Daniel 7:26 Commentary and Bible Study

Verse 26 takes us back the courtroom of verse 9 where the Ancient of Days sits in judgment. This is the answer to the terrible words and deeds of the antichrist, the little horn, and which will bring his power to an end, and give victory to the saints. How the people of God should long for and look forward to the judgment of God which puts all things right. But of course, that must be accompanied by a hatred of personal sin. The antichrist will prevail over the church, and God will allow it so that only Christ’s coming brings them relief. All their hopes are found in Christ. Only he is a match for the wicked one. He will destroy the wicked one with the brightness of his coming. His people wait eagerly for it. Though it is long delayed, they cry, ‘Even so, come Lord Jesus.’Why was Daniel so disturbed? The vision is after all a revealing of the great sovereignty of God, the period of great world empires will come to an end; there will be another period in which Gentiles will be saved. There are encouraging things here. There will be a final end when God will judge and suppress all that is against him, and the arrogant voice will be silenced, and the eternal age will be brought in. But it's very troubling to Daniel. We can be sure that he will rejoice at those things in due time. But to think that there must be so much pain, to see the human heart so full of continuing rebellion, to see such hatred for a precious revelation from God, for the Son of man: such resistance to his work. That is what troubles Daniel: to see that there are going to be yet centuries of human hostility to God before the final end. Daniel has such a heart for the people of God, and sees it is about the gathering in of the Gentiles, the church’s evangelistic effort. How will it be done? We know now. We are in the last age to be gathered in.This chapter is an essential foundation for the revelations which follow, which fill in much detail and tell us wonderful things. We need to keep the picture in mind: the four empires and the hint of a gospel age, though it is true that Daniel sees the two comings of Christ as if they are one. Not that he is misled; he is just shown the Redeemer in the future. We will see more about Christ on Calvary in a coming vision, but Daniel is shown here that Messiah is going to come, and solve everything, and usher in the eternal age. The distinction between his two comings waits for the New Testament.