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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>D A N I E L.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The six former chapters of this book were historical; we now enter with
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fear and trembling upon the six latter, which are prophetical, wherein
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are many things dark and hard to be understood, which we dare not
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positively determine the sense of, and yet many things plain and
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profitable, which I trust God will enable us to make a good use of. In
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this chapter we have,
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I. Daniel's vision of the four beasts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:1-8">ver. 1-8</A>.
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II. His vision of God's throne of government and judgment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:9-14">ver. 9-14</A>.
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III. The interpretation of these visions, given him by an angel that
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stood by,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:15-28">ver. 15-28</A>.
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Whether those visions look as far forward as the end of time, or
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whether they were to have a speedy accomplishment, is hard to say, nor
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are the most judicious interpreters agreed concerning it.</P>
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<A NAME="Da7_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Vision of the Four Beasts.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 555.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a
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dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the
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dream, <I>and</I> told the sum of the matters.
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2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and,
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behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
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3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from
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another.
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4 The first <I>was</I> like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld
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till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from
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the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's
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heart was given to it.
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5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it
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raised up itself on one side, and <I>it had</I> three ribs in the
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mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it,
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Arise, devour much flesh.
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6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which
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had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also
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four heads; and dominion was given to it.
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7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth
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beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had
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great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped
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the residue with the feet of it: and it <I>was</I> diverse from all
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the beasts that <I>were</I> before it; and it had ten horns.
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8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them
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another little horn, before whom there were three of the first
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horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn <I>were</I>
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eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The date of this chapter places it before
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+5:1-31"><I>ch.</I> v.</A>,
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which was in the last year of Belshazzar, and
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+6:1-28"><I>ch.</I> iv.</A>,
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which was in the first of Darius; for Daniel had those visions in the
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first year of Belshazzar, when the captivity of the Jews in Babylon was
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drawing near a period. Belshazzar's name here is, in the original,
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spelt differently from what it used to be; before it was
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<I>Bel-she-azar--Bel is he that treasures up riches.</I> But this is
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<I>Bel-eshe-zar--Bel is on fire by the enemy.</I> Bel was the god of
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the Chaldeans; he had prospered, but is now to be consumed.</P>
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<P>
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We have, in these verses, Daniel's vision of the four monarchies that
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were oppressive to the Jews. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. The circumstances of this vision. Daniel had interpreted
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Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and now he is himself honoured with similar
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divine discoveries
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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He <I>had visions of his head upon his bed,</I> when he was asleep; so
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God sometimes revealed himself and his mind to the children of men,
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when deep sleep fell upon them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:15">Job xxxiii. 15</A>);
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for when we are most retired from the world, and taken off from the
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things of sense, we are most fit for communion with God. But when he
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was awake he <I>wrote the dream</I> for his own use, lest he should
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forget it as a dream which passes away; and he <I>told the sum of the
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matters</I> to his brethren the Jews for their use, and gave it to them
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in writing, that it might be communicated to those at a distance and
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preserved for their children after them, who shall see these things
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accomplished. The Jews, misunderstanding some of the prophecies of
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Jeremiah and Ezekiel, flattered themselves with hopes that, after their
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return to their own land, they should enjoy a complete and
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uninterrupted tranquility; but that they might not so deceive
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themselves, and their calamities be made doubly grievous by the
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disappointment, God by this prophet lets them know that they shall have
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tribulation: those promises of their prosperity were to be accomplished
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in the spiritual blessings of the kingdom of grace; as Christ has told
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his disciples they must expect persecution, and the promises they
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depend upon will be accomplished in the eternal blessings of the
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kingdom of glory. Daniel both wrote these things and spoke them, to
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intimate that the church should be taught both by the scriptures and by
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ministers' preaching, both by the written word and by word of mouth;
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and ministers in their preaching are to <I>tell the sum of the
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matters</I> that are written.</P>
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<P>
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II. The vision itself, which foretels the revolutions of government in
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those nations which the church of the Jews, for the following ages, was
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to be under the influence of.
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1. He observed the <I>four winds to strive upon the great sea,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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They strove which should blow strongest, and, at length, blow alone.
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This represents the contests among princes for empire, and the shakings
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of the nations by these contests, to which those mighty monarchies,
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which he was now to have a prospect of, owed their rise. One wind from
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any point of the compass, if it blow hard, will cause a great commotion
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in the sea; but what a tumult must needs be raised when the four winds
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strive for mastery! This is it which the kings of the nations are
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contending for in their wars, which are as noisy and violent as the
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battle of the winds; but how is the poor sea tossed and torn, how
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terrible are its concussions, and how violent its convulsions, while
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the winds are at strife which shall have the sole power of troubling
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it! Note, This world is like a stormy tempestuous sea; thanks to the
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proud ambitious winds that vex it.
