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Great Dreadful Beast of Daniel
7
Interpretation Principles Used - Characteristics on the beast,
move from the body to horns to go forward in time, a horn comes
up after other horns to move forward in time, similarity and differences
between powers represented by the horns and body, concurrency of
the horns. For
more information, see Prohpetic Rules
of Interpretation in the Main
Menu above.
Daniel 7:7 - And after this I was
looking in the night visions. And, behold, the fourth beast was frightening and
terrifying, and very strong! And to it were great iron teeth. It devoured, and
crushed, and stamped what was left with its feet. And it was different from all
the beasts before it; and it had ten horns.
Daniel did not give a species name to this 4th great beast,
but he did describe it as a powerful animal (dreadful and terrible
- perhaps suggesting it was rather ugly) and its behavior as quite
dangerous. That
certainly would be a fitting description of Rome. The description
of this beast illustrates the Characteristics
Principle, which says that
secondary characteristics (things other than just the body, heads, or horns,
for example, things such as wings or teeth) tell us about
the behavior of the nation represented, or else tell us something about what
or how it would do something.
Every beast that
Daniel saw in the vision recorded in Daniel 7 was represented by animals
that were in fact used by those nations to represent themselves. The
Babylonians apparently used winged lions to represent themselves. The
Medes and Persians used a bear as a symbol of themselves. The leopard
was used by the kingdom of Alexander the Great to represent itself.
The Romans, which this dreadful beast represented, used a dragon to
represent themselves.
Now, some take
this to mean that the beast that Daniel saw was a dragon. This may
or may not be true. We cannot be sure of this because Daniel does not
name the species of the beast he saw in vision. However, given that
the other beasts Daniel was shown were used by their respective nations
to represent themselves, it seems likely that the beast Daniel saw
was in fact a dragon, which, of course, is a mythical beast that is
considered to be huge and of immense power. This certainly is fitting for Pagan Rome.
The 10 horns are believed to represent the 10 most important
European divisions of the Roman empire after the teenage emperor was
forced to resign from office in
476 AD and hand the
kingdom over to the Heruli, a tribe who had worked as mercenaries for Rome.
So, the body of this beast represented Pagan Rome and the 10 horns
occurred after the time represented by the body of the beast (after Pagan
Rome), a form of the Miller
Principle.
Note that these 10 horns occurred together, which represented that the ten
kingdoms they represented existed together (Concurrency
Principle).
Note that the 10 horns grow out of the beast they are on, so
they will be of a like nature. In other words, the Similarity Principle is followed here because the beast was
a political power and the ten horns were also political powers just
like the beast they were on.
They were split
off the original empire so were smaller and weaker than the
original empire (the Difference Principle).
Some
wonder why the beast had 10 horns when it is clear from history
that there were more than ten kingdoms that came up out of Pagan
Rome. The Bible explains the symbolic nature of the number ten in
Daniel 1:20. In Daniel 1, the story is told of how Daniel and his
friends, after being taken from Jerusalem and selected for service
for the king of Babylon, determined not to eat of the foods that
the king served to them because they were foods that God had forbidden.
Instead, they wanted to eat foods that God had instructed are
the proper way to eat. After a testing time, the men overseeing
Daniel and his friends decided that the results were good, so their
new diet was continued. When they were tested by the king at the
end of their training period, the king apparently found them to
be "ten
times better than all the astrologers and magicians in all his realm".
Now, it is not that hard to realize that they could not really be that
much better than all the others. To describe the difference between
Daniel and his friends compared to the others, the Bible is using hyperbole,
extravagent exaggeration of the actual facts, to illustrate that Daniel
and his friends excelled in their studies in spite of their use of
a "strange
diet" which the Chaldeans were not likely familiar with. Clearly, they
were better than the others, enough so that the king could tell the
difference. As a result, they stood before the king in their service
work for him.
In addition ,
the number ten is used to illustrate not only the extravagent exaggeration,
but also to create a symbol that the number ten represents that
something is "a lot more" than something else by comparison.
