Daniel videos and texts

[This is the text version of my video, “Daniel Chapter 8”.]

This is our fourth class on Bible prophecy and this time we are looking at Daniel chapter 8. I’ll be honest with you: this class can be a bit of a challenge. Maybe you remember that in the class on Daniel chapter 7, I said it was like we were going to climb up  into the mountains of Bible prophecy. That can certainly also be said of Daniel chapter 8. In fact, it’s going to get a little steep. But we’re going to learn some amazing things and we’ll be getting a lot closer to the summit. So hold on, the chapter begins like this.

Daniel 8:1 and 2  In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.

And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

The province of Elam is the area that is today the west and south-west of modern Iran, or Persia as it is called in the Bible. Shusan, as the Jews called the city, was the capital of the province of Elam at the time. Historically the city is called Susa. It was approximately 230 miles east of Babylon.

Daniel chapter 8 has some similarities to chapter 7. There Daniel had a vision of 4 beasts, symbolizing 4 kingdoms. In chapter 8 we are going to see two beasts, but with more detail than before. And from those 2 beasts we are going to be propelled into the future, to a time soon to come.

Daniel 8:3 Then I lifted mine eyes and saw, and, behold, a ram with two horns stood before the river, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

We don’t have to wonder or guess what this ram signifies because it tells us clearly in verse 20 of this chapter.   “The ram which you saw, having two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia.”

So this ram in chapter 8 corresponds to the bear in the vision of chapter 7. And it represents the same as the chest and arms of silver in chapter 2.  In each of these three chapters there is a different representation of the dual kingdom of the Medes and Persians.

And what does that signify, one horn being “higher” than the other and this one “coming up last”? The Persians were certainly stronger than their allies the Medes. But the Persians came up after the Medes had snuck in under the walls of Babylon by night and defeated it in 538 BC.

Daniel 8:4  I saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward; so that no beast could withstand him, nor was there any that could deliver from his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

If we looked, from the time that Daniel wrote this, forward into the future, we would see that the Persians did conquer lands and peoples to the south, to the north and to the west. Once they defeated the Babylonians, the Persian kings eventually held sway over parts of Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean and much of what is modern Turkey.

The vision continues in verse 5:

And as I was watching, behold, a he goat came from the west across the face of all the earth, and he touched not the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

And again, there’s no need to guess or wonder what this goat represents. It tells us plainly in verse 21 of this chapter.  “And the rough goat is the kingdom of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.”

Greece back then was mostly a collection of what are called “city states”, not really a united kingdom but more a collection of independent cities, such as Athens, Thebes, Sparta and others. The great horn of this goat represents “the first king.” We know him as Alexander the Great. He came from Macedonian, an area to the north of modern Greece.

In chapter 8, the goat “touched not the ground”, symbolizing speed, certainly a characteristic of Alexander’s swift conquest of most of the known world of his day in only 10 years.  In Daniel chapter 7, Greece is seen as a leopard, one of the fastest of animals. And in Daniel 2 Greece is the belly of brass. All three of these are visualizations of the empire of the Greeks that was to come.

At the age of 19, Alexander took over the army of Macedonia in 332 B C, after the assassination of his father, Philip.  Alexander had been groomed from childhood for greatness. At the time of his birth, signs and omens were reported which pointed towards Alexander being marked by Destiny for future greatness. His father had him taught by the best tutors as he grew to manhood. One of those was the famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle.

Daniel 8:6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

We can look back into history and see that this all actually did take place. But it’s easy to not appreciate the total miracle of it all. A specific kingdom and king are being predicted to come to world dominance, over 200 years before it happens. And for them to defeat the Persians who weren’t even in power yet.

 Daniel 8:7 And I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and shattered his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled him: and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

Alexander had three main battles with the Persians, first at the Granicus River. Then at the Battle of Issus. And then, the ultimate one, the battle of Gaugamela.

The purpose of this class is not to zero in on Alexander the Great. But this battle of Gaugamela was so amazing that I’ve read it is still studied in war colleges by military historians and teachers to this day. Alexander and his 40,000 troops were outnumbered by as much as 10 to 1. The Persian king, Darius III, had a vast army. But Alexander and his forces, through speed and military genius, routed the Persians and nearly captured the Persian king as he fled the battle field. As Daniel saw in this vision, 200 years before it happened, there was no power in the ram to deliver but the goat prevailed.

Daniel 8:8  Therefore the he goat became very great: and when he became strong, the great horn was broken; and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.

“When he was strong, the great horn was broken”. When Alexander was nearly 33 years old, he died of a high fever in a palace in Babylon. He had no son of age to succeed him. And so his empire was divided between his 4 top generals, just as Daniel had seen in this vision. In Daniel 7 the leopard had four heads and 4 wings, another picture of the future dividing of the empire of Alexander that was to come

After Alexander’s untimely death, his 4 top generals divided his empire into 4 different regions or areas. Cassander ruled Macedonia and Greece, Lysimachus the area we today know as Turkey, Seleucus  the region from Syria to India, and Ptolemy  the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and parts of north Africa.

At the beginning of the class I told you that this chapter is again going to be a little like mountain climbing and, at one point, it’s going to begin to get steep.  That’s where we are now. But it’s going to happen in similar way to what we saw in Daniel 2 and in chapter 7. Now at this point, Daniel chapter 8 will jump forward, into the future and into a higher realm. Some new information is going to be introduced as well as some new words or phrases you’re possibly not familiar with.

Daniel 8:9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceeding great toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.

Verse 9 says, “out of one of them”. In other words, out of one of the four divisions of Alexander’s Empire, “came forth a little horn”.   We saw this “little horn” in the last part of Daniel 7. It’s the same thing here.

At that time I introduced to you the word, “the Anti-Christ”, the devil possessed dictator of the Last Days before the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.  And it says this little horn “grew exceeding great towards the south and the east and the pleasant land”. “The pleasant land” is a phrase referring to the land of Israel.

You may realize that this seems to indicate an actual location for the rise, or the origin of, this powerful future world ruler. And the only division of Alexander’s empire that this would fit without duplicating the directions mentioned would be Egypt.

I’m not going to insist with certainty that this future leader of the Last Days arises out of the former Egyptian segment of Alexander’s empire. Some people mention verses from elsewhere in Daniel, and from Ezekiel, that this dictator will arise out of the land area of Russia. My guess is that he will have some background, or something to do, with both places. But again, I’m not saying I’m sure.

Daniel 8:10 And it became great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.

