Foggy Vision

Daniel 7:4-8


 ⁴ “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.  ⁵ “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’

 ⁶ “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

 ⁷ “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

 ⁸ “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.  


What a terrifying vision.  Four beasts all powerful and smart.  A lion with eagle wings, a bear that needed to eat, a leopard with wings and four heads.  Then the vision turned dark and a scary monster with iron teeth and horns and one of the horns had eyes of a human and a mouth.  That would be enough to scare me.  These qualities make for uneasiness in the pit of one's stomach.  I' sure Daniel was not sure what to make of it at first.  But as always, God had a purpose in this vision.  Sometimes we just have to go along until it's revealed, no matter how scary.  I think it's like being in fog.  Sometimes your visibility is through the distance.  Sometimes it's clouded and you can only see what's right in front of you.  I love fog, especially in San Francisco.  It is always dense, cool, yet pretty and gives a sense of uncertainty.  When the fog comes in thin and high, the sun burns it off quickly.  When the fog comes in thick and dense, it may take all day to clear.  Either way, you have to wait for it to lift before you can see clearly.  Daniel gives that uncertainty words, as he speaks of this vision.  But he trusts God and so should we.  He will lift the fog from our eyes when he feels the time is right.