New to Daniel 7

Study:

10 Horns - 3:

We have seen that both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 talk of a divided 4th Kingdom, divided Rome, papal Rome, or the nations/kingdoms of divided Europe.

"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the [4th] kingdom shall be divided;..." Daniel 2:41

"And the ten horns out of this [4th] kingdom are ten kings [or kingdoms] that shall arise:..." Daniel 7:24

Daniel 7 introduces the fact that there are 10 kingdoms. This is new because even though the statue has 10 toes, the 10 toes are never brought up in connection with the divided kingdom. But Daniel 7 introduces more with regard to the 10 toes, more that Daniel 2 does not hint at in the least.

"I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots:..." Daniel 7:8

Who are the 10 horns and who are the three that were uprooted?

We are told that the horns are kings/kingdoms that divide up the Roman Empire... this is what we have made clear from prophecy over the last few studies. We know the accepted date for the fall of Rome is 476. Though it was in the process of falling before this. So what kings/kingdoms were dividing up the Roman Empire around this time? The Germanic tribes! Here is one list of 10 (and three) Germanic tribes (along with the nations they became) that has been put forward as fitting the prophecy:

Horn

Horn

Horn

Horn

Horn

1:

2:

3:

4:

5:

Anglo-Saxons (England)

Burgundians (Switzerland)

Franks (France)

Suevi (Portugal)

Visigoths (Spain)

Horn

Horn

Horn

Horn

Horn

6:

7:

8:

9:

10:

Allemani (Germany)

Lombards (Italy)

Ostrogoths (destroyed)

Heruli (destroyed)

Vandals (destroyed)

The thing is that this is one of many suggestions because historically there were more than 10 Germanic tribes that invaded the Roman Empire.

Here is the list of 10 Germanic tribes according to H. Grattan Guinness:

Horn

Horn

Horn

Horn

Horn

1:

2:

3:

4:

5:

Saxons

Burgundians

Franks

Suevi

Visigoths

Horn

Horn

Horn

Horn

Horn

6:

7:

8:

9:

10:

Huns

Lombards

Ostrogoths

Heruli

Vandals

So why show this... the uncertainty of the 10 tribes? Because the 10 is symbolic and not literal! As soon as we do a few more necessary studies we will take a second look at the 10 horns.

Non-descript Beast:

The non-descript beast introduces something new and critical to the understanding of not only both the united and divided phases of the 4th kingdom, but also to the prophecies of the book of Daniel in general.

"Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, 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;" Daniel 7:19

Why did God find it important to mentions these two facts: iron teeth and brass nails? How are we to understand them? Do we have anything similar to compare them to? Yes.

"...his feet part of iron and part of clay." Daniel 2:33

"...his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron,..." Daniel 2:32,33

Because the only prophetic vision prior to Daniel 7 is Daniel 2, it makes sense to connect the iron and brass back to it. Daniel 2's divided 4th Kingdom, feet of iron and clay, is dual in nature, a combination of state and church. Daniel 7's united 4th Kingdom, iron teeth and brass nails, screams out that it is similarly dual in nature. As for what the iron and brass mean, Daniel 2 gives us an answer here also, the iron is something Roman while the brass is something Greek. Putting this together:

Daniel 2:
divided 4th Kingdom

feet of

clay: church

iron: state

Daniel 7:
united 4th Kingdom

brass: Greek religious elements

iron: Roman secular elements

Daniel 2:
3rd & 4th Kingdoms

brass: Greece

iron: Rome

Possible "iron teeth"/Roman (native) secular elements might be its forms of government: republic, senate, etc. What of "brass nails"/Greek religious elements? Does Rome have any Greek religious elements? Yes! Rome has borrowed much of its mythology, gods and goddesses and their stories, from Greece. Here is a list of gods and goddesses of Rome with their Greek counterparts.

The Greco-Roman Pantheon:

1. god of the sky; king of the gods: Zeus (Greek)/Jupiter (Roman)
2. his consort; goddess of love and marriage: Hera (Greek)/Juno (Roman)
3. god of war: Ares (Greek)/Mars (Roman)
4. goddess of love: Aphrodite (Greek)/Venus (Roman)
5. goddess of wisdom: Athena (Greek)/Minerva (Roman)
6. god of the sun: Apollo (Greek and Roman)
7. goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, the Moon and chastity: Artemis (Greek)/Diana (Roman)
8. god of the sea: Poseidon (Greek)/Neptune (Roman)
9. god of the dead; king of the underworld: Hades (Greek)/Pluto (Roman)

Recall how we wondered how the potter's clay was changed into miry clay yet the iron remained unchanged? Now we know. It was not the iron changing the potter's clay to miry but the presence of Greek brass! And this was only revealed through the added detail of Daniel 7.

Here is that transformation of potter's clay to miry clay, as recorded in Daniel 2's divided 4th kingdom, now augmented with the new information recorded in Daniel 7's united 4th kingdom.

potter's clay + iron (+ brass) => iron mixed with miry clay

Little Horn's Doings:

Now Daniel 7's last new item.

"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Daniel 7:25

"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;" Daniel 7:21

Notice the repeated words/phrases. It is like it is saying, "Look CLOSER!" If we do... Re-displaying Daniel 7:25:

A': 

B': 

A': 

B': 

"And he shall speak great words against the most High, 

and shall wear out the saints of the most High, 

and think to change times and laws: 

and they shall be given into his hand until
   a time and times and the dividing of time." Daniel 7:25 

Notice! What we are meant to see is that "the saints" of the second phrase are the "they" of the fourth phrase. This implies that the "great words" of the first phrase consist of the contents of the third phrase.

The structure of Daniel 7:25.

And he shall speak great words against the most High,

and think to change times and laws:
 

and shall wear out the saints of the most High, 

and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

A Time and Times and the Dividing of Time:

We do not have the tools, as of yet, to decypher this time prophecy. We will when we begin to study Revelation.

Think to change Times and Laws:

What is this "think to change times and laws"? First, notice that "speak great words against the Most High" and "think to change" are linked semantically! The little horn is said to "speak" and "think to change" and not to just "change" because what he seeks to change and may even appear to have changed, he has no the authority to change, it being something that was instituted by divine authority which only God can change... But God has declared "For I am the Lord, I change not;..." (Malachi 3:6) and "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." (Hebrews 13:8) Now, what are these times and laws? Since they are divine times and laws that limits our range of research to the Bible. If we take the two words of "times" and "laws" as modifying one another... "a time that is a law" or "a law that is a time"... then we place an even greater limit on our range of research. One such "time-law" that springs to mind is the seventh-day Sabbath! It helps that this "time-law" is part of the most prominent and most widely recognized set of divine laws, the Ten Commandments.

The 7-day Sabbath
part of...

I.
II.
III.
IV.
 
 

V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.

The 10 Commandments

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11

Note: "laws" =? the 10 Commandments; "times" =? not a single "time" but "times": a cycle or repeating time, the weekly 7th-day Sabbath... 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7, etc.

To be continued...

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