With me if you will, please, to Daniel chapter seven. We’re continuing our studies through this really amazing prophecy. Daniel chapter seven. We are here again for the third time in this chapter. The plan is to be there another two occasions and then we’ll, I hope, move on to chapter eight. We have been covering one chapter per Sunday, but chapter seven—I’m sorry, chapter seven—I think deserves more attention because it’s such a central passage in biblical prophecy. And today we look at the subject: The Little Horn. The little horn who violently opposes the people of God.
I’d like to take the time to read the entire chapter. You can follow along as I read.
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. Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night and behold, 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. 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. Behold, a 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.’ After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard with four wings of a bird on his back. The beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this, I saw in the night visions, and behold, 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. And I considered the horns, and behold, there came up from among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the four 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 I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him and thousands, thousands served him, 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. The court sat in judgment and the books were opened. I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking and as I looked, the beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. For the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
I saw in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man. And he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him, and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall rise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever and ever.’
Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. And about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High. And the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.
Thus he said, ‘As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the other kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth and trample it down and break it to pieces. As for the 10 horns out of this kingdom, 10 kings shall arise and another shall arise after them. He shall be different from the former ones and shall put down three kings. 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 into his hand for a time, times and half a time. 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. Their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’ Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.”
Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father, we come now again to this fascinating portion of your word, in particular to look at this disturbing prophecy of this little horn who will come. We ask that you’ll give us a clear understanding of it. We ask that you would give us an accurate understanding of it. May we be rightly cautioned by it, that we may be prepared to serve you faithfully no matter what. In Jesus’ name, amen.
As I have mentioned before, chapter 7 is divided into two even parts. Verses 1 to 14, we have the vision that is given to Daniel. Verses 15 through 28, we have the interpretation of the vision. You remember this vision is apocalyptic. That’s the name that we give to it, this great revealing, usually characterized—apocalyptic literature, which was, it seems, born in the book of Daniel—characterized by these fantastic cerebral cartoons, images that are given to illustrate what is to come and the in-breaking of God’s kingdom.
We saw that the four beasts that are listed here, we are told in verses 17 and then following, are four kingdoms, successive kingdoms that will come. We have seen before that they are in succession: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and then Rome. And then out of Rome are these ten other horns that come that we will see this morning. We have looked back then at this chapter; having run through it one time, we came back again the next time, that is last Sunday, and we picked up one of the major themes of the passage, and that is the God who is King. Today we come back to it to see another theme that is prominent in the passage, and that is the little horn. The little horn who violently opposes the people of God.
The Little Horn Who Violently Opposes the People of God
As I mentioned in verses three and following, we have these four beasts that are a succession of major empires, kingdoms that will arise in the earth. The present one, at his writing, was Babylon. That would be followed then by Cyrus and the Medo-Persian Empire and Darius ruling in Babylon. That to be followed by the Grecian Empire, here the leopard, the Grecian Empire with Alexander the Great and the swiftness with which he took over the whole of the Medo-Persian Empire. And then the fourth beast, which is not described as an animal, just as a terrifying, dreadfully and exceedingly terrifying beast, that is the kingdom of Rome. It’s the fourth beast there. That is the kingdom that is ruling that area of the world at the time of Jesus. From the first century B.C. to the fifth century A.D., we have the fourth beast that is the kingdom, the Roman kingdom.
And then we have these 10 horns in verse 7. This fourth beast has 10 horns on its head. And then we learn in verse 24, in the interpretation, that these 10 horns are 10 kingdoms arising from this fourth beast. So we have here the world system from Babylon, through Medo-Persia, through the time of the Grecian rule, to the time of the Roman rule, and then in the aftermath of Rome, the various kingdoms that rise out of the old Roman Empire, and each of these rising up in violence, overthrowing the other—this time of what seems to be chaos, but remember we saw that it is God himself, it is heaven who stirred up these winds and is bringing about his purpose through this succession of kingdoms. And so we have then the first, second, third, fourth beast. Out of the fourth beast, we have these ten horns rising, which are ten more kingdoms that arise out of the aftermath of the Roman Empire.
