Dan 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, 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.
A fourth beast- a fourth kingdom. This beast is dreadful, terrible, exceedingly strong with great iron teeth. This beast devoured and broke things into piece, stamping what was left with it's feet. This beast was different from all the other beasts before it, and this beast had ten horns.
There is very little doubt that the Roman Empire was powerful and strong, a conquering kingdom, that conquered Greece toppling it from its position as a major ruling kingdom.
Let's take a few moments to read some Roman history--
By the 3rd century BC, Rome had become the pre-eminent city of the Italian peninsula, having conquered and defeated the Sabines, the Etruscans, the Samnites and most of the Greek colonies in Sicily, Campania and Southern Italy in general. During the Punic Wars between Rome and the great Mediterranean empire of Carthage, Rome's stature increased further as it became the capital of an overseas empire for the first time. Beginning in the 2nd century BC, Rome went through a significant population expansion as Italian farmers, driven from their ancestral farmlands by the advent of massive, slave-operated farms called latifundia, flocked to the city in great numbers. The victory over Carthage in the First Punic War brought the first two provinces outside the Italian peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia. Parts of Spain (Hispania) followed, and in the beginning of the 2nd century the Romans got involved in the affairs of the Greek world. By then all Hellenistic kingdoms and the Greek city-states were in decline, exhausted from endless civil wars and relying on mercenary troops. This saw the fall of Greece after the Battle of Corinth (146 BC) and the establishment of Roman control over Greece.[15]
Roman dominance expanded over most of Western Europe and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, though its influence through client states and the sheer power of its presence was wider than its formal borders. Its population surpassed one million inhabitants.[22] For almost a thousand years, Rome was the most politically important, richest, and largest city in the Western world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome
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Clearly Rome took over as being this territory's central figure and remained so for many years.
Remember how the iron of Rome moved down to mingle with the clay in the feet and toes of the Daniel chapter 2 statue? The toes are the last kingdoms before the statue is destroyed and Rome is still in existence in those toes.
Does Rome still exist in our modern world? Undeniably, yes, Rome still exists. Is there a kingdom-like power in Rome? Does Rome have anything noteworthy today? Where is the Vatican? In Rome.
The fact the iron would co-exist with the clay is still true today and will be true until Christ returns. Too many wish to make those toes solid- reflecting no mingling at all. Too many are hoping for a one world government, a one world kingdom, too many believe that this might be possible and what I have to say to them is this… NEVER will the various countries, the various super powers give up that power and allow another to rule, not in truth. It'd be easy for...let's say the EU- the European Union to try and lead by example- but those countries that make up the EU have NOT given up their individual power. Those countries retain their individual status- they are NOT all in agreement under one ruler. There will NEVER come a time when say… France will agree to give up its name entirely and adopt the sole name of EU merging with other countries giving up their individual names.
Prophecy tells us that the many countries we are separated into today will for the most part remain separated. That's not to say there won't be some that join here and there but there will never be a kingdom such as Ancient Rome to rule over so many again, not in the land where God brought His chosen people- that is still a factor here and we can't overlook it.
Having said all that- history shows this--
There were ten nations at some time in their history that were most important in bringing the Roman Empire to it's knees, who as independent kingdoms held portions of the Roman empire as theirs.
Huns, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards.
Let's take a few moments to touch on each of these and then if you're so inclined you can read further by going to the various links or searching for information on the internet as you desire. Before you skip over all this as not being interesting ask yourself if perhaps taking a bit of time to correlate history to God's prophecies isn't worth it. We NEED to do this. We need to study God's word. When God gave us His prophecies it was for a reason and not just for those who lived during the time the prophecies were given. Remember this…
Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
I don't know about you but I know there is a point in history when we went from the thousands and thousands of years with horses as our main source of transportation to suddenly riding in trains, cars, airplanes… and it was SUDDENLY when you think of how many thousands of years we were in the dark where modern technology is concerned. Knowledge shall be increased, and it WAS increased and hasn't stopped increasing rapidly, by leaps and bound. Just think for a moment where we were fifty years ago… a hundred years ago and look where we are now. And you know what, back in the mid 1800's when all this started Biblical knowledge was increasing by leaps and bounds as well for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
So when we really understand that prophecy sealed up is unsealed and there for our understanding we NEED to take the time to really understand as much of it as we can and by the grace and mercy of our Savior we will understand all we need to understand, all that He wants us to understand.
