Doug Batchelor: Hello, friends. I want to welcome you to our "Sabbath School Study Hour," and we're so glad that you can join us today for our study. We're continuing in this great quarterly dealing with the Prophet Daniel, the book of Daniel. And in just a few moments, Pastor Ross is going to be bringing us lesson number eight that talks about "From Stormy Sea to the Clouds of Heaven." And we've really been enjoying these lessons on Daniel and the prophecies.
And I also want to remind our friends that we have a free offer, and if you'd like the free offer that goes along with today's study, it's called "Pending: Your Case in Court." And if you'd like that, all you have to do is ask for offer number 192 when you call 866-788-3966. That's basically 866-STUDY-MORE. And we'll be happy to send this to you. You can also get it if you want to text. You can download it right now for free. Text SH050, and you text that to 40544. And this of course is available anywhere in the world, but if you want to get the mail in, that's for North America and its territories.
Well, we're in for a very exciting and informative lesson today, but before we go to the study of God's Word, I'd like to invite out our singers. We've got a special group called One Accord that's going to praise the Lord with us today and bring some music. And they're a singing group from Weimar and we'd like to invite them out at this time.
♪ Like the woman at the well, ♪
♪ I was seeking for things that could not satisfy. ♪
♪ And then I heard my Savior speaking, ♪
♪ "Draw from my well that never shall run dry." ♪
♪ There are millions in this world who are craving ♪
♪ the pleasures earthly things afford. ♪
♪ But none can match the wondrous treasure that ♪
♪ I find in Jesus Christ my Lord. ♪
♪ Fill my cup, Lord. ♪
♪ I lift it up, Lord. ♪
♪ Come and quench this thirsting of my soul. ♪
♪ Bread of heaven, feed me 'til I want no more. ♪
♪ Fill my cup. ♪
♪ Fill it up and make me whole. ♪
♪ So my children, if the things this world gave you ♪
♪ leave hungers that won't pass away, ♪
♪ my blessed Lord will come and save you ♪
♪ if you kneel to him and humbly pray. ♪
♪ Fill my cup, Lord. ♪
♪ I lift it up, Lord. ♪
♪ Come and quench this thirsting of my soul. ♪
♪ Bread of heaven, feed me 'til I want no more. ♪
♪ Fill my cup. ♪
♪ Fill it up and make me whole. ♪
♪ Bread of heaven, feed me 'til I want no more. ♪
♪ Fill my cup. ♪
♪ Fill it up and make me whole. ♪
♪ Fill my cup and make me whole ♪♪
Doug Batchelor: That was beautiful. And that's our prayer today, that we will have our cups full of the Word of God as we study this important prophecy, amen? Let's have a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we are thankful for the promise that if we come and we seek in humility for the Spirit to guide us that you will answer that prayer. Lord, we believe you've given us these prophecies because you want them to be understood and revealed, and we pray right now that our minds would be quickened by the Spirit and that we'll understand the things that are especially pertinent for today. Be with Pastor Ross as he teaches. We pray all this in Jesus's name, amen.
And as you've heard in my prayer, Pastor Jean Ross is our teacher for today's lesson.
Jean Ross: Thank you Pastor Doug. We thought we'd mix it up for you a little bit this morning, have Pastor Doug do the intro and I'll be teaching the lesson. One of our favorite books is the book of Daniel. Also I in particular like the book of Revelation, but they're prophetic books and they have very important information for us, especially for this time of earth's history.
So our study today, as mentioned in the introduction, is Daniel chapter 7 is going to be our key passage of study, and it's entitled, "From Stormy Sea to the Clouds of heaven." And we have a memory verse. You probably see it right there in your lesson quarterly if you have one. It's Daniel chapter 7, verse 27. And as our tradition here, we're going to try and read this together. Daniel chapter 7, looking at verse 27. It says, "Then the kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the most high. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and a dominion that shall serve and obey him."
So we find our memory text coming to us near the end of our study today in the chapter, chapter 7. It's near the end. It's verse 27. There's a total of 28 verses that we find in Daniel chapter 7. Now, the chapter is divided up roughly into three different topics or areas. The first, from verse 1 through 8 is a vision of four beasts that come up from the sea, as well as the little horn power, and we'll get to that in a few minutes. And then from verse 9 through to verse 14, we have a passage talking about the ancient of days and one likened to the Son of Man, and we'll talk about that. That's verse 9 through 14. And then we have an interpretation of this vision which begins in verse 15 and goes through to the end of the chapter, which is verse 28. So roughly three parts to chapter 7.
