Daniel 7:15-28
English Standard Version

Daniel's Vision Interpreted
15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. 16 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. 17 ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

19 “Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, 20 and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. 21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.

23 “Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast,

there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,
    which shall be different from all the kingdoms,
and it shall devour the whole earth,
    and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
24 As for the ten horns,
out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise,
    and another shall arise after them;
he shall be different from the former ones,
    and shall put down three kings.
25 He shall speak words against the Most High,
    and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
    and shall think to change the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
    for a time, times, and half a time.
26 But the court shall sit in judgment,
    and his dominion shall be taken away,
    to be consumed and destroyed to the end.
27 And the kingdom and the dominion
    and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven
    shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;
his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,
    and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’

28 “Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.”

Daniel, like most of us, was still focused in on that last beast and wanting to know more about it.  It made him anxious and afraid to think about it.  God does not give His people a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  Daniel seems to have either missed the point of seeing the Lord on His throne in control of everything, high above the beasts and the kingdoms of the world sitting in judgment, and throwing the final beast into the Lake of Fire.  Daniel had nothing ultimately to fear from his vision because the Lord is still in control and no beast or kingdom will ever be able to contend with Him.

Daniel approached and asked for interpretation from one of those standing there with him (probably an angel) to explain the vision to him.  A summary of the vision consistent of what we have already seen with the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's first dream/vision was given to him, including that the saints would inherit a kingdom not of this world as the Kingdom of God would be victorious and God would reign over all the earth forever and ever.

That still didn't satisfy Daniel's curiosity, and he asked for more information about the terrifying beast that represented the fourth kingdom.  The angel explained that this coming kingdom would be different than all the kingdoms before it.  It would be given power and authority to devour (conquer) the whole earth.  From it would spring ten nations represented by the ten horns (probably a confederation or union of nations).  From among these will come a small horn that represents a king who will put down three of these ten horns as he seizes complete control of the power and authority given to this beast.  He will be proud and boastful and speak blasphemies just like the Satan who empowers him.

His kingdom will not be long-lasting.  He will only be given power to persecute the saints for three-and-a-half years (the end of the seven years of the Tribulation).  After this, the Lord will return and judge the wicked nations of this world who allied themselves with the Antichrist and tried to rebel against the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of His Christ.  They will not be victorious, and judgement will come upon them.

All the kingdoms of this world will be consumed so that only the kingdom of God would remain, and all the people of God from all the nations of the world that remain will worship, serve, and obey Him forever and ever.  This still didn't answer Daniel's questions of who and when that he wanted to know, but it wasn't for him to know those things.  It was for him to rest in the fact that God would be victorious and He had prepared a place for Daniel and all the other saints to live with Him forever and ever.  Daniel says that he was still alarmed--so much so that his color changed in his face.  He was visibly upset, but he wouldn't talk about it with anyone.  Instead, he kept it to himself, but he will keep asking.  He will not receive a different answer, and in the end, he will be told that it is not for him to know or understand.  These things are written for those who will live in the very end of days to understand.  Many generations like Daniel have tried to understand more than has been revealed to them, but God wants us not to look at the world in fear, but to look towards heaven with hope both that He will judge the wicked and give us the kingdom as an inheritance one day when all the people who remain from all nations will love, worship, serve, and obey the Lord.  We should not live in fear of what we do not know, because we have a sure hope that just as He delivered His people from slavery in Egypt to take them to the Promised Land, and from the Babylonian and Assyrian Exile to return them to their homeland that there is a day that He will provide an even greater Exodus and better Promised Land for us who are His people--a people made of a remnant from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Daniel 7:13-14
English Standard Version

The Son of Man Is Given Dominion
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.

As mentioned yesterday, it is this passage that Jesus refers to during His trial when compelled to give testimony against Himself as to His true identity (see Matthew 26:57-68 and Mark 14:53-65).  The chief priests and elders realized that Jesus was claiming not only to be the Messiah, but the Son of Man from this passage, and they correctly understood that as claiming to be God.  They accused Him of blasphemy because they believed that He falsely claimed equality with God, but He committed no crime because He truly was God with Us.