And then in verse 8, now our focus for today, we have some frightening details with regard to the fourth beast. And that is, after these ten horns are described, we have another horn, a little one, rising up from among them. So notice in verse 8 how it describes this little horn. It says, first of all, it came up from among them. That is, from among the ten horns. So evidently this is a later kingdom arising out of or after the ten kingdoms that arise after, in the remains of the Roman Empire. A succession of kings and rulers and then one more arising out of them. And it says before this little horn, three of the ten horns were plucked up by its roots. So there’s some kind of violent overthrow, some usurping of power. That’s the way it is described again in verse 24. This is a violent overthrow, another ruler who comes up among the other ten rulers and overthrows three of them.
And then again in verse 8 it says, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. So we have here an individual person who is in view, not just a kingdom, but a king, a ruler himself. That’s typically the way it works in a biblical prophecy. Also in Daniel, we’ve seen this many times where we speak of the kingdom and then we speak of the king and the two are interchangeable. Here we have this little horn who wields this great authority. And in fact, it says in verse eight again, he has a mouth speaking great things. So not only is he powerful, but he’s boastful. He’s proud. He struts. He’s pompous. He’s triumphalistic. He not only conquers the others, overthrows them, but he brags about it and struts with power. This is the little horn. He’s a fearsome ruler, violent, and boastful.
Now if you jump down to verses 19 and following, you find that Daniel wants to know more details. He’s not content with what he knows so far. Who is this little horn? He’s a disturbing figure. This little horn that rises up from the ten, which in turn rose up from the fourth beast. Who is this guy? He seems frightening. And so in verse 20, he tells us he seemed greater than his companions. Well, I guess he overthrew some of the 10 that were there. He’s strutting. He’s boasting. He stands above all of those other empires. Seems to be indestructible. He seems to be autonomous. It doesn’t seem that he can be checked.
And so in verse—so we’ve been told so far that he is a violent, powerful ruler. Now in verse 21, we have his specific target identified. Notice it says, “This horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them.” He made war with the saints. That is, his tyrannical rule is directed particularly against the people of God. He has a specific hatred for the people of God, the saints of the Most High. And then, a really troubling detail is given us in verse 21, where it tells us he prevailed over them. So not only is this an opponent of the people of God, but he’s an opponent of the people of God who succeeds in his opposition against the saints. He maintains the upper hand. He succeeds in his opposition. In other words, the saints seem to be beaten back and they seem to be losing.
Verse 22 then reminds us all of this is only until the appointed time of judgment when the judge takes his seat at the throne and takes away the dominion from the little horn and gives it to the saints of the Most High. Verses 23 and following then, as we have seen, he gives some more details about the fourth beast. But now in verse 25, notice some more details regarding this little horn, some further characterization of the little horn. Verse 25: he speaks words against the Most High. That is, he’s blasphemous. He’s not only proud and boastful in his power and his authority, and not only is he opposing the people of God, but he’s blasphemous. There’s some kind of open rebellion against God. Not just an evil man, but an evil man who is openly rebellious against God.
And then it says another very troubling detail—not just verse 21, he prevailed over the saints, but verse 25—he shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and they shall be given into his hand. So there’s a time of success stated in more severe terms here than we had in verse 21. He wears out the saints and beats them down. And then finally, in verse 25, it tells us he changes times and laws. We can only assume that means it has reference to God’s laws. He is a wicked man, a world leader. He’s no longer grounded in the values of the saints of the Most High, but opposes those values and controls the system in a way that the people of the Most High, the saints, have a difficult time worshiping God and serving him as he has commanded.
And then late in verse 25, we have an interesting specific detail regarding the time limit that’s imposed. He will have this, that this little horn is—the people are given into his hand, the saints are given into his hand—for a time, for times, and a half a time. Presumably three and a half years. A time, one year; times, two years; and a half a year. Put them together: three and a half years. And I’ll have a little bit more to say about that as we move along.
