The
Book of Daniel and The Revelation to John are the two defining books concerning
the history and future fate of earth. Revelation 6 and the first four seals
take up at the time of the events described in the second half of Daniel 9:26
with the brief statement, “… even to the end there will be
war; desolations are determined. This statement by Daniel is further expanded
by Jesus in Matthew 24:4-14. It reads,
And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and
will mislead many. 6 You will be hearing of wars
and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take
place, but that is not yet the end. 7 For nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places
there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 But all
these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs … 14 This gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the
nations, and then the end will come. (NASB).
It has never been the purpose of God to write a complete history of Western or Middle Eastern civilization. He deals with the defining points of His hand in history. He has defined the roll of the church throughout time, but the larger picture is in His hands and will fit His outline given to us by the prophets. This outline is given to Daniel beginning with his own time concerning four kingdoms or empires. The last of these four will encompass the first and second advents of Messiah.
Daniel’s First Kingdom Identified
Reading from Daniel chapters 2, 7 ,8 and 9 we learn of these four kingdoms that were revealed to Daniel through the vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue of gold, silver, bronze, and iron mixed with clay. Daniel, as a young man, was given an interpretation of this dream, and later in life, he also received several visions concerning the same topic given directly to him by God. The interpretation of the first part of the statue in Daniel 2:38 was that Nebuchadnezzar was the golden head of the statue he envisioned. Three more empires were to follow of which Daniel gave details without naming them. The final empire as well as the previous ones were destroyed by a mountainous power that lasts forever. This context was of an end time event, Daniel 2:44-45. Nebuchadnezzar was very pleased with Daniel’s description and made him a high ruler in Babylon (603 B.C.).
Two More Kingdoms Identified
Some 50 years later, now elderly and under Belshazzar, the final ruler of Babylon, he receives a vision of four beasts. These parallel the parts of the statue in chapter 2. The lion with the eagle wings was a well-known image of civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates region representing Babylon. The bear, Persia, had three ribs in its mouth symbolizing Cyrus’s conquest of the Medes, Lydia, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. It is clear looking back on history that the third beast with its four wings is Greece which was split by his four generals after Alexander. These last two identifications will be confirmed in chapter 8. The fourth creature is only identified as a terrifying beast with iron teeth and ten horns who tramples down the other the beasts. Two years later, Daniel records a vision of a ram and a shaggy goat. The shaggy goat tramples the ram then breaks his horn and four more spring up. Finally, out of one of the horns, another springs up to become more powerful than the rest and approaches Jerusalem to profane the temple. Then finally, the angel showing him all these visions has mercy on him and reveals their meaning. The ram and the goat were revealed to be Medo-Persia and Greece. The third character, the horn, is now revealed as a king. The identifying traits of the king fit with Antiochus Epiphanes, a Roman vassal of the mid-second century. His character has a strong resemblance to the beast of Revelation. The baton pass of this final king to the antichrist of Revelation is made in Daniel 8:17 where the event is relegated to the “time of the end.”
The Seventieth Week and the Fourth Beast
Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of PRINCE WHO IS TO COME will destroy the city and the sanctuary (completed by Rome 70 A.D.). And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he (refer back – THE PRINCE WHO IS TO COME) will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
Chapter 9 Introduces the seventy-weeks prophecy with the gap between the “cutting off” of the messiah at the sixty-ninth week and the rest of history ending with week seventy. This is all revealed in Daniel 9:26-27 and further explained in Daniel 12 concerning the end time. We then overlay the fourth kingdom, the one following Greece, with the events in Daniel 9:26-27 focusing on the “prince who is to come (NASB)” who will destroy the city of Jerusalem followed by a period of wars and desolations. Then, after this period, the final seventieth week begins. Then this same prince (“he” v.27) makes a covenant with Israel which he breaks in the middle of the seventieth week. History tells us the city of Jerusalem was overrun and destroyed by Rome in 70 A.D. It is reasonable to conclude from this prophecy that Jerusalem and its temple must be restored in the future for the events predicted in verse 27 to take place. The PRINCE WHO IS TO COME will continue the Roman persecution of Jerusalem during the final seventieth week.
Connecting to the End Time, the Fourth Kingdom
Daniel 7:23 “Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. … 25 … and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. 26 But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. 27 Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’
The term “time, times, and half a time” repeats in chapters 9 and 12 connecting to this event perpetrated by the fourth kingdom. The reference to the judgment, annihilation forever, and the everlasting kingdom coordinate with end time declaration of Daniel 12. Thus, we more than infer that Rome is involved in the end time saga and deserves to be followed in history as a biblically evolving force.
Another End Time Connection
Daniel 12 “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”
Further details of this abomination that is to take place are revealed in Daniel 12 which deals with the latter half of week seventy. Daniel 12:1-4 further confirms this week is set in the end times. Pulling together these several visions of Daniel allows us to confidently state that the fourth kingdom, Rome, and its prince, a human ruler led by Satan, will extend to the end times.
A Small Slice of Rome After the Fall
Now we look to history to see if the continuation of this fourth and final empire is a historical reality, or was it replaced with by a fifth that followed? The Rome that crucified Christ continued until the fourth century A.D. when Constantine legalized Christianity. It then continued with some interruption until its alleged fall in 476 A.D. to Germanic barbarians from the north. By this point in time though, Rome was larger than just the western portion of the empire. It extended all the way to Constantinople its eastern capital. The history of the western Roman Empire gets very complicated during the next few centuries with multiple turnovers of power. By the time of the conquest by the Lombards, Italy has become largely depopulated due to wars with Goths and famine. As the Lombards move into the area, they find little resistance. They held to an Arian Christian faith as opposed to the Nicene faith of the Catholics. Many Lombards were still pagan. God’s hand was manifested in the marriage of Catholic Princess Theolinda to the Arian Lombard King Autari in 588 A.D. Autari passed just two years later, but Theolinda continued to spread Catholic influence over the land for the next thirty-eight years. Through Theolinda and other influences, by the end of the 8th century, the Lombards were almost completely catholicized. They continued to rule until political strife between Pope Adrian and the Lombard King Desiderius brought things to a head. The pope sent message to the Frankish King Charlemagne who defeated Desiderius and, after restoring order among some rebellious dukes, reclaimed Italy in 776 A.D. After Charlemagne defeats the Lombards, he surprisingly declares himself King of the Lombards rather than emperor of Rome. This is likely a smart move to pacify the country, especially as over the last century the Lombards had become increasingly catholicized and in line with the western church. He goes on to reunite the lands of the former Roman Empire and establishes it as the Holy Roman Empire. The eastern Roman empire has remained intact during this time. The Holy Roman Empire continued throughout the Medieval period, into the Renaissance, and on to modernity. Napoleon’s quest for emperorship brought an end to the Holy Roman Emperor’s wider rule. Napoleon was looking forward, not to continue the Holy Roman Empire, but to remake it in his own image. This would have resulted in a fifth empire not in line with Biblical Prophecy. Hitler, a little over a century later, made a similar attempt amplified by the attempted extermination of all Jews. This was a factor not in line with God’s plan. Both Napoleon and Hitler were far along in their plans. Britain and America, respectively, became forces moved by God’s hand to halt these attempts at a fifth empire. Francis II was the last to officially hold the title Holy Roman Emperor which he abdicated in 1806. The Blessed Charles of Austria (Charles I and IV) (1887–1922), the last to have the right to the abdicated title of Holy Roman Emperor dissolved his monarchy in 1919. The kings that held the right to the title had been of the Hapsburg line in Austria. It is interesting to note that Hapsburgs are still active in European politics here in the 21st century.
A Third Roman Empire?
Events of the catastrophic level described in Revelation 6:12-18 are likely responsible for great disruption throughout the planet. The resulting chaos is likely to topple governments and produce grabs for power in many nations. This may be the opportunity for the man of lawlessness, described as the antichrist, to begin to make his move. He apparently comes to power through intrigue. What shape will the European Union take at this time? According to Revelation it appears there will be a ten-nation confederacy of some sort and a consolidation of several of the nations into one of which the beast is the head. He, through flattery, will ultimately become not just a leader but the dictatorial emperor of the resurrected Roman Empire by whatever name it should call itself. At the time, he may seem a modern-day Charlemagne, but he will be no Charlemagne. Ultimately, he will resemble more, der fuhrer of the Third Reich.