Chapter 7 happens about sixty-five years after chapter 2, and Babylon has a new king. Daniel himself has a great vision. Daniel 7:1-2, “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream . . . I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.” That is our Abba Father “stirring the pot” in the world. Jeremiah 49:36 informs us about the four winds, “And I will bring to Elam the four winds from the four ends of the heavens and I will toss them to all of the winds and there shall not be the nation to which those being expelled shall not come there from Elam.“
Daniel 7:3, “And four great animals that were coming up from the sea, and they were different this one from that one.” “Beasts” is the standard translation. Beasts are kings and kingdoms, and “from the sea” means they do the enemy’s work. The sea represents the chaos and evil of the world fostered by the enemy but let the Scripture interpret itself. Isaiah 57:20, “But the wicked ones are as the troubled sea that cannot rest and is expelling waters of foulness and mud.”
Look at Revelation 21:1, “. . . and the sea is no more.” That verse seems to float by itself. So, do we forget the boat or experience the peace and tranquility of heaven? Many scholars interpret this verse literally, which I see as ELB, especially in The Revelation, which is all symbols. Where do the rivers go if there is no more literal sea? If we look for the majesty of our Abba Father, we will find him.
The Four Beasts v7:3-8
The four beasts are the same four nations as the gold, silver, bronze, and iron in chapter 2. Repetition of a new concept with new images is a Scripture technique used often. Daniel 7:4, “The first one was as a lion with wings as of a eagle I was examining her until that her wings were scraped off, and she was lifted up from earth the and put on two feet as a human, she was set up and the heart of a man was granted to her.” The lion is Babylon, and this verse matches Nebuchadnezzar’s life in chapters 3-6.
Daniel 7:5, “Then look another animal (beast), the second one being like a bear, and to one side she had raised up and with three ribs in her mouth between her teeth, and this they were saying to her, Get up and abundantly go devour flesh.” The bear’s raised shoulder is the Persian dominance in the Media partnership; the three ribs are the three countries they conquered, Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.
Daniel 7:6, “. . .Then after this I was perceiving and look, another one as a leopard and to her was four wings, that of a flyer on her arched back, and four heads to this animal, and jurisdiction was granted to her.” This is the Greek conquest with the four generals and regions created after Alexander died. The wings represent speed. Alexander was amazingly successful in his conquest as if divinely inspired.
Daniel 7:7-8, “Then after this I was observing in my visions of the night and look, a fourth animal (beast), terrifying and awful and mighty and exuberant and with teeth as of iron, immense ones devouring and smashing, and what is left, stamping upon with her feet and she was different from all of the animals that came before her, and to her were ten horns. Now as I was contemplating the horns then look another horn, and this, a small one that came up between them and the three horns from before, they were cut down to stumps from before her, and with eyes, the eyes as of a mortal, and in this horn a mouth declaring great things.“
The fourth beast is the Roman Empire, a mighty army. The ten horns are the same as the feet (ten toes) in Daniel 2. The ten horns represent the barbarian tribes in the European territories which played a significant role in the future and became the European countries we know today. Notice how we are now expanding the geography into the world, not just about Israel.
Notice Daniel referenced no particular fourth beast because it is different in that it will look like many beasts over time, all driven by the enemy. Also, none of the other three beasts had horns in this vision. The “ten” means all of them, not a ten count.
Verses 9-14 are moved to the end of this message for continuity as they are a different meme related to the stone in chapter 2 and reveal something incredibly profound.
Dream Interpretation v7:15-27
Daniel 7:15-18, “Then I Daniel was disturbed in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head they were troubling me. Then I drew close on to one of those standing near and questioned him (angel Gabriel) as to the certainty of all of this, and he said to me, the interpretation of these matters is being made known to me. No these four animals, the great ones, they are four kings which shall rise from the earth.”
(New thought) “But the holy ones of the supreme one they shall take the kingdom and they shall safeguard the kingdom unto the ages, even unto the age of ages.” The last line is the end time, a big time jump in the sentence, with much to do before it comes. The time jumps are one reason interpretation is difficult. “ . . . the holy ones of the supreme one” are the heavenly kingdom from Chapter 2.
