c) The little horn

Historian Merle d’Aubigné, J. H. wrote: “Princes whom these stormy times often shook upon their thrones, offered their protection if Rome would in its turn support them. They conceded to her the spiritual authority, provided she would make a return in secular power. They were lavish of the souls of men, in the hope that she would aid them against their enemies. The power of the hierarchy, which was ascending, and the imperial power, which was declining, leaned thus one upon the other, and by this alliance accelerated their twofold destiny. Rome could not lose by it. An edict of Theodosius II and of Valerian III proclaimed the Roman bishop ‘rector of the whole church.’ Justinian published a similar decree.” (Merle D’Aubigné J. H., History of the Reformation, 1794, book 1, chap.1, p. 10)

And historian De Clercq V. C. wrote: “The religious division, added to the ethnic antagonism, retarded the unification of the Roman and barbarian peoples; but gradually the Catholic Church succeeded in eliminating Arianism. In some instances this was achieved by military action that all but wiped out the Germanic element: in [533] the Vandals in Africa were utterly destroyed by the armies of Justinian I; and in 552 the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy suffered a similar fate. By peaceful means and through the action of [Bishop] Avitus of Vienne, the Burgundians in southwestern Gaul had accepted Catholicism in 517, under King Sigismund […]” (DE CLERCQ, V. C. “Arianism” New Catholic Encyclopedia. . Encyclopedia.com (retrieved January 01, 2023))

The papacy is the little horn of Daniel 7. The Arian kingdoms of Odoacer, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths—the three horns that were uprooted—were impeding the advancement of this power, whose seat of authority is Rome. After the elimination of these three kingdoms, the power of the little horn grew with the help of the Byzantine Empire and the Frankish kingdom. The mixing of church and state, which is symbolized by the mixing of clay and iron in the feet of the statue in Daniel 2, was a defining characteristic of the Middle Ages. The papacy is also “different” from the other horns (verse 24) in that it is primarily a religious power (see Appendix 1 for the Edict of Justinian, which made the Bishop of Rome the head of all churches).

“Ẅhen the Roman Empire had disintegrated and its place had been taken by a number of rude, barbarous kingdoms, the Roman Catholic church became independent of the state in religious affairs but dominated secular affairs as well. At times, under such rulers as Charlemagne (768–814), Otto the Great (936–73), and Henry III (1039–56), the civil power controlled the church to some extent; but in general, under the weak political system of feudalism, the well-organized, unified, and centralized church, with the pope at its head, was not only independent in ecclesiastical affairs but also controlled civil affairs.” (Carl Conrad Eckhardt, The Papacy and World Affairs, p. 1 (other version here))

“Out of the ruins of political Rome, arose the great moral Empire in the “giant form” of the Roman Church.” (A. C. Flick, The Rise of the Medieval Church [1900], p. 150)

“If a man consider the origin of this great Ecclesiasticall Dominion, he will easily perceive, that the Papacy, is no other, than the Ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof : For so did the Papacy start up on a Sudden out of the Ruines of that Heathen Power.” (Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651, p. 544)

“The vicar of the incarnate Son of God, anointed high priest, and supreme temporal ruler [the pope] sat in his tribunal, impartially to judge between nation and nation, between people and prince, between sovereign and subject.” (Cardinal Henry Manning, The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, 1862, p. 46)

“The Triregnum (the Papal Tiara formed by three crowns symbolizing the triple power of the Pope: father of kings, governor of the world and Vicar of Christ) from the XVIII Century, with which the bronze statue of Saint Peter is crowned every June 29th, the feast day of the Saint.”
(Holy See Press Office – “Tiara”. . Vatican.va (retrieved January 01, 2023))

Note: The “Pontifex Maximus” (Latin for “Supreme Pontiff”) was the chief high priest of the College of Pontiffs (Latin: Collegium Pontificum) in ancient pagan Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient pagan Roman religion. Originally a distinctly religious office, it was later subsumed into the position of emperor in the Roman imperial period. Augustus Caesar was the first Roman emperor to take the title, and subsequent emperors were called Pontifex Maximus well into late antiquity. The word pontifex is commonly interpreted as meaning “bridge-builder” (from the latin: pons + facere), and its derivative “pontiff” became terms used for Roman Catholic bishops. The title of Pontifex Maximus was applied to the pope as the head bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, appearing on buildings, monuments and coins of popes of Renaissance and modern times. Current titles for the pope include “Bishop of Rome” and “Pontifex Maximus,” among others.

