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from time to time
people ask the question
how important is it to understand Bible prophecy?
do I have to understand Bible prophecy in order to be saved?
well there's a scripture in the Bible that helps us to answer this
it's found in 2 Peter:
we have also a more sure word of prophecy
which you do well that you take heed
like a light that shines in a dark place
until the day dawns
and the morning star rises in your hearts
in other words it says that we should heed
or listen to Bible prophecy
because it helps us to believe and to understand what is going on in our world
today
that's the main purpose of Bible prophecy
to help you and I understand and have faith
it helps us see
but some people say: well it just depends on how you interpret it
one person interprets it one way
someone else interprets it another way
but that's not what the scripture says
because this very next verse in 2 Peter has this to say:
knowing this first
that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation
we have to open the word of God for ourselves
and we have to study it
we have to let scripture interpret itself
it's not of private interpretation
it tells us that it didn't come about by man:
for prophecy did not coming in old times by the will of man
but holy men of God
spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit
so the Bible tells us it has been directed by God
we cannot just take the text we like and come to our own conclusions
we have to take the Bible as a whole
and compare scripture with scripture
the Bible often talks about having to or more witnesses before a judgment is
taken
and it's the same when studying prophecy in the Bible
2 Corinthians tells us:
by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word will be established
you see when we study God's word we must read the scriptures as a whole
as it says in Isaiah:
precept upon precept
line upon line
here a little
there a little
all scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof
for correction
for instruction in righteousness
ALL scripture
it doesn't just say the New Testament or just the Old
in other words we have to take the whole Bible
and see exactly what it says
so that we can know and understand what God's word is teaching
in this study we're going to take a look at the seventh chapter of Daniel
where Daniel
has had a vision
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, telling the main facts
so here it says that Daniel has this vision and he has written down what he
saw
Daniel spoke and said:
I saw in my vision by night
and behold
the four winds of heaven were stiring up the great sea
and four great beasts came up from the sea
different from one another
so Daniel in his vision sees the wind blowing out across the water
and as a result of it
four beasts come up from the sea
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
and suddenly
another beast
a second like a bear
it was raised up on one side
and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth
and they said thus to it:
arise, devour much flesh
after this I beheld
and lo another like a leopard
which had up on the back of it
four wings of a foul
the beast had also four heads
and dominion was given to it
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 different from all the beats that were before it
and it had ten horns
I studied 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 a man
and a mouth speaking great things
so Daniel saw the wind blowing on the water and four beasts rose up
a lion, a bear
a leopard and a dragon
now we're going to take a look as God helps us understand exactly what each one of
these beats mean
you see in prophecy it uses symbols
and these symbols apply all the way through
and you will begin to understand them
now Daniel saw the wind blowing on the water
in Bible prophecy
you will find that water has a very definite meaning
Daniel spoke and said:
I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of heaven were stirring
up the great sea
now when you're working with Bible prophecy and don't apply it outside of
Bible prophecy, water represents people
we will look at Revelation for this:
and he said to me:
the waters which you saw, where the *** sits
are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and languages
so when he sees the wind blowing on the water, that water represented people
nations and languages
wind also has a very definite meaning in Revelation, and we'll go there now to find
out the interpretation of this:
and after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth
holding the for winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth
nor on the sea, nor on any tree
and I saw another angel ascending from the east
having the seal of the living God
and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea
so we see that in Bible prophecy
wind represents war or strife
they would harm the sea
so daniel was seeing war and strife among the people
and it says:
and four great beasts came up from the sea, different from one another
now God simply does something that we do
for instance if you were to go home and and you were to pick up the newspaper
and turn over to the political cartoons
there you would see a lion
a bear, an eagle and a rooster
all sitting around the conference table
who would the eagle represent?
the United States
who would the lion represent? England
who does the bear represent? Russia
who would the rooster represent?
