Shalom, my dear friends. We are continuing to study together in the book of Daniel, and we are now at Daniel chapter 7. And I would like you please to open with me your Bibles and please turn to Daniel chapter 7. A very interesting chapter that takes us further now to deal with more, we might say, the prophetic aspect of the book of Daniel from chapter 7 to the end of the chapter. And here in the seventh chapter, we have the vision of the four beasts that God had given to Daniel to see. In fact, I would like to read the first 14 verses of Daniel chapter 7. We will deal in this ministry meeting with these first 14 verses that gives us and presenting before us the visions that Daniel had seen.

And then in the will of the Lord, in the second part of chapter 7, we will continue with the interpretation of the beast visions that Daniel had seen. Again, to remind you that Daniel had seen. Again, to remind you that that takes us over the times of the Gentiles. In Hebrew, we call it a period of time in which the Gentile nations ruling over the affairs of this world. The kingdom that Israel had enjoyed had been taken over by the nations, given by God to the nations of the world. And at the end of the times of the Gentiles, God will restore the kingdom to his people Israel under the reign and rule of the Messiah.

And Israel will rule and reign under King Mashiach over the nations of the world. And so we read in Daniel chapter 7, in the first verse, we read. In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night. And behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth and made stand upon the feet of a man.

And man's heart was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second like to a bear. And it raised up itself on one side. And he had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it. And they said thus unto it: "Arise, devour much flesh." After this I beheld in law another like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl. The beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly. And it had great iron teeth. He devoured and break in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it.

And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it. And it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and mouth speaking great things. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him.

Thousands and thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake. I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away. Yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions. And behold, one like the son of men, Ben Ha'adam, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Well, beloved brothers and sisters, we have read the first fourteen verses of Daniel chapter seven. This seventh chapter really goes along with the second chapter that we have already studied, Daniel chapter two. It is so important to understand that in Daniel chapter two, it was King Nebuchadnezzar who dreamt dreams. And one particular dream was very important for him to know. And while his wise men could not help him, he called Daniel, and Daniel came and provided for him both the information about the dream which he dreamt, and the interpretation of the dream.

And to remind you that in Daniel chapter two, Daniel said to King Nebuchadnezzar in verse thirty-one, and thirty-two, and thirty-three, and thirty-four, and he said to him, "Thou O king sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till a stone was cut without hand, and smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them in pieces." Verse thirty-five says, and actually also verse thirty-six, "Then was the iron and the clay and the brass and the silver and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floor.

And the wind carried them away that no place was found for them, and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." "This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king." And beloved brothers and sisters, Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar the dream which he dreamt. "And he gave him the interpretation, and the interpretation he showed King Nebuchadnezzar that there will be four kingdoms. And that he is that head of gold, the first kingdom, and that Babylon, and then middle Persia, and then Grisha, and then ultimately Rome, will rule during the times of the Gentiles. And when the times of the Gentiles will come to an end, there will be that stone that was cut from the mountain without hand, and smote the feet, the toes of that image, and the whole image was destroyed completely." Nebuchadnezzar has seen a vision of the greatness of the kingdom of the nations of the world during the times of the Gentiles, looking at the times of the Gentiles from a human perspective.

Now that we arrive to Daniel chapter 7, we learn that now it is Daniel that sees visions, and it is an angel that gives the interpretation to Daniel. But this time Daniel received his visions, looking at the times of the Gentiles, not from a human perspective, but from divine perspective. Here we learn the way God sees the times of the Gentiles, and the kingdoms of this world that rule here over the affairs of this world, when Israel, the Jewish people are still in the time in which they are dispersed, awaiting the day of restoration when the Messiah will come and restore the nation of Israel to himself.

It is also very important to understand that when God sees the times of the Gentiles and the kingdoms and the empire which rule over the affairs of this world, he really sees them as beasts. He sees the rulers of this world, especially these kingdoms who treated his people Israel in an evil way, he looks at them as beasts that are ready to be judged. When Nebuchadnezzar saw the vision and the dream that he wanted so badly to understand, he saw the greatness from a human perspective, the greatness of the kingdoms of this world, the great image that was made out of gold and silver and brass and iron, and that it was a great kingdom from a human perspective.

