The King of Kingdoms - The Book of Daniel
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
March 16, 2025 :: Daniel 8:1-27
You can just about guess what I’m going to say, right?
Daniel chapter 8 is about the “Prince of Princes.”
For the last 6 sermons in this series on the Book of Daniel, we have noticed a name for God that is used in that particular chapter and emphasized how that particular chapter is all about the God Who is revealed in that particular name, Who He is and what He is doing.
...and last Sunday, in the hinge chapter of this whole book, chapter 7, “The Ancient of Days.”
Keep your eyes on the Ancient of Days!
Interestingly, a bunch of those names appear only in that chapter and that chapter alone in the Bible. And it’s the same with this name for God that shows up in verse 25.
“The Prince of Princes.”
It’s the same word for “Prince” as in “Prince of Peace” in Isaiah chapter 9. “Sar.” “Sar-Shalom.” Prince of Peace. “Sar-Sarim” Prince of Princes.
“Sar” is a normal Hebrew word (and we’re back to Hebrew after 6 chapters of Aramaic!), for a Commander or a Ruler or a High Official. Somebody who is a Noble, a Chief, a Chieftain, an Overseer, a Key Leader. A prince among a people. But in verse 25, it’s clear that this is the Prince of all Princes. This is the Commander of all Commanders. The Chief of all Chieftains. It’s yet another name for the King of Kingdoms, Who is our Lord. And this chapter is (as all the Bible is) all about Him.
Now, again, that is obvious. But it’s also easy to miss because of all of this other stuff in the chapter. Wild stuff! Scary stuff! Confusing stuff. Important stuff! Everything in this chapter is important. But nothing is as important as the Prince of Princes. So as we study Daniel 8, keep your eyes on Him.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Daniel chapter 8 tells the story of another vision of Daniel that was very traumatic for him. Let’s read Daniel chapter 8, verses 1 and 2.
“In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me. In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal.”
So, let’s start with the date. Daniel had another vision, after the one that we read about in the last chapter. Do you remember when that one was? That one was during the first year of King Belshazzar’s reign.
What kingdom was Belshazzar the king of? Babylon. Belshazzar was a successor to King Nebuchadnezzar and reigned from about 553 to 539BC. The writing was on the wall for Belshazzar in October of 539, at the end of chapter 5.
So this vision came two years after the vision of chapter 7. Daniel needed 2 years to recover from that vision, didn’t he?! Some of you are still recovering from last week’s sermon on it!
It’s not clear if this one was a dream or not. It may or may not have come while he was sleeping. However it came, it came from God. And it appears that Daniel was transported in his vision to the citadel of Susa. Where was that?
The fortified city of Susa was in Persia. Daniel isn’t transported to the sea of chaos this time. He’s siting beside the Ulai Canal in Susa.
Why do you think that might be a good place for Daniel to see this vision? Susa is the capitol of the next kingdom to arise. Susa is mentioned in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, that tell the story of what happened next after the book of Daniel in the history of Israel.
At this moment, in 550BC Susa isn’t that big and powerful, but it soon will be. So that’s where Daniel finds himself in the vision of chapter 8. Daniel is approximately 68, 69, 70 years old. Somewhere in there. He may have been in semi-retirement. He might have still had some responsibilities in Babylonian government.
He’s already had the all-important vision of chapter 7 with its sweep of four monstrous kingdoms to come and the glorious, and holy, and wise Ancient of Days Who judges them all and gives the kingdom of kingdoms to one like a Son of Man, the cloud rider, Who then will give the kingdom to His people forever and ever, yes, forever.
And now Daniel has another vision, and it’s a vision of two great animals ramming into each other. Look at verse 3.
“I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great” (vv.3-5).
Got the picture in your head? (I imagine it like a giant Imax movie in his head.)
This is not quite like the vision of chapter 7. It is kind of like it because there is this animal that obviously means something. It’s apocalyptic imagery. It’s not saying that an actual ram will show up on the Earth but the ram stands for something that will come.
