Text: Daniel 7:1-14
Theme: The Kingdom of God is HERE. . .and is YET TO COME.
Doctrine: Eschatology – already, not yet; the Kingship of Christ.
Image: Like reading poetry; D-day vs. V-day
Need: To re-calibrate our understanding according to Reformed theology
Mission: To live without fear because we honor the sacrifice of Christ inaugurating the Kingdom (D-day) and we know it is only a matter of time until Christ comes again (V-day.)
Introduction
When it comes to Scripture passages like ours this morning – the Apocalyptic literature of Daniel and the New Testament book of Revelation, many in the Reformed tradition – where we claim our theological roots -- have been unforgivably silent. While other schools of Christian thought have risen to prominence, proclaiming an end of the world filled with 'splosions and vengeance, Reformed pastors and churches have provided precious little by way of perspective upon the coming of Christ's Kingdom.
In that silence, faithful members of our churches, who have been hungry to know and learn, have gained knowledge and learned from those folks who were talking about the end of the world. And I am deeply sorry for that. Because we, Reformed pastors and churches do have something wonderful to say about how Christ not only WILL SOMEDAY reign upon the earth but how we believe that, in the face of corrupt governments, power-hungry empires and cruel and unjust systems, Jesus is ALREADY LORD and King.
The crux of the issue comes down to this – how will we read the text of Daniel 7? Is it meant to be a history book, filled with timelines and factual accuracy? It is an algebra equation waiting for us to fill in the missing variable? Is it a mystery, to which we must snoop and investigate like Biblical Sherlock Holmes? Or is it poetry, where the imagery is crafted to evoke the realities and emotions of our own lived experiences, so that our souls know the truth of it before our minds can logically organize the facts of it?
Trouble in the Text
Well, how would Daniel's original audience have received this vision? Daniel's audience was the people of Israel being held in exile in Babylon, about 600 years before Christ's birth. The people of Israel could look back over their history (much like this quilt/banner) and remember that the God who created them, also promised His covenant love to Abraham. And the covenant was renewed many, many times through the course of their story. When Moses received that law, the promises of land became contingent on a promise. With obedience will come blessing. With disobedience will come disaster. And they can look back to see how their own disobedience has gotten them into this mess.
But, much harder to look ahead and trust that God will still care for them. Indeed, it must seem that the covenant-making God, the Loving Redeemer of His people from slavery in Egypt, the careful Provider or food and water in the wilderness, the one whose presence used to fill the Temple in Jerusalem, their YHWH God is very far removed from them now. In God's place are the cruel tyrants of Babylon's army. The oppression of Babylon's government and the strange, dissonant emptiness of Babylon's many gods.
Daniel also wrote during a time and in a place that was saturated with the tradition of Near Eastern story-telling and mythology. Most of the best-sellers at Babylon's Barnes & Nobles would have been stories of this god besting his rival god. Or myths to make sense of chaos and harmony, of peace and warfare. This is considered "apocalyptic literature," similar to the New Testament book of Revelation. Here are three ways to identify apocalyptic literature:
- Apocalyptic literature is poetic, saturated by images and visions, with reference to cosmic battles of good and evil. One image is piled on top of another as though there is one central truth in the middle and the author is content to try to reach it from this angle, and again from this angle and another angle in order that the reader may have this one central truth as the anchor to their identity while their world is in chaos.
- Apocalyptic literature points to eternal, cosmic realities. It is a genre that attempts to pull back the curtain a bit between heaven and earth. To reveal what is happening in heaven when people's minds are filled to overflowing with the harsh realities of earth. It thus provides a lens through which to interpret earthly realities from a heavenly perspective.
- Apocalyptic literature comforts the afflicted. It is always intended to provide a sense of identity and stability in the midst of chaos. Whereas prophecies, like last week's text, are intended to afflict the comfortable, apocalyptic literature is meant to comfort the afflicted. And, since Daniel is preaching to a highly afflicted congregation, it is reasonable to assume that his message is intended as one of comfort, strange comfort though it may be.
When Daniel's audience heard the words, "Daniel had a dream and a vision passed through his mind," They settled into their seats knowing exactly what to expect: a word in poetic form, eternal in scope and comforting in intention.
But HOW is Daniel 7 comforting? With its imagery of strange creatures arising out of the sea. In Near Eastern literature, the sea was always the place that symbolized chaos and unpredictability. Arising out of the sea are four strange creatures, made up of bits and parts from various different animals, a sight, which for the Israelites who were very particular to keep separation between the animals as a means of keeping Kosher, sent shudders down their spine. What are these abhorrent creatures?
Indeed, many commentators have been intrigued by that very question – what are these abhorrent creatures? Writing in the midst of Babylon's empire, from a prominent position in King Darius' favor, Daniel was not about to straight-out name the oppressors. But, writing for the oppressed, the people must have known, Daniel is speaking to us. Daniel is speaking against Babylon. And Daniel is speaking about our realities:
- A lion with wings that are clipped, keeping him powerful but only on the earth – "Hey! That is the way it feels to be oppressed by the earthly reality of Babylon's power over us."
