Introduction.
The world´s history from the time of Daniel until the second coming of Christ.
As I said, the book of Daniel is perhaps the most important book in the Bible we can read to be able to understand history, because here we get the history of the world and how it affects God’s faithful people. It gives us a perspective that spans a long period, from the year 605 BC. and to the second coming of Christ. We are taken on a journey through the upheavals that are taking place in the Middle East and Europe that have a direct impact on God’s people.
The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of no effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Psalm 33,10-11
The prophecies in the book of Daniel must be seen as a unit which are gradually expanded and deepened. The core of the prophecies, which we find in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2, is a prophecy that Daniel interprets for him. Each of the relevant chapters that follow Chapter 2 tells about this story and gives us new information that complements the previous ones and builds up a homogeneous story that gives us sure clues about who is who in the story.
There are many who throughout history have asked the question of whether God has taken a vacation or asked why he is so far away and hiding. See Psalm 10,1; 44,24-25; 88,15. The book of Daniel gives us answers, and that God is present we see here in chapter 2 where God addresses a pagan king to make known to the world what he will do in the future. God has always been present, and since the fall, He has called on people to make them turn from their evil ways. He has done everything possible for us to come home to our Creator. The abyss that man opened between himself and God when Adam and Eve sinned against God, God himself, the Creator, built a bridge over in the form of a cross, when Jesus died in our place as the Lamb of God.
Daniel chapter 2
A glimpse of the future – Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29,11
The book of Daniel begins with the siege of Jerusalem by the king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in the first verses of chapter 1. Finally, God gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. In other words, it was a divine intervention that led Babylon to conquer Judah and Jerusalem. This happened in the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign. Jehoiakim became king of Judah in the year 607, which is also his first year of reign. The story of Daniel’s book begins in other words in the year 605 BC.
This story, outlined here in the first verses, is also a picture of the cosmic conflict that takes place in the spiritual world, and of which we are a part. We are really in the middle of this conflict which began in heaven when Lucifer would not content himself with being the highest in rank of all creatures. Through this book we will see that it is Satan who is behind all the evil and misery in the world, and that he uses all the earthly powers he must in his attempt to get all people to turn away from the Creator.
In our time we encounter the same problems that the Jews did in Babylon in Daniel’s time. Because of all the evil in the world, most people either believe that God does not exist or that God does not care what happens to the people he created, and there are many who say that God has turned away from us and that he do not cares what happens to us. They even blame God for the evil that is happening in the world. But here, in the second chapter of the book of Daniel, we see a God who cares about man, and because the Jews had fallen from Him, God chose to use a pagan king to make His will for the future known to those who were in captivity in Babylon. And as in Daniel’s time, God still cares about what happens to us today. We see this through the prophecies that God has given us throughout history and that have been fulfilled. We can therefore take it for granted that God will fulfil all the remaining prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled, and the common denominator is that God works for the good of man, and that one day in the future He will recreate everything and put it back into the condition it was from the hands of the Creator on the day everything was completed. It is not God who stays away from the people, is it the people who on a general basis do not want anything to do with God.
Chapter 2 is, as already said, about a dream King Nebuchadnezzar had. It is a common belief that Nebuchadnezzar could not remember what he dreamed when he woke up, and that he therefore demanded that the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans should come and tell him what he had dreamed and explain the dream. But the text says nothing about the king did not remember the dream.
Unfortunately, here too, as usual, there are some who search with lights and lanterns for errors in the Bible, and they claim that they have found an error in this chapter. In verses 1 and 2 there are dreams, in plural, while in the rest of the chapter it is mentioned dream in singular. Can you imagine anything so inconsistent! In verse 1 it says that in his first year Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and in verse two it says the dreams. It does not say anything about how many times he had dreamed or how many dreams he had, but it must have been the same dream he had at least twice. This must be the reason why both the singular and the plural term for this dream are used.
The dream tells us about a statue of four different metals: head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze and legs of iron with feet of iron mixed with clay, and where a stone eventually falls on the feet of the statue and crushed it completely. This is what Nebuchadnezzar wanted the Chaldeans to tell him and therefore he demanded that the Chaldeans should come to him and tell him the dream and interpret it for him. This is a rather impossible task place as humans have not been given the ability to see things that are hidden, but Nebuchadnezzar obviously believed that when the Chaldeans said that they had contact with the gods, as they claimed, they had contact with the gods, nothing more nothing less. Now they had a golden opportunity to show that they really had direct contact with their gods, and they would be richly rewarded if they managed telling the king what he had dreamed. But despite the threat of the death penalty hanging over them, the Chaldeans were not able to help the king.
