God Reigns: Daniel 7:9-12
God’s supremacy is our greatest comfort in a turbulent world. Everything changes. Things come and go. Yet, God remains the same. God remains supreme.
As Daniel continues his vision, he turns his head towards God. Thrones are established; the Ancient of Days takes His seat. The Ancient of Days is a term for God alongside names we’re more familiar with like King of Kings or Lord of the Heavenly Host. The name Daniel uses here emphasizes the eternity of God, specifically an eternity beginning before we even existed.
The Ancient of Days is dressed in white with hair like wool. God wants Daniel to portray his purity. God is incorruptible. There is no blemish or disfiguring in Him.
God is wreathed in fire. His throne is on fire. God literally sits among the flames and is not consumed. The wheels of his throne are also wreathed in fire; wherever God goes, the fire travels with Him. A stream of fire even goes before Him! God wants Daniel to portray Him in terms of judgment, which fire typically represents in scripture.
The vision of God thus far is in juxtaposition of the beasts that came before. Whereas the beasts displayed some combination of splendor and destructive capability, they could not be splendid and destructive at the same time. The more splendid the beast is, the less destructive it is. The more destructive the beast is, the less splendid it is. This is not true with God. God is the purest thing there is. Nothing is more splendid than Him. At the same time, God’s judgment is an all-consuming fire. Nothing that is impure will survive the fire of His judgment.
Daniel sees a thousand-thousand (literally a million, or a very large gathering) serving God. He looks even more broadly and sees a ten-thousand-ten-thousand (literally a hundred-million, or a multitude) standing before Him. Among this great host of beings, Daniel sees books being opened. We’re not told what these books are, but given the stage set by the vision it is reasonable to assume these books are books of judgment.
Daniel looks once more to the beast – or more precisely to the little horn of the beast. The beast is killed and its body burned. The rest of the beasts are removed from their power but allowed to continue to exist for a little while.
Throughout the whole scene, the prevailing image is God’s supremacy. Regardless of the beasts’ splendor or their destructive capability, God deals with them almost as an afterthought. Their ability to destroy pales in comparison to God’s ability to reign.
Consider Daniel, who was born in Israel under a Hebrew king, saw Nebuchadnezzar take his people into exile, saw a succession of Babylonian kings take power, and finally saw Darius (underneath the power of Cyrus) reign. Daniel saw the rise and fall of people who thought themselves important. Here we see God reigns over all. God’s supremacy is our greatest comfort in a turbulent world.