Now, let's take this back to the book of Daniel and visions and dreams contained and interpreted in it.  Remember Nebuchadnezzar's first dream that Daniel interpreted?  There was a rock that smashed the kingdoms of this word and turned them all to dust and that Rock became a mountain that filled the whole earth.  That Rock was the Kingdom of God, but now Daniel finds out that just like each of the other kingdoms had a king to represent it, so too will the Kingdom of God have a king, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to lead it.  This King is described as having the likeness to a son of man, pointing to the fact that he is more than a mere man.  We know this to be because He is God in the Flesh, and the Jewish leaders seemed to understand that too when they accused Jesus of blasphemy.

God's purpose in giving dominion to His Son is so that people from all nations and tongues would worship Him and serve Him.  It will reverse the Curse and make the rebellion of the Tower of Babel ineffective.  Even though men will be of different tribes, tongues and nations, they will sing a new song together as if with a common tongue to praise God the Father and God the Son (see the book of Revelation for the various times that all those gathered around the throne will lead all of heaven, and sometimes all of heaven and earth, in worship).

Recall the this kingdom will be without end in both space and time.  The Son will have no successor, nor will there ever be anyone able to conquer Him and take the throne away from Him.  If we read this passage in isolation, we would not fully understand why the Father would give the Kingdom to the Son, but once we read the Gospels it is clear that Jesus says after His Resurrection, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me."  We look forward to the day when the words of Revelation 11:15 are heard and come to pass, "15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”"

Daniel 7:9-12
English Standard Version

The Ancient of Days Reigns
9 “As I looked,

thrones were placed,
    and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
    and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
    its wheels were burning fire.
10 A stream of fire issued
    and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
    and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
    and the books were opened.

11 “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

Like Daniel, we often like to fix our gaze on the kingdoms of this world and the terror they inflict.  However, this passage is meant to redirect Daniel's focus away from the earth and into the throne room of heaven.  God does the same on a couple of different occasions with John when he gets overwhelmed with what he sees going from bad to worse on the earth.

Through Daniel's eyes, we gaze into the throne room of God and see the one who is called the Ancient of Days high and lifted up, and He is surrounded by other thrones.  Daniel is focused on the central figure whose clothing is white as snow and hair is as pure wool (pure white).  He is without stain, spot or blemish.  He is not only pure but holy, and that makes him inapproachable.  His throne is surrounded by flames of fire that will consume those who are unholy who try to approach him.  The wheels of the throne are burning fire (the reference to these wheels takes us back to the vison of Ezekiel), but where Ezekiel saw a River of Living water coming out from before Him to give life to the whole earth, Daniel sees a River of Fire coming from him to bring judgment to nations of the world that oppose Him.

An uncountable multitude stands before him and He sits in judgment.  I believe this is a picture of what we would call The Great White Throne judgment where God will judge all the nations of the world.  They will all stand before Him no matter if they believe in Him or not, He will be their judge.  There are multiple books that are opened--John will tell us more about these books, one book will be a record of the names of those whom Jesus has given eternal life--The Book of Life or The Lamb's Book of Life--and another will be the book that records all the deeds and the thoughts of every man, woman, and child.  Those whose names are not found in the Lamb's Book of Life will be judged according to their works, and they will all be found guilty for "There is none righteous, no, not even one."  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Big picture here is that no matter how big and bad the nations that rage against the LORD and His people appear to be, God will have the final word in judgment and all of those who are part of the kingdoms of this world have no future kingdom to look forward to.  The kingdoms of this world will all be destroyed and those hoping for them to be strong enough to save them from God will be sorely disappointed when all of them stand before God on the day of judgment. 

