Chapter 52.
The Vicar of Christ
1. WHAT appeared unto Daniel in 538 B.C., the same year in which Babylon fell?
"In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a _____ appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first." Dan. 8:1.
2. Where was Daniel at this time?
"And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at _________ in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai." Verse 2.
3. What first attracted the prophet's attention?
"Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river _____ which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last." Verse 3.
4. What power was represented by the ram having two horns?
"The ram which thou sawest having two horns are _____________________." Verse 20.
5. How are the rise and work of this power described?
"I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and _______________________." Verse 4.
6. What symbol was next introduced in the vision?
"And as I was considering, behold, ______________ came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes." Verse 5.
7. What did the goat with the notable horn represent?
"And the rough goat is ______________________: and the great horn that is between his eyes is _________________." Verse 21.
8. How was the conquest of Medo-Persia by Grecia foretold in this symbolic prophecy?
"And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and ________________________________: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand." Verse 7.
9. When the he goat "was strong," what occurred? "Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, _________________________; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven." Verse 8.
10. Who was represented by " the great horn," and what followed when it was broken?
"And the rough goat is the king [kingdom] of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is ________________________. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, ____________________________, but not in his power." Verses 21,22.
NOTES.-From the interpretation given, it is plain that the notable "horn" upon the he goat represented Alexander the Great, who led the Grecian forces in their conquest of Medo-Persia. Upon the death of Alexander at Babylon, B.C. 323, there followed a brief period of confusion in the struggle for the kingdom, but the succession was definitely determined by the battle of Ipsus, B.C. 301. Alexander's four leading generals- Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus- became his successors.
"The vast empire created by Alexander's unparalleled conquests was distracted by the wranglings and wars of his successors, and before the close of the fourth century before Christ, had become broken up into many fragments. Besides minor states, four well-defined and important monarchies rose out of the ruins. . . . Their rulers were Lysimachus, Cassander, Seleucus Nicator, and Ptolemy, who had each assumed the title of king. The great horn was broken; and instead of it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven."- Myers's "History of Greece," page 457, edition 1902.
11 What came out of one of the four horns of the goat?
"And out of one of them came forth _____________, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Verse 9.
12. What interpretation is given to this little horn?
"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a __________________________________________________________." Verse 23.
13. What did this little horn do to the people of God?
"And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and _________________________ _____________________________________________________." Verse 10.
14. In what literal language is this persecution of the people of God further described?
"And ___________________, but not by his own power: and ________________ wonderfully, and _______________________, and practise, and ______________ ____________________________." Verse 24.
15. How was this little horn to exalt itself against Christ and His mediatorial work?
"Yea, it magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host, and __________________ ________________________, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down." Verse 11, R.V.
16. In the interpretation of the vision, how is this self-exaltation set forth?
"And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and _______ _____________________________, and by peace shall destroy many: _________ __________________________; but he shall be broken without hand." Verse 25.
17. What similar language is used by the apostle Paul in describing the "mystery of iniquity," or "man of sin"?
"That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; _________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________." 2 Thess. 2:3,4.
NOTE.-The last two scriptures evidently describe one and the same power,-a power which while religious and professedly Christian, is anti-christian in spirit, and the very "man of sin" himself. Possessed with the selfish ambition of Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-14; Eze. 28:17), he assumes to occupy the very seat and place of Deity in the temple of God. Professing to be Christ's vicar, or personal representative on earth, he magnifies himself against Christ, and "stands up," or reigns, in the place of, and "against," the Prince of princes.
18. What was given into the hands of the power represented by the little horn?
"And ____________________ was given over to it together with ________________ _________________________through transgression." Dan. 8:12, first clause, R.V.
19. What did this power do to the truth?
"And _________________________________-, and it did its pleasure and prospered." Same verse, last clause, R.V.
NOTES.-The interpretation already given to this vision shows plainly that the power represented by the little horn is the successor of Medo-Persia and Grecia. In the vision of the seventh chapter of Daniel, which is closely related to this vision, the fourth beast represented the fourth kingdom, or Rome, in its entirety, special attention, however, being given to the "little horn" phase of its history. As shown by the work attributed to it, this little horn, which arose among the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided, was to be a religio-political power, which was to change the times and law of God, and persecute the people of God. In the vision of the eighth chapter the ecclesiastical features of this fourth world power are especially noticed and emphasized, and hence the only symbol there used to represent it is the "little horn" which waxed "exceeding great."
The religion of all the four great monarchies mentioned in these prophecies was paganism; but the paganism of ancient Babylon was re-produced in pagan Rome, and then adapted and adopted by papal Rome. The little horn of the eighth chapter represents Rome, both pagan and papal, in its ecclesiastical aspect, with its union of paganism, and later of apostate Christianity, with the secular power; with its antichristian persecutions of the saints of God; with its perversion of the priesthood of Christi and with its assertion of both temporal and spiritual power over all the world. It is evident that pagan Rome is introduced into this prophecy chiefly as a means of locating the place and work of papal Rome, and the ecclesiastical features of pagan Rome as typical of the same features accentuated in papal Rome, and that the emphasis is to be placed upon the fulfillment of the prophecy in the work of papal Rome. A careful comparison of Dan. 7:21,25, with Dan. 8:10-12, R.V., and 2 Thess. 2:3,4, will amply justify this conclusion.
"The Romans could not forget-never did forget-that they had once been masters and rulers of the world. Even after they had become wholly unfit to rule themselves, let alone the ruling of others, they still retained the temper and used the language of masters. . . . In the absence of an emperor in the West the popes rapidly gained influence and power, and soon built up an ecclesiastical empire that in some respects took the place of the old empire and carried on its civilizing work."-Myers's "Rome; Its Rise and Fall," Boston, 1900, pages 398, 399, 442, 443.
The host and the stars of Dan. 8:10 are the same as the saints of the Most High of Dan. 7:25; and the Prince of the host of Dan. 8:11 is the Prince of princes, or Christ. When the same being appeared to Joshua. (Joshua 5:13-15, margin), He applies the same expression to Himself.
