The Ancient of Days Rules Over the Kingdoms of Men

The four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.

I want to pause there and make it clear the source of these beasts are important. And while you might be a fisherman and think the sea is a great place, that is not how scripture presents the sea. Revelation 21 says there in the new heaven, new earth, there is no sea. Well, that's because the sea represents chaos, disorder, destruction. The four winds that are stirring up, they're stirring up the great sea and the beast come from the sea. The whole idea here is that the source of what's going to happen is chaos, destruction, overturning God's good order. If we look back here, it's a clear theme through scripture in that the sea represents danger. And that's why that's emphasized in verses two and three. And then notice there's a first beast.

The first was like a lion and had eagle's 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.

Okay, so that this beast goes through some kind of transformation and what we do know this beast is corresponding to Babylon and What the statue revealed in this transformation might be referring back to Daniel four with Nebuchadnezzar going through quite a transformation of receiving a, uh, the mind of man he was supposed to have all along. We consider these images. We, we need to recognize there's, there's chaos disorder in it. It's going to get worse and worse. Notice verse five,

behold, 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 to rise, devour much flesh.

Verse six,

and after this I looked, and behold, another like a leopard with four wings of a bird on its back, and the beast had four heads, and a minion was given to it. And after this, in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast.

Notice this one is described in more detail.

The fourth beast terrifying and dreadful exceedingly strong and had great iron teeth and devoured and broken pieces and stand what was left with his feet. It was different from other the beast and before it had 10 horns.

And notice here we get three beholds with this beast. There's some Hebrew patterns here. There's a double emphasis. There's a significant emphasis of behold, behold, behold with this beast. It now has the horns emphasized, and not just the horns, but the one particular horn. There's also the Hebrew pattern of three plus one. That one is always the most significant, either the most blessed or the most terrifying. This beast can't even be described like something. It's not like a bear. It's not like a lion. a leopard, it's just terrifying and dreadful. It's exceedingly strong. And these horns,

behold, they came up from a nung, all these horns, a little one. And behold, in this horn were eyes, like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

Well, all these details are interesting. This is apocalyptic literature. It allows for all kinds of interpretations, sometimes a little too loose. I've heard such things that, you know, the bear is a USSR or maybe a tank, the leopard with four wings, a Black Hawk helicopter. Pretty sure that's not what's happening here. God's word is his own interpreter. As we look at this and how it's interpreted in itself, or how we look back to chapter two and how that's interpreted, there seems to be a clear correspondence of the lion represents the golden head of the statue and represents the nation of Babylon, that he's riding within. So he's riding within that first beast. The second, the bear, that's the silver shoulders. That's Persia, the Medes. What comes afterwards, Darius, we read earlier, Cyrus. The leopard, the bronze waist, that's Greece. And then the fourth beast, the iron and clay, well, that seems to be Rome. We see the terror and dread. It's just full of fright. This is a picture of just chaos and beast arising and they're devouring, they're incredibly strong, they're terrifying. But the backdrop of all this is no one sits on a throne unless God puts them there. God most high rules. As Psalm 2 has already taught us that the nations are raging. This world is a glorious ruin. We live in a fallen world because of our sin, because of our disobedience to God. We now live in a fallen world. Real evil exists. And there are real evil nations that exist. And there are systems of chaos. Satan is the ruler of this world, and we cannot be ignorant of this. There are real dangers, and while I believe these beasts correspond to real historical nations before Christ, they're also a type of the Antichrist that continue. This isn't something in the past. It's setting up a type that is fulfilled and continues. The evil one. He still prowls around like a lion seeking to devour. We're called to stand firm. Satan is still after us, humans, seeking to attack God by attacking those he made in his image, attacking his church, seeking to destroy life, devaluing that which is sacred, human life, marriage. Let me be clear, many have grown afraid of where government officials are going, what's happening in the world with the nations and the wars, the rumors of wars and the plotting. There's ways in which we all have to think, how are we preparing for what we do not know is coming? The most significant way to prepare is knowing our God rules. Whatever we're doing, that is the most significant lesson. As we look at these powers, they're greater than us. There's no human firepower that allows us to do anything against these kinds of powers. But God most high rules. That's our second point. He builds up this incredible vision of terror. Behold and behold, each one worse than the other. And then just an amazing abrupt turn, verse 9, as I looked. He tells us he sees something different. And really, there's a complete shift. If we were trying to make a movie of this, the camera would just be kind of tracing a timeline of beast after beast after beast after beast, and then at this point, The camera would just go crazy with a swirl because we're not on this time anymore. No, we're looking up to heaven. It's a whole different kind of scene. It's not some kind of historical trajectory. We're now looking up, above all these beasts.

Thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head Pure like wool. His throne was fiery flames, his wills were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out before him. A thousand, thousands served him and 10,000 times, 10,000 stood before him. The court sat in judgment and the books were opened.

We see here a new character, a new reference. The Ancient of Days. The one who is above and beyond all time. The one who is eternal. In contrast to the beasts that have a timestamp. The beasts are one after another. They have a temporary timestamp, each one. But here, the Ancient of Days, he's eternal. There's something significant about his name. There's thrones. There's order introduced over against the wild sea. The most amazing thing that takes place is the ancient of days took his seat. He, he sits in his proper place of absolute rule and power. That's supposed to be somewhat startling in the same way. Psalm two, four is startling and that when the nations are raging God, most high in heaven, he sits. I don't know if you're like me, but I like watching sports, and when I am watching a game and it gets intense, I get out of my chair. I stand up, because I want to focus. I want to see what's going on. When there's a great threat, I'm not sitting down. I'm postured to be ready. Notice that God sees these beasts. The God who rules over these beasts The sitting shows his absolute power and justice and declaration. It's not that these beasts aren't serious or attacking his image bearers or bringing disorder on his good earth, but they're just not a threat. His appearance is glorious. His clothing was white as snow, his hair of the head like pure wool. That's a similar declaration of what's mentioned of Jesus in Revelation 1, that glory of God presented. His glory and holiness is revealed here. The angel of days is God most high. And then notice here, the throne was fiery flame, this wheels burning fire. There's just a picture of God's judgment, God's action, and fire flows out. There's a great multitude. He's being worshiped. He's being surrounded by those who know who he is and are seeking to worship him. And there's a judgment. There's a court. The big point I believe we're supposed to take away with this abrupt change and this incredible vision, those four beasts are terrifying. But the God who sits on the throne is awesome. There's a wonderful contrast. we have to understand there's there's a range of what fear means but there's there's a terror there's a dread of the kind of destruction these four priests will bring in their due order and then there is the one awesome eternal god who sits and his judgment will be perfect the god most high the we turn back and we We have a little bit of a vision. We see that little horn show back up, verse 11.

I looked then, because the sound of the great words, the horn was speaking.

We don't know what he's saying, but as he sees Almighty God, the ancient of days, sitting, he hears what he just says is a noise. So he looks, and as I looked, that beast was killed, the fourth beast.

and his body destroyed and given over to be burned with the fire.

That is the fire that's all around the throne and the will burning of the throne and the river of fire going out from the throne.

As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season at a time.