But it’s not really a hybrid creature like the beasts in chapter 7 with some parts of one animal and other parts of another. It’s just a ram.
But it’s not just a ram either, is it? It has two great big horns. One longer than the other, but it was the second horn to grow. That’s probably significant. And it charges all over the place: west, north, south, and it conquers and dominates everywhere. Unstoppable energy.
Until...verse 5.
“As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage.
I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns [big and small]. The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power” (vv5-7).
Do you see this picture in your head?
Notice these are different animals from those in chapter 7. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t talking about the same things. But it is definitely from a different perspective.
The ram is unbeatable. And then it gets beaten. By the goat. The goat has one giant horn between its eyes and runs so fast it flies! Like the Road Runner in Bugs Bunny. It goes so fast, it doesn’t even touch the ground!
And then...collision! What happens with the unstoppable force hits the immovable object? BAM! The ram goes down. Its horns are shattered. Whatever that ram was is no more.
And now nothing can stop the goat! G-O-A-T. Greatest of all time. Or so it thinks. And then all of a sudden it meets with disaster. Look at verse 8.
“The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven. [Okay it’s getting weird again. More horns.]
Out of one of them came another horn [a horn out of a horn], which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land.
It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.
[This horn of the goat trampled on some stars! You know you’re in a vision when that happens!]
It set itself up to be as great as the Prince [“sar”] of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low. Because of rebellion, the host of the saints and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. [This is the horn from the horn that started small.] It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.
Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, ‘How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled–the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host that will be trampled underfoot?’ He said to me, ‘It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated’” (vv.8-14).
Wow. So much there! So much for Daniel to take in and try to process.
Daniel can tell that this is a vision of the future. This is a prophecy of what was to come. And it sounds completely awful. In his vision, he hears an angel asking another angel, “How long is this going to last?” How long is this desolation going to continue? How long is the “host” the army (the people) going to be trampled by these animals?
And the answer is “2,300 evenings and mornings.” I wonder what that means. Daniel wonders what that means. He’s so confused. Whenever it was a pagan king’s dream, Daniel could explain it. But he needed even more help to understand his own. Look at verse 15.
“While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man. And I heard a man's voice from the Ulai calling, ‘Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision’” (vv.15-16).
Yes, that Gabriel! One of only two angels whose names are revealed in the Bible. Who’s the other one? [Michael. He’s going to show up in chapter 10.]
Hey, Stay Sharpers, what do we call it when an angel appears in the Bible? Greg told us this week that it’s an “angelophany.” We have an angelophany in verse 17. The angel who one day would appear to a virgin named Mary and tell her about a baby she was going to have now appears to the wiseman Daniel and tells him about some terrible trouble that is brewing for his people. Look at verse 17.
“As [Gabriel] came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. ‘Son of man,’ he said to me [there it just means human], ‘understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.’ While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet. He said: ‘I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end” (vv.17-19).
It must have been quite the experience to run into Gabriel! Daniel is scared into a coma! But Gabriel touches him, and he pulls up him and tells him that he’s going to explain the vision to him. And Gabriel says it has something to do with the “time of the end.” Now, that could just mean the “end” of this vision, like how this vision will come together and be completed in history. I think that’s actually likely the meaning here. But it could also mean that this vision has something to do paradigmatically, with the end-times, with the end of history. It could be both.
And I’ve got some good news for you. Gabriel is going to actually name names and say what is what and who is who in this vision! He doesn’t explain it all, but he does give Daniel some important identifications. Look at verse 20.
“The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.”
Let’s stop there for just a second because this is big. We aren’t left to guess who these animals represent. They represent kings and their kingdoms. By now, that should not be a big surprise.
But Gabriel actually tells us which kings and which kingdoms! So far, the only one that we’ve been clearly told is that the gold head on the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2 is Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon. We’ve been going on guesswork and deduction for all the rest. But here we know.
