The Coming of God s Kingdom (Daniel) WestminsterReformedChurch.org Pastor Ostella July 24, 2016 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision. 2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. 3 I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris) 5 I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. 7 And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. 8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. 9 Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. 10 And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 And he said to me, "O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, "Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words 18 Again one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. 19 And he said, "O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage (Dan 10.1-12, 18-19). Introduction The prophet Daniel was born before the collapse of the Assyrian Empire, lived under brief Egyptian domination of Judah, was taken captive to Babylon in 605, lived through the Babylonian period to its demise at the time of king Belshazzar, served as a political statesman, not only in Babylon but also in the Babylonian province of the Persian Empire. In his prophetic role, he is more explicit than most prophets about coming events. Jeremiah may have been specific about 70 years in the future, but Daniel gets specific about 490 years in the future. Consequently, there are many challenges for reading and understanding this prophecy. 1 A unique aspect of the book is that Daniel is written in two languages: Hebrew (1.1-2.4a and 8.1-12.14) and Aramaic (2.4b-7.28). Aramaic is the lingua franca, the international language of the day. The Aramaic section speaks to kings of Babylon and Persia about their kingdoms, but in a particular way: in relation to the people of God and His kingdom. The Hebrew section interprets visions of world kingdoms for the Israelite people distinctively. That is, God presents His kingdom in relationship to these kingdoms in both sections. The first addresses the nations for Israel and the second addresses Israel in their place in history among the nations. Therefore, the title for Daniel is the coming of God s kingdom. Its coming is announced to the Gentiles in 2-7 and to the exiles in 8-12 (chapter 1 is introductory). I. God s coming kingdom announced to Gentiles The prophecy gives the announcement of God s kingdom during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus. 2 The kingdom is on display to Gentile kings for the people of God in three ways: in sketch, confirmation and focus. A. In sketch (1-2) 1To paraphrase Greidanus: Daniel is one of the most difficult books for preachers.its message is presented in a form full of traps and snares for the reader and subjected to some of the most fallacious interpretations imaginable, largely because Christians are often not careful to understand it as intended Any portion of Scripture divorced from its primary culture and the intent of the author is a homeless child wandering the streets, vulnerable to violent abuses. Because commentators engage so much controversy many preachers shy away from even attempting to preach on Daniel. Why should they risk taking into their pulpits the time bombs that tick away in the prophecy? But the message of this book is revealed to those who would attempt to share its author s vision (Preaching Christ from Daniel, 1-4). Of course, we must stress the historical-redemptive context. Nothing of substance changes if Darius and Cyrus are the same person versus Darius as king of the Babylon subsection of the 2 Persian Empire.
!2 First, it is put in a sketch by a dream (2). Nebuchadnezzar has a dream in which he sees a statue of a human that is crushed (2.34): a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then (v. 35): the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Not trusting his counselors, the king demands to be told what he dreamed as well as what it means. Eventually, one of the king s wise men, Daniel, comes forward to tell him his dream. Chapter 1 explains how Daniel and his three friends (renamed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) came to be in the king s court of wise men. Simply put, the writer, in the Hebrew language, tells how God defeated the gods of the king through his servants who refused to eat the king s food in commitment to his gods. The four men would have no god before the God of the covenant. God blessed them with understanding ten times greater than that attained by those who ate the king s meat in submission to his gods. So, Daniel is among the wise men and speaking to the king in Aramaic, he tells Nebuchadnezzar the contents of his dream and what it all means. He does so with great humility in clear and crisp praise to God who gave the dream and its interpretation. In the language of the nations, Daniel exalts God who has revealed things to come in the latter days (2.28). The interpretation is in 2:37-38: You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory you are the head of gold. After you will come three more kingdoms and their kings (2.39-43). Then God s kingdom will come (2.44-45): 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure. This is just a sketch but the announcement is clear. It is the God of heaven who gives each kingdom its place in history and it is the great God who has made the future known to Nebuchadnezzar. Thus, to Him belongs all praise as expressed earlier (2.21-22): Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belongs wisdom and might. 