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1 DANIEL 7 With Brief Explanatory Notes ANTI-CHRIST
- WHO IS HE? The prophecy of Daniel 7 Places the identity of the
Anti-Christ in the setting of History! 2 Daniel 7 In the first year
of Bĕl-shăz'-zar king of Băb'-ў-loň Dăn'-iĕl
had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. 2 Dăn'-iĕl 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 NOTE: - A beast in prophecy symbolizes a
king or kingdom. Daniel 7:17: - "These great beasts ... are four kings,
which shall arise out of the earth." Daniel 7:23:- "The fourth beast
shall be the fourth kingdom." The words, "king" and
"kingdom" are used interchangeably. Each of the powers and events
pictured in this prophecy follow in succession. Observe the language: "The
first" (7:4); "And behold another' (ver. 5); "And after
this" (ver. 6); "After this" (ver. 7); "I beheld till"
(ver. 9); and "I beheld then" (ver. 11). 4 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.
3 NOTE: - A lion with eagles
wings was a familiar sight to Daniel. As an official of the king of 5 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.
NOTE: - The kingdom which followed 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. 4
NOTE: - The Grecian kingdom under
Alexander the Great overthrew the 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 diverse from all the
beasts that were before it; and it
had ten horns.
NOTE: - The fourth universal power to rule
the world from Daniel's day was 5 1. Alemanni -
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
eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
NOTE:- In this
verse there are two identifying marks to locate "the little horn" in
history. It came up "among" the ten horns, and "three" of
the original ten were overthrown in its rise to power. In Daniel 7:24 another
identifying mark is given. The "little horn" would come up
"after" the ten horns. There is only ONE power in history that
answers to this description. At 6 Papacy was established by the decree of
Justinian in 533 A.D. and was carried out by force of arms in 538 A.D. in the
overthrow of the Ostrogoths by Justinian's general, Belesarius.
He came up "after" them. 9 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. 10 A fiery stream
issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered to him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and
the books were opened. NOTE: - The expression - "were cast
down" - can be translated, as in the ARV - "were placed." Verse
9 would then read - "I beheld till thrones were placed." This is the
scene of judgment, one purpose of which is to take away the "dominion"
of "the little horn." See Daniel 7:26. 11 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. 12 As concerning the
rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were
prolonged for a season and time. NOTE: - In the time continuity of the
prophecy, the events of this verse - "great words" - spoken by
"the little horn" would follow the convening of the judgment. In the
explanation given to Daniel in verse 25, the "little horn" was to
have power for a specified period of time. (See "Note" on verse 25)
This would bring the sequence of this prophecy to 1798 A.D. In another vision
given to Daniel the "judgment" or "cleansing of the
sanctuary" would begin following 2300 prophetic days, or in 1844. (See
Daniel 8:14) We can, therefore, look for the "great words" following
that date. What words were spoken following that date? 1) In 1854, the Dogma of the Immaculate
Conception was proclaimed in which it was declared that Mary was preserved free
from every taint of original sin. This separated Jesus from the rest of
humanity, thus denying that He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. (See
Romans 1:1-3; 8:3-4; I John 4:3)
7 2) In 1870, the Dogma of Papal
Infallibility was proclaimed. This means the Pope, a man, when speaking ex
cathedra in faith or morals can not error. 3) In 1950, the Dogma of the Bodily
Assumption of Mary into Heaven was proclaimed. This proclamation of Mary as
co-mediatrix with Christ, has given validity to the apparitions of what has
been assumed to be appearances of Mary as at 13 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. 14 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. NOTE: - This coming of the Son of man to the
Ancient of Days is to receive a kingdom. After the Judgment it completed, then He will return to earth to carry out the decisions of
the Supreme Court of the Universe, and "to give to every man according as
his work shall be. (Revelation 22:12) 15 I Dăn'-iĕl was grieved in my spirit in the midst of
my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16 I came near
unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told
me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. 17 These great
beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints
of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess
the kingdom forever, even for ever and ever. NOTE: - At verse 15, the explanation of this
vision begins. First a brief summary is given. This does not satisfy Daniel. 8 19 Then 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; 20 And of the ten
horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before
whom all three fell; even of that
horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake of great things, whose look was 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. NOTE: - Daniel's chief concern and
interest centers in the fourth beast and "the little horn." 23 Thus he said.
