Daniel 7:19-23 - Waging war against the holy people

7:19-22

Daniel then wanted to know the “meaning of the fourth beast”. How could the kingdom be theirs with this terrible power arising? It was violent, aggressive and powerful, crushing and devouring its victims. Then there were the ten horns that came before it, and the three of them that were removed. Almost as if to stress the point, Daniel sees the horn “waging war against the holy people and defeating them”. Any easy interpretation of God’s plans is almost certainly wrong. The disciples did not like the idea of Jesus going to the cross, but it was necessary, essential, and brought about our salvation. And, of course, it was followed by the resurrection. We can trust God completely. So the horn continued his onslaught “until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgement in favour of the holy people ''.  Then they possessed the kingdom. So the end result is certain, is completely dependent upon God, but the road there will not be easy.

7:23

Daniel then gets more of an explanation. The fourth kingdom. It will appear, and will be different from the preceding kingdoms. It will violently devour the whole earth. We should be prepared for such a kingdom arising. But it will not last forever, God will destroy this kingdom once and for all at the right time. There are two wrong views of apocalyptic events (there are of course many wrong views!). There is one that sees a painless victory, there is another that just sees an evil kingdom. There will be an unusually evil kingdom, but its defeat is certain.