The Little Horn Power
– Daniel 7:1-12
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DANIEL 7:28
Hitherto is
the end of the matter. As for me
Daniel, my cogitations much troubled
me, and my countenance changed in me:
but I kept the matter in my heart.
{28} This
is the end of the matter. I was
deeply troubled because I had never
heard anything like this. This vision
was so different from what I expected
about the future that my face turned
pale. I kept these things to myself,
for I did not want my closest friends
to think I had lost my mind.
The
Exaltation of Jesus
A few words
about the exaltation of Jesus are
necessary. Many people do not
appreciate the importance of Daniel
7:13,14 because they do not
understand the process that Jesus
voluntarily endured to redeem
mankind. A book could be written on
this amazing topic, but the essence
of Christ’s humiliation and
exaltation is this: When Adam and Eve
sinned, Jesus went to the Father and
offered to die in their place.
Remember, Adam and Eve were to be
executed on the day that they sinned.[19] Even
before the creation of life, the
Father foreknew that sin would occur.[20] Therefore, He
had a plan of redemption that could
be implemented when necessary.[21] The
Father would have implemented the
plan of redemption for the rebellious
angels had they been willing to
repent, but they defiantly refused.
Lucifer and the angels who followed
him committed the unpardonable sin,
making redemption impossible. (See
Prophecy 12.)
God’s
plan to redeem mankind is intricate
because He resolves several issues at
the same time. It takes some effort
to sort out these issues and
understand their purposes. For
example, God does not want sin to
occur again, so God is resolving the
current problem of sin in such a way
that no one will ever want to sin
again! God has allowed sin to mature
because He wants everyone to see how
the malignant curse imposes
increasing decadence and degeneracy
on each succeeding generation. God
wants the universe to see what
sinners will become and do; when sin
is given enough time. God also wants
the universe to understand that He is
a God of love and His laws and
actions always spring from love for
His children. God wants the universe
to understand that He will not use
His foreknowledge to manipulate any
outcome that is favorable to Himself.
He also wants everyone to know that
His subjects really do have
the power of choice.
When Jesus
went to the Father and offered to pay
the price for their sin, the Father
revealed the huge price that
redemption required. I am sure that
Jesus listened thoughtfully, and
after hearing the terms required for
man’s redemption, He submitted
to three conditions. Whatever the
Father wanted Jesus to become, He
would become. Jesus agreed to become
a man. Whatever the Father wanted
Jesus to do, He would do. Jesus would
live as an inferior among sinners
(poor and having no human father),
resist every temptation, die a
horrible death, and cease to exist.
Finally, whatever the Father wanted
Jesus to say, He would say – no
matter the consequences. Jesus agreed
to speak the Father’s words
– no matter what.[22] When
Jesus accepted these terms and
conditions, the Father made a
covenant with Jesus.[23] If
Jesus perfectly carried out the
Father’s plan, the Father would
(a) resurrect Jesus from the second
death,[24] (b)
give Jesus authority over His church,[25] (c)
give the saints and the world to
Jesus,[26] and (d)
show the universe that Jesus is His
equal – that Jesus is Almighty
God just as the Father is Almighty
God.[27] Incidentally,
this last item explains why the last
book in the Bible is called “The
Revelation of
Jesus Christ.”
The price for
the redemption of sinners is
unbelievably high. Jesus had to
forfeit His eternal life for sinners
and cease to exist. Jesus humbled
Himself on the day that sin began by
becoming a subject (a son) of the
Father.[28] This is
why Jesus is called, “The Son
(subject) of God.” Four thousand
years after Adam and Eve sinned,
Jesus took a deeper step into
humility. Jesus not only became a
man, He became the object of endless
ridicule. Later, Jesus stooped even
lower. He died on the cross as a
criminal. Jesus could give nothing
more. He gave up everything He had,
even His eternal life for our
redemption. On the basis of
Jesus’ sinless life and perfect
conformity to His will, the Father
"righteously” resurrected
Jesus and took Him to Heaven. The
Father coronated Jesus as man’s
high priest.[29] For the
past 2,000 years, Jesus has presided
over His church in much the same way
that Melchizedek
presided over his subjects.[30]
The
humiliation and exaltation of Jesus
is important to understand. When the
power of the little horn was broken
(1798), Jesus went before the Father
and after being found worthy, He was
promoted to the throne of God.
