People often look to the future with a sense of fascination tinged with fear. Human beings are the only creatures on earth who live with a sense of time, recalling the past and contemplating the future. Memories of wars, famines and other tragedies move us to seek protection from future harm. So any insight into the direction of our times can give us some solace, even if we must face real danger.

The Bible is the first book in history to give its readers a hope of a purposeful end to history. God’s initial promise to Abraham was that his descendants would multiply and possess the land that God promised them; that God would judge other nations by how they treated them; and that finally, all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s descendants. Later prophets, like Isaiah and Daniel, also gave the Israelites hope of a resurrection from the dead, which Jesus Christ validated by His resurrection.

So we, as the people of God, live with a mixture of concern about the immediate course of our world, and how it will affect us in this life; but we also have the Blessed Hope of union with our God forever in heaven that softens the harsh impact of life as we face it. Even so, God’s people have wanted insight into the course of the times, and how things will play out. For this reason, God gave a few prophets visions and revelation about future events, and Daniel was one of these writing prophets.

Please turn with me to Daniel 7. For the past six months we’ve gone through the first half of the Book of Daniel. In chapters one through six, the Kingdom of God collided with the mightiest kingdoms of the known world. Daniel and his three Hebrew friends faced various trials in Babylon’s court under two kingdoms and three kings. In these encounters, the Hebrews’ uncompromising devotion to God was vindicated, and God glorified Himself through the words and actions of each of the three kings – Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar of Babylon, and Darius of Persia.

Now, in chapter 7, the book of Daniel shifts into an entirely different mode. We enter a visionary world of symbols rather than descriptions of people and events in real life. These symbols are attached to great empires that ruled over and profoundly affected the Jewish remnant, starting with the exiles living in Babylon.

Daniel 7 through 12 are what scholars call apocalyptic literature, from the Greek word apokaluptos, which means a revelation or unveiling of something hidden. The Book of Revelation has this name in the Greek: apokaluptos, from which we get the words apocalypse and apocalyptic. We tend to give those words an ominous, deadly sense, because of the terrible judgments described in Revelation. In the latter half of Daniel, there are also ominous events, but these pertain principally to the stream of history that would engulf the people of Israel under four succeeding empires, each more wicked than the former one.

These visions were meant to give the Jewish people added confidence that God is in control of history. Remember that Daniel’s primary theme is the sovereignty of God over the history of mankind. This is the realm of Providence – God’s invisible guidance of the destinies of every nation and every person on earth. The Bible unequivocally declares that God has absolute authority over everything that occurs on earth, and decrees all that will occur before people decide to act. God doesn’t override people’s freedom to choose or act, but secretly shapes the decisions and outcomes of every event to achieve His intended purpose on earth. The ultimate result of Providence is that, in the words of Habakkuk 2:14, “the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.”

That is why our first President, George Washington, concluded after a lifetime of godly contemplation that “Whatever is, is right.” He did not mean that all things were morally just and right, but that everything was right as God intended it would be to fulfill His providential purpose. George Washington understood what the Bible affirmed to be true – that nothing thwarts the sovereign will of God; therefore, nothing can occur on earth that doesn’t ultimately serve to fulfill His sovereign will. For that reason, and that alone, whatever is, is right.

Now let’s look at Daniel 7, starting with verse 1: In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.

The dream or night vision described here occurred chronologically before Daniel chapter 5, as a portent of Babylon’s doom. Most dreams, I believe, are not important symbolically in a prophetic sense. But some dreams are of divine origin and are meant to instruct or warn us. Joel 2:28, which was likely written centuries before Daniel, says, “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”

Continuing with verse 2: Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. ³ Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.”

Clearly, these creatures were meant to be understood symbolically, not literally, which is true of all apocalyptic literature. The four winds of heaven suggest the role of providence governing history, since no one controlled the wind, or knew where it came from. The forces that govern history are beyond our reckoning, much as great winds are beyond our ability to resist.

The great sea gave this vision an ominous portent, since the sea was feared as an unpredictable, unstable, and potentially deadly place to be.

