Sermon Tone Analysis

Session 6 The Forerunner Message in

I.          Introduction to the book of Daniel

A.        The first section is historical (), highlighting six episodes in Daniel’s life

: Dedication in his youth is seen in embracing a fasted lifestyle in Babylon

: Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream and Daniel receiving the word of Lord in crisis

: Being faithful witnesses in the face of death and deliverance from the fiery furnace

:    Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream calls leaders to righteousness

:    Belshazzar’s feast – the sudden downfall of powerful nations (fall of Babylon)

:    Daniel in the lion’s den – supernatural deliverance of believers in persecution.

B.        The second section is prophetic (), highlighting four visions about the end times.

:    A vision of four world empires in history and the little horn (Antichrist)

:    A vision of a ram, goat, and little horn (Antiochus/Antichrist) persecuting Israel.

:     A vision of Gabriel and the 70-weeks prophecy of Israel’s trouble and salvation 

: A vision of Israel’s persecution (Antiochus/Antichrist) and final restoration

C.        In 603 BC, the Lord revealed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statute to Daniel in a night vision (2:19), and gave Daniel insight into four world empires that the statue represented.

In 553 BC,

50 years later, Daniel received a vision () that elaborated on the four world empires that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his prophetic ().

If Daniel was about 20 when he received insight

into Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, then he was about 70 when he had the vision recorded in .

D.        Outline for

    7:1-8           Daniel’s vision: four beasts symbolizing four world empires

    7:9-14           God’s sovereign leadership over the Antichrist

            7:9-10       God enthroned in majesty

            7:11-12       Destruction of the Antichrist

            7:13-14       Jesus’ heavenly coronation as King over all nations

7:15-28            An angel’s interpretation of the vision

                      7:15-18            Victory is assured 

                       7:19-22            Prepared to rule through martyrdom 

                      7:23-27            The fourth beast, 10 horns, and the little horn

                       7:28            Daniel’s response

E.          is one of the most significant passages to help the Church understand the unique dynamics at the end of the age.

It describes the fierceness of the Antichrist empire, how it will persecute God’s people with intensity, and how Jesus will intervene as the Son of Man to destroy it and lead the saints to victory and to reign over the nations with Him.

F.         In , we see that God chose to use four world empires as the context to send the Messiah and to bring Israel to salvation and prepare them for world leadership, while purifying His Church and establishing His kingdom on earth.

reveals the sure victory and the intensity of the battle that Israel and the Church will face in the end times as they stand against the Antichrist.

1.

This historical plan was set in motion by the Lord about 2,500 years ago when He raised up Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to discipline Israel.

2.         The Lord selected four world empires that would set in motion many political, spiritual, social, economic dynamics over 2,500 years that would create the optimum context for the end-time harvest, Israel’s salvation, and the purifying of the Church and for Jesus to return to rule all nations and fill them with the glory of God.

II.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue ()

A.        Nebuchadnezzar saw four kingdoms represented by precious metals in a statue of a “glorious man” (2:31-45).

He saw these four kingdoms from man’s perspective—as glorious, like gold and silver.

Daniel referred to four world empires who were successively the “super power” of their day.

19Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision…31“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image…whose splendor was excellent…and its form was awesome.

32This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

34You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet…35The iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together…the stone …became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

(, )

1.         Head of gold: This represents the Babylonian Empire (606-539 BC).

2.         Chest and arms of silver: This represents the Medo-Persian Empire (539-331 BC).

3.         Belly and thighs of bronze: This represent the Greek Empire (331-146 BC).

4.         Legs, feet, and toes of iron and clay: This represent the Antichrist’s empire, as foreshadowed by the Roman Empire (146 BC-AD 1453).

B.        Stone cut without hands: A stone was cut out of the mountain by God’s invisible hands.

C.        Crushed together: The Lord’s stone crushed the feet—indicating the time of the Antichrist empire.

It is important to note that all four world empires are described as all “crushed together.”

