Daniel 7

You could look at Daniel in two slices. The first six chapters deal with history. The second six chapters deal with prophecy.

Because the first six chapters deal with Daniel's being taken captive as a young boy from Jerusalem, in 605 BC and taken into Babylon. Where he spent the remainder of his life, from being a youth, till the time of a very old man, he spent in captivity. Though he's spent it in captivity, God really blessed this character. And he was given a place of high prominence.

He was given a place of leadership in a foreign country, an unusual kind of a position. For a Jewish captive to be set as second or third in the entire kingdom of Iraq. Remember that Babylon, ancient Babylon, is in the same area as modern Iraq.

So it would be sort of like it's Yitzhak Shamir as one of the rulers in Iraq. Can you imagine that? Daniel, though he was surrounded by ungodly people, kept his nose to the spiritual grindstone.

And he didn't waver in his faith or devotion for the Lord. He was unusual in that. Is that the world, though it was corrupt and though he was surrounded and outnumbered, he kept true to his God, worshipping the Lord.

Well, Chapter 7 begins a series of prophecies, visions that Daniel sees. And the next several weeks, we're going to have to pay careful attention. Because if you've read these before, you know that they sound a little weird. And a little complicated. And they are a little weird. And they are a little complicated. Let's face it.

If you'd have visions like Daniel had, I wonder what your reaction would be. I'm sure you'd lose a lot of sleep. And we're going to see, tonight, that some of the visions he had troubled him greatly. Physically, and emotionally.

It always excites me to study prophecy. Because prophecy does something for us. And prophecy is given by God for distinct purpose.

It's given, first of all, to authenticate the word of God. Peter, in writing one of his epistles-- in fact, it was his second epistle-- was speaking about his experience with Jesus. And he said, we did not follow cunningly-devised fables when we'd made known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

And he went on to explain how that he saw Jesus transfigured before him on the Mountain of Transfiguration. And he heard a voice come out of heaven. But then Peter said, but we have a more sure word of prophecy.

Or it could be literally translated. We have something more certain than what we heard take place miraculously. The word of God, a more sure word of prophecy, which you do well to take heed as the light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

For prophecy of old came not by the will of man, but holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Now, bear in mind that Peter saw the miracles of Jesus. And he heard the miraculous things come out of heaven at the transfiguration, something that probably would convince most of us.

And some of you who may have been invited tonight by Christian friends, but you're still on the outside looking in, you're a non-believer. And you might be thinking, well, if I saw and I heard, I'd believe. But Peter said, you have something more certain than seeing and hearing. And that is the prophetic word made more sure.

God spoke about certain events in advance in detail, something that no other nation could do, no other prophet in any other nation or religion could pull off. So that when they came to pass, anybody in his right mind would look at that and go, wow, there's something to that. Maybe I ought to commit my life to a God who can speak about such events in such graphic detail.

That's the prophetic word made more certain. It's more certain than even what you hear or see, which often is subjective. But God gave objective proof that he was God. In fact, he challenges other gods of other nations to kind of a duel, to see if they could produce that. In fact,

I'd like you to turn in your Bibles, to Isaiah, Chapter 45, and look at a couple of scriptures with me. You say, I thought we were doing a study in Daniel? Aw, we'll get there.

In Chapter 45 of Isaiah, in verse 20, we read, "assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge who carry the wood of their carved images and pray to a God that cannot save.

Tell and bring forth your case. Let them take counsel together, who has declared this from ancient time. Who has told it from that time have not I the Lord and there is no other God beside me. A just God and a Savior, there is none besides me."

God invites all of the nations to come and hold a prophecy conference, if you will. He says, can you produce literature? Let's see if you can produce anything that speaks of events in advance. Of course, the Jewish nation has a stream of such literature. Because the God of Israel spoke about such events well in advance.

Now, look over at chapter 46. In verse 9, remember the former things of old. For I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, from the ancient times, things that are not yet done. Saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all of my pleasure.

God has a tremendous advantage over any created being. God is omniscient. Which means he knows everything. That's quite an advantage. Because he knows everything, past, present, future, and he controls everything, past, present, future, ultimately, God can predict anything he wants, anytime he feels like it.

In rough generalities or in specific details. And God often puts those two together. And every time you study prophecy, it should blow your mind. And I really hope that as we study Daniel, your mind will be absolutely blown.

And by the time we get to chapter 9, there won't be one skeptic in the bunch. In fact, the only person who could be a skeptic after studying, objectively, the next several chapters of Daniel, I believe, is a fool. The Bible says the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Literally, the fool has said, no God.

You say, what's the difference? There's a big difference. If you go to a restaurant and the waitress gives you coffee, and you were to say, there is no coffee. Well, everybody would know, kinda nutso.

But if she were to come after four or five, six cups of coffee, and try to pour more coffee in your cup and you put your hand over the cup, and say, no coffee. Meaning, I don't want anymore. Don't give me any coffee.

