Have you ever been discouraged by the fleeting stability of earthly governments and kingdoms? Kings come and go. Empires rise and fall. Nations rise from obscurity to power, enjoy prosperity for a time, but then sink into the mists of history. Of the vaunted glory of ancient civilizations, such as the Aztec and Inca in the Americas or the Egyptian and Sumerian in the Fertile Crescent, only a few scattered remnants remain of their existence.
Even in recent history, nations that were once great are great no more. The British Empire, upon which the sun never set in the past, is now a shadow of its former self. Mighty Germany, that once powerfully waged war with over a dozen nations arrayed against her, is now just a member state of the European Union. In contrast, China, weak and isolated only a century ago, today threatens to control the Far East, as well as to increase its influence over the entire world.
The Book of Daniel gives us an ongoing reminder of the transitory nature of earthly kingdoms. Daniel himself, as a young man, was witness to the overthrow of the Judean monarchy, the destruction of the Temple of Solomon, and the dismantling of Judean sovereignty over Jerusalem. He was taken to distant Babylon as a captive and made to submit to the rule of the Babylonian Empire.
Even so, Daniel “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8). Living far from his native Judea, he kept his allegiance to the God of Heaven, the everlasting King. The knowledge that God was eternal and that His Kingdom was everlasting encouraged Daniel during the dark days of his Babylonian captivity.
Daniel mentions God’s eternal nature and His everlasting Kingdom over and over in the book of his life and prophecies. Recorded in Chapter 2, when he was called to interpret the mysterious dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was given the interpretation from God in a night vision. Daniel’s prayer of thanksgiving affirmed God’s eternal nature: “Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding” (Daniel 2:20–21).
In giving the interpretation, Daniel explained how the great image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream was a foretelling of the great empires that were to come—Babylon was the head of gold; Persia was the breast and arms of silver; Greece was the belly and thighs of brass; and Rome was the legs of iron. This great image was then destroyed by a mighty stone that smashed it to pieces.
Daniel interpreted the great crushing stone to be the everlasting Kingdom of eternal God that would one day smash into pieces the temporal kingdoms of men, and then the stone—His Kingdom—would fill the earth. Daniel proclaimed, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).
Nebuchadnezzar lived to confess with his own mouth the truth of Daniel’s words about the everlasting nature of God’s Kingdom. After his seven-year humiliation, Nebuchadnezzar confessed, “I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation” (Daniel 4:34).
After Nebuchadnezzar’s death, Daniel the prophet lived to testify of the same truth to Belshazzar on the eve of the fall of Babylon. Interpreting the terrifying handwriting upon the wall, Daniel announced God’s message to the proud ruler: “This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it” (Daniel 5:26).
Just as God said, so it happened. The Babylonian empire was given into the hands of the Medes and the Persians that very night; Belshazzar was slain, and, as foretold by God to Nebuchadnezzar in his dream, the great head of gold was replaced by the breast and arms of silver. Kingdoms come and go, but the Kingdom of God is from everlasting to everlasting. It is to this eternal Kingdom that Daniel had sworn his allegiance.
Daniel testified of God’s everlasting Kingdom to the new rulers of Persia. When an astonished Darius called Daniel forth from the den of lions, the Persian ruler said of Daniel’s God, “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end” (Daniel 6:26).
In the remaining portion of the book, the prophetic visions of Daniel are given. There is a continued emphasis upon the everlasting Kingdom of the Almighty. In Chapter 7, Daniel described how all the thrones of earth are cast down and the “Ancient of Days” sits steadfastly upon His throne. Daniel said of the Son of Man that “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” (Daniel 7:14).
At the end of his visions, the prophet Daniel asked a question of natural curiosity, a curiosity about the future that many of us wonder about regarding the Last Days and all that God has yet in store for this earth. In Daniel 12:8 the prophet asked, “O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?”
This question is very similar to the question that the disciples asked Jesus on the Mount of Olives: “Lord, when shall these things be?” (Matthew 24:3). It is significant that in the coming Olivet Discourse in which Jesus addressed their question, our Lord told His disciples not what they wanted to know, but rather what they needed to know. (See Matthew 24:36.) So also the Lord told Daniel, “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9).
We live in the confines of time. God lives outside of time. Kingdoms rise and fall. Empires come and go, but our duty remains fixed, to serve the eternal King in our own generation, whenever and wherever that may be. The Lord God concludes the Book of Daniel with a promise: “Go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days” (Daniel 12:13).
Are you perplexed about the future? Have you been disappointed by the results of an election or other world events? Have you ever wondered what this world is coming to? There are things about the end times that we do not need to know. But, in light of what God’s Word does tell us, we are not to be fearful or dismayed! Be encouraged! God knows and He cares. The certain and glorious triumph of God’s everlasting Kingdom is not dependent upon the brief moment that we call today. Even in the midst of dark and discouraging days, we should, with the prophet Daniel, swear our allegiance to God and His everlasting Kingdom, to serve the Ancient of Days, and to live faithfully in the duty that God has given us to do in our own generation. When our rest comes and our mortal life comes to an end, then we will understand more fully and completely all that God has done, is doing, and will yet do “till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9).
