Daniel 7:9-18

b. MAGNIFICENT BEAUTY

TEXT: Daniel 7:9-18

9

I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire.

10

A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

11

I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire.

12

And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

13

I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14

And there was given to him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, 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.

15

As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16

I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

17

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, that shall arise out of the earth.

18

But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

QUERIES

a.

Who is the one that was ancient of days?

b.

How could the fourth beast be slain and the other beasts have their lives prolonged?

c.

When shall the saints of the Most High receive the kingdom?

PARAPHRASE

I watched as thrones were set in place and the Eternal, Omniscient One, sat down to judge. His clothing was snow-white, and the hair of his head pure as wool. He sat upon a fiery throne which had flaming wheels, and a river of fire flowed from before him. Myriads upon myriads of angels ministered to Him; so many myriads stood before Him, they could not be numbered. Then the court began its session and The Books were opened. Then I carefully observed what the great horn was doing: it was arrogantly speaking blasphemous and boastful things against the Eternal One, and as I was observing, the brutal fourth beast was killed and its body submitted to the burning of fire. As for the other three beasts, they also had their dominion taken away one after another, each at its appointed time; for to each God gave its duration of life, depending on the circumstances involved and the time appointed in the providence of God. And as I was seeing these visions in the night, lo, there arrived on the scene a Manor so He seemed to bebrought there on clouds from heaven; He approached the Eternal One and was presented to Him. He was given dominion and honor and sovereignty in order that all peoples, nations, and tongues should serve and obey Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that never passes away, and His kingdom is an eternal kingdom that is never destroyed. As for me, Daniel, I was confused and disturbed by all I had seen because I did not know the meaning of it. So I approached one of the angels standing by the throne and asked him for an authoritative interpretation of all these things, and he explained their meaning to me. As to these great beasts which, to be explicit, are four in number, the meaning is that four kings with their earthly, temporal kingdoms shall arise and succeed one another in dominion for a while. But they shall each one fall and disappear, while it will be the sanctified ones of God who shall receive and possess that kingdom which is everlastingeven forever and ever.

COMMENT

Daniel 7:9-10. THRONES WERE PLACED. ANCIENT OF DAYS DID SIT. BOOKS WERE OPENED. Who Sits Upon the other thrones (pl.) Daniel does not tell us, and any statement on our part would be conjectural. The plurality of thrones is to emphasize majesty and power, but Young thinks the angels that serve God in judgment are the other throne (cf. Psalms 89:8; Isaiah 6:2; Revelation 1:4; Revelation 4:4; Revelation 8:2; Matthew 13:36-50).

Ancient of Days signifies one who has liver ever since anyone can remember. The emphasis is upon the omniscience and eternality of God. The Eternal One is well aware of all the deeds and acts of men and kingdoms and is, therefore, well able to pronounce judgment in all justice. He is clothed in holiness and purity, symbolized by his white garments, and His nature is wisdom symbolized by His white hair.

His throne is fire, and fire issues forth from it representing the judicial power and also splendor and majesty (cf. Psalms 50:3; Psalms 97:3; Revelation 4:4-5; Exodus 3:2; Deuteronomy 4:24; 1 Timothy 6:16; Hebrews 12:29). Fire may also symbolize a purifying, purging, sanctifying agent issuing forth from the throne of God. Wheels symbolize the omnipresent nature of God's judicial action. His throne is not bound to one place but rules universally (cf. Ezek. chap. 1).

Thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousands are simply expressions relating to the same multitude of myriads and myriads of heavenly creatures gathered to minister to the Ancient of Days and do His bidding in the judgment.

The Books are symbolical of the fact that God records and remembers the actions of men (cf. Isaiah 65:6; Jeremiah 17:1; Malachi 3:16; Luke 10:20 and Revelation 20:12), and here the reference is particularly to the deeds of the four beasts and the little horn. The rest of the O.T. (other than Daniel) knows only one Book (cf. Exodus 32:32-33; Psalms 69:28; Psalms 139:16) but in the N.T. it is books (pl.). God has not only a record of the deeds of men but a record of all who are His. To be blotted out of His book is to be lost and condemned to an eternal separation from Him unto punishment. Unless one is a member of the eternal kingdom of the Ancient of Days this is his destiny. To be associated with any other than the Eternal One is to be associated with one of the beasts whose doom is sealed.

Daniel 7:11-12. THE HORN SPAKE. THE BEAST WAS SLAIN. YET THEIR LIVES WERE PROLONGED. Daniel is abruptly and dramatically shown that the little horn which grew into greatness has not passed out of the vision. This horn is still doing what it was before (Daniel 7:8)speaking ungodly and blasphemous words against the Most High. This blasphemy provokes the Ancient of Days to action against the fourth beast and the horn to destroy them.

