Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Daniel 7 | Date: October 26, 2025 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Open your Bibles with me, if you will, to Daniel, the Prophet Daniel, chapter 7. We are slowly working our way through a series of lessons on Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. Throughout the summer, there were very few occasions when we could do this, so it has stretched out quite a bit. Today, we come now to Daniel, chapter 7.

Now, we have a rather lengthy passage to read, 28 verses. Before we read it, let me just make a few remarks about the genre that we’re dealing with here. This is referred to as apocalyptic. Apocalyptic is a genre of literature that we find in its beginnings in the Old Testament. Here in Daniel, we have some; in Isaiah, some in Zechariah as well. It gave birth finally to a whole genre of literature that cropped up in intertestamental Judaism, hundreds of pages of apocalyptic literature.

Apocalyptic literature is marked by, probably most notably, the fantastic imagery that’s involved in it. I call them cerebral cartoons. You can imagine a political cartoon telling a story without any words. That’s kind of what apocalyptic imagery is like. It’s fantastic imagery, but it is dramatic. It focuses on the end. In almost all of the apocalyptic literature, it focuses on the consummation of the kingdom of God, where God breaks into history and brings his purposes to pass for his people, and also in judgment on the wicked. This genre of literature, the climax of it is in the Book of Revelation. As far as I know, it’s the only apocalyptic book that is actually named an apocalypse, the Book of Revelation.

So we have that here. In fact, the Book of Revelation draws on Daniel chapter 7 as well in its imagery. So keep that in mind now as we read through.

Pastor Greg, would you read through this passage for us? I’ll be reading from the NIV.

“In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. Daniel said, ‘In my vision at night, I looked and there before me were the four winds of heaven turning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. 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 human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. 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.” 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. The beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. 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 iron teeth and crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up from among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. 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 like flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 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. 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. The other beasts had been stripped of their authority but were allowed to live for a period of time. 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. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All nations and peoples 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. I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this. So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things. The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever. Yes, forever and ever. Then I wanted to know the 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. I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head, and about the other horn that came up that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people, and defeating them, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. 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. 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. He will speak against the Most High and oppress His holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The Holy People will be delivered into His hands for a time, times, and half a time. But the court will sit, and its power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereign power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the Holy People of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey Him.'”

Daniel 7 is one of the most significant prophecies in the entire Old Testament. It’s broad and it’s comprehensive in scope. It establishes for us the framework of Daniel’s entire prophecy, and really in the entire prophetic word that we find prophecies elsewhere. Fitting into this kind of framework gives us the time frame from Daniel’s time all the way to the time of Jesus, and then all the way to the time of the end, the culmination of God’s kingdom.

Daniel’s prophecies are so famously accurate in terms of describing the kingdoms that will come in succession, as we’ll see this evening, that critical scholars who just have no room at all for the idea of prophetic literature or predictive prophecy have to argue that Daniel was not written by Daniel, but Daniel was written after the fact, sometime looking back at history and seeing what happened. There are mountains of works that believing scholars have produced to show the genuineness of the book of Daniel and to demonstrate that this was written by Daniel, 6th century BC, and the details that he gives of the successive kingdoms coming is just remarkable, and then culminating, of course, as apocalyptic literature does, culminating in the consummation of the kingdom of God on the earth.

One commentator has remarked that if we grasp this chapter, we have really the key to history. And it was written ahead of time. We’ll work our way through it quickly this evening. There’s much here that can keep us going for quite a while, but we’ll try to give a brief overview of it.

The Vision Itself

In verses 1 to 14, we have the vision itself. And then after that, beginning in verse 15, we have the interpretation of the vision. In verse 2, we are told that he saw four winds stirring up the sea. Well, a sea in the Old Testament is often an image for the turmoil and chaos, the stirring up of the nations in rage, that kind of thing, and that’s clearly what’s in view here.