Or if you were to restrain yourself after dinner and say, no dessert. It doesn't mean you deny the existence of any dessert on earth. It means that as for yourself, you've decided not to partake of any dessert.

That's the idea when it says, the fool has said in his heart, no God. He's not saying God doesn't exist. He's saying, I don't want him. Just like, I don't want dessert.

The fool has said, no God. And the fool will say, after we read these chapters, I don't want anything to do with God. I won't submit my life to him.

In chapter 41, of Isaiah-- turn back. I'm leading you along the same lines of thought here. God, again, in verse 21, says "Present your case. Bring forth your strong reasons.

Let them bring forth and show us what will happen. Let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them. And know of the latter end of them, or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter. That we may know that you are gods."

Now, look over in verse 28. "For I looked, and there was no man. I looked among them, but there was no counselor who, when I asked of them, could answer a word."

God points his finger at other nations and says, OK, guys, cough up any prophet who can do what my prophets can do. Because my spirit is upon them. And did you know that there is not one religion that can produce a predictive prophet like the prophets of the Old Testament? Not one.

Not one can even come close, or match the predictions given by the prophets in the Old Testament. Now, some have come along and some have been accurate. Some have tried.

But as you know, a Hebrew prophet had a job description of being totally accurate, 100%. If he spoke something in the name of God, and it didn't come to pass, they took him out and stoned him to death. So people weren't quite as ready to jump on the God told me to give you a message bandwagon like they are today.

Because if they were wrong, they'd be killed for it. And so God says, let's have a little comparison here, nations. I'll take my prophets and stand them up against anyone that you could show.

Now, every generation has prophets. Or would-be profits. I believe in true prophets. And I believe that God can continue the office and the gift of prophecy in every generation. But under certain guidelines, and under biblical accountability.

Now, in the '50s and '60s, a woman came who mesmerized America, named Jeane Dixson. And there are some people who swore that she was a prophetess of God. Because she did predict certain things. Some general, a few specific, that came to pass.

And so they wrote books about her, and she became very popular. She became famous. She became famous, because they took some of the things that did happen and made a book out of them.

No one said anything about the false prophecies that she gave. And she gave lots of them. 1964, she predicted the end of the Vietnamese War. In '65, she changed her prediction. In '66, she changed her prediction again.

In 1958, she said that there would be a war between China and the United States. She was wrong. In 1967, she predicted a cure for cancer would come that year and save the world from cancer.

In 1968, she predicted that Russia would put the first man on the moon. There's a lot of things she said that were wrong. If Jeannie Dixon, bless her heart, were put in the Old Testament, she wouldn't last very long.

But the Hebrew prophets, even with that stringent job description, were accurate. And God said, I'm doing this so that you would wake up and know who's boss around this universe. That I, the Lord, have spoken. And there is none like me, and there is no other God.

That's enough introduction to Daniel. We see one of these men of God, these prophets of God, speaking about things in advance. So it will authenticate the word of God. And it should make you walk from this auditorium hanging your hat on the promises of God, resting fully on his promises, never doubting his word.

When he says he'll never leave or forsake you, you should never wonder again. The God who spoke the world into existence, and spoke about future events as if they were past history, can surely take care of you. Also, prophecy was given to authenticate the ministry of Jesus Christ. The prophets spoke about a man who would come, the Messiah.

And all of the things that were predicted-- almost all of them-- have already come to pass. I say almost all, because he hasn't returned yet. He will, and another batch of processes will be fulfilled. But already, 330 of them have been fulfilled by Jesus Christ, at his first coming.

Jesus was coming back one day, incognito with a couple disciples, toward Jerusalem from Emmaus. You know the story. He was walking, they didn't recognize him.

And they hung their heads. And they said, there was this guy named Jesus. We thought he was the Messiah. But it's been three days since he died.

Besides that, there are these crazy women who went to the tomb and thought that they saw an angel, said he was risen. And even a couple of the disciples came and saw, just as they had told them, and he wasn't there. But who knows?

At that point, Jesus said, oh foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written, if you'd only been in touch with your own prophets. Ought not the Christ to have suffered and entered into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all of the prophets, he expounded all of the scriptures concerning himself.

The scriptures of the Old Testament validate and authenticate Jesus Christ. In Daniel, chapter 9, they will speak in graphic detail as to the first coming of Israel's Messiah. And if the Jewish scholars and scribes would have been adept at interpreting their own prophetic scripture, they would have not missed their Messiah when he came into Jerusalem on a donkey and was proclaimed publicly as King of kings by the people.

We'll get to that, it's an exciting prophecy. But we're in Daniel, chapter 7 tonight. And Daniel's 85-years-old. It says in the first year of Belshazzar.

Remember Belshazzar. He was the arrogant one who took the vessels of the temple, and started partying down. He was the party animal of the Old Testament. His motto was party hearty till you drop.

And of course, he partied hearty. And the night he did, he dropped. God dropped him. He was weighed in the balances, numbered, and God kicked him out.

Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. And they weren't visions of sugar plums. And then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.

The night that Daniel laid his head upon that pillow in Babylon, it was exactly 62 years after somebody else had a dream on his bed, named Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar has long died. The kingdom has passed. Or is about to pass from Babylon.

The Medes and the Persians are outside the city walls. Belshazzar. Is gaining more power. He is very arrogant.

After Nebuchadnezzar died, it seemed like Daniel went into obscurity. He left a place of power. Until he was called into that meeting hall, to translate the handwriting on the wall.

While he was in obscurity, he had a chance to do a lot of thinking and reading and praying, and God could speak to him. And one night he received a vision. And he wrote down the dream, and you're about to read it, telling the main facts.

You remember Nebuchadnezzar, back in chapter 2. It's important that you refresh your memory. He was wondering one night, what would happen in the future.

Have you ever wondered about that? You ever wondered about your life? What you'll look like when you're 40 or 50 or 60?

What your face will look like? What you'll be doing, what your kids will be like? Where you'll be living? What God will be doing with your life?

You ever think about those things? I do, all the time. And then I always walk away thinking, I have no idea. But God, it's in your hands.

Well, Nebuchadnezzar wondered one night, what will happen in the future? And as he wondered, he laid down. And God gave him a vision, a dream.

He saw an image, a metal image. It had a head of gold. Daniel said, that's you, Nebuchadnezzar. It had arms and chest of silver. Daniel said, that would be a kingdom that would arise after him.

Then it had stomach and thighs of brass. Daniel said, an inferior kingdom will take over the second kingdom. And then after the third kingdom, at the base of this image, it had iron legs. And it had feet with 10 toes-- well, five toes each. Most feet do that-- partly of iron, partly of clay.

Daniel interpreted it to be a succession of world kingdoms that would culminate when the stone comes out of heaven and hits the image at the feet, and the stone makes into a big mountain, covers the whole earth. And that's the time when God will rule and reign forever and ever in the kingdom of men. Nebuchadnezzar, after he interpreted the dream, established him as one of the top hot dogs in the kingdom. And Daniel sat next to Nebuchadnezzar, ruling in the kingdom.

Daniel now has his own vision at night. It's not an interpretation of somebody else's dream. It's his own vision, given by God, to the prophet. And I'm sure he had a restless night that night. I'm sure after this vision, he couldn't turn around and go to sleep.

But he saw something different than Nebuchadnezzar. He saw a succession of four kingdoms, but not as four metals, on a polished, gorgeous statue. But he saw four wild, ravenous beasts, tearing things to pieces.

Question. Why a repeat vision? God had already given to Nebuchadnezzar, and eventually to Daniel, the plan of the future. But why a repeat of it?

Because I believe you are seeing the same vision from two different perspectives. One is from man's perspective, this beautiful, polished, impressive image. Another from God's point of view, ravenous beasts tearing at one another.

You know that God and man see differently. You realize that. The way that we see isn't necessarily the way God sees.

A good case in point is the study of the first few chapters of Revelation. There are two churches. One is poor and one is rich.

The Church of Smyrna is persecuted and poor. And Jesus writes a letter. And he says, to the angel of the church in Smyrna, write, I know your works and your poverty. But you are rich.

Now, they were physically, in the early church, poor. But Jesus said, though you're poor physically, you're rich. I see it very differently than you see it. You have riches in heaven. Though you might be poor now. God sees differently than man.

But to the Church of Laodicea he says, I know your works. How you say that you are rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. But you don't know that you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. They saw themselves as having need of nothing. Jesus saw them as blind and poor, and having need of everything.

So God and man see different ways. Of course, the prophet said, man looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. Man looks at the beautiful image, gold and silver and brass and iron. God sees what's beneath the image, the heart of the ravenous beast.

My son is learning the lesson, hopefully, that God looks at the heart. He's becoming quite a fashion guru now that he's 5-and-1/2-years old. And he's becoming concerned that he looks cool of course his idea of looking cool is quite interesting. A purple t-shirt, blue pants, with cowboy boots, and a Ninja Turtle belt on the outside. He thinks that's a fashion statement.

His mom will say, now, Nathan, that doesn't quite go with that. And I'll say, Nathan, I agree. "Well, I think it's cool looking." All right. Nathan, there's something more important than how you look on the outside.

Man will look at the outside. And even kids at school will look at the outside. And they might make fun of you.

But you know what really matters is your heart. Man looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart.

It's funny now he'll come in. He'll pick an outfit and he'll walk and he says, dad, tell me, what do you think? How do I look? I said, you look great, Nathan. No, but I mean, how do you like my clothes?

I say, actually, I would wear a different shirt than that. He'll say, well, man looks at the outward. But God looks at the heart, and I'm going to wear it. Ha ha! I said, good boy. You've learned the lesson. Wear whatever you feel like.