The first is the vision itself, and then there is a little interlude about a event taking place in heaven, and then we have the interpretation of the various images that we find in this chapter. So with that, let's begin. We'll go straight to the Scriptures and we'll start with four great beasts and ten horns. This will cover Sunday's lesson and a little bit on Monday as well. And you find this in Daniel chapter 7, verse 1.
So if you have your Bibles, you can turn to that and we're going to just spend some time reading through these various verses here. Daniel chapter 7, and beginning then in verse 1. It says, "In the first year of Belshazzar King of Babylon."
Now, right away we can realize that the book of Daniel is not written in a strict chronological order because in the previous chapter you read about Daniel in the lion's den, and even before that you read about Belshazzar and the fall of Babylon. So chapter 7 took place prior to actually the fall of Babylon, because it says Belshazzar is still the king. So you have the story part of Daniel clustered together and then you have more of the prophetic part or the visions clustered from verse 7 onwards. So we're actually jumping back a little bit in time if you follow the chronology that we have in the book.
"In the first year of Belshazzar King of Babylon," it says, "Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts." And verse 2 says, "Daniel spoke saying, 'I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were striving upon the Great Sea.'" How many winds? Four winds of heaven.
Now, what are these four winds of heaven? When you to talk about the number four in the Bible, it often has reference to the four points of the compass: north, south, east, and west. You'll remember in Revelation chapter 7, we read about four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth that they should not blow upon the earth. So wind in Bible prophecy represents turmoil or conflict. And notice it says this took place on what's called the Great Sea.
Now, back in Bible times, when Bible writers were talking about the Great Sea, what was the Great Sea that they were aware of at that time? Most of the scriptural writings we'll find centered around Mediterranean of course, mostly in Israel. To them the Great Sea was really the Mediterranean Sea because that's kind of where the nations would arise and fall. And so seas in Bible prophecy, according to Revelation chapter 17, represents multitudes, and nations, and kindreds, and tongues.
So we know that when it talks about wind blowing upon the sea, it represents conflict or turmoil. And as a result, we have four great beasts that arise from the sea. And this is verse 3. It says, "Four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other." Now as mentioned in the introduction, we have the vision itself and then we have the angel explaining the meaning of the vision. So we don't have to guess as to the identity of these various beasts, these symbols that we find in Daniel 7. Matter of fact, if you'll look in verse 15, same chapter, Daniel chapter 7 and verse 15, it says, "And I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit, then my body, and the visions of my head troubled me." Verse 16 says, "I came near to one of those who stood by and I asked him the truth of all these things. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things."
So here's the angel now giving the interpretation of this. Verse 17, "These great beasts which are four are four kings that shall arise out of the earth." No question as to the identity of these four beasts. It says they are kings. These kings represent kingdoms. As you find later on in the same chapter, it refers to the fourth beast as being the fourth kingdom. So the king represents the kingdom.
These various creatures or beasts represent kingdoms. Now, of course that shouldn't be a strange idea to us today because even in our modern society, we still use various animals to represent various kingdoms or nations. For example in the United States, when we say, "What animal will come to mind?" we think of the eagle, right, as a symbol of the United States. When we say England, what animal comes to mind? You think of a lion. When you say Canada, what animal comes to mind? You think of the maple leaf, but they do actually have an animal that represents Canada. I didn't know this. Apparently it's the beaver. So when you think Canada, you got to think of the beaver, all right? And so different countries have different animals that represent them as a nation.
So we have these four living creatures or these beasts, you might say, animals that come up from the sea, and they're quite different one from another. Verse 4, this is going back to the vision. Verse 4 in chapter 7 identifies the first and it says, "The first was like unto a lion." Now it wasn't just a regular lion. It says he had eagle's wings.
What do wings represent in Bible prophecy? Represents speed. Represents speed. You find out that the first beast, the lion, has eagle's wings. But you get a little later on in the same chapter, it talks about another beast that has four wings. So if you think the lion was fast, well, the leopard is even faster with four wings, and you'll see the significance of that. Verse 4 says, "The first was like a lion and it had eagle's wings, and I watched 'til the wings were plucked off and it was lifted up from the earth, made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it."
