The Danielic Imperative, Episode 28

I do a podcast.

I'm not interested in your podcast. The anathema of God was for those who denied justification by faith alone. When that is at stake, we need to be on the battlefield exposing the ear and combating the ear.

We are unabashedly, unashamedly Clarkian. And so the next few statements that I'm going to make, I'm probably going to step on all of the Vantillian toes at the same time. And this is what we do at Simple Riff around the radio, you know.

We are polemical and polarizing Jesus style.

I would first say that to characterize what we do as bashing is itself bashing. It's not hate. It's history. It's not bashing. It's the Bible.

Jesus said, Woe to you when men speak well of you. For their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way. As opposed to, Blessed are you when you have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

It is on. We're taking the gloves off. It's time to battle.

Danielic Imperative Episode 28: Recapitulation and the Chronology of Daniel 7

Welcome to the Danielic Imperative, a podcast in which we evaluate the eschatology of the people of God in the light of the timeline revealed to us by the prophet Daniel. I am your host, Timothy F. Kaufman, and this is episode 28 on the chronology of Daniel 7 and the principle of recapitulation, which literally means starting over from the top or from the beginning.

Recapitulation is the restatement of a prophecy in a different way or from a different perspective. Each time recapitulation occurs, it is to reveal something to us that was not revealed in a single telling.

We are familiar with recapitulation in its broadest usage. The vision of Daniel 7 is a recapitulation of the dream of Daniel 2. Daniel 8 is a recapitulation of the silver and bronze periods of Daniel 2 and the bear and leopard periods of Daniel 7.

Daniel 11 is a recapitulation of the leopard period of Daniel 7. But the prophets also recapitulate within a single chapter, describing an event and then describing that same event in the next verse, but from a different perspective.

If we are not careful and do not notice when a prophet recapitulates, we will miss the very thing he is revealing to us. But we also have to be careful that we do not make the opposite mistake by assuming that apparently similar prophecies are merely recapitulations of a single prophecy.

We have seen that mistake too when the prophecy of the Greek little horn of Daniel 8 is assumed to be the same as the prophecy of the Roman little horn of Daniel 7, but from different perspectives. When that invalid assumption is made, we miss what the Lord is telling us about each one and end up finding neither.

This principle will be very important to us in our analysis of Daniel 7, because Daniel recapitulates at exactly the moment that the commentaries assume he does not. And in other cases, within the chapter, the commentaries assume he is merely recapitulating a single event three times, when he is in fact reciting three different events.

These are the challenges facing us in Daniel 7, but with a little focus and energy, we can overcome them. But first, a quick recap of our last episode, in which we set the stage for understanding when the prophets are speaking of heaven, and when they are speaking of earth, which is particularly important to today's episode.

In episode 27, entitled Heaven and Earth in Eschatology, we walked through all the references to heaven and earth, not only to show how important it is to know when the Lord is talking about heaven and earth, and when he is talking about heavenly kingdoms and earthly kingdoms, but also to demonstrate that the Lord has repeatedly and emphatically shown us that Jesus has taken his heavenly throne, but has not yet taken an earthly one, and will not take an earthly throne until he comes back to destroy the beast and the false prophet and cast them into the lake of fire.

That's Revelation 19, 20. That is what is depicted for us in Daniel 2, 35, at the second strike of the stone as the kingdom of God filled the whole earth, and what is depicted for us in Daniel 7, 27, when the dominion of the little horn is taken away and the saints of God are given the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven.

This is depicted for us quite graphically in the throne room scenes of Revelation as the Lord takes his heavenly kingdom and from that point forward continually aggregates the persecuted saints unto himself in heaven until the time comes for him and his servants to invade the earth from heaven and destroy the beast, the false prophet, and the remaining ten horns on earth.

From the moment Jesus comes into his heavenly kingdom in the first century, he continues reigning in heaven and continues gathering the saints to himself in heaven until he concludes the seven seals, trumpets, and vials.

And then, with his gathered saints, he comes to earth and the saints together with Christ judge the little horn, the beast of Revelation 13, and cast him into the lake of fire with the false prophet. It is only then that the saints rule together with Christ on earth, and it has not happened yet.