Historically, the kingdom of Babylon was defeated by Persia, and then later Persia was defeated by Greece, and the Greeks were conquered by the Romans.

How could they all be destroyed together?

The evil expressed in all each of the four empires will come to fullness in the Antichrist’s empire.

D.        The two legs represent aspects of the Antichrist’s empire foreshadowed by the two divisions of the Roman Empire—the western (146 BC-AD 476) and the eastern divisions (AD 330-AD 1453).

The 10 toes are parallel to the 10 horns in the vision, representing the 10-nation confederation under the Antichrist (; , , ; ; ; , , , ).

41“You saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron; the kingdom shall be divided…42And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.”

()

E.         The stone that struck the image speaks of Jesus and His eternal kingdom (2:35, 44-45).

The stone being cut without hands means that it has a divine origin.

The stone will consume all the other kingdoms and shall stand forever (2:44).

Jesus will do to these kingdoms—break them into pieces—what they as a “composite” kingdom did to others under the Antichrist (, , ; cf. ).

44“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed…it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

45Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold…” ()

1.

In the days of the kings: This will happen at a time when all four of empires are together.

2.         Consume all these kingdoms: About 50 years later, Daniel saw all four of these kingdoms as present in the Antichrist’s empire ().

The power and wickedness that was seen in each of these four kingdoms will culminate under one world leader.

3.         Set up a kingdom: This is a reference to the millennial kingdom being established at the Jesus’ second coming, resulting in His kingdom being fully manifested openly for all to see.

III.

Daniel’s vision of the four beasts ()

A.        Daniel saw four winds stirring the Mediterranean Sea, bringing upheaval to the nations (7:1-3).

Daniel had a vision of four wild beasts 50 years after he saw the four parts of the statute in .

1In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon [553 BC], Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed.

Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.

2Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven [angelic and demonic activity] were stirring up the Great Sea [Mediterranean].

3And four great beasts [world empires] came up from the sea, each different from the other.”

()

1.

The first year: Belshazzar’s reign over Babylon began in 553 BC, 15 years before Israel was freed from Babylon (538 BC).

This vision gave Israel hope in the midst of their suffering as captives in Babylon.

Daniel was about 70 years old when he had this vision.

2.         Daniel had a dream: He had visions in his head while on his bed at night.

He wrote down the dream, giving only the main facts.

3.         Great Sea: Scripture describes the Mediterranean Sea as the Great Sea (; ; ; , ; ).

The empires that are highlighted in this vision include nations near the Mediterranean Sea—nations in the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa.

The Lord wants the epicenter of the end-time conflict and the unprecedented release of His glory to be expressed in the Middle East.

4.         Four winds of heaven: These winds symbolize spiritual forces, both angelic and demonic, that stirred up the nations.

This represents God’s orchestration of history, appointing various nations to rise and fall to set the context for His kingdom purposes to come to pass at the end of the age.

B.        Four great beasts: Daniel saw four wild animals—each represented an ancient empire in the Mediterranean region that would persecute Israel and cause great turmoil in the region.

1.

The four beasts of speak of the same four kingdoms as seen in the four parts of the statue in .

These four kingdoms will emerge again in the end-time conflict; they include Iraq (Babylon), Iran (Persia), Eastern Europe (Greece), and the Antichrist’s empire with a 10-nation confederation (includes parts of the western and eastern divisions of the ancient Roman Empire).

2.

The first three beasts (7:4-6) 

a.

First beast: Babylonian Empire (606-539 BC) – Iraq (7:4)

b.

Second beast: Persian Empire (539-331 BC) – Iran (7:5)

c.

Third beast: Greek Empire (331-146 BC) – Greece (7:6) 

3.

Fourth beast: Antichrist’s empire, foreshadowed by the Roman Empire (7:7-8) 

a.

Roman Empire’s western and eastern divisions (146 BC–AD 1453)

b.

Antichrist’s empire with a 10-king confederation