So we get a vision from God's perspective tonight, as God sees things, Daniel's vision of four beasts. Daniel spoke saying, "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 from the sea, each different from the other."

Four nations, perhaps nations around the sea, that Daniel sees, coming up out of the sea. This reminds us a little bit of what? Revelation, chapter 13. Where Daniel sees the beast, the false prophet, arising out of the sea.

Question is, what is the sea? If you're thinking in terms of a Jew, he would think of the Mediterranean Sea. There were three seas to the Jew. Sea of Galilee in the north, the Dead Sea in the south, and the Great Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, off to its Western border.

Or this could be a prophetic term of agitated Gentile nations. There are metaphors in the scripture. And the word "sea" is often used to speak of wicked nations.

"The wicked," Isaiah said, "are like the sea, that is churning and turning up its sand and mire." God speaks of the Gentile nations in Isaiah, chapter 17, as being formed and rough and windy, like the sea that is tossed. So it could be that nations are rising up just out of the Gentile rulership around Israel.

There is a key that I want you to keep in your mind, that I want you to take out as we go through the next several weeks. And that is, we're going to see a succession of world kingdoms. And we're going to see several visions. But the center of the vision will always be Jesus.

And next to that epicenter will be the nation of Israel. And Israel plays the key to the prophetic future. We read last week how that when Daniel prayed, he faced where?

He faced Jerusalem. Daniel faced Jerusalem. Every pious Jew would face Jerusalem. And they still do, to this day. Jerusalem, first of all, is the nerve center of the world, geographically. It's the center of the Earth.

The old ancient maps-- if you ever get a hold of one-- show Israel as the navel of the world. Ezekiel chapter 5, God says, "I have set Jerusalem in the middle of the nations." In Deuteronomy, God said that He established the boundaries of the children of men, according to the number of the children of Israel.

If you were to walk into Jerusalem, there is a church called the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Which Roman Catholics believe is the place where Jesus died and was buried, and rose from the dead. Of course, that's a point of conjecture.

But on the floor, midway between the place where they say he died and the place where he rose, is a mark on the floor that says, this is the center of the world, center of the Earth, the navel of the world. The Muslims, even to this day, believe that the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount is the center of the world. But God said, it's in the midst of the nations. It's the nerve center of the world, geographically.

More than that, Jerusalem is the salvation center of the world, spiritually. Jesus was having a conversation with a woman up at Jacob's Well, up at Sychar. And she found out he was a Jew. And he knew that she was a Samaritan.

She said, now, listen. You Jews say that Jerusalem is the place to worship. But we worship here, on Mount Gerizim. And Jesus said, we know what we worship. For salvation is of the Jews. And Jesus came in fulfillment of Jewish prophecy, to die on the cross for salvation for the world.

So it's the nerve center of the world, geographically. But it's the salvation center of the world, spiritually. Also, as you're going to read in Daniel, Jerusalem is the storm center of the world, prophetically.

You can read Zachariah, Matthew, Revelation, Daniel. The world will always look at Israel. Because it's the storm center of the world, prophetically.

Any world ruler knows that the things that have happened in Southeast Asia or other parts of the world are not the hinge of world peace, but it's the Middle East. Years ago, Larry Norman, a long-haired musician whom I used to listen to and really like, had a great song called "if you are truly wise, you'll keep your eyes on Palestine." Or Israel.

The enlightened Christian today looks with great interest when the news speaks about Israel or Jordan, or Egypt, or the Peace Talks. Because it's the storm center of the world, prophetically. But more than that, it's the glory center of the world.

Ultimately, Jesus Christ will return to the Mount of Olives and he'll set up a kingdom one day. And we'll also read about that tonight, if we get around to it. The first in his vision was like a lion.

Now, picture. You're an 85-year-old man. You've gone to bed at night. You haven't had pizza. You haven't had burritos or tacos. Your diet has been kosher. And yet, you dream like crazy.

First of all, he saw a lion that had eagle's wings. And I watched till its wings were plucked off. And it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man. And a man's heart was given to it.

And suddenly, another beast, a second like a bear, it was raised up on one side, had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said this to it, arise and devour much flesh.

After this I looked, and there was another like a leopard. Which had, on its back, four wings of a bird. And the beast also had four heads. And dominion was given to it.

And after this, in the night visions, I saw and behold, a fourth beast. Dreadful and terrible, and exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth. It was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet.

It was different from all the beasts that were before it. And it had 10 horns. I was considering the horns.

And there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth, speaking blasphemous, or pompous words.

I told you it was a little bit weird, didn't I? Now, this vision is going to shake Daniel at his very core.

But let's go back to verse 4. The first thing he saw was a lion. Being a man who was a ruler in Babylon, Daniel knew, when he saw that lion with wings on it, what it was. Or he had an inclination, at least, until the interpretation was given to him by the angel.