Today, as we analyze Revelation 12 and Daniel 7, we'll lay the final groundwork for proceeding with the seals, trumpets, and vials of Revelation. And, as it turns out, knowing when the prophet is speaking of heaven and when he is speaking of earth is extremely important.

The seventh chapter of Daniel presents a challenge to us for several reasons. First, Daniel uses the principle of recapitulation as he tells of the rise of the little horn based on what was happening on earth, and then retells of the rise of the little horn based on what was happening in heaven to bring it about.

If we miss that recapitulation, we are led down a confusing and contradictory path as the two judgment scenes depicted in the chapter, the first against the Roman Empire and the second against the little horn, are assumed to be a single judgment against them both, when in fact they are two separate judgments thousands of years apart.

Second, the three references to the Ancient of Days in this chapter are variously interpreted to refer to the incarnation or the final judgment, but are generally collapsed into a single event or time frame, which, of course, is a huge mistake, as we will show.

In truth, they are actually three different events involving the Ancient of Days, as John makes clear to us in Revelation. If we miss that, we are led down a confusing chronological path in which Daniel appears to relate things that occur after the millennium as if they were premillennial.

Third, if we simply read the chapter in linear chronological order and assume two judgments are collapsed into one, and three references to the Ancient of Days are collapsed into one, we end up with an untenable sequence in which the Ancient of Days destroys the beast and the little horn together in a single judgment, and then, inexplicably, Daniel keeps watching as the little horn goes right on persecuting the saints, even after he has already been destroyed.

It's a chronological mess, but the Apostle John will help us navigate Daniel's chronology in a surprising way. He shows us how the principle of prophetic recapitulation works to give us God's complete revelation, by viewing the same event from different perspectives.

If you've ever felt lost or confused by the Daniel 7 narrative, today's podcast is for you. The Scripture reveals the proper sequence to us, and when we are finished today, we'll be able to construct a timeline by which we can determine not only the time frame when the seals must begin, but the actual dates they occurred, and how Jesus, breaking the seals in heaven, destabilized the Roman Empire, bringing about the rise and earthly dominion of the little horn of Daniel 7, the beast of Revelation 13.

What we will find and prove in Daniel 7 can be summarized simply, inspired by the words of the angel to Daniel in chapter 7, as follows,. It's that fifth empire that had Daniel's attention in chapter 7 and John's rapt attention in Revelation 13, and it is the chronic mistakes of the commentaries, both Catholic and Protestant, that have our attention in our analysis, because their mistakes have caused many people to miss the identity of the fifth empire, as well as the scriptural distinction between Christ's heavenly and earthly kingdoms.

What we will continue to show, including today, is the historicist biblical chronology with Christ and his saints receiving a heavenly kingdom during the Roman Empire, the Roman Catholic Antichrist taking his earthly kingdom after the Roman Empire, and Jesus and the saints taking their earthly kingdom after Jesus comes to earth and destroys the earthly dominion of Antichrist.

As we have stated before, this timeline eliminates preterism and dispensationalism from consideration and corrects the historicist eschatology with an earlier date for the rise of the beast of Revelation 13.

So that is going to be our focus today, as we use the principle of recapitulation in Revelation 12 to help us see when Daniel is using recapitulation in chapter 7, ultimately pointing us to the two separate judgments, by the first of which Christ destabilizes the Roman Empire, creating the circumstances necessary for the little horn to rise up and persecute his saints, and by the second of which he destroys Antichrist and introduces his earthly reign.

Okay, so let's look at Daniel 7 to lay out the challenges, and then we'll jump to Revelation 12 to see an illuminating use of recapitulation, and then back to Daniel 7 to understand the chronology, and particularly where Daniel applies that principle.

The first challenge we face in Daniel 7 is that there are two mentions of judgment, which the commentaries usually collapse into a single judgment, as we have noted several times before, just as they do with the two strikes of the stone in Daniel 2.

That assumption creates a chronological mess, placing the final judgment of Revelation 20 prior to the destruction of Antichrist in Revelation 19, but Daniel's explicit words and his use of recapitulation will sort that out for us, and will show that Daniel did not put anything in the wrong order at all.

The first judgment that is mentioned is usually assumed to refer to the final judgment described in Revelation 20 after the thousand-year reign of Christ, while the second judgment depicted in Daniel clearly refers to the destruction of the little horn Antichrist in Revelation 19, which is before the thousand-year reign of Christ.