Thus, it is not necessarily a literal number, but can also be a
symbolic number.
The
ten horns represent simply "a lot more" than what
came before. With the dreadful beast, there was one kingdom before
and then there were "a lot more" than before. History records some
twenty tribes or so that arose after Pagan Rome, though it did turn
out that ten of them were the roots for the major nations of
modern Europe.
Why is a dreadful looking beast used to represent
Rome?
Why is a dreadful looking beast used to represent Pagan Rome? Consider
that a dinosaur could have been used, or maybe an elephant. Yet
that is not what was done so far as we know. Why is this animal
without a species name?
Consider that the description of this beast is another example
of the Characteristics Principle being
applied. This beast is said to "devour, and
crush, and stamp what was left with its feet" (Daniel 7:7)
and also "...which was different from all of them, very frightening,
whose teeth were of iron and its nails bronze..." (Daniel 7:19).
This describes its behavior - what it would do when it attacked. You
might say this is a description of it's method of attack. Rome
did have a policy that it would respond with overwhelming force
against any rebellion, and it tended to do this very well. Of
course, it was much more successful in doing this than the Persians
were, but its troop training and battle equipment was superior
to that of the Persians.
The important point is that its behavior was described quite
accurately by the description of the beast itself. It could
indeed devour and crush its enemies with those "iron teeth". Rome
was known for its use of iron weapons which gave it an edge over
its enemies. Stamping on its enemies with feet that had brass
claws perhaps is a reference to its tendency to completely
destroy any opposition by smashing it totally.
The fact that it was not given a species name but was described
as very frightening again tells us something about its behavior. It
would seem that something that is frightening like this would be very
intimidating, and history bears out that Rome was very intimidating
to the nations it confronted. For example, in 168
BC, Antiochus Epiphanes IV was in the process of invading
Egypt. He was met by a representative of the Roman Senate who informed
Antiochus Epiphanes that the Romans were demanding that he withdraw from
Egypt, then drew a circle in the sand around Antiochus Epiphanes and told
him not to leave it until he had made up his mind to cease the invasion
and leave Egypt. History records that he stopped the invasion of Egypt
and went home to Syria. The danger posed by Rome must have been quite
frightening, for this man simply withdrew without a fight against the Romans
and ran home.
You can be sure it was quite difficult for him to accept this because he
had gone through all the expense and difficulties of an invasion of Egypt,
and yet he left. Hence, this prophecy of Rome as a dangerous and frightening
power was clearly fulfilled in this and many other incidents.
Daniel was told that this beast would be different than all
before it. What did this mean? How was it different than all before
it? The others had one thing in common,
which is that all of them were ruled by kings. But, Rome did
not share that characteristic with them because Rome experimented
with six different forms of government before it broke up in 476
AD. If you think carefully about this, notice that God had not said
anything about the form of governments of the previous kingdoms.
He was silent, almost as if He had this unwritten rule
about the other kingdoms, but with this one He changes the rule
and only then notifies you of its existence by informing you it
was being changed. The statement that the fourth dreadful beast
is diverse from all those who went before it is an example of the Exception Principle being applied
by God, which means whatever rule was in effect up until the exception
is stated, is now obsolete and the new rule takes its place from
this point on for this power.
Another aspect of this kingdom that made it different than
those that went before it was that it conquered most of Europe. Previous
kingdoms did not succeed in doing that for various reasons. Babylon never
approached Europe. The Persians tried to take over Europe, but were
stopped by the Greeks. The Greeks seem to have gone from Greece eastward
all the way to India, but apparently did not go west or north into Europe
(though some recent discoveries suggest they may have planted colonies on
mainland Italy). So, Rome was different in this aspect from the
beginning. Again this reflects use of the Characteristics
Principle.