You see, there in Babylon, painted on the walls, even today, after Saddam Hussein has rebuilt part of it, there is this depiction of a lion, majestic, standing on a pedestal, with wings on it. It was a symbol from ancient times, of the nation of Babylon. And if you ever go to the British Museum, you'll see some of the reliefs that were taken from Babylon and placed in the Museum, of a lion with wings on it. That came to symbolize the nation of Babylon.

The lion was the symbol of Babylon because a lion is a fierce, majestic beast. The wings speak of the ability of that beast to move and conquer at a quick pace. And so it was with Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar took over the known world with great speed. He had incredible force. Not in terms of mighty or a large army, but he was just quick. He was mighty.

And even when he was contended against, he could, with great speed, subdue another army. And his people have learned, over the years, that the key of military victory is getting the job done quickly. Getting lots of power, a lot of firepower or manpower, but doing it very quickly, not mulling around.

Napoleon found that out. The Caesars of Rome found that out. Alexander the Great found that out. Alexander won by sheer speed and genius, though he had a small army.

In the Gulf War this last year, we saw and learned from history that if you're going to do a job, get the men in there quick. Bring lots of weaponry. Lots of missiles, lots of air power, and let them strike at night, and do it massively.

And do it quickly. It's a lesson from history. That's how nations are subdued, and wars are prevented from going on too long. Such was the takeover when Babylon became, really, the center, the first world governing power during Daniel's time.

"And I watched," verse 4, "and its wings were plucked off." That happened to Nebuchadnezzar, didn't it? He stood in his palace one day.

And he said, you know, I'm a pretty fabulous person, I think. In fact, I love myself greatly because I'm so wonderful. Forget God. I'm in charge here.

And we remember what God did. He gave him the heart of a beast. He made him eat grass. Until certain seasons passed over him.

And when he finally repented, God set him back on his feet and gave him the heart of a man once again. And so we read here, "he was lifted up from the earth, made to stand on two feet like a man. And a man's heart was given to it."

Babylon was an incredible, incredible place. We think we're modern today. Way back in Babylon, when Nebuchadnezzar took over, archaeologists have discovered stone tubs with brass piping from Babylon. Brass piping, way back then.

The whole idea of 360 degrees in a circle, the rotation of the Earth, 360 days in a year, as the Earth revolves around the sun. Of course, we have the Julian calendar now. But before that was the Babylonian calendar. It all came from Babylon.

One of the greatest libraries in the world was found in Babylon. One of the seven wonders of the world, the Hanging Gardens, was found in Babylon. But it was taken over by another emperor, the Medes and the Persians.

And so we read in verse 5. "And suddenly, another beast, the second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it, arise and devour much flesh."

This is the Medo-Persian Empire. It's raised up on one side because it was a coalition. The Persians were stronger than the Medes. There was not a balance of power at the beginning.

There's three ribs in its mouth. Because three nations, Lydia, Egypt-- and another nation that I can't remember. Oh, Babylon. That's the one that took over-- formed a coalition together to fight against Babylon. Excuse me, against the Medes and the Persians.

Babylon knew she was in trouble, called upon two other nations. They formed a coalition. But the Medes and the Persians wiped them out, or "devoured much flesh."

A bear is not known for its swiftness. But it's known for its strength. Now, I say it's not known for its swiftness. You'd be in dire straits trying to outrun one.

But if you compare it to the other animals in the animal kingdom, it's not as swift as some. But it sure is strong. A couple weeks ago, I was up here in the canyon at this taxidermy shop.

And this guy has this bear on display. And I went over looking at that thing. It looked so real, even though it's stuffed. And he told me how a guy, locally, shot it.

Tell you what, the hands on that thing, I'd hate to have a bear take a swipe at me. Just those muscles. It can crush so quickly. Powerful. Though not swift as other animals, incredible strength. It gets one of your appendages between its teeth, and you just say your last rites, your last prayer, because that's it, usually.

Now, I heard a story of a hunter who was out hunting. And he laid his gun down and was eating lunch, and out came a bear. And a bear came up to him and started chasing him.

And the man ran up into the tree, and he was caught up in the tree. And pretty soon, the bear started shaking the tree. And the man knew it was only a matter of seconds, and he was going to fall from that tree.

That bear kept shaking the tree, and the man was about to fall down. And finally, the man was a Christian. So he said, Lord, I don't know what else to pray. I just pray that I'm going to fall into this bear's hands. I just pray that he'd be a Christian bear.

[LAUGHTER]

Sure enough, he fell into the bear's hands, and he landed there. The bear looked up into heaven and said, God, bless this food in Jesus' name, Amen.

[LAUGHTER]

I don't know why I shared that. It has nothing to do with this, but it just came to my mind. See, I told you, God has chosen the foolish things of this world. Well, this wasn't a Christian bear. This was the Medo-Persian bear. Who, with great strength, and great power, amassed its armies against Babylon.

And after this I looked, and there was another like a Leopard. Which had, on its back, four wings. Wings of a bird. And the beast also had four heads. And dominion was given to it.

