God and Monsters

Beginning in Daniel 2:4 and going through Daniel 7:28, the book is written in Aramaic. Before and after those verses, the book is written in Hebrew. Thus the Aramaic section of Daniel begins with a vision given to Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2 and it ends with a parallel vision given to Daniel in chapter 7. Daniel 1-6 is narrative and personal. Daniel 7-12 is apocalyptic and cosmic. These latter chapters, like the former, emphasize the absolute sovereignty of God over all things.

Now, what do we mean by apocalyptic genre, literary style, communication? Dale Davis is helpful when he writes, “I would say that biblical apocalyptic is a sort of prophecy that seeks to enlighten and encourage a people despised and cast off by the world with a vision of the God who will come to impose his kingdom on the wreckage and rebellion of human history – and it communicates this message through the use of wild, scary, imaginative, bizarre and head-scratching imagery.” (The Message of Daniel, BST 93).

Dan 7:1-8 (ESV) In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter.

• The first year of Belshazzar’s reign was around 553 B.C. Daniel would have been in his mid-60’s and Belshazzar in his mid-30’s (Stephen Miller, Daniel, NAC, 194).

Daniel 7:2-8

These verses record what could be called “the rise of the beasts!”

Sinclair Ferguson notes that what we have here, “is essentially a book

of pictures, appealing to our senses. We are meant to see, hear, and

smell the strange beasts that appear throughout this chapter. We are

meant to be overwhelmed as Daniel was…” (Daniel, 135)

 [2] Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.

This is God at work. The four winds imply that this is all-encompassing N, S, E, W. God is at work stirring up the Great Sea. This is possibly a nod to the Mediterranean Sea. The great trade route of the world in Daniel’s day. There is disagreement on that point and it doesn’t need to be pressed. Daniel saw the great sea being stirred up by the wind of heaven. But as we will see in verse 17 in the interpretation, the sea that Daniel saw represents the earth that these kingdoms will rise from. But the point of this initial step of the vision is that God is in control and God is at work to bring about his purposes.

The stirring up of the sea should remind us of the chaos and turmoil of the nations.

Isa 17:12-13 (ESV) Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! [13] The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.

Rev 17:15 (ESV) And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.

[3] And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.

These beasts arise not all at once but one after another. A note of caution—We are told in Daniel chapter 2 that the head of gold in the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw was representative of Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom of Babylon. We were never told the identity of the other kingdoms until you get to the final kingdom which is clearly representative of God’s kingdom.

Here in Daniel 7 we are never told the identity of the four beasts. These are pictures that are given and scholars have used other pictures in scripture and in history to try to define them  and understand them. We need to be extremely careful in being dogmatic about how we define these images. Since God didn’t tell us, we need to be careful to not become overly sure of ourselves.

[4] The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it.

Almost all scholars are in agreement that this first beast is meant to represent Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. That is also why most scholars believe that the visions in chapter 2 and chapter 7 of Daniel are parallel to each other.

Nebuchadnezzar is described by Jeremiah and Ezekiel as both a lion and an eagle.

Jer 4:6-7 (ESV) Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, stay not, for I bring disaster from the north, and great destruction. [7] A lion has gone up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant.

Ezk 17:3, 12 (ESV) say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar… [11] Then the word of the LORD came to me: [12] “Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes and brought them to him to Babylon.

Most scholars see in the imagery of the wings being plucked off, the Lord sending Nebuchadnezzar into exile for a period of time. Being lifted up to stand on two feet like a man with the mind of a man being given to it seems to symbolize Nebuchadnezzar being restored to power, his mind returning, and the change in how he ruled in the latter part of his kingdom.

All this was the Lord’s doing!

[5] And behold (suddenly), another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’

If we look at the Aramaic section of the book as a whole, with the vision in 2 of four world kingdoms being supplanted by the final kingdom of the Lord and the vision in 7 as a parallel to it, then however you define the four earthly kingdoms in 2 will be how you define them in 7. As I mentioned in an earlier sermon, most scholars define the four earthly kingdoms described in Daniel as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. There are other scholars who also make solid arguments for Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece.

