I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven [one] like a son of man, and he came up even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Daniel's night vision has just shown four beasts rising out of the sea — empires that grab, tear and devour. Then a figure appears who is not a beast at all but a man, and God hands Him everything the beasts fought over.
The earlier scenes end in judgment; this one shows what that judgment made room for.
The judgment of the beast clears the way for the setting up of the Kingdom of Christ. This glorious event is foretold by a third vision, in which Daniel sees one like the Son of Man come with the clouds of heaven. He receives His kingdom as Man from God, the Ancient of Days. His dominion is world-wide, embracing "all people, nations, and languages." His dominion will be everlasting. It will not, like other kingdoms, pass away. It will never be destroyed.
The vision also names the One this Man comes to.
A new vision follows (verses 13 and 14), in contrast with the powers pictured as savage beasts. The new object that stands out is "one like the Son of man." ... The Ancient of days stands for God Himself, "the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity."
The title matters. Commentators say it is wider than "Messiah," and that the change of title followed His rejection.
On Daniel 7: it is not now the Messiah, owned as King in Zion, but ONE in the form of the Son of man, a title of far greater and much wider meaning. It is the change from Psalm 2 to Psalm 8, brought about by the rejection of the Messiah.
The word "like" has made some readers doubt that this figure is Christ at all.
Some object that John would hardly have said of Christ "one like to the Son of man." The objection has no force. It is exactly what he does say in Revelation 1, where our Lord alone can be meant, beyond dispute. The likeness is to a character, not to a person.
He does not seize the kingdom. God gives it to Him — and the vision shows the Giver and the Receiver as two Persons.
The Ancient of days is the Son of man; but in this vision they are distinguished. It is often so in the Psalms. The Messiah is Jehovah; and yet in Psalm 110 Jehovah speaks to Adonai: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." It is the mystery of the divine Persons. They are distinguished in Daniel's vision because, as Son of man, our Lord receives everything from God. So, after He is brought to the Ancient of days, it says, "There was given Him a dominion."
In Revelation 1 John sees Christ and describes Him with the very features Daniel gave the Ancient of Days.
Head and hairs white like wool remind us of the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:9. The Son of Man comes to Him with the clouds of Heaven, and receives all the rights and dignities of the Kingdom. But verse 22 of the same chapter lets us know that the Son of Man is Himself the Ancient of Days! ... So the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days are one!
Daniel is the Jewish prophet here; John, writing Revelation, is the Christian one.
The Jewish prophet sees Christ only as man. The Christian prophet sees Him as man, but as God as well.
The clearest evidence that this vision is about Christ came from His own lips.
Can there be any doubt that the Saviour had this prophecy in mind? He said to the high priest, "But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 26:64).
The vision does not end with one Man crowned. Others share what He receives.
In the third vision it is the Son of Man that comes with the clouds of heaven, and to Him is given the kingdom that will never pass away. Here we learn a further truth. The people of God of all ages — all those who through the history of the world have been in touch with heaven — will share with the Son of Man in His glorious reign.
- Beasts judged. God cuts down the four empires first; only then does the Man appear. The kingdom changes hands.
- A Man crowned. He comes as "one like the Son of man" — a wider title than Messiah, reaching to all nations. It is the change from Psalm 2 to Psalm 8, brought about by His rejection.
- A kingdom given. He does not grab it. He comes to the Ancient of Days and receives it, because as Man He takes everything from God.
- God Himself. Later in the chapter the Son of Man turns out to be the Ancient of Days, and John describes Him with the same features — Man and God in one Person.
- Never destroyed. His rule reaches all peoples and never ends — and the people of God of every age share it with Him.
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all 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.
Daniel has watched beast-like empires rise and rule the earth. Now a figure like a man comes to the Ancient of Days, and this verse says what He is given, who gives it, and how long it lasts.
World power looks impressive from the outside. This vision shows what it looks like to God.
Instead of the stone cut out of the mountain, you have the Son of Man Himself coming and taking the kingdom. But the general meaning of the visions is the same. It is striking, however, that in the seventh chapter you have not the image of man, such as the world sees, but what God sees. All the authority and power of this world is only that of the beast. Man in honour, without understanding, is like the beasts that perish. He is not even a man.
This is not one empire replacing another. The rule of the earth passes into the hands of a Man.
