1<\/strong>. In the first year of Belshazzar<\/em> ] The visions (c. 7 12) are not a continuation of the narratives (c. 1 6), but form a series by themselves: the author accordingly no longer adheres to the chronological order which he has hitherto followed, but goes back to a date anterior to that of ch. 5 (see Dan 5:30<\/span>). In view of what was said at the beginning of ch. 5 it is, of course, impossible to estimate the ‘first year’ of Belshazzar in years b.c.<\/p>\n had<\/em> ] lit. saw<\/strong>.<\/p>\n visions of his head upon his bed<\/em> ] The same phrase in Dan 2:28<\/span>.<\/p>\n then he wrote the dream<\/em> ] With reference to the sequel ( Dan 7:2<\/em><\/span> ff.), in which Daniel speaks in the first person, and which in these words is represented as having been committed to writing by Daniel himself. The first person (with the exception of Dan 10:1<\/span>) continues from Dan 7:2<\/em><\/span> to the end of the book.<\/p>\n the sum of<\/em> words<\/strong> (or things<\/strong>)] contained in the revelation, i.e. its essential import.<\/p>\n In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon – <\/B>On the character and reign of Belshazzar, see Introduction to Dan. 5<\/span> Section II. He was the last of the kings of Babylon, and this fact may cast some light on the disclosures made in the dream.<\/P> Daniel had a dream – <\/B>Margin, as in Hebrew, saw. He saw a series of events in vision when he was asleep. The dream refers to that representation, and was of such a nature that it was proper to speak of it as if he saw it. Compare the notes at Dan 2:1<\/span>.<\/P> And visions of his head upon his bed – <\/B>See the notes at Dan 4:5<\/span>.<\/P> Then he wrote the dream – <\/B>He made a record of it at the time. He did not commit it to tradition, or wait for its fulfillment before it was recorded, but long before the events referred to occurred he committed the prediction to writing, that when the prophecy was fulfilled they might be compared with it. It was customary among the prophets to record their predictions, whether communicated in a dream, in a vision, or by words to them, that there might be no doubt when the event occurred that there had been an inspired prediction of it, and that there might be an opportunity of a careful comparison of the prediction with the event. Often the prophets were commanded to record their predictions. See Isa 8:1<\/span>, Isa 8:16<\/span>; Isa 30:8<\/span>; Hab 2:2<\/span>. Compare Rev 1:19<\/span>; Rev 14:13<\/span>; Rev 21:5<\/span>. In many instances, as in the case before us, the record was made hundreds of years before the event occurred, and as there is all the evidence that there could be in a case that the record has not been altered to adapt it to the event, the highest proof is thus furnished of the inspiration of the prophets. The meaning here is, that Daniel wrote out the dream as soon as it occurred.<\/P> And told the sum of the matters – <\/B>Chaldee, And spake the head of the words. That is, he spake or told them by writing. He made a communication of them in this manner to the world. It is not implied that he made any oral communication of them to anyone, but that he communicated them – to wit, in the way specified. The word sum here – <\/span> re’sh<\/I> – means head; and would properly denote such a record as would be a heading up, or a summary – as stating in a brief way the contents of a book, or the chief points of a thing without going into detail. The meaning here seems to be that he did not go into detail – as by writing names, and dates, and places; or, perhaps, that he did not enter into a minute description of all that he saw in regard to the beasts that came up from the sea, but that he recorded what might be considered as peculiar, and as having special significancy.<\/P> The Codex Chisianus renders this, <\/SPAN><\/span> egrapsen<\/I> eis<\/I> kephalaia<\/I> logon<\/I> – He wrote in heads of words, that is, he reduced it to a summary description. It is well remarked by Lengerke, on this place, that the prophets, when they described what was to occur to tyrants in future times, conveyed their oracles in a comparatively dark and obscure manner, yet so as to be clear when the events should occur. The reason of this is obvious. If the meaning of many of the predictions had been understood by those to whom they referred, that fact would have been a motive to them to induce them to defeat them; and as the fulfillment depended on their voluntary agency, the prophecy would have been void. It was necessary, therefore, in general, to avoid direct predictions, and the mention of names, dates, and places, and to make use of symbols whose meaning would be obscure at the time when the prediction was made, but which would be plain when the event should occur. A comparison of Dan 7:4<\/span>, Dan 7:9<\/span>, Dan 7:11<\/span>, Dan 7:14<\/span>, will show that only a sumptuary of what was to occur was recorded.<\/P> Matters – <\/B>Margin, as in Chaldee, words. The term words, however; is often used to denote things.<\/P> <\/p>\n CHAPTER VII <\/P> The prophet having, in the preceding chapters of this book,<\/I><\/P> related some remarkable events concerning himself and his<\/I><\/P> brethren in the captivity, and given proof of his being<\/I><\/P> enabled, by Divine assistance, to interpret the dreams of<\/I><\/P> others, enters now into a detail of his own visions, returning<\/I><\/P> to a period prior to the transactions recorded in the last<\/I><\/P> chapter. The first in order of the prophet’s visions is that<\/I><\/P> of the four beasts, which arose out of a very tempestuous<\/I><\/P> ocean<\/I>, 1-9;<\/P> and of one like the Son of man who annihilated the dominion of<\/I><\/P> the fourth beast, because of the proud and blasphemous words of<\/I><\/P> one of its horns<\/I>, 9-14.