Daniel 7 - 9 || The king & the kingdoms
.
(II) Daniel 7 - 12
Daniel 7/ RC
Unsettling - compared to the first half of Daniel,
in which the men emerge unscathed, unscratched & unharmed.
Second half: not so simple or clear-cut
- involves pain & suffering
- It won't always be quick, it could involve a lifetime of waiting long before things become visible.
- God's power still holds, God still reigns.
Comforting - this is real life.
◘ WHAT DOES IT LOOK WHEN GOD IS SOVEREIGN BUT LIFE HURTS?
Vision & Explanation:
1. Monster
2. Ancient of Days
3. Son of Man
1. The fourth monster is different to those who came before
Wings ~ showing strength of conquest
v. 21 waging war
v. 25 against the holy people, the Holy One
• The Horn represents a king or ruler
- thought to be Antiochus Epiphanes (2BC)
- pursued God's temple & Jerusalem
... but equally seen in Roman persecution of early Christians,
in N. Korea labour camp - throughout the ages
2. Ancient of Days - judges for God's people (v. 9 - 10)
The throne; the court was seated & the books were open
> the book of life? recording wrongdoings?
v. 11 - 12: I continued to watch -- the boastful words the horn was speaking
-- the beast was slain & its body destroyed
• Unlike the other beasts stripped of their power yet permitted to live, this one is fully destroyed.
Link
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 7
ERAS
Gold
Lion
Babylon 2:38
Silver
Bear
Ram
Persia 8:20
Bronze
Leopard
He-goat
Greece 8:21
Iron / Clay
Monster
Rome
Stone
Heavenly Court
God's kingdom
3. Son of Man - rules for God's people;
rules over them but rules in their favour
v. 27 GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY
Then the sovereignty, power & greatness of all the kingdoms will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom & all the rulers will worship & obey him.
'Local lad' - Jesus as God incarnate,
experienced the same emotions, struggles - Heb 4:15
RC: "we're all squeezed onto the throne with him"
◘ Daniel: "I kept the matter to myself."
Not secretive but as something to hold onto, like Mary.
_____________________
Daniel 8 / PM
◘ Can we make sense of world events?
"That's not Judgement. That's not Providence.
It's just what we have to face & carry the rest of our days."
- NEWS OF THE WORLD (film)
◘ 'Three windows' ~ partial vision due to partial view
- difficult to make sense of the whole thing & hard to piece it together
◘ God is still in control even if we can't see everything. Even when we can't fully understand the whole picture, God is still in control. God knows when & where & why things are happening.
> WHERE, WHEN & WHY
1. From Jerusalem to Babylon,
2. Further East to Shush (modern day Iran)
- now another 200 miles away from Jerusalem
(PM - NB: This can make it all seem very, very neat & tidy & in one sense, this is exactly what this isn't but there are some things it is helpful to walk through.)
Ram: Empire of the Medes & the Persians
Goat: Greek Empire
Horn: ? Antiochus IV
What God knows will unfold stretches across history. God knows which empires will rise & fall.
The vision has had a resonance through church history & yet it may also be yet to come, something else which lies ahead. We can't put neat stakes around everything. But God knows which empires will rise & fall.
Both an earthly & a spiritual conflict:
Horn (v. 9 - 12) - It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, & it threw some of the starry host down to the earth & trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord; it took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord, & his sanctuary was thrown down. Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people & the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, & truth was thrown to the ground.
- Starry host - likely to be God's army of angels
- Commander of the army of the Lord | visit to Joshua, 5:13
- Believers' worship is stopped;
truth (the Torah) was thrown to the ground & cast aside
- King becoming strong but - v. 24-25 - not by human power; God is still in control there.
Daniel's response (now aged 69):
◘ It's okay to feel broken by the events of the world.
◘ It's okay to believe God is in control & feel like things are completely out of whack.
◘ That doesn't stop us from committing to a journey with God.
("when the pandemic is over, then..." breeds a kind of isolationism, self-defence mode.)
Making moves towards greater self-awareness, what God might be doing for us through this time of difficulty.
What might God be stirring in us through his Spirit right now?
-- Daniel goes on serving where God has placed him
& he goes on serving the God who has placed him there despite everything.
◘ That is part of Christian maturity, as believers, that we hold those two things in tension. That understanding of the world as it is & clinging to a God who does know & has everything in His hands.
HG notes
• Echoes of Daniel 2
• Daniel's reaction
• End times cf Mark 13 v. 5-8
• God's people had never faced these kind of hardships before
• A warning or an act of kindness? (the commentators)
- after these eras, the temple will then be restored