Sunday, August 5, 2012

Daniel 7: The Key Prophecy Confirming a Roman Antichrist


INTRODUCTION: Daniel 7 contains the inerrant, prophetic account of world history from 553 BC to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Remember this year, its importance will be made clear shortly. Within this exceptional chapter of the Holy Bible can be found the eschatological truth that the Roman Empire was the last of the world empires of ancient times and it will again be in existence as the final world empire at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Daniel 7, among other prophetic passages, is a key chapter of the Bible which puts the lie to all of the theories of an Islamic Antichrist or of a final Islamic world empire under him. Daniel 7 is the cipher key that unlocks the other prophetic chapters of Daniel as well as the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

LESSON: The first words of Daniel 7 inform us that his God-breathed vision came in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon. That would equate to the year 553 BC when the reigning king of Babylon, Nabonidus made his eldest son, Balshazzar, his co-regent in Babylon. Nabonidus then departed with most of the Babylonian army for Tem̢ in the deep western recesses of the Babylonian Empire to build a temple of worship to a moon god he called Ehulhul and whose symbol was an eclipse of the moon Рthe crescent moon. The full Old Testament-based historical account can be found at Livius.org.

Daniel then informs from his vision that he wrote down the head, or chief words (re’sh millah) derived from the vision, and which in English is expressed as the “main facts.” Therefore, Daniel 7 is a prophecy based upon both historical and future facts direct from God that had been sealed until these last days!

The text begins with Daniel explaining that he saw the “four winds of heaven stirring up the Great Sea.” This is a metaphor meaning that God would throughout history of the “times of the Gentiles” bring forth (giyach: stir up) great nations from among them. These great gentile nations are the four great beasts which rise from the sea of gentile nations, each one different from the one which follows.

The first of these beast empires is the metaphorical winged lion representing the Babylonian Empire. With 553 BC firmly given as the year of this prophecy, the end of the Babylonian Empire is a mere 14 years into the future when the Medo-Persian king Cyrus the Great would take the whole of Babylon in 539 BC with a surprise attack on the lightly defended Babylon as referenced in paragraph two above.
 
The second beast empire is the metaphorical bear with three ribs in its mouth representing the Medo-Persian empire. Note that Babylon is the key city in both of these empires. Cyrus needed only to secure the capitol of Babylon to take the whole of the Babylonian Empire which was inclusive of the entire Middle East, from ancient Elam north through Assyria and south to Egypt and what we know today as the western half of Saudi Arabia. Cyrus took one city with a minor military skirmish over the course of a single day in order to secure an entire empire.

The third beast empire is that of Macedon-Greece led by Alexander the Great which has been metaphorically presented as a leopard with four wings and four heads and to which complete dominion over the previous two beast empires was given. The 22-year old Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire began in 334 BC with the Battle of Granicus in which 25,000 Macedonians and 14,600 Greeks, Thracians and Illyrians commanded by Macedonian officers overwhelmed and equally sized army of Persians (20,000) and Greeks (20,000) who had defected to Persia after the defeat of Philip II at Chaeronea four years earlier in 338 BC.

This action was followed the by the great Battles of Gordium and Issus followed by the sieges of Tyre and Gaza on the Mediterranean coast, all of which resulted in triumphant victories by Alexander’s army. After this the whole of Egypt out rightly surrendered to Alexander in 331 BC. Receiving major reinforcements from Europe at Tyre on the Lebanese coast, Alexander then set out for Babylon.
 