Which kingdom is the ram? The Medes and the Persians. The double-kingdom. The team-up kingdom. Look back at verse 3 and see how that tracks.
“I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns [double-kingdom], standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later [What could that mean? Probably the longer horn is the Persian side of that kingdom. The Medes were first but King Cyrus and the Persians side grew to dominate the whole]. I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south [from Persia in the East]. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great” (vv.3-5).
And where was this? In Susa where Cyrus’ power was beginning to grow at the time of this vision. And in about 10 or 11 years, Darius the Mede would conquer Babylon and kill Belshazzar one October night. And then this double-kingdom would rule over the whole world for more than 200 years! The biggest kingdom there had ever been in the known world.
Nothing could stop them! Until something did.
Isn’t it amazing that God would tell Daniel more than a decade before it happened that the Medes and the Persians (in this symbol of a ram) would conquer the whole world?! But that’s nothing! Because, next, Gabriel tells Daniel the identity of the goat, as well. Look at verse 21 again.
“The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.”
Now, this is more than some people can believe. Some people cannot believe that God would tell Daniel that the Greeks were going to become the major world power more than 200 years before it happened. Many unbelieving scholars have decided that this must have been written during the Greek era. And that these are not predictions. They are just cast as predictions of things that have already happened.
Not that that’s proven. It’s just assumed. It’s just that they can’t believe in real, true predictive prophecy. “That’s impossible!”
But I don’t think it’s impossible, at all. At least, not for the God we’ve been reading about for the last 8 chapters!
#1. THE PRINCE OF PRINCES IS SOVEREIGN.
He controls the future, and He can tell us about it whenever He wants to!
When Daniel gets this vision, Greece is next to nothing. Persia isn’t even that big yet! But there is coming a day when Greece will conquer all.
And what was the name of the Greek that conquered all? We mentioned him last week. We call him “Alexander the Great.” And it’s all but certain (though Gabriel does not actually say) that Alexander is the goat’s large horn. Gabriel calls him in verse 21, “the first king.” Alexander conquered the whole world in about ten years. That’s probably what is meant in the vision by how the goat crossed the whole earth without touching the ground (in verse 5). Alexander collided with the Persians, and the Persians did not get back up.
And Alexander’s kingdom extended even further. His kingdom reached all the way to India. He had 1.5 million square miles under his rule. He was the GOAT! And then he died. Around age 33. And his wife Roxanne and teenage son were assassinated so his kingdom was divided up into four little kingdoms under four lesser kings.
Verse 22 says, “The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.”
Alexander’s successors were named Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. Last week, we said they might have been the four heads of the like-a-leopard beast. These four kings will not come on the scene for another 220 years from this day when Daniel has his vision and Gabriel tells him what it means!
The Prince of Princes is sovereign over all kingdoms. He’s the King of Kingdoms! That’s the whole point of this book. And a big part of what He’s doing here is showing that off! These kingdoms seem so big and powerful. They seem unstoppable. They are cruel and conquering. A ram and a goat. And they will dominate the people Daniel loves for hundreds of years. But they don’t last forever. They only seem unstoppable. The second that God is done with them, they are stopped. The ram goes down. The goat’s horn gets snapped off. As powerful as they are, they aren’t really that big of a deal. If you just wait a little bit, they will fall off the scene. Because the Prince of Princes is sovereign.
I think the application of that is to BE FOREWARNED. God is getting His people ready for what is to come. God is reminding them that He is in control of the future. He is in control of all of the kings and kingdoms to come. And that’s true for us today, as well.
As far as I can can see, the events predicted in Daniel chapter 8 are future for Daniel but largely in the past for you and me. Daniel chapter 8 is mostly about the Ram and the Goat which are the second and third kingdoms in my take on the different visions we’ve looked at so far in the book.
