SERMON TITLE: The Author of History|
TEXT: Daniel 8:1-26 (NLT)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 6-30-24
Watch the sermon here
Take notes here
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And — if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — are joining us at our North Main Campus — or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
We’re continuing our series in the book of Daniel today — looking at what it means to live in exile. And — today — we finally get to something that I’ve promised we’d eventually get to — the interpretation of the dreams and visions that have come up in our book. And — my goal — is that as we look at these visions — and their interpretation — that our focus will be on something that will encourage and give hope to all of us who follow Jesus — as we live in exile — in these last days.
But — before we get to this encouragement — let’s read our text for today. We’re in Daniel chapter eight — beginning in verse one.
Daniel 8:1–26 (NLT)
1 During the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, saw another vision, following the one that had already appeared to me. 2 In this vision I was at the fortress of Susa, in the province of Elam, standing beside the Ulai River. 3 As I looked up, I saw a ram with two long horns standing beside the river. One of the horns was longer than the other, even though it had grown later than the other one. 4 The ram butted everything out of his way to the west, to the north, and to the south, and no one could stand against him or help his victims. He did as he pleased and became very great. 5 While I was watching, suddenly a male goat appeared from the west, crossing the land so swiftly that he didn’t even touch the ground. This goat, which had one very large horn between its eyes, 6 headed toward the two-horned ram that I had seen standing beside the river, rushing at him in a rage. 7 The goat charged furiously at the ram and struck him, breaking off both his horns. Now the ram was helpless, and the goat knocked him down and trampled him. No one could rescue the ram from the goat’s power. 8 The goat became very powerful. But at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off. In the large horn’s place grew four prominent horns pointing in the four directions of the earth. 9 Then from one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel. 10 Its power reached to the heavens, where it attacked the heavenly army, throwing some of the heavenly beings and some of the stars to the ground and trampling them. 11 It even challenged the Commander of heaven’s army by canceling the daily sacrifices offered to him and by destroying his Temple. 12 The army of heaven was restrained from responding to this rebellion. So the daily sacrifice was halted, and truth was overthrown. The horn succeeded in everything it did. 13 Then I heard two holy ones talking to each other. One of them asked, “How long will the events of this vision last? How long will the rebellion that causes desecration stop the daily sacrifices? How long will the Temple and heaven’s army be trampled on?” 14 The other replied, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the Temple will be made right again.” 15 As I, Daniel, was trying to understand the meaning of this vision, someone who looked like a man stood in front of me. 16 And I heard a human voice calling out from the Ulai River, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of his vision.” 17 As Gabriel approached the place where I was standing, I became so terrified that I fell with my face to the ground. “Son of man,” he said, “you must understand that the events you have seen in your vision relate to the time of the end.” 18 While he was speaking, I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground. But Gabriel roused me with a touch and helped me to my feet. 19 Then he said, “I am here to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath. What you have seen pertains to the very end of time. 20 The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire. 22 The four prominent horns that replaced the one large horn show that the Greek Empire will break into four kingdoms, but none as great as the first. 23 “At the end of their rule, when their sin is at its height, a fierce king, a master of intrigue, will rise to power. 24 He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people. 25 He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. He will even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but he will be broken, though not by human power. 26 “This vision about the 2,300 evenings and mornings is true. But none of these things will happen for a long time, so keep this vision a secret."
Daniel’s given a vision of the future and — incredibly helpful for us — the angel Gabriel gives him an interpretation of his vision. And good biblical interpretation requires that we allow the angel to be our guide in understanding — not only the vision of this chapter — but — as I’ve mentioned in previous sermons — our guide in interpreting the other dreams and visions we’ve come across in the book of Daniel — as they’re all related to one another.
The key verse — of our chapter — is verse fifteen — which states…
Daniel 8:15 (NLT)
15 As I, Daniel, was trying to understand the meaning of this vision, someone who looked like a man stood in front of me.