This passage ends with Daniel looking back at the Antichrist who was talking such a big game and making such great boasts being destroyed and being cast into the Lake of Fire.  The other four beasts will be allowed to live for a bit longer making reference to the fact that Satan is not destroyed at the same time as the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and there will be a final rebellion by him and the people that will belong to "the world" after Messiah's Millennial reign.  At the end of that time, all the kingdoms of this world will be destroyed and only the Kingdom of God will remain, just like we saw in Nebuchadnezzar's dream.  But who is this Messiah who will be given the kingdom?  We'll talk about that next time, and Jesus will quote these very verses during His trial by the Jewish High Priest when He is compelled to testify and tell His true identity.  It is His quotation of this passage about Himself that makes them accuse Him of blasphemy, because they understood Jesus to be saying that He was the Son of God (the Second Person of the Trinity).  Don't let anyone tell you that Jesus never claimed to be God, because He clearly did at His trial when His life was on the line, and He chose to quote from Daniel 7 to let them know that even their attempts to kill Him would not be successful for God had promised to give Him an everlasting kingdom made up of people from every tribe, tongue and nation, and they are just moving that plan forward.

Daniel 7:1-8
English Standard Version

Daniel's Vision of the Four Beasts
7 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. 2 Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which 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.

The historical narrative portion of Daniel that we just finished acts as an introduction to the themes of the rest of the book.  The book is cyclical in that many of the dreams have the same or similar message, and our historical narrative portion helps us ground these visions and dreams in reality to know we are talking about real people and real kingdoms.  Without that portion of the story, we may try to turn everything into allegory like with the book of Revelation.  In fact, understanding the portion of the book of Daniel that we are about to enter eliminates much of the confusion of studying the book of Revelation because Jesus showed John many of the same things that were already shown to Daniel, and they were already interpreted for Daniel, so Jesus did not interpret them again for John.

Let's jump in as we study this next portion of the book of Daniel which focuses on a set of dreams given only to Daniel (not to the kings) and their interpretation.  The first dream Daniel records was given to him during the first year of King Belshazzar (the last king of the Babylonian Empire that we read about with the writing on the wall in chapter 5).  Daniel has a dream that he writes down.

He sees the four winds of heaven stirring up the sea (the sea is a symbol used prophetically for the Gentile nations, the land is typically the land of Israel).  Four beasts came out of the sea (out of the Gentile nations of the world).  These will be analogous to the portions of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream that were made of gold, silver, bronze and iron, yet the final beast will also partially represent the portion represented by iron mixed with clay.  Since we can draw these parallels already, we should know the identity of the first two beasts that we see.  The first would be the kingdom of Babylon (it still exists at this time, but is about to fall).   It was symbolized by lions, sometimes even as lions with wings to speak of both its speed and ferociousness.  They saw themselves at the top of the food chain of nations like the lion being an apex predator.  However, its wings were plucked off--it lost its speed and and it was made to stand up like a man and the mind of a man was given to it.

The second is the Medo-Persian Empire that will conquer Babylon.  It was symbolized by a bear that leaned to one side (was stronger on one side than the other).  The Persians would end up being stronger in a military sense, though the Medes would give theme rules of law and government that brought stability instead of a "might makes right" system.  The bear had three ribs in its mouth which are nations that the Medo-Persian Empire would "devour."  Notice the LORD's command to the this beast to "Arise, devour much flesh."  The three nations conquered and "devoured" by the Medo-Persian Empire were Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.

The third beast is not one whos identity is revealed in the book of Daniel, but we know its identity from history, since we know what empire rose next after the Medo-Persian Empire.  This would be the Greeks under the leadership of Alexander the Great of Macedonia.  It is symbolized as a leopard--one of the fastest land animals.  Alexander the Great would conquer most of the known world in very little time and bring a common language and culture to "the whole world."  He would die young and four of his generals would split the empire (the four heads.)  They would be given dominion over the whole earth.

