Adult/Teen Bible Study                                         Lesson 7, Nov. 23, 2014

What troubles you?  Have you ever received information you didn’t understand and it troubled you?  Have you ever been troubled even after understanding the information?  Are you ever troubled by the Word of God?  When you hear the truth, when you don’t understand it or perhaps when you do, does it still trouble you.  Mark Twain is reported to have said, “It isn’t the portion of the Bible which I don’t understand that bothers me; it’s the ones I do!” 

Daniel received God’s prophetic revelation and it troubled him.  This information was another view of the world empires that he reported  in Daniel 2.  This time the view was from a completely different perspective. 

This lesson reminds us that we need to receive God’s Word, then comprehend His Word and finally contemplate God’s Word.  How does God’s prophetic Word touch your life?  

Read Daniel 7.

I.            The Content of the Revelation – Dan. 7:1 – 14

1.      When was Daniel’s vision revealed to him? (v. 1)

2.      What is the general description of Daniel’s vision? (v. 2, 3) 

3.       Read Isaiah 17:12 – 14 and Revelation 13:1; 17:15.  What does the sea represent in these scriptures?  Where are the beasts coming from in Daniel’s vision? (v. 3)

4.      What is the description of the first beast? (v. 4)

5.      How is the second beast described? (v.5)

6.      Describe the third beast in Daniel’s vision. (v.6)

7.      How was the fourth beast different from the rest? (v. 7, 8)

8.      How did Daniel describe the scene with the thrones? (v. 9, 10) Who was on the throne? Compare Revelation 4:4, 5.  

9.      What was set and what was opened? (v. 10) See Revelation 5:11 – 14.  This is not the Great White Throne judgment which occurs after the millennium, but is the setting for the judgment of the great tribulation and the return of Christ to establish His millennial kingdom here upon earth. 

10.  Read the description of the beast in Revelation 13:1 – 6.  What did Daniel observe that corresponds with the actions of the beast in Revelation 13:5?  See Daniel 7:11. 

11.  What happened to the fourth beast? (v. 11)  What happened to the other beast? (v. 12). 

12.  What occurred when the “Son of man” was before the Ancient of Days? (v. 13, 14)

II.            The Comprehension of the Revelation – Dan. 7:15 - 27  

13.   How did Daniel respond to this vision? (v. 15)

14.  Who explains the vision to Daniel? (v. 16)

15.  What did the four beasts represent? (v. 17)

16.  What will be established for ever and ever? (v. 18)

17.  What action will demonstrate the true nature of this fourth beast? (v. 19 – 25)

III.            The Contemplation – Dan. 7:28

18.    How was Daniel affected by all that was revealed to him?

Conclusion:     The prophecy concerning the fourth beast needs a closer look.  We will take another lesson to identify the nature of the final beast or nation before the Lord returns to rule and reign on the earth.  The nations of Babylon (lion), Media-Persia (bear), Greece (Leopard) and Rome (fierce beast) have come and gone.  But the Roman empire will be revived and from this place will come the one we refer to as the Anti-Christ.  How does God’s Word affect you?