Daniel 7: Jesus is King

And when Peter said that Lot was tormenting his soul day after day over the lawlessness and sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, we read that now and say I get just what he means (2 Peter 2:7-8).

From top to bottom, our culture is filled with sin, death, and corruption.

And our government is all to happy to keep pushing it all.

They see our sins are piled as high as heaven and they think the best idea is to just keep passing out shovels in rebellion against God.

Our government constantly lies to protect its own power.

Actively promotes covetousness under the guise of Social Justice.

Pushes abortion, homosexuality, and transgenderism which all deny God as Creator because if there is no God then the State becomes God.

They trample our rights and freedoms given to us by God and then fund it all with oppressive taxation to pervert the land with more and more wickedness and injustice.

Make no mistake. Our government has made itself a Beast.

They rage against God and rebel against Him in every way calling good evil and evil good all because they are wise in their own eyes and hate God with everything they are (Isaiah 5:20-21).

And I don’t know about you, but its easy to look at this beast, and give into despair.

How can this ever get fixed?

Will it ever change?

The Beast is monstrous, it doesn’t feel like there is anything that can stop it.

And its easy to start wondering Where is God? What is He doing? What is God’s plan in all this?

That’s why Daniel 7 was written. Daniel 7 is an Apocalypse.

The first six chapters of Daniel are stories, historical narratives, that remind us that God alone is the One True God, and our job is to stay faithful to Him no matter what.

Then the second half of the book is a series of apocalyptic visions God gave to Daniel to encourage His people for what was coming.

We normally hear “Apocalypse” and think the end of the world. But Apocalyptic literature is not just about the end of the world.

Its actually a spiritual unveiling.

Its God pulling back the curtain to show His people what is spiritually going on behind the scenes of world history to give them hope to keep going, keep trusting, stay faithful because God wins in the end and all the chaos is only serving His purposes to bring all things in Heaven and on Earth into submission to Jesus Christ.

And that’s the message God has for us today.

The world is not spinning out of control. God is Sovereign over the nations even when everything our eyes tell us says He’s not.

In times like these when we see Beasts rising out of the Sea in our own day, its easy to ask where is God? What is He doing?

And here’s the answer. Here’s the foundational truth we need to remember when everything looks dark. He’s ruling over them all and is sovereignly guiding world history, all peoples, nations, and languages to confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Dan. 7:14, Phil. 2:11).

Here is the BIG IDEA I want us to remember today when we might be tempted to give into despair and shrink back from the mission God has given us to do.

Jesus is King over the nations and He will crush every beastly kingdom that raises itself against Him.

The nations rage, but God is sovereign over them all.

Let’s start with point number 1...

I. God is Sovereign Over the Nations

Daniel 7:1-3 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.

Daniel had this vision in the first year Belshazzar putting this vision somewhere between what happened chapters 4 and 5.

And he says, I saw in my vision the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beast came out of the sea different from one another.

The Sea in the Old Testament can be symbolic for several things.

It was a place of evil and darkness. The Great Abyss.

It represented chaos and rebellion against God which is why Scripture often uses it to describe Gentile nations.

Its always unstable and always turbulent; there’s never peace because there’s always waves, but God still rules over it all.

Psalm 89:9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. That’s the idea here.

The Beasts come out of the Sea but God is sovereign over them. In fact He’s the one that brought them up!

The four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea.

Every kingdom, no matter how wicked, no matter how strong, is ultimately under God’s sovereign control and serves God’s sovereign purposes.

The nations rage, but the people’s plot in vain (Ps. 2).

That’s the foundation. That’s the truth we need to believe when days grow dark.

Beast in General

Well who are these Beasts?

First let me tell you what a Beast is.

A Beast is any governing power that rebels against God.

That refuses to submit to Him and govern according to His will.

Romans 13 tells us to submit to the governing authorities. Amen.

But that the governing authorities themselves are to submit to God because no authority exist except those that have been instituted by God and Paul explicitly says that the government is the servant of God.

God has given them authority, the power of the sword, to punish evil and honor those that do good.

Well who defines good and evil? God. They are His servants, and servants carry out their Master’s will.

This is why it is so important to teach the Lordship of Christ over every area of life.

There is no spiritual physical divide. That’s gnosticism.

