“The Kingdom of the Son of Man” Daniel 7:13, 1413I 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. 14And 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. (Daniel 7:13‑14)
IN the second and third visions of our chapter (vers. 7-15) we have clearly laid down what will be the end of “the times of the Gentiles,” why that end will be brought about, and how it will be effected.
The solemn future of this world is this, that God will interpose in judgment. The Ancient of days will sit, a fiery stream will go forth from before Him, myriads of the heavenly host shall stand before Him, the judgment will be set, and the books be opened. This is not the judgment of the great white throne (Rev. 20) where the wicked dead are alone in question, a judgment which will take place at the close of the millennium; here we are informed of a terrible judgment which will overtake living people on the earth, not after but before the Son of man shall have taken His kingdom. Christ is the appointed judge of both quick (the living) and dead, but these judgments will not take place at the same time.
While it is a truth that no one who is subject to the Word of God can for a moment question that God will judge the world in righteousness, nevertheless it is a very solemn consideration what will be the immediate, cause of this judgment. “I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”
From the time of the fall of man in the garden of Eden sin has been in the world. Moral iniquity of the darkest character has abounded ever since, and crimes of the most awful description have been perpetrated. All this will come out in the light of God’s presence at the great white throne, and shall receive its righteous award when the dead shall be judged according to their works.
But here (Dan. 7:11, 2511I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. (Daniel 7:11)
25And 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. (Daniel 7:25)) the cause of judgment is different. The power that God originally put into the hands of the Gentiles will in the end be directed against Himself. It matters not that these Gentile nations have become outwardly Christian; none but the blindest will deny that with the large majority it is but an outward profession, and that even this profession is rapidly being given up. An event which the world little suspects may be near, but which rapidly increasing numbers of true Christians are waking up to believe is close at hand, will reveal in a startling mariner the difference between real faith and mere lip profession. The Lord is coming, and in the twinkling of an eye will take His own away, then it is that the true character of the beast will manifest itself. Those that are left behind in these so-called Christian lands will be given over to apostasy and to believe a lie. It is terrible to contemplate that large numbers of the pulpits of Christendom to-day are saturating the population with the infidelity which to-morrow may produce these awful results so plainly described in Daniel and Revelation as well as elsewhere.
Few who read these pages will have any difficulty in identifying the fourth beast of Daniel 7. with the beast of Revelation 13 and 17. At the time that Daniel wrote all four beasts were yet to arise, consequently they are numerically distinguished according to the order in which they took their place amidst the nations as world powers. In this succession the Roman empire was the fourth. But when John wrote the three first had ceased to exist as powers, the fourth alone remained, and hence in the Apocalypse it is spoken of as the beast. But in the last phase of this empire it will possess an imperial head controlling the ten kingdoms which go to form the whole beast, called in our chapter “the little horn.” Sometimes the expression “the beast” is used for the empire as such, sometimes for its head, and it is of importance to see which is meant in each case. For some might find a difficulty in the fact that in Revelation 19:2020And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20) the beast is said to be taken and cast alive into the lake of fire, whereas here (Dan. 7:1111I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. (Daniel 7:11)) it is said that he was slain. There is no contradiction, for in Revelation it is the chief or head that is in question, whereas here the empire as such meets its judgment, and is destroyed because of the great words which the horn spake in blasphemy against God.
“As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time” (vs. 12). Only one empire was to be in power at a given moment. When the Medo-Persian arose the Babylonian declined; and when the Grecian became prominent the Medo-Persian gave way. In like manner the Grecian fell before the power of Rome. But though these empires lost their dominion in succession, the nations and peoples of which they were made up continued. To this day the Persians exist as a nation, and likewise the Greeks, though their dominion as empires has been taken away. In our further study of the book we shall see that a representative of the Grecian empire is to play a very important part in the future in connection with the Jews.
We have seen that the end of all this world’s pride and politics will be a pouring forth of God’s righteous and fiery judgment because of the arrogant and blasphemous rebellion against Him of the little horn. How will it be brought about?
“I saw in the night vision, 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” (vs. 13). Here we have vividly described the coming of the Lord, not as the Bridegroom for His bride, but as the Son of man in judgment. It may be well to say in passing that wherever the coming of the Son of man is spoken of it is always His coming in judgment. One passage that might seem to go against this is Matthew 25:1313Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. (Matthew 25:13), but in that verse it is acknowledged that the words― “wherein the Son of man cometh” ―are an interpolation, and should be left out. “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the clay nor the hour.” The Lord will first come and translate His people from earth to heaven to meet Him in the air, then will follow a brief interval of apostasy and rapidly increasing evil, and all will then suddenly be cut short by the coming of the Son of man with the clouds of heaven.
When He comes for His own the dead in Christ and the living saints are caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, but here the Son of man comes with the clouds of heaven, and He comes to the earth. To this our blessed Lord referred when adjured by the High Priest to declare whether He were the Christ, the Son of God, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:6464Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. (Matthew 26:64)). Moment of awful import to this poor world! The crown of thorns will then be replaced by the diadem of glory, and the reed which man in mockery placed in His hands shall be changed for the scepter of righteousness.
It was this, too, that John in Patmos beheld in vision when he announced, “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” (Rev. 1:77Behold, 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. (Revelation 1:7)). In Daniel the Son of man “came to the Ancient of days,” for Christ is there seen as man, whereas in the Apocalypse the Son of man is seen by the prophet possessed of all the attributes that belonged to the Ancient of days (cf: Daniel 7:99I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9), and Rev. 1:1414His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; (Revelation 1:14)), for in truth in the Person of our adorable Lord Jesus Christ are combined in absolute perfection both the human and divine natures, and these in Him though distinct are inseparable. Infinite and holy mystery which defies the finite creature’s grasp to comprehend. “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father” (Matt. 11:2727All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. (Matthew 11:27)).
After judgment has clone its work, then, and not till then, will be set up the glorious kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. A king shall then reign in righteousness. The iron heel of the oppressor shall be lifted from the earth. Mercy and truth shall meet together. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:99They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)).
“His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (vs. 14).
No other earthly kingdom will follow that of the Son of man; this is the force of the word “everlasting” in this passage. So long as earthly kingdoms last, His will endure and never be destroyed. We know from other parts of Scripture that at the close of the millennium the mediatorial kingdom of the Son of man will be “delivered up.” The verse we are here considering does not allude to the eternal state, for the prophets of the Old Testament confine themselves to descriptions, and blessed descriptions too, of the earthly reign of the Lord Jesus Christ as Son of man, and this we are told will last for one thousand years, hence called the millennium (Rev. 20). When that is over and the last enemy, death, is destroyed at the judgment of the great white throne, then will the Son deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, and God in the plenitude of His being shall be all in all (1 Cor. 15:24-2924Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 29Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:24‑29)). A blessed description of the eternal state is given to us in the Apocalypse (21:1-8)