Now then, keep in mind also in verses 9 and following, and then again in verses 26 and following in the interpretation, both in the vision and in the interpretation, we have a happier note, and that is the great king, the Ancient of Days, sits in judgment. And then we have described for us the end of the little horn. That is, he is brought to his end in judgment by the Ancient of Days. Verse 11 informs us in just short shrift that in God’s time, the rule of this little horn will be taken away. Speaking with regard to the beast itself, it says he was killed, his body is destroyed, and it’s burned with fire.
And then verses 13 and following, the Son of Man is establishing the kingdom of God—and we’ll see this next time—as a reference to the Lord Jesus who takes the kingship to himself. He has earned the kingship through his saving work, his death and resurrection, his ascension. He has assumed the kingship. And now in verses 13 and following, not only has the Son of Man received the kingdom, but the saints share in his rule and all the world is subjected to the kingdom of God under the rule of the Son of Man and the saints of the Most High. And so even the rule of this great enemy of the saints is not a rule that is outside of the rule of God himself. And in God’s time, the rule of this little horn is brought to an end—a rule for a while, the dominion, it says, is given to him, but only for a time, and then it’s taken away and given to the saints.
And then verses 21 and 22, as we see there, the rule taken away from the little horn and given to the saints, culminating in the description of it all in verses 26 and 27: “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 kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. Their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
All right, well, there’s a broad overview of the prophecy. We have this succession of kingdoms. Out of that final kingdom, Rome, arise 10 more in the aftermath of the Roman Empire. And then after those 10, we have one more, this little horn arising, overthrowing some of the previous ones and assuming great authority to himself, opposing the people of God until the time of judgment when God takes the authority away from him.
When Will All of This Happen?
All right, so let’s move then to some interpretation ourselves. When will all of this happen? When will this little horn be seen, or has he already been seen? Before I answer the question specifically, I want to back up and give you a reminder. I’ve mentioned several times in a series of studies this observation in biblical prophecy that in order to understand prophecy, Old Testament particularly, we have to understand this concept of what I call prophetic foreshortening, where a prophet will look ahead and make a prophecy, and in that prophecy describe events that, as it turns out, we know now from New Testament revelation, occurred and then occur in a climactic way later. Usually it gathers around the first coming and the second coming of Jesus. And these prophecies are spoken of in the Old Testament in broad brush. And now with further New Testament revelation, we are able to see that there’s a succession of fulfillment in those prophecies.
Now, all of that sounds like theory. Let me give you an example or two. Keep your hand here. We’ll be back to Daniel, but look back to Isaiah. Isaiah, let’s take chapter 11. There are just almost an endless number of examples of this kind of thing happening in the prophets. And what I want you to see is that this is not some kind of special pleading. This is something that is standard issue in the prophets, that there is this prophetic foreshortening, looking ahead and then looking ahead further than that.
So, for example, Isaiah chapter 11, look at verse 1: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse.” Now, who’s that? That’s Jesus, right? That’s always the answer in church, of course. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse. So it’s speaking of the birth of Jesus from the line of David. “A branch from his,” that is David’s, “roots shall bear fruit. And the spirit of the Lord God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.” This is all a wonderful description of the life of Jesus in his earthly ministry.
Verse three: “His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord, he shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, he shall decide with equity for the meek of the earth, he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness would be the belt of his waist,” and so on. Now do you see what’s happening there? We have in the earlier part of this brief passage that we’ve read a description of Jesus and his birth, his earthly life, and then suddenly somewhere a transition is made and we’re talking about what we now know will be in his second coming when he judges the wicked and puts them to death—all in one broad brush.
Let me give you one more example in Isaiah since we’re there. Look in Isaiah chapter 61. Isaiah chapter 61. You might recognize this passage from Luke chapter 4 where Jesus picks it up in the synagogue and reads it and refers it to himself. Isaiah 61, verse 1: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit,” and so on.
Now Jesus refers—he picks up the scroll in Luke chapter four and reads what is for us, verses one to the first line of verse two: “Proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of prison to those who are bound to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” That is the year of jubilee has come. The year of salvation has come and all that the year of jubilee prefigured, that’s here with me. And he closes it up at that point and says, “This day, this prophecy has been fulfilled in your hearing.” But notice the next line of verse two: “and the day of vengeance of our God.” That really hasn’t happened yet, has it? And yet there it is in the same broad brush of the prophecy, and we move from the first coming to the second coming.
