D
A N I E L
CHAP. VIII.
The
visions and prophecies of this chapter look only and entirely at the events
that were then shortly to come to pass in the monarchies of
Persia
and
Greece, and seem not to have any further reference at
all. Nothing is here said of the Chaldean monarchy, for that was now just at
its period; and therefore this chapter is written not in Chaldee, as the six
foregoing chapters were, for the benefit of the Chaldeans, but in Hebrew, and
so are the rest of the chapters to the end of the book, for the service of the
Jews, that they might know what troubles were before them and what the issue
of them would be, and might provide accordingly. In this chapter we have, I.
The vision itself of the ram, and the he-goat, and the little horn that should
fight and prevail against the people of God, for a certain limited time, ver.
1-14. II. The interpretation of this vision by an angel, showing that the ram
signified the Persian empire, the he-goat the Grecian, and the little horn a
king of the Grecian monarchy, that should set himself against the Jews and
religion, which was Antiochus Epiphanes, ver. 15-27. The Jewish church, from
its beginning, had been all along, more or less, blessed with prophets, men
divinely inspired to explain God's mind to them in his providences and give
them some prospect of what was coming upon them; but, soon after Ezra's time,
divine inspiration ceased, and there was no more any prophet till the gospel
day dawned. And therefore the events of that time were here foretold by
Daniel, and left upon record, that even then God might not leave himself
without witness, nor them without a guide.
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The
Vision of the Ram and Goat.
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B.
C. 553.
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1 In the third year of the reign of king
Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that
which appeared unto me at the first. 2 And I saw in a vision; and
it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the
palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I
was by the river of Ulai. 3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw,
and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns:
and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the
other, and the higher came up last. 4 I saw the ram pushing
westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before
him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he
did according to his will, and became great. 5 And as I was
considering, behold, a he goat came from the west on the face of the whole
earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn
between his eyes. 6 And he came to the ram that had two
horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the
fury of his power. 7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he
was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns:
and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to
the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the
ram out of his hand. 8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and
when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable
ones toward the four winds of heaven. 9 And out of one of them
came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and
toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. 10 And it
waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some
of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him
the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was
cast down. 12 And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice
by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it
practised, and prospered. 13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and
another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall
be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the
transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be
trodden under foot? 14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and
three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
Here is, I. The date of this vision, v. 1. It was in the third year
of the reign of Belshazzar, which proved to be his last year, as many
reckon; so that this chapter also should be, in order of time, before the
fifth. That Daniel might not be surprised at the destruction of Babylon, now
at hand, God gives him a foresight of the destruction of other kingdoms
hereafter, which in their day had been as potent as that of Babylon. Could we
foresee the changes that shall be hereafter, when we are gone, we should the
less admire, and be less affected with, the changes in our own day; for that
which is done is that which shall be done, Eccl. i. 9. Then it was
that a vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel. Here he solemnly
attests the truth of it: it was to him, even to him, that the vision was
shown; he was the eye-witness of it. And this vision puts him in mind of a
former vision which appeared to him at the first, in the first year of
this reign, which he makes mention of because this vision was an explication
and confirmation of that, and points at many of the same events. That seems to
have been a dream, a vision in his sleep; this seems to have been when he was
awake.
II. The scene of this vision. The place where that was laid was in Shushan
the palace, one of the royal seats of the kings of Persia, situated on the
banks of the river Ulai, which surrounded the city; it was in the province of
Elam, that part of Persia which lay next to Babylon. Daniel was not there in
person, for he was now in Babylon, a captive, in some employment under
Belshazzar, and might not go to such a distant country, especially being now
an enemy's country. But he was there in vision; as Ezekiel, when a captive in
Babylon, was often brought, in the spirit, to the land of Israel. Note, The
soul may be a liberty when the body is in captivity; for, when we are bound,
the Spirit of the Lord is not bound. The vision related to that country, and
therefore there he was made to fancy himself to be as strongly as if he had
really been there.