But from a divine perspective, God looked at these kingdoms as beasts, as animals, in a way specifically that they rule and reign in an evil way, in an unjust way, in a godless way. And especially in the context of the book of Daniel, in their treatment of his own people, the people of Israel. And God is going to judge the rulers of this world. And ultimately he will restore his earthly people as he had promised. Because he has a plan and a program for the nation of Israel. To remind you that when God chose Abraham, father of the nation of Israel, he told him that he and his seed will be a blessing to the nations of the world.

We remember what we read in Genesis chapter 12. Now the Lord had said unto Avram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation. And I will bless thee. And make thy name great. And thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee. And I will curse him that curses thee. And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, it is fascinating to see the wisdom and the program of God, which we as human beings cannot fathom unless God will reveal it to us in his precious, precious word.

In the whole canon of scriptures. The Tanakh, that is the Hebrew scriptures. What is known in English as the Old Testament. And yet it's not old, it is alive. And then the new covenant, the Brit HaChadasha, in which the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who came at his first coming, and spoke concerning the future events. And while we live during this church age, the Ekklesia age, in which God is saving Jews and Gentiles and uniting them into one body, yet the future is proclaimed through his word. Once the church will be taken out of here, God will ultimately, through the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, will restore his earthly people Israel and establish the promised messianic kingdom.

And he will rule over Israel and the rest of the world for a thousand years. Amazing, amazing promises in the scripture. Well, let's go into Daniel chapter seven. And really in the first 14 verses, we have three major points to present. Verses one to three, Daniel had a dream and vision, which he wrote and he put it down and then he told them to others. Then verses four to eight, we read the content of the first vision, which Daniel saw concerning the four beasts. And finally in verses nine to 14, we have the vision of the coming of the son of man, the Messiah himself at his second coming to judge this world and to rule and reign over this world and over a restored nation of the nation of Israel.

Now we will get much more information at the second half of Daniel chapter seven from verses 15 to the end of the chapter, of the chapter where we will receive the interpretation of these visions and dream of Daniel. But let's enter into this seventh chapter and see what the Lord has for us. To remind you that historically, this chapter really come chapter seven and chapter eight come even before chapter five of the book of Daniel. And to remind you that Daniel is written, not chronologically, there are subject in each chapter and there are themes in each chapter that are presented before us. And you can notice that in Daniel chapter seven and verse one, we read in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon.

In chapter eight and verse one, we read in the third year of the reign the reign of King Belshazzar. In other words, chapter seven and verse one took place in 553 B.C. While chapter eight took place in 551 B.C., three years later. And yet chapter five, chapter five, which we have already studied together, took place in 539 B.C. when Babylon was taken over by the Medo-Persians. And that was when King Belshazzar, who co-reigned with his father, his father, his father Nabonidus. And he reigned with him as the one that was under him. Yet he ruled over the city and the province of Babylon. But then it was the Medo-Persians who came and took over and completely slain Belshazzar.

To remind you at the end of chapter five, we do read in verse 30, "In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Kaladin slain." And then the last verse of chapter five tells us, "And Arias the Medes received the kingdom." He received it from Cyrus Koresh, the king of Persia, being about 62 years old. So what really happened here, while we have already in reality covered the end of the Babylonian Empire, what happened here in chapter seven and eight, we are going back and we receive additional information that occurred long before the Babylonian Empire have ended. And therefore we are here in Daniel chapter seven, finding ourselves in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, which was in the year of 553 BC.

So let's read in the first three verses. In the first year of Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions, plural, of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matter. Then we read in verse two and three, Daniel spoke and said, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea, and four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another." You notice what we read, beloved brothers and sisters, that in the year 553, when it was the first year of King Belshazzar to co-reign with his father in the city of Babylon, that at the same time Daniel had a dream and visions, in plurality.

