Revelation Six - When The Four Horsemen Ride
Daniel 7 is a vital chapter that confirms what was said in Daniel 2, as well as adding to our understanding of Revelation. Without this passage, we would be harder to see what God is telling us about the Last Days. And, in case you are wondering... Yes, we are living - right now - during the time of the Fourth Beast. When we are done, hopefully you'll have a better understanding of what this beast is, both now and in the future. And, we really want a better understanding of our future. ———————————— Keep this ministry alive with a donation. And, read my two books: I created five Android Apps that will help you read through the Bible in a Year. You can find them here: https://revelationsix.com/android-apps/ If you miss my rantings about geopolitics, idiocy, resource collapse and incompetent globalism, follow me on Twitter. ———————————— A Biblical Overview Of Daniel - Part 5This is the vision of the Four Beasts. And, we will be able to match what is said here to Daniel 2 and Revelation 13. We can match all the kingdoms, and when we get to later chapters in Daniel we'll be able to take what we learn here and understand what later visions are saying. NOTE: As always, nothing said here should be considered 'holy writ'. I get things wrong. This should only act as a way of assisting you in your own research into these things. The Bible was not written for the unwary. (See Isaiah 28:9-13) We'll also see proof of the Millennium and that we are living during the time of the Beast System, but not the Antichrist. And, we'll see that the Beast and the Antichrist are two different entities. And just like you and me, Daniel was extremely concerned about the Fourth Beast. The First Three BeastsSo, let's begin our overview of Daniel 7...
Here is the imagery that we see:
Where do we see similar imagery of Four Winds and/or the first three beasts? In Revelation 7 we see the four winds commanded to be still until 12 thousand from each tribe of Israel is sealed. We also have this important verse in Ezekiel: Ezekiel 37:9 - Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” God is speaking here about the spiritual resurrection and salvation of Israel. And, when it says 'O breath' the word is הרוח (haRoo-ach, ch as in Bach) - which means 'the spirit' and NOT breath. In fact, I believe that it should be capitalized: The Spirit. We will also see reference to the four winds in a different way in Daniel 8. Where else do we sea a beast or beasts rising from a sea? Only in Revelation 13. But, it is only one beast that rises, but notice the similarities:
So, not only do we have a beast rising out of the sea, it also has the same physical characteristics as the three beasts that have been described before. But, there's one addition that we haven't looked at. And that is the fourth beast, where we get the ten horns. But let's stop for a moment and compare the three beasts to the image that we saw in Daniel 2. We also saw four kingdoms. The golden head was Nebuchadnezzar, which would coincide with the lion. The chest and arms of silver is Persia and coincides with the Bear. The belly and thighs are bronze, which is Alexander's empire which broke into for pieces - hence the Leopard with four heads. And, the fourth kingdom with legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay coincides with the fourth beast that we haven't talked about yet. However, we have some additional information in Daniel 7. Let's look at verse four again and what happens to the lion:
When Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon, the empire was swift and powerful. But, as we saw in Daniel 5, those that came after Nebuchadnezzar allowed the empire to fail through really bad decisions. The Bear had three ribs in its mouth and was commanded to devour much flesh. And, it certainly did devour everything in its path. In modern terms, the Persian empire, at its height, ruled Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Pakistan Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and bits of Greece, Libya, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. That's a LOT. By contrast, the Lion - Babylon - ruled a fraction of what the Bear - Persia - ruled. So, the Bear did devour much flesh. But, you'll also notice that the bear didn't have wings. Why? Because it grew more slowly than the Babylonian and Alexandrian empires. Nebuchadnezzar had two wings. But, the next beast had four. The Leopard was different for two important reasons. It had four wings, so it moved fast. It had four heads... and well ...that will require some explanation. Alexander the Great inherited a well trained, battle-hardened army with extremely high morale. He also realized that the Persian Empire was weakening with soldiers on the frontier lacking in fighting spirit and being often drunk. This presented a fantastic opportunity to roll up the Persian Empire. So, he did, in just five years. The problem is that he died a very early death. In Babylon, in the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar. The suspicion is that he died of poisoning, but it might have been disease. It's a bit unclear. What is clear, is the war among his generals that resulted in his empire splitting into four parts - the four heads. The Fourth BeastAll of this brings us to the Fourth Beast and the Fourth Kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar's image. And, it's this beast that Daniel is most concerned about, because of its incredible power.
