Daniel has now been in Babylon for over fifty years, and he has become the highest official in the Empire under the royal family. We might think that he would be very self-satisfied at having climbed so high up the social ladder. But there is a realm that God was calling Daniel to live in that could not be reached by that ladder. God now opens the windows of the higher spiritual realm to Daniel and gives him a graphic demonstration of what real power is. In these remarkable visions Daniel is invited to view world history from the vantage point of God’s throne room. In retrospect we can surmise what the symbolic creatures are referring to (and that is a more detailed study), but Daniel never knew what they stood for specifically and yet was still able to grasp the meaning. So, it is not so important to nail down the historical counterparts to these beasts. The main point is to see how it ends. In this vision Daniel is invited to see the present in the light of the future. This was significant at the time because Daniel received this vision just before the Jews would be released to return to Jerusalem. At this point the Jews were settled and doing well in Babylon. But God wanted to remind them that they were called to a greater purpose than just achieving lifestyle goals, and that they would need to return to Palestine to fulfil this. It is important, in the midst of the details of daily living, that we too recognise the big picture and the ultimate purpose of our lives.
Reflect and try to gain a sense of the big picture and purpose into which your life fits.
Read Daniel 7
