Answers Bible Curriculum Year 2 Quarter 4 Lesson 7
For this week of Sunday school, we are doing a special lesson back in the book of Daniel as we consider the visions given to Daniel by God regarding the future. What did God reveal to Daniel? Why did God reveal it? Have Daniel’s prophetic visions come to pass? How should we use or view Daniel’s visions today? We’ll consider these questions and more.
Our main texts for consideration in this lesson will be Daniel 2:1-45 and 7:1-28.
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The Humble will be exalted and the proud will be cast down those who mourn now will laugh or those who laugh now will mourn and those who give up their lives for Christ and for the gospel they will save their lives while those who cling to their lives in this world will both lose their lives in this world and lose them in eternity so we see that concept throughout the scriptures the events of Esther take place after the Reigns of Cyrus and Darius but for today’s lesson we’re going back in time stepping back chronologically to the Reigns of Nebuchadnezzar and Bel shazar this time in Daniel we’re focusing on the Visions given to Daniel by God what were these Visions why did God give them to Daniel have the prophetic elements of these Visions been fulfilled today and why are these Visions to Daniel important for us we’re going to consider these questions as we focus on three well kind of like two and a half Visions in D Daniel here’s our outline we focus on the Visions in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 we we’ll mention a little bit about the vision in Daniel 8 and then we’ll consider application for ourselves this is a lot of material to cover and we’re not even dealing with the Visions in Daniel 9 and Daniel 11 unfortunately don’t have time for those chapters today but I trust that you’ve been hearing some about those passages especially Daniel 9 from Pastor Bobby’s recent preaching on the end times but we’re going to focus on Daniel 2 and 7 and a little bit of eight today let’s pray before we continue pray with me Lord God you are the great God all knowledge and wisdom is is with you and yet you in your great sovereignty have decided to share some of that knowledge with your people via the Prophet Daniel L I pray that we’ be built up by it that we be equipped that we would apply it Lord your spirit would accomplish that in Jesus name amen let’s look at Daniel’s First Vision in Daniel 2 please open your Bibles to Daniel 2 Daniel 2 we’re going to read verses 19 to 49 this is Page 882 in the Pew Bible Daniel’s book appears in the Old Testament after Isaiah Jeremiah and Ezekiel let’s reestablish the context of our passage at the beginning of Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar is in the second year of his Reign remember he’s the king of Babylon he has a troubling dream he demands for his wise men to interpret the dream for him but as many of you know what does Nebuchadnezzar refuse to tell any of the wise men he refuses to tell him what the dream was seeking proof of the wise men’s abilities he wants the wise men to tell the king both the dream what was the dream and the interpretation of the dream but the wisan insists to the king that this is an impossible task no one has ever done this no one can do this only the gods who do not dwell on Earth could do such a thing for the king convinced by this answer of the wise men’s deception Nebuchadnezzar orders all of the wise men and counselors of Babylon to be killed now Daniel and his friends are considered to be wise men or wise men in training and so when the execution has come to Daniel he learns of the situation and asks for a little time to answer the King’s request he’s granted this time and Daniel asks his friends hananiah Azariah and mishel whom we’ve met before to all pray to God for compassion and for the revelation of this mystery that the King has requested let’s pick up the narrative in verse 19 of Daniel 2 and we’ll read to the end of the chapter Daniel 2: 19 then the mystery was revealed to to Daniel in a night vision then Daniel blessed the god of Heaven Daniel said let the name of God be blessed forever and ever for wisdom and power belong to him it is he who changes the times and the epics he removes Kings and establishes Kings he gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to Men of understanding it is he who reveals the proud profound and hidden things he knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him to you oh god of my fathers I give thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom and power even now you have made known to me what we requested of you for you have made known to us the king’s matter therefore Daniel went into arok whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon he went and spoke to him as follows do not destroy the wise men of Babylon take me into the king’s presence and I will declare the interpretation to the king then arok hurly brought Daniel into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows I have found a man among the Exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to The King The King said to Daniel whose name was belshazzar are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation Daniel answered before the king and said as for the mystery about which the King has inquired neither wise men conjurers magicians nor divers are able to declare it to the king however there is a God in heaven who reveals Mysteries and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days this was your dream and the Visions in your mind while on your bed as for you oh King while on your bed your thoughts turn to what would take place in the future and he who reveals Mysteries has made known to you what will take place but as for me this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind you King were looking and behold there was a single great statue that statue which was large and of extraordinary Splendor was standing in front of you and its appearance was awesome the head of that statue was made of fine gold its breast and its arms of silver its belly and its thighs of bronze its legs of iron its feet partly of iron and partly of clay you continued looking until a stone was was cut out without hands and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them then the iron the clay the bronze the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth this was the dream now we will tell its interpretation before the king you you oh King are the King of Kings to whom the god of Heaven has given the kingdom the power the strength and the glory and whever the sons of men dwell or the beasts of the field or the birds of the sky he has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all you are the head of gold after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you then another third Kingdom of bronze which will rule over all the Earth then there will be a fourth Kingdom as strong as iron and as much as iron crushes and shatters all things so like iron that breaks in pieces it will crush and break all these in pieces and that you saw the feet and Toes partly of Potter’s clay and partly of iron it will be a divided Kingdom but it it will have in it the toughness of iron in as much as you saw the iron mixed with common clay as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery so some of the Kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle and in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay they will combine with one another in the seed of men but they will not adhere to one another even as iron does not combined with Pottery in the days of those kings the god of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed and that Kingdom will not be left for another people it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms but it will itself endure forever as much as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron the bronze the clay the sil and the gold the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy then King Nebuchadnezzar fell in his face and did homage to Daniel and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense the king answered Daniel and said surely your God is a god of gods and a lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries since you have been able to reveal this mystery then then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon and Daniel made requests to the king and he appointed Shadrach mhach and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon while Daniel was at the king’s court okay pardon me just a second all right let’s observe this section kind of a long section notice Daniel’s immediate response to learning the King’s dream gives praise and thanks to God but what two qualities of God does Daniel highlight in his praise what’s one of the qualities is wisdom the Lord’s wisdom and not only that the Lord is wise but that he gives gives wisdom he is the revealer of mysteries what else his power right his power and his wisdom those are the two things that Daniel highlights God is the one who gives or takes away kingdoms and he’s the one who gives wisdom and reveals secret things when Nebuchadnezzar asks if Daniel can make known the dream in its interpretation notice Daniel’s response Daniel confesses no man on Earth could give the king what he wanted but the is a God who can and he is a God who reveals Mysteries Daniel uses that phrase twice Daniel then confesses that the only reason Daniel knows the answer is because God chose to reveal to Nebuchadnezzar via Daniel the mystery of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream so Daniel wants to make sure that Nebuchadnezzar understands this Revelation did not come due to any innate wisdom in Daniel Daniel then recapitulates Nebuchadnezzar’s dream for Nebuchadnezzar the king King saw a great and awesome statue with a head of gold chest and arms of silver belly and thighs of bronze legs of iron and feet partly of iron and parly of clay by the way basic question here but feet normally have how many toes 10 toes yes normally and toes are mentioned in verse 42 of this chapter that might be important later on then a stone cut without hands struck the feet destroying them and crushing the rest of the statue so completely so completely that not a trace of the statue remains after the wind blows and Carries away the debris then the uncut Stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth Daniel interprets the king for Nebuchadnezzar interprets the dream for Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar is the king of kings exercising dominion over all he is the head of gold though what does Daniel emphasize to Nebuchadnezzar about Nebuchadnezzar’s Kingdom says you are the king of kings you have the Dominion but where come from well it does say that eventually another kingdom will arise but even when talking about Nebuchadnezzar’s Kingdom he says something about it that’s right God has given it to you God gave you this Kingdom so he’s emphasizing that to Nebuchadnezzar right away you are the head of gold but remember God gave you this Kingdom but then as Rob said there’s another kingdom that comes the silver and bronze sections of the statue are kingdoms that will come after Nebuchadnezzar being inferior though also ruling over the whole earth the iron legs are a fourth Kingdom strong as iron crushing the other kingdoms and breaking them in pieces the feat and and toes are divided Kingdom it’s not entirely clear whether they’re another kingdom after the iron one or if it’s a a kind of a continuation of the iron Kingdom they’re partly strong like iron partly brittle like clay it says the seed of men will have this iron clay combination within them but they will not really adhere to one another then there’s a final Kingdom set up by God that will never be destroyed and it crushes and puts an end to the other kingdoms but that Kingdom itself will last forever Daniel concludes the Revelation by reasserting the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future the dream is true and its interpretation trustworthy now notice how Nebuchadnezzar reacts he does Homage to Daniel he actually presents an offering and incense to Daniel must have been a little weird he promotes Daniel gives Daniel gifts and he makes Daniel ruler the province of Babylon and at Daniel’s request he puts Daniel’s friends into positions in Babylon under Daniel but notice also what does the king declare about God he says your God is God of gods Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries now having made these observations we come to the interpretation step but a lot of our interpretation has already been done for us because God via Daniel has interpreted the dream for us we don’t have to figure out oh what does this dream