<\/P> An angel deciphers the hieroglyphics contained in this chapter,<\/I><\/P> declaring that the<\/I> FOUR beasts, diverse one from another,<\/I><\/P> represent the<\/I> FOUR PARAMOUNT empires of the habitable globe,<\/I><\/P> which should succeed each other; and are evidently the same<\/I><\/P> which were shadowed forth to Nebuchadnezzar by another set of<\/I><\/P> hieroglyphics, (see the<\/I> second chapter,)<\/I> 15-26.<\/P> But for the consolation of the people of God, it is added that,<\/I><\/P> at the time appointed in the counsel of Jehovah, “the kingdom<\/I><\/P> and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole<\/I><\/P> heaven, shall be given to the saints of the Most High;” and<\/I><\/P> that this kingdom shall never be destroyed or transferred to<\/I><\/P> another people, as all the preceding dominations have been,<\/I><\/P> but shall itself stand for ever<\/I>, 27, 28.<\/P> It will be proper to remark that the period of<\/I> a time, times,<\/P> and a half, mentioned in the twenty-fifth verse as the duration<\/I><\/P> of the dominion of the little horn that made war with the<\/I><\/P> saints, (generally supposed to be a symbolical representation<\/I><\/P> of the papal power,) had most probably its commencement in<\/I><\/P> A.D. 755 or 756, when Pepin, king of France, invested the pope<\/I><\/P> with temporal power. This hypothesis will bring the conclusion<\/I><\/P> of the period to about the year of Christ 2000, a time fixed<\/I><\/P> by Jews and Christians for some remarkable revolution; when<\/I><\/P> the world, as they suppose, will be renewed, the wicked cease<\/I><\/P> from troubling the Church, and the saints of the Most High<\/I><\/P> have dominion over the whole habitable globe. But this is all<\/I><\/P> hypothesis.<\/I> <\/P> NOTES ON CHAP. VII<\/P> <\/P> Verse 1<\/span>. In the first year of Belshazzar<\/B><\/I>] This is the same Belshazzar who was slain at the taking of Babylon, as we have seen at the conclusion of Da 5:30-31<\/span>. That chapter should have followed both this and the succeeding. The reason why the fifth<\/I> chapter was put in an improper place was, that all the historic<\/I> parts<\/I> might be together, and the prophetic<\/I> be by themselves; and, accordingly, the former end with the preceding chapter, and the latter with this. The division therefore is not chronological<\/I> but merely artificial<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> Told the sum of the matters.<\/B><\/I>] That he might not forget this extraordinary dream, he wrote down the leading particulars when he arose.<\/P> <\/p>\n In the first year of Belshazzar:<\/B> now Daniel begins to declare the visions God showed him at sundry times, therefore he goes back to the first year of Belshazzar. It is observed by the curious, that the word Belshazzar is here changed by the prophet, one letter transposed, which alters the signification greatly; for his name is <\/span> Dan 5:1<\/span>, which signifies <\/P> treasures searched out and possessed; but the word in the text is this, <\/span> which means, <\/P> Bel is consumed with the fire of an enemy, as was prophesied by Jeremiah, Dan 1:2<\/span>; Jer 51:44<\/span>. See Jer 51:25<\/span>,58<\/span>. The Jews used to change the names of idols and idolaters, and it turned to a reproach to them, as Grotius proves well out of Moses de Kotzi. <\/P> He wrote the dream: these visions of Daniel were sent, and recorded by him in writing, for the benefit of the church, to rectify their mistake; for they thought all things would succeed prosperously after they returned out of their captivity: yet they should find a world of troubles in many generations following, seeing that of the four great monarchies, which he calls beasts, there was but one passed, and they should find three more yet to come. This Daniel dreamed, saw, wrote, and told the sum of it. <\/P> <\/p>\n 1. Belshazzar<\/B>Good Hebrew<\/I>manuscripts have “Belshazzar”; meaning “Bel is to beburnt with hostile fire” (Jer 50:2<\/span>;Jer 51:44<\/span>). In the history<\/I>he is called by his ordinary name; in the prophecy,<\/I> whichgives his true destiny, he is called a corresponding name, by thechange of a letter. <\/P> visions of his head<\/B>notconfused<\/I> “dreams,” but distinct images seen whilehis mind was collected.<\/I> <\/P> sum<\/B>a “summary.”In predictions, generally, details are not given so fully as to leaveno scope for free agency, faith, and patient waiting for Godmanifesting His will in the event. He “wrote” it for theChurch in all ages; he “told” it for the comfort of hiscaptive fellow countrymen.<\/P><\/p>\n In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon<\/strong>,…. Daniel having finished the historical part of his book, and committed to writing what was necessary concerning himself and his three companions, and concerning Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius the Mede, proceeds to the prophetic part, and goes back to the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, seventeen years before his death, and the fall of the Babylonish monarchy last mentioned; for so long Belshazzar reigned, according to Josephus u; and with which agrees the canon of Ptolemy, who ascribes so many years to the reign of Nabonadius, the same, with Belshazzar: he began to reign, according to Bishop Usher w, Dean Prideaux x, and Mr, Whiston y, in the year of the world 3449 A.M., and 555 B.C.; and in the first year of his reign Daniel had the dream of the four monarchies, as follows:<\/p>\n Daniel had a dream<\/strong>: as Nebuchadnezzar before had, concerning the same things, the four monarchies of the world, and the kingdom of Christ, only represented in a different manner: or, “saw a dream” z; in his dream he had a vision, and objects were presented to his fancy as if he really saw them, as follows:<\/p>\n and visions of his head came upon