THE ANCIENT OF DAYS
Text: Daniel 7:1- 3, 13 - 18
Daniel 7:1-18 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. (2) Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. (3) And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. ……. Dan 7:13- 18: 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. (14) And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (15) I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. (16) I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. (17) These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. (18) But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
The Late Karl Barth once said that we have to “Take our Bible and our newspaper and read both. But, interpret you newspaper from your Bible”. (“Bath in retirement”Time, May 31,963.http://content.time.com/Time/subscriberarticle/0,330099,8986838,00html. The Bible tells us how we are to live in a world where God’s kingdom is in a battle with the kingdom of the world which is under the influence of the evil one. Apart from God, and His Word, any conclusions we draw will always be incomplete. Satan mixes truth with falsehood to pique our curiosity and emotion to distort, confuse, deceive, in order to kill, steal and destroy (John 8:44, John 10:10). 2 Corinthians 4:4 says “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (NIV). So how we live and what we believe determines our fear factor.
One of the main points of Daniel 7 is the activity of God---whom Daniel calls the Ancient of Days. He uses this title for God only in the book of Daniel three times (Daniel 7:9; 7:13; 7:22). The term Ancient of Days is a “Theophany---- [a] Manifestation of God that is tangible to the human senses”. . https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/theophany/ Daniel 7 tells us that the court is seated (Daniel 7:10) as the Son of Man (Jesus) approaches the Ancient of Days (God the Father) who will judge these four kingdoms represented by the four beasts!
Today we will talk about our faith, the four beasts, the Ancient of Days.
OUR FAITH
Have you ever had your faith tested by bad dreams? This is what happened to Daniel. In fact, Daniel’s dream seems more like a nightmare! He interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 but this dream was Daniel’s own dream in about the four beats in Daniel 7 troubled him (Daniel 7:15) that are tied to that statue in Daniel 2.
1) Nightmare: “According to the Oxford English Dictionary, nightmare derives from the Middle English (from the period 1150 to 1500) word ‘mare’, which meant a ‘female evil spirit thought to lie upon and suffocate sleepers’. ….. Some folk stories also have the supernatural creature riding a horse or even shapeshifting and taking on the form of animals. The prefix ‘night’ was later added emphasize that these demons visited at night, and over the centuries the term became generalized to refer to any frightening dream”. https://theculturetrip.com/europe/articles/the-creepy-origin-of-the-word-nightmare/ No doubt nightmare s can happen in such a way that it disturbs us so badly that it is hard to go back to sleep. Who hasn’t had a bad dream that they did not understand?
2) Not a random nightmare: What happened to Daniel was no random nightmare kind-of-a-dream. It was obviously a Divine message.
Does it surprise us to know that God spoke to Daniel through a dream?
“The Bible contains more than 50 references to dreams and visions in which God delivered messages. Abraham learned of his promised lineage through dreams and visions. Jacob's life was drastically changed through a series of dreams in which he received God's promises regarding his heritage. God revealed [Old Testament] Joseph's destiny through his dreams. Daniel, Obadiah, Nahum and Zechariah were among the prophets often visited with revelations from God through visions and dreams”. https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/58278-god-still-uses-dreams-to-speak-to-you-but-there-s-a-catch God spoke to New Testament Joseph about Mary’s pregnancy (Matthew 1:20 -24) and the wisemen through a dream about exited a different route because of Herod’s evil (Matthew 2:12).
THE FOUR BEASTS
What do the four beasts represent?
The four beasts represent four kingdoms. Each of the four kingdoms are all near the Mediterranean Sea (David Guzik’s Commentary).
1) The Lion: The first beats looked like a lion and had the wings of an eagle (Daniel 7:4) and it represented Babylon.
2) The Bear: The second beast had the body of a bear (Daniel 7:5). This second beast represented the Medo-Persian empire which conquered Lydia, Babylon and Egypt representing the three ribs Danile saw in his mouth.
3) The Leopard: The third beast leopard-like beast jumped on the back of its target. It had four wings and heads illustrating its dominion (Daniel 7:6). It was Alexander the Great----an ancient King of Greece, conquered the Persians. “After he died his kingdom was divided among his four leading generals”.