In Dan. 8:11-13, in the Revised Version, the words "burnt offering" have been supplied by the translators after the word "continual," but this rendering seems to place too restricted a meaning upon the word "continual." The fact that no word is connected with "continual" in the original text, although in the typical service of the sanctuary it is used with "burnt offering" (Ex. 29:42), with "incense" (Ex. 30:8, here rendered perpetual), and with "showbread" (Num. 4:7), indicates that that which is continual represents the continual service or mediation of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, in which an that was continual in the typical service found its antitype and fulfillment. See Heb. 6:19,20; 7:1-3, 14-16, 23-25. The action which made the Pope the vicar of God and the high priest of the apostasy, really took away from Christ, as far as human intent and power were concerned, his place and work as the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), and this took away from Him, as far as man could take it away, the continual mediation, according to the prediction in this prophecy.
The prophecies of Daniel are cumulative and widening in their view, each carrying matters farther than the preceding one, and bringing out more explicitly and more in detail important features down the stream of time. In Daniel 2, under the fourth universal kingdom, the Papacy is not represented under any direct symbol or figure at all,-simply Rome in its united and divided state; In Daniel 7 Rome is symbolized by the "little horn" coming up among the ten horns representing the divided state of Rome; while in Daniel 8 the only figure used to represent the fourth world power is the "little horn" which waxed "exceeding great."
In each of these last two chapters the little horn is introduced to tell especially of the workings of the same terrible power-Rome papal. Both chapters deal with the same great apostasy. In the seventh chapter, the little horn takes away the law of God. In the eighth chapter, it takes away the gospel. Had it taken away only the law, this would have vitiated the gospel; for, with the law of God gone, even the true gospel could not save, because the law is needed to convict and give a knowledge of sin. And had the Papacy taken away only the gospel, and left the law, salvation through such a system would still have been impossible, for there is no salvation for sinners through even the law of God itself apart from Christ and the gospel. But to make apostasy doubly sure, this power changes, vitiates, and takes away both the law and the gospel.
In changing the Sabbath, the Papacy struck directly at the very heart and seal of the law of God, just as in substituting its own mediatorial system for that of Christ's it struck directly at the heavenly sanctuary and its service, which, in his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul shows to be the very heart and essence of the gospel.
20. What question was asked in the hearing of the prophet?
"Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, _____________________________________________, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?" Dan. 8:13.
21. What answer was addressed to Daniel?
"And he said unto me, ______________________________________________ __________________________________." Verse 14.
NOTE.-In verse 13, R.V., the vision is clearly defined. It is "the vision concerning the continual burnt offering [or continual mediation], and the transgression that maketh desolate," which results in giving both the sanctuary and the people of God to be trodden underfoot. The time when the vision was to have its special application is stated in verse 17 to be "at the time of the end," or in the last days. This is additional proof that this prophecy was to find its complete fulfillment in papal Rome only, as pagan Rome passed away many centuries ago. The sanctuary and the twenty-three-hundred-day period here referred to are considered at length in succeeding readings. See Chapter 53 and 54 of this book.
22. What prophetic period begins at the time when the continual mediation of Christ was taken away by the Papacy?
"And from the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a ____________________ ___________________." Dan. 12:11, R.V.
NOTES.-lnasmuch as the taking away of the continual mediation of Christ is made the beginning of a prophetic period, there must be some definite act at some definite time which, in form and intent, takes from Christ His priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary. This act was the official decree of an ecclesiastical council held at Rome in 503 A.D., by which it was declared "that the Pope was judge as God's vicar, and could himself be judged by no one." See Hardouins "Councils," Vol. II, page 983; Labbe and Cossart's "Councils," Vol. IV, col. 1364; and Bower's "History of the Popes" (three-volume edition), Vol. I, pages 304, 305. The work of Clovis king of the Franks, who earned for himself the title of "the eldest son of the church" by his campaigns to subdue the kingdoms hostile to the Papacy, contributed much toward putting into practical effect this claim of the Papacy, which finally resulted in establishing the Pope as the head of the Roman priesthood which has usurped the priestly work of Christ, and has established another system of mediation in its place. This work of Clovis came to its climax in the period 503-508, and this period therefore becomes the natural one from which to date the 1290 years of Dan. 12:11, which would accordingly end in the period 1793-98, at the same time as the 1260 years of Dan. 7:25.
"With Rome would have fallen her bishop, had he not, as if by anticipation of the crisis, reserved till this hour the master-stroke of his policy, He now boldly cast himself upon an element of much greater strength than that of which the political convulsions of the time had deprived him; namely, that the bishop of Rome is the successor of Peter, the prince of the apostles, and, in virtue of being so, is Christ's vicar on earth. In making this claim, the Roman pontiffs vaulted at once over the throne of kings to the seat of gods: Rome became once more the mistress of the world, and her popes the rulers of the earth."-" The Papacy," by J. A. Wylie, page 34.
23. What assurance was given to Daniel concerning the period of time mentioned in verse 14?
"And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told ____________; wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days." Dan. 8:26.
NOTES.-By the expression "the vision of the evening and the morning" reference is made to the vision concerning the twenty-three hundred days, as may be seen by referring to the marginal readings of Dan. 8:14.
The interpretation of the vision of chapter 8 closes without making any explanation of the long period of time which was mentioned to Daniel in the answer to the question, "How long shall be the vision?" This important feature was left to be interpreted later. See the next chapter.
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Wednesday, August 27, 2008
BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.51 -- THE KINGDOM AND WORK OF ANTICHRIST
Chapter 51.
The Kingdom and Work
of Antichrist
1. WHAT is said of the little horn as compared with the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7?
"He shall be __________ from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." Dan. 7:24.
NOTE.-The Papacy, which arose on the ruins of the Roman Empire, differed from all previous forms of Roman power, in that it was an ecclesiastical despotism claiming universal dominion over both spiritual and temporal affairs, especially the former. It was a union of church and state, with the church dominant.
2. What attitude of rivalry was the Papacy, represented by the little horn, to assume toward the Most High?
"And he shall ____________________________________." Verse 25, first clause.
3. How does Paul, speaking of the man of sin, describe this same power?
"Who ______________________________ above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, __________________ ___________." 2 Thess. 2:4.
NOTES.-The following extracts from authoritative works, most of them by Roman Catholic writers, will indicate to what extent the Papacy has done this:-
"All the names which are attributed to Christ in Scripture, implying His supremacy over the church, are also attributed to the Pope."-Bellarmine, "On the Authority of Councils," book 2, chap. 17.