In Aramaic, the word for vision is chesvei, in Hebrew it is chazon, or in plural chazonot, visions. Visions are much more than just dream, because a dream you see when you sleep, a vision you see when you are awake. In other words, God now, allowing his servant Daniel, who by now he is much older, it had been said that he is about 67 years of age by now, because we are here at the year 553, when he was first taken by King Nebuchadnezzar, away from the homeland of Yehudah, Yerushalayim, the land of Israel, it was in 605 BC as a teenager. Now, over 50 years have passed by, 52 years have passed by, and if he was about 15, 16, 17, by this time, he is over 60 years, 65, 67 years of age.

And so now, God revealed to Daniel, visions and dream concerning the very same times of the Gentiles, which began at 6 or 5 BC, or one which suggests 586 BC, when the temple was destroyed, and our Jewish people were taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. And then the times of the Gentiles have begun. And so to remind you, that the Lord Jesus the Messiah said in Luke 21, verse 24, speaking about the Gentile world, that the Jewish people will fall by the edge of the sword, and the Jewish people, they shall be led captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

So the times of the Gentiles began when the Jewish people, our own nation, were taken by the Babylonians, that is Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the temple in Jerusalem, and received the kingdom, the empire status to be the first monarch, the king of Babylon, the first one of the four kingdoms that will rule during the times of the Gentiles. And why this happened to the people of Israel? Because Israel did not accept the Messiah at his first coming, but even earlier, before he came, Israel failed from following the Lord. And the Lord God of Israel had to discipline his own people. And though he sent Nebuchadnezzar, and he began that program of the time of the Gentiles.

Remind me of the verse that the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, with the words of the Lord in Luke 19, and verse 44, where Yeshua said, you remember, it said in verse 41, and when he was come near, he beheld the city, this is Yerushalayim, and he wept over it, saying, if thou hast known even thou the least of in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy shalom, thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the day shall come upon thee, and thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground.

And thy children within thee, and they shall not live in thee one stone upon another, because, listen to this, thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Israel didn't know the time of their visitation. The Messiah came, the Mashiach came, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah came at his first coming to restore the nation of Israel. And yet, knowing that that will happen, as the prophet Isaiah proclaimed, Israel rejected the Messiah at his first coming. So Israel didn't know the time of their visitation, yet the Lord later on said that the times of the Gentiles began already some years earlier, when Ebuchadnezzar came to take the Jewish people away from the land, and to burn the temple in Jerusalem.

So now in chapter 7 of the book of Daniel, we see what Daniel had dreamt. God revealed to him the visions concerning these times of the Gentiles. So he dreamt a dream and many visions of his head, verse 1, upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream, and he told the psalm of the matter. In other words, Daniel put for us in a canon, in the book of Daniel, in the word of God, by the divine design, in the power of the Spirit of God, he placed down for us that which he had seen. In fact, in verses 2 and 3 of the 7th chapter, Daniel tells us what he saw.

Before he began to share with us of the four beasts that he saw in his vision. In verses 2 and 3, what does he see initially? Daniel spoke and he said, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven strove upon the great seas." These four winds of heaven striving upon the great sea. And he tells us that this God's sovereign power is stirring the Gentile nations. God is the one who is in charge. He is the one who is moving these winds. He is the one that is in control of the great sea representing in scripture the nations of the world.

And here, beloved brothers and sisters, we learn how God is in full control over the affairs of this world. Whenever you read in the word of God, the word sea or great sea, it always has a reference to the nations of the world. To remind you that once and again the prophets of Israel spoke concerning the nations of the world, depicting them as sea, as the sea. Isaiah in chapter 17 wrote in verses 12 and 13, "Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas, and to the rushing of nations that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters.

The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters, but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind." You see, "Woe to the multitude of many peoples, which make noise like the noise of the seas," God says through the prophet Isaiah, speaking concerning the nations of the world. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, when Isaiah is speaking of the nations, he presents them, the nations of the world as great seas, as waters that is moving and rushing to and fro. Later on in chapter 57, we do read once again concerning the seas in verse 20 of that 57th chapter we read, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." In other words, the wicked of the world, the sinful men of the nations of the world, are like troubled sea, like the troubled sea.

