John Calvin Commentary Daniel 7:21-22

"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." — Daniel 7:21-22 (ASV)

The Prophet now adds what he had omitted. The angel does not yet answer him, but as he had not sufficiently expressed how the little horn waged war with the sons of God, he now supplies the omission. He says, therefore, he saw—this ought to be received by way of correction; I saw, says he, meaning it was shown me in a vision, how the little horn made war with the saints so as to prevail against them.

Clearly enough other tyrants assailed the elect people of God with far greater injury. Hence many refer this to Antiochus Epiphanes, who was hostile to the Jews beyond all others, and was utterly determined to blot out the name of the God of Israel. And we know how often he raised powerful armaments to extinguish both the people and the worship of God.

As, therefore, the cruelty of Antiochus was so severe against the Israelites, many think his image was exhibited to the Prophet as the little horn, and what we shall afterwards see about “the time,” and “times” and “half-a-time,” they explain of the three years and a half during which the Temple was in ruins, and the people thereby prevented from offering sacrifices.

As, therefore, their religion was then interrupted, they think that tyranny was denoted, by which the people were prohibited from testifying their piety. But although this opinion is plausible, and at first sight appears true, yet if we weigh all things in order, we may easily judge how unsuitable it is to Antiochus.

Why, therefore, does the Prophet say—the little horn waged war with the saint? Antiochus certainly made war against the Church, and so did many others; the Egyptians, we know, often broke in and spoiled the Temple, and the Romans too, before the monarchy of the Caesars. I reply, this is spoken comparatively, because no war was ever carried on so continuously and professedly against the Church as those which occurred after the Caesars arose, and after Christ was made manifest to the world; for the devil was then more enraged, and God also relaxed the reins to prove the patience of His people.

Lastly, it was natural for the bitterest conflicts to occur when the redemption of the world was carried out; and the event clearly showed this. We know first of all, by terrible examples, how Judea was laid waste, for never was such cruelty inflicted upon any other people. Nor was the calamity of short duration; we are well acquainted with their extreme obstinacy, which compelled their enemies to forget clemency altogether. For the Romans desired to spare them as far as possible, but so great was their obstinacy and the madness of their rage, that they provoked their enemies as if devoting themselves to destruction, until that dreadful slaughter happened, of which history has sufficiently informed us.

When Titus, under the auspices of his father Vespasian, took and destroyed the city, the Jews were stabbed and slaughtered like cattle throughout the whole extent of Asia. So far, then, this concerns the Jews.

When God had brought the body of the Gentiles into His Church, the cruelty of the Caesars embraced all Christians; thus the little horn waged war with the saints in a manner different from that of the former beasts, because the occasion was different, and the wrath of Satan was excited against all God’s children on account of the manifestation of Christ. This, then, is the best explanation of the little horn, waging war against the saints. Thus he says, It must prevail. For the Caesars and all who governed the provinces of the empire raged with such extreme violence against the Church, that it almost disappeared from the face of the earth. And thus it happened, that the little horn prevailed in appearance and in general opinion, as, for a short time, the safety of the Church was almost despaired of.

It now follows, Until the Ancient of days came, judgment was given to the saints of the lofty ones. No doubt the Prophet says God came in the same sense as before; namely, when He erected His tribunal and openly appeared as the judge of the world in the person of Christ.

He does not here present to us the Son of man, as he did before, but yet a fuller explanation of this passage is to be sought in the former one. God then is said to have come, when He put forth His power in providing for the needs of the Church, as by a common figure of speech He is said to be at a distance from us, and to sleep or to be resting, when He does not show Himself openly as our deliverer.

So, on the other hand, He is said to come to us, when He openly demonstrates His constant care for us. Under this figure Daniel now says he saw the appearance of God Himself. The Ancient of days then came. If we ask when, the answer is ready; it was immediately after the promulgation of the gospel.

Then God stretched forth His hand for His Church, and lifted it out of the abyss. For since the Jewish name had been for a long time hated, and all people desired to exterminate the Jews from the world, Christ’s advent increased this hatred and cruelty; and greater freedom to harm them arose, as they thought Christ’s disciples were plotting a change of government, and wished to overthrow the existing state of things; as in these days all the pious suffer grievously under this false accusation.

God, therefore, is said to have come, when the doctrine of the gospel was more and more promulgated, and some rest granted to the Church. Thus, by this rest, the saints received the kingdom which had been taken from them; that is, the kingdom of God and of the saints obtained some fame and renown in the world, through the general diffusion of the teaching of godliness, in every direction. Now, therefore, we understand what Daniel wished to convey by the phrase, The Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the lofty ones. The remainder tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, since You test our faith and constancy by many trials, as it is our duty in this respect and in all others, to submit to Your will: Grant, I pray, that we may not give way to the many attacks by which we are tossed about. For we are assailed on all sides by Satan and all the impious, and while their fury is always burning and raging cruelly against us, may we never yield to it. May we proceed in our warfare, relying on the unconquered might of the Spirit, even though impious men prevail for a season. May we look forward to the advent of Your only-begotten Son, not only when He shall appear at the last day, but also whenever it shall please Him to assist Your Church, and to raise it out of its miserable afflictions. And even if we must endure our distresses, may our courage never fail us, until at last we are gathered into that holy rest, which has been obtained for us through the blood of the same, Your only-begotten Son—Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

Yesterday, we began to explain how judgment was given to the saints at the commencement of the gospel era. For we know how very partial even in those times was the Church’s tranquillity. Because when it was free from external persecution and the shedding of blood, domestic enemies arose who proved far more injurious.

Thus the kingdom of Christ never flourished in the world, so as to have anything in common with those empires, in which great splendor and pomp were apparent. But, God wished to propose this solace to His prophet, by showing him the future reputation of the Church and its elevation to some degree of honor after emerging from obscurity, so that the elect dared openly to give homage to Christ, and to profess true and sincere piety. Hence by judgment being given to the saints, the Prophet means the restoration of the right of which they had been deprived, and their obtaining the kingdom at the same time, as the Church no longer lay prostrate as before the advent of Christ. For the promulgation of the gospel was at length free, as we shall immediately see. Let us proceed to the context,—