Daniel 7 Continued… Remember- this is PROPHECY concerning YOUR ETERNAL LIFE! Is it hard to read? It can be. Guess who doesn't want you to even try to read this? Who is it that wants to keep us from truth in any way he can? Does it seem too hard to comprehend? Then pray, pray as never before. Pray as if your very life depends upon it, because your eternal life could very well be at stake. You say, lies! All LIES! Maybe it appears that way because Satan doesn't want you knowing truth in any form. Satan wants you to believe that you have no need to comprehend prophecy, that you could go your entire life without knowing any of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation and it would affect nothing at all concerning your eternal life. But do you realize that hidden in the prophecies of Daniel is the predicted date of Jesus' ministry and Jesus' death and resurrection? Do you know that Jesus has this to say about Revelation's prophecies… Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
So keep on thinking it doesn't matter if you read and know these prophecies, millions will believe that because they are on the broad way that leads to destruction, and they don't even realize it because Satan deceives the majority of those on that broad path by allowing them to believe they are on that narrow way, when they aren't.
Forty years ago I learned of these prophecies and I'm still learning from them. God help us all just to be HIS to know HIM as HE would have us know HIM. He gave us these words, who are we to dismiss them? God help us all! In Jesus' name! Amen!!!!!!!
*******
READ Daniel 7:6 'After this I beheld, and lo another, like a (1)_______ which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.'
The Leopard - The third kingdom, Grecia, is represented by this symbol. If wings upon the lion signified rapidity of conquest, they would signify the same here. The leopard itself is a swift-footed beast, but this was not sufficient to represent the career of the nation which it symbolized, it must have wings in addition. Two wings, the number the lion had, were not enough, it must have four; this would denote unparalleled action of movement, which we find to be historically true of the Grecian kingdom. The conquests of Grecia under Alexander the Great have no parallel in history for suddenness and rapidity in conquest.
Rollin, Ancient History, b. 15, sec. 2, gives the following brief synopsis of Alexander's marches:
'From Macedonia to the Ganges, which river Alexander nearly approached, is computed at least eleven hundred leagues. Add to this the various turnings in Alexander's marches; first, from the extremity of Cilicia, where the battle of Issus was fought, to the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya; and his returning from thence to Tyre, a journey of three hundred leagues at least, and as much space at least for the windings of his route in different places; we shall find that Alexander, in less than eight years, marched his army upward of seventeen hundred leagues [or more than fifty-one hundred miles], without including his return to Babylon.'
'The beast had also four heads.' The Grecian empire maintained its unity but little longer than the lifetime of Alexander. Within a few years after his brilliant career ended in a fever induced by a drunken debauchy, the empire was divided among his four leading generals.
Cassander had Macedon and Greece in the west
Lysimachus had Thrace and the parts of Asia on the Hellespont, Bosphorus in the north
Ptolemy received Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria in the South
Seleucus had Syria and all the rest of Alexander's dominions in the east.
These divisions were denoted by the four heads of the leopard; B. C. 308.
Accurately were the words of the prophet fulfilled.
As Alexander left no available successor, why didn't the huge empire break up into countless petty fragments? Why into just four parts, and no more? Because the prophecy had said that there should be four. The leopard had four heads, the rough goat four horns, the kingdom was to have four divisions; and so it was. (We'll see more in studying Chapter 8.)
READ Daniel 7:7 - 'After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a (2) _____ 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 Dreadful Beast, inspiration finds no beast in nature which it can make even the basis of a symbol to represent the power here depicted. No addition of hoofs, heads, horns, wings, scales, teeth, or nails to any beast found in nature, would answer. This power was diverse from all the others, and the symbol entirely non-descript.
Just a bit can be stated on this kingdom- this beast here, there is so much to discuss.
This beast, corresponds to the fourth division of the great image - the legs of iron.
Under Daniel 2:40 are given some reasons for supposing this power to be Rome.