his bed<\/strong>; as he lay upon his bed, and deep sleep was fallen on him, things in a visionary way were exhibited to him very wonderful and surprising, and which made strong impressions upon him:<\/p>\n then he wrote the dream<\/strong>: awaking out of his sleep, and perfectly remembering the dream he had dreamed, and recollecting the several things he had seen in it; that they might not be lost, but transmitted to posterity for their use and benefit, he immediately committed them to writing:<\/p>\n and told the sum of the matters<\/strong>; the whole of what he had dreamt and seen; or however the sum and substance of it, the more principal parts of it, the most interesting things in it, and of the greatest importance: when it was daylight, and he rose from his bed, and went out of his chamber, he called his friends together, and told them by word of mouth what he had seen in his dream the night past; or read what he had written of it, which was as follows:<\/p>\n u Antiqu. Jud. l. 10. c. 11. sect. 4. w Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3449. x Connexion, &c. part. 1. p. 114. y Chronological Tables, cent. 10. z “somnium vidit”. V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.<\/p>\n The time here indicated, “in the first year of Belshazzar,” which cannot, as is evident, mean “shortly before the reign of Belshazzar” (Hitz.), but that Daniel received the following revelation in the course of the first year of the reign of this king, stands related to the contest of the revelation. This vision accords not only in many respects with the dream of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2), but has the same subject. This subject, however, the representation of the world-power in its principal forms, is differently given in the two chapters. In Daniel 2 it is represented according to its whole character as an image of a man whose different parts consist of different metals, and in Daniel 7 under the figure of four beasts which arise one after the other out of the sea. In the former its destruction is represented by a stone breaking the image in pieces, while in the latter it is effected by a solemn act of judgment. This further difference also is to be observed, that in this chapter, the first, but chiefly the fourth world-kingdom, in its development and relation to the people of God, is much more clearly exhibited than in Daniel 2. These differences have their principal reason in the difference of the recipients of the divine revelation: Nebuchadnezzar, the founder of the world-power, saw this power in its imposing greatness and glory; while Daniel, the prophet of God, saw it in its opposition to God in the form of ravenous beasts of prey. Nebuchadnezzar had his dream in the second year of his reign, when he had just founded his world-monarchy; while Daniel had his vision of the world-kingdoms and of the judgment against them in the first year of Belshazzar, i.e., Evilmerodach, the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, when with the death of the golden head of the world-monarchy its glory began to fade, and the spirit of its opposition to God became more manifest. This revelation was made to the prophet in a dream-vision by night upon his bed. Compare Dan 2:28<\/span>. Immediately thereafter Daniel wrote down the principal parts of the dream, that it might be publicly proclaimed – the sum of the things<\/em> ( ) which he had seen in the dream. , to say, to relate<\/em>, is not opposed to , to write<\/em>, but explains it: by means of writing down the vision he said, i.e., reported, the chief contents of the dream, omitting secondary things, e.g., the minute description of the beasts.<\/p>\n The Vision of the Four Beasts.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 555.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and<\/I> told the sum of the matters. 2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was<\/I> like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. 5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had<\/I> three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was<\/I> diverse from all the beasts that were<\/I> before it; and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were<\/I> eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.<\/P> The date of this chapter places it before ch.<\/I><\/span> v.<\/span>, which was in the last year of Belshazzar, and ch.<\/I><\/span> iv.<\/span>, which was in the first of Darius; for Daniel had those visions in the first year of Belshazzar, when the captivity of the Jews in Babylon was drawing near a period. Belshazzar’s name here is, in the original, spelt differently from what it used to be; before it was Bel-she-azar–Bel is he that treasures up riches.<\/I> But this is Bel-eshe-zar–Bel is on fire by the enemy.<\/I> Bel was the god of the Chaldeans; he had prospered, but is now to be consumed.<\/P> We have, in these verses, Daniel’s vision of the four monarchies that were oppressive to the Jews. Observe,<\/P> I. The circumstances of this vision. Daniel had interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and now he is himself honoured with similar divine discoveries (v.<\/I><\/span> 1<\/span>): He had visions of his head upon his bed,<\/I> when he was asleep; so God sometimes revealed himself and his mind to the children of men, when deep sleep fell upon them (Job xxxiii. 