Christ is Lord of Heaven and Earth and God’s Word is about more than just spiritual things and prayer.

So a Beast is any governing authority that refuses to acknowledge God and rebels against Him.

That’s why the Kingdoms of Men, Beasts, without Christ always lead to Statism where the State makes itself god.

And that’s why a Beast will always wind up persecuting the Church because Jesus is Lord is a declaration of war on the Beast and everything they stand for.

And Daniel sees 4 Beasts.

Four Beasts

Daniel 7:4-6 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ 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. And 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, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 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 dominion was given to it.

Daniel sees four successive Empires come out of the Sea.

And these Empires represent Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

Babylon is the lion with eagles’ wings.

Jeremiah 49:19-22 says Nebuchadnezzar is like a lion who flies on wings of eagles.

On top of that, archeology has actually discovered Babylonian architecture that had lions with what looks like eagles wings.

And when the lion has its wings plucked off and made to stand on two feet like a man, that is a reference to Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation where he became a literal beast and was restored to the throne as a man because he acknowledged God as the Sovereign.

The second Beast is Medo-Persia.

It was a bear raised up on one side probably pointing to the Persians being mightier than the Medes in their united Kingdom, and it had three ribs in its mouth.

This could either be describing the ferociousness and strength of this empire because it hasn’t even devoured its last meal before God says Arise and devour much flesh.

Or the three ribs could represent Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, three world powers that Cyrus had to conquer to establish his Empire.

The third is like a leopard, and represents Greece and Alexander the Great.

This flying leopard represents the speed and ferocity of Alexander’s conquest of the world.

That’s what the four heads are all about. They represent the four points on a compass, north, south, east, and west to say Alexander’s Kingdom would conquer everywhere.

Then Daniel sees a fourth beast that is worst than all the others.

Daniel 7:7-8 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. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first 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.

This Beast represents Rome.

Now this is where it get a little bit complicated because there are some parts of this vision that are hard to understand.

What are the horns? What is the Little Horn? What in the world is going on in this passage?

Here’s where this gets complicated. There are all kinds of orthodox interpretations of the passage and some of them work better than others, and a few of them might differ on particulars but will still get you to the same place.

One that I think falls short, however, is probably the most popular view today.

You’ve probably heart that the Beast represents Rome, the Rome of Jesus’ day, and some future “revived Roman Empire.”

So this view would see the Little Horn as some future Antichrist figure.

But here’s the thing. A Little Horn is not limited biblically to just one person.

In the very next chapter Daniel sees another Little Horn that is part of the Kingdom of Greece.

So there are a lot of Little Horns throughout history, not just one, and what they represent is someone who embodies the power of a Beast.

A Little Horn is any tyrannical ruler or line of rulers over a Beastly Kingdom that blasphemes God and persecutes God’s people.

That’s what makes them Little Horns. They make themselves big like God, but to God they are actually small.

But like I said, this view of a revived Roman Empire is still in the realm of orthodoxy, I just don’t think it gives us the best interpretation of this passage.

For one thing, Daniel 7 is clearly talking about a fourth kingdom in line after Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. Not a fourth kingdom and another kingdom after that.

There is a fifth Kingdom but that Kingdom is Christ’s Kingdom. God takes dominion away from the Beasts, the kingdoms of men, and gives it to Christ.

There’s also nothing in the passage that talks about or even hints that the Beast will revive or come back to life.

In fact, its just the opposite.

When God judges the Beast and the Little Horn in verse 11, it says The beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.

The whole point is that the Beast and the Little Horn are put down once and for all. The Roman Empire doesn’t come back because God judged it.

Anything that sees the Beast reviving or coming back to life is reading something into the text.

Instead, Daniel 7 is another perspective of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2.

Daniel 2:44-45 In the days of those kings [In the days of the Roman Caesars represented by the legs of iron and we have teeth of iron here] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed...It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever (Daniel 2:44-45).

There is a stone not cut with human hands, the Kingdom of Christ, and that stone strikes the feet of the Roman Empire and shatters the Kingdoms of Men.

Not that they stop existing entirely, but that after Christ there is no kingdom that is not under the rule and dominion of Christ’s Kingdom.

That’s why that stone, the Kingdom of Christ, grows into a great mountain that fills the whole earth.

That’s what’s going on here.

