LESSON THIRTY

THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING
HUMAN GOVERNMENT
IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL

OUTLINE

1. The relationship between the major prophecies in Daniel.
2. The prophecy concerning human government:
   1. The vision concerning Nebuchadnezzar’s dream:
      1. The contents of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
      2. The destiny of the great human image.
      3. God’s people needing a proper view.
   2. The vision concerning the four beasts out of the Mediterranean Sea:
      1. The first beast.
      2. The second beast.
      3. The third beast.
      4. The fourth beast.
      5. Concerning the rest of the beasts.
   3. The vision concerning a ram and a male goat with its successors:
      1. A ram.
      2. A male goat.
      3. The successors of the male goat:
         1. In the place of the great horn, four conspicuous ones coming up toward the four winds of heaven.
         2. A little horn coming forth out of one of the four horns.
   4. The vision concerning the king of the south and the king of the north:
      1. The fighting of the last king of the kingdom of Persia against the kingdom of Greece.
      2. The kingdom of Greece being divided into four kingdoms under Alexander the Great’s four generals.
      3. The wars back and forth between the king of the south and the king of the north.
      4. The kingdom and the evils of Antiochus Epiphanes as one of the kings of the north.
3. Seeing that the world situation is under the rule of the heavens by the God of the heavens to match His economy for Christ.

TEXT

In this lesson we will consider the prophecies concerning human government in Daniel. Daniel is a special book because more than half of its prophecies concern the Gentiles, unlike the other books of the prophets that are mainly concerning the children of Israel. Although the other prophets also spoke concerning the Gentiles, the scope of their prophecies is not as extensive as that of Daniel’s, which is concerning the four great empires of the world and the nations that were to rise up afterward, beginning from the time that Babylon first invaded Judah to the Lord’s second coming to establish His kingdom. This period of time is what the Lord referred to as “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). Through Daniel we can fully understand how the history of human government under the Gentiles is closely related to God’s economy and the history of God’s people.

I. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
THE MAJOR PROPHECIES IN DANIEL

Four chapters in Daniel specifically prophesy concerning human government. Chapter 2 is about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Chapter 7 concerns the vision of the four beasts out of the Mediterranean Sea. Chapter 8 is about the conflict between the ram and the male goat, and chapter 11 is about the king of the south and the king of the north.

The great image in chapter 2 has four parts. The first part is the head, the second is the breast and the arms, the third is the abdomen and thighs, and the fourth is the legs and feet, including the ten toes. The period of history signified by the first three parts and the two legs has already been fulfilled. However, the period of time signified by the ten toes is yet to be fulfilled. The four beasts in chapter 7 correspond to the four parts of the great image in chapter 2. The first beast corresponds to the head of the image, the second beast corresponds to the breast and the arms of the image, the third beast corresponds to the abdomen and thighs of the image, and the fourth beast corresponds to the legs, including the toes of the image. According to the vision in chapter 7, the fourth beast will eventually bring forth ten horns. These ten horns correspond to the ten toes in the fourth part of the great image. The ram and the male goat in chapter 8 correspond to the second and the third beasts in chapter 7. Therefore, the male goat corresponds to the third beast and to the third part of the great image. The male goat in chapter 8 eventually has four horns, and out from one of the horns comes forth a little horn. Chapter 11 is concerning two kings: the king of the south and the king of the north. The king of the north, who corresponds to the little horn of the male goat in chapter 8, is a shadow of Antichrist.

We need to pay attention to the relationship between these four chapters in Daniel. The four beasts in chapter 7 correspond to the four parts of the great image in chapter 2. The ram and the male goat in chapter 8 correspond to the second and the third beasts in chapter 7. The king of the north in chapter 11 comes out of one of the four horns of the male goat. Eventually, the king of the north is the little horn in chapter 8.