Question:

I am stuck on Daniel 7:26-28. It seems to say that after the defeat of Domitian that Jesus sets up his dominion on earth and that the dominion would be everlasting and that the saints would possese the kingdom. But Jesus never came it 96 A.D?

Answer:

The Kingdom which Jesus established is the Kingdom of God. It is not a visible kingdom with national boundaries. It is a spiritual kingdom. Jesus said "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36). He was talking about the Kingdom of God. The church is an aspect/part/manifestation of the Kingdom of God. Daniel 7:26-28 is referring to the establishment of Jesus’ church. It may also refer to the Kingdom of God in a broader sense. The Kingdom of God is a big concept which supercedes the church.

In any case, this is why there was no dominion established on earth as a fulfillment of Daniel 7:26-28. Jesus was quite specific that his kingdom is not of this world and therefore his apostles did not need to defend it like worldly kingdoms are defended.

I believe that the saints will, indeed, possess the Kingdom of God forever. The church has outlasted all worldly kingdoms. It will be subsumed in the still-greater Kingdom of God when Jesus comes back at the end of the age. What Daniel is saying in Daniel 7:26-28 is that the persecution of Domitian and of the Roman emperors who followed him (many of which did much more than Domitian to attack the saints) would be only temporary and that, in the end, the church would prevail over all worldly powers and outlast them all–finally culminating in the kingdom of heaven (see Daniel 12).

John Oakes