The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the 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 are ten
kings that 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 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. NOTE: - In verse 25, a detailed account of
what the Anti-Christ will do, and the period of time in which he will do it is
given. We will begin with the time frame first, and consider carefully each
clause of this verse. "They
shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of
times." A time is a
Jewish year of 360 days, thus the total amount of time equals 1260 prophetic
days. (360 + 720 + 180) This is the same period of time given in Revelation
12:6, 14. Using the Bible dictum that one day in prophecy equals a literal year
of time (Eze. 4:6), we have 1260 years. In 538 A.D. by the decree of Justinian,
the Pope was established in the seat of the Caesars in 9 the Papacy, and declared its government to be
ended. The Pope was taken prisoner and died in exile in "He
shall speak words against the most High." The Aramaic text does not contain the
word, "great," the word being reserved for the "voice of ... the
horn" following the convening of the judgment. However, during this period
of 1260 prophetic days, the Papacy did speak "against the most High."
The book of Revelation, speaks of the same period of time as in Daniel
("forty and two months" - 42 x 30 = 1260). The words to be spoken
were declared "blasphemies, (13:5) In the Bible, one
form of "blasphemy" is for man to assume the power to forgive
sins. (Luke 5:21) In the Confessional, the Roman Church
assumed this right for her priests. Dr. Alphonsus de
Liguori wrote: "The priest
holds the place of the Saviour himself when by saying the words 'Ego te absolve he absolves from sin.
This great power, which Jesus Christ has received from his eternal Father
communicated to his priests.... To pardon a single requires all the omnipotence
of God.... but what only God can do by his omnipotence, the priest can by
saying, ' Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis. Dignities and
Duties of the Priest, pp. 34-35)
Another blasphemous position is exhibited
in the sacrifice of the mass. On this point the same sainted doctor, de
Liguori, after quoting St. Bernadine of Sienna as saying - "Holy Virgin,
excuse me, for I speak not against thee: the Lord hath raised the priesthood
above thee" - comments: "The saint assigns the reason for the
superiority of the priesthood over Mary: she conceived Jesus Christ only once;
but by consecrating the Eucharist, the priest, a it were, conceives him as
often as he wishes, so that if the person of the Redeemer had not yet been in
the world, the priest, by pronouncing the words of consecration, would produce
this great person of the Man-God.... "Thus the priest may, in a certain
manner, be called the creator of his Creator, since by saying the words of consecration,
he creates, as it were, Jesus in the sacrament, by giving him a sacramental
existence and produces him as a victim to be offered to the eternal Father....
And 10 venerable sanctity of the hands! 0 happy function
of the priest! He that created me (if I may so) gave me the power to create
him; and he that created me without me is himself created by me!."' (Ibid., pp. 32-33)
He
... shall wear out the saints of the most High." "The church
has persecuted. Only a tyro in church history will deny that.... Protestants
were persecuted in "That the
Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has
existed among mankind, will be questioned by no
Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history. The memorials, indeed, of
many of her persecutions are now so scanty, that it is impossible to form a
complete conception of the multitude of her victims, and it is quite certain
that no power of the imagination can adequately realize their sufferings."
(History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism, Vol.
II, p. 32)** "He shall ...
think to change times and laws." The
ARV translates this clause - "he shall think to change the times and the
law." One has only to consult a Catholic Catechism to note how the Ten
Commandments have been altered, The second commandment
has been deleted, and the tenth has been divided into two to make up the Ten.
The one commandment which deals with time has been boastfully changed. Observe
carefully: "0. Have you
any way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? "A. Has she
not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists
agree with her; she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the
first day of the week, for the observance of the Saturday the seventh day, a
day for which there is no Scriptural authority (A Doctrinal Catechism by
Rev. Stephen Keenan, p. 174) Thus in every detail found in the prophecy
of Daniel, "the little horn" stands identified as the Papacy of the
Roman Church. The pope is the "man of sin," "the mystery of
iniquity" which has set himself up as God in 10 "the 26 But the judgement shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion,
to consume and to destroy it 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 is an everlasting kingdom. and all
dominions shall serve and obey him. 28 Hitherto is
the end of the matter. Dan'-iel, my cognitions much trouble me, and my
countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart. NOTE: - The decision of the judgment will
be rendered in behalf of the saints of the most High,
and finally to them will be given by the Son of Man, our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ, the dominion and the greatness of the For further study and documentation of the history and facts connected with Daniel 7, inquire about the book, Facts of Faith; and if interested in an in-depth study of the Bible in fourteen major areas, ask about the Bible Study Guide, by calling 641-749-2684, sending an e-mail to alfia@myomnitel.com, or writing to: Adventist Laymen's Foundation of Iowa, Inc. P.O. Box 665 Nora Springs, IA 50458-0665 |