15<\/span>); for when we are most retired from the world, and taken off from the things of sense, we are most fit for communion with God. But when he was awake he wrote the dream<\/I> for his own use, lest he should forget it as a dream which passes away; and he told the sum of the matters<\/I> to his brethren the Jews for their use, and gave it to them in writing, that it might be communicated to those at a distance and preserved for their children after them, who shall see these things accomplished. The Jews, misunderstanding some of the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, flattered themselves with hopes that, after their return to their own land, they should enjoy a complete and uninterrupted tranquility; but that they might not so deceive themselves, and their calamities be made doubly grievous by the disappointment, God by this prophet lets them know that they shall have tribulation: those promises of their prosperity were to be accomplished in the spiritual blessings of the kingdom of grace; as Christ has told his disciples they must expect persecution, and the promises they depend upon will be accomplished in the eternal blessings of the kingdom of glory. Daniel both wrote these things and spoke them, to intimate that the church should be taught both by the scriptures and by ministers’ preaching, both by the written word and by word of mouth; and ministers in their preaching are to tell the sum of the matters<\/I> that are written.<\/P> II. The vision itself, which foretels the revolutions of government in those nations which the church of the Jews, for the following ages, was to be under the influence of. 1. He observed the four winds to strive upon the great sea,<\/I> v.<\/span> 2<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. They strove which should blow strongest, and, at length, blow alone. This represents the contests among princes for empire, and the shakings of the nations by these contests, to which those mighty monarchies, which he was now to have a prospect of, owed their rise. One wind from any point of the compass, if it blow hard, will cause a great commotion in the sea; but what a tumult must needs be raised when the four winds strive for mastery! This is it which the kings of the nations are contending for in their wars, which are as noisy and violent as the battle of the winds; but how is the poor sea tossed and torn, how terrible are its concussions, and how violent its convulsions, while the winds are at strife which shall have the sole power of troubling it! Note, This world is like a stormy tempestuous sea; thanks to the proud ambitious winds that vex it. 2. He saw four great beasts come up from the sea,<\/I> from the troubled waters,<\/I> in which aspiring minds love to fish. The monarchs and monarchies are represented by beasts,<\/I> because too often it is by brutish rage and tyranny that they are raised and supported. These beasts were diverse one from another<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 3<\/span>), of different shapes, to denote the different genius and complexion of the nations in whose hands they were lodged. (1.) The first<\/I> beast was like a lion,<\/I> v.<\/span> 4<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. This was the Chaldean monarchy, that was fierce and strong, and made the kings absolute. This lion had eagle’s wings,<\/I> with which to fly upon the prey, denoting the wonderful speed that Nebuchadnezzar made in his conquest of kingdoms. But Daniel soon sees the wings plucked,<\/I> a full stop put to the career of their victorious arms. Divers countries that had been tributaries to them revolt from them, and make head against them; so that this monstrous animal, this winged lion, is made to stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart is given to it.<\/I> It has lost the heart of a lion, which it had been famous for (one of our English kings was called Cur de Lion–Lion-heart<\/I>), has lost its courage and become feeble and faint, dreading every thing and daring nothing; they are put in fear, and made to know themselves to be but men. Sometimes the valour of a nation strangely sinks, and it becomes cowardly and effeminate, so that what was the head of the nations in an age or two becomes the tail. (2.) The second<\/I> beast was like a bear,<\/I> v.<\/span> 5<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. This was the Persian monarchy, less strong and generous than the former, but no less ravenous. This bear raised up itself on one side<\/I> against the lion, and soon mastered it. It raised up one dominion;<\/I> so some read it. Persia and Media, which in Nebuchadnezzar’s image were the two arms<\/I> in one breast, now set up a joint government. This bear had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth,<\/I> the remains of those nations it had devoured, which were the marks of its voraciousness, and yet an indication that though it had devoured much it could not devour all; some ribs still stuck in the teeth of it, which it could not conquer. Whereupon it was said to it, “Arise, devour much flesh;<\/I> let alone the bones, the ribs, that cannot be conquered, and set upon that which will be an easier prey.” The princes will stir up both the kings and the people to push on their conquests, and let nothing stand before them. Note, Conquests, unjustly made, are but like those of the beasts of prey, and in this<\/I> much worse, that the beasts prey not upon those of their own kind, as wicked and unreasonable men do. (3.) The third beast was like a leopard,<\/I> v.<\/span> 6<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. This was the Grecian monarchy, founded by Alexander the Great,<\/I> active, crafty, and cruel, like a leopard.