Sermon - Daniel 7:1-7 - The Beasts - Littleby Baptist Church - June 21, 2020
The second half of Daniel has a lot of meat in it. We will
talk about history, the weak kings of Babylon, the persecution in Jerusalem,
and the coming Messiah. I encourage you to spend some time each week reading
and re-reading the chapter we are going through.
Daniel chapter seven is the start of the apocalyptic section
of the book and it contains the first of the four apocalyptic visions. This
chapter is said to provide the clearest picture of the coming of Jesus that is
found in the Old Testament.
Daniel said:
Daniel 7:13
“13 I continued watching in the night
visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of
heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him.”
Jesus said:
Mark 14:61-62
“61 But he kept silent and did not
answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of
the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will
see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and
coming with the clouds of heaven.””
Daniel’s first apocalyptic vision included the coming of
Jesus the Messiah as the Son of Man to stand before the Ancient of Days and
ties to Jesus saying you will see Him sitting at the right hand of the Father. This
chapter interweaves with lots of other verses throughout the Bible, we will hit
some of them but no where near all of them.
Daniel 7:1
“7 In the first year of King Belshazzar of
Babylon, Daniel had a dream with visions in his mind as he was lying in his
bed. He wrote down the dream, and here is the summary of his account.”
It is believed that Daniel was 68 years old when he received
this vision which was before he was summoned to Belshazzar in chapter 5.
Daniel 7:2-3
“2 Daniel said, “In my vision at
night I was watching, and suddenly the four winds of heaven stirred up the
great sea. 3 Four huge beasts came up from the sea, each
different from the other.”
The four winds represent God at work. Whether it was through
His angels actively working to bring about the beasts or kingdoms by making
specific things happen or this could be more of a reference of God being in
control over all things and they simply happen according to His will. Either
way, we know that the God of heaven has the power to establish worldly kingdoms
as He wills.
The great sea in scripture tends to reference the
Mediterranean Sea. This makes sense from a geographically explanation as the
kingdoms that are referenced in this vision all border the Mediterranean. The
great sea may also be reinforcing the fact that God pulls the huge beasts or worldly
kingdoms out of the darkness of the sea. Basically, saying that God created
each of the kingdoms. In this case the literal use of the great sea being the
Mediterranean and the figurative use of it referring to God creating the
kingdoms, could both be correct. God created each of these kingdoms or beast
and whether they were pulled out of the dark of the sea or rose up out of the
countries surrounding it does not really matter. Either way, God is behind it
all.
Four huge beasts are four world powers, four earthly
kingdoms. Each one emerging from the great sea as the four winds stir up the
great sea. Each beast emerges from the great sea as God works to bring it
forth.
Before we get into the description of the huge beasts, lets
look back to chapter 2 to refresh our memories about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
Daniel 2:31-33
“31 “Your Majesty, as you were
watching, suddenly a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling,
was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The
head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach
and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its
feet were partly iron and partly fired clay.”
This was Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which
was prophecy for the future and ties with some of what we are looking at in
chapter 7.
The first beast.
Daniel 7:4
“4 “The first was like a lion but had
eagle’s wings. I continued watching until its wings were torn off. It was
lifted up from the ground, set on its feet like a man, and given a human mind.”
Jeremiah 50:17
“Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions. The first who
devoured him was the king of Assyria; the last who crushed his bones was King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.”
The first of the huge beasts was like a lion with eagle’s
wings… Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as a lion by Jeremiah and in Ezekiel he is
referred to as an eagle.
Ezekiel 17:3
“3 You are to say, ‘This is what the
Lord God says: A huge eagle with powerful wings, long feathers, and full
plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.”
The huge eagle in Ezekiel is Nebuchadnezzar who came to Lebanon,
or Jerusalem, and conquered in.
Looking back at Daniel 7:4 the wings being torn off would
represent the judgement Nebuchadnezzar received because of his pride. He later
stood up as a man and was given his human mind back, when he acknowledged God as
sovereign.
The first beast and the statues head of pure gold, are Babylon
under the leadership of king Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 7:5
“5 “Suddenly, another beast appeared,
a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, with three
ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up! Gorge yourself on
flesh.’”
