Mystery by Design: Part I
Daniel 2 NASB - The King’s Forgotten Dream
The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel
[SUP]19 [/SUP]Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; [SUP]20 [/SUP]Daniel said,
“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
[SUP]21 [/SUP]
“It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and [SUP][ab][/SUP]establishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men
And knowledge to [SUP][ac][/SUP]men of understanding.
[SUP]22 [/SUP]
“It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with Him.
[SUP]23 [/SUP]“To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me wisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Medo-Persia and Greece
[SUP]39 [/SUP]After you
there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze,
which will rule over all the earth.
[SUP]44 [/SUP]
In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and
that kingdom will not be [SUP][
av][/SUP]left for another people; it
will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
Daniel 7 NASB - Vision of the Four Beasts
The Son of Man Presented
[SUP]13 [/SUP]“I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]“And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and [SUP][
k][/SUP]a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and
men of every [SUP][
l][/SUP]language
Might
serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.
[SUP]19 [/SUP]
“Then I desired to know the [SUP][r][/SUP]exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all [SUP][s][/SUP]the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze,
and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, [SUP]20 [/SUP]
and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great
boasts and [SUP][
t][/SUP]which was larger in appearance than its associates. [SUP]21 [/SUP]I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the [SUP][
u][/SUP]saints and overpowering them [SUP]22 [/SUP]
until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was [SUP][v][/SUP]passed in favor of the [SUP][w][/SUP]saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the [SUP][x][/SUP]saints took possession of the kingdom.
[SUP]23 [/SUP]“Thus he said: ‘
The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the
other kingdoms
and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.
Daniel 8 NASB - Vision of the Ram and Goat
[SUP]23 [/SUP]“In the latter period of their [SUP][
w][/SUP]rule,
When the transgressors have [SUP][
x][/SUP]run
their course,
A king will arise,
[SUP][
y][/SUP]Insolent and skilled in [SUP][
z][/SUP]intrigue.
[SUP]24 [/SUP]“His power will be mighty, but not by his
own power,
And he will [SUP][
aa][/SUP]destroy to an extraordinary degree
And prosper and perform
his will;
He will [SUP][
ab][/SUP]destroy mighty men and [SUP][
ac][/SUP]the holy people.
[SUP]25 [/SUP]“And through his shrewdness
He will cause deceit to succeed by his [SUP][
ad][/SUP]influence;
And he will magnify
himself in his heart,
And he will [SUP][
ae][/SUP]destroy many while
they are [SUP][
af][/SUP]at ease.
He will even [SUP][
ag][/SUP]oppose the Prince of princes,
But he will be broken without [SUP][
ah][/SUP]human agency.
[SUP]26 [/SUP]“The vision of the evenings and mornings
Which has been told is true;
But keep the vision secret,
For
it pertains to many days
in the future.”
[SUP]27 [/SUP]Then I, Daniel, was [SUP][
ai][/SUP]exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up
again and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to [SUP][
aj][/SUP]explain
it.
Supplemental reading:
10 Kingdoms?