mean it’s a good thing too because I don’t think we would come up with the answer God has already provided it still we can ask a few questions interpretation wise why does Daniel tell us about how all the wise men could not fulfill the King’s request why mention that yes I see that in yeah that’s right it’s a definitely contrast between the Divine ability and the human ability none of the wise men on Earth are able to even Venture an interpretation or a claim for about the dream none of the wise men of Babylon and Daniel when he’s asked whether he can make known the dream he says it’s not in me it’s not as if I by my manly power or wisdom can give you the interpretation or tell you the dream but God can there is a God who can so he mentions all that to help us see the contrast between the power and wisdom of God and the power and wisdom of man consider the phrase most repeated in this section about God and Nebuchadnezzar’s confession at the end of the chapter what clearly does Daniel want his audience those who are reading or hearing this book what does he want them to understand about God he is the one true God he’s unique among those that are claimed to be Gods but what particularly is highlighted about Yahweh What’s the phrase that kept getting repeated multiple times God is said to be the revealer of mysteries now his tow is emphasized too that he’s The Giver of Kingdoms and he gave the kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar but three or four times in this passage says that God reveals the secret things or he’s a revealer of mysteries Daniel wants his anas to understand God is the one with all power and knowledge and yet he has chosen to reveal some of that knowledge to men via his Prophet VI his Prophet Daniel and certainly the other prophets in the past God is the revealer of mysteries now aside from the head of gold the precise identities of the other Kingdoms in this Vision are not revealed however the last kingdom is said to be Eternal and set up by God consider the prophecies that we’ve already seen from Isaiah Jeremiah and others people who came before Daniel what would the Jews of Daniel’s time have understood this Kingdom to be whose kingdom say that again which king okay I think they would have definitely connected it with an Earthly King we know that is it is divine there’s that detail about it being an uncut Stone not it hasn’t been fashioned by human hands it has a divine origin it’s it’s said to be the kingdom of God and yet we’ve already seen from Jeremiah and Isaiah and Micah and uh Hosea that there’s going to be a ruler from Israel that’s going to come there’s going to be a ruler that’s going to actually restore the Kingdom of Israel what Isaiah calls the servant and calls um other terms but this is what we would call or people in the Old Testament would call the Messiah the anointed one they would be connecting this with messiah’s Kingdom and I think it’s right to do so this final kingdom is connected with Messiah now this is not the only Vision in the Book of Daniel but as you’ll see it’s an important foundation for what we see in the rest of Daniel a lot of Daniel is all about the power of God being able to protect his own or to Humble Kings but also in God revealing Mysteries and we see a number of other Mysteries revealed a number of other Visions revealed in Daniel and we’re going to go look at the second one now turn over to Daniel 7 actually I’ll keep the slide hidden for just a second Daniel 7 we’re going to read through the entire chapter this is many years later this is still under a ruler of Babylon but this is Bel shazar who was co-ruler of Babylon with nabonidus in the years before babylon’s fall so Daniel 7 we’re going to read the whole chapter starting verse one in the first year of Bel shazar King of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and Visions in his mind as he lay on his bed then he wrote The Dream down and related the following summary of it Daniel said I was looking in my vision by night and behold the Four Winds of Heaven were stirring up the great sea and four great beasts were were coming up from the sea different from one another the first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle kept looking until its wings were plucked and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man a human mind also was given to it and behold another Beast a second one resembling a bear and it was raised up on one side and had three ribs and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth and thus they said to it arise devour much meat after this I kept looking and behold another one like a leopard which had on its back four wings of a bird the Beast also had four heads and Dominion was given to it after this I kept looking in the night visions and behold a fourth Beast Dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong and it had large iron teeth it devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet and it was different from all the beasts that were before it and it had 10 horns well I was was contemplating the horns behold another horn a little one came up among them and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it and behold this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts I kept looking until Thrones were set up and the Ancient of Days took his seat his vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head like pure wool his throne was a blaze with flames its Wheels were a burning fire a River of fire was flowing and coming out from before him thousands upon thousands were attending him and myriads upon myriads were standing before him the court sat and the books were opened then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful Words which the horn was speaking I kept looking until the Beast was slain and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire as for the rest of the beasts their Dominion was taken away but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period period of time kept looking in the night visions and behold with the Clouds Of Heaven one like a son of man was coming and he came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him and to him was given Dominion glory and a kingdom that all the peoples Nations and Men of every language might serve him his Dominion is Everlasting Dominion which will not pass away and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed as for