Now, we've seen the setup. There's these four beasts. The last beast is the worst, the most terrifying. And then there's a focusing on the horn The horn here makes a sound in light of this great ancient of days sitting on the throne. And then just like that, he's destroyed. Trying to picture this is complicated. It could be as if someone decided to make a grand series of movies of villains. You know, just one after another, all these origin stories of how great and powerful all these villains are. And then there's one great story where they all come together and they're going to fight good. And then as all the anticipation of all these incredible villains and how powerful they are and how scary they are, there's the last movie. And it takes all of 30 seconds, more like a commercial. And you just see the one sitting on the throne and the fire goes out and they all just become ash. There's no contest. There's no fight. There's no major fight scene here. It's just absolute power destroying evil. There's a grand build-up of how terrifying they are, but there's no significant threat to the one who sits on the throne. Or this could be like a major league pitcher playing dodgeball with four-year-olds. There's no contest, just destruction. The beast have no fight when it comes to God Almighty. But the beast says they represent the powers of evil, the powers of Satan. Well, they can do great damage to us. There is a danger for us, but there is no threat to God most high. That's why we look up to him in faith for protection. for provision. He never gets off his throne. He stays seated. He stays reigning. He rules. Good news for us. If you're watching, listening to the news, all the stories of just gross sin and fears and dangers, always remember God most high rules. He's seated on his throne in absolute power. Verse 8 to 9, there's an abrupt dramatic change. It goes to poetry. 11 to 12, there's a declaration. It's just, this is destruction. The Ancient of Days has destroyed. Now we have another poetic vision, another great picture, a glimpse of God's power and glory. That's on the night vision. Notice he brings us back to behold.

Behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man.

Now we need to do a full stop here because this is a significant declaration. I do believe we should see this behold in line with the other beholds. I believe here we see some descriptions of who this figure is, who this is that should make us pause and wonder with significant awe. With the clouds of heaven, That and every other place in scripture is associated with Yahweh. The glory cloud that delivered Israel out of Egypt and took them to the wilderness, there's a way in which Yahweh has associated himself with this cloud. Now, the confusing part might be there's one who is like a son of man. I believe here we can see there's a pattern of creation because the four beasts, they're like created animals. Well, this one is like the Son of Man, and if we follow Genesis 1 and 2, well, man has authority over all the beasts. The Son of Man isn't this man is, this figure is a human, it has more to do with he has absolute dominion and authority. He has come like the one who has the rule God gave to man. He comes with all authority over all these beasts, and he has this description of being with a cloud or on the cloud of heaven, which is always associated with Yahweh. There's a greater implied. He is greater than the beast. Now, we need to go to that next verse because it gets quite a bit thicker. And he, that is the one like a son of man, he who is with the clouds of heaven,

he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him.

The ancient of days is clearly God. He has glory. He has power. He has justice. He has rule. This one, the son of man, he's given one of the most important descriptions being associated with, uh, with the clouds of glory. He himself is going to have all the dominion in an everlasting dominion of verse 14. There's a wonderful tension here because the, The one like the son of man on the clouds, he's described like Yahweh and he's coming and being presented before the ancient of days who was also Yahweh. God is presented before God. And there's only one God. We're going to hold that tension and, and, and, and, and pray that that tension helps build up some, some awe and wonder. The son of man becomes before the engine of days and receives what rightfully belongs to God. That is first 14 is his dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people nations and language should serve him. And that, that word service has been associated with worship throughout Daniel.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion and shall not pass away.

So this one of the sort of man, he, he, he's presented with the clouds of heaven, like Yahweh. He receives what only God receives being served with an everlasting dominion and rule. This, this, this presentation of verse 13, it should cause a monotheist who confesses Deuteronomy six, four,

hero, Israel, the Lord, your God, the Lord is one.

Some, some significant consternation. God is. referred to as two in relationship, and yet there's only one God. As we consider what's happening here, the two characters, the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man, this is one of the most clear revelations that God is perfectly Father and perfectly Son. We confess one God in three persons. We confess the one God has a triune nature as Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Here's a glimpse in the Old Testament, just like Psalm 110, like 2 Samuel 7, like others, a small glimpse into the very nature of God and the character of God that's then fully revealed in the New Testament. Now you might be wrestling with it. All right, one God and two, there's no math equation for that. This is why we practice faith seeking understanding. We believe what God has revealed to us and pray that he would give us all the understanding we need. We pray that God would reveal to us all of who he is. And if you're looking at, all right, how does this make sense? Later, you can turn with others to John 1.1. John 1.1 opens,

in the beginning was the word.

That's a reference to creator language.

The word was with God

that, that word is in reference to a relationship with God. There's some kind of relationship as, as if the ancient of days being presented before the, um, the, the, the, the one that sort of man being represented the ancient of days, there's a relationship. And then it says

the word was God.