Now, who does this first beast represent? Represents the kingdom of Babylon. It's interesting to note that even in the archaeological diggings of ancient Babylon, one of the pictures that were there made of tile in the walls of the ancient city was a lion with wings. So when Daniel spoke about a lion with wings even to those who were there at the time in Babylon, they knew who this represents. This represents the kingdom of Babylon. So the lion with wings represents the kingdom of Babylon. But something happens. Verse 5 says, "And suddenly another beast, a second like a bear, it was raised up on the one side and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth. And it said, 'Thus, arise. Devour much flesh.'"
So what kingdom conquered Babylon? Well, we know from our study in Daniel chapter 2 that the kingdom that conquered Babylon was Medo Persia. Now, probably it's good to mention this right here. There is a pattern that we find in Daniel, we also find this in the book of Revelation, where a particular series of events or subject matter is presented in one chapter, and then as we read further we find the same material presented under different imagery or different symbols and it's magnified. Additional details are added. So in the book of Daniel, we find Daniel 2 where we have the image of gold, and silver, and so on.
Then we find those same kingdoms represented in Daniel 7, but additional information is given. Then we find the same symbols or actually same kingdoms under different symbols in Daniel chapter 8 with additional information given. So it's repeat and enlarge, repeat and enlarge. So that's the pattern that we see both in Daniel and also in the book of Revelation. Of course, the two books go together. So if we take the book of-- or if you look at chapter 2 of Daniel and we compare that with chapter 7 of Daniel, we can see the parallel that's taking place here. So you can see Daniel chapter 2 and then you see the various kingdoms represented here in Daniel 7.
So the head of gold in Daniel 2 represents Babylon, symbolized here by the lion that has two wings. The next kingdom represented is Medo Persia. In Daniel 2 it's represented by the chest and arms of silver. Here it's represented by a bear raised up on its one side. Now, you might be wondering, "Why it's the bear raised up on its one side?" In Daniel 2, the statue has how many arms? Two arms, right? Chest and arms of silver represents Medo Persia. Medo Persia was comprised of two powers working together, the Medes and the Persians. It's interesting to note that the Medes came up first, but the Persians came to dominance. So you might think of maybe the right arm, which typically is stronger if you're right-handed. The right arm could represent the Persians. The left arm may be the Medes. And in Daniel chapter 7, this bear comes up from the sea. It says he's raised up on the one side. Bible scholars have identified that as the Persians. They'd grew to dominance over the Medes.
And matter of fact, they're asking if we can maybe put the picture on the big screen. Those of you in the studio, it might be easier for them to see and they'll work on that and get that for us on the big screen. So the bear raised up on the one side. Well, what does this bear have in his mouth? Three ribs. Some people have wondered, "Well, what do these three ribs represent?" These are the principal nations that was conquered by Medo Persia as it rose to dominance, and these were Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt. These three powers were united in opposition to Cyrus and the Medes. So the bear here would represent Medo Persia. Then we look in verse 6. It says, "After these there was another likened to a leopard and he had on his back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads and dominion was given unto it."
So the kingdom that followed Medo Persia, as you know from Daniel 2, was Greece, symbolized by the belly and the thighs of brass. And here in Daniel 7, it's a leopard with four wings. Now, a leopard is a fast animal, but a leopard with four wings is a very fast animal. And so that symbolizes the kingdom of Greece under the leadership of Alexander the Great. It grew very rapidly, but just in his early 30s, Alexander the Great died and his kingdom was divided up amongst these four generals.
Notice that this leopard has four heads. The four heads on the leopard represent the four generals or the four divisions of the Grecian Empire. The four generals: Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy. So they divided up the territory of Greece, and that's what that leopard would represent. Then number seven, verse 7, it says, "And I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong." Now the other beasts are an animal that we could recognize, the lion, the bear, the leopard.
But when it comes to the fourth beast, there isn't really an animal that Daniel can liken this beast to. It's almost a dragon kind of beast, because notice it says, "It has great iron teeth." Interesting. "It devours. It breaks in pieces. It's trampling the residue with its feet." This is verse 7. "It was different from the other beasts that were before it and it had ten horns."