In Daniel 7, the little horn became the main subject of the prophecy. And we’re seeing the same here. This dictator will try to fight the people of God and God Himself. Some think this  “casting down the host and the stars to the ground” represents the Antichrist, trying to fight against the angelic forces of God. But it is more likely a representation of “the host” of believers on earth, the people of God, who this dictator will seek to destroy.

In relation to this and speaking about the Last Days, Daniel 12:3 says, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever.”

That verse compares God’s people of faith in the Last Days to stars, shining brightly for God. So prophecy does not just give a picture of defeat and sorrow for the forces of God in these times to come. Daniel 12 verse 3 speaks about those future times before the return of Jesus and says there will be those who will be “turning many to righteousness”. Maybe you’ll be one of those.

Daniel 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even unto the Prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

This is still talking about “the little horn”, the Antichrist of the endtime. And it says “he magnified himself.” He will be the ultimate in a pride-filled man. This little horn magnifies himself  “even to the Prince of the host”. This Prince of the host had another name in Daniel 7, the “Son of Man”, Jesus of Nazareth. The Antichrist will boast himself to be equal to Jesus and will say he is worthy of the worship of all the peoples of the earth. But then it says, “and by him ‘the daily sacrifice’ was taken away, and ‘the place of his sanctuary’ was cast down“.

This is the first place we hear anything about “the daily sacrifice” or “the sanctuary”. So you may be saying, “What is the “daily sacrifice? What’s “the sanctuary?” That’s what I said the first time I read this. Let me somewhat answer that and then leave the rest till later. In the religion of the Jews, part of their worship included the offering of animal sacrifices. And this was involved with “the sanctuary” in Jerusalem. We’ll be hearing more about this and it’s going to become increasingly important. But if you don’t understand it right now, that’s ok.

Daniel 8:12 And an army was given him against the daily sacrifice because of transgression, and he cast down the truth to the ground; and practiced and prospered.

He is going to be, not only a man of great words, but a mighty military man as well and will have a strong army to back him. Again there’s the mention of “the daily sacrifice”.  And we read that the truth will be “cast to the ground”. This man of sin will hate and oppose the truth. And for a time, he will “practice and prosper“.

Daniel 8:13 ¶ Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said to that certain one that spoke, “How long will be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?

My sympathies always lie with the folks who are having this class for the first time. If that’s you, I can understand if you feel like this is just more than you’re able to grasp right now. So let’s slow it down a bit more and look closely at all this.

First, just one small thing, this “ ¶”  is a “paragraph sign”. It may or may not show up in your Bible, but this is a new paragraph in the original text. So this is a completely new part of the vision or prophecy.

Daniel sees these two “saints”, most likely these two are angels. Daniel sees one of them ask the other one that question we just read. And here again is that word “daily sacrifice”. We’re beginning to hear a lot about that. Must be important.

And there’s that word “sanctuary” again. We said that was the place that had to do with  the sacrifices. And then there’s another strange phrase, a new one: “the transgression of desolation”.

This is getting steep. We’ve seen rams, goats, Alexander the Great, angels, the Antichrist and then some new phrases you may not even understand. But just hold to all this. We’re nearly at the place where the angel Gabriel is going to come down and explain it all to Daniel face to face in the next few verses.

So one angel is asking the other one how long will it take for all these things to happen. Already in this chapter we’ve been getting some clues about where the Antichrist will come from. Now here’s something about how much time this will all take.

Daniel 8:14 And he said to me, “Unto two thousand, three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”

One angel asked the other angel; but then the answer was directed to Daniel: 2000 and 300 days. Then shall “the sanctuary” be cleansed. That’s a period of time of around 6 years and 4 months.

I’ve used the analogy several times of mountain climbing in relation to the study of the prophecies of Daniel. Well, I can tell you that right around here can be some of the most difficult parts of the climb. I think it can especially have to do with some of these new phrases that come in right here, “the sanctuary”, the “transgression of desolation”. And you may have no idea what they’re talking about.

Many of you are Christians; or at least you have some Christian friends. So let’s pull back from Daniel in the Old Testament for a moment and look at what Jesus said about these very subjects when He was alive on earth. In the Daniel chapter 2 video class I gave, we looked at where Jesus was speaking about the prophet Daniel. The text to that video at one point said this:

In fact, when Jesus of Nazareth was asked about the future, He mentioned specifically the prophet Daniel. He said “When you shall see…  (the future events) …spoken of by Daniel the prophet (whoever reads, let him understand)…”

And, you might have wondered, “Did Jesus really say, ‘future events’”? And you’d be right, Jesus didn’t use those words. I substituted “future events” into that verse, at that time, because I felt, if I’d put there what it fully said, then you might not have understood it right then.

But, let’s look at that verse again and, this time, see what Jesus fully said in Matthew 24:15.

“When you shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whosoever reads, let him understand).

I emphasized two phrases when I read that because we are now including them here and they are going to become more important to this class and the ones on Daniel chapter 9.  Earlier we read about “the sanctuary” in Daniel chapter 8, verses 11, 13 and 14

This word “sanctuary” in Daniel chapter 8 is what Jesus meant by “the holy place”, or as it was called then, the Temple in Jerusalem. But Jesus said, “When you shall see, the abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place”.

I remember the first time I read this, I just really didn’t understand it. English is my first language and I’d virtually never heard the word “abomination”. What’s “the abomination of desolation”? And it’s going to be standing in a temple somewhere?

I am going slow here but this is important. These things are going to become some of the main points or subjects as we go forward. And they are referring to prophecies in the Bible that have not yet happened, things that we might just soon see, in our times.

Maybe you didn’t know it but there are people alive today who are ready to build the 3td Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Their hope is to begin again to offer ritual sacrifices in this temple that they hope to build on Mount Moriah, the current location of the Islamic Mosque of Omar, also called the “Dome of the Rock”.

For over 1900 years there’s been no Jewish temple and no ritual scarifies offered by the Jews. In fact, from 70 AD till 1948, the Jewish nation of Israel did not exist, at least not within the boundaries of the original kingdom in the times of David and the Prophets. But since 1948, there has been a nation of Israel in the Middle East.

When we look to the prophecies of the future, both in what Jesus said and what He quotes from the prophet Daniel, we can see that there will again be a “holy place”. And Daniel speaks of “the daily sacrifice” in the Last Days. For 1900 years, this was impossible. But in our times, with the Jews returned to their ancestral homeland, all that is needed is some kind of “peace agreement” to make conditions possible for this temple to be rebuilt and the sacrifices to begin.

If we look again at verses 13 and 14, it may not all become totally clear. But perhaps you’ll be getting a better idea of how this can be fulfilled, even in our times. The angel was asked how long the time would be for the daily sacrifices and the “transgression of desolation”, another phrase for “abomination of desolation”. And Daniel was told: about 6 years and 4 months.

And maybe you remember in Daniel 7 that the prophet was told of another significant period, “a time, times and half a time” (Daniel 7:25). The “little horn” would be given that much time, 3½ years. Now I’m pretty sure, if this is all new to you, that it’s still not totally clear. But hold on to those two time periods, 3½ years and 2300 days, which is about 6 years and 4 months. We’re going to be seeing some very amazing things in the next class about all this, Daniel chapter 9.

Daniel 8:15 and 16  And it came to pass, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, that, behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”

Just like in Daniel chapter 7, the prophet first sees these amazing visions and then it’s explained to him by an angel. Only this time, there was a man’s voice who gave the angel Gabriel orders to help Daniel understand it all. Who could that “Man” have been giving those orders to the angel Gabriel? I’m pretty sure it was that “Son of Man” again.

Verse17   So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said to me, “Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.”

Seeing an angel in his glory up close must be an awesome thing. Daniel was afraid. But Gabriel comforted him and told him, for the first time here, that “at the time of the end shall be the vision”.

Verse 18  Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

It sounds like Daniel perhaps fainted or was just almost overwhelmed by all this. But Gabriel touched him and set him upright. This must have all been pretty important to God and he needed Daniel in good enough condition to be able to receive this extremely important message he was being given.

Verse 19   And he said, “Behold, I will make you know what shall be in the last end of the indignation; for at the time appointed the end shall be.”

So three times in two verses the angel Gabriel says that this vision is about “the end”. God doesn’t have an angel say something three times just for effect. Very few times in the whole Bible does God say something three times, and when He does, it’s important.

Verses 20 and 21 The ram which you saw, having two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia.  And the rough goat is the kingdom of Greece; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

Gabriel is explaining to Daniel what these beasts are. They represent the Medo-Persian Empire and the empire of the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great.

Verse 22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall arise out of the nation, but not in his power.

Gabriel explains the significance of “the great horn”. The king of Greece who was to come would be broken, while he was still strong, and his kingdom would be divided into four parts. And, just as we have seen already from history, this did happen.

Verse 23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to their full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding intrigues shall stand up.

And here begins the angel’s description of the “little horn” of the end time. When “transgressors are come to the full”, when the people of the earth have fallen away from God and turned away from His love and truth,  “a king of fierce countenance shall stand up”. Your continence is your expression so a king of an angry, vicious expression will a stand up. He will also be a man of subtlety, intrigues and spiritual darkness.

Verse 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and he shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

I don’t like to dwell on the works of the devil. But the Bible is clear here that this man will be mighty, though the power of Satan. He will be a destroyer in an awesome way, having his own way for a limited time. And here it says “he shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.”

I believe he will attempt to destroy the people with a living faith in, and worshippers of, the God of Abraham, whoever they may be. Because they will recognize him for who he is: the man of sin, the Antichrist, the Dejal. But he won’t destroy them all. There are prophecies we’ve not yet read about this period of time that make it clear that “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” That’s from later in Daniel, chapter11, verse 32, again very much focusing on these final days of the endtime and “the people who know their God”. Maybe you’ll be one of those people.

Verse 25  Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule. And he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many. He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

In another translation it says “by his understanding he shall cause craftiness to succeed”. His very nature and soul will be to lie and do evil. And as we read before, he shall “magnify himself”, the ultimate man of pride.

“And by peace shall destroy many”. Dictators from the beginning have used lies and false peace to ultimately destroy many.  And at this point in Daniel another translation gives what might be some added insight into who this Antichrist fights the most successfully. The other translation says here, in verse 25 “he shall destroy many in their prosperity”.

So it could be the holy people referred to here might be more accurately understood as the high profile churches, synagogues and mosques which have often been targets of Godless and anti-religious regimes when they’ve come to power. And it even says, amazingly here, “He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes”.

This man will defy and mock the Prince of princes, Jesus Christ, in order to have the worship that Satan has always wanted for himself. But he will come to his end, “he shall be broken without hand.”

Verse 26 And the vision of the evening and morning is true; wherefore seal up the vision, for it shall be for many days.

The angel again tells Daniel that it’s all true. But that it’s not for him or his time. So he should seal the vision for many days, for a distant time to come.

Verse 27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I rose up and did the king’s business. I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

It sounds like this experience was so heavy on Daniel that he actually fainted twice. And he was sick for days afterwards. Thank God for such a faithful prophet to be a vessel the Lord could use to give us these messages. So Daniel went back to being a minister of the king of Babylon at that time. He was astonished at the vision but he didn’t know what it all meant. He just recorded it for the people of the future, to whom it was for.

We’ve come a long way already. But honestly, we still have the most amazing parts ahead of us. Each chapter prepares us for the next and that’s how this one has been. Some of this may have been a little difficult to understand. But it all will be clearer in Daniel chapter 9, which is considered to be perhaps the most astonishing prophecy in the entire Bible. I so much look forward to sharing that with you soon, God bless you.

[This is the text version of my video, “Daniel Chapter 7”.]

Hi again. Every time I do one of these classes on the visions of Daniel, I just really get excited. It’s so interesting and amazing. And so few people know anything about it.

At the end of the last class, I said that, if you enjoyed that one, I felt that this next one “would really take you to another level”. I hadn’t been planning to say that. But, afterwards, it did seem right, because this chapter, Daniel 7, does take you to a higher realm. Let me explain that by talking about mountain climbing.

In serious mountain climbing, you first establish a base camp. This is not usually too rigorous. You’re on your way; you can see the peak ahead of you but you haven’t really started climbing yet.

Next is “Camp 1”. The path gets steeper. You’re still not doing difficult climbing. But after setting up Camp 1, you’re ready.

That’s a good way of looking at what we have done so far. In our first class, “An Introduction to Prophecy in History”, it was like we were setting up Base Camp.  We began to see the mountain of prophecy, to see God’s vision from the past to the future.

Then we studied Daniel chapter 2. I’m still amazed at how God gave that vision. Because, it was not only exactly what was needed for that day, for Daniel and his people as well as for Nebuchadnezzar and his, but this most understandable chapter helped us to begin to appreciate the basics of prophecy and how God pictures to us the nations of this world as well as His own kingdom to come.  Daniel chapter 2 was our “Camp 1”, getting us further up the mountain of prophecy. And now we’re really going to start the climb.