III. The vision itself and the process of it.
1. He saw a ram with two horns, v. 3. This was the second
monarchy, of which the kingdoms of Media and Persia were the two horns. The
horns were very high; but that which came up last was the higher, and
got the start of the former. So the last shall be first, and the first last.
The kingdom of Persia, which rose last, in Cyrus, became more eminent than
that of the Medes.
2. He saw this ram pushing all about him with his horns (v. 4), westward
(towards Babylon, Syria, Greece, and Asia the less), northward (towards
the Lydians, Armenians, and Scythians), and southward (towards Arabia,
Ethiopia, and Egypt), for all these nations did the Persian empire, one time
or other, make attempts upon for the enlarging of their dominion. And at last
he became so powerful that no beasts might stand before him. This ram,
though of a species of animal often preyed upon, became formidable even to the
beasts of prey themselves, so that there was no standing before him, no
escaping him, none that could deliver out of his hand, but all must
yield to him: the kings of Persia did according to their will,
prospered in all their ways abroad, had an uncontrollable power at home, and became
great. He thought himself great because he did what he would; but to do
good is that which makes men truly great.
3. He saw this ram overcome by a he-goat. He was considering the ram
(wondering that so weak an animal should come to be so prevalent) and thinking
what would be the issue; and, behold, a he-goat came, v. 5. This
was Alexander the Great, the son of Philip king of Macedonia. He came from
the west, from Greece, which lay west from Persia. He fetched a great
compass with his army: he came upon the face of the whole earth; he did
in effect conquer the world, and then sat down and wept because there was not
another world to be conquered. Unus Pellæo juveni non sufficit orbis--One
world was too little for the youth of Pellæ. This he-goat (a creature
famed for comeliness in going, Prov. xxx. 31) went on with incredible
swiftness, so that he touched not the ground, so lightly did he move;
he rather seemed to fly above the ground than to go upon the ground; or none
touched him in the earth, that is, he met with little or no opposition.
This he-goat, or buck, had a notable horn between his eyes, like a
unicorn. He had strength, and knew his own strength; he saw himself a match
for all his neighbours. Alexander pushed his conquests on so fast, and with so
much fury, that none of the kingdoms he attacked had courage to make a stand,
or give check to the progress of his victorious arms. In six years he made
himself master of the greatest part of the then known world. Well might he be
called a notable horn, for his name still lives in history as the name
of one of the most celebrated commanders in war that ever the world knew.
Alexander's victories and achievements are still the entertainment of the
ingenious. This he-goat came to the ram that had two horns, v.
6. Alexander with his victorious army attacked the kingdom of Persia, an army
consisting of no more than 30,000 foot and 5000 horse. He ran unto him,
to surprise him ere he could get intelligence of his motions, in the fury
of his power. He came close to the ram. Alexander with his army
came up with Darius Codomannus, then emperor of Persia, being moved with
choler against him, v. 7. It was with the greatest violence that
Alexander pushed on his war against Darius, who, though he brought vast
numbers into the field, yet, for want of skill, was an unequal match for him,
so that Alexander was too hard for him whenever he engaged him, smote him,
cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him, which three
expressions, some think, refer to the three famous victories that Alexander
obtained over Darius, at Granicus, at Issus, and at Arbela, by which he was at
length totally routed, having, in the last battle, had 600,000 men killed, so
that Alexander became absolute master of all the Persian empire, broke his
two horns, the kingdoms of Media and Persia. The ram that had destroyed all
before him (v. 4) now is himself destroyed; Darius has no power
to stand before Alexander, not has he any friends or allies to help to deliver
him out of his hand. Note, Those kingdoms which, when they had power,
abused it, and, because none could oppose them, withheld not themselves from
the doing of any wrong, may expect to have their power at length taken from
them, and to be served in their own kind, Isa. xxxiii. 1.