Verse 3, he sees four great beasts, sometimes referred to as monsters in the way they’re described. You can understand why they’re described that way. If you want to note ahead of time before we get to that point, verse 17 gives us the key to interpreting the chapter. Some of the visions are more difficult to understand. This one is giving us, Daniel gives us the key. Verse 17: “These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.” Kings, kingdoms, same thing. A king embodies the kingdom and they’re used interchangeably in this prophecy and in the Old Testament. So his vision is about a succession of kingdoms that will come ahead of him. So we have four beasts, that’s four kingdoms, four empires that will come after the time of Daniel.

The broad outline of this is the same as we saw last time in Daniel chapter 2, where we had that great metallic image, and each section of the image portraying another kingdom coming in succession. Well, that’s what we have here as well.

The first beast that is mentioned, verse 4, is the lion with eagle’s wings—a fantastic kind of creature. If you can just imagine a lion with eagle’s wings, this portrays the kingdom of Babylon. That is where Daniel is as he writes this. Nebuchadnezzar is the king of Babylon, and this is the lion with eagle’s wings. A lion is the king of the beasts, the eagle is the king of the birds, the ideas of the great power that this nation will have. This is the nation, by the way, that conquered Jerusalem and laid it and sacked it, took captives away, including Daniel himself, and he’s there because of Nebuchadnezzar’s army going into Jerusalem, sacking the city, and carrying them away.

Verse five, we have the second beast, and that’s a bear. This portrays the kingdom of Persia, or Medo-Persia, the Medo-Persian empire that conquered Babylon. We read of that, by the way, in Daniel chapter 5. The bear, it says, is raised up on one side. This is one example of the detail that Daniel gives ahead of time of these successive kingdoms that come. The bear is raised up on one side, and the idea there is that if this is a kingdom made up of two kingdoms—this is the Medes and the Persians, the Medo-Persian Empire—and of that, of course, it is the Persian Empire that is dominant in that. So the bear raised up on one side shows the dominance of the Persians in this empire. It tells us there are three ribs in his mouth. That portrays the three great empires that the Medo-Persian Empire devoured. That was Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt. It was a massive kingdom; it says it devoured much flesh. That is, it was a ravenous kingdom. It was one that conquered more than any of the previous kingdoms in history. Vast amounts of territory were conquered. It conquered the Assyrian Empire, the Egyptian Empire, the Babylonian Empire. All of those were just puny in comparison to the Medo-Persian Empire. That’s the bear.

Then verse 6, we have this leopard with four wings and four heads. The leopard is known for its speed and agility. It had four wings, again, speaking of its swiftness. And this is interesting as well, particularly with regard to the fact that Daniel spoke centuries ahead of time. Here we have, if the lion was Babylon, and if the bear was Medo-Persia, the leopard then is the next kingdom that would come, and that’s the kingdom of Greece led by Alexander the Great, the Greek Empire.

Contrasting with the lumbering strength of the bear, the Medo-Persian Empire, the leopard moved with such swiftness. It was amazing. It took a generation for the Medo-Persian Empire to conquer all of its territory. Alexander the Great, in his military conquest—a fascinating study in its own—in three years conquered all of the known world, all the way up to the borders of India. In three years it was done. Finally, he sat down and cried because there was no more territory to conquer. Amazing speed with which he took it all.

It has four heads, this leopard. It probably does double duty. It speaks of the insatiable rapaciousness of the animal. It is devouring everything it can get, devouring up territory, devouring up people, can’t get enough. But it also, with the four heads, more than likely portrays then the four major divisions of the Greek Empire following the death of Alexander the Great.

And then verse seven, we have this fourth beast, and it’s not likened to any particular animal. And so we call it a nondescript beast. It’s just this. It is terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. So it’s a beast that wields power, terror; it’s a ruthless kind of beast. So if the first one, the lion, is Babylon, if the second one, the bear, is Medo-Persia, and if the leopard is Greece, then this fourth kingdom must be the kingdom of Rome, the Roman Empire that came next. And again, this follows the outline that we have in Daniel chapter 2 with the image that we saw last time.

