In Daniel 7, we read about four beasts that arose from the earth. As students of prophecy, we understand that these four beasts are symbols of the four world powers consisting of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
Rome, as the fourth Beast, is unique from all the other beasts in this prophecy. According to Daniel, the fourth beast was “…dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: 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; and it had ten horns.” Daniel 7:7
Of all the beasts in this chapter, the fourth Beast was the only one to display horns. We’ve already learned that, historically, students of prophecy have interpreted these Ten Horns as ten kings arising within the Roman Empire. Although I disagree with this premise, it is a logical conclusion to arrive at, especially when we consider the following description of the ten horns:
And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. Daniel 7:24
From the above text, one can logically conclude that when the horns arose, they arose out of the Roman Empire. However, if they arose out of the Roman Empire, how can they be ten kingships that ruled prior to Rome’s reign? The kings of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and its divisions ruled long before Rome’s rise to power. In this manner, it is illogical that the ten horns rose up during the reign of the Roman Empire…or is it?
Kingdoms Never Die
To understand the ten horns, one must remember that prophetically, empires never die. We know this because the angel told Daniel, “As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” Daniel 7:12
According to this text, when the previous beasts were conquered, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged. For us as Adventists, this may be a hard concept to follow due to the fact we spend so much of our time trying to convince the world that the dead are no longer living! However, when we analyze this prophecy, we should be able to see that the kingships of the world's superpowers never truly die, they simply get absorbed into the power that conquers them.
We can see a clear example of this in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. Notice the metals present during its destruction:
“Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Daniel 2:34-35
According to this prophecy, when the Iron and Clay are destroyed at the end of the world, the Brass, Silver, and Gold empires are destroyed with it. This should help you see that although Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece lost their dominion long ago, the former world empires prophetically continue to exist along with the Iron and Clay empires.
This principle of a kingdom continuing through its successor is confirmed in Revelation 13. Notice when the Beast symbolized for Papal Rome is revealed, it is a composite of the three powers that ruled prior to Imperial Rome:
“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Revelation 13:2
Hopefully by now you should be able to see that world empires never die, they simply get absorbed by the succeeding power. You should clearly see this principle when we examine the bear in Daniel 7:
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, 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. Daniel 7:5
If you remember the article titled, "What are the Three Ribs in the Bear's Mouth," we learned that the three ribs represent the three world powers that Medo-Persia consumed, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. This helps us see that although these Beasts represent Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, in reality, Egypt and Assyria are part of this prophecy through their absorption by the Medo-Persian Empire. Thus we can see all Ten Kingships were spiritually alive when Rome arose to power. In essence, when Rome arose, it rose among the Ten Kingships!
Did the Ten Horns arise out of Rome or The World?
Many see a flaw in the theory presented forth in this article. The reason is due to how we view Daneil 7:24. Here's what it says:
And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. Daniel 7:24
The above text gives us the impression that the Ten Kings had to arise out of the Roman Empire. This is likely why most of our church members are confident in the Germanic tribe interpretation of the Ten Horns. However, contrary to what you may believe, I actually agree with this premise. What premise you ask? The premise that the Ten Kings arose out of the Roman Empire! While this may seem contradictory to my position, what you may not fully realize is that when the fourth kingdom is mentioned, it actually represents the world. Let me explain:
In Daniel 4, notice how “the kingdom” is mentioned: “…they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in THE KINGDOM OF MEN, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” Daniel 4:25
Here, as Daniel revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar his seven-year sentence, he also revealed that whoever was ruling the dominant Empire was ruling the Kingdom of Men. Thus, we should see that Nebuchadnezzar ruled the world despite his territory covering only a portion of it. In case this is unclear to you, please take note of what Daniel told the king when he interpreted his dream of the image:
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. Daniel 2:38
By now, you should begin to see that if the Babylonian Empire represented the world, then it's not beyond the pale for the kingdom of the ten horns in Daniel 7 to also represent the same. If you look closely, you will see that this is exactly what this chapter declares when it says, “But the saints of the most High shall take THE KINGDOM, and possess THE KINGDOM for ever, even for ever and ever.” Daniel 7:18
Now ask yourself…what kingdom will the saints take? It has to be the last kingdom that was mentioned as that was the last kingdom ruling. Thus, the saints take the fourth kingdom and possess it. But are we to believe that the saints only take the literal geographical territory of the Roman Empire? Here we must see that the saints don't just take Rome, but they take the whole world. This reveals that the fourth kingdom, although consisting of modern Europe, North Africa, and part of the Middle East, prophetically represented the whole world! Notice how Daniel 7 confirms this idea:
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. Daniel 7:23
Now ask yourself this question: Did Rome rule this entire planet? Of course not. However, we can now see a principle wherein the power that ruled the known world and also had possession of God’s people was considered controlling the whole world.
Hopefully, you can see the pattern.
- Babylon’s kingdom was the world.
- When Medo-Persia conquered Babylon, its territory was the world.
- When Greece conquered Medo-Persia, its territory was the world.
- And finally, when Rome conquered Greece, its territory was the world.
However, because we know that Daniel 7:12 says that their dominion was taken away but their lives were prolonged, we know that every fallen kingship continued to live (spiritually) in the succeeding Empire. And because Rome was seen as devouring the whole earth, we should see that the earth (prophetically) contained all the previous beasts, and the ten horns out of the fourth Beast represent all the previous kingships from Egypt to Greece who ruled the same world and whose lives were prolonged even though their dominion was taken away.
The Ten Horns: Shall Arise or Already Arisen?
If the Ten Horns began with Egypt, then why does Daniel 7:24 say they are “ten kings that shall arise”? Shall arise is language consistent with something that has not begun at the time it was stated.
First, we should notice that at no time did Daniel see the Ten Horns actually arise on the Fourth Beast. According to the prophet, he simply reveals that it already “had ten horns.” However, please notice, that the future tense utilized in this chapter is no different from how it revealed the four Beasts as future-state, while in reality, one of those Beasts was already ruling. Notice how the prophecy describes the four Beasts:
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. Daniel 7:17
With this understanding, we should see that just like the Four Beasts were stated as future-arising, although the lion was already in power, the Ten Horns were stated as future-arising, even though two of their reigns had already ended.
Conclusion
Once we analyze this prophecy, we should be able to see that the Ten Horns were the ten kingships of the world’s superpowers. Daniel 7 describes these horns as existing in the Fourth Beast, but now you should be able to see that they existed in the Fourth Beast because Rome was the power that absorbed the world, and that world consisted of all the previous powers that ruled it.