me Daniel my spirit was distressed with in me and the Visions in my mind kept alarming me I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this so he told me and made know to me the interpretation of these things these great beasts which are four in number are Four Kings will arise from the Earth but the Saints of the highest one will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever for all ages to come then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth Beast which was different from all the others exceedingly Dreadful with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze and which devoured crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet and the meaning of the T horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell namely that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts which was larger in appearance than its associates I kept looking and that horn was Waging War with the Saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the Saints of the highest one and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the Kingdom thus he said the fourth Beast will be a fourth Kingdom on the earth which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it as for the 10 horns out of this Kingdom 10 Kings will arise and another will arise after them and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings he will speak out against the most high and wear down down the Saints of the highest one and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law and they will be given into a and his Dominion will be taken away annihilated and destroyed forever then the sovereignty the Dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the Saints of the highest one his kingdom will be an everlasting Kingdom and all the dominions will serve and Obey him at this point the Revelation Ended as for me Daniel my thoughts were greatly alarmed arming me and my face grew pale but I kept the matter to myself all right let’s observe this section in this night vision Daniel sees four beasts coming up out of the water the first is a winged lion whose wings are plucked off and who then stands on his hind legs and thinks like a man the second resembles a bear though it is raised up on one side and has three ribs in its teeth the three ribs tell the bear-like creature to devour much meat the third Beast appeared like a leopard with four wings on its back and four heads Dominion was given to this Beast the fourth Beast is not described in the likeness of any Earthly creature but notice what we do he about this Beast it is Dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong notice the repeated emphasis in those terms it has large iron teeth verse 19 tells us it has claws of bronze it devour s and crushes and tramples the remainder with its feet it’s different than all the other beasts and it has 10 horns Daniel also notices that another horn comes up between the 10 on this beast and uproots three of them becoming great in size this horn has the eyes of a man and the and a mouth uttering great boasts verse 21 says that the horn was Waging War with the Saints and overpowering them Daniel then sees the Glorious ancient of d days that’s a title for God taking his seat on a blazing throne with burning Wheels a river of fire comes forth from this Throne while myriads attend the Ancient of Days there’s also mention of a court and open books meanwhile the horn continues to boast until the terrifying Beast is slain its body is destroyed and given to the burning fire and verse 22 says the Ancient of Days comes and passes judgment in favor of the Saints of the highest one delivering them from the horn and giving the Saints possession of the Kingdom the rest of the beasts lose their Dominion but are granted life for an appointed period of time then Daniel sees one like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven and presenting himself before the Ancient of Days to this son of man is given Kingdom Glory and dominion over all peoples the kingdom is Everlasting and will never be destroyed Daniel then hears the interpretation the four beasts represent Four Kings arising or four Kings arising from the Earth but he also hears that an eternal Kingdom that the Eternal kingdom is the one that belongs to the Saints of the highest one Desiring to know more about the fourth Beast Daniel learns that the fourth Beast is a fourth Kingdom devouring the whole earth the 10 horns are 10 Kings the little horn is another king who comes later and subdues three kings this horn speaks against the most High Alters time and law wears down the Saints and who are the Saints are given into his hand for time times and half a time we could add this up to three and a half times a court will sit and will take away the Horn’s Dominion annihilate it and destroy it forever and then we hear again dominion and greatness will be given to the Saints of the highest one and their Kingdom will have complete dominion and will last forever and then notice the effects of all this on Daniel he’s greatly alarmed and his face grows pale all right we’ve made these observations trying to interpret you should notice a rough parallel between the vision in this chapter and the vision in Chapter 2 the head of gold that was Babylon is equivalent to the winged lion the silver torso and arms to the bear raised up on one side the bronze belly and thighs to the winged Leopard with four heads the iron legs to the last destructive Beast with the iron teeth the iron and Clay feet having 10 toes roughly correspond also to the last Beast with its 10 horns and its later little horn and just as the stone strikes the statue and fills the Earth in Chapter 2 so the burning Ancient of Days destroys the little horn destroys the Beast and gives Dominion to the Saints now if the winged lion is Babylon what is this about plucked Wings in the mind of a man now before we answer that question let’s note that something involving the mind of the king of Babylon takes place in Daniel 4 what happened to the king of Babylon yes right so in Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar he’s first warned but doesn’t heed the warning he becomes very prideful he boasts in his own ability to have generated the kingdom and all glory and then God says I’m going to drive you out from men make your mind like a beast and you’ll be in the the Wilderness for seven times or seven years and it’s