Now, this beast tells us has horns, that is the various kings and dominions. It has ten horns, that is five times more than the usual two in a beast, but probably portrays then the multiple subdivisions of the Roman Empire and a system of the world in the West in the aftermath of the Roman Empire. And then verse eight gives us a frightening detail, and that is this little horn came up among the ten horns. And this one rooted up three of them, so it overthrows three previous powers. It has eyes like a man, so this horn represents a man, who also has a mouth speaking great things. He’s not only powerful, but he’s boastful, proud, he struts. He’s got great power. He wields it, and he brags about it. Of all of the successive kings and kingdoms and empires, this person, this little horn coming up, seems to be autonomous, indestructible. He wreaks havoc wherever he goes. It’s a terrifying, terrifying thing, and we’ll read more of that as we go along.

All right, there’s the scene in world history that he gives us in the space of eight verses. Beginning with verse nine, the scene changes, and we come now to a judgment scene. There’s a dramatic contrast here going on. In verse two, we are introduced to the raging nations of the earth. And now, verse nine, we have the settled, confident calm of heaven. A wonderful contrast. It’s meant to give us perspective. Up to this point, God has still been God and he’s ruling over all that is, but it doesn’t appear that he is. It seems like the world is on its own and it’s out of control. And if all you do is look at verses 1 to 8, you might get nervous. But when you see verse 9, you see the bigger picture of it all.

Thrones were placed around a throne that is central to all the other thrones. On the throne is this one who’s called the Ancient of Days. Clearly a reference to God himself, the eternal, unchanging, unthreatened God who sits ruling over all the changes of earth. He has a garment white as snow, so he’s the holy judge who judges in perfect righteousness and in truth. And so this God, the Ancient of Days, in verses 9 and 10, convenes a heavenly courtroom. And this is the judgment scene. The throne verse tells us the throne was fiery flames, so he’s all-consuming in purity and in judgment. It says the throne has wheels, so it’s mobile. It makes its way around, probably referring then to its universal, ever-present nature that God is everywhere, seeing all that is. And it says his garment is white as snow. He has flames of a river of fire. Again, speaking of judgment, symbols of judgment that come.

And then verse 10 at the end of the verse, thousands, a thousand thousands serve him. And 10,000 times 10,000 were standing before him. Thousand is the largest number they had. So thousands of thousands, 10,000 times 10,000. In other words, there’s an innumerable number of people who stand before him. These are subordinate rulers ready to do his bidding and all of that then is to heighten the sense of the majesty of the one who’s on the throne. This one who rules over all. This Ancient of Days. So he sits on his throne with authority to judge. That judgment is about to be meted out.

In verse 11 then, God acts in judgment. As I looked, the beast was killed. Its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. So this powerful beast and the horn that boasted so much, and it seemed so autonomous and out of control, now has been taken and utterly destroyed. And that was that. And you’re meant to give—he’s intended to give us a sense of the decisiveness of the action. God finally convenes judgment, and then that was that.

Verse 12, other beasts were allowed to live for a time, but they’re stripped of their authority. God still rules. He didn’t wipe out everybody all at once. He allowed some of these sinners to live. But now he’s in charge. This is his kingdom. It’s no longer theirs.

And then verses 13 and 14. It introduces this majestic, unmistakably messianic figure. One like a son of man stands before the Ancient of Days. And of course, as you know, if you’ve read the Gospels at all, this was Jesus’ favorite self-designation. He refers to himself as the son of man, clearly referring back to Daniel chapter 7, sometimes explicitly referring back to Daniel chapter 7, even with the reference to the coming on the clouds, as verse 13 says.