It is very interesting that the very same way the nations of the world are presented in the word of God as many waters, as seas. John, the apostle who received the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah, he wrote of the nations in Revelation chapter 17, in verses 1 and 2 we read, "And there came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and he talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, and I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore, that siteth noteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." A little bit later on we clearly see it in verse 15 of Revelation 17, "And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are people, and multitude, and nations, and tongues." So it's very clear that when Daniel sees there is the stirring of the great sea, by the four winds of the heavens, is really present before us the fact that God's sovereign powers stirring the Gentile nations, and he is the one that is in control over the affairs of this world.

But, as God is stirring the nations, we find out in verse 3 of Daniel chapter 7, that Daniel, he looked and he saw that out of the great sea, this is really applying in a specific way more to the Mediterranean Sea, what does he see? He sees four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. Daniel is writing down in Daniel 7 and verse 3. So out of the nations, out of the Gentile nations, we have four beasts, and four great beasts coming out of the nations of the world. Notice what we read at the end of verse 3, they are diverse one from another. And it really represents before us the fact that those four beasts represent four kingdoms.

Just like in Daniel chapter 2, the four materials that have been part of the four parts of the body of the great image which Nebuchadnezzar saw, here Daniel see by the divine design the four great beasts which represent the four kingdoms, and each kingdom is diverse one from another. Now again to remind you that the kings and their kingdoms are linked together. And here we see that the leaders, you might say, the rulers of those kingdoms are linked with their own kingdoms. So when we see the four beasts, they are representing the kings that have dominion over the whole world and their kingdoms, the people that they are controlling, the nation that they are ruling.

And to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that when we have studied Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar saw four parts to the image, the head, the chest, the thighs, and the legs, and ultimately the feet. And everyone represented an empire, the Babylonian empire, the Medo-Persian empire, the Grecian empire, the Roman empire, which ultimately will be revived. And the kingdom of the Messiah will do away with all these empires at the second coming of the Messiah. So four different beasts, which really represent before us the four kingdoms that will rise out of the nation. So chapter 7 is somewhat different from chapter 2 of the book of Daniel, because in chapter 7 we receive additional information which we didn't have in chapter 2, and therefore in chapter 7 Daniel received additional information about the times of the Gentiles.

In chapter 7 we also have a picture of the Gentiles nation, the way they have treated the people of Israel will be provided for us here, what God thinks of them in their treatment of the nation of Israel during the times of the Gentiles. Also in chapter 7, give us additional information, because here in chapter 7 Daniel is the one who sees the vision, and it will be an angel that will give him the interpretation. While in Daniel chapter 2 it was Nebuchadnezzar that have seen the dream, and it was Daniel that provided for him the interpretation. And finally, here beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends, Daniel chapter 7 set before us the way in which God sees the times of the Gentiles that will rule over this world.

He sees them as beasts. He sees them as animals. He sees them the way he sees the hearts of all. And how amazing to see our God is an awesome God. He knows all things. Nothing is hidden from him with whom we have to do. And so these are the first three verses of Daniel chapter 7. As we continue on, from verse 4 to 8 we see the content of the first vision which Daniel saw of the four beasts that he mentioned in verse 2. That he saw them rising up in verse 2 and verse 3, these four beasts that rose up of the sea. He gives us the description of these four beasts.

First of all, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse 4 we see the first beast. The first beast is like a lion. I'm reading verse 4. The first beast was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked and it was lifted up from the earth and made stand upon the feet as a man and a man's heart was given to it. This first beast was like a lion. You notice it doesn't say that it was a lion. But the beast was like a lion. It's representing really the Babylonian empire that began with Nebuchadnezzar and it's representing here the features of a lion.

The Babylonians are known to have images of lions. In fact, with also with eagle's wings everywhere in their Babylonian palaces in days of old. And so the first beast that Daniel saw in this vision was one that was like a lion representing the Babylonian empire having eagle's wings. And then these wings represent the fact that it was able to fly fast, able to be perhaps speed. The Babylonians received their kingdom rather fast. God had given to King Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian empire to rule and to reign over this world. And so we find now here that this beast like a lion that had an eagle wings, the wings, they were plucked out.