"For thou art the shepherd, thou art the physician, thou art the director, thou art the husbandman; finally thou art another God on earth." -From Oration of Christopher Marcellus in fourth session of Fifth Lateran Council, Labbe and Cossart's " History of the Councils," published in 1672, Vol. XIV, col. 109.
"For not man, but God, not by human but rather by divine authority, releases those whom, on account of the need of the churches or what is regarded as a benefit, the Roman pontiff (who is vicegerent on earth, not of mere man, but of the true God) separates [from their churches]."-"The Decretals of Gregory IX," book 1, title 7, chap. 3.
"The Pope is the supreme judge of the law of the land. He is the vicegerent of Christ; who is not only a priest forever, but also King of kings and Lord of lords."-From the Civilta Cattolica, March 18, 1871, quoted in "Vatican Council," by Leonard Woolsey Bacon, American Tract Society edition, page 220.
"Christ entrusted His office to the chief pontiff; . . . but all power in heaven and in earth has been given to Christ; . . . there fore the chief pontiff, who is His vicar, will have this power."-Gloss on the "Extravagantes Communes," book 1, "On Authority and Obedience," chap. 1 , on words Porro Subesse Romano Pontiff. Canon law, published in 1556, Vol. III, "Extravagantes Communes," col. 29.
"Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven, and earth, and purgatory (Internorum)."-" Prompta Bibliotheca," Ferraris, Vol. VI, page 26, article "Papa" (the Pope).
"The decision of the Pope and the decision of God constitute one decision, just as the opinion of the Pope and his disciple are the same. Since, therefore, an appeal is always taken from an inferior judge to a superior, as no one is greater than himself, so no appeal holds when made from the Pope to God, because there is one consistory of the Pope himself and of God Himself, of which consistory the Pope himself is the key-bearer and the doorkeeper. Therefore no one can appeal from the Pope to God, as no one can enter into the consistory of God without the mediation of the Pope who is the key-bearer and the doorkeeper of the consistory of eternal life; and as no one can appeal to himself, so no one can appeal from the Pope to God, because there is one decision and one curia [court] of God and of the Pope."-Writings of Augustinus de Ancona printed without title page or pagination, Ques. VI, "On an Appeal From the Decision of the Pope."
"All the faithful of Christ must believe that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman pontiff possesses the primacy over the whole world, and that the Roman pontiff is the successor of the blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, and is true vicar of Christ, and the head of the whole church, and father and teacher of all Christians, and that full power was given him in blessed Peter to rule, feed, and govern the universal church by Jesus Christ our Lord."-" Petri Privilegium," in section on "The Vatican Council and Its Definitions," by Henry Edward Manning, archbishop of Westminster (Roman Catholic), London, Longmans, Green & Co., 1871, page 214.
"We teach and define that it is a dogma divinely revealed; that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in the discharge of the office of Pastor and Doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal church, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals: and that therefore such definitions of the Roman pontiff are irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the church."- Id., page 218.
"Should Jesus Christ come in person from heaven into a church to administer the sacrament of reconciliation, and should He say to a penitent, 'I absolve thee,' and should a priest sitting at His side in the tribunal of penance pronounce over a penitent the selfsame words, 'I absolve thee,' there is no question that in the latter case, as in the former, the penitent would be equally loosed from his sin."-" Jesus Living in the Priest," by the Rev. P. Millet, S. J., English translation by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Sebastian Byrne, D. D., bishop of Nashville; New York, Benziger Brothers printers to the Holy Apostolic See, 1901, pages 23, 24. Imprimatur, Michael Augustine, archbishop of New York.
Among the twenty-seven propositions known as the "Dictates of Hildebrand," who, under the name of Gregory VII, was Pope from 1073-87, occur the following: -
"2. That the Roman pontiff alone is justly styled universal.
"6. That no person . . . may live under the same roof with one excommunicated by the Pope.
"9. That all princes should kiss his feet only.
"12. That it is lawful for him to depose emperors.
"18. That his sentence is not to be reviewed by anyone; while he alone can review the decisions of all others.
"19. That he can be judged by no one.
"22. That the Romish Church never erred, nor will it, according to the Scriptures, ever err.
"26. That no one is to be accounted a Catholic who does not harmonize with the Romish Church.
"27. That he can absolve subjects from their allegiance to unrighteous rulers."- Annals of Baronius, 1076, Vol. XI, col. 506. See Gieseler's "Ecclesiastical History," third period, div. 3, par. 47, note 3; and Mosheim's " Ecclesiastical History," book 3, cen. 11, part 2, chap. 2, par. 9, note.
"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, on Dan. 7:25.
4. How was the little horn to treat God's people?
"And shall _____________________________of the Most High." Dan. 7:25.
NOTES.-"Under these bloody maxims [previously mentioned], those persecutions were carried on, from the eleventh and twelfth centuries almost to the present day, which stand out on the page of history. After the signal of open martyrdom had been given in the canons of Orleans, there followed the extirpation of the Albigenses under the form of a crusade, the establishment of the Inquisition, the cruel attempts to extinguish the Waldenses, the martyrdoms of the Lollards, the cruel wars to exterminate the Bohemians, the burning of Huss and Jerome, and multitudes of other confessors, before the Reformation; and afterwards, the ferocious cruelties practised in the Netherlands, the martyrdoms of Queen Mary's reign, the extinction by fire and sword of the Reformation in Spain and Italy, by fraud and open persecution in Poland, the massacre of Bartholomew, the persecution of the Huguenots by the League, the extirpation of the Vaudois, and all the cruelties and prejudices connected with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. These are the more open and conspicuous facts which explain the prophecy, besides the slow and secret murders of the holy tribunal of the Inquisition."-"The First Two Visions of Daniel," Rev. T. R. Birks, M. A., London, 1845, pages 248, 249.
A detailed summary of the number of the victims of the Inquisition in Spain, under each Inquisitor-General, is given in "The History of the Inquisition in Spain," by Llorente, formerly secretary of the Inquisition, pages 206-208. According to this authority the number who were condemned and perished in the flames is 31,912.