One like the Son of man is brought to the Ancient of days. There He receives the kingdom and universal dominion. It is the rule of Jehovah entrusted to man in the Person of Christ, put in the place of the kingdom of the beast. Notice that this is not the carrying out of the judgment spoken of earlier. It is the receiving of the earthly kingdom, for in all this the government of the earth is the subject.
Writers differ here. Some read the two figures as distinct in the vision.
The Jewish prophet sees Christ simply as man. The Christian prophet sees Him as man, but as God as well.
That leaves a question about the two figures in the vision.
As Ancient of Days, judgment is committed to His hands; as Son of Man He receives His kingdom. We think both are pictures of the same Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, seen in different settings.
The sceptre could have come from more than one hand. Daniel's night visions show which hand He would take it from.
He would take that sceptre neither from the devil nor from men, but from the hand of God only. We learn this from Daniel's night visions.
The same One who receives it here is the One earth threw out.
Rejected by men, the Son of Man was seen by Stephen standing at the right hand of God. There was the One whom God delighted to honour — Man in the highest place in heaven — the Son of Man glorified! From there He will soon be brought out in public, "with the clouds of heaven," as Daniel 7:13 foretells. He will receive dominion and glory over the earth — the very place where men treated Him so shamefully.
Three things mark this kingdom out: whose hand gives it, how far it reaches, and how long it lasts.
He receives His kingdom as Man from God, the Ancient of Days. His dominion is world-wide, taking in "all peoples, nations, and languages." His dominion will be everlasting. It will not, like other kingdoms, pass away. It will never be destroyed.
The word "everlasting" needs care. The prophets of Israel do not carry the story as far as the New Testament does.
No one will ever take it from Him, and no other power will follow Him. It will be everlasting in the sense of lasting as long as the world lasts. But strictly speaking, this is not an eternal scene. The Jewish prophets show you the millennium. They do not unfold what the New Testament does: that when all things are subdued to God, even the Father, God shall be all in all.
Daniel found this vision disturbing. It reads very differently for us.
What disturbed him may well encourage us. The beast-like empires of men will vanish in judgment. All dominion will belong to the Son of Man. Under Him, saints in heaven and saints on earth will exercise the authority He gives them.
- Given, not grabbed. The kingdom is placed in His hands by God; He refused every other route to the throne.
- Given to a Man. God puts the rule of the earth into the hands of a Man, Christ, in place of the kingdom of the beast.
- Given to the rejected One. The Man honoured in heaven is the One earth threw out, and He returns to reign where He was shamefully treated.
- Given without limit. It reaches all peoples, nations and languages, and lasts as long as the world lasts. The New Testament carries the story further still.
- Given to be shared. Saints in heaven and on earth will rule under Him. What disturbed Daniel encourages us.
As for me Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.
Daniel has just watched four great beasts rise up, and seen the Ancient of Days take His seat. The vision leaves him shaken, and this verse turns from the empires to the man who saw them.
Prophecy did not thrill Daniel. It hurt him, and it hurt him for his people:
The immediate effect of these visions was to grieve the spirit of Daniel and trouble his mind. There must have been much in the three visions that Daniel could not understand, but at least he realised that they foretold a time of trial and sorrow for his beloved people.
The verse puts the trouble in his spirit, deep inside him. Scripture uses that word for a wide range of feeling, and the body is where the feeling shows:
The body is how a person's varied feelings and emotions show themselves. Scripture credits some of these to the spirit, some to the soul, some to both soul and spirit. So the spirit (rooagh) is troubled (Gen. 41:8; Dan. 2:1), revives or is strengthened (Gen. 45:27), is anguished (Ex. 6:9; Job 7:11)… is contrite or humble (Ps. 34:18-19; Isa. 57:15; Isa. 66:2)… is grieved (Dan. 7:15; Isa. 54:6).
Daniel's hope was the reign of the Messiah. The vision did not deny that hope; it showed him the road to it. Older translations say Daniel was "grieved" and "troubled" where the ESV says "anxious" and "alarmed":
But why was the prophet "grieved" and "troubled"? As a godly Jew he would be looking for the coming Messiah, with His reign of peace, prosperity, and blessing. But now the Spirit of God had opened up the future before his soul. Much of it was bound to be a mystery to him. Even so, he could not help seeing that his people had a long road of sorrow to walk before they reached the goal they longed for.