only after that time that God gives him his mind back and he acknowledges all kingship comes from God God is the king of kings and he bestows the Kingdom on whomever he will and then Nebuchadnezzar is reinstalled as king and he receives Glory again so this would be in the background of Daniel 7 so the audience if you’re thinking okay this is Babylon what’s this whole thing about a mind being given to it probably refers back to Daniel 4 and what happened to Nebuchadnezzar now what do the three ribs represent the three ribs of the second beast that call out for Conquest maybe a little bit more difficult question we don’t have many Clues to help us interpret except that they call out for conquest and they’re in the of the bear so probably they represent Three Kings or three kingdoms that are destroyed by the bear so we can’t say too much about that Rob did you want to say something yeah uh we’ll get to what kingdom their bear represents but yeah what’s your question is that the only question okay yeah I I see we’re going to talk about Persia a little bit later on but just so that we have the understanding that Daniel’s audience would have understood from this passage and from Daniel 2 we couldn’t say the identity of this Kingdom we just know that it’s going to come after Babylon well I guess actually a little bit earlier in Daniel we do know that Persia comes next so it would make sense to say that this is Persia but we’ll get to the precise end of these kingdoms a little bit later anyways we have these ribs they probably represent conquered Kings or kingdoms we also learn extra information about the fourth fourth and maybe fifth Kingdom from Daniel from Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 a boastful ruler comes from this Kingdom who will blaspheme God and make war against the Saints or literally against the holy or the holy ones but this blasphemy and War are put to an end by God who gives complete and eternal Dominion to the son of man now in Old Testament terms who is the son of man well yes we know this to be the Messiah that’s what Christ means right this is the Messiah this is the coming king of Israel certainly they’d be connecting this term with that person and he’s given the kingdom and it’s never to end so we have these two different visions and in them God reveals there will be a succession of Earthly kingdoms culminating with their destruction and the removal of all dominions of men and the replacement of those dominions with the kingdom of God ruled by God’s Messiah and filled with God’s Saints now why would this message matter to the people to whom Daniel writes Exiles who have just returned or are just about to return to Israel why would this message matter to them what would they understand about themselves right God has not abandoned Israel he’s not done with Israel and this is something that we’ve emphasized in this quarter these different prophets are all making that theme known God’s not done with Israel you’ve been taken into Exile but God’s not done in fact everything is proceeding on schedule as it were everything’s unfolding according to plan there’s this Kingdom in that’s ruling now but then this other Kingdom will come then this other Kingdom will come but ultimately it’s God’s kingdom that will come it will subdue all the other kingdoms and God’s kingdom connected with Israel’s Kingdom will be on the earth and it will last forever this would be encouraging this would be um what’s the word this would be motivating to say ah I need to keep following after God I need to keep obeying him because his kingdom will come we haven’t lost the kingdom we’re still God’s people and the kingdom will come God is still going to Reign on the earth and he’s going to give the kingdom to the Saints to the holy ones and so if I continue to fall after the Lord I can be part of that Kingdom so this would encourage the people to to remain faithful to the Lord and to not feel like God had abandoned them God’s plan for Israel and for the world was proceeding on schedule now we alluded to this before but we should we could ask did Daniel know the precise identity of the coming kingdoms before the end well some of them he did he would have known that the second kingdom was Persia because he was alive when the Persians took over B Babylon as some of the earlier chapters of Daniel Tell Us Bel shazar he’s deposed and Darius comes in some people think Darius is another name for Cyrus there so he would have seen that in his lifetime but it’s not just from that Daniel 8 actually gives us more information I’ll just tell you a little bit about it Daniel 8 describes the next two kingdoms to succeed Babylon one kingdom is represented by a ram that has one horn bigger than the other and then the next Kingdom is represented by a goat that has one prominent horn which breaks and then is replaced by four horns what are these two kingdoms well God tells Daniel what you saw with the two horns represents the kings of midia and Persia the Shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his Nation although not with his power now this is a pretty clear and specific prophecy the next Kingdom to gain extensive Dominion after Babylon is the kingdom of media and Persia and then after them will be the Greeks but their Kingdom will be split into four so we can combine these three visions together we have Daniel 2 Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 the golden head is the winged lion which is Babylon the silver arms and chest is the lopsided bear which is the lopsided Ram which is media and Persia the bronze belly and thighs is the four-winged and four-headed leopard which is the goat which has one and then four horns which is Greece so these Visions build on one another they provide more specific information as the Visions go along so it’s like God established foundation in Daniel 2 but then revealed more to Daniel as time went on so how did all this play out historically did media and Persia really come next did Greece really come next did it really split into four kingdoms Daniel’s three visions were given approximately 604 to 550 BC so from Nebuchadnezzar’s Reign to belshazzar’s Reign then the MEO Persians under Cyrus conquered the Babylonians around 538 BC so they were indeed the next Kingdom and then the Greeks under Alexander conquered the MEO Persian Empire around 330 BC so this was the one prominent horn but Alexander