The Prophecies of Daniel
Part 4: The Little Horn
This morning we are ready for part four of our teaching series on the prophecies found in the Old Testament book of Daniel. The prophecies found in this book concern a period of time called the Times of the Gentiles. This morning I am going to be proposing a few interpretations of some of these prophecies that differ greatly from the more popularly held interpretations. I will leave it up to your own judgment as to which view you see as more likely.
Last week we began looking at the second vision given in chapter seven of Daniel. This is the vision of the Four Wild Beasts. We saw how these four wild beasts corresponded with the four metals of the giant statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter two. The metals and the beasts both represent the four gentile empires that ruled the earth in the area of the Middle East. These kingdoms were the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, and the Ancient Roman Empire.
I. The Fourth Beast
We only barely touched on the fourth beast with its ten horns and the one little horn that came up among them. That is where we are going to pick up today. Let’s reread some of the verses in Daniel seven that discuss this beast in order to refresh our memories.
Daniel 7:7-8,11, “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast – terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.
[8] “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
[11] “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.”
As we said last week, this fourth beast is a kingdom or empire that arises from the Mediterranean region. The fact that this beast has teeth of iron and ten horns helps us connect it with the iron legs and the iron and clay feet and toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. Therefore, the fourth beast represents the Ancient Roman Empire. And the ten horns represent the Last Days Empire made up of a ten federated kingdom that will come up out of the Ancient Roman Empire.
A. The Ten Horns
Now, many scholars have speculated that this Last Days federation will arise in Europe because this was the area that the Ancient Roman Empire controlled. This leads them to speculate that the European Union could be the ten federated kingdom from which the antichrist rises to power. While I’m not saying that they are wrong, I want to show you some things as we go along that I believe may fit the prophecy a little bit better.
Look at the map I gave you. This is a map of the Ancient Roman Empire. Most people don’t realize just how large the Empire was. Notice all of the territory it covered. Now remember when we talked about the Colossus of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream have two legs of iron and that those two legs represented the two divisions the Roman Empire was split into? (I’ve drawn a red line at the approximate point on this map where the division between the east and west took place.)
Okay, so here are my thoughts on this matter. If you look at this map, most scholars are saying that the ten toes or horns and the antichrist that arises amongst them will come from the western division of the Ancient Roman Empire. Now, this makes sense because Western Rome is along the Great Sea or the Mediterranean Sea. So, this interpretation is possible. And most people like it because we can relate to the Western division since we, as Americans, are a product of that part of the Empire.
Now, I’m not saying that these scholars are wrong. However, as I’ve studied this more on my own, I believe it makes more sense for the Last Days, ten federated empire to arise from the eastern division of the Ancient Roman Empire.
Let me explain. Think about all of the other empires depicted in this vision and the vision of the Colossus. Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece all controlled a certain area of the world. They controlled the territories east of the Mediterranean Sea, which today we refer to as the Middle East. Now look at the map again. Which division of the Ancient Roman Empire encompasses the Middle East? The eastern division. So, wouldn’t it make more sense if the final world power also came from this same area?
I also believe we will see in the visions in chapters 8 and 11 that this idea holds true and is even supported by events predicted there. I’ll go into more detail when we reach those chapters.
So, if the Last Days Empire arises from the eastern division of the Ancient Roman Empire that means that the EU is definitely not the ten toes or ten horns of Daniel’s prophecies. I don’t know exactly if the ten will be actual nations or powers within this area, but is sure looks like instead of being European in origin they will be Mideastern, maybe even Islamic.
II. The Little Horn
Okay, hold on to that thought and let’s turn our attention now to the little horn. I told you last week who this little horn represents. He is the antichrist, the final Gentile ruler, a man whom the Bible says is the son of perdition. So, let’s see what we can learn about him from this vision in chapter seven.
A. Came Up From the Ten Horns
The first thing we learn about him from verse eight is that he comes up among the ten horns. Verse twenty-four confirms this when the angel interprets the vision for Daniel. Daniel 7:24, “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.”
Notice the order of events here. The ten kings exist first and then the antichrist will come from among them. If we follow this line of thinking we’ll come to the conclusion that if the ten horns represent Mideast powers then the antichrist must also arise from somewhere in the Mideast. It’s possible he may even be Muslim.
B. Different From the Earlier Horns
A second thing we know about the antichrist is that he is different from the other ten kings. There may be more than one thing that makes him different, but one thing I believe is different about him is that I don’t think he will be the head of a country or nation or a diplomat. Coming from this area of the world of strong Islamic control one could speculate that perhaps he is a powerful terrorist. [I don’t know this for sure, it is mere speculation on my part.]
C. Subdues Three Kings
Another thing verse twenty-four tells us is that when the little horn or antichrist comes to power, he will subdue three of the original ten kings or powers. Since we don’t know who the ten kings are we can’t predict who the three are that will be put down. We aren’t far enough along in time to see this event, and Scripture doesn’t appear to give us any more clues as to their identities. We’ll just have to keep watching events unfold in the Middle East.
