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Daniel Segment 7

All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Before beginning this study, I suggest you pray and ask God to guide you through this study. I also suggest that you do you own study of this material in order to ensure its accuracy.
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his chapter is not in chronological order with other chapters in Daniel. That is because the book of Daniel is arranged in two parts. Part one is historical and part two is apocalyptic, that is, revealing or prophetic. May I remind you that apocalypse simply means revealing or (see note) revelation. Chapter seven begins the second part, the revealing of future events to Daniel. Of course the dream of Nebuchadnezzar was prophetic but it was taken up in a historical setting. The same could be said about the handwriting on the wall. Chapter seven ends the Aramaic and begins the prophetic portion of the work.

Some divide the book linguistically. The division is like this: the introduction (1:1 - 2:3) is written in Hebrew. The second portion (2:3 - 7:28), written in Aramaic, refers to the Gentiles or nations. The third part (8:1- 12:13) is written in Hebrew and refers to the Jews. However, the idea that the third part is written to the Jews is erroneous. That is a product of a belief in the heresy of Dispensationalism, which believes that the church and Israel are forever separate. Dispensationalists are the proponents of the "pre-tribulation rapture" theory and claim that the tribulation of the latter days is only for Israel. The third part is actually written to all of God's people, and not just the Jews.

Belshazzar, or Baltasar, was killed in chapter five by Darius the Mede. This dream of Daniel's took place before Belshazzar's death. Daniel had a very vivid dream that woke him from sleep. He immediately set out to write it down. If you have a dream and want to remember it, write it down as soon as you wake from it. If you wait, you will forget much of it.

Daniel had a dream and visions. The fact that it was a dream tells us that it happened to Daniel while asleep. The word vision tells us that not only was it a dream, but it was a revelation from God. The Aramaic backs this up. Chesem simply means dream while chelez means to behold or to witness. It implies witnessing an appearance of God or His messenger.

Daniel wrote down the most important information from his vision (the sum of the matters). Rather, he dictated it to a scribe as we can see from verse two where the scribe says that Daniel spoke the particulars to him. Daniel was a powerful man with a high position in government. He had access to a scribe or secretary whom he could call at any time day or night. In fact, the scribe was most likely a part of Daniel's household.

Here we have definite apocalyptic writing. John, who wrote the Revelation, saw visions similar to Daniel's. John probably remembered Daniel while he was witnessing the things Jesus revealed to him. You will find many similarities between Daniel and Revelation. As stated in Segment 1, Daniel is the Apocalypse (Revelation) of the Old Testament.

The four winds are used metaphorically as well as having prophetic significance. The four winds are a metaphor for the four points of the compass hence the world. The winds of the earth blow from the four cardinal directions or variations thereof—the north, east, south, and west and so the metaphor. See Revelation 7:1.

Prophetically, the term is used to signify coming destruction, as in the scattering of the peoples of one nation among the world. It is also used to signify blessing like when Jesus will send his angels to gather his elect from the four winds of heaven, that is, from all over the world. The term is used by Ezekiel to represent the breath of life being breathed into Israel after her demise. The term can also be applied to the Spirit of God, Who is omnipresent, that is, present everywhere at the same time as the winds are present everywhere at the same time. In fact, Jesus uses the same imagery to explain Spiritual rebirth to Nicodemus. So the four winds also represent the Holy Spirit.

Here in Daniel the four winds are stirring up of the sea. These are storm winds that signify unrest among nations leading them to war. The sea is apocalyptic language in that it represents the sea of nations. So unrest is being stirred up among the nations. The war is that of conquering armies when one empire succumbs to another. God gave the conquering armies of Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and Rome their dominions. They were his servants and they ruled at God's pleasure. God called each one to destroy the previous one. He sent the first one, Babylon, to conquer His people Israel. He stirred them up to war and sent them to conquer. His Spirit caused them to act. So the four winds here are the Holy Spirit stirring up these empires to war. These winds span the four world empires—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. As we learned in a previous study, Rome goes on even today in a modified form. It could be said to still be an empire in the form of the Roman Catholic Church. See Segment 2.

