Join us as we unravel the captivating tales of Daniel’s dream interpretations and his steadfast journey through the lion’s den. Learn about the significance of Daniel’s visions in the context of historical events and their implications for the future. Through the insights shared, we aim to provide a deeper understanding of the narratives that shaped one of history’s greatest stories of faith and resilience.
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
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What was it about Daniel? Through at least three major administrative changes in Babylon, he kept coming out on top. Now, for the believer, it makes perfect sense. God gave Daniel and his companions favor through these hard and dangerous times for his own purposes. But you have to wonder what this looked like from the perspective of King Darius, the latest king Daniel had to deal with. You’ll find this story set in Daniel 6. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 princes that were over the whole kingdom. And over these he had three presidents of whom Daniel was the first. He was number one. Why? Well, he was preferred above all the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him, to quote Daniel, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. So he wanted to give him everything because he had what he called an excellent spirit. Now from Darius’ point of view, These people were smart, and they had great common sense. They made wise decisions, and he could depend on them. When they decided something, it worked. What Darius had no way of knowing was that the Jews in his newly conquered kingdom made their decisions within the framework of the law, the law of God. Now, this is more important than most people realize. Most of us make our life’s decisions based on what feels good, what looks safe, what we think will work at the moment. We do this because we have no overriding framework into which we can put the things we know and out of which we can make decisions. And that can leave us all over the landscape in our decisions. We have no standards, no consistency. We can be for something today and against it tomorrow and not have the least idea of why we are that way. Now, Daniel and the Hebrew children had been brought up on the law of God, and it formed the framework for all of life’s decisions. And the biggest thing about this is the system works. As the psalmist said, your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It helps you see in those dark places so you don’t fall down and hurt yourself. And there are a lot of dark places in this world. I think this explains a lot about the Jews scattered throughout the world. They have a very long history of the study of divine law, and they have accumulated a lot of wisdom to go along with it, and it all fits within the framework through which they are able to view the world, evaluate questions, look at the hard decisions, and make decisions based upon reason and with a framework in which they can place them. so that life makes sense. So Daniel and his companions rose to great power in Babylon. And as naturally as day follows night, politics follows power. Because the other princes, the other presidents, were jealous of Daniel. And they began to look for an occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom. They couldn’t find anything. They couldn’t point to any issues. They couldn’t come up with anything to fault the man. He had been faithful, and there wasn’t any error or fault found in him. They didn’t catch him in a back room somewhere with an intern. They found him faithful all the way up and down the kingdom. Then these men said, We’re not going to find anything against Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Because they knew that was the one thing about Daniel that was absolutely changeless. So they thought it over. They went to the king. And they said to him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, the princes, the counselors, and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute. and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days except of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. A violent end for some poor fellow. Now, you would have thought Darius would have tumbled the fact that something’s going on here, but he didn’t, I guess, because it really made an appeal to his royal vanity. No, that’s good. Nobody should ask in petition of any god or man except of me. Why for 30 days? Well, I don’t know. Now, O king, they said, establish the decree. Sign the writing so it’s not changed. According to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which alters not. Once they put something in writing, it could not be changed. You know, kings have to depend heavily on advisors. They can’t know everything. They can’t be everywhere. But Darius got snookered here, and he came to know it, although it took a little while for him to realize what had happened. So King Darius signed the writing, and he signed the decree. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he carried on like he had before. He went into his house with his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did beforehand. For Daniel, his faith ruled everything. I’m not even sure this took a lot of courage for Daniel. It was automatic. In a way, it was even defiant, because he didn’t have to open his windows for God to hear him. But he opened them anyway. Well, his enemies assembled. They found him praying and making supplications to his God. And so they approached the king, and they spake concerning the king’s decree. Have you not signed a decree that every man who shall ask a petition of any god or man within 30 days, save of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions? You see, one of the things they’re appealing to here is that everything had to come to Darius, that he was to have full control. It was an appeal to his vanity in one way and an appeal to his power in another. The king answered and says, Yes, that’s true. I signed that. It can’t be changed. And so they said, Well, Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, Daniel the Jew regards you not, O king, nor the decree which you have signed. But he keeps right on making his petition three times a day. They had him, and he knew it. And the sad thing about it was, yeah, I think they may have thought somehow or other that they would actually send him through the roof with anger over this, but they didn’t. He was angry. He was angry with himself. How, he thought, could I have been so stupid? And he tried his best to deliver Daniel, and he labored till sundown to do so. And only now did he realize what these power mongers had pulled on him. But he couldn’t get it changed. So finally, they said, you know, these men assembled, they said, King, you know the law of the Medes and the Persians. You know that no decree or statute the king established may be changed, not even by the king. So he commanded, and they brought Daniel, and they cast him into the den of lions. But before he went down there, the king spoke and said, Daniel, your God, whom you serve continually, he’ll deliver you. Put him down there, and a stone was brought, laid on the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet of his lords. All of them were there together. They sealed that thing so the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. The king went away. spent the night in his palace fasting, never ate anything, didn’t allow any of his instrumentalist or music to be brought in before him, and he didn’t get a wink of sleep all night long. Then very early in the morning, he hastened down to the den of lions. When he came to it, he cried with a lamentable voice, pitiful voice unto Daniel. And he said, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions? Daniel called to the king, O king, live forever. My God has sent his angel and has shut the lion’s mouth. They have not hurt me. For as much as before him innocency was found in me, and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt. The king was elated. He commanded to take Daniel up out of the den. So he was. No manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. You know, I’ve heard people talk about a place of safety where God can take away all of his people and protect them from bad things that happen. For Daniel, the place of safety was the lion’s den. No one was going to bother him there. No enemy could come down and stab him in his sleep. Nobody could do anything bad to him. And I like to think of Daniel sound asleep with his cats. while Darius tossed and turned all night long. The upshot of all this was that the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel. They cast them into the den of lions with their children and their wives, and the lions had the mastery of them and broke their bones in pieces before they ever got to the bottom of the den. I have a feeling that Darius took a certain amount of relish in that. Who knows? He may not have even liked these guys anyway. Then King Darius wrote to all people, nations, languages that dwell in all the earth. Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom, men fear and tremble before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, steadfast forever. And his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed, his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivers, he rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and earth. And he has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. All that from King Darius. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Listen carefully to this message, and I’ll be right back.