The parallel to this story is found in the story of Joseph in Egypt, and Pharaoh’s dream in Genesis chapter 41 and verses 1, 8, 14 and 38-41. Common to both stories is that both kings choose to go to fortune tellers instead of seeking advice from the omnipotent God. The result was that none of the fortune tellers, neither those in Egypt nor those in Babylon, could interpret the dreams, and in both cases the kings had to get help from a Hebrew slave.
In this prophecy we are talking about four world powers, which replace each other in turn so that there is a whole and unbroken line from the time of Daniel until the return of Jesus. The four powers in question are Babylon – head of gold, Medo-Persia – breast and arms of silver, Greece – belly and thighs of bronze and Rome – legs of iron with feet of iron mixed with clay. The stone that crushes this statue is Jesus Christ and the eternal kingdom of God. These four kingdoms will thus dominate the world and oppress God’s people from the time of Daniel until the day when Jesus returns, redeems His people, and bring them to heaven. In other words, the entire history of God’s people, from the time of Daniel to the second coming of Jesus, is concentrated in this chapter.
There are many who want to and hope to get a glimpse into the future and take every conceivable aid to help them such as horoscopes, tarot cards or crystal balls. Prophets such as Nostradamus are more relevant now than ever before. But today’s religious gurus and New Age prophets are not always very different from the prophets of Babylon. Most are mostly scammers who want to make money. A small minority may be both honest and religious, but common to all of these is that they do not have a view of life that is based on biblical principles.
Although Daniel chapter 2 tells us world history from the time of Daniel to the second coming of Jesus, and also deals with the religiosity of the time, this chapter also adress the religious idolatry of our time and the flirt with the occult.
- Former President of the United States Ronald Reagan had an astrologer (religious adviser) in his staff with whom he consulted whenever he had to make an important decision, such as when he was to meet his Russian counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev for a meeting. The astrologer saw that the best place and the best date for such a meeting was Reykjavik in Iceland on 11th and 12th of October 1986.
- President Donald Trump’s religious adviser Paula White stated on November 6, 2019 that saying no to President Trump is saying no to God. She has also said that wherever I go, God rules! When I walk on the ground in the White House, God walks on the ground in the White House. I had every reason to declare the White House a holy ground, because I stood there, and where I stand it is holy! Do we see the contours of what we are waiting for?
But back to Babylon. Despite a death sentence hanging over them, Nebuchadnezzar’s fortune tellers (religious advisers) had to admit that they were not able to fulfil the king’s requirements, and they had to admit that only God can explain to Nebuchadnezzar what the dream was and what it means. The Babylonian soothsayers were thus unable to obey Nebuchadnezzar’s command, because they worshiped idols of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood, and stone (Dan 5,4). It is now Daniel comes, and he is faithful to the God of heaven, and is a man of prayer.
What Daniel is doing is asking for some time, until the next day, and he goes with his three friends to pray to God for help so that they will not be killed along with the other prophets in Babylon. And God, who is the God of love, He does not delay with the answer, but during the night He gives Daniel the same vision that Nebuchadnezzar had had and together with the vision he also got the interpretation of the dream. The first thing Daniel does when he wakes up should be an example for us in all problems we face, big or small, he gives God the credit:
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what [is] in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast [now] made known unto us the king’s matter. Daniel 2 20-23
Now we have some of the prehistory. Let us go into the story of Daniel chapter 2 in verse 31 where Daniel tells what the king had dreamed:
Verse 31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness [was] excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof [was] terrible. Verse 32 This image’s head [was] of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, Verse 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Verse 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet [that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Verse 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
The dream contained a statue of four different metals representing four different kingdoms, and if we look at the properties of the metals we will see that gold is the most valuable but weakest metal of these four metals, silver is stronger than gold, bronze is stronger than silver and iron is in turn stronger than bronze, but the less valuable metal. The message in this is that the times to come will be worse and worse for God’s people, not better.
A supernatural event will end the statue, and the four world kingdoms that this statue represents will perish, and this is explained by the stone that was cut out without hands. This is our hope for the future, this is the return of Jesus. That the stone that was cut out and hit the feet of the statue tells us that the fourth kingdom will be present and have power over the people until the end comes.