Let us discuss the controversy over the dating of the Book of Daniel. The completed Daniel is dated by most scholars somewhere around 530 BC shortly after Cyrus became king of Medo-Persia. Thus the prophecies about the three empires succeeding Cyrus were yet future prophecy when the book was written. These prophecies came true. Modern scholars and higher critics do not believe that the future can be revealed even by God (even those few who actually believe in God). Those who do not believe in God of course don't believe in prophesying the future. Consequently, those people cannot accept the date of 530 BC. That is impossible in their minds. Of course believers who espouse this necessarily limit God. They also do not believe in the authority and inerrancy of Scripture. These people claim that an impostor wrote Daniel and some claim the book is a work of fiction. They claim the book was written in the second century BC after the spilt up of the empire among Alexander's generals. Therefore, they say, the events "prophesied" by Daniel were actually already historical fact when the book was penned.

These same folks also claim that Media and Persia were two separate empires and that the order of empires in Daniel is Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece, completely leaving out Rome. That is because Rome had not yet achieved dominance when Daniel was written. Since Qumran, these "scholars" know they cannot date Daniel later than the second century BC because of the fragments of Daniel contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls. So the writer of the Book of Daniel MUST have been speaking of Greece since Rome was not yet a viable empire. There are many "moderate" and liberal Christians who believe this. It is hard for me to understand that anyone who has faith in God can believe that He is unable to know the future and confer that knowledge upon men. I understand that some believers actually think that God is real and powerful but that He does not concern Himself enough with us to actually confer the knowledge of the future upon men. That, of course, is absurd. If God does not care about us, what is the point in worshipping Him?

The only problem with their rosy picture is that the Bible does not show a separate Media and Persia. Both the Book of Esther, and the Book of Daniel connect Media with Persia every time they are mentioned. And history shows the two as allied into one empire. Xenophon, Herodotus, and Josephus all make the case of the alliance between Media and Persia. According to Xenophon Cyrus became king of both Media and Persia when he married Cyaxares' (Darius the Mede's) daughter and was given Media as a dowry. (See Cyropaedia of Xenophon 8.5.17-18, See also Segment 6). The Medes and the Persians had a close alliance and the Persian kings eventually ruled both Media and Persia as a single kingdom. Here is John Gill's take on it:

These beasts coincide with the four parts of Daniel's statue. They represent Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome or rather the kings of these empires (v. 11). The sea represents all the nations and kingdoms of the world. These beasts came up out of the sea of nations to rule them, each in his turn. The word rendered beast is literally a wild animal. That is because these kings were oppressive and cruel in their conquests. For example, Nebuchadnezzar killed Zedekiah's sons before his eyes and then put out his eyes. That is very cruel. Think of the pain involved in someone taking a dagger or a sword or a spear tip and poking out your eyes. There were no anesthesia, no doctors, no one to comfort him, and no sanitary conditions. They poked out his eyes and made him walk on a lead all the way to Babylon. Imagine the physical pain for days on end and walking while blind. They probably had to drag him.

The narrative continues in the first person because the scribe is quoting Daniel. The lion is a ferocious beast. It will attack in the midst of enemies. It is considered the King of beasts. It is the foremost hunter of the animal kingdom. It is at the top of the food chain. An eagle, like a lion, is ferocious. It attacks quickly and stealthily. It has sharp talons and a sharp beak for tearing its prey apart for consumption. It is the foremost of birds and is at the top of its food chain. Both the lion and the eagle attack and carry their prey back to their lairs. The lion is swift; the eagle swifter still.

Babylon is the lion with eagles' wings. Imagine a lion that is able to fly. It would be undefeatable. Nebuchadnezzar was undefeatable. The Bible refers to Nebuchadnezzar as a lion in Isaiah 5:29 and Jeremiah 4:7 and an eagle in Jeremiah 48:40 and Ezekiel 17:3&7. A symbol of Babylon was a winged lion. Such symbols can be seen in various Babylonian impressions. There is a bas-relief of a winged lion at the palace of Ninurta at Nimrud. Babylonian mythology speaks of winged lions. There are Babylonian statues of winged lions. The Babylonian god Anzu was a winged lion. Winged lions were associated with Babylon since the earliest times. So it is obvious that Daniel is peaking of Babylon when he speaks of a winged lion.