Daniel had made his name explaining other men's dreams. His own left him stuck:
It is remarkable that God taught him to explain Nebuchadnezzar's dreams and visions, yet he could not understand his own. No one knows the things of God but the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2). So unless God chooses to tell us what a revelation of His means, no one could ever find it out. Daniel therefore depended on God for the meaning of his own vision just as much as he had for Nebuchadnezzar's. Yet God never sends a message of any kind without also providing the means to understand it. Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar both had the explanation at hand, and so did Daniel here.
Daniel's distress did not stop with him. It drove him to ask someone who knew:
Without teaching from God, Daniel can no more explain his own dreams than the dreams of pagan kings. So he approached "one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this." We are not told who those standing there were. They are probably the angels who, in the vision, stood before the Ancient of Days. The one Daniel asks plainly knows the mind of God. God has appointed him, like the angelic messengers in Revelation, to give the meaning of the things seen in visions.
The answer did not just repeat the vision. It added something new:
Now we come to the explanation given to the prophet (vv. 15-17)… "These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth." But he adds a fact not mentioned before: the saints of the Most High "shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever" (v. 18). This is not only the story of what happens through God's providence or His judgment. The explanation is taken up with the people of God — the saints of the Most High. In prophecy and in parable alike, the explanation always goes further than the first statement did. The truth added here is that the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and the beasts will be set aside.
- Grieved — The coming empires hit Daniel in his spirit, the place Scripture names as troubled, anguished, humbled or grieved.
- Sorrow first — He hoped for the Messiah's reign. The vision showed him a long road of sorrow for his people before it came.
- Dependent — The man who read other people's dreams could not read his own. Only God can give the meaning of what God reveals.
- Asking — His distress drove him to ask one of those standing by, probably an angel sent to explain.
- Given more — The answer told him what the vision never showed: the saints of the Most High receive the kingdom and keep it forever.
I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the certainty of all this. And he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things
Daniel has just seen four beasts rise and a kingdom given to one like a son of man. The sight leaves him shaken. So he does something simple: he walks over to someone standing nearby and asks what it all means.
Daniel was known for explaining other people's dreams. Here he has to ask like anyone else.
Without God's instruction, Daniel can no more interpret his own dreams than those of pagan kings. So he drew near to one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. We are not told exactly who those standing there were. Probably it is a reference to the angels that, in the vision, "stood before" the Ancient of Days. The one Daniel asks clearly understands the mind of God. Like the angelic messengers in Revelation, he is appointed to give "the interpretation of the things" seen in visions.
The question in verse 16 comes out of distress. What Daniel had seen did not match what he had been hoping for his nation.
But why was the prophet "grieved" and "troubled"? As a godly Jew he would look for the coming Messiah, with His reign of peace, prosperity, and blessing. But now the Spirit of God had opened out the view of the future before his soul. Much of it was bound to remain a mystery to him. Even so, he could not help seeing that his people had a long road of sorrow to walk before they reached the goal they longed for. So he was cast down, and he asked "one of those who stood there" for "the truth concerning all this."
Daniel asks, and he is answered. The same had happened earlier in the book.
It is remarkable. God had taught him, so he could explain Nebuchadnezzar's dreams and visions. Yet he could not understand his own. No one knows the things of God but the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2). So unless He chooses to make the meaning of a divine revelation known, no one could ever find it out. Daniel depended on God for the meaning of his own vision just as much as he had for Nebuchadnezzar's. Still, God never sends a message of any kind, apocalyptic or otherwise, without also giving the means to understand it. Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar both had an explanation at hand, and so did Daniel in this chapter.
The answer is more than a key to the symbols. It adds facts the vision never showed.
But he adds a fact not mentioned before: "the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever" (v. 18). This is not only the history of something that happens through the working of providence, or by the judgment of God. The interpretation is taken up with the people of God — the saints of the Most High. In prophecy and in parable alike, the explanation always goes beyond what the first statement itself contains. There is always some new fact.
It seems odd that the man known for understanding every vision should need help with his own. One writer sets his case beside the dreams and visions God gave to a Gentile idolater.
It is astonishing that in both the seventh and eighth chapters God gives the vision to the prophet, and yet afterwards he needs an interpreter to understand its meaning. This is the man said to have "understanding in all visions and dreams" (chap. 1:17). With the visions and dreams given to the Gentile, this is easy to understand. We would not expect God to speak directly with an idolater. "The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him" (Ps. 25:14), and "the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). But here is Daniel, a man greatly loved, and even he has to have the vision explained to him!
- Trouble. The vision showed a long road of sorrow for Daniel's people before the promised reign of peace. It left him grieved and cast down.
