August 5, 2024 - Daniel 7-12

The four beasts = four kingdoms that will rise and then fall.  The ram and the goat (ch. 8), the little horn, etc.   In the midst of all this turmoil, Daniel sees in his vision “the Ancient of Days took his seat” (7:9).  And, in the midst of it all, Daniel knows exactly what to do, that is, pray to the Ancient of Days:  “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.  I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession . . . O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem . . . O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his prayers for mercy . . .” (9:3,4,16,17). 

There’s more to come:  the 70 weeks prophecy, the vision of the man which terrified Daniel (ch. 10), the kings of the south and the north (ch. 11), and finally, the end (ch. 12).  Unsettled and frightening times, but through it all, Daniel understands that there is one in whom he can trust and rest, and he, as we must, calls on him and trusts him.  Through it all, we sing:

Bring near Thy great salvation,

Thou Lamb for sinners slain;

Fill up the roll of Thine elect,

Then take Thy power and reign;

Appear, Desire of nations,

Thine exiles long for home;

Show in the heavens Thy promised sign;

Thou Prince and Savior, come.   -- Henry Alford (1867)