There are several possible interpretations for the wings being plucked off. To me this is the most plausible. When Nebuchadnezzar conquered he did so swiftly and ferociously. He controlled Media and Persia, who later shirked the control of Babylon becoming a power themselves who were soon allied. This represents the wings. When the wings, Media and Persia were plucked from Babylon, it slowed Nebuchadnezzar down. His conquests came to an end and were replaced by fighting against the Medo-Persians.

Referring to the lion standing on the feet of a man with a man's heart, the Bible tells us of the time that Nebuchadnezzar went crazy and lived like a wild animal (Daniel Chapter 4). After that, Nebuchadnezzar seemed to have a new heart. He acknowledged God and became a humble, reverent and kindhearted man. The lion was brought down like a man of pride and because of it he had a change of heart. That fits Nebuchadnezzar perfectly.

This is Medo-Persia. We will not rehash the controversy over Medo-Persia. Why a bear? We can only speculate. The Bible always refers to a bear as a ferocious beast that can easily overpower man. David defeated bears as a shepherd, but most men could not. This empire moved swiftly to take over the old Babylonian Empire and made itself ruler of the world. So it devoured much flesh. Large bears were indigenous to Media. They lived in its hills and woods. Bears are bloodthirsty killers as were the Medians and Persians.

The three ribs may represent three powerful nations that Medo-Persia devoured—perhaps Babylon, Egypt, and Lydia or even Media Persia and Babylon, the latter being more likely. The bear raised up on one side because one side was stronger than the other was. Persia was stronger than Media was.

They told it to devour much flesh. They are God and his messengers. God gave the Median-Persian machine the go ahead to conquer Babylon and the world. And Cyrus was very aware of the Divine will in this matter (see Ezra 6:12). Devouring flesh is meant to include death, casualties, seizing of power, destruction of property, and the carrying away of captives and loot. That is what the military is designed to do—break things and kill people. (Before you military folks get angry, I am retired military. But think about it; that is what the military is for in wartime. In peacetime it is to maintain readiness to break things and kill people as a deterrent to attack, but in wartime it is to actually break things and kill people.)

This is Greece. Again, we will not rehash the Median and Persian controversy. Read about that in the notes following verse one. Alexander had four generals that divided his kingdom at his death. Alexander subdued his enemies very quickly. He conquered all of the Eastern nations all the way to India and a portion of Europe as well. He completed his conquests is twelve years. Of all the empires so far, Alexander was the fastest to accomplish his goals. He was much faster than Nebuchadnezzar had been in his conquests. Hence the four wings. They give double the speed of two wings. Alexander also had four very competent and capable generals who helped him in his quick conquests. The four wings almost certainly represent them as well (see below).

Wings symbolize not only speed but power and might. Alexander, with 35,000 men, conquered Medo-Persia's 500,000 men. It was the hardened bronze alloy cuirass (upper body armor) of the Greek soldier that made him nearly invincible. Persian soldiers were not able to penetrate the Grecian soldier's vital organs and kill him. Persian soldiers died in the thousands. A small army of Greeks could quickly subdue a large army of Persians. The Persians did not have the alloy technology that the Greeks did. It was their downfall. It was Medo-Persia under Darius III that attacked the Greeks. That was a mistake. Darius had an army of 500,000 (according to tradition) and Alexander had about 35,000. Darius was beaten and fled. The might, hence the four wings, of Alexander was in his bronze armor. With this high-tech armor, the Macedonians marched through almost the entire world in twelve years.

The leopard is another example of power and speed. Leopards are fearless when on the attack. They are blitzkrieg fast on the attack. The leopard has self-assurance. It is cunning, fleet of feet, strong, bold, sleek, and tenacious. It stalks its prey and does not give up. This is a perfect example of Alexander the Great. He was much like a leopard.

