Daniel
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Introduction[i]
In
the Book of Ezekiel we have seen the government of God on earth fully developed
in connection with Israel; whether in condemning the sin which occasioned the
judgment of that people, or in their restoration under the authority of Christ,
the Branch that should spring from the house of David, and who, in the book of
that prophet, bears even the name of David, as the true "beloved" of
God, the description of the temple, with its whole organisation, being given at
the end. In this development we have found Nebuchadnezzar, the head of the
Gentiles, introduced as Jehovah's servant (Dan_29:20;
Dan_30:24) for the judgment of sinful
Israel, who were rebellious and even apostate, worshipping false gods. God had
made Israel the centre of a system of nations, peoples, and languages, that had
arisen in consequence of the judgment on Babel, and existed before God
independently of each other. The nation of Israel was doubtless very distinct
from all that surrounded it, whether as a people to whom the true God was
known, or as having in their midst the temple and the throne of God; but,
whatever the contrast might be between the condition of Israel as a nation, and
that of the other nations, still Israel formed a part of that system of nations
before God (Deu_32:8).
In
executing the judgment of God on Israel Nebuchadnezzar set aside this whole
system at once, and took its place in the absolute and universal dominion which
he had received from God. It is of this order of things and of its
consequences-of this dominion of the head of the Gentiles, and of the Gentile
kings, in the successive phases that characterised their history-that the Book
of Daniel treats, bringing into notice a remnant of Israel, in the midst of
this system, and subject to this dominion. The king of Judah having been given
up into the hands of the head of the Gentiles, the royal seed is found in the
same position. The remnant becomes the especial object of the thoughts of God
revealed by His Spirit in this book.
Besides
the testimony rendered to Jehovah by the fact of the faithfulness of the
remnant in the midst of the idolatrous Gentiles, two important things
characterise their history as developed in this book. The first is that the
Spirit of prophecy and of understanding in the ways of God is found in this
remnant. We have seen this raised up in Samuel, when all Israel had failed, and
subsist through their whole history under the shadow of royalty. The Spirit of
prophecy now again becomes the link of the people with God, and the only
resting-place for their faith, amid the ruin which the just judgment of God had
brought upon them. The second circumstance that characterises the dealings of
God with regard to this remnant is, that, preserved by God through all the
misfortunes into which the sins of the people had cast them, this remnant will
assuredly share the portion which God bestows on His people according to His
government and according to the faithfulness of His promises. We find these in
the first and last chapters of the Book we are considering.
This
Book is divided into two parts, which are easily distinguished. The first ends
with chapter 6, and the second with the close of the Book, the first and last
chapters having nevertheless a separate character, as an introduction and a
conclusion, respectively making known the position of the remnant, to whom, as
we have said, the testimony of God was confided at the beginning and at the
end.
The
two great divisions have also a distinct character. The first sets before us
the picture of the dominion of the Gentiles, and the different positions it
would assume before God according to the human pride which would be its
animating principle. This picture contains historical features which plainly
indicate the spirit that will animate the ruling power in its different phases;
and then the judgment of God. This division is not composed of direct
revelations to Daniel, except for the purpose of recalling Nebuchadnezzar's
dream. It is the heads of the Gentiles that are presented. It is the external
and general history of the monarchies that were to succeed each other, or the
different and successive features that would characterise them, and their final
judgment, and the substitution of the kingdom of Christ; and especially, the
course and judgment of the one which God had Himself established, and which
represents all the others, as being invested with this character of divine
appointment. The others did but inherit providentially the throne which God had
committed to the first. It was a question between God and Israel that gave this
monarchy its supremacy. It is the spirit of presumptuous idolatry, and of
blasphemy against the God of Israel that leads to its destruction. Chapter 6 does
not give the iniquity of the king, except as submitting to the influence of
others. It is the princes of the people who will have none but the king
acknowledged as God, and who undergo the same punishment that they sought to
inflict on those who were faithful to the Lord.