The effect of the vision on Daniel (Daniel 7:15-28)

This was an amazing vision that Daniel had. It contained both good and bad things. How did Daniel respond? The answer is that he was greatly distressed: ‘As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my colour changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.’ What he saw affected him physically as well as emotionally. Why was he so affected? I would mention three negative reasons and one positive reason.

First, he was distressed because he had seen something of the development of human evil. Things were bad enough in Babylon, but this vision told him what Paul later declared when he said that evil people will get worse in behaviour (2 Tim. 3:12-14). Sins are practised today that our forefathers, even those who were not converted, could not have imagined. But are we as distressed about the development of evil as Daniel was? Surely, the state of society calls for sorrow on our part.

Second, Daniel was distressed because of the nature of divine judgement. He had received insight into what God was going to do when he acted in punishment. The prospect that awaited those cruel powers filled Daniel with dread. And we can ask ourselves, Does the reality of eternal punishment trouble our hearts? This calls for sobriety, to realise that we are not living in a playground.

Third, Daniel is distressed because he knows that many of God’s people are going to suffer, and he is distressed even although he does not know them personally, and that he will be in heaven long before their sufferings will begin. He had fellow-feeling with them in their pain. This calls for solidarity on our part with the many believers who today are suffering at the hands of hostile opponents.

Fourth, Daniel was overwhelmed by the greatness of the blessing that God’s people were going to inherit. Daniel knew about status and promotion from his personal experience in the court of Babylon. But all the earthly glory that he had seen paled into insignificance as he contemplated what lay ahead for God’s people. What God has in store for his people is much better than anything, indeed all, that the world can give.