The four heads represent Alexander's generals, Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. When Alexander died at age 33 leaving those four generals in charge and they divided up his kingdom and each ruled one of the divisions. Cassander ruled over Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus over Thrace and Bithynia; Ptolemy, over Egypt; and Seleucus, over Syria.

Alexander united most of the world under one culture—the Hellenistic culture. It was this culture that continued in force right through the Roman Empire. Rome ruled an essentially Greek world. It was this Hellenistic culture that first received the Gospel of Christ. Actually, it was the fact that most of the world was united under one culture and mostly spoke one language, in combination with the Pax Romana (Roman Peace) and the Roman transportation system that Christianity was able to flourish. And that, brethren, was the true plan of God all along!

Again, if you have jumped to this spot, we will not rehash the Median and Persian controversy. Read about that in the notes following verse one. This, of course is the fourth empire, that of Rome. The iron teeth are indicative of the Iron Age Empire—Rome. Rome was the strongest and most dreadful of all the empires. It's strength was in its army and their tactics and the fact that they had the technology to smelt iron and steel and they made good military use of this technology. Steel helmets (which were later changed back to bronze—probably because bronze was more resistant to corrosion), steel spears, steel armor, and steel chain mail (cloth made from small, interlocking steel rings) all had the effect of making their soldiers even more impenetrable that those of Greece. When the Roman Legions were coming they struck dread into their intended opponents. See Segment 2 for why Rome was called the Iron Empire. Rome stamped out and broke up all of the world's dominions, including Greece, Persia, Babylon Europe, Egypt, and even part of Britain.

In Revelation 13:1, the ten horns represent ten kings who gained their power from Satan but only for a short time (one hour). But here in Daniel we have not yet gotten to that time of the end. We are still discussing the Roman Empire of the past. But these ten horns are still ten kings or rulers. It is said that Rome was divided ten ways. Many different theories and plans have been devised to take these ten kings into account. It is impossible to list them all here. We will not attempt to name them here. Suffice it to say that this in some way implies ten rules. They may currently be leaders of the past of perhaps some have passed and some remain. I will give a couple of examples of the historical assumption.

This is probably not a good way to understand these horns, but I included it as an example. A better way to evaluate this is to not reckon specific rulers but institutions and peoples: The Senate, which was the original ruler of Rome, the Greeks, The Lombards, or perhaps Charlemagne, Huns, Germans, Francs, Burgundy, Arabs, Goths, British. This latter rendering is more correct, though the kingdoms could be rearranged or substitution might be made. These were basically the stronger rulers of the world since Rome became an empire. There is no reason why the United States should not figure in as one of these. Take out say, the Burgundians and put in the US at the end of the list. Or maybe do not start with the Senate. And why not add the UN to the list? Or could the UN be the beginning of the beast that rises from the sea in Revelation? What about adding Spain, or WW2 Germany, or Japan, or the USSR, etc.? The idea here is to give you a thought process to help you understand the ten horns. They are definitely ten leaders or rulers that rule from the fall of political Rome in the fifth century AD until the final empire of the age (see verse 9). You can fill in the blanks yourself.

This is not Antiochus Epiphanes. Many claim that this little horn was Antiochus Epiphanes who conquered Jerusalem and he sacrificed an abomination on the Altar of God. But Judas Maccabees and company defeated him. Afterward the Temple was cleansed and the oblations resumed and lasted until Titus came and burned Jerusalem in 70 AD. The reason this little horn is not Antiochus is because Jesus said that that event pictured here was still in the future. Jesus said, "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:" (Mark 13:14). Jesus said this well after the death of Antiochus. So this abomination could not have been that spoken of by Daniel.

The little horn is depicted "speaking great things". The Hebrew here is a bit more specific. The "great things" can be boastful, self-centered things. It can mean falsely speaking of oneself in high positions of authority and we can extrapolate that it means putting oneself in the place of God, which is blasphemy.