My point in all of this—there are so many examples of this kind of thing in the Old Testament, and not only with regard to Jesus’ first and second coming, but with regard to other prophecies as well. We’ll see it when we get to Daniel chapter 11 in particular. There’s a famous one in Ezekiel chapter 26, where the prophecy against Tyre, the kingdom of Tyre, which prophesies its downfall. And that, as it turns out, was fulfilled in the military exploits of Nebuchadnezzar. And then—no wait—was fulfilled again more fully in the military conquest of Alexander the Great. And then even later in the Crusades. So we can have this succession of fulfillments of biblical prophecy, and that happens very often.
Alright, back to Daniel chapter 7. Evidently, that kind of thing is going on here in chapter 7 of Daniel as well. Well, we already know from the interpretation of the successive kingdoms that Daniel here is covering a broad swath of history in just broad brush. We have the first kingdom, this lion. That’s the kingdom of Babylon. That’s 6th century BC. And then we have the Medo-Persian kingdom after that, that’s the 6th through the 4th centuries BC. And after that, we have the Grecian kingdom, the leopard. And that is from the 4th to the 1st century BC. And then we have the kingdom of Rome after that, the terrifying beast. And that’s at the time of Jesus. It’s from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD. And then after that, we have 10 horns growing out of the aftermath of the old Roman Empire. And then one more horn growing up among them after that. So in one broad brush here, we have a broad succession of kingdoms coming and going. The fourth kingdom is the kingdom at the time of the birth of Jesus.
Now then, who then is this little horn? Well, we know then that he is an evil leader who rises up late in the time of the ten horns. We have the fourth beast, the Roman Empire. Out of the fourth beast, we have these ten horns. And after the ten horns are there, another little horn comes up, and that’s when he comes. So it’s late in the time of these ten kingdoms that arise out of the aftermath of the old Roman Empire. And he comes with violence. He overthrows some of the others. He establishes dominance. He opposes the saints. And then he’s destroyed by the Lord in judgment. So he’s the great opponent of the people of God. He even prevails against them for a time. And then when the Ancient of Days comes and sits in judgment, his dominion is taken away, and it’s given to the saints, and he is destroyed. That’s the judgment scene of verses 9 and following, and of verses 26 and following.
What’s the time frame in all of that? Well, pretty obviously the time frame is the time of the consummation of the kingdom of God. The consummation of the kingdom of God when all earthly rulers are stripped of their power and the rule is given over to the saints of the Most High. We find that in verses 11 and 12. These nations have their power stripped away from them and it’s given then to the Son of Man and to his people. Pretty clearly here, I think, we are speaking of the end of history at the return of Jesus Christ—all in broad brush.
And so then, it would seem that this little horn is what we know as the Antichrist. Now the Antichrist, that terminology is found only in the Epistles of John: 1 John 2, 1 John 4, and then in 2 John as well. It’s the only time we find the terminology of Antichrist. But in 2 Thessalonians 2, we find the Apostle Paul referring to—which is presumably the same figure—only he calls him the man of lawlessness or the man of sin. And then in Revelation chapters 13 and following, we find this beast who rises from the sea, who is destroyed at the coming of Christ and thrown into the lake of fire. And his rule is focused against the people of God and the mark of the beast is required of all under him so they can’t do business without it and all of that. And all of that then is this violent evil personage at the end of the age who usurps great authority civically, politically, and with a particular focus of power against the people of God, and then is destroyed in judgment at the return of Jesus.
