SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/6/2013
10:49 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Kingdoms of this world
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Dan. 7:1-7,
15-23
Message of the
verses: In our last SD we looked at
a preview of this 7th chapter of Daniel by stating that in this
chapter we would learn about six different kingdoms, and so in today’s SD we
will begin by looking at the kingdoms of the world in which there will be four
described here.
We want to try and answer the question of how Daniel
received this vision. It seems that he
was asleep, but that he was still able to ask questions to an angel as seen in
verse 16, but how this happened is kind of a mystery. Perhaps it was similar to when Paul writes
about his trip to heaven where he stated that he did not know whether or not he
was in the body or not.
As we look at this section we see that it speaks of a
restless sea, and when we were in the book of Revelations we saw that the sea
was actually the kingdoms and peoples of the earth. “Re 13:1 And the dragon
stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea,
having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his
heads were blasphemous names.” This
verse speaks of Satan standing on the seashore of humanity and we see the beast
who is the Antichrist coming out of humanity.
We also see that this verse will be similar to what we will learn about
in this 7th chapter of Daniel, as it too speaks of the antichrist. “8
Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and
saying, "Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the
land." 9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little
book. And he *said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach
bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." 10 I took the little
book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey;
and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And they *said to me,
"You must prophesy
again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings’ (Rev.
10:8-11).” John had to prophesy about
the things that were going to happen to the nations and which are depicted as
the sea here similar to Daniel 7. “And he *said to me, "The waters which
you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and
tongues (Rev. 17:15).” “
The angel told Daniel that the four beasts represented
four kingdoms: (Daniel 7:17) “’These
great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the
earth.” In an earlier study of the book
a Daniel, one that happened almost forty years ago I learned that the world “king”
which is found in this verse could also be translated as kingdom. We have already mentioned in an earlier SD
that the kingdoms that are found in this chapter are the same ones found in
chapter two, and that it is possible that in chapter two they are seen from
through the eyes of man, and in chapter 7 through the eyes of God. Dr. Wiersbe writes “from God’s viewpoint, the
nations are only ferocious beasts that attack and seek to devour one another.”
The Lion with the wings of an eagle: (Daniel 7:4) “"The
first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its
wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on
two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it.”
We know from previously looking at chapter two that the
first kingdom was Babylon and so it is in this chapter. The images of lions were prevalent in ancient
Babylon according to those archeologists who have gone through the ruins of
Babylon. Babylon is also seen in the
Bible as being a lion in Jer. 4:7, 13; 48:40; 49:19-22; 50:17; Ezek. 17:3, 12
and also see Hab. 1:6-8. We see in verse
four that the lion was lifted up and many believe that this refers to
Nebuchadnezzar who was a very pride filled man whom God finally humbled as seen
in chapter four. Daniel knew that the Babylonian empire would fall for God told
him it would and we saw the evidence of this in chapter five.
The bear with three ribs in its mouth: (Daniel 7:5) “"And
behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on
one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they
said to it, ’Arise, devour much meat!’”
We know from chapters 2 and five that it was the Medes
and Persian empire that followed Babylon.
We see in this verse that the bear was raised up on one side and this
shows that the Persians were stronger than the Medes and would eventually be
the main empire. This is also seen in
chapter eight where the ram that represents this empire had one longer than the
other which represented the Persians. As
far as the three ribs in the mouth of the bear it is possible that these could
represent three nations that were conquered by the Medes and Persians, and they
would be Lydia, Egypt and Babylon.
The leopard with four wings: ( Daniel 7:6) “6 "After this I kept looking, and behold,
another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the
beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.” Leopards are known for speed and this leopard
represented the Grecian empire as we also saw in chapter two. Alexander the Great was the head of this
empire until his death at age 33 where he drank himself to death in the city of
Babylon and even though he had a son he decided to give the empire over to four
of his generals which we see the number four in this verse, four wings and four
heads. Dr. Wiersbe records that “Palestine
and Egypt went to Ptolemy I; Syria was ruled by Seleucus I; Thrace and Asia
Minor were assigned to Lysimachus; and Macedon and Greece were governed by
Antipater and Cassander.”
The “dreadful and terrible” beast (Daniel 7:7): “"After this I kept looking in the night
visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely
strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down
the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were
before it, and it had ten horns.”
Looking back to chapter two we see that this last beast
is Rome and we also learned that Rome will have two phases, the first one ended
many, many years ago and the next phase will be seen in what the Bible refers
to as the tribulation period which will only last for seven years. I have heard it said of the ancient Roman
Empire that it encircled the Mediterranean sea making it a Mediterranean
lake.
In the Scriptures “horns” often speak of a ruler or of
royal authority as seen in 1 Sam. 2:10; Psalm 132:17. We will look more closely at the little horn
later on in our study of Daniel.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section by
writing: “In the great movement of
ancient history, one empire has replaced another, leading up to the
establishing of the Roman Empire. The
two visions (chapters 2 and 7) make it clear that God knows the future and
controls the rise and fall of nations and rulers. Daniel was then living in the Babylonian
Empire, but he knew that Babylon would be taken b the Meds and Persians, and
that Greece would conquer the Medo-Persian Empire, and Rome would eventually
conquer all. Prophecy is history written
beforehand.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: In light of what
is going on in our country and around the world I take great comfort in knowing
that God is in total control of what is going on and it is all a part of His
great plan.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to guide my steps in all that
I do today.
Memory verses for
today: Review of 2 Peter 1:1-2
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus
Christ,
To those who have received a faith of the same kind as
ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and
peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Hagar” (Genesis 16:1).
Today’s Bible
Question: “To whom was the Acts and the
Gospel of Luke addressed?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/6/2013 11:49 AM
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