4. He saw the he-goat made hereby very considerable; but the great horn,
that had done all this execution, was broken, v. 8. Alexander
was about twenty years old when he began his wars. When he was about
twenty-six he conquered Darius, and became master of the whole Persian empire;
but when he was about thirty-two or thirty-three years of age, when he
was strong, in his full strength, he was broken. He was not
killed in war, in the bed of honour, but died of a drunken surfeit, or, as
some suspect, by poison and left no child living behind him to enjoy that
which he had endlessly laboured for, but left a lasting monument of the vanity
of worldly pomp and power, and their insufficiency to make a man happy.
5. He saw this kingdom divided into four parts, and that instead of that one
great horn there came up four notable ones, Alexander's four captains,
to whom he bequeathed his conquests; and he had so much that, when it was
divided among four, they had each of them enough for any one man. These four
notable horns were towards the four winds of heaven, the same with
the four heads of the leopard (ch. vii. 6), the kingdoms of
Syria and Egypt, Asia and Greece-Syria lying to the east, Greece to the
west, Asia Minor to the north, and Egypt to the south.
Note, Those that heap up riches know not who shall gather them, nor whose all
those things shall be which they have provided.
6. He saw a little horn which became a great persecutor of the church
and people of God; and this was the principal thing that was intended to be
shown to him in this vision, as afterwards, ch. xi. 30, &c. All
agree that this was Antiochus Epiphanes (so he called himself)--the
illustrious, but others called him Antiochus Epimanes--Antiochus
the furious. He is called here (as before, ch. vii. 8), a little
horn, because he was in his original contemptible; there were others
between him and the kingdom, and he was of a base servile disposition, had
nothing in him of princely qualities, and had been for some time a hostage and
prisoner at Rome, whence he made his escape, and, though, the youngest
brother, and his elder living, got the kingdom. He waxed exceedingly great towards
the south, for he seized upon Egypt, and towards the east, for he
invaded Persia and Armenia. But that which is here especially taken notice of
is the mischief that he did to the people of the Jews. They are not expressly
named, or prophecies must not be too plain; but they are here so described
that it would be easy for those who understood scripture-language to know who
were meant; and the Jews, having notice of this before, might be awakened to
prepare themselves and their children beforehand for these suffering trying
times. (1.) He set himself against the pleasant land, the land of
Israel, so called because it was the glory of all lands, for
fruitfulness and all the delights of human life, but especially for the tokens
of God's presence in it, and its being blessed with divine revelations and
institutions; it was Mount Zion that was beautiful for situation, the joy
of the whole earth, Ps. xlviii. 2. The pleasantness of that land was that
there the Messiah was to be born, who would be both the consolation and the
glory of his people Israel. Note, We have reason to reckon that a pleasant
place which is a holy place, in which God dwells, and where we may have
opportunity of communing with him. Surely, It is good to be here. (2.)
He fought against the host of heaven, that is, the people of God, the
church, which is the kingdom of heaven, the church-militant here on earth. The
saints, being born from above, and citizens of heaven, and doing the will of
God, by his grace, in some measure, as the angels of heaven do it, may be well
called a heavenly host. Or the priests and Levites, who were employed
in the service of the tabernacle, and there warred a good warfare, were
this host of heaven. These Antiochus set himself against; he waxed
great to the host of heaven, in opposition to them and in defiance of
them. (3.) He cast down some of the host (that is, of the stars,
for they are called the host of heaven) to the ground, and stamped upon
them. Some of those that were most eminent both in church and state, that
were burning and shining lights in their generation, he either forced to
comply with his idolatries or put them to death; he got them into his hands,
and then trampled upon them and triumphed over them; as good old Eleazar, and
the seven brethren, whom he put to death with cruel tortures, because
they would not eat swine's flesh, 2 Mac. vi. 7. He gloried in it that
herein he insulted Heaven itself and exalted his throne above the stars of
God, Isa. xiv. 13. (4.) He magnified himself even to the prince of the
host. He set himself against the high priest, Onias, whom he deprived of