And no, this is not Titus who defiled the altar when he destroyed Jerusalem. He carried away the sacred implements to Rome. The Arch of Titus in Rome has a bas-relief of him carrying off the Sacred Lampstand from the Holy place. But this little horn is not Titus. Preterists will tell you that all events prophesied in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and Revelation all happened in the past and culminated with Titus coming in 70 AD and destroying Jerusalem. Remember that these ten horns are those rulers who rule from Rome until the end of the age. Titus was a tinhorn with a short rule in Rome, but was not one of the greater emperors of Rome. He was a populist who made the people happy by giving them the store. Unfortunately for Rome (and right now for the U.S.) many leaders continued this practice of giving government largess to the population eventually causing the downfall of the empire. Titus died in 81 AD. This little horn in Daniel rules the great World Empire of the end of the age, just before the Ancient of Days comes to judge the world. Therefore this cannot be Titus. This last world empire is known in Revelation as the beast out of the sea and it exists just prior to the Great White Throne Judgment of God. Do not let the Preterists try to convince you that this prophecy in Daniel is now ancient history. It is not true.

This little horn, who speaks "great things" in Daniel 11:36 is none other that the one who speaks blasphemies in Revelation 13:5 (see verse 25, below). In Daniel 11:36 he is called a king who puts himself above God. In Revelation 13 he is the beast out of the Earth and in Revelation 16 and 20, he is called the False Prophet. Paul calls him the man of lawlessness (man of sin in the KJV) in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. Many refer to him as the Antichrist, and though that is not a name given him by the scriptures, it is a common name given to him by many. It is an acceptable name for it can mean one who comes in the place of Christ. The False Prophet certainly does that. See Revelation Segment 12.

It appears as though the last three horns or rulers will succumb to this Little Horn. That may mean that the last three are still in existence in a reduced form when he comes. For example, perhaps he will subdue the U.S., the former U.S.S.R., and China or some such idea. But it is in that vein that he will gain his rule—by subduing those in power when he comes.

What thrones were cast down? All of them. This specifically refers to the ten horns of verses 7 and 8. When the Ancient of Days comes and sits upon His Great White Throne, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them, (Rev 20:11) there will be no thrones, authorities, congresses, parliaments, premiers, etc.; they will have all been cast down. Every knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess Him Lord, even those who hated Him. Compare this picture with the picture of Christ in Revelation 1:13-16. They are one and the same for Jesus said in John 10:30, "I and my Father are one." He also said in Matthew 28:18, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."

God is sitting upon His Great White Throne and is being ministered to by the Heavenly Hosts while those awaiting judgment are standing before the Throne. This, my friends, is a picture of Judgment Day, which takes place before the Great White Throne. Now, did Antiochus see Judgment Day? No. Did Titus? No. Then this is yet future and the Little Horn was neither of these men. The "books" are those books into which the names of the unsaved have been entered. There is only one Book of Life. In it are entered those who are saved. See Rev 20:11-15.

This is the fourth Beast, revived again as a world empire at the end of the age. It is the beast out of the sea in Revelation, the Babylon of the end times. Here it is completely destroyed as we can see in detail in Revelation Chapters 16, 17, and 18. Remember that the ten horns are ten leaders or rulers that rule from Rome until the final empire of the age. After Rome's demise, she was kept alive by the ten horns. To follow this reasoning see Segment 2 and read the several paragraphs there about Rome.

Concerning the first three beasts. The previous verse spoke of the little horn that spoke blasphemies. It was of the fourth beast, the great and terrible beast—Rome. No this verse tells us some more about the beasts other than the fourth.

This verse is retroactive. They, the first three beasts, had dominions, and though their dominions were eventually removed from them, they lived a little while, that is, they lived out their lives, which, from God's perspective, is a little while. They lived out their appointed times (appointed by God) and then passed on. Meanwhile, they had their dominions, which were, like their lives, removed from them. The fourth beast, however, lives on until the Kingdom of God occurs. Rome, the empire, fell in the fifth century AD, but continues in several ways as mentioned above in the notes on Verse 7. It continues until the kingdom of God comes. It is the first beast out of the sea, the False Prophet's kingdom, the final Rome, which is known in Revelation as Babylon.