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2. He saw <I>four great beasts come up from the sea,</I> from the
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<I>troubled waters,</I> in which aspiring minds love to fish. The
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monarchs and monarchies are represented by <I>beasts,</I> because too
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often it is by brutish rage and tyranny that they are raised and
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supported. These beasts were <I>diverse one from another</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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of different shapes, to denote the different genius and complexion of
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the nations in whose hands they were lodged.
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(1.) <I>The first</I> beast <I>was like a lion,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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This was the Chaldean monarchy, that was fierce and strong, and made
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the kings absolute. This lion had <I>eagle's wings,</I> with which to
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fly upon the prey, denoting the wonderful speed that Nebuchadnezzar
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made in his conquest of kingdoms. But Daniel soon sees the <I>wings
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plucked,</I> a full stop put to the career of their victorious arms.
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Divers countries that had been tributaries to them revolt from them,
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and make head against them; so that this monstrous animal, this winged
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lion, is made to <I>stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart is
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given to it.</I> It has lost the heart of a lion, which it had been
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famous for (one of our English kings was called <I>Cœur de
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Lion--Lion-heart</I>), has lost its courage and become feeble and
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faint, dreading every thing and daring nothing; they are put in fear,
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and made to know themselves to be but men. Sometimes the valour of a
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nation strangely sinks, and it becomes cowardly and effeminate, so that
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what was the head of the nations in an age or two becomes the tail.
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(2.) The <I>second</I> beast was <I>like a bear,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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This was the Persian monarchy, less strong and generous than the
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former, but no less ravenous. This bear <I>raised up itself on one
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side</I> against the lion, and soon mastered it. It <I>raised up one
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dominion;</I> so some read it. Persia and Media, which in
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Nebuchadnezzar's image were the <I>two arms</I> in one breast, now set
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up a joint government. This bear had <I>three ribs in the mouth of it
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between the teeth,</I> the remains of those nations it had devoured,
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which were the marks of its voraciousness, and yet an indication that
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though it had devoured much it could not devour all; some ribs still
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stuck in the teeth of it, which it could not conquer. Whereupon it was
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said to it, "<I>Arise, devour much flesh;</I> let alone the bones, the
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ribs, that cannot be conquered, and set upon that which will be an
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easier prey." The princes will stir up both the kings and the people to
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push on their conquests, and let nothing stand before them. Note,
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Conquests, unjustly made, are but like those of the beasts of prey, and
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in <I>this</I> much worse, that the beasts prey not upon those of their
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own kind, as wicked and unreasonable men do.
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(3.) The third beast was <I>like a leopard,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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This was the Grecian monarchy, founded by <I>Alexander the Great,</I>
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active, crafty, and cruel, like a <I>leopard.</I> He had <I>four wings
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of a fowl;</I> the lion seems to have had but two wings; but the
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leopard had four, for though Nebuchadnezzar made great despatch in his
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conquests Alexander made much greater. In six years' time he gained the
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whole empire of Persia, a great part besides of Asia, made himself
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master of Syria, Egypt, India, and other nations. This beast had
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<I>four heads;</I> upon Alexander's death his conquests were divided
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among his four chief captains; Seleucus Nicanor had Asia the Great;
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Perdiccas, and after him Antigonus, had Asia the Less; Cassander had
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Macedonia; and Ptolemeus had Egypt. <I>Dominion</I> was <I>given</I> to
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this <I>beast;</I> it was given of God, from whom alone promotion
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comes.
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(4.) The fourth beast was more fierce, and formidable, and mischievous,
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than any of them, unlike any of the other, nor is there any among the
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beasts of prey to which it might be compared,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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The learned are not agreed concerning this anonymous beast; some make
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it to be the Roman empire, which, when it was in its glory,
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comprehended ten kingdoms, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Britain,
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Sarmatia, Pannonia, Asia, Greece, and Egypt; and then the little horn
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which rose by the fall of three of the other horns
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>)
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they make to be the Turkish empire, which rose in the room of Asia,
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Greece, and Egypt. Others make this fourth beast to be the kingdom of
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Syria, the family of the Seleucidæ, which was very cruel and
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oppressive to the people of the Jews, as we find in Josephus and the
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history of the Maccabees. And herein that empire was diverse from those
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which went before, that none of the preceding powers compelled the Jews
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to renounce their religion, but the kings of Syria did, and used them
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barbarously. Their armies and commanders were the <I>great iron
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teeth</I> with which they <I>devoured and broke in pieces</I> the
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people of God, and they <I>trampled upon the residue</I> of them. The
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<I>ten horns</I> are then supposed to be ten kings that reigned
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successively in Syria; and then the <I>little horn</I> is Antiochus
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Epiphanes, the last of the ten, who by one means or other undermined
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three of the kings, and got the government. He was a man of great
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ingenuity, and therefore is said to have eyes <I>like the eyes of a
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man;</I> and he was very bold and daring, had a <I>mouth speaking great
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things.</I> We shall meet with him again in these prophecies.</P>
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<A NAME="Da7_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Da7_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Vision of the Four Beasts.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 555.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of
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days did sit, whose garment <I>was</I> white as snow, and the hair of
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his head like the pure wool: his throne <I>was like</I> the fiery
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flame, <I>and</I> his wheels <I>as</I> burning fire.