At the moment when Daniel was trying to understand the vision he’d been given — an angelic messenger arrived to help him understand what he wasn’t able to comprehend on his own. This is the key to understanding our chapter — we too must allow the angelic messenger to be our guide in understanding Daniel’s vision. So let’s return to Daniel’s vision — then the angel’s interpretation — before we arrive at the reason why this chapter is to give us hope and assurance as we live in exile.
We’re back in verse one.
Daniel 8:1–14 (NLT)
1 During the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, saw another vision, following the one that had already appeared to me. 2 In this vision I was at the fortress of Susa, in the province of Elam, standing beside the Ulai River. 3 As I looked up, I saw a ram with two long horns standing beside the river. One of the horns was longer than the other, even though it had grown later than the other one. 4 The ram butted everything out of his way to the west, to the north, and to the south, and no one could stand against him or help his victims. He did as he pleased and became very great. 5 While I was watching, suddenly a male goat appeared from the west, crossing the land so swiftly that he didn’t even touch the ground. This goat, which had one very large horn between its eyes, 6 headed toward the two-horned ram that I had seen standing beside the river, rushing at him in a rage. 7 The goat charged furiously at the ram and struck him, breaking off both his horns. Now the ram was helpless, and the goat knocked him down and trampled him. No one could rescue the ram from the goat’s power. 8 The goat became very powerful. But at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off. In the large horn’s place grew four prominent horns pointing in the four directions of the earth. 9 Then from one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel. 10 Its power reached to the heavens, where it attacked the heavenly army, throwing some of the heavenly beings and some of the stars to the ground and trampling them. 11 It even challenged the Commander of heaven’s army by canceling the daily sacrifices offered to him and by destroying his Temple. 12 The army of heaven was restrained from responding to this rebellion. So the daily sacrifice was halted, and truth was overthrown. The horn succeeded in everything it did. 13 Then I heard two holy ones talking to each other. One of them asked, “How long will the events of this vision last? How long will the rebellion that causes desecration stop the daily sacrifices? How long will the Temple and heaven’s army be trampled on?” 14 The other replied, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the Temple will be made right again.”
Chapter seven — what we looked at last week — took place two years earlier. And — if you recall — all of this takes place during chapter five as we jumped back in time between chapters six and seven. But here’s what I want us to consider as we look at this prophetic vision, its interpretation, and what it means for us today.
At the turn of the twentieth century — an interpretation of the Bible — called higher criticism — began to make the rounds. One dictionary defines higher criticism as, “A method of biblical interpretation that seeks to determine the authorship and date of books, the literary documents underlying them, and their historical dependability.” (The Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology)
That’s not bad stuff to want to determine. Authorship of biblical books is a good topic of study — as is the dating of when the books were originally written. So too is the study of the documents — often called manuscripts — which help us know that the words — in our Bible today — are what was originally written. Lots of wonderful, helpful information in this area of biblical study and interpretation.
However, many proponents of higher criticism were more committed to their method of study than they were to the actual content of Scripture. Many were dismissive of the miraculous and their theology became more and more humanistic in nature.
For example, take Jesus feeding the five thousand. If you’re not familiar with the event — here’s how the gospel of John describes it.
John 6:4–13 (NLT)
4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” 8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” 10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.
Instead of interpreting this as a miracle — where Jesus literally took five loaves of bread and two fish and fed over five thousand people by miraculously multiplying the bread and fish — proponents of higher criticism suggested that the “real miracle” was the young boy’s generosity. For — the higher critics say — his generosity inspired generosity in others who did have food to eat — they were just hiding it. But — because of the miracle of this young boy’s generosity — eventually everyone in the crowd started sharing food they’d brought with them — which is how the boy’s five loaves of bread and two fish “multiplied” to feed everyone with some leftovers. Higher critics would say there was no miracle — as we think of it — the miracle was the generosity of the people.
These same higher criticism folks would say Jesus didn’t miraculously heal people — they’d say he used medicine. And some would go so far to say that Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross. For — if he had died — there’s no way his disciples would’ve seen him alive a few days later. Because — you know — miracles like the dead coming back to life don’t happen.