So here you're almost thinking of a dragon, like maybe even a dinosaur kind of beast, right? Something different, something that was unknown at least to the people then. Some of the characteristics that's listed of this fourth beast is that it says it has iron teeth. Well, if you compare that to Daniel 2, what were the legs of the image in Daniel 2 made out of? Made out of iron. And what did the legs represent? The iron monarchy of Rome. And then following the legs of iron, incidentally, let me just add, how many arms does the image have in Daniel 2? Two arms. How many legs does the image have? Two. Isn't it interesting that Rome is made up of two parts? You've got Pagan Rome, and as we'll see in a few moments, you've got papal Rome. Pagan Rome came up first, kind of like the Medes arose first but the Persians grew to dominance.
So you have Pagan Rome that came first, but papal Rome grew to dominance and ruled much longer then Pagan Rome. So you see some parallels here in Daniel chapter 2 with what's been described in Daniel chapter 7. So you have these seven-- or you have these ten horns on this fourth beast, representing the ten toes of Daniel chapter 2, and then it talks about a little horn that arises. So the fourth beast very clearly is a description of Rome.
Now, verse 8 is where it gets interesting, kind of focusing now on these horns, these ten horns on the beast. It says, "I was considering the horns," Daniel 7, verse 8, "and there was another horn, a little one coming up amongst them before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And there was-- in this horn there were eyes as the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous words." So Daniel's attention is now directed to the horns on this beast. He sees ten horns, but as he's looking, suddenly sees three of the horns kind of being pushed up and uprooted, and another little horn seems to grow. And as he looks at the horn, he says, "This is a different kind of horn. There are eyes as the eyes of a man in the horn. And this horn is speaking pompous words."
Now you can imagine Daniel is looking at this and he's wondering, "What on earth does this mean?" Well, I think Daniel has a fairly good idea as to what the beasts might mean, especially the line with eagle's wings. He knows that's a symbol of Babylon and these other kingdoms that would come, but what about this little horn power? It was a mystery to Daniel. He wanted to know what is this little horn power all about. So now we find in verse 19-20, Daniel is particularly interested in knowing about this little horn. When the angel begins to give an explanation of the dream, talks about the beasts that represent four kings that shall arise, but Daniel in particular wanted to know about this little horn power and what this power did.
So in the text in Daniel chapter 7, we find ten characteristics that's given of this little horn power. Now, we know as students of the Bible that this little horn power is very significant as it relates to Bible prophesy. It represents the papal power or papal role. You've got Pagan Rome and you've got papal Rome, and the little horn represents papal Rome which played a very important role after Christ during the Christian era, but it also plays a very important role in end time events. So that brings us all the way up to where we are now.
So what I'd like to just take a few moments, we're not going to spend too much time on this, but we do want to look at these ten identifying characteristics that we find in Daniel 7 as to this little horn power. We need to make sure we understand who this power is and be able to back it up from Scripture. So we find ten characteristics and I'd like to take a look at them. The first characteristic is that this power arose out of the fourth beast. Now, we know who the fourth beast is, right? Who is the fourth beast? Represents Rome, Pagan Rome.
So this little horn power was to come out of Pagan Rome. And when we look in history, it says the papacy is essentially a Roman power, both in origin as well as in character. It was cradled in Italy. It's headquarters have always been in Rome. It inherited many of the qualities and material assets of Imperial Rome, or Pagan Rome. It bears the name "Roman Catholic Church" to this day. So we can see a close connection between Pagan Rome and papal Rome, both in territory-- the headquarters of Pagan Rome was Rome for many years. The headquarters of papal Rome is Rome and even the name Rome is there still in the church. So yes, absolutely, the papacy did arise from this fourth beast. It says it arose or grew up amongst the ten horns.
So now we're going to look at some quotes from some trusted historians. The first is from a historian by the name of Myers and it's the "General History for Colleges," page 348. This is what he said. He said, "Long before the fall of Rome, there had begun to grow up," notice the language he uses, "grow up within the Roman Empire an ecclesiastical state which was shaping itself upon the imperial model." So he's talking about the rise of the papacy and he uses the words "grow up." Remember, it talks about the little horn that grew and uprooted three?
And then we have another historian, James Harvey Robinson, who writes, "Besides the Emperors at Constantinople." You'll remember they moved the court as the headquarters of pagan Rome from Rome to Constantinople, and they left the bishop of Rome eventually in charge of Western Rome, or the Western Roman Empire. It says, "Besides the Emperors at Constantinople, the various-- and the various German kings, there grew up in Europe a line of rulers far more powerful than any of these, namely, the Popes." So we do find indeed that the papal power rose after the ten horns.