This beast evidently had one head with iron teeth (the bible
only mentions the iron teeth, so it seems reasonable that there
is a head - it does not mention 2 or more heads, and teeth without
a head would look ridiculous. It originally
had ten horns, but after them another came up (horns coming
up after other previously existing horns, another form of the Miller
Principle) which had a mouth
and eyes like a man and spoke great words against God. The author
likes to refer to the horn that talked as the "Talking Horn" because of
its behavior. Some people refer to it as the little horn power, which is
the same thing. This new talking horn was responsible for uprooting 3 of
the original 10 horns. The
author shows the image above with 3 of those horns removed (you can see
where they
"broke off" on the head), with the 3 horns on the ground below the
beast.
Building the Roman empire by destroying the Greek
empire:
Rome was known as a particularly cruel empire, but it also created
a peace that had not existed before then, something that many businessmen no
doubt appreciated. Because Rome had a policy that it would respond with
overwhelming force against any rebellion, it forced a peace among the many
peoples it governed. Because of the peace that Rome forced onto the region
and because of a more reasonable justice system with laws better than other
countries, many people respected Rome. Several kingdoms were in fact
quietly handed over to Rome because of this. For example, the Attalid
Empire,centered in Pergamum (more detailed
information on Pergamum here), was willed by its
last king to Rome in 133
BC. Bithynia was also willed to
Rome in 75 or 74 BC
when its last king (Nicomedes III) died (another history of
Bithynia can be found here, including its kings).
Rome also conquered the remnants of the Greek empires that came
out of the empire of Alexander the Great. This conquest of the Greek
empires began when Rome took Asia Minor away from the Seleucid Empire in
188 BC. But this was
only the first step and did not do away with any of the three remaining Greek
empires that resulted from the split up of Alexander the Great's empire.
The first conquest that destroyed a Greek empire was the conquest of the Greek
Macedonian empire (an empire begun by Cassander) in 168
BC (at the Battle of Pydna which is also considered the beginning
date for the Roman Empire by historians). The second of these conquests
was the Greek Syrian empire (an empire begun by Seleucus
I) in 63
BC. He was attacked on one side by the Parthian
empire (Click here for a different source of maps and history of the
Parthian Empire) and Rome on the
other. The third was of the Greek Egyptian (an empire begun by
Ptolomy I) empire in
30 BC.
In 31
BC, the Roman general Octavian defeated the Ptolomy empire in the
naval battle of Actium, which meant he also defeated Mark Anthony in a bid by
both of them to become the emperor of Rome (there was a civil war going on
between them - Mark Anthony had Cleopatra's help from Egypt). This battle
resulted in Octavian becoming the emperor of Rome and gained the title
Augustus. Mark Anthony and Cleopatra both went back to Egypt as fast as
they were able. The following year, 30
BC, Octavian attacked Alexandria, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra
committed suicide, and Egypt became another province of Rome..
What had started as a single empire by Alexander the Great, was
initially divided into 4 smaller, less powerful empires. About 20 years
later, the empire run by Seleucus I (In Syria and Babylon) swallowed the empires
run by Lysimachus (in Asia Minor), leaving 3 empires behind by 280
BC. One by one, beginning in 168
BC, the Roman empire conquered and swallowed the remaining 3 parts
of Alexander's original empire. The final event in 30
BC effectively ended the remnants of the empire of Alexander the
Great. After 30
BC there was nothing left of the empire begun by Alexander the
Great.
Click below to see a chronology of the Greek empires after
Alexander the Great:
The Talking Horn - who is it, how and when did it
have power?
The horn with the mouth and eyes which spoke against God has been
believed by many to represent the papacy, which certainly got legal powers it
did not have after the date historians note as the end of the Roman empire
(476 AD). The papacy
certainly existed before the fall of Rome, to be sure, but the symbol of the
horn coming up after the other 10 horns began to have their day of power, is
trying to show us that the time when it had legal power to work against God is
what is represented here, which began in 538
AD. It is not trying to show us
that it existed only after 476
AD, for it certainly did exist before then.