I bring this up because higher criticism also went after prophecies in the Bible. Where — a text like ours — a vision of the future — a future that — at the very least — has an incredible near term fulfillment — couldn’t have been written down before the events of fulfillment occurred. Instead — what they say happened — is that someone wrote this part of the book of Daniel after the events fulfilling the vision took place. Remember — they’re big on authorship and manuscripts and important stuff — but their interpretive filter — which doesn’t allow for the miraculous or prophecies — require them to have non-miraculous answers as to how a vision — and it’s prophetic fulfillment — were fulfilled just like it’s written down in Daniel. Their solution? All of this was written down after the events took place. Meaning — someone other than Daniel wrote this part of the book and inserted it after the fact to make it look like it was recorded before it all happened.
Back to the turn of the twentieth century — in response to higher criticism the fundamentalist emerged. Now — I know that fundamentalists have a bad rep these days — but know that these fore-fathers and mothers in the faith fought for our — Gateway’s — view of God’s Word. Where we take God at his Word. If the event is miraculous — a miracle took place. The miracle was five pieces of bread and two fish being enough to feed over five thousand people. The miracle was healing without medicine. The miracle was a death on the cross and a resurrection three days later.
All that to say — regardless of where we may end up landing in our interpretation of the vision in Daniel chapter eight — what we all agree on is that this is a prophetic vision. It’s not a recording of history after the fact — but is a recording of historical events that had yet to come. And — the God who gave Daniel this vision — is the God who is sovereign — in control — over all of history. And this truth is what gave God’s people — living in exile in Daniel’s day — assurance. And this truth is what will give God’s people — living in exile today — assurance, hope, and confidence. For our God is the Author of history. He is in control of all things. When he says something will happen — it will happen. When he makes promises — they’re sure to be fulfilled. We have confidence because we take God at his Word — which leads us to the angel’s interpretation of Daniel’s vision.
We’re in verse fifteen.
Daniel 8:15–26 (NLT)
15 As I, Daniel, was trying to understand the meaning of this vision, someone who looked like a man stood in front of me. 16 And I heard a human voice calling out from the Ulai River, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of his vision.” 17 As Gabriel approached the place where I was standing, I became so terrified that I fell with my face to the ground. “Son of man,” he said, “you must understand that the events you have seen in your vision relate to the time of the end.” 18 While he was speaking, I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground. But Gabriel roused me with a touch and helped me to my feet. 19 Then he said, “I am here to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath. What you have seen pertains to the very end of time. 20 The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire. 22 The four prominent horns that replaced the one large horn show that the Greek Empire will break into four kingdoms, but none as great as the first. 23 “At the end of their rule, when their sin is at its height, a fierce king, a master of intrigue, will rise to power. 24 He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people. 25 He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. He will even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but he will be broken, though not by human power. 26 “This vision about the 2,300 evenings and mornings is true. But none of these things will happen for a long time, so keep this vision a secret.”
You may have wondered why I didn’t say much about Daniel’s actual vision. Well that’s because the angel Gabriel says all that needs to be said for me. You see, interpreting Daniel’s vision isn’t that difficult — Gabriel does that for us — and he does a fine, superb, “couldn’t have done it better myself” — job. The trouble for us is not understanding Gabriel’s explanation of the vision — the trouble is accepting the angel’s interpretation.
Here’s what Gabriel tells us — and notice — Gabriel was told to tell Daniel “the meaning of his vision.” So there’s no secret hidden meaning in the angel’s interpretation — in fact — his explanation of the vision is so clear — that it led to the higher criticism folks to believe this must have been written after the events took place. But let’s start with something the angel doesn’t mention here — but this has come up previously in the book of Daniel.