You may be saying, “What do you mean by that?” What I mean is that our first two classes were a good preparation for Daniel chapter 7. Because, in this chapter, God is going to build upon all we’ve learned so far, giving us the same information again, but with much more detail, plus some important new characters and significant future events. The seventh chapter of Daniel begins like this.

DANIEL 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

This takes place around 553 B.C., over 45 years after the last chapter we studied, Daniel chapter 2. By this time Daniel had served a lifetime as a councilor to the kings of Babylon. He was now in his 60’s.

DANIEL 7:2 & 3 Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.   And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse from one another.

There are some incredibly deep truths in this chapter. One of the challenges here is to try to keep all this simple so those studying it for the first time will be able to understand it. I’ll continue to aim this at those who are new to Daniel and to prophecy. At the same time, I hope to point out some of these amazing things without getting into too much detail.

And let me tell you what those four beasts are. Remember the 4 kingdoms that we saw in the statue in Daniel 2? These 4 beasts represent the same 4 kingdoms.  In verse 17, Daniel is told, “These four great beasts are four kings…”   And verse 23 says, “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth…”

So these 4 beasts represent kings or their kingdoms, the same as the statue did in chapter 2. But in this vision, the increase in information, plus the new characters and events so stunned Daniel that the vision needed to be shown or explained to him 3 times.

DANIEL 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.

But if these beasts of Daniel 7 correspond to the parts of the statue of chapter 2, then how does that fit with this first beast, a lion?  In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, he was pictured as a head of gold. Here he and Babylon are pictured as the king of beasts, a lion.

The wings being plucked and a man’s heart given to it symbolize Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation, because of his pride, and then his eventual salvation as he turned completely to the God of Abraham, Daniel’s God. This can all be found in the 4^th chapter of Daniel.

DANIEL 7:5 And, behold, another beast, a second, like a bear and it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said this to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’

We know that the kingdom that followed Babylon was the Medes and the Persians. Does this bear represent that kingdom? In Daniel 2, the Medes and Persians were represented by two arms of silver. Here it’s pictured as a bear, raising itself up on one side. Again we see the emphasis of a dual kingdom, one side being stronger than another.

What about those 3 ribs, is that significant? That could represent the 3 ancient empires that were before the bear, the Egyptian, Assyrian and Babylonian empires. Or the ribs may represent the three main kingdoms Persia first conquered: Media, Lydia, and Babylon.

Why a bear? When the Persians went to war, it was usually as a huge army, or actually armies of many nations, all under Persian leadership. History tells us they would put up to 1½ million men into the field of battle and just grind down their enemies by their sheer numbers and size, like a lumbering, hulking bear.

DANIEL 7:6 After this I looked, and lo another, 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.

If the lion was Babylon and the bear was Medo Persian, then this must represent Greece in some way. Just as the bronze belly and thighs of brass was Greece in chapter 2, so this leopard is another picture of the Grecian empire. The leopard is one of the world’s fastest animals, which certainly pictures Alexander the Great and the Grecian army’s conquest of all the known world of his day in only 10 years.

But Alexander died in his 30’s and left no surviving heirs. His kingdom was divided between his 4 top generals. So this four-headed leopard was an amazing prediction of the Grecian empire to come, all shown to Daniel over 200 years before it happened.

So far, this has not been greatly different from what we saw in chapter 2. But, we’re about to go into some things that we’ve really not seen before. And of all that Daniel is shown in this vision, this part is what he became most interested in.

DANIEL 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.

In Daniel 2 we saw that the iron legs of Rome, along with the feet and 10 toes, was the kingdom to come after the Greeks. It’s almost the same here: a great beast with iron teeth and 10 horns.  “Dreadful.” “Breaking in pieces.” What a picture of the Roman Empire. But Daniel goes on to say A “little horn” plucking up 3 of the first horns by the roots. What is that? It seems like this was exactly what Daniel himself was wondering. But he didn’t have time to ask about it, because next he saw this.

DANIEL 7:9-14  I watched till the thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days did sit whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was like a fiery flame and its wheels a burning fire.

 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set and the books were opened.

 I looked then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke; I watched till the beast was slain, and his body was destroyed and given to the burning flame.

 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.

 And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one which shall not be destroyed.

After seeing the vision of the 4 beasts, Daniel is swept up into Heaven itself, to the very throne of God, the Ancient of Days. This is one of the most astonishing visions of God and His throne in the entire Bible. Verse 10 says “…thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.“

Millions ministering to Him. 100 million standing before Him. In those days that must have seemed like the population of the whole world. Perhaps that’s the meaning here. The Ancient of Days, God the Father, on His throne, sitting in judgment, the books open. We’ve almost all heard of “Judgment Day”. It might surprise you to learn there’s going to be more than one Judgment Day. But we can talk about that some other time.

Verse 11 I looked then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke; I watched till the beast was slain, and his body was destroyed and given to the burning flame.

It’s time to explain who this “little horn”, this “Beast” is. God’s Word tells us that, in the last days of Man’s rule and dominion on earth, a demon-possessed dictator is going to arise who will temporarily save the world from total destruction just before the return of Jesus to rule the earth.  This chapter is the first time he’s introduced so clearly in God’s Word. But he’s mentioned many more times after this, both in Daniel and in the Book of Revelations. He’s going to appear to be the greatest leader the world has ever known, clever enough to solve all the world’s problems –economic, political and even religious.

God’s Word says that Satan himself at times can seem to be an angel of Light. And this Beast, while charming the world with his smooth words and almost miraculous deeds, will also ultimately oppose God Himself, the truth, love and finally demand that all people worship and obey him. But, as this verse brings out, he will be slain and his body delivered to the flames.

Verse 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

This is not talking about the Beast, the Anti-Christ (as he’s called) of the final End Time.  But this is talking about those other beasts we saw at the first, representing the various nations of the world.  It says “they had their dominion taken away”, during the future Kingdom of God on earth, “yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” These nations are not going to rule themselves during the future Kingdom of God on earth; they’re not going to be independent. But Jesus and His followers are going to be their rulers in the Kingdom to come.

Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.

This is one of the most remarkable visions in the Old Testament. “One like the Son of man is brought to the Ancient of Days.” We already know who the Ancient of Days is. That’s God, the Father. But here “the Son of man” is brought before Him.

Verse 14 And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one which shall not be destroyed.