To understand exactly what happened in 538
AD that makes it significant, the reader needs to know some history
and basic facts of government. These facts of government are as
follows: (1)
decrees or laws issued by a government are only applicable to
territory they control, so if you don't control a territory, you cannot apply
laws there as they are unenforceable, (2) even if
you reside in and control a territory, you cannot control another territory
unless you can back it up by force of arms, and (3)
be able to communicate with that other territory. Both of
these factors must exist for a government to be able to enforce laws upon any
given territory. Now, with these facts in mind, please click here for a history of what happened when Belisarius entered
Rome.
The papal power over other bishops and the power to punish heresy
was given to the pope as a matter of legal right in the spring of 538
AD after Justinian's general, Belisarius, managed to break the
siege of Rome by the Ostrogoths, which lasted from March of 537 to March of
538. Belisarius first entered Rome in
December of 536 when the
Ostrogoths (more information about the Ostrogoths and
more about the Ostrogoths from the Catholic
Encyclopedia) abandoned Rome as he
entered it. But, he had to immediately begin preparations for the siege
that he knew was coming, and facing an enemy with probably10 times as many
troops. This would leave him little time for setting up and running a
Roman law administration, so consequently, it is extremely probable that he did
not get that done.
Once the siege began, virtually nobody could leave the city, so
any laws that Justinian had made that were to be generally applicable and
enforceable outside of the city by the pope, or anybody else, were simply not
enforceable. You cannot enforce a law that you cannot get a message out
about nor can you enforce a law that you cannot back up with the force of
arms. They (Belisarius and the pope) could get messages out but could not
mount significant force of arms to back up what was ordered. So, it was a
toothless law. Once the siege of the Ostrogoths was lifted, the decree of
533 AD by Justinian making
the pope supreme bishop and giving him power to punish heresy was implemented
and enforceable by law (click here to read the
decree of Justinian in English).
One interesting point about the siege of the Ostrogoths against
Rome is what happened to weaken the Ostrogothic army. The Ostrogoths cut
the aqueducts supplying Rome with water, expecting that without water the city
would give up in a matter of days. But it happens the people of the city
made do with water that was already available in Rome itself. The act of
cutting the aqueduct turned against the Ostrogoths because they could not stop
the flow of water through the aqueducts and could only divert the water
elsewhere. This water collected in ponds that bred mosquitos, which in
turn became infected with malaria parasites, which then bit the Ostrogothic
soldiers, thereby infecting them with malaria. This essentially defeated
the Ostrogoths and made them so weak that Rome was able to fend them off and
they finally had to give up. One can only surmise if this event eventually
played a large role in the final defeat and dissolution of the Ostrogoths some
16-18 years later.
At this point in time, all three factors necessary to enforce the
decree were is place: (1)
Justinian's government controlled Rome and (2) they
(Belisarius and the pope) could now send messages to/from the outside world,
(3) and back up what they
ordered with force of arms. Thus it was that this decree became
enforceable in March of 538
AD. This power lasted until 1798 when Napoleon's
general Berthier invaded Rome and on the 15th of February of that year, wrote a
decree ending the powers of the papal government, which officially ended the
power the pope had over other governments and religious authorities
(click
here for historical details). Now, that
didn't end the papacy, but its power was crippled after that and it no longer
had power over ALL other bishops or to punish what it considered
heresy.
Now, some would argue that nothing significant happened in
538 AD, but that is
untrue. It is recognized by historians that the pope consolidated his
powers in Rome in the year 538
AD, and not before. It is from this point in time that the
setup of the church with the powers it would have for the next 1260 years was
created, not later. The power of the church began to grow some from this
point in time as well. Further, it gave the pope powers he did not have
before so that he could control the church from his post in Rome. It also
removed the direct control of the Ostrogoths as a force opposing the pope, for
they were Arians and were opposed to papal power because of the beliefs they
had. It also prepared the way for pope Gregory, who came along late in the
6th century, to be able to greatly consolidate and concentrate papal power,
which further enabled him to reorganize the church. All of these things
tie back into the events of 538.
