Daniel received this vision in the first year of Belshazzar (v. 1),
so it occurred sometime after the events of
chapter 4
but before the events of
chapter 5
In the vision,
Daniel sees the winds of heaven
stirring up the sea
From the sea,
he witnesses four great beasts arise,
each different from the other
symbolic imagery
is used to reveal a succession of
four earthly kingdoms,
which are judged and followed by an everlasting kingdom
established by God.
In Daniel 7
the prophet records a
night vision
that God gave him concerning four world empires,
symbolized as four beasts
(Daniel 7:1–14).
The four empires are the same as Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream in Daniel 2, although in that dream they are pictured as various metals in a statue. Daniel’s vision assures us that the world’s empires have a certain amount of authority for a certain length of time, but they will all pass away, and “the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever” (Daniel 7:18).
The vision of the four beasts troubles Daniel, and he wonders what it means until an angel explains it to him (Daniel 7:15–27). Even then, the vision and its interpretation continue to cause Daniel distress: “I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself” (verse 28).
Daniel’s vision of the four beasts begins with a windy night and a troubled sea: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea” (Daniel 7:2). As Daniel watches, “four great beasts,”
each different from the others,
emerge from the dark waters (verse 3).
The first of Daniel’s four beasts is “like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle” (Daniel 7:4). As Daniel watches, the wings are torn off the beast, and the creature stands erect like a man and a human mind is given to it. Later, the angel who interprets the dream tells Daniel, “The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth” (verse 17). This first beast is representative of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Its rise to human-like status reflects Nebuchadnezzar’s deliverance from a beastly existence and his insight into the true nature of God (Daniel 4:34–35).
The second beast in Daniel’s vision is “like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth” (Daniel 7:5). A voice tells the second beast to devour flesh until it is satisfied. This beast represents the Medo-Persian Empire; the raising up of one side of the creature indicates that one of the kingdom’s parts (Persia) would be dominant. The three ribs in the creature’s mouth symbolize nations that were “devoured” by the Medes and the Persians. These three conquered nations are known to be Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.
The third of the four beasts is “like a leopard,” except it has four bird-like wings on its back and four heads (Daniel 7:6). This beast is given authority to rule. The third beast represents Greece, an empire known for the swiftness of its conquests. The four heads are predictive of the four-way division of the empire following Alexander the Great’s death. Daniel’s vision of the ram and the goat gives further details of the second and third kingdoms (see Daniel 8).
The final beast that Daniel sees rising from the sea is the most dreadful—“terrifying and frightening and very powerful” (Daniel 7:7). This fourth beast has “bronze claws” (verse 19) and “large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left” totally annihilating its prey (verse 7). The fourth beast has ten horns. This creature represents the Roman Empire, a mighty kingdom that indeed crushed all its foes.
So, Daniel’s vision of the four beasts provided a prophetic look at future world events. Looking back from our perspective, we see these events as world history and can easily see the correlation between each beast and a world empire. However, there was more to Daniel’s vision, and some of it is yet future, even for us.
Daniel’s attention is drawn to the destructive fourth beast, and he ponders the meaning of its ten horns. Then, a smaller horn begins to grow from the midst of the ten. As the little horn emerges from the beast, three of the original horns are plucked out by the roots. Daniel sees that the little horn has “eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully” (Daniel 7:8). The proud, boastful words of the little horn continue until the Ancient of Days sets up a day of judgment (verses 9–10). At that time, “the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire” (verse 11). This is in contrast to the fate of the other three beasts, who lost their authority but were not immediately destroyed (verse 12).
After the fourth beast is killed and its body burned, a “son of man” comes from heaven in the clouds. “He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence” (Daniel 7:13). This man is given “authority, glory and sovereign power” (verse 14), and all the nations of earth worship him. The kingdom he rules is everlasting and indestructible.
