In communicating instruction to the children of men, God is pleased to give "line upon line, precept upon precept—here a little, and there a little." The Saviour saith, [John xvi, 12,] "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." Revelation has not only been progressive, but the same truths have been repeated again and again, under different figures, emblems, and forms of speech. As a kind parent enforces important truths upon the minds of his offspring, illustrating and repeating, to make the deeper impression, so our Heavenly Father labors to impress our minds with truths connected with, and having a bearing on our eternal destiny, and necessary to establish the faith of his people, and inspire in them confidence in his word. He has given them waymarks to determine the truth of his word, and to mark the period of the world in which they are living, and to show them that their Heavenly Father was perfectly acquainted with all the road his church would have to travel to the end of the world, and the termination of all their labors and sufferings.
To illustrate. Suppose you were traveling a road with which you were unacquainted. You inquire of a stranger—he tells you, that road leads to a glorious city, filled with every good thing, governed by the most lovely, mild, and benevolent Prince that the world ever saw; that in that city there was neither sickness, sorrow, pain, nor death. He then proceeds to tell you what you may expect to pass on the road, by which you may know he has told you the truth, and which will mark the progress you have made.—First, then, he tells you, after leaving him, and traveling awhile, you will come to a monument that can be seen at a great distance; on the top of it you will see "a lion" having "eagle's wings;"—at a distance beyond that, you will come to another monument, having on it "a bear" with "three ribs in his mouth:" passing on still, you will at length arrive at a third monument, on the top of which you will behold a "leopard" having "four wings of a fowl" and "four heads:"—after that, you will come to a fourth, on which is a beast "dreadful and terrible," with "great iron teeth" and "ten horns:"—and lastly, you will come to another place, where you will see the same beast with this difference—three of its first horns have been plucked up, and in the place of them has come up a peculiar horn, having "eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth." The next thing you will look for, after passing the last-mentioned sign, is the city of which I have told you.
With these directions you commence your journey. What do you look for first? The lion. At length you see it. That inspires in you some faith in the person's knowledge and truth who had directed you. Having passed that sign, the next thing you expect to see, as marked in the directions, is the bear. At length you come in sight of that. There, say you, "is the second sign he gave me. He must have been perfectly acquainted with this road, and has told me the truth." Your faith increases as you travel on.—What next do you look for? Not the city, certainly. No, say you, I look for the leopard. Well, by and by you behold that, in the distance. There it is, you cry; now I know he has told me the truth, and it will come out just as he said. Is the next thing you look for, now the city? No, you look for that terrible beast with ten horns. You pass that, and say as you pass, how exactly the man who directed me described everything. Now your faith is so confirmed that you almost see the city; but, say you, I have got one more sign to pass, viz: the horn with eyes—then the city comes next. Now hope is high, and your anxious eyes gaze with intense interest for the last sign. That comes in view, and you exclaim in raptures, there it is! All doubt is now removed—you look for no more signs—your longing eyes are fixed to gaze on the glorious city next—and
probably no man now, however wise he might profess himself, could make you discredit what your director had told you. The city—the city, is now fixed in your eye, and onward you go, hasting to your rest.
Now, if we find, on examination, that all the events or signs that God has given us, which were to precede the judgment day and the setting up of his everlasting kingdom, have actually transpired, or come to view, what are we to look for next? Most clearly, the judgment of the great day! Let us, then, examine the chapter before us.
Verse 1. "In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions of his head, upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, [thus it became a part of the scriptures,] and told the sum of the matters."
V. 2 and 3. "Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds [denoting commotions] of the heaven strove upon the great sea, [waters, denoting people. See Rev. xvii, 15,] and four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another." The angel explains these four beasts to be four kings, [verse 17,] or four kingdoms, as you will see verse 23. The fourth beast is the fourth kingdom, &c., which shows that the term king, in these visions, signifies kingdom.