We saw the head of gold. That was Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel said it was. And he said that there would be a succession of four kingdoms.

Daniel sees four beasts. Not five, not three, four. And the interpretation is much the same. But here, in verse six, instead of the stomach and thighs of brass, which represented Greece, it's seen here as a Leopard having four wings, four heads, and dominion was given to it. That speaks of the conquests of Alexander the Great.

See, we have the advantage of hindsight. Daniel saw these as kingdoms in a vision. But he didn't know how to label each one yet.

Though later on in his book, he will give a label to Babylon. He'll say Medo-Persia, and he will say Greece. But not Rome. That was too far in the future.

But he saw these nations developing. And one is about to fall. Babylon is about to fall when he wrote this. The Medo-Persian Empire is about to take over.

After that, Alexander the Great came with the speed of a Leopard. A small army. In fact, he only had 35,000 men against about a half a million of the Medes and the Persians, and he defeated them. Pretty good, huh?

In 10 years, Alexander the Great conquered the known world. At 31 years of age, he sat down in Babylon and wept, because there weren't any other nations to take over. He had no more challenges left. He was a type-A yuppie. What else could he do?

So he died of 32 years of age as a drunk in Babylon, at a drunken orgy. He had too much to drink. He walked through a cold winter evening, caught pneumonia, and died in his bed the next couple days.

But he had the speed and the swiftness of a leopard. But it had four heads on this beast, and dominion was given to it. When Alexander the Great died, they said, to whom shall the kingdom go? Alexander, on his deathbed, said, give it to the strong.

And the kingdom was divided between four of his generals. Because they knew they could never follow in his footsteps and take over everything. And so they divided up the nations of the world into four main sections.

Lysimachus was one of his generals. Lysimachus was given Asia Minor. Cassander, another general, was given the kingdom of Macedonia. Ptolemy was given the kingdom of Egypt. And Seleucus was given the kingdom of Syria.

And kings and kingdoms will arise from them. You say, does that matter to me? Well, in 1991, perhaps it doesn't. But it should, in another sense. Because that will be developed as we go later on. And you say, boy, I. Don't remember anything you just said Lysimachus, Thrace, Asia Minor.

But that will be repeated enough in the next few weeks that hopefully you'll understand that all of what Israel suffered in the past is a precursor to what you will suffer in the future under the persecution of these world empires. God didn't put these things in the book of Daniel just for a history lesson. There's more to it than that.

They're there that we might study it and learn spiritual lessons for it. Well, let's go on. verse seven. After this, I saw in the night visions and behold, a fourth beast.

Now, it seems that he had a vision. But that this is another vision. Or at least, the emphasis is upon the fourth beast of this vision.

Because this fourth animal is not like any other animal you've seen in the zoo. Didn't look like a bear. Didn't look like a lion. Didn't look like a leopard, even though it had four wings. This was a dreadful, horrible beast that you couldn't compare to any other animal.

It was dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. And it had huge-- isn't this interesting-- iron teeth. If you go back to the vision in chapter 2, there was a head of gold.

There was silver. There was brass. And the fourth kingdom was the kingdom of Rome, which was legs of iron. And here is seen, in animal form, this ferocious beast, stomping everything in its path, having iron teeth.

For 1,000 years, Rome prevailed as a world leader. And it had an iron rule. If you defied Rome, they'd kill you. The Romans were famous for torturing and killing people that disagreed with their philosophies, or their way of government. Any nation that refused to submit to the yoke and bondage of Rome was heavily persecuted. Case in point, Israel.

And so this fourth beast. And I was considering the horns. And there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them. Before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.

In Daniel chapter 2, there is a division that is not in this chapter. There's four kingdoms that are seen. The last kingdom that is seen is the kingdom of Rome, with iron legs.

But Daniel foresees, as he interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream, that there will be a coalition of the iron mixed with clay, the strength of Rome, but the weakness of 10 nations in a coalition. And Daniel said, at the time of those 10 kingdoms that will arise in the future, it is during the reign of those 10 kingdoms that the Lord will come back from heaven and set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.

Now, that hasn't happened yet. And so though Daniel sees, in his own vision, a beast being the fourth kingdom, he sees this one horn cropping out of the 10. And it's a monarch, or a ruler, governing the 10 in the future.

Daniel sees the fourth kingdom. But he doesn't see the division that Nebuchadnezzar saw in chapter 2. Which is still yet future. We have, as I said, the advantage of hindsight.

We look back and we see that everything Daniel predicted has come true. Babylon fell to the Medes and the Persians. The Medes and the Persians fell to Alexander the Great and the Grecian empire.

The Grecian empire fell to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire fell to no one. It was corrupted from the inside and was broken up into various nations that is now Europe.

But the Bible predicts that there will be a coalition of nations in the last days, 10 of them. And that arising from the nations will come one person, who upon his takeover, will subdue three kingdoms. And rally the others around him.