Now, there is one little wrinkle with that interpretation that sometimes has been brought up. And that is—and we’ll see this later in Daniel, particularly in Daniel 11—that we have a man coming during the Grecian kingdom, the aftermath of the breakup of Alexander the Great’s kingdom, a man by the name of Antiochus. You probably have heard the name before. You may even have read it in other places. This is the time of the Maccabean Revolt in the second century before Jesus. Antiochus was an infamous opponent of the Jews. He comes in, the Syrian ruler; he comes in and imposes his rule against the Jews, outlaws Judaism, offers a pig on the altar, dedicates the temple to Zeus. And it’s just a horrible time of persecution against the Jews. And the description really in many ways fits what’s going on here. And then most significantly, from the time of his offering that sacrifice of the pig on the altar to the final success of the Maccabean revolt is a period of, guess, three and a half years. Ah, this must be it. Problem with that is, that’s too early. This little horn comes as an outgrowth of the ten kingdoms that come after the period of Rome, and Antiochus is all before Rome. So what do we do with all of that?
Well, actually, it gets a little more complicated than that. Biblical prophecy is fun, and this is why we allow differences among good men. We recognize that there are differences of interpretation. In Daniel chapter 11, we have, beginning with verse 36, confirmation that Antiochus is actually one who, although a historical figure himself who moves against the people of God, is one who foreshadows the coming of this later Antichrist. We have this three and a half year period coming up again. We’ll see it in Daniel chapter 9. One half of the last seven years of the 70 weeks, one half of the week there’s this abomination that is coming. But Jesus associates that in Matthew 24 with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. So now it’s more complicated, which in turn may prefigure some events at the end of history as well. And in fact John in Revelation 11 to 13, with the beast rising up out of the sea, picks up this time frame: 42 months or 1260 days—the same three and a half year period, speaking of something at the end of history that is destroyed with the second coming of Jesus.
And all of that complicating data has led many to conclude that this three and a half years is in fact a—this recurring designation is symbolic of a period of trouble. Whether it’s to be taken as a literal period of three and a half years, or as the time with Antiochus, it provides us with a figurative expression then of a time of tribulation that will come. For my own view, I haven’t made up my mind on all of that yet, but you’re welcome to try to teach me. We will see more of that later in the series.
What is clear here then, what we can be sure of, I think, in Daniel chapter 7, is that this little horn is a great, powerful, political figure who gains power at the end of this age and brings opposition against the people of God and then will be destroyed at the coming of Christ. And I think we have indisputable confirmation of that in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, as well as in Revelation 11 to 13. So here he has brought us from the time of Babylon through to the time of Jesus’ birth, the establishment of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ work, and finally to the culmination of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ return.
Why Does Daniel Tell Us All This?
All right, now, we’ve worked through the details of it. We have to do that in order to understand what’s going on. But why does Daniel feel it necessary to tell us all this? Why is this so important? And I think a clue to the answer to that question we have is in verse 28. Daniel 7, verse 28: “Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.” This was a troublesome dream, troublesome details, troublesome prophecy. It bothered me so much so that my color changed. You get this picture of Daniel turning white with horror. “And I kept it in my heart,” contemplating what is to come.
In other words, then, Daniel, on the one hand, is assured of the final triumph of the kingdom of God, but he’s disturbed with this thought of what is going to happen in the meantime. Daniel’s message to Israel, as we have seen over and again, is one of an exhortation to faithfulness. And it’s an exhortation to faithfulness because God is king and because his kingdom will prevail. But here we see that Daniel’s message is not simply, “Cheer up, the kingdom of God will win. Cheer up, the kingdom of God will prevail.” But rather, Daniel’s message is, “Yes, the kingdom of God will prevail. God will win against all enemies. But in the meantime, there is much suffering to come.” This exile that the Jews are in in Babylon—it’s been rough. It’s been awful. But I have news for you. There’s worse suffering yet to come. God will win. God is king. And he has a time limit imposed. Just three and a half years. And in the end, he will take away the authority of the little horn and give it to the saints of the Most High. But in the meantime, the little horn will prevail, and he’ll even wear out the saints of the Most High. That is what troubled Daniel, the prospect of this coming time of tribulation for his people.
Well, now then, the next question is, what does that have to do with us? Well, I can answer that, I think, in two steps, and both of them are related. Number one, the New Testament warns us over and over again about the tribulation that is to mark this age for the people of God. And number two, we are specifically warned in the New Testament of an outbreak of evil at the end of this age. And those two are not unrelated. Tribulation that is to characterize this age for the people of God and the outbreak of evil at the end of this age against the people of God—these two are tied tightly together in biblical expectation. We’ll see details of it later in the series.
