[This sermon is contributed by Hal Seed of New Song Church in Oceanside, California and of www.PastorMentor.com. Hal is the author of numerous books including The God Questions and The Bible Questions. If you are interested in The Bible Questions Church-wide Campaign, please visit and watch Hal’s video at www.PastorMentor.com.]
Editor’s note: words found in capitals were made into PowerPoint slides. This is the 7th message in the Future History series from the book of Daniel. The book is available at www.futurehistorybook.com.
FIND A BIBLE AND TURN TO DANIEL 7, p. 881.
Good morning!
A few days before the end of the year, a respected financial newsletter released its annual Top 10 Predictions for the Year Ahead.
Their top 3 predictions were:
TOP 10 PREDICTIONS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD:
1. U.S. ECONOMY: FIRST ½ OF THE YEAR = 2% GROWTH, SECOND ½ = 3% GROWTH.
2. ENERGY: RELIFE ON OLD PRICES, BY YEAR’S END 460 PER BARREL.
3. HOUSING: CONTINUED SLIGHT DECLINE UNTIL MIDYEAR, MODERATING BY YEAR END.
With 1/12th of the year almost completed, how do you think they’re going to do on those predictions?
I think they might be right. Time will tell.
In addition to those and other economic forecasts they also predicted:
HILARY VS. MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT
And, in projecting demographic trends, their crystal ball says that
IN 2030…
- POPULATION = 360 million
- 57% WHITE (down from 69%)
- ETHNIC BLURS as a result of increasing interracial marriages
- POPULATION INCREASES:
52% SOUTH
35% WEST
7% MIDWEST
5% NORTHWEST
They also predicted that certain Midwestern states will loose population. Kansas, for instance, will have less people in 2030 than it does now. (Sorry Toto.)
How do you think they’ll do on these predictions?
They might be right, time will tell.
They also predicted that by 2050, China will overtake us as the largest economy in the world.
How do you think they will do on that one?
They might be right. Time will tell.
Since time immemorial, human beings have been making predictions. Some of them ridiculous, like JFK announcing in 1960 that “we will put a man on the moon by the end of the decade,” some of them innocuous, like little Billy marching home from school and announcing, “Mommy, when I grow up, I’m going to marry Susie.” And some the pretentious, like Joe Namath guaranteeing that the New York Jets would beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl 3.
One thing is true about all predictions: time either proves them right, or time proves them wrong.
And in the section of the book of Daniel we are going to look at today, a section written 2562 years ago, we are going to see that the God of time gets it right every time He makes a prediction.
The section we are going to read took place in 556 B.C., which is 17 years before Daniel 6, and 16 years before Daniel 5.
Why does Daniel put this story after those stories, even though it came before them?
Because Daniel is composing his book according to the style of every Middle Eastern storyteller. He’s telling it in chiastic style, where stories echo and mirror each other in symmetrical fashion.
Last week we saw that the book of Daniel looks like this:
DAN. 1 = INTRODUCTION
.…DAN. 2 = FUTURE HISTORY (4 kingdoms)
……….DAN. 3 = PRESERVATION OF FAITHFUL SERVANTS
……………DAN. 4 = HUMBLING OF THE KING (Nebuchadnezzar)
……………DAN. 5 = HUMBLING OF THE KING (Belshazzar)
……….DAN. 6 = PRESERVATION OF FAITHFUL SERVANT
…. Dan. 7 = FUTURE HISTORY (4 kingdoms)
Let’s read about the 4 kingdoms:
Read Dan. 7
v. 3 – In most Jewish literature, the Great Sea, which would be the Mediterranean Sea to Israel’s west, rather than the Dead Sea, to here east, the Great Sea represents the world of the Gentiles. So these are 4 Gentile beasts.
v. 10 – This is the passage from which some people get their image of God as a white haired old man.
v. 14 – Is this all confusing enough for you? Let’s keep reading and I’ll explain it all in just a minute.
v. 15 – So, the one Daniel approached would be an angel.
Lots of predictions here, let’s unpack them.
In Dan. 7, there are
7 KEY FIGURES:
1. THE LION = THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE (v. 4)
The Lion was the symbol of ancient Babylon. The entrance gate to the city was decorated with a procession of yellow lions on blue-glazed brick. The Lion has wings, which are plucked off, so that instead of flying, it stands on the ground. And it was given a human heart. The Lion’s wings were plucked when Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by God and the human heart was given when he regained his sanity.
This had already happened before the time of Daniel’s dream.
The second figure is
2. THE BEAR = THE PERSIAN EMPIRE (v. 5)
Technically, the empire was known as the Medo-Persian Empire, because it was a confederation of both the Medes and the Persians. But the Persian side was larger, and dominate, which explains why the bear was higher on one side than the other. Under King Cyrus, and his son and successor Cambyses, the Persian Empire swallowed up three other empires: The Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C., the Lydian Empire in 546 B.C., and the Egyptian Empire, in 525 B.C.
The third figure is
3. THE LEOPARD = THE GREEK EMPIRE (v. 6)
The leopard has four wings and four heads, because Alexander the Great died with no heir, so his empire was divided between his four commanding generals.
The fourth figure is
4. THE TERRIFYING BEAST = THE ROMAN EMPIRE (v. 7)
This beast was like nothing seen before. It has teeth of iron. In the first dream about the four kingdoms in Dan. 2, the statue has legs and feet of iron. So this is the same empire.
It had 10 toes in Dan. 2, here is has 10 horns, or 10 kings. Rome is like no other beast the world has ever seen because Rome was organized and stable. The eastern Roman empire lasted for over 1000 years.
Daniel then describes a really strange figure, a Little Horn that has an eye like a human and is boastful.
5. THE LITTLE HORN = THE ANTICHRIST, THE BEAST, THE LAWLESS ONE
Because it has an eye like a human, we know that Daniel is talking about a person, a ruler, rather than a kingdom or country. This character is a dominant figure at the end of times who almost dies and is so impressive that most of the world is tempted to worship him. You can read about him in several places in the N.T., including FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THE ANTICHRIST: REVELATION 13, 2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-9
This guy is the star villain in the cosmic play at the end of time and you ought to know about him.
Different commentators have different opinions about who, what and when the 10 horns are. But there is unanimous agreement that the 1 horn is the mega-bad-guy of all time.
These beasts are covered in the first part of the dream. The scene in the dream then shifts to the throne room of God, where we meet
6. THE ANCIENT OF DAYS = GOD THE FATHER (v. 9)
He, of course, trumps the horn. He’s got really cool white hair, his throne blazes with fire, He’s got 10,000,000 attends to weight on his ever command, and at His mere pronouncement, the Antichrist is defeated.
The seventh figure is
7. THE SON OF MAN = GOD THE SON
This is the name that Jesus chooses to use for Himself most often in the N.T. He didn’t want to call Himself the Son of God, because then people who have expected a deliverer who would whip out the Romans on His first visit, so instead, He calls Himself the Son of Man. In Dan. 7, clearly, the Son of Man, is both God and Man, which is exactly what Jesus was.
The Son of Man is given all authority and power. – Which is exactly what Jesus claims during His final conversation with His disciples. He says, ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME. THEREFORE GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS… Matthew 28:18-19
As you now understand these 7 figures, you are now have the framework you need to understand all of history from God’s point of view. We’ll unpack more events and details over the next three weeks, but for now, there are at least 7 lessons we can draw from an understanding of these 7 figures.
7 KEY LESSONS:
1. AN END WILL COME TO THE EARTH AS WE KNOW IT. (v. 26)
Daniel says, “But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.” (Dan. 7:26-27)
Linear history will not continue forever. There will be an interruption, when the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man stop a war that would otherwise destroy the whole earth.
Lesson #2:
2. FOUR EMPIRES WILL REIGN BEFORE THE END OF TIME.
Those empires are Babylon, Persian, Greece, and Rome.
Guess what? They’ve already reigned. This is already fulfilled. The only thing that remains is for the Little Horn to come on the scene, and according to this text, he may not be recognizable as the Little Horn, or the Antichrist, until 3 ½ years into his reign.