"The church has persecuted. Only a tyro in church history will deny that. . . . One hundred and fifty years after Constantine the Donatists were persecuted, and sometimes put to death. . . . Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. Wherever and whenever there is honest Catholicity; there will be a clear distinction drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of error. When she thinks it good to use physical force, she will use it."-The Western Watchman (Roman Catholic), of St. Louis, Dec. 24, 1908.
5. What else does the prophecy say the little horn would do?
"Arid he shall ________________________________." Dan. 7:25, third clause, R.V.
NOTES.- "The little horn, further, shall think to change times. The description applies, in all its force, to the systematic perversion of God's words by which all promises of millennial glory are wrested from their true sense, and referred to the dominion and grandeur of the Church of Rome. The orator of the Pope, for instance, in the Lateran Council, declares that in the submission of all nations to Leo the prophecy was fulfilled: 'All kings shall fall down and worship Him; all nations shall serve and obey Him.' The same antichristian feature appears in those advocates of the Papacy who would clear it from the guilt of actual idolatry, because 'it is part of that church from which the idols are utterly abolished.' Thus are the times changed; but only in the vain 'thoughts' of dreamers who see false visions and divine lying divinations; because the visible glory of Christ's kingdom remains still to be revealed."-" The First Two Visions of Daniel," Rev. T .R. Birks, M. A., London, 1845, pages 257, 258.
Although the ten commandments, the law of God, are found in the Roman Catholic versions of the Scriptures, as they were originally given, yet the faithful are instructed from the catechisms of the church, and not directly from the Bible. As it appears in these, the law of God has been changed and virtually reenacted by the Papacy. Furthermore, communicants not only receive the law from the church, but they deal with the church concerning any alleged infractions of that law, and when they have satisfied the ecclesiastical authorities, the whole matter is settled.
The second commandment, which forbids the making of, and bowing down to, images, is omitted in Catholic catechisms, and the tenth, which forbids coveting, is divided into two.
As evidence of the change which has been made in the law of God by the papal power, and that it acknowledges the change and claims the authority to make it, note the following from Roman Catholic publications:-
"Question.-Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
"Answer.-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."-" A Doctrinal Catechism," Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174. Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, archbishop of New York.
"Question.-How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
"Answer.-By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
"Question.-How prove you that?
"Answer.-Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they deny again, in fact, the same power."-" An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine," composed in 1649, by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of the English College of Douay; New York, John Doyle, 1883, page 58.
"Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday, to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But 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."-"The Faith of Our Fathers," by James Cardinal Gibbons, Baltimore, John Murphy & Co., 1893, page 111.
All Roman Catholic writers agree in this teaching. See chapter 97 of this book. {Just email me and I will give it to you.}
6. Until what time were the saints, times, and laws of the Most High to be given into the hands of the little horn?
"And they shall be given into his hand _________________________________." Dan. 7:25, last clause.
7. In what other prophecies is this same period mentioned?
"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 ______________________ _____________________, from the face of the serpent." Rev. 12:14. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue [margin, to make war] _________________." Rev. 13:5. See also Rev. 11:2. "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there ________________________ _______________________." Rev. 12:6.
8. In symbolic prophecy what length of time is represented by a day?
"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, ____ ____________________, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years." Num. 14:34. See Eze. 4:6.
NOTES.-A time in prophecy being the same as a year (see Dan. 11:13, margin, and R.V.), three and one-half times would be three and a half , years, or forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, since the calendar year of 360 days, or twelve months of thirty days each, is used in prophetic chronology. As each day represents a year, the period, the end of which was to mark the limit of the time of the supremacy of the little horn, the Papacy, over the saints, times, and the law, would therefore be twelve hundred and sixty years.
The decree of the emperor Justinian, issued in A.D. 533, recognized the Pope as "head of all the holy churches." (Justinian's Code, book 1, title 1. Baronius's Annals, A.D. 533.) The overwhelming defeat of the Ostrogoths in the siege of Rome, five years later, A.D. 538, was a death-blow to the independence of the Arian power then ruling Italy, and was therefore a notable date in the development of papal supremacy. With the period 533-538, then, commences the twelve hundred and sixty years of this prophecy, which would extend to the period 1793-1798. The year 1793 was the year of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, and the year when the Roman Catholic religion was set aside in France and the worship of reason was established in its stead. As a direct result of the revolt against papal authority in the French Revolution, the French army, under Berthier, entered Rome, and the Pope was taken prisoner Feb. 10,1798, dying in exile at Valence, France, the following year. This period, 1793-1798, during which this death-stroke was inflicted upon the Papacy fittingly and clearly marks the close of the long prophetic period mentioned in this prophecy. Any standard history of the time may be consulted in substantiation of the facts here stated.
9. What will finally be done with the dominion exercised by the little horn?
"But the judgment shall sit, and they shall _____________________________ _________________________." Dan. 7:20.
10. To whom will the dominion finally be given?
"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given ______________________________________ whose kingdom is an ____________________, and _______________________ shall serve and obey Him." Verse 27.
NOTE.-Here as in the second chapter of Daniel, the announcement of the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God in the earth includes a brief outline of the history of this world; and the prophecies of Daniel concerning the powers that would oppose the purpose of God, furnish additional features of this outline. The exact fulfillment of this outline in the history of the world since the time of Nebuchadnezzar constitutes an unimpeachable testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies, and furnishes a ground of confidence that the unfulfilled portion of the prophecies will be wrought out in the future with absolute certainty and in every detail.
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The Kingdom and Work
of Antichrist
1. WHAT is said of the little horn as compared with the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7?
"He shall be __________ from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." Dan. 7:24.
NOTE.-The Papacy, which arose on the ruins of the Roman Empire, differed from all previous forms of Roman power, in that it was an ecclesiastical despotism claiming universal dominion over both spiritual and temporal affairs, especially the former. It was a union of church and state, with the church dominant.
2. What attitude of rivalry was the Papacy, represented by the little horn, to assume toward the Most High?
"And he shall ____________________________________." Verse 25, first clause.
3. How does Paul, speaking of the man of sin, describe this same power?
"Who ______________________________ above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, __________________ ___________." 2 Thess. 2:4.
NOTES.-The following extracts from authoritative works, most of them by Roman Catholic writers, will indicate to what extent the Papacy has done this:-
"All the names which are attributed to Christ in Scripture, implying His supremacy over the church, are also attributed to the Pope."-Bellarmine, "On the Authority of Councils," book 2, chap. 17.
