this beast will have a final but brief manifestation with special power from the pit. He will be an ape, but of the seven, and he will come from the pit and go to destruction. Just as earlier in Revelation, demons looking like weird locust scorpions, they emerged from the pit at the bidding of the evil one. All very symbolic. But here we are, verse 12, where it talks about the horns. It says, And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings, this is important, for one hour, meaning a very brief time, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the lamb, and the lamb will conquer them, for he is lord of lords and king of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. Well, we've already encountered, we start talking about these horns, and then this little horn that grows up and has a big mouth. We've already encountered kings and Daniel who have boastful mouths, haven't we? Men like Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. There's a later text in Daniel that continues this theme, focusing either on the Seleucid tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes, who desecrated the Jerusalem temple, or else, perhaps, on a future Antichrist who is like Antiochus. But in Daniel 11.36, it says, the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished, for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. Paul seems to pick up on this in his description of the man of lawlessness. Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come, the day of the Lord, unless the rebellion or the apostasy comes first. And the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. So this little horn is depicting a man who has a big mouth. And he exalts himself against all that is called God. Have you ever heard of St. Jerome? St. Jerome, the man who produced a classic translation of the Bible into the vulgar or common tongue of Latin. We call it the Latin Vulgate. In case you're wondering, Jerome was not a Roman Catholic. He lived too early for that, before the papal system. He lived from AD 347 to 420, which means he lived before the fall of Rome. The empire was still in existence, though it was divided east and west. But Jerome produced an impressive commentary on the book of Daniel. Here's what he says about verse 8 of Daniel 7. He says, we should therefore concur with the traditional interpretation of all the commentators of the Christian church. That's an interesting thing to say, that they're all united in this. that at the end of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall be 10 kings who partition the Roman world amongst themselves. Then an insignificant 11th king will arise who will overcome three of the 10 kings." And then he interprets that as specific kings. I won't get into that. But he says, then after they have been slain, the seven other kings also will bow their necks to the victor. And behold, he, Daniel continues, there were eyes like under human eyes in that horn. Jerome says, let us not follow the opinion of some commentators and suppose him to be either the devil or some demon, but rather one of the human race in whom Satan will wholly take up his residence in bodily form. And a mouth uttering overweening boasts, He quotes, for this is the man of sin, the son of perdition. And that to to to such a degree that he dares to sit in the temple of God, making himself out to be like God. So Jerome interpreted this also as what Paul was talking about in Second Thessalonians two. That's interesting. All that could be very distracting. In fact, it's it's calculated to be distracting, terrifying all these beastly figures. arising, unstoppable, one after the other. But now we come to the more important thing about Daniel 7, and that is the awesome sight of the Eternal King, verses 9-12. Verses 9-12, the awesome sight of the Eternal King, who is unmoved by all this. 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. Perhaps it's a chariot throne as appears sometimes in Old Testament visions. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him. A thousand thousands served him and 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. The court sat in judgment and the books were opened. This is I looked then, because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking, and as I looked, the beast was killed, and his body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time." And I think that's just going backwards and stating what had happened earlier to the other beasts. So we see the Ancient of Days enthroned. The Ancient of Days. He has no beginning. He's eternal. We see his manifest purity, power, and judgment. He's described as having white garments, with white hair. It could also speak of eternity, being ancient. But this whiteness speaks of purity. His clothing was white as snow, the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire, and the stream of fire issued and came out from before him. So there's judgment. In fact, one of the ancient commentators talked about how you could say hellfires proceeding from God to consume his enemies. And he also has the fire of purity to judge his saints in the sense of purification. But he is a holy God. He is pure, morally pure. He is supreme in power and in judgment. And as Andrew Simon says, the wheels on the throne recall Ezekiel's vision of the wheeled cherubim who form a living throne of God in Ezekiel 1. We find that his royal court is in session. A thousand thousand served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. just as the lamb in Revelation 5 appears in the heavenly court to open a scroll by breaking its seven seals. This might also be similar to the books of the records of human conduct being opened before the great white throne in Revelation 20. In other words, everything that needs to be made right on earth is being reviewed. And then we see his swift and thorough response to the final horn's boasts. I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season at a time." Steinman says, after their dominion is taken away, they, the first three beasts, are allowed to live on for a while, alive but powerless, until the judgment of the heavenly court is handed down and executed. Thus, these kingdoms survive in some form, but without dominion, until the fourth beast and its little horn are slain. This corresponds to the events in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel 2. In that dream, all four medals of the statue are destroyed simultaneously. But then there's more. It's not just that the Ancient of Days is seated in heaven, but he has a chosen king. There's the glorious sight of the ascended king in verses 13 through 14. No earthly king, least of all the boastful horn, no earthly king will retain lasting dominion over the earth. And that's the fear. Will these beastly kingdoms keep going forever? No. The eternal king of heaven has chosen a man to whom the nations will be forever given. And this man is the only one worthy of such a kingdom. So in characteristic Old Testament fashion here, Daniel's not clearly showing the distinctions between Christ's first and second comings, but he is shown the heavenly glory of Christ, which results from his first coming and culminates in his second coming. I saw in the night visions, verse 13, 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. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people's 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. He is a divine Son of Man. He appears to be human, like a Son of Man. We know from the New Testament that He is human. But He comes with the clouds of heaven. That's something that Yahweh Himself is pictured as doing throughout the Old Testament. He rides the clouds of heaven to the help of His people. This is the text from which Jesus apparently gets one of His most frequent titles for Himself, the Son of Man. Even the book of the Revelation opens with the appearance of this same person. He's one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. And then it says he actually looks like the ancient of days in Daniel 7. The hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes are like a flame of fire and so on. Jesus also ties the glory of his return from heaven to the glory which awaited him when he ascended to heaven in a cloud. He's coming with the clouds of heaven in Daniel seven. And remember Matthew 26, where Jesus told the high priest, I tell you from now on, you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. This is where he gets it. Acts one, remember when Jesus was lifted up and a cloud took him out of the side of the disciples and the angels told them, the two men in white told them, This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven, in the clouds. Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24, verse 30, then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Daniel 7 is all over the New Testament. The Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, that's even picked up in 1 Thessalonians 4, where Paul talks about Christ taking his people to be with himself. Remember, the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Or Revelation 14 pictures it as one like a son of man seated on a cloud with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand, and he reaps his people from the earth. Revelation 14. Revelation 1 verse 7 says, behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen. This divine Son of Man, He has an inheritance. He's given an inheritance from God the Father, from the Ancient of Days. We see His inheritance of the nations from God. And notice that Jesus arrives with the clouds before God's heavenly throne. At His ascension, the resurrected Christ was caught up to God in His throne, where He was installed in the heavenly Zion as both Lord and Messiah. The son of David at God's right hand, the second Adam who had finished his work of obedient righteousness. Now he was entering his glorious rest. And in Revelation five, we again find this scene of the lion of the tribe of Judah, the slain and risen lamb. He receives his inheritance scroll from God, the father in the heavenly court. And as Psalm two says, though the nations rage, the Lord says, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. And he says to the son, you are my son. Today I begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth, your possession. Psalm 110, the Lord sends forth from Zion, your mighty scepter rule in the midst of your enemies. Not only does he inherit the nations, but he has an everlasting kingdom. It will never be destroyed or given to another. Isaiah 9, of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. Whereas Gabriel said to Mary in Luke 1, the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom. There will be no end. I think we can move more quickly through the rest of this because we've covered a lot of the major things. But after seeing the sites of Daniel's dream, we see that the interpretation, or we could say the further interpretation of Daniel's dream in the rest of the chapter, verses 15 through 28. Verses 15 through 18, the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of heaven. It says, as for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. He told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever. Daniel has an anxious inquiry about these sites. This troubles him. And it's confirmed the beast's identity as four kings and their kingdoms. In verse 23, the fourth beast will be called a kingdom rather than a king. And here and elsewhere in scripture, sometimes the concepts of king and kingdom are a little interchangeable with each other. The important thing here is that none of these kings are sent from heaven as the ruler of the kingdom of God. They all arise from the earth. They're merely human and earthly in the royal majesty. For that reason, we see the saints' destiny of everlasting dominion. As Jesus said in Matthew 5, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. No matter what these beasts do, The kingdom, which includes all things, the kingdom is given to the saints at the most high. But there's more said here in verses 19 through 27 about the fourth kingdom and its final kings. Daniel says, then I desire to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and was devoured in broken pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up, and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. As I looked, pay attention here, as I looked, this horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. So here in verses 19 to 22, we see the vision of the fourth beast rehearsed and amplified. But Daniel says something he hadn't said before. He makes it explicit. That little horn made war with the saints. That was what was so troubling about this. He made war with the saints and prevailed over them until God stepped in. This also fits Revelation 13. where it says, the beast, verse five, was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. Authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it. Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the land who was slain. There's an explanation in Daniel of this beast's identity and activity, verses 23 through 25. Verse 23, thus he said, as for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which will be different from all the kingdoms and it shall devour the whole earth and trample it down and break it to pieces. As for the 10 horns out of this kingdom, 10 kings shall arise and another shall arise after them. He shall be different from the former ones and shall put down three kings. He shall speak words against the most high and shall wear out the saints of the most high and shall think to change the times and the law. And they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Well. The beast, the Roman Empire, slowly fell apart over a period of centuries. We know that. But even though that happened, Roman culture and power continued within multiple dominions all at the same time. That's still true today. Western nations and republics dominate the world. The world has never forgotten the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate, the Roman Caesars. Emperors and kaisers and czars all get their titles from the Caesars. We have the Roman alphabet. We have Roman architecture, thought categories, languages, words coming from Latin. They all dominate the nations, particularly in the West. Holy Roman Empire is gone, but we still have the Roman Catholic Church. Few people remember or care much about Babylon or Persepolis, but the heritage of Rome endures, and in some sense, The dominant kingdoms at the end of history will remain continuations or outgrowths of Roman power, and they will consolidate their power in one final ruler. As Jerome says, the Antichrist will wage war against the saints and will overcome them. And he shall exalt himself to such a height of arrogance as to attempt changing the very laws of God and the sacred rites as well. He will also lift himself up against all that is called God, subjecting all religion to his own authority. It says he shall think to change the times and the law. Edward Young says his arrogance will be manifest in his intention to change times and law, the foundations and main conditions emanating from God of the life and actions of men in the world. And he says about times, they're not necessarily fixed times for religious observance, but times or seasons ordained by God. Law could be general laws or ordinances, not necessarily religious law. So think about this. The more the West attempts to change basic aspects of the created order, which could be described as times and law, which God has ordained, the more natural and moral law is foundationally challenged the more our world conforms to the wishes of Satan, who will empower the man of lawlessness. As Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2, the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Already our world attempts to subvert basic moral and natural law by enacting their own arrogant human laws. This is a pattern that will apparently reach its climax in the final apostasy. But I should mention that some interpreters see a more specific emphasis here in Daniel 7.25. The expression times, Steinman says, probably refers to the appointed religious festivals of Israel. And law is a reference to God's law, the Old Testament. This way in which the little horn will attack God and His saints is expressed in terms that Daniel and his readers could readily understand, since the appointed worship occasions and liturgical rituals specified in the Torah and the Old Testament itself were foundational for Israel's faith and life. We'll have to talk more about the phrase a time, times, and half a time when we get to Daniel 12. I'm sure you're thankful that we're not going to do that right now. But that shows up again in Daniel 12. We'll have to talk about that. But there is the assurance in verse 26 of this beast's condemnation and doom. The court shall sit in judgment. His dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And then there's the assurance of the saints worldwide and everlasting kingdom, verse 27. Dale Ralph Davis says this. Dominion, glory, and a kingdom were given to one like a son of man. So what would be more natural and proper than that the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven should be given to the people, to the saints of the most high? So the servants have no kingdom apart from their king, and the king does not reign without his servants. Jesus just cannot stand being separated from his people. Jesus' victory will be our victory. I know people have done a lot of wild things with texts like this, but aren't you glad that we don't have to wonder if political happenings in our world will spoil everything for God's people? We don't have to wonder what's going to happen if the kingdoms of this world continue forever, because they won't. But even so, it can be troubling. It was troubling for Daniel. We see in verse 28, Daniel's reaction of troubled silence. He says, here's the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart. Dale Ralph Davis again, he was a former professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson. He said, What then is the little horn of Daniel 7? It seems to me that Daniel's vision presents him as the last leader of Earth's final kingdom. Would this matter to 500s BC Israelites? I think so. The beast vision, with its emphasis on number four, would tell them that their trauma will not cease when Babylon falls or Persia allows them to return to Israel. Indeed, time will come when a future regime and ruler will make Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus look like kindergarten truant officers. It's no wonder Daniel's thoughts terrified him. In my view, the one Daniel calls the little horn here in chapter seven is the one Paul calls the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2, 1 through 12, and whom John would call the Antichrist, 1 John 2, 18. Jesus will handle him, 2 Thessalonians 2, 8. So to sum up, our comfort is that when the little horn arises to do Satan's worst in this world, We know that Jesus himself will arrive to stop him in his tracks. He'll arrive to damn the wicked and to glorify the saints. And that's where I end today. Second Thessalonians 2 says that the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved therefore God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth that pleasure and unrighteousness but second Thessalonians 1 A few verses earlier says that for believers, this will be our vindication, our victory. It says, God will grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed. We'll have plenty other occasions as we move through the scriptures to talk about some of these things if they're unfamiliar to you. But the big picture is in this world you have tribulation. But Jesus said, don't fear that because I've overcome the world. His is the kingdom, not the Gentiles. It all belongs to Him and He will bring all things right in the end. Let's pray together. Father, this has been a hard text and a deep text. Help us to be able to digest it well, chew on it well, and help us to not have our hope in this present evil age, because it is an evil age. May we not rely on any favorable political conditions at any point in history for our hope. But may we, like Daniel, be churned to the one who is the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven. May we long for the day when Christ's kingdom will be visible to everyone, and when he will dispose of his enemies, and when he will glorify his saints. Please make that future hope very precious to us. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.