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THE distinction between the Hebrew and
the Chaldee portions of the writings of Daniel[1] affords a
natural division, the importance of which will appear on a
careful consideration of the whole. But for the purpose of the
present inquiry, the book will more conveniently divide itself
between the first six chapters and the last, the former portion
being primarily historical and didactic, and the latter
containing the record of the four great visions granted to the
prophet in his closing years. It is with the visions that here
we are specially concerned. The narrative of the third, fourth,
fifth, and sixth chapters is beyond the scope of these pages, as
having no immediate bearing upon the prophecy. The second
chapter, however, is of great importance, as giving the
foundation of the later visions.[2] In a dream, King
Nebuchadnezzar saw a great image, of which the head was gold,
the breasts and arms silver, the body brass, the legs iron, and
the feet partly iron and partly potter's ware. Then a stone,
hewn without hands, struck the feet of the image and it fell and
crumbled to dust, and the stone became a great mountain and
filled the whole earth.[3]
The interpretation is in these words:
- "Thou, O king, art a king of
kings; for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom,
power, and strength and glory. And wheresoever the children
of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the
heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee
ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after
thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and
another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over
all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as
iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all
things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break
in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and
toes part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom
shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength
of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with
miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and
part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and
partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry
clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but
they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not
mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the
God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou
sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without
hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the
clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made
known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the
dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."
(Daniel 2:37-45)
The predicted sovereignty of Judah passed far beyond the
limits of mere supremacy among the tribes of Israel. It was an
imperial scepter which was entrusted to the Son of David.
- "I will make him my firstborn,
higher than the kings of the earth." (Psalm 89:27)
"All things shall fall down before him, all nations shall
serve him." (Psalm 72:11)
Such were the promises which Solomon inherited; and the brief
glory of his reign gave proof how fully they might have been
realized, (2 Chronicles 9:22-28) had he not turned aside to
folly, and bartered for present sensual pleasures the most
splendid prospects which ever opened before mortal man.
Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great image, and Daniel's vision
in interpretation of that dream, were a Divine revelation that
the forfeited scepter of the house of David had passed to
Gentile hands, to remain with them until the day when
"the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed." (Daniel 2:44)
It is unnecessary here to discuss in detail the earlier
portions of this prophecy. There is, in fact, no controversy as
to its general character and scope; and bearing in mind the
distinction between what is doubted and what is doubtful, there
need be no controversy as to the identity of the empires therein
described with Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome. That the
first was Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom is definitely stated, (Daniel
2:37, 38) and a later vision as expressly names the Medo-Persian
empire and the empire of Alexander as being distinct "kingdoms"
within the range of the prophecy. (Daniel 8:20, 21) The fourth
empire, therefore, must of necessity be Rome. But it is
sufficient here to emphasize the fact, revealed in the plainest
terms to Daniel in his exile, and to Jeremiah in the midst of
the troubles at Jerusalem, that thus the sovereignty of the
earth, which had been forfeited by Judah, was solemnly committed
to the Gentiles.[4] The only questions which arise relate, first
to the character of the final catastrophe symbolized by the fall
and destruction of the image, and secondly to the time of its
fulfillment; and any difficulties which have been raised depend
in no way upon the language of the prophecy, but solely upon the
preconceived views of interpreters. No Christian doubts that the
"stone cut out without hands" was typical either of Christ
Himself or of His kingdom. It is equally clear that the
catastrophe was to occur when the fourth empire should have
become divided, and be "partly strong and partly brittle."