Here’s a picture of God, in the Old Testament, the God of Abraham, having this “Son of man” brought before Him. The “Son of man” is given a kingdom and dominion over all peoples, nations and languages, the everlasting Kingdom of God which shall not be destroyed.

In Daniel chapter 2 we saw this Kingdom represented as a stone.  The stone smote and destroyed the statue, representing the kingdoms and nations of men. And the stone, the Kingdom of God, went on to fill the whole earth.  Here it’s revealed that the “Son of man” is going to receive this kingdom from God. But who is this Son of man?  Jesus of Nazareth referred to himself over 80 times in the New Testament as “the son of man”.

I want to keep all this simple. But also I want to show you something from 500 years before the time of Daniel when someone else actually had a brief glimpse of this throne scene in heaven. King David described what he had just seen, in Psalm 110:1

If you look closely, the first “LORD” is all caps. The second “Lord” is not. You have the same picture again, from a much earlier period of history: The LORD GOD, the Ancient of Days, on His throne, speaking to “David’s Lord”, the Messiah to come, to sit beside Him. And David knew that this Messiah to come, “the Son of man”, would also be one of this own future descendants, which Jesus was. So in some ways this vision of the thrones in Daniel chapter 7 was not the first time this truth had been revealed to a prophet of God.

Can you imagine what Daniel felt like after seeing all that? Actually, in this case, we don’t have to imagine because he tells us.

DANIEL 7:15 I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

He doesn’t use so many words but Daniel was a little shook up. “The visions of his head troubled him.”  So, what could he do? Let’s see.

DANIEL 7:16  I came near to one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the thing:

You mean there were some other people with him who also saw this tremendous vision? No. It’s pretty clear that Daniel was deep in the Spirit of God at this time. Daniel had one foot in this world and one in the heavenly realm. He was “in the spirit”, so that he was aware of spiritual beings around him. He could perceive angels with him and he asked one of them what was the meaning of what he’d seen. So the angel told him.

DANIEL 7:17 & 18 These four great beasts are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

There’s not much humor in the Bible. But for many years, this part here almost seemed funny to me. Daniel had just seen some of the most amazing things that any man of God had ever seen. But when the angel was asked about it, all he said was, “These four great beasts are four kings, which shall arise …    …but the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom.”

It just always seemed to me like maybe this was not a very talkative angel. And Daniel sure wanted to know more because the next thing that happens is that he just pours out a list of things he really wanted to know about.

DANIEL 7:19 & 20 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, very  dreadful, whose teeth were of iron and its nails of brass, which  devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; 

and of the ten horns that were in its head, and of the other horn which came up, before whom three fell,

even that horn which had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.

Daniel had some questions. But, when I was studying this some more, I had another idea about why that angel didn’t say so much the first time around. This experience was, to use a Bible term, “heavy meat”.  Daniel was being given profound revelations, even troubling, astonishing visions. The angel knew it was not easy for Daniel to absorb or understand it all. And it might be that way for you right now. So, instead of being kind of quiet, maybe the angel was just going slow.  He knew it was necessary if Daniel was to be able to receive, and endure, all he was being shown.

When Daniel asked about the fourth beast, the 10 horns and that little horn, the angel didn’t start talking right away. But the vision began again. And let me just tell you, the next part is a little rough. But it’s the truth and there’s a happy ending.

DANIEL 7:21 & 22  I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and overcame them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Then the angel begins his explanation, verse 23.

DANIEL 7:23   The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be different from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down and break it in pieces.

We already know what the fourth beast is. This is the Roman Empire, pictured in chapter 2 as the legs of iron.

DANIEL 7:24 a   And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings which shall arise…

These 10 horns on the 4^th beast are kings or kingdoms, nations that have come out of or come from the Roman Empire. Are there any nations today that have come out of the Roman Empire? Yes. Many of the nations of modern Europe have their histories founded in the Romans. England, France, Germany, as well as Italy, Spain, Portugal and others draw their roots back to Rome. So many Bible scholars feel that these 10 horns have something to do with the nations of modern Europe.

DANIEL 7:24 b  …and another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first, and shall subdue three kings.

This little horn, this beast, becomes more and more the main subject.  Every word here is important. He, the Antichrist, is going to “arise after them“. Perhaps this means he’ll arrive on the world stage as someone new, after these 10 nations are already established, as they are now. He will be “different from the first”. We get the feeling that this beast is not from one of those 10 nations.  And he will “subdue” three of them.

Back in verse 8 we read that he “plucks up 3 by the roots”, a little more graphic and possibly violent there. Not only does the Antichrist overthrow (what looks like will be) 3 modern nations of Europe, but it says in verse 21, “he makes war with the saints“… “until the Ancient of Days came”.  In other words, until the return of Jesus, coming in the glory of His Father.

These 10 nations are around at that time, of the coming of Jesus, because the Anti-Christ subdues 3 of them and he also makes war with the saints until the return of Jesus and the setting up of God’s Kingdom on earth.

DANIEL 7:25  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and shall think to change times and law. And they shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.

This is not just going to be some crazy dictator. In other places the Bible says that the Antichrist will ultimately be fully possessed by the Devil. Not just a devil, but the Devil. And it says here, and in verses 8 & 20, that he is going to “speak great words against the most High”, against God and Jesus.

There have been men somewhat like this in the past. Some of the Roman Caesars, perhaps Napoleon, certainly Adolph Hitler have been foreshadowings of this final world ruler. Men with extraordinary abilities, charming, powerful, almost god-like, possessing powers that seemed super human.

And it says he “he shall wear out the saints of the Most High”, “he made war with the saints and overcame them.”

This could be the most troubling for you. Maybe you’re tempted to worry or fear. And that’s understandable. But God didn’t tell us this to make us worry or fear. He told us this so we’d know that He’s in control, so that we’d be prepared, and believe it or not, so that some us will be there to stand up as God’s strongest witnesses and leaders of His people during this time.

This is the first place in the Bible where these events are so clearly explained but it’s not the last. In later passages we’ll find that it’s not all a totally dark picture of defeat for God’s people. But some of this can sound pretty bad the first time you read it.

And when it says the Antichrist shall make war with “the saints”, it’s not talking about any particular ethnic group or some of the great, famous saints of history like Mother Teresa of Calcutta or Saint Francis of Assisi.  “Saints” here just means believers, the people of faith, you and me. I believe he’ll fight Christians, believing Jews and, this might be a surprise to some of you, also those of the Islamic faith. The coming of the Antichrist is predicted in the Koran. He’s called there the “Dejal”. Devote Moslems are not going to going along with worshiping him and the Bible says whole nations will resist him, as all people with true faith in the God of Abraham should.