The last beast in Daniel's vision is the one that terrified him and he focused on.  We'll read much about it in the rest of the book of Daniel as Daniel keeps asking God for more clarity about this portion of the dream.  He will eventually receive an answer that he is writing these things down for another people in another time.  It is not meant for him to fully understand about this fourth beast, but it was not something that would happen during his lifetime and not anything that he needed to worry about.  However, this is the age we currently live in because the time of the fourth beast was inaugurated with the rise of the Roman Empire.  Pax Romana came about because Rome was a fierce enemy the forced other nations into submission, or destroyed them.  Daniel had no words to describe this beast that he saw, but John will call it a dragon, and that seems fitting and explains why Daniel was so terrified.  We may think the Roman Empire is dead and gone, but it lives on today in what we would call "The West," it just doesn't have an emperor ruling over all of it at this time, but a day is coming in the future when Antichrist will rise and rule over the nations that were in the Roman Empire (which was the known world at the time, and possibly he will rule over the entire world, even the parts not known about to Daniel and John).

John's description of the kingdom of Antichrist is nearly identical to the description we see here, and we can draw parallels back to the statue because we see ten horns on the beast just like there were ten toes of the statue, so these should represent the leaders of the ten nations that make up this empire (though they don't mix well with each other like iron and clay don't mix--some are strong and some are brittle and fragile).  Another horn (the Antichrist) arises from among these nations and when it rises, three of the ten original horns will be plucked up (this probably indicates some war that accompanies Antichrist rising to power and three of the ten nations are destroyed in the process).  This new horn is described as "little" compared to the other horns, but it will make great boasts and speak great blasphemies.  This will be the world leader that will demand that everyone bow down and worship his image (sounds a whole lot like what we've seen already with Nebuchadnezzar and even a bit with Darius).  This same spirit has been at work in all of the four beasts, yet God has directed the process and this is all part of His plan to move history forward to accomplish His ultimate plans for salvation and blessing for his people and judgment and destruction for the wicked.

We need not fear these kingdoms of men or what they will do to us because we belong to the kingdom of God which will destroy all the kingdoms of men that stand against it and only the Kingdom of God will remain in the end.  Remember this was the ending to Nebuchadnezzar's first dream, and it was the thing that disturbed him so much.  The kingdoms Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome are very much alive and well in the worldviews and philosophies of the world today.  Many things we think are "new" are really repackages versions of what is ancient.  Solomon will even told us as much when he said, "There is nothing new under the sun."  As we understand these four empires and the philosophies that made each of them unique, we are more prepared to deal with the philosophies of today that are just amalgamations of them.  They were all in a sense in the spirit of antichrist (with a small "a") because they were all opposed to the people of God and the plan of God, but a day is coming when all this rebellion and wickedness will come to a head an the LORD will say "enough" and the time of judgment will come for the wicked and the time of blessings will come for the righteous (those who are clothed in the righteousness of Christ).

Now read Psalm 1 in this context:
Psalm 1
English Standard Version

Book One

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked
1 Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish. (emphasis added)

Daniel 6
English Standard Version

Daniel and the Lions' Den
6 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; 2 and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. 3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

6 Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction.

10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. 11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”

16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,

for he is the living God,
    enduring forever;
his kingdom shall never be destroyed,
    and his dominion shall be to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues;
    he works signs and wonders
    in heaven and on earth,
he who has saved Daniel
    from the power of the lions.”