Last week, we looked at possible parallels between the dream of chapter 2 and the dream of chapter 7.
In chapter 2, we had Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the metallic statue. Each metal was a king/dom. Head of Gold, Chest of Silver, Belly of Bronze, Legs of Iron, and 10 Toes of Iron and Clay.
Like a Lion, Like a Bear, Like a Leopard, Unlike Anything, 10 Horns.
Now, if those correlations are right [And they are just deductions; I might have lots of things wrong!], then the Ram and the Goat would match up with the second and third kingdoms like this.
So in chapter 8, it’s like a vision that “double clicks” on the middle of the vision of chapter 7 and gives you even more detail about that particular time period.
So, if that’s true, why would you and I need to read about it today?
I mean that’s ancient history. Literally! This vision was fulfilled by 164BC.
Because it shows that if the Prince of Princes accurately predicted the future then, then we can trust what He says about the future still to come now. Amen?
And if He was in ultimate control of world events then? The Medo-Persian Ram and the Grecian Goat?
Then He is in ultimate control of the Russian Bear, the Chinese Dragon, the North Korean Winged Horse (Chollima), the British Bulldog, and the American Eagle. And all of the rest of the zoo.
Kingdoms come and kingdoms go. And the Prince of Princes is sovereign over all.
Be forewarned. Don’t worry. Don’t be shaken. He’s got the whole world in His hands.
Daniel needed to hear this because some terrible things were going to come in the future. Life was going to get downright animalistic for his people. And that’s the point of the horn that came from the horn in verse 9. Remember what it said?
“Out of one of [the goat’s 4 replacement horns] came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land.”
Now, Gabriel does not tell us this horn’s name in history. But he does tell us a lot about him. Remember a horn is a king. It represents the strength of an animal.
This horn starts out small but grows and grows in power even towards “The Beautiful” which almost certainly means the land of Israel. Palestine. The glorious beloved homeland of Daniel which he has not seen with his own eyes in over half a century.
This horn comes to directly rule over Israel. And I think that verses 23 through 26 tell us the terrible kinds of things that he does:
“‘In the latter part of their [the goat’s four replacement horns’] reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king [“fierce, merciless”], a master of intrigue [a manipulator, a deceiver], will arise. He will become very strong, but not by his own power [Satanic power!]. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people. He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes...”
#2. THE PRINCE OF PRINCES IS OPPOSED.
This king dares to “take his stand against the Prince of Princes.” The Sar-Sarim. Can you believe it?!
He is not the first, and I don’t think he’s the last either.
Though some people do. Some people think that these verses are about the person we talked about last week who is sometimes called the “Antichrist” or the “Man of Lawlessness” or the “Beast” in Revelation.
And that’s quite possible! I mean, when you read this, you see that figure, don’t you? This is one terrible king. One of the worst that the Jews especially have ever known.
But if my deductions are correct, this is not the Antichrist who may be on rise right now or still to come one day soon. Most scholars agree that this is the awful Greek King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. I mentioned him last week.
This terrible horn is a lot like the terrible horn we read about in chapter 7 last week, but there are some key differences. The biggest is that the bad horn in chapter 7 appears on the fourth terrifying beast, the “different” one which I suggested is probably the kingdom of Rome or Rome “plus.” Maybe end-times Rome. But this horn in chapter 8 appears during what seems more like the “third beast” kingdom in chapter 7 and the “silver” kingdom in chapter 2.
If this was correct, then this bad horn of chapter 8 shows up during the Kingdom of Greece. And there is a Greek king that almost perfectly fits the bill. Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Let me tell you about him.
Antiochus IV was related to Seleucus, one of the four king that took over from Alexander. But he wasn’t next in line. His nephew was. But Antiochus was a “master of intrigue.” He manipulated the system and deceptively stole the throne. And Antiochus ruled ruthlessly and mercilessly. And he ruled over Israel (175BC to 164 BC). A dozen of the worst years the Beautiful Land had ever experienced.
