Daniel Chapter Seven Commentary
This revealing phrase, ‘I kept looking’, is found seven times
in this chapter, only after Daniel’s initial statement ‘I was looking’ (v.2) indicating the beginning of the vision. But
the vision continued to unfold even after it was interrupted by Daniel’s
question to the angel in (v.16) and the angel’s brief reply in the summary
given in (v.17,18)
Daniel ‘Kept looking’ and saw ‘That horn [Antichrist] was waging war with
the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days [Lord Jesus Christ]
came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and
the saints took possession of the
kingdom.’ (v.21, 22)
This persecution by the Antichrist is also
recorded by John in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ: ‘And it was given unto him to make war with
the saints and to overcome them’ (Revelation 13:7).
The time of this vicious martyrdom of the saints is
pinpointed here as it occurs during the Great Tribulation, which is the second
half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week lasting ‘Forty
and two months’(Revelation 13:5)
However, due to the fierce intensity of
this great persecution the Lord in His great mercy ‘Shortens’ this time for the sake of the elect as recorded in
Matthew 24:22. Therefore, the Lord interrupts the persecution of the Antichrist
and raptures the saints the same day He brings His own wrath upon an
unbelieving world. This time of judgment called the day of the Lord is the most
prophesied event in the Old Testament.
The Lord Jesus Christ foretells this
sequence of events further on in His Olivet Discourse as He describes the sign
which precedes the Day of the Lord and His rapture of the saints at His coming
in Matthew 24:29-31:
’But immediately after the
tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give
its light and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heaven
will be shaken. And them the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and
then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send
forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect
from the four winds, form one end of the sky to the other.’
Here in precise chronological order the
Lord gives the timing of the end of the age: The sign of the impending Day of
the Lord just after the Great Tribulation which has been cut short for the sake
of the elect followed by the sign of the Son of Man which is His Shekinah glory
brightening the darkened sky revealing Him to all the world in power and great
glory and then the gathering of the elect by the angels which thoroughly
describes the rapture of the saints.
It is now time for God’s cataclysmic
judgment the Day of the Lord, the most prophesied event in Scripture, which
will bring upon the unbelieving world His wrath from which the believer is
delivered according to His promises in the precious Word of God (I
Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9).
No comments:
Post a Comment