Verse by verse teaching - Daniel 7:7 "A Beast Like No Other"

Daniel chapter 7 verse 7, the title of message this morning is a beast like no other. Boy, we've been studying these beasts each Sunday. And we'll also take back up with this beast next week as well. We won't be able to cover this beast in one Sunday. So we'll be right back with this beast next Sunday as well. In Daniel chapter 7, remember Daniel reveals a prophetic dream that God gave concerning the change of world power, beginning with the Babylonian Empire and continuing all the way to the end of the world. And these empires have been illustrated to Daniel in the form of four beasts which rise from the sea of humanity in a historical chronological order, and we have identified these four beasts by their unique characteristics. coupled with their place in history. The first beast was the which empire? Babylonian empire. That's modern day Iraq. The second beast was the Medo-Persian Empire, or as some call it the Achaemenid Empire. That's modern-day Iran. and that conquered Babylon or Iraq. And then the third beast was the empire of Greece, very good, which conquered the Medes and Persians. And now we come to the fourth beast in the vision God gave Daniel. Daniel said, look in your text, after this. After these first three beasts rose and fell. In other words, Daniel says, after these three world empires had run their course. Of being the ruling world powers in history, Daniel said, Look in your text, I saw in the night visions. Meaning, his prophetic dreams, which caused him to see much further into the future Which now is part of our past. Some of it is, some of it is still in our future. Okay? So Daniel saw much, much further ahead in his future. Most of what Daniel saw is now in our past, but some of what Daniel saw Is still lying ahead in our future. Historically speaking, Greece, the third beast in Daniel's prophecy, Held on to world power until the second century BC. And that's when it began to lose control of the world, its grip on the world. Greece was officially defeated by this fourth empire in Daniel's dream in 146 BC. If it's 140 C, you know what BC means? Before Christ. Now don't get all confused with this BCE stuff. Okay? When I grew up, it was BC and AD. And a lot of folks, they understood the BC meant before Christ. They thought the AD meant after his death, and it wasn't. It's Latin for anno domini, which means the year of our Lord. In other words, B. C. before Christ. AD after Christ has come. Okay? Well, the liberals don't like before Christ, so they just say before the common error. No. It's still before Christ. You can add on to it. You can add on letters to before Christ and try to make it something different. It's still before Christ. You can add on letters to male and female, and it's still just two genders. So the liberals can do what they want. But what we have to understand is this third world empire officially fell in 146 BC, meaning the third empire fell, the third beast fell. Less than 200 years before Christ came. That's not very far. Not very far away from Christ at all. And the fourth beast that we're studying this morning, this fourth world empire. After conquering Greece in 146 BC, it continued to remain in power until Jesus came. and was in power when Jesus came. And you remember that because knowing that the fourth empire was still in power when Jesus came is the key To understanding this prophecy. Listen to the inflections of my voice this morning when I teach this. Because I'm going to use the inflections of my voice to emphasize certain principled truths. About this being the empire when Jesus came. And by doing so, try to get you To have the light bulb click on your head to see why that is so significant in this prophecy. But for now, just understand that in his night visions, God let Daniel see all the way to the coming of Jesus Christ. That's one of those inflections. In his night vision, God let Daniel see all the way to the coming of Jesus Christ. During the reign of the fourth world empire, Daniel said, I saw in the night visions. Look back in your text and behold, a what? Fourth Beast. Why do we emphasize fourth? Well, because it's not the first. Not the second, not the third empire, but the fourth empire And remember what the number four signifies in Bible prophecy. Can anyone remember, other than Brother Shepherd? Huh? The earth. Who said that? Who else? Good. Good. Did you say that? Nope. Anybody else? Good. Good. Four is the number of the earth. Remember? The four corners of the earth, the Bible calls it. And the four winds of the earth. Remember? Alright, so we have four beasts rising from the earth, rising from the sea, which is the empires of the earth of fallen men. And so the fourth beast. Four being the number for the earth, it signifies the finality, the completion of the earthly kingdoms of this world. Make sense? That's why it ends at 4 rather than 2 or 3 or 5 or 6. It signifies the fullness of the earthly kingdom cycle. Listen to how Jesus, when teaching us how to pray, differentiated between