The brief interpretation given of the vision by “one of them that stood by” simply stated that the four beasts represented four kings, or kingdoms, which would arise one after the other, and that it would all end in the kingdom being given to the saints of the Most High. But the terrible appearance of the fourth beast, its destructive character, and the sight of its ten horns, and the coming up of the little horn with its human eyes and blasphemous mouth, had made such an impression upon the mind of the prophet that he desired more “accurate information” as to its significance.
“Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was diverse from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and concerning the ten horns that were on his head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell; even that horn that had eyes and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise; and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the11end. And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Here is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my countenance was changed in me; but I kept the matter in my heart.” (R. V.)
The fourth beast was “diverse from all of them.” The distinguishing characteristic was its strength, and with this strength it “brake in pieces.” The facts of history point to Rome as fulfilling to the letter these specifications. “There was not a single organized people in the world that did not either feel or fear the power of Rome.” The “arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, but always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.” Thus was fulfilled the declaration of the prophecy, which said, “The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.”
But the most important symbol in the prophecy was not yet reached, and so the interpretation proceeded a step further toward it. The ten horns on the head of the fourth beast signified that “out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise.” Thus in one brief sentence is stated the result of that long struggle which ended in the downfall of the Roman Empire, and the establishment of ten kings, or kingdoms, in its place. This breaking up of the Roman Empire, an event of such magnitude that it would be sure to be definitely fixed in the current of history, is mentioned here in order to locate the rise and work of the little horn, whose career it is the chief purpose of this prophecy to set forth. It is therefore important to note the time when the last of these ten kings arose, and the ruin of the Roman Empire was accomplished, as it is definitely stated that this little horn “shall arise after them.”
Trustworthy history furnishes the desired information. “Thus by the establishment of the Herulian kingdom of Italy, A. D. 476, the final destruction of the Western Empire was accomplished.” This makes it clear that the king who arose “after them,” and who was represented by the little horn, “came up” after A. D. 476.
It was furthermore predicted of this power that he should “put down three kings.” This work of conquest was shown in the vision by the fact that before this little horn “were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots.” This language would indicate the utter extinction of these three kingdoms as the method of establishing the new power, and the time when the last of them was overthrown would mark the time of the establishment of the kingdom of the little horn.
“Now the three that were plucked up by the roots were the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths; and the date of the plucking up of the first of the three is March 5, A. D. 493, and of the last, March, A. D. 538.” These easily authenticated facts of history mark the year A. D. 538 as the time from which to reckon the supremacy of that power designated by the little horn.
A consideration of the nature and the work of this power, as declared in this prophecy and in other prophecies which manifestly deal with the same subject, forces upon every candid mind the conviction that ecclesiastical Rome, the papacy, in its long-continued warfare against the kingdom of God in the earth, is here described. With the time and manner of its rise so exactly determined, and its blasphemous utterances, and its merciless persecution of those loyal to the word of God, its presumptuous efforts to overthrow the very foundation of the government of God by tampering with his law, all pictured so plainly, and the exact duration of its divinely permitted supremacy so clearly stated, there can be no mistake in applying these divine descriptions to that religio-political power, whose history in complete fulfillment of the prophecy might be written in the blood of the martyrs, and punctuated with groans from the Inquisition—the papacy, modern Babylon.
“Blasphemy against God,” “Drunken with the blood of the saints,” “The mystery of lawlessness,”—this is the threefold indictment which a divine hand has written upon the triple crown of the Roman pontiff. W. W. P.