They're equally and fully true. One God. Here in Daniel, I don't believe he's walking away presenting, you know, Homo, UCS, one nature, three persons. We begin to get a glimpse of the greatness of God at this time. We begin to get a greatness of God is greater than the end has understood before. Most significantly for us, the age of days is clearly God, who is this one son of man? The son of man is one of Jesus's most significant and repeated self-references. As Brian read earlier, He clearly makes the declaration, he is the one spoken of here in Daniel 7. And the high priest understood that what he was saying was blasphemy because of the cloud image and the truth of what's taking place. Jesus began his ministry,

the kingdom of God is at hand, repent.

And then another clear reference in Mark 2, he forgives the sins of the paralytic. And people start murmuring who can forgive sins, but God. And so he says,

so that you know that the son of man himself has authority, forgive sins.

He says to the paralytic,

stand up and walk.

The fullness of God is being revealed. One God. We know more proper in their names, father, son, but the, the ancient of days, the one that son of man. We, we, we, we, we see more clearly who this is. The new Testament. Daniel seven, 13 to 14 is a heavenly view of God and his rule as one true God. The event is significant. And I believe as we wrestle, I, a lot of these things, people have already asked me, when does this happen? When, when, when, when are these things taking place? I believe if we look at verse 13, we have to see this as the ascension of Jesus Christ. We're jumping ahead to the ascension because that second person of the Trinity, he came to be like us in every way, that's the incarnation. So he could die for us on the cross for our sin. So he could rise again in victory. And in Acts 1 at nine, it says he ascended up into the clouds. He ascended back to the right hand of the Father, and that's where the Father, He returns to His glory, and He's given that eternal kingdom. He now reigns as the one who has accomplished the mission of salvation. This corresponds also to Philippians 2. For having died, even death on the cross, He rose again, and He's been given the name above all names. He now reigns forever. This is good news for us. Because those beasts might have all been those kingdoms before Christ, and Christ may have come and finished his mission, but now we can look and see he is the one who rules today with absolute authority. He's the one who rules today. He's the true and final perfect ruler who will conquer evil. The gospel connection in Daniel 7 is what we call Christ the victor. And the reason that's such good news is that we have enemies that are greater than us that will defeat us without his help. Christ has come to defeat our enemies that are and would have destroyed us without his help. He conquered sin by dying on the cross so that we can now put it to death. He conquered Satan and all the accusations of real sins we've committed and his power of death that he possesses. He conquered death. It's no longer a fear we have because we believe we will live with Christ forever. Jesus claims to be the Son of Man. And as we think of the Gospels, he proved he was by being raised from the dead. We are people committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the gospel is something we herald. That word takes place actually from a military idea, a military event where there's a great battle and the one who's going to come and proclaim the gospel is going to the city of the victor and declaring, we won. Christ being risen from the dead proves he is the son of man who has authority to forgive sins. proves he is God the Son, God most high, who rules and will return again. If you're not a believer this morning, this is the most pressing matter. There are many kings, there are many authorities, there are many powers that are gonna seek your allegiance. There's only one who has true power to save you and has the promise that if you believe in him, he will save you. Jesus is a holy God worthy of your faith. Without him, there is no hope. Without him, there is no life. Without him, there is no forgiveness. He is the one who has all authority, and he has used that authority to save sinners who believe in him. This is important for us, church. Because if we confess that Jesus is the Son of Man he claimed to be, who has all authority, he has now sent us out with that same authority. As he develops, as Matthew develops his theme from Matthew 10 to 16 to 24 and then 28, when Jesus claims, I have all authority, he's claiming to be this figure, the Son of Man. And he declares, I'll be with you. At some level, that's comfort for whenever you're underneath the power of a beast, the power of oppression, the power of martyrdom, of persecution. At another level, it's confidence that we can go and be on the mission faithfully that he sent us on. You see, church, we're supposed to be the church militant, and that can be confusing. That doesn't mean we have firepower. We don't need firepower. We have the power of God to save sinners, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church at rest is when Christ comes back. The church at rest is when Christ comes back. The church militant is the one who's seeking to make him known, who alone can save sinners. He who has all authority has sent us out with that authority. Look at verse 15.

