Daniel’s Vision Interpreted

Here are my thoughts on Daniel 7:15-28.

Summary: In this passage, Daniel’s vision continues; he approaches a bystander within that vision and requests more information concerning the fourth beast, as its talking horn fights the people of God.

The bystander then explains that vision:

• a fourth kingdom will arise, and ten kings will arise out of it
• another king will then arise and persecute the people of God
• a heavenly court will then judge that king and punish him for his deeds
• God will then grant an eternal, universal kingdom to His people.

Daniel is shaken by that vision and its explanation.

Thoughts: In verse 22, God grants an eternal, universal kingdom to His people. House offers some thoughts on this point:

This development is hardly surprising. Daniel and the other Babylonian exiles certainly suffered. Mordecai and Esther faced death in Persia. God’s ‘holy ones’ in Judea suffered terribly under Antiochus IV (175-164 BC), and under Roman rule before, during and after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 66-70. God’s people have suffered multiple times since, and many of them live in real danger now. Other oppressors have taken the place of Greece and Rome.

I assume that this passage can comfort modern-day believers who “live in real danger now”. As a modern-day believer in a First World country, though, I do not “live in real danger now”. I – and others in similar circumstances – enjoy legal protection from religious persecution, leaving me vulnerable to various temptations. In some sense, then, this passage does not fully resonate with me. If I am tempted to rest in the blessings of this life, then can I truly desire the promise in verse 22? While I do not think that He is calling me to a life of asceticism, I do think that He is calling me to look for opportunities to deny myself (while still blessing others) on a daily basis.

In verse 28, Daniel is shaken by his vision and its interpretation. I think that his reaction was influenced by the description of the persecution of the people of God in verses 21 and 25 (in particular, it seems that at least some of His people will be slain by their persecutors). Did Daniel identify so strongly with the people of God that he would be shaken by their future sufferings? Admittedly I struggle to identify strongly with believers who “live in real danger now”. Whenever I hear about their sufferings, I cannot say that “my color changed”. I believe that this is related to the issues that I have noted above, where I focus on the blessings of this life (to the exclusion of the sufferings of others).