In other words, it didn't take too long. And then they could no longer be as fast and as speedy and control the kingdom that he had. Slowly but surely their kingdom were dissolved, taken ultimately by the middle Persian. And then we read that it was lifted from the earth, made to stand upon the feet of a man and a man's heart was given unto it. And you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, it reminds us exactly of what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. That you remember when he was in pride, he built this image of gold. He wanted all the people of the earth, the representative of the people of the earth to come and bow to the image.

The three Jewish boys, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, did not want to fall before the image. And he cast them into the fiery furnace. And you remember this, and ultimately God judged him. According to chapter 4 and verse 16, we read what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar, that God had to humble him. God said, let his heart be changed for man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him. In other words, King Nebuchadnezzar ultimately was humbled by God, and he received a beast's heart was given unto him for the seven years. So, here we learn about the first beast representing Babylon, and it shows us how the times of the Gentiles begin looking for God's perspective, showing this to Daniel in the vision, and indeed the first beast was like a lion representing the Babylonian kingdom.

Then we read in verse 5, the second beast that rose up from the seas of the nation. And so we read, and I beheld another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side. And it had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it. And they said, thus unto it arise, devour much flesh. We read three things about this second beast. First of all, it was like a bear. Again, to mention, it was not a bear. It's representing the characteristics of a bear. And it is very interesting that it raised up itself on one side, and that shows us, notice, it is representing the Medes and the Persian, and the Persian had a higher control, a higher power than the Medes.

So we learn that here we see the Medes and the Persian kingdom, and that Persian had a higher position, a higher control in this linked kingdom of the Medes and that the bear kind of stood sideways. He stood up on one side, higher than the other, representing King Cyrus, had more power than the Medes. If you remember at the end of chapter 5, when Babylon was taken over by the Medes of Persia, we read, chapter 5 at the end, we read that Darius, the Medes, received the kingdom, he received it from someone who was higher than him, and that is Cyrus, King Cyrus, the king of Persia.

We also read that this bear had three ribs in his mouth between his teeth, and these three ribs representing the nations that the Persians had to take over, Lydia and Babylon and Egypt. They controlled these kingdoms and ultimately became the empire that ruled over the kingdoms of this world during their period of time in the reign of the Medo-Persian kingdom. And you notice what he does say in verse 5, And they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. And therefore, the Medo-Persian truly devoured much flesh and took control and became this empire that ruled after the Babylonians. Of course, as we move along here in this seventh chapter, in the next verse, verse 6, we have the third beast that Daniel had seen in the vision.

And once again, he sees one like a leopard, in Hebrew, Namer, like a leopard which had upon his back four wings of a fowl, of a bird, and the beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it. Of course, these four wings represent the four generals who took over the Greek empire who became next empire who took over from the Medo-Persian and control now the world. And to remind you that it reminds us of this Alexander the Great, who swiftly, like a leopard, have taken over the world at his young age. And the four wings remind us of the fact that the speed in which Alexander the Great took over as a young man over the other kingdoms was very fast.

And ultimately, at a young age, he became the next ruler, the next kingdom, the next empire that ruled over the affairs here of this world. And just to mention that here we have four wings like a bird of a fowl, and then we have the four heads. And the four heads are the four heads, and the four heads are the four generals that took over after Alexander the Great died at a young age. And they ruled after Alexander's death. And so we have now the first three beasts that rose out of the sea, which represent the nations of the world. Now, beloved brothers and sisters, as we move along, in verses 7 and 8, we see the fourth beast.

It is very important to understand that that fourth beast really represent before us now the Roman Empire, the imperial Roman Empire, that ruled now the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, and the Grecian. But it is very interesting that when Daniel sees and presents before us the fourth kingdom or the fourth beast, we learn that Daniel really sees now an animal or a beast that he cannot quite describe. Very interesting because it's amazing to see the way Daniel presents this next beast. It was unlike anything he ever saw. It was a dreadful and a terrible and a terrifying beast, unimaginable. And that beast represents before us the Roman Empire.