F-2) THE LITTLE HORN SHALL SPEAK GREAT WORDS (BLASPHEMY) AGAINST THE MOST HIGH

“… and he shall speak great words against the most High,” (Daniel 7:25)

Said Pope Nicholas to Emperor Michael: “The pope can never be bound or loosed by the secular power, since it is plain that he was called God by the pious prince Constantine; . . . and it is manifest that God can not be judged by man.”
“Satis euidenter ostenditur, a seculari potestate nec solui prorsus, nec ligari Pontificem, quem constat a pio principe Constantino (quem longe superius memorauimus) Deum appellatum, cum nec posse Deum ab hominibus iudicari manifestum sit.”
(Decretum, pars prima (Part One), Distinctio XCVI, Canon 7)

“Thus the priest may, in a certain manner, be called the creator of his Creator, since by saying the words of consecration, he creates, as it were, Jesus in the sacrament, by giving him a sacramental existence, and produces him as a victim to be offered to the eternal Father. As in creating the world it was sufficient for God to have said, Let it be made, and it was created -He spoke, and they were made- so it is sufficient for the priest to say, “Hoc est corpus meum”, and behold the bread is no longer bread, but the body of Jesus Christ. The power of the priest, says St. Bernardine of Sienna, is the power of the divine person; for the transubstantiation of the bread requires as much power as the creation of the world… As the Word of God created heaven and earth, so, says St. Jerome, the words of the priest create Jesus Christ.” (St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Dignity and Duties of the Priest, p. 32-33)

“And God himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of his priest and either not to pardon or to pardon, according as they refuse or give absolution, provided the penitent is capable of it.” (St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Duties and Dignities of the Priest, p. 27)

“The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth with most ample power of binding and loosing his sheep.”
“Papa jus divinum potest modificare, cum ejus potestas non sit ex homine, sed ex Deo, et in terris Dei vices fungitur com amplissima potestate oves suas ligandi, et solvendi”
(Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Biblioteca, Papa, art. 2, subsection 30)

“The Saviour Himself is the door of the sheepfold: ‘I am the door of the sheep.’ Into this fold of Jesus Christ, no man may enter unless he be led by the Sovereign Pontiff; and only if they be united to him can men be saved, for the Roman Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ and His personal representative on earth.”
“Ipse ovilis ostium est: « Ego sum ostium ovium ». Hoc in Iesu Christi ovile, nonnisi Summo Pontifice ductore, quisquam ingredi potest; et homines turn solummodo, cum ei coniunguntur, tuto possunt salvi fieri, quandoquidem Romanus Pontifex Vicarius est Christi, eiusque in terris personam gerit.”
(Pope John XXIII in his homily to the Bishops and faithful assisting at his coronation on November 4, 1958)
SEE JOHN 6:44-45, JOHN 14:6, ACTS 4:10-12

“All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that He is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope.”
“Secunde probatur ratione, in Scripturis fundata; nam omnia nomina, quae in Scripturis tribuuntur Christo, unde constat eum esse supra Ecclesiam, eadem omnia tribuuntur Pontifici.”
(Robert Bellarmine, A De Conciliorum Auctoritate [On the Authority of Councils], Controversiarum de Conciliis, Liber Secundis: Qui est de Conciliorum Auctoritate, chap. 17, 1628 ed., Vol. 1, p. 269)

