Question:
I am re-reading your awesome book: “Daniel, Prophet to the Nations”. I am using this to study with a pre-millennial believer to show the kingdom came “in the days of those kings”. (2:44)  As you may already guess, the going is slow. But the argument should be easy if we get through Daniel…  The reason for the email is I am trying to be prepared for a question that has troubled me and will trouble Dennis for sure: in 7:27 in describing God’s kingdom it says … “His Kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and ALL RULERS will worship and obey him.”  How do we explain the “all rulers” and “obey him” part?  Thank you in advance
Response:
Thanks for the question.  You should bear in mind that Daniel 7 is an apocalyptic vision, so taking things literally is pretty questionable.  The physical description of the beasts is not literal.  We need to be careful about overly stretching the meaning of Daniel 7:27, but I believe it is saying something like this:  Daniel 7:27 is about the Kingdom of God.  In a spiritual sense, “the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over the to the saints, the people of the Most High.”   The world may not acknowledge this authority!  Despite this “his kingdom will be a everlasting kingdom” and in this kingdom (be it the Church or, later in heaven), “all rulers will worship and obey him.”
In other words, this verse is a description of the Kingdom of God.  In this kingdom, all rulers will worship and obey God.
Another way to think about this passage (although I do not think it is the best or most likely way to view it) is to think in terms of Philippians 2:10,11 in which God tells us that, eventually, at the end of time, every knee will bow and every tongue confess.  Even if the “rulers” do not worship and obey Jesus now, in the end they will.
I hope this helps.
John Oakes

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