28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

If there is any single story that people know from the book of Daniel, this is probably it.  Unfortunately, knowing only this story misses much of the point of the entire historical narrative at this point--that God sent His people into Exile not just as punishment (though that is true), but to be evangelists to the empires that would hold them captive.  The New Testament will point back to these events and to tell us to live as Exiles and pray for the good of the emperor and other government leaders in control of our Exile that things may go well for us and that all people of the empire might experience the LORD's common grace.  This is also an Old Testament message:

Jeremiah 29:7
English Standard Version

7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

It is in the book of Daniel that we see Daniel and his three friends living out this commandment that the LORD gave through Jeremiah the prophet, and they are examples to us of how we should live to this day.  Jesus and the apostles warned that just because we will be praying and acting towards the welfare of the city doesn't mean that it will be praying and acting for our welfare--in fact, quite the opposite is true.  We are actually supposed to be concerned, according to Jesus, if all men love us and only say good and positive things to and about us and everyone treats us the same way that they treat their friends from the world.  We are to expect unjust and harsh treatment, persecution, and even attempts to imprison, torture, and kill us.  Yet, in all this, we are to entrust ourselves to the LORD who is the one who gives and takes life and conduct ourselves in such a way that even when we die, we die in such a way that we bring glory to the LORD and His name will be proclaimed and worshiped.  That is what we see in this passage.  It's not just about a criminal conspiracy against Daniel that the LORD thwarted, but it is about Daniel continuing to do what was right and commanded of him, even under the threat of death, and he did not recant or try to make excuses or hide from the punishment.  Daniel knew that the LORD could save him from the lions just as easily as the LORD saved his friends from the fiery furnace many years before.  We'll see that ultimately this was a challenge against God Himself to see if He really was good enough and strong enough to save His prophet, or was Daniel just the recipient of special favor from the king.  This was a test for the king as well to see if he would break his own law to save Daniel, because those responsible for the threat on Daniel's life believed in no other savior greater than their king.  This sounds a lot like chapter 3 with different characters and a different scene, and it should because the enemies of God fail to study and learn from history and try to make God prove Himself over and over again.  The people of God know what God did in the past and trust that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever and that the God who saved His people from impossible situations in the past to deliver everything He promised to them not only can, but will do it again, both now and in the future because that is who He is and who He is determines what He does.  Since who He is never changed, and He is a God who saves His people, then He will always be acting in a way towards the goal and end of saving His people (sometimes they will be saved by taking them to heaven and their time of trial and tribulation on this earth is done, other times He saves them from the danger to continue to work He has prepared for them).

Now that I've given the big picture of this text, let's break it down as we usually do.  Darius brings Daniel out of retirement to be one of thee men responsible for governing the 120 men responsible for running the day-to-day affairs of the empire.  Ata minimum, this probably means Daniel was responsible for oversight of 40 government leaders, but it became obvious to everyone quickly that Daniel was blessed with a spirit and wisdom that made him the best out of the entire group.  No one else could compete with him on the basis of talent or giftedness, so they devised a plan to get rid of him.  They tried every political trick they knew.  They were high-ranking government officials and all of them knew that they had skeletons in their closet that would probably cause scandal and call for their removal from government service if revealed, so they at first assumed that Daniel had the same issues, but they could find nothing public nor private to use against him.  They couldn't even start rumors against him of such things because no one believed them since Daniel was such a man of integrity.  None of the conventional means of dealing with a political opponent worked.  That left them with only one option--they would have to use Daniel's integrity against him.

They would convince the king that it would be a good idea for the king to have a month of worship dedicated to him where no one in the kingdom could pray to anyone other than the king for thirty days (a month).  This sounded like a splendid idea to the king who couldn't imagine why people wouldn't want to worship him and he couldn't imagine that any god would be mad about his followers worshiping the king for just a month.  In his moment of pride, he failed to examine the motives of these government leaders and the potential consequences of the injunction they wanted him to sign.  There should have been red flags that they wanted this to carry the death penalty--it should have been obvious they were out to get someone or a group of people whom they knew would not stop worshiping their God, even if the king passed an injunction decreeing it was illegal to do so.  The trap was set, and the injunction itself was the bait, because Daniel knew nothing else to do when he heard about it other than to pray to the LORD about it.  He opened his windows towards Jerusalem (towards where the Temple used to be), and prayed to the LORD.