“The Pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God and the vicar of God.”
“Papa tantae est dignitatis et cesitudinis, ut non sit simplex homo, sed quasi Deus, et Vicarius Dei.”
(Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Biblioteca, Papa, art. 2, subsection 1)

“The pope is in fact himself the vicar of the son of God.”
“Est enim ipse papa Dei filii vicarius.”
(Augustinus Triumphus (1243-1328), Summa de potestate ecclesiastica, Question 61 Ad 1 (1582 edition))

“The Vicar of the incarnate Son of God, anointed high priest, and supreme temporal ruler [the pope] sat in his tribunal, impartially to judge between nation and nation, between people and prince, between sovereign and subject.” (Cardinal Henry Manning, The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, 1862, p. 46)
SEE HEBREWS 4:14-16: JESUS IS OUR HIGH-PRIEST, AND GOD HAS ORDAINED THAT THERE SHOULD BE ONLY ONE HIGH-PRIEST (HEBREWS 9:6-7). THEREFORE, ANYONE ELSE CLAIMING THAT POSITION IS USURPING THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST (ANTI-CHRIST): SEE 2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-10.

“The supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires, together with a perfect accord in the one faith, complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself.” (Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter, “On the Chief Duties of Christians as Citizens”, dated January 10, 1890, trans. in The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII, pp. 193)

“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” (Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter of June 20, 1894, trans. in The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII, p. 304)

“Have no fear when people call me the “Vicar of Christ,” when they say to me “Holy Father,” or “Your Holiness,” or use titles similar to these, which seem even inimical to the Gospel.” (Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (New York: Alfred A. Knoff. 1995))

Dr. Adam Clarke, a prominent 19th-century Methodist theologian, says of Daniel 7:25: “‘He shall speak as if he were God.’ So St. Jerome quotes from Symmachus. To none can this apply so well or so fully as to the popes of Rome. They have assumed infallibility, which belongs only to God. They profess to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. They profess to open and shut heaven, which belongs only to God. They profess to be higher than all the kings of the earth, which belongs only to God. And they go beyond God in pretending to loose whole nations from their oath of allegiance to their kings, when such kings do not please them. And they go against God when they give indulgences for sin. This is the worst of all blasphemies.” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Holy Bible)

F-3) THE LITTLE HORN SHALL WEAR OUT (PERSECUTE) THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH

“… and shall wear out the saints of the most High,” (Daniel 7:25)

Commenting on the prophecy that the little horn would “wear out the saints of the Most High,” Barnes, a prominent 19th-century Presbyterian theologian, says in his notes on Dan. 7:25: “Can any one doubt that this is true of the papacy? The Inquisition, the persecutions of the Waldenses, the ravages of the Duke of Alva, the fires of Smithfield, the tortures of Goa, – indeed, the whole history of the papacy, may be appealed to in proof that this is applicable to that power. If anything could have worn out the saints of the Most High, – could have cut them off from the earth so that evangelical religion would have become extinct, – it would have been the persecutions of the papal power. In year 1208 a crusade was proclaimed by Pope Innocent III against the Waldenses and Albigenses, in which a million men perished. From the beginning of the order of Jesuits in the year 1540 to 1580, nine hundred thousand were destroyed. One hundred and fifty thousand perished by the Inquisition in thirty years. In the Low Countries fifty thousand persons were hanged, beheaded, burned, or buried alive, for the crime of heresy, within the space of thirty-eight years from the edict of Charles V against the Protestants to the peace of Chateau Cambresis in 1559. Eighteen thousand suffered by the hand of the executioner in the space of five years and a half, during the administration of the Duke of Alva. Indeed, the slightest acquaintance with the history of the papacy will convince any one that what is here said of ‘making war with the saints’ (verse 21), and ‘wearing out the saints of the Most High’ (verse 25), is strictly applicable to that power, and will accurately describe its history.” (See Buck’s Theological Dictionary, art., Persecutions: Oswald’s Kingdom, etc., pp.107-133; Dowling’s History of Romanism; Fox’s Book of Martyrs: Charlotte Elizabeth’s Martyrology; The Wars of the Huguenots; The Great Red Dragon, by Anthony Gavin, formerly one of the Roman Catholic priests of Saragossa, Spain; Histories of the Reformation, etc.)

F-4) THE LITTLE HORN SHALL THINK TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS

“… and think to change times and laws:” (Daniel 7:25)

What laws and whose? Not the laws of other earthly governments; for it was nothing marvelous or strange for one power to change the laws of another, whenever it could bring such power under its dominion. Not human laws of any kind; for the little horn had power to change these so far as its jurisdiction extended; but the times and laws in question were such that this power should only think of changing them, but not be able to change them. They are the laws of the same Being to whom the saints belong who are worn out by this power; namely, the laws of the Most High. And has the papacy tried to do this? – Yes, even this. In its catechisms, it has erased the second commandment of the Decalogue in order to make way for its worship of images. It has divided the tenth commandment to make up the number ten. And, more audaciously than all, it has taken the fourth commandment, torn out the Sabbath of Jehovah, the only memorial of the great God ever given to man, and erected in its place a rival institution to serve a different purpose.

“The Pope is of so great authority and power, that he is able to modify, declare, or interpret even divine laws.”
“Papa tantae est auctoritatis et potestatis, ut possit quoque leges divinas modificare, declarare, vel interpretari, ad num.
(Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Biblioteca, Papa, art. 2, subsection 30)

“The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth with most ample power of binding and loosing his sheep.”
“Papa jus divinum potest modificare, cum ejus potestas non sit ex homine, sed ex Deo, et in terris Dei vices fungitur com amplissima potestate oves suas ligandi, et solvendi.”
(Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Biblioteca, Papa, art. 2, subsection 30)

Q. Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her;—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
(Rev. Stephan Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174, Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, archbishop of New York)

“The Church, … after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the third [actually fourth] commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s Day.” (Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, Commandments, p. 153)

Q. Have you any other proofs that they (Protestants) are not guided by the Scripture?
A. Yes; so many, that we cannot admit more than a mere specimen into this small work. They reject much that is clearly contained in Scripture, and profess more that is nowhere discoverable in that Divine Book.
Q. Give some examples of both?
A. They should, if the Scripture were their only rule, wash the feet of one another, according to the command of Christ, in the 13th chap. of St. John; —they should keep, not the Sunday, but the Saturday, according to the commandment, “Remember thou keep holy the SABBATH-day;” for this commandment has not, in Scripture, been changed or abrogated;…
(Rev. Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism, p. 101, Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, archbishop of New York)

“You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.” (Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of our Father, p. 97 in the 93rd edition / p. 72 in the 110th edition)

“The primitive Christians did keep the Sabbath of the Jews;…therefore the Christians, for a long time together, did keep their conventions upon the Sabbath, in which some portions of the law were read: and this continued till the time of the Laodicean council.” (The Whole Works of Jeremy Taylor, Vol. IX, p. 416 / [R. Heber’s Edition, Vol XII, p. 416])

“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (336 AD), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”
(Peter Geiermann, The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50)

“Yea, I say, Papists themselves, doe confesse, the observation of the Sunday is not to be proved by the written word of God; and therefore, oftentimes in their writings, they urge at Protestants, because they cry Scripture, Scrip­ture, to be the Rule of their Faith, and Practice, in the way of Religion, when they observe the first day of the week, which is called Sunday, in stead of the Sabbath, called Saturday, when there is no Word of God to prove, that so they ought to doe.”
(James Ockford, The Doctrine of the Fourth COMMANDEMENT, Deformed by Popery; Reformed and Restored to its Primitive PURITIE, 1650, p. 53)

F-5) A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF OF A TIME

“… and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” (Daniel 7:25)

The little horn was given “a time, and times, and half of a time,” to wear out the saints (verse 25). The saints are symbolized in Revelation 12:14 as a faithful woman, meaning a faithful church (as opposed to the corrupt woman of Revelation 17), who fled from Satan (Revelation 12:9) into the “wilderness” for “a time, and times, and half a time”: “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” (Revelation 12:14). This time period is explained in Revelation 12:6: “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.” The same time period is mentioned again differently in Revelation 13:5: “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” (42×30=1260). These verses above are more examples of the principle of “repetition and enlargement” explained earlier.

There is another principle in the Bible known as the “day-year” principle, where a prophetic day is used to symbolize a literal year (Numbers 14:33-34; Ezekiel 4:4-6).

For example, the day-year principle is used in the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, also known as the seventy weeks prophecy, which we will briefly examine. This prophecy foretold that 69 prophetic weeks or 483 prophetic days would elapse between the decree for the restoration of Jerusalem (which had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC) and the anointing of the “Messiah” (from the Hebrew word for “anointed,” translated in Greek as “Χριστός” (Christ)).

If we take the decree promulgated by the Persian king Artaxerxes I in the seventh year of his reign in 457 BC (Ezra 7:7-26), the first decree granting full autonomy to the Jewish state after the Babylonian captivity (Ezra 7:23-26), and add 483 years to that date, we arrive at 27 AD. This is the year in which Jesus Christ was baptized and anointed with the Holy Spirit, marking the beginning of His public ministry (see Luke 3:1-3, 21-22 / Luke 4:1, 16-21 / Mark 1:9-15 / Acts 10:37-38), which lasted about 3 ½ years until His crucifixion in the middle of the the seventieth and final prophetic week (Isaiah 53:8).

The voluntary sacrifice of Christ was the antitypical fulfillment of the Jewish sacrifices (see John 1:29 / Hebrews 4:14-19 / Hebrews 8:1-6 / Hebrews 9:11-15), and the tearing of the Temple veil by an unseen hand at the instant of Christ’s death was heaven’s announcement that the sacrifices and oblations had lost their significance (Matthew 27:50-51).

Jesus, who was the messenger of the covenant (Malachi 3:1), confirmed the covenant with the Jewish people in the seventieth and final prophetic week, that is, the seven literal years between A.D. 27 and 34 (see Jeremiah 31:31-33 / Exodus 24:6-8 / Deuteronomy 18:15 / Hebrews 9:11-28 / Luke 22:20 / Malachi 3:1-4 / Hebrews 8:5-6 / Isaiah 42:1, 6 / Acts 2:36-41 / Acts 3:17-26 / Acts 4:33 / Acts 5:42), but the religious leaders of the Jewish nation persisted in their rejection of Christ and persecuted those who believed in Him, and the gospel of Jesus Christ which they had rejected was preached to the Gentiles (Acts 6:7-15 / Acts 7:54-60 / Acts 8:1-4 / Acts 9:1-15 / Acts 10:1-6, 34-35, 44-45), for “God shows no partiality: But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34-35 / Matthew 28:19-20 / 1 Corinthians 12:13 / Galatians 3:28 / Revelation 14:6-7 / Isaiah 56:1-8).

Verse 26 of Daniel 9 has a two-part structure: the first part relates to the death of the Messiah, while the second part relates to the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem. Verse 27 expands on verse 26 while maintaining the same two-part structure.

Verse 24 explains that seventy prophetic weeks were given to the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem to “make reconciliation for sin.” Jesus may have been alluding to this when he said that a brother’s sin should be forgiven “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22), and as he was agonizing on the cross, in the middle of the seventieth and final prophetic week, he declared: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34; Acts 2:36-41).

The second part of verses 26 and 27 foretold the destruction of both the city and the temple of Jerusalem, but this event (which, as we will see next, was most likely a conditional prophecy) could not possibly take place before the completion of the seventy prophetic weeks of reconciliation (which began with the decree for the restoration of Jerusalem). Jesus alluded to this when he declared (emphasis added):

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)” (Matthew 24:15)
“For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee on every side. And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” (Luke 19:43-44)
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.” (Luke 21:20-23)
“Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? … Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” (Matthew 23:32, 36-38)
Jesus also declared “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.” (Matthew 12:39-41)
And Jesus repeated a second time: “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.” (Matthew 16:4)

Who is the prophet Jonas (Jonah) and why is he mentioned so often by Jesus?

Jonah was a prophet sent by God to Nineveh in Assyria to warn the people of the coming overthrow of their city. Jonah went on a three-day journey through the city, warning that it would be overthrown in forty days, but after one day’s journey, the people of Nineveh believed and repented, and the city was not overthrown (Jonah 3:1-10).

Jesus, who was greater than Jonah, came from heaven to earth, in Judea, and began His public ministry in 27 AD, preaching: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus made his statements about the then-future destruction of Jerusalem near the end of his 3 ½ years of public ministry, most likely in 30 AD. But the religious leaders of the Jewish nation rejected him (Luke 19:47-48) and demanded that the Roman authorities crucify him (Luke 23:21), declaring: “Away with him, away with him, crucify him … we have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). Forty years later (in 70 AD), Caesar’s army destroyed both the city and the temple of Jerusalem (see also Psalm 95:10).

The day-year principle is also used in Daniel 7 and Revelation 12-13: the prophetic “time and times and half of a time,” or three-and-a-half prophetic years, or 42 prophetic months, or 1260 prophetic days, correspond to 1260 literal years.

The edict of the emperor Justinian, dated 533 AD (see appendix 1), made the Bishop of Rome the head of all the churches. But this edict could not go into effect until the Arian Ostrogoths, the last of the three horns that were plucked up to make room for the papacy, were driven out of Rome; and this, as already shown, was not accomplished until 538 AD. The edict would have been of no effect had this latter event not been accomplished. Therefore, we must reckon from this latter year, for this was the earliest point at which the saints were actually in the hand of this power. From that point on, the papacy held supremacy for twelve hundred and sixty years: For 538 + 1260 = 1798; and in February 1798, Berthier, with a French army, entered Rome, proclaimed a republic, took the pope prisoner, and for a time abolished the papacy. Thus, once again, this power fulfills to the very letter the specifications of the prophecy, which proves beyond question that the application is correct.

F-6) THE JUDGEMENT (DANIEL 7:9-14, 26-27)

The fourth terrible beast continues without change of character, and the little horn continues to utter its blasphemies, and to hold its millions of votaries in the bonds of a blind superstition, until the beast is delivered up to the burning flame; and this is not its conversion, but its destruction.

The life of the fourth beast is not prolonged after its dominion is gone, as was the life of the previous beasts. Their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a time. The territory and subjects of the Babylonian kingdom still existed, though made subject to the Persians. So of the Persian kingdom in respect to Grecia, and of Grecia in respect to Rome. But what is the successor of the fourth kingdom? No government or state in which mortals have any part. Its career ends in the lake of fire, and it has no existence beyond that. The lion was merged into the bear; the bear into the leopard; the leopard into the fourth beast (Revelation 13:1-3, Revelation 17:3); and the fourth beast into what? Not into another beast; but it is cast into the lake of fire, under which destruction it rests until men shall suffer the second death.

The little horn of Daniel 7 and the beast of Revelation 13 symbolize the same power (see Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 13:5-7). In Revelation 14:6-12 we are warned not to receive its mark. To find out what that mark is, read Bible Study #14.

G) GOD’S EVERLASTING KINGDOM

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14).

The expression “like the son of man,” meaning “human in form,” is used here to refer to Jesus-Christ (Emmanuel, meaning “God with us”, Matthew 1:23), while the expression “ancient of days” is used to refer to God the Father. Soon, very soon, God will destroy all the kingdoms of this earth (Daniel 2:35, 44) and restore a sinless world where “there shall be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain” (Revelation 21:4). If you believe in Jesus-Christ and make Him Lord of your life, you are promised eternal life in His everlasting kingdom to come. Will you choose life?