"For thou art the shepherd, thou art the physician, thou art the director, thou art the husbandman; finally thou art another God on earth." -From Oration of Christopher Marcellus in fourth session of Fifth Lateran Council, Labbe and Cossart's " History of the Councils," published in 1672, Vol. XIV, col. 109.
"For not man, but God, not by human but rather by divine authority, releases those whom, on account of the need of the churches or what is regarded as a benefit, the Roman pontiff (who is vicegerent on earth, not of mere man, but of the true God) separates [from their churches]."-"The Decretals of Gregory IX," book 1, title 7, chap. 3.
"The Pope is the supreme judge of the law of the land. He is the vicegerent of Christ; who is not only a priest forever, but also King of kings and Lord of lords."-From the Civilta Cattolica, March 18, 1871, quoted in "Vatican Council," by Leonard Woolsey Bacon, American Tract Society edition, page 220.
"Christ entrusted His office to the chief pontiff; . . . but all power in heaven and in earth has been given to Christ; . . . there fore the chief pontiff, who is His vicar, will have this power."-Gloss on the "Extravagantes Communes," book 1, "On Authority and Obedience," chap. 1 , on words Porro Subesse Romano Pontiff. Canon law, published in 1556, Vol. III, "Extravagantes Communes," col. 29.
"Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven, and earth, and purgatory (Internorum)."-" Prompta Bibliotheca," Ferraris, Vol. VI, page 26, article "Papa" (the Pope).
"The decision of the Pope and the decision of God constitute one decision, just as the opinion of the Pope and his disciple are the same. Since, therefore, an appeal is always taken from an inferior judge to a superior, as no one is greater than himself, so no appeal holds when made from the Pope to God, because there is one consistory of the Pope himself and of God Himself, of which consistory the Pope himself is the key-bearer and the doorkeeper. Therefore no one can appeal from the Pope to God, as no one can enter into the consistory of God without the mediation of the Pope who is the key-bearer and the doorkeeper of the consistory of eternal life; and as no one can appeal to himself, so no one can appeal from the Pope to God, because there is one decision and one curia [court] of God and of the Pope."-Writings of Augustinus de Ancona printed without title page or pagination, Ques. VI, "On an Appeal From the Decision of the Pope."
"All the faithful of Christ must believe that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman pontiff possesses the primacy over the whole world, and that the Roman pontiff is the successor of the blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, and is true vicar of Christ, and the head of the whole church, and father and teacher of all Christians, and that full power was given him in blessed Peter to rule, feed, and govern the universal church by Jesus Christ our Lord."-" Petri Privilegium," in section on "The Vatican Council and Its Definitions," by Henry Edward Manning, archbishop of Westminster (Roman Catholic), London, Longmans, Green & Co., 1871, page 214.
"We teach and define that it is a dogma divinely revealed; that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in the discharge of the office of Pastor and Doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal church, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals: and that therefore such definitions of the Roman pontiff are irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the church."- Id., page 218.
"Should Jesus Christ come in person from heaven into a church to administer the sacrament of reconciliation, and should He say to a penitent, 'I absolve thee,' and should a priest sitting at His side in the tribunal of penance pronounce over a penitent the selfsame words, 'I absolve thee,' there is no question that in the latter case, as in the former, the penitent would be equally loosed from his sin."-" Jesus Living in the Priest," by the Rev. P. Millet, S. J., English translation by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Sebastian Byrne, D. D., bishop of Nashville; New York, Benziger Brothers printers to the Holy Apostolic See, 1901, pages 23, 24. Imprimatur, Michael Augustine, archbishop of New York.
Among the twenty-seven propositions known as the "Dictates of Hildebrand," who, under the name of Gregory VII, was Pope from 1073-87, occur the following: -
"2. That the Roman pontiff alone is justly styled universal.
"6. That no person . . . may live under the same roof with one excommunicated by the Pope.
"9. That all princes should kiss his feet only.
"12. That it is lawful for him to depose emperors.
"18. That his sentence is not to be reviewed by anyone; while he alone can review the decisions of all others.
"19. That he can be judged by no one.
"22. That the Romish Church never erred, nor will it, according to the Scriptures, ever err.
"26. That no one is to be accounted a Catholic who does not harmonize with the Romish Church.
"27. That he can absolve subjects from their allegiance to unrighteous rulers."- Annals of Baronius, 1076, Vol. XI, col. 506. See Gieseler's "Ecclesiastical History," third period, div. 3, par. 47, note 3; and Mosheim's " Ecclesiastical History," book 3, cen. 11, part 2, chap. 2, par. 9, note.
"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, on Dan. 7:25.
4. How was the little horn to treat God's people?
"And shall _____________________________of the Most High." Dan. 7:25.
NOTES.-"Under these bloody maxims [previously mentioned], those persecutions were carried on, from the eleventh and twelfth centuries almost to the present day, which stand out on the page of history. After the signal of open martyrdom had been given in the canons of Orleans, there followed the extirpation of the Albigenses under the form of a crusade, the establishment of the Inquisition, the cruel attempts to extinguish the Waldenses, the martyrdoms of the Lollards, the cruel wars to exterminate the Bohemians, the burning of Huss and Jerome, and multitudes of other confessors, before the Reformation; and afterwards, the ferocious cruelties practised in the Netherlands, the martyrdoms of Queen Mary's reign, the extinction by fire and sword of the Reformation in Spain and Italy, by fraud and open persecution in Poland, the massacre of Bartholomew, the persecution of the Huguenots by the League, the extirpation of the Vaudois, and all the cruelties and prejudices connected with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. These are the more open and conspicuous facts which explain the prophecy, besides the slow and secret murders of the holy tribunal of the Inquisition."-"The First Two Visions of Daniel," Rev. T. R. Birks, M. A., London, 1845, pages 248, 249.
A detailed summary of the number of the victims of the Inquisition in Spain, under each Inquisitor-General, is given in "The History of the Inquisition in Spain," by Llorente, formerly secretary of the Inquisition, pages 206-208. According to this authority the number who were condemned and perished in the flames is 31,912.