a heavenly kingdom and an earthly Earthly kingdom in Matthew 6, verse 10. Jesus said, Thy kingdom. Now, what are the beasts? They're kingdoms, aren't they? And now Jesus says, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Two different spheres now. In earth, number four, as it is in heaven. You see, Jesus divided the current kingdoms between the will Which is currently being done in earth, and the will which is currently being done in heaven. This is the last earthly empire in Daniel's dream, and it is this empire's reign, in this empire's reign, that Jesus would and did come The first time. And this being the case, it is prophetically symbolizing The last earthly empire that will reign when Jesus comes the second time. You see how that works? Since Daniel is seeing, because we're going to get to Jesus coming in Daniel before we're finished. With this being the last earthly empire, because he only saw four. So when we get to the four, that's the end. There's not a fifth beast rise from the sea. All there's going to be is the king from heaven coming down, so that his will will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Follow me? So Daniel seeing all the way to the last Empire when Christ comes the first time, it becomes a prophetic picture, foreshadowing of Daniel also seeing All the way into the last empire when Jesus comes the second time or the last time. Okay? So it will be. A symbol. As the beast symbolized the kingdoms of this world, so this last beast will symbolize the last beast. Make sense of this world. Man, it's exciting. By studying the past We're learning about our future to come. All right, this being the case here, this is the last earthly beast, the last earthly kingdom, and Daniel said this last earthly beast was. Look back in your text. dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly. Now notice those three adjectives. This last beast was, and since it's the last beast before Jesus came the first time, it's the last beast before Jesus comes the second time. What we're learning about one, we're learning about the other. So since this last beast. Before Jesus' first coming was dreadful, terrible, and strong. What is the last beast? When Jesus comes a second time, going to be? It's going to be what? Dreadful, terrible, and strong. See how this works? Aren't you glad you have a Bible? Now, have you noticed something else? Have you noticed that Daniel said, didn't say? And behold, a fourth beast came out of the earth, and it was like a Buffalo, where it was like a rhinoceros. You know, he hasn't named an animal for this, has he? Have you noticed that? Do you know what that does? That puts this beast in its own category. He didn't symbolize this last beast along with the other animals. He just starts describing its fierceness. Why? Because it's not going to be like any of the other nations. Because the kingdom that is ruling, the political world Power that's ruling when Christ comes this second time will be like none other this world's ever known. Jesus described it that way. He said, There's going to be great tribulation. Like there's never been before. All right? And the only way that can happen is if the empire in charge is different than the ones that come before it. And if it's dreadful, terrible, and strong. You see? So let's go back here to the text. The beast was like a lion, the first beast. The second beast was like a bear. The third beast was like. . A leopard. There's no mention of any animal likeness. So, this beast, whatever it is, it is dreadful. That means scary. It's dreadful. It is scary. Church, this world is headed toward some frightening times before Jesus comes again. Just going to level with you. This is the way things are going to be. Settle it in your heart now as what is going to come to pass, because it's going to come to pass. So we're headed towards some frightening times before Jesus comes again. The good thing is Is we learned this morning in Sunday school, even though Brother Shepherd has not yet applied it. I know he will. But the good thing is, When that time comes, it's going to be scary, but what will the believer be able to do when that destruction comes? Brother, we'll be able to laugh at it, won't we? We'll be able to laugh at it. Because victory belongs to the believer in Jesus Christ. The devil is going to bring his best game. But we're going to win. And he's going to lose. But we're not going to sugarcoat this. Daniel said this beast was Dreadful, that means scary. He said this beast was terrible. You know what terrible means? If you ever looked that up in the Hebrew or the Chaldean dictionary, you know what that means? It means Burley. Burley. It means this thing is big in Burley. This is a mighty world power here. And he said, not only was it dreadful, it was scary. Not only was it terrible, big and burly and strong, he said it was strong, and that means it was not just big. But it was powerful. Y'all ever seen big people who weren't really that strong? Well, this is not going to be just big in population, or just big in economy, or just