V. 4. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings; Babylon, as described in this vision. We have already seen, [Chap. ii, 38,] that Babylon was the first universal kingdom upon earth; aptly represented by a lion—the king of beasts—denoting the glory of that kingdom, and corresponding with the head of gold in the second chapter—the eagle's wings denoting the rapidity of its conquests, and the soaring pride of its monarchs. It is described by Habakkuk, [Chap. i, 6-8,] "For, lo! I raise up the Chaldeans [Babylon]—they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat." See Isa. v, 26, 29, and Jer. iv, 7; also, Eze. xvii, 3, 4. Daniel goes on to say—"I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, wherewith [margin] it was lifted from the earth, [its glory departed,] and it was made to stand upon its feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it." This may refer to the humiliation of the proud monarch of Babylon, [Chap. iv, 31-37,] or to the cowardice of Belshazzar, who, instead of driving away his foes like a lion, shut himself up in the city, feasting and drinking with his lords, till he was killed, and the kingdom was given to the Medes and Persians.
V. 5. "And behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, [representing two lines of kings, one much longer than the other,] and it had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it; and they said unto it, arise, devour much flesh."
We have already seen that the Medo-Persian kingdom succeeded Babylon, and is clearly the kingdom here described. It was noted for cruelty and thirst of blood, and the nation is emphatically called "the spoiler." See Jer. li, 48-56. The three ribs in its mouth may denote the union of Media, Persia, and Chaldea. It subdued many and populous kingdoms. Ahasuerus, or Artaxerxes, reigned over 127 provinces. See Esther i, 1.
V. 5. "After this I beheld, and lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it." There can be no dispute with respect to this being Grecia; four wings denoting the rapidity of its conquest under Alexander; the four heads, its division into four parts after Alexander died, and his posterity were murdered.
V. 7 and 8. "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things." On these verses I shall remark when I come to the angel's explanation.
V. 9 and 10. "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." If we have not here a description of the final judgment, we may despair of finding any such description in the book of God. There is nothing clearer.
V. 11. "I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake, I beheld, till the beast was slain, [What beast? Ans. The fourth beast, on which the horn had stood,] and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." That is the punishment of the beast for having sustained and carried the little horn. Nothing is said of "the dominion" of this beast being "taken away," as is said of the others.—The others lost their dominion after a time, but their subjects survived and were transferred to the succeeding governments, but the very body [subjects] of this fourth kingdom is destroyed, and given to the burning flame; as Isaiah saith, [xxxiii, 12,] "The people shall be as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire." No transferring of its subjects to another kingdom. Then "the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." Prov. ii, 22. Then God will destroy them which destroy [corrupt] the earth.—Rev. xi, 18. But—
V. 12. "As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time." [Babylon ruled about 700 years—Media and Persia about 200—Grecia about 175.] These kingdoms successively lost the dominion, but the lives of the respective nations were prolonged, being merged in the succeeding governments.
V. 13 and 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." Thus we see the kingdom of God, or of Christ, is not set up till the judgment sits; hence no room for a temporal millennium before the judgment, and, before the kingdoms of this world are destroyed. All people, nations, and languages, that shall serve him are described by the Revelator, [chap. v, 9, 10,] as redeemed out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, &c.
V. 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 forever and ever." Not a thousand years, but forever, even forever and ever.—If any language can express unending duration, this must do so. Some think the language too strong to be applied to a thousand years, and so make it mean three hundred and sixty thousand years. But that is infinitely short of forever, even forever and ever.
V. 19-25. "Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all 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 that151were 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. 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. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the 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. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
There is but little dispute about what is here meant by the fourth kingdom. No kingdom that ever has existed on earth will answer to it, except the Roman kingdom. That has been truly diverse from all kingdoms, especially in its forms of government, which were not less than seven—being, at different times Republican, Consular, Tribune, Decemvirate, Dictatorial, Imperial, and Kingly. It was at length divided into the Eastern and Western empires; Rome proper being in the Western empire. Between the years A. D. 356 and 483, it was divided into ten kingdoms, as I have noticed in my remarks on chapter ii; thus the "ten horns are ten kings" [kingdoms] that arose out of this empire, and are the same that John saw, [Rev. xii, 3,] "a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns;" and, [chap. xvii, 12,] he is told—"The ten horns which thou sawest, are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet;"—it was something still future, in John's time.