How could Daniel put those two events in the wrong order? Our goal today is to identify the actual judgments Daniel had foreseen. Let's take a look. In Daniel 7, verses 9 to 10, there is a judgment scene in which judgment was set and books were opened.

This is the first time Daniel mentions that judgment was set. Now citing Daniel 7, verses 9 to 10. I beheld till thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool.

His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The judgment was set, and the books were opened. Again, Daniel 7, verses 9 to 10. The commentaries almost universally assume that this must refer to the final judgment according to the Book of Life in Revelation 20, verses 4 to 15, which says,.

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them, and the books were opened. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Under that reading, when Daniel says the books were opened, it is assumed that he must be referring to the final judgment of Revelation 20, in which the books were opened.

It's an easy assumption to make until we realize that the judgment scene of Revelation 20 is after the little horn, the Beast of Revelation 13, has already been cast into the lake of fire in Revelation 19, and the thrones are set up on earth.

But in chapter 7, thrones are set up in heaven, and Daniel is clearly referring to something that happens chronologically prior to the little horn being destroyed, since in his narrative, the little horn keeps right on speaking arrogantly and persecuting the saints.

The problem becomes even more apparent when we continue reading in Daniel 7, 26, only to find that the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, that is, the dominion of the little horn, to consume and destroy it to the end, which would appear to place the judgment of the little horn after the final judgment of Revelation 20, when the books were opened.

But the judgment of the little horn is supposed to occur prior to the thousand years, as shown in Revelation 19, 20. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet. These were both cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone.

So that's the first apparent problem. Two judgments at least a thousand years apart in two different locations are collapsed by the commentaries into a single swift judgment. And for some reason, Daniel mentions them in the opposite order as John.

That would be a gigantic prophetic mistake, but the truth is Daniel obviously gets nothing wrong here. And the fact is the commentaries have been looking at it wrong all along, to which we will return presently.

But let's move on to the next problem. There are three references to the Ancient of Days in this chapter, and the commentaries generally assume all three are to be understood in a final eschatological movement in which Jesus returns on the clouds, the books are opened, and the world is judged, and the saints take over.

The problem is that Daniel appears to list these in the wrong order too. First, the Ancient of Days did sit in judgment, Daniel 7 -9, and the books were opened, which is taken to suggest a reference to the final judgment of Revelation 20 after the Millennium, as we mentioned earlier.

Then the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven unto the Ancient of Days, Daniel 7 -13, which would appear to refer to something Jesus does before the Millennium. And then the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, who then possessed the kingdom, Daniel 7 -22, which appears to refer to the earthly reign of Christ with the saints at the beginning of the Millennium.

It is an odd ordering since, as we mentioned before, the books are opened in Revelation 20 -12 after the Millennium, Jesus returns on his white horse in Revelation 19 -11 prior to the Millennium, and then the saints receive their earthly kingdom in Revelation 24 before the thousand years, and in fact before the books were opened.

It creates a very messy chronology, but the truth is, Daniel did not get anything wrong in the order here either, and there is a simpler explanation and a proper chronology based on what we can know from the scriptures.

But we will come back to that too. Let's proceed with our next problem. The third challenge we face when reading Daniel 7 is that if we read the chapter in linear fashion on the assumption that there is a singular swift judgment executed by the Ancient of Days against the fourth beast and the little horn together, Daniel 7 -11, as most of the commentaries assume, we end up with yet another odd sequence of events in which the little horn keeps on making war with the saints in Daniel 7 -21 and exercising civil power over them, Daniel 7 -25, even after he has already been destroyed ten verses earlier.

This becomes a problem precisely because of the assumption that the fourth beast and the little horn are destroyed together in a single judgment by the Ancient of Days. The commentaries generally assume that Daniel 7 -26, but the judgment shall sit and they shall take away his dominion, is merely a recapitulation of Daniel 7 -10 and 11.

The judgment was set and the beast was slain. This gives the distinct impression that the Roman Empire and the little horn were destroyed at the same time and the heavenly and earthly kingdoms of Christ and his saints are initiated at the same time, immediately following the Roman Empire.

In the period of the fourth beast, the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, as the narrator says in Daniel 7 -18. And after the destruction of the little horn, the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people and the saints of the Most High, Daniel 7 -26.

