The Monster Unmasked and the Kingdom Awarded Text: Daniel 7:19-22
Introduction: Two Kinds of Fear
We live in an age that is saturated with fear. Men fear economic collapse, they fear political instability, they fear ecological disaster, and they fear the latest virus. Our culture is marinated in anxiety. But this is the wrong kind of fear. It is a horizontal fear, a creaturely fear, a fear of things that can only kill the body. The Bible, in stark contrast, calls us to a different kind of fear, a vertical fear. "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). This is the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. And when you have that fear, all the other fears begin to shrink down to their proper, manageable size.
The prophet Daniel is given a vision that is, by any measure, terrifying. He sees a succession of monstrous, world-devouring beasts. And the fourth beast is so dreadful, so extraordinarily fearsome, that it defies comparison to any known animal. It is a vision designed to strike terror into the heart. And yet, the point of the vision is not to make Daniel or the saints of God afraid of the beast. The point is to make them fear the One who holds the beast on a leash, the One who determines its appointed time, and the One who will ultimately throw it into the fire. The vision reveals the monster, not so we will cower before it, but so that we will recognize its nature, understand its limits, and above all, trust in the sovereign God who will bring it to nothing.
Our passage today is Daniel's zoom lens. He has seen the parade of monsters, but he wants a closer look at the last one, the worst one. He wants to know the exact meaning of this fourth beast and particularly of the arrogant little horn that grows on its head. This is not idle curiosity. This is the pressing need of the saints in every age to understand the nature of the persecuting world power that stands against Christ and His kingdom. We must understand the enemy, not to glorify him, but to see the certainty of his decreed destruction and the glory of the God who accomplishes it. For us, this is not just ancient history; it is a pattern. The beast has many costumes, but it is the same beast. And the Ancient of Days is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The Text
"Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, extraordinarily fearsome, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth speaking great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates. I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overcoming them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the season arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom."
(Daniel 7:19-22 LSB)
The Anatomy of a Monster (v. 19)
Daniel begins by focusing his inquiry on the fourth and final beast.
"Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, extraordinarily fearsome, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet..." (Daniel 7:19)
The first three beasts corresponded to Babylon (the lion), Medo-Persia (the bear), and Greece (the leopard). This fourth beast, left unnamed because of its sheer monstrosity, is the Roman Empire. Its defining characteristic is its relentless, brutal, and all-consuming power. The imagery is of a machine of conquest. The teeth of iron and claws of bronze speak of military might and an unyielding grip. Rome did not just conquer; it absorbed, assimilated, and when necessary, annihilated. It devoured, crushed, and trampled. This was the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, which was a peace achieved by crushing all opposition under an iron boot.
The beast is "different from all the others." How so? While the previous empires were certainly brutal, Rome brought a new level of systematic, legal, and administrative thoroughness to its domination. It was a bureaucratic monster as well as a military one. It was a syncretistic monster, absorbing the gods and philosophies of the nations it conquered, creating a grotesque spiritual hybrid. This is the world into which our Lord Jesus was born, and this is the empire that would, in its satanic fury, crucify Him.
We must see this beast for what it is: the political expression of fallen mankind's rebellion against God. It is man building his own kingdom, his own tower of Babel, with iron and bronze. It is the city of man, which Augustine contrasted with the city of God. It is powerful, it is terrifying, and from a human perspective, it is invincible. But Daniel is being shown this vision from God's perspective, from the heavenly throne room. And from there, this beast is nothing more than a historical footnote, a creature with an expiration date.
The Arrogant Little Horn (v. 20-21)
Daniel's focus narrows further, from the beast itself to a peculiar feature on its head.
"...and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth speaking great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates. I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overcoming them" (Daniel 7:20-21 LSB)
Horns in biblical prophecy represent kings or rulers. The "ten horns" represent the manifold rulers and powers within the Roman system. But then another horn, a "little horn," arises. This horn is different. It has "eyes like the eyes of a man," signifying intelligence, cunning, and surveillance. And it has "a mouth speaking great boasts." This is the key identifier. This is not just raw, brutish power; this is intelligent, articulate, blasphemous power. This is the emperor cult. This is Nero, or Domitian, or Diocletian, demanding to be worshipped as "Lord and God." This is the state personified, claiming divine prerogatives and speaking against the Most High.
