A Glorious Hope
(This post is a continuation of a previous post on Daniel 7, found here.)
Along with the troubling fact there is also a glorious hope given to us in Daniel 7. The beastly nations and our own beastly nature do not have the final word. God, who is eternal and majestic and glorious gets the final word. He judges the evil and the wicked ways of the nations (Daniel 7:9-10). God triumphs over evil. One day there will no longer be beastly nations or beastly hearts roving around the Earth.
The vision tells us of a “Son of Man” figure who receives a kingdom that lasts forever and cannot be destroyed (7:13-14). When we get to New Testament, we learn that the Son of Man is Jesus, who is God the Son. (The title Jesus used for himself most often was “Son of Man” and Daniel 7 is the most likely reference). Jesus, as the promised Messiah, gives his life for us and our beastly sins (Matt 20:28) and saves us from our wretched state. He invites us to part of God’s glorious forever kingdom.
Here is the glorious hope of Daniel 7. Those who are God’s people “receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever” (Daniel 7:18). This concept is repeated in Daniel 7:22 and 7:27. What we have in this is the MAIN IDEA of Daniel 7.
Such a truth, that those who belong to God are part of a kingdom that is real and lasts forever, is a GLORIOUS hope. It would have been incredibly life-giving to the Old Testament believer hearing such a promise in Daniel’s time who nation had been sacked by Babylon.
It is life-giving to us suburban Christians as we let these words sink into our hearts. The things that fill our lives and clamor for our hearts are temporary, but God and His kingdom is eternal. Seeing this recalibrates how view the activities that fill our schedules—it helps us to enjoy them without being enslaved or crushed by them. It also leads us to be on task with the kingdom work of making disciples of Christ and proclaiming the gospel.