As for me, my spirit within me was anxious and the visions of my head alarmed me.

Daniel has given us this picture of beast after beast after terrifying, dreadful beast. The Ancient of Days ruling, sitting in absolute power and judgment. The death of the little horn. The Ancient of Days being presented before the Son of Man. He's anxious. That stands out for a few reasons. One, Daniel's been a pretty solid dude so far. I'm not eating your meat. Give me vegetables. I'm not gonna bow before your idols. I'm not gonna hear the king is gonna kill everybody. I'm gonna go tell him his dream. Here we see a different side of Daniel. I don't know if we should immediately think this is kind of, you know, over against Paul saying don't be anxious or anything. I think what he just saw in his vision probably should create some consternation. Anxiety is probably the right response. This is amazing. Not only in the all of God, but the tears are still to come. We see him with, with angst and anxiety. There's a fear of the destruction and all of God. Notice then verse 69

approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all of this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things.

That also should stand out because so far somebody else has had a dream and Daniel has been the great interpreter. He has the great power of interpretation, but here now he doesn't. Who he's talking to, maybe it's Gabriel, because that's who it is a little later. Maybe it's another angel. We don't know, but Daniel himself needs an interpretation. And so he gets one. And notice these two points. I believe these are, these are two they're supposed to really land for us.

These four great beasts are for Kings who shall rise out of the earth.

All right, but they were beasts that come out of the sea. That seems different. I think we got, we got to see some overlap here though. These demonic beast of chaos and disorder. They're, they're truly represented in actual Kings of this earth, human beings. Not every king is somehow possessed by a demon, but there's a way in which these beasts are representative of that great war of Satan against God. There is always going to be enmity until Christ comes back on this earth between Satan and God and his people. The second part, there's always going to be strife. These are real kings are going to be real problems. Verse 18,

but the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever, and ever.

He cannot shy away in verse 17 what real destruction is gonna come from these kings. that, that, that, that are these beasts of, of dread and terror. But, but what a sweet promise. The interpretation he gives us is that they're real Kings. And the interpretation is the saints, the holy people of God, those who God declared to be as holy nation on Mount Sinai, those whom he said, I will be your God. And you will be my people. You are wholly set apart for me by me. God, most high. they will receive the kingdom. That is, and listen to the emphasis, forever, forever, and ever. God is in absolute control. The interpretation is for us to know these temporary threats cannot take you out of God's hand. These temporary threats are no threat to God who reigns on high. Consider this, there's been numerous persecutions, there's numerous fears. The beauty of what God tells his people is that no one will take you out of my hand. Nothing can separate you from the love of God because he has committed himself to us. Verses 19 and 28, our last point, a closer look. 1 to 18 seems good. If I want a closer look, I really want to know what's going on in 13 and 14 more, Daniel. But you want to look at the fourth beast? We're looking at the fourth beast.

Then I just want to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest.

There's something extremely terrifying. That anxiety even ends with this. The end of the matter is, I am alarmed.

Teeth of iron, claws of bronze, devoured and broken pieces and stamped what was left with his feet and about 10 horns that were on his head. The other horn that came up before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things that seemed great, greater than his companions.

We see there's an escalation of power. Verse 21. Important to think about what 17 really meant.

The horn made war. with the saints and prevailed over them.

That doesn't mean there's an ultimate victory, but it does mean there are saints who have died at the hands of beast. Not outside of God's power, not outside of God's rule. God has preserved for them a place in his kingdom forever, but there is no promise of just a happy, easy life that the tear and the dread is that the horn has made war with the saints and prevailed over them. Then in 22,

until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.

Again, we see there 17 and 18 really played out. There's a prevailing of pain and difficulty, and then there's a great judgment. 23. In 24, we see here there's a long sequence of these earthly kings. The nations are raging. Go on to verse 25.