The Antichrist will “think to change times and law.” Like other dictators of the past, he’ll try to change everything that’s gone before him.  Adolf Hitler called his regime the beginning of a 1000 year empire of the German people. When the Communists took over Russia, they tried to institute a 10 day work week, instead of 7, just to get more work out of everyone. But it failed. So this man may say that his rule is “the beginning of a new age of man”, maybe even “the next step in evolution”, all to get the world to worship him, which many, if not most, sadly will do.

…and they shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.

Here is one of the most mysterious passages in this chapter.  “They shall be given into his hand for a time, times and half a time.” Is the angel indicating some kind of specific length of time for this reign of terror by the Antichrist?

Let’s look at this. A “time”, that’s singular, “times”, that’s plural, “and half a time”. Three and a half.

Three and a half years. Now you may be saying, “It doesn’t say years there.” If this was the only verse I had to go on, it would be stretching it. But this is just the first of many verses, all pointing toward a 3½ year reign by the Antichrist before the return of Jesus to set up God’s Kingdom on the earth.

The angel goes on to say

DANIEL 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it to the end.

Three and a half years, that’s all he’s got. “The judgment shall sit.” In other words, what God has planned and ordained is going to happen. After that, “they” (that’s God, Jesus, the angels and us) are going to “take away” the Antichrist, and his followers’ rule on earth, which is going to be destroyed at the return of Jesus.

DANIEL 7:27  And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

The happiest of all endings. It’s the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth. And it actually says here that the kingdom is not just given to Jesus, but it’s given to “the people of the saints of the Most High.” In other places it says that the believers and receivers of Him and His love are going to rule with Him on the earth. Maybe you didn’t know that.

DANIEL 7:28 Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my cogitations greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed: but I kept the matter in my heart.

Daniel’s “cogitations”, that means his thoughts, much troubled him. Even after the angel explained it all, it still really shook him up. His “countenance”, even the look on his face, was not the same, because it impacted him so strongly. But he kept the matter in his heart.

Many new things we’ve seen in this chapter. Maybe you yourself feel a little like Daniel, a little troubled. Almost more revelation than you can handle. But we really have gone to another level, up into the mountains of prophecy.  If you can absorb what we’ve studied today, you’ll have the basics of much of the rest of the book of Daniel, plus an introduction to the Book of Revelation.

Our next class is on Daniel chapter 8. It contains one of the most amazing already fulfilled prophecies in the entire Bible. Also, Jesus Himself, when asked about the future, spoke of things that we’ll see introduced for the first time in Daniel chapter 8. So all of this is so very important to those of us who look for the coming Kingdom of God on earth. See you at the next class, God bless you!

 

 [This is the text version of my video, “Daniel Chapter 2”.]

In our first class, we looked at something which might be a completely new to many of you: prophecy and its fulfillment physically, in the real world. In that class, “Introducing Prophecy in History” we looked at some of the outstanding prophecies of the Old Testament and also had a bird’s eye view of the history of Israel to see how prophecy was fulfilled for that nation and people.

And I spoke briefly about how that there are prophecies in the Bible yet to be fulfilled, ones that might impact you and me in this world and in our immediate future. In fact, I’ll mention again, as I did in the first class, that when Jesus was asked by His disciples about the future of the world, He specifically referred to the prophet Daniel. He told them, “When you shall see…  (the future events) …spoken of by Daniel the prophet (whosoever reads, let him understand)…” (Matthew 24:15)

“Whosoever reads the prophecies of Daniel, let him understand.” It sounds like Jesus is trying to tell us that what Daniel said was, and is, important. So we’re going to look at Daniel Chapter 2 which is considered by scholars of almost all faiths to be the briefest and most concise overall picture of the history and future of the world in the entire Bible. Let’s find out who Daniel was, what his life was like and what this is all about.

The date is around 604 BC. Daniel was probably a young teenager at the time. His country, Judah (as it was called then) was in its last few years and months as an independent nation after close to 800 years of existence.

Those were ominous, unstable, troubling times for a young man to be growing up in. The biggest news in the world at that time was the fall a few years earlier of the former super power of its day, the Kingdom of Assyria, and the emergence of the Kingdom of Babylon which was conquering and subduing all before it.

In 604 BC, the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, sent a military force against Judah and Jerusalem, all that was left of the former kingdom which we know of as Israel. It was in this raid against Jerusalem that our young teenage Daniel was carried away as a captive and virtual slave hundreds of miles to the east, to Babylon.

After they were taken away to Babylon, Daniel and his 3 friends were placed in something like a training school for young men who’d been found to be of royal ancestry within Israel. Immediately they distinguished themselves there by deciding to stay true to their faith and convictions while also cooperating with their new rulers.

Just to mention it, Babylon in its day was every bit as awe inspiring as Rome or Athens were in their day. Or modern cities are today. Babylon was called “the Golden City”— intelligent, modernistic, powerful—the center of the world for those times and seemingly invincible.

We’ll begin the story at the time when Daniel and his friends had been already been living in Babylon for 3 years.  What we learn is that king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. And he couldn’t remember it. Now that can happen to anyone but this was something special. For one, he was virtually the ruler of the world at that time, or at least most of the known, civilized world of his day. And secondly, he was accustomed to having his way… Immediately.

So he did what any ruler of the world would do: he called in his magicians and advisors and all the folks that world rulers have around them. And he said,

“I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” (Daniel 2:3)

It seems like people haven’t changed much over the last 2600 years because his advisors answered,

“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.” (Daniel 2:4)

Nebuchadnezzar saw right through that and said,

“If you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dung hill. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor.”  (Dan. 2:5 and 6)

The advisors stalled around some more and the king threatened them again to which they finally got shook up and real honest and said,

“There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician or advisor. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”  (Dan. 2:11 and 12)

That’s the truth, isn’t it? Nobody can tell you what you dreamed. Well, this was very unsatisfactory for Nebuchadnezzar and he immediately ordered the beginning of the slaughter of all his magicians, astrologers and advisors. And this was the type of position that Daniel and his friends were being schooled for.

Now if you’ve never heard about this before, you might be thinking, “What’s all this ancient history stuff got to do with prophecy and the future?” Just hang in there, it’s coming.