Reading in verse 4: “The first [beast] was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.

⁵ “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’

⁶ “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

⁷ “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

⁸ “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.”

The angel told Daniel the meaning of these fearful beasts in v.17: “The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth.” There is an obvious parallel between this vision and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great statue that represented four succeeding empires in Daniel chapter 2. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that each succeeding empire would be spiritually inferior to the preceding one, although stronger in military might – just as gold, silver, bronze and iron decrease in value and beauty but are stronger physically. Since these human kings were symbolically displayed as beasts, we can infer that their kingdoms were bestial in their inhumane misuse of power.

The first beast was a symbol of the empire of Babylon, combining the mightiest creatures of earth and sky. Lions and eagles are majestic beasts in scripture; and so the winged lion displayed royal majesty, but declared in its hubris the dominion of this empire over earth and sky. When the ruins of Babylon were discovered, so were stones with these mythical creatures engraved upon them.

The second beast is uglier – something like a huge, ravenous bear that lazily eats its prey on its side. The Persian Empire indeed casually exploited its subject peoples around it to build its magnificent capital city of Persepolis. The Persian Empire was relatively benevolent toward the Jews, even funding construction of the second temple in, and the city walls of, Jerusalem. Yet under mighty King Xerxes, the Jews were nearly annihilated under the evil influence of the king’s grand vizier, Haman the Agagite. You can read about this in the Book of Esther.

The third beast is a grotesque leopard-like beast with four wings and four heads; yet it was given authority to rule. The Hellenistic Empire, founded by Alexander the Great in the 4^th century BC, had the characteristics of the leopard in that his conquest of the Persian Empire was swift and sudden.

The Bible declares that his authority to rule was given by God, and this is what allowed him to defeat Persia so swiftly. When Alexander died in his thirties, his empire was divided into four parts by his great generals. The two central kingdoms, named after two of Alexander’s generals, surrounded Israel – the Seleucids to the north and the Ptolemaic kingdom in Egypt. The people of Judea were trapped in the middle of a struggle between these two kingdoms for land and supremacy. Persecution of the Jews reached its height under the brief rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who tried to Hellenize the Jews and impose compromise against the Law of Moses.

Daniel asked the angel about “the meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. ²⁰ I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. ²¹ As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, ²² until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.

²³ “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.²⁴ The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. ²⁵ He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time [or 3½ years].

The fourth and final beast is described as terrifying and very powerful. This empire is never named, but clearly describes Rome, the greatest and most enduring empire. The beast had iron teeth and bronze claws, metals that only humans could form. Thus its existence as an empire was not organic to its origin in one people, but an empire built on conquest, iron-willed government, slavery and a well-designed system of taxation and control. All these attributes enabled them to dominate and control hundreds of smaller ethnic nations and states. It was an empire built by humans that magnified qualities of inhumanity and injustice in its thirst to acquire and retain power.

Rome grievously taxed all subject lands, and then crushed Judea, destroyed Jerusalem, levelled the temple and scattered the Jewish people when they rebelled against Rome. Rome built its wealth upon the forced enslavement of millions of people that enabled tens of thousands of wealthy nobles and officers to retire on plantations. At its height, nearly half of the Roman Empire were slaves. Under Roman law, a “slave had no persona” – they had no standing as people. Dehumanizing so many people made this empire grotesque to God, who makes all people in His image and endues them with the dignity of their humanity.

The Romans were exceptional in their cruelty toward subject peoples. They perfected crucifixion, the cruelest, protracted form of execution known to man as punishment for non-Roman criminals. This beast is described as having ten horns. Ten is likely a symbolic number rather than describing a specific historical fact. However, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs recounts ten Roman Caesars, beginning with Nero, who violently persecuted the Church before Constantine the Great legalized Christianity early in the fourth century.

