If you ever read Daniel, you know it’s true. You go from chapter six to chapter seven and it’s like someone has thrown a switch. One moment you’re in the world of Sunday School stories, the next you’re at a prophecy conference. Dreams and fiery furnaces and lions’ dens suddenly give way to beasts and horns and battles, oh my! Simple math gives way to calculus. No wonder Daniel, after receiving his own set of dreams to interpret, is “in shock . . . like a man who had seen a ghost” (Dan. 7:28 MSG). No wonder he “walked around in a daze, unwell for days” (Dan. 8:27 MSG).

So, maybe I don’t feel so bad if, after reading Daniel 7 and 8 this morning, my head’s spinning a bit too.

But while there might be some stuff here that’s hard to understand, there’s some stuff that’s actually pretty clear. If the first part of Daniel wanted to drive home the point that “the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom He will” (Dan. 4:17, 4:25, 4:32, 5:21), then it seems part 2 of Daniel wants me to focus on a pretty clear message as well, that there’s a kingdom for the saints.

“As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.‘”

(Daniel 7:15-18 ESV)

The saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever . . . Chew on that a bit. And keep chewin’ — ’cause it’s repeated two more times in this opening salvo of mind-stretching prophecy (Dan. 7:22, 7:27).

We’re gonna receive a kingdom. We’re gonna be part of a reign. There’s a lot we may not know exactly about what happens between now and then, but we know there’s a kingdom for the saints. And this isn’t it!

For all our political posturing, for all our “salt and light” aspiring, for all our “Your kingdom come”-ing, this ain’t it yet. But it IS coming. The saints of the Most High SHALL receive the kingdom.

So, while our heads may spin, and our stomachs might churn as we try and figure out what’s going on in this world, let’s, like Daniel, “be about the King’s business” (Dan. 8:27).

Because the day is soon approaching and there’s a kingdom for the saints.

By His grace. For His glory.