The beast, as a whole, was slain and its body given to the burning of fire, indicating, in the present tense, continuing action of burning. The Aramaic original, as is given in the marginal reference of the A.S.V., must be rendered in the present, continuing, tense; that is perpetual punishment, not annihilation, although the beast is banished and conquered.
The rest of the beasts (the first three) had previously had their dominion taken away, one after the other, each at its appointed time. This is the meaning of the phrase, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. The meaning is, even though the first three beasts were allowed a prolonged life for a predetermined time by God, still, in His own good time, God took away their dominion also. It may also mean that the essence of the first three beasts (worldliness) was prolonged in the culminating worldliness of the fourth beast still, when the fourth was slain, they, too, had their dominion taken away.

Daniel 7:13-14. THERE CAME. ONE LIKE UNTO A SON OF MAN. AND THERE WAS GIVEN TO HIM DOMINION. If the fourth beast and the little horn constitute all that opposes God from the Roman empire up to the man of lawlessness, then the fact that it is depicted as being destroyed and given over to burning indicates this text is referring to the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. The second chapter of Daniel states that during the time of the fourth kingdom, the kingdom of God would be established and this would be the fatal blow to worldly dominion. This seventh chapter merely indicates the consummation of the kingdom of God and the final destruction of the fourth kingdom, which began when the kingdom of God was first established and Christ despoiled the principalities and powers (cf. Colossians 2:15). The revelation here given to Daniel omits all the history between the beginning of the fourth beast and the little horn and its final overthrow which is the Christian dispensation (that is from the founding of the kingdom of God on the day of Pentecost and the Second Coming of Christindicated as three and one-half times in Daniel 7:25during which time the horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them. Daniel 7:21). (See the chart at the end of this chapter).

It would have been irrelevant to Daniel's readers to have been told in detail what was to transpire during an unknowable time between the fourth world empire and the final coming of the Lord (the Christian age). What would be relevant and edifying to his readers would be to know that worldly dominion would ultimately be overthrown by the blessed kingdom of God which was to be completely victorious.
Furthermore this kingdom was to be presided over by the Divine-Human Messiah (one like unto a son of man). Their Saviour-king would be like them, son of man, yet he would come on the clouds and be Divine at the same time. This very prophecy is undoubtedly the reason Jesus used the phrase son of man in reference to Himself so oftenHe was attempting to convince the Jews that He was the One who had come to establish the kingdom of God which would be ultimately victorious over the beast and the horn. But His human nature was a stumbling block to so many who had their own interpretation of His Messianic nature.

His dominion will be universal. Only those people from every nation and tongue who have surrendered to His will shall abide. They shall willingly serve Him in an everlasting condition because they were willing to serve Him in their temporary, fleshly condition. Any who have given allegiance to the beast will be punished with everlasting punishment along with the beast, (cf. Revelation 14:9-12).

Daniel 7:15-18. BEASTS. ARE FOUR KINGS. BUT THE SAINTS. SHALL RECEIVE THE KINGDOM. FOR EVER. EVER. AND EVER. Daniel is startled with the vividness and dramatic nature of this apocalyptic vision and his mind is exceedingly agitated to know what it is all about. He approached one of the angels and asked for an authoritative interpretation of the vision. So in a nutshell he is given the interpretation. It will be enlightening here to quote from Leupold: Why does the sequence of historical kingdoms in this vision extend no farther than the Roman (the fourth beast) whereas we know that many developments came after the Roman Empire and have continued to come before the judgment?. One suggestion. is the fact that prophets general, barring the conclusion of chapter 9 in Daniel, never see the interval of time lying between the first and the second coming of Christ. In the matter of history, therefore, Daniel does not see beyond Christ's days in the flesh and perhaps the persecution that came upon the early church.

In the second place, it may be correctly argued that the pattern of empire development adopted by the Romans has been followed by practically all the succeeding world powers. Roman law is said still to be the pattern of jurisprudence. Roman classic literature dominates the literature produced since that time. In fact, the powers that can be said to have anything like world dominion are segments of the old Roman Empire, and so the fourth beast is still in a sense alive though Rome was overthrown.
In connection with Leupold's first suggestion see our comment in Minor Prophets, by this writer, published by College Press, on Joel 2:27-28, pages 184-188; see also page 32 in the same work on Shortened Perspective.

The one point of emphasis not to be lost sight of in this vision is: THE SAINTS SHALL HAVE AN EVERLASTING KINGDOM, while those who give allegiance to the beast make every attempt to achieve dominion and glory and eternality; but they shall be destroyed, for in so doing they must set themselves in opposition to the program of God.

QUIZ

1.

Who sat upon the thrones other than the Ancient of Days?

2.

What do the flames and wheels symbolize concerning the throne?

3.

Was the fourth beast completely annihilated by the fire, Daniel 7:11?

4.

What is the significance of the term, one like. a son of man?

5.

What is the main point of this vision?

6.

Why is nothing said of what transpires between the fourth kingdom and the judgment?