March 3, 2013 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON DANIEL S VISION OF CHANGE MINISTRY INVOCATION Almighty God: Our existence is predicated on Your Love for us and for that we are humbled as well as blessed. There is No One greater than You. In Jesus Name, Amen. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND Daniels s experience taught him to always trust in God despite the dangers he faced; and his vision tells of the Ancient of Days seated on a throne, ruling forever, and giving dominion and power to a Messiah. THE APPLIED FULL GOSPEL DISTINCTIVE We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost for all believers and that the Holy Ghost verifies and validates the Believer as part of the Body of Christ. TEXT: Background Scripture Daniel 7 Key Verse Daniel 7:14 Lesson Scripture Daniel 7:9-14 (NKJV) 9 I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; 10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. 11 I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 13 I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, 1
14 Coming with the clouds of heaven! 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 not be destroyed. COMMENTARY 7:9 An awesome scene is now unfolded before Daniel s eyes as the Ancient of Days (the eternal God) takes His seat upon the throne and exercises His prerogative as the great Judge (or Chief Justice) of the universe. Identical symbolism in Rev 20:4 seems to remove any doubt that believers will sit upon these thrones, and other Scripture passages teach that the saints will in some manner participate in the judgment. Clothing worn by the Ancient of Days was white as snow, symbolizing the absolute moral purity of the divine Judge. Holy angels always appear in white garments as well. God is holy, and because He is holy, He judges sin. In this context, it is primarily the sin of the evil empire and its leader that is under consideration. His hair was white like wool. White hair is a sign of old age and an apt symbol of God s eternal nature, already emphasized in this passage by the title Ancient of Days. The figure may delineate the holiness of God as well. God s throne was flaming with fire (lit., flames of fire ), and its wheels were all ablaze (lit., its wheels were blazing fire ). Fire is commonly a symbol of judgment, and God s throne being engulfed in flames signifies the wrath of God that is here being poured out upon the wicked. Wheels on a throne may at first seem strange, but the image of God sitting upon a chariotthrone with wheels is set forth in other passages. It was common in the ancient Near East for thrones of kings and gods to have wheels. 7:10 The river of fire coming from the throne describes God s judgment as being poured out upon the wicked, particularly upon the kingdom of the little horn and the beast when Christ returns. The destruction by fire of the fourth beast s final phase corresponds to the demolition of the lowest part of the statue (its feet and toes) by the great rock in chap. 2. Two synonymous phrases describe the innumerable angelic hosts (cf. Rev 5:11) who stand in the Presence of God ready to do His bidding. Ten thousand times ten thousand was the square of the highest number for which ancient peoples had a word. 2
In Scripture the books are symbolic of God s memory of the deeds, words, and thoughts of every person who has ever lived. Someday the books will be opened and each individual will be judged according to what is written in them. Of course, one s eternal destiny will be determined by whether one s name is written in the book of life (cf. Dan 12:1; Rev 20:12, 15). After this is established, the reward of the believer or the degree of punishment for the lost will be fixed by what is inscribed in the record books. In this context the books specifically contain the account of the wicked deeds of the Antichrist and his evil empire, for when the books are opened, the beast is judged. When the records were consulted, it was found that the beast deserved judgment. The time of this judgment is clear from the context. Since the Kingdom of God immediately follows, the judgment of this empire and its leader, the Antichrist, must occur at the time of the second coming of Christ. Many eschatological events are telescoped together in Scripture, however, and it is possible that this judgment may include both that of the Antichrist and his confederates at the beginning of the millennium (cf. Rev 19:20 21) and the judgment of Satan and the remainder of the lost at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ (cf. Rev 20:10 15). 