Daniel 7:19–22

“Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.

“I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.”

Despite the good news given Daniel—that the good guys win in the end—he still won’t stop worrying about the fourth beast. Why?

There’s a great struggle coming. The fourth beast is exceedingly dreadful. It does nasty things with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet.

Most importantly, the fourth beast isn’t defeated until the Ancient of Days came. Before that, the beast’s little horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them.

While Daniel has no idea how long that war will last, he’s sure it will be dreadful. As the Boy Scouts say,

“Be prepared.”

Notice what finally takes out the horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. It wasn’t defeated in battle. Rather, a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High.

Think about what that means. The horn is making war against the saints, and prevailing against them. Then the Ancient of Days shows up and makes a judgement and, pop! The horn is gone. The horn doesn’t win or lose a battle. It’s over simply because the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

This has a “pro-wrestling” scripted feel to it. The beasts look fearsome and they do fearsome things, but it all doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. When the time comes for the saints to win, it’s over.

This connects with how the forces of evil win battles but never wars. That’s just not in the script.

Here is highlighted a standard Christian doctrine—we are powerless against the enemy. Our victories don’t come from our strength or our strategy. In fact, they shouldn’t even be called “our victories.” They come from the Lord and only the Lord.

So, Daniel isn’t trying to be prepared to win. He just wants to know what he’s up against. Hopefully, that will give him some ideas for how to hang on until the judgement day.

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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.