The fact that Daniel mentions that everything will be crushed, and that he lists the metals in reverse order in relation to how they are mentioned in the dream (see also Revelation 13,1-2), implies that the pagan, religious and philosophical traditions and systems accumulate up into the next empire so that Medo-Persia implements the Babylonian traditions, Greece implements the Medo-Persian traditions which then also contain the Babylonian, and the Roman Empire the Greek traditions which then also contain both the Babylonian and Medo-Persian traditions.
It is not always easy to see what empires it is about, but as always, the Bible explains itself. Although I have already named all four kingdoms, we will see how the Bible itself names the first three kingdoms.
Daniel identifies the first kingdom as Babylon when he tells Nebuchadnezzar that he is the head of gold, (Daniel 2,38). When Daniel says that Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold, it does not mean that only Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned in this prophecy, but the kingdom of Babylon, because the king represents his kingdom – Babylon. In fact, the golden years of the Neo-Babylonian Empire is considered to be the 40 years that Nebuchadnezzar ruled. The sity of Babylon was the largest and richest city in the world in the time of Nebuchadnezzar.
The city of Babylon must have been an impressive sight. It is said that the city was built as a square where each of the sides of the outer city wall of 24.175 kilometres, which gives a circumference of 96.7 kilometres, and covered an area of 584.43 square kilometres. The outer city wall is supposed to have been over 100 meters high, and 26 meters thick at ground level.
The story of Babylon symbolizes the great conflict between Christ and Satan. The first major organized opposition to God recorded in the Bible comes from Babel, or Babylon (see Genesis chapter 11 – Tower of Babel). In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, John uses Babylon as a cover name for the power that is in opposition to Christ.
Verse 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
Daniel does not give us the name of the second kingdom here in chapter 2, but we get to know which kingdom we are talking about in chapter 5 verse 28 and in chapter 8 verse 20. It is the Medo-Persian kingdom. In Isaiah 45,1 we find a prophecy about the Medo-Persian king Cyrus, and that he will conquer Babylon, which later again leads to the Jews being allowed to go home and build Jerusalem and the temple, (see Isaiah 44,21 – 45,13). It is simply amazing that Isaiah names the king who will conquer Babylon about 150 years before it happens. Isaiah ministered from about 740 until 690 BC. and Babylon was conquered by Medo-Persia led by king Cyrus in the year 539 BC. But like Babylon, the days of the Medo-Persian Empire were numbered. Although there was a decisive battle at Issos in southeast of Turkey, as early as the year 333 BC. the year 331 BC. is reckoned as the year when the Medo-Persian Empire was conquered by the third kingdom in prophecy. Nor is the third kingdom named in chapter 2, but we find that it is Greece in Daniel 8,21. Also the Greek Empire has a short life span.
Verse 40 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..
The fourth kingdom is not named at all, so here we have to take history to help. The empire that conquered the Greek Empire was the Roman Empire. As many as four times Daniel tells in chapter 7 that the fourth kingdom will be different from the other three kingdoms, and this kingdom differs from the previous three in almost every way. Perhaps the most significant difference is that where the three previous kingdoms all are conquered by the subsequent kingdom, the Roman Empire will not be conquered by any new earthly power. According to the prophecy, it will last until God establishes his eternal kingdom. The special thing about this empire is that it changes character by first dividing into two, the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, and then the Western Roman Empire is again divided into ten smaller kingdoms, which in turn leads to a change of imperial power. Where Imperial Rome was a military-political power, the new Rome become a religious-political power. The ten kingdoms in their turn form the basis of modern Europe. We will return to theis change later.
Verse 41 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. Verse42 And [as] the toes of the feet [were] part of iron, and part of clay, [so] the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. Verse 43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
The toes mentioned specifically in verse 42 are the forerunners of today’s Europe, and it has been exactly as the prophecy has described it. The dream of the Roman military-political empire lives on, and many times they have tried to unite the European nations both through war, by Charlemagne, Napoleon, Hitler, by marriage between the various royal houses. As an apropos to this, the Danish king Cristian IX was called Europe’s father-in-law. The latest attempt is to unite Europe – the Roman Empire – through a political union in the form of the EU, but it will not succeed – because the prophecy says they should not stick together (see verse 43). The reason why such an union over time not will succeed is implicit in the prophecy, and that is because the Roman Empire still exists. It has only changed character, it has got a religious-political leader instead of a military-political leader, not an emperor but a pope. Britain became the first nation to leave the EU. This happened in January 2020.
