The Little Horn Power
– Daniel 7:1-12
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Beginning
Point in Time: About 605 B.C.
Ending Point in Time: Second
Coming of Jesus
Summary:
The essence of this prophecy can be
summarized in four sentences. God has
linked events in Heaven with events
on Earth so that we can determine our
chronological position within His
expansive plans. Therefore, the fall
of the papacy on Earth (1798) is
synchronized with the exaltation of
Jesus in Heaven. After Jesus receives
sovereign power, He will open the
books of record (1844) and judge the
dead. Afterwards, the papacy will
recover and speak boastfully until it
is destroyed with fire.
Introduction:
This vision covers the same time span
as the vision in Prophecy 1. This
vision amplifies Daniel 2 using a
technique called “repetition and
enlargement.” When this prophecy
is properly aligned with Daniel 2,
Daniel 8, and Luke 3, it is easy to
demonstrate from Scripture that the
four beasts in this vision represent
the chronological empires of Babylon,
Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome.
Secular history also affirms the
chronological progression of these
empires. Because the Bible and
secular history are in harmony
and because Prophecy 1 and Prophecy 2
are in harmony, we have a prophetic
foundation that is “rock
solid.” Some people have trouble
with the claim that this prophecy
represents four world empires because
they believe the empires of Babylon,
Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome were
not world empires. For example, the
empire of Babylon did not rule over
China or India or Africa in its day.
Therefore, they maintain that Babylon
was not a true global empire. The
problem with this viewpoint is that
the book of Daniel deals with the
world as it pertains to the
advancement of God’s truth and
His people. The book of Daniel does
not include the whole world until the
whole world becomes involved with
God’s truth and His people! If
you study maps of these ancient
empires you will discover that
Babylon was swallowed by a larger
empire, and Medo-Persia was swallowed
by a larger empire, and Rome was also
swallowed by yet a larger empire (the
feet of the metal man represents
Europe). This geographically
expanding progression of kingdoms
continues until the entire world is
involved. The kingdom represented by
the toes in Daniel 2 is the first
kingdom in this prophecy that
geographically includes the whole
world.
Prophecy 2
adds several new elements to the
information provided in Prophecy 1.
For example, this prophecy inserts a
period of 1,260 years into the
kingdom represented by the feet of
the metal man. This huge block of
time is important to the final
generation because it forces this
prophecy out of antiquity in one
giant step. This prophecy teaches
that 1798 is a very important year,
both in Heaven and on Earth. Further,
this prophecy proves that God’s
lengthy plan to destroy the metal man
and establish His kingdom on Earth is
still on track. Think about this:
Even though this prophecy spans more
than 2,600 years, it contains an end
time nugget of information that will
prove to be indispensable when the
final generation arrives.
The Sequence:
DANIEL 7:1-3
In the first
year of Belshazzar king of Babylon
Daniel had a dream and visions of his
head upon his bed: then he wrote the
dream, and told the sum of the
matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw
in my vision by night, and, behold,
the four winds of the heaven strove
upon the great sea. And four great
beasts came up from the sea, diverse
one from another.
{1} In
the first year of Belshazzar (the
last king of Babylon) I was about
eighty-five years of age. I received
a vision one night and this is the
substance of my dream:
{2} In my vision I looked, and I
saw the four winds of Heaven churning
up the Mediterranean Sea.
{3} As I watched, four enormous
beasts, each different from the
others, came up out of the sea.
DANIEL 7:4
The first was
like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I
beheld till the wings thereof were
plucked, and it was lifted up from
the earth, and made stand upon the
feet as a man, and a man's heart was
given to it.
{4} The
first beast (Babylon) looked like a
lion, but it had powerful wings like
an eagle which allowed it to swiftly
catch and devour its prey. As I
watched, the lion’s wings were
torn off and it could no longer fly
and conquer its neighbors. The lion
then focused on fortifying his
kingdom. He paid no attention to
warnings about arrogance and
self-sufficiency. Over time, the lion
became pompous and disgusting in
God’s sight even though
Nebuchadnezzar finally recognized the
sovereign authority of the Most High
God.[1]
DANIEL 7:5
And behold
another beast, a second, like to a
bear, and it raised up itself on one
side, and it had three ribs in the
mouth of it between the teeth of it:
and they said thus unto it, Arise,
devour much flesh.
{5} Then,
I saw a second beast which looked
like a bear. As I watched, I noticed
that one shoulder was higher than the
other.
This feature
indicates that one side of this
kingdom (the Persians) would ascend
higher than the other (the Medes) and
“shoulder” greater
responsibility.[2]
When the bear
came up out of the sea, it had three
ribs between its teeth.
These ribs
represented the carcasses of Lydia,
Egypt, and Babylon – three
nations which resisted the
bear’s quest for dominion.
The Most High
God told the bear, “Rise up, eat
your fill of flesh, and rule the
world” and it did. For awhile,
the bear could not be stopped.
DANIEL 7:6
After this I
beheld, and lo another, like a
leopard, which had upon the back of
it four wings of a fowl; the beast
had also four heads; and dominion was
given to it.
{6} After
this, I saw a beast that looked
something like a leopard, but it had
four great wings like a bird. Because
it had four wings, it could travel
farther and faster than the lion. It
was given power over the bear and it
subdued its enemy very quickly. This
beast (Greece) also had four heads. I
later learned this empire would be
divided into four sectors and each
sector would have its own king.
DANIEL 7:7
After this I
saw in the night visions, and behold
a fourth beast, dreadful and
terrible, and strong exceedingly; and
it had great iron teeth: it devoured
and brake in pieces, and stamped the
residue with the feet of it: and it
was diverse from all the beasts that
were before it; and it had ten horns.
{7} After
seeing the lion, bear, and leopard, a
fourth beast stood before me. This
beast was unusual, terrifying, and
very powerful. This beast did not
resemble any animal I had seen
before. It had large iron teeth that
crushed and devoured its victims. It
utterly destroyed its enemies as it
subdued them, so that nothing
remained. This monster was ruthless
in its conquest and it had ten horns
protruding from its head.
DANIEL 7:8
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 man, and a mouth
speaking great things.
{8} While
I was thinking about the ten horns, a
little horn began to grow out of the
monster’s head. The little horn
grew up among the ten horns and as
the little horn grew in size, it
uprooted threeof the original ten
horns. The little horn continued to
grow in strength. It received power
and authority to rule over the seven
remaining horns. The little horn
(actually, the eighth horn) had eyes
and a mouth like a man. The eyes
indicated that it could see
(comprehend) things the other horns
could not understand and its mouth
spoke boastfully. The eighth horn was
filled with arrogance and
self-exaltation.[3] It
claimed to speak for God and the
other horns acquiesced to its
authority.
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