Daniel 12
PATSMll the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him. They that understand this and the following verses of Antiochus Epiphanes and Ptolemy Philometor, suppose that the angel recapitulates what he said before at large, from ver.- 23. It is certain these and the following words cannot be explained of any farther wars between the kings of Egypt and Syria: for Antiochus never made any farther attempt upon Egypt, after that peremptory demand of the Roman ambassador, requiring him to desist from that enterprise, mentioned ver. 30. Whereupon venting all his indignation against, the Jews upon that disappointment, ho afterward took a journey into Persia, where he died. (1 Mace. vi. 1. 6. 2 Mace. ix. 1. 28.) These difficulties attending the common interpretation, Mr. Mede, p. G74. and 816. by the king of the south understands the Saracens, and by the king of the north the Turks,‘who should both at different times afflict the western parts of thcnvorld, where he supposes tho seat of antichrist to be:’the former being denoted by tho locusts, Rev. ix 3. and’the latter by the Euphratean horsemen described in the same chapter, ver. 35, &c. as tivo woes or plagues sent to chastise the corrupt part of Christendom, ver. 12. Tho Saracen is called the king of the south, because that people were inhabitants of Arabia Felix, which lay southward of Palestine, wheroas the Turks were originally Tartars or Scythians.‘Shall come against Mm as a whirlwind.’] Compare Isa. xxi. 1. Zech. ix. 14. IVith chariots andhorsemen.] This answers the description given of them in theforeraentioned place, Rev. ix. 1G. And the army of Gog and Magog, which may probably mean the Turks, is described as consisting principally of horsemen, Ezek. xxxviii. 4. 15. the strength of the Turkish armies consists chiefly in the number of their cavalry: which makes them carry a horse-tail before their chief officers, as an ensign of honour. And shall overflow and pass over.] See ver. 10. 22. See the Argument of the tenth chapter. •
Daniel 12:1
Jx.T that time shall Michael stand up, that great prince that standeth for the children of thy people. See x. 13. 21. He, as fthe protector of the Jewish nation, contended with the devil about the body of Moses, as St, Jude informs us from some ancient writing or tradition, Jude ver. 9. He is probably that archangel.who shall make that awful summons to the day of judgment, men- 4 tioncd 1 Thess, iy. 16. and as several angels will be cm r uigmzGu oy iviicrosoii vtv CHAP. XII.] UPON DANIEL. ployed in gathering together God’s elect, Matt. xxiv. 31. so we may collect from this place of Daniel, that it will be his province to assemble those of the Jewish nation. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a natimiJ] The Scriptures speak of the extraordinary appearances of God’s kingdom, as ushered in by great tribulations: (see Isa. xxvi. 20, 21. Jer. xxx. 7. Matt. xxiv. 21.) so the saints are said to have come out of great tribulation. Rev. vi. 14. This some learned men suppose to relate to the times of the last vial, Rev. xvi. 18. when there was a great earthquake, saith the text, such as was not since men were upon the earth. Andat that time thy people shallbe delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.’] That is, in the book of life. (Compare Exod. xxxii. 32. Psal. lxix.28.Ezek. xiii.9. Philip, iv. 3. Rev. iii. 5. xiii. 5. xx. 12.) The phrase alludes to the registers that used to be kept of the members of any city or corporation: the privileges of which society none can lay a claim to but those whose names are found in such registers.
Daniel 12:2
And many of them that sleep in the dost shall awake, &c. A plain description of the general resurrection both of the just and unjust: the belief of which St. Paul speaks of, as grounded upon the writings of the law and the prophets, Acts xxiv. 15, 16. xxvi. 6 — 8. and there is no text so full to that purposo as this before us. The word many is sometimes equivalent to all, as hath been observed in the notes upon ix. 27. And some to shame and everlasting contempt.] In this life men may so far harden themselves in sin as to be past shame: but this shame shall be doubled upon them in the world to come, when they shall be convicted of their sins jn such a manner, as neither to be able to deny or excuse them; and shall thereupon become objects of scorn and contempt to God and all his saints. And as a thief is ashamed when he is found, or taken in the very fact, so shall the wicked be ashamed and confounded at that time, as the prophet Jeremiah makes the comparison, Jer. ii. 26.
