Introduction
1A – First 3 Beasts
1B – The 4th Beast
1C – Son of Man Given Dominion
2 – Angel’s Explanation, Daniel Signs Off
2 – Angel’s Explanation, Daniel Signs Off
SPIRIT BEING INTERPRETS THE VISION
7:15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me.
Finally, the dream-vision is finished, with all its separate parts passing before Daniel’s view. Now Daniel turns his attention to himself. Although it was a great honor for him that God had given him such profound revelation, yet with it there came a good deal of perplexity. Daniel is overwhelmed and troubled in mind.
This was probably in part because he did not fully understand the meaning of the vision, and partly on account of the fearful and momentous nature of what was indicated by it. (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, published in the 1800’s)
Daniel’s words are significant in that Daniel is not afraid to make it known that he is the one who received the vision – “as for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious” – and that it had this effect on him. This makes us aware that it was a deeply personal experience that this man actually went through. Were the account just a story or fiction, it is doubtful that such details would have been mentioned.
The things which Daniel saw made a deep impression on his mind. His spirit was troubled within him; the sight filled him with terror. It was not the mystery of the images, nor the fact that all was not clear before his sight, that troubled and disquieted him; for v. 28 shows that the disquietude did not subside when an angel explained the images he had seen. It was the things themselves as they passed in vision before him – the momentous events, the calamities which the people of God would have to endure till the time of the completion of the everlasting kingdom of God – which filled him with anxiety and terror. (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, 1864)
7:16 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things.
To feel “anxious” and “alarmed” would be a normal reaction. The vision of the fearsome Beasts, and how they were going to affect life on Earth, could not have been easy to take in. So Daniel approaches one of the spirit beings near the Throne for more information. Who exactly this “spirit being” was, we don’t know, and for the sake of this discussion, he will be referred to simply as the “angel” whom Daniel encountered during his dream.
It was natural for Daniel to suppose that the angels who were seen encircling the throne would be able to give him information on the subject, and the answers which Daniel received show that he was not mistaken in his expectation. God has often employed angels to communicate important truths to men, or has made them the medium of communicating his will. Compare Rev 1:1; Acts 7:53; Heb 2:2. (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, published in the 1800’s)
Although its contents have passed before Daniel’s eyes, the dream-vision is not yet finished. The drama continues as Daniel begins to interact with one from the throng of spirit beings whom he had seen earlier gathered before the Throne.
In the revelations that Daniel received, it is a notable feature in them that he had a great curiosity and almost seems to pester the guiding angel to give more explanation. And that is important, for without that curiosity, that vacuum to get the full meaning of a revelation, it is less likely that Heaven’s messages will even be sent. Or, if they are sent, then chances are they won’t be very clear or get through the barrier of our earthly mindsets. It is so easy to misunderstand the heavenly perspective on things. So it was needful for Daniel to make an effort to get more information. And the angel’s explanations did indeed fine-tune Daniel’s (and our) understanding of the dream-vision.
Another feature that is evident: Daniel probably was still in a dream-like trance. For he does not seem to be the least troubled by his encounter with the spirit being. During his next revelation (in chapter 8), Daniel was fully conscious when he encountered the angel Gabriel. And this caused him to report, “I was terrified and fell facedown… I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.” (8:17-18, BSB) In chapter 9, since he had already met the angel, Daniel is able to take the appearance of Gabriel in stride and receives the amazing 70 Weeks timeline prophecy.
But in the next vision in chapter 10, he encounters a great Being. This was probably the Lord Himself, for He resembles the One whom John the apostle saw in the first chapter of the Book of Revelation. And in that case, the Being is clearly identified as Jesus Christ: “One like the Son of Man”. (1:13) And the Being identifies Himself: “I am the First and the Last, the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever!” John wrote, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” (1:17) Daniel too, when He met this great Being, said, “I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground.” (10:9)
But here in chapter 7, Daniel was not fully conscious. In a dream-like trance, reality does not seem like reality. We could recall the example of the apostle Peter. He “dreamt” of being freed from prison by an angel and had no idea of what really happened until he woke up from the dream and found himself outside the prison gates. (Acts 12:3-11) It seems Daniel was not the least perturbed about meeting this angel. What troubled him were the things that he saw in the dream-vision.