- A ravenous bear, always on the hunt for wealth, power, fame and influence -- "That's exactly what it feels like to be oppressed by Babylon's tyranny and insatiable appetite for control."
- And the leopard is fast to catch his prey. "We were brought into captivity before we knew it but, with four heads! Oh Daniel, what a commentary on the infighting of powerful empires!"
- Finally, the worst of the four beasts, with a horn that spoke constant boasts – "All we ever hear is discouragement and belittling taunts and prejudice of the Babylonians as we remain their inferiors."
There is one truth that Daniel is trying to communicate to his audience but, as a great poet is likely to do, Daniel tries to get at the truth in several different ways. "Hey Israelites! I know that you are staring down the barrel of corrupt governments, power-hungry empires and cruel and unjust systems every, single day. And the earthly realities we face are grim. Abhorrent. Stunning in their variations on the same themes – violence, lust for power, hatred for God and God's people.
Doesn't seem like good news quite yet, does it. Except for this. Except that anyone who has faced heartache, despair and persecution could tell you – far better that someone is able to name the reality of my situation than to ignore it altogether. What a relief it must have been to know that their plight was not invisible after all. Daniel had seen it. In a vision no less, a vision given by God, which means that, after all He has not forgotten us!
Trouble in the World
The primary trouble facing Daniel's audience was the massive oppression by the powers of government, economics and systems they faced as exiles in Babylon. But the vision God gave to Daniel is not particular to a time or place. It is not intended as a timeline of events, past or present. It is the reality of earthly powers in every time and place. And the trouble is one we still face today.
It can be difficult for us to find a similar level of systematic oppression and injustice in our own lives. We see it out there, of course, in the church universal. In the Congo. And Sudan. And the Middle East. In Asian closed countries. We live in a world where this kind of oppression is a daily reality. But it isn't OUR daily reality.
And yet, even the very best governments and systems of this world are still not the same thing as the Kingdom of our LORD and of His Christ. ALL kingdoms of this world -- even those that support freedom and religious liberty – have elements of their politics, economies or societies that are intended to undermine the claim that "All authority, glory and sovereign power" is due to the Son of Man, who approaches the Ancient of Days on the clouds.
Grace in the Text
How then are we to stand on the right side of history? The right side of history is always the one that keeps eternity in mind.
"Thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was a white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool, His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him, the court was seated and the books were opened."
While the Israelites in captivity felt abandoned to the beasts of Babylon's tyranny, Daniel slowly drew aside the curtain revealing the scene in heaven, where God is seated on His throne after all. And He is called the Ancient of Days to remind us that God is always faithful and unwaveringly sovereign. God is in control, even when it seems evil beasts are on the loose. And the Son of Man approaches, riding on the clouds. At that time,
"He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
At that time. . .at what time? Many of the most popular understandings of Daniel 7, as well as many of the most popular understandings of the end of the world believe that Christ's reign won't begin until He comes again.
But the very Savior who entered into the heart of the beastly world, who was content to be born under the shadow of the most savage empire – born in Roman times, killed at the hands of a religious leaders and defeated for a moment by the cruelest system of all – death -- is the same Savior who rose from the dead, forever changing the nature of death for all who believe. And he ascended into heaven, on the clouds and was led into the presence of the Ancient of Days.
"He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'""
Grace in the World
God's Word to Daniel, God's Word to the church in the first chapter of Acts is the same as God's Word to us – a word in poetic form, eternal in scope and comforting in intention. When the curtain is pulled aside and God's eternal purpose is seen, we see more than the chaos of the world around us.
"But from now on," Christ testified at his own trial before his crucifixion "you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." Christ is ALREADY King!
This vision is not simply pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by. This vision is the reality of Christ's Kingdom in Heaven, which strengthens us to participate in Christ's Kingdom coming to earth.
On June 6, 1944, the 175,000 Allied Troops landed on the sandy shores of Normandy. The price to be paid – in lives and casualties -- was astronomical but, as a result, the Allies achieved their first stronghold on the continent of Europe. And the outcome of World War II was all but assured – a victory for the Allied forces. All that was left for them to do was march steadily across the continent, until the 8th of May 1945, when victory was declared at last.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man took on human flesh and landed on the sandy crust of this earth. The price he lived to pay – torture and death – was astronomical. But, as a result, rising from the grave and ascending into heaven, Christ provided, for the church, our first stronghold – the first inauguration of the Kingdom of God. Frederick Buechner writes of this Kingdom, that it is the place
"where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it." (Listening to Your Life 304)
And the outcome of the Kingdom of God is absolutely assured – a victory for all those on the side of the Ancient of Days. And all that is left for us to do is walk in the good works, which God has laid out in advance for us, until someday – nobody may know the day or the hour – when Christ will come again and make all things new. And victory will be declared at last. Soon and very soon. No more waiting then. Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King.