And I'm reading verses 7 and 8 of Daniel chapter 7. After this I saw in the night vision, and behold, a fourth beast, notice, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly. And it had great iron teeth. It devoured and break in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it. And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it. And it had ten horns. I'm reading verse 8 now. I consider the horns. And behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horn plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of men and a mouth speaking great things.

And so, beloved brothers and sisters, as we see the visions that Daniel is presenting before us about the beasts that rise up from the seas, which represent before us the kingdoms, the rulers of the world that will rise up during the times of the Gentiles, Daniel presented Babylon like a lion. He saw middle Persia like a bear. He saw the Grecian like a leopard. But when it comes to the Roman Empire, he does not have any description of that beast. It's, in a sense, a beast that is unlike anything that he ever saw. And so, notice what verse 7 says. That we read here that I saw in a night vision, behold, a fourth beast.

It doesn't tell us whether it was, what kind of animal it was, even though it was a beast. And he tells us a few things about that unseen, or we can say, un-presentable beast. First of all, it was dreadful and terrible in verse 7. Secondly, he said that it was a strong beast, exceedingly strong. Thirdly, he says about this beast, a beast that was unlike anything that he had seen before. It had a great iron teeth. It was a powerful beast representing before us the material that we have already learned about that image in the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw, the legs that were made out of partially iron.

And then the feet, partially ironed and partially clay. Fourthly, here, he devoured and break in pieces everything that he had, the Romans, that empire. They were in such a control over all the nations of the world that they were really, literally, breaking in pieces anything and anyone that will oppose them. And then we continue to read that he stamped the residue with the feet of it. In other words, whatever remained, this empire completely destroyed. And ultimately, it says that it was diverse from all of the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. So, this fourth animal-like kingdom is seen here as diverse from all the other beasts.

And over and above, we learn from this vision that Daniel tells us that this beast had ten horns. Very interesting, beloved brothers and sisters, the ten horns that we have here presented for us in Daniel chapter 7 and verse 7, really similar and goes along and link with the ten toes of the image that Nebuchadnezzar has seen in his dream, which we learn about it in Daniel chapter 2. So, you can see the link between the two dreams and visions. But here in chapter 7, we see things from God's perspective. And Daniel is putting this for us to tell us how God looked at these monarchs and these kingdoms over the generations since the time that the times of the Gentiles began.

These ten horns are found elsewhere pointed to in the book of Revelation. In Revelation chapter 13 and in Revelation chapter 17, we read of this particular beastly-like nation, the Roman, but had a beast-like king, ruler, the final ruler of the Roman Empire that will be ultimately judged by God. And in Revelation chapter 13, we read in verse 1, and notice this again, that this beast rise out of the sea, out of the water. Revelation 13, 1, and I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea. And again, notice, having seven heads and ten horns, upon his horn ten crowns, and upon his head the name of blasphemy.

These ten horns represent ten kings. And these ten kings will be the one that will rise up at the final days of the revived Roman Empire, at the end of the days. As we're approaching the end of the church days, towards the times of the tribulation period, and we can see that this takes us all the way to the final days of the times of the Gentiles, as it was in the image that Nebuchadnezzar has seen. At the bottom of the image, there were ten toes, belong to the feet, and it is then and there that the kingdom came to an end. Ten toes, ten kings.

Ten horns, ten kings. Ten crowns, ten kings. But you notice this, beloved brothers and sisters. I will also read in Revelation chapter 17 as well. And notice what we read in Revelation 17 also about these ten horns. We read in Revelation 17, and there we read in verse 12, In other words, you can see that as we will develop the study of the seventh chapter of Daniel, we can learn that what God is showing Daniel is the things that will happen in a future day when there will be the rise in the final Roman Empire, the rise of ten kings who will rule over the world. But you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, Daniel continued to put down that which he saw in a vision.