As the dream-vision continues through verses 17-27, the angel helps Daniel to better understand what he has seen. Most of the explanation has already been accounted for. However, the angel does bring out some points that have not yet been mentioned, such as the final persecution and its time span, and the fact that the “saints of the Most High” will be ruling in the Age to come.
7:17-18 “These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.”
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These four great beasts are four kings
Earlier it was mentioned that the word “kings” also means “kingdoms”. (Note that verses 23-24 refer twice to the “fourth beast” as a “kingdom”. See discussion “Head=Beast? King=Kingdom?”). All through history, it has been the same pattern: before a kingdom or nation comes into being, there arises a dynamic leader, a “king”, who unites the people and their warring tribes and galvanizes them into a great “kingdom”.
Nebuchadnezzar founded the Babylonian empire, Cyrus the Medo-Persian empire, Alexander the “notable horn” who founded the Greek empire, Genghis Khan the Mongol empire, Hitler the German Third Reich. The words “king” and “kingdom” are interchangeable. For what is a king without a kingdom? Or what is a kingdom without a king?
That the “beasts” represented certain “kings” (or kingdoms) doesn’t seem like a difficult concept to grasp. But we have the benefit of hindsight and understand the historical reality that Daniel had not yet seen. So it was helpful for Daniel to be told what the frightful “beasts” he saw were supposed to represent.
Four kings who shall arise out of the earth
The question may come to mind, if the “four kings” are to arise in the future (“shall arise”), then how can that include the first Lion-Beast. As we learned earlier, that Beast represented Babylon, so it had already arisen before Daniel received this revelation. So how do we account for this discrepancy? In the ancient Hebrew the imperfect tense is used here, not the future tense. So from the grammatical point of view, there is no necessity of having all four Beasts arrive future to Daniel’s time. (See Appendix 1 for a more complete Hebrew-grammar explanation.)
In verse 3, the “beasts” were pictured as rising “out of the sea”. The stormy sea was symbolic of the agitated nations of the world. Here the angel is emphasizing their earthly origin, from below, whereas the Son of Man’s Kingdom is of heavenly origin, from above.
They are of the earth earthy, and they are written in the dust, and to the dust they shall return. (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, first published 1706)
The saints of the Most High
The “saints” are those called out from the world, the followers of Christ, from among all nations of the earth.
Whatever we may think of the patriarchs and the Jews in their best times, there has never been so much holiness of heart possessed, and so much righteousness practiced, as by the genuine disciples of Christ… They are the chief saints, and to them God gives the kingdom. (Commentary on the Bible by Adam Clarke, published 1810-26)
Shall receive the kingdom
The saints of God shall receive the kingdom… not found and establish by their own might, but receive through the Son of man, to whom God (v. 14) has given it. (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, 1864)
Possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.
This is a strong and emphatic declaration, affirming that this dominion will be perpetual. It will not pass away, like the other kingdoms, to be succeeded by another one… there will be a state of prevalent righteousness on the earth hereafter (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, published in the 1800’s)
And that brings us to the end of the angel’s initial response to Daniel’s request to know “the truth concerning all this”. (17:16) Evidently, that was too brief an answer, as far as Daniel was concerned. So he continues to probe the angel for more information, in particular about the “fourth beast”.
7:19-20 Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet,
and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions.
Daniel continues to be a good example of a person wrestling with God. Jacob wrestled with the angel until he got the blessing. And likewise here, Daniel keeps after the angel in order to make sure he gets a full answer about the mysteries he has just witnessed. In the process of his inquiry, Daniel recounts the same details that have already been mentioned. It is a helpful review, but for this commentary, it is the new details and perspective that the angel brings to light that are important for us to consider.
