Daniel 7: The Dream of Beasts

The group read through and discussed Daniel 7 this morning but a lot more discussion is ahead of us on this chapter. Mike Witzig shared with us that Daniel 7 is thought by some scholars to be one of the five most important chapters in the Bible. We discussed how the anti-Christ might be identified and the view that Satan, not knowing the time of the end, has to have a new anti-Christ for each generation and so there have been many and there will be more. I will always remember my grandmother Daisy's warning, "Watch out, the Devil is a gentleman." That warning served me well in business. We also discussed the comparison of this chapter to Daniel 2 and Nebuchadnezzar's dream wherein the Lion is Babylon, the Bear is Persia, the Leopard is Greece, and the Beast is Rome - but look at the terrible kingdoms that have come and gone since - more to discuss.

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Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

We went through Daniel, Chapter 2 this morning. It is one of my favorite chapters. Once again, the message is - no matter how things seem to be going for you, if you are true to your faith, things will turn out much better than you expect. We talked about how haunting the dream must have been to make the King turn on his magicians, enchanters, and astrologers. This haunting dream occurred in his second year on the throne and the bible doesn't indicate if these advisors were of his choosing or left over from his successor,  King Nabopolassar (626BC-605BC) but in any case the King is alarmed and therefore (by the will of God) willing to let Daniel attempt to interpret his dream. This Chapter made me decide, twenty three years ago, to run my businesses guided by the book of Daniel.

We also discussed dreams and the difference between dreams and visions. We know they are different because of what is written in Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." Joel would not have mentioned dreams and visions separately if they were the same thing. We agreed that dreams occur while sleeping and visions occur while awake.