Daniel's Vision Of Future Events Part 1 Series

Tonight we are going to look at Daniel 7:1-14. Chapter 7 as a whole is probably the most important chapter dealing with end time prophecy in the Old Testament. In this chapter, the very course of future events was laid out for Daniel and his generation. Some of the events have already been fulfilled in the rise and fall of world empires, such as the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires. But several of the major events predicted in this chapter have not yet been fulfilled. These events are the:

-Rise of the Antichrist and the ten nation coalition that will strongly support hthe antichrist’s worldwide rule.

-The fiery judgment of God that will fall upon the Antichrist and all the wicked of this earth.

-And the return of Christ, the very Son of Man Himself, to establish God's Kingdom on earth. These predictions that are mentioned in chapter 7 have not yet been fulfilled.

Keep in mind that what we will look at in this chapter are prophecies. At the time Daniel received this prophecy none of these events had occurred yet. As mentioned some of them have now taken place and yet there are some that have not. If you have been in any of the four studies we have had over the past 25 years of the Book of Revelation, you will see a lot of resemblance between that Book and what we will look at tonight.

Daniel 7:1. This might be a little confusing at first because we have already studied that Belshazzar was killed. This chapter begins by telling us that Daniel's vision occurred in the first year of King Belshazzar's reign. To date this, Belshazzar was ruling with his father Nabonidus from approximately 553-539 B.C. So, this vision was given to Daniel around 553 B.C.

That means that this event that we are looking at tonight actually occurred before the events of chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5 dealt with the supernatural handwriting on the wall, which predicted Belshazzar's death and the fall of the Babylonian empire that that very night. Chapter 6 detailed Daniel's experience in the lion's den and God's miraculous deliverance of him.

It's believed that Daniel's reason for presenting these events in this order was probably to group his own personal visions together which occur in chapter 7-12.

So we back up in events and discuss these events that occurred before chapters 5 and 6. Daniel would have been about 67 or 68 years old when he received this vision. Daniel must have realized the importance of this vision and so he recorded it in great detail.

It may take us a while to get through this chapter. A lot of what I will tell you in this chapter is not actually seen in this chapter but is a part of biblical history that scholars have compared to show that some of these events have actually already occurred. I don't expect you to remember everything that I tell you in this. But I think it is important for me to give you the actual historical data so that you can see the reality of Daniel's prophecy. Let’s get into the prophecy.

Daniel 7:2-3. In his vision, Daniel saw the four winds of heaven churning up the Great Sea. Now don't let me lose you here. The turbulent sea represents the mass of evil people and nations, or kingdoms of the world. In Revelation 7:1 and 9:14-15 we have studied that it tells us that Angels control the four winds and that one day they will set the winds loose to execute God's judgment on earth. So, Daniel's vision here was of God's judgment churning up the Great Sea of corrupt humanity and the corrupt nations of the world. Daniel also saw in his vision the Sea of humanity give rise to four fearsome beasts. These beasts represent empires. Let’s look at those.

Daniel 7:4. The first beast was like a lion with eagle’s wings. This beast represented the Babylonian empire when Nebuchadnezzar had the dream of the statue. (Daniel chapter 2:37-38) Remember that the head of the statue was of gold and Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that it represented him. In Daniel's vision, the lion was injured because it's wings were torn off. This is a clear symbol of Nebuchadnezzar's insanity and loss of power due to his sinful pride and refusal to acknowledge the Lord as sovereign God of the universe.

But in Daniel's vision he saw the lion lifted from the ground and standing up right like a man, and he saw the heart of a man given to it. This was a picture of Nebuchadnezzar being healed and restored to the throne and given a human, more compassionate heart. But despite Nebuchadnezzar's restoration to the thrown and his great rule over Babylon, the empire eventually fell. But we have already studied that in chapter 5. (Does anyone need any clarification of this?)