The four great monarchies

At what time was Daniel’s second visiongiven?

“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, and told the sum of the matters.”

(Daniel 7:1)

What effect did this dream have uponDaniel?

“I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my

head troubled me.”

(Daniel 7:15)

What did Daniel ask of one the heavenlyattendants who stood by him in his dream?

“I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he

told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.”

(Daniel 7:16)

What did the prophet see in this vision?

“Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the

heaven strove upon the great sea.”

(Daniel 7:2)

What was the result of this strife?

“And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.”

(Daniel 7:3)

What did these four beasts represent?

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

(Daniel 7:17)

In symbolic language, what is representedby winds?

Strife, war, commotion. (Jeremiah 25:31-33; 49:36, 37)

“As the result of the blowing of the winds, kingdoms arise and fall through political

strife.”

(The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, p. 106).

In prophecy, what is symbolized by waters?

“The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes,

and nations, and tongues.”

(Revelation 17:15)

What was the first beast like?

“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.”

(Daniel 7:4)

“Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria

hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath

broken his bones.”

(Jeremiah 50:17)

“The king of Babylon….shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the

habitation of the strong.”

(Jeremiah 50:43-44)

“For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation,…they shall fly as the eagle

that hasteth to eat.”

(Habakuk 1:6-8)

“But there came a time when the wings were plucked. It no longer rushed upon its

prey like an eagle. The boldness and spirit of the lion were gone. A man's heart--weak, timorous, and faint--took the place of a

lion's strength. Such was the case with the nation during the closing years of its history,

when it had become enfeebled and effeminate through wealth and luxury.”


By what was the second beast symbolized?

“And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side,

and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus

unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.”

(Daniel 7:5)

“The character of the power is well represented by a bear. The Medes and

Persians were cruel and rapacious, robbers and spoilers of the people. This Medo-Persian kingdom continued from the

overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus to the battle of Arbela in 331 B.C., a period of 207 years.”

(The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, p. 108)

“The bear raised itself up on one side. The kingdom was composed of two nationalities, the Medes and the Persians. The same fact is represented by the two horns of the ram in Daniel 8. Of these horns it is said that the higher horn came up last, and of the bear

that it raised itself up on one side. This was fulfilled by the Persian division of the

kingdom, for although it came up last, it attained the higher eminence, becoming a

dominant influence in the nation.”


“The three ribs doubtless signify the three provinces of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt,

which were especially oppressed by Medo-Persia. The command, "Arise, devour much flesh," would naturally refer to the stimulus

given to the Medes and Persians by the overthrow of these provinces.”


By what was the third universal empiresymbolized?

“After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four

wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.”

(Daniel 7:6)

“In the spring of 334 B.C. Alexander crossed over to Asia Minor at the head of an army of some thirty-five thousand Macedonians and

Greeks….Four years later – he had overthrown the Persian empire founded by Cyrus the Great, and set himself up as its ruler by right of conquest. Another four

years were spent in the subjugation of the wild tribes of the Iraninan Plateau and the more civilized peoples of the Indus Valley.

In this short space of eight years Alexander had annexed an area of little less than two

million square miles, containing a population of more than twenty million persons.

The amazing rapidity of his conquest, a feat all the more remarkable in view of the small force at his disposal, was due in large part to the superior organization of the Macedonian

army, the excellence of Alexander’s generals, trained in the school of his father, Philip, and his own superlative qualities as a

general and leader of men.”

“The beast had also four heads.” The GrecianEmpire maintained its unity but little longerthan the lifetime of Alexander in 323 B.C.

Within twenty-two years after the close ofhis brilliant career, or by 301 B.C., theempire was divided among four of hisleading generals.

“Cassander had Macedonia and Greece in the west; Lysimachus had Thrace and the

parts of Asia on the Hellespont and the Bosphorus in the north; Ptolemy received Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria in the south; and Seleucus had Syria

and all the rest of Alexander's dominions in the east.… These division were denoted by

the four heads of the leopard.”