If we do not distinguish between the heavenly kingdom the saints received during the Roman Empire, as also prophesied in Daniel 2 -34, and the earthly kingdom the saints received after the destruction of the little horn, as also prophesied in Daniel 2 -35, we will be led to believe that the medieval Roman Catholic Church that arose from the fragments of Rome is the earthly manifestation of God's heavenly kingdom.

As we have pointed out repeatedly, that is simply one of the most dangerous teachings in the history of the Church, because it legitimizes the wicked one, the man of sin, the beast of Revelation 13, as the true Church, the Bride of Christ.

Mistaking him for the true Church is the very error Jesus was warning us to avoid. And yet by their invalid assumptions some commentarians have actually arrived at that very conclusion. As it turns out, Daniel did not get the order wrong at all, and we will show from the Scriptures that the first judgment of Daniel 7 is executed against the Roman Empire alone, answering to the first strike of the stone of Daniel 2, creating the circumstances necessary for the little horn and the other ten horns to rise up and continue unharmed until the second judgment of Daniel 7, which answers to the second strike of the stone of Daniel 2.

When seen in that light, we can see that the first judgment depicted in Daniel 7, verse 11, merely prepares the way for the Antichrist to rise up among the fragments of the Roman Empire. But to understand that, we're going to need to spend a little time in Revelation 12, where John provides an excellent demonstration of the principle of recapitulation for us.

Now, were we simply to assign to Revelation 12 a chronology based solely on the order in which the text is laid out, we would end up with a jumbled chronological mess in which the same events continue occurring repeatedly in a different order.

For example, in the first six verses, we are introduced to a pregnant woman clothed with the sun, standing on the moon with the crown of twelve stars, waiting to give birth, and a dragon waiting to devour her child as soon as he is born.

Nevertheless, the son is born and caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness. But then, in the next eight verses, the devil is cast down to earth and the woman flees from him to the wilderness.

Did she flee twice? Or are we just seeing the same event from another perspective? Similarly, in Revelation 12, verses 9 to 11, the devil is cast down to earth and persecutes the saints, and they loved not their lives unto death.

Then in verse 13, the devil suddenly realizes that he has been cast down to earth and persecutes the saints. Did he get cast out twice? Or are we just seeing the same event from another perspective? What we are going to show is that the two events, that is, the flight of the woman and the casting down of the devil, are narrated twice, or recapitulated, once from the perspective of what is happening in heaven and once from the perspective of what is happening on earth.

It is an important point because it shows a way that the Lord provides what we would call stereoscopic revelation by revealing the same event from two different perspectives. Now, we revisit this to demonstrate how John uses recapitulation here in Revelation 12.

As it turns out, Daniel uses the same method in Daniel 7. That method is to build the narrative around one specific plot point and view that plot development from multiple perspectives in order to convey a specific truth about it, to convey the full truth about it.

In Revelation 12, the plot developments are the devil being cast out of heaven and the flight of the woman to the wilderness. Let's take a closer look. The first time John addresses the flight of the woman, it is strictly from the perspective of what is happening on earth.

He says, There appeared a great wonder in heaven, referring to the woman of Revelation 12, and then there appeared another wonder in heaven, referring to the dragon. Here he is describing heaven as a projection screen of sorts on which are viewed a series of events that have taken place or will take place in the future.

The woman is national Israel as she transitions to ecclesial Israel, the church. The labor pangs are the tribulation the woman undergoes as national Israel prepares for the arrival of her Messiah for salvation is of the Jews, as John says in his gospel in chapter 4 verse 4.

The dragon is the devil and he is described here as if he was operating in and through the succession of empires resisting the woman and her offspring. For in Revelation 12, he has seven heads and ten horns, the crowns on the seven heads, which represent the beastly empires of Daniel 7.

As we have noted before in previous episodes, when the crowns are on the heads, it indicates the reign of the succession of empires. When the crowns are on the horns, as they are in Revelation 13, it indicates the reign of the horns just as they are about to give their power and strength unto the beast, as we are told in Revelation 17, 13.

Returning now to chapter 12, John says of the dragon that his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to earth. This is a plain reference to the persecution of the Jews under Antiochus IV in the Greek Empire.

Daniel 8 is the only other place in scriptures that talks about the stars being cast down and trampled underfoot. Daniel 8 .10 says he cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground and stamped upon them.