I tend to lean toward the first explanation, but as I said earlier this morning—the Lord doesn’t clearly define them, so we need to be careful.

Following the analysis of the first group, the bear would correspond to the kingdom of Medo-Persia. Daniel 8 seems to give us further insight when it changes the symbol and says that the ram represents the kings of Media and Persia.

Dan 8:20 (ESV) As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.

Medo-Persia was the next world power on the scene after Babylon. Being raised up on one side has possibilities of meaning. It could represent the two-sided nature of the kingdom. It could represent the bear stirring itself to action. It could represent the bear in a standing position, much like the lion was in the first beast.

Two features that are very striking–the feature of the bear with the three ribs still in its mouth. There is a savage nature to this image of voracious destruction. Since these beasts represent kingdoms, it is possible that the ribs represent other kingdoms that the beast has destroyed.

The other feature we must notice is that the beast was told to rise and devour much flesh. The power and dominion of this kingdom does not come from its own ability, but it has been commanded to be so from the Lord who alone reigns.

[6] After this I looked, and behold (suddenly), another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it.

If we continue to follow the approach given earlier, then the third beast would represent Greece. If this is true, then the leopard corresponds to the kingdom of bronze in chapter 2 and the goat in chapter 8.

Dan 8:21 (ESV) And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king.

The leopard is strong, fast, and ferocious. These would be indicators of this third kingdom. Also, the four wings of a bird on its back would increase its speed.

We know from history that Greece conquered the known world in about a ten year span. By the time Alexander the Great was 32, he had no more kingdoms to conquer. He would die the following year, and his kingdom would be divided into four parts. It is possible that this is what is symbolized by the four heads of the beast.

But again, we must pay careful attention to the final phrase in verse 6—dominion was given to it!

[7] After this I saw in the night visions, and behold (suddenly), a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

A fourth beast rises on the scene and it is the only one of the three with no animal descriptions that we can recognize. If we continue to follow the progression given by some scholars in chapter 2, then this kingdom possibly represents Rome.

We are told it is terrifying, dreadful, and incredibly powerful. This kingdom would devour and crush and break in pieces what was left of the other kingdoms.

We are told this beast had ten horns. It’s important to be careful in interpretation here. Some have defined these ten horns as a ten-kingdom confederation rising from the old Roman government. It is very possibly symbolic and represents complete domination. The “horn” in scripture very often represents power and strength. So, this beast would be incredibly powerful and would exert world power.

[8] I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

As Daniel continues to consider the horns of the beast, another horn came up among them. A little horn, which apparently has enough power to rip out three of the ten horns and to do away with them. Daniel sees within this little horn, eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

This part of the vision would seem to indicate a king and a kingdom that would blaspheme and oppose God. A mouth speaking great things has as its meaning “boastful and arrogant words.”

Nothing is said about sovereign authority over this beast at this point in the vision, but verse 9 introduces a new image that we will explore next week.

The Four Beasts of Daniel 7:

These four beasts represent four kings or kingdoms. You cannot have a kingdom without a king or a king without a kingdom.

What was the point of this vision for Daniel? The setting is that he is still under the rule of Babylon. He’s been there a long time—over 50 years! The Lord sends this vision to remind him that in the midst of oppression and hardship, and the rule of ungodly kingdoms there is a greater King! The Lord rules and reigns and he will give you the ability to stand and to endure and to proclaim and yes, even to suffer for his glory. All other kingdoms will bow to the one true King!

Conclusion:

Who will you trust this morning? Will you trust Daniel’s King or will you trust in earthly kingdoms?

Jer 17:5-14 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. [6] He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. [7] “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. [8] He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” [9] The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? [10] “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” …       [12] A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. [13] O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. [14] Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.