How was the fourth kingdom represented?

“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 7:7)

“Inspiration finds no beast in nature to symbolize the power here illustrated. No addition of hoofs, heads, horns, wings,

scales, teeth, or nails to any beast found in nature will answer. This power is diverse

from all the others, and the symbol is wholly different from anything found in the animal

kingdom.”


What was the fourth beast declared to be?

“The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse

from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and

break it in pieces.”

(Daniel 7:23)

“How accurately Rome… answers to the beast before us! In the dread and terror

which it inspired, and in its great strength, it answered admirably to the prophetic

description. The world had never seen its equal. It devoured as with iron teeth, and broke in pieces all that stood in its way. It

ground the nations into the dust beneath its brazen feet.”


What was denoted by the ten horns?

“And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise.”

(Daniel 7:24)

What change did Daniel see take place inthese horns?

“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 7:8).

What inquiry on the part of Daniel showsthat the fourth beast, and especially thelittle-horn phase of it, constitute the leadingfeature of this vision?

Daniel 7:19 Then I would know thetruth of the fourth beast, which was diversefrom all the others, exceeding dreadful,whose teeth were of iron, and his nails ofbrass; which devoured, brake in pieces, andstamped the residue with his feet;

20 And of the ten horns that were in hishead, and of the other which came up, andbefore whom three fell; even of that hornthat had eyes, and a mouth that spake verygreat things, whose look was more stoutthan his fellows.”

When was the little horn to arise?

“And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall

rise after them.”

(Daniel 7:24)

The ten horns, as already been shown, arosewhen Rome, the fourth kingdom, wasdivided into ten kingdoms.

This division was completed by A.D. 476.

The little-horn power which was to ariseafter them and before whom three of theother kingdoms – the Heruli, the Vandals,and the Ostrogoths – fell, was the Papacy.

What is said of the little horn as comparedwith the ten horns of the fourth beast ofDaniel 7?

“He shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.”

(Daniel 7:24)

“From the historical testimony above cited, we think it clearly established that the three horns plucked up were the powers named:

the Heruli, A.D. 493, the Vandals, in 534, and the Ostrogoths finally in 533 though

effective opposition by the latter to the decree of Justinian ceased when they were driven from Rome by Belisarius in 538….”


What attitude of rivalry was the Papacy,represented by the little horn, to assumetoward the Most High?

“And he shall speak great words against the most High.”

(Daniel 7:25)

How does Paul, speaking of the man of sin,describe this same power?

“Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped;

so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”

(2 Thessalonians 2:4)

“Hence the pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of

the lower regions. . . . Moreover the superiority and the power of the Roman

Pontiff by no means pertain only to heavenly things, to earthly things, and to things under

the earth, but are even over angels, than whom he is greater. . . . So that if it were possible that the angels might err in the

faith, or might think contrary to the faith, they could be judged and excommunicated by the pope. . . . For he is of so great dignity and power that he forms one and the same

tribunal with Christ. . . .

“The pope is as it were God on earth, sole sovereign of the faithful of Christ, chief king

of kings, having plenitude of power, to whom has been intrusted by the omnipotent God direction not only of the earthly but also of the heavenly kingdom. . . . The pope is of

so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine

laws.”


How was the little horn to treat God’speople?

“And shall wear out the saints of the most High.”

(Daniel 7:25)

“Can anyone doubt that this is true of the papacy? The Inquisition, the 'persecutions of the Waldenses;' the ravages of the Duke of Alva; the fires of Smithfield; the tortures at

Goa--indeed, the whole history of the papacy may be appealed to in proof that his is applicable to that power. If anything could have 'worn out the saints of the Most High'--

could have cut them off from the earth of that evangelical religion would have become extinct, it would have been the persecutions

of the papal power.

