The Beasts!
Daniel 7
November 17, 2002
Intro:
A. [Purpose in Chaos, Citation: Sam Shoemaker quoted in "I Stand By the Door." Christianity Today, Vol. 29, no. 18.]
There are, in every situation, two factors: there is what happens, and there is how we take what happens.
How we take what happens goes back to what kind of person we are, and what kind of belief we have about life as a whole.
B. Today in the seventh chapter of Daniel, we are going to see two uniquely different perspectives of reality.
C. Background
Daniel 7:1 (NIV), In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.
1. Now Daniel says the time of this chapter is in the first year of Belshazzar, so this actually took place before chapter six, which took place after the reign of Belshazzar and at the beginning of the Medo-Persian rule of Cyrus and Darius.
2. And although (unless God leads me otherwise) I don’t intend to preach chapter 8, it took place two years after this chapter and before chapter 6 as well.
3. So chronologically, we have chapter 5, then 7 & 8 and then 6 & 9.
4. There is a vision in this chapter that parallels the vision of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2 of the statue.
5. Now, as I said, I don’t intend to preach chapter 8, but it parallels these two visions as well and as we go along today, I will explain to you how the three all fit together.
I. There were four beasts.
Daniel 7:2-3 (NIV), 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.
Now Daniel turns to his own vision.
Prior to this he is interpreting the visions of others.
Daniel has a vision of four beasts.
Daniel said the four beasts rose up out of the great sea (which is probably the Mediterranean); so let’s look at each one briefly…
A. The lion with 2 wings.
Daniel 7:4 (NIV), "The first 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 man, and the heart of a man was given to it.
1. Daniel said the first beast in his vision was a lion.
2. Daniel said the lion had the wings of an eagle.
3. Daniel said the wings were torn off lion and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood upright like a man.
4. And Daniel said it was given the heart of a man as well.
B. The bear with 3 ribs.
Daniel 7:5 (NIV), "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!’
1. Then Daniel saw a second beast, which resembled a bear.
2. But this bear was a little different from what we picture as a bear just as the winged lion was a little different than what we know as a lion.
3. The bear that Daniel saw was somehow raised up on one of its sides.
4. The bear had three ribs stuck in its mouth between its teeth.
5. The bear was told to get up and eat its fill of flesh.
C. The leopard with 4 wings and 4 heads.
Daniel 7:6 (NIV), "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.
1. Third, Daniel saw another beast, which looked like a leopard.
2. This leopard was unusual as well.
3. This leopard had four wings like wings of a bird.
4. This leopard also had four heads.
5. And, it was given authority to rule.
D. The beast with 10 horns.
Daniel 7:7-14 (NIV), "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 man and a mouth that spoke boastfully. 9 "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.) 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 peoples, nations and men 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.
1. Finally, Daniel saw a fourth beast.
2. However, this beast was so terrifying that Daniel had no other animal to associate it with.
3. Daniel said it was terrifying and frightening and very powerful.
4. Daniel said it had iron teeth.
5. It crushed and devoured victims and trampled everyone else.
6. It also had ten horns—at least originally.
7. It had ten horns and an eleventh one came up and uprooted three of the ten.
8. Then verses nine and ten say the Ancient of days took his seat and Daniel described what that looked like.
9. And then verses 10-11 continue to describe that eleventh little horn.
10. And verses 13-14 talk about the Ancient of Days giving authority to a son of man to set up an everlasting kingdom.
II. There really weren’t any beasts.
Daniel 7:15-28 (NIV), "I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this. "So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 17 ’The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever--yes, for ever and ever.’ 19 "Then I wanted to know the true 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 saints and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints 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 saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. 26 "’But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. 27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’ 28 "This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself."
A. These “beasts” were actually kingdoms.
1. This time Daniel doesn’t interpret the vision; the angel Gabriel interprets it for him.
2. Gavriels says that “The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth.”
3. That correlates with the interpretation that Daniel had interpreted for Nebuchadnezzar back in chapter two.
4. As you look at the diagram that I’ve inserted in your bulleting, you’ll see how all of this fits together…
a. On the left of the diagram, you’ll see the drawing of the statue that I gave you when we studied that vision in chapter two on October 13.
b. In the second column you see the four beasts that we just read about in chapter 7.
c. And you can see how they line up with the four sections of the statue.
d. We learned in chapter two that the four sections of the statue represent four kingdoms.
e. We learned in 2:48 that Babylon was the head of gold and now we learn that the lion corresponds to the head of gold as well.
f. We have yet to be officially told which kingdom the chest and the bear represent.
g. We can figure it out easily enough when we read about Darius and Cyrus overthrowing Belshazzar at the end of chapter five.
h. But we aren’t officially told the identification of the chest and bear until chapter 8.
i. In chapter 8, we are told of another vision that Daniel had that took place two years after chapter 7 in which Daniel saw images of a Ram and a Goat.
j. Now we already know that those aren’t literally animals, but kingdoms.
k. And in 8:20 & 21, we are specifically told the identification of those kingdoms.
l. Daniel 8:20-21 (NIV), The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.
m. Those now are the official identifications of the first three kingdoms as you see listed in the fourth column of your chart.
n. And in the last column you see the dates divided up for you on the time lines.