Let’s read some more verses to see what else we can learn about this little horn. Daniel 7:21, 25, “As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them…[25] He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times, and half a time.”
D. Speaks Against the Most High
One of the first things we learn from these verses is that this final world ruler will speak boastfully and proudly. He will also speak against the Most High.
This is a proud arrogant man who denies Jehovah God. More than likely he will deny the deity of Jesus Christ, His claim to be God’s Son, and His death and resurrection. After all Jesus’ deity is the main stumbling block that all other religions refuse to believe.
E. Wages War Against the Saints
The second thing we can learn from these verses about the antichrist is that he will wage war against and oppress the saints of the Most High. So in order to understand this portion of the vision, we need to know who the saints are that he is going to wage war against.
Now, this is where we need to be very careful about rightly dividing the word of truth, that we talked about before beginning this series. Because depending on who you believe the saints are, you can get radically different interpretations of the other events of this vision. Which in turn would change the interpretations of other related prophecies dealing with the same topic.
Some people claim that the saints mentioned here are the saints of the Church. After all, throughout the New Testament the term “saint” is used mainly to refer to the born-again believers in Christ. Thinking that the saints in Daniel seven are the Church is a reasonable assumption unless you rightly handle or divide God’s Word.
Remember I’ve told you repeatedly that the Church was a hidden mystery to the Old Testament prophets. Daniel could not see the Church from his point in history, and God did not reveal the existence of the Church until the New Testament. Daniel could only see what was happening to his own people and how the surrounding Gentile nations affected them.
So, these saints can’t be a reference to the Church. No, these saints are the righteous Jews. The antichrist, when he appears, is going to wage war against and oppress the Jewish people.
There are some other reasons we know this is true. First, the antichrist or little horn comes out of the ten-horned empire, and this empire is an actual earthly empire. It will literally exist on earth. It’s not a spiritual empire. All the other empires (Babylon, Greece, Rome) were earthly, so it’s reasonable to say that this Last Days Empire will be earthly as well. This means that the war the antichrist will wage will also occur on earth. This means that it is impossible for the saints mentioned here to be referring to the Church because we will not be here to see this empire and the antichrist come to full power.
When we were talking about the Colossus, I told you I put a mental division between the feet and the toes because I believe the Rapture of the Church will occur before the ten king Last Days Empire appears on the scene. I believe we can see it coming and forming, but we’ll be gone before it comes clearly into existence and power.
Just like with the Colossus, when we look at this fourth wild beast, we need to realize that the Church of true believers will be taken out to be with the Lord before the appearance of the ten horns and therefore before the antichrist appears to wage war on the saints. So you see, it’s impossible for the Church to be the saints Daniel speaks of. Therefore, the saints must be Jews.
F. Time, Times, and Half a Time
Verse twenty-five of Daniel seven also tells us how long the antichrist is going to be allowed to wage war and suppress the Jews. It says, “…The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times, and half a time.”
Well, that’s about as clear as mud. What is the world does God mean by “time, times and half a time”? And how are we supposed to figure it out? Well, if you have a very handy study Bible it might just tell you in the margins or at the bottom of the page what it means. But let’s pretend you don’t have one and reason this out together.
If you’ve studied Bible prophecy for a while, you’ll come across the realization that the Bible will interpret itself. If God finds certain information important enough to place in His Word to His children, then you can rest assured He wants us to have at least a basic understanding of what He is trying to tell us. So, with this thought in mind, we should be searching elsewhere in Scripture to see if He’s given us an explanation of “time, times, and half a time.”
And He has in the New Testament equivalent to the book of Daniel, the Revelation of Jesus Christ. There are two passages in Revelation 12 and 13 that ought to help us figure this out.
First, is Revelation 12:6 and 14. In this passage a woman, which is the symbol for the righteous Jews or the saints of the Most High in the book of Daniel, is fleeing from the serpent or Satan who has taken over the body of the antichrist. The serpent is waging war against the woman and trying to suppress and kill her. So, we’re talking about the same event here in Revelation twelve that we are in Daniel seven. So let’s read verses six and fourteen of Revelation twelve and see what they reveal to us about the length of time this persecution will last.
“[6] The woman [saints, Jews] fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.” And verse 14 gives us even more information, “The woman [saints, Jews] was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.”
Revelation 12:6 and 14 are talking about the same event. In each case God gives us an amount of time using different phrases. So, we can assume that since we’re talking about the same event that we are also referring to same amount of time. That means the time, times, and half a time in verse 14 is equal to the 1,260 days of verse 6.
So look at the handout I gave you concerning the time in Daniel 7:25 and let’s do some math together.
Time, times and half a time = 1,260 days. If we try to convert days to a larger period of time, say months, then 1,260 days divided by 30 days in a month = 42 months. And 42 months divided by 12 months in a year = 3 and a half years. So, time, times, and half a time = 3 and a half years.
Another verse in Revelation confirms our math. Revelation 13:5 is also talking about the antichrist only here he is referred to as a beast. We know this beast is the same as Daniel’s little horn because he is doing the same thing – proudly boasting and blaspheming God.
Revelation 13:5, “The beast [antichrist, little horn] was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.”
Forty-two months is equal to 1,260 days and three and a half years. So, we can say with certainty that time, times and half a time is equal to 42 months or three and a half years. Therefore, God is going to allow the antichrist to wage war against the Jewish people and suppress them for a period of three and a half years. This is what the Bible refers to as the time of Jacob’s Trouble or the Great Tribulation.
G. Change the Set Times and Laws
The last thing we find in Daniel 7:25 about the antichrist or the little horn is that he “tries to change the set times and laws.” In the NKJV of Scripture it says he intends, not tries, to change them. So, this changing or altering of set times and laws is all a part of the antichrist’s plan against the saints or Jewish people.
To understand this plan, we must understand what is meant by set times and laws. Now there is a popularly held interpretation of this phrase, which is valid and holds merit, and I’ll explain it to you first. But then I also want to show you what I discovered through my own studies, which I believe is as equally as valid as the popular view.
1. Popular Interpretation
The popular view goes something like this. Jewish rabbis understand that “times” refer to the Hebrew Sabbaths and Festivals, and “laws” refer to the Law found in the Old Testament book of Leviticus, which regulated them. So they believe that when the antichrist appears he is going to try to change the times set aside for the Jews to celebrate their Sabbaths and yearly feasts and festivals. He’s going to interfere in some way, maybe by have a law passed or something like that which would stop them from worshipping or make it very difficult or illegal, maybe even deadly to do so.
Now, I totally agree with this interpretation. It fits with the fact that the antichrist is going to wage war against and oppress the Jews. Why wouldn’t he also try to change or take away their religious activities as well? Especially if he turns out to be Muslim. But I also think there could be a second meaning to the phrase “set times and laws.”
2. Second Meaning
Without getting into to many details, we are going to find in further prophecies in Daniel that the antichrist is going to make some sort of covenant with the Jews that is intended to last for seven years. However, half way through the seven-year period he is going to break this covenant.
So, with these ideas in mind, let’s look again at the phrase “set times and laws.” The word “laws” is the Aramaic word dath (dawth) which means “a decree, or royal edict or statute.” Okay, now think about this. We have the final Gentile ruler appearing from a Mideast coalition of ten kings making a seven-year covenant with the Jewish people. Could this covenant actually be what we would call in modern terms a peace treaty? A peace treaty could be qualified as a decree, edict or statute.
It sure seems that a peace treaty between the Arabs and Jews is what everyone is hoping for in the Middle East. Once the church is removed from buffering and aiding Israel at the rapture, what’s to say a charismatic Arab or Muslim leader won’t step up onto the world stage and make a treaty with Jews for seven years? He’d be seen as a hero. They’d probably eagerly hand him a Noble Peace Prize. But the antichrist would make this seven-year treaty with the intention of breaking it when he feels the time is right for eliminating the Jews.
If you look again at the phrase “set times and laws” you will see that the words “set times” comes from the Aramaic word zeman which means “a period of time or an appointed time.” So Daniel 7:25 is telling us that the antichrist intends to change the appointed time of a law, decree edict, statue, or treaty. In other words he doesn’t intend to keep his side of a bargain he makes with the Jews. He’s going to break the treaty. And this is exactly what we find happens in future prophecies. Half way through the seven-year time frame he is going to break the covenant.
To make it as easy to understand as I can, I am going to tell you what I believe this verse is telling us. [Remember this is only my fallible interpretation. I may be right, but I may also be wrong. Make up your own minds about this.]
I believe that the antichrist will be an Arab from the Mideast. It’s highly likely that he will also claim to follow the Muslim faith and probably even be a terrorist. He is going to come from among a coalition of Mideast powers bent on destroying the Jews and taking their land. This coalition of powers may be actual nations or they may be powers with the Mideast area like terrorist cells or groups.
The antichrist’s plan to accomplish the destruction of the Jews will include making a seven-year peace treaty with the Jews, which he never intends to keep. The treaty will probably bring a halt to terrorist attacks and bombings so that the Jews will feel that they are living in peace and safety. In exchange for stopping the attacks the land of Israel and possibly even the capital city of Jerusalem will be divided up.
But the entire time this evil leader plans on breaking the treaty when he has had enough time to regroup and amass enough warriors and weapons to wage a successful war against the Jews. He intends to change the set time of seven years and break the law, the peace treaty.
Now, as a final word, I’m not going to stand up here and say that this is exactly the way these events will play out. However, I think it’s a good possibility considering what we know about Bible prophecy and the state of the Middle East today.
Next week we will finish what little is left to cover about the little horn and then take a look at the Judgment scene being played out in Daniel seven.
Sermon Sources:
The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, New International Version. Edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D. AMG Publishers. Chattanooga, TN. Copyright 1996.
Larkin, Rev. Clarence. The Book of Daniel. Clarence Larkin Estate, Glenside, PA. Copyright 1929.
Stone, Dr. Perry. Preparing the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Two-hour CD teaching. Copyright 2007. www.perrystone.org. Voice of Evangelism.