As the interpretation of the vision is given to Daniel, the prophet asks specifically about the fourth beast and its horns (Daniel 7:19). The angel explains: the beast’s ten horns are ten kings who will arise from that kingdom (verse 24). The little, imposing horn with the eyes and mouth of a human represents a later king; before him three of the original kings will be subdued. This evil king “will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people” (verse 25). He will seek to change times and laws, and he will exert oppressive power over God’s people for three and a half years. This world leader that Daniel saw is the Antichrist, the “ruler who will come” who sets up the abomination in Daniel 9:27.
Given the fact that the Antichrist emerges from the fourth beast leads us to surmise that, in the end times, there will be a “revival” of the Roman Empire, featuring a coalition of ten world leaders. The Antichrist will take his position of leadership at the expense of three of those leaders, and he will eventually wield global authority. A true tyrant, the Antichrist will demand worship and seek to control all aspects of life (see Revelation 13:16–17).
The little horn of Daniel 7 is the first beast of Revelation 13. Notice that the beast in Revelation also has ten horns, and John describes it as resembling “a leopard, but [it] had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion” (Revelation 13:2). In other words, the beast of Revelation contains elements of all of Daniel’s beasts. Like Daniel’s fourth beast, John’s beast speaks proudly and oppresses God’s people for three and a half years (Revelation 13:5–7).
The good news is that the reign of the Antichrist is limited: forty-two months, and no more. Then, God promises to judge the little horn. “The court will sit, and [the little horn’s] power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever” (Daniel 7:26). Or, as John saw it, “The beast was captured, and [was] thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (Revelation 19:20). The Son of Man will rule forever.
It is interesting to compare Daniel’s vision of the four beasts with King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a large statue. Both visions symbolize the same kingdoms of the world. In Daniel 2, the king dreams of the earthly kingdoms as “an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance” (Daniel 2:31). However, Daniel sees the same kingdoms as hideous beasts (Daniel 7). So, we have two very different perspectives on the kingdoms mankind builds. The rulers of the world see their kingdoms as imposing, artistic monuments fashioned of valuable metals. However, God’s prophets view the same kingdoms as unnatural monsters.
Daniel’s vision of the four beasts warned Israel that there would be a procession of enemies and world rulers holding authority over them; however, they should not lose heart. In the end, God is in control, and the Messiah to come will defeat the kingdoms of this world and establish His throne forever (Daniel 2:44; 7:13–14; Revelation 11:15).
Matthew 12:22-37
We can read about another event that happened about this time. It shows us what some people thought about Jesus. Men brought a man to Jesus. The man was blind and could not speak. *Demons controlled him. Jesus immediately cured him. Then he could both talk and see. This *miracle astonished the crowds. However, some *Pharisees said, ‘No! This man sends *demons away by the power of Beelzebub [the devil], who is the prince of *demons’. (Matthew 12:24)
To accuse Jesus like this is terrible. Jesus loved and cared for everyone so much. He was very wise. He blessed people. His *miracles helped people.
People who could make such statements were foolish or evil. We could say that they were blind in their *spirits. They were not able to look at Jesus and to understand him. (There are still people like that today.) Jesus was not angry with them – as we might be. He answered them wisely.
Suppose that this was true! Suppose that Jesus cured people with the help of Satan [the devil]. Or, with the help of *demons. Then Satan would be fighting against himself. Satan would be using his power against himself. Satan would defeat himself. This could not happen.
The Pharisees themselves tried to cure
people who were
in the control of demons.
In the same way,
the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus in his word.
Remember the 3 Pharisees
that confronted Jesus to entrap him
and expel him on the first Wednesday of May?
So, Jesus asked this question as a reply to these *Pharisees:
· If Jesus did this with the help of *demons, how did the *Pharisees do it?
*The sin that God will not forgiveJesus also said some other very strong words to them.