But the tribulation of this age, we are brought to see, particularly in the New Testament, is a preview. The tribulation of this age is a preview of the tribulation that we will see in larger scale at the end of the age. And so we have what you’ve heard me talk about many times here, not only an inauguration of the kingdom—the kingdom of God inaugurated in this age, but not brought to its consummation—there is also an inauguration of tribulation, an inauguration of trouble against the people of God.
The New Testament gives us frequent warnings about this and frequently it can link it together. For example, in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus warns us that this whole age will be marked not only by gospel advance—”this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the nations”—but this age will be marked not only by gospel advance, but it’ll be marked by opposition against the people of God. He says in Matthew 24, “They’ll deliver you up to tribulation, and they will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.” This is the entire church age. In a sense, we could write a history of the church under the title, “Tribulation,” to see how the people of God have suffered and been opposed throughout this age of the church.
And yet, we found in places like I’ve mentioned—2 Thessalonians 2—there will be this outbreak of evil at the end. And in Revelation 13 and following, we have this beast and the mark of the beast that is given. And all of that, I’m convinced as well, has both a “now” and a “not yet” to it, that there is the suffering of the people of God under the rule of the beast now, which is here already, John tells us, and yet will come in a climactic way at the end of the age. And so I think Daniel’s troubling concern concerns us as well.
Now, it’s difficult, I think, for us in the West to imagine this because the past several hundred years in the West, because of the Reformation, has been one of relative peace for Christians. We’ve had Christendom. Now there are of course some terrible exceptions to that. There’s been the putting to death of the Protestants by the Catholics, and putting to death of Anabaptists by the Protestants, and Christians have suffered in various ways throughout. But in general, in the West, over the last two, three, four hundred years particularly, Christians have had it pretty good. That has not been the case in the history of the church. We have to see, I think to understand this rightly, we have to see that these past two, three hundred years in the West has been something of a historical bubble. It’s not the way the church age has gone.
Ask the people in ancient Rome how they suffered under the Roman rule. No, Christians were executed. Think of Christians in North Korea. Think of Christians in the old Soviet Union, Christians in China, or today, Christians in the Muslim world, in Africa, and how they’ve suffered. I very much, very much appreciate what Pastor Boyd does here regularly on Sunday mornings in the pastoral prayer and praying for the suffering church. I think it’s something we ought to do. I’ve never seen a church that observes that as a habit like Pastor Boyd does here. It’s wonderful and it ought to remind us that that is what Jesus said would be the characteristic of this age. We’ve been spoiled in the West for the time. We’ve had it pretty good, but we have no reason to think that that spoiled situation that we have had will continue. We have every reason to think that it will not.
There’s plenty of evidence to show us already that the end-time outbreak of evil has already come. That’s exactly what John says in 1 John chapter 2, and we see it in a big way in our own day. Increasingly, our culture is becoming not just post-Christian, but our culture has become anti-Christian in so many ways. Pressure is being increasingly brought to bear on people who dare to call themselves Christian. If you dare to acknowledge that you hold to the biblical teachings on morality, you’re brought in to be the object of sneer and mocking, and it won’t be long—it’s hard to think it won’t be long—before it becomes more and more part of the penal code of our society as well. If you disapprove of Islam as a religion and disagree with it, you’re called an Islamophobe. If you disapprove of homosexuality, you’re called a homophobe. Compared to the suffering of Christians throughout the church age, we have not yet seen suffering.
But the Bible tells us here, and I think throughout, that what they have experienced throughout the history of the church will become increasingly widespread. And in verse 28 here, that is what is so troubling to Daniel. And anytime we think of that, we have to wonder, what is it that we will face in years to come, even in our culture? What is it my children, my grandchildren will be brought to face? And Daniel’s message again: be faithful. God still reigns. The kingdom of God will prevail. You’re living in Babylon right now. You’re a minority. You’re resented. You’re opposed. Expect it. In fact, it’s going to get worse. There’ll be an outbreak of it in a larger scale in years to come. But still, though they may throw you into the lion’s den and though they may throw you to the fiery furnace, be faithful. Be faithful. In fact, there’s worse to come. And he that endures to the end shall be saved. That, I think, is the biblical outlook throughout.