In 170 BC, Antiochus killed the High Priest Onias in Jerusalem. And later he stopped the daily sacrifices in the temple of the LORD. He decided that he wanted everyone to worship Greek gods and not the Jewish One. He set up altars throughout Israel to Greek gods. He told the Jews that they could no longer observe the Sabbath or circumcise their baby boys. And if they did, they would be killed! And their circumcised babies would be hung around their necks when they were buried.
I read about all of this in a history book called 1 Maccabees this week. It was written between the Old Testament and the New. And it says that Antiochus went into the temple, and sacrificed a pig on the altar. And put some kind of Zeus statue in the Holy of Holies. He didn’t destroy the temple, but he desecrated it. Brought it low (v.11). And he burned copies of the holy scriptures. “Truth was thrown to the ground” (v.12). And he killed thousands of Jews.
He may not have been the antichrist, but he was sure trying to be.
Antiochus called himself, “Epiphanes.” Does anybody know what that means? It means “The Manifestation.” If Antiochus didn’t think he was a god, he was sure saying that could manifest god. He Antiochus made certain that these pagan sacrifices took place on his birthday every year.
Antiochus set himself up against the Lord! And he did it by setting himself against the Lord’s people. I think that’s the point of the symbolism back in verse 10. How the horn “reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.”
I think that’s apocalyptic symbolism for the people of God. Antiochus didn’t literally thrown down any stars. But he sure did trample on God’s people. In the words of verse 24, he destroyed “the mighty men and the holy people.”
Antiochus was one of the worst persecutors that the Jews had ever known. And if you fight against God’s people, then you are fighting against God. If you are setting yourself against God’s people, the you are setting yourself against God.
Remember when God arrested Saul on the road to Damascus? Remember what he said? “Saul, Saul why do you persecute...the church?” No, He said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Because as Saul opposed the church, Saul was opposing the Prince of Princes!
And that was true in Daniel’s day, Antiochus’ day, Saul’s day, and our day.
The Prince of Princes is opposed. And here’s the application of that truth: BE FORTIFIED.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed, right? To be ready for the onslaught, ready for the attack.
Because of this vision, Israel could steel themselves for what was coming. If they were paying attention, their persecution would not come as a surprise.
And in their case, they were able to fight back, literally. A courageous Jewish family called the Maccabees organized a resistance movement. Unlike the Jews in Jeremiah’s day who were supposed to submit to exile, these Jews were not commanded to submit and were free to revolt.
And they were successful! Over a three and a half year period, they beat back Antiochus’ forces and took back the temple! And they cleansed it and they rededicated it to the worship of Yahweh, our LORD. That was in 164 BC. And the people of Israel celebrated that reconsecration with a new Jewish festival of dedication.
You know what they called it? “Hanukkah.”
I’m certain that this vision of Daniel fortified their hearts for that day. And we need to fortify our hearts for our day. Not that we will fight back against those who persecute us, taking up the literal sword. But we won’t be surprised when persecution comes upon us either, as if something totally unusual and unexpected were happening to us (1 Peter 4:12).
We know that the Prince of Prince is opposed and so will we be. We know, as our Stay Sharpers learned again this week, we are in the midst of a spiritual battle. And it’s going to get worse.
Antiochus was the worst up to that point. But he was just a foretaste of evil to come. I think that’s how this chapter (in the words of Gabriel in verse 17) “concerns the time of the end.”
Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a pre-figurement of the antichrist to come. His persecution was a pattern, a paradigm, anticipating the evil still on the way.
But, church, here’s the good news. The good news is our Lord never loses. Yes, the Prince of Princes is opposed. But!
#3. THE PRINCE OF PRINCES IS UNDEFEATED.
Look at the end of verse 25!
“When they feel secure, he [Antiochus IV Epiphanes probably?] will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes...Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.” Literally, “with nothingness of hand.”