soon died in 323 BC and his kingdom was split apart under his generals and governors who soon wared with each other for control now the specific breakdown of Alexander’s kingdom is debated in fact historically the political boundaries kept changing and certain Kings r or certain leaders Rose and fell or Allied or broke the alliances some people claimed that there were more than four primary successors to Alexander but the most common breakdown among biblical commentators is that there were four main kingdoms I’ll show you a map Macedonia pergamum Salia and P toic Egypt so Macedonia would be over here in this light green pergamum pergamum and th would be this orange section here here’s Salia this is kind of the big one emerges as the most powerful one the yellow over here on the right and then to make Egypt the blue down here those would be the the four kingdoms the four heads and the four horns referred to by D Daniel historians call these the dooki or the successor States that’s the Greek term comes from the Greek term for successors now who conquered the Greek kingdoms well from Daniel we wouldn’t know the identity of the kingdom it just says that another kingdom will come and it will be terrifying but historically the kingdom was Rome the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire was like nothing before it Rome completely shattered every Kingdom and Empire that bordered the Mediterranean Sea all the Greek kingdoms and many others were conquered and absorbed by the Romans by 30 BC and the Roman Empire lasted a long time if we consider that even when the city of Rome fell to barbarians that the Eastern Roman Empire continued to exist then the Empire the Roman Empire lasted until 1453 a so 1500 years after they had almost complete Dominion of the Mediterranean it was the Muslim ottoman Turks who officially ended the Roman Empire in 1453 when they took over Constantinople which was renamed isul so we do see historically how this is played out but what about the feet of iron mixed with Clay the 10 horns and the kingdom of the Blasphemous little horn have we seen this part fulfilled historically well there are a lot of opinions on this certainly we’ve seen something like it someone who fulfills other parts of Daniel 8 which we didn’t look at but which sounds similar to what we read in Daniel 7 one of the latter saluca Kings and tius I fourth epiphanies did exalt himself to Divine status he forbid sacrificing Israel he confiscated and burned all copies of Israel’s law that he could find and he defiled the temple he basically tried to force Greek culture and Greek religion on the Jews an tius provoked to revolt by doing this the maban Revolt of 167 BC which was successful and established a new Jewish State Jewish state in Israel in BC this Jewish State continued to expand until it was beset by Civil Wars and made a client Kingdom of Rome in 63 BC so that’s why when the Jews talk about the New Testament we we’re independent we’ve never been under subjection to anybody and in a way they’re true they were a kingdom under Rome they were a client Kingdom so we have intus the 4th epiphanies and we also have various Roman emperors later who exalted themselves to be Godlike or Divine and they too persecuted Jews and Christians and even sought to take away their scriptures but have we seen the total fulfillment of this Vision that the the toes the iron and Clay Toes or the the horn that exalted itself it was destroyed by God and replaced with the Messianic Kingdom well certainly we’ve never seen that we’ve never seen the final Blasphemous King removed and then the Everlasting Dominion set up in its place so therefore we must conclude that part of Daniel’s Visions have not yet been fulfilled perhaps similar sounding section in Daniel 8 or Daniel 11 have been fulfilled by Antiochus or maybe Roman Emperor I don’t think we’ve seen everything and yet this should not be that surprising to us because as we’ve gone along today you probably notice that a lot of the language that we read in Daniel is connected with or appears again in the final book of the Bible the Apostle John’s Revelation so we don’t really have time to explore those points but that’s something for us to keep in the back of our minds now again what is the point of all these Visions to Daniel and through him to the Jewish Exiles all it is to reiterate to God’s people that God is in control and that his plans are being worked out among the Nations and that the future establishment of Messiah the future establishment of messiah’s perfectly powerful and just Kingdom on the earth will come to pass the other kingdoms came as God foretold so will christs so will the Messiahs so will the one belonging to the Saints and in that day God’s persecuted holy ones will be Vindicated while Those who commit evil will be judged and destroyed questions or comments about what we’ve heard today yeah Rob that’s a really good question Rob is one of the kings of the ten horns alive today or has that played out historically can we identify 10 Kings I’m sure there’s a lot of debate about that I don’t know if there’s a clear answer to that question I know that certainly there’s Connection in Revelation you may remember the beast in Revelation is also said to have 10 horns and I think an extra horn so it is connected with the end it is connected with the last Kingdom on the earth I doubt whether then we’ve seen or are seeing those 10 horns right now but certainly they are connected with the with the end of the the end of the Earthly kingdoms that’s a good question any other questions yes okay thanks for mentioning that bill so you mentioned that at the end of the Roman Empire Matthew Henry says that it broke down into 10 different kingdoms and that these kingdoms were iron and Clay because there was intermarriage and the kingdom became weaker through that intermarriage even though it was trying to become stronger it is interesting that there does I was thinking a little bit about the the end of the Western Roman Empire anyways where there is an increasing sometimes called barbarization or germanization of the Roman Empire where people outside the Empire are being brought in giving positions of prominence or being allowed to settle into the Empire but did the Roman Empire really break down into 10 kingdoms and we’re only talking about the Western Roman Empire I mean the Eastern Roman Empire which called