When Daniel begins to explain the dream to the king, we see that the first three kingdoms are only just mentioned, while the fourth kingdom receives much more attention alone than the other three kingdoms together. We also notice that only one kingdom is named in chapter 2. In chapters 7, 8, and 10, 11 and 12 we return to these kingdoms with additional information, but the main focus in all chapters is and will be the fourth the kingdom. We also see that the fourth kingdom will change character, which is evident in the toes where the iron is mixed with clay, something we also will return to.
Verse 44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, [but] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Verse 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream [is] certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
Babylon was conquered by a human power – Medo-Persia. The same thing happened with Medo-Persia and Greece. But the Roman Empire will not be conquered by a human power like the other kingdoms, this kingdom is different from all the others, and is like a chameleon that adapts to its surroundings and will last until the kingdom of God is established at Jesus’ return.
As for the second empire, Medo-Persia, many of the so-called historical-critical schools claim that these are two different empires. They therefore achieve that the Syrian Empire, one of the four Greek empires after Alexander the Great, is the fourth empire, thus ending the prophecy in the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The epithet Epiphanes means the glorious, but Antiochus IV was a king who was anything but glorious in every sense of the word
The question is whether it is Antiochus IV Epiphanes who is mentioned in Daniel’s prophecies. It is not surprising that many Jews thought this when Epiphanes ravaged the worst. Daniel chapter 9 mentions an anointed one to be exterminated. Which of the anointed are we talking about? The king Cyrus? The high priest Onias? Or is it here, as elsewhere in the Bible, about Jesus Christ as the anointed or the Messiah. All kings and high priests were anointed at that time, so we have many to choose from if we disregard Christ. By letting Antiochus IV Epiphanes take the blame for being the little horn, they avoid an embarrassing situation, but they have put the tail on the pig, so to speak. The problem with this interpretation is that they create a lot of trouble that is not easy to explain away.
Let us assume that it is Antiochus IV Epiphanes who is to be anointed who is mentioned in the prophecy of the 70 weeks, then the following issues arise:
a) If it were Antiochus IV Epiphanes, then the time period does not fit.
From the Jews’ returned home, according to the third decree, and until Antiochus IV Epiphanes as the anointed one was to begin to ravage, according to the prophecy of the 70 weeks we find in Daniel 9,24 it would take 483 years (= 69 prophetic weeks). Antiochus IV Epiphanes was born in 215 BC. and died in 163 BC. His reign was from 175 – 163 BC. After the claim that Antiochus is the power, the anointed one, that Daniel describes, it clearly means that the Jews must have returned from the Babylonian captivity in the year 658 BC. That is more than 50 years before the Jews were taken captive to Babylon. It goes without saying that it is impossible to return from captivity before it has begun! According to the Bible (Ezra 7), the final decree was given to the Jews in the year 457 BC. If we set this year as the starting point for Antiochus IV Epiphanes, then he would begin his ravages in the year 27 AD. or 190 years after his death. An equally difficult task as returning from captivity long before it has begun. Year 27 AD is by the way the year Jesus was baptized (anointed) and began his ministry.
b) Jesus himself pointed to the future when he spoke of the abomination of desolation.
The text that many use to support the theory of Antiochus IV Epiphanes is taken from Daniel 8,13, and this is the text Jesus refers to in Matthew 24,15 when he talks about the future. Jesus truly says: When you (sometime in the future) see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet … … Antiochus IV Epiphanes died in the year 163 BC. or 159 years before Jesus was born and could not possibly be the subject of Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew chapter 24.
c) According to Daniel 8,17.19.26, the prophecy is about the end times.
The death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the year 163 BC. fits poorly with the end time. The prophecy of the abomination of desolation is admittedly a double prophecy, the first fulfilment of which was made by Roman soldiers in the years 66 to 70, where they eventually destroyed the temple and Jerusalem. The second fulfilment lies in the future of the Roman destruction of the temple and Jerusalem.
d) Daniel tells us that the fourth kingdom was to be destroyed but not by human hand.