This final kingdom has its HQ set up in Jerusalem, which is a city on seven hills (Revelation Segment 14). We know that from 2 Thessalonians 2:3b-4 "and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; {4} Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." Antichrist or the man of sin, or the son of perdition, or the false prophet, will sit in the temple of God and claim to be God. That is blasphemy and an abomination. The temple is in Jerusalem and not in Rome. That is why John says in Revelation 17:9, And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth." The wisdom is that he seemingly points to Rome while he actually intends Jerusalem. There are other indications that this city of seven hills is Jerusalem. Daniel 9:26-27 says that the prince (ruler) that will come will set up the abomination of desolation on a wing of the temple or altar (the word "overspreading" in the KJV is a translation of the Hebrew word, kanaph (Strong's 3671), which means wing) in Jerusalem. Revelation tells us also that this beast, who is the false prophet looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon (13:11 & 19:20). So he tries to look like Christ but is actually the dragon, or Satan.

It is very interesting to note that several leaders, including the Pope, want to set up Jerusalem as an international free city. His idea is that an internationally guaranteed "special statue" that will insure Jerusalem's special status as a "sacred city" to the world's three major religions. Here are the Pope's own words: "The Vatican continues to believe that only a special statute, internationally guaranteed, can preserve the sacred character of the Holy City and assure freedom of faith and worship for the faithful." It sounds good, but let us look at the way the Palestinians interpret this. Hassan Abdel Rahman, Palestinian envoy to Washington, said this: "This is a sign from the Pope, who is the highest Christian authority in this world, that he is denying the claim of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem."

The Pope worked out this proposal during his recent visit to the PLO. He did not discuss it with Israel. It is a step toward removing Jerusalem from the control of Israel and making it an international city open and free for all three religions. Israel would loose its sovereignty over Jerusalem with this proposal. When the Pope refers to Christianity, he means Roman Catholicism. This would have the effect of giving the Vatican control over Jerusalem. And since the Roman Empire is kept alive in the guise of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church, this would make Jerusalem a second capitol of Rome. It is a step toward the Beast and the False Prophet. The real problem here is that the worship of Allah is idolatrous. Because of his statement above, the Pope may be one of those religious who believes there are many paths to God, including Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, etc., etc. This is just not so. The ONLY way to God is through Jesus Christ.

Daniel is given a vision of the future. This is Jesus Christ upon His return to earth. Like we were told in Acts 1:11: "...this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Daniel is seeing the same vision that John saw and recorded in Revelation 14:14: "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man..." In Daniel's vision, Christ is in the presence of the Father, while in Revelation, He has just come out of the presence of the Father.

This has its equivalent in Revelation 11:15 "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." A kingdom is a dominion. Kingdom means dominion of the king. This verse proves that Daniel is given a vision of the end of the age, when Christ returns and the old earth is destroyed and the new created. Modern scholars would like us top believe that all of these prophecies in Daniel were fulfilled by Antiochus and Titus. Not so according to this verse.

Daniel did not understand what he had seen so he asked an angel to explain it to him. The "one that stood by" could be none other than an angel in that he was present in Heaven at God's Throne. The angel explained.

We understand this. We discussed these kingdoms in previous verses.

Who are the saints? God's chosen. Who are God's chosen, His elect? They are those who believe on Jesus Christ as Savior, both Jew and Gentile. Under the Old Covenant, the saints were the Israelites who kept the law, or made a concentrated effort to do so. The New Covenant wiped out all the old ordinances and replaced them with Christ. He shed His blood as atonement once for all. No longer was the high priest required to make atonement for the sins of Israel. The Old Covenant was strictly for Israelites and proselytes; The New is for everyone, Jew, Israelite, and Gentile. His saints are those Israelites, Jews, and Gentiles who are saved by Jesus' blood. That means His saints are the church. Christians, God's saints, will eternally occupy (KJV: possess) the kingdom in the age (KJV: world) to come.

We have already seen that this fourth beast represents Rome—Rome during the Christian Era, and Rome at the coming of the Kingdom of God. The ten horns are the ten kingdoms that rule after the fall of political Rome. We also note that the little horn is the "antichrist" or man of sin, son of perdition, or false prophet.