So, next thing you know, one of the king’s chief guards was over at Daniel’s dormitory, letting him and his friends know that they needed to be prepared to get executed. Daniel asked what was up and when he heard about the king’s dream, asked if he could have time to pray to his God for the dream and interpretation to be revealed to him.

This was granted and Daniel and his friends got down to some real serious prayer time with God in order to get a hold of Him and to find out what this was all about. How could he know what the interpretation was when he didn’t even know the dream?

And, here’s what it says happened next.

“Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.”  (Dan. 2:19)

That means that the Lord actually showed Daniel what Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was and what it meant. Completely impossible without the supernatural help of God! So he prays a real prayer of thankfulness. Here it is:

Daniel answered and said:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. He changes the times and the seasons;

He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.

I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might,

And have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s demand.”  (Dan. 2:20-23)

So Daniel went to the head of the king’s guards and asked to be brought before Nebuchadnezzar so he could tell the king the dream and the interpretation.

I like to try to put all this into context. This really happened. It’s not a movie or fiction. From the way it’s described in the Bible, it seems like Daniel was possible around 14 years old at this time. He and his friends were called “children” several times. Here was this really young exile, away from his family, away from his religious base, about to go before the ruthless, violent, cruel leader of the world, to try to tell this king what he had dreamed and what it meant. If ever the odds were against someone and a young man needed to have faith and certainty of a superhuman kind, it was Daniel at this moment.

Daniel was brought before the king, and it sounds like there was a whole thrown room scene, with lots of folks around, and the king asked him,

“Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?” (Dan. 2:26)

Daniel said,

“The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. (Dan. 2:27 and 28)

Daniel had boldness and confidence! And he immediately gives God the credit, not himself. Plus, he says here that the God of heaven is making known to the king what shall be in the later days. So, it’s a prophetic message from God to the king about the future.

“Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass hereafter (There it is again, it’s a message about the future); and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.” (Dan. 2:28 and 29)

If you’ve never heard this before, it is sort of surprising and mysterious in the beginning. Daniel is first going to tell the king what he dreamed and afterwards tell him what it all meant.

You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! (That means sort of like a statue) This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. (Dan. 2:31)

This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of brass, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. (Dan. 2:32 and 33)

You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. (Dan. 2:34)

Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found.  (Dan. 2:35a)

And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. (Dan. 2:35b)

It must have been just an incredible feeling in the room. Did Daniel ever for a moment wonder what would happen if he was wrong? Were Nebuchadnezzar’s advisors completely expecting the young foreign kid to get cut to pieces in front of them in the next minutes? What was Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction and feelings when Daniel began to describe this strange amazing vision? Let’s see what Daniel said next as he began to explain the meaning of the dream to Nebuchadnezzar.

This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all -you are this head of gold. (Dan. 2:36 to 38)

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, “You are this head of gold.” This is the key to unlocking the mystery of this dream. “Nebuchadnezzar, you, and your kingdom of Babylon, are this head of gold.”

But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; (Dan. 2:39a)

Then another, a third kingdom of Brass which shall rule over all the earth.  (Dan. 2:39b)

Here comes the beginning of the predictions of the future. He’s telling him what kingdoms will come after his. We’ll just see here what Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar and look for an explanation afterwards.

And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.  (Dan. 2:40)

Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.  (Dan. 2:41 and 42)

If you don’t understand all this yet, just hold on; we’re going to go over it. But take note of this next part because it is perhaps the most important verse in the whole chapter.

And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. (Dan. 2:44)

Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold-the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.  (Dan. 2:45)

So Daniel finished. And stood there. Surely Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar were looking intently at each other. Almost certainly there was an awesome hush over all present at that moment. Would Daniel be killed? Was he actually right in what he told Nebuchadnezzar? Let’s see what the Bible says happened next.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. (Dan. 2:46)

Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face before Daniel in front of all his court and commanded that they should make an animal sacrifice to him! You know what that means: that was what Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed and the king knew for sure that it was the explanation of it all!

The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”  (Dan. 2:47)

Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.  (Dan. 2:48)

Just think if the leader of your country fell down at the feet of some young teen age migrant or virtual prisoner of war because of some truth that was revealed to him. It made just an unimaginable impact on this ruler of the world at that time. Let’s look then at all this and see what it all meant. We know from what Daniel said that the statue’s head of gold symbolized or represented Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom, Babylon, from verse 38.

And wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all-you are this head of gold. (Dan. 2:38)

And the next verse says that the silver represents “another kingdom, inferior to you”. So these parts of the statue represent kings and/or their kingdoms. But why was Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon represented as “a head of Gold”. Some people think that maybe Daniel was just flattering Nebuchadnezzar there. But God Himself gave the dream so that couldn’t be it. Well, for one, we can see the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s growing faith in God when he said to Daniel, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” (Dan. 2:47)

So right there at that time he proclaimed the God of Abraham as the most high God. In chapter 3 of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar commanded all people everywhere to worship Daniel’s God. And in chapter 4, actually the whole chapter is written by Nebuchadnezzar. He tells of his complete change of heart and mind though the mighty power of God humbling him to almost nothing and then restoring him again. No other foreign king ever went so far as did Nebuchadnezzar and so God pictured him and the kingdom of Babylon, with all its wealth and knowledge, as this head of gold. But then Daniel says that the next part of the statue, the breast and arms of silver, represent the kingdom that will follow Nebuchadnezzar’s, or in other words, will come after Babylon.

What did follow Babylon? Well about 50 years later, around the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, Babylon was conquered by the “dual kingdom” of the Medes and Persians.

You may ask, what is a “dual kingdom”?  History tells us that the Medes were a people from the area of what is today northwest Iran and that they were the ones who first conquered the Babylonians. Have you ever heard of “the handwriting on the wall”?

That is actually from the 5^th chapter of Daniel where a literal hand appeared on the wall during a great party that Nebuchadnezzar’s drunken grandson was having. The hand wrote that he was “weighed in the balances and found wanting.” (Daniel 5:27) That’s where that phrase comes from. And that his kingdom of Babylon was delivered into the hand of the Medes and Persians.

The chapter goes on to tell us that, that very night, the defenses of Babylon were breached and the city was entered and defeated by the Medes.

But the stronger coalition partner was the Persians and these two peoples were the next major power in the ancient world after Babylon. So the statue has two arms next, signifying that the kingdom to follow Babylon would have something dual in its nature. Sure enough, the next kingdom was that of the Medes and the Persians. We’ll be seeing more things like that.