Now, the ten horns represent the ten divisions of Western Rome, or the Western Roman Empire, these Germanic invading tribes. And we find that the papacy grew to dominance after the territory was divided up, and we'll notice that when we talk about the number three after the ten horns arose. So after a series of humiliations by Barbarian invaders, the Emperor Romulus Augustus abdicated in AD 476. The political supremacy of the papacy however did not begin until 62 years later, in 533. Justinian, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, decreed that the bishop of Rome should be recognized as the head of all holy churches. This decree was put into effect in 538. That's a very important date, 538. Thus the papacy grew into full power after the barbarian kingdoms, which had divided up Rome's territory. So you have ten horns, and then the little horn that comes and uproots three. So this power was to arise after the Western Roman Empire had been divided up amongst these various invading groups.
Identifying point number four, it says it would be different from the other ones. Matter of fact, let me just read the verse. It's verse 24 of chapter 7. It says, "The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom and another shall arise after them." That would be the papacy. "He shall be different from the first and shall subdue three kings." So the papacy was different.
Here is a quote again from the "General History of Colleges," "Another consequence of the fall of the Roman power in the west was the development of the papacy. In the absence of the Emperor in the west, the popes rapidly gained influence and power and soon built up and ecclesiastical empire that in some respects took the place of the old empire." So papal Rome is now replacing Pagan Rome.
Point number five, it says it was greater than his fellows. Verse 20 in Daniel chapter 7 says this, "And the ten horns on its head," talking about these ten kings, "and another horn which came up for which three fell, namely that horn that had eyes and a mouth speaking pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows." So the little horn power seems to be greater than the original ten horns, three of which are uprooted.
Here's another quote from "Medieval and Modern Times," page 40-41. It says, this is the historian Robinson, "He bears witness to the fact that the papacy did indeed become the mightiest power in Medieval Europe. Besides the emperors at Constantinople and the various German kings, there grew up in Europe a line of rulers far more powerful than any of these, namely, the popes." And then he goes on to say, "The longest and the mightiest line of rulers that the world has ever seen."
Now, Rome, Pagan Rome, ruled longer than Greece, and Medo Persia, and Babylon if you go backwards up Daniel Chapter 2, but what's interesting is papal Rome ruled even longer, 1,260 years, ruled even longer then Pagan Rome. So each of these various powers have more territory and they have a longer rule, and we can see this bearing fact in history as well.
Another characteristic of this little horn power, very interesting, it says he uprooted three horns or three kingdoms. Verse 24 of Daniel 7, "The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from the kingdom and another shall arise after them. He shall be different from the first and shall subdue," or King James says "uproot," "three kings."
Now, here we take a look at what history tells us. Most of the barbarian nations to whom the Roman Emperor-- Roman Empire had now yielded bow to the authority of the Bishop of Rome. But there were three tribes that did not accept the papacy or the pulpit. It says the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths. They challenged the sovereignty of the Bishop of Rome. Reason being is they were Arian tribes, so they disagreed on some theological issues. They were more inclined to follow a bishop from Alexandria as far as their doctrinal teaching or their religious leaning. And then we find that the first of these horns was uprooted in 497 when Theodoric, leader of the Ostrogoths, crushed the power of the Heruli in Italy. The Vandals were destroyed in 534 and the Ostrogoths in 538, thus making the way for the papacy to rise up. These kingdoms were completely uprooted and disappeared from European history.
So the other various tribes, they'd carved out the territory of Western Rome. We have modern counterparts, the Anglo Saxons, settled in English, the Franks settle in France, and so on and so forth. But when it comes to the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, the Heruli, we have no modern counterparts. They were completely uprooted and destroyed. And in order for the papacy to gain influence over Western Rome, these three tribes had to be removed, and that's exactly what happened. Notice the date when the last of these tribes were uprooted, 538. That's the beginning of the reign of the papal power, the 1,260 years of papal supremacy. Number seven, it says, "This power would speak pompous words against the Most High." And we looked at the verse, it's verse 25, "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High. He shall persecute the saints of the Most High. Any shall think to change times and laws." We'll talk about that here in just a minute.