Without that event, none of these would have been possible.
So, a decree created the power that the bible recognizes the pope
got beginning in 538
AD, and 1260 years later (almost to the month) Napoleon's army undid
this by decree.
Now, how does the author know that the decree is what defined the
1260 years? Dan 7:25 says "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."
The phrase "and they shall be
given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of
time" tells you that during
the 1260 years the people of God would be given into the hands of the talking
horn. Who gave them into his hand? Justinian, by a simple decree
which gave the pope the power to punish heresy. This allowed the pope to
decide what was heresy without any oversight by anyone else. His word was
law without question. Historically, it is known that the papacy did engage
in some persecution before 538
AD, but after that it was explicitly legal for them to do
this. So, the people of God were literally given into the hand of this
power. That combined with the identity of the talking horn (other places
typically refer to this power as the "little horn"), the obvious historical fact
that they had this legal power for 1260 years almost down to the month, is
reasonable evidence that the years 538
AD to 1798
AD constitute the 1260 years based on the decrees.
We know the events of 1798 down to the very day
each of them occurred on, so we can in fact work backwards from that to
approximately date the events of 538.
We don't have to do that because we have sufficient knowledge of what happened
in 538 to know roughly when
the decree of Justinian became enforceable, but it is nice to know that we can
work backwards if needed.
God seems to often go by decrees in judging human events,
especially in matters of prophecy in Daniel and Revelation. Consider Dan
9:25 which says "Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build
Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and
two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous
times." Note here that
God dated this 70 week (70x7 in years or 490 years) from the time that the
command to rebuild and restore Jerusalem was sent out. This means that a
decree is used to date the beginning of a timed prophecy in Daniel. So,
likewise, history shows that a decree is used to date the 1260 years, both at
the beginning and at the end of it.
Now there is the saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely,
and it certainly is true. History shows the results of this, for unknown
numbers of people were killed on the orders of the popes during this time
period. If you doubt that, consider that Pope John Paul II has admitted
that they persecuted and killed many, and he "apologized" for the errors of past
popes in doing this. Catholic protagonists argue that "only a few heretics
were killed", which statements history does not support as a lot more than just
a few were killed. But, even if their statement were true, which it is
not, what if you were one of those "few heretics" who was burned at the stake
for your beliefs? How would you feel about it? God says what he
thinks about it, for Dan 7:26 says about this talking horn "But
the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to
destroy it unto the end. "
So, those who do these things will receive their punishment from
God. Remember that Jesus said "They shall put you
out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will
think that he doeth God service" (John 16:2).
This indicates that there would come a time when people would be killed by those
who think they are doing a service to God, which is not unlike the murders done
by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City, who believe that they were
doing a service to Allah (God). We all know that those terrorists will
meet the judgment bar of God and receive punishment for what they have
done. Likewise those who kill others for their beliefs, as was done by the
Catholic Church during the dark ages, and those protestants who did the same to
Catholics after the Protestant Reformation was over, will also meet the judgment
bar of God. The same standard will be applied to both
sides.
This horn did certain other things that can be used to identify
it. It is believed to have been influential in causing 3 tribes
that opposed the papacy to be destroyed (this does not mean it was directly
responsible, just that it had an influence with regards to these events).
It is not known exactly which 10 powers the 10 horns represent, but the 10 most
influential in Europe are the ones typically proposed as these eventually
evolved into the major nations of Europe that we see today. Here are the
10 tribes and the nations they evolved into that are commonly proposed:
Anglo-Saxons (England), Alamanni (Germany), Burgundians (Switzerland), Franks
(France), Lombards (Italy), Suevi (Portugal), Visigoths (Spain), Vandals
(destroyed), Ostrogoths (destroyed), and the Heruli (destroyed). In
history, what is known is this. There were 6 tribes in Europe that were
Arian in their beliefs, which meant they did not believe in the Trinity of the
Godhead This means they did not believe that Jesus was divine. The
papacy did believe that Jesus was divine and this set the papacy against those
who did not believe the same way. There were 3 Arian tribes which actively
opposed the papacy, which were the Heruli, the Vandals, another page on the Vandals from the ancient history web
page, an additional
page about the Vandals from the Catholic Encyclopedia, and the
Ostrogoths.