his dignity, or rather against God himself, who was Israel's King of old,
who reigns for ever Zion's King, who himself heads his own host that
fight his battles. Against him Antiochus magnified himself; as Pharaoh, when
he said, Who is the Lord? Note, Those who persecute the people of God
persecute God himself. (5.) He took away the daily sacrifice. The
morning and evening lamb, which God appointed to be offered every day upon his
altar to his honour, Antiochus forbade and restrained the offering of. No
doubt he took away all other sacrifices, but only the daily sacrifice
is mentioned, because that was the greatest loss of all, for in that they kept
up their constant communion with God, which they preferred before that which
is only occasional. God's people reckon their daily sacrifices, their morning
and evening exercises of devotion, the most needful of their daily business
and the most delightful of their daily comforts, and would not for all the
world part with them. (6.) He cast down the place of his sanctuary. He
did not burn and demolish the temple, but he cast it down, when he profaned
it, made it the temple of Jupiter Olympius, and set up his image in it. He
also cast down the truth to the ground, trampled upon the book of the
law, that word of truth, tore it, and burnt it, and did what he could to
destroy it quite, that it might be lost and forgotten for ever. These were the
projects of that wicked prince. In these he practised. And (would you think
it?) in these he prospered. He carried the matter very far, seemed to have
gained his point, and went near to extirpate that holy religion which God's
right hand had planted. But lest he or any other should triumph, as if herein
he had prevailed against God himself and been too hard for him, the matter is
here explained and set in a true light. [1.] He could not have done this if
God had not permitted him to do it, could have had no power against Israel
unless it had been given him from above. God put this power into his hand, and
gave him a host against the daily sacrifice. God's providence put that
sword into his hand by which he was enabled thus to bear down all before him.
Note, We ought to eye and own the hand of God in all the enterprises and all
the successes of the church's enemies against the church. They are but the rod
in God's hand. [2.] God would not have permitted it if his people had not
provoked him to do so. It is by reason of transgression, the
transgression of Israel, to correct them for that, that Antiochus is employed
to give them all this trouble. Note, When the pleasant land and all its
pleasant things are laid waste, it must be acknowledged that sin is the
procuring cause of all the desolation. Who gave Jacob to the spoil? Did not
the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? Isa. xlii. 24. The great
transgression of the Jews after the captivity (when they were cured of
idolatry) was a contempt and profanation of the holy things, snuffing
at the service of God, bringing the torn and the lame for sacrifice, as
if the table of the Lord were a contemptible thing (so we find
Mal. i. 7, 8, &c., and that the priests were guilty of this Mal. ii. 1,
8), and therefore God sent Antiochus to take away the daily sacrifice
and cast down the place of his sanctuary. Note, It is just with God to
deprive those of the privileges of his house who despise and profane them, and
to make those know the worth of ordinances by the want of them who would not
know it by the enjoyment of them.
7. He heard the time of this calamity limited and determined, not the time when
it should come (that is not here fixed, because God would have his people
always prepared for it), but how long it should last, that, when they
had no more any prophets to tell them how long (Ps. lxxiv. 9, which
psalm seems to have been calculated for this dark and doleful day), they might
have this prophecy to give them a prospect of deliverance in due time. Now
concerning this we have here,
(1.) The question asked concerning it, v. 13. Observe [1.] By whom the
question was put: I heard one saint speaking to this purport, and then another
saint seconded him. "O that we knew how long this trouble will
last!" The angels here are called saints, for they are holy
ones (ch. iv. 13), the holy myriads, Jude 14. The angels
concern themselves in the affairs of the church, and enquire concerning them,
if, as here, concerning its temporal salvations, much more do they desire to look
into the great salvation, 1 Pet. i. 12. One saint spoke of the
thing, and another enquired concerning it. Thus John, who lay in
Christ's bosom, was beckoned to by Peter to ask Christ a question, John xiii.
23, 24. [2.] To whom the question was put. He said unto Palmoni that spoke.
