Daniel 7: One Like a SON OF MAN - Tim HORMAN
Have you ever looked at the news, or at your own city, and wondered: if Jesus really is Lord, why does evil still seem to run the show? Why do corrupt powers keep winning? When will justice finally come?
If you've ever asked those questions, you're in good company. Daniel asked them too, sitting in exile in Babylon some two and a half thousand years ago. And in Daniel 7, God answered him with one of the strangest, most terrifying and most hope-filled visions in all of Scripture.
This week Tim Horman brought us to the halfway point of our Resisting Babylon series, opening up Daniel 7. It's a significant transition in the book: from here on, Daniel shifts from stories of life in exile to wild dreams, visions and angelic visitations. But as Tim showed us, this chapter is not just the centre of the book of Daniel. It's one of the most important chapters in the whole Old Testament for understanding what it means for Jesus to be our Messiah. You can watch the full message in the video above, or listen to the audio version below.
Four beasts from a churning sea
Daniel's dream opens with the four winds of heaven churning up a great sea, and out of the chaos rise four great beasts: one like a lion with eagle's wings, one like a bear with ribs in its teeth, one like a four-headed leopard, and then a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful, with great iron teeth, crushing and devouring everything in its path.
Tim pointed out that the dream deliberately echoes the creation story, but something is wrong. Unlike Genesis 1, where the Spirit of God hovers over the waters bringing order, peace and life, here the churning sea of chaos is being stirred up by something else entirely. Something anti-God, anti-creation, destructive and deadly is being unleashed into the world.
Thankfully, an angel in the dream tells Daniel what the beasts mean: they are kings, or empires, that will arise from the earth. Israel's prophets often pictured violent, oppressive kingdoms as wild animals, and most commentators agree the first three beasts represent Babylon, then the Medo-Persian empire, then Greece sweeping across the ancient world with legendary speed under Alexander the Great.
The beasts have some human characteristics, eyes and mouths that speak, and Tim drew out what that detail is telling us: human intelligence, ingenuity and creativity mixed with a wild, beastly bloodlust. Quoting John Lennox, whose commentary Against the Flow has guided the preaching team through this series, Tim described the vision as a picture of the dark underbelly of politics: the jockeying for power with fewer and fewer moral qualms until all humanity and compassion disappears under the ruthless lust for domination.
The fourth beast is different. It can't be compared to any animal. Commentators disagree on what it represents: some say the late Greek empire, some say Rome. But the angel tells Daniel this fourth kingdom will devour the whole earth, and as great as Rome was, it never reached that level of power. The same beast appears again in Revelation 13, a final, global, beastly power energised by satanic force that will arise before Christ returns. Tim reminded us that biblical prophecy can carry several meanings at once: the fourth beast is Rome in part, and every ungodly empire fuelled by demonic hatred since, and the final beastly power still to come.
It's a terrifying picture. But Tim was quick to remind us why we don't need to be afraid:
We must remember, friends, that whatever these beasts mean, whatever the future holds, we can take heart because we know how the story ends. We know who has the victory. Christ will return. He will destroy the beast. He will restore all things.
A courtroom in heaven
It's in the midst of Daniel's anguished questions, the same questions we ask, that the vision suddenly changes. Thrones are set in place, and the Ancient of Days takes his seat. His clothing is white as snow, his throne is ablaze with fire, and thousands upon thousands attend him. The court is seated, and the books are opened.
The Ancient of Days is one of the most magnificent titles for God in all of Scripture. He is the eternal one, the King of all time, the sovereign Lord over human history. And this heavenly courtroom scene is surely, above all else, what the vision intends to show us:
The beasts look invincible from the ground, from our perspective, but not from the perspective of heaven.
God is not panicking. He is not pacing around his throne room trying to work out what to do. When the time for judgment comes, the court sits, the books are opened, and the beast is stripped of its authority and destroyed forever.
Why judgment is good news
Many people think the idea of God's judgment is negative, medieval or unloving. Tim was blunt: they could not be more wrong. The judgment of God is one of the most hopeful and joyful ideas in all of Scripture.
When you are suffering persecution or injustice at the hands of ungodly powers, the question burning in your mind is: how long will this go on, and will anything ever be done about it? Daniel's vision answers that question. Records have been kept. One day the court will sit, the books will be opened, and rational, measured, righteous justice will be done.
Because God is a God of judgment, that means he is a God of love who longs to put the world right.
If God didn't care about what has been done to this world and to human beings made in his image, if he just wanted to sweep it all under the carpet, he would be no God of love at all. But he is a God of love, and therefore he is a God of justice.
One like a Son of Man
Then Daniel sees one more figure, and this is where the whole vision comes together. One "like a son of man" comes with the clouds of heaven, approaches the Ancient of Days, and is given authority, glory and sovereign power. All nations and peoples of every language worship him, and his kingdom will never be destroyed.
The Aramaic phrase translated "son of man" simply means the human one. And this, Tim explained, is the contrast at the very heart of the vision. On one side are the beasts: violent, arrogant, predatory powers that rise up from the chaotic sea and seize power by violence. On the other side is the truly human one, who comes on the clouds of heaven and receives his authority from God. He represents what humanity was always supposed to be.