B. Now let me speak momentarily about the four kingdoms represented by the four beasts in chapter 7.
1. The lion with the wings that was made to stand like a man certainly reminds us of the animal-minded Nebuchadnezzar who was once again lifted up to walk and stand like a man.
2. The three ribs in the mouth of the bear probably represent the three kingdoms that the Medes and Persians had defeated (Egypt, Babylon, Libya) and the words about one side being raised up on one side probably referred to the Persian half being stronger than the Median half.
3. Leopard with four heads probably referred to the Greek empire lead by Alexander-the-Great, but lead by his four generals after his death.
4. Then there was the terrifying and frightening beast that represented the Romans Empire.
5. However, we aren’t altogether sure of all the details of this one because it seems to refer to the Roman Empire being intact just before Christ is given the authority by the Father to set up His eternal kingdom.
a. This kingdom corresponds to the great rock in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision.
b. The interpretation of the statue mentioned the ten toes while this vision included ten horns.
c. Gabriel tells us in verse 24 that the ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom.
d. Then another king will arise and subdue three of the original ten.
e. This king is probably what the book of Revelation refers to as the anti-Christ.
f. So evidently, before Christ returns to set up his kingdom the Roman Empire will be reunited with ten kings and then eight kings—including the anti-Christ.
6. But then the court will sit and the anti-Christ will be completely destroyed forever.
7. After that Christ will set up His eternal kingdom.
C. So now we understand that there really aren’t any beasts.
1. At first reading of Biblical prophecy we get really frightened because we simply cannot imagine lions with wings or bears with permission to eat people or leopards with wings and four heads and not to mention a beast more terrifying and frightening than any of those.
2. That is anyone’s first impression of these things.
3. But Daniel has given us the key to unlocking much of Biblical prophecy in telling us that there really aren’t any beast, but just kings and kingdoms.
III. There really are beasts.
Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV), Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
A. But now we come to understand that there really are beasts.
1. What I’ve just explained to you about the interpretation of these three visions is a human perspective.
2. What we have done is studied the human interpretation of these visions.
3. We have translated the language of God into things that are humanly understandable.
4. But when we look at them before the interpretation, we get an idea of what God sees.
5. Before the interpretation, we get an idea of the spiritual perspective.
6. God’s perspective of the Babylonian Empire was a winged lion.
7. God’s perspective of the Medo-Persion Empire was bear devouring flesh.
8. God’s perspective of the Roman Empire was a frightening and terrifying beast.
9. From God’s spiritual perspective there really are beasts.
B. In this Ephesian passage of Scripture, the apostle Paul gives us some insight into this spiritual realm.
1. In verse 12, Paul tells us who our enemy really is…
a. Paul says our struggle is not against flesh and blood.
b. Our struggle is not against humans.
c. No human being is our enemy.
d. No matter how evil humans may appear, they are not our enemy.
e. No matter how people may treat us, they are not our enemy.
g. Paul said our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms
h. There are beasts!
2. Our struggle is against Satan and his demons.
3. The enemy is not people-it is the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms that God sees as beasts.
5. Our struggle is not against people-it is against the evil forces that are influencing the people.
C. As Christians, we must learn to look at things the way God looks at them.
1. There are so many things that God looks at differently than we humans do.
2. God looks at sex outside of marriage much differently than people tend to.
3. God looks at human relationships much differently than people tend to.
4. God looks at government much differently than people tend to.
5. And God looks at people differently than people tend to view themselves.
6. God looks at people and the world from a spiritual perspective and not just what we can see with our physical eyes.
7. God sees things that we don’t see.
8. But the truth is that we can learn to see things the way God sees them.
9. Our physical eyes DO NOT limit us.
10. We CAN learn to see the spiritual realm.
11. We don’t see it with our physical eyes, but we CAN see it.
12. That is not loony or paranormal because there are many things that we say we can see, but we really don’t see them with our physical eyes.
