God’s Word for You
Daniel 7:28 Your kingdom stands
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, November 27, 2025
28 This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was very frightened by my thoughts. My face changed color. But I kept the matter to myself.
This is the last verse of Daniel that was written in Aramaic. In this verse, the prophet concludes what he has written by saying, “This is the end of the matter.” He uses an ordinary and common word which is both Aramaic and Hebrew, “soph.” This can mean the end of a thing or the totality of a thing. Here it stands for both, since Daniel has given the whole of his vision, and the angel has given him the interpretation.
The vision has left him “very frightened,” and his face changed color. These are the same things he said in chapter 5 about King Belshazzar when he saw the handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5:6). Here again, the vision was in the days of King Belshazzar. Here again, the vision left the man seeing it with a face drained of color. Here again, the vision left the man seeing it terribly frightened. The Aramaic verbs are all the same, right down to the pael (piel) form of bahal transforming the usually transitive word into an intransitive “be frightened.” But the differences are worth noticing, too. This vision was seen only by Daniel, and earlier than the handwriting had appeared. This vision of the four beasts was in Belshazzar’s first year (7:1); the handwriting on the wall came in Belshazzar’s last year, and in fact his very last night—the night that Babylon fell to the Persians and Belshazzar was killed (5:31). This vision was seen only by Daniel. The handwriting on the wall was seen by the king and all of his guests. After the king saw the handwriting on the wall, he called out with a loud voice (5:7). Daniel kept the matter to himself. The king asked all of his enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to ask them what it meant. Daniel had only asked an angel—an angel who was actually part of the vision that he saw (7:16).
Daniel’s fear was real, but unlike Belshazzar the king, his was not the terror of an unbeliever. Belshazzar’s knees had actually knocked together. Daniel reports no such thing in his own body. But he admits that his face changed color. He grew pale with his fear.
For the fourth time in this chapter, Daniel identifies himself: “I, Daniel.” He wants there to be no question but that he personally saw this vision. He personally saw the four beasts. He personally asked the angel for the meaning. And he, personally, not some later scribe of another century, but he, Daniel himself, wrote it down. This multiplied identification reminds us of Paul, who names himself eight time in First Corinthians, and even three times in the short letter to Philemon (1:1, 9, 19). John, too, identifies himself four times in his Revelation; three times in the first chapter (1:1, 4, 9). There is no need to wrestle with any symbolic meaning of Daniel identifying himself so many times; he does it four times, I think, because he did not do it a fifth time.
The matter of the chapter has been a foretelling of the enemy of the church, the Antichrist. The main points are well worth remembering:
1, The prophet saw a vision of the wind churning up the great sea.
2, Four beasts emerged, one after another.
3, As with the king’s dream of the statue, the four beasts represented four kingdoms: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.
4, From among the ten horns of the Roman beast, a little horn emerged, displaced three others, and grew in size and arrogance, blaspheming God. This was the Antichrist.
5, Judgment Day suddenly arrived.
6, The Son of Man, the Savior Jesus Christ, came.
7, Asked by the prophet, an angel within the vision explained the meaning of the beasts, the horns, the final judgment, and concluded with a depiction of heaven, the final victory.
As a complete chapter, Daniel saw both law and gospel. The law proclaimed judgment on the Antichrist and all lesser antichrists, and the chapter serves as a warning to all to beware the deceptive and false teaching of this enemy of the gospel. But there is gospel here, too, for God proclaims the victory of Christ over all in the end, and the glorification of all believers in Paradise. Have no fear, little flock. Christ your Shepherd watches over you and guards you at all times.
The day you gave us, Lord, is ended;
The darkness fall at your request.
To you our morning hymns ascended;
Your praise shall sanctify our rest.
So be it, Lord, your throne shall never,
Like earth’s proud kingdoms, pass away,
Your kingdom stands and grows forever
Until there dawns your glorious day.
“The Day You Gave Us Lord is Ended.”
John Ellerton (1826-1893)
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.