Yes, the Maccabees pushed back, but they didn’t kill Antiochus. Antiochus was far from Palestine in 164 BC, and one day he took sick and then died. He didn’t die in battle. No human hand killed him. One day, the Lord just took him. Reminds me of that stone that was cut out of that mountain in the king’s dream, knocking over the metals statue and turning it to dust.
“Not by human power.” But by divine power!
Our LORD never loses. Sometimes it seems like it. Verses 10 and 11 sure seemed to describe a time coming when the LORD was on the ropes. It sure seemed like it when Jesus was dying on the Cross.
But the LORD is the Ancient of Days. He doesn’t lose. It’s not really even a contest. It’s terrible what God’s people have to go through, but there is always a reason for it and there will always be an end to it.
In this case, it was 2,300 evenings and mornings. The angels asked “How long?”, and the answer was “2,300 evenings and mornings” (vv.13-14).
And there’s been a lot of debate about what that means. It could simply mean a period of about 6 years which would map on pretty well from Antiochus killing the high priest in 170 to the temple being restored in December of 164 (see 1 Macc 4:52-59).
Or it could mean actually evening and morning sacrifices which would halve the days to 1150 which is more like 3 years. More like the time when the sacrifices were actually stopped to the time when they began again.
And there are other views, too, of course. [Fascinatingly, the Millerites, who came to be known as the Seventh Day Adventists took the 2300 days as year and calculated that the Lord would return in 1843-44. (Not what happened.)]
I think what’s really important for us to remember is that God had set the days and times. They might have seemed long but they were limited.
The world is not out of His control! And so we can be self-controlled.
Here’s the application of this point: BE FAITHFUL.
Because we know that our Lord never loses, we can keep on doing whatever He has told to do.
Because He can’t fail, we can’t fail!
That’s the logic of 1 Corinthians 15:58 isn’t it? The Bible says, “Therefore [because of the resurrection], my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
What can they can do to us? Kill us? Chop off our head? Burn us to death. Yes, they can. But so what? We are coming back from the dead. Jesus did! We can’t lose.
Because He can’t fail, we can’t fail! And so we can be faithful. Don’t give up and don’t give in! Be faithful.
Look at see what Daniel did when Gabriel was done talking. Look at verse 26.
“‘The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.’ I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. Then I got up and went about the king's business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding” (vv.26-27).
This vision was so traumatic for Daniel. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t understand it (1 Peter 4:10-11). He didn’t want to understand it. He had gotten a glimpse of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and it made him sick. He was comatose in bed for several days.
But see what he did as soon as he was up to it? He got up and “went about the king’s business.”
I think that’s amazing! He did what he always did. He got up, got dressed, and went to work. He put the next foot in front of the other. He did the next thing that needed done.
He was faithful in the service of King Belshazzar, knowing about these other kings that are were going to come and trample over everything.
He sealed up the vision. I don’t think that necessarily means it was secret. I think that means it was saved. Like he hit the “saved” button on his computer. Maybe “save as a PDF” so that it lasts until the distant future when it needs to come out and be used. 375 years later when Antiochus is raging, they need Daniel 8, and there it is. Because Daniel faithfully sealed it up!
Dare to be a Daniel and be faithful in the king’s service even when you know everything is going to come unglued.
And not just faithful in the service of pagan King Belshazzar but even more so in faithful in the service of the King of Kingdoms, the Sar-Sarim, the Prince of Princes who is undefeated now and forever will be.
***
01. The King's Service - Daniel 1:1-21
02. The God of Heaven - Daniel 2:1-49
Bonus Message: "No Matter What" - Daniel 3:1-30 from Family Bible Week 2012
03. The God We Serve - Daniel 3:1-30
04. The King of Heaven - Daniel 4:1-37
05. The Lord of Heaven - Daniel 5:1-31
06. The Living God - Daniel 6:1-28
07. The Ancient of Days - Daniel 7:1-28