The high officials were all eye witnesses and went to the king to tell him how Daniel ignored his edict and was still praying to his God, even though the king commanded that no one should pray to any god except the king for the entire month.  It was at that moment that Darius realized that he had been had and what was really going on here.  He wanted to find a way to deliver Daniel, but he though he searched the law for any exceptions, the law was clear.  The law of the Medes and the Persians was unbreakable, even by the king.  No exceptions could even be made for any reason.  The evil government officials were counting on this.  The king could not delay forever and Darius called for Daniel to be brought in for the punishment prescribed by the law.

Notice how the king prays that the God that Daniel prays to and worships will be able to save him.  The king really isn't sure and this is just as much the LORD being put to the test as it was about Daniel and Darius being put to the test.  Could the LORD save Daniel from the mouths of the lions?  That is the question.  Darius would not eat or sleep that evening.  It's not clear if he was praying or just so upset by the events of the day that he could not even do the simple things for his own good.  I think many of us understand being so upset by something that the desire to eat and sleep leave us.

The king came out at first light and opened the seal to the lion's den and asked the all-important question, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Something tells me that the king was up reading historical records all night because of him calling the LORD, "The Living God."  Perhaps he was reading the accounts of what we find in the first five chapters of Daniel, or perhaps he was even reading the account of the book of Esther from his own kingdom.  This is not the first time that the LORD's people have come up against and unjust law and chose to obey God rather than man, and the LORD saved His people--often times leading to the destruction of those who sought to destroy the people of God.  It is that last bit that makes me think that he was probably reading about Purim, because as soon as it is clear that Daniel is safe and without harm, the king orders that men who had maliciously accused Daniel and their families be thrown into the den of lion.  This time, the lions  grabbed them and broke every bone in their bodies before they hit the ground.  Yes, even the wives and children of these men were given the same punishment.

The king could not break the old decree but he could make a new one that was just as unbreakable (technically, the Persian people should still be obeying this decree to this day).  The king commands all people under his authority to fear and worship the God of Daniel for He is a Living God who lives forever without successor and who's kingdom and dominion are without end in either time or space.  He is able to save and rescue His people, moving heaven and earth to do so, and performing mighty signs and wonders to accomplish this goal.  Now, added to that list, He was able to save Daniel from the mouth of the lions.

The king had received the answer to his question, and it was an answer big enough that the king was not content to just accept the answer for himself, but He ordered all the people of his nation to fear and worship the LORD.  Again, I see a salvation moment here for someone who was a pagan king, now using his power and influence to call and command the worship of the LORD by all people in his kingdom.

This ends the historical narrative portion of Daniel.  Daniel will live in safety for the rest of his days throughout the days of King Darius and into the days of King Cyrus (we know that name already).  Some try to read this last verse as saying that King Darius and King Cyrus were the same person, which is actually quite probable.  Otherwise, the timing would require that Darius was quickly succeeded by a son or grandson after these events, because the 70 years of Exile are nearly completed at this point and King Cyrus is the one to issue the decree to release the exiles and to rebuild the Temple (we know exactly what year that happened, and we're only a couple of years before it at this point).  There is not enough time for there to be the mass confusion that secular historians pretend to have over the identity of King Darius and King Cyrus--you'll see from chapter 9 why they want to deny certainty in the dates because any certainty in these dates makes certain the dates prophesied in chapter 9--specifically the prophesy of the exact year (even possibly to the exact day) when Jesus was going to die on the cross.

Daniel 9:24-26
English Standard Version

The Seventy Weeks
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. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. And for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.