After securing all the lands between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Mesopotamia, it was on the plain of Gaugamela near modern-day Irbil, Iraq that the army of Alexander found the main Medo-Persian army of Darius on October 1, 331 BC. Darius had command of a great Asiatic army that was composed of Medes, Persians, Bactrians, Sogdians, Indians, defected Greeks, and even Albanians from the Caucasus. According to ancient historians Darius’ army numbered over one million men in battle array. A single charge of Alexander’s cavalry resulted in Darius forces fleeing the battlefield and in Alexander's conquering of Babylon, the Persian imperial capital at Susa (the former Elamite capitol) and the burning of the Persian capital at Perseopolis. Alexander the Great was proclaimed king of Asia within a couple of months of the Battle of Gaugamela. Alexander continued his march to the east conquering Bactria, Sogdia and Indian Punjab as far as the Indus River by 326 BC. To this day the Macedonian-Greek (original Javanites) and other European bloodlines run in the veins of the populations of these Asian nations - from the Dardanelles to the Middle East to India as far as the Indus River due to the fact that Alexander’s army intermarried with the local female population. All totaled these children numbered approximately 40,000 at the conclusion of Alexander's campaign.

The wings and heads of the leopard, itself a metaphor for the speed of Alexander's Asian conquests, are also metaphorical representations of the division of Alexander’s Empire among his four primary Macedonian generals (diadochi) after Alexander’s death at Nebuchadnezzar’s palace in Babylon on June 10, 323 BC. To this point we have covered 230 years real-world history and three empires in just the first six verses of Daniel 7.

Now we come to verse 7 for a look at the fourth and final beast of Daniel’s God-breathed vision. There is no other gentile empire of importance on this earth mentioned by God after the four-fold division of Alexander’s Empire except for that of the Roman Empire. The final beast empire is an empire which has mutated over the past 2,000-some odd years only to re-emerge in the very last days as a 10-nation confederacy among whom the single metaphorical horn of the Antichrist is to rise up. But first we look at Rome’s rise.

Rome began its rise as a republic, eventually becoming a world empire by over-running Greek colonies on the Italian mainland and Sicily in 272 BC. A few decades later Rome humiliated the fore-runner of the Antichrist who attempted to invade Egypt in 168 BC. The result was the Roman consul threatening war which sent to self-proclaimed god Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire fleeing northward to commit the fore-runner of the future 70th Week ‘Abomination of Desolation’ at the Temple in Jerusalem. Rome had largely culminated its rise to world domination by 149 BC with the conquest of the whole of Greece at the Battle of Corinth. Within the next 16 years the entirety of the Mediterranean Sea comes under total Roman control (133 BC) when Pergamum is taken whole by the will of its king Attalus. In 64/63 BC Rome took all of Aram-Syria and ancient Israel. This in sum is the context of Daniel 7 verse 7 wherein Rome was prophesied to devour, break into pieces and trample underfoot all the nations it conquered. To this point the vision prophecy of Daniel has been fulfilled to the exact detail which the “re’sh millah” expressed them.

It is of paramount eschatological importance to note at verse 8 that there is no end to the Roman Empire from God’s expressed viewpoint to Daniel in the vision until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. There are no subsequent world empires to the end of the current age not of just gentiles, but of all mankind. There is a “fast-forward” to the last days between the very last sentence of verse 7 and the beginning of verse 8 which launches directly into a detailing of the rise of the Antichrist from within the fourth beast empire and the return of Jesus Christ as the “Son of Man” at the end of the 70th Week! There is also no doubt to whom and what the angel Gabriel was referring in Daniel 9:26b.

Here, brothers and sisters, is the point at which the eisegetical and thoroughly shoe-horned last-days Islamic Antichrist/Islamic Empire theory was euthanized by God Himself 2,545 years ago (553 BC to 2012 AD). That theory was null and void long before any of our greatest grandparents were even born. Therefore its relevance to today amounts to what exactly? Exactly zero!

From verse 8 the perspective of God speaks to the rise of the Roman Antichrist, the return of Jesus to the Earth, the killing of the Antichrist and the destruction of his physical body and the eternal burning of its black soul in the eternal flames.

At verse 15 begins the interpretation of Daniel’s vision by what is obviously an angelic being in the service of God. It is with this exegesis that I pray you will gain a solid understanding of both history and the coming future events, even though at some unknown point the Bride of Christ will be snatched away from this earth to a secure place for the duration of the final 7 years of history as we have known it.

11 comments:

  1. Another excellent historical and scriptural case for the Roman Antichrist that along with the other evidence soundly defeats the "newspaper exegesis" of the Islamic Antichrist proponents.

    Good work Sean! Keep it up!

    God bless.

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  2. I am still reading and digesting. Good work Sean.

    By the way, my dear hubby occasionally comments using my login. I didn't know about this until today when he began telling me a new post was published. I tend to leave the homepage up on my computer all of the time and I have put Eschatology Today as my homepage.

    Now, he is not one who has studied scripture or for that matter, prophecy. Not in the least. He is a long way from even being a born again believer but he does respect and honors (in his mind) God.

    From now on I will signoff each and everytime with "Shalom, GG5". The reason I am telling you this is because he really likes reading what you are saying and has a great kinship with history and especially the history of the Roman Empire.

    Shalom, GG5

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  3. There is a growing number of "teachers" who are saying the lion represents the British empire and the wings represent America breaking away,the bear represents Russia, the leapard the Asian nations and the beast with horns the Islamic nations. would it be a waste of my time to even answer that trash? everything in me wants to persuade such people otherwise but i fear its a waste of time. have you even heard this interpretation of Daniel 7? Revelation 22:18-19 comes to mind.

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  4. That's a good point Sean. The conservative and fundamental view that we share like over the pre-trib rapture, Roman AC, etc. is based on time tested application of scripture, not the "newspaper exegesis" that some folks churn out in order to sell books.

    It's a real shame that some have turned from the Holy Spirit and instead have made an idol out of mammon in order to perpetuate myths like the Islamic AC. We need to pray for these people that they do God's will and teaching, not their own.

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  5. GG5,

    Your hubby might really enjoy the material at the embedded link at the very end of the second paragraph.

    hartdawg,

    Those are not teachers, they're the worst of the worst of the "newspaper prophets."

    RF,

    The only thing that will get the newpaper eisegesis crowd to cease and desist will be the literal fulfillment of Psalm 83 and related prophecies. Then will everyone realize they've been had by a bunch of hucksters who had nothing in common with the Holy Spirit; who were false prophets and false teachers.

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  6. I was curious Sean if you think the "Roman empire" may indeed include the US as due to it's origins ?

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  7. Tommy,

    I do think the US will be a part of the beast empire.

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  8. Really? do you mean that in a general way like most of the world will be part of the beast empire, or in a specific way like the US will be one of the 10 nations? i always thought that the entire middle east, huge portions of africa and russia would be all but wiped out prior to the rapture and the US would greatly diminish and be a 3rd world nation just after the rapture. i thought the only superpowers left would be Israel, the Asian nations (kings of the east) and Europe (a 10 nation confederation at that time) and the beasts kingdom would be the 10 nations of Europe specifically but the entire globe generally

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  9. It's not what any of us thinks, it is what the Lord has declared will be, that His words be fulfilled.

    Daniel 2:40 "And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others."

    Daniel 7:23-24 "‘The fourth beast shall be
    A fourth kingdom on earth,
    Which shall be different from all other kingdoms,
    And shall devour the whole earth,
    Trample it and break it in pieces.
    The ten horns are ten kings
    Who shall arise from this kingdom.
    And another shall rise after them;
    He shall be different from the first ones,
    And shall subdue three kings.

    Revelation 13:7b "And authority was given him over every people, tongue, and nation."

    And Revelation 17:7-18 "But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

    “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.

    “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

    Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”"

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  10. Hartdawg,
    I wouldn't be so quick to label new ideas as trash. 40 years ago the psalm 83 scenario we support would most probably been given that label by many eschatologists.

    As we move closer to the final week of years, things are coming more into focus. I think we should expect some of our most sacred cows to get the chop!

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