And in Daniel 8 .13 -14, the angel tells Daniel that it shall be 2 ,300 days for the host to be trodden underfoot. The host and stars being cast down to the ground or to earth is a reference to the Jewish people called stars based on the prophecy in Joseph's dream in Genesis 37, in which the heads of the other 11 tribes are called stars that bow to Joseph's.

John says his tail drew the third part of the stars because Daniel had described three kinds of Jews in Daniel 11, verses 32 -33. The corrupt, the knowledgeable, and the wise. And of those, the wise would fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity.

That's Daniel 11, 32 -33. Or, as he confirms again a few verses later, some of the wise shall fall, verse 35. Thus, the devil swept one third of the stars from the sky and trampled them underfoot. It's the persecution of the saints under the reign of Antiochus IV, and it is the beginning of the woman's labor pains as national Israel prepares for the arrival of her savior.

All this, of course, is taking place on earth. The devil then attempts to interfere with the incarnation and fails, referring to Herod's attempt to thwart the incarnation in Matthew 2, 16. And then the son born to the woman ascends from earth to heaven, and the woman flies to a place of safety in the wilderness on earth.

Again, everything is described from a viewpoint on earth. The devil operating through the earthly empires cast the stars to the ground and trampled them underfoot and stood before the woman to devour the child as soon as it was born.

The child is caught up to God from earth to heaven, and the woman flies to a place of safety on earth. Clearly, this is all viewed from below, as John explains what was happening leading up to the flight of the woman.

But then the perspective changes and the events leading up to the woman's flight are described again, except this time it is all viewed from above. There is a war in heaven, and the devil is cast down from heaven.

A voice speaks in heaven about how good it is that the devil is cast down. The people in heaven are given cause for rejoicing, while the people below are given cause for alarm, for the devil has come down unto you.

Revelation 12, 12. Clearly, this is all described from above, and the frame of reference is what is being viewed from heaven. Then the perspective changes again in the next verse, and now we understand why the woman fled, and the point of view this time is from earth.

Now, citing Revelation 12, verses 13 to 14. Clearly, this time it is all viewed from below, as John explains what was happening leading up to the flight of the woman. The devil saw that he was cast to earth and persecuted the woman on earth, and the woman fled to safety in the wilderness on earth.

Having viewed these events of Revelation 12, the value of recapitulation presents itself quite obviously. We see the man-child caught up to heaven and the woman flee to the wilderness, but we are not told why she fled.

Then we hear the same events described again, and we can see now what had been going on above. We hear that the devil is cast down from heaven, what he did when he arrived below, and that gives us some idea of why the woman fled to the wilderness after the man-child was caught up to heaven.

The chapter ends with the woman fleeing to the wilderness and the devil pursuing her with doctrinal error that proceeds out of his mouth, and we have the complete story. The important point for us now is simply to observe how the principle of recapitulation works.

The prophet tells us something from one perspective, and then tells it again from another perspective, and then moves on with the story. In the case of Revelation 12, the devil is persecuting the woman through the empires on earth, then tries to destroy her offspring, but her man-child ascends to heaven.

The devil is cast out of heaven and brutally persecutes the woman as she flees to safety in the wilderness as he pursues her with error that flows out of his mouth and continues to war against her offspring on earth.

The pattern of recapitulation shows the devil's actions through the earthly empires, then shows him being kicked out of heaven down to earth, and by this means we now understand the reason for her flight to the wilderness.

Had we not understood this, we might have thought that she fled to the wilderness because of the ascent of the man-child. But the full revelation is delivered to us through John's use of recapitulation.

We have included a graphic in the show notes to show how John uses recapitulation to tell the same story from multiple perspectives. Because the woman's flight is deeply and intimately intertwined with the timing of the flood of error and the apostasy at the end of the 4th century and the 6th seal and the first few trumpets of Revelation, we shall return to those events in much greater detail later.

But for now, we simply wanted to illustrate the principle of recapitulation and revelation because, as we will show, Daniel uses that same principle in chapter 7. And if we're not careful, we will miss what he is saying and assume that he was describing two different events when he was actually describing the same thing twice from two different perspectives.

