Part 5 of the Mark of the Beast Series

Please pray before reading this article and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth.

In The King Who Saw the Future, we discussed how God gave a dream to a king which ended up being a prophecy. This dreamed spanned the whole time of this Earth from the time of Ancient Babylon (about 600 B.C.) until the second coming of Christ. Before we move on, let’s get a little recap and and address some things you should have picked up from the previous article.

Recap

  1. King Nebuchadnezzar, a Babylonian King, was given a dream by God that represents different kingdoms across the span of time. Fortunately, he forgot this dream.
  2. Daniel, an Israelite and captive of Babylon, was given the dream and the interpretation by God to prove God’s authority and power as well as to uncover the false religions.
  3. The dream was basically a statue of a man and his body parts had different elements as follows:
    1. The head was made of gold. – Represented by Babylon
    2. The chest and arms, silver. – Represented by Medo-Persia
    3. Belly and thighs, bronze. – Represented by Greece
    4. Legs of iron. – Represented by Rome
    5. Feet, partly of iron and partly of clay. – Represent by Rome after it was divided.
  4. The Statue was then destroyed by a Rock “cut without hands” which replaced it and “filled the Earth” – Representing the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

What can we glean from this information?

  1. The Bible is a book inspired by our Creator (God) which has revealed world events well in advance.
  2. If we were to measure up where we are in time, we would see that we are right before Jesus returns and sets up His kingdom.
  3. The book of Daniel is a prophetic book and historical narrative combined in one.

The Kingdom of Our Time 

And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

Dan 2:40

If you noticed, we are in the time of the fourth kingdom. In the next verse, it shows that the 4th kingdom was never actually destroyed like the others, it was divided.

And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

Dan 2:41

Considering we are in the time of the fourth kingdom, wouldn’t you want to know more about it and what it’s role is in Biblical prophecy?

Daniel 7 does exactly that. You see, if you were to carefully study the book of Daniel, you’ll notice that the first vision in Daniel 2 is just the big picture. It’s the overall timeline from the time of Daniel until the end of the world. However, as you go into the other chapters, more details are given in specific visions. The stark contrast is that the first vision was actually a dream given to King Nebuchadnezzar. It used symbols different from the rest of the book. The rest of the visions were given to Daniel. Thus, they are consistent with their symbology. In fact, the book of Revelation and the rest of the Bible stays consistent with the symbology given to Daniel and the prophets.

As we dig into Daniel 7 to find out more about the fourth kingdom. You’ll notice that we will be defining different symbols as given in the Bible. Let the Bible interpret itself. Prophecy came not by the will of man but by God’s Spirit (2 Pe 1:21) and there is no private (or exclusive) interpretation of it (2 Pe 1:20). This means that the Bible will explain all the symbols contained in it. For a crash course on prophecy visit this article.

If you were to read Daniel 7, you’d notice that there is a vision given to Daniel with a pattern similar to the dream of the king. Here are the components:

  • Dan 7:2 Daniel sees a great sea and the “winds” were tumultuous
  • Dan 7:3 Four “beasts” rise from this sea and they were all different
  • Dan 7:5 The first was a lion with eagle’s wings
  • Dan 7:5 The second was a bear which was hunched on one side and had 3 ribs in its mouth
  • Dan 7:6 The third was a leopard with four wings and four heads
  • Dan 7:7 The fourth was a “dreadful and terrible” beast with iron teeth
  • Dan 7:8 This fourth beast had 10 horns originally but a little one came up after the first 10 and three of the 10 were “plucked up by the roots”

There’s a few things you should have noticed immediately.

  1. There are 4 original beasts which are comparable to the 4 original elements in the statue of Daniel 2.
  2. The fourth beast has iron teeth similar to the legs of iron.
  3. If you read the verses, you would have also noticed that the fourth beast in Daniel 7 does the same thing is the 4th kingdom in Daniel 2. It is described as a kingdom that “breaketh in pieces” (Dan 2:40 and Dan 7:7).
  4. There are ten toes in the feet of the statue (Dan 2) and there are ten original horns in the 4th Beast of Daniel 7.

Now that we know this is just a repeat of the dream in Daniel 2, we can already ascertain who’s who in “wazoo“.