"The church has persecuted. Only a tyro in church history will deny that. . . . One hundred and fifty years after Constantine the Donatists were persecuted, and sometimes put to death. . . . Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. Wherever and whenever there is honest Catholicity; there will be a clear distinction drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of error. When she thinks it good to use physical force, she will use it."-The Western Watchman (Roman Catholic), of St. Louis, Dec. 24, 1908.
5. What else does the prophecy say the little horn would do?
"Arid he shall ________________________________." Dan. 7:25, third clause, R.V.
NOTES.- "The little horn, further, shall think to change times. The description applies, in all its force, to the systematic perversion of God's words by which all promises of millennial glory are wrested from their true sense, and referred to the dominion and grandeur of the Church of Rome. The orator of the Pope, for instance, in the Lateran Council, declares that in the submission of all nations to Leo the prophecy was fulfilled: 'All kings shall fall down and worship Him; all nations shall serve and obey Him.' The same antichristian feature appears in those advocates of the Papacy who would clear it from the guilt of actual idolatry, because 'it is part of that church from which the idols are utterly abolished.' Thus are the times changed; but only in the vain 'thoughts' of dreamers who see false visions and divine lying divinations; because the visible glory of Christ's kingdom remains still to be revealed."-" The First Two Visions of Daniel," Rev. T .R. Birks, M. A., London, 1845, pages 257, 258.
Although the ten commandments, the law of God, are found in the Roman Catholic versions of the Scriptures, as they were originally given, yet the faithful are instructed from the catechisms of the church, and not directly from the Bible. As it appears in these, the law of God has been changed and virtually reenacted by the Papacy. Furthermore, communicants not only receive the law from the church, but they deal with the church concerning any alleged infractions of that law, and when they have satisfied the ecclesiastical authorities, the whole matter is settled.
The second commandment, which forbids the making of, and bowing down to, images, is omitted in Catholic catechisms, and the tenth, which forbids coveting, is divided into two.
As evidence of the change which has been made in the law of God by the papal power, and that it acknowledges the change and claims the authority to make it, note the following from Roman Catholic publications:-
"Question.-Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
"Answer.-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."-" A Doctrinal Catechism," Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174. Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, archbishop of New York.
"Question.-How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
"Answer.-By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
"Question.-How prove you that?
"Answer.-Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they deny again, in fact, the same power."-" An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine," composed in 1649, by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of the English College of Douay; New York, John Doyle, 1883, page 58.
"Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday, to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But 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."-"The Faith of Our Fathers," by James Cardinal Gibbons, Baltimore, John Murphy & Co., 1893, page 111.
All Roman Catholic writers agree in this teaching. See chapter 97 of this book. {Just email me and I will give it to you.}
6. Until what time were the saints, times, and laws of the Most High to be given into the hands of the little horn?
"And they shall be given into his hand _________________________________." Dan. 7:25, last clause.
7. In what other prophecies is this same period mentioned?
"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 ______________________ _____________________, from the face of the serpent." Rev. 12:14. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue [margin, to make war] _________________." Rev. 13:5. See also Rev. 11:2. "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there ________________________ _______________________." Rev. 12:6.
8. In symbolic prophecy what length of time is represented by a day?
"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, ____ ____________________, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years." Num. 14:34. See Eze. 4:6.
NOTES.-A time in prophecy being the same as a year (see Dan. 11:13, margin, and R.V.), three and one-half times would be three and a half , years, or forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, since the calendar year of 360 days, or twelve months of thirty days each, is used in prophetic chronology. As each day represents a year, the period, the end of which was to mark the limit of the time of the supremacy of the little horn, the Papacy, over the saints, times, and the law, would therefore be twelve hundred and sixty years.
The decree of the emperor Justinian, issued in A.D. 533, recognized the Pope as "head of all the holy churches." (Justinian's Code, book 1, title 1. Baronius's Annals, A.D. 533.) The overwhelming defeat of the Ostrogoths in the siege of Rome, five years later, A.D. 538, was a death-blow to the independence of the Arian power then ruling Italy, and was therefore a notable date in the development of papal supremacy. With the period 533-538, then, commences the twelve hundred and sixty years of this prophecy, which would extend to the period 1793-1798. The year 1793 was the year of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, and the year when the Roman Catholic religion was set aside in France and the worship of reason was established in its stead. As a direct result of the revolt against papal authority in the French Revolution, the French army, under Berthier, entered Rome, and the Pope was taken prisoner Feb. 10,1798, dying in exile at Valence, France, the following year. This period, 1793-1798, during which this death-stroke was inflicted upon the Papacy fittingly and clearly marks the close of the long prophetic period mentioned in this prophecy. Any standard history of the time may be consulted in substantiation of the facts here stated.
9. What will finally be done with the dominion exercised by the little horn?
"But the judgment shall sit, and they shall _____________________________ _________________________." Dan. 7:20.
10. To whom will the dominion finally be given?
"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given ______________________________________ whose kingdom is an ____________________, and _______________________ shall serve and obey Him." Verse 27.
NOTE.-Here as in the second chapter of Daniel, the announcement of the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God in the earth includes a brief outline of the history of this world; and the prophecies of Daniel concerning the powers that would oppose the purpose of God, furnish additional features of this outline. The exact fulfillment of this outline in the history of the world since the time of Nebuchadnezzar constitutes an unimpeachable testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies, and furnishes a ground of confidence that the unfulfilled portion of the prophecies will be wrought out in the future with absolute certainty and in every detail.
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BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.50 -- FOUR GREAT MONARCHIES
Chapter 50.
Four Great Monarchies
1. AT what time was Daniel's second vision given?
"______________________ Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters." Dan. 7:1.
NOTE.-That is, in the first year of Belshazzar's office as associate king with his father Nabonadius, or 540 B.C.
2. What effect did this dream have upon Daniel?
"I Daniel was __________________ in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head ______________." Verse 15.
NOTE.-The effect of Daniel's dream upon him, it will be noticed was similar to the effect of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams upon him; it troubled him. See Dan. 2:1.
3. What did Daniel ask of one of the heavenly attendants who stood by him in his dream?
"I came near unto one of them that stood by, __________________. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things." Verse 16.
4. What did the prophet see in this vision?
"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, _______________." Verse 2.
5. What was the result of this strife?|
"And _____________________, diverse one from another." Verse 3.
