Daniel 7:19-28

c. MEANING BESTOWED

TEXT: Daniel 7:19-28

19

Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was diverse from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;

20

and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows.

21

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

22

until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

23

Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24

And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings.

25

And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.

26

But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27

And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28

Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my countenance was changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

QUERIES

a.

Why was the look of the one horn more stout than its fellows?

b.

How is the one to be diverse from the ten Daniel 7:24?

c.

How would he change times and the law?

PARAPHRASE

Then I wanted to know with certainty about the fourth beast which was so different from all the preceding three, so exceedingly brutal, with teeth of iron and claws of bronze that tore things into pieces, devoured much, and stamped with its feet all that was not devoured. I also wanted to have an authoritative interpretation concerning the ten horns on the head of this terrible beast and of the other horn which came up from among the ten and which destroyed three of its predecessors. That was the one horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke blasphemous and boastful things against God and it was stouter than all the other horns. As I was watching, and waiting for the interpretation, this same strong horn made war upon the saints and was allowed to gain an apparent advantage over them. But this was only apparent, for when the Ancient of Days came, judgment was executed (and the saints assisted in its execution) upon this horn, and the saints then possessed the kingdom. The angel said to me, This fourth beast is the fourth world empire that will rule the earth. It will be different from all the others in that it will be much more universal in its dominion conquering and consuming every thing in its path. The ten horns upon this beast signify the totality of diversity in the composition of his universal empire when it is fully extended. This one horn shall be, comparatively, as powerful as a part of this great empire but not as great and powerful as the whole empire. This one powerful ruler shall speak words against the Most High God and shall attempt to subjugate the saints by persecution. He will be so presumptuous against God as to innovate changes in moral and religious commandments and ordinances instituted by God. God's people will be persecuted by him for a definite length of time known only to God. But God has the judgment of this blasphemer set at a determined time, and at that time God and His people shall have the final victory, and this one's dominion will be taken away from him and he will be punished eternally. At this judgment all the kingdoms of the earth shall become the kingdoms of God and His people, and His kingdom shall abide forever and ever, and men who serve and obey Him shall dwell in it securely. That was the end of the dream and nothing more was revealed to me at that time. As for me, I was deeply affected by this revelation and my wondering about it allI even grew pale in the face over my perplexitybut I did not forget it all; I kept thinking about it often.

COMMENT

Daniel 7:19-20 THEN I DESIRED TO KNOW THE TRUTH CONCERNING THE FOURTH BEAST. The phrase the truth is in opposition to incomprehension, not accuracy. What had been shown in symbolic form concerning the fourth beast was absolutely accurate but its meaning was not understood. There is one additional symbolism attached to the one horn arising out of the ten in that its look was more stout than its fellows. It was more formidable than any one of the other of the ten. In the following interpretation it will be seen why this one is comparatively stronger than any one of the others (see also our interpretation of Daniel 7:8).

Daniel 7:21-22. THE SAME HORN MADE WAR WITH THE SAINTS. UNTIL THE ANCIENT OF DAYS CAME. Again, something new is said of the one horn that was not said of it in Daniel 7:1-8. It is to make war upon the saints and even seem to prevail over them. This is to continue until the final judgment, which God has already determined against it, shall be executed. This refers, without doubt, to the final consummation of all things; the Second Coming of Christ, the great judgment; the destruction of the heavens and earth; the creation of a new heaven and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness; all this is to be inferred from the following verses (Daniel 7:23-28). The judgment of the one horn is coincidental with the ultimate victory of God and possession of His kingdom by the saints. Thus Daniel is shown the eventual rise of the Roman Empire (the fourth beast); its great, universal, complete power for a long period of time (the ten horns); a ruler of arrogance, pride, hate for God's true people; power shall arise and be as powerful as a part of this Roman empiremore powerful than any one partbut not as powerful as the entire empire at its apex.

Daniel 7:23-25. A FOURTH KINGDOM. AND ANOTHER SHALL ARISE. SPEAK. AGAINST THE MOST HIGH. WEAR OUT THE SAINTS. CHANGE. TIMES AND THE LAW. This is the crucial section of chapter 7. We think a scriptural case may be made for the following interpretation: The fourth beast is the Roman empire in its beginning conquest of the world, tearing to pieces, devouring and stamping the residue with its feet; the ten horns is the Roman empire in its long and complete rule of the known world under successive emperors until its downfall; the little horn which grows great is the Roman Catholic papacy which succeeded the Roman empire in controlling nations and rulers and is parallel to the man of lawlessness of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; and the Roman state, succeeded by the Roman papacy, is parallel to Revelation chapter 13 and the two beasts.

The little horn grown great speaks words against the Most High; wears out the saints; thinks to change the times and the law; has power to do so for a specific time; then is destroyed when the saints possess the kingdom.
The man of lawlessness of II Thessalonians is connected with the falling away (not just a falling away) which undoubtedly means the great Roman apostasy. A man of lawlessness would be a man who was not subject to any law. He would be the one who would think to change any commandment of God which would suit his purpose of deceiving men and maintaining his rule over them. When we speak of the man of lawlessness, our minds frequently connect him with antichrist mentioned in 1 John 2:18; 1 John 2:22; 1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7, as Wilbur Fields states in Thinking Through Thessalonians, published by College Press, and we quote, However, the Bible does not specifically connect them, and any connection that we might make between the two would have to be regarded as only speculations. We hear lots of preaching about THE antichrist. But John makes it rather clear that antichrist is not one supremely evil person, but that anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ or that He came in the flesh is antichrist. There were antichrists even in John's time. But we stand on very shaky support when we teach that there will be some one particularly terrible ANTICHRIST in the future.