big in land mass. big and and whatever, this is going to be a strong, scary, powerful, burly looking nation. Big, powerful, scary beast. But again, it was not your ordinary beast. Wasn't likened to any other animal, for Daniel said, look back in the text, and it had great iron teeth. Iron teeth. The other day, man, we had a real tragedy at my house. We had my freezer. Did not get shut back so that the seal didn't seal on there. And so while we slept and slumbered Water melted and everything, and we lost some meat in the freezer. Brother Shepherd, some of the stuff we lost was from a cow we had butchered, and it was big, beautiful beef ribs with lots of meat on them. And they went bad. So my wife cooked them up for our stray cats And so we'll stick a rib out there each morning for those two cats. And they'll eat that rib. They'll eat all the way down to that bone. You know, cats have tongues that when they lick, it actually rips meat off. They have little spikes in their tongues. But their teeth are not strong enough to crunch those big old cow bones. Maybe if they were small chicken bones, but those rib bones, they can't eat those up. The cats' teeth aren't hard enough to break and eat those bones. But if those cats had iron teeth If they had iron teeth, they'd be able to crush beyond what flesh and blood naturally can. Do you see the exaggeration of these teeth? This is beyond human power. This is beyond human capability. This is beyond anything that is going to compete with this nation at all. Could you imagine having great iron teeth? You could devour any earthly beast that stood in your way. And that's what this beast did. It, look back in your text, it devoured. See it? It devoured. Now what does this vision mean by this beast devouring? To devour means to destroy the enemy in war. To devour means to consume people's lives, to cause death. Speaking of the time when God caused the Egyptians to get stuck in the Red Sea. You remember when Moses and the children of Israel crossed that Red Sea on dry land? Then, when the Egyptians tried to cross over on dry land, their chariot wheels got stuck in. The mud, and then God closed that Red Sea up on them and destroyed them. Listen to how the Bible describes that. It says in Exodus 14, verses 24 and 25. And it came to pass that in the morning watch, the Lord looked. Unto the host or the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians and took off their chariot wheels that they drave them heavily. So that the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. That word fighteth in the Hebrew literally means to devour. to feed on. So when this beast is devouring, that means in war it's destroying. That means it is viciously consuming. People's lives. There's going to be a lot of death come in the future to this world. There's going to be a lot of violence come when this last ruling power. Rises up from the great sea. It's not going to be a pretty sight. You remember how Daniel described the second beast in verse five? Look back there with me. It says, And behold 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're talking about human life being lost in war. This fourth beast would destroy a lot of lives. And it did. The fourth beast was which empire? The Roman Empire. It was the Roman Empire. And historians tell us that when the Romans ruled the world, that Roman Empire was ruthless. And it accounted for not thousands, not tens of thousands, but millions of men slain. through their ruthless reign. In the second century BC alone, there were an estimated 1,170,000 lives lost in Roman wars. That's a lot of lives lost. During their centuries' reign, because they reigned for several centuries, during their centuries' reign, there were an estimated three Million gladiators slain in the Colosseum games during Jesus' earthly ministry. He told the Jews that their second temple was going to be destroyed. Remember that? He said, there won't be one stone left upon another. And that was fulfilled. Do you know who fulfilled that and destroyed that temple? The fourth beast. It was the Roman Empire. They destroyed it in 70 AD. 70 AD, just a few years after Jesus had already died and rose again. That same Cruel fourth beast. And the low-end estimate of Jewish lives lost. What happened was the Jews revolted against the Romans. The Romans came in and said, We'll show you. They came in, devoured them, crushed their temple down, destroyed it. The low-end estimate of Jewish lives lost during that battle by ancient historians was 600,000 Jews. Now, Josephus Also, a very, very much quoted ancient historian, a Jewish historian. He estimated it to be over a million lives lost, Jewish lives lost. But Rome, the last world empire at the time of Christ, would devour much flesh. It did devour much flesh. And the last world empire at the time of Christ, when he comes again, will also have great iron teeth devouring much flesh. Make no mistake There are hard, violent times ahead for this world. And there are hard and violent times ahead for the people of God. The beast in the last days