The year was about 556BC. It had been just over 30 years since the armies of the Babylonian Empire had invaded Judah, destroyed Jerusalem, and taken the Jewish people into exile. For thirty years, God’s people had lived in a foreign land under the oppression of a military dictatorship and dreamed of God restoring them and returning them to their homes.
Then, one night, the prophet Daniel had a dream (Daniel 7:1-18). He saw four beasts coming up from the churning sea during a great storm. The first looked like a lion with eagles’ wings, which were pulled off as it stood up and it was given ‘a human mind’ (v4 NLT). The second looked like a bear with three ribs in its mouth (v5). The third looked like a leopard with four wings of a bird and four heads (v6). Daniel struggled to describe the fourth but wrote that it was ‘terrifying, dreadful, and very strong’ with ‘huge iron teeth’ with which it crushed its victims and ‘trampled their remains beneath its feet’ (v7 NLT).
The rest of chapter 7 explores the identity of the beasts and the meaning of the dream. Most Bible scholars agree that the four beasts represent the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empires, the four main military powers which dominated that part of the world during ancient times. Daniel’s vision took a turn, however, in verse 13 when he saw ‘someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven’ (NLT). Daniel continued by writing, ‘His rule is eternal – it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed’ (14 NLT). Then, to his relief, Daniel was told, “in the end, the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever” (v18 NLT).
During the three years of his earthly ministry, Jesus regularly referred to himself as the ‘Son of Man’. When the Jewish people of his time heard Jesus use that title, they would have known that he was referring to this passage of Scripture which identified their Saviour, the one who would rescue and deliver them, as ‘someone like a son of man’ (v13). That was one of the reasons why people of that time and place hoped that Jesus would drive the Romans out of Judea, liberate them from the oppression of the Empire, and establish God’s kingdom which would never end. They saw themselves as God’s ‘holy people’ who had the Law of Moses which showed them what they had to do to live as God’s holy people. They believed that the foretold ‘son of man’ would come with the clouds of heaven with all of God’s authority to set up a political kingdom which would last forever.
To a lot of people’s great disappointment, Jesus didn’t live up to their expectations. He didn’t come as the Son of Man to set up a political kingdom using the worldly weapons of military strength, fear, hatred and violence. Jesus didn’t exercise power and control by driving the enemies of the Jews out of their homeland. Instead, Jesus came to establish a spiritual kingdom in which grace, love, mercy and compassion set people free to live in deep and enduring hope, peace and joy. Jesus, the Son of Man, came with all of God’s authority in humility and weakness by giving his life for the world on the cross. Jesus came to set his people free from the oppression of guilt, fear, and hatred through his crucifixion and resurrection. While the ancient Jews thought holiness could be achieved by keeping the Law of Moses, Jesus came to make his people holy by forgiving us for our sins, cleansing us from the stain of selfishness and injustice, and making us pure in God’s sight. Jesus came to give the Kingdom of the Most High to his followers by gifting us with his own holiness so we can possess it and live in peace in Christ’s kingdom now and forever.
Two thousand years later, it can look like not much has changed in the world from ancient times. Nations still pursue the goal of conquest and empire through either military or economic means. Nations continue to invade other nations, using the weapons of fear, hatred and violence to exercise control and power. Watching the news or scrolling through our newsfeeds can be a nightmare for us, just like Daniel’s dream was for him. However, God’s promise to Daniel is still good news for us, just like it was for him. Jesus, the Son of Man, comes to us with the full authority of heaven to establish God’s kingdom of peace and love in our hearts, and to give us a place in something better than what we see around us.
Jesus comes to make us his holy people, his communion of saints, through the gifts of his grace and the Holy Spirit. Jesus forgives us for our sins and cancels our debts. He removes the stain of guilt and covers our shame. Jesus purifies us from everything we have done and everything that has been done to us which makes us unclean or unacceptable to God and to other people. Through his holy life, his innocent death, and his resurrection to new life, Jesus makes us holy. When the person in Daniel’s dream said to him that “in the end, the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever” (v18 NLT), he was talking about us. We are part of the spiritual kingdom of the Son of Man through our faith in Jesus. In the face of worldly empires and the violence and turmoil they spread, God gives us a place in his kingdom of peace, love, joy and righteousness now as we trust in Jesus. This kingdom will remain ours beyond death and for all eternity.
As we celebrate the festival of All Saints this week, Daniel’s words speak good news to us in a couple of ways. Firstly, as we remember our loved ones who have been called from this life into eternity, we have God’s promise that they are numbered with God’s holy people as they rule with him in his kingdom now. They have been delivered from this world’s pain and struggles, and they have received a place in Christ’s eternal kingdom. These words also speak good news to us by reminding us that the empires we face will not last. Like the empires of the ancient world, the time will come when they will pass away into the history books. The kingdom which we receive from Christ, however, will never pass away. It will endure for all eternity without end. In the face of worldly empires, with their hatred, violence and destruction, we can remember that we don’t need to play by their rules. As God’s holy people, we have been given the kingdom of grace, peace, humility and compassion. The way we battle against the empires of our world as God’s holy people is with the weapons he has given us: compassion, kindness, mercy, forgiveness and grace. Just as our loved ones fully experience the Kingdom of the Most High now, when we pray, ‘Your kingdom come’ and live as God’s holy people, his eternal kingdom comes into the world to do his good and grace-filled will through us, God’s holy people of his eternal kingdom.
More to think about or discuss:
- How do you think Daniel might have felt after he had his dream in chapter 7? How might we feel similar when we look at the state of the world in our own time? How might it be different?
- What do you think it means to be God’s ‘holy people’? How might that shape how we see ourselves? How we see other people?
- How is Christ’s kingdom different to worldly empires? What does that mean for the way we live our lives as citizens of Christ’s kingdom here & now?
Pastor Eugene Online 
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