And he will be numero uno. Here he's speaking blasphemous or pompous things. This is none other than the Antichrist, or the man of sin, or whatever one of the 50 titles you want to ascribe to him.

But verse 9, there's a great switch. It's a scene of heaven. "And I watched until thrones were put in place and the ancient of days was seated. And his garment was white as snow. And his hair of his head was like pure wool.

And his throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him, 1,000 thousands ministered to him, 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. And the court was seated. And the books were open."

This is a courtroom scene in heaven. And it should remind us of the fourth chapter of Revelation. Where John said, I saw a God sitting upon the throne. He was seated. And then there were 24 other thrones with elders that were seated around him.

And it's the judgment seat before the tribulation period, as God is going to judge the earth for its rebellion. "I watched then, because of the sound of the pompous or blasphemous words which the horn was speaking--" by the way, horn in the Bible is often symbolic of a person who has authority. "I watched until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame."

Again, Revelation shows us when this will happen. When Jesus returns in Revelation chapter 19, and the sharp sword goes from his mouth, he'll devour his enemies. And in Revelation chapter 20, John, in his vision, saw a lake burning with fire and brimstone. And the devil is cast into the lake, along with the beast and the false prophet. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.

As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away. And their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. "I was watching in the night visions--" here's the good part. "--and behold, one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the ancient of days. And they brought him near before him.

Then 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, the one which shall never be destroyed."

And so the son of man, Daniel sees, is the smiting stone of the second chapter that comes out of heaven and breaks the image in pieces. It was seen as a stone. Here it's seen as the son of man. A man, the Messiah, coming to setup his kingdom.

Jesus is the rock. And he'll set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. It will not pass away. And his kingdom, the one which shall never be destroyed.

Jesus, when he stood before Pilate, Pilate said, are you a king? Jesus said, yes. But my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my subjects would rise up and fight. My kingdom is not of this world.

But Revelation, chapter 11, is the fulfillment of the conversation before Pilate. When the seventh angel, in chapter 11, declares "the kingdoms of this earth have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." And here is the fulfillment of that right here. It's the same as Revelation, chapter 11.

"I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit. Within my body and the visions of my head troubled--" he probably had a headache at that point. No aspirin in those days. "--I came near to the one who stood by and ask him the truth of all this. And so he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things."

Here it is. "Those great beasts which are for are four kings which arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. And I wish to know the truth about the fourth beast."

See, he's still puzzled about this fourth beast thing. Now, keep in mind, Daniel is adept at prophecy. At that time the Five Books of Moses were in existence.

The Psalms were in existence. We know that Daniel read them in captivity. And also, the book of Jeremiah. Because we know that Daniel read Jeremiah chapter 25, to know that the 70 years of captivity were about up.

We know that from Daniel 9. He knew prophecy. And-- I just lost my thought. It'll come. Let's go on.

Oh, I wish to know-- oh, here it is. Daniel was Jewish. And in reading the prophecies of Jeremiah, and even of the Psalms, he knew the expectation of the Jewish people was that one day the Messiah would come and rule and reign forever.

He would set up a kingdom. All of the Jewish people were anticipating the Messiah coming. He would be the world ruler.

It troubled Daniel, knowing that, to have this plan of God told to him, that world rulers from Gentile nations will come and really mess things up. And for hundreds and even thousands of years, perhaps, that world ruler will replace world ruler, and kingdom will replace kingdom.

And things will get worse and worse, and men will be trampled upon. And Daniel was thinking, goodness, when will Messiah come? Of course, it will be more and more revealed to him as the chapters unfold.

And we're New Testament believers. We have the advantage of looking back through the lens of Revelation, and Matthew 24, and Jesus interpreting prophecy all the way back to Daniel. Daniel didn't have that advantage.

So he was troubled. So he wished to know the truth about the fourth beast. Which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful. Teeth of iron, and all the other stuff, about the 10 horns that were on its head.

And about the other horn, which came up before, which three fell. Namely, that horn which had eyes. It's a strange-looking horn.

Especially one that had a mouth that could speak pompous things. Pompous words whose appearance was greater than his fellows. And I was watching. And the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them.

Folks, don't get stumbled by the word saints, or limit it to a very narrow New Testament perspective. You think, the saints. Well, that's the church. Not necessarily.

The Saints is also a term used for the nation of Israel. And I believe here it is speaking of tribulation saints. After the rapture of the church, those who are left and are in the tribulation, some of which will come to know the Lord during the tribulation, who are persecuted during that time, the Antichrist, this man of sin, the world monarch, will persecute the Saints of God.

They'll persecute Israel. And they'll persecute the mass of Gentile believers, during the tribulation. But I don't believe it speaks of the persecution of the Saints before the rapture.

Why? Because Jesus said, "upon this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it." Here, the beast prevails against the saints.

We read the same thing in the Book of Revelation, chapter 11. The two witnesses, after they have finished their testimony, the beast is given power to prevail over them. And they are killed at his hand. They'll be persecuted during that time.