So now let us turn our attention back to Daniel chapter 7. In this chapter, he recapitulates on a central theme. This time, the central plot development is the arrogant words spoken by the little horn.

And Daniel returns to that specific point four times in this chapter. In verse 8, he says,. In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. In verse 11, he returns to the horn and says,.

I beheld them because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake. Then again in verse 20, even of that horn that had eyes and a mouth that spake very great things. And finally in verse 25, Let's revisit the narrative, paying close attention to Daniel's repetition of the central theme.

Daniel has watched as four beasts come out of the earth and he has paid special attention to the fourth beast and has watched the thirteen horns of Daniel 7. And yes, we are using that number advisedly, as we have shown many times in this series that there are in fact thirteen horns.

And has even watched the little horn uproot three of the horns as it comes up among the remaining ten. By way of reminder, the twelve-way division of the Roman Empire was begun late in the third century and came to its completion, a thirteen-way division, late in the fourth century, between 373 and 381 A .D.

And all of this was happening on earth in Daniel's first telling of the story. Let's listen to him. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots.

And, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. After depicting the thirteen-way division of the Roman Empire and the arrogance of the little horn from the perspective of earth, Daniel rewinds, circles back, and revisits the central plot theme again, this time from the perspective of heaven, until he arrives again at that arrogant little horn.

This time we are told what was happening in heaven leading up to the rise of the arrogant little horn. Now citing Daniel 7, verses 9 to 11. I beheld, still, or literally, as I was watching, the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool.

His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake. Again, Daniel 7, verses 9 to 11. What we have here is not a sequential narrative in which the little horn speaks arrogantly, and so the Ancient of Days sits in judgment of his arrogance.

Rather, it is a case of Daniel describing events as they unfold on earth, leading up to the arrogance of the little horn, Daniel 7, 8, and then pausing to recapitulate, this time describing events unfolding in heaven, again leading up to the arrogance of the little horn, Daniel 7, 11.

In Daniel's second telling, we learn that the judgment from heaven against the Roman Empire creates the circumstances conducive to the rise and the reign of the little horn, just as we saw in chapter 2, where the stone strikes the feet of the statue, fragmenting the feet and forming the toes.

So the listener may be asking, hey, how can you say that the Ancient of Days is not judging the arrogance of the little horn here, but that Daniel is only recapitulating the rise of the horn from the perspective of heaven?

Well, the answer is actually in the Scriptures, in this very chapter. It is typical to assume that the judgment of Daniel 7, 9 is executed against the arrogance of the little horn, and therefore, that when the beast is destroyed in verse 11, that is, the fourth beast, the Roman Empire, the little horn is destroyed with him, and both are judged and destroyed together at once.

But that is impossible for one very simple reason. The arrogant horn is neither judged nor destroyed in this scene from Daniel 7, 9 -11. A careful reading shows that the little horn is not judged here.

Once the judgment is fully executed, it is clear that only the fourth beast is destroyed, and the little horn is not only left untouched, but in fact is granted an extension of life and goes on to wear out the saints and overcome them.

But the commentaries have historically missed that point. Let's look at that mistake the commentaries often make in their assessment of Daniel 7. They assume that because Daniel mentions the Ancient of Days sitting in judgment immediately after mentioning the arrogant words of the little horn, therefore the judgment must have focused on the arrogance of the little horn.

Some examples are statements like these in commentaries on Daniel 7, 9. The horn speaking great things is first visited with the sentence of death. Or another commentary. He looked on until he saw a solemn judgment passed on this fourth beast, particularly as if God had come forth in his majesty and glory to pronounce that judgment and to bring the power and arrogance of the beast to an end.

Notice that Daniel at no time in Daniel 7 says that the fourth beast was arrogant and yet it's assumed that the judgment happened because of the arrogance of the beast. That's to conflate the two as if the fourth beast and the little horn were the same entity.

Calvin in his commentary on Daniel 7, 11 makes a similar mistake saying then the presumptuous speaking of the little horn was at an end and the fourth beast was extinct at about the same time. Notice that when all these commentaries speak of this they are assuming that the ancient of days in verse 9 is sitting in judgment of the little horn and his arrogance.

That mistake is like assuming in Revelation 12 that war broke out in heaven because the woman fled to the wilderness. After all, that's how the chapter reads. And the woman fled to the wilderness and there was war in heaven.