The Tyrant's Timetable and the Saints' Triumph Text: Daniel 7:23-27
Introduction: History Belongs to Jesus
The book of Daniel is given to us so that the people of God might know how to live faithfully in a world of savage beasts. And the world is, make no mistake, a world of savage beasts. From Babylon to our current crop of godless civil magistrates, the spirit is the same. Men who reject the sovereignty of the Most High God inevitably become monstrous. They devour, they tread down, and they crush. This is the nature of rebellion. It is brutish.
But the central lesson of Daniel is not that the beasts are strong, but that God is sovereign. History is not a random series of bloody conflicts, a tale told by an idiot. History has a plot, and the author of that plot is God Almighty. The visions He gives to Daniel are not to satisfy our idle curiosity about the future, but to steel our spines for the present. They are a declaration that no matter how terrifying the beast, no matter how arrogant the horn, God has set their boundaries. He has them on a leash, and He has already written the final chapter. And the final chapter is not about the triumph of the beast, but the triumph of the saints of the Most High.
We live in an age of profound historical pessimism. Many Christians have been taught to view history as a story of the church's decline and defeat, a slow slide into apostasy that will only be rescued at the last minute by a cavalry charge from the sky. But this is not the vision Daniel gives us. Daniel's vision is one of certain, progressive, historical victory for the kingdom of God. It is a vision where the court of heaven sits, the tyrant's dominion is stripped away, and the kingdom is handed over, not to angels, but to the people of God. This is a robust, optimistic, and world-conquering faith. It is the faith we must recover if we are to be of any use in our own generation.
This passage gives us the divine interpretation of the fourth and most terrible beast. It reveals the nature of its final, blasphemous ruler, sets a definite limit on his reign of terror, and then declares the glorious and permanent transfer of power to the saints. This is not just about ancient history; it is the pattern of Christ's victory in every age.
The Text
"Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will make low three kings. He will speak words against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make changes in seasons and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Then the reign, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'"
(Daniel 7:23-27 LSB)
The Iron Kingdom and the Arrogant Horn (v. 23-25)
The interpretation begins by identifying the fourth beast. This is the same progression we saw in Nebuchadnezzar's statue in Daniel 2: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and then the fourth kingdom, Rome.
"Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.'" (Daniel 7:23)
Rome was different. It was not just another empire; it was an empire of law, roads, and iron efficiency. It devoured the known world, the whole "earth" from the perspective of the biblical writers. It crushed its opposition with a brutal effectiveness that the previous empires lacked. This is the kingdom into which our Lord Jesus was born. The iron teeth of the beast were the authority that crucified Him.
From this beast, a peculiar ruler emerges.
"As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will make low three kings. He will speak words against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make changes in seasons and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time." (Daniel 7:24-25)
The "little horn" is a figure of intense persecution and blasphemy. While there have been many antichrists, this points to a particular historical manifestation within the Roman empire. This is the spirit of antichrist embodied in a civil magistrate. Think of Nero, who blamed the Christians for the burning of Rome and initiated the first great imperial persecution. He was a man who spoke "pompous words," who set himself up as a god, and whose reign was a direct assault on the saints of the Most High.
His goal is ultimate rebellion: to "make changes in seasons and in law." This is not about daylight saving time. This is about usurping the authority of God Himself. God is the one who sets the times (seasons) and establishes the law. For a ruler to claim the authority to redefine the moral law, to alter the fundamental calendar of worship, is to claim divinity. It is the creature attempting to sit on the Creator's throne. Every tyrant who seeks to redefine marriage, or declare that evil is good, or command what God forbids is walking in the footsteps of this little horn.
And for a time, he appears to succeed. The saints are "given into his hand." God, in His sovereignty, allows His people to be tested and persecuted. But notice the leash. It is for "a time, times, and half a time." This is symbolic language, found also in Revelation, for a limited period of intense trial. It is three and a half years, the same period as the drought in Elijah's day, the same period of the ministry of Christ, and the same period of Jerusalem's final tribulation before its destruction in A.D. 70. This is not an indefinite period of defeat. It is a specific, measured, and limited time of suffering that God has ordained and bounded. The tyrant thinks he is in charge, but he is operating on God's timetable.