21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; 22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. B. Next, the announcement of God s kingdom is confirmed (3-6) This section may be the most familiar to people raised in the church because it contains the accounts of the handwriting on the wall, Daniel in the lions den, and his three friends protected in the fiery furnace by one like the Son of Man. It should be easy to see that God is active protecting His people from the fiery flames (3), humbling the great king, Nebuchadnezzar (4), numbering the days of king Belshazzar to the last day and writing it on the wall (5), and protecting Daniel from hungry lions in the days of king Darius (6). These are acts of God in history that confirm the truth of the coming of His kingdom that it will come to this earth in power as demonstrated by His sovereignty over people, animals, and things. These stories are historical enactments of God s rule that reveal the certainty of His purposes and they contain many lessons about how to live by His will day by day (by prayer and seeking understanding). C. Finally, the coming of the kingdom is put in focus (7) Daniel sees the four kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar s dream as four beasts coming up out of the sea: a lion, bear, leopard, and one with ten horns. More detail is then given about a little horn among the ten that becomes great. The beasts are successive kingdoms and they are destroyed by the Ancient of Days after opening the books of judgment (7.9-11). Then, the coming of God s kingdom looms large in a vision of the Son of Man (7.13-14): 13 "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And 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 one that shall not be destroyed. In other words, when the stone crushes the fourth kingdom, the Son of Man will be given dominion, glory and a kingdom that
!3 shall never be destroyed. These particulars make up the announcement to the Gentiles of the coming of God s kingdom in the latter days. It is definitely given in prophetic perspective. II. The coming kingdom announced to exiles (8-12) Here, the announcement of God s kingdom came to Daniel during the reigns of Belshazzar (8.1, his 3rd year), Darius (9.1, his 1st year), and Cyrus (10.1, his 3rd year 3). The kingdom is on display among Gentile kings and kingdoms but the message now is distinctively for the people of God in three ways similar to those in section one: in sketch, highlight, and focus. A. In sketch of a ram and a goat (8) First, the kingdom s coming is sketched in a vision of a ram with two horns, one higher than the other (like the bear of 7.5 with one shoulder higher than the other). In the vision there is also a goat. The ram became great because (8.4b): No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great. But the goat with a conspicuous horn between his eyes (8.5) cast him down to the ground and trampled on him (8.7). Then the great horn of the goat was broken and became four horns (8.8) and out of one of these came a little horn that grows ominously toward the glorious land (8.9) where it overthrows the sanctuary with desolation (8.14). 4 Then the Lord enabled Daniel to understand that the vision refers to the appointed time of the end (8.19). The two horns of the ram are the kings of Media and Persia (8.20, that we know joined forces to overthrow Babylon; the larger horn pictures the dominance of the Persians). The goat refers to the coming of the Greeks (8.21) under Alexander the Great who conquered speedily (without touching the ground, 8.5; like a leopard, 7.6) but was suddenly divided into four subdivisions (8.22, into four kingdoms). From them will come a bold-faced king with great power and deceit who will oppose the saints (in the land, 8.24 and at the sanctuary, 8.9-11). Interestingly, in his own mind he shall be great, but when he rises against the Prince of princes he shall be broken-but by no human hand (8.25). 5 B. The announcement of God s kingdom is highlighted by the 70 weeks prophecy (9) At the heart of this prophecy is God s intention of making atonement for sin (9.24): Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Reference is to the time of Jesus because an anointed Prince, the Christ, will come after seven weeks (9.25) plus sixty-two weeks (9.26). These are weeks of years so they refer to 483 years from the official decree to refortify Jerusalem to the work of Messiah. A week is a period of seven years (six years and a Sabbath year of rest and celebration). So, seven weeks (seven sevens) refers to the forty-ninth Sabbath year that is a special Jubilee of freedom from slavery and multiplied blessings. 6 Thus, 70 sevens (70 x 7) means that Daniel s prophecy looks forward 490 years in a rough and ready way to the life of Christ and in Him to the coming of a tenfold Jubilee. That is when OT prophets were sealed with John the Baptist as 3 In 11.1 we have a flash back to the first year of Darius (cf. but now, 11.2, returns to the 3rd year of Cyrus). 4 The desolation lasts 2,300 days, a little more than six years. Whitcomb places these six plus years (between 170 and 175 BC) in the time of the evil ruler of Greek descent, Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel, 114). 5 Here in v. 25, it may be that the vision catapults us from the Greek offshoots of Alexander the Great to the second coming of Christ. Now instead of tenfold judgment (the 70 years of captivity, 2 Chron. 36:21), there will be a tenfold jubilee that will be realized 6 through 70 sevens or 490 years. This takes us from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the time of Christ with a halfweek left floating in prophetic telescoping. The telescoping indicates the coming of the kingdom, already and not yet.