God gives Dominion to Christ and establishes His Kingdom in the days of those Kings, in the days of the Roman Empire

That’s why the first words Jesus came preaching were Mark 1:15 The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.

So whatever the 10 horns, Little Horn, and 3 uprooted horns are, they all have to deal with the Roman Empire of Jesus’ day according to the straight forward, plain reading of the text.

The Fourth Beast comes after Greece, that’s Rome. God judges it, and it dies. And the Kingdom of Christ is established forever and ever and ever over every Kingdom.

Like Jesus said, All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me (Matthew 28:18).

Horns

So let’s get into these horns. Like I said there are a few options, but they all ultimately get us to basically the same place.

Daniel sees 10 horns and as he looked at the horns a Little One came up among them and plucked up three of the first horns by their roots.

One option is that the 10 horns represent the first 10 Caesars of Rome. We are told in verse 24, the 10 horns are 10 kings, and if you go from Julius all the way to Vespasian that’s 10 Caesars.

Well why Vespasian? Two reasons:

One: He was the Emperor during the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 which Matthew 24 tells us was the moment the world saw that Christ was the King of kings and Lord of lords seated at the right hand of the Father.

Two: Vespasian started the Flavian Dynasty. So with Him the Beastly Empire of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty which ruled from Augustus all the way to Nero was killed and destroyed.

Persecution of the church took a back seat as Vespasian tried to bring stability back to the Empire and Rome went to its destruction and never really got close to the glory of its former days.

That would make the Little Horn Nero. He came up among, that is in the midst of them, and the middle of 10 is either 5 or 6. Well Nero was the 6th Emperor.

The reason this fits is because Nero, of all the Caesars, really embodies the description of the Little Horn the most.

But I have a different view.

My personal view as it stands today, you can ask me again because it might change next week, is derivative of Calvin’s view.

I think the 10 horns is mostly a symbolic number representing the complete power and authority of Rome.

10 is a number of fullness or completion.

So the 10 kings of the 10 horns represent the governors and rulers of the different provinces that made up the Roman Republic that became the Roman Empire.

The Little Horn then, and this is where Calvin is so helpful, is the line of Roman Caesars. It represents all the Caesars as a whole and each of them individually.

Verse 8: And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

Before Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and Evil, they saw it. And the Bible says they saw it was good for food, and after they ate it their eyes were open.

John talks about the love of the world being the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).

The Little Horn’s eyes of a man are eyes that desire sin. This horn is characterized by his rebellion against God.

And out of his rebellion, he speaks blasphemies against God. That’s the mouth speaking great things.

Verse 25 explains this a little more.

He shall speak words against the Most High...and shall think to change the times and the law (Daniel 7:25).

God alone has the right to change times and Law. He is the Sovereign one of the universe, but the Caesars wanted to take the honor for themselves.

They wanted to be the Sovereign and wanted everyone to worship them as a God.

In verse 21, this Little Horn also makes war on the saints and prevails over them. Verse 25 He shall wear out the saints of the Most High and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.

Some people take that time, times, and half a time to be the literal 3.5 year Empire wide persecution under Nero, but I take it to be a symbolic way of saying God would intervene on behalf of His people and cut the time short from what the Little Horn ultimately wanted to achieve.

But we know Rome and the Caesars persecuted the Church.

So everything about the Little Horn points to the Caesars.

Well what about this business of the three horns being uprooted and left as stumps?

If the Little Horn is talking about Nero, people think that this is the three Emperors who were all assassinated, or put down in the words of verse 24, before he came to the throne because He was not technically in the line of succession.

I think there’s a better answer. If the Little Horn represents the line of Caesars, I think the three horns put down would probably be the Triumvirate that ruled the Roman Republic before the Caesars came to power.

As a Republic Rome was ruled by a complex set of checks and balances to keep anyone man from seizing control and becoming a Tyrant.

The First Triumvirate was a secret alliance between Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey where they agreed to help each other to work around the Senate and grow their power.

Crassus died, and Caesar and Pompey went into a Civil War.

Caesar won and declared himself Emperor, but was assassinated by the Roman Senate because they feared he was going to overthrow the Senate and rule as a tyrant.

Then the Roman Senate created an officially sanctioned Second Triumvirate made up of Octavius who later became Augustus, Mark Antony, and Lepidus, designed to rule Rome while still keeping it from becoming a monarchy.

