In the books of Daniel and Revelation, the “Beast” is a single entity that has existed since the dawn of human history, beginning with the first attempt at global domination when men founded the city of Babel in a former swamp and “SET UP a high tower to make us a name, lest we be scattered upon the face of the earth.”
Continue readingWorld Empire
TRANSITORY POWERS
Only God’s kingdom will prevail and endure. All other political powers are fleeting, already they are passing away.
Despite human pretensions, history demonstrates the impermanence of political power and governments. Rome endured for a thousand years, but its empire fell all the same. Like life itself, political power is fleeting, and it often collapses quickly and unexpectedly when its allotted time expires. Only the reign and realm of God will last forever.
Continue readingFOUR BEASTLY REGIMES – VISION
In the first year of Belshazzar, Daniel saw a vision of four beastly creatures ascending from the chaotic sea – Daniel 7:1-8.
Daniel received a vision in which he saw “four beasts ascending” from the sea. The first half of the chapter describes the vision, the second half presents its interpretation. The vision had a fourfold structure, corresponding to the four parts of the “great image” seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his earlier dream, with its golden head, silver arms and breast, brass belly and thighs, and legs of iron and clay.
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The rescue of Daniel from the ravenous lions demonstrated that Yahweh remained in firm control of history – Daniel 6:1-28.
After the overthrow of the Babylonian Empire, the new ruler of the province, “Darius the Mede,” appointed Daniel as his chief officer over the other civil servants that administered the region. This caused resentment among other officials, so a conspiracy was hatched to destroy the prophet, and trapped by his own words, Darius became ensnared in the very plot to destroy Daniel.
Continue readingINTRODUCTION TO DANIEL
An introduction to the Book of Daniel with a brief overview of how the Book of Revelation applies it.
The book of Daniel is a well-structured literary work, not a collection of folk stories or random and unrelated visions. At the very beginning, the key themes of the book are presented in brief, then worked out in detail in the subsequent chapters, and each new vision builds on the preceding ones.
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