“As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14 NLT
Daniel was given these amazing visions concerning things that happen in the heavens, in the spiritual realm that we do not see but yet exists. And Daniel admits he was troubled by all he had seen and the visions terrified him! (Daniel 7:15).
I love that Daniel tells his readers that he had no idea what these visions meant. In a vision within a vision, like Inception, Daniel asks one of those, “standing beside the throne,” what it all meant. Then Daniel, being a curious visioneer, asks about one particular beast – different from the other three.
Think about this: in this vision Daniel is not just seeing it, he’s engaging with some of the characters in the vision. How is that even possible? The vision had to have been more real than just a dream! Have you ever had an interactive vision or dream? I had one as a young boy. It was very surreal to have a conversation, asking questions of a dream character and have them answer back.
After this heavenly person finished explaining the details of the vision, it all ended. Daniel writes, “I, Daniel, was terrified by my thoughts and my face was pale with fear, but I kept these things to myself.” (Daniel 7:28). God wanted Daniel to see the future, even to see Jesus, in action, receiving all authority, honor and sovereignty over all the nations. God wanted Daniel to see the beasts, in all their viscous, ferocious abilities to destroy human lives. And, God allowed Daniel to discover what this massive vision meant. What a responsibility to capture it and write it down. These magnificent other-worldly experiences do not happen that often in the Bible. And the people God entrusted with these visions were given this gift to share hope and confidence in God that would continue working until the end of days and beyond.
Prayer
Dad,
Dreams and visions are powerful enough, just under normal life circumstances. But wow, Daniel’s visions and his descriptions of what he saw are just amazing. I admire those who can make theological sense out of what you showed Daniel and even more impressive is what it meant to the people of Israel then and to all of us now. I try to wrap my head around the fact that Daniel saw a glimpse of Your glory AND Jesus, as the ancient of days while living in ancient days! Thank you for your word. Thank you for working all good in those who love you.