Daniel 7:9-12 Ancient of Days
Daniel’s dream/vision changes focus. The Ancient of Days, God, enters the scene. The ‘talking horn’ and its beastly representative are about to get theirs.
One thing that intrigues me is that Daniel saw God. We know he didn’t see God’s face but he saw His throne, His clothing and His hair. God told Elisha that no man could look upon His face and live. Somehow, Daniel was prevented from seeing God’s face. Is it possible that, because this was a dream/vision, that Daniel was seeing a representation of God and not actually God Himself? That would explain how he was able to see God, even though His face isn’t described in Daniel’s account.
When God arrives on the scene of Daniel’s dream/vision, ALL focus is on Him. The beasts fade into the background. We see God described first, His throne described next, and then all those focusing on Him. Not until ALL this is shown to us do we even acknowledge any of the beasts.
The horn with eyes and a mouth finally gets Daniel’s attention. It gets his attention “because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking” (verse 11a). I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the words were probably words of boasting and blaspheme. It was doing EVERYTHING IN ITS POWER to get Daniel to ignore God and pay attention to it.
It didn’t work like expected. Daniel DID look at the horn and watched as God killed the beast “and its body was given over to be burned with fire” (verse 11b). From the book of Revelation, we know that this beast is the Anti-Christ. It is also his prophet. They will be killed and cast into Hell. They will not be burned up but suffer ETERNAL torment by burning.
The “horn” will be defeated AND silenced. This would be Satan. He will be bound in chains and thrown into a bottomless pit for 1,000 years. It will have another chance to spout it’s lies, but that is a story for another day.
Whoever or whatever the other beasts represent, they will be allowed to continue “for a season and a time” (verse 12b). They will not have dominion anymore but they will also not be destroyed. I’m wondering if these beasts might represent sins instead of nations. The lion who rises up on two feet like a man and is given a man’s mind might represent pride. The bear with the ribs in its mouth might represent death and destruction. And the leopard might represent power as dominion was given to it in the beginning of the dream/vision. The leopard would have MUCH decreased power and authority as that will be given to Jesus after the great beast is conquered.
We know from previous texts that there will still remain some sin in the world, even during Jesus’ millennial reign. If it were not so, when Satan is released 1,000 years later, he would have no one to join him for his FINAL battle. We are told that there was a number of as many sands on the seashore as those who wanted to follow Satan at that time. So, sin isn’t gone but gone ‘underground’ for a time. I wonder how many “CEO Christians” (Christmas and Easter Only) there will be at that time.
God’s plans CANNOT be stopped by Satan’s ‘hot air’. Fix your eyes on Jesus. He can AND will carry you through the enemy’s traps. Jesus can even hold your thoughts on NONE but Him, IF we let Him. Daniel allowed God to direct his dream/vision. Daniel saw the enemies but he was forever focused on the One who could and would destroy them.
Father God, keep my eyes on You. Don’t let the enemy take my focus. When he IS seen or felt, remind me where to focus. Remind me Who is the ONE who can and will defeat him. I’m looking forward to the day when the enemy no longer roars in my ear or tries to get my attention. I don’t know how far away that time is, but I will trust You with ‘the clock and the calendar’ for this. Until then; I KNOW I am SAFE in Your arms!
