Daniel 7:13–18

“I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
Then 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 the one
Which shall not be destroyed.

“I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: ‘Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’”

This is one of the clearest pictures of Christ in the Old Testament. Note these obvious parallels.

He’s coming with the clouds of heaven.
To Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom.
All peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion.

Daniel has to know that this is about the Messiah. Yet, he was grieved … and the visions of [his] head troubled [him]. So, he inquires of one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this.

And Daniel gets the answer he longs to hear. The good guys win in the end.

Daniel had seen the Messiah, and had seen that His kingdom will be eternal, yet he was troubled? Why?

Daniel had this dream in the first year of Belshazzar’s reign. That means he knew Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams and their interpretations. What he didn’t know—and this is critical—is the timetable.

Back in Daniel 2:29–30, Daniel was careful to say that he was merely conveying God’s interpretation of the dream of the statue. He didn’t claim to comprehend what the four kingdoms would be. We now know they encompassed centuries, but Daniel didn’t have that knowledge. For all he knew, Belshazzar might be the silver king. So, it makes sense that Daniel was afraid of what was to come.

If you knew a war was coming, but also knew that your side would ultimately win, would you be scared?

To subscribe to The DEEP click here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

All the weekly study guides, which include all five devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.