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10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him:
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thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times
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ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the
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books were opened.
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11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which
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the horn spake: I beheld <I>even</I> till the beast was slain, and his
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body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
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12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their
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dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season
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and time.
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13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, <I>one</I> like the Son
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of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of
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days, and they brought him near before him.
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14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom,
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that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his
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dominion <I>is</I> an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,
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and his kingdom <I>that</I> which shall not be destroyed.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Whether we understand the fourth beast to signify the Syrian empire, or
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the Roman, or the former as the figure of the latter, it is plain that
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these verses are intended for the comfort and support of the people of
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God in reference to the persecutions they were likely to sustain both
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from the one and from the other, and from all their proud enemies in
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every age; for it is written for their learning on whom the ends of the
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world have come, that they also, through patience and comfort of this
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scripture, might have hope. Three things are here discovered that are
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very encouraging:--</P>
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<P>
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I. That there is a judgment to come, and God is the Judge. Now men have
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their day, and every pretender thinks he should have his day, and
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struggles for it. But <I>he that sits in heaven laughs at them,</I> for
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he sees that <I>his day is coming,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:13">Ps. xxxvii. 13</A>.
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<I>I beheld</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>)
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<I>till the thrones were cast down,</I> not only the thrones of these
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beasts, but <I>all rule, authority, power,</I> that are set up in
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opposition to the kingdom of God among men
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:24">1 Cor. xv. 24</A>):
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such are the thrones of the kingdoms of the world, in comparison with
|
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God's kingdom; those that see them set up need but wait awhile, and
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they will see them cast down. <I>I beheld till thrones were set up</I>
|
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(so it may as well be read), Christ's throne and the throne of his
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|
Father. One of the rabbin confesses that these thrones are <I>set
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up,</I> one for <I>God,</I> another for the <I>Son of David.</I> It is
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the <I>judgment</I> that is here <I>set,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Now,
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1. This is intended to proclaim God's wise and righteous government of
|
|
the world by his providence; and an unspeakable satisfaction it gives
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|
to all good men, in the midst of the convulsions and revolutions of
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states and kingdoms, that <I>the Lord has prepared his throne in the
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heavens and his kingdom rules over all</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+103:19">Ps. ciii. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>that verily there is a God that judges in the earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+58:11">Ps. lviii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Perhaps it points at the destruction brought by the providence of
|
|
God upon the empire of Syria, or that of Rome, for their tyrannizing
|
|
over the people of God. But,
|
|
|
|
3. It seems principally designed to describe the last judgment, for
|
|
though it follow not immediately upon the dominion of the fourth beast,
|
|
nay, though it be yet to come, perhaps many ages to come, yet it was
|
|
intended that in every age the people of God should encourage
|
|
themselves, under their troubles, with the belief and prospect of it.
|
|
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:14">Jude 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Does the mouth of the enemy <I>speak great things,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here are far greater things which the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
|
|
Many of the New-Testament predictions of the judgment to come have a
|
|
plain allusion to this vision, especially St John's vision of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+20:11,12">Rev. xx. 11, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The Judge is <I>the Ancient of days</I> himself, <I>God the
|
|
Father,</I> the glory of whose presence is here described. He is
|
|
called <I>the Ancient of days,</I> because he is God <I>from
|
|
everlasting to everlasting.</I> Among men we reckon that <I>with the
|
|
ancient is wisdom,</I> and <I>days shall speak;</I> shall not all flesh
|
|
then be silent before him who is <I>the Ancient of days?</I> The glory
|
|