- Turning. Trouble drove him to ask. He went to one standing nearby — probably an angel, the commentators suggest — and asked for the truth.
- Teaching. Daniel could explain other men's dreams, but not his own. No one knows the things of God unless God makes them known.
- Told. God never sends a message without the means to understand it. Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Daniel each had an explanation at hand.
- Treasure. The explanation went further than the picture. It revealed that the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and hold it forever.
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, [that] shall arise out of the earth.
Daniel has just watched four dreadful animals rise out of a storm-tossed sea, and now he asks what they mean. The short answer he receives settles who these kings are, where they come from, and how God sees them.
The word "kings" here is not limited to four individual men. The angel's later words about the same vision fix the sense.
First, Daniel is told that these four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. A little later we learn that "the fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth" (v. 23). So "kings" here stand for kingdoms. We cannot then be mistaken in seeing these four beasts as four great empires.
These four kings can be named, and each carries his whole line of successors with him.
The four kings stand for their kingdoms: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Each one therefore takes in his dynasty, or line of successors, right on to the end of his empire… So these four span the whole stretch from the prophet's day, for Babylon was still standing, until the coming of Christ in glory. That is why it goes on, "But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom," and so on. After that there is no other, for they will hold it forever and ever.
The picture is God's own assessment of these governments.
Why should these powers be shown as wild beasts? By this God means to show us their moral character as it appears in His sight. A beast lives by force, and to satisfy its appetites, with no sense of responsibility towards God. The Gentile powers have acted in the same way: greedy for conquest, hungry for power and glory. God has not been in all their thoughts.
Verse 2 said the beasts came up from the sea; verse 17 says they arise out of the earth. The two statements answer different questions.
Their origin was purely earthly. This does not contradict verse 2, which says they came up from the sea. They rise from the sea because the sea stands for a mass of people in political anarchy. Empires arise out of that troubled state of the nations… They have no heavenly origin. The sea only shows that they grew out of a society already in turmoil.
That earthly origin sets these kingdoms against a kingdom with a different source.
The vision describes their providential or political origin; the interpretation gives their moral origin. In God's providence they arise in a time of political upheaval. In moral character they are earthly, unlike the kingdom of the Son of Man, who comes from heaven.
Babylon was still standing when Daniel received this answer. Yet the angel speaks of kings who will arise. Some have used that future tense to argue the first beast cannot be Babylon.
So we must fairly read "shall arise" in Daniel 7:17 as covering all four together. It links the three powers still to come with the Babylonian one, which already existed and was close to falling. Reading the words so strictly shuts the Babylonian empire out from being the lion with eagle's wings. That really sets Daniel 7 against Daniel 2, and overturns a plain fact with no ground. The aim is to give the imperial system a certain unity… "The first" and "another," and so on, in verses 4-7 gave the succession clearly enough, as Daniel 2 had done still more plainly.
The explanation given to Daniel is not a simple repeat of what he saw. It brings in people the vision itself had not mentioned.
In the prophecy nothing was said of the saints, heavenly or earthly. Here we find both — I do not say the church, but still heavenly saints. When God gives us His mind, and not just the outward facts, the link between these events and the saints is the main point… The saints will take the kingdom, not the Son of Man only.
- Earth — the source. The four kings are four kingdoms, and their origin is earthly, not heavenly.
- Earth — the character. What rises from earth behaves like a beast: force, appetite, no sense of accountability to God.
- Earth — the span. The four run from Daniel's own day, Babylon included, to the coming of Christ in glory.
- Earth — the limit. Four, and no more: the sequence runs out, and then the saints of the Most High receive a kingdom they keep forever.
- Heaven — the answer. The vision never mentioned the saints. The interpretation does, and the kingdom belongs to the Son of Man from heaven and to them.
But the saints of the most high [places] shall receive the kingdom, and they shall possess the kingdom for ever, even to the ages of ages.
Daniel's vision is full of beasts, thrones and burning judgment. The angel gives him the short answer: empires rise and fall, but God's saints receive a kingdom that never ends — and one question presses, who are these saints?
The angel explains what Daniel has just seen: how the long rule of the Gentile empires ends for God's people.
Daniel now learns, for his comfort and ours, how the times of the Gentiles finally end for the people of God. These empires may oppose the people of God and blaspheme God, "but" the end will be the triumph of God's people.
Earlier in the chapter the beasts came up out of the sea. Here they arise out of the earth, and the change of picture matters.
