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A Kingdom that Shall Never Be Destroyed
A Kingdom that Shall Never Be Destroyed
Daniel 7
Dreams as a revelation are a bit strange in that they are usually accompanied by an interpretation. I am not sure I would accurately have interpreted many of these dreams without such an inspired interpretation. We are left to struggle with the ones that have no such interpretation.
In this chapter there are some things that are easy and some things that are difficult. Basic rule: start with the easy things and let your interpretation of the difficult things be governed by your interpretation of the easy things. Sounds simple but I know countless religious people that ignore this and have some very bizarre ideas!
To begin with, the Ancient of Days is God himself. The 'taking of His seat' refers simply to His sitting in judgment and making a 'ruling'. This happens when one 'like the son of man' came TO the Ancient of Days and was given 'dominion and glory and a kingdom'. Without much doubt this refers to Jesus and his ascension after the resurrection. In Matt. 28:18 Jesus states: "… All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Paul wrote concerning Jesus that God "raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:20-23). Those who are saved are now in the Kingdom of God's dear son (Col. 1:13; Rev. 1:6,9).
That leaves us to try and understand the four beasts (kingdoms). The first would be Babylon. The second would be the Medio-Persian empire that destroyed Babylon. The third would be Alexander the great who destroyed 'everything' in the 'known world'. When Alexander died, his kingdom was split into 4 parts as his four leading generals began warring between themselves to see who would replace Alexander (cp. 7:6). This was followed by a different beast. The kingdom the destroyed and took over the remnants of Alexander's domain was the Roman Empire.
Horns were symbols of 'power' and 'kings'. Following the ten horns was another horn. I think brother Shane Scott was correct when he wrote: "I believe it symbolizes a Roman emperor who would make war against the church (see Rev. 13:1-7). I do not believe we have to make a precise identification with eleven actual emperors – the number ten is probably symbolic. Further, there were many such “little horns” in Roman history who tried to do destroy the church. I prefer to see this as a general picture. The “time, times, and half a time” may refer to 3 ½ years (cf. Rev. 13:5), but it may simply mean that this leaders power grows and grows and then is suddenly cut off." (from his web page: http://www.shanescottonline.com/).
Though the kingdom of the son of Man would be fought against, the victory would go to the people of God. God would sit in judgment upon the power that tried to destroy this everlasting kingdom. This is the basic message of the book of Revelation.
Considering that Daniel lived in the era of the FIRST kingdom and all of this had to do with things many years in the future and with nations that did not even exist then, his "color changed" and he kept the matter in his heart (7:28).
What we see is that God is in control and sits in judgments over the kings of the earth. God has an eternal purpose for His people that no earthly king can overthrow. God raised up Jesus and made him King of Kings and Lord of Lords. All that will serve the king will be victorious in life. "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" (Revelation 17:14). Let us make OUR calling and election sure. Our victory will come from being united with Christ NOT from our own power or ability.
Hugh DeLong