13. We someone says, “I can see that” they usually are not seeing it with their physical eyes.
14. And it is the same way with the spiritual; we need to LEARN to see people and things the way God sees them.
15. We need to ask God to open the eyes of our hearts so that we can see into the spiritual realm.
D. After we begin to understand the way God see things, we need to understand the warfare that is taking place.
1. Once we begin to see the spiritual world, we see that it is a war.
2. It is a war between the forces of good and evil.
3. It is a war between the forces of God and the forces of Satan.
4. It is a war for the souls of men and women and boys and girls!
5. And it is a war that we can very much influence!
6. It is a war that we MUST influence.
7. And how does Paul tell us to fight this war?
a. He tells us to put on our defensive armor…
1) Paul tells us to put on some armor to protect ourselves.
2) We need the belt of truth around our waist.
3) We need the breastplate of righteousness on our chest.
4) We need shoes of readiness.
5) We need the shield of faith in order to extinguish the flaming arrows that the forces of evil will shoot at our souls.
6) We need a helmet of salvation on our heads.
7) This is our defensive or protective armor.
b. But we also have offensive weapons…
1) We are to have the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God in our hands.
2) And the other powerful weapon we have is prayer.
3) So what would you say are the two postures for warfare?
a) One is standing or sitting with the word of God open.
b) The other is on our knees.
c) In this war we get down on our knees and fight like men and women of God!
d) We get down on our knees and we fight the spiritual battles for the souls of men and women and boys and girls.
e) As a teenager, I wrote this prayer in my Bible, “Dear God, may I never get used to seeing men, women and boys and girls die and go to hell.”
f) It is a prayer that I have never forgotten.
g) We’ve got to get down on our knees and engage in warfare for our own soul!
h) We’ve got to get down on our knees and engage in warfare for our spouse’s soul!
We’ve got to get down on our knees and engage in warfare for children’s’ souls!
i) We’ve got to get down on our knees and engage in warfare for our grand children’s souls!
j) We’ve got to get down on our knees and engage in warfare for our neighbors’ souls!
k) But then we’ve also got to get down on our knees and engage in warfare for our brothers and sisters who are fighting on the front lines against the forces of evil.
l) And as God opens our eyes to the spiritual world, he will reveal to us folks who really need prayer.
m) The spiritual war is just as strategic as any other war; the enemy as intelligent tactics.
n) If the enemy is intelligent, whom is he going to attack that is going to be the most strategic?
o) Pastors! Elders! Teachers! Youth workers! Politicians!
p) We’ve got to get down on our knees and intercede on behalf of those who are battling on the front line for the kingdom of God!
8. Do you see that this isn’t some kind of game?
9. Do you see that this isn’t just some other sermon?
10. Do you see that this is the most important thing we do as a church?
E. Do you see what this makes the church and the worship service to be?
1. Do you see that this changes our perspective on the church and on our worship services?
2. Do you see that church is not a museum of saints; its a hospital for casualties of war?
3. Do you see that the church is a place of nursing those wounded in the call of duty back to health so that they can get back to the war?
4. Do you see that when need to come together for worship of our King and for encouragement of our brothers and sisters once a week to get back to the war?
5. Do you see that we come together to get instruction on how to fight spiritual battles?
6. Do you see that what we do on Sunday’s is not the end in itself?
7. Do you see that what we do on Sunday’s is to recharge us for war?
Conclusion:
A. [Hide—No; Win—Yes, 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking, Michael Hodgin, p. 364]
During the Civil War a Union soldier from Ohio was shot in the arm.
His captain saw he was wounded and barked out an order, “Gimme your gun, Private, and get to the rear!”
The private handed over his rifle and ran toward the north, seeking safety.
But after gong only about two or three hundred yards, he came upon another skirmish.
So he ran to the east, and found himself in another part of the battle.
Then he ran west, but encountered more fighting there.
Finally, he ran back to the front lines shouting, “Gimme back my rifle, Cap’n. There ain’t no rear to this battle nowhere!”
B. When it comes to spiritual warfare, there ain’t no rear to this battle nowhere!
1. When it comes to spiritual warfare, you just can’t run away and hide.
2. But the message of Calvary is good news!
3. The message of Calvary is also that you can’t run and hide, but you CAN win!
4. Through the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, you CAN win!
5. You can experience victory in your own spiritual life!
6. You can experience victory in your spouse’s spiritual life!
7. You can experience victory in your children’s’ spiritual life!
8. But we must join in the battle!
9. We MUST put on our spiritual armor!
10. We MUST pick up our weapons!
11. We MUST get down on our knees FIRST!
12. We MUST pick up our Bibles and we must go to a dying world with the Good News of Calvary!
13. Yes, you will get hit by some arrows; you will get wounded from time-to-time—BUT you CAN and WILL taste victory!