In verse 3 these kings, the beasts, come up from the sea; here they arise out of the earth. The first passage shows them as they appear and take governmental power, climbing to their thrones out of the surging waves of the peoples. This verse shows them in their origin, "out of the earth," in contrast with Him who will come out of heaven to take His royal power... So the verse adds, "But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom," and after that there is no other, for they will possess it for ever and ever.
The title translated "Most High" is plural in the original. Commentators tie it to a sphere above this world.
The term "most High" appears in verses 22, 25 and 27 as well as verse 18. Except in verse 25, where it is the title God Himself will be known by in the future, it is plural. So the exact rendering is the saints of the "high places." Few question that the term "heavenly places" in Ephesians comes from this expression in Daniel... Both terms speak of a heavenly sphere, a sphere outside this world, to which certain saints belong.
This reading also explains a contrast that runs through the chapter.
Some, like the beasts and their subjects, belong in their whole character to the earth. Others are the people of God, who own the God of heaven and so belong to heavenly, or high, places... Here we learn a further truth. The people of God of all ages, all those who through the history of the world have been in touch with heaven, will share with the Son of Man in His glorious reign.
Readers often take these saints to be the church. Commentators differ.
People have often supposed that this refers to the Church, and there is no doubt that the Church will possess the glory this passage speaks of. But the Church is not the subject of Daniel's prophecy, any more than of the Psalms. There is no need to limit the title of heavenly saints, or saints of the high places, to the Church. No one can question that Old Testament saints, who lived and died before the Church was founded, will share with the Church the glory of reigning with Christ in His kingdom. The same is true of the saints whose blood will be poured out around Jerusalem in the coming crisis.
God's intervention brings two results for the saints.
First, God gives judgment to the saints of the high places; second, the saints take the kingdom. Notice the special title "of the high places." The little horn persecutes the saints on earth and prevails against them until the Ancient of days comes. But God gives judgment only to the saints of the high places. "Do you not know," says the apostle, "that the saints will judge the world?"
Verse 18 and verse 27 do not say the same thing.
Turning back to Daniel 7:18 and 27, we find two classes. There are "the saints of the Most High," who "receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever." And there are "the people of the saints of the Most High," who receive the kingdom under the whole heaven. The first are the heavenly saints who will reign on high over the earth. The second are the people of Israel on earth during the millennium.
- Beasts — the four kingdoms rise "out of the earth." That is their origin, and it is their limit.
- But — one small word turns the vision. After the opposition and the blasphemy comes the triumph of God's people, told to Daniel for his comfort and ours.
- High places — the title is plural in the original. These are saints of a heavenly sphere, outside this world.
- Share — the Son of Man does not reign alone. God's people of every age reign with Him, and He gives judgment to them.
- For ever — no kingdom follows this one. The saints hold it for ever and ever, while their people hold the kingdom under the whole heaven.
Then I desired to know the certainty concerning the fourth beast, which was different from them all, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet;
Daniel had already been told that the four beasts are four kings. Still, he could not leave the fourth one alone. He asks for the truth about that beast, and his question raises three issues: which power is this, why is it unlike the rest, and what does it mean for God's people?
Count the verses. That alone shows where the weight of this chapter lies.
When Daniel wanted to know what the vision meant, one verse explained all four beasts (verse 17). But it takes nine verses to describe the fourth beast and its doom (verses 19-27).
The angel's reply names the power. One writer explains which empire it was, and what made it "different."
In answer to Daniel's questions, the angel explains the vision of the fourth beast. We are plainly told that it stands for "the fourth kingdom on earth." We know this was the Roman Empire. It was "different from all kingdoms" because it took a form of government that combined rule by one man with rule by the people, already pictured in the iron and clay of the image. Its rule reached almost everywhere, so it could well be said to "devour the whole earth." By treading down and breaking in pieces, it conquered the nations and crushed those who refused to submit.
The metals in Daniel's question carry meaning.
Iron is a symbol of hardness... Iron also marked the kingdom of Rome. When that kingdom is pictured as a beast, it has great iron teeth (Dan. 7:7, 19). And in the great image the character of the kingdoms goes down from gold to silver, then to bronze, then to iron and clay, which would not hold together.
The same teeth and nails belong to a man the world is waiting for.