(Back to sequence) Daniel 7:19, “Then I would to be certain of that fourth animal which was different from all of them, doubly terrifying, her teeth like that of iron and her claws like that of bronze, devouring and smashing, and the rest of it stamping upon under her feet.“
The new “claws of bronze” reference is the Greek culture and the Greek language, as much of the intellectual culture of Greece was adopted by the Roman Empire, including their pagan gods given new Latin names such as Zeus becoming Jupiter.
The Other Horn
Daniel 7:20-21, “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. . . .”
Notice that the ten horns are on the fourth beast; the “other horn” must come after the other three beasts. The “other horn” is essential to our interpretation. It has personal characteristics, is pompous, and makes war against the saints (believers}. And, the conventional understanding of the “other horn” is theological malpractice, ELB at work.
Daniel 7:22, “until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High (the other horn was stopped. The next line jumps to the end time.), and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” V7:22 is two thoughts and two separate points in time.
Daniel 7:23, “Thus he said, The fourth beast (Roman Empire) 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.” Notice that “pieces” are still left to exist in many individual countries, and the whole world is now part of the prophecy. That is important later.
Daniel 7:24, “And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them (the “other horn” referenced above); and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings.” The ten kings are the same barbarian tribes that became Europe; the ten means all of them, not a specific number.
Daniel 7:25, “And he (the other horn) 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 (Note this last phrase, “And shall intend to change times and law.”); and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.” That is a fantastic time prophecy, seen as prophetic time because it delivers punishment, precisely like the forty-year walk in Exodus.
Buckle your seatbelt. We introduced prophetic time at the end of chapter 6. A “time” is a 360-day year, “times” without an integer is two years, 720 days, and ½ time is 180 days. Therefore 360+720+180 = 1260 days = 1260 years punishment. The “other horn” persecuted the saints for 1260 years. If not prophetic time, it is just 3½ years, which makes no sense. But conventional teaching embraces 3½ years, discussed later.
Daniel 7:26, “But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” The court is in heaven. The “other horn” gets judged in heaven, as matched on earth in Daniel 7:22 above. Our Abba Father is controlling the events and telling us he is. Please pray on that.
Daniel 7:27 is another time jump to the end, “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.”
Daniel:7:28, “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.” Daniel is a little freaked out.
The Other Horn Prophecy
Interpreting the “other horn” in Daniel 7 can change your life. Overcome the ELB-driven theory and energize our relationship with our Abba Father. Daniel is also the bridge to a better understanding of The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Before we dive deeper, let’s see what the Scripture says about prophecy.
2 Peter 1:21, “For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.” Isaiah 28:10, “For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.” Isaiah 48:5, “therefore I have declared it to thee from of old; before it came to pass I showed it thee; lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. . . .” Amos 3:7, “Surely the LORD Yahweh will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets.“
Our Abba Father prophesizes before it happens, and the “Here a little, there a little” is the key. That is where the engineering mind helps. We always look for the “here a little, there a little.” We need to weave the Scripture’s pieces and verses together as it interprets itself. Our Abba Father chose the prophet, Daniel, to present the future of his world through a series of visions and explanations.
Daniel reveals our Abba Father’s spirit world and the physical. I find enormous comfort in its revelations. It also shows how ELB has worked against us throughout history. Daniel takes us through the tunnel from the Scripture to our present life; that is amazing. There is a major ELB problem with interpreting Daniel, a big one, and to get where we need to be, we have to put in the work.
That is why our Abba Father made teachers and preachers. And engineers to put the pieces together for others. My approach is to put them together to strengthen our relationship with our Abba Father. A word of warning, Daniel is loaded. Please pray, ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom, and read slowly and methodically.
Other Horn Revealed.
So who or what is the “other horn?” Daniel 7:8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it.” First, understand the “ten horns,” and then the “other horn” co-exist.
Daniel 7:20-21, “and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell.” The ten horns are on the head of the beast; they are part of the Roman Empire. The “other horn” takes out three other “horns” inside the empire.
Daniel 7:24, “The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom (Roman Empire). And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings.” The ten kings must be the barbarian kings in the Western Empire, and the “other horn” cannot be one of them.