France
you see God just uses those different beasts
to represent nations
just like we do today
so He says that four beasts rose up
and He tells us
who those beasts represent:
these great beasts which are four, are four king's which shall arise out of the earth
so it tells us very clearly that the four beasts represent for different
kings
now let's look at them one at a time
the first was like a lion
and had eagle's wings
I watched until its wings were plucked and it was lifted up from the earth
and made to stand on its feet like a man
and a man's heart was given to it
this beast
this lion represented the kingdom of Babylon
in fact if you were to go to the British museum where they did much of the
excavation of Babylon
you will see statues of lions with eagle wings on the Ishtar gate
God simply used this lion to represent Babylon
and it makes reference to this in scripture:
the lion has come out from his thicket and the destroyer of the nations is on
his way
he has gone out from his place to make your land desolate
your cities will be laid waste without an inhabitant
Jeremiah is talking and he's describing Babylon
as it was going to come up on Israel
Nebuchadnezzar had built Babylon
and this is the only beast that you will find where it says a man's heart was
given to it
and the reason is because of the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar
in accepting and serving the God of heaven
so it says that a man's heart was given to this beast
so this lion represented ancient Babylon
but let's go on as he describes for us the next beast:
and suddenly another beast
a second, like a bear
it was raised up on one side and it had three ribs in its mouth between its
teeth
and they said to it: arise
devour much flesh
this bear represents the power that was going to overthrow Babylon
which was Medo-Persia
they overthrew Babylon under the leadership of Cyrus
it was a coalition of two powers, the Medes and the Persians, that came together to
form one power
the scripture says that this bear raised itself up on one side
the Persians were stronger than the Medes
and that's the reason it raised itself up on one side
it has three ribs in its mouth
and those three ribs represented the three countries that Medo-Persia
overthrew
which were Babylon
Egypt and Libya
those were the three that she overthrew
and so it says that under the leadership of Cyrus they would overthrow Babylon
and that's exactly what happened in history
taking his army they surrounded the city of Babylon
it was looked upon as a city that could not be taken
historians tell us that they had enough food inside that city to last them for
forty years
without ever going outside
they went up on the wall and threw food to Cyrus and laughed at him
Cyrus took his men and they marched down the Euphrates river
because the Euphrates river ran right through the middle of Babylon
and there at a selected spot they began to dig canals
then they find out that the king of Babylon, Belshazzar
was going to have a party
and they broke those canals and diverted the river Euphrates
and Cyrus and his men walked up the muddy bottom of the Euphrates river
the gates were open as scripture had predicted
and he and his men marched in
and overthrew the city of Babylon
then it says there's a third beast
like a leopard:
after this I looked and there was another like a leopard
which had on its back for wings of a bird
the beast also had four heads and dominion was given to it
now this third beast represented the power of Greece
Greece overthrew Medo-Persia
Alexander the Great faced Darius and the Medes and Persians on the plains of
Arbella
Darius had one million men - Alexander the Great had only forty thousand
but Alexander the Great overthew Darius in 331 BC
because he had devised a new kind of warfare
Alexander the Great took his army
and they begin to march and move
for seven years without ever going home, until they reach the very borders
of the country of India
and then his men refuse to go any further
so they head back home to Babylon
Alexander the Great is now suffering
he is suffering from Epilepsy, from Malaria and from drunkenness
and as he lies in his bed dying
his four generals are called in, and they asked him: to whom will you give your
kingdom
and he said: I'll give my kingdom to the strongest
and when he died, Alexander the Great's kingdom was divided among his
four generals
that's why the leopard beast has four heads
because it represented Alexander the Great's four generals, and that's how the
kingdoms became divided
the wings on the back of the beast
represented this swiftness with which Alexander the Great took everything that was
before him
but now we come to the fourth beast
the fourth beast is the power of pagan Rome
pagan Rome ovewthrew Greece in 168 BC
this scripture presents it as a dragon:
after this I saw in the night visions
and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and exceeding strong
it had great iron teeth
it devoured and break in pieces and stamped the residue with its feet
and it was different from all the beasts that came before it
and it had ten horns
Rome is to rule longer than any other power - from 168 BC
to 476 AD
Rome did certain things that none of the other kingdoms did
it was through the inventions of Rome that civilization was brought to the world
because Rome was the one that made the roads safe, she made the waterways safe
and she had soldiers march down the road carrying banners that said
Pax Romana, which meant: Roman Peace
and people were able to travel where they had never been able to travel
before
that's why you see Jesus Christ appearing on the scene of action
at this time
you remember it was a decree of Caesar Augustus that sent Joseph and Mary to
Bethlehem to pay their taxes
why did they show up at this time in history?
because the opportunity was now presented for the first time
in history for the gospel to be spread across the whole world
the waterways and the roads were now safe
you remember
it's this same power that's ruling at the time Jesus died
because he was tried in a Roman court and it was a Roman soldier that stuck
the spear in His side
but the scripture says
that this fourth beast had ten horns:
after this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible
and exceeding strong
and it had great iron teeth, it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue
with its feet
and it was different from all the beasts that came before it
and it had ten horns
now one of the great phenomena of history takes place
when great masses of people all move at one time - they were known as the Goths
they were Germanic people
they came down and overran the Roman empire
breaking it into pieces
these Goths, Germanic people, became the nations of western Europe today
such people as the Alemanni
the Franks
the Lombards, the Anglo-Saxons, the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths
the Heruli
these were the tribes that came down and they broke the kingdom in pieces
and they became the nations of western Europe
the Alemanni became the Germans
the Anglo-Saxons the English
the Franks became the French, etc.