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Join us online at borntowin.net. That’s borntowin.net. Read essays by Ronald Dart. Listen to Born to Win radio programs every day, past weekend Bible studies, plus recent sermons, as well as sermons from the CEM Vault. Drop us an email and visit our online store for CDs, DVDs, literature, and books. That’s borntowin.net.
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What follows in chapter 7 of the book of Daniel is rather more difficult. It’s a description of a dream, and this dream came directly to Daniel. In a way, it’s better described as a nightmare. You’re going to have to follow this complicated vision very carefully. In fact, I’d suggest you give us a call and request a free cassette tape of this program. Grab a pencil and paper. We’ll give you the address and the phone number and everything you need twice again before we go. Daniel 7, verse 1. In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. Now the dream that follows is a further development of the dream of chapter 2. That’s why we offered it to you in the last break. If you haven’t already, be sure and order that along with this program. Chapter 2 developed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of four succeeding empires, kingdoms that rule the entire world, or at least the civilized parts of the world. These empires may even have been encouraged by God to create order out of what would otherwise have been chaos. These four empires would stretch across all of human history, from Babylon to the very end and the kingdom of God. They’re not hard to identify with hindsight. Daniel spoke in verse 2 and said, I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea. A big storm. It’s a picture of the chaos the kingdoms of the world had before Babylon came along and conquered them. Now comes Daniel’s nightmarish dream. Four great beasts came up from the sea. diverse, one from another. Each of the kingdoms was dramatically different from the others, although in the end they all served the same purpose in God’s plan, maintaining order. The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings, and I watched until the wings were plucked and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand upon its feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. This compares to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar and the, what shall we call it, semi-conversion of Nebuchadnezzar after his years of insanity. Behold another beast, a second like a bear, and it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it. And they said to it, Arise and devour much flesh. With hindsight, this has to be the Medo-Persian empire that conquered Babylon not very long after this dream. The Medes had conquered three other petty empires before coming to Babylon, and I suppose were still digesting them when they took over the great kingdom. After this, verse 6, Daniel says, I beheld, and lo, another, like a leopard, which had on the back of it four wings of a fowl. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. Using our 20-20 hindsight again, we see Alexander the Great and the four generals who ruled the four divisions of his empire after his death. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful, terrible, strong exceedingly. It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it. And it was different from every beast before it. And it had ten horns. The iron corresponds well with the iron of chapter 2. and universally it’s understood to be the Roman Empire. And it’s irresistible to compare the ten horns we find here to the ten toes of the great image of chapter 2. So we see the fourth beast as the Roman Empire, and somehow at the time of the end, very near the time of the end, it has ten divisions, all still a part of the same whole. Now, what makes all this so hard is the prophecies take this fourth empire all the way to the kingdom of God at the end. But if you know any history at all, you know that Rome fell. And a lot of people assume, well, that’s the end of that. However, if you know anything at all about European history, you’ll be aware of the persistence of the idea of Rome which dominated Europe down through the ages. That it was still a Roman Empire long after the fall of the city of Rome. Many people probably don’t realize that Hitler saw his Third Reich as a continuation of the Roman Empire. Most people never ask, well, if it was the Third Reich, what were the First and the Second? Hitler’s rule was loaded with the symbols of Rome, all the way to and including the swastika. I was browsing one day in the Roman section of the British Museum, looking at a silver serving tray that dated back to the time of Roman influence. And right in the center of this silver serving tray was a small swastika. It made the hair stand up on my neck. But now, there’s something new in this vision, something that is not in that first vision from Chapter 2 at all. In verse 8, Daniel says, I considered the horns. And look, there came up among them another little horn, before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. Now, once again, I may remind you that we are encountering again and again in Daniel icons. We’re all familiar with icons these days from our computer screens where we have learned that the little icon that looks like a printer, if we click on that, we print the document that we’re working with. And so it goes with all kinds of little things. I counted once, and I think I had 40-some icons visible on my computer screen at one time. But what you have in a horn is an icon referring to a ruler. So here is a kingdom with ten rulers, one of whom becomes dominant. And because he has this mouth speaking great things, the presumption of many commentators is that he is a strong, very arrogant person. He’s so powerful, he’s able to destroy three of the others and dominate the remainder. The way this is worded, these rulers are almost certainly contemporary with one another, although there is some disagreement on that among commentators. As you follow these ideas through the New Testament prophets, it’s hard to avoid a comparison with the Antichrist or the man of sin described by Paul in 2 Thessalonians. But Daniel watched and he said, I beheld until the thrones were cast down and the ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, the hair of his head as pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame, his wheels as a burning fire. Now there’s a difference in translations here. The King James Version seems to say that Daniel watched until these thrones of the ten kings were cast down. But nearly everyone else translates this differently. Here’s how the NIV puts it. I looked, and thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow. The hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A fiery stream issued and came forth before him. Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set, and the books were opened. And this is an aspect of God that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. But since God doesn’t seem to be overly concerned with our comfort, perhaps we’d better just learn to live with that. God is not only merciful, kind, and forgiving, He is also just. And justice demands that some crimes cannot go unpunished. Think about that, and I’ll be right back after this important message.
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Daniel kept watching because he was fascinated with the words which this horn was speaking, this great mouth of his. He said, I watched even until the beast was killed and his body was destroyed, given to the burning flame. This great arrogant one who comes to dominate becomes so obnoxious in God’s eyes that he has to be dealt with. The image of Hitler comes to mind, although I wouldn’t go so far as to say he was the man, but he does serve nicely as an icon of one speaking great words who has set himself up and is a big destroyer and a beast. He is destroyed in that river of fire that proceeds from the throne of the ancient of days, called a lake of fire in Revelation. Daniel 7, verse 12 says, The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but they were allowed to live for a period of time. Now I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. Now, almost any Christian would look at that and think, okay, here is the Ancient of Days, God the Father. The Son of Man is Jesus. He’s being brought before the Father. And there was given to him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. And this ties up that last connection with Daniel chapter 2. Because in chapter 2 of Daniel, verse 44, it says, In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to other people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it itself will endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands. A rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, the gold, the whole image to pieces. The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true. The interpretation is trustworthy. And it comes ringing back down through the ages, even in Handel’s Messiah. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. So we have come to the return of Christ and the kingdom of God. But there is still so much that we don’t know. Daniel didn’t either. He said, These great beasts which are four are four kings which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. Daniel’s still not satisfied. He said, I still want to know the truth of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, who was so dreadful, whose teeth were iron, his nails of brass, who devoured and broke in pieces and stamped everything with his feet. I want to know about the ten horns that were in his head and the other one that came up before whom three fell. I want to know about that horn that had the eyes and the mouth that spoke great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. Daniel says, I saw all this stuff, and I want to know what it means. So the angel answered. He said, and another shall arise after them and shall be diverse from the first. He will subdue three kings. He’ll speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High. He will think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand until a time and a times and a half a time. What this suggests to many is a three-and-one-half-year persecution of Christians, of the saints, of the holy people, by this evil king. But in the end, the judgment shall sit. They will take away his dominion to consume it and destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey Him. This is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my cogitations which troubled me and my countenance changed in me, but I kept the matter in my heart. Now, there’s no way of giving a certain interpretation of this as we come down toward the time of the end. But one might be led to expect that somewhere, somehow in Europe, there might arise ten kings, or something that could be called kings, with one great dominant personality, one evil personality, who actually persecutes the people of God. Perhaps an antichrist, perhaps a man of sin.
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Until next time. I’m Ronald Dart. The Born to Win radio program with Ronald L. Dart is sponsored by Christian Educational Ministries and made possible by donations from listeners like you. If you can help, please send your donation to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. You may call us at 1-888-BIBLE44 and visit us online at borntowin.net.
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Christian Educational Ministries is happy to announce a new full-color Born to Win monthly newsletter with articles and free offers from Ronald L. Dart. Call us today at 1-888-BIBLE44 to sign up or visit us at borntowin.net.
Join us as we unravel the captivating tales of Daniel’s dream interpretations and his steadfast journey through the lion’s den. Learn about the significance of Daniel’s visions in the context of historical events and their implications for the future. Through the insights shared, we aim to provide a deeper understanding of the narratives that shaped one of history’s greatest stories of faith and resilience.
