In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a symbolic dream in which he saw various kingdoms represented as beasts: a winged lion, a devouring bear, a four-headed leopard, and a dreadful beast with iron teeth and ten horns. A new horn appeared on the fourth beast which persecuted “the saints of the most High,” but they ultimately prevailed with help from the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man (Daniel 7).
Daniel’s account of the dream ends with an affirmation of the victory of the saints over the terrifying creatures:
And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Daniel 7:27-28
Hitherto is the end of the matter.
Hundreds of years later, on the Isle of Patmos, John the Revelator experienced a similar vision. He was surely familiar with the writings of Daniel, and so he likely noticed the similarity between his vision and Daniel’s although he doesn’t mention it. In his vision, a terrible beast with seven heads and ten horns emerges from the sea to make war with the saints, “and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Revelation 13:7). But angels of God proclaim the gospel and announce the fall of Babylon (Revelation 14:6-8). John observes, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12; see also Revelation 13:10). Their trust in God is unmoved, in spite of the apparent supremacy of the beast.
A few decades before Daniel, the prophet Nephi saw a vision which was similar to Daniel’s and to John’s. In fact, the angel who led him through the vision told him that one of Jesus’s apostles named John would see many of the same things Nephi had seen (1 Nephi 14:18-27).
Like Daniel’s dream and John’s vision, Nephi’s vision features the saints of God overcoming a powerful antagonist, called “the great and abominable church,” “the whore of all the earth,” and “the mother of abominations”:
I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God.
1 Nephi 14:13-14
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.
In all three revelatory experiences, the saints of God are threatened by powerful earthly forces but ultimately prevail because of the power of God. The combined message is clear. No matter how terrifying worldly forces may be, saints of God stand firm because they know that they will ultimately have the upper hand. They are patient and faithful because they are “armed with righteousness and with the power of God.”
Today I will stand firm in the faith of Jesus Christ, relying upon the enabling power of God, who is stronger than all of the forces on the earth.
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