!4 the last prophet of promise (Mat 11.13). 7 Roughly speaking, Jesus died in the middle of the 70th week to ratify God's covenant and bring the OT sacrificial system to fulfillment (9.27a): And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. 8 Therefore, the seventy weeks bring in the kingdom of Christ and His church in a now and not yet way. We presently live in a ten-fold Jubilee Sabbath, the acceptable year of our Lord (proclaiming liberty to captives and sight to the blind, Lk 4.18-19) with untold blessings now while the fullness of blessing is yet to be realized after the Day of Judgment (7.22, 26) when God s stone crushes all world kingdoms, becomes a mountain, and fills the whole earth (2.35). His sacrifice on the cross grounds it all! The last clause in 9.27 is rife with difficulties, as this question intimates: if Jesus ends the OT sacrificial system when He died in the midst of the week, what does it mean to say that He brings them to an end for half of the week? This seems to indicate that the last half of the 70th week is a prophetic metaphor for the time between the comings of Christ. So, 9.27b states that on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator (Dan 9.27). Thus, the abomination of desolation of the ram-goat vision of the Greek period (8.14) is prophetically telescoped together with (crunched together with) a desolation at the time of Christ. Accordingly, Jesus refers to the abomination that makes desolate when the Roman armies overtake Jerusalem in 70 AD (Mat 24.15). 9 C. Finally, the coming of God s kingdom is put in focus (10-12) God presents Himself to his prophet in a very warm and comforting way (10.5-6), as man clothed in linen 6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. He is like the man on the throne carried by a war-chariot in Ezekiel 1. And this man reached out his hand, touched Daniel (10.10), and said (11): I have been sent to you to calm your fears (10.12), so, further and wonderfully (10.19), He said: O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage. And as he spoke to me, Daniel says, I was strengthened to receive his final vision that is recorded in 11-12 This vision was revealed to Daniel in the third year of Cyrus the Persian, he sees the time after the fourfold split of the Greek Empire. Israel exists as a political football tossed back and forth between the waring factions to the north and south of the glorious land. From the north will come the one who makes desolate, as in 9.27. Then in chapter 12, the vision lunges forward to the end of time and to the Day of Judgment, great tribulation, deliverance, and the resurrection of the dead to everlasting life or death (12.1-3): At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; 7 J. Barton Payne argues that the 483 years begin in 458 BC and take us to 26 AD and the time, roughly, that Jesus began His ministry (The Imminent Appearing of Christ, 148-149). 8 Why is make a strong covenant (9:27) a reference to sacrifice? 1) Its usage is "to cause to triumph" (Ps. 12:4). 2) When tied with the notion of "cut off" in 9:26, it is evident that by being cut off, the Messiah ratified the covenant for saving triumph. Jesus tells the people of Judea to flee to the mountains indicating that the desolation of Matthew 24.15-16 refers to the 9 destruction of Jerusalem some forty years after Jesus gave the prophecy: So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. The Luke parallel confirms this point because he introduces part two of this same prophetic vision with a reference to armies surrounding Jerusalem and this, he says, brings its desolation near (Lk. 21.20). The tribulation in view takes place in those days (Mat 24.29). In context, those days speak of the time of desolation that the abomination of desolation triggers: when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel (v. 15). In about 600 B.C., Daniel prophesied an abomination of the temple that happened in 168 B.C. by the infamous Antiochus Epiphanes who sought to spread Greek culture and extinguish Judaism. Reports are that he slaughtered a pig on the altar in the Jewish temple. Now Jesus says that temple desecration is coming again when Israel s house (temple, city, land, and nation) becomes desolate (23.38) and her enemies cast every stone of the temple into a pile of rubble (24.2). We know that that happened in 70 A.D. at the hands of the Roman army. We should add that our Lord spoke with prophetic perspective and telescoping; thus, in Matthew 24, the Great Tribulation refers to 70 A. D., the time between His comings, and to the judgment at the end of the world.