of the Judge is here set forth by his garment, which was <I>white as
|
|
snow,</I> denoting his splendour and purity in all the administrations
|
|
of his justice; and the <I>hair of his head</I> clean and white, <I>as
|
|
the pure wool,</I> that, as the white and hoary head, he may appear
|
|
venerable.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The throne is very formidable. It is <I>like the fiery flame,</I>
|
|
dreadful to the wicked that shall be summoned before it. And the throne
|
|
being movable upon wheels, or at least the chariot in which he rode the
|
|
circuit, the <I>wheels</I> thereof are <I>as burning fire,</I> to
|
|
devour the adversaries; for <I>our God is a consuming fire,</I> and
|
|
with him are <I>everlasting burnings,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:14">Isa. xxxiii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is enlarged upon,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
As to all his faithful friends there <I>proceeds out of the throne of
|
|
God and the Lamb a pure river of water of life</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+22:1">Rev. xxii. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
so to all his implacable enemies there <I>issues and comes forth
|
|
from</I> his throne a <I>fiery stream, a stream of brimstone</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:33">Isa. xxx. 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
a <I>fire</I> that shall <I>devour before him.</I> He is a swift
|
|
witness, and his word a word upon the wheels.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The attendants are numerous and very splendid. The Shechinah is
|
|
always attended with angels; it is so here
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thousand thousands minister to him,</I> and <I>ten thousand times
|
|
ten thousand stand before him.</I> It is his glory that he has such
|
|
attendants, but much more his glory that he neither needs them nor can
|
|
be benefited by them. See how numerous the heavenly hosts are (there
|
|
are <I>thousands of angels</I>), and how obsequious they are--they
|
|
<I>stand before God,</I> ready to go on his errands and to take the
|
|
first intimation of his will and pleasure. They will particularly be
|
|
employed as ministers of his justice in the last judgment day, when the
|
|
<I>Son of man shall come, and all the holy angels with him.</I> Enoch
|
|
prophesied that the Lord should come <I>with his holy myriads.</I>
|
|
|
|
(4.) The process is fair and unexceptionable: <I>The judgment is
|
|
set,</I> publicly and openly, that all may have recourse to it; and
|
|
<I>the books are opened.</I> As in courts of judgment among men the
|
|
proceedings are in writing and upon record, which is laid open when the
|
|
cause comes to a hearing, the examination of witnesses is produced, and
|
|
affidavits are read, to clear the matter of fact, and the statute and
|
|
common-law books are consulted to find out what is the law, so, in the
|
|
judgment of the great day, the equity of the sentence will be as
|
|
incontestably evident as if there were books opened to justify it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That the proud and cruel enemies of the church of God will
|
|
certainly be reckoned with and brought down in due time,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is here represented to us,
|
|
|
|
1. In the destroying of the fourth beast. God's quarrel with this beast
|
|
is <I>because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke,</I>
|
|
bidding defiance to Heaven, and triumphing over all that is sacred;
|
|
this provokes God more than any thing, for the <I>enemy to behave
|
|
himself proudly,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:27">Deut. xxxii. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Therefore</I> Pharaoh must be humbled, because he has said, <I>Who
|
|
is the Lord?</I> and has said, <I>I will pursue, I will overtake.</I>
|
|
Enoch foretold that <I>therefore</I> the Lord would come to <I>judge
|
|
the world,</I> that he might <I>convince all that are ungodly of their
|
|
hard speeches,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:15">Jude 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Great words are but idle words, for which men must give account
|
|
in the great day. And see what becomes of this beast that talks so big:
|
|
He <I>is slain,</I> and <I>his body destroyed and given to the burning
|
|
flame.</I> The Syrian empire, after Antiochus, was destroyed. He
|
|
himself died of a miserable disease, his family was rooted out, the
|
|
kingdom wasted by the Parthians and Armenians, and at length made a
|
|
province of the Roman empire by Pompey. And the Roman empire itself
|
|
(if we take that for the fourth beast), after it began to persecute
|
|
Christianity, declined and wasted away, and the body of it was
|
|
destroyed. <I>So shall all thy enemies perish, O Lord!</I> and be
|
|
<I>slain before thee.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. In the diminishing and weakening of the other three beasts
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
They had <I>their dominion taken away,</I> and so were disabled from
|
|
doing the mischiefs they had done to the church and people of God; but
|
|
<I>a prolonging in life was given them, for a time and a season,</I> a
|
|
set time, the bounds of which they could not pass. The power of the
|
|
foregoing kingdoms was quite broken, but the people of them still
|
|
remained in a mean, weak, and low condition. We may allude to this in
|
|
describing the remainders of sin in the hearts of good people; they
|
|
have corruptions in them, the lives of which are prolonged, so that
|
|
they are not perfectly free from sin, but the dominion of them is taken
|
|
away, so that sin does not <I>reign in their mortal bodies.</I> And
|
|
thus God deals with his church's enemies; sometimes he breaks the teeth
|
|
of them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:7">Ps. iii. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
when he does not break the neck of them, crushes the persecution, but
|
|
reprieves the persecutors, that they may have space to repent. And it
|
|
is fit that God, in doing his own work, should take his own time and
|
|
way.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. That the kingdom of the Messiah shall be set up, and kept up, in
|
|
the world, in spite of all the opposition of the powers of darkness.
|
|
Let the heathen rage and fret as long as they please, God will <I>set
|
|
his King upon his holy hill of Zion.</I> Daniel sees this in vision,
|
|
and comforts himself and his friends with the prospect of it. This is
|
|
the same with Nebuchadnezzar's foresight of the <I>stone cut out of the
|
|
mountain without hands,</I> which broke in pieces the image; but in
|
|
this vision there is much more of pure gospel than in that.
|
|
|
|
1. The Messiah is here called the Son of man--<I>one like unto the Son
|
|
of man;</I> for he was <I>made in the likeness of sinful flesh,</I> was
|
|
<I>found in fashion as a man. I saw one like unto the Son of man,</I>
|
|
one exactly agreeing with the idea formed in the divine counsels of him
|
|
that in the fulness of time was to be the Mediator between God and man.