The little horn remains a mystery in historical meaning. According to one scholar, “the little horn represents the final consummation of evil. It belongs to the final days. Therefore, it ought not to be given a specific identification in any historical figure…. Nevertheless, it is not surprising that many dictators and empire-builders have been identified with the little horn and have shared some of the worst of its features.” It comes after the ten horns, and subdues three other horns, suggesting the overthrow of other kings, or the absorption of their kingdoms. It appears as a little horn in v. 8, but later in v. 20 it is “more imposing” than the other horns, and oppresses and wages war against the saints. This horn speaks against God, and the holy people (the Jews) are given into his hand for three-and-a-half years.

The little horn is a type of the Beast who comes out of the sea in Revelation 13, often been referred to as the Antichrist. It is from the parallels between Daniel and Revelation that many dispensationalists believe in a seven-year tribulation period that will precede the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth as King of Kings.

Christian scholars differ as to whether this Antichrist figure will be a literal ruler at the end of time, or is symbolic of any and all evil rulers who exalt themselves against and above God and persecute God’s people. Certainly, evil rulers like Antiochus Epiphanes, and many Roman Caesars like Nero, Decius and Diocletian, who cruelly murdered thousands of Christians, acted consistently with this little horn.

I still believe that a final Antichrist figure with global ambitions could arise – even in this century. First, we’ve already seen murderous tyrants build great empires in the 20^th century: Hitler in Nazi Germany, Stalin in the Soviet Union and Mao in China. Such a false leader would display the final and ultimate contrast to Jesus Christ before He comes to claim the earth. Second, it is Satan’s nature to steal, kill and destroy; and he does his worst through tyrants who build a police state. Third, modern technology and communications make a global or regional tyranny possible, just as George Orwell envisioned in his novel 1984. Fourth, the evil will to power that resides in megalomaniacs finds its complement in the sinful willingness of many people to idolize men who display power and wealth, and who patronize them in exchange for their fawning submission.

Finally, in each succeeding century since the 16^th, more people have died in war than in the previous century. We live in the nuclear age, so there’s no reason the 21^st century could not exceed all others in death and destruction. In Revelation 6, the first of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse is white – the color of kings – and its rider carries a bow and goes forth “conquering and to conquer.” This symbolizes a megalomaniac seeking dominion over other nations.

The horn’s small initial size attests to its diminutive moral character; and its role as a usurper is displayed by its uprooting of three horns before it. Evil men often conspire against their superiors in their quest for power.

But immediately after the little horn, the true Source of power and authority appears. In vv. 9-12 we read: “As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. ¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. ¹¹ “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. ¹² (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)

Let’s compare the imagery of God to that of the Beasts. God appears in a glorified human form: He has a head and hair like us. God made us in His image; so it is fitting that He chooses to appear similar to us. Remember, God is an infinite, invisible spirit; He can appear however He wants. And just as humans are of a different order of being from the rest of the animal world, God is of a wholly different order morally than empires built by sinful men.

The imagery of God is frightening – He is radiant with light: His clothing and hair are pure white. God’s throne and its wheels are ablaze with fire. We don’t normally think of a throne having wheels; but the vision portrays His throne with flaming wheels. This suggests that God is ready to act in devastating judgment against these beasts that challenge His authority.

In contrast to the armies of these empires, which could number in the hundreds of thousands, God’s mighty angels number in the hundreds of millions; and their power is incalculably greater than any army on earth. In heaven, God’s court is seated in judgment and the books that record the actions of these beasts are opened. All their cunning, devious and murderous words and deeds are exposed; and the verdict against them is certain.

All this time, the boastful mouth of the little horn is speaking in arrogant defiance. Daniel beholds the contrast between the magnificent King of the Universe and his heavenly court and this puny, grotesque little horn exalting itself against Him. Daniel saw all the pretentions of the human race and all their kingdoms summed up in this boastful little horn, and knew that it was doomed. The grotesque fourth beast, the Roman Empire, was destroyed and its body thrown into a blazing fire.

Babylon, Persia and Greece were empires rooted in ethnic nations, and continued to have a form of political existence after their overthrow. Iraq, Iran and Greece, respectively, are all modern nations. When Rome was overthrown, its lands were divided amongst invading heathen tribes from which new kingdoms were later born. Rome ceased to exist as either a nation or kingdom. Modern Italy didn’t come together as a nation, with Rome as its capital, until the late 19^th century.