will have iron teeth. It will be unlike any other beast. It will be demonically fierce and ruthless. Daniel said it devoured, look back in your text, and break in pieces and stamp the residue with the feet of it. So not only would this beast with its great iron teeth be able to devour, destroy, kill their enemies. But once they got through eating their enemies, it would be able to take its feet and just crush. Be like the the a lion slaying a an animal instead of leaving its carcass there with the bones. It's more fierce than that. When it gets to consuming it This beast is so big and so burly and so ruthless and so powerful, it just it's not satisfied devouring it, but it comes and stamps and crushes, grinds it to powder like that. That's what this beast is going to do. He's going to grind to powder. You say, Brother Richard. That's awful scary. That makes me uncomfortable hearing that. Well, you know what? Death is scary, isn't it? But you know what? We all have to die. We're all going to die. This is the reality of what all of us are going to face. But let me give you the good news. You see, as we see this last beast devouring, Brother Doug, God just put a scripture in my mind. Preachers, if they're real preachers, they understand what it's like to have live feed come in while they're preaching. Whether God actually teaches them while they're teaching others, God just reminded me of a wonderful scripture. We're talking about it devouring Do you know what the Bible says is going to happen at the resurrection? Death will be swallowed up in victory. You talk about devouring. Christians are going to get the last meal, Brother Doug. Christians are going to get the last meal. We're going to be the ones eating the enemies in the end. Do you know what else we're going to do in the end? We will be the ones in Christ. Not only are we going to be swallowing up the enemy. You know what we're going to do when we get through swallowing them? We are going to be in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, stamping. our enemies to dust beneath our feet. Do you remember what God told the devil? In the Garden of Eden, after the devil brought sin into this world through Adam, God said, I will put enmity between you and the woman, talking about Eve. and prophetically talking about Israel and prophetically talking about the gospel. It all follows out. Eve, Israel, the gospel. He said, I will put enmity between you and the woman. In other words, I'm going to make you enemies. I'll put in between you and the woman, and between your seed that is your offspring. And between her offspring. That means between the ungodly line of people and the godly line of people that believe on the Savior I promised to come. And then God said this, what the seed of the woman would do to the serpent, it shall bruise your head. And then the Apostle Paul, commenting on that very thing that God promised, said this. The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. That scripture is going to ring true to us. If we or our children or our grandchildren or greatchildren, great-grandchildren are still alive when this fourth beast comes up from the sea. The time that's going to meet when Jesus comes again. If they're still alive, let me tell you, here is a scripture you can keep in your head. When you see this last empire persecuting Christians, the book of Revelation says they will kill and destroy the people of God. And when you see them persecuting Christians, Taking the church and starting to devour it and starting to crush it beneath its feet. Because God said, not only will it bruise your head, He says, You'll bruise His heel. That's our heel being bruised, suffering along with Jesus. And when you see that happening, and when it's all scary, you remember what the Apostle Paul said: the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Death will get swallowed up in victory. You're victory. And you're going to be the one that ends up stamping that enemy under your feet through the power of the gospel of Jesus. Christ. Listen to how King David described the victory prophetically that God gives. Us over our enemies who seek to destroy us. 2 Samuel 22, verse 43. 2 Samuel 22, verse 43. Listen to this. Listen to what David said. Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth. I did stamp them, talking about with his feet, I did stamp them as the mire of the street and did spread them abroad. Folks, that's coming. That victory that King David spoke of is coming for every one of us. This was the effect of the Roman government during their time, and it will be the effect of the last government when Jesus comes again. It's going to be Be a ruthless, dominating force, and because Rome was the empire when Jesus came the first time. Many Bible teachers believe that the Roman government for this prophecy to be fulfilled will have to come back to life, that it will have to be the world power again. And have y'all ever heard that taught before? Anyone? Nobody? You have? I have too. Nobody else. Very fascinating. When in the circles I grew up