|
|
He is <I>like unto the son of man,</I> but is indeed the Son of God.
|
|
Our Savior seems plainly to refer to this vision when he says
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:27">John v. 27</A>)
|
|
|
|
that the <I>Father</I> has therefore <I>given him authority to execute
|
|
judgment</I> because he is <I>the Son of man,</I> and because he is the
|
|
person whom Daniel saw in vision, to whom a kingdom and dominion were
|
|
to be given.
|
|
|
|
2. He is said to <I>come with the clouds of heaven.</I> Some refer this
|
|
to his incarnation; he descended <I>in the clouds of heaven,</I> came
|
|
into the world unseen, as the glory of the Lord took possession of the
|
|
temple in a cloud. The empires of the world were beasts that <I>rose
|
|
out of the sea;</I> but Christ's kingdom is from above: he is the
|
|
<I>Lord from heaven.</I> I think it is rather to be referred to his
|
|
ascension; when he returned to the Father the eye of his disciples
|
|
followed him, till <I>a cloud received him out of their sight,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+1:9">Acts i. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
He made that cloud his chariot, wherein he rode triumphantly to the
|
|
upper world. He comes swiftly, irresistibly, and comes in state, for he
|
|
<I>comes with the clouds of heaven.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. He is here represented as having a mighty interest in Heaven. When
|
|
the cloud received him out of the sight of his disciples, it is worth
|
|
while to enquire (as the sons of the prophets concerning Elijah in a
|
|
like case) whither it carried him, where it lodged him; and here we are
|
|
told, abundantly to our satisfaction, that <I>he came to the Ancient of
|
|
days;</I> for he ascended to <I>his Father and our Father,</I> to
|
|
<I>his God and our God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+20:17">John xx. 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
from him he came forth, and to him he returns, to be glorified with
|
|
him, and to sit down at his right hand. It was with a great deal of
|
|
pleasure that he said, <I>Now I go to him that sent me.</I> But was he
|
|
welcome? Yes, not doubt, he was, for <I>they brought him near before
|
|
him;</I> he was introduced into his Father's presence, with the
|
|
attendance and adorations of <I>all the angels of God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+1:6">Heb. i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
God <I>caused him to draw near and approach to him,</I> as an advocate
|
|
and undertaker for us
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:21">Jer. xxx. 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
that we through him might be <I>made nigh.</I> By this solemn near
|
|
approach which he made to the Ancient of days it appears that the
|
|
Father accepted the sacrifice he offered, and the satisfaction he made,
|
|
and was entirely well pleased with all he had done. He was <I>brought
|
|
near,</I> as our high priest, who for us enters within the veil, and as
|
|
our forerunner,
|
|
|
|
4. He is here represented as having a mighty influence upon this earth,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
When he went to be glorified with his Father he had a <I>power given
|
|
him over all flesh,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+17:2,5">John xvii. 2, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
With the prospect of this Daniel and his friends are here comforted,
|
|
that not only the dominion of the church's enemies shall be taken away
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
but the church's head and best friend shall have <I>the dominion given
|
|
him;</I> to him <I>every knee shall bow</I> and <I>every tongue
|
|
confess.</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+2:9,10">Phil. ii. 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
To him are given <I>glory and a kingdom,</I> and they are given by him
|
|
who has an unquestionable right to give them, which, some think with an
|
|
eye to these words, our Savior teaches us to acknowledge in the close
|
|
of the Lord's prayer, <I>For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the
|
|
glory.</I> It is here foretold that the kingdom of the exalted Redeemer
|
|
shall be,
|
|
|
|
(1.) A universal kingdom, the only universal monarchy, whatever others
|
|
have pretended to, or aimed at: <I>All people, nations, and
|
|
languages,</I> shall <I>fear him,</I> and be under his jurisdiction,
|
|
either as his willing subjects or as his conquered captives, to be
|
|
either ruled or overruled by him. One way or other, the kingdoms of the
|
|
world shall all become his kingdoms.
|
|
|
|
(2.) An everlasting kingdom. His <I>dominion</I> shall not <I>pass
|
|
away</I> to any successor, much less to any invader, and his kingdom is
|
|
<I>that</I> which <I>shall not be destroyed.</I> Even the gates of
|
|
hell, or the infernal powers and policies, shall not prevail against
|
|
it. The church shall continue militant to the end of time, and
|
|
triumphant to the endless ages of eternity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da7_28"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Vision of the Four Beasts.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 555.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of <I>my</I> 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 of all this. So he told me, and made me know the
|
|
interpretation of the things.
|
|
17 These great beasts, which are four, <I>are</I> four kings,
|
|
<I>which</I> shall arise out of the earth.