Octavius deposed Lepidus after accusing him of rebellion, and then there was another civil war between Octavius and Mark Antony where Octavius came out on top and became Augustus Caesar.

The second Triumvirate dissolved. The Caesars essentially cut down the Roman Triumvirate and took Rome from a Republic to an Empire. That’s what I think the three horns are.

But at the end of the day, no matter which way we go, Daniel makes it clear that the Beast and all its horns have to do with Rome.

In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44).

Rome represented the Kingdoms of Men at the height of their power. \

Daniel even says it was different from all the beasts that were before it. It was terrifying, dreadful, and exceedingly strong.

It devoured the whole earth, trampled it down, and broke it into pieces.

Who could conquer this Beast?

Whose Kingdom was strong enough to shatter this one and not be crushed by its claws or devoured by its iron teeth?

The stone not cut with human hands. Only Christ. The Son of Man. King of kings and Lord of lords.

As strong as this Fourth Beast was, he was no match for the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. Because look what happens next in Daniel’s vision.

Daniel 7:9-10 As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and 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; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

Daniel sees a vision of God. The Ancient of Days.

He is eternal. Before Creation. Unending. Unchanging. Almighty.

Where the Kingdoms of Men rise and fall, God and His Kingdom endures forever.

His clothing was white as snow and hair like pure wool showing His purity, wisdom, and perfect holiness.

He sat on His throne which was fiery flames, with wheels of burning fire and a river of fire coming out from before Him.

Fire represents God’s almighty judgment against His enemies.

Psalm 97:3 Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.

Hebrews 12:29 Our God is a consuming fire.

And His throne having wheels of fire says that God is not like the pagan gods who only rules where they have jurisdiction. Who rule as a local deity over a local people.

God’s throne of judgment goes everywhere because He is sovereign over all creation.

And he opens the books in judgment.

Then verse 11...

Daniel 7:11-12 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. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

Remember what the Little Horn of the Beast did. It blasphemed God and persecuted His people.

Daniel 7:21-22 It made war on the saints and prevailed over them until, the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High.

God judged the Beast on behalf of the Saints and destroyed it to the uttermost.

Daniel could not be any louder. God is Sovereign over the nations.

The world is not chaos, even though it can sometimes feel like it.

God has the whole world in His hands and He is working all things towards the glory of Christ and the good of those that love Him.

Even when we suffer under beasts, we can be patient, knowing that God is the one preserving their lives for a season and a time, and He will not be mocked.

He will judge the wicked.

And if we suffer for His name, our suffering will ultimately result in the glory of Christ among the nations.

Because the good news of Daniel is that Rome was not just replaced with another Beast.

God did shatter the kingdoms of men and established a Kingdom that will never be destroyed.

He took dominion from the Beasts, and gave it to one like a Son of Man.

And that’s point number 2...

2760

II. Jesus is King Over the Nations

Daniel 7:13-14 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.

So if you notice the direction of the Son of Man He comes up to the Ancient of Days, so this is not talking about Christ’s Second Coming but actually His ascension to the Throne.

In Acts 2, Peter says this was fulfilled in Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven.

Acts 2:32-36 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

So what that tells us is that today, right now, Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is ruling and reigning over all things both in Heaven and on Earth, at the right hand of the Father.

Did He not say All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me.

Pray like this, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Philippians 2 says that Because he was obedient to the point of death, because He died on the Cross to save His elect God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:6-11).

Jesus is King today.

Yes. The fullness of Christ’s Kingdom will come when He returns and washes away every trace and stain of sin once and for all forever, and ever.

But that does not mean that Christ is not actually the King of Heaven and Earth today.

But why doesn’t it look like it. Is this really a world that looks like Christ’s Kingdom? That looks like all glory power and dominion has been given to Him?

But what did Jesus say?

Matthew 13:31-33 “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

The Kingdom is established. In the Days of those Kings. In the Life, Death, Resurrection and ascension of Jesus God gave Him the Kingdom.

And today it is growing into a great mountain like leaven and a mustard seed until it feels the whole earth.

It might not look like it, but Christ’s Kingdom is advancing in the world today. Because how does the Kingdom come?

Matthew 28:18-20 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

It comes through the preaching of the gospel. That is how Christ grows His Kingdom.