7:11 Daniel s attention was now directed toward the horn with the eyes and big mouth. Evidently, the prophet was shocked by its extreme arrogance and looked intently to see what would happen. At last judgment fell. The slaying of the beast indicates that the evil empire will be totally annihilated and its leader judged. If it were not so sad, the scene would be humorous. This little horn with a big mouth is spewing out venom toward the Almighty when suddenly the fire of God s judgment falls, and the little horn is silenced forever. Since both the little horn and his empire are symbolized by the beast figure, both the empire and its leader are judged when the beast [is] slain. The empire being burned describes its utter destruction. Yet the leader s consignment to fire may reasonably be understood as Rev 19:20, where it is specifically stated that the Antichrist and his followers will be doomed to the lake of fire. Punishment of the wicked after death is therefore taught in this passage. 7:12 The other beasts, namely, the first three empires, had their authority taken away but were allowed to continue (lit., length of life was given to them ) for a period of time. How could these beasts lose their authority and still exist? The explanation is that their dominance ceased, but they continued to live because they were absorbed into the next empire. For example, Greece was conquered by Rome; and although Greek dominance came to an end, the nation continued to live by being absorbed into another one of the earthly kingdoms, 3
the Roman Empire. The fourth empire will be completely destroyed and replaced by a totally new world order, the Kingdom of God. In chap. 2 the continued existence of the defeated kingdoms is paralleled in that the statue did not collapse until its lowest part, the iron and clay feet and toes (representing the final phase of the last empire), was struck by the stone. Now another kingdom comes into view the kingdom of God. Verse 13 is the verse of Daniel most often quoted in the New Testament. 7:13 Daniel watched in awe as one like a son of man [kĕbar ʾĕnāš] descended into the throne room surrounded by the clouds of heaven (v. 13). One like a son of man means that this person was in human form. The clouds would naturally serve as a vehicle of transportation (cf. Rev 14:14 15). Clouds often were associated with deity in the ancient world, and this being was no mere mortal. In the vision, the clouds add an aura of majesty and grandeur to the spectacle as the son of man was presented to the Ancient of Days. 7:14 Since the son of man was given a kingdom and authority to rule, this scene evidently describes the coronation of the son of man by the Ancient of Days. According to the text, therefore, this individual will be crowned as the sovereign ruler of the world. His reign will never end. Who is this mysterious being? The most compelling evidence for the messianic identification of the son of man is furnished by Christ himself. In Mark 14:61 62, he identified himself as that Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven. There is no other passage in the Old Testament to which Christ could have been referring. Son of man is especially common in the eschatological passages of the New Testament (cf. Matt 16:27 28; 19:28; 24:30; 25:31; and elsewhere), and the phrase coming in clouds is understood in Matt 24:30 as a reference to the return of Christ. Finally, other passages portray Christ with the same kind of glory, power, and authority as is set forth in Dan 7 (e.g., Isa 2:2 4; 9:6 7; 11:1 10; Ezek 34:23 24; Matt 28:18; Phil 2:9 11; Rev 19:1ff.; 20:4 6). Besides being a divine title, son of man sets forth the humanity of the Lord. Christ would be God, but he would also partake of human nature. Also, whereas all the features of absolute rule are ascribed to the son of man, the authority bestowed upon Christ here does not refer to His inherent sovereignty or deity. Rather, a new phase of His work is described. Christ reigns in the hearts of believers in a spiritual sense today, but this passage describes the bestowing of a physical kingdom through which He will someday rule the earth. All of the other kingdoms described in this chapter are real, earthly empires; and it is best to see this kingdom as real and earthly as well. 4
As this passage makes clear, that kingdom will be universal. All peoples, nations, and every language group will worship him. Though his rule on earth will last one thousand years (cf. Rev 20:4 6), Christ s sovereignty will not end after the millennium but will continue throughout eternity. Another important truth is set forth in this passage. Two persons are clearly distinguished in vv. 13 14, the son of man and the Ancient of Days. If the son of man is Christ, then the Ancient of Days, who is also deity, must be God the Father. Here then is an Old Testament glimpse of the plurality of persons in the Godhead. The Son is presented to the Ancient of Days that he might receive his Father s gift, namely, a universal kingdom (cf. Ps 2:6 9). RELATED DISCUSSION TOPICS CLOSING PRAYER My God: I am grateful to have found You and kept You in the forefront of my being. Bless us continually with Your grace and mercy. They represent bountiful blessings for all of us. Amen. 5