that's where those nations all come from
but it goes on
and it says:
I studied the horns
those ten horns
and behold there came up among them
so as he was looking at these ten horns, all of a sudden a little horn is coming
up among those ten horns
another little horn
before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots
so it says this little horn was going to uproot three of those horns
and behold
in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man
and a mouth speaking great things
now the last time we looked at Daniel the second chapter
we traced down Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome
in this study the scripture takes us a step further now
because we now have a little horn coming up
you see this is the way scripture works
the Bible reaches out in one place
and it will take a subject so far and it will stop
and then in another chapter it will reach right back and start again
and this time it will take it a little further
and then the next time you read God's word
it will take it futher again
and it takes it step by step
so today we're going to look at this little horn
and find out who it's talking about
because it gives us about six points to identify that little horn
now listen carefully
because God is going to give you points to identify them
the ten horns are ten kings
who will come from this kingdom
so it says that those ten horns
had to come up out of the Roman empire
they would rise out of that kingdom
after them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones
he will subdue three kings
so it says there's going to come another horn
and it's going to come up after them, it's going to subdue three kings
and he will speak great words against the most High
and will persecute the saints of the most High
and think to change times and laws
and the saints will be given into his hand for a time
times, and half a time
so the scripture says this little home is going to come up
and he's going to do definite things
let's look at those six points
it says it will come up among the ten
you can't look for it over in Africa
you can't look for it over in the United States or in Asia
it had to come up among those ten, which is Europe, western Europe
because that's what those ten horns were
remember in our statute we had ten toes
now we have ten horns
so it tells us where it has to arise
secondly it says:
it would arise after the ten horns
those ten horns came into existence in 476 AD
therefore this little horn has to come up on the scene of action after
476 AD
thirdly it says:
it will be different from the first ten horns
so this little home that's going to come up is not going to be like those first ten
it's going to be different than they were
for it says it would:
uproot three of the first ten horns
it would uproot three of them
it says it will be:
a persecuting power
and six it said:
it would rule for a time, times, and half a time
now we must look at these six points and establish what it's talking about
it says at the beginning:
I studied the horns
and behold there came up among them another little horn
before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots
and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man
and a mouth speaking great things
it said that this little horn was going to come up among them
among the ten horns
it establishes very clearly what you and I need to look for
because it had to come up among those ten horns
it says that this horn would come up after them
as we have seen
these ten horns overthrew the Roman empire
in 476 AD
the ten horns are ten kings
who will come from this kingdom
after them another king will arise
different from the earlier ones
he will subdue three kings
the Roman empire is ruled by Justinian
Justinian sees his empire falling apart
these Goths are running over him
so he's trying to save his empire
history tells us exactly what took place
listen to this statement
because it'll tell you what happened:
the Roman church, in this way, proudly pushed itself in to the place of the Roman
World Empire
of which it is the actual continuation
the empire has not perished but has only undergone a transformation
it is a political creation and as imposing as a world empire
because of the continuation of the Roman empire, the Pope
who calls himself "king"
and "Pontifex Maximus", is Caesar's successor
so what history said is, all of a sudden the Roman church found itself in a
position
where it was no longer just a church, but it would receive state power
how did this happen?
how did this take place? well it took place this way
the town horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom
after them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones
he will subdue three kings
this little horn is going to be different from the other six, from the
first ones
and he will subdue three kings
these ten Germanic tribes were strictly political powers, that's all they were
but all of a sudden the scriptures says there is arising a little horn that's going
to be different than the other ones
you see Justinian and his general Belisarius have been fighting these
Goths
trying to drive them back down to the city of Rome
now there's a bishop in Rome, he's a good man and he loves the Lord
his name is Salivarius
he loves the Lord and he has refused to be involved in the battle
every time the Goths have gotten close he has closed all the gates to the city of Rome
and refused to let them in
actually when Justinian's army has gotten close he has closed the gates to the city of
Rome and refused to let them in
he has been impartial
not wanting to be involved in the war
but Justinian and his general Belisarius
have considered that bishop Salivarius
is more in favour of the Goths than he is of Justinian
the Goths have backed Justinian's army right up the walls of the city of Rome
and it looks like they're going to perish
justin sends a note to his wife, Theodora, to save his army
now it just so happens that Justinian's wife is a Christian
and she's also a friend of the bishop
Justinian pleads with her to do something
so she pleads with the bishop to open up the gates and let Justinian's army in
and save them, which he did
Justinian and Belisarius however had already agreed
that if they got inside the city they would execute the bishop
and they did just that - why?
