Daniel 7: God's Eternal Reign

Daniel 7:17-18 "'These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.'"

We read today in Daniel 7 one of the more apocalyptic texts in the book of Daniel. As we have discussed before, Daniel is a book that speaks of the future. Here in Daniel 7, we are told much about the future. Let us look at the chapter briefly this morning as we learn about God's eternal reign.

In the outset of the chapter, we find Daniel having a vision that consists of four beasts. The first is like a lion, the second like a bear, the third like a leopard, and the forth was indescribable, but it had ten horns on its head, followed by another horn that rose up afterward. These four beasts are parallel to the four parts of the statue that we observed in Daniel 2, and they each refer to the same thing. These four beasts are prophesies of the coming kingdoms in the nations of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. However, this vision goes further than the one in Daniel 2, as it describes for us an eleventh horn that would come, who would be the antichrist.

After the vision of these four beasts, Daniel tells us that he was brought to a great throne room in his dream. In this throne room, a deity by the name of the "Ancient of Days" was sitting on his fiery throne. The "Ancient of Days" was a term used to describe God the Father in his very eternality. In this courtroom, we see the Ancient of Days being served by thousands and sitting in judgment over the entire world. Next, Daniel describes the fourth beast being killed, and the others having their dominion taken from them.

In the next scene of the dream, we see a man coming who is named the "Son of Man." From the rest of biblical revelation, we understand clearly that this "Son of Man" was at least in part referring to Christ, as Jesus self-identifies himself on many occasions as the "Son of Man" (Mark 10:45, for example). This "Son of Man" (Jesus) came to the Ancient of Days (God the Father) and was given an "everlasting dominion." The dominion of the four beasts had come and gone, but the dominion of this "Son of Man" would continue on forever.

Daniel tells us that he was anxious about all of these scenes in his dream, not knowing exactly what the interpretation of them was. He draws near to a man in his dream who tells him of the interpretation: "These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever" (17-18). We have already discussed the interpretation of Daniel's dream, but this remark takes it a step further, as we find that it is not only the Son of Man as Christ who reigns in this eternal kingdom, but that his saints (you and me!) shall "receive" and "possess" the kingdom "forever, forever and ever" as well, with Christ. In other words, we will reign alongside Christ as his chosen race and kingdom.

As we discuss application this morning, let us note that there is great hope in the eternal reign of Christ. We need not fear anything on this earth because the Lord has told us that he will reign forever and ever. Our triune God is both the Ancient of Days who has sovereignty over the kingdom as well as the Son of Man who will possess eternal dominion. No kingdom of this world, no fear of this world, and no terror of this world will stand after Christ has his final judgment. Thus, there is no reason to fear today because only Christ will have the final word.

Furthermore, let us take great hope that we will reign with Christ. Although it is certainly beyond this devotional to describe in full what this means, let us quickly note that it includes us being in high rank in the kingdom of God. With righteous judgment, God could have cast us out of his kingdom, but he didn't. He sent the Son of Man to die on a cross for us, that we might partake in the kingdom of God rather than be destroyed by it. Yet even still, we are not mere peasants or even knights in God's kingdom, but fellow rulers and heirs of the kingdom (Romans 8). Praise the Lord, for his abounding mercy. Amen.