What the world wants is a man who can tame, or at least subdue, the savage nature of the people... Such a man will be found in this beast. He will have plenty of wisdom to deal with difficult questions. He will have enough power to make people respect his judgments, for his teeth will be of iron and his nails of bronze. He will devour, break in pieces, and no one will be able to resist him. This is the man the world is looking for, and this is the man the world shall get.
One writer picks out two words from Daniel's question as the mark of this empire's whole story. He then says who the "saints" of this chapter are not.
Notice the words "broke in pieces." This feature has marked the history of the Roman empire from first to last. The "saints" here are not the saints who belong to the Church — not the Christians of today. They cannot be, because we will all be taken out of the scene. We will be with Jesus, in glory, before this scripture can be fulfilled. But in that day God will have some saints on earth.
Writers also look on to a future stage of this empire.
At a time still future, the Roman Empire will revive. It will be ten loosely united nations led by the "beast"... This revived kingdom wages war with the believers of that time, until the Lord "appears" to judge it.
Daniel asked about an empire. The reply keeps turning to the saints — something the vision itself had not mentioned.
There are two parts to the interpretation. Verses 17 and 18 are general. Then, for the fourth beast (verses 19-28), there is more detail... Notice here that the interpretation adds something of the highest interest, which was not in the vision it explains: what concerns the saints. In telling the prophet what the vision meant, God could not leave them out.
Daniel's words here restate what he had already described. That near-repeat is itself a lesson in how to read Scripture.
Daniel then went on to ask more closely about the fourth beast. Notice that, while he repeats what he had seen in verses 7 and 8, he adds two things not mentioned before... These additions show that there are no mere repetitions in Scripture. The connection, or the purpose, is different; or, as here, a further revelation deepens the interest. So no scripture that seems the same as another should ever be passed over lightly. Where something seems repeated, that should invite all the closer study, to receive the fresh light being given.
- Asked — Daniel presses for the truth about one beast. God answers with nine verses, where the other three empires got one.
- Named — the answer calls it the fourth kingdom on earth: Rome. It was unlike the rest, and it crushed all who would not submit.
- Armed — iron stands for hardness. Iron teeth and bronze claws picture a power, and at last a man, that no one can resist.
- Added — Daniel's retelling gives details the vision never gave. When Scripture seems to repeat itself, look closer.
- Answered — into a question about empires God brings His own people. He could not leave them out.
and concerning the ten horns that were in its head, and the other that came up, and before which three fell even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and whose look was more imposing than its fellows.
Daniel had just heard the outline: four beasts, four kings, and a kingdom that ends up with the saints. He wanted more, so he asked about the fourth beast's ten horns and the small eleventh horn that rose among them.
Daniel will not settle for an outline. He asks again, and this time he describes the horn more fully than before.
These visions of the future stir up in the prophet the deepest concern to understand what they mean. His desire is granted... But Daniel longs for still clearer and fuller understanding: "Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast... and about the ten horns..." The prophet is not only seeking a fuller explanation of these details. He also gives a fuller account than before of what he had seen in this little horn.
The answer names what each part of the vision means, and how the last king's rule ends.
The interpretation goes into this special matter. The fourth beast was the fourth kingdom. The ten horns were ten kings that would arise. The little or eleventh horn was another king that would rise afterwards, the mightiest of all. But his kingdom would last only a time, times, and half a time. Then the judgment of God would close it, and the whole power under the heavens would pass to the saints of the Most High.
The horn starts as nothing much. Three of the ten fall before it, and from then on it sets the tone for the whole empire. (Older translations read "more stout than his fellows." The ESV says the horn "seemed greater than its companions.")
Three of the horns (kingdoms) fell before this horn, which, small at the beginning, becomes in appearance bolder than his fellows, and at last rules among the horns. And you will see, as we go on, that this horn takes over all the power of the beast. At the very least it stamps the whole with its character. The horn gets the power. The conduct of this little horn decides the conduct of the beast. And the horn is also the cause of the beast's destruction.
The horn's strength is not raw force. What marks it out is intelligence, and the picture that results is a twisted copy of Christ.
It has eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. It is marked by immense intelligence — not by brute force. Compare the description of the Lord, the Lamb that was slain. He has seven horns and seven eyes — that is, the perfection of intelligence and of power. In this case it is not so. The power outwardly looks much greater. It has ten horns instead of seven — a monster instead of perfection. The result is a grotesque exaggeration of the power and wisdom of Christ. Wretched man, energised by Satan, will claim it for himself.
The second mark is speech, and those words bring the empire down.