It is a very desirable thing to take the right and full sense of what we see and hear from God; and those that would know must ask by faithful and fervent prayer and by accomplishing a diligent search. (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, first published in 1706)
He [Daniel] appears to have been satisfied with the most general intimations in regard to the first three beasts, for the kingdoms represented by them seemed to have nothing very remarkable. But it was different in regard to the fourth. The beast itself was so remarkable – so fierce and terrific; the number of the horns was so great; the springing up of the little horn was so surprising; the character of that horn was so unusual; the judgment passed on it was so solemn; and the vision of one like the Son of man coming to take possession of the kingdom – all these things were of so fearful and so uncommon a character, that the mind of Daniel was peculiarly affected in view of them, and he sought earnestly for a further explanation. In the description that Daniel here gives of the beast and the horns, he refers in the main to the same circumstances which he had before described; but he adds a few which he had before omitted, all tending to impress the mind more deeply with the fearful character and the momentous import of the vision; as, for instance, the fact that it had nails of brass, and made war with the saints. (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, published in the 1800’s)
The three first [beasts] were not in the full sense universal monarchies. The fourth is; so in it the God-opposed principle finds its full development. (from Commentary, Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible by Jamieson, Faussett, Brown – 1871)
7:21-22 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them,
until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.
By his words “as I looked”, it seems that Daniel is re-living what to him was the climax and most intense part of the dream-vision. In his re-telling, the “fourth beast” rises first, while the “horn that had eyes and a mouth” consolidates his power over the Ten Horns. Then after these events, the Horn gets down to business making “war with the saints”. This last point about persecution Daniel had not mentioned earlier and may be what caused him to feel “anxious” and “alarmed”. (7:15)
I saw war made by this horn with the people of God. This circumstance, also, is not referred to in the first description, and the order of time in the description would seem to imply that the war with the saints would be at a considerable period after the first appearance of the horn, or would be only when it had grown to its great size and power. This “war” might refer to open hostilities, carried on in the usual manner of war; or to persecution, or to any invasion of the rights and privileges of others. As it is a “war with the saints,” it would be most natural to refer it to persecution. The same events are evidently referred to and in almost similar language – borrowed probably from Daniel – in Rev 13:5-7.
The fact that there appears to be a time lapse between the first appearance of the “horn” and its later “war with the saints” can be understood in how God uses the Antichrist “horn”. During the initial period of the Antichrist’s regime, he will actually be doing the will of God – acting as God’s “hired razor” (Isaiah 7:20), God’s instrument of chastisement against the wayward Harlot empire and its companion state, the Israeli nation. (See Revelation 17:17; 18:8,20; 19:2.) And to carry out such an enormous task, this Beast would have to be, as Daniel expresses, “exceedingly terrifying”, so much so that it “devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet.”
Once he has fulfilled this role, however, the Antichrist and False Prophet will attempt to bring about their own New World Order without God. It will be the glorification of humankind and of the Antichrist – a totalitarian tyranny that will indulge in persecution against millions of the faithful. Those who desire to stay faithful to their worship of God will refuse to get pulled into the worship of a human being and his earthly system.
It devoured and broke in pieces, v. 19. Perhaps it was this that put Daniel into such a fright, and this part of the visions of his head troubled him more than any of the rest. But especially he desired to know what the little horn was, that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke very great things, and whose countenance was more fearless and formidable than that of any of his fellows, v. 20. And this he was most inquisitive about because it was this horn that made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, v. 21. (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, first published in 1706)
Until the Ancient of Days came
That is, this was to occur after the horn grew to its full size, and after the war was made with the saints, and they had been overcome. It does not affirm that this would occur immediately, but that at some subsequent period the Ancient of days would come, and would set up a kingdom on the earth, or would make over the kingdom to the saints. There would be as real a transfer and as actual a setting up of a peculiar kingdom, as if God himself should appear on the earth, and should publicly make over the dominion to them. (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, published in the 1800’s)
Judgment was given for the saints of the Most High
It is God Himself who executes judgment, and by that judgment justice is done to the people of God, i.e., they are delivered from the unrighteous oppression of the beast, and receive the kingdom. (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, 1864)
The time came when the saints possessed the kingdom
Judgment, having been made in favor of the “saints”, means that the “saints” will have the responsibility of ruling in the Earth. What wonderful transformation will take place in that glorious future! Under the rule of the “saints”, good men shall make and administer the laws; the principles of godly living shall prevail, persuading the hearts and minds of all people, causing righteousness and judgment to be done. The universal presence of God’s Spirit shall control the hearts and lives of people, influencing them to do what is right in all situations.
Daniel has made his request to the angel, and in the process he not only describes again what he had already seen but reveals a couple of things not mentioned before – that the Horn would “make war with the saints” and that “the saints possessed the kingdom”. Having received Daniel’s request, the angel speaks again and reveals a few more details about the “fourth beast”.