So we know from history that the kingdom that followed Babylon, the “arms of silver” being prophesied here, was that of the Medes and Persians. What was the third kingdom, the one of brass? Historically we know that Greece, led by Alexander the Great, conquered the Persians around 333 BC. Is there anything symbolic about the “belly and thighs of brass” having to do with Greece? For one, they were a very physical, sensuous bunch of folks. Also they were very spiritual minded and the Bible tells us the seat of the spirit is in the midst of our bodies.

And “a forth kingdom of iron”, what do you think that is?  Well, the Romans took over as the world power from the Greeks, somewhere around 44 BC. Here the symbolism is really clear. For one, the Roman Army was so strong, like iron, that for over 100 years of Roman rule, there were basically no wars. It was the period of the “Pax Romana”, the Peace of Rome and there just wasn’t any country that could stand up against them.

Here is another thing that fits with this picture of the Roman Empire, seen hundreds of years before it began: do you know anything about the shape of Italy, the main land mass of the Roman Empire? It’s shaped like what? Like a leg or a boot. And what’s the longest part of your body? Your legs. The Roman Empire, continued for nearly 500 years, based from the city of Rome,

Two arms signified something “dual” about Persia and the Medes, right? And here on the Statue there are 2 legs. Anything “dual” about the Roman Empire? Sure was. After the fall of Rome, the western part collapsed. But there was the eastern part, later called the Byzantine Empire which continued on almost another 1000 years, based from its eastern headquarters, Constantinople, today called Istanbul. So, two legs, two divisions of the forth Empire, all foreseen and pictured to Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar over 500 years earlier.

But then, after the forth empire, symbolizing Rome, the picture changes. For one, there’s a lot about those strange toes, “part of iron and part of clay” (Daniel 2:41). What could that mean? Well, if iron represented the iron rule of the dictatorships of Roman Caesars and other dictatorships after them, the clay symbolizes the government by the people, or democracy. Clay in God’s Word always symbolized “the people”. As Isaiah 64:8 says, “We are the clay.”

So government by the people, or democracy, is a “clay” government. It is a weaker form of government because it does not have “the strength of the iron” (Daniel 2:41), which represents the strong-man dictatorships & their “iron” rule, which usually have an “iron man” as their dictator.–Such as some of the  dictatorships we have seen in history up till now.

And it says, “The kingdom shall be divided.” (Daniel 2:41) Since the fall of Rome, there has been division amongst the nations, with no one power completely dominant, though some–like Napoleon & Hitler–have tried. At times, equally powerful “empires” have existed simultaneously, such as the British, the French, the Spanish, the Ottoman and the Chinese, to name a few. But no one nation became the dominant power as Rome had been.

But what about that “Stone cut out without hands” (Daniel 2:34). What is that? It strikes the stature, where? On the toes. That symbolizes at what point in history, what point in time that this would happen. When was that to happen? After the fall of Rome.  And what does the Stone do? It crushes and destroys all these kingdoms of this world and kingdoms of man. What does Daniel say the stone hitting the toes and the whole statute crumbling to dust and being blown away represent?

Here’s what he says to Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps the most important verse in the chapter.

“In the days of these kings [which kings?  In the time of the toes, we’re going to learn more about that] shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms. And it shall stand forever.” (Dan. 2:45)

The Stone that “smote the image” & this “great mountain that filled the whole earth” is none other than the coming Kingdom of God on Earth. God Himself is going to set up a kingdom on this very earth.

When? During the time of the countries and nations who have remained and come out of and after the Roman Empire, represented by the toes of iron and clay. What does it mean by “a stone cut out without hands”? (Daniel 2:34)   Jesus is called “the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20), rejected by man but chosen by God. He is going to inherit the Kingdom prepared for Him and those who have chosen him.

And here’s something I hope you get. Did you notice how we went from all these already fulfilled prophecies right into one yet to be totally fulfilled? We, the people of the future, can look back 2600 years to this incredible moment when Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar his dream before the whole court of Babylon. And we can see one after the other: boom, boom, boom, the fulfillment of each of these parts of the statue.

But then, what happens? We see something yet to be fully fulfilled. We see a prediction that is yet to have its fulfillment:  the coming of The Stone to crush all these kingdoms of man; we see the coming kingdom of God on earth in the person of his son Jesus.

And how can we doubt it?  Nebuchadnezzar didn’t. He knew it was what he had dreamed and he fell at the feet of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar recognized it as a mighty miracle of God, and as a result, promoted Daniel to his counselor.

That’s the marvelous thing about these prophecies, most of them have already been fulfilled, the empires have already come and gone! So why shouldn’t the last one happen just like it says?

God wants us to know this because He loves us and has something better for us than this present evil world. I have both good and bad news for you. This world is just going to get worse. But the good news is… just what we have been reading, already told us thousands of years ago. I’m going to share that verse with you again:

In the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. (Dan. 2:45)

We’re nearly finished with this class but I have one little point. It just might be that some of this might leave you worried or fearful. God is going to destroy all the kingdoms of the earth? Well, please don’t worry. Some religious teachers will have you believe that this could happen in the next five minutes, immediately.

Believe me, that’s not true. We’re going to work to clear up that false teaching and it may be quite a surprise to some of you or your friends. Jesus taught that there were specific things that would happen, very clear signs and warnings before His kingdom returns to the earth and we are going to study these points.

But the best way I can help you not to worry about any of this is to let you know, if you don’t know already, that you are invited to be a part of that kingdom of God which is to come on earth. The answer is that He wants to set up His kingdom in your heart right now. He said one time, “A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)

That’s the solution and answer. You can have that Kingdom that is to come right now in your heart and it will stay there forever. It’s as simple as a prayer which you can pray with me right now. Just say with me,

“Dear Jesus, I want to be a part of your kingdom, both now and the one to come. Please come into my heart. Take away my sins and my stony heart and give me the new heart and spirit you promised so I can live and love with you and your people forever.”

If you prayed that pray, He has done it. He promised He would. Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. (That’s the door of your heart) If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20) So, you don’t have to worry about the future. You are going to be in His kingdom if you have Him in your heart.

In our next study, we’re going to be with Daniel again but not as a young man. After this amazing meeting with Nebuchadnezzar that we have just read about, he went on to be a high official in the kingdom of Babylon throughout his adult life. And as old age approached, he himself began to receive dreams and spiritual experiences which are some of the most astounding in the whole Bible. Our next class will be on Daniel chapter 7. And if you’ve found this class we’ve just had on Daniel chapter 2 to be interesting, I believe the next one will just really take you to another level. I look forward to sharing that with you soon. God bless you!