Tracing The Little Horn Series

The Prophecies of Daniel

Part 7: Tracing the Little Horn

We are now in week seven of our study of the prophecies found in the book of Daniel. Last week we started looking at the third vision found in chapter eight about the ram and the goat. We noticed how for the first time, God put names to two of the empires that would follow Babylon. They were the Medo-Persian Empire and the Grecian Empire.

The visions of the book of Daniel have a unique purpose. It is to reveal the Antichrist. So, today we are going to finish the vision of chapter eight by further examining the little horn described there, which we said represents the Antichrist. Specifically, we are going to concentrate on trying to determine just where this last Gentile leader is going to come from.

I. Review the Antichrist

So, before we get into Daniel chapter eight, let’s review what we already know about the Antichrist from chapter seven.

A. What We Know

1. Come From A Nation Near the Mediterranean Sea

First of all, Daniel 7:2 told us that four great beasts came up out of the great sea. These four beasts stand for the four Gentile empires that would rule the world during the period of time called the Times of the Gentiles. The great sea symbolizes humanity or the nations of the world in general, but it also refers to the Mediterranean Sea. Since the Antichrist, who is the little horn of Daniel 7:8, arises from one of the four beasts, then we know that he will come from an area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

2. Come From Territory Once Part of the Ancient Roman Empire

Second, Daniel 7:8 and 24 told us that the Antichrist, or little horn, would appear from among ten horns on the fourth beast that came up out of the great sea. The fourth beast we know represents the Ancient Roman Empire. And the ten horns on the beast, stand for ten nations or kings that were once a part of that empire that would come together to form another Last Days’ Empire. So, from these verses we know that the Antichrist will also come from a territory or nation that was once controlled by the Ancient Roman Empire.

Now these are the things that we can say that we definitely know for a fact, because of Scripture. But there are a few things that we can surmise, because of these facts.

B. What We Can Surmise

1. Come From the Eastern Division of the Ancient Roman Empire

We can narrow the territory down a little further by theorizing that the Antichrist will most likely come from a territory that was part of the eastern division of the Ancient Roman Empire. We surmise this because all of the previous empires that are mentioned in Daniel came from the Middle East, specifically centered around Iraq, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt. Since all of the previous empire were centered in this area it is reasonable to believe that the Antichrist will also arise from this area which was once past of the eastern division of Ancient Rome and not part of the western division like so many other scholars are teaching.

2. He May Come From the Muslim Faith

We can also surmise that it is highly likely that this last evil ruler will come from amongst the Muslim faith. Now I won’t be dogmatic about this point. I could be wrong; however, I truly believe it is the most likely scenario that I’ve come across in my studies so far.

The region that we are pointing to for the Antichrist’s origin is predominately Muslim. It seems reasonable to believe he will also be of this faith. Daniel 7:21 tells us that he is going to make war against the Jewish people. And Daniel 8:11, which we studied last week, explains that he is going to destroy the Jewish sanctuary. Both of these things are goals of the radical Muslims that live in the territories surrounding Israel. The region where the Antichrist will arise.

II. Further Clues As To the Origin of the Antichrist

So with these facts in mind let’s look at Daniel 8 and see what further information God has given us about the origin of the final Gentile ruler.

Daniel 8:8-9, “The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven. [9] Out of one of them came another horn which started small but grew in power to the south, and to the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.”

We examined this passage last week when we were looking at the goat and identifying the great horn that was broken off and the four horns, which replaced it. The goat represented the Greek Empire. The large horn was Alexander the Great whose Empire was divided among his four generals at the time of his death. The four prominent horns are those four kingdoms.