<\/I> He had four wings of a fowl;<\/I> the lion seems to have had but two wings; but the leopard had four, for though Nebuchadnezzar made great despatch in his conquests Alexander made much greater. In six years’ time he gained the whole empire of Persia, a great part besides of Asia, made himself master of Syria, Egypt, India, and other nations. This beast had four heads;<\/I> upon Alexander’s death his conquests were divided among his four chief captains; Seleucus Nicanor had Asia the Great; Perdiccas, and after him Antigonus, had Asia the Less; Cassander had Macedonia; and Ptolemeus had Egypt. Dominion<\/I> was given<\/I> to this beast;<\/I> it was given of God, from whom alone promotion comes. (4.) The fourth beast was more fierce, and formidable, and mischievous, than any of them, unlike any of the other, nor is there any among the beasts of prey to which it might be compared, v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>. The learned are not agreed concerning this anonymous beast; some make it to be the Roman empire, which, when it was in its glory, comprehended ten kingdoms, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Britain, Sarmatia, Pannonia, Asia, Greece, and Egypt; and then the little horn which rose by the fall of three of the other horns (v.<\/I><\/span> 8<\/span>) they make to be the Turkish empire, which rose in the room of Asia, Greece, and Egypt. Others make this fourth beast to be the kingdom of Syria, the family of the Seleucid, which was very cruel and oppressive to the people of the Jews, as we find in Josephus and the history of the Maccabees. And herein that empire was diverse from those which went before, that none of the preceding powers compelled the Jews to renounce their religion, but the kings of Syria did, and used them barbarously. Their armies and commanders were the great iron teeth<\/I> with which they devoured and broke in pieces<\/I> the people of God, and they trampled upon the residue<\/I> of them. The ten horns<\/I> are then supposed to be ten kings that reigned successively in Syria; and then the little horn<\/I> is Antiochus Epiphanes, the last of the ten, who by one means or other undermined three of the kings, and got the government. He was a man of great ingenuity, and therefore is said to have eyes like the eyes of a man;<\/I> and he was very bold and daring, had a mouth speaking great things.<\/I> We shall meet with him again in these prophecies.<\/P> <\/p>\n DANIEL – CHAPTER 7<\/strong><\/p>\n DANIEL’S BEAST VISION<\/strong><\/p>\n Verses 1-3:<\/strong><\/p>\n Verse 1 begins <\/strong>a description of four living beasts of the field; each had life and movement, more than the inanimate creatures, mere statue forms of Daniel chapter two. These beasts, while symbolic of organized Gentile empires, also set forth the depravity and beastality of man, without a place of God in his life.<\/p>\n Daniel himself had this dream, <\/strong>not an heathen king, as formerly dealt with Dan 2:28<\/span>. This dream of distinct, clear images came to him, as he lay with collected mind upon his bed in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar. What he saw he proceeded to write, then explain in more detail, Amo 3:7<\/span>; Rev 1:19<\/span>. Let it be recalled that “secret things belong to the Lord,” but things “revealed or disclosed belong to and for the benefit of men,” Deu 29:29<\/span>; Eph 3:3-10<\/span>; 1Th 5:4<\/span>. Note three things Daniel saw, wrote, and told <\/strong>or explained in this dream, for the benefit of comforting and enlightening the people of his times, and for the people of God today. Blessed are those who seek to understand what he said, 2Ti 2:15<\/span>; 1Pe 3:15<\/span>; Rev 1:3<\/span>; Rev 22:16<\/span>. For it is a telescopic view of end times.<\/p>\n Verse 2<\/strong> describes further that Daniel saw in that vision that night the four winds of the heavens, covering the earth, as they whirled about in dervish clashes upon the great sea. The four winds signify the clashing of the four great Gentile political powers in their clash to rule the “great sea,” symbolic of the masses or populace of humanity in disarray; Mat 13:47<\/span>; Rev 13:1<\/span>. The antichrist rises out of the sea of political strife, but the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven, Jer 46:7-8<\/span>; Luk 21:25<\/span>; Joh 8:23<\/span>; Dan 7:13<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 3 relates <\/strong>that four great beasts came up from or arose out of the sea (masses of Gentile powers in disarray). Each of the beasts or living animals was clearly distinct one from another. Verse 17 explains that these four beasts were (exist as) four kings; So that in this matter no ground is left for speculation. Cherubic or angelic living animals represent redeemed men, whereas beasts represent beast-like character in groveling greedy, unregenerate men, in anarchy against God, as they appear in Rev 13:1-18<\/span>.<\/p>\n Hear. Daniel begins to offer instruction peculiar to the Church. For God had formerly appointed him an interpreter and instructor to, profane kings. But he now appoints him a teacher to the Church, that he may exercise his office within it, and instruct the sons of God in the bosom of the Church. We must notice this first of all, because thus far his predictions extended beyond the limits of the household of faith, but here Daniel’s duty is restricted to the Church. He says: This vision was bestowed upon him in the first year of King Belshazzar, before that change happened, which we have previously seen. First of all, we must try to understand the design of the Holy Spirit; that is, the end and use for which he opened up to Daniel the material of this chapter. All the prophets had held out to the elect people the hope of deliverance, after God had punished them for their ingratitude and obstinacy. When we read what other prophets announce concerning their future redemption, we should suppose the Church to have been promised a happy, quiet, and completely peaceful state, after the people had returned from captivity. But history testifies how very differently it turned out. For the faithful must have grown weary and have fallen away unless they had been admonished of the various disturbances which were at hand. This, then, is the first reason why God revealed to his Prophet what we shall soon see; namely, that three monarchies yet remained, each