The Heavenly Court and the Stripping of Dominion (v. 26)
Just when the beast seems invincible, the scene shifts from earth to heaven. This is the crucial turning point.
"But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever." (Daniel 7:26 LSB)
Where does this judgment take place? Daniel has already told us. It is when the Son of Man comes on the clouds to the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:13-14). When did that happen? Jesus Himself tells us. It was at His ascension. He told the high priest, "you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matt. 26:64). This coming on the clouds was not His return to earth, but His ascent to the Father to receive His kingdom.
The ascension of Jesus Christ was the sitting of the heavenly court. It was the verdict rendered in favor of the Son of Man against all the beastly empires of the world. At the cross, the beast struck the heel of the seed of the woman. At the resurrection and ascension, the Son of Man crushed the head of the serpent. The verdict was delivered. The dominion of the beast was, in principle, stripped from him at that moment. What we see in the subsequent centuries is simply the enforcement of that verdict in time and space.
The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a catastrophic historical manifestation of this judgment. The old covenant order, which had joined with Rome to crucify the Messiah, was judged and dismantled. The Roman empire itself, after centuries of persecuting the saints, eventually crumbled. Its dominion was taken away. This is the pattern. The court has sat, the judgment is rendered, and the dominion of every persecuting power is temporary. It will be annihilated and destroyed forever.
The Great Transfer of Power (v. 27)
This brings us to the glorious climax of the vision. The dominion is not just taken away from the beast; it is given to someone else.
"Then the reign, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him." (Daniel 7:27 LSB)
This is the engine of postmillennialism right here in Daniel. Who gets the kingdom? "The people of the saints of the Highest One." That's us. That is the Church of Jesus Christ. The stone that was cut without hands in Daniel 2 strikes the statue, and then that stone grows into a mountain that fills the whole earth. This is that same reality. The kingdom is given to the saints.
This is not a promise that we will be raptured out of a collapsing world. It is a promise that the reign, dominion, and greatness of all the kingdoms of this world will be handed over to the Church. This is the Great Commission in prophetic form. Jesus, having received all authority in heaven and on earth, gives it to His people and tells them to go and disciple the nations. As the gospel goes forth, as the nations are discipled, as every thought is taken captive to the obedience of Christ, this transfer of dominion happens. It is happening now.
It is a slow, gradual, and often contested process. It is like the growth of a mustard seed. But it is an inevitable process because "His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him." The "Him" at the end of the verse refers to the Most High. The saints rule as vice-regents for their King. Ultimately, all dominions will serve and obey God. This is the future of the world. The future is not secularism. It is not Islam. It is not paganism. The future of the world is Christendom. It is a global submission to the crown rights of King Jesus.
Conclusion: Live Like Heirs, Not Orphans
This prophecy should fundamentally alter the way we view the world and our task in it. We are not fighting a losing battle. We are not a beleaguered minority huddled in a bunker, waiting for extraction. We are the designated heirs of the world.
The court has already sat. The verdict has been declared in Jesus's favor. The dominion of the beast has been revoked. And the kingdom has been given to you, the people of the saints. The question is, what are we doing with our inheritance?
When we see arrogant rulers speaking words against the Most High, we should not despair. We should recognize them for what they are: little horns on a short leash, operating on a divine timetable that is rapidly expiring. When they try to change the law of God, we must resist them, not as revolutionaries trying to seize power, but as the rightful heirs defending our King's territory.
Our task is to live in the reality of this victory. We are to preach the gospel, which is the announcement of this new kingdom. We are to disciple the nations, teaching them to obey everything Christ has commanded. We are to build families, churches, schools, and cultures that reflect the justice and righteousness of our King. We are to work and pray for that day when the greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven is manifestly in the hands of the saints, and all dominions serve and obey our God.
The beasts will rage for their short time. But their doom is written. The kingdom is ours. Let us therefore live like it.