Thoughts on the Book of Daniel.
By Uriah Smith
Verses 13, 14. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. The scene here described is not the second advent of Christ to this earth, unless the Ancient of Days is on this earth; for it is a coming to the Ancient of Days. There in the presence of the Ancient of Days, a kingdom, dominion, and glory, are given him. The Son of man receives his kingdom before his return to this earth. See Luke 19:10–12, and onward. This is a scene, therefore, which transpires in the heavenly temple, and is closely connected with that brought to view in verses 9 and 10. He receives the kingdom at the close of his priestly work in the sanctuary. The people, nations, and languages, that shall serve him are the nations of the saved, Rev. 21:24, not the wicked nations of the earth; for these are dashed in pieces at the second advent. Some out of all the nations, tribes, and kindred of the earth will find themselves at last in the kingdom of God, to serve him there with joy and gladness for ever and ever. Verses 15–18. I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even for ever and ever. We have followed the prophet down to the complete destruction of the fourth and last beast, the final subversion of all earthly governments. What next? Verse 18 tells us: “The saints shall take the kingdom.” The saints! those of all others held in low esteem in this world, despised, reproached, persecuted, cast out; those who were considered the least likely of all men ever to realize their hopes; these shall take the kingdom and possess it forever.133The usurpation and misrule of the wicked shall come to an end. The forfeited inheritance shall be redeemed. Peace shall be restored to its distracted borders, and righteousness shall reign o’er all the fair expanse of the renovated earth. Verses 19, 20. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. Of the first three beasts of this series, Daniel had so clear an understanding, that he had no trouble in reference to them. But he was astonished at this fourth beast, so unnatural and dreadful; for the farther we come down the stream of time, the farther is it necessary to depart from nature in forming symbols to accurately represent the degenerating governments of earth. The lion is a production of nature; but it must have the unnatural addition of two wings to represent the kingdom of Babylon. The bear we also find in nature; but as a symbol of Medo-Persia, an unnatural ferocity must be denoted by the insertion of three ribs into its mouth. So the leopard is a beast of nature; but to fitly represent Grecia there is a departure from nature in respect to wings, and the number of heads. But nature furnishes no symbol which can fitly illustrate the fourth kingdom. A beast, the likeness of which was never seen, is taken; a beast dreadful and terrible, with nails of brass, and teeth of iron, so cruel, rapacious and fierce, that from mere love of oppression, it devoured, and brake in pieces, and trampled its victims beneath its feet. Wonderful was all this to the prophet, but something more wonderful still appears. A little horn comes up, and, true to the nature of the beast from which it springs, thrusts aside three of its fellows; and lo! the horn has eyes, not the uncultivated eyes of the brute, but the keen, shrewd, intelligent eyes of a man; and stranger yet, it has a mouth, and with that mouth it utters proud sayings, and puts forth preposterous and arrogant claims. No wonder the prophet made special inquiry respecting this monster, so unearthly in its instincts, and so fiendish in its works and ways. In the following verses some specifications are given respecting the little horn, which enable the student of prophecy to make an application of this symbol, without danger of mistake:— Verses 21, 22. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 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. The wonderful wrath of this little horn against the saints particularly attracted the attention of Daniel. The rise of the ten horns, or the division of Rome into ten kingdoms, between the years A. D. 356 and 483, has already been noticed. See remarks on chap. 2:41. As these horns denote kingdoms, the little horn must denote a kingdom also, but not of the same nature, because it was diverse from the others. They were political kingdoms. And now we inquire, What kingdom has arisen among the ten kingdoms of the Roman Empire, since A. D. 483, and yet diverse from them all? The answer is, The spiritual kingdom of the Papacy. This answers to the symbol in every particular; nothing else will do it. Can there then be any mistake here? Daniel beheld this horn making war upon the saints. Has this been true of the Papacy? Fifty millions of martyrs, with a voice like the sound of many waters, answer, Yes. Witness the cruel persecutions of the Popes of Rome against the Waldenses, the Albigenses, and Protestants in general. It is stated on good authority, that the persecutions, massacres, and religious wars, excited by the church and bishop of Rome, have occasioned the shedding of far more blood of the saints of the Most High, than all the enmity, hostility, and persecutions of professed heathens from the foundation of the world. In verse 22, three consecutive events seem to be brought to view. Daniel, looking onward from the time when the little horn was in the height of its power to the full end of the long contest between the saints and Satan with all his agents, notes three prominent events that stand as mile-posts along the way: 1. The coming of the Ancient of Days; that is, his providential judgments upon the little horn, the same as the sitting of the judgment and the taking away of his dominion, verse 26. This is the first blow upon the Papacy. 2. The judgment that is given to the saints. This is the time when the saints sit with Christ in judgment a thousand years, apportioning the punishment due to the wicked. Then the martyrs will sit in judgment upon the great antichristian, persecuting power, which, in the days of their trial, hunted them like the beasts of the desert, and poured out their blood like water. 3. The time that the saints possess the kingdom; that is, the time of their entrance upon the possession of the new earth. Then the last vestige of the curse, of sin, and of sinners, root and branch, will have been removed, and the territory so long misruled by the wicked powers of earth, the enemies of God’s people, will be finally taken by the righteous, to be held by them forever and ever. U. S.