7:23 Thus he said: “As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
7:24 “As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings.
7:25 “He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.”
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Much of what the angel says here repeats what was said before. However, he does add some information about the Horn’s persecution campaign and the specific length of it, also about his attempts “to change the times and the law”.
So, what are some of the new bits of information that the angel informs to Daniel?
1) He shall speak words against the Most High
Daniel said already that the Horn had “a mouth that spoke great things.” (7:8,11,20) The same is said elsewhere in other revelations about this final ruler: “the king… shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods.” (Daniel 11:36) “And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and… opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God.” (Revelation 13:5-6)
When we consider modern broadcasting and its amazing ability to convey a politician’s words and charisma into every corner of the Earth in an instant of time, we can understand why these Scriptures make special mention of the “mouth” of this final ruler and how it is so effective in generating worship of himself and in persuading the world’s people to rebel against their Creator.
Much of the high-minded philosophy of modern times sounds profound and authoritative, even scientific, and maybe this is why to Daniel those words sounded like “great things”. This being the first time Daniel hears about the Antichrist’s great“mouth”, it’s possible he misunderstood the real intent of those “great things” the Horn spoke. But here the angel fine-tunes the perspective, making sure that Daniel understands that these “great things” are nothing more than “words against the Most High”.
In chapter 8 Daniel receives a vision of persecution of the Jewish people, which telescopes into a vision of the final Antichrist persecution. Antiochus Epiphanes, who persecuted the Jewish people in ancient times, was pictured as the personal enemy of God: “exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host… the place of His sanctuary was cast down.” (8:11, NKJV)
And this telescopes into the End of the Age: “he shall even rise against the Prince of princes.” (8:25, NKJV) Like his ancient counterparts – Antiochus Epiphanes or the Egyptian Pharaoh – the final Antichrist will harbor a great deal of hostility towards the true God and will be obsessed with removing faith in God from the world’s cultural landscape. This, of course, will result in a persecution campaign against those who are proclaiming the Truth of God in those days.
The Antichrist Horn uses language by which he sets God aside, and at the same time highly regards himself and makes it look to the world that he himself is God. “The son of perdition… opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2Thessalonians 2:4, NKJV)
And in the process of making himself like God, he will have to destroy the saints of God. His “words against the Most High” will generate a hostile climate of persecution, which leads us into the angel’s next point…
2) He shall wear out the saints of the Most High.
The Antichrist not only makes war, but to Daniel it looks as though he is winning the war, prevailing against God’s people. The beast is going to overcome the church; at least her temporal power will be destroyed –its buildings, organisations and money. (verses 21 and 25).
But It doesn’t say he will destroy the holy people, there’s a definite distinction there, but he will destroy their power! And even that, not completely. Later on in Daniel chapter 12 verse 7, it says that he shall “scatter the power of the holy people”, in other words, weaken it and scatter it, so that they no longer have much power or influence in the World, in politics and governments, etc. Then he’ll be able to take over. We know he can’t destroy all the holy people, because verses 18, 22 and 27 state, “the saints of the Most High shall take…and possess the kingdom”, it will be given to them.
…God stops the Antichrist and judges in favor of the saints. For a time it might seem that the Antichrist is unstoppable as he rages across the world’s stage, but that is only an illusion. God has him in His sights and will only allow him to go so far. The world has seen tyrants before, but admittedly not one as monstrous as this. But like all that have gone before him, he shall meet his doom.
[“Daniel 7, Part 2” from End Time Ready by Gaetan]
3) And shall think to change the times and the law.
Daniel had much experience along this line. With the arrival of the Medo-Persian conquerors, Daniel’s rivals in the king’s court of Darius the Mede hoped to use Persian law to incriminate him. They brought in a new law that forbade worship of any god other than the king. The whole thing backfired on them, as we learn from chapter 6 in the Book of Daniel. This incident shows that the enemies of God like to use legality and rule-changing as a means to discourage worship of the Higher Power of God.