|
|
18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and
|
|
possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
|
|
19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was
|
|
diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth
|
|
<I>were of</I> iron, and his nails <I>of</I> brass; <I>which</I> devoured, brake
|
|
in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
|
|
20 And of the ten horns that <I>were</I> in his head, and <I>of</I> the
|
|
other which came up, and before whom three fell; even <I>of</I> that
|
|
horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things,
|
|
whose look <I>was</I> more stout than his 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 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.
|
|
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom <I>are</I> ten kings <I>that</I>
|
|
shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be
|
|
diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
|
|
25 And he shall speak <I>great</I> 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.
|
|
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his
|
|
dominion, to consume and to destroy <I>it</I> unto the end.
|
|
27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the
|
|
kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of
|
|
the saints of the most High, whose kingdom <I>is</I> an everlasting
|
|
kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
|
|
28 Hitherto <I>is</I> the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my
|
|
cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me:
|
|
but I kept the matter in my heart.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here we have,
|
|
|
|
I. The deep impressions which these visions made upon the prophet. God
|
|
in them put honour upon him, and gave him satisfaction, yet not without
|
|
a great allay of pain and perplexity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I Daniel was grieved in my spirit, in the midst of my body.</I> The
|
|
word here used for the <I>body</I> properly signifies a <I>sheath</I>
|
|
or <I>scabbard,</I> for the body is no more to the soul; that is the
|
|
weapon; it is that which we are principally to take care of. The
|
|
<I>visions of my head troubled me,</I> an again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>my cogitations much troubled me.</I> The manner in which these
|
|
things were discovered to him quite overwhelmed him, and put his
|
|
thoughts so much to the stretch that his spirits failed him, and the
|
|
trance he was in tired him and made him faint. The things themselves
|
|
that were discovered amazed and astonished him, and put him into a
|
|
confusion, till by degrees he recollected and conquered himself, and
|
|
set the comforts of the vision over against the terrors of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. His earnest desire to understand the meaning of them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I came near to one of those that stood by, to</I> one of the angels
|
|
that appeared attending the <I>Son of man</I> in his glory, and
|
|
<I>asked him the truth</I> (the true intent and meaning) <I>of all
|
|
this.</I> Note, It is a very desirable thing to take the right and full
|
|
sense of what we see and hear from God; and those that would know must
|
|
ask by faithful and fervent prayer and by <I>accomplishing a diligent
|
|
search.</I></P>
|
|
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<P>
|
|
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III. The key that was given him, to let him into the understanding of
|
|
this vision. The angel <I>told him,</I> and told him so plainly that he
|
|
made him <I>know the interpretation of the thing,</I> and so made him
|
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somewhat more easy.</P>
|
|
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<P>
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1. <I>The great beasts</I> are great <I>kings</I> and their kingdoms,
|
|
great monarchs and their monarchies, <I>which shall arise out of the
|
|
earth,</I> as those beasts did <I>out of the sea,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
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They are but <I>terræfilii--from beneath;</I> they savour of the
|
|
earth, and their foundation is <I>in the dust;</I> they are of the
|
|
earth earthy, and they are written in the dust, and to the dust they
|
|
shall return.</P>
|
|
|
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<P>
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|
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2. Daniel pretty well understands the first three beasts, but
|
|
concerning the fourth he desires to be better informed, because it
|
|
differed so much from the rest, and was <I>exceedingly dreadful,</I>
|
|
and not only so, but very mischievous, or it <I>devoured and broke in
|
|
pieces,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
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Perhaps it was this that put Daniel into such a fright, and this part
|
|
of the visions of his head troubled him more than any of the rest. But
|
|
especially he desired to know what the <I>little horn</I> was, that
|
|
<I>had eyes,</I> and a <I>mouth that spoke very great things,</I> and
|
|
whose countenance was more fearless and formidable than that of <I>any
|
|
of his fellows,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
And this he was most inquisitive about because it was this horn that
|
|
<I>made war with the saints, and prevailed against them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
While no more is intimated than that the children of men make war with
|
|
one another, and prevail against one another, the prophet does not show
|
|
himself so much concerned (<I>let the potsherds strive with the
|
|
potsherds of the earth,</I> and be dashed in pieces one against
|
|
another); but when they <I>make war with the saints,</I> when the
|
|
<I>precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold,</I> are broken as
|
|
<I>earthen pitchers,</I> it is time to ask, "What is the meaning of
|
|
this? Will the Lord cast off his people? Will he suffer their enemies