itself the Roman Empire and in a sense was the Roman Empire even though they eventually started speaking Greek and not Latin it lasted until 1453 so so I don’t know if 476 and the fall of the Western Roman Empire really fits into the into the mold given to us by Daniel now there are plenty of people who will say okay we have a near fulfillment and we have a far fulfillment that’s that’s something that we see with the number of Old Testament passages that’s a way that people will interpret just like we saw with Isaiah 7 when it comes to the prophecy of the Virgin birth they say was this about um Isaiah’s son in the days of that king of Israel or was it about the Messiah many years later well many people would say it’s about both there’s the near fulfillment and there’s the far fulfillment my personal view is that I’m very hesitant to call something a near fulfillment unless it perfectly fulfills whatever the prophecy said this is actually something emphasized to me in one of my Seminary classes I’m actually taking one on the second half of the Old Testament right now and my professor has made the point of saying a specific fulfillment needs to be totally fulfilled if it’s actually fulfilled there is a concept of foreshadowing what we might call typology types where God Appears to fulfill something like the prophecy or it seems to allow something like the prophecy to happen or where I think what we have in Isaiah where in Isaiah 7 and 8 where you have the one prophecy given about the Messiah and then in isaah Isaiah 8 you have a similar sounding prophecy that is not given about the Messiah but it’s given for Isaiah’s own day I think we do have that where that similar sounding prophecy is totally fulfilled but the original is not I would stop short of saying there’s a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment I would say there is something that looks that foreshadows the far fulfillment the actual fulfillment of the prophecy um but that that prophecy isn’t actually fulfilled until everything that it says everything that the the prophecy is given and the details of that prophecy are fulfilled by by one who is to come now I recognize there’s a lot of debate about that but that’s that’s my view other questions yes in the back H far back yeah Steve right um I think that’s okay just repeat your comment so if there’s a near fulfillment and a fulfillment that might be confusing to the people today because if they see the near one then they won’t be expecting another one right uh I I think that’s what you’re getting at and I I I I agree I think that’s why I don’t want to use the term fulfillment I think we want to pay close attention to the specifics of the prophecies and if one prophecy says certain things and those are fulfilled then yes that’s fulfilled that’s a near fulfillment but if there’s another prophecy that sounds like it and that’s not totally f fulfilled then time would have prevented confusion as to what was fulfilled and what wasn’t fulfilled because certainly that would be that would raise some questions about the communication abilities of God if he said on the one hand all right there’s this prophecy that’s going to happen and it’s totally fulfilled but then later on he’s like no no no no it wasn’t totally fulfilled even though you you thought it was all fulfilled and you saw all the specifics of that it wasn’t totally fulfilled I think that would be confusing so that’s why I’m trying to make the distinction between what is actually fulfilled and what just foreshadows or looks like the actual fulfillment but that’s a good point you ra Steve there was another hand yes yeah let me let me try and say something uh you’re asking about what about the toes and what exactly they mean eschatologically what what can we discern about this final Kingdom and is it a Federation of 10 states or there’s a lot we don’t know about this certainly I the reason I pointed out that there are 10 toes is because I think it connects with the 10 horns of Daniel 7 and that connects with the 10 horns we see of the final beast in Revelation and even in Revelation it talks about it being I believe 10 Kings and they give their power to the Beast now what precisely is the nature of their Federation why is it that they’re said to adhere and yet not adhere to one another I don’t know if we can really say I do know that we should really be cautious against what’s sometimes called newspaper ex aesus where we’re looking at present historical events and being like aha here it is this is here’s the T Toes or the European Union is the T Toes or um you know the Muslims they’re they’re the final Kingdom that’s going to be D or you know um not the Muslims but Islamic State or some sort of Arabic Empire or Muslim empire is the is the one that’s going to be destroyed by the uncut Stone there have been plenty of people who’ tried to do that in the past and they’ve been wrong we I don’t know if we have enough evidence to really say could the tent toes and the iron mixed with Clay represent a revived Roman Empire of some kind I think there’s some possibility of that because there’s not that much distinction between the fourth Kingdom the iron Kingdom which appears to be historically Rome and the fifth Kingdom or maybe a continuation of the the fourth Kingdom the iron mixed with Clay I think it’s significant that Daniel 7 doesn’t give five beasts it gives four beasts and the fourth one has a little horn that comes out of it and and it’s connected with it seems to be connected with whatever the previous Empire was represented by that fourth Beast so all that to say I don’t know if we can say with great certainty the nature of this last Kingdom except that it will be it will have great Dominion it will have terrifying power and it will have a Blasphemous ruler and we can fill in some of those details with what we see in Revelation one thing that you may have noticed and I do think this is interesting is that the description of the four beasts in Daniel 7 they are all part of the beast in Revelation 13 so whenever John sees the Beast coming up out of the sea he notices that it has the body of a leopard the feet of a bear I can’t remember if it was the head or the tail of a lion or something like that and then I think it has various horns and those are the three animals that are used in Daniel to describe the success of Kingdoms what is the significance of that not entirely