Some make this certain saint to be a superior angel who understood more
than the rest, to whom therefore they came with their enquiries. Others make
it to be the eternal Word, the Son of God. He is the unknown
One. Palmoni seems to be compounded of Peloni Almoni, which is used
(Ruth iv. 1) for Ho, such a one, and (2 Kings vi. 8) for such a
place. Christ was yet the nameless One. Wherefore asked thou after my
name, seeing it is secret? Judg. xiii. 18. He is the numberer of
secrets (as some translate it), for from him there is nothing hidden--the
wonderful numberer, so others; his name is called Wonderful. Note,
If we would know the mind of God, we must apply to Jesus Christ, who lay in
the bosom of the Father, and in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge, not hidden from us, but hidden for us. [3.] The question
itself that was asked: "How long shall be the vision concerning the
daily sacrifice? How long shall the prohibition of it continue? How long
shall the pleasant land be made unpleasant by that severe interdict? How long
shall the transgression of desolation (the image of Jupiter), that
great transgression which makes all our sacred things desolate, how long shall
that stand in the temple? How long shall the sanctuary and the host,
the holy place and the holy persons that minister in it, be trodden under
foot by the oppressor?" Note, Angels are concerned for the prosperity
of the church on earth and desirous to see an end of its desolations. The
angels asked, for the satisfaction of Daniel, not doubting but he was desirous
to know, how long these calamities should last? The question takes it for
granted that they should not last always. The rod of the wicked shall not
rest upon the lot of the righteous, though it may come upon their lot.
Christ comforted himself in his sufferings with this, The things concerning
me have an end (Luke xxii. 37), and so may the church in hers. But it is
desirable to know how long they shall last, that we may provide accordingly.
(2.) The answer given to this question, v. 14. Christ gives instruction
to the holy angels, for they are our fellow-servants; but here the answer was
given to Daniel, because for his sake the question was asked: He said unto
me. God sometimes gives in great favours to his people, in answer to the
enquiries and requests of their friends for them. Now, [1.] Christ assures him
that the trouble shall end; it shall continue 2300 days and no longer,
so many evenings and mornings (so the word is), so many nucqhmerai,
so many natural days, reckoned, as in the beginning of Genesis, by the
evenings and mornings, because it was the evening and the morning sacrifice
that they most lamented the loss of, and thought the time passed very slowly
while they were deprived of them. Some make the morning and the evening, in
this number, to stand for two, and then 2300 evenings and as many mornings
will make but 1150 days; and about so many days it was that the daily
sacrifice was interrupted: and this comes nearer to the computation (ch.
vii. 25) of a time, times, and the dividing of a time. But it is
less forced to understand them of so many natural days; 2300 days make six
years and three months, and about eighteen days; and just so long
they reckon from the defection of the people, procured by Menelaus the high
priest in the 142nd year of the kingdom of the Seleucidæ, the sixth month of
that year, and the 6th day of the month (so Josephus dates it), to the
cleansing of the sanctuary, and the reestablishment of religion among them,
which was in the 148th year, the 9th month, and the 25th day of the month,
1 Mac. iv. 52. God reckons the time of his people's afflictions he is
afflicted. Rev. ii. 10, Thou shalt have tribulation ten days. [2.] He
assures him that they shall see better days afterwards: Then shall the
sanctuary be cleansed. Note, The cleansing of the sanctuary is a happy
token for good to any people; when they begin to be reformed they will soon be
relieved. Though the righteous God may, for the correction of his people,
suffer his sanctuary to be profaned for a while, yet the jealous God will, for
his own glory, see to the cleansing of it in due time. Christ died to cleanse
his church, and he will so cleanse it as at length to present it blameless to
himself.
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The
Vision of the Ram and Goat.
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B.
C. 553.
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15 And it came to pass, when I, even I
Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there
stood before me as the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man's
voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make
this man to understand the vision. 17 So he came near where
I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said
unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be
the vision. 18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep
sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me
upright. 19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall
be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall
be. 20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are
the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the rough goat is the
king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is
the first king. 22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up
for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his
power. 23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and
understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power
shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully,
and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy
people. 25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to
prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by
peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of
princes; but he shall be broken without hand. 26 And the vision of
the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou
up the vision; for it shall be for many days. 27 And I
Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did
the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.