The word “times”- zimniyn (OT:2166) – would seem to refer properly… to such periods set apart as festivals or fasts – seasons consecrated to the services of religion and the kind of jurisdiction which the power… would hope and desire to set up would be to have control of these periods… and he who has power over them, either to abolish existing festivals, or to substitute others in their places, or to appoint new festivals, has an important control over the whole subject of religion, and over a nation… The word rendered “laws” here – daat (OT:1881) – while it might refer to any law, would more properly designate laws pertaining to religion. (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, published in the 1800’s)
“To change times” belongs to the all-perfect power of God (cf. Dan 2:21), the creator and ordainer of times (Gen 1:14)… “Times and laws” are the foundations and main conditions, emanating from God, of the life and actions of men in the world… Thus shall he do with the ordinances of life, not only of God’s people, but of all men. But it is to be confessed that the people of God are most affected thereby, because they hold their ordinances of life most according to the divine plan. (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, 1864)
There have been times in the past when political revolutions, like the French Revolution and the Communist Revolution under Josef Stalin, tried to erase the 7-day week, and by that means, discourage the celebration of religious festivals and holy days. (See Appendix 2 to learn more about those historical events.)
These experiments failed miserably, by the way, which may be why it says of the Horn that he “shall think to change the times and the law”. He may think or intend to change God’s ordained seasons and times, which has been the dream of atheist power-brokers throughout history. But it could be that there will be too little time or opportunity to implement such laws.
4) For a time, times, and half a time
By this specification of time (3½ years), the duration of the last phase of the world-power is outlined, as a period measured by God. The time span mentioned here is repeated elsewhere in the Books of Daniel and Revelation in various ways (see Chart):
- “Time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25, 12:7, Revelation 12:14)
- 1,260 days (Revelation 11:3, 12:6)
- 42 months (Revelation 11:2, 13:5)
- Half of a “week” (Daniel 9:27).
Why is this time span repeated so often? It will be a matter of extreme importance in those final days when the Beast reigns supreme and will be trying to obliterate any trace of godly belief in a Higher Power. For those who must live through those perilous final days, it will be a great encouragement to know there is a cut-off to this testing time and the exact time it will finish.
It reminds us of how the early disciples must have felt when all seemed lost after Jesus was crucified. And in the End of days, when it looks like the Beast has won and taken over and all seems lost, the people of God will remain steadfast. For they know who the Ultimate Victor is and that the time of His Return is predetermined. When all seems lost, victory lies just around the corner.
This also happens to be the time span of the saints’ most dynamic period of witnessing. Revelation chapter 11 tells the thrilling story of the “two witnesses” who boldly challenge the Beast and the world during those final 3½ years.
Those days will see the greatest proclamations from both the Devil and from God; the biggest lies and the most profound truths will be uttered. The Antichrist and False Prophet will broadcast to the world their phony vision of a great utopian society without God. And the Two Witnesses will challenge the new world system and its leaders, testifying of their corruption and prophesying of God’s glorious Kingdom to come.
The greatest change in human history is about to take place, so it is fitting that there is a sort of “countdown” before the Second Coming. Jesus Christ will return, not only to put an end to the powers of Darkness and their temporary triumph in the Earth, but also, to gather His faithful followers of all ages. (Matthew 24:31) And then will come the Wrath of God to destroy the old works built by man under the influence of the powers of Darkness. And this will clear the way for the start of the glorious Kingdom of God in the Earth.
After his explanation about the “fourth beast” and its “horn”, the angel goes on to describe the “judgment” and the world dominion that would follow under the rule of the “saints”.
7:26 “But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end.
7:27 “And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
The angel, whom Daniel asked (in verse 16) for “the truth concerning all this” and to make “known… the interpretation of the things” now brings to light the very important point that “the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom.”
Not only “the Son of man,” “the Ancient of days” (Dan 7:22), shall reign; but also “the saints of the Most High” (Dan 7:18,22,27): they have been with Him, virtually or actually, in His temptations and sufferings, and therefore shall share with Him also in the kingdom and the glory… Christ, vindicating the world-kingdom from the misrule of the God-opposed world-powers, will rule it for God, and the saints shall be the administrators of His reign under the Most High. (from Commentary, Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible by Jamieson, Faussett, Brown – 1871)
If we endure, we will also reign with him. (2Timothy 2:12)
God wants Earth’s people to learn to rule themselves, but because of the influence of the powers of Darkness (the Devil), humanity’s rule has always spiraled downward into disaster and hell on Earth – including the final disasters of both the Harlot empire and the empire of the Antichrist.