!5 and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. In the end, Daniel is reassured of his place in the resurrection (12.13): But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days. Application What can we say in response to this prophetic book? In the record of a furnace of fire, a beast-man, handwriting on the wall, and a lions den powerful actions of God display His love for the covenant people Israel, despite their great sinfulness and despite His severe judgment on them for their sins. These displays of powerful love demonstrate the coming of the kingdom by God s action according to His plan, as laid out in the revelations and visions of Daniel. To begin more reflection on this prophecy, consider the following three things about the coming of the kingdom: it is historical, certain, and saving. 1) Historical The kingdom and its king is coming within world history by the subduing of nations. Without question, at the core of His preaching, Jesus Christ announced the arrival of God s kingdom. Therefore, the gospel of the Jesus is the gospel of the kingdom by which the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of Christ as King of kings, and Lord of Lords. 2) Certain Its coming is certain, as demonstrated by the power of God. The Lord God promises what will be according to His plan (the times are appointed). The Son of Man will build His church to form a kingdom of priests (Mat 16.18-19, He will build the church by giving the apostles the keys of the kingdom; 1 Pet 2.9, a royal priesthood). When the stone crushes the fourth kingdom, the Son of Man will be given dominion, glory and a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. These particulars make up the announcement to the Gentiles of the coming of God s kingdom in the latter days. And we live in the latter days, which by prophetic perspective, we know this means that we live on the edge of fulfillment and the dawn of the eternal state. 10 3) Saving The coming of the kingdom is saving. It means the saving of the entire earth overtaken by the stone that is cut without hands. It comes by the saving work of Messiah the Prince who is cut off in sacrifice to grant the forgiveness of sin. His work involves conquering hearts and bringing sinners, rebels, to God in submission to His kingship. Sinners are saved through Christ by submission to God as king. Jesus, the Son of Man ratified the covenant and will therefore raise His people from the dead to shine as the stars (Dan 12.3). This is a subtle prediction of His own resurrection that goes with His ratification of the covenant. We will live because He lives. We hear words of love from our glorious Savior like these of Daniel 10 as we tremble in wonder about the mysteries of God, 10,10-11: And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 And he said to me, "O [Christian] greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you. Jesus was sent by the Father for you, yes, but marvelously, to you! He tells you through the gospel of Daniel and the gospel of the NT: I have been sent on mission as Savior of the world, and I have been sent to you, O Christian greatly loved. 11 10 On living in the kingdom now and on the edge of the not yet, Greidanus cites these words from Berkouwer: In apocalyptic literature history does not only move toward the end, it also moves along the end. History moves on the border of chaos like a track is winding along a cliff.... History is close to the end.... At one particular time... history will turn over the edge. Then the real end time tribulations will break loose.... This means that all believers who through periods of tribulations have seen the signs of the end were not mistaken. The signs of the end were present. The mistake was done if they thought that they could, through these signs, calculate the time when the real end time battle would take place. Then they were wrong, for this is only up to God to decide (Daniel, 440). So, like Daniel, seek the Lord in prayers of confession and praise, seek Him for understanding of His word, and you have His 11 promise that He hears you, and has this word for you: O Christian, you are greatly loved by me the Lord of glory!
!6 What will happen when the kingdom of God comes and the stone becomes a mountain that covers the entire earth? Daniel and all God s people, like Job, can firmly exclaim, And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God (Job 19.26). Therefore, we can translate matters of the broad sweep of history in the Book of Daniel into our personal histories. Jesus is the king of the entire earth now by the gospel through His saving death. We are loved as Daniel was loved with a powerful love that protects us from the fiery fury of eternal contempt and gives us the promise of rest in the coming resurrection to everlasting life. 12 May we fall down before our Lord Jesus in due recognition of His majesty to whom as Son of God and Son of Man 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 one that shall not be destroyed (Dan 7.14); may the Father in heaven enable us not to grow weary in the warfare and trials He appoints for us in life; may the Holy Spirit give us the comfort of the Scriptures and of God s sovereignty in history that we may strive with joy to attain our allotted rest in the coming kingdom. To the glory of the triune God, now in His church and forever, amen. For a practical lesson, note that belief in God's sovereignty is what gave Daniel and his friends their strength for living in the 12 face of oppression and even the threat of death (3:17-18; God is able, but sovereignly free, and to that we submit). Belief in sovereignty gave Daniel strength of character for wise leadership (note Daniel's firm conviction that God will set up his kingdom, 2:44; 2:20-21). Also, consider the prayer that closes Calvin s commentary on Daniel (cited by Greidanus, Daniel, 440): Grant, Almighty God, since you propose for us no other end than that of constant warfare during our whole life, and you subject us to many cares until we arrive at the goal of this temporary racecourse: Grant, I pray, that we may never grow fatigued. May we ever be armed and equipped for battle, and whatever the trials by which you prove us, may we never be found deficient. May we always aspire towards heaven with upright souls, and strive with all our endeavors to attain that blessed rest which is laid up for us in heaven, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.