Today’s Topic: The Great War: The Plan of the Enemy Part 2 – The Power of Understanding
Scripture: Daniel 7; Revelation 13:1,2
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
We are continuing to examine how the enemy will overcome the saints and what is his plan. God has shown us in scripture but we need to take the time and allow Him to shed some light (knowledge) on what is coming in the time to come. Now we left off with discussing the vision that Daniel saw in His dream.
Daniel 7:15
Now after seeing all of this Daniel was grieved in his spirit because of the visions he saw. Now let’s put ourselves in Daniel’s place for this message. Here we see 4 unique looking beasts in this order and the order is important.
1. A Lion
2. A Bear
3. A Leopard
4. A Beast with 10 horns
Now if we had seen this what would be the very first thing that you would say after seeing this? What is the meaning of all of this? See we have visions all the time, but how many of them do we ask God to show us the meaning. The meaning is vital because it allows you to apply what you see. But when you do not ask for interpretation, none comes. But I said the order of this is important and let me show you because there is a sharp correlation to Revelation in this book of prophecy. Now I we will see a slight glimpse into the plan of the enemy here. Revelation 13:1-2: Here the Apostle John writes what he sees and a sees a great beast rising up out of the sea, familiar? The beast had seven heads and 10 horns and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. Now the beast which John saw was LIKE UNTO A LEOPARD AND HIS FEET WERE LIKE A BEAR AND THE MOUTH OF A LION. Are these the same creatures that Daniel saw almost 500 years ago from that point? Absolutely, let’s see how because I can see where we might get confused. Once again it is about understanding. When Daniel was shown the vision he was looking FORWARD in time so the order we saw was this:
Lion, Bear, Leopard w/4 heads, Beast with 1o horns. Now when John saw this in Revelation he was looking BACKWARDS so hence you see the Beast, the Leopard, the Bear and the Lion. But what should capture you is that the beast is a combination of the four separate beasts of Daniel. Let’s check: 10 horns, 7 heads (1 Lion, 1 Bear, 4 Leopard, 1 Beast). So what should this tell us automatically about what Daniel is seeing? These four separate beasts will eventually be one great terrifying beast because remember in Daniel 7:12 it states that the rest of the beasts (Lion, Bear and Leopard) had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. This lets me know that the lives of these beasts are temporary. The spirit of Understanding shows us the unique correlation and consistency between what God showed Daniel and what God revealed to John. But let’s get back to Daniel because I want to walk to the answer to this vision and the plan of the enemy.
Daniel 7:16
Obviously after a dream like that Daniel wanted to know the meaning. But first it is clear that the vision or prophecy God was showing Daniel was symbolic because it is requiring interpretation. Think about this! God knows where Daniel is physically and mentally. God puts the vision in such a way that Daniel will at least have a picture or a foundation of what God is trying to show him. When we do not get understanding, wisdom and knowledge are almost useless because we do not know how to apply the truth and what to do with it. God knew after seeing that dream that Daniel will ask for understanding and did he? Yes he did because the scripture says this: “I came near to one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all of this. So he told me and made me know the interpretation of these things. Now the person who told him this and I have a hunch here it was an angel and the reason I said this is because later on, Daniel will pray to God and an angel will respond to give him skill and understanding (Daniel 9:21,22) on the issue troubling him.
But I want to stress is because this seems to be so outside of our carnal mindset you need God to show you the meaning of such things. Daniel asking for understanding and in the next message we will see the interpretation and the revelation. Please continue to read and study with us as we look at the End of the Age and the Return of the Lord.
At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.