Therefore its fulfillment could not belong to the time of the
first advent. No less clear is it that its fulfillment was to be
a sudden crisis, to be followed by the establishment of "a
kingdom which shall never be destroyed." Therefore it relates to
events still to come. We are dealing here, not with prophetic
theories, but with the meaning of plain words; and what the
prophecy foretells is not the rise and spread of a "spiritual
kingdom" in the midst of earthly kingdoms, but the
establishment of a kingdom which "shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms."[5]
The interpretation of the royal dream raised the captive exile
at a single bound to the Grand-Vizier-ship of Babylon, (Daniel
2:48) a position of trust and honor which probably he held until
he was either dismissed or withdrew from office under one or
other of the two last kings who succeeded to Nebuchadnezzar's
throne. The scene on the fatal night of Belshazzar's feast
suggests that he had been then so long in retirement, that the
young king-regent knew nothing of his fame.[6] But yet his fame
was still so great with older men, that notwithstanding his
failing years, he was once more called to the highest office by
Darius, when the Median king became master of the broad-walled
city.[7]
But whether in prosperity or in retirement, he was true to
the God of his fathers. The years in which his childhood in
Jerusalem was spent, though politically dark and troubled, were
a period of the brightest spiritual revival by which his nation
had ever been blessed, and he had carried with him to the court
of Nebuchadnezzar a faith and piety that withstood all the
adverse influences which abounded in such a scene.[8]
The Daniel of the second chapter was a young man just entering
on a career of extraordinary dignity and power, such as few have
ever known, The Daniel of the seventh chapter was an aged saint,
who, having passed through the ordeal scathless, still possessed
a heart as true to God and to His people as when, some
threescore years before, he had entered the gates of the
broad-walled city a captive and friendless stranger. The date of
the earlier vision was about the time of Jehoiakim's revolt,
when their ungovernable pride of race and creed still led the
Jews to dream of independence. At the time of the later vision
more than forty years had passed since Jerusalem had been laid
in ruins, and the last king of the house of David had entered
the brazen gates of Babylon in chains.
Here again the main outlines of the prophecy seem clear. As the
four empires which were destined successively to wield sovereign
power during "the times of the Gentiles" are represented in
Nebuchadnezzar's dream by the four divisions of the great image,
they are here typified by four wild beasts.[9] The ten toes of
the image in the second chapter have their correlatives in the
ten horns of the fourth beast in the seventh chapter. The
character and course of the fourth empire are the prominent
subject of the later vision, but both prophecies are equally
explicit that that empire in its ultimate phase will be brought
to a signal and sudden end by a manifestation of Divine power on
earth.
The details of the vision, though interesting and important,
may here be passed unnoticed, for the interpretation given of
them is so simple and so definite that the words can leave no
room for doubt in any unprejudiced mind. "These great beasts,
which are four, are four kings" (i.e., kingdoms; compare
verse 23), "which shall arise out of the earth; but the saints
of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom
for ever." (Verses 17, 18)
The prophet then proceeds to recapitulate the vision, and his
language affords an explicit answer to the only question which
can reasonably be raised upon the words just quoted, namely,
whether the "kingdom of the saints" shall follow immediately
upon the close of the fourth Gentile empire.[10] "Then," he
adds, "I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was
diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth
were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in
pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten
horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and
before whom three fell, even of that horn that had eyes, and a
mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout
than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the
saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days
came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and
the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom."
Such was the prophet's inquiry. Here is the interpretation
accorded to him in reply.
- "The fourth beast shall be the
fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all
kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread
it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of
this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another
shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the
first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak
great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the
saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws;
and they shall be given into his hand, until a time and
times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit,
and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to
destroy it unto the end. 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 is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall
serve and obey Him." (Daniel 7:19-27)[11]
Whether history records any event which may be within the range
of this prophecy is a matter of opinion. That it has not been
fulfilled is a plain matter of fact.[12] The Roman earth
shall one day be parceled out in ten separate kingdoms, and out
of one of these shall arise that terrible enemy of God and His
people, whose destruction is to be one of the events of the
second advent of Christ.
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Footnotes
1. "The Chaldee portion of Daniel commences at the fourth
verse of the second chapter, and continues to the end of the
seventh chapter." –TREGELLES, Daniel, p. 8.
2. The following analysis of the Book of Daniel may help the
study of it:
-
Chap. 1. The capture of Jerusalem. The captivity of
Daniel and his three companions,
and their fortunes in
Babylon (B. C. 606).
Chap. 2. Nebuchadnezzar's dream of THE GREAT IMAGE (B. C.
6o3-2).
Chap. 3. Nebuchadnezzar's golden image set up for all his
subjects to worship.
Daniel's three companions cast into the
fiery furnace.
Chap. 4. Nebuchadnezzar's dream about his own insanity, and
Daniel's interpretation
of it. Its fulfillment.
Chap. 5. Belshazzar's feast. Babylon taken by Darius the Mede
(B. C. 538).
Chap. 6. Daniel is promoted by Darius; refuses to worship
him, and is cast into a
den of' lions. His deliverance and
subsequent prosperity (? B. C.. 537).
Chap. 7. Daniel's vision of THE FOUR BEASTS (? B. C. 54I).
Chap. 8. Daniel's vision of THE RAM AND THE GOAT (? B. C.
539).
Chap. 9. Daniel's prayer: the prophecy of THE SEVENTY WEEKS
(B. C. 538).