Matthew 12:31, 32 And so I tell you this. God can forgive men for every *sin except one. He will not forgive men who speak against the *Holy Spirit. God will forgive anyone who speaks a word against the *Son of Man [Jesus]. God will never forgive anyone who speaks against the *Holy Spirit, now or ever.
People sin when they do not do what God wants. When Jesus died for our *sins, it was for all kinds of *sin. We can think about king David as an example. He took another man’s wife and he murdered the man (1 Samuel 12). God forgave him.
These Pharisees
said that the work of Jesus
by
the Holy Spirit
was really the devil's work.
This is the sin that God can never forgive.
Jesus' statement should have made these Pharisees think!
Nobody should say that the
work of God is Satan’s work.
God will forgive anyone who is really sorry.
But to say that God’s work is Satan’s work is a different kind of sin.
It means that a person has decided to
oppose God.
Sermon
From The Mount
Because God is a God of order, He deals with us in
orderly ways.
He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world at
just the right
time
(Galatians 4:4).
He prefaced the arrival of Jesus with nearly 1,500 years of a sacrificial pattern designed to
teach people about holiness and
repentance
(Leviticus 4:35).
Through the Hebrew nation, He gave His law and showed us what was
required to approach a holy God (Exodus 19:12; Leviticus 17:11). By the time Jesus came,
the Jewish people were well-schooled in the sacrificial system and
understood
their need for a Messiah to make them
right
with God Zechariah 9:9; Hebrews 9:22–23
God did not spring the idea of a Savior on the world.
He spent centuries patiently
preparing the world in an orderly fashion
(Mark 14:49; John 3:16–18; 5:39).
We were created to think in orderly ways,
reason,
judge, and consider all aspects of a matter.
God invites us to
'come,
let us 'reason together”
(Isaiah 1:18).
God enjoys our communion with Him, our questions,
our studying of
His Word,
and our willingness to let Him
bring order to our chaotic thoughts. The more like Him we become,
the more orderly our lives will be because
He is a God of
order.
In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said,
“No one can serve two masters.
Either you will hate the one and love the other,
or you will be devoted
to the one
and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and money.”
He spoke these words as part of His
Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7),
in which He had said
it was foolish to store up treasures on earth where
“moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal”
(Matthew 6:19–20);
rather, He urged us to store
up
treasure in heaven
where it will -last-
forever.
The 'obstacle' that -prevents-
us from
wise investment is the heart.
Wherever our treasure is, there will our hearts be
(Matthew 6:21).
We follow
what has captivated our hearts,
and
Jesus made it clear that we cannot
serve two masters.
A master is anything that enslaves us (Romans 6:16).
In Jesus’ warning that we cannot serve two masters,
He specifies money
(or “mammon” or “wealth” in other translations)
as a master in opposition to God.
Jesus’ call to follow Him is a call to abandon all other masters.
He called Matthew from the tax collector’s
Booths
(Matthew 9:9)
Several other features stand out concerning
Booths
Having considered the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement,
we come now to the third Israelite observance in the month of Tishrei: Sukkot, from the Hebrew expression khag hassukkot,
The Feast of Booths or
Tabernacles.
While the Day of Atonement is considered Israel’s most solemn holy day,
the Feast of Booths, held just five days later, is the
most joyful
of the nation’s celebrations.
It’s the third of the three annual feasts that
required Israelite men to make a
pilgrimage
to the
central sanctuary,
the other two being the Feast of Passover/Unleavened Bread and
the Feast of Weeks or
Pentecost
(Exod. 23:14-17; Deut. 16:16).
Booths is also the final
feast
of Israel’s religious year,
Booths overlapped with the Feast of Ingathering
(khag ha’asip, Exod. 23:16; 34:22; cf. Deut. 16:13-15).
This marked the end of the agricultural year, during the
harvesting of grapes
and other summer crops.
The feast provided an opportunity to express thanksgiving for
God’s bountiful provision of the
material needs of his people.