At this point, when the saints have either been wiped out and/or gathered into the Heavenly Realm, those powers of Darkness will think they have Earth to themselves. (Nevertheless, likely there will be some rebel upstarts that will try to defy the Antichrist government.) But soon the regime will find itself having to face the army of Christ and the saints in the Battle of Armageddon.
Finally, those powers of Darkness are cast into their prison in the Celestial Realm:
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer…
(Revelation 20:1-3)
And this makes it possible for Earth’s new rulers – the saints – to take over and govern the world responsibly with true justice and mercy. But this great victory does not come without much trouble and persecution suffered by the “saints of the Most High“:
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast… They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)
Many people get all theoretical and they get hazy ideas, dreamy ideas about His kingdom, thinking that after Jesus returns, we’re all going to be way off somewhere in some place called Heaven. Well, Heaven is not going to be way off somewhere, it’s going to be right here on Earth, a Heaven-on-Earth during the Millennium! We’re going to rule and reign with Christ right here on Earth over the unsaved nations and people who are left, who were not destroyed by the judgements God heaped upon the Antichrist kingdom.
Every day, millions of Christians all over the world pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!” But do most of us really appreciate the awesome reality of that statement in the Lord’s Prayer and how literally it is going to come true and be fulfilled? It’s actually going to be like Heaven, Heaven on Earth, with God’s Will being done and His Kingdom come – on Earth as it is in Heaven! And we will be His officers, enforcing His Will as we rule and reign over the Earth with Him!
[“Daniel 7, Part 3” from End Time Ready by Gaetan]
They reckon themselves exalted in his exaltation, and desire no greater honour and satisfaction to themselves than that all dominions should serve and obey him, as they shall do, v. 27. They shall either be brought into subjection to his golden sceptre or brought to destruction by his iron rod. (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, first published in 1706)
Christ’s kingdom is now, indeed, in the world, but it is not as yet of the world – for the world is still opposed to God. Christ was invested with the kingdom at His ascension… and has invisibly exercised it since. It is a hidden kingdom now… He has the title already; but will not visibly exercise His full dominion until then… There must be a regeneration of the world, as well as that of the individual. (from Commentary, Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible by Jamieson, Faussett, Brown – 1871)
“Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)
Under the whole heaven…
[This phrase] shows it is a kingdom on earth, not in heaven… Not even the last judgment shall end it, but only give it a more glorious appearance, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, with the throne of God and the Lamb in it (cf. Rev 5:9-10; 11:15). (from Commentary, Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible by Jamieson, Faussett, Brown – 1871)
DANIEL FINISHES
7:28 Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.
It wasn’t for Daniel to understand and all he could do was keep the matter in his heart. However, the revelation which he preserved in writing served as an important template for John the apostle, 600 years later, to fill in more of the picture when he received the Book of Revelation on the Isle of Patmos. Even John the apostle couldn’t understand very well the visions he received, for it is not until our present day that, when they are beginning to come into view, that we can understand them somewhat better.
Two years later, Daniel received another vision and had a similar reaction: “And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days… was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.” (8:27) In both cases, these were dreams and visions that Daniel could see with his own eyes – intensely real experiences, graphic and tangible. After this in chapters 9 and 10-12, Daniel receives not visions, but words of prophecy directly from an angel. In such experiences we could say that he was detached somewhat from the action, and as a result they seemed to have less effect on him physically.
This is the sum of what was disclosed to the prophet, but he still says that he meditated on it with profound interest… “As for me…” It was not unnatural, at the close of this remarkable vision, to state the effect that it had on himself. [My cogitations much troubled me] My thoughts in regard to it. It was a subject which he could not avoid reflecting on, and which could not but produce deep solicitude in regard to the events which were to occur. Who could look into the future without anxious and agitating thought? These events were such as to engage the profoundest attention; such as to fix the mind in solemn thought… The effect of these revelations depicted themselves on my countenance… his bright and cheerful countenance was changed…
He hid the whole subject in his own mind, until he thought proper to make this record of what he had seen and heard. Perhaps there was no one to whom he could communicate the matter who would credit it; perhaps there was no one at court who would sympathize with him; perhaps he thought that it might savor of vanity if it were known; perhaps he felt that as no one could throw any new light on the subject, there would be no use in making it a subject of conversation; perhaps he felt so overpowered that he could not readily converse on it. (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, published in the 1800’s)
My cogitations much troubled me – showing that the Holy Spirit intended much more to be understood by Daniel’s words than Daniel himself understood. We are not to limit the significance of prophecies to what the prophets themselves understood (1 Peter 1:11-12). (from Commentary, Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible by Jamieson, Faussett, Brown – 1871)
Daniel kept the matter in his heart, with a design, not to keep it from the church, but to keep it for the church, that what he had received from the Lord he might fully and faithfully deliver to the people. Note, It concerns God’s prophets and ministers to treasure up the things of God in their minds, and there to digest them well. If we would have God’s word ready in our mouths when we have occasion for it, we must keep it in our hearts at all times.