Chaps. 10. - 12. Daniel's LAST VISION (B. C. 534).
3. The difficulty connected with the date of this vision (the
second year of Nebuchadnezzar) is considered in
App. 1. post.
4. Cf. Daniel 2:38, and Jeremiah 27:6, 7. – The
statement of Genesis 49:10 may seem at first sight to clash with
this: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver
from between his feet, until Shiloh come." But, as events prove,
this cannot mean that royal power was to be exercised by the
house of Judah until the advent of Christ. Hengstenberg has
rightly interpreted it (Christology, Arnold's trans., Ch.
78): "Judah shall not cease to exist as a tribe, nor lose its
superiority, until it shall be exalted to higher honor and glory
through the great Redeemer, who shall spring from it, and whom
not only the Jews, but all the nations of the earth shall obey."
As he points out, "until not unfrequently means up to
and afterwards." (See ex. gr. Genesis 28:15.)
The meaning of the prophecy, therefore, was not that Judah was
to exercise royal power until Christ, and then lose it,
which is the lame and unsatisfactory gloss usually adopted; but
that the pre-eminence of Judah is to be irrevocably established
in Christ – not spiritually, but in fact, in the kingdom of
which Daniel prophesies. 5. To believe that such a prophecy can ever be realized may seem
to betoken fanaticism and folly, but at least let us accept the
language of Scripture, and not lapse into the blind absurdity of
expecting the fulfillment of theories based on what men
conjecture the prophets ought to have foretold.
6. This appears from the language of the queen-mother, Daniel
5:10- 12. But chap. 8:27 shows that Daniel, even then, held some
appointment at the court.
7. Daniel 6:1, 2. Daniel cannot have been less than eighty years
of age at this time. See chron. table,
App. 1. post.
8. It is improbable that Daniel was less than twenty-one
years of age when placed at the head of the empire in the second
year of Nebuchadnezzar. The age to which he lived makes it
equally improbable that he was more. His birth would thus fall,
as before suggested, about B. C. 625, the epoch of Nabopolassar's era, and some three years later was Josiah's
passover, the like of which had never been held in Israel from
the days of Samuel (2 Chronicles 35:18, 19).
9. The following is the vision as recorded in Daniel 7:2-14:
- "Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and
behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great
sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one
from another. The first was 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. And, behold,
another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up
itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it
between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise,
devour much flesh. 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. After this I saw in the night visions, and,
behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong
exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and
brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of
it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before
it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and,
behold, there came up among them another little horn, before
whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the
roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of
man, and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld till the
thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit,
whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head
like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and
his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came
forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto
him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld
then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn
spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body
destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the
rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet
their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in
the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came
with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days,
and they brought him near before him. And there was given
him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people,
nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."
10. Certain writers advocate an
interpretation of these visions which allots the "four kingdoms"
to Babylonia, Media, Persia, and Greece. This view, with which
Professor Westcott's name is identified, claims notice merely in
order to distinguish it from another with which it has been
confounded, even in a work of such pretensions as The
Speaker's Commentary (Vol. 6., p. 333, Excursus on the
Four Kingdoms). The learned author of the Ordo Saeclorum
(Ch. 616, etc.), quoting Maitland, who in turn
follows Lacunza (Ben Ezra), argues that the accession of Darius
the Mede to the throne of Babylon did not involve a change of
empire. These writers further urge that the description of the
third kingdom resembles Rome rather than Greece. According to
this view, therefore, the kingdoms are 1st Babylon, including
Persia, 2nd Greece, 3rd Rome, 4th a future kingdom to arise in
the last days. But as already noticed (p. 32, ante), the
book of Daniel expressly distinguishes Babylon, Medo-Persia, and
Greece as "kingdoms' within the scope of the prophecy.
11. Daniel 7:19-27. On this vision see Pusey, Daniel,
pp. 78, 79.
12. The state of Europe at or after the dismemberment of the
Roman Empire has been appealed to as a fulfillment of it,
ignoring the fact that the territory which Augustus ruled
included a considerable district both of Asia and Africa. Nor is
this all. There is no presumption against finding in past times
a partial accomplishment of such a prophecy, but the fact that
twenty-eight different lists, including sixty-five "kingdoms,"
have been put forward in the controversy, is a proof how
worthless is the evidence of any such fulfillment. In truth the
historical school of interpreters have here, as on many other
points, brought discredit upon their entire system, containing,
as it does, so much that claims attention (see
App. 2. Note C). |