Now we have said here many times that with regard to the details of eschatology, we acknowledge that we can’t all understand every detail the same way and we acknowledge that we need to put up with one another. I put up with Pastor Boyd and Pastor Greg and their misunderstandings. Hey, I even sang a post-millennial hymn this morning, “Lead on, O King Eternal.” One thing that has troubled me about Reformed preaching and Reformed eschatology, when we speak of the end times, is that it’s too much—and this is not a cheap shot, this is a valid criticism—too much of Reformed eschatology has consisted in dumping on dispensationalists, criticizing dispensationalists for their silly mistakes. And I think we can do better than that.
One difference that we do have with a dispensationalist approach to the end times is the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture, that somehow God will rescue his people away from the earth, snatch them away before that time of tribulation comes. I have good friends that believe that. I’m sure there are some in our church who believe that. I don’t mean to be mean. One of my best friends in the ministry believes the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine. In fact, not only is he one of my best friends, he’s one of the sharpest exegetical eyes I know. I have high respect for him. I think he’s wrong in that regard. And I don’t at all mean to be critical of the people and their sincerity or anything like that. But here’s the rub: if Christians have been taught that they will be snatched away before a time of tribulation comes and it’s not true, they will have been ill-prepared.
The New Testament everywhere tells us that our hope is not focused in some secret rapture. Our hope is focused on the culmination and the culminating arrival of the kingdom of God. Everywhere, that’s where our hope is to be focused. As here in Daniel chapter 7 itself, the people of God suffer and will be called to suffer worse until in a great culminating way, the Son of Man comes and brings the kingdom and delivers it over to the saints. Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, the Lord Jesus in that day will be revealed from heaven with flaming fire. And at that time, he will trouble those who trouble you now. And he’ll even destroy the man of sin himself. And that’s why the Lord Jesus exhorts the church in Revelation chapter 2 and verse 10, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested, and for 10 days you will have tribulation. But be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Now in all of that, we must remember, as the little horn comes with his assault against the people of God, whatever outward appearances, God is King. Daniel 7 here in verse 22: the little horn will have his way, but only until the Ancient of Days comes and sits in judgment and delivers the kingdom over to the saints of the Most High. Verses 25 and 26: authority is given to the little horn. Remember that? It’s given to the little horn, and it’s given to the little horn only until it’s, in turn, taken away. Even that, with specified time limits—even if those three and a half years are to be taken in a symbolic way—the point remains: there’s a time limit that God has imposed on the rule of the little horn. And so we may be sure, verse 27, the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, they’ll be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, and their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.
And so again, people of God, be faithful. Be faithful unto death, but not just be faithful and be faithful unto death, but be faithful in hope, in the anticipation that our glorious King will come again. He himself has said it: “Behold, I am coming soon.” And it has been the heartthrob of the church ever since: “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” Amen.
Our Father, we feel that we have been spoiled by the mercies that you’ve given to us in recent generations. We ask that you would make us all the more resolved to serve no matter what. We ask that you would encourage the hearts of all of your people with this wonderful anticipation that Jesus will come. The kingdom will be delivered over to the saints of the Most High. How we long for that day. Lord Jesus, come soon. We pray in the name of our Lord. Amen. Amen.
Well, I feel it’s appropriate to end by singing number 217 out of the Trinity Hymnal. Let’s sing together, “Look, Ye Saints, the Sight is Glorious.” See the man of sorrows now. From the fight, return victorious. Every knee to him shall bow. Let’s stand together and sing.
He touched your feet, Jesus, please.
Made the seed of Corinth grow,
Him, while the vault of heaven bleeds.
Round Him, round Him, round the Savior bleeds.
Around Him, on His side, all praise His name.
Gathering round Him, spread a hug of ecstasy.
Hark! The first abomination!
Hark! Those loud, triumphant choirs!
Jesus takes the highest station,
King of kings and lords.