This is not simply a power driven into action by its passions. It is not a conqueror who goes about ravaging everywhere. There was something more in the ways of this little horn: extreme arrogance, intelligence, design, planning, and reflection... "A mouth speaking great things" means enormous boasting, and this is what marks this horn in particular. It is because of the words this horn spoke that the beast was destroyed.
Commentators tie this horn to the beast of Revelation, and to its "eighth" head.
The seventh head continues for a short time only. We may understand him as a person of importance and in control when the empire first reappears. Then the "little horn" — Satan's nominee — takes his place. He rises up with a "look... bolder than his fellows," and three kings fall before him, as Daniel 7:20 predicts. But the eighth, despite his dazzling splendour, does not last long. God steps in, and he "goes to destruction."
- Ask. Daniel refuses a general answer. He asks for the truth about the horns, and his own question describes the little horn more fully than before.
- Eyes. Its mark is intelligence and design, not brute force. It is a grotesque copy of the Lamb's seven horns and seven eyes.
- Mouth. Its boasting comes from arrogance, not blind passion. Those very words bring the beast down.
- Takeover. Small at first, it plucks up three kings. Then it stamps the whole empire with its own character.
- End. His splendour is real, but short. God steps in and ends his rule, and the saints receive the power under the whole heavens.
I beheld, and that horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them;
Daniel asks the angel for more about the fourth beast. The answer widens the picture. This time the prophet sees the horn at war with God's own people — and winning. The verse raises two hard questions — how can the saints be beaten, and how long can it last?
The prophet has seen this horn before. Here he sees it again, with new detail — this time from the side of those who suffer under it.
Then Daniel asks more closely about the fourth beast. He repeats the vision, but with added details. Now he speaks of the saints. He tells us he saw that the one pictured by the little horn persecuted the saints, and for a limited time was allowed to prevail against them. This triumph over the saints lasted "until the Ancient of Days came." Then the saints judged those who had prevailed against them.
The chapter gives enough marks to identify him. One writer traces them one by one.
Several details about the little horn of our chapter help us identify him. First, he arises after the ten kings, and he is different from them, though Daniel does not say how. Second, "he shall subdue three kings" — three out of the ten who are on the scene when he arises. Next, he clearly gains the power of the whole empire, for it is "his dominion" that is taken away when the judgment sits. Last, verse 25 says the very same things about him that Revelation 13:5-7 says about the first beast. So the conclusion cannot be escaped: the little horn is none other than the head of the revived Roman empire in Western Europe in the last days.
Which believers are in view here? Not the ones a Christian reader might first assume.
The "saints" here are not the saints who belong to the Church — not the Christians of today. We will all be taken out of the scene before this scripture can be fulfilled; we will be with Jesus, in glory. But in that day God will have saints on earth. The Spirit of God will work again among the Jews, and it is against them that this horn aims all its hatred and energy.
What does God allow into this ruler's hand? Not His people.
The horn thinks to change times and laws, and so interferes with God's rights among His ancient people. Scripture says it is these "times and laws" that are given into his hand, for God's anger against Israel was not yet at an end. The mistake is common that "the saints" are given into the hands of this wicked prince. Daniel says he makes war with the saints (verse 21) and prevails against them. But this is a very different thing. God permits tribulation and persecution; but He never gives His own into the enemy's hand. His sheep are in His own hand; and He never leaves — no, never forsakes them, even if He allows their death in a terrible form.
The prophet is not simply told that God will judge human pride. He is given a limit.
The little horn not only makes war with the saints, but prevails against them up to a certain time — that is, until the coming of the Ancient of Days. This is more definite than the truth that God will judge man's audacity. We are no longer looking at public history and general principles, but at explanations for the saints, given through the prophet. The coming of the Ancient of Days is what ends the little horn's power over the saints.
The next verse turns the picture around. What should a share in Christ's rule do to the way believers live now?
The saints share in Christ's rule, and in His judgment too. "Judgment was given to the saints of the Most High (or high places), and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom" (Dan. 7:22). What a privilege and dignity for us who believe in His name! Yet how ready we are to forget it, and to sink to a merely human level! The Corinthians are painful proofs of this. They forgot the great truth that the saints are to reign with Christ one day, and so they accepted ease and honour in the present world.
- War. The little horn is the last head of the revived Roman empire. Four marks identify him: he rises after the ten kings, subdues three, gains the whole empire's power, and matches the beast of Revelation 13.
- Prevail. He is allowed real success against God's people — not a token setback, but genuine defeat for a season.
