Tuesday: Daniel 7
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 29th of April 2025
The dream of Daniel 2:1-49 was first presented to a Babylonian king. The vision of Daniel 7:1-28, in contrast, was presented to a Hebrew prophet, a member of God’s covenant people.
Daniel is shown the same subject as was Nebuchadnezzar but from a different perspective. Instead of a statue, he sees a series of nations rising up out of the sea, the result of wind churning up the water. These nations were in a continual state of strife, causing a perpetual shift in power among them. Such passages as Psalms 65:5-8; Isaiah 17:12-13; and Jeremiah 46:7-8 use the analogy of floods and waves to depict the tumult among the nations.
In contrast, the Promised Land existed, at least for a period of time, as an island of peace and safety amid a sea of Gentile kingdoms—a sacred nation established on the solid foundation of God’s government, as opposed to the unruly nations around it.
Read Daniel 7:1-3. There is a lot of movement in this scene. What lessons can we draw from this imagery, such as the beast first arising from the sea?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Daniel watches the chaos of Gentile warfare from the shore, when suddenly the beasts start coming up on the land_—into his territory! Gentile problems had now become his people’s problems. They had chosen to live _like Gentiles, so now they would live with (and under) Gentiles. Starting with Babylonian domination, God’s covenant people never again enjoyed complete or long-lasting autonomy.
This loss of autonomy for God’s people today will persist until the close of time, when Christ is finally restored to His rightful place as our King. In the New Testament, God’s people continued to suffer under the thumb of the Roman Empire and then under the persecutions of the little horn, pagan Rome’s successor.
Though, historically, some nations have been better than others, and some eras have been more peaceful than others, the vast majority of the history of nations, peoples, and empires has simply been going from one tragedy to another, from one oppressor to another. And often this is all done under rulers claiming only the best of intentions for their own people. What a contrast to the rule that God had wanted for His people, if only they would have chosen it.
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How does Romans 3:10-19 help explain so much of our world? How does verse 19 especially show why we so desperately need the gospel in our lives? |
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One aspect which Daniel 7 clearly show is that human beings without God increase in violence, corruption, oppression, and destruction with the passage of time. The level of violence and cruelty increased from one kingdom to another. Brutality and moral depravity are on astronomical rise. Human history is on a downward spiral. If there is one thing that all great prophecies assure us of, is that God always wins. No matter how strong evil might seem to look, Jesus Christ is the ultimate winner. Daniel Chapter 7 gives the much-needed hope in these turbulent times, “the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom" (Daniel 7:18). The world around us might be crumbling, let us be of good cheer knowing that in a little while He who is to come is coming to bring to an end all the miseries of this life.
“Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: “For yet a little while, And He[a] who is coming will come and will not tarry” – Hebrews 10:35-37 (NKJV).
I am SO thankful for your given explanations, for some reason I find it quite difficult to comprehend what the verses are telling me so to be clear I’m getting it I always go to your explanations and either confirm what I thought or get clear explanations from your interpretation. This has really helped me with understanding what the verses are actually saying. And has made my Bible studying much more clearer. Thank you 🙏
As the lesson author, Shawn Boonstra has stated, the Hebrew nation never ruled in its own right after the Babylonian captivity. They were always a vassal state, subject to the others around them. Sometimes they were given privileges, like building the temple and at other times those privileges were capriciously taken away. They were turbulent times. The Jews nursed their ambition for a competitive kingdom that would show the others that their God was better. But, when Jesus came, he turned the idea of competitiveness on its head, promoting compassion and service instead. He summarises it thus:
His ministry demonstrated the sort of response needed in a capricious kingdom-building world.
In many respects, our world is very similar. Christianity is tolerated. or worse, ignored, and sometimes even weaponised by the captains and kings of our society. Our best Gospel argument is our Christian compassion in the face of intolerance. We live in a vassal state but are citizens of a kindom built on love.