Dan 7:10   A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.

  

This is one of the Bible's rare glimpses into heaven. We need to realise however, that saying that does not mean that this is a literal picture and this is what we will see when we get there. Daniel was having dreams and visions as he lay in bed and wrote what he saw (7:1). He saw four beasts, presumably four future kingdoms (7:3-7), and then he saw the Lord in heaven – ‘the Ancient of Days' who sits on his throne to execute judgment. His throne is seen as ‘flaming with fire' (v.9) and then in our verse today we see fire flowing out from before Him.

 

What is this fire? Surely it represents the holiness of God that flows out from Him, burning up all that is sin. This Holy One presides over the court in heaven and if you took the numbers literally, there are a hundred million people before Him. Now as that's only about a tenth of the population of India, I suggest that that is simply a representative way of saying an incredibly large number of people are with him. That is encouraging. It says God likes having people with Him. They are there to witness the revelation of His plans and purposes as the books recording that are opened before them. God's plans are not haphazard. What goes on here on the earth is noticed, observed and recorded. These books speak of God's sovereignty and our accountability. Let's remember them!

Remember also this river of fire, this river of holiness, a river of the will and purposes of God that He pours out into all Creation. Holiness simply means 'utterly different like God' and that is what he plans and purposes to bring to the earth because He knows that only in that can mankind be blessed, delivered out of their sinfulness (their sin being burnt up) into being in the likeness of God shown through Jesus Christ, sons and daughters of the King, receivers of love and goodness and peace; that is what this river comes to bring.