Good Morning! - Daniel 7:8 - Ten Horns and a Little Horn - 2009.11.25

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).

Internet searches show little about the Fourth Beast. Neither do the mainstream Bible commentaries, even those that take a literal fulfillment approach to the dreams and visions of the Book of Daniel. Writers who downplay Daniel as artistic and open to speculation are expected to say nothing. But Bible believers who also study secular history and watch the political swirling of today's European nations are the ones to read and study. But all of them do not weigh in on this topic.

If Daniel is what it claims to be, it holds the key to unlocking the Book of Revelation and understanding the daily news. I take this position. The Fourth Beast is a strange beast. The wood engraving I used yesterday and today attempts to portray all four beasts. The one on the right is the Fourth Beast and its ten horns and iron teeth make it appear less like an animal than any of the others.

Daniel allotted more space to the fourth beast than to all the other three combined. Reading after lifetime students of the Word fascinates me. As in carpentry and medicine, some are better than others. At least a dozen writers contribute significant observations about these verses pertaining to the fourth beast and especially his horns. It is pointed out that the ten horns are not a fifth kingdom since they grow out of the head of the fourth beast (the Roman Empire). This compares to the ten toes in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the huge image in Daniel 2. The horns are the last development of the fourth beast.

"In the toes of the first vision, the vision of the image, they are iron and clay. Iron is still there—Rome is still there, but the clay, the weakness, is there also. I think the iron represents the autocratic rule of one man, and the clay represents the crowd, a democracy." McGee continues:

"Very candidly, we see that type of weakness in democracy today. We are proud of the freedom we have—I thank God we have it—but it is almost a joke to talk about how important John Q. Public is. You and I are not very important, to tell the truth. Oh, every now and then when it's time for elections, the politicians tell us how important and wonderful and educated we are. However, we have very little to do with the control of our government or with the choice of our president. The lobbyists and the politicians are making the choices. I thank God for the liberty we have, but we have been brainwashed to think as they think."

J. Vernon McGee sounds like he is unpatriotic but not necessarily so. He's just a plain-spoken old Bible scholar who has resisted varnishing things over to make people feel good. He has been with the Lord for several years now but his "Through the Bible" radio program was very popular without any fanfare and is still being aired on many stations. He continues:

"God's ideal government is not a democracy—it is a real dictatorship. When Jesus Christ rules on this earth, He is not going to ask anyone what he wants done. He is going to make the choices, and this earth is going to be run the way He wants to run it. That is the reason it would be best if you and I would become conformed to His image; otherwise we will be very uncomfortable under His dictatorship. Actually, He will put out of His Kingdom anything that offends, anyone who is in rebellion against Him. We are to bow to Him and to His absolute rule.

"Rome fell apart because of internal corruption and rottenness and drunkenness. All four of these empires went down with drunkenness. In our own country we say drugs are a problem, but liquor is legal. Who are we kidding? My friend, there are millions of alcoholics trying to hold down jobs today. That is only part of the problem, because that does not include the number of housewives and even children who are alcoholics but are not represented in the statistics. No one knows about them until they commit suicide or need to be put into a mental institution. That is the picture of America in the dark hour in which we live."

I hesitate to quote McGee so extensively but it is so good that like a popular brand of coffee, you hate to put it down.

"Rome is going to be put together again and it is interesting that men are looking for someone who will be able to do it. The German historian Hoffman has said this: "When Germans and Slavs advanced partly into Roman ground, anyhow into the historical position of the Roman Empire, their princes intermarried with Roman families. Charlemagne was descended from a Roman house; almost at the same time the German Emperor Otto II and the Russian Grand-Prince Vladimir intermarried with daughters of the East-Roman Emperor. This was characteristic for the relation of the immigrating nations to Rome; they did not found a new kingdom, but continued the Roman. And so it continues to the end of all earthly power, until its final ramification into ten kingdoms" (J. Vernon McGee).

To those who have no understanding of what Bible prophecy really teaches, the above statements are raw, salty and offensive. It is not my intention to be offensive. It is, however, my intention to let the Bible speak for itself and to be interlocked into current events of the world political system to show that we are on the brink of the sudden return of Christ to take out His own. His return has always been "imminent." That is, at any time. There are no signs for His return to take out His church. There are signs for what will happen after the church is taken away.

Memory Verse for this week: (This is the second week with this important verse.)

(Hebrews 3:12,13) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, indeparting from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12,13).

Digging Deeper

Hardened. This is a Bible term that indicates a spiritual resistance to God's word and God's will for one's life. We like to think that people don't turn to God because they lack basic knowledge. My experience of fifty-plus years in talking with people one-on-one is that most people know enough to turn to God any day they decide to do it. They know that when they turn to God, He is going to be in charge. We want to be in the place of God. People will not have God to rule over them. That is the basic issue.

After we are saved, if we are not careful, we will be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin so that we, again, want to take the place of God. Though the Spirit of God dwells in the body of every body without exception, we can grieve the Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30). A safeguard against this is that individual Christians should be ready to exhort others to turn back to God.