So here are just a few of the pompous words that originated from the papacy. There's many different quotes we can give, but just a few here will make the point. This is from Pope Leo XIII, his encyclical letter dated June 20, 1894. This is what he wrote. He said, "The pope is as it were God on earth, sole sovereign of the faithful of Christ, chief of kings, having plentitude of power, to whom has been entrusted by the omnipotent God direction not only of the earthly but also of the heavenly kingdom." Does that sound like a pompous statement? He goes on to say, "The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws."
So the papacy has the power to change the law of God. At least that's what they propose, because they say their authority comes directly from God. And they have influence not only on earthly things, but even heavenly things. Of course, you see the quote there, Prompta Bibliotheca.
Well, another characteristic of this little horn power is number eight. It says it's a persecuting power. He shall persecute the saints of God, the saints of the Most High. Well, for centuries, the soil of Europe was crimson with the martyrs blood. Great armies were raised and crusades were launched for the sole purpose of exterminating the so-called heretics. The historian Lecky writes, "That the church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed amongst mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history." That's the "Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe," page 32.
It is estimated that over 50 million so-called heretics were put to death during the 1,260-year reign of the papal power. That is an extraordinary number. And of course recently, even the Vatican was forced to acknowledge that it was a persecuting power in its past and it's made some statements in apology for the many that were put to death.
Another interesting characteristic that you have is that he thought to change times and laws. Becoming more and more arrogant, the papal church did not hesitate to temple with the law of God. Finding the second commandment out of harmony with its use of images in worship. What is the second commandment? You're not to make or bow down to graven images. Now, you can just imagine how that could be a problem for the Roman Catholic Church that has lots of statues and images in its church. So having a problem with that one, the papal church attempted to eliminate this sacred precept. And I'll mention something about that.
Of course, the fourth commandment that says, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Six days you are to labor and all your work, but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," they modified and shortened it to just say, "Remember the Sabbath." And then they got to define which day is the Sabbath. At least, they thought they were able to do that. The fourth commandment was shortened and the tenth commandment was divided into two commandments, which says, "Thou shalt not covet." They had to divide the tenth into two to make a total of ten commandments because they removed the second commandment.
Now, if you'd like to read the actual commandments that are put together by the Catholic Church, you can simply read a Catholic catechism. It'll actually show you how they removed the second commandment and divided the last of the Ten Commandments and shortened the fourth commandment that talks about the Sabbath. It's clearly there. You can just read it for yourself. So yes, this power did think to change times and laws.
And then we have our final characteristic as to who this little horn power is. It says he reigned for a time, times, and a half a time. Now, a time is equal to a year in the Bible, times would be two years, and a half a time would be a half a year. There are 360 days in a Hebrew month, and when we talk about prophetic times, 360 days in a year. Thus we can calculate 360, plus 720, that's two times, plus a half a time, that's 180, that gives you a total of 1,260 days. Now, in Bible reckoning, when you're talking about prophetic time, one prophetic days equal to one literal year. So we have a time period of 1,260 years. And there are some cross reference numbers there in the book of Numbers as well as in Ezekiel. You can read about that.
So when did this time period begin? Well, in 533, Justinian proclaimed the bishop of Rome as the head of all of the holy churches and the true ineffective corrector of heretics. This decree went into effect in 538 AD when Belisarius, Justinian's general, gave the death blow to the Ostrogoths, the last of the three great Arian powers. In the same year, 538, Justinian published edicts compelling all non-Catholics to join the church in 90 days or leave the empire, and he confiscated their goods. So 538 is the starting time period of the reign of the little horn power and he would reign for 1,260 days. It says on the 10th of February 1798, on pretense of an insult to the French ambassador in Italy, General Berthier, Napoleon's famous chief of staff, entered Rome and took the Pope a prisoner.
The Papal states were abolished and Rome was declared a republic. The Pope himself was carried off to France where he died a captive on August 29th, 1799. Interestingly, the papacy came to power in 538. Adding 1,260 years to 538, we arrive at the date 1798. There is no other power in history that fits these ten identifying marks other than the papal power. There's no other power that has ruled for 1,260 years. So there's no question, if you study the Scripture, Daniel 7 is pointing to the papal power when it's talking about the little horn of Daniel chapter 7.
All right, so that's the little horn power. And of course, the Bible tells us that this power receives a deadly wound, but the deadly wound is healed. And that's a study later on because that gets you really into the book of Revelation.