of which should succeed the former, and that during them all the faithful should endure permanently and constantly in reliance on the promises, although they should see the whole world shaken, and severe and distressing convulsions prevailing everywhere. For this reason, Daniel’s vision concerning the four empires is here set forth. Perhaps it will be better to defer the summary of it till the Prophet begins to treat of each beast separately. But with regard to the two first verses, we must observe the time of the dream. <\/p>\n Before the Medes and Persians transferred the Chaldean Empire to themselves, the Prophet was instructed in this subject, that the Jews might recognize the partial fulfillment of what God had so often promised themselves and their fathers. For if their enemies had possessed Babylon without any new prediction, the Jews perhaps would not have been so attentive to those prophecies which had been long ago uttered in their favor. Hence God wished to refresh their memories, and then, when they saw the fall of that empire which all thought to be impregnable, they would perceive the government of God’s secret counsels, and the partial, if not the complete fulfillment of what he had testified by their prophets. He says — he saw a dream When he previously spoke of the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar he mentioned a vision, but not for the same reason, because the unbelieving when seeing do not observe. They perceive something indeed, dimly and without distinctness, while their thoughts immediately fade away. The Prophet’s method was different; because he not only dreamed, but saw a distinct vision, and thus could profitably deliver to others what he had received. The Prophet then expresses something peculiar by this phrase, for we know how prophets usually attribute such visions to God, when they perceive the secrets of heaven, not with the eyes of flesh, but by the illumination and intelligence of the Spirit. He adds — visions of his head were on his bed; thus the dream would have more weight, and lest we should think any confusion existed in Daniel’s brain. Thus he expresses how he saw whatever the Lord wished him to know in a dream with a calm mind. He afterwards adds — Then he wrote the dream, and explained the meaning of the words. By this phrase he teaches us how his seeing the vision was not for his own sake personally, but for the common edification of the Church. Those who suppose Daniel to have leapt suddenly from his bed, lest he should forget the dream, offer a vain and frivolous comment. Daniel rather wished to bear ‘witness to this vision as not peculiar to himself, but common to God’s elect people; and hence not only to be celebrated orally, but to be delivered to posterity for a perpetual remembrance. We must bear in mind these two points; first, Daniel wrote this prophecy that the knowledge of it might ever be celebrated among the faithful; and then, he considered the interests of posterity, and so left the vision written. Both these points are worthy of notice to induce us to pay greater attention to the vision, since it was not delivered for a single individual; but God chose Daniel as his minister, and as the herald and witness of this oracle. Hence we see how it concerns us; it was not teaching for any single age, but it extends to us, and ought to flourish till the end of the world. He repeats the same thing by adding — he explained the sense of the words. For those who separate these two clauses, seem to stumble on plain ground. (2) Daniel then spoke and said — This has no reference to words, but to writing; as if the Prophet had said, I have discharged my duty; since he knew that what we shall afterwards see concerning the four monarchies was not divinely entrusted to him for the sake of suppressing anything made known, but he rather felt himself a chosen instrument of God, who was thus suggesting to the faithful material for trust and endurance. He spoke, therefore, and explained; that is, when he desired to promulgate this oracle, he bore witness to there being no difference between himself and God’s Church in this announcement; but as he had been an elect and ordained teacher, so he delivered what he had received, through his hands, Hence Daniel not only commends his own faith, but excites all the pious to anxiety and attention, lest they should despise what God had pronounced through his mouth. <\/p>\n (2) The phrase in the Latin text is a proverb: nodum quaerere in scyrpo The French is correct in its interpretation: chercher de la difficulte ou il n ’ y en a point . Both Ennius and Terence use the proverb. — Ed <\/p>\n DANIELS FIRST GREAT DREAM!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span>Dan 7:1-28<\/strong><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n GREAT students of the Word of God have pretty generally agreed that the Book of Daniel broadly divides itself under four heads:The Personal history of Daniel from the conquest of Jerusalem to the second year of Nebuchadnezzar, chapter 1: The visions of Nebuchadnezzar and their interpretations, chapters 24: Daniel under Belshazzar and Darius, chapters 56: and the Visions of Daniel himself, chapters 712.<\/p>\n Our further studies in this Book will involve Daniel even more fully than have those already completed.<\/p>\n If one undertook a verse study of these six chapters it would require many volumes, but a birds-eye view of the same gives prominence to the following themes for chapter 7: The Contending Nations, Antiochus the Prototype, and The Conquering Christ.<\/p>\n <\/span>THE CONTENDING NATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n This chapter opens with these words:<\/p>\n In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Darnel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.<\/em><\/p>\n Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.