Some Reformers interpreted the Roman Catholic Church, their nemesis in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, as the little horn or Antichrist; but I don’t believe its behavior today fits this imagery at all. It is a vast, historic Christian Church – flawed and guilty of sin like all of us, but still faithful to its tradition as a Church of Christ.

Six hundred years after Daniel, the writer to the Hebrews warned his readers not to let fear of earthly authorities deter them from keeping faith with the risen Messiah, Jesus. Notice how he uses similar imagery to Daniel in describing God acting in judgment:

“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.²⁶ And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” ²⁷ This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire.”

Daniel’s vision now turned from the judgment of the four beasts, and back to the courtroom of heaven. ¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

This vision gives us the first explicit revelation of the Messiah in Daniel. The Son of Man is given authority, glory and sovereign power – all attributes of a King. All the peoples of the world will worship Him – and worship is exclusively reserved for God. His is an everlasting dominion and kingdom. Therefore, the Son of Man or Messiah is ruling the human race forever beneath the supreme authority of God Almighty, because He and God are One.

The phrase “Son of Man” was Jesus’ favorite title for Himself. God repeatedly addressed his prophet Ezekiel as “son of man” to emphasize Ezekiel’s identity with sinful humanity, even as God elevated him to be a prophet to the exiles in Babylon. Jesus, too, identified Himself completely with the people of Judea even as He fulfilled His office as the last and greatest prophet under the Mosaic covenant. Jesus told His disciples, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many,”

Jesus wanted to emphasize the fullness of His humanity that is also perfectly joined to His divinity. As the Son of Man, Jesus was able to model for us what it meant to live a holy life and be a true disciple of God. No angel or purely divine being could do this. As the Son of Man, Jesus was God’s perfect Lamb, the holy, human sacrifice for our redemption from sin. If Jesus were merely divine, that would be impossible, since God by nature can never die. And only as the Son of Man dying for us did Jesus have the right to retake the dominion over mankind that Satan gained in the Garden by tempting Adam and Eve into disobedience.

In Hebrew, the word for man and the name Adam are the same. What Adam lost through his disobedience, the Son of Adam – Jesus the Messiah – regained for all of us. The Apostle Paul described this parallel substitution in Romans 5:17-19.

 “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. ¹⁹ For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” 

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus cited this passage in Daniel 7 before the Sanhedrin when the High Priest demanded to know if He was Messiah, the son of the Blessed One. Jesus replied, “I AM, and you shall see the Son of Man at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

The angel foretold the little horn’s demise: ‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’

In our nation’s first national call to prayer and thanksgiving, from which Thanksgiving Day arose, George Washington declared: “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” I have engraved those words on my heart, and would urge you to do the same; for they will give you a plumb line of truth in uncertain times. Should our great nation stumble, it is because we on the whole have failed to heed his wise admonition. Even so, Providence will bring forth from America all that God intends to fulfill His sovereign will. And God will do the same for you, as well, even if you should stumble.

The Bible assures us that, in the words of Psalm 37:23-24: “The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord, and He delights in His way. Though he falls, he shall not be cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” Today, I declare that through faith in Jesus Christ, God has made you into good men who will be upheld by God through whatever trials may come. For God delights in what He is doing in you in Christ. It is now for you to agree with God’s delightful work and to acknowledge His Providence in your life, obey His will revealed in the Bible, be grateful for His benefits to you and then humbly pray for His protection and favor every day. If you do this, God will be with you every step of the way. You will never be hurled down in utter defeat. Never!

One of Messiah’s titles is “the Lord our righteousness.” It is Christ, and Christ alone, who makes us just before God and can make us good from within. Have you fully entrusted yourself to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? He will make you the good man that you’ve always wanted to be, that God wants you to be. Entrust yourself completely to Him in faith; and He will regenerate you from within and seal you with His Holy Spirit. He will keep renewing you in response to your faith, until you see Him face to face in heaven.

Let us pray.