|
|
to trample upon them and triumph over them? What is this same horn
|
|
that shall prevail so far against the saints?" To this his interpreter
|
|
answers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:23-25"><I>v.</I> 23-25</A>)
|
|
|
|
that this <I>fourth beast</I> is a <I>fourth kingdom,</I> that <I>shall
|
|
devour the whole earth,</I> or (as it may be read) <I>the whole
|
|
land.</I> That the <I>ten horns are ten kings,</I> and the <I>little
|
|
horn</I> is another king that shall subdue three kings, and shall be
|
|
very abusive to God and his people, shall act,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Very impiously towards God. He shall <I>speak great words against
|
|
the Most High,</I> setting him, and his authority and justice, at
|
|
defiance.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Very imperiously towards the people of God. He shall <I>wear out
|
|
the saints of the Most High;</I> he will not cut them off at once, but
|
|
wear them out by long oppressions and a constant course of hardships
|
|
put upon them, ruining their estates and weakening their families. The
|
|
design of Satan has been to <I>wear out the saints of the Most
|
|
High,</I> that they may be no more in remembrance; but the attempt is
|
|
vain, for while the world stands God will have a church in it. He shall
|
|
<I>think to change times and laws,</I> to abolish all the ordinances
|
|
and institutions of religion, and to bring every body to say and do
|
|
just as he would have them. He shall trample upon laws and customs,
|
|
human and divine. <I>Diruit, ædificut, mutat quadrata
|
|
rotundis--He pulls down, he builds, he changes square into round,</I>
|
|
as if he meant to alter even the ordinances of heaven themselves. And
|
|
in these daring attempts he shall for a time prosper and have success;
|
|
they shall be given into his hand <I>until time, times, and half a
|
|
time</I> (that is, for three years and a half), that famous prophetical
|
|
measure of time which we meet with in the Revelation, which is
|
|
sometimes called forty-two months, sometimes 1260 days, which come all
|
|
to one. But at the end of that time the <I>judgment shall sit and take
|
|
away his dominion</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
which he expounds
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
of the beast being <I>slain and his body destroyed.</I> And (as Mr.
|
|
Mede reads
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>as to the rest of the beast,</I> the ten horns, especially the
|
|
little <I>ruffling</I> horn (as he calls it), they had their dominion
|
|
taken away. Now the question is, Who is this enemy, whose rise, reign,
|
|
and ruin, are foretold? Interpreters are not agreed. Some will have
|
|
the fourth kingdom to be that of the Seleucidæ, and the little
|
|
horn to be Antiochus, and show the accomplishment of all this in the
|
|
history of the Maccabees; so Junius, Piscator, Polanus, Broughton, and
|
|
many others: but others will have the fourth kingdom to be that of the
|
|
Romans, and the <I>little horn</I> to be Julius Cæsar, and the
|
|
succeeding emperors (says Calvin), the antichrist, the papal kingdom
|
|
(says Mr. Joseph Mede), that <I>wicked one,</I> which, as this
|
|
<I>little horn,</I> is to be consumed by the <I>brightness of Christ's
|
|
second coming.</I> The pope assumes a power to <I>change times and
|
|
laws, potestas</I> <B><I>autokratorike</I></B>--<I>an absolute and
|
|
despotic power,</I> as he calls it. Others make the <I>little horn</I>
|
|
to be the <I>Turkish empire;</I> so Luther, Vatablus, and others. Now I
|
|
cannot prove either side to be wrong; and therefore, since prophecies
|
|
sometimes have many fulfillings, and we ought to give scripture its
|
|
full latitude (in this as in many other controversies), I am willing to
|
|
allow that they are both in the right, and that this prophecy has
|
|
primary reference to the Syrian empire, and was intended for the
|
|
encouragement of the Jews who suffered under Antiochus, that they might
|
|
see even these melancholy times foretold, but might foresee a glorious
|
|
issue of them at last, and the final overthrow of their proud
|
|
oppressors; and, which is best of all, might foresee, not long after,
|
|
the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah in the world, with the
|
|
hopes of which it was usual with the former prophets to comfort the
|
|
people of God in their distresses. But yet it has a further reference,
|
|
and foretels the like persecuting power and rage in Rome heathen, and
|
|
no less in Rome papal, against the Christian religion, that was in
|
|
Antiochus against the pious Jews and their religion. And St. John, in
|
|
his visions and prophecies, which point primarily at Rome, has plain
|
|
reference, in many particulars, to these visions of Daniel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He has a joyful prospect given him of the prevalency of God's
|
|
kingdom among men, and its victory over all opposition at last. And it
|
|
is very observable that in the midst of the predictions of the force
|
|
and fury of the enemies this is brought in abruptly
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:18,22"><I>v.</I> 18 and again <I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
before it comes, in the course of the vision, to be interpreted,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
And this also refers,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To the prosperous days of the Jewish church, after it had
|
|
weathered the storm under Antiochus, and the power which the Maccabees
|
|
obtained over their enemies.
|
|
|
|
(2.) To the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah in the world by
|
|
the preaching of his gospel. <I>For judgment Christ comes into this
|
|
world,</I> to rule by his Spirit, and to make all his saints <I>kings
|
|
and priests to their God.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) To the second coming of Jesus Christ, when the saints shall judge
|
|
the world, shall sit down with him on his throne and triumph in the
|
|
complete downfall of the devil's kingdom. Let us see what is here
|
|
foretold.