<\/p>\n And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another (Dan 7:1-3<\/em><\/span>).<\/em><\/p>\n The figure of the sea, troubled by the winds from Heaven, has been interpreted for us by the pen of inspiration, The waters which thou sawest,<\/em> * * are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues (Rev 17:15<\/em><\/span><\/em>). <\/em>The thoughts growing out of the sight of the troubled sea give occasion to make three remarks concerning Daniels dream about the nations: 1. The prophetic vision of them was bestial: 2. Their behavior toward one another was bestial: 3. The nations of the earth still insist upon bestial insignias.<\/p>\n The prophetic vision of them was bestial!<\/strong><\/p>\n Four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.<\/em><\/p>\n The first was like a lion, and had eagles wings.<\/p>\n Beyond all doubt, the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar is here described, and the coming eclipse of its glory is predicted by the Prophets words: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked.<\/em><\/p>\n The second beast, like to a bear, raised on one side, with three ribs in its mouth, is Daniels vision of the Medo-Persian empire; its attitude denoting, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown suggest, A kingdom that had been at rest, but is now raising itself for conquest! Media is the lower sidepassiveness; Persia, the upperactive; and the three ribs in its mouth Babylonia, Lydia and Egypt, territory conquered by Medo-Persia.<\/p>\n After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.<\/em><\/p>\n The prophecy of Graeco-Macedonia. Here prophecy becomes the mould of history. The battle of Marathon will forever remain one of the marvels of the past. Men sat in solemn council, and the Athenians were so divided that it finally rested with a single vote to determine whether they should make war against the Medes and Persians. The Grecian soldiers were few in number, perhaps not exceeding ten thousand and certainly not equalling twenty thousand. Their enemy easily brought against them not less than ten times that number, and when Callimachus cast his deciding vote in favor of war, it must have represented to many, a forlorn hope.<\/p>\n And yet, so quickly and fiercely did the Grecian forces, under the young but matchless Miltiades, strike, that the very breath went from the body of the opponents. Thousands of their dead were shortly found on the field of battle; and the same men who conquered against the land force, by the swiftest march known to ancient times, if indeed, ever equaled in history, made their way back to Athens before the Persian fleet could double the cape of Lunium, and stood, so ready to give battle again, that all hope of success died out of the hearts of their opponents, and their retreat was instant.<\/p>\n Think of a march of one hundred and fifty miles in three days, and that after a battle so terrific that nearly 7,000 Persians lay upon a single battlefield, while the Athenians loss numbered but 192. That was the work of the leopard with four wings, the four-head beast. Truly the Medo-Persian power was struck in fury; smitten.<\/p>\n But Daniels vision was not yet complete. The text is<\/p>\n After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns (Dan 7:7<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n This is the vision of Rome, indescribable in character, terrible in power, fierce in conflict: the universal monarchy.<\/p>\n Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call our attention to the fact that from that moment all history moves within the Romanic, Germanic and Slavonic nations, and so it will continue until Christs Second Advent.<\/p>\n Rome is but Babylon fully developed. It is the world-power corresponding in contrast to Christianity, and consequently contemporaneous with it.<\/p>\n Possibly one reason why God gave to Daniel this dream existed in the circumstance that the mind, when thoroughly awake and alert, is incapable of imagining creatures that fitly represented the ferocity of warring nations, and had need, therefore, to be brought into sleep that the last cord, binding imaginative faculties, might be loosened, and creatures such as the world had never seen in the flesh, but such as were destined to be seen in national character, were clearly outlined.<\/p>\n Their behavior toward one another was bestial.<\/strong> Think of the Heavenly Visitors interpretation of these great beasts, that four kings<\/em> * * shall arise out of the earth.<\/em> And, think also of his description of their destructive work. Truly every figure of fury and force, known to that ancient time, was employed to describe what would occur. It was a battle to the death; no quarter was shown anywhere. Brute beasts that had nothing in common one with another; brute beasts that by nature were foes; brute beasts that never met save to fight, were employed to depict the behavior of men toward one another, because, forsooth, they belonged to different nations; and each in turn was seized with that ever-living greed of conquest which always proposes to crush the weaker and appropriate his possessions.<\/p>\n Let no man imagine that this is a Prophets picture of a barbarous and untrained people; or that this is the presentation of the onslaught of one savage tribe against another, or the barbarous reign of ignorance and brutality and consequent blood;the conflict of men, who according to Darwinian contention, had come up but a little way from the ape and orangoutan!<\/p>\n Creasy, in his Decisive Battles, declares that this very territory of Asia was the original seat of human societies, and long before any trace can be found of the inhabitants of the rest of the world having emerged from the rudest barbarism, we can perceive that mighty and brilliant empires flourished in the Asiatic continent. They appear before us through the twilight of primeval history, dim and indistinct, but massive and majestic, like mountains in the early dawn.