Lesson 3:
3. THE END WILL BE PRECEDED BY A TIME OF TRIBULATION.
“Tribulation” means, “Affliction, trial, or distress.” It’s not going to be a time of happiness. It will be a time of testing. Remember when I said last week that trials don’t build our character, rather, they reveal our character? That will be the point of the Tribulation period. To reveal the character of every person on earth, and force everyone to make decisions about what they believe and whom they will follow.
We’ll discover two weeks from now that the Tribulation period lasts 7 years. Dan. 9 is all about this 7 year period. But Dan. 7 focuses not on the whole Tribulation period, but only on the second ½ of the Tribulation period.
4. THE FINAL 3 ½ YEARS WILL BE CALLED “THE GREAT TRIBULATION.” (v. 25)
Dan. 7:25 says, THE TEN HORNS ARE THE TEN KINGS WHO WILL COME FROM THIS KINGDOM. AFTER THEM ANOTHER KING WILL ARISE, DIFFERENT FROM THE EARLIER ONES; HE WILL SUBDUE THREE KINGS. 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.
“Time” would be one year. “Times,” 2 years. And half a time, would be one half a year.
1 + 2 + ½ = 3 ½ years. To find out more about this 3 ½ year time period, you can consult
Rev. 11:2-3; 12:6; 13:5-7; 20:4-5
If the first 3 ½ years are about Affliction and Trial and distress,” the second 3 ½ years are times 10.
Now:
5. SOME BELIEVE THAT CHRISTIANS WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE WORLD BEFORE THE TRIBULATION. Their position is called, PRE-TRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE
SOME BELIEVE CHRISTIANS WILL BE REMOVED BEFORE THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Their position is called, MID-TRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE
SOME BELIEVE CHRISTIANS WILL ENDURE UNTIL THE RETURN OF CHRIST AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION. Their position is called, POST-TRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE.
All agree on the Tribulation and return of Christ, they just disagree about how much testing Christians will have to endure at the end of time.
A couple of thoughts on this.
1. IN AMERCIA, THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE IS THE MAJORITY VIEW. But the rest of the Christian world holds other views. The Pre-Trib rapture is a concept that was developed in 1856 by an Englishman named Darby. England exported this teaching to the U.S., and the subsequently dropped it. It’s the minority view in the re4st of the world.
2. The concept of the rapture comes out of 1 Thess. 4:13-18, where we read the following:
WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN AND SO WE TELL YOU THAT WE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE, WHO ARE LEFT TILL THE COMING OF THE LORD, WILL CERTAINLY NOT PRECEDE THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ALSEEP. FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, WITH A LOUD COMMAND, WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL AND WITH THE TRUMPET CALL OF GOD, AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST. AFTER THAT, WE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE AND ARE LEFT WILL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH HIM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. AND SO WE WILL BE WITH THE LORD FOREVER. 1 Thess. 4:14-18
A couple of comments. The first is, the primary point Paul is making here is that our loved one who have died knowing Christ won’t miss his second coming. They’ll be caught up, out of the ground, just before we get caught up, and we’ll meet Jesus together. That’s the point.
But while clarifying this point for the Thessalonians, Paul gives us some more information: they’ll be a trumpet call, and the sound of the archangel.
Paul is writing to a Roman audience, who understood Roman culture. And in the Roman culture, the tradition was, when a Roman general conquered a city, he wasn’t really conquering it, because everyone knew that you would WANT to live under Roman rule. So Roman generals didn’t conquer, they liberated. So, when a city was liberated, the Roman general or king wouldn’t enter it immediately. He’d wait outside until everyone could get organized. Then, the king would march towards the city, and the people of the city would come out to meet him and welcome him into their city.
The Post-Tribulational View believes that what Paul is describing here may be this sort of ceremony.
In which case, the return of Christ comes when He has liberated the earth and the citizens of earth then rejoice, and when the announcement of his coming is made by the archangel and the trumpet blast, we are all caught up in the air, and ascend to descend again with him, as we welcome him into the city and he ushers in a new age, where he reigns for 1000 years.