|
|
|
|
[1.] <I>The Ancient of days shall come,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
God shall judge the world by his Son, to whom he has <I>committed all
|
|
judgment,</I> and, as an earnest of that, he <I>comes</I> for the
|
|
deliverance of his oppressed people, comes for the setting up of his
|
|
kingdom in the world.
|
|
|
|
[2.] <I>The judgment shall sit,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
God will make it appear that he <I>judges in the earth,</I> and will,
|
|
both in wisdom and in equity, plead his people's righteous cause. At
|
|
the great day he will <I>judge the world in righteousness by that man
|
|
whom he has ordained.</I>
|
|
|
|
[3.] The <I>dominion</I> of the enemy shall be <I>taken away,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
All Christ's enemies shall be made his footstool, and shall be
|
|
<I>consumed and destroyed</I> to the end: these were the apostle uses
|
|
concerning the man of sin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Th+2:8">2 Thess. ii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
He shall be <I>consumed</I> with the <I>spirit of Christ's mouth</I>
|
|
and <I>destroyed with the brightness of his coming.</I>
|
|
|
|
[4.] <I>Judgment is given to the saints of the Most High.</I> The
|
|
apostles are entrusted with the preaching of a gospel by which the
|
|
<I>world shall be judged.</I> All the saints by their faith and
|
|
obedience condemn an unbelieving disobedient world; in Christ their
|
|
head they shall judge the world, shall <I>judge the twelve tribes of
|
|
Israel,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:28">Matt. xix. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
See what reason we have to honour those that fear the Lord; how mean
|
|
and despicable soever the saints now appear in the eye of the world,
|
|
and how much contempt soever is poured upon them; they are the
|
|
<I>saints of the Most High;</I> they are near and dear to God, and he
|
|
owns them for his, and <I>judgment</I> is <I>given to them.</I>
|
|
|
|
[5.] That which is most insisted upon is that <I>the saints of the Most
|
|
High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
And again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
The <I>time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.</I> And again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
The <I>kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the
|
|
whole heavens, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most
|
|
High.</I> Far be it from us to infer hence that dominion is founded on
|
|
grace, or that this will warrant any, under pretence of saintship, to
|
|
usurp kingship. No; <I>Christ's kingdom is not of this world;</I> but
|
|
this intimates the spiritual dominion of the saints over their own
|
|
lusts and corruptions, their victories over Satan and his temptations,
|
|
and the triumphs of the martyrs over death and its terrors. It likewise
|
|
promises that the gospel kingdom shall be set up, a kingdom of grace,
|
|
the privileges and comforts of which now, <I>under the heavens,</I>
|
|
shall be the earnest and first-fruits of the kingdom of <I>glory in the
|
|
heavens.</I> When the empire became Christian, and princes used their
|
|
power for the defence and advancement of Christianity, then the
|
|
<I>saints possessed the kingdom.</I> The saints rule by the Spirit's
|
|
ruling in them (and <I>this is the victory overcoming the world, even
|
|
their faith</I>) and by making the kingdoms of this world to become
|
|
Christ's kingdom. But the full accomplishment of this will be in the
|
|
everlasting happiness of the saints, the kingdom that cannot be moved,
|
|
which we, according to his promise, look for (that is the <I>greatness
|
|
of the kingdom</I>), the crown of glory that fades not away--that is
|
|
the <I>everlasting kingdom.</I> See what an emphasis is laid upon this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
The saints shall possess the kingdom <I>for ever, even for ever and
|
|
ever;</I> and the reason is because he whose saints they are is the
|
|
<I>Most High</I> and <I>his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
He is so, and therefore theirs shall be so. <I>Because I live, you
|
|
shall live also,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:19">John xiv. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
His kingdom is theirs; they reckon themselves exalted in his
|
|
exaltation, and desire no greater honour and satisfaction to themselves
|
|
than that <I>all dominions</I> should <I>serve and obey him,</I> as
|
|
they shall do,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7: ">
|
|
<I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
They shall either be brought into subjection to his golden sceptre or
|
|
brought to destruction by his iron rod.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Daniel, in the close, when he ends that matter, tells us what
|
|
impressions this vision made upon him; it overwhelmed his spirits to
|
|
such a degree that his <I>countenance</I> was <I>changed,</I> and it
|
|
made him look pale; but he <I>kept the matter in his heart.</I> Note,
|
|
The heart must be the treasury and store-house of divine things; there
|
|
we must hide God's word, as the Virgin Mary kept the sayings of Christ,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:51">Luke ii. 51</A>.
|
|
|
|
Daniel kept <I>the matter in his heart,</I> with a design, not to keep
|
|
it from the church, but to keep it for the church, that what he had
|
|
received from the Lord he might fully and faithfully deliver to the
|
|
people. Note, It concerns God's prophets and ministers to treasure up
|
|
the things of God in their minds, and there to digest them well. If we
|
|
would have God's word ready in our mouths when we have occasion for it,
|
|
we must keep it in our hearts at all times.</P>
|
|
|
|
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