If we go back to King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream — in chapter two — we’ll remember that there was a statue. And the…
Daniel 2:32–33 (NLT)
32 The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay.
Later — when interpreting the king’s dream — Daniel says…
Daniel 2:37–45 (NLT)
37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. 38 He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold. 39 “But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world. 40 Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes. 41 The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron. 42 But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay. 43 This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix. 44 “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. 45 That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”
Nebuchadnezzar is the statue’s head of gold — making Babylon the first kingdom of the dreams and visions. In Daniel’s vision — in chapter seven — Babylon is represented by a lion. So — King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon — represent this first kingdom. Which leads us back to the angel Gabriel’s explanation that the two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. Back in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream — this was the chest and arms of silver — and a bear in Daniel’s vision of chapter seven.
If you think back to a month ago — when we first met Belshazzar — he was throwing an elaborate party having no idea that he would be killed that evening. Do you remember what brought about his death? The Persian army had been camped just outside the city walls for over two years and had finally found a way to infiltrate the city walls. Because we’re jumping around in time — know that the night of Belshazzar’s death is still in the future at this point in history when Daniel has this second vision. And — though this is Daniel’s second vision — this is the third time in the book of Daniel that Babylon — being conquered by the Medes and Persians — has been prophesied.
Then we come to the third kingdom — the bronze belly and thighs of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue — a leopard in Daniel’s first vision — a shaggy goat in his second vision — which Gabriel tells us is Greece. And — you may have noticed — how the angel tells Daniel that there will be an important king of the Greek Empire. And how the empire will be split into four kingdoms — none of them being as great as the original one.
Alexander the Great — king of the ancient Greek empire — defeated the Persians in the late fourth century BC. He led Greece to being the dominant world power — having conquered the known world by the age of thirty-two — only to die one year later — one might say, “At the height of his power” — like verse eight says. After his death — the Greek empire was split into four — just like Daniel sees in his vision — each smaller kingdom ruled by one of Alexander’s former generals. One of these generals — Antiochus Epiphanes — expanded his kingdom south and east towards what land? The land the nation of Israel used to occupy — again — just as Daniel sees in his vision — in verse nine.
In Daniel’s vision — this horn — one of the four — is a horn of power — and it will commit a variety of abominations in the land once occupied by Israel. Well guess what happened under the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes? Thousands of Israelites were killed — including infants and children. He had a pig — an unclean animal to the Jews — sacrificed on the altar of the Jewish Temple. He had a statue of Zeus placed in the Temple and he had the scrolls — containing the words of God — words in our Bible today — cut up and destroyed.
How long did all of this go on for? Just over six years — or the twenty three hundred evenings as prophesied in Daniel’s vision in verse fourteen. That’s when Antiochus caved to Roman power which was growing in the region — and the fourth kingdom of the visions rose to power.
Back to something I’ve said a few times already. There are two ways to view what we’ve read in Daniel chapter eight and how it all played out in history. Either you agree with the higher critics and — though there’s no evidence to support your conclusion — you just can’t accept that these kinds of details could possibly have been prophesied — or predicted — before they happened. Where you believe that — the only way Daniel chapter eight could contain such accurate historic detail — is to conclude that it was written after the events took place. Again — you have no evidence to support your conclusion — in fact — the evidence available goes against your conclusion — you’re just unwilling to accept that the future can be given in such detail by the God who is the Author of history.
The other way to read and understand Daniel chapter eight is the exact opposite of the previous conclusion. Where — in believing that God is the Author of history — you — though you don’t know how it all works — believe that he can give prophetic dreams and visions — and send angelic messengers to interpret it all — even about specific events still to come in history — down to some of the most minute details one can imagine.
Both of these views are based on faith and — as I’ve said — the second conclusion actually has more evidence to back it up — if you take an honest assessment of the dating of manuscripts and other such proof. And — what I’m about to say next may surprise you.
Both views have their obstacles.
If you hold the first view — your biggest obstacle will be that you’ve eliminated an important — if not the most important — aspect of the Christian faith: That God is sovereign and is the Author of history. I’m not even sure you can call yourself a Christian and hold this view — maybe you’re OK with that. I hope you’re at least willing to explore the evidence — before you blindly hold to your beliefs about who God is and what he can or can’t do.
