Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to
OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on
Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests
to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian
Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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 churning 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. This 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 large iron teeth; it 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 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 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, for ever 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, before which three of them
fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and 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 his power will be taken away
and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, 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.’”
“This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply
troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to
myself.”
Daniel 7
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today, we find a shift in the Book of Daniel, a move from
the account of what happened to Daniel in real time to prophecy about what was
to come. As Chapter 7 opens, we find Daniel going back to the future as we
leave the time spanning the rule of Darius of Mede and go back to the first
year of the reign of Belshazzar of Babylon to find Daniel receiving visions
during a dream that left him “deeply troubled” and pale.
As the chapter opens, we see Daniel giving us details of his
dream which began with “the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea”
before “four great beasts, each different from the others” emerged. Here were
the details of each beast:
1. The lion.
“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.”
2. The bear.
“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!’”
3. The leopard.
“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. This beast had four
heads, and it was given authority to rule.”
4. The terrifying, frightening, powerful beast.
“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 large iron teeth; it 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
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.”
Note that the second half of Chapter 7 contains the
interpretation of Daniel’s dream and from that interpretation, we discover that
the four great beasts represented four kings that will rise from the earth.
These ruling factions and their associated empires would come in the order that
the beasts appeared as follows:
1. The lion represented the Babylonian empire.
2. The bear represented the Medo-Persian empire.
3. The leopard represented the Greek empire.
4. The terrifying, frightening, powerful beast was the Roman
empire.
Daniel goes on to share that he saw something else that was
very unusual as he was trying to make sense of the ten horns on the final
beast. For the scriptures tell us he witnessed a small horn emerging and
displacing three of the original horns. We’re told the following things about
this small horn which rises up and begins to play a prominent role in the world’s
affairs:
1. The horn had eyes like a human being and a mouth that
boasted.
2. The horn would use that bragging mouth to speak against
God.
3. The horn would oppress and wage war against God’s holy
people who would be delivered into his hands for three and a half years (time =
one year, times = two years, half a time = 6 months).
4. The horn would try to change the set times and the laws.
This little horn was none other than the antichrist and
although he may have his way in the dream, note that it didn’t last long
because we see a grand entrance by God, the Ancient of Days, who the scriptures
tell us took His place of authority and honor on His flaming throne which had
wheels that were ablaze. We’re told that his “clothing was as white as snow”
and “the hair of His head” was “white like wool”. There were no shortage of
people attending to God, “thousands upon thousands,” while an additional “ten
thousand times ten thousand”.
It didn’t take long for the Ancient of Days to make quick
work of the antichrist for the scriptures tell us that God will slay the beast
and destroy its body before casting it into the blazing fire. Then the kingdom
would be returned to “the holy people of the Most High” who would “possess it
forever”.
Now this would have been magnificent and spectacular enough
but God wasn’t done, not by a long shot for we read where the Son of Man, Jesus
Himself, enter the scene, “coming with the clouds of heaven” as “He approached
the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.” There, God granted Him “authority,
glory and sovereign power” while “all nations and peoples of every language
worshiped Him.” God’s appointment of His Son over all mankind would not be
temporary but rather everlasting and the kingdom of Jesus would “never be
destroyed.”
And indeed, that is what came to pass and remains in play
today. Jesus came and became the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, the
Son of God who is King over all.
That in its own right would be enough to praise and worship
Him but we need to remember that Jesus is much more than just our Master. He is
our Savior, the One who suffered and died in our place, bringing us atonement
from our sins, the only One who can bring us to God the Father, the Ancient of
Days.
Have you received the salvation offer God extends to you
through His Son?
If not, today is the day to change your life so that you,
like Jesus, will abide in His kingdom under His dominion forever.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment