Daniel was one of the greatest prophets that ever lived. God showed him many things that would happen in the future, including the empires that would swallow up Israel in their quest for world domination. He was also permitted to look at the coming of the Messiah's kingdom and the period of Great Tribulation, also known as Daniel's Seventieth Week. Without Daniel's prophecies, many things in the Book of Revelation would be unclear. So a true study of the Book of Revelation and Bible prophecy cannot be achieved without also examining the Book of Daniel. Let's start our examination of Daniel by looking the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar.
King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of an Image
Daniel, chapter 2, speaks of the King having a dream which troubled his spirit and kept him from sleeping. He demanded of the sorcerers and magicians that they tell him what he dreamed and also the interpretation of the dream, but they could not. But Daniel prayed, and God gave him in a night vision the dream which the King had and the interpretation also. The King saw in his dream a human image. The head was made of fine gold, his chest and arms were made of silver, his belly and thighs were made of brass, his legs were made of iron, and his feet were made partly of iron and clay. A stone had been cut without human hands which hit the image and crushed it into powder so that the wind carried the fragments away. Then the stone grew and became a great mountain which filled the whole earth. Daniel then gave the King the dream's interpretation.
"Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of heaven, hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory," Daniel cried before the King, "Thou art this head of gold." After the gold kingdom, Daniel said another kingdom of silver, inferior to the first, shall rise and rule over the earth. Then a third kingdom of brass shall rule over the earth. Afterwards, a fourth kingdom with the strength of iron shall have earthly rule. Then in the future will come a fifth kingdom represented by the toes which were part iron and part clay. Daniel said that this meant the kingdom will be partly strong and partly broken. Iron and clay will not mix nor cleave to each other, but remains separate. Then another kingdom will come, Daniel explained, a kingdom set up by God which will never be destroyed nor left to others; a stone not made with hands. It will break in pieces and consume the other kingdoms, and this kingdom will stand forever!
The first kingdom, the head of gold, represented Babylon over which Nebuchadnezzar was King. All of the other kingdoms represented in the image were future kingdoms as Daniel gave the interpretation. After Nebuchadnezzar, his son Belshazzar become king of Babylon. Belshazzar and his subjects, during a night of partying, took the vessels of God from the temple and used them to drink from during their drunken orgies, during which they praised the gods of gold and silver and wood and stone. Then Belshazzar saw a vision, a man's hand writing upon the wall of his palace the words, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. This vision scared the king, so much that his knees shook. Like his father, he called for the magicians and sorcerers to interpret his vision and the writing, but they could not. Then Daniel came and gave Belshazzar the interpretation (Daniel 5: 22-31). God has numbered your kingdom, Belshazzar, and finished it. You have been weighed in the balance and have been found wanting. Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians. That very night, Belshazzar was killed as the kingdom was invaded and Darius the Median took the throne. The second kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the image, the arms and chest of silver, represented the Medo-Persian empire; the arms representing the two nations coming together.
The Third Kingdom and Daniel's Vision of a Goat
Daniel saw in a vision (chapter 7) a ram with two horns. Both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the highest horn came up last. The ram pushed westward and northward and southward, and no beast could stand before him. The ram was able to do whatever he wanted and became very great. While Daniel pondered this vision of the ram, a he-goat came from the west without touching the ground, having a notable horn between his eyes. And the he-goat charged into the ram with two horns in the fury of his power and cast him down to the ground and stomped on him, breaking his horns. The he-goat then became very great, but his notable horn had been broken, and in its place grew four smaller horns. Out of one of these four horns, came forth a little horn which grew exceedingly great. He cast down some of the stars from heaven to the ground and stomped on them, and he magnified himself, taking away the daily sacrifice in the temple and casting down the sanctuary. As Daniel thought on his vision and pondered its meaning, an angel came to give him the interpretation. The ram which you saw, the angel said (chapter 8:20), is the king of Grecia, and the great horn between his eyes is the first king, from which four kings shall rise.
This third kingdom of brass was the kingdom of Alexander the Great, ruler of the empire of Greece. Daniel's vision of the ram and the he-goat showed a ram with two horns, one higher than the other, before which no one could stand, and the ram became very great and pushed north, south and west. The ram represented the kingdom of silver, the Medo-Persian empire, a merger of two nations, and one horn was greater than the other. It was Darius, king of the Medes, which ruled and not Cyrus, the king of the Persians. From the west came a he-goat, so fast he did not touch the ground, and completely destroyed the ram. The he-goat had a "notable" horn between his eyes, which was broken in the conflict. In its place, there arose four horns to take its place. The "notable" horn represented Alexander the Great, the swift and terrible conqueror. When Alexander died, the empire was divided up among his four generals: Cassander took Greece and Macedon; Lysimachus took Asia Minor or the area of present day Turkey; Seleucus took the eastern parts of the empire which included present day Iraq, Iran and Syria; and Ptolemy took Egypt. It is out of one of these four horns that the "little horn," or the Antichrist will come, magnifying himself and growing very great.
The Roman Empire and the Fifth Kingdom
The fourth kingdom, the legs of iron in Nebuchadnezzar's image, represented the Roman Empire which overtook the empire of Greece in its decay. The two legs represented the eastern and western divisions of the empire. The Romans' rule was strong and dominant, oppressing Israel during Christ's earthly ministry; hence the kingdom if iron. The feet of iron and clay represents the Roman Empire being divided in the future into ten kingdoms (ten toes), this being the Fifth Kingdom. The clay probably refers in general to people. The ten kingdoms each have a government mixed with iron and clay, possibly referring to a democratic or socialist type of government. These ten kingdoms are commonly referred to as the "Revised Roman Empire". However, these ten kingdoms are not one empire, for they are ten separate kingdoms with ten kings. The stone, not made with hands, smites the feet of the image, crushing them and causing all the kingdoms of man to crumble and fall.
The Stone Not Made with Hands
The last kingdom to rule the earth will be the kingdom of Christ. The phrase "not made with hands" means that the action is that of God alone without any human intervention or contribution. Jesus is called a Stone or Cornerstone in the scriptures. "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone" (Ephesians 2:19; See also Psalms 118:22 and Matthew 21:44). This Stone will smite the ten kingdoms at His second coming with the saints at the Battle of Armageddon, destroying all of man's kingdoms, and establishing His own.
Daniel's Vision of the Four Beasts, and the Little Horn from Among the Ten Kingdoms
Chapter
7 of Daniel speaks of Daniel's vision of four beasts which came up out
of the sea. The first beast was like a lion and had the wings of eagles.
It stood up like a man and had a man's heart. The second beast was like
a bear which raised itself up on one side, and held three ribs in its
mouth. The third beast was like a leopard which had four wings and four
heads, and dominion was given to it. The fourth beast was great and
terrible, very strong, with iron teeth. It was different from all the
beasts that were before it. It had ten horns, and from among the horns
came a little horn which plucked up three of the other horns as it came
up. The little horn had eyes like a man and had a mouth speaking great
things. In the interpretation of the dream following, it was explained
that the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise.
Another shall rise after them (the little horn) and shall be different
from the first, and he shall subdue three of the horns or kings. He
will speak great words against the most High, will change laws, and
will make war against the saints of God alive during the tribulation.
Then Jesus will come to destroy him and set up His kingdom.
"Behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,
and came to the Ancient of days," Daniel said, "and they brought
him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and
a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:13-14).
Daniel's vision of the four beasts is similar in meaning to Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the image. The lion represented Babylon. It stood up like a man and had a man's heart, representing the weakness and failure of Nebuchadnezzar and Balshazzar who angered God and caused Babylon to fall. The bear represented the Medo-Persian empire. It raised itself up on one side, indicating the greater influence and rule of the Medians. The three ribs in its mouth represented the conquests of Lydian, Babylon and Egypt. The leopard represented Alexander the Great, its four wings indicating Alexander's swiftness in conquering. The leopard had four heads referring to the empire of Greece being divided into four smaller divisions by Alexander's generals. The fourth beast which was strong with teeth of iron represented the Roman Empire. The beast had ten horns representing the ten kingdoms which shall arise in the territory of the old Roman Empire, among whom came a little horn with eyes like a man and a mouth speaking great things. As the little horn arose, three of the other horns were plucked up and subdued by the little horn. The Antichrist will conquer three of the ten kingdoms as he rises to power. Then the other seven will join the new alliance falling under the Antichrist's umbrella of dominion, and forming a revised Roman Empire made up of ten nations.
From Where will the Antichrist Come?
From Daniel's visions, we see the Antichrist, or little horn, will arise after the ten kingdoms of the old Roman Empire have been established. From one of these ten, the little horn will rise up. In his vision of the he-goat, the little horn is said to come from among one of the four horns of the goat which replaced the notable horn. So, the Antichrist will come from one of the divisions created after Alexander died and his kingdom was divided. Many scholars and students of prophecy feel that the Antichrist will come from either Syria, Greece, Turkey or Egypt. Each of these states is part of the old Roman Empire and the Grecian Empire. There are over 20 nations in the territory of the old Roman Empire at this moment. If there are to be ten kingdoms, then there will possibly be a war (or some very slick negotiating) to form the ten new kingdoms, after which the Antichrist will arise. If we believe that Jesus could come at any moment, then we must all believe that the Antichrist is alive on the earth, waiting for the moment he is to be revealed. He will be a great orator, speaking great things, and exalting himself above God. Later in our study, we will see that he will bring a false peace to Israel and the Middle East, at least for the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation.
. <