But — for those of us who hold the second view — that God is the Author of history — and that he’s sovereign over all things — what may surprise you is that — the obstacle we face — regardless of what view of the end times you hold — fancy words like dispensational pre-millennialism, historic pre-millennialism, post-millennialism, or a-millennialism — words I don’t have time to define right now — regardless of what view of the end times you hold — something all views hold in common is that we’re living — as Daniel is told in his vision — in “the time of the end.”
Listen to how the apostle Paul describes the “time of the end” to a young pastor. He writes…
2 Timothy 3:1–5 (NLT)
1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
Can there be any doubt that we’re living in the last days — in “the time of the end” — when we read Paul’s words? Words written nearly two-thousand years ago. Words — like Daniel chapter eight — containing striking detail of what it’s like to live in our land of exile. Words that describe “very difficult times” — disturbing times — a time full of obstacles for those who follow Jesus.
But how about we end with a bit of hope? Some encouragement because our God — who is the Author of history — and is in control of all things — is still in charge of the details of history.
One day — when Jesus was in Jerusalem — he visited the Temple — the Temple that had been restored just like Daniel saw in his vision. And — though God’s Temple was desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes — Jesus was angered by the desecration he saw happening in his day. For…
John 2:13–22 (NLT)
13 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” 17 Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.” 18 But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.” 19 “All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” 21 But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.
The Temple of God being desecrated — whether by an evil general or by those acting religious in Jesus’s day — is an abomination — a disgrace — an atrocity. But the Son of God — Jesus Christ — being crucified on the cross — being mocked, spit on, beaten, stripped naked, and jeered at — Jesus Christ who was and is the true Temple — Jesus is the Temple the Jewish Temple foreshadowed — well — Jesus being murdered wasn’t just an abomination — it is also the most vivid display of God’s Authorship of history — combined with his love. For the death of Christ — and his resurrection — was an act of love planned before the beginning of time — a plan found written throughout the Bible — a plan which concludes with these words which point forward to eternity.
Revelation 21:22 (NLT)
22 I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
For he who was murdered on the cross — is our Savior — Jesus Christ — the Lamb of God — the eternal Temple of God. And he has promised us a brilliant and glorious future. An eternity in the presence of the One who loved us and gave his life for us. An eternity guaranteed by the God who is the Author of history. Let’s pray.
Father, you are the Author of history — the sovereign God in control of all things — down to the smallest of details in human history. From those who rise to power — and nations conquering nations — to the number of our days. None of this is meant to be a threat — but a great comfort. For you — the One in control of all things — loves us. And you’ve proven your love in sending your Son to accomplish your plan of salvation.
Holy Spirit, open our minds, hearts, and wills to receive and believe the truths we’ve heard today. Where — instead of interpreting your Word in a way that makes sense to our limited understanding — to take you at your Word. For the God who created all things, who knows the beginning and the end, who created the stars in the farthest galaxies of the universe and knows the number of grains of sand on the shores of the coasts of our world — is the God who in love said, “Satan, sin, death, and Hell shall not win. Misery shall not be the victor. Hope, love, joy, peace, and life shall prevail — for my plan of rescue will not be stopped.”
And — Jesus — you did not allow false accusations spoken against you to stop your Father’s plan. Nor being beaten. Or flogged. Or being stripped naked. And the mockery and jeering and shame did not stop you from accomplishing your Father’s plan. For — in love for us — you received all of this desecration and acts of defilement so that we might be forgiven. For it’s by your sacrifice — your loving sacrifice — that we are made right with God and rescued from this land of exile.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help us, we ask, to live in these last days — in this “time of the end” — with our eyes, minds, hearts, and lives fixed on you — the Author of our faith — the Author of our story — the Author of history. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
May you go with assurance — knowing that the Author of history — is the God who loves you. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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