which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be

destroyed' (Dan. 7:9 -14).

Daniel, desiring fuller information concerning the dream, asked one of

them that stood by concerning it.  He was told that the saints of the Most

High would take the kingdom, and in answer to a yet closer questioning

concerning the fourth beast and the ten horns, he was informed of the

condition of things that would obtain at the end, when the Beast would

blaspheme God, and 'wear out the saints of the Most High'.  This, however,

was for a time; oppression would at length give place to judgment.

'And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under

the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the

Most High, Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions

shall serve and obey Him' (Dan. 7:27).

The sphere of the dream, as also of Nebuchadnezzar's, is limited to the

kingdoms of this world.  It is 'under the whole heaven' (7:27), it fills 'the

whole earth' (2:35), it takes the place of kingdoms ruled by man, and its

dominion includes peoples, nations and languages.  A reference to Daniel 3:4

will show that this was the language of Nebuchadnezzar's proclamation when

the herald called upon all in his dominion to bow down to the golden image in

the plain of Dura.  There is moreover a parallel with this in the dominion of

Babylon at the time of the end: 'The waters which thou sawest ... are

peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues' (Rev. 17:15).  It is also

the description of the dominion of the Beast: 'power was given him over all

kindreds, and tongues, and nations' (Rev. 13:7).  At the sounding of the

seventh trumpet 'the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord,

and of His Christ; and He shall reign unto the ages of the ages' (Rev.

11:15).  There is no necessity to labour the proof of the identity of the

dreams of Daniel and the visions of John.  Both refer to the Son of Man at

His Coming to the earth to rule and reign.

There are allusions to the Second Coming in the minor prophets, such as

Habakkuk 2:3,4 (with Heb. 10:37), Haggai 2:7 -9, and Joel 3:13 -16 (with Rev.

14:15 -18), which the reader should search out in order to make full

acquaintance with Old Testament testimony to this important aspect of truth.

For the present, however, we will turn to the visions of Zechariah:

'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion: shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:

behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation:

lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass'

(Zech. 9:9).

There is a notable omission in the quotation of this prophecy in

Matthew 21:5 (cf. John 12:15) :

'Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek,

and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass'.

The multitudes 'shouted', they cried 'Hosannah', which means 'save

now', but not so the inspired writer.  He omits the 'shout' and the

'salvation'.  Not until the Lord comes the second time will Zion cry out and

shout, or salvation be brought to her.