This little horn "was waging war with the saints and overcoming them." From a preterist and postmillennial perspective, we must anchor this in history. This is not some far-future tribulation; this is the reality for the early church. The Roman empire, energized by that little horn of imperial persecution, launched wave after wave of attacks against the people of God. They were thrown to lions, burned as torches, and crucified. From an earthly vantage point, the horn was winning. The church was a tiny, persecuted minority. The beast was "overcoming them." It looked like the gates of hell were prevailing against the church.
This is a crucial lesson. The world's definition of victory and God's definition of victory are two entirely different things. The world sees victory in political power, in military might, in cultural dominance. It saw the horn winning. God saw the blood of the martyrs becoming the seed of the church. He saw their faithful testimony as the very weapon that was dismantling the beast from the inside out. The horn's boasts were loud, but the prayers of the saints were louder in heaven.
The Divine Intervention and the Great Reversal (v. 22)
Just when the beast's victory seems absolute, the entire scene shifts from earth to heaven, from the monster to the monarch.
"...until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the season arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom." (Genesis 7:22 LSB)
This is the turning point of all history. The war on the saints continues "until" a decisive event. What is this event? The coming of the Ancient of Days. Now, we must read this in light of the whole chapter. Earlier, Daniel saw the "Son of Man" coming on the clouds to the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:13). This is not the Second Coming at the end of the world. This is the ascension of Jesus Christ. After His death and resurrection, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, the Ancient of Days, and was enthroned. He was given all authority, all dominion, and a kingdom. That event, which took place in the first century, was the coming of the Ancient of Days in judgment.
When Christ was enthroned, "judgment was given in favor of the saints." The Greek word for judgment, krisis, also means vindication. The court of heaven sat, the books were opened, and the verdict was rendered. The persecuting horn was condemned, and the persecuted saints were vindicated. Their accuser was cast down. Their King was on the throne. The cross, which looked like the ultimate defeat, was revealed as the ultimate victory. The resurrection and ascension were the public announcement of this verdict to the entire cosmos.
And the result? "The season arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom." Notice the verb tense. It is not a promise of a distant inheritance. The season arrived. The kingdom was transferred. When Jesus ascended, He received the kingdom, and because we are united to Him, we received it with Him. We were made to sit with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). The kingdom of God was inaugurated on earth. This is the stone cut without hands that struck the great statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream and began to grow into a mountain that fills the whole earth. The saints began the slow, patient, and inexorable work of possessing what was already legally theirs in Christ.
Conclusion: From Victims to Victors
This passage is a profound encouragement for the church in every age. We will always face the spirit of the fourth beast, the arrogant boasting of the little horn. The ungodly state will always seek to deify itself and demand ultimate allegiance. It will wage war on the saints, and from a worldly perspective, it will often appear to be winning.
But we are not defined by the world's perspective. We are defined by the verdict of heaven's court. The Ancient of Days has already come in the person of His Son. The judgment has already been rendered in our favor. The kingdom has already been given to us. We are not fighting for victory; we are fighting from victory. Our task is not to cower in fear of the beast, but to live as those who have already been granted possession of the kingdom.
How do we do this? We do it by refusing to bow. We do it by speaking truth to the boasting horns of our day. We do it by raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, building faithful households that are outposts of the kingdom. We do it by gathering every Lord's Day to celebrate the enthronement of our King and the defeat of His enemies at the Lord's Table. We are not waiting for the kingdom to arrive someday. We are living in it, expanding it, and possessing it, day by day, until that final day when our King returns, not to receive a kingdom, but to consummate the kingdom He has already possessed for two thousand years. The beast is fearsome, but his time is short. The saints are, for a season, overcome, but their possession of the kingdom is forever.