Dan 7:22 | KingComments | STEP | Before more is said about the reign of the saints, Daniel wants to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, of the ten horns, and of the little horn. His full interest goes to these extraordinary appearances with their special characteristics. For the other three beasts he doesn’t seem to have much attention. But what he saw in connection with the fourth beast made a deep impression on him. He once again mentions in detail its horrific characteristics. It therefore appeals to him so much because he sees how the little horn fights against the saints. These are the saints on earth, of course not those in heaven. We have already seen in the explanation of that the little horn represents the mighty ruler of the restored Roman empire. This ruler aims his enmity against the saints of the people of God. The saints will be killed by the little horn. But his success lasts as long as God allows it. There is talk of an “until” ( ). The boundary is reached when the Ancient of Days, that is the Lord Jesus, comes. He comes to do justice to “the saints of the Highest One” who have been persecuted and killed by the little horn. At first it seemed as if they were the losers. Now comes the moment of truth. God reveals the law. God openly corrects the great injustice that has been done to them. The “saints” take “possession of the kingdom”, which means that the once persecuted ones, now become the rulers. They receive a kingdom, that is to say they have royal dominion and reign together with the Lord Jesus in the kingdom of peace. This seems to contradict . We saw there that the kingdom is given to the Lord Jesus, while here we see that the kingdom is given to the saints. The solution is that the saints of the Highest One are glorified saints who together with the Lord Jesus will reign over the universe. These saints are the believers of the church, the believers of the Old Testament and the believers who will be on earth during the seventh week of years after the rapture of the church. In that government with Christ there is a distinction between the believers of the church and the other believers. The believers of the church will reign in the closest connection with Christ as His body ( ). The other believers will sit on thrones with royal authority and rule the earth as representatives of the great King ( ).

‏ Daniel 7:22

What Is the Meaning of the Fourth Beast?

Before more is said about the reign of the saints, Daniel wants to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, of the ten horns, and of the little horn. His full interest goes to these extraordinary appearances with their special characteristics. For the other three beasts he doesn’t seem to have much attention. But what he saw in connection with the fourth beast made a deep impression on him. He once again mentions in detail its horrific characteristics.

It therefore appeals to him so much because he sees how the little horn fights against the saints. These are the saints on earth, of course not those in heaven. We have already seen in the explanation of Dan 7:7-8 that the little horn represents the mighty ruler of the restored Roman empire. This ruler aims his enmity against the saints of the people of God. The saints will be killed by the little horn.

But his success lasts as long as God allows it. There is talk of an “until” (Dan 7:22). The boundary is reached when the Ancient of Days, that is the Lord Jesus, comes. He comes to do justice to “the saints of the Highest One” who have been persecuted and killed by the little horn. At first it seemed as if they were the losers. Now comes the moment of truth. God reveals the law. God openly corrects the great injustice that has been done to them. The “saints” take “possession of the kingdom”, which means that the once persecuted ones, now become the rulers. They receive a kingdom, that is to say they have royal dominion and reign together with the Lord Jesus in the kingdom of peace.

This seems to contradict Dan 7:13-14. We saw there that the kingdom is given to the Lord Jesus, while here we see that the kingdom is given to the saints. The solution is that the saints of the Highest One are glorified saints who together with the Lord Jesus will reign over the universe. These saints are the believers of the church, the believers of the Old Testament and the believers who will be on earth during the seventh week of years after the rapture of the church.

In that government with Christ there is a distinction between the believers of the church and the other believers. The believers of the church will reign in the closest connection with Christ as His body (Eph 1:10 ; 22-23). The other believers will sit on thrones with royal authority and rule the earth as representatives of the great King (Rev 20:4).