4) The ten-horned beast: The fourth kingdom was so awful it did not have an animal for comparison but it is thought to be “imperialistic Rome”. (The description of the four beasts from David Jeremiah’s The Handwriting on the Wall. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2019, pp. 131 – 134).
Are there beastly kingdoms in every age?
1) Kingdoms: There are beastly, ruthless, and ungodly kingdoms in every age. Tracing current events and kingdoms all the way back to the seventh chapter of Daniel, we can conclude how history has repeated itself several times through several maniacal rulers and dictators through the centuries all the way up to modern day!
2) Callousness: In his book, Uncovering the Secrets of Bible Prophecy, Jeff Kinley makes the point that people of our day are much like a mirror image of Noah’s Day because of the same four flaws, which are “... (1) pandemic godlessness, (2) unrestrained immorality, (3) worldwide violence, and (4) surging global apostasy (Eugen, Oregon: Harvest House, Publishers, 2018, p. 147).. Sadly, there will be some who reject repentance until its too late just like they did in Noah’s Day!
THE ANCIENT OF DAYS
Can we really and truly know the depth of God’s love?
We are never separated from God’s love (Romans 8:38)! God knows every tear we have ever cried! Psalm 56:8 says “You’ve kept track of all my wandering and my weeping. You’ve stored my many tears in your bottle—not one will be lost. For they are all recorded in your book of remembrance” (TPT). God knows we miss our fellow saints---our loved ones who preceded us to Heaven! “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4 NIV)! Our loved ones who precede us to Heaven have finished their race and have joined the Church Triumphant while we still fight the good fight for the faith as we witness to the lost, the least and the last in the Church Militant!
Will God be selective in His judgment? God will not be selective in how He judges kingdoms and citizens of kingdoms. God’s judgment will be indisputable and absolute.
1) No secrets: Eccleeiastes 12:14 says “… God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (NIV). Luke 8:17 is very similar: “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open (NIV).
2) All Books opened: Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:10). “In Daniel’s dream, God is about to open the books and judge the nations of the world. He is going to read to them their activity, their blasphemy and their idolatry” (David Jeremiah, p. 140).
The book of Revelation mentions two books (see Revelation 20:12) —— the book of deeds (see Malachi 3:16) where everyone has an entry and the Lamb’s book of life where only the names of the saved——the saints who have preceded us to heaven are listed.
3) No discovery or appeals:: Unlike earthly court cases where here is what is called “discovery” meaning that both sides share pretrial facts and documents, there is no “discovery”. These “books” that the Bible speak of, tell us that God already knows and has indisputable records! Daniel 7 strongly emphasizes that God has the final word——the final verdict. There is no court of appeals!
How long will God’s kingdom last?
Unlike earthly kingdoms, that rise and fall, God’s kingdom is forever (Daniel 7:18, see also Luke 1:33)!
Like we alluded to in the beginning, the newspapers are filled with doom and gloom but God’s Word is a love letter to remind us that He is the Ancient of Days---the God of the ages whose Kingdom will never end!
"He [God] makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them. (Job_12:23 NIV) . >>>> God never sleeps and watches over our coming and our going (Psalm 121:4 & 8)! >>>> God knows when others are plotting evil against His children. >>>> “The wicked will fall into the traps that they made for others” (Psalm 7:15 GNB paraphrased). >>>>> God destroys power of wicked and unrighteous and rescues their victims (Job 29:17 GNB paraphrased). >>>>> These scriptures echo the rule of reaping and sowing! >>>>> Psalm 66:7 in The Passion Translation it says, “ In [H]is great and mighty power [He] rules forever, watching over every movement of every nation. So beware, rebel lands; [H]e knows how to humble you!” >>>>> “For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great" (Luke 14:11 GNB). All other kingdoms that have ever rivaled God’s kingdom will be judged and destroyed! When God’s shaking and judgment of the world and its systems and kingdoms is done, the only thing that will remain is God’s everlasting kingdom (Hebrews 12:26 – 27 paraphrased).
And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’ (Daniel 7:27 ESV).
In the Name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