So he’s a son of man. Now a son of man is just a man. David refers to that in Psalm 8. Son of man, a man, and we have that here. A son of man is just a man. But here it says one like a son of man. So there’s more to be said about this figure who is like a man. It says he comes on clouds. That’s a fascinating expression. Elsewhere in the Bible, only God rides on the clouds. I mean, who rides clouds? But this son of man, this one like a man, comes on the clouds of heaven. He’s a divine being, obviously. And he came to the Ancient of Days. So he’s able to stand in the very presence of God. The God whose throne blazes with fire and judgment. And yet he’s able to stand there in the presence of God. He arrives there on the clouds. Clearly a divine being. And yet, one like the son of man.

Verse 14, to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom. So he receives the kingdom. He receives the kingdom of God from God. He’s given the authority to rule, and he reigns universally and eternally. Two characteristics of his kingdom are highlighted here. First, it’s universal, that all peoples, all nations, and languages should serve him. So this is the consummation of the universal kingdom of God, and universally, then, this son of man figure is given homage from the whole world over, all peoples, nations, languages—a recurring phrase throughout the book of Daniel, often claimed for Nebuchadnezzar, he wants all languages, peoples, and nations to bow before him. But now, all peoples, nations, and languages serve the Son of Man, who has received the kingdom from the Ancient of Days. That language, by the way, is picked up in the Book of Revelation as well.

So two characteristics of the kingdom are highlighted. One, it’s universal. And next, it’s eternal. Verse 14, his dominion is an everlasting dominion. So he rules everywhere forever. Now clearly, unless you’ve just dropped in from Mars or something and haven’t had any acquaintance with the scriptures at all, clearly this is the kingdom of God come in its great consummation. This is what we saw in Daniel chapter 2, you remember, with the vision of the metallic image, and each section of this great figure pictured the succession of kingdoms, and then suddenly the stone cut out from the mountain came and crushed the image and ground it to powder. That’s clearly what is in view here as well.

So we have here then in verse 13 and 14 in particular, a coronation scene. This divine figure who is like a son of man stands before the Ancient of Days. Divine rule is placed into his hands. And what has been the case with no other king before him will be true of him. He has a universal, eternal reign, reigning over the kingdom of God. Well, I’ve jumped ahead a little bit, but clearly that is what is in view.

The Interpretation Of The Vision

And then verses 15 to 28, we have the interpretation of the vision. Verse 17, this is the key to the entire prophecy: “These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.” So it explicitly tells us that this vision and all this fantastic imagery portrays a succession of kingdoms who will come. It confirms that for us. And it culminates then—the succession of kingdoms culminates in the kingdom of the Son of Man.

Verse 18, now this is interesting. The Son of Man is the king. And yet we’re told now, suddenly, out of nowhere, whoever these saints are, they share in the kingdom. They share in his rule. We have that again in verse 22. The Ancient of Days comes in judgment and says the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. Verse 27 again: “The kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, and his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”

But these people have not been previously mentioned in this prophecy. They’re introduced here out of nowhere, and they are people who stand in some sense in close relation to the Son of Man who receives the kingdom, and with Him, they share in His rule. And that rule is universal, and it is eternal.

Verse 19 turns its attention to the career and the destruction of that frightening little horn that came up among the ten horns. This clearly is what John calls Antichrist, what Paul calls the man of sin. Verse 21, he made war with the saints. Verse 23, he devoured the whole earth, so he has widespread violent tyranny over the earth for a time. Verse 25, he speaks words against the Most High, so he’s blasphemous. This is some kind of open rebellion against God. He changes times and law, clearly changing the law of God. He’s a wicked man. And then, verse 25, particularly frightening, he wears out the saints. They’re given into his hand for a time. So he has a time of success. The people of God for a time are under the tyrannical rule of this little horn; the people of God seem for a time to be losing. It’s only given to us in brief shrift here. If you think about it very long at all, it’s not a pretty scene. Changing the times, changing the law of God, openly blasphemous. With tyrannical rule, the saints are delivered into his hand and they suffer for it. Clearly this is speaking then of what scriptures elsewhere speak of as the Great Tribulation. Paul speaks of it in 2 Thessalonians 2, of the man of sin being revealed, this outbreak of evil prior to the end.