Instead of sitting at the right hand
of the Father as a prince and High
Priest, Daniel 7:13,14 indicates that
Jesus was coronated as a co-regent
king with the Father and given
sovereign power! In Prophecy 6, we
will learn that Jesus was also found
worthy to receive the book sealed
with seven seals (The Book of Life)
when He was given the seven
attributes of sovereign power.[31] Think
about this. Sovereign power can only
be bestowed once. Once a person has
sovereign authority, how can he be
given greater power?
The Father
gave Jesus sovereign power in 1798
because Jesus began a new phase of
work in Heaven that requires
sovereign power. The Father needed
someone to (a) resolve the sin
problem on Earth, (b) exonerate the
character and government of God, and
(c) judge each sinner
compassionately. The worthiness of
Jesus for this task is beyond
question. He is the only person in
the universe who can perfectly
complete all three tasks. Jesus began
exercising sovereign power in 1798.
He has to accomplish several
objectives which the Father requires
Him to do. For example, as sovereign
king, Jesus is free to fulfill the
requirements of each of the seven
seals according to His own wisdom and
authority. Jesus is free to glorify
the Father according to His own
wisdom and He is free to resolve many
questions about God’s government
that could not be answered otherwise.
Jesus can pass eternal judgment on
human beings as He desires. He is
free to conduct Heaven’s
business in whatever way He deems
appropriate as long as He produces
the objectives which the plan of
redemption requires. At the end of
the 1,000 years,[32] Jesus will
complete His special work. He will
fully exonerate the character and
ways of God and in turn, the Father
will glorify Jesus before the
universe as a co-eternal God. Jesus
went into the depths of humiliation
to save sinners from the second death
and in the end, the Father will exalt
Him as an equal!
At the end of
the 1,000 years, Paul’s
prediction will be fulfilled: “Then
the end will come, when he [Jesus] hands
over the kingdom to God the Father
after he has destroyed all dominion,
authority and power. For he [Jesus] must
reign until he has put all his
enemies under his feet. The last
enemy to be destroyed is death. For
he [the Father]‘has put
everything under his feet.’ Now
when it says that
‘everything’ has been put
under him, it is clear that this does
not include God himself, who put
everything under Christ. When he [Jesus
has destroyed the works of sin] has
done this, then the Son himself will [surrender
His sovereign power and] be made
subject to him who put everything
under him, so that God [the
Father] may be all in all [the
greatest of all].”[33]
The Rules of
Interpretation
Please
consider how the Rules of
Interpretation (discussed in the
Introduction) are observed in this
prophecy:
Rule One says
an apocalyptic prophecy has a
beginning point and ending point in
time and the events within the
prophecy occur in the order
given. This prophecy begins with a
lion (Babylon) rising from the sea
and it ends with the beasts being
burned in the fire (Second Coming).
The events in this vision occur in
chronological order:
- Lion
rises from the sea
- Bear
rises from the sea
- Leopard
rises from the sea
- Monster
beast with ten horns rises
from the sea
- A
little horn appears and
uproots three horns
- Eighth
horn speaks boastfully and
persecutes the saints for
1,260 years
- Thrones
are arranged in Heaven and
the Ancient of Days takes His
seat
- Books
opened
- Little
horn returns to power, speaks
boastfully
- Beasts
burned in the fire
This vision
covers the same time span as the
vision of Daniel 2 (Prophecy 1), but
this vision adds several important
details to the time period
represented by the feet of iron and
clay.
Rule Two says
a fulfillment only occurs when all of
the specifications are met, and this
includes the order stated in the
prophecy. This vision has not been
fulfilled. It is still underway. The
four beasts have come and are almost
gone, the power of the eighth horn
was broken in 1798, and Jesus has
been exalted, but we are waiting for
the eighth horn to return to power
and speak boastfully! When the
religious and political powers of
this world are destroyed at the
Second Coming, this vision will be
fulfilled.
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