Daniel is completely perplexed by this beast and goes to ask someone:
Then, like all of us, Daniel wants to know about the Antichrist:
Now, what is this fourth beast in Daniel 2? Well, when we look at the image in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, this is clearly the Fourth Kingdom of Iron. Here's the description:
What comes after this Fourth Kingdom? Well, Daniel 2:35 says this:
Is the Iron Mixed With Clay a Fifth Kingdom? Nope. The fifth kingdom is the mountain that fills the whole earth. That's God's Millennial reign. And, you can see the same for the Fourth Beast of Daniel 7. There is no fifth beast. This also means that we are living in the Fourth Kingdom and the Fourth Beast. Again, there's no fifth kingdom or fifth beast. So let me repeat that this can only mean that we are living in the Fourth Kingdom and the Fourth Beast. There can be no other explanation that I can see. Others have tried to make up other interpretations, but they just don't work. We are - you and I - in the Fourth Beast that has crushed every empire on earth. And, when you look at the history books, it's clear that our current civilization has done that. Not one kingdom or empire has survived the Fourth Beast. They've all been crushed by this Euro-American 'beast'. The Antichrist: The Eleventh HornBut wait, what are the ten - actually eleven - horns? Here is what was told to Daniel in verse 24 of chapter 7:
Where have we seen these Ten Horns? Well, Revelation 12 refers to the dragon as having ten horns, but that's not the image we are looking for. Remember that we are looking for as good a match as possible. And, we find it here:
And, as we said before, this beast that rises from the sea, is mix of the four beasts of Daniel 7. But, that still doesn't tell us who the horns are... Well the guy speaking to Daniel says that they are ten kings. But then, in the rest of verse 24, he says this:
And, to clarify who this eleventh horn is, let's look at verse 25 again:
That's right, the eleventh horn in Daniel 7 is the Antichrist, and we - the saints - will be persecuted by this horn for three and a half years. And, what happens after this three and a half years? Verse 26:
Also, earlier in the chapter, here:
Yeah, the Fourth Beast and the Eleventh Horn is destroyed forever and cast into Hell. We can see that here:
I call that a perfect match. But, I have a question: Are the ten toes in Daniel 2, also the ten horns in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13? Well, those ten toes are the final-final part of the image in Daniel 2. And, from the description of the ten horns, they are also the final-final part of the Fourth Beast. So, it looks like the image in Daniel 2 might grow an eleventh toe. Does this help us understand who the Antichrist is in Revelation? Yeah, I think so. It looks like the Antichrist is one of the horns of the Beast rising out of the Sea in Revelation 13. However, since he's actually the eleventh horn, that muddies the water a bit. So, I can't be dogmatic about the toes in Daniel 2, and adding to the Book of Revelation is a pretty scary business (see Rev 22:18). So, I'll be a little careful about that. The MillenniumBut wait. I said something at the beginning about the Millennium. And, since we've seen the Fourth Beast destroyed and cast into Hell, that's obviously Armageddon. And, Revelation speaks of the Millennium coming after that, in Revelation 20. Where do we see the Millennium in Daniel 7? It's right here, in verse 12 and the verse that explains it, 27:
- and -
That's right. They continue on, but without any power. Why don't they have any power? Because Jesus rules and reigns over them for a thousand years. To back this up, it looks like the first part of verse 14 also refers to the Millennium:
AND, we have confirmation here in Zechariah 14:
That's right there are unsaved people, who do not (or cannot) take the Mark of the Beast, but survive to go into the Millennium. So, all of this is absolute confirmation of a physical Millennium on planet Earth - even in Daniel 7. So, What Did We Miss?So, we've identified the Fourth Beast - our current civilization - and we've figured out who the Antichrist is - the Eleventh Horn. We have also seen a glimpse of the Millennium. Did we miss anything? Well, remember these two verses that the person talking to Daniel uses to explain what he saw:
Those two verses explain this part of the vision that occurs immediately after the appearance of the Fourth Beast.
What does all of that sound like? THE BOOK OF REVELATION! What are the books that are opened? Well, we know what one of them is, the one that is sealed with Seven Seals. Only after THAT book is opened are the Seven Trumpets and then the Seven Bowls poured out. The Great Tribulation cannot start until AFTER all Seven Seals have been opened. For more on all that, go here:
A Biblical Overview Of Revelation In ConclusionThis is what I consider to be the best explanation that fits other key passages of the Bible, and with what we know about history. Daniel was writing at the time when the First Beast was losing its wings. And, we really do appear to be sitting at the time of the Fourth Beast. But, I don't think that we've seen the horns yet. There's still a lot of uncertainty here. And, there are a few things that are yet to happen - such as Gog and Magog - before things get clearer. Unfortunately, Gog and Magog comes with Ezekiel's Fire, and you will excuse me if I'm not sure that I want to go through that. In the end, we are left with many of the same troubled thoughts as Daniel describes in the last verse: 28 “This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart.” Yeah. That's me too. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. ———————————— My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. ———————————— Keep this ministry alive with a donation. And, read my two books: I created five Android Apps that will help you read through the Bible in a Year. You can find them here: https://revelationsix.com/android-apps/ If you miss my rantings about geopolitics, idiocy, resource collapse and incompetent globalism, follow me on Twitter. ————————————
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