Think about it. What is a Kingdom?

A Kingdom is a place where a King’s rule and authority is recognized, obeyed, and followed.

Well no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3:3).

Why? Because the only way to worship Christ as Lord and Savior and follow Him as the King of your life is if God saves you and makes you alive again.

If He washes you clean of all your sin and takes out your heart of stone and puts in you a heart of flesh that loves God and loves His Law.

That’s how the Kingdom grows because salvation is the only way fallen sinners can worship Christ as Savior and King.

And that’s where the Great Commission comes in.

Because if all peoples, nations, and languages are going to serve him, that’s the same word for worship by the way, that is only going to happen as the gospel goes out to the whole wide world.

The Kingdom grows as the gospel grows.

And if all peoples, nations, and languages are going to serve Him, the same word for worship that is only going to happen if they are born again and given new hearts that love God and love God’s Law by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So the Kingdom grows as the gospel grows.

And like a mustard seed and like leaven, that is going to take some time. Why?

God is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

God will not lose a single one of His elect.

He has promised them to Christ and He will give them to Him.

This is where we need faith and patient endurance. This is really where Daniel becomes applicable to us today.

Beasts still exist today.

And they are so strong and overwhelming that they seem impossible to overcome.

But Christ rules over them. And He endures their indignation every day for the sake of His elect.

Any Beast we might face any Kingdom of Men that refuses to acknowledge Christ and rebels against Him is still under the sovereign control of God.

God preserves them, in the words of Daniel, for a season and a time according to His infinite wisdom.

God is sovereignly controlling all things, both good and bad, to save His elect and bring glory to name of Christ.

The world is not chaos, everything is going exactly according to plan.

Daniel 7:27 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; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

That is where we are going. And it might take longer than we would like.

But we are called to trust God, carry out the Great Commission, and sacrifice all of our lives to serve the glory of Christ even if that means we are asked to live faithfully under a Beast for a season and a time.

His Kingdom will become a great mountain that will fill the whole earth.

Hab. 2:14 The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

And Psalm 22:27-28 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. Why? For kingship belongs to the Lord, [or like Daniel says to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom] and he rules over the nations.

We don’t need to lose heart no matter what enemies we might face. God is Sovereign.

And He has promised Christ Psalm 2:7-8 You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool under your feet (Psalm 110:1).

We know how this story ends.

That doesn’t mean its not hard. Look what Daniel says the last verse of this chapter.

Daniel 7:28 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.

Its scary to face the iron teeth of a Beast that seems so powerful that there’s nothing that can stop.

Our thoughts might alarm us, our color might change, but like Daniel we need to keep the matter in our heart.

We need to remember God’s promise that its the four winds of heaven that stir up the sea.

It might look like chaos and the world is spinning out of control, but it is all under the sovereign hand of God and it is all serving the purpose of the glory of Christ.

The question is are we on board on that mission?

What’s more important to us? Our comfort? Our life? Our delusions that we control anything in our life?

Or is it the glory of Christ and the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said seek first the Kingdom.

Live for the Kingdom. Serve the Kingdom.

Trusts God’s timing, providence, and plan for the world.

Whose to say that God isn’t shaking everything that can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken might remain?

In His kindness, God is tearing idols down left and right.

Our comfort, our money, our entertainment, health, our own selves and even the government itself.

God is showing everyone that there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

The question is will we be there to tell them?

Christ or Chaos.

Those are the two options.

Will we shrink back, or will we serve Christ and His Kingdom?

Jesus is King.

And the message of Daniel 7 is a message of hope, because we know how this story ends.

It might seem overwhelming, and we might worry for ourselves, or our children, or our children’s children about what this world is going to look like and will they stay faithful to Christ.

But Jesus will win. The world might tell you resistance is futile. That you’re on the wrong side of history.

But Christ is ruling at the right hand of the Father and one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

Our job is to stare that beast right in the eye, and stay faithful.

Revelation gave us the blue print. Faithful unto death.

Never give up. Never surrender.

Trust God, serve Christ’s Kingdom, and make disciples of all nations no matter the cost.

When days get dark, never let go of the promise of Daniel 7.

Jesus is King over the nations and He will crush every beastly kingdom that raises itself against Him.

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

Psalm 110 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments...The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.”

Related Media

Related Sermons