The little horn grown great is NOT the Antichrist. He may be one antichrist. But we believe he is the man of lawlessness which represents the office of the Roman papacy. Mr. Fields summarizes what we believe is the correct interpretation of the man of lawlessness (which we identify with the little horn of Daniel 7):

1.

The falling away (of 2 Thessalonians 2) refers to. corruption. of apostolic teaching by heathenism. and resulted in development of the Roman Catholic religion. this apostasy is still in progress.

2.

The man of sin. refers to the papacy. visible, personal head of the falling away.

3.

That which hinders the appearance of the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7). was the Roman government. for several centuries. held in check the attempts of power-hungry Roman bishops to take control of both the spiritual affairs of man and the political authority as well.

Arguments for this view:

1.

The mystery of lawlessness which resulted in the falling away and the appearance of the man of sin, was already at work in Paul's time. Paul could not have been referring to things that would not happen until the 19th and 20th centuries when he spoke of the falling away. There are numerous references in the N.T. which show that false doctrines, unauthorized power grabs where already developing (cf. Jude 1:4, 3 John 1:9; Acts 20:29-30; Colossians 2:8).

2.

In 1 Timothy 4:1-3 Paul told how some would depart from faith; forbid to marry; command abstinence from meats, etc.. a clear prophecy of the Roman Catholic apostasy.

3.

If some Antichrist is going to rule the world, then Daniel's prophecy, in Daniel 2, would have to be wrong in indicating that there would be only four empires before God's kingdom should prevail and fill the earth.

4.

The use of the term mystery suggests that there may be a connection with Revelation 17:5, where the great harlot is given the name MYSTERY. This mystery woman in Revelation is ROME. For she is identified as that city that sits on seven mountains (or hills) and rules over the kings of the earth (Revelation 17:9; Revelation 17:18). Rome is the only city on earth that fulfills those descriptions. (The harlot is also united as one with the two beasts of Revelation 13, the second of which we believe also represents Roman Catholicism).

A thorough study of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 is demanded on the part of the student who wishes to understand the little horn of Daniel 7. We would suggest there is no finer or more scholarly discussion of this difficult N.T. passage than that of Wilbur Fields, Thinking Through Thessalonians, published by College Press.

We call the readers attention now to Revelation, chapter 13. There the first beast is symbolized as a composite of leopard, bear and lion, with ten horns and seven heads. This first beast represents the concentration and personification of world-power, through the whole period of history, continuing as one entity, but manifesting itself under various forms in various ages; with many and diverse modifications. This first beast was dealt a death-blow and a second beast arose which exercises all the authority of the first beast. and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast. The second beast works great signs, etc. This second beast looked like a lamb. The second beast is represented as bringing to life again or healing the first beast, It should be seen by the careful student that this symbolism of Revelation 13 parallels in many ways exactly the symbolism of Daniel 7: Lion, Bear, Leopard and Non-descript Beast symbolized in both; out of beastliness grows another form of world-power and persecution diverse from its predecessor; the time it has to hold sway over man is the same 3½ times (years) and 24 months; its judgment and overthrow comes at the consummation of all things when the saints shall possess the kingdom.

Daniel is informed that the saints shall be given into the hand of the little horn grown great until 3½ times: 3½ is half of 7half of a complete or perfect numberand therefore symbolizes a definite period of time which God knows and has not revealed to man but not perfect or eternal in duration; 3½ years is the same as 42 months or 1260 days (both used as units of time in Revelation and denote the time between the beginning of the Church of Christ on Pentecost (Acts 2) and the consummation at the Second Coming of Christ, which is also represented by 1000 yearsa round number not to be taken literally.

Daniel 7:26-28 BUT THE JUDGMENT SHALL BE SET. The little horn grown great (also the man of sin and the beast like a lamb) shall not endure. His overthrow is appointed in God's own good time and is certain. God has already made up His mind about thisall that remains is the execution of it; when it is, to occur no one knowsnot even the angels of heaven (cf. Matthew 24:36-44, etc.). But when it does occur the seventh angel will blow his trumpet and there will be loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever (cf. Revelation 11:15; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28). All of this was enough to agitate the soul of Daniel and he could not forget it but kept it in his heart.

This chapter should stir us up too! A definite and glorious note of victory pervades the whole chapter. With such a revelation as this offers to God's people to know how history must run its course, and how the kingdom of God alone will stand in the glorious consummation, the Christian can trust and love his Lord. Only the member of the kingdom of God had the tope of enduring the certain and sure judgment of the worldand what a hope it ispossession of the kingdom of God. God is permitting His saints to be given over to the persecution of the beast in order to purify their lives and strengthen their faith in Him. God knows that a man's moral fiber is never perfected until it is put to the test. He knows that He shall never have a believer's full allegiance until that allegiance is tried. Praise Him for His love! He desires only that we be better than we are!

QUIZ

1.

What two new things are added to the description of the little horn that were not given in Daniel 7:8?

2.

What two N.T. apocalyptic passages are parallel to Daniel 7?

3.

What is the little horn?

4.

Where does it come from?

5.

How does changing times and the law characterize it?

6.

What is a time and times and half a time?