This is the same event spoken of by John in Revelation 13:5-7: "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. {6} And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. {7} And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." The little horn speaks blasphemies against God. He claims to be Christ, sitting in the most holy place. He then makes war with the saints. Do not be fooled by the dispensationalists who claim that this refers to the Jews because the church has already been raptured. These saints are God's people, who are saved by the blood of Christ, which includes Israelites and Gentiles. The saints are the church. They are here on earth when the Antichrist rules. This says he prevailed against them or he overcomes them. I thought that God would protect us from him?

What is actually happening here is that the saints have no earthly power to stand up against this antichrist. He will prevail in that he will force them to flee to the wilderness where they will be cared for a time, times, and a half time. He thinks he is winning but he is only succeeding in forcing them out of society into the wilderness. This may also be allegorical. It may simply mean that he wins the public relations battle against Christians. And he is already doing that in the Western nations at the present. The wilderness may simply mean they are relegated to the fringes of society, and that is also already happening in Western nations today. BUT:

Then his persecution of the church stops. He only gets away with it for a little while. This is the tribulation of the saints that will end with the destruction of Satan. When Christ returns and the saints reign with Him, Satan will be relegated to the abyss and later cast into the lake of fire.

These were discussed in Verses 7 & 8.

Speaking great words against the most High is uttering blasphemies as we are told of him in Revelation 13:5. This phrase wear out the saints does not mean they will be worn out physically, but mentally, for that is the definition of the Hebrew word belah, to mentally afflict. He will attempt to woo them to him through deception, wearing on them mentally. That is not to say that it will be easy to reject him. His argument will be compelling. But those who are truly saved and truly in God's will and diligently study the Word, will not succumb.

There are several Biblical ways to look at this changing of the times and the laws. God Almighty may do this as He will. This little horn is attempting to appear to be God. That is what antichrist means, in the place of Christ. He will cause many to "depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; {2} Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; {3} Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." (1 Timothy 4:1-3) This is certainly changing the laws. Note how this fits many of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. They have forbidden their priests to marry and at one time they caused all Catholics to abstain from meats on Friday. But that is not in view here. What is in view here is the reign of the Beast and the False Prophet (both are epithets for antichrist and some say they are the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope—I am not saying that). And he causes all to worship him and take his mark, thus changing the laws and customs of the world. We must also surmise that he will change holidays, religious observance dates, and Jewish feast days. He will most likely claim other days to celebrate him. In fact, when the two witnesses are killed a new Christmas will be proclaimed. People will give gifts in celebration of the deaths of those witnesses. One can imagine other things he will do. He will overthrow many, if not most, of the world's customs.

A time, times and the dividing of time basically means three and one-half years. That is the same amount of time recorded in Revelation. The word rendered "time" is iddan, which means a year. Evidently this wearing of the saints will go on for 3½ years. But we are told that this time is shortened for the sake of the elect in Matthew 24:22. Some have suggested, and with good cause, that this time is shortened to five months based on the average life-cycle of the locust because Satan's tormentors are shown as locusts in Revelation chapter nine.

This refers to removing his power. His power is removed when Christ harvests the earth and then returns with the saints and by the sword of His mouth destroys the kingdoms of the Antichrist. After this the end of the age is ushered in and a new heaven and earth appear. Revelation 14-20.

Summed up nicely in Revelation 19-22. The saints will reign with Christ a thousand years. Satan will be released a little while and again, many will follow him. Christ will then defeat him and then the heavens and earth will be renewed and the New Jerusalem will descend and the saints will live with Yehovah there in eternity. Read about this in the Quick Reference to Revelation.

Daniel had not fully grasped all of this and he was still pondering it. During this time it was evident on his face that he was in deep thought, but he told no one what he was thinking about.

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NOTE: A revelation is an uncovering, unveiling, or revealing. The Greek for revelation is apokalupsis, from which we get our word apocalypse. The Greek literally means to take off the cover or to disclose. In English, the word apocalypse has taken on a different connotation, signifying the end of the world. It is sometimes used synonymously with the word dire. When something is considered apocalyptic, it usually has to do with dire straits or the end of the world. But its real meaning or denotation is disclosure.