The manner in which these things were discovered to him quite overwhelmed him, and put his thoughts so much to the stretch that his spirits failed him, and the trance he was in tired him and made him faint. (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, first published in 1706)
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At first glance this phrase “shall arise out of the earth” may cause us to wonder about the first beast which, in Daniel’s time, had already arisen. So how can it be future? The problem here has to do with some Hebrew grammar peculiarities. In the original Hebrew, the tense used here is called the “imperfect”; it differs from the direct future tense. Below is a description of how the imperfect tense can be translated:
The imperfect tense is translated in Hebrew most often as a future tense, but in reality what is actually being expressed is an incomplete condition, which is what the future tense indicates. However, there are other times when future time is not the focus, but rather continuous, unfinished action which may be expressed in past, present and future time. (Blue Letter Bible)
Without getting into too much technicality, it should be safe to say that the translation “shall arise out of the earth” does not have to be understood rigidly as pointing only to the future. It can include what has already happened in the past – like the rise of the Lion Beast symbolic of Babylon.
The French Republican calendar (French: calendrier républicain français), also commonly called the French Revolutionary calendar (calendrier révolutionnaire français), was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871, meant to replace the Gregorian calendar.[1] The calendar consisted of twelve 30-day months, each divided into three 10-day cycles similar to weeks, plus five or six intercalary days at the end to fill out the balance of a solar year. It was designed in part to remove all religious and royalist influences from the calendar, and it was part of a larger attempt at dechristianisation and decimalisation in France (which also included decimal time of day, decimalisation of currency, and metrication). It was used in government records in France and other areas under French rule, including Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Malta, and Italy. [from Wikipedia: “French Republican Calendar” (updated 26 August 2025)]
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A Failed Soviet Experiment Offers A Warning To Today’s Burnout Generation
[This story was originally published in 2018 in the “Utopias” issue of Eye on Design magazine.]
In 1929, the Soviet government launched the nepreryvka, a new plan that completely upended the structure of the work week as we know it today…
Under the nepreryvka, the government divided workers—primarily those in factories and offices—into five groups. Laborers worked seven hours a day for four days in a row with one day off. These free days were scattered throughout the week, which meant 80% of the labor force worked at the factory while 20% remained at home at any given time. This new work week ensured that the machines never stopped running.
This period, between 1929 and 1940, was part of Joseph Stalin’s radical economic overhaul that aimed to turn the Soviet Union into a ceaseless machine of productivity and its people into tireless cogs…
Change the days of the week, and you effectively alter a person’s priorities…
With the weekend gone, labor became the framework around which people built their lives.
“The calendars were essentially a tactic of mass control,” Tochilovsky says.
In just a year’s time, the strains of continuous shift work started to wear on the Soviet people who quickly realized that staggering rest days meant they rarely got to spend time with family and friends… “What is there for us to do at home if our wives are in the factory, our children at school, and nobody can visit us …? It is no holiday if you have to have it alone.” The nepreryvka appeared to also erase days of worship for most people since Sundays were now a work day for 80% of the population. The nepreryvka might have been designed as a tool for increasing productivity, but it was ultimately most successful at preventing people from organizing around anything other than labor.
…it’s not hard to make the connection between Stalin’s push for relentless productivity and our contemporary always-on mentality.
Productivity dropped, machines broke down under the stress of constant use, and workers became unmotivated. “It was just the arrogance of absolute power—of someone saying, ‘Let’s just try this,’ ” says Bird.