Here we have,
I. Daniel's earnest desire to have this vision explained to him (v.
15): I sought the meaning. Note, Those that rightly know the things of
God cannot but desire to know more and more of them, and to be led further
into the mystery of them; and those that would find the meaning of what they
have seen or heard from God must seek it, and seek it diligently. Seek and
you shall find. Daniel considered the thing, compared it with the former
discoveries, to try if he could understand it; but especially he sought by
prayer (as he had done ch. ii. 18), and he did not seek in vain.
II. Orders given to the angel Gabriel to inform him concerning this vision.
One in the appearance of a man (who, some think, was Christ himself,
for who besides could command angels?) orders Gabriel to make Daniel
understand this vision. Sometimes God is pleased to make use of the
ministration of angels, not only to protect his children, but to instruct
them, to serve the kind intentions, not only of his providence, but of his
grace.
III. The consternation that Daniel was in upon the approach of his instructor
(v. 17): When he came near I was afraid. Though Daniel was a man
of great prudence and courage, and had been conversant with the visions of the
Almighty, yet the approach of an extraordinary messenger from heaven put him
into this fright. He fell upon his face, not to worship the angel, but
because he could no longer bear the dazzling lustre of his glory. Nay, being
prostrate upon the ground, he fell into a deep sleep, (v. 18),
which came not from any neglect of the vision, or indifference towards it, but
was an effect of his faintness and the oppression of spirit he was under,
through the abundance of revelations. The disciples in the garden slept for
sorrow; and, as there, so here, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was
weak. Daniel would have kept awake, and could not.
IV. The relief which the angel gave to Daniel, with great encouragement to him
to expect a satisfactory discovery of the meaning of this vision. 1. He touched
him, and set him upon his feet, v. 18. Thus when John, in a
similar case, was in similar consternation, Christ laid his right hand upon
him, Rev. i. 17. It was a gentle touch that the angel here gave to Daniel,
to show that he came not to hurt him, not to plead against him with his
great power, or with a hand heavy upon him, but to help him, to put
strength into him (Job xxiii. 6), which God can do with a touch. When we
are slumbering and grovelling on this earth we are very unfit to hear from
God, and to converse with him. But, if God design instruction for us, he will
be his grace awaken us out of our slumber, raise us from things below, and set
us upright. 2. He promised to inform him: "Understand, O son of
man! v. 17. Thou shalt understand, if thou wilt but apply thy mind
to understand." He calls him son of man to intimate that he would
consider his frame, and would deal tenderly with him, accommodating himself to
his capacity as a man. Or thus he preaches humility to him; though he be
admitted to converse with angels, he must not be puffed up with it, but must
remember that he is a son of man. Or perhaps this title puts honour upon him:
the Messiah was lately called the Son of man (ch. vii. 13), and
Daniel is akin to him, and is a figure of him as a prophet and one greatly
beloved. He assures him that he shall be made to know what shall be in
the last end of the indignation, v. 19. Let it be laid up for a
comfort to those who shall live to see these calamitous times that there shall
be an end of them; the indignation shall cease (Isa. x. 25); it shall
be overpast, Isa. xxvi. 20. It may intermit and return again, but the last
end shall be glorious; good will follow it, nay, and good will be brought
out of it. He tells him (v. 17), "At the time of the end shall
be the vision; when the last end of the indignation comes, when the course
of this providence is completed, then the vision shall be made plain and
intelligible by the event, as the event shall be made plain and intelligible
by the vision." Or, "At the time of the end of the Jewish
church, in the latter days of it, shall this vision be accomplished,
300 or 400 years hence; understand it therefore, that thou mayest leave it on
record for the generations to come." But is he ask more particularly,
"When is the time of the end? And how long will it be before it
arrive?" let this answer suffice (v. 19): At the time appointed
the end shall be; it is fixed in the divine counsel, which cannot be
altered and which must not be pried into.
V. The exposition which he gave him of the vision.
1. Concerning the two monarchies of Persia and Greece, v. 20-22. The ram
signified the succession of the kings of Media and Persia; the rough goat
signified the kings of Greece; the great horn was Alexander; the four
horns that rose in his room were the four kingdoms into which his
conquests were cantoned, of which before, v. 8. They are said to stand
up out of the nations, but not in his power; none of them ever made
the figure that Alexander did. Josephus relates that when Alexander had taken
Tyre, and subdued Palestine, and was upon his march to Jerusalem, Jaddas, who
was them high priest (Nehemiah mentions one of his name, ch. xii. 11),
fearing his rage, had recourse to God by prayer and sacrifice for the common
safety, and was by him warned in a dream that upon Alexander's approach he
should throw open the gates of the city, and that he and the rest of the
priests should go forth to meet him in their habits, and all the people in
white. Alexander, seeing this company at a distance, went himself alone to the
high priest, and, having prostrated himself before that God whose name was
engraven in the golden plate of his mitre, he first saluted him; and, being
asked by one of his own captains why he did so, he said that while he was yet
in Macedon, musing on the conquest of Asia, there appeared to him a man like
unto this, and thus attired, who invited him into Asia, and assured him of
success in the conquest of it. The priests led him to the temple, where he
offered sacrifice to the God of Israel as they directed him; and there they
showed him this book of the prophet Daniel, that it was there foretold that a
Grecian should come and destroy the Persians, which animated him very much in
the expedition he was now meditating against Darius. Hereupon he took the Jews
and their religion under his protection, promised to be kind to those of their
religion in Babylon and Media, whither he was now marching, and in honour of
him all the priests that had sons born that year called them Alexander.
Joseph. lib. 11.
2. Concerning Antiochus, and his oppression of the Jews. This is said to be in
the latter time of the kingdom of the Greeks, when the transgressors
are come to the full (v. 23); that is, when the degenerate Jews
have filled up the measure of their iniquity, and are ripe for this
destruction, so that God cannot in honour bear with them any longer then shall
stand up this king, to be flagellum Dei--the rod in God's hand
for the chastising of the Jews. Now observe here, (1.) His character: He shall
be a king of fierce countenance, insolent and furious, neither fearing
God nor regarding man, understanding dark sentences, or (rather) versed
in dark practices, the hidden things of dishonesty; he was master
of all the arts of dissimulation and deceit, and knew the depths of Satan
as well as any man. He was wise to do evil. (2.) His success. He shall
make dreadful havoc of the nations about him: His power shall be mighty,
bear down all before it, but not by his own power (v. 24), but
partly by the assistance of his allies, Eumenes and Attalus, partly by the
baseness and treachery of many of the Jews, even of the priests that came into
his interests, and especially by the divine permission. it was not by his own
power, but by a power given him from above, that he destroyed wonderfully,
and thought he made himself a great man by being a great destroyer. He
destroys wonderfully indeed, for he destroys, [1.] The mighty people,
and they cannot resist him by their power. The princes of Egypt cannot stand
before him with all their forces, but he practises against them and prospers.
Note, The mighty ones of the earth commonly meet with those at length that are
too hard for them, that are more mighty than they. Let not the strong man then
glory in his strength, be it ever so great, unless he could be sure that there
were none stronger than he. [2.] He destroys the holy people, or the
people of the holy ones; and their sacred character does neither deter him
from destroying them nor defend them from being destroyed. All things come
alike to all, and there is one event to the mighty and to the holy in this
world. [3.] The methods by which he will gain this success, not by true
courage, wisdom, or justice, but by his policy and craft (v.
25), by fraud and deceit, and serpentine subtlety: He shall cause craft to
prosper; so cunningly shall he carry on his projects that he shall gain
his point by the art of wheedling. By peace he shall destroy many, as
others do by war; under the pretence of treaties, leagues, and alliances, with
them, he shall encroach on their rights, and trick them into a subjection to
him. Thus sometimes what a nation truly brave has gained in a righteous war a
nation truly base has regained in a treacherous peace, and craft has been
caused to prosper. [4.] The mischief that he shall do to religion: He shall
magnify himself in his heart, and think himself fit to prescribe and give
law to every body, so that he shall stand up against the Prince of princes,
that is, against God himself. He will profane his temple and altar, prohibit
his worship, and persecute his worshippers. See what a height of impudence
some men's impiety brings them to; they openly bid defiance to God himself
though he is the Kings of kings. [5.] The ruin that he shall be brought to at
last: He shall be broken without hand, that is, without the hand of
man. He shall not be slain in war, nor shall he be assassinated, as tyrants
commonly were, but he shall fall into the hand of the living God and die by an
immediate stroke of his vengeance. He, hearing that the Jews had cast the
image of Jupiter Olympius out of the temple, where he had placed it, was so
enraged at the Jews that he vowed he would make Jerusalem a common
burial-place, and determined to march thither immediately; but no sooner
had he spoken these proud words than he was struck with an incurable plague in
his bowels; worms bred so fast in his body that whole flakes of flesh
sometimes dropped from him; his torments were violent, and the stench of his
disease such that none could endure to come near him. He continued in this
misery very long. At first he persisted in his menaces against the Jews; but
at length, despairing of his recovery, he called his friends together, and
acknowledged all those miseries to have fallen upon him for the injuries he
had done to the Jews and his profaning the temple at Jerusalem. Then he wrote
courteous letters to the Jews, and vowed that if he recovered he would let
them have the free exercise of their religion. But, finding his disease grow
upon him, when he could no longer endure his own smell, he said, It is meet
to submit to God, and for man who is mortal not to set himself in competition
with God, and so died miserably in a strange land, on the mountains of
Pacata near Babylon: so Ussher's Annals, A.M. 3840, about 160 years
before the birth of Christ.
3. As to the time fixed for the continuance of the cessation of the daily
sacrifice, it is not explained here, but only confirmed (v. 26). That vision
of the evening and morning is true, in the proper sense of the words, and
needs no explication. How unlikely soever it might be that God should suffer
his own sanctuary to be thus profaned, yet it is true, it is too true, so it
shall be.
VI. Here is the conclusion of this vision, and here, 1. The charge given to
Daniel to keep it private for the present: Shut thou up the vision; let
it not be publicly know among the Chaldeans, lest the Persians, who were now
shortly to possess the kingdom, should be incensed against the Jews by it,
because the downfall of their kingdom was foretold by it, which would be
unseasonable now that the edict for their release was expected from the king
of Persia. Shut it up, for it shall be for many days. It was about 300
years from the time of this vision to the time of the accomplishment of it;
therefore he must shut it up for the present, even from the people of
the Jews, lest it should amaze and perplex them, but let it be kept safely for
the generations to come, that should live about the time of the accomplishment
of it, for to them it would be both most intelligible and most serviceable.
Note, What we know of the things of God should be carefully laid up, that
hereafter, when there is occasion, it may be faithfully laid out; and what we
have not now any use for, yet we may have another time. Divine truths should
be sealed up among our treasures, that we may find them again after many days.
2. The care he took to keep it private, having received such a charge, v.
27. He fainted, and was sick, with the multitude of his thoughts within
him occasioned by this vision, which oppressed and overwhelmed him the more
because he was forbidden to publish what he had seen, so that his belly was
as wine which has no vent, he was ready to burst like new bottles,
Job xxxii. 19. However, he kept it to himself, stifled and smothered the
concern he was in; so that those he conversed with could not perceive it, but
he did the king's business according to the duty of his place, whatever
it was. Note, As long as we live in this world we must have something to do in
it; and even those whom God has most dignified with his favours must not think
themselves above their business; nor must the pleasure of communion with God
take us off from the duties of our particular callings, but still we must in
them abide with God. Those especially that are entrusted with public
business must see to it that they conscientiously discharge their trust.
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