Well, all of that is only, verse 22, until the Ancient of Days came. Then, verse 26, the court will sit in judgment. They’re all stripped of their dominion, they’re destroyed. And their rule gives way to the crushing, overwhelming rule of the kingdom of God. Verse 27, the kingdom is given to the people of the saints of the Most High. All dominion shall serve and obey them. So we have a great reversal going on. The saints, by means of the Son of Man, are ushered into the glories of God’s kingdom. They share in his reign with him. Just like in Daniel chapter two, the stone was cut from the mountain and crushed that image. So now God comes in judgment, hands the kingdom to the son of man, and that’s that. God’s people reign with the son of man forever.

Well, clearly this is the kingdom of God theme that’s so familiar to the prophets. The little horn had his way for a time. He wreaked havoc over even the people of God, and it seemed like they would lose. But now God comes, sits in judgment, and they’re destroyed. You read Daniel chapter 7, you find that the God who rules over all, although at this time doesn’t necessarily appear to, lets the world have its way. He finally will come and sit in judgment and destroy all of his enemies and share the kingdom with his people. The biblical outlook is not simply that we win. The biblical outlook is there’ll be a time of suffering, a time of difficulty, but we will win and share in the kingdom of the Son of Man.

All right, our series then is on Messianic prophecy. Clearly that is what we see in verses 13 and 14 in particular. This was Jesus’ favorite self-designation. He referred to himself all the time as Son of Man. Sometimes explicitly pointing back to the one who comes on the clouds.

In verses 13 and 14, he appears before the Ancient of Days, receives his kingdom. That’s the New Testament doctrine of the ascension of Christ, seated at the Father’s right hand, the words of the psalmist. He comes and takes the kingdom. He has done the work of salvation. He has come as God’s mediator between God and men. He has offered himself for sin, he’s defeated Satan, he’s defeated sin, he’s rescued us into his kingdom, and then ascends to his Father after his death and resurrection. He ascends to his Father, his mission accomplished, and in reward for his work, the Father gives him the kingdom. The son of man receives the kingdom from the Ancient of Days, and he rules.

Throughout this age, he rules. Here he rules in this age, through the advance of the gospel, rescuing men and women one by one as they come in faith to Christ. Meanwhile, the world makes—rages on in all of its turmoil. It’ll culminate in a grand rebellion against God, marked by severe wickedness and open rebellion. And it may even seem for a time that we’re losing. That’s only until finally the Lord Jesus returns and brings God’s kingdom to its grand culmination.

Jesus refers to that. If you’d like to mark these passages down, Matthew 24, the great discourse where Jesus speaks of the end of the age and his return.

Matthew 24, verses 29 and 30: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days,” Jesus says, “the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then will appear in the heavens the sign of the Son of Man, and then all of the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Matthew 25, verse 31: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.” And then we have one more reference to this, direct reference to it, Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7: “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.”

And then, of course, this is portrayed in great imagery in Revelation chapter 19. The Lord Jesus is portrayed as coming in pomp and circumstance and power, riding on a white horse and speaking to the destruction of his enemies.

What we have then here in Daniel chapter 7 is the story of history, given centuries ahead of time of those immediately successive kingdoms, and now centuries further into the time of Christ, and then centuries further until the return of Christ in glory. We look at it from this standpoint and the kingdom of God, God has given to his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s earned the right to rule in his death and resurrection. He’s died for sinners, been raised from the dead, ascended to heaven, and offers now throughout this age terms of peace. Come to me and be saved and be rescued.

In this present time, his kingdom is advancing through the gospel, but imperceptibly. Oh, and not always noticeable. That will continue until he comes with this final grand consummation of it all. Right now, all we see about his kingdom is with the eyes of faith. But he will come in glory and all the world will see it. All dominions will fall before him and acknowledge him as king.

And so far as we are concerned, that wonderful verse 27—this is where history is going. A grand prophecy of it giving his people marvelous hope.