because Justinian sees
that if he can control the people
not just from the point of politics
but from the point of religion, he can completely control them
the bishop of Rome in the seat of Caesar
was now the greatest man in the West
and was soon forced to become the political
as well as a spiritual head
to the western world
Rome was still the political capital
hence the whole habit of mind
all ambition
pride and sense of glory
and every social prejudice
favoured the evolution
of the great city into the eccesiastical capital
civil as well as religious disputes were referred to the successor of Peter for
settlement
I studied the horns
and behold, there came up among them another little horn
before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots
and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man
and a mouth speaking great things
it says that this power would uproot three of those horns
you see these Germanic people came down and they settled in the Roman empire
they were Barbarians
but Christ had given a commission to the Christians that they were to preach the
gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all the world
and so the Christians saw an opportunity of taking the gospel to these Germanic
people
and to their surprise they found them opening their hearts
readily accepting the gospel
and that's why western Europe is basically Christian today
but among the people that went in preaching about Christ to these Germanic
people
there were some that taught a belief called Arianism
now Arianism is the belief that Jesus Christ was a good man
that He was a prophet
but He was not divine
the bishop of Rome and Justinian opposed this belief
very much
three of these Germanic tribes accepted that belief
and these are the three you see destroyed
the ten horns are ten kings
who will come from this kingdom
after them another king will arise
different from the earlier ones
he will subdue three kings
those three kings were:
the Heruli
the Vandals
and the Ostrogoths
Justinian sent out his armies and they wiped them off the map
scripture says they would be uprooted
now if you were to go down to the library and look up the Anglo-Saxons
you would find they are the ancestors of the English
if you look up the Alemanni you'll find they are the ancestors of the
Germans
if you look up the Franks you'll find they are the ancestors of the French
etc.
but if you look up these three:
the Vandals
the Ostrogoths and the Heruli
you'll find they have no descendants
scripture said the little horn power would uproot them
pull them out by the roots
and that's exactly what happened
there are no descendants of these people
exactly as the scripture said, it took place
and he will speak great words against the most High, and will persecute the
saint of the most High
and think to change times and laws
and the saints will be given into his hand for a time
times, and half a time
it said this power would persecute the saint of the most High
now any time in history that you care to talk about
when a church, no matter what church
when it has moved in and has gained state control
anytime that has happened
you have always had persecution
this has never failed
and when the church here received state power
you find in history that a great persecution begins to take place
for instance all you have to do is read about the massacre of saint Bartholomew
with they slew sixty thousand Hugenots in one Sunday morning
read about the Spanish inquisition
the inquisition of the Dutch
all you have to do is read such book as:
Fox's book of martyrs
Short's short stories of the reformation
the history of the reformation by Daubigne
and here I stand
by Bateman
all those will outline very clearly to you how these people suffered under a
state that was ruled by a church
this has happened over and over in history
but let's go on speaking about this little horn
so this power was going to rule for a definite period of time
now you find in the Bible it gives a rule to count time by
for instance in the Bible
a time
one year
half a time represents half a year
so if I have
time, times and a half a time, I've got three and a half years
also God gives a rule in the Bible that when you are counting time in
prophecy and don't apply this out of prophecy
that a day represents one year
that's what it tells us in Ezekiel 4:6
and also in Numbers 14:34
I have appointed you a day for a year
now if I've got three and a half years, and in Biblical reckoning of time
there happens to be three hundred and sixty days in a year
so if I have
three and a half years, all I have to do is multiply
three and a half years
times three hundred and sixty, and it gives me one thousand two hundred and sixty
days
and each day represents a year
now when Justinian sent his general Belisarius into the city of Rome
and they executed the bishop
that date was 538 AD
history says that the bishop of Rome
stepped to the seat of Caesar
and seized the scepter
now if I come
one thousand two hundred and sixty years
from 538 AD, it takes me to
1798 AD
something
had to happen in 1798, something had to take place
and that's as far as I'm going to take you today
in our next study we're going to find out what happened in
1798
but it identifies this little horn for you
we don't have to have any doubts who the little horn is
you see the scriptures is just adding, it's just adding each time
we've talked about
all of these things
we've talked about the head of Gold, the lion, and that's Babylon, God is just picking
that up and lining that up for us
we've talked about the arms and the chest of silver, and that's the bear
Medo-Persia, we talked about that
the belly and thighs of brass or bronze, which was the leopard, and that was Greece
we talked about this one as well
the legs of iron
and the dragon and that was pagan Rome
your member that pagain Rome was divided into ten, remember the image had ten toes
the dragon had ten horns, you see the consistency of scripture, among those ten
horns was a little horn that came up, which was papal Rome
papal Rome came into existence in 538 AD
now what becomes extremely important about this is because of what it says
next
but the judgment shall sit
and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the
end
it's talking about this papal power - listen carefully...
and the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole
happen
shall be given to the people, the saints of the most High
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey
Him
now it is said that that power would rule for a time, times and a half a time
or dividing of time, which we traced down to the date of 1798
and it says the court is seated
the court is seated and it says that the kingdom is going to be given to God's
people
we are just going step by step
down through time
in our next study we will be looking at the beast, the dragon and the woman
and I hope you'll join us in the next part of this intriguing journey...