In the year 1208, a crusade was proclaimed by Pope Innocent III against the Waldenses

and Albigenses, in which a million of men perished. From the beginning of the order of the Jesuits, in the year 1540, to 1580, nine

hundred thousand were destroyed. One hundred and fifty thousand perished by the

Inquisition in thirty years. In the Low Countries fifty thousand persons were

hanged, beheaded, burned, and buried alive, for the crime of heresy, within the space of

thirty-eight years from the edict of Charles V against the Protestants, to the peace of

Chateau Cambreses in 1559.

Eighteen thousand suffered by the hand of the executioner in the space of five years

and a half during the administration of the Duke of Alva. Indeed, the slightest

acquaintance with the history of the papacy will convince any one that what is here said of 'making war with the saints' (verse 21),

and 'wearing out the saints of the Most High' (verse 25), is strictly applicable to that power, and will accurately describe its

history.”

(The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, pp. 130-131).

“That the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution

that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a

complete knowledge of history. The memorials, indeed, of many of her

persecutions are now so scanty that it is impossible to form a complete conception of the multitude of her victims, and it is quite certain that no powers of imagination can

adequately realize their sufferings. . . .”


What else does the prophecy say the littlehorn would do?

“And think to change times and laws.”

(Daniel 7:25)

“Q. Have you any other way of provingthat the Church has power to institutefestivals of precepts?

“A. Had she not such power, she couldnot have done that in which all modernreligionists agree with her; - she could nothave substituted the observance of Sundaythe first day of the week, for the observanceof Saturday the seventh day, a change forwhich there is no Scriptural authority.” –Rev. Stephen Keenan, A DoctrinalCatechism, … p. 174.

“Q. How prove you that the Churchhath power to command feasts andholydays?

“A. By the very act of changing theSabbath into Sunday, which Protestantsallow of; and therefore they fondlycontradict themselves, by keeping Sundaystrictly, and breaking most other feastscommanded by the same church?

“Q. How prove you that?

“A. Because by keeping Sunday, theyacknowledge the Church’s power to ordainfeasts, and to command them under sin: andby not keeping the rest by her commanded,they again deny, in fact, the same power.” –Rev. Henry Tuberville, D.D., An Abridgmentof the Christian Doctrine, p. 58.

“Is not every Christian obliged tosanctify Sunday and to abstain on that dayfrom unnecessary servile work? Is not theobservance of this law among the mostprominent of our sacred duties? But youmay read the Bible from Genesis toRevelation, and you will not find a single lineauthorizing the sanctification of Sunday.The Scriptures enforce the religiousobservance of Saturday, a day which wenever sanctify.” – James Cardinal Gibbons,The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp. 72,73.

THE CATHOLIC RELIGION CHANGES THETEN COMMANDMENTS!

• Some man might ask me, “If the Catholicreligion deletes a commandment how dothey still come up with tencommandments?

• Let’s compare the Catholic tencommandments to the real tencommandments from the good ol' KingJames Bible.

• The following list on the Catholic side istaken from a textbook used in a Catholicschool. It is titled, “Growing in ChristianMorality” by Julia Ahlers, Barbara Allaire,and Carl Koch, page 40. It has both nihilobstat and imprimatur which are officialdeclarations that a book or pamphlet isfree of Catholic doctrinal error. Theauthors of this book know thesecommandments are deceitful. Look atwhat they say:

• ...These are the Ten Commandments, fromExodus, chapter 20, in the traditional waythey are enumerated by Catholics They didNOT use what THEIR NRSV said, they“enumerated” them the traditional wayenumerated by Catholics.

The Catholic Deception

First Commandment

I, the LORD, am yourGod...You shall nothave other godsbesides me.

The King James Bible

First Commandment

I am the LORD thyGod...Thou shalthave no other godsbefore me.


SecondCommandment

You shall not takethe name of theLORD, your God, invain.


SecondCommandment

Thou shalt not makeunto thee any gravenimage, or any likenessabove, or that is in theearth beneath, or thatis in the water underthe earth. Thou shaltnot bow down thyselfto them, nor servethem.


Third Commandment

Remember to keepholy the sabbath day.


Third Commandment

Thou shalt not takethe name of theLORD thy God invain.