Just a preview, but we'll talk about this when we get to chapter 9.  the "weeks" are literally "sevens" (groups of seven years, not seven days).  There are 490 years in this prophecy and 483 of them had to do with the time until Jesus would come back and be killed (and this "age" would end with the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem).  The last 7 years are still in the future time called the Tribulation, and that period will end with the return of Messiah as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  I'll spell it out in more detail later, but it was EXACTLY 483 years between the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple and the death of Jesus on the cross.  The wise men knew to anticipate his arrival because it was about the right time, and they studied the book of Daniel.  I believe Simeon and Anna in Luke 2 also knew of it being the right time for Messiah to appear because of this prophecy from Daniel 9.  Secular historians don't want to deal with the fact that God knows the past present and future and could tell Daniel in about 538 B.C. the exact date of an event that would happen in about 30 AD (when we account for the difference between 360-day prophetic/lunar years and 365-day solar years and account and do all the math for leap years it comes out EXACTLY right).  I think it is fair to say that this is one of the most important prophesies for us to understand.  Many say because of the specificity and accuracy of the prophecies in Daniel that it could not possibly have been written by Daniel during the time of the Exile--they imagine it had to be written much later after these events already took place and some Jews wrote the prophecies into existence.  But why would Jews write into existence prophecies that said their Messiah would die when they in general didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah? The explanation is ridiculous, but it makes perfect sense if a God who is outside of time and orchestrating the events of time could tell us exactly when He was going to orchestrate something to happen many hundreds of years into the future, and we can be just as sure of the fulfillment of all of the events that have not yet occurred because we see how exactly everything was fulfilled that has already occurred (the Medes and Persians and the Greeks and the Romans were all foretold in Daniel's visions, and so is the kingdom of Antichrist and the Kingdom of God here on earth that are still to come).

Daniel 5:13-31
English Standard Version

Daniel Interprets the Handwriting
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. 22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.

24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31  And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

It seems the king had no idea who Daniel was apart from what the queen mother told him, but he wasn't about to let Daniel know that as he pretended to recognize Daniel and know everything about him when he saw him.  He tells Daniel that he has been summoned because all of the wise men of Babylon have failed to provide an answer to the handwriting on the wall, but he has heard that Daniel can solve difficult problems that no one else can solve.  The the king, this isn't a clear message, it is a riddle with a hidden meaning, but the LORD has spoken clearly in the language of His people.  The reason the king couldn't understand it was that his people were too busy trying to make everyone else learn their language to learn any of the languages of the people they conquered.  We need to be careful to not treat God's Word this way--to try to seek some "deeper" and "hidden" meaning when we don't want to know the obvious meaning because the LORD likes to communicate clearly to His people.  If you find the Bible impossible to understand no matter what translation you read, it is possible that it is because it would be like a Babylonian trying to read Hebrew--it is impossible.

The king then makes the promise to Daniel that he made to all the wise men that if Daniel can give him the interpretation, he will make Daniel the third-highest ruler in the kingdom.  Daniel tells him to keep his gifts because he cannot buy favor with the LORD or the LORD's prophets.  The message will not suddenly become favorable because he has offered a large sum of wealth and power to Daniel.  Daniel will only tell the king that words which the LORD has spoken.  Daniel then interprets the meaning of the words written on the wall.  The king's heart has been weighed by the LORD and found wanting.  This very night, his kingdom would be given over to the kingdom of the Medes and Persians and all those who had been gathered together desecrating the holy objects of the LORD's Temple to toast the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone will know that the LORD alone is God and He is King of heaven and earth and all that is in them.  He is not just the god of people and land of Israel, nor is His power diminished because of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Daniel tells how King Nebuchadnezzar learned this lesson when the LORD took his mind and throne from him for a time and gave him the mind of a beast and he lived among the wild donkeys.  However, Belshazzar has failed to learn the lessons of history and is therefore doomed to have to learn those lessons for himself the hard way.  This will happen because the king and the people have not humbled themselves before the LORD who has clearly revealed himself to their kings as the only God (remember the royal decree for all people from every nation and tongue to only worship the LORD?).  It is not like these people have not heard God in their native tongue.  Nebuchadnezzar's decree was written in the common tongue and carried to every province of his kingdom (to the uttermost parts of the earth at that time).  Yes this young king who probably grew up in close proximity to King Nebuchadnezzar ignored all of Nebuchadnezzar's words from the end of his life and focused on his very early reign when he was savage, brutal, and a worshiper of the Babylonian gods (especially Bel, whom this king is named after, and who they tired to name Daniel after, but he refused to take a Babylonian name).