The fourth kingdom will face its doom in a supernatural way, by a divine intervention. Should it be Antiochus IV Epiphanes we are talking about, he would be cut off in a supernatural way – crushed but not by human hands! How does it fit with how Antiochus IV Epiphanes died? He died by the sword during a campaign in Partia, (the Iranian plateau), not a supernatural death in any way, but a fairly natural death for a general.
e) The ram representing Medo-Persia became great.
The ram – Medo-Persia – was to become so powerful that no one could resist it, and it is said that the goat, which is Greece, became very great. The small horn, which is said to be Antiochus IV Epiphanes, waxed exceedingly great. How does this fit in with the kingdom of Antiochus IV Epiphanes? It fits in no way because it was insignificant and only a parenthesis in the history. It did frighten many, especially the Jews, but it was certainly not a kingdom of same size of its predecessors. On the contrary, it was a small kingdom without significance, and could in no way compare with those he is compared to and described larger than in the Bible. Once a messenger from Rome was enough to make him withdraw from Egypt.
The theory that Antiochus IV Epiphanes is the little horn therefore creates more problems than it solves.
- It does not match with the historical facts, and Daniel himself is aware that Medo-Persia is one and the same kingdom in Dan 8,20.
- It is claimed that there are several authors behind the book of Daniel, and therefore it is no connection between chapter 2 and chapter 8, where Media and Persia are mentioned as one kingdom. They assume that the book of Daniel is not a unit, and they try to prove this by claiming that it is so. Thus they claims what they is trying to prove, which in turn is a circular argument.
- The theory contradicts the view of Jesus and the apostles had on the book of Daniel. Jesus refers in Matthew 24,15 to the book of Daniel about prophecies that were not yet fulfilled in Jesus’ time, much less in the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The kingdom of God did not come when Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ kingdom was conquered by the Romans!
- Dividing Medo-Persia into two kingdoms is also contrary to Revelation chapter 17 which gives us more details about all the world kingdoms that have a direct and destructive influence on God’s people throughout history from God chose Abraham as the ancestor of his people, carnal as spiritual descendants.
The feet of the statue, Daniel 2,33.41-44.
If we look at the statue that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of, it has two legs, and many people attach a certain importance to this, and believes this provides guidance for the fourth kingdom to be considered as two kingdoms. This is an interpretation that can confuse more than it can help us, because it says that the legs represent respectively the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. So far a plausible explanation all the time the Roman Empire was divided into two parts. But can it be right?
Let us first look at the common understanding of the toes of this statue. It tells us that the ten toes constitute the ten Aryan tribes that divided the Western Roman Empire and have given rise to modern Europe. Then there are many who claim that each leg represent a part of the divided Roman Empire – the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire, but still they claim that the toes are the ten Aryan tribes that later became the modern Europe. I mean this is inconsistent. There has never been talk of dividing the ten toes or the ten horns into two parts (west and east), not even among those who say that one of the legs is the Eastern Roman Empire.
The dividing line between the Western Roman and the Eastern Roman Empire ran along what is today Serbia’s western border. This means that a smaller part of Europe remained within the borders of the Eastern Roman Empire. But is this sufficient for one leg of the statue to represent the Eastern Roman Empire?
The ten horns in Daniel 7 and the ten horns in Revelation 17 represent the same as the toes of the statue in Daniel 2. The ten toes and the ten horns are images of the ten Aryan tribes.
Here are the ten Aryan tribes, and what nations they represent today..
The Visigoths, which today are Spain
The Franks, who today are France
The Anglo-Saxons, who today are Britain
The Alemannic, who today are Germany
The Langobard´s, which today are Italy
The Burgundians, which today are Switzerland (probably from Bornholm, which in the old days was called Burgundarholm)
The Suebi, which today is Portugal
The Herules, were plucked up by the little horn to make room for it
The Vandals, were plucked up by the little horn to make room for it
The Ostrogoths, were plucked up by the little horn to make room for it.
The prophecy was clear on the point that three of the horns were to be removed, and the bishop of Rome received military aid, first by the French king Clovis in the year 493 to exterminate the Herules, then the Roman bishop received help from the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I the great to exterminate the Vandals in the year 534 and the Ostrogoths in the year 538.