sure but it does sound like the final Kingdom represented by the beast in Revelation either has the uh the strengths of all the previous kingdoms or is like the culmination of every Earthly Kingdom whatever great Earthly kingdom was there on the earth which Daniel has told us about the final kingdom is going to be the culmination of that so certainly lots lots here that we could look more into other questions yeah yeah yeah that is interesting though we should note that the revived Jewish state after the mban Revolt did have a decent amount of power they started from their small little nucleus around Jerusalem and they they conquered most of what was traditionally their land they conquered the northern region Samaria they conquered Edom to the South that’s how the adians or the kind of got brought into to Israel and they conquer a little bit to the uh I guess from your view conquered a little bit to the east they did reestablish a kingdom that was the What’s called the hasoni dynasty but even that did not last it comes under the uh the Dominion of Rome and eventually Rome has to take it away and the biblical writers have stressed or definitely stressed the the greatness of Solomon’s kingdom Solomon’s time and a little bit also David’s time and those sound a little bit like the Fulfillment of the promises that God had previously given to Israel about there being blessed and being a um being a light to the Nations and and drawing people from Over the Earth from all over the Earth we did see that to a limit a limited extent but it didn’t last and we didn’t see it to the full extent which I think ties back into our discussion about near and far fulfillment or foreshadowing and actual fulfillment because we do see something like what God promised Israel in the reign of Solomon and yet it wasn’t it it’s just a a step towards or a foreshadowing of the final Kingdom that is described in Daniel that is described in Isaiah that is described in Jeremiah and Micah the kingdom of Messiah that will come and that will have total Dominion of the earth that will put the knowledge and the law of God everywhere but more importantly and strikingly will result in the Forgiveness of sins so that was foreshadowed but the ultimate fulfillment has not yet come all right any maybe one more question or comment okay if you think of anything else you can always email me I know that when you talk about Daniel you can always definitely generate a lot of questions but God gave us to us to understand he gave it to us to reveal Mysteries I I feel pain in my heart when people say oh you know prophecies about the future you can’t really understand them they’re all they’re all confusing well I recognize there’s there’s some difficulties with understanding prophecies about the future and yet Daniel 2 has made known to us that God is the revealer of mysteries he’s made known the secret things he’s giving wisdom so that would be silly for God to say actually Isaiah says something similar God is the one who makes the matter makes the future known before it happens that’s what makes him so amazing but that’d be kind of silly if we said all that about God and then be like oh you can’t understand it it’s incomprehensible no God gave it to us to to benefit us and so that we can understand it can be difficult to understand but it’s given for us to understand so we have some hope there as we consider some application for today here are just some questions to get you started these this is not exhausted but certain things for you to think about number one when you consider your life or the world circumstances especially with new president things happening in the world do you take comfort in God’s control I heard someone say recently things are never truly falling apart they are actually falling into place and that’s true when you consider God’s sovereignty so do you meditate on the sure coming of messiah’s kingdom does that give you comfort does that motivate you to your obedience each day it was meant to motivate Israel is meant to give them hope do you take the same hope for yourself number two are you one of the most highest holy Ones Will you indeed receive the kingdom or will you be cast out of it and judged with the kingdoms of the Earth because only those who have recognized their own sinfulness who have repented have believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior have citizenship in messiah’s Kingdom so have you have those you know made peace with the Messiah number three God emphasizes in Daniel again and again that God is The Giver of wisdom and the revealer of mysteries are you thankful that God has revealed his Mysteries to you through his word we could not discover this on our owns there’s no innate wisdom in us our wisdom is received by God just as it was by Daniel do you take advantage of this do you diligently study and apply the word or do you take God’s revelation lightly preferring your own wisdom and the wisdom of the the world or do you even slander God’s word by calling it or treating it as unnecessary incomprehensible or downright deceptive may we like Daniel bless the Lord for revealing his wisdom to us and apply it into our lives that’s it for today next week we’re back in the book of Ezra and we’ll see just what happened in the years after zerubabel and the first holy generation let’s close in prayer God we thank you for this word you have amazingly made known to us the future as you made it known to Daniel as you made it known to the people of Israel going back into the land God we know what’s going to happen and you’ve made it even clearer not just from the succeeding revelations in Daniel but in what your son declared while he was on the earth and in what the apostles declared and especially what John declared we know what’s going to happen we don’t have to be ignorant we don’t have to be fearful we know that though Injustice and evil increases it will be put to an end Lord Jesus you will come you will establish Your Kingdom on the earth and your Saints will be brought into it and they will rule and reign with you thank you Lord Jesus for giving us such an inheritance for drawing us into your kingdom for delivering Us From Slavery to sin and from wrath Lord God I pray that you would cause us to persevere for the sake of your kingdom and light of your kingdom thinking about it and looking to be faithful to you until you come in Jesus name amen