And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the dividing of time. Daniel 7:25
Daniel’s visions, and the interpretation of them, are fascinating, because that great prophet was privileged to see things far into the future, even beyond our time. Daniel’s visions troubled him, even when he received the interpretations, because the events and people he foresaw were so incredible. He saw the rise and fall of great world empires and rulers down through the centuries, through our age, and into the great tribulation and the Kingdom age. Daniel was justified in being disturbed by the events that lay ahead. But what about the Christians, should we share Daniel’s concern?
I know people who avoid certain technologies because they see them as being tools set up to accommodate the rule of the antichrist. I know Christians who are building a great cache of provisions to keep their families alive during the great tribulation. In both cases, those Christians are misguided. Daniel feared for the future because his people were to be directly involved; the Jews will have to contend with the antichrist, and will experience the terror of the tribulation. Not so the Christians. The Rapture will extract us from this planet before the antichrist is manifested. But there is a measure in which these words apply to us, even though we are to be spared the great tribulation. The devil and his minions still do their worst to torment the Lord’s people, and we will experience little tribulations.
Just as Daniel saw one speaking great things against God, so do we today. Never in history have blasphemy and atheism been so rampant and so prominent. The antichrist’s forerunners are out in force, and we must encounter them. Just as Daniel saw the antichrist wearing out the tribulation saints, so we see the devil’s efforts to grind down the faithful saints today who seek to maintain a testimony for our Lord. Just as Daniel saw the antichrist changing the laws and the basic structures of society, so we see the enemies of the cross today seeking to destroy marriage, the family unit, and the biblical principles on which our laws and customs were once based. Just as Daniel saw the antichrist’s power limited to a short period, we can rejoice today at the assurance that the time of our sojourning is short, and the enemy’s power is limited.
We read of Daniel’s prophecies against the backdrop of our Saviour’s words, Let not your heart be troubled! -Jim MacIntosh