Daniel tells the king that there is no comparison between the LORD and the false gods they have been praising.  The LORD is the living god.  He is not like the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone that have no life and no ability to do anything to save the people that worship them.  I already mentioned the interpretation, but it is at this point after this history lesson and theology lesson that Daniel gives the interpretation to the king.  The king fulfills his vow, even though Daniel told him that he didn't want anything the king had to offer, and the words that Daniel spoke came true.  That very night, the kingdom of Babylon fell, and the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians arose.  Even the age of Darius the Mede was given (sixty-two years old).  The rest of the historical narrative portion of this book will follow events that occur during the reign of King Darius.

Daniel 5:1-12
English Standard Version

The Handwriting on the Wall
5 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

2 Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7 The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.

10 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, “O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

The reign of King Nebuchadnezzar has ended in this historic narrative portion of the book of Daniel , and his descendant, King Belshazzar, is now on the throne.  This context for what's going on here is that the Medo-Persian empire is beginning to rise and they are encamped around the capital city of Babylon.  The king wants to show his family, his government officials, and their families how sure he is that they will be safe and they will be victorious.  What better way than to throw a party in the face of what would naturally be a time of fear for the people.  They would ignore what was going on outside and they would drink to excess using the vessels of gold that they robbed from the Temple of the LORD and use them to praise the gods of gold, silver, iron, bronze, wood and stone in which they were putting their hope for their defense.  They were also making a statement that they intended to do to the Medo-Persian gods and their temples what they believed they did to the LORD and His Temple (they thought they had defeated Him and robbed Him of His place to live and His power).  They believed they would also take the Medes and the Persians captive as they had the Jewish people.  They were defiant against everything that the LORD had told them through the visions and dreams given to the various kings and the interpretations given by Daniel.

Immediately after they had toasted their false gods with the sacred objects from the LORD's Temple, a disembodied hand appears and writes a message on the plaster, directly across from the lampstand so that all could see it.  The king's face changes from one who wants to show he has no fear to being visibility afraid.  The color leaves is face, he can no longer stand, his knees knock (he's shaking in fear) and his thoughts alarmed him.  He calls for the aid of the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and "wise men" and makes a promise of anything they want, up to becoming the third highest ruler in the kingdom (probably indicating to us that he was only the second highest ruler in the kingdom and that he was ruling in place of the one was actually king at the time).  Where his "father" Nebuchadnezzar would have promised death to the men and their families and destruction of their property if they could not provide the answer he wanted, Belshazzar prefers the "carrot" to the "stick" and tries to bribe them to get the answers he needs.  No bribe was large enough though because the LORD had intentionally written the message in a language that none of the Babylonians would understand--only the Hebrew people who had refused to give up their language would know the words that were written, yet it would take a prophet of the LORD like Daniel to interpret the words and give the king their meaning.

The queen mother remembers Daniel (it has not been that long, and it appears she had first-hand or at least second-hand knowledge of Daniel being in charge of all the wise men and being able to give interpretations to dreams that none of the other king's men could).  She incorrectly ascribes Daniels wisdom as coming from the gods of Babylon.  She told the king the call for Daniel so that he could give the king the interpretation.

That's where we'll leave it for today.  We'll come back next time to see Daniel interpret the vision and the vision's meaning will become immediately clear as it will be immediately fulfilled.  This will set us up for the last portion of historical narrative where Daniel will serve another king and kingdom in the last years of his life.  He will start to see the dreams and visions that he had fulfilled, but he will not see them fully fulfilled, as even we are waiting for their total fulfillment to this day.