The second beast is the chest and arms made from silver that
Nebuchadnezzar dreamt about. They represent the Mede and Persian Empire, a bear
like nation, in that it was strong and fierce. It was raised up on one side,
meaning that while the Medes existed before the Persians, it was the Persians
that rose to the occasion and drove the conquest of the other nations.
Isaiah 13:17-22
“17 Look! I am stirring up the Medes
against them, who cannot be bought off with silver and who have no desire for
gold. 18 Their bows will cut young men to pieces. They
will have no compassion on offspring; they will not look with pity on children.
19 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of
the pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew
them. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in from
generation to generation; a nomad will not pitch his tent there, and shepherds
will not let their flocks rest there. 21 But desert
creatures will lie down there, and owls will fill the houses. Ostriches will
dwell there, and wild goats will leap about. 22 Hyenas
will howl in the fortresses, and jackals, in the luxurious palaces. Babylon’s
time is almost up; her days are almost over.”
Today the ruins of Babylon are found about 50 miles from
Baghdad in Iraq.
God used the Medes and Persians to bring judgement against Babylon,
who is one of the three ribs the bear had in its mouth. The other two ribs
represent Lydia and Egypt. All three were conquered by the Mede-Persia Empire which
ultimately strengthened the empire so that it could continue to grow through
conquest. This beast was told to ‘Get up! Gorge yourself on flesh.’ The
Mede-Persian Empire was created and given power for a purpose. That purpose was
to devour other kingdoms and extended its territories. If we believe that God appoints
rulers and guides the worldly kingdoms, then the bear fulfilled God’s purpose
for it, as it conquered nation after nation.
Daniel 7:6
“6 “After this, while I was watching,
suddenly another beast appeared. It was like a leopard with four wings of a
bird on its back. It had four heads, and it was given dominion.”
This third beast is the stomach and thighs of bronze from
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The leopard with four wings is Macedonia under the
leadership of Alexander the Great, who conquered Babylon, parts of Europe, and
a good portion of Asia. Each of the beasts or kingdoms before the Greek nation
of Macedonia grew substantially, but Macedonia grew faster than the others.
This third beast had four heads, which represent the four
kingdoms that Macedonia was divided into after Alexander’s death. Macedonia and
Greece were one. Thrace and Bithynia were the second. Egypt was the third and
Syria was the fourth.
The four heads were given dominion over their portion of the
nation as a reminder that is not Alexander who was responsible for the growth
of the kingdom. It is not logical to expect that he could lead thirty thousand
men to be triumphant over the hundreds of thousands that the Medes and Persians
had. It was only by the will and power of God that Alexander was able to
accomplish what he did. God gave the third beast the ability to rule and He
gave it to the four who came after it.
Daniel 7:7
“7 “After this, while I was watching
in the night visions, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, frightening and
dreadful, and incredibly strong, with large iron teeth. It devoured and
crushed, and it trampled with its feet whatever was left. It was different from
all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.”
The fourth beast is the legs of iron with its feet of partly
iron and partly fired clay from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and as Daniel said it
was different than the first 3.
Revelation 13:2
“2 The beast I saw was like a
leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth.
The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority.”
The fourth beast is a mix of the other three. It is more
powerful than all that came before it. It devours with its iron teeth, it crushes
everything in its way with its incredible strength, and tramples everything
that lay before it. The dragon mentioned here is the devil and he gave the
fourth beast his power.
When you lump the first three beasts or kingdoms together,
they lasted a couple of hundred years. This fourth beast has already lasted
longer than the other three combined and its reign is not over yet. The fourth
beast starts with the Roman Empire as it pounded those who stood against it into
submission, but it does not stop there. The kingdom that is represented by the
fourth beast, is still in place today. We are living in the time represented by
this fourth beast. One thing to note in this verse is that the beast has 10
horns, which means that their will be 10 kings in place as we head into the time
when the antichrist takes over. We will get into the fourth beast more next
week.
This vision was given to Daniel before the second beast took
over Babylon. We have the benefit of history to explain a portion of what we
have looked at, but there are still parts of the vision that have yet to play
out and we still have a lot to look at.
For now, remember that God is in control. He has given
dreams to kings and prophets, He has given us the interpretations, He has given
kings and kingdoms dominion to rule, and He has brought all of us here today to
study His words.
Our God is the One Constant in the universe, and He reigns
over all.
God Bless,
Robert
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