But now, the next part of the vision that we want to talk about in Daniel 7 begins in Daniel 7, verse 9, and it is a vision of what's called the Ancient of Days. And this is just a fascinating portion of the chapter, so if you have your Bibles, turn to Daniel chapter 7 and let's look at verse 9. It says, "I watched 'til thrones were put in place and the Ancient of Days was seated."
Now, who do you suppose the Ancient of Days is? That would be God the Father. Now, you'll find Jesus in the same passage, but he's not referred to as the Ancient of Days. He's actually given a different title. It says, "I watched 'til thrones were put in place and the Ancient of Days was seated. His garment was white as snow and the hairs of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame. Its wheels, a burning fire."
Now, why would a throne need wheels? Well, maybe the throne moves. That's why it has wheels. Notice the beginning of verse 9 says, "I watched until the Ancient of Days was seated." So that would indicate that the Ancient of Days, God the Father, moves. His throne has wheels. And in vision, after talking about this little horn power that would persecute the church for 1,260 years, that's papal supremacy which ended in 1798, the next thing that's brought to John's view is something happening in heaven where he sees God the Father.
God the Father moves somewhere, and He's seated, and something happens, verse 10. Daniel 7, verse 10, "A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousand ministered unto Him." That would be angels. "Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him." Notice the last part of verse 10, "The court was seated and the books were opened." So here we find the Ancient of Days, God the Father, moving to a place in heaven. He is seated, the books are opened, and a judgment seems to take place. Verse 26, same chapter, the angel is giving an explanation of the vision. Verse 26, it says, "But the court shall be seated and they shall take away his dominion," talking of the little horn power, "to consume and destroy it forever."
Now, some people have asked-- Well, first of all, we know the Ancient of Days is God the Father, so this event must be taking place in heaven, but what does it mean when it says the Ancient of Days is seated? Where is God the Father seated? And why now in this prophetic history sometime after the little on power is God the Father seated? You'd think God the Father would be seated in heaven all the time.
Well, remember the earthly sanctuary is a pattern of the heavenly, and the heavenly sanctuary that we read about in the book of Hebrews has two compartments. The earthly sanctuary had three. You had the courtyard, you had the holy, and you had the Most Holy Place. But the courtyard represents the earth and the things that took place in the courtyard represents the work that Jesus would do for us here on the earth. In heaven, you have the holy and the most holy.
Now, in the heavenly sanctuary, you've got the two compartments, the holy and the most holy. The high priest would enter into the most holy on one day of the year for a work of judgment called the Day of Atonement. It was a work of cleansing, a work of judgment, cleansing of the sins of the sanctuary. That was a shadow and a type of something that was to happen in heaven. So here in Daniel chapter 7, it's describing God the Father being seated in the Most Holy Place.
Now, if you look at the earthly sanctuary, you notice there are three articles of furniture in the first compartment, one article of furniture in the Most Holy Place. The three articles of furniture in the first compartment is the table of showbread, opposite to that is the seven-branched candlestick, you have the altar of incense, and then you have the veil and then you have the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place.
When you study the book of Revelation, Jesus first appears in Revelation chapter 1 standing amongst the seven-branched candlestick. And in Revelation chapter 4, you have a description of the heavenly throne room where God the Father is seated upon his throne. And directly in front of God the Father seated upon his throne are seven burning lamps of fire. Well, if you look at the first compartment of the heavenly sanctuary, what would represent-- what article of furniture would represent the throne of God? Well, the one directly opposite the seven burning lamps of fire. That would be the table of showbread.
So in the beginning of Revelation, Revelation chapter 1 through to Revelation 5, you find the description here in the first compartment of their heavenly sanctuary. But in Daniel chapter 7, God the Father moves from the holy into the Most Holy Place and the article of furniture that's brought to light is the Ark of the Covenant. And of course, the Ark of the Covenant is the Most Holy Place, and we find that in Revelation chapter 11. Matter of fact, we'll even read that passage here in just a few moments. So here, God the Father is seated and a judgment is about to take place. Notice the sequence. This happens after the little horn power has ended his reign, which ended in 1798. So what's described here must take place sometime after 1798. We don't know the exact date for this judgment in heaven until Daniel chapter 8, and we're going to look at that next week. It's just a fascinating prophecy. All right, well, let me keep going.
What is next brought to view? And if you'll look in verse 13, Daniel chapter 7, verse 13, still talking about this event taking place in heaven. Now, it talks about one likened to the Son of Man. Verