Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
Daniel
Book: Daniel
Chapter: 7
Overview:
Daniel's
Vision of the four beasts.
(1-8) and of
Christ's
kingdom.
(9-14) The interpretation.
(15-28)
1-8 This
Vision contains the same prophetic representations
with
Nebuchadnezzar's
Dream. The great
Sea agitated
By the
Winds, represented the
Earth and the dwellers
On it troubled
By
ambitious princes and conquerors. The four beasts signified the
same four empires, as the four parts of
Nebuchadnezzar's image.
Mighty conquerors are but instruments of
God's vengeance
On a
guilty world. The savage
Beast represents the hateful features
of their characters. But the dominion given to each has a limit;
their wrath shall be made to praise the
Lord, and the remainder
of it he will restrain.
9-14 These verses are for the comfort and support of the people
of
God, in reference to the persecutions that would come upon
them. Many New
Testament predictions of the
Judgment to come,
have
Plain allusion to this
Vision; especially Re 20:11,12.
The
Messiah is here called the
Son of Man; he was made in the
likeness of sinful
Flesh, and was found in fashion as a
Man, but
he is the
Son of God. The great event foretold in this
Passage,
is
Christ's glorious coming, to destroy every antichristian
power, and to render his own kingdom universal upon
Earth. But
ere the solemn time arrives, for manifesting the
Glory of
God to
all worlds in his dealings with his creatures, we may expect
that the doom of each of us will be determined at the
Hour of
our
Death; and before the
End shall come, the
Father will openly
give to his incarnate Son, our
Mediator and
Judge, the
inheritance of the nations as his willing subjects.
15-28 It is desirable to obtain 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. The
Angel told
Daniel
plainly. He especially desired to know respecting the little
Horn, which made
War with the saints, and prevailed against
them. Here is foretold the rage of papal
Rome against true
Christians. St.
John, in his visions and prophecies, which point
in the first place at
Rome, has
Plain reference to these
visions.
Daniel had a joyful prospect of the prevalence of
God's
kingdom among men. This refers to the second coming of our
blessed
Lord, when the saints shall triumph in the complete fall
of
Satan's kingdom. The saints of the Most High shall possess
the kingdom for ever. Far be it from us to infer from hence,
that dominion is founded
On Grace. It promises that the
Gospel
kingdom shall be set up; a kingdom of
Light,
Holiness, and
Love;
a kingdom of
Grace, the privileges and comforts of which shall
be the
Earnest and
First-fruits of the kingdom of
Glory. But the
full accomplishment will be in the
Everlasting happiness of the
saints, the kingdom that cannot be moved. The gathering together
the whole family of
God will be a blessedness of
Christ's
coming.