FourthCommandment

Honor your fatherand your mother.


FourthCommandment

Remember thesabbath day, to keepit holy.


Fifth Commandment

You shall not kill.


Fifth Commandment

Honor thy father andthy mother.


Sixth Commandment

You shall not commitadultery.


Sixth Commandment

Thou shalt not kill.


SeventhCommandment

You shall not steal.


SeventhCommandment

Thou shalt notcommit adultery.


Eight Commandment

You shall not bearfalse witness againstyour neighbor.


Eight Commandment

Thou shalt not steal.


Ninth Commandment

You shall not covetyour neighbor's wife.


Ninth Commandment

Thou shalt not bearfalse witness againstthy neighbour.


TenthCommandment

You shall not covetyour neighbor'shouse.


TenthCommandment

Thou shalt not covet.

Until what time were the saints, times, lawsof the Most High to be given into the handsof the little horn?

“They shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”

(Daniel 7:25)

“a time” = 1 year or 360 days

“times” = 2 years or 720 days

“half a time” = ½ year or 180 days

or

1260 days or 1260 years

“a time, and times, and half a time”

The period is also mentioned in the followingexpression:

a time and times and half the time(Revelation 12:14).

a thousand two hundred and threescoredays (Revelation 12:6).

forty and two months (Revelation 13:5).

In symbolic prophecy what length of time isrepresented by a day?

“After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even

forty years.”

(Numbers 14:34)

“The edict of the emperor Justinian, dated A.D. 533, made the bishop of Rome the head of all the churches. But this edict could not

go into effect until the Arian Ostrogoths, the last of the three horns that were plucked up to make room for the papacy, were driven

from Rome; and this was not accomplished, as already shown, until A.D. 538…. The edict would have been of no effect had this latter event not been accomplished; hence from

this latter year we are to reckon, as this was the earliest point where the saints were in

reality in the hands of this power.

From this point did the papacy hold supremacy for twelve hundred and sixty

years? Exactly. For 538 + 1260 = 1798; and in the year 1798, Berthier, with a French

army, entered Rome, proclaimed a republic, took the pope prisoner, and inflicted a

deadly wound upon the papacy. Though it has never since enjoyed all the privileges

and immunities which it possessed before, we are seeing a gradual restoration of its

former strength.”


What will finally be done with the dominionexercised by the little?

“But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to

destroy it unto the end.”

(Daniel 7:26)

“The opening of this judgment scene is located by the prophecy at the close of the

great prophetic period of 2300 years, which terminated in 1844….

“Four years after this, in 1848, the great revolution which shook so many thrones in

Europe, also drove the pope from his dominions. His restoration shortly after was through the forces of foreign bayonets, by which alone he was upheld until his final

loss of temporal power in 1870.”

(The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, p. 145, 146)

“In 1870 the armies of Victor Emmanuel took away the temporal power of the pope, the very year that the Twentieth Ecumenical Council decreed the infallibility of the pope

when speaking ex cathedra, that is, when as shepherd and teacher of all Christians he

defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals.

But despite the increasing honors heaped upon the office of the bishop of Rome by the

clergy, the pope's temporal power was wholly taken away. Thereafter the popes

shut themselves up as prisoners in the Vatican at Rome until the signing of the

concordat with Italy, in 1929, which restored "his dominion" over the Vatican City, a small section of the city of Rome.”

(The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, pp. 146-147)

To whom will the dominion finally given?

“And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions

shall serve and obey him.”

(Daniel 7:27)

“After beholding the dark and desolate picture of papal oppression of the church,

the prophet is permitted once more to turn his eyes upon the glorious period of the

saints' rest, when they shall have the kingdom, free from all oppressive powers, in

everlasting possession.

How could the children of God keep heart in this present evil world, amid the misrule and oppression of the governments of earth, and the abominations that are done in the land,

if they could not look forward to the kingdom of God and the return of their Lord,

with full assurance that the promises concerning them both shall certainly be

fulfilled, and that speedily?”


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The four great monarchies

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