I believe that we must take into account the idea that Daniel himself gives us through chapter 8, where the focus is on Europe after the fall of the military Roman Empire. The idea that the ten horns should be something other than what they represent is therefore a bit out of place. Some others claim that the ten horns are the United Nations, or the division of the world into ten regions that the UN is behind. That it should be the UN’s ten regions is contrary to the prophecy that says that the Western Roman Empire should be divided by the ten toes/horns. Those who launch such theories do not base it on the Bible, and then it is here as usual, only the imagination that puts an end to what it is about, and most people seem to completely ignore the Bible’s own explanation and see how it harmonizes with the real historical events that have brought Europe to where it is today.
In Daniel 2 we find the toes in verses 41 and 42. These toes are the extension of the fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire, and these find their parallel in Daniel 7. Here, however, the four metals in the statue that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of have been replaced by four beasts which in turn rises from the sea, and the toes have been replaced with horns that appear on the fourth beast. It harmonizes well with Daniel 2, because it was the last part of the statue, the fourth metal – the iron, which had (ten) toes. We find these horns discussed in verses 7, 8, 20 and 24 in chapter 7, and in Revelation 12,3; 13,1; 17,3; 17,7 17,12 and 17,16.
- Daniel 2,41 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.
- Daniel 2,42 And [as] the toes of the feet [were] part of iron, and part of clay, [so] the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken..
Neither verse 41 nor verse 42 in Daniel 2 says anything about the toes, except that they are an extension of the legs and feet of the statue, and that the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly weak. In other words, nothing concrete is said in the direction of what the toes represent.
- 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.
- 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..
- Daniel 7,20 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.
- Daniel 7,24 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.
Neither the verses 7, 8 and 20 tell us what the horns represent, but give us supplementary and general information, such as that the beast the horns are sitting on is different from the other three beasts (verse 7), and that a small horn appears between the ten horn and plucked up three horns (verse 8). Verse 24, on the other hand, tells us what we are looking for. The ten horns are ten kings which will arise from the fourth kingdom. Verse 24 is in its entierity a goldmine of information:
The book of Daniel is not the only book that deals with the ten horns. Revelation also speaks of these horns. The prophecies in Revelation are highly relevant to the book of Daniel, and they are complementary to the book of Daniel. It gives us more and different information from new perspectives.
- Rev 12,3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
- Rev 13,1 and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
- Rev 17,3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
- Rev17,7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns..
- Rev 17,12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast..
- Rev 17,16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Revelation 12,3 tells us that it is the red dragon that has seven heads with ten horns. The dragon is a picture of the devil, and the heads are a picture of the riches the devil uses to oppress God’s people.
Revelation 13,1 tells us that the ten horns are sitting on the head of one of the seven beasts, and Revelation 13,2 tells us which beast it is. It is the fourth beast in Daniel 7. Why? Because the fourth beast in Daniel 7 accumulates all paganism and human traditions from the first three kingdoms, a) the lion, b) the bear and c) the leopard. In Revelation 13,2, John sees the fourth beast and tells that it was like a c) leopard, with feet like the feet of a b) bear, and a mouth like the mouth of an a) lion. Revelation 17,3 tells only that John saw a woman sitting on a scarlet coloured beast with seven heads and ten horns. In Revelation 17,7, the angel tells John that he shall explain to him what this means. In Revelation 17,12 we learn that the ten horns in Revelation are synonymous whit ten kings, while verse 16 tells us that the ten kings will eventually hate the harlot (= the woman in 17,3). We then see that the (ten) toes in Daniel 2 refer to the ten horns in Daniel 7 and to the ten horns in Revelation 13 and Revelation 17. The Bible is consistent in the view of toes and horns. The only question we are left with is: Where are we geographically?
The statue of Nebuchadnezzar has its origin in the Middle East with Babylon and Medo-Persia. After this we see the Greek Empire, which springs from Macedonia, and then we are in Europe. The Roman Empire also springs from Europe, but it is the end of the military/political Rome which is of interest to us in this connection.
The Roman Empire is divided into two, the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. The beginning of this coincides with the death of Emperor Theodosius the Great on January 17, 395 AD. The Western Roman Empire then began to disintegrate when the Aryan tribes began attacking the outer borders of the Western Roman Empire, and its final fall was September 4, 476 when the last Western Roman emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed by Odovacar. The ten Aryan tribes had now divided the Western Roman Empire among themselves, and it is these nations that today make up modern Europe.
The Eastern Roman Empire continued until it was conquered by Sultan Mehmet and the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Constantine XI became the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, but the Eastern Roman Empire has no relevance to our prophecies.