In verse 8, Daniel continued, and he writes, and he said, I considered the horns, these are the ten horns, and behold, as he was looking at the ten horns, what does he see? There came up among them another, this is another horn, another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horn plucked up by the roots, and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of men, and a mouse speaking great things. Now, beloved brothers and sisters, this another horn, the eleventh one, in Daniel 7 verse 8, is the Antichrist, the counterfeit Messiah. The little horn, this eleventh one, what does he do? What does he do?

According to here, there were three of the first horn, the first ten horns plucked up by the roots. In other words, he will ultimately, will destroy three of the ten horns, of the ten kings. So this little horn destroys three of those ten horns. This little horn's eyes are the eyes of a man, and the mouth is speaking boastfully. This little horn will be that man of sin, that willful king, that beast that will rise up at the final rule of the Roman Empire, revive Roman Empire at the end of the days. Just before the second coming of the Mashiach, particularly during the time of the Tribulation Day, the seven years of the Tribulation, here upon the face of this earth.

It is very interesting to notice that this horn speaks. Notice that he's speaking. He has a mouth. According to verse 8, it says that he has an eye like the eyes of a man, but a mouth that speaks great things. And that word for speaking great thing, it's really speaking against God. It's speaking blasphemy against God. These words of great things really has to do with the evil way in which this 11th horn, that have destroyed three kings out of the first 10 horns, 10 kings, and he will seek to control that world during these last days of the Tribulation days. And what we learn about this man speaking great things, we can read of it in various passages in the Word of God.

In fact, in Daniel chapter 11, we do read about him. In verse 36 we read, And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished. In other words, beloved brothers and sisters, he is called in Daniel chapter 11 and verse 36, the willful king. This is the Antichrist, the counterfeit Mashiach, the false Messiah that will rise up. He is called the little horn in Daniel chapter 7 and verse 8. And you notice once again that he has his eyes like the eyes of a man, but he has a mouth that speaks great things.

There are other passages that could be read, we could read such as Revelation chapter 13. And I just will read this passage, Revelation chapter 13, this verse for our benefit. Chapter 13, speaking about that beast, and we read in verse 5 of Revelation chapter 13, And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue for forty and two months. In other words, the times of the tribulation, he will continue to speak against God. He continued to persecute the Jewish people. He will continue to seek to do away with the nation of Israel until the time of the indignation when God will ultimately judge him.

And so, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 4 to 8, Daniel presents before us the content of the first vision of the four beasts that rose out of the sea. And so let's go back to our seventh chapter, and just now deal with verses 9 to verse 14. This portion of the vision that Daniel saw is now present before us the coming of the Son of Man. Daniel 7 presents before us the Ancient of Days, this is God the Father, and the Son of Man, this is God the Son, the Mashiach, the Messiah of Israel that is called Ben Ha'adam. So let me read you these beautiful verses that encourage our hearts to turn away from these four beasts, four empires, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, the Roman, the revived Roman Empire, but they will have to come to an end.

The times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled at the second coming of the Messiah. And Daniel presents before us, beloved brothers and sisters, the coming of the Messiah, the vision of the coming of the Son of Man. And so in verse 9, Daniel sees a throne placed down, and notice what we read in verse 9, Behold, Daniel said, I beheld till the throne were cast down, it should be really set down, or placed down, and the Ancient of Day did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like a pure wool, his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

In verse 9, Daniel sees the throne of God, set, and what does he see? The Ancient of Day. In Hebrew it's called Atik Yamin. In Aramaic, Atik Yamin. It reminds us of the God who is the creator of all things. We read concerning the fact that God is from eternity to eternity. He is God. Wonderful to know of who God is. Notice Psalm 90 and verse 2, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou had formed the earth, and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Psalm 90 and verse 2, The Ancient of Days. This is God the Father. Atik Yamin. Here the throne is set.

And really what we see here, that it's like a chariot of fire. The throne was like a fiery flame. And the throne had wheels, like burning fire. In other words, God's throne is not only, you might say, stationed in one locality. He's ruling over the affairs of this world. He's in control. He is the sovereign God. He is the one who is the God of providence. He is in charge. The wheels was like a burning fire underneath the chariot of the throne that is ready to judge this world in righteousness. And then in verse 10 we read, And a fiery stream issued, and came forth from before him.

Thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him, and judgment was set, and the books were opened. Here we see the throne of God, and thousands upon thousands, and millions of angels are ready to serve him. As we read in Hebrews 1.14, that they are ministering angels, ministering spirits. They are called to minister to God, and they are ready at any word that he will give them, any direction, anything to tell them that they will execute the judgment of God over this world. Amazing to see these beloved brothers and sisters. But even more, beloved brothers and sisters, as Daniel sees all these amazing visions of God, as Daniel sees them one by one, he presents them before us.

In verse 11, Daniel beheld, and what does he see? He sees now the final judgment of the fourth and final beast that have ruled during the times of the Gentiles. You notice this, beloved brothers and sisters, that here we see, just like the stone that was cut without hand from the mountain and fell upon the toes, the feet of the image in Daniel chapter 2, which Nebuchadnezzar saw, the end of the times of the Gentiles. It is very similar here. In verse 11, we read, and I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake, you remember the blasphemy, that this counterfeit Messiah spoke against God who blessed him the name of God and because of this, this judgment will fall upon him and his dominion, his kingdom, the Roman, the revived Roman Empire.

And so we read that, we read, I beheld until the beast was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame. In other words, beloved brothers and sisters, here we read what, we get additional information in Revelation chapter 19 concerning the casting of the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire. In Revelation chapter 19, we do read in verse 20 these words, And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image, these both, these both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Daniel sees ahead of time, years before Yohanan, John saw the revelation of Jesus the Messiah. Here Daniel received by the visions from the Lord to see the final judgment of the nations. He sees the final judgment of this Antichrist, the counterfeit Messiah, that his body was destroyed and was given to the burning flame of fire. This Roman Empire and its final ruler will come to an end at the judgment of God. The Roman imperial rule will finally come to an end when its leader as well, the beast, this Antichrist, the false Messiah, the counterfeit Messiah, he will ultimately be judged by God and cast into the lake of fire.

And just to conclude here, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse 12 of Daniel 7 we read, as concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. In other words, the rest of the three empires, the Babylonian, the Middle Persian, and the Grecian, they continued to be sustained, though they were no longer empire. They continued to live as nations, but they ultimately no longer have the rule that they had before, because the final Roman empire took over and became the fourth kingdom, the fourth empire here on earth. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, to conclude this message, in verses 13 and 14, we see the Son of Man, as Daniel sees him in his vision, the Messiah's second coming.

And how wonderful it is. We long for that day. We long for the day that the Mashiach, the promised Mashiach will come. He came once to die. He came once to pay for the sin of this world. After he died, he was buried, and he rose again. He was taken to heaven, and there God said to him, Sit down at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110 and verse 1. And here we see the time in which the enemies of the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, who came to die to be buried and rise again for our justification, here he will return and take the rule over this world.

And so we read in verse 13 and 14, And I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the son of men, Ben ha-adam, this is the Mashiach, he came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. My dear brothers and sisters and dear friend, Ben ha-adam, the son of men, the Mashiach Yeshua, who returned to heaven in the clouds of heaven, when he was here on earth at his first coming from the Mount of Olives, he will return, and he will come again with the clouds of heaven and will come to this world to receive his glory.

But he was ushered to the ancient of days, to God the Father, and God the Father handed over to his son, to the Messiah, to Yeshua, to Jesus, he gave him dominion and kingdom, an everlasting dominion, an everlasting kingdom that he will rule and reign over this world. How wonderful it is to see the plan and the program of God that at the end of the times of the Gentiles, the Lord the Lord Jesus, who is today despised and rejected of men, he was once here a man of sorrow. He will come as king of kings and lord of lords, and he will rule in righteousness, restoring his earthly people Israel, and establish the messianic kingdom which he promised in his word to the nation of Israel and to the nations of this world.

May God hasten this day, may God bring the day that Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, will have his rightful place here in this world. Well, God bless you. Until the next time, beloved brothers and sisters, we say to you all, Shalom, Shalom.