Until verse 22, "the ancient of days came. And a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the most high. And the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

And he said thus, the fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth. Trample it, break it in pieces, the 10 horns are 10 kings who shall arise from this kingdom." That hasn't happened yet.

Has there been a Roman Empire? Oh, yes. Did it bear an iron rule? Oh, yes. It disintegrated into many nations. Until that time, there has not been a world empire. But in the future, 10 nations will arise out of the fragmented Roman Empire.

Maybe that means the European common market. Maybe that means Europe, with a coalition of other nations. Who knows? I don't. Some swear they do. More power to them.

"And shall arise after them be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings." He, the horn, is now given a personality, a personal pronoun, "he--" an individual-- "shall speak pompous words against the most high, and persecute the saints of the most high, and shall intend to change times and law. And the Saints shall be given into his hand.

For time and times, and a half of time. That's a Jewish reckoning for 3 and 1/2 years, 42 months. Or as Revelation says, 1,260 days. "But the court shall be seated." I love it.

"And they shall take away his dominion, and consume and destroy it forever. And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the most high. "His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom. And all of his dominions, or and all dominions shall serve and obey him."

This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me. And my countenance changed. But I kept the matter in my heart.

There is coming a monarch, a world ruler. From where, I don't know. Who, I don't know.

But he will not be rejected. He will be wanted. He'll be magical. He'll be mysterious.

He'll have the ability to sway the nations of the world around him. He'll come up with a peace plan. It will involve the Arabs in Israel.

It'll seem perfect. He'll help the Jews rebuild their long-awaited temple, which they're now yearning to build. He'll settle the problem of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. He'll do what James Baker never has been able to do, or Henry Kissinger has been able to do.

And just when peace seems to be in the forefront, he will break his covenant. And the nations of the world will see, this man's a fraud. But at that point, he will establish an economic system, Revelation tells us.

And the world will become so entrenched in that, that they cannot survive economically without buying into his political and economic system. During that time, Jesus Christ will come back. And it says, his Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom.

Now, Daniel's thoughts troubled him. But the one thought that comforted him is that there will come a Kingdom that is an everlasting Kingdom. Now, this should show us something. Look back. You have been able, tonight, to have a compressed, very compressed, very quick overview of world history from Daniel's time up until now, really, and into the future.

And it proves one thing. Man has never been able to successfully govern himself. There were monarchies. They failed.

There were other monarchies. They failed. Nebuchadnezzar thought he could do it. Nabopolassar thought he could do it. Belshazzar. Thought he could do it.

Cyrus thought he could do it. The Caesars thought they could do it. Alexander thought he could do it. The Caesars, I already said that. Napoleon. And politicians still think they can do it.

Man cannot govern himself. A monarchy nor a democracy is the answer. You say, you sound pretty anti-American. No, I'm not.

But look around at our country. How successfully have we been able to govern ourselves? Hey, I admit it.

This is the best nation in the world. I'd rather live here than any other nation. I would, believe me.

Because I believe this nation was founded under God. But the more we are leaving that place of worship of God, the worse we're getting. The only successful form of government is a theocracy. That's how God started with the children of Israel, as he guided them through the wilderness.

But they wanted a king. That's when their trouble began. One day, God will set up his kingdom.

God will rule and reign and govern this earth. And man will be as God intended him to become. It shows us something else. You, as an individual, are incapable of governing your own life.

You might think you're pretty smart. Oh, you've made it pretty far so far. You've even gotten a degree in college. Pretty good.

You've made some good decisions. You're successful in business. That's good. God's given you some incredible ability.

But deep down inside, there's a gnawing for answers. Like Nebuchadnezzar, as he turned upon his bed. What's the purpose of life? What does the future hold?

I sincerely believe, with all my heart, you will never come to rest until you come to place your life in the hands of God, for Him to govern your life. I agree with the words of Saint Augustine, "Oh, God, we are restless until we find our rest in thee."

The nations are like the sea, tossed with the winds, in distress. It'll get worse. As I read the newspapers, the economy looks like it's going to get worse. It's going to take a turn for the worse.

The nations look like they're taking turns for the worse. There hasn't been much peace in the scheme of world history. But Jesus promised peace within the heart of people who know and receive Jesus.

Jesus taught us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Do you pray that? Do you long for it? After that, he said, thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.

You see, he can establish His Kingdom in your heart already. He can establish His Kingdom in your heart tonight, if it's not there. Yes, we await for the time when the earth will be set right. But until then, you can know what it's like to be a man or a woman that God intended. How he wanted you to live. It's born again.

And when you are revitalized in your spirit, and set right with your Creator, and God governs your life, you'll have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, fighting that war that the nations experience will be absent in your life. Try it. Some of you have been resistant to God's work in your life for a long time.

But still, there is that gnawing, isn't there? Those questions. You can go on in stubbornness. Or you can submit to His Kingship. You can let him govern your life. And you can find that peace. How about it?