I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Daniel 7:21 belongs to the revelations of the mysteries of ages to come given to Daniel and recorded in chapters seven to twelve through figures and symbols for coming generations, covering the history of this world till the close of time. Even Daniel himself did not fully understand these revelations, for they were to be shut up and sealed even to the time of the end. At the end of the days, in the closing period of this world's history, Daniel would rest and stand again in his lot and place. This prophetic knowledge was given because Daniel clung to God with unwavering trust, and God regarded with approval his firmness and self-denial and purity of motive and blessed him with knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom and with understanding in all visions and dreams, fulfilling the promise that those who honor God will be honored by Him with the spirit of prophetic power. The vision is to be studied as a figurative outline of historical events leading to the close of earth's history, but the passage itself gives no specific explanation of the horn's war against the saints.
The verse depicts the same little horn making war with the saints and prevailing against them, overcoming them. A horn can represent a church, and this little horn represents the papacy, the Roman Church. It already represented the Roman Church even before it had civil power. This papal power succeeded to the power and authority of the Roman Empire. The beasts of Daniel 7 represent Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, and the papal power inherited the power of those empires in succession.
The horn depicts the persecuting power that arises when church and state unite, identified with the papacy under the beast's dominant head, which exercised persecution for 1,260 years. The horn's prevailing against the saints of the Most High meant putting millions of them to death. Its dominion was taken away at the close of the 1260 days when on February 10, 1798 the French general Berthier entered and took Rome, and on February 15 the pope was taken prisoner and shut up in the Vatican. The horn makes war against the saints and prevails against them until the Ancient of Days comes; then judgment is given to the saints of the Most High, and they possess the kingdom.
Daniel 7:21 belongs to the revelations of the mysteries of ages to come given to Daniel and recorded in chapters seven to twelve through figures and symbols for coming generations, covering the history of this world till the close of time. Even Daniel himself did not fully understand these revelations, for they were to be shut up and sealed even to the time of the end. At the end of the days, in the closing period of this world's history, Daniel would rest and stand again in his lot and place. This prophetic knowledge was given because Daniel clung to God with unwavering trust, and God regarded with approval his firmness and self-denial and purity of motive and blessed him with knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom and with understanding in all visions and dreams, fulfilling the promise that those who honor God will be honored by Him with the spirit of prophetic power. The vision is to be studied as a figurative outline of historical events leading to the close of earth's history, but the passage itself gives no specific explanation of the horn's war against the saints.
The verse depicts the same little horn making war with the saints and prevailing against them, overcoming them. A horn can represent a church, and this little horn represents the papacy, the Roman Church. It already represented the Roman Church even before it had civil power. This papal power succeeded to the power and authority of the Roman Empire. The beasts of Daniel 7 represent Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, and the papal power inherited the power of those empires in succession.
The horn depicts the persecuting power that arises when church and state unite, identified with the papacy under the beast's dominant head, which exercised persecution for 1,260 years. The horn's prevailing against the saints of the Most High meant putting millions of them to death. Its dominion was taken away at the close of the 1260 days when on February 10, 1798 the French general Berthier entered and took Rome, and on February 15 the pope was taken prisoner and shut up in the Vatican. The horn makes war against the saints and prevails against them until the Ancient of Days comes; then judgment is given to the saints of the Most High, and they possess the kingdom.