DANIEL 7:12

The Bible says in Daniel 7:12-14, “As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.[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.” These verses show once again one of the contrasts between the nations of this world and the Kingdom of God that will be ruled by Christ. The nations of this world are temporary. That is why it says in verse 12, “they had their dominion taken away.” But it says about Jesus in verse 14, “his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

It is interesting that Daniel said in Daniel 7:13, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven.” Daniel saw the Second Coming of Christ. Daniel certainly was favored by God and privileged. Most people were not aware of the Second Coming until Jesus and the apostles taught about it. Jesus said in Matthew 24:30, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” The Bible says in Acts 1:6-11, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?[7] And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.[8] But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.[9] And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.[10] And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;[11] Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” John, an apostle, wrote in Revelation 1:7, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

The Bible says in Daniel 7:15-18, “I Daniel 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 for ever, even for ever and ever.” The four great beasts that Daniel saw represented “four kings.” These are the same kings and the same kingdoms that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The first kingdom was the kingdom of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar. The second kingdom was the one that displaced Babylon, the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. The thirds kingdom was that of Alexander the great, and the last of the four kingdoms was Rome. Once again the Lord does not want his children to fear what these kings might do, and so the Lord makes it very clear what the final outcome will be: “the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.”

The Bible says in Daniel 7:19, “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;” The book of Daniel concentrates on the fourth beast because the fourth kingdom is the one that will be involved in the world in the last days, and the prophecies of the book of Daniel have a great deal to do with telling us about the last days. Daniel 7:19 uses “iron” to describe the kingdom of Rome, just as iron was used in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to describe the fourth kingdom. The fourth kingdom is “diverse” from the other three and is more “dreadful” as far as these powerful kingdoms are concerned. A common characteristic of human government is to control the populace. This in contrast to the way that God governs men because God gives freedom to all. God gives the most important freedom of all: freedom of choice. The kingdom of Rome will control in earnest. Rome “devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet.”

The Bible says in Daniel 7:20-22, “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.[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.” Daniel is talking about the Roman Empire, and he mentions ten horns. The ten horns are ten rulers, and the same ten as were indicated by the ten toes of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Out of the Roman Empire that exists in the last days there will evidently be ten rulers who are prominent. And then there is another horn (ruler) “which came up.” This other ruler is talking about the antichrist. The antichrist defeats three other rulers, evidently to cement his power. In Daniel 7:20 three characteristics of the antichrist are listed. First he is called “a horn that had eyes.” The “eyes” speak of knowledge, perception, and knowing things that the other rulers do not know. What the antichrist knows is how to manipulate, to control, to dominate, and to deceive the populace. Secondly, the antichrist is said to have a mouth that “a mouth that spake very great things.” I wonder what are the “very great things” that the antichrist will speak? He will speak great things to the populace and to other leaders. That is why they will give their power to him. He will speak great things about himself, even elevating himself to receive worship. Surely human beings would not worship a human leader. Oh, yes, they will. And the antichrist will speak great things against God. This is a spiritual situation and the antichrist is of the evil spirit.

The third thing said about the antichrist in Daniel 7:20 is that “whose look was more stout than his fellows.” There is something about the antichrist’s look or appearance that gives him away. No one can hide that amount of deceit, lying, and hunger for power. Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-23, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.[23] But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” If you have wisdom, then you understand that someone’s “look” is important to be able to evaluate. The antichrist will be known by that “look.” Of course, you must have eyes to see. Those who are in darkness will only see what they want to see. That is one of the reasons that they will be so willing to let the antichrist take over. They will not “see” him for what he really is.

Because the antichrist hates Jesus, he also hates those who believe in Jesus. The persecution of Christians and Jews will be one of the prominent characteristics of the Great Tribulation when the antichrist is in power. The antichrist hates God, and therefore the antichrist also hates all the people of God. “the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.” When John, an apostle, had his vision of the last days, he wrote about Babylon in Revelation 17:6, “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” There is a reason that we see even today an increase in anti-Christian sentiment. The human race is heading towards the last days. Evidently, there will be many martyrs during the time of the Great Tribulation. It is at least a good thing that the Tribulation will only last seven years. But Jesus will avenge the blood of his saints. How long will the antichrist have the upper hand over the believers? The answer to that is in Daniel 7:22 that says, “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.” Jesus will come, and He will judge the earth at the battle of Armageddon. Then Jesus will turn the earth over to the saints to rule with Him.

Concerning the antichrist, the Bible says in Daniel 7:23-25, “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.[24] And the ten horns out of this kingdom 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.” The Roman Empire was the greatest of the empires. That is what it says in Daniel 7:23. Also, we can infer from these prophecies that the Roman Empire still exists. In Europe the Roman Empire is now broken into many countries. That is why there are the various “horns” or rulers that are talked about related to the fourth kingdom. Just as Europe can be seen as being left over from the Roman Empire, so can North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries that have their history, government, and language rooted in the countries of Europe (the Roman Empire.) And then, of course, we can look at the colonial period of the world when European countries took over most of Asia and Africa. Even today Western culture (European culture) is being adopted in China, India, Japan, and all over the world. We are not adopting their culture, but they are adopting ours. It is no wonder that Daniel 7:23 says about the Roman Empire, “and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.” By being broken in pieces, it has many rulers. Ten of those rulers will eventually give power to the antichrist. Somehow as the antichrist grabs power or grows in power, “he shall subdue three kings.” Perhaps three of the ten change their mind about giving all this power to the antichrist, but he takes them by force and conquers them. If the white horse of Revelation 6:2 is the antichrist, then this subduing of the three kings might be what is indicated there. It says, “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” The crown was given to him by ten horns, and then he had to turn around and conquer three of them.

Notice carefully what is said about the antichrist in Daniel 7:25 that the antichrist shall “think to change times and laws.” The antichrist will have a message and an agenda of change. One of the reasons that the ten leaders give him power is probably because of all the problems that will exist in the world. The antichrist will make big promises that he will bring change. He will bring change all right: the same kind of change that these types of dictatorial leaders have always brought. He will bring control and manipulation of the populace. Change id bad if it is the wrong kind of change.

The last part of Daniel 7:25 tells us how long the antichrist will rule with all of his “change” in place. It says, “they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” This refers to a three and a half year period. We have already seen in Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream that Daniel used the word “time” to mean “year.” Also, later in the book of Daniel a number of days will be used instead of this phrase and the days indicate three and a half years. The first half of the three and a half years is described in Daniel 12:11, “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” The antichrist evidently takes full power at the middle of the Tribulation after approximately three and a half years. The ceremony that he performs in the taking of power is the “abomination of desolation,” which refers to desecrating the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. But at least the reign of the antichrist will be brief. He will rule in full power for only three and a half years, and then Jesus will take over at His Second Coming. There is no hope in the change that the political leaders of this world might bring. Our hope is in the change that will come when Jesus returns.

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