Matthew
obeyed and walked away
from extravagant wealth
and dirty deals. Jesus called
Peter,
James, and John from the
fishing docks
(Mark 1:16–18).
To obey Jesus’ call meant that they had to leave
behind everything they knew, everything they’d worked for.
Jesus called Paul, a successful Pharisee, with the words,
“I will show him how much he must suffer for my name”
(Acts 9:16).
Those words will never make it into a
mass-market ad
campaign
for Christianity—but maybe they should, because that’s
what it means to
follow Jesus
(Luke 9:23).
We must forsake everything else, no matter the cost
(Matthew 10:34–39).
The Lord describes Himself as a “jealous God”
(Exodus 34:14).
This means He guards what is
rightfully His.
He is righteously jealous for our affections
because
we were created to know and love Him
(Colossians 1:16).
He is not jealous for His own sake; He needs nothing (Psalm 50:9–10).
He is jealous for us because
we need Him
(Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37).
When we serve another master such as money,
we rob ourselves of all
we were created to be,
and we rob God of His rightful adoration.
Jesus’ claim to us is exclusive.
He bought us
with His own blood and delivered us from
our former master,
sin
(1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; Romans 6:17).
He doesn’t share
His throne with anyone
During Jesus’ time on earth,
some people followed Him
for a ways,
but their devotion was superficial
(Luke 9:57–62).
They wanted something Jesus offered, but
they weren’t committed
(Mark 10:17–22).
Other things were more important.
They wanted to serve
two masters.
We cannot serve two masters because, as
Jesus pointed out,
we end up hating one and loving the other.
It’s only natural.
Opposing masters
demand different things
and
lead down different paths.
The Lord is headed in
one direction,
and our flesh and the world are
headed in the other.
A choice must be made.
When we follow Christ,
we must die to everything else,
or we won’t make it.
We will be like some of the seeds in Jesus’ parable (Luke 8:5–15)--
only a portion of those seeds
actually bore fruit.
Some sprouted at
first
but then withered and died.
They were
not deeply rooted in good soil.
The first will be last, and the
last will be first in heaven
“the first”
are the privileged, prestigious, and selfish who
get ahead in 'this life' while
defying 'God's' commandments.
But they will
receive condemnation in the life to come.
“The last,”
though rejected by the world,
will receive a great reward
in heaven.
If we attempt to serve two masters, we will have
divided loyalties,
and, when the
difficulties of discipleship clash
with the lure of fleshly pleasure,
the magnetic pull of wealth and
worldly success
will draw us away from Christ
(see 2 Timothy 4:10).
The call to godliness goes against our sinful nature.
Only with the help of the
Holy Spirit
can we remain devoted to one Master
(John 6:44).
Scripture includes several historical accounts of the
celebration of Booths.
It’s the third of the
three
annual feasts that required Israelite men to make a
pilgrimage to the central sanctuary,
the other two
being the Feast of Passover/Unleavened Bread and
the Feast of Weeks or
Pentecost
(Exod. 23:14-17; Deut. 16:16).
It was during a Feast of Booths that Solomon
dedicated the temple
(1 Kings 8:2, 65-66; 2 Chron. 7:9).
And when the altar of sacrifice was
reestablished following the exile,
the returnees also observed Booths
(Ezra 3:4).
And you shall take
on the first day the fruit of
splendid trees,
branches of palm trees and boughs of
leafy trees
and willows of the brook, and
you shall rejoice
before the LORD your God seven days….
You shall dwell in booths [sukkot] for seven days.
All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations
may know that
I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when
I brought them out
of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
(vv. 40, 42-43)
And there was very great rejoicing.”
When the people set about to remember
Yahweh’s works
and to worship him in
accordance with his prescriptions,
they didn’t feel stifled. Instead,
their hearts overflowed with delight!
Perhaps there’s a lesson here for worship today?
Even more thrilling was the Feast of Booths recorded
in John 7
By this time the Jews had added
various "components" to the celebration.
