September 15 — Kingdoms, Atonement, and the Son of Man
SCRIPTURE READING:
Daniel 7-9
SCRIPTURE:
Daniel 7
¹In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
²Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
³And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
⁴The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
⁵And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
⁶After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
⁷After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
⁸I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
⁹I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
¹⁰A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
¹¹I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
¹²As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
¹³I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
¹⁴And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
¹⁵I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.
¹⁶I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.
¹⁷These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
¹⁸But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
¹⁹Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
²⁰And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.
²¹I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
²²Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
²³Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
²⁴And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
²⁵And 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.
²⁶But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
²⁷And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
²⁸Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
Daniel 8
¹In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.
²And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
³Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
⁴I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.
⁵And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
⁶And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
⁷And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
⁸Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
⁹And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
¹⁰And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
¹¹Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
¹²And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
¹³Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
¹⁴And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
¹⁵And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
¹⁶And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
¹⁷So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
¹⁸Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
¹⁹And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
²⁰The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
²¹And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
²²Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
²³And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
²⁴And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
²⁵And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
²⁶And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
²⁷And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.
Daniel 9
¹In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
²In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
³And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
⁴And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
⁵We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
⁶Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
⁷O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
⁸O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
⁹To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
¹⁰Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
¹¹Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
¹²And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
¹³As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
¹⁴Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
¹⁵And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
¹⁶O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
¹⁷Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
¹⁸O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
¹⁹O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
²⁰And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
²¹Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
²²And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
²³At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
²⁴Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
²⁵Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
²⁶And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
²⁷And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
DEVOTIONAL:
Daniel 7 shifts from court narratives to apocalyptic vision. Four beasts rise from a turbulent sea, representing kingdoms marked by predatory power. Human empires often describe themselves with noble symbols; heaven's vision exposes what domination can become when power is severed from righteousness. The scene then changes. The Ancient of days sits in judgment, the books are opened, and beastly dominion is limited. Into that courtroom comes 'one like the Son of man' with the clouds of heaven, receiving everlasting dominion and a kingdom embracing all peoples and languages. Jesus repeatedly uses 'Son of man' for Himself, and at His trial He draws on Daniel's cloud-coming authority. The contrast is profound: beastly kingdoms devour, but the truly human King receives dominion from God and shares His kingdom with the saints.
Chapter 8 narrows the symbolic focus to identifiable empires. The angel names Media-Persia and Greece, then describes a fierce ruler whose arrogance reaches against the holy people and the sanctuary. Much of the chapter's historical horizon fits the persecution associated with Antiochus IV Epiphanes centuries later, though interpreters differ over how the vision's language also anticipates later or final opposition. Daniel's response is not speculative excitement; he becomes physically overwhelmed and then returns to the king's business. That response is instructive. Prophecy should enlarge awe and faithfulness, not detach believers from ordinary responsibility. Whatever patterns of antichrist-like arrogance recur through history, the decisive message is that the persecuting ruler's power is limited and he will be broken without ultimate human control.
Daniel 9 begins not with a chart but with Scripture, confession, and prayer. Daniel reads Jeremiah's prophecy concerning Jerusalem's desolations and responds by seeking God with fasting. His prayer identifies with Israel's sin even though Daniel's own life has been exemplary: 'we have sinned.' He appeals to God's covenant mercy, acknowledges the justice of the exile, and asks for restoration for the Lord's sake rather than Israel's righteousness. This is mature intercession. It refuses both self-exoneration and despair. Gabriel's answer concerning seventy weeks has generated several faithful Christian interpretations about chronology and fulfillment. The text clearly moves toward dealing with transgression, sin, reconciliation, everlasting righteousness, Jerusalem, and 'Messiah the Prince.' We should affirm that messianic and redemptive center while holding detailed timelines with appropriate humility.
For Christians, Jesus is the Son of Man whose kingdom cannot pass away and the Messiah who is cut off yet not defeated. His death makes reconciliation for sinners, and His resurrection establishes the certainty of everlasting righteousness. Daniel's visions therefore do more than satisfy curiosity about successive empires. They teach the church how to live while beasts still rise: confess rather than boast, pray from Scripture, serve faithfully, endure pressure, and look to the enthroned Messiah. The saints receive the kingdom because God gives it, not because they out-devour the beasts. Christian politics and discipleship alike are corrupted when the church adopts beastly methods in the name of defending a righteous cause. The kingdom of the Son of Man forms a people whose endurance, truth, holiness, and hope display a different kind of rule.
In daily life, let Daniel's sequence become a discipline: read Scripture carefully, allow it to expose reality, confess what it reveals, pray according to God's character, and then return to the work in front of you. When prophecy raises questions, distinguish what the text states from the interpretation you currently prefer. Families can teach older children that faithful Christians sometimes disagree about prophetic timelines without surrendering the central truths of Christ's return, resurrection, judgment, and kingdom. In church conversations, refuse to treat eschatological confidence as a test of spiritual maturity beyond what Scripture itself makes central. Meanwhile, imitate Daniel's corporate concern by confessing the sins of your community without pretending that you are personally guilty of every act you lament.
In U.S. civic life, the virtue is restraint in the pursuit of power. Pray that political movements, officeholders, activists, media figures, and citizens will reject dehumanization, coercive cruelty, and the belief that a good goal justifies beastly means. Ask God to protect religious and ethnic minorities from persecution and to strengthen institutions that can check abusive authority. Pray for the church to resist apocalyptic rhetoric that carelessly labels political opponents as prophetic monsters. A Christian civic witness should be courageous against tyranny, unwilling to imitate tyranny, and patient enough to pursue justice without surrendering truth or neighbor-love because the Son of Man already holds the everlasting kingdom.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What does the contrast between the beasts and the Son of Man reveal about the character of earthly domination versus God's kingdom?
Why is Daniel's response to prophecy in chapters 8 and 9 a useful corrective to sensational approaches to biblical prediction?
How does Daniel's corporate confession combine personal integrity with solidarity in the sins and consequences of his people?
Where are Christians most tempted to adopt dehumanizing methods because they believe their political or cultural goal is righteous?
PRAYER:
ADORATION: Ancient of days, Your court outranks every empire and Your judgment cannot be manipulated. You have given everlasting dominion to the Son of Man, and His kingdom will never pass away.
CONFESSION: We confess our sins and the sins we too easily tolerate around us. Forgive our fascination with power, our careless prophetic certainty, and our temptation to use methods that contradict the character of Your King.
THANKSGIVING: Thank You for Jesus the Messiah, cut off yet risen, who brings reconciliation and everlasting righteousness. We praise You that the saints' future rests in Your gift rather than in their ability to conquer by worldly force.
SUPPLICATION – GENERAL: Teach us to read Scripture humbly, confess honestly, pray deeply, work faithfully, and endure patiently. Give churches charity in disputed prophetic matters and firmness in the truths You have made clear.
SUPPLICATION – U.S. / CIVIC: Restrain abusive power and dehumanizing political behavior in our nation. Protect minorities and dissenters from unjust coercion, strengthen lawful checks on authority, and make Christians examples of courageous conviction without cruelty.
SCRIPTURE: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.