Daniel 12:3
And they that be ivise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, &c. The words allude to xi. 33. 35. and import, that they who have been the great lights of the world, who have instructed others by their doctrine, and confirmed them in the truth by their sufferings and example, shall have an eminently glorious reward at the day of judgment. So the martyrs arc described as having a share in the first resurrection, Rev. xx. 4. Our Saviour’s words plainly allude to this text, Matt. xiii. 43. •
Daniel 12:4
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end. To shut up a book, and to seal it, is the same with concealing the sense of it, and hiding its meaning from common understandings, as hath been observed upon viii. 26. And the same reason is assigned in both places for this command, viz. because there would be a long interval of time between the date of the prophecy and the final accomplishment of it. (Compare x. 1. with both these texts.) But the nearer that time approached, the more light should men have for understanding the prophecy itself, as is implied in the following words. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.]- Many shall be inquisitive after truth, and keep correspondence with others for their better information: and the gradual completion of this and other prophecies, shall direct observing readers to form a judgment concerning those particulars which aro yet to be fulfilled. From hence we may learn the reason of the obscurity of several prophecies in Scripture: and it maybe observed, that generally those prophecies are most obscure, the time of whose completion is farthest off. For the same reason, in interpreting the prophecies relating to the latter Units of the world, the judgment of the latter writers is to be preferred before that of the ancients; because the moderns living nearer the times when the events were to be fulfilled, had surer marks to guide them in their expositions. Bishop Andrews hath a remarkable passage to this purpose, in his Tortura Torti, p. 186. in the following words: " Neque vero mirum, si ista quae dixi [de Roma sede.antichristi], tarn vel claram, vel certam interpretationem in scriptis patrum non habeant. Signatus.adhuc erat liber prophetize: verissimum autein Yerbum est,. Eenigma esse prophetiam omnem, cum nondum completa est: ut quamvis prisci illi omni genere charismatum, Yitoa vero sanctimonia longo nos intervallo superarint, mirari tamen non debeat quis, si non illis turn adeo cxplicita omnia fuerint, quam nobis per Dei gratiam jam sunt, qui consummatam jam prophetiam illam quotidie oculis usurpamus." It is no wonder that what I have said concerning Rome’s being the seat of antichrist, de* scribed by St. John, is not clearly asserted in the commentaries of the ancient fathers upon the Revelation; that book of prophecy was then sealed: and it is a certain rule, that every prophecy is a riddle before its completion: so that though we grant those ancient worthies to have far exceeded ns, both in gifts and in holiness, yet it is not to be wondered if they had not such clear apprehensions concerning this matter, as we of later times liaoe, by the grace of God, attained, who see this prophecy every day fulfilled in our sight.:
Daniel 12:5
Tlmi I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, &c. I saw two other angels on the bank side of the river Hiddekel, attending upon that supreme angel, or the Son of God, who appeared in that glorious form described x. 4, 5. (See the note upon x. 10.) Ver. G. And one [of them] said to the matt clothed with linen, which was upon the waters of the river.] Or rather, Above the waters of the river. (See the note upon x. 5.) How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?] So the inferior angel inquires of the superior concerning the accomplishment of the events foretold, viii. 13.