There are two theories for the “other horn.” Conventional teaching in ELB wants it to be Antiochus IV, (Antiochus Epiphanes), a descendent of the Greek general Seleucid, one of the four successor empires to Alexander Maximus in the Greek empire. That position is part of the Preterist theory of Daniel’s prophecy that asserts that they were all fulfilled by the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD.
That argument shuts down Daniel in 70 AD, rendering it useless, and we float in time until the end time comes. But you can decide for yourself. Christianity is not proud of its history after Jesus. If it were, churches would teach it. ELB would prefer we jump over it as well because it is the enemy’s work. Either way, your choice won’t keep you out of heaven.
The “other horn” is from the Roman Empire, which conquers the Greek empire. The Greek Antiochus Epiphanes ruled from 175 BC to 164 BC. He most definitely persecuted Israel, which led to the Maccabee Rebellion, but he barely had one conquest to the south, Ptolemy’s Egypt. But he quickly lost it to the Roman Empire.
Daniel 7:25, “He (“other horn”) shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law.” This last phrase reveals power over church doctrine. Antiochus IV was a pagan and demanded pagan worship. He never came close to that phrase compared to the Holy Roman Empire’s creation of its own Christian law in edicts and synods. It even changed the sabbath to Sunday.
“Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.” Antiochus IV ruled for eleven years. If we take the 1260-day prophecy as literal days, we get 3½ years. It is tough to understand how many accept Antiochus IV as the “other horn.”
I hypothesize that it is because 1260 years of prophetic time puts the church in the enemy’s hands during the Holly Roman Empire’s rule. That takes us to 1798, with our Abba Father working on our behalf in recorded history. I hesitate to mention its connection with the Catholic Church in that period. Still, it survived the Protestant Reformation; it will survive this.
History Lesson
We need a walk through history to nail down the “other horn,” It is a very fruitful walk for our relationship with our Abba Father and defeating ELB. In the Scripture, they crucified Jesus about 31 AD; the Apostles wrote their letters before the Jewish revolt against the Romans, which led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. John and The Revelation were most likely written around 94 AD, looking to the future. When we turn the last page from Malachi to open Mathew, we see the Roman empire in control.
There was a lot of unrest and civil war in the Roman Empire because it was so large. We know emperor Domitian as the persecutor of John near the end of the first century, but we only hear a little more about the empire once emperor Constantine comes to power. He was in a civil war for succession against Maxentius, and a divine vision offered Constantine a victory if he converted to Christianity.
Constantine converted and won. That ended the persecution of believers with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. That started another era of ELB, merging the church with the state. The evidence is overwhelming that the “other horn,” which is different from kings, is what became the church-state government, often called the Holy Roman Empire. ELB does not like this interpretation, but Antiochus Epiphanes cannot possibly be the “other horn.”
Christianity was the only common thread that spread across the massive Roman Empire. Recorded history tells us that Constantine’s motivation was to use the church as a unifying force to hold the empire together. He left the Roman sun god on the coins, so his heart may not have been too sincere. Up to that point, the church’s persecution was intense, especially before Constantine.
Most believers have heard of the Nicene Creed, a foundational document of the church. I went through it in S2M7. A man named Arias was preaching that Jesus was created and therefore was not God. That was causing unrest because the barbarian tribes were embracing it. So Constantine called a meeting with the bishops in Nicaea that produced the official trinitarian creed for the empire. That is the very beginning of the “other horn.”
The creed did not calm the unrest, and Constantine’s successor issued the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD making Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. We won! Look up the edict, it defined Christianity as the empire saw it. In 429 AD, Emperor Theodosius II commissioned a group of 22 bishops to unify all of the different Christian codes in the empire and created 65 definitions of heresy and legal penalties for heretics.
The last two lines of the Edict of Thessalonica are very revealing, “but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to inflict.”
Note the “we shall decide to inflict.” And the phrase, “but as for the others” includes believers who did not embrace the Trinity plus others who did not embrace the church-state. Inflicting the “will of heaven” led to the end of three kings, as mentioned above, with the “other horn.”
The Visigoths were eliminated in 508 AD by Clovis, the leader of the Francs, which became France. Clovis was the first barbarian to convert and pick up a sword for the “other horn.” Then the Vandals were eliminated in 534 AD, and the Ostrogoths in 538 AD. These would be the three kings destroyed in the prophecy. Antiochus had nothing like this.