  1. Lion with eagle’s wings – Babylon
    1. If you were to research Babylon, you’d find that was the symbol of their nation.
    2. You can find the Bible describing Babylon as a lion in Jer 4:6-7
    3. You can find the Bible describing Babylon as an eagle in Hab 1:6-8
  2. Hunched bear with 3 ribs – Medo-Persia
    1. The bear is hunched on one side signifying the imbalance of power of the Medo-Persians.
    2. In Dan 8:3, Daniel sees a ram with one horn higher than the other just like the bear. In Dan 8:20 the ram is described as Medo-Persia.
    3. In Dan 8:4, Daniel sees the ram pushing westward, southward and northward signifying the 3 directions the Medo-Persian empire was conquering. This is consistent with the 3 ribs in the bear’s mouth.
    4. History and the Bible (Dan 5:1-5 and Dan 5:25-28) both concur that Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians.
  3. Leopard with 4 heads and four wings – Greece
    1. Greece conquered Medo-Persia in Dan 8:5-7, 21
    2. Greece came after Medo-Persia in Dan 2’s statue.
    3. History confirms Greece conquered the Medes and Persians and was split into 4 main kingdoms after the death of Alexander the great.
  4. “Dreadful and terrible” beast – Rome
    1. By process of elimination, as outlined with the Daniel 2 Prophecy, we can ascertain Rome as this fourth beast.
    2. It has iron teeth and the legs in Daniel 2’s statue was a kingdom of iron.
    3. Dan 2:40 and Dan 7:7 have similar descriptions and they both talk about a 4th kingdom.
    4. History confirms Rome conquered the known world after Greece.
  5. 10 Horns – 10 Divisions of the Western Roman Empire
    1. Just the kingdom was divided in Dan 2:41 into 10 toes after the 4th kingdom, 10 horns come out of the head of the 4th beast.

Even though we used analytical thinking we can’t fully accept that a beast represents a kingdom until we prove it from the Bible. We are human and prone to mistakes so we must prove it from the Bible and the Bible, alone. The book of Proverbs says that we must not lean on our own understanding but trust in the Lord (Pro 3:5) so we must look to Him for wisdom. The beautiful thing is we don’t have to stray too far.

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

Daniel 7:17

We see the beasts being interpreted as kings.  But is that the only interpretation we have?

Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

Daniel 7:23

We see clearly that a beast can represent a “king” or a “kingdom“. In the Bible, they are synonymous. You can’t have a king without a kingdom and neither can you have a kingdom without a king (I was told if a kingdom has a queen then this doesn’t apply…smh).

Now that we have interpreted the overall concept in this vision given to Daniel, let’s look at some of the amplifying details we are given in chapter 7 that weren’t in chapter 2.

If you’ve noticed, after Daniel sees a beast with 10 horns, he notices a little horn coming up.

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.

Dan 7:8

Daniel said he “considered” the horns. I believe, as he’s seeing this dreadful scene, he notices this little horn growing and that it has eyes and a mouth, which draws his attention. If we stay consistent with the idea that this vision is a parallel of Daniel 2, we can already discern that the 10 horns are synonymous with the 10 toes. Thus concluding that the horns are symbols of kingdoms. However, let’s not take our own word for it. Let the Bible interpret itself.

And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

Dan 7:24

The Little Horn

Ok, so we’ve got our groundwork completed. Let’s dig into this little horn because it’s clearly important in this prophecy. First, let’s look at the verses that specifically address this little horn.

“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.” 

“And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.”

“And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”

Dan 7:8, 20, 24, 25

Ok I know we’ve already gone over a lot and there seems to be a mountain of information here but, bear with me, this part is crucial to our understanding of the rest of prophecy.

What we are now going to do is pull out some characteristics of this “little horn” so we can ascertain what “kingdom” it is. Unfortunately, the training wheels have been taken off and we are no longer given the exact name of the kingdom so we have to do some investigative work.

Characteristics of the “little horn”:

  1. Dan 7:8 – Considered a “little” kingdom.
  2. Dan 7:8 – Comes up among the ten divisions of the Western Roman Empire.
  3. Dan 7:24 – “Plucks up”, or destroys, three kingdoms/kings on its rise to power.
  4. Dan 7:24 – This kingdom is diverse, or rather, different than the other kingdoms.
  5. Dan 7:8 – There is a man as this kingdom’s figurehead. Being that this kingdom is different, we should take considerable note of this fact.
  6. Dan 7:24 – This kingdom rose to power after Rome divided if we are keeping consistent with Dan 2.
  7. Dan 7:25 – This kingdom will “speak words against the Most High“. Basically, it will blaspheme God. We will give more evidence to this when we study Rev 13 but we can find a hint in Rev 13:5.
  8. Dan 7:25 – This kingdom will think to change times and laws. More importantly, God’s times and laws.
  9. Dan 7:25 – This kingdom “wears out the saints”. In other terms, it persecutes God’s people.
  10. Dan 7:25 – This kingdom will be in power for “3 and a half times”. We will have to do a study on this but basically, that converts to 1260 years.

Before I continue, I’d like to address that this prophecy is about a system and not individual people. The Israelites, as a nation, were lost but that didn’t forbid individual people from being saved as long as they came out from under that system. God doesn’t save groups of people, He saves individuals based of His perfect judgment (Jer 17:10). However, once we are revealed the truth we must act upon it (Heb 10:26 Rev 18:4). Finally, we shouldn’t be afraid or resistant to the truth because it sets us free (John 8:32)!

We will now discover that this symbol of the “little horn” fits the description of the Roman Catholic Church. Let’s stack up the descriptions against them.

  1. Little kingdom – The Vatican is the smallest country in the World.
  2. Comes up among the 10 divisions of Rome – The Roman Catholic Church happens to be based in the Vatican in Rome, Italy. This so happens to be among the 10 divisions of the Western Roman Empire. As shown in the previous article, the divisions of the Western Roman Empire are none other than the nations in Western Europe. Italy is right among them.
  3. The Pope influenced the destruction of the three horns (Heruli, Ostrogoths, Vandals). See here for more info.
  4. The Vatican is the only nation with a religious figure that is also the highest leader. Even the Ancient Israelites had a king and a high priest. Thus the Vatican is diverse, or different.
  5. The Pope is the figurehead of the Vatican.
  6. The Roman Catholic Papacy rose to power after the division of the Western Roman Empire.
  7. The Roman Catholic church speaks words against God. Here are some quotes from them.
    1. If the pope is the Vicar of Christ, can the pope ever be wrong? Yes, the pope can be wrong. However, when he speaks ex cathedra, we believe he speaks without error.
      What does ex cathedra mean? Ex cathedra is a Latin phrase that means “from the chair.” When the pope speaks ex cathedra, he is speaking on matters regarding faith and morals. In these cases, we believe he is without error.
      Quoted from their website.
    2. “But since We (they even capitalize their pronoun) hold upon this Earth the place of God Almighty.”
      Quoted from “The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII“
    3. Were the Redeemer to descend into a church, and sit in a confessional to administer the sacrament of penance, and a priest to sit in another confessional, Jesus would say over each penitent, ” Ego te absolve,” the priest would likewise say over each of his penitents, “Ego te absolve,” and the penitents of each would be equally absolved. How great the honor that a king would confer on a subject whom he should empower to rescue from prison as many as he pleased! But far greater is the power that the eternal Father has given to Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ has given to his priests, to rescue from hell not only the bodies but also
      Quoted from “Dignity and duties of the priest : or, Selva ; a collection of materials for ecclesiastical retreats. Rule of life and spiritual rules“
  8. The Roman Catholic Church hired the Jesuit Order to do many underhanded and secret activities, one of which was trying to change the interpretation of “times” or prophecies. Francisco Ribera, a Jesuit hired by the Catholic Church, came up with the futurist view of prophecy and Luis De Alcazar came up with a Prehistoric view…which also leads people to believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the New Jerusalem. Quoted from this website.
    The Roman Catholic Church also changed the commandments relating to idolatry (Commandment 2) and the Sabbath (Commandment 4). They completely removed Commandment 2 which relates to bowing down to statues. They also changed the 4th Commandment to read “Lord’s Day” vs Seventh Day and even “thought” to move the Sabbath from the true seventh day to the first day of the week. However, God’s faithful Christians kept the true seventh-day Sabbath throughout history. Finally, they split up the 10th Commandment into two commandments to ensure that their altered set of Commandments still add up to ten. They boldly display the Biblical Commandments stacked up against their own here.
  9. The Roman Catholic conducted “Holy Wars” and “Inquisitions” to root and kill anyone who wouldn’t adhere to their blasphemous teachings. This included mainly Christians who were true to the worship of Jesus Christ. Without going into too much detail, let’s see the defense Catholics give for their participation in the Dark Ages.
    1. The Church has nothing to fear from the truth. No account of foolishness, misguided zeal, or cruelty by Catholics can undo the divine foundation of the Church, though, admittedly, these things are stumbling blocks to Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
      Quoted from their website.
    2. The Catholic Church banned and locked up Bibles so that the common people could not understand the truth for themselves.
  10. This time prophecy was fulfilled from 538 AD when church gained power until 1798 when “In 1798, upon his refusal to renounce his temporal power, [Pope] Pius was taken prisoner and transported to France. He died one year later in Valence.” From Wikipedia.

So, there you have it. The Roman Catholic Church/Vatican/Papacy is the organization that, fits best, the description of the little horn in Daniel Chapter 7. Stay tuned for the next post where we will address how to convert Biblical time prophecies so that we can see how the Roman Catholic Papacy fits the tenth characteristic best.

Furthermore, when we study Revelation 12 and 13, we will notice that they fit the description of the beast. Everyone knows about the mark of the beast but very few people talk about what the beast actually is. As we already have learned, a beast represents a king or a kingdom and the beast is none other than the Catholic church (when they receive their worldwide power again).

How to Convert Biblical Prophetic Time (Part 6)

Comments are closed.