Daniel 7:15-28
Daniel 7:15-28
New King James Version (NKJV)
The Interpretation of the Dream
15 “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this.
“So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. 18 But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’
19 “Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. 20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. 21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.
23 “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. 25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.
26 “‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. 27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’
28 “This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.”
My Thoughts:
Daniel was not satisfied with the summary given to him. So we see him beg the angel fill in more about the forth beast. And we see the angel agree to give him more information. When I read these verses it makes me think of (Matthew 7:7) and Jesus’ promises “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
For today I would like to pick up at (v. 24) and talk about the 10 horns but mainly the little horn. We read in (v. 24) “The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. So what made this other one that arises from within them? First of all the ten horns we see that they are Political powers and the little horn is Spiritual in nature and it was said that this horn would make war with the saints. I guess we need to ask ourselves who are the holy people or saints? Let’s look at just a few verses (Deut. 33:2; 1 Samuel 2:9; Psalm 149:9; Hebrews 6:10; Revelation 14:12). So we see that the little horn devastates the saints.
Here are 8 identifying marks we can find in Daniel 7 to help identify the beast;
1) It rose out of the “fourth beast” (v. 8 and 24)
2) It appeared after the “ten” other “horns” (v. 24)
3) It was “little” when it was first seen, but became greater than it’s fellows (v. 8 and 20)
4) It was to “pull down three kings” so that, as it arose, “three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots.” (v. 8 and 24)
5) It had “eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things,” and it spoke “words against the Most High” (v. 8 and 25)
6) It was to “wear out the saints of the Most High.” (v. 25)
7) It was to “think to change the times and the laws” (v. 25)
8) It was allotted special powers for “a time, two times, and half a time.” (v. 25)
There is only one entity really fits all eight of the markers and that is the “Papacy” (we will address more on this topic later on).
Then we see with the coming of the Ancient of days, that is when the holy people or saints will sit with Christ in judgment a thousand years, following the first resurrection (Revelation 20:1-4)
Ellen White Statements:
“The special characteristic of the beast, and therefore of his image, is the breaking of God’s commandments. Says Daniel, of the little horn, the papacy: “He shall think to change times and the law.” Daniel 7:25, R.V. And Paul styled the same power the “man of sin,” who was to exalt himself above God. One prophecy is a complement of the other. Only by changing God’s law could the papacy exalt itself above God; whoever should understandingly keep the law as thus changed would be giving supreme honor to that power by which the change was made. Such an act of obedience to papal laws would be a mark of allegiance to the pope in the place of God.
The papacy has attempted to change the law of God. The second commandment, forbidding image worship, has been dropped from the law, and the fourth commandment has been so changed as to authorize the observance of the first instead of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But papists urge, as a reason for omitting the second commandment, that it is unnecessary, being included in the first, and that they are giving the law exactly as God designed it to be understood. This cannot be the change foretold by the prophet. An intentional, deliberate change is presented: “He shall think to change the times and the law.” The change in the fourth commandment exactly fulfills the prophecy. For this the only authority claimed is that of the church. Here the papal power openly sets itself above God. ” {GC 446}
Last thoughts:
I like how the chapter ends with the holy people or saints are given the kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven. After seeing all that Daniel had seen I am sure that the closing of this vision with this sight was welcome. He saw the time when all the saints would be free of oppression and be living in an everlasting possession.
About bobh6
40 Days of study 
Isn’t it interesting that the papacy “thinks to change time and the law”. Jesus, in the sermon on the mount, insisted He had NOT come to change the law. Not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Matt 5:17,18. So if Jesus, our Lord and Saviour says He came not to change the law, how can man think that they can. It shows that the devil is in control of this. He is not strong enough to actually change things just mess them up real good. It is interesting to that the angel showing these things to Daniel was more interested in the judgement while the fourth beast and the little horn was what fascinated Daniel. There is so much in these verses. There is no way we could talk about it all in just a few paragraphs. We must remember though that all this is a fullfillment of Bible prophecy.
Even after Daniel recieves the interpetation of the horns and the angel ends the vision with the judgement past and the saints jointly ruling this world with God, Daniel was deeply troubled and his face turned pale. Yes, we understand and believe we will have the final judgement on our behalf, and victory, but a time, times and half of time is still a long time to suffer. We live in the here and now, we have to experience it and even a day of defeat is hard to take. I’m sure Daniel could relate to a day apparent defeat being a difficult thing to experience. Daniel understood oppression and the feeling of the wearing out of the saints. He must of been concerned for us, just as much of his jewish companions of his time. It was too easy for them to give in under the weight and pressures, lose their faith and their special oneness with God. A time, times and half of time is generations of oppression, so much so we don’t even know anything better. How many christians love this world even in this state, we really haven’t experienced much better so we accept the spirtual oppressions the world places on us and to often aim to please the world and gain acceptence; rather than focus our love on our savior, we tend to focus it on our oppressors. This is a sad thing, we need to stay true like Daniel and help draw others to our loving God.