- Limit. The times and laws are given into his hand; the saints are not. God permits persecution, but never hands His own over to the enemy.
- Until. His success runs only to a set point. The coming of the Ancient of Days ends his power over the saints.
- Reign. Judgment is given to the saints, and the kingdom becomes theirs. That certainty should keep believers from settling for ease and honour now.
until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high [places]; and the appointed time arrived, and the saints possessed the kingdom.
The chapter's fourth beast has a small horn that speaks great things and wages war on God's people — and wins. Verse 22 is where that war stops. It raises three questions: what ends it, who receives the judgment, and which "saints" are meant.
A note on wording: the writers below use older translations. Those read "judgment was given to the saints of the Most High." Their argument turns on that word "to." The ESV has "judgment was given for the saints of the Most High."
The word "until" is the most important word in the verse. It sets a boundary on a persecution that, from inside it, looks unstoppable.
The little horn not only makes war with the saints, but prevails against them up to a certain time — that is, until the coming of the Ancient of Days. Here we get something more definite than that God will judge the boldness of man. We are no longer occupied with public history and general principles, but with explanations for the saints in the person of the prophet. It is the coming of the Ancient of Days that puts an end to the power of the little horn over the saints.
The same writer names what does not end it.
If God permits the beast to overcome the saints, that lasts only until Christ, the Ancient of Days, comes. It lasts until judgment is given to the saints of the Most High, and until they get the kingdom. What puts an end to the authority of the beast is the coming of the Ancient of Days, and not the preaching of the gospel.
In this verse the Ancient of Days is the one who comes. One writer takes that as a clue to who He is.
He prevails until the Ancient of Days came. Here we see that the Son of Man is the Ancient of Days, because we know that the Son of Man comes. Then a total change takes place: judgment is given to the saints of the high places, and the time has come that the saints possess the kingdom.
The verse is often read as a single moment, but the writers separate its parts and count them.
In chapter 7 he is seen as a little horn... and in the same chapter we also have the period fixed for the end of the persecution of the saints, "until the Ancient of Days came" (v. 22), as distinct from the time when He sat upon the throne (v. 9)... In fact three things are marked: the coming of the Ancient of Days; the judgment given to the saints of the high places; and the time when the saints shall take the kingdom.
The verse uses two descriptions. It says "the saints of the Most High," which several writers render "the saints of the high places." Then it says only "the saints." The writers treat that change as deliberate.
So in verse 22, when the kingdom is mentioned, it is not said "the saints of the high places," but simply "the saints possessed the kingdom"... Judgment is given to the heavenly saints, and the kingdom is given to the saints. The first of these two events belongs to the heavenly saints alone. The second is wider. The saints on earth share in it according to their condition, and this does not exclude the saints in heaven according to their condition.
Views differ on who these saints are. One writer warns against reading the church into a book that is not about it, though he grants the church a share in the glory.
It has been common to suppose that the Church is here referred to; and there can be no doubt that the Church will possess the glory this passage speaks of. But the Church is not the subject of Daniel's prophecy... and there is no need to limit the title of heavenly saints, or saints of the high places, to the Church.
Another writer identifies the persecuted saints as an earthly people in a day still to come.
The "saints" here are not the saints who belong to the Church, not the Christians of the present moment. In that day God will have some earthly saints. The Spirit of God will work again among the Jews. It is against them that all the hatred and energy of this horn is directed.
The most striking word is "given." What the saints receive is not a verdict against them but a seat.
How remarkable is the language of Scripture! We all thought that by and by we were going to be judged; but even the book of Daniel says that, far from the saints being judged, they are going to be the judges.
One writer makes this a test of how believers treat each other now.
They ought really to have known that "the saints will judge the world." This fact had been stated in the Old Testament... Had they really known it, they would not have dragged one another into pagan law courts. If we really knew it, we would perhaps avoid certain things that we do.
- Until — the horn wins, but only up to a date God has fixed; "until" is the whole comfort of the verse.
- Coming — preaching the gospel does not end the persecution. The Ancient of Days ends it by coming, and the Son of Man who comes is Him.
- Given — the saints are handed judgment; no one passes judgment on them. Those the horn overpowered become the judges.
- Two companies — judgment belongs to the heavenly saints. The kingdom reaches wider, and writers differ over who these saints are.
- Therefore — people who will judge the world should not run to the world to settle their quarrels. What you know about the future should shape how you live now.