Daniel 12:7
And I heard the man clothed in linen — when he held up his right hand and left hand unto the heaven, and sware by him that livethfor ever. Holding up the hand was a ceremony anciently used in taking an oath. (See Gen. xiv. 22. Deut. xxxii. 40.) St. John plainly alludes to this place, Rev. x. 5, 6. and bjj the description he gives of the angel, that he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth, ver. 2. he can be no other than Christ, who had all power given to him in heaven and in earth. Tliat it shall be for a time, times, and a half] Or, The dividing of time, as it is expressed in the Chaldee, (vii. 25.) which contains, in the literal sense, three years and a half: during which time the public sacrifices and worship were discontinued during the persecution of Antiochus, the figure of antichrist. (See the note there.) But this line of time is expressly applied to the antichristian persecution, Rev. xii. 14. and is farther explained in that chapter,
He shall also enter into the glorious land. The land of Judea. (See ver. 16. and viii. 9.) If we understand this of Antiochus Epiphanes, his invasion of Judea hath been described at large, ver. 31, &c. If we expoundjt of the Turk, with Mr. Mcde; he hath had possession of the Holy Land for several ages. But these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.] Grotius expounds the words to this sense; That Antiochus did not make war upon these people, because, they readily complied with his commands, and joined w T ithhim against tho Jews; for which cause Judas Maccabeus made war upon them,l Mace. v. 3,4. Mr. Mede understands the words of Arabia Pctraea, whose inhabitants were never subdued by the Turks.
And the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. If we understand this of Antiochus, the notes upon ver. 24. shew howit has been completed. Mr. Mcde expounds the words of the final conquest of Egypt by the Turks/ A. C. 1517. after it had held out against them for a great while under the Mamalukes.
And the Lybiansand Ethiopians shall be at his steps. .Shall readily obey him, and follow his commands. (Compare Exod. xi. 8. Judg. iv.10. 1 Kings xx. 10.) Cushim is here rightly translated Ethiopians, being joined with Lybians or Africans, as they are in some other places. (See 2 Chron. xii. 3. xvi. 8. find the note upon Jer. xiii. 23.) St. Jerome observes upon the place, that it is not recorded of Antiochus Epiphanes, that ho ever marched so far as into these countries, or had any footing there. So Mr. Mede more probably expounds tho place of the Turks, who have extended their dominions into these parts of the world.
But tidingsoutofthe east and out of the north shall trouble him. This Dr. Prideaux explains of Antiochus thus: That in the cast, i. e. in Persia, his taxes were not duly paid, which engaged him to take a journey into Persia, to gather up the arrears due to him there: and in the north Artaxias, king of Armenia, had revolted from him. They that understand the words of later times, suppose them not yet fulfilled, and so not capable of a certain interpret-. ation.
And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain. If we apply the words to.Antiochus, the sense will be, that he shall place the ensigns of his sovereignty as a conqueror at Je^ rusalera: (compare ver. 41. and Psal. xlviii. 2.) which city was placed upon a mountainous situation, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Sodom, near the middle of Judea, which had those two seas for its boundaries. (See Joel ii. 20. Zech. xiv. 8.) To plant the tabernacle of his palace or pavilion at Jerusalem, is an expression denoting an entire conquest, and is applied to Nebuchadnezzar in that sense, Jer. xliii. 10. where the Hebrew word shaphrir, translated pavilion, is expounded in the Chaldee paraphrase by apadan, the word used in the text here. The holy mwmtain oftentimes denotes the Christian church in the prophetical writings: (see the note upon Isa. ii. 2.) and if we apply this text to antichrist, we may compare it with the boasts of that proud prince, who is supposed to be the figure of antichrist, Isa. xiv. 13« where he saith, I will sit in the midst of the t congregation, in the sides of the north: and we may explain.both these texts by those words of St. Paul, w T ho describes antichrist as sitting in the temple of God, 2 Thess. ii. 4. meaning tho Christian church, as that phrase commonly signifies in St. Paul’s writings. (See 1 Cor. ili- 16. 2 Cor. vi. 1G. Eph. ii. 20. 1 Tim. iii. 15.) Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.] He shall be broken without hand; i. e. by a judgment immediately inflicted by God, as is said of Antiochus, viii. 25. The like judgment is denounced against antichrist, 2 Thess. ii. 8.