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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!
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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)
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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"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:
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