in, they always preached on The revived Roman Empire. They believe that that's the healing of the head of that beast that was the wound that was healed, and the revived Roman Empire coming back to life and being the world power again. Now, that's very possible. But I don't know that that's necessarily true. But here's what I do know. I do know That this Roman government was a foreshadowing of the last empire which is yet to come. I don't think we need to get all caught up on specificity. What we have to do is understand the layout that God is giving us. When you think of understanding the Bible, you have to think of it this way. The Old Testament, if you're thinking of a coloring book. Anyone have a coloring book in here? Where's the little drawing we have for this morning, some notes? Anyone have that? Got that? We got a little drawing right here Yeah, and I think that the the children can color that in or fill that in, isn't that right? Yeah, if you were to have a coloring book then the coloring book has an outline of the animals, of the people, of whatever, but there's no colors inside. That has to be drawn in later, doesn't it? And so the child or the adult or whoever it is, they take that, their colors, and they fill in all those lines. Okay? That Old Testament is like a coloring book. It has all the shapes and The the and the basic details. You can tell, well, that's a rabbit, well, that's a man, well, that's a house, well, that's a bird, and then but it's The person later has to come color in the details, right? And then that doesn't make it not a bird anymore, it just fills in the colors. The Old Testament Are the black and white outlines. The New Testament comes in and colors in the detail, you see? And now Since we have already seen Jesus come and die and rise again, what can we do? We can look in the Old Testament. We can see the coloring book of the Lamb on the altar. But now that we take Jesus, we take the colors of the cross and Jesus dying on it, and we color in the details of that Lamb, and now we see Jesus is the Lamb of God. But what we're studying this morning is pushing us into the future. That we have not yet seen. And that means this prophecy is giving us. The black and white outline. What we don't want to do, and this is where prophecy buffs. Listen, there is no expert on prophecy out there. How do we know? They haven't lived it yet. It hasn't happened yet. But here's what we do know. This is giving us the coloring book outline of what's going to happen in the future. in where preachers go wrong is when they try to color in the details before they happen. And then it gets their their congregants thinking, oh, this is the way it's going to be. And a lot of times, I would say most of the time, when you color in the details before they happen, they're going to be wrong. So just understand this: the Roman Empire. Is an Old Testament coloring book outline of the last nation to come. Picture a beast with big iron teeth in a coloring book. Picture that beast stamping on its enemies. And we're waiting on history to come on the future to come. And we will experience the colors getting filled in. And since we have the lines, We will know it is the nation. We will know this is the description, right? And then it'll all get filled in in time. And we'll know exactly what's going on whenever it happens. So. We're not going to get ahead of ourselves. We're not going to say, oh, Brother Richard, boy, he's got some inside that nobody else has. No. We're going to be honest, and we're going to be looking for these things to come. Now, look back in your text here. This fourth beast was strong, it was brutal. Look in your text, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it. Remember, the beast of the end times is going to be like none other nation in history, like no other kingdom in history. It's going to be ruthless. It's going to have hatred for God and for his people. And the leader itself is going to be the devil. The leader of this last empire, leaders will change, we'll see, but in the end. The one ruling this last empire right before Jesus comes is going to be the devil himself. Daniel said it was different from the rest. Look back in your text. And it had ten horns. Now we're going a little later than we normally do. I hope that's okay. We're almost done. This beast had ten horns. Now, a horn in Bible prophecy, this is the first time we've seen horns come up, right? A horn in Bible prophecy speaks of power. Let me explain why. I had two bulls in here. And this room was divided into two pins. I had a bull in this pin and a bull in this pin. And you had to hop in the pen with one of those bulls. Would you want to hop in the pen with a bull that had no horns or hop in the bull with a pen in the pen with a bull that had h I don't want to go pin that the bull had no horns, but the horn's been cut off. A horn in the Bible is a picture of the power of the beast that has that horn. whether it's a rhinoceros, a deer, whatever, that is their power. Okay? That's very important that we understand that. This beast had ten horns. And these horns are going to be the power of that beast. They're going to be the kings that are exercising their authoritative power. Okay? Speaking of the final beast, when Jesus comes, watch this now. You say, Brother Richard, how do you know that this fourth beast The last beast before Jesus came the first time is the very last beast before Jesus comes the second time. Book of the Revelation, chapter 17, verse 12. Watch this. And the ten what? Horns which thou sawest are ten what kings Which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive, say the word, power as kings, one hour with the beast. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that cool? The coolest thing in the world. So let's read that again. Revelation 17:12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings. So we know for sure. That the ten horns here on this beast in Daniel are ten what? They're ten kings. We know for sure that the horns on this beast represent the power of those kings. Because it says here, the ten horns which thou sawest, or ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power. See, horn, king, power. As kings, one hour with the beast. So notice the connection between power. and king and horn. A horn is the power of a beast and it is a king. And folks, what makes this so beautiful? Once again, we win in the end. Because long before these horns popped up on a beast, God put horns on an altar. Have you run through your mind in that Old Testament when they built that altar and God told them exactly how to build that altar in the Old Testament at that tabernacle? You know what God told them to put on that altar? Put horns on it. You think horns? Why on earth would I want horns on an altar? Because of what they symbolize. They symbolize power. They symbolize a king. They symbolize The power of that king. Now, the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. Is the power of the gospel that sets us free. And the one who shed that blood on the cross is our King. See how that works? Exodus chapter 29, verse 12. You ready? Exodus chapter 29, verse 12. Watch what God told them to do during this sacrifice. And thou shalt take of the set with me the blood of the bullock and put it upon where we're going to put the blood of that sacrificed animal? Upon the what? the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. Do you see what's happening here? Why is God telling them to sacrifice this animal, take that animal's blood, and put the blood on the horn on that altar? Because it is the power of the blood that sets us free. The beast had a horn. Jesus, the lamb, has horns. And his is the power of the blood that he shed for us. That's why God said, put that blood on the horns of that altar. Revelation chapter 12, verse 10 and 11. Now, when we go back to Revelation, chapter 12, verse 10, 11, here's what we're going to see: we're going to see the blood. The horn being the power of the king that sets us free, who died for us. Revelation 12:10 and 11. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now is come salvation. And strength, watch now, and the say it with me, kingdom of our God, and the say it with me, power of his Christ. Christ has power, Christ has a horn, Christ has a kingdom. And it's coming down here in Revelation. For the accuser of our brethren, that's the devil, is cast down. Which accused him before our God day and night. Now, watch how we overcome, watch how we stamp, watch how we consume. Verse 11, and they, that's us, overcame him, that's the devil, by the blood of the Lamb. The blood on the horn, that's our power. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. What's the word, their testimony? Their testimony of their faith in the blood that Jesus shed for them, and they love not their lives unto the death. In other words, yes, they died. Yes, the beast consumed them. Yes, the beast trampled on them. But in the end, they overcame by the power of the blood that Jesus shed for them. Death was swallowed up in victory, and in the end, They in the kingdom of God rule the world. By seeing King Jesus coming when Rome was in power. Daniel saw King Jesus coming when the last beast is going to be in power. Jesus' first coming Was a glimpse into his second coming. And by God's grace, we're going to get into that wonderful, powerful truth in greater detail next Sunday morning. Aren't you glad you have a Bible, folks? That's just good stuff. That's good stuff. Father, we thank you so much for your precious word. Thank you, Father, for showing us in vivid Powerful, encouraging detail how we will and do overcome. Thank you, Father God, for showing us a glimpse into our future. We were able to look with Daniel's eyes this morning and see what he saw, not just to the Roman Empire, but to the very last beast. And Father, to the final kingdom which will come down, when your will will be done in earth, finally as it is in heaven. Be with these precious people today and take them home safely and bring us back safely next week. In Jesus' wonderful, powerful name we pray. Amen.