The point is, there are some differences of opinion on how all of this happens. Some believe we will miss the Tribulation, some believe we will only experience the first half and less violent portion of the Tribulation, others believe we will go through all of it.
I have always felt like I ought to give you the whole truth, so you can prepare accordingly. Because brilliant scholars on every side of the debate concede they might be wrong. Nobody knows for sure.
One thing we do know:
6. DURING THE GREAT TRIBULATION, THE ANTICHRIST WILL MAKE IT SPIRITUALLY, ECONOMICALLY AND (PROBABLY) PHYSICIALLY DIFFICULT FOR ALL BELIEVERS.. – Pre-Trib people think those believers are all Jewish believers who were left behind as witnesses, and the people they will lead to Christ during the Tribulation, others believe they’ll be all the saints.
Turn with me to Rev. 13, for a minute.
Look at v. 7. “He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.” – So he’s got military power and political power.
Then, v. 8, “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast –“ – so he’s got spiritual power.
Then the clarifier “- all those whose names have not been written in the book of life, belonging to the Lamb that was slain…”
Drop your eyes down to v. 16, “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark” – so he’s got economic power.
Then, turn to Rev. 19, look at v. 4. “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.” - Those would be Christians who have served the cause of Christ faithfully here on the earth. Then a second category of distinguished peoples, “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded before of their testimony for Jesus, and because of the word of God. They had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands.” – Probably there will be physical difficulties for all believers then too.
Bad news?
Now the good news:
#7 -
7. THE SON OF MAN WILL RETURN, THE ANTICHRIST’S POWER WILL BE DESTROYED, AND THE SON OF MAN AND HIS SAINTS WILL RULE FOREVER.
v. 27 clearly says, THEN THE SOVEREIGNITY, 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
EVERLASTING KINGDOM, AND ALL RULERS WILL WORSHIP AND OBEY HIM. Dan. 7:27
So what?
1. Prepare yourself spiritually. – How do you do that? By doing the things that build your relationship with God, so that that relationship can withstand persecution: you come to church, read the Bible to learn more, join a small group to learn more and get supported and encouraged and accountable, you serve the family of God by getting involved in ministry, and you pray.
The church exists to get you ready for eternity, and if the end comes during our life times, and the Post or Mid-Trib positions are right, the first step into eternity is the remaining faithful during the Tribulation.
2. Rescue as many as possible.
Friends, I love science fiction. But this is not science fiction, this is a reality show that will take place in the future. Can you see why I am so serious about you getting serious about sharing your faith?
3. No matter how hard it gets, remember that we win.
Have you ever taped or Tivoed a football because you really wanted to watch it later?
Then, someone comes in the room while you’re taping it, and says, “Hey, want a progress report on the game?” - What do you say?
NO!
Why?
Because knowing that outcome takes all the tension out of it.
Friends, there are some bad things ahead for the people of planet earth. And we may or may not go through some or all of them. I can’t tell you which of the Trib positions is right. There are really smart scholars in all three camps.
What I can tell you is… the best is why to come! In fact, not only will the evil of that day be defeated, but all the evil we find in the world today at a lower level of intensity will be wiped out at well.
Look at this:
BUT THE COURT WILL SIT, AND HIS POWER WILL BE TAKEN AWAY AND COMPLETELY DESTROYED FOREVER. THEN THE SOVEREIGNITY, POWER AND GREATNESS OF THE KINGDOMS UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN WILL BE HANDED OVER TO THE SAINTS, THE PEOPLE OF THE MOST HIGH. – Daniel 7:27
How about that?
AFTER THAT, WE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE AND LEFT WILL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. AND SO WE WILL BE WITH THE LORD FOREVER. THEREFORE ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER WITH THESE WORDS. – 1 Thessalonians 4:17
Turn to the person sitting next to you and say,
“I have a prediction.”
“You can trust it.”
“The Best Is Yet To Come.”
Let’s pray.
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