Though most of the Heruli were Arian, it appears from history that
some of them were more pro-Catholic in beliefs. The Heruli in Rome were
Arian and were used as imperial guards until they revolted against Rome (the
emperor was Romulus Augustulus) in 476
AD and made Odoacer their king. (To
learn more about Odoacer, see: ODOACER at
LoveToKnow.) Historians generally consider this act to have ended the Roman
empire officially. He remained king until 493
AD, when the Ostrogoths installed their own king, Theodoric the
Great, on the throne in
Rome by deposing and killing Odoacer when they invaded Italy at the request of
Zeno (who wanted to get the Heruli and their king out of the way because he felt
that they were a threat to his authority in Rome). But, of course, the
Ostrogoths were Arian believers, so this also posed a problem for the pope,
since he was under the emperor's control. At this time it seems the Heruli
disappeared from the history of Rome because their tribal groups in Italy and
Austria were destroyed by the Ostrogoths under Theodoric as they invaded
Italy. As a people, the remaining Heruli disappeared altogether from
history about 550
AD when the Lombards destroyed them during
their invasions that eventually led them right into Italy. The removal of
the Heruli from Rome in 493
AD solved a problem for the pope. But the coming of the
Ostrogoths to replace the Heruli created another problem for the pope that
remained until March of 538
AD and was solved by Justinian through Belisarius.
The Vandals were destroyed on the order of Justinian (who had his
capital at Constantinople). He sent his general, Belisarius, after the
Vandals in North Africa in 533
AD. By 534, they
were either dead, dispersed, or removed, so they were never heard from again in
history.
The Ostrogoths were a Germanic tribe (of which there were several)
that moved into Italy and eventually took over Rome. The Ostrogoths
remained in Rome until December of 536
AD, at which time they left when Belisarius, under orders from
Justinian, came and entered the city of Rome. The Ostrogoths felt they
could not successfully defend Rome against a siege, so they voluntarily
left. A few months later, they returned for a year long siege of Rome, not
leaving until March of 538
AD. By the spring of 538, Roman
laws under the government of Justinian were once again the ruling force in Rome
and it was then also possible for the pope to enforce the decree of Justinian
written in 533 AD. It was this
event which marks the 1260 year time span
mentioned by Daniel 7 (time, times, and half a time, and since a prophetic time
is 360 days and a day is symbolic for a year, this makes 1260 years, see
explanation of 1260 years equals 3-1/2 times).
The Visigoths, which were another branch of Goths, hung on in
Spain for about another 50 years, but eventually they too fell and were absorbed
into the Catholic system that lasted until Napoleon. As said by W.H.C.
Frend in his book, The Rise of
Christianity on page 815,
medieval Europe would be based on the monarchies of the time
and the Catholic Church. Behind this would be the idea of Justinian which
created this situation (in 538 AD) which would last until Napoleon.
So, there you have it direct from a recognized church historian that the setup
of Europe by Justinian (in 538) laid the foundation
for church and state for the next 1260 years. Remember that Justinian was
not able to create this situation until he had his victory over the
Ostrogoths. After that, he would be able to implement a Roman
administration in Rome with Roman laws and enforce laws outside of Rome.
That set things up.
Now, you may ask, why would the Eastern Roman Emperor want to help
the pope? History seems to record that Justinian wanted to recreate the
entire Roman Empire under his control, and in order to do that, he needed to
have control over Rome as well as the other territories Rome once ruled.