These included
water offerings meant to "symbolize" the
outpouring of salvation
(cf. Isa. 12:3).
It was against this backdrop that Jesus cried out on
“The Great Day of the Feast,”
The climactic seventh day,
known as Hoshanah Rabbah which could be translated
“the great supplication for salvation.”
What did Jesus cry out on this very day?
If anyone thirsts, let him
come
to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said,
'Out of his heart
will flow rivers of living water.’
(Jn. 7:37b-38)
The idea of the quenching of thirst connects well with the period being commemorated by the
Feast of Booths:
Israel’s wilderness wanderings.
These wanderings were marked by repeated times of thirst and miraculous provisions of water. Jesus uses the satisfaction of physical thirst as an image for his satisfaction of the more acute cravings of the human heart.
Specifically, verse 39
says that Jesus would minister satisfaction by
pouring out the Holy Spirit in his
New Covenant ministry.
God is so committed to meeting his people’s needs
that
through the Spirit
he takes up
residence -within- them!
In this way
he not only quenches our own longings
but also uses us as channels of his
refreshing grace to others.
The Pharisees communicated their disdain for tax collectors in one of their
early confrontations with Jesus. The Lord was eating a meal with
“many tax collectors and sinners . . .,
for there
were many who followed him.”
When the Pharisees noticed this,“they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” (Mark 2:15–16). A “sinner,” to a Pharisee, was a Jew who did not follow the Law (plus the Pharisees’ own rules).
And a “tax collector” was—well,
a tax collector
Jesus used the commonly held opinion of tax collectors
as an illustration of
the final stage of church discipline:
when a person is excommunicated,
Jesus said to
"treat them as you would
a pagan or a tax collector”
(Matthew 18:17)
In other words, the excommunicate is to be
considered an outsider
and a candidate for evangelism.
There are a few reasons for the low view of tax collectors in the New Testament era. First, no one likes to pay money to the government, especially when the government is an
oppressive regime
like the Roman Empire of the 1st century.
Those who collected the taxes for such a government
bore the brunt of much public displeasure.
Second, the tax collectors in the Bible
were Jews who were working for the hated Romans.
These individuals were seen
as turncoats,
traitors to their own countrymen.
Rather than fighting
the Roman oppressors, the
publicans were helping them--
and enriching
themselves at the
expense of their fellow Jews.
Third, it was common knowledge that the tax collectors
cheated
the people they collected from.
By hook or by crook, they would
collect more than required and
keep the extra for themselves.
Everyone just understood that was how it worked.
The tax collector Zacchaeus, in his confession to the Lord,
mentioned his past
dishonesty
(Luke 19:8).
Fourth, because of their
skimming off the top,
the tax collectors were
well-to-do.
This further separated them from the lower classes,
who resented the injustice of their having to support the
publicans’ lavish lifestyle.
The tax collectors, ostracized as they were from society,
formed their own
clique,
further separating themselves from
the rest of society.
Jesus taught that we should love our enemies. To emphasize the point, He said,
“If you love those who love you,
what reward will you get?
Are not even the tax collectors
doing that?”
(Matthew 5:46).
The word even is significant.
Jesus was telling the crowd they
needed to rise above the
level of
publican behavior.
If our love is only reciprocal, then we’re no better than a tax collector!
Such a comparison must have left its
mark
on Jesus’ hearers.
Given the low esteem people had for tax collectors, it is noteworthy that
Jesus spent
so much time with them.
The reason He was eating that meal in Mark 2
with “many tax collectors”
is that He had just called Matthew, a tax collector,
to be one of
His twelve disciples.
Matthew was throwing a
feast
because he wanted his
circle
of friends to meet the Lord.
Many believed in Jesus (verse 15).
Jesus responded to the Pharisees’ indignation by
stating
His ministry purpose:
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor,
but the sick.
I have
not come to call the righteous,
but sinners”
(Mark 2:17).