Something else happened that is important. Rome already ruled over most of Europe, and it became huge when it conquered the Grecian empire. In 285 AD, the Roman Empire was divided into Eastern and Western regions to help govern it. The Visigoths, Franks, Huns, Goths, etc., which inhabited the area, eventually became the countries of Europe. The Eastern side became the Eastern Orthodox church, still active today.
Some barbarian tribes were strong, and some were weak, which is the point of the mix of iron and clay. A barbarian leader named Odoacer took control of Italy, the western empire’s seat, and ended the Roman Empire’s political life in 476 AD. The bishops filled the ruling gap when the Western region separated from the Eastern part.
On May 7th, 538 AD, the 3rd Synod of Orleans established universal church-state law as the official law of the land. Inflicting “the will of heaven” against heretics by the church-state was in full force starting in 538 AD. Remember from Daniel 7:34, “Then the saints shall be given into his hand” (the “other horn“).
Now move ahead with the “other horn,” the Holy Roman Empire in 1798 AD. The Vatican was stormed and overtaken by Louis Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, and the Vatican was separated from the government, marking the end of the church-state system of government, precisely as prophesied!
Daniel 7 tells us that ELB owned the church from 538 AD through 1798 AD, and was ordained by our Abba Father in his design to continue punishment against the world’s apostasy. 1798 AD is 1260 years after 538 AD, as prophesized by Daniel. The “other horn” of Daniel’s prophecy is the church-state system of government that lasted until 1798. That blows my mind.
What is so powerful is seeing our Abba Father in the Scripture with Daniel revealing our Abba Father’s total control of his world eighteen hundred years after Jesus! We are not just biding time wondering about the end. We know the hand of the enemy is strong in the darkness of the middle ages. It also explains why Jesus is taking so long to come back. There is much more to reveal in Daniel; we are only in chapter 7 of 12.
The Ancient of Days v7:9-14
This chapter explains Daniel 7:22. We moved it to maintain the continuity of the earthly history, “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. . . .” We must see the duality of the spirit and the physical worlds in our dive into Daniel.
Daniel 7:9-10, “I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered unto him (cherubin S4M2), and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.“
We are seeing our Abba Father in his throne room in the Most Holy place of his temple in heaven. Scripture reveals the cherubim worshipers as part of the mercy seat in the earth temple’s Most Holy place, patterned after heaven. Notice Jesus is not referenced here but comes here to get his kingdom in Daniel 7:13 below.
Daniel 7:11, “And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire.” (1798 AD).
The “other horn” is being judged and destroyed starting at the end of the “time, times and ½ time” 1260-year prophecy. And “the books” the angels opened were the books of judgment.
Daniel 7:12, “As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.” More on this season later. The territories of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire continue as nations today in the “feet of iron and clay” with their culture and a few name changes. And they will continue to the end. That is why the fourth beast was different; no one ever conquered it. It Just transitioned.
Daniel 7:13-4, “I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. (That is Jesus ascending to the heavenly throne. It is the only reference to “Son of Man” in the Old Testament.) And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, 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.“
This last paragraph is profound. I have goosebumps. We have just witnessed the beginning of the spirit version of the final kingdom in heaven established. We see Jesus, the Son of Man, coming to our Abba Father and receiving the kingdom from him at the end of this prophecy. I bask in his glory and see it come to life. It only gets better from here. Please pray on that.
Summary
Notice the structure of Daniel 7. Verses 1-8 present the four beasts, the ten horns and the other horn attacking our Abba Father, “a mouth speaking pompous words,” in the physical. Then thrones are placed in heaven, and the Ancient of Days (Abba Father) is seated. Then the court is sitting, and books open. Daniel kept watching until they slew the fourth beast, but the rest of the beasts lived on without power. Then Jesus comes to our Abba Father in Heaven and receives his kingdom.
Gabriel interprets the dream as discussed above. Notice the two kingdoms, heaven, and earth, working together. The court is seated and takes away the other horn’s dominion forever. Then the kingdom under heaven is given to the people, the Most High saints. Jesus’ kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. I cannot emphasize how much seeing heaven and earth, the spirit and the physical, both working together, build our faith and relationship.