He shall speak words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and shall think to change the times and the law and they shall be given to his hand for a time and time and half a time.

I do think as we look back to verse 11, what was the sound that caught Daniel's attention? I, I assume it must be here. We're double clicking. There's a, this, the word spoken against the most high blasphemy as 25, I believe is informing verse 11. What we can actually look even further and see revelation 12 and 13 further explain what's happening in verse 25. Great blasphemy and great judgment from God. But notice how he ends. And it's similar to how he ends. chapter one, verses 13 and 14.

But the court shall sit in judgment and his dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom 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.

That is the end of this further revelation and interpretation. Notice how important that is. He's doubling down. The interpreter is doubling down in that thesis. There's great enmity, and there's great power of God to keep us. verse 26 and 27 that is what we need at all times and all people to understand God is in absolute control no matter what is terrifying no matter what threat is presented there is a God there is one true God who rules from on high the most high God and his kingdom will be forever There may be a time where the beasts are prevailing over the saints, but God Most High will bring a judgment and He will bring them into His kingdom. A few things to think about as we consider this. Theology of history. History is linear. It's not circular. We don't believe in reincarnation, karma, things of that nature. There's repeated patterns, but History is linear, there's a beginning and there's an end. There's a beginning when God spoke into existence and there's an end when Christ comes back and this kingdom is forever. There are patterns, but this linear history, it's not aimless. There's a God who is ordering all things to his end. There's a purpose to all that takes place because God most high is ruling over all things that happen in this time. Enmity will always be present until the end, so we should be on guard. And God is always reigning and will bring enmity to an end, so we must always hope. This message is important for God's people. We're not here to make the earth our playground. We're supposed to recognize it's a battlefield. This earth is not designed to be your playground. This earth is designed to be a battlefield. Now that Satan is ruling over the world, the nations are raging, we've given up our duty and power of being God's image bearers, bringing about his good rule. Now it's a battlefield. Are we seeking to arm ourselves with the power of God? Knowing Him who rules. That really is the main point. Do we know God rules no matter how terrifying things are? Are we seeking to learn how to pray to Him and ask for wisdom in the midst of the terror? Are we preparing ourselves? The more afraid of what's happening in the world you are, the more you should be learning how to pray to know God in the midst of it. There's all kinds of dangers. We can look back. This would have been good for all God's people at all times. The, the, the Jewish people who were forced to adopt customs when occupied by foreign governments, when Alexander, the great conquered Judah, when hair, the great was wicked and brutally murdered, even infants. When Nero made Christians torches important for us today, when Christians were thrown into the Holocaust camps or the Gulag, when, when, when believers were persecuted by the Anglican church under bloody Mary, when Athanasius was exiled five times after Constantine so-called conversion. For us, believer, afraid of what's going on, not just outside of our boundaries, but within, God, most high, rules. Christ has received the kingdom, and it is his kingdom forever, and we will be kept in that kingdom forever. That does not mean we're somehow passive and just worrying. No, there's a boldness and a confidence, but it must begin with knowing God most high rules. There's one absolute forever authority. And the good news is he who has all authority has used all that authority to save you to be his people. We will not know how to fight the fight until we have the assurance God is able to do all that he said he would do. And he's done it. Christ is at the right hand of the Father. He's received the kingdom. He saved us to be his people so that we can endure and we can even make advances as we proclaim the gospel of God. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you have shown us glimpses of your goodness as you walked with your people Israel in the midst of their rebellion. We thank you for the way we've seen such great clarity of who you are in Christ coming to be with us and proclaiming himself to be the Son of Man, truly the Son of God who has all authority. We thank you, Lord, for your Holy Spirit. that allows us to see how these truths all connect and relate and point us to you, who rules, who has all authority, who is with us with all authority to protect us, to comfort us, to empower us and to give us courage. Lord, may we not be afraid of those things that are truly terrifying. May we know how to have a proper all of you, the God of all power and justice and judgment. Help us, Lord, to know you so that we might make you known. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.