To gain that control, Justinian saw that by favoring the pope he would gain
leverage over many citizens loyal to the pope, and by destroying the tribes
opposed to the pope, he would increase the pope's power, thereby increasing his
own, hopefully. Plus, he removed forces occupying the original Roman
territories and government by removing the 2 remaining tribes (Vandals and
Ostrogoths), a move that favored his objectives.
Justinian wrote a decree in 533
AD (some say 529
AD) in which he stated that the pope (1) was supreme bishop over all
other bishops, and (2) had the power to suppress heresy. But it does not
take a genius to realize that this was not enforceable when written because
Justinian did not rule Rome. It would be like the United States Congress
passing a law for a province in Canada - it clearly would not have the force of
law there unless that province later decided to join the United States to become
part of it. Should it do so, then any laws passed by the US Congress would
become enforceable in that province. But as long as this province does not
join the United States, any laws passed for that province by the US Congress
would have no force of law for that province. Same with Justinian's
decrees involving the pope. They were null and void until Justinian
controlled Rome and the territories surrounding it that Rome once
controlled. Further, he needed to be able to enforce the decree from Rome,
something that cannot be done under siege conditions. Once that control
was established and the siege lifted, then he could enforce his decrees.
So, it is plain to see that both Justinian and the Pope had to find some way to
remove the Vandals and the Ostrogoths that stood in the way of their common
objectives. Hence it is that Justinian dispatched his army to destroy the
Vandals to remove their opposition to the pope, and drive the Ostrogoths from
Rome.
For more information about this event of history from a slightly
different perspective, see Patmos Papers,
1260-Year Prophecy Please don't
forget to come back when done!
Some have objected to selecting these 3 tribes (Heruli, Vandals,
Ostrogoths) for fulfilling the prophecy. It is true that there were
several other tribes which were also Arian in beliefs and therefore opposed the
pope's power and beliefs (Alemanni, Visigoths, Burgundians). But, these
tribes were not at the power center of government around Rome, and especially
important, made little effort to directly oppose the pope. Therefore, it
was not essential to remove them to gain supremacy, so they were not destroyed
by the Eastern Roman Emperors. Eventually the 3 remaining Arian tribes
changed their beliefs to match that of the popes.
What is interesting is that Daniel was shown that this horn which
speaks against God would be around until the end of the world (along with the
remaining 7 horns). Given that it came out of Rome after the other 10 main
tribes arose from Rome, and that 3 tribes were removed out of the way which
paved the way for the medieval papacy to develop, it indicates that this power
came about shortly after Rome fell, came out of Rome, and will remain until the
end of the world. Only the papacy matches the events recorded about it in
Daniel 7. To learn about the 7 ways to identify the stout, or what is
sometimes called the "little" horn, click here
(Go to the middle of their web page). The author
likes to call the stout horn the "talking horn".
The talking horn that came up after the others is an example of
the Exception Principle. All previous
parts of this beast were political in nature but here comes to light a power
that is different than all before it. This horn represented a power that
would speak against God and oppress the people of God. What is interesting
about this power is that the description of this power seems to center more on
religious power, rather than political power. It does have political
power, to be sure for all prophetic beasts do have political power, but there is
something different about this power compared to the others. So, we should apply
the Exception Principle, which means that we
consider this power and anything that comes from it to take on the
characteristic described by the exception, which in this case means that this
power and all that may come from it are to be looked on primarily as a religious
power.
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Time of the horns - This time occurred
after the time of the body, or after 476
AD. It is believed that the 10 horns probably represented the
most important 10 kingdoms in Europe to come out of Rome after 476
AD, but we are not told anything in Daniel by which we may be
absolutely certain of exactly who all 10 are.
Time of the body - This represented
the time of the Roman empire until the Empire began to split up, which began in
476 AD. The body and 1
head count as one kingdom because there was no split in the kingdom until the 10
divisions occurred. God chose to show the divisions as horns rather than
heads to teach us that horns as well as heads can represent split up
kingdoms.