<\/p>\n And yet again, let no man imagine that the days of the brute beast in man, when he comes to battle against his brother, belong to the far past.<\/p>\n The nations now insist upon bestial insignias.<\/strong> Of present-day nations, one, our own, selects an eagle, roused and ready to strike; another, Germany, puts on an eagles neck a double head, indicative of the fact that he can strike in more directions than one; Germany fought both Eastward and Westward; a third, Mexico, selects an eagle and reinforces him by a serpent crouching upon his breast and lifting his head to the level of that of his destructive confederate; a fourth, Russia, a bear, the most voracious of beasts; a fifth, England, the lionan animal that demands the heart blood and quivering flesh of his victim; a sixth, Africa, an elephant, whose destructive power when once infuriated, is unsurpassed; and again, the dragon, China,the creature of imagination, combining all the bestial terrors known to men.<\/p>\n And if these beasts were insignias only, it would not be a matter of such supreme moment; but look at the recent conduct of the nations of the world, and understand that they are insignias with significance. What hellish devices have they imagined in their intentions of mischief one against another! While theologians were disputing whether hell was a lake of fire, warriors invented bombs to fling into the midst of the armies of their brother men, to break suddenly into the most deadly fumes that ever collapsed the lungs of men or into the most infernal flames that ever fed upon sensitive, quivering, agonizing human flesh.<\/p>\n And even our own nation, so long boasting itself Christian, could not resist the swirling, sucking circle of deadly shot, asphyxiating fumes and consuming flame of war. Our neutrality was at once commercialized and criminalized. Never since the days, when as a babe, leaving my mothers arms to walk alone, and, while walking, awake to the fact that a civil war was swirling about me, had I seen any movement sweep over my own country with such rapidity, backed by such corporate wealth and quickened by such prospect of multiplied fortunes for the few whose god is gold as that movement which named itself Preparedness! It impelled certain of our citizens, whose accumulated riches were their curse, to start munition factories that added daily millions upon millions to their plethoric purses, and at the same time gave them, in exchange for these millions on millions, such missiles of death as the devils world never did devise until then.<\/p>\n If this spirit of war continues to grow; if men, who are more anxious to be political leaders than they are to be patriots, are to remain our spokesmen and to come into places of administrative power; if the factories, hitherto employed in the creation of the implements of peace, are to be turned to the manufacture of the missiles of torture and death; if, worse than all, the peace-loving people are to be hoodwinked by daily newspapers, captured already by men more concerned in commercial advantage than with patriotic sentiments; if designing politicians, in order to defeat their opponents, are to have free access to the ears of the unthinking; if Mr. Edisons latest device, the moving picture, is to be made the medium of alarm, impossible without its imaginary liesthen, I declare before God and men that the time has come for the Christian Church to voice herself against this whole bestial business, and that in terms that no man need misunderstand.<\/p>\n It is a very easy matter for men who represent vested interests, known to be enhanced a hundredfold if only international conflicts can be engendered and kept up, or politicians, out of office, and determined to return to the same at any cost, to call their more conservativenot to say Christian brethrentraitors to the commonwealth. But it might also be replied that our first and most binding citizenship is, after all, with another King; and our first Ruler is over and above all, The Prince of Peace.<\/p>\n The man who could look at the blood-soaked fields of Europe and chuckle with the thought that they were daily increasing his exchequer, was unfit for citizenship! The man who can think upon the diabolical explosives, made, as the late Herbert Booth once said, in devilish haste that they might be instantly hurled against certain of their brothers, who happened to have been born under other flags, and of fiendish contrivances that flew through the air in the dark, and dropped bombs on sleeping children, or turned loose ten thousand piercing lances upon the defenseless heads and shoulders of innocent women; the man who can think on the deadly fumes of liquid fire, exploded in the midst of as fine a regiment of men as ever trod the face of the earth, to send the last one of them either to death or insanity in one short hour, and not revolt at it all, is far removed from the spirit of the Nazarene who never lifted His hand against another, nor assumed an attitude toward any man, but that of kindliness, sweetness and assistance.<\/p>\n If I had my way I would tear from the flags of the earth these bestial insignias, and introduce instead of these birds and beasts of prey those that would speak of peace, and preach the great truth of Scripture that all nations are made of one blood, for to dwell together upon the face of the earth.<\/strong><\/p>\n However, as we proceed with our study of this chapter, we come suddenly upon<\/p>\n <\/span>ANOTHER LITTLE HORN<\/strong><\/p>\n I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things (Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n