The same reasons are applicable to the present prophecy. How accurately Rome answered to the iron division of the image! How accurately it answers to the beast before us! In the dread and terror which it inspired, and in its exceeding strength, the world has never seen its equal. It devoured as with iron teeth, and brake in pieces; and it ground the nations into the very dust beneath its feet. It had ten horns, which are explained in Daniel 7:24, to be ten kings, or kingdoms, which should arise out of this empire. As already noticed in Daniel chapter 2, Rome was divided into ten kingdoms, numbered as follows-1) Huns 2) Ostrogoths 3) Visigoths 4) Franks 5) Vandals 6) Suevi 7) Burgundians 8) Heruli 9) Anglo-Saxons 10) Lombards
These divisions have ever since been spoken of as the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire.
READ Daniel 2:41,42 'And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. {2:42} And [as] the toes of the feet [were] part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.'
READ Daniel 7:8 - 'I considered the (3) ____ and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were (4) _____ of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the (5) ____ of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
A Little Horn Among the Ten.
Daniel considered the horns. Indications of a strange movement appeared among them. A little horn (at first little) thrust itself up among them. It was not content quietly to find a place of its own, and fill it; it must thrust aside some of the others, and usurp their places. Three kingdoms were plucked up before it. This little horn, as we'll see, was the papacy.
The three horns plucked up before it were the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals. And the reason why they were plucked up was because they were opposed to the teaching and claims of the papal hierarchy, and hence to the supremacy in the church of the bishop of Rome. This is all history, not blind conjecture, historically proven.
And... 'in this horn -were eyes like the eyes of man, and a month speaking great things,' The eyes, a fit emblem of the shrewdness, penetration, cunning, and foresight of the papal hierarchy, and the mouth speaking great things, a fit symbol of the arrogant claims of the bishops of Rome perfectly. Don't worry this will become even more clear as we continue to study.
Answers to fill in the blanks…
(1) leopard (2) fourth (3) horns (4) three (5) eyes
Recap -
(Quick synopsis #1) The FIRST beast is the FIRST kingdom which is the HEAD of GOLD, also the LION with EAGLE WINGS, wings to be plucked, the lion made to assume an upright position unable to hunt, run, a lion whose strong heart was replaced by a much weaker human heart- BABYLONIAN KINGDOM, strong and fierce eventually replaced as its rulership weakened, by the NEXT kingdom. This is historically proven, historically realized as truth. This prophecy came to pass.
(Quick synopsis #2) The SECOND beast is the SECOND kingdom- which is the ARMS and CHEST of SILVER- MEDO-PERSIA, a BEAR - raised up one side stronger than the other, three parts of this kingdom caught in the bear's teeth, historically Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt were brutalized as Persia rose up stronger than the Medes. Historically proven.
(Quick Synopsis #3) The THIRD beast, the THIRD kingdom- BELLY and THIGHS of BRASS, LEOPARD with four wings extremely swift conquest by GREECE, four heads eventually divided kingdom to Alexander's four generals Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, Seleucus.
(Quick Synopsis #4) The FOURTH beast, the FOURTH kingdom- LEGS of IRON. Dreadful, terrible, very strong, IRON TEETH, devoured residue, DIFFERENT than the other BEASTS- HAS TEN HORNS. Historically the ROMAN KINGDOM came after Greece and fits this prophecy perfectly.
LITTLE HORN AMONG TEN HORNS- 3 HORNS PLUCKED UP.
TEN KINGDOMS- 1) Huns 2) Ostrogoths 3) Visigoths 4) Franks 5) Vandals 6) Suevi 7) Burgundians 8) Heruli 9) Anglo-Saxons 10) Lombards
THREE PLUCKED UP- 1) Heruli, 2) Ostrogoths, 3) Vandals
Historically proven!
THREE PLUCKED UP by the LITTLE HORN- the LITTLE HORN Papal Rome. Those 3 were opposed to papal teachings and fell in its wake as it rose to power. HISTORY not conjecture!
(LITTLE HORN) EYES of a MAN, MOUTH SPEAKING GREAT THINGS- Papal Rome- Papacy.
To BE CONTINUED
No comments:
Post a Comment