Let's take a bit of time here and read these little excerpts that merely place these ten nations pitted against Rome. For a much fuller understanding please, please take all the time you can to study more on your own.
1 Huns and Rome-
Called the Scourge of God by the Romans, Attila the Hun was king and general of the Hun empire from A.D. 433 to 453.
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2 Ostrogoth and Rome-
The First Siege of Rome during the Gothic War lasted for a year and nine days, from 2 March 537 to 12 March 538.[1] It was fought between the defending East Romans, under general Belisarius, and the Ostrogothic army under king Vitiges. The siege was the first major encounter between the forces of the two opponents, and played a decisive role in the subsequent development of the war.
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3 Visigoths and Rome-
In 401 Alaric began his attacks on Italy; he was halted by Stilicho, but after Stilicho's death he succeeded in his invasion, and the Visigoths became masters of Italy. Negotiations between Alaric and Emperor Honorius failed, and in 410 the Visigoths sacked Rome. Alaric died soon afterward.
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4 Franks and Rome-
What distinguished the Frankish kingdom was not the height of its culture. Clovis was no Theodoric, and his capital city of Paris was no Ravenna . The Franks were creating a new people whose culture would be a genuine fusion of Roman and Germanic elements
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5 Vandals and Rome-
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century, perhaps best known for their sack of Rome in 455.
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6 Suevi and Rome-
411 The Vandals, Suevi and Alans partition the Iberian Peninsula among themselves, only the northern part remain under Roman rule.
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7 Burgundians and Rome-
Six major German tribes, the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, the Burgundians, the Lombards, and the Franks participated in the fragmentation and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
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8 Heruli and Rome-
The Heruli (spelled variously in Latin and Greek) were an East Germanic tribe from Scandinavia. They raided towns in the Roman Empire, captured Byzantium in 267 AD and sacked several Greek cities.
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9 Anglo-Saxons and Rome -
Whereas in France , the original Romanized inhabitants vastly outnumbered the invading Franks, in England the Germanic invaders, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from northern Germany and Denmark , drove most of the original Celtic inhabitants to Cornwall , Wales , and Scotland in the far western regions of the British Isles . The invaders, whom for convenience we call the Anglo-Saxons, ignored most of the Roman achievements they found. They disliked the land already being farmed, which was mostly light chalky soil on the hilltops, and preferred the clay lands of the river valleys. They paid no attention to Roman law, but introduced a wholly Germanic tribal system of government. They arrived as pagans, and were converted only at the end of the sixth century by St. Augustine 's mission sent directly from Rome . The Anglo-Saxons thus received what Romanization they had from the Catholic Church. From the Roman Empire itself, they acquired only the roads. By contrast even with Clovis 's Paris , life in Anglo-Saxon England was rough, drab, and dangerous.
Under the impact of these Germanic invaders, the control of the Roman Empire in Western Europe disappeared. The last emperor in the West was the boy ruler Romulus Augustulus, who was killed in 476 by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer. Odoacer however did not declare that he had put an end to the Roman Empire in the West. He sent the insignia of the emperor back to Constantinople with the message that the empire needed only one emperor, and that he would act as the representative of Constantinople in Italy . Odoacer felt, in short, that he had reunited the Roman Empire . However, the Roman Empire in the West had fallen. Britain , France , the Low Countries , Spain , north Africa, and Italy itself were all in the hands of Ger- manic invaders, whether or not those invaders paid lip service to the emperor in faraway Constantinople
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10 Lombards and Rome-
At this time, the Lombards, who were experiencing a revival, invaded and razed the Roman countryside. There was little the pope could do against the Lombards, who had become allies of Byzantium
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This is enough for now, it's a lot to take in, but so worth it to help gain a clearer understanding of the prophecies given to us by God to understand and know what will come to pass and what has come to pass. There is no doubt that God's word is true- prophecy alone proves that beyond any question whatsoever.
In His amazing Love!!! By His will!
Amen.
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