6. What did these four beasts represent?
"These great beasts, which are four, are __________________________." Verse 17.
NOTE.-The word kings here, 88 in Dan. 2:44, denotes kingdoms, as explained in verses 23 and 24 of the seventh chapter, the two words being used interchangeably in this prophecy.
7. In symbolic language, what is represented by winds?
Strife, war, commotion. See Jer. 25:31-33; 49:36,37.
NOTE.-That winds denote strife and war is evident from the vision itself. As a result of the striving of the winds, kingdoms rise and fall.
8. What, in prophecy, is symbolized by waters?
"And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest . . . are ____________, and ______________, and ______________, and _____________." Rev. 17:15.
NOTE.-In the second chapter of Daniel, under the figure of an image of man, the mere political outline of the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms is given, preceding the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom. In the seventh chapter, earthly governments are represented as viewed in the light of Heaven,- under the symbols of wild and ferocious beasts,- the last, in particular, oppressing and persecuting the saints of the Most High. Hence the change in the symbols used to represent these kingdoms.
9. What was the first beast like?
"____________________, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it." Dan. 7:4.
NOTE.-The lion, the first of these four great beasts, like the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, represents the Babylonian monarchy; the lion, the king of beasts, standing at the head of his kind, as gold does of metals. The eagle's wings doubtless denote the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned from B.C. 604 to B.C. 561. This kingdom was overthrown by the Medes and Persians in B.C. 538.
10. By what was the second kingdom symbolized?
"And behold another beast, a ________________, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." Verse 5.
NOTE.-"This was the Medo-Persian Empire, represented here under the symbol of a bear. . . . The Medes and Persians are compared to a bear on account of their cruelty and thirst after blood, a bear being a most voracious and cruel animal."- Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:5.
11. By what was the third universal empire symbolized?
"After this I beheld, and lo another_____________, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." Verse 6.
NOTES.-If the wings of an eagle on the back of a lion denoted rapidity of movement in the Babylonian, or Assyrian, Empire (see Hab. 1:6-8), four wings on the leopard must denote unparalleled celerity of movement in the Grecian Empire. This we find to be historically true.
"The rapidity of Alexander's conquests in Asia was marvelous: he burst like a torrent on the expiring Persian Empire, and all opposition was useless. The gigantic armies collected to oppose him melted like snow in the sunshine. The battles of Granicus, B.C. 334, Issus in the following year, and Arbela in B.C. 331, settled the fate of the Persian Empire, and established the wide dominion of the Greeks."-"The Divine Program of the World's History," by H. Grattan Guinness, page 308.
"The beast had also four heads." The Grecian Empire maintained its unity but a short time after the death of Alexander, which occurred in B.C. 323. Within twenty-two years after the close of his brilliant career, or by B.C. 301, the empire was divided among his four leading generals. Cassander took Macedonia and Greece in the west; Lysimachus had Thrace and the parts of Asia on the Hellespont and Bosporus in the north; Ptolemy received Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria in the south; and Seleucus had all the rest of Alexander's dominions in the east.
12. How was the fourth kingdom represented?
"After this I saw in the night-visions, and behold ________________________: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; ___________________." Verse 7.
13. What was the fourth beast declared to be?
"Thus he said, _______________________________, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." Verse 23.
NOTES.-"This is allowed on all hands to be the Roman Empire. It was dreadful, terrible, and exceeding strong; . . . and became, in effect, what the Roman writers delight to call it, the empire of the whole world." -Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:7.
The final overthrow of the Greeks, by the Romans, was at the battle of Pydna, in 168 B.C.
14. What was denoted by the ten horns?
"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are _______________________." Verse 24.
NOTES.-The Roman Empire was broken up into ten kingdoms between the years 351 A.D. and 476 A.D.
"The historian Machiavelli, without the slightest reference to this prophecy, gives the following list of the nations which occupied the territory of the Western Empire at the time of the fall of Romulus Augustulus (476 A.D.), the last emperor of Rome: The Lombards the Franks, the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Heruli, the Suevi, the Huns, and the Saxons: ten in all.
"Amidst unceasing and almost countless fluctuations, the kingdoms of modern Europe have from their birth to the present day averaged ten in number. They have never since the breaking up of old Rome been united into one single empire; they have never formed one whole even like the United States. No scheme of proud ambition seeking to reunite the broken fragments has ever succeeded; when such have arisen, they have been invariably dashed to pieces.
"And the division is as apparent now as ever. Plainly and palpably inscribed on the map of Europe this day, it confronts the skeptic with its silent but conclusive testimony to the fulfillment of this great prophecy. Who can alter or add to this tenfold list of the kingdoms now occupying the sphere of old Rome? Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, England, Holland, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal - ten, and no more; ten, and no less."-"The Divine Program of the World's History," by H. Grattan Guinness, pages 318-321.
15. What change did Daniel see take place in these horns?
"I considered the horns, and, behold, ____________________________________: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." Verse 8.
16. What inquiry on the part of Daniel shows that the fourth beast, and especially the little horn phase of it, constitutes the leading feature of this vision?
"Then I ________________________, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; __________________ that were in his head, and _________________________; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." Verses 19,20.
17. When was the little horn to arise?
"And another shall rise __________." Verse 24.
NOTE.-The ten horns, as already shown, arose when Rome, the fourth kingdom, was divided into ten kingdoms. This division was completed in A. D. 476. The little-horn power was to arise after them.
18. What was to be the character of the little horn?
"And he shall be __________ from the first, and he shall ______________________." Same verse, last part.
NOTES.- That power which arose in the Roman Empire after the fall of Rome in A.D. 476, which was entirely different from all the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided (for it demanded and exercised spiritual power over the other kingdoms), and before whom three of the other kings -the Heruli the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths -fell, was the Papacy.
Having located the place and the time of the kingdom of the little horn, the study of its character and work will be considered in the readings which follow.
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Four Great Monarchies
1. AT what time was Daniel's second vision given?
"______________________ Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters." Dan. 7:1.
NOTE.-That is, in the first year of Belshazzar's office as associate king with his father Nabonadius, or 540 B.C.
2. What effect did this dream have upon Daniel?
"I Daniel was __________________ in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head ______________." Verse 15.
NOTE.-The effect of Daniel's dream upon him, it will be noticed was similar to the effect of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams upon him; it troubled him. See Dan. 2:1.
3. What did Daniel ask of one of the heavenly attendants who stood by him in his dream?
"I came near unto one of them that stood by, __________________. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things." Verse 16.
4. What did the prophet see in this vision?
"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, _______________." Verse 2.
5. What was the result of this strife?|
"And _____________________, diverse one from another." Verse 3.
6. What did these four beasts represent?
"These great beasts, which are four, are __________________________." Verse 17.
NOTE.-The word kings here, 88 in Dan. 2:44, denotes kingdoms, as explained in verses 23 and 24 of the seventh chapter, the two words being used interchangeably in this prophecy.
7. In symbolic language, what is represented by winds?
Strife, war, commotion. See Jer. 25:31-33; 49:36,37.
NOTE.-That winds denote strife and war is evident from the vision itself. As a result of the striving of the winds, kingdoms rise and fall.
8. What, in prophecy, is symbolized by waters?
"And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest . . . are ____________, and ______________, and ______________, and _____________." Rev. 17:15.
NOTE.-In the second chapter of Daniel, under the figure of an image of man, the mere political outline of the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms is given, preceding the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom. In the seventh chapter, earthly governments are represented as viewed in the light of Heaven,- under the symbols of wild and ferocious beasts,- the last, in particular, oppressing and persecuting the saints of the Most High. Hence the change in the symbols used to represent these kingdoms.
9. What was the first beast like?
"____________________, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it." Dan. 7:4.
NOTE.-The lion, the first of these four great beasts, like the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, represents the Babylonian monarchy; the lion, the king of beasts, standing at the head of his kind, as gold does of metals. The eagle's wings doubtless denote the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned from B.C. 604 to B.C. 561. This kingdom was overthrown by the Medes and Persians in B.C. 538.
10. By what was the second kingdom symbolized?
"And behold another beast, a ________________, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." Verse 5.
NOTE.-"This was the Medo-Persian Empire, represented here under the symbol of a bear. . . . The Medes and Persians are compared to a bear on account of their cruelty and thirst after blood, a bear being a most voracious and cruel animal."- Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:5.
11. By what was the third universal empire symbolized?
"After this I beheld, and lo another_____________, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." Verse 6.
NOTES.-If the wings of an eagle on the back of a lion denoted rapidity of movement in the Babylonian, or Assyrian, Empire (see Hab. 1:6-8), four wings on the leopard must denote unparalleled celerity of movement in the Grecian Empire. This we find to be historically true.
"The rapidity of Alexander's conquests in Asia was marvelous: he burst like a torrent on the expiring Persian Empire, and all opposition was useless. The gigantic armies collected to oppose him melted like snow in the sunshine. The battles of Granicus, B.C. 334, Issus in the following year, and Arbela in B.C. 331, settled the fate of the Persian Empire, and established the wide dominion of the Greeks."-"The Divine Program of the World's History," by H. Grattan Guinness, page 308.
"The beast had also four heads." The Grecian Empire maintained its unity but a short time after the death of Alexander, which occurred in B.C. 323. Within twenty-two years after the close of his brilliant career, or by B.C. 301, the empire was divided among his four leading generals. Cassander took Macedonia and Greece in the west; Lysimachus had Thrace and the parts of Asia on the Hellespont and Bosporus in the north; Ptolemy received Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria in the south; and Seleucus had all the rest of Alexander's dominions in the east.
12. How was the fourth kingdom represented?
"After this I saw in the night-visions, and behold ________________________: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; ___________________." Verse 7.
13. What was the fourth beast declared to be?
"Thus he said, _______________________________, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." Verse 23.
NOTES.-"This is allowed on all hands to be the Roman Empire. It was dreadful, terrible, and exceeding strong; . . . and became, in effect, what the Roman writers delight to call it, the empire of the whole world." -Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:7.
The final overthrow of the Greeks, by the Romans, was at the battle of Pydna, in 168 B.C.
14. What was denoted by the ten horns?
"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are _______________________." Verse 24.
NOTES.-The Roman Empire was broken up into ten kingdoms between the years 351 A.D. and 476 A.D.
"The historian Machiavelli, without the slightest reference to this prophecy, gives the following list of the nations which occupied the territory of the Western Empire at the time of the fall of Romulus Augustulus (476 A.D.), the last emperor of Rome: The Lombards the Franks, the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Heruli, the Suevi, the Huns, and the Saxons: ten in all.
"Amidst unceasing and almost countless fluctuations, the kingdoms of modern Europe have from their birth to the present day averaged ten in number. They have never since the breaking up of old Rome been united into one single empire; they have never formed one whole even like the United States. No scheme of proud ambition seeking to reunite the broken fragments has ever succeeded; when such have arisen, they have been invariably dashed to pieces.
"And the division is as apparent now as ever. Plainly and palpably inscribed on the map of Europe this day, it confronts the skeptic with its silent but conclusive testimony to the fulfillment of this great prophecy. Who can alter or add to this tenfold list of the kingdoms now occupying the sphere of old Rome? Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, England, Holland, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal - ten, and no more; ten, and no less."-"The Divine Program of the World's History," by H. Grattan Guinness, pages 318-321.
15. What change did Daniel see take place in these horns?
"I considered the horns, and, behold, ____________________________________: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." Verse 8.
16. What inquiry on the part of Daniel shows that the fourth beast, and especially the little horn phase of it, constitutes the leading feature of this vision?
"Then I ________________________, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; __________________ that were in his head, and _________________________; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." Verses 19,20.
17. When was the little horn to arise?
"And another shall rise __________." Verse 24.
NOTE.-The ten horns, as already shown, arose when Rome, the fourth kingdom, was divided into ten kingdoms. This division was completed in A. D. 476. The little-horn power was to arise after them.
18. What was to be the character of the little horn?
"And he shall be __________ from the first, and he shall ______________________." Same verse, last part.
NOTES.- That power which arose in the Roman Empire after the fall of Rome in A.D. 476, which was entirely different from all the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided (for it demanded and exercised spiritual power over the other kingdoms), and before whom three of the other kings -the Heruli the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths -fell, was the Papacy.
Having located the place and the time of the kingdom of the little horn, the study of its character and work will be considered in the readings which follow.
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