Who is this human one? We know the Sunday school answer, and it's the right one. Jesus was called Christ, Messiah and Lord by many people, but the title he preferred for himself was "the Son of Man". And he got it from Daniel 7.
The trial where the judges were judged
At his trial, standing before Caiaphas and the whole religious court of Israel, a court searching for false evidence, a mockery of justice, Jesus was put under oath: tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God. His answer was to quote Daniel 7: "From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Tim put it memorably: Jesus walked into a room full of Bible experts and put on Daniel 7 like a costume. It would be like arriving at a Star Wars convention dressed in black, wearing a shiny helmet and carrying a red lightsaber. Nobody would need to explain anything. Everyone in that room knew exactly what Jesus was claiming: I am the human one Daniel saw. I am the Messiah who has come to claim a kingdom that will never end.
The high priest knew it too, which is why he tore his clothes in rage, and why the court immediately turned to violence. But here's the confronting twist: if Jesus is the Son of Man in this scene, who is the beast? It's the religious and political leadership of God's own people, who had become the very thing they were supposed to resist.
The moment you condemn me is the moment that God will vindicate me. The moment you lift me to a cross is the moment that I'll be lifted to the throne of the universe.
Jesus conquered the beast not by becoming a bigger beast, not by taking up the beast's weapons, but by allowing the beast to conquer him on the cross. And even there, the beast could not twist him into its own image. Even on the cross, he was crying out, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing."
Keeping Babylon out of our hearts
Tim was careful to say that Daniel is not telling us all governments are evil, and we're not being called to withdraw into private religious ghettos. Daniel himself served at the highest level of a government that God transformed. But we are being told to keep our eyes open and our wits about us. When human power refuses to acknowledge any authority above itself, when its own survival and glory become the ultimate end, it becomes beastly. It devours people rather than serving them.
And the sobering truth is that this can happen anywhere. Any nation can become Babylon. Any government, corporation, movement, party, media platform or religious institution can become beastly. Even the people of God can become the beast, and church history shows it. But before it ever manifests in systems of oppression, it takes root somewhere much closer to home: the human heart. The beasts that appear on the outside are always the outward manifestation of the beast that has first taken hold within.
We're still living in Babylon, but our task as followers of Jesus living in Babylon is to ensure that Babylon doesn't come to live in us.
That's the challenge of Daniel 7 for us in Melbourne in 2026, in our workplaces, schools, friendships and families: to keep believing, often despite appearances, that Jesus is the King of this city, and to live by courageous faith. Because we belong not to the beasts but to Christ, the truly human one, who is remaking us in his image and will one day give us resurrection life in the new creation.
One way to live it out this week
This week, pay attention to where the beastly pattern shows up close to home. When you feel the pull to win at someone else's expense, to protect your own comfort or reputation no matter the cost, or to write someone off as an enemy, pause and name it for what it is. Then pray a simple prayer: "Jesus, you are the true human one. Remake this part of me in your image." Resisting Babylon out there starts with refusing to let Babylon live in here.
A short prayer for your week
Father, thank you that you are the Ancient of Days,
the sovereign Lord over all of human history.
When the beasts of this world look invincible,
help us to see from the perspective of heaven.
Thank you that Jesus, the true human one, has won the victory,
not by force, but through the cross.
Search our hearts, and keep Babylon from taking root within us,
and remake us in the image of your Son.
Amen.
Personal Reflection
Where in your life right now is it hardest to believe that Jesus, not the "beasts", is truly in charge? What would courageous faith look like in that place?
Tim said the beast takes root in the human heart before it ever shows up in systems and empires. What desire, impulse or appetite in you is most at risk of becoming beastly if left unchecked?
How does the picture of the heavenly courtroom, where the books are opened and justice is finally done, change the way you carry the injustices you have experienced or witnessed?
Small Group Discussion
Read Daniel 7:1-14 aloud together. What images stand out to you most, and what emotions does the vision stir up?
The four beasts represent empires that mix human intelligence with beastly violence. Where do you see that combination at work in our world today?
Tim said the central message of the vision is that "the beasts look invincible from the ground, but not from the perspective of heaven." When have you found it hard to hold onto that heavenly perspective?
Many people see God's judgment as a negative idea, but Tim argued it is one of the most hopeful ideas in Scripture. How did this message affirm or challenge the way you think about judgment?
Jesus took "Son of Man" as his favourite title for himself, drawing directly on Daniel 7. What does it mean to you that Jesus is "the truly human one", showing us what humanity was always supposed to be?
At his trial, Jesus quoted Daniel 7 to a court that had itself become beastly. What warnings should the church today take from the fact that even the people of God can become the beast?
"Our task as followers of Jesus living in Babylon is to ensure that Babylon doesn't come to live in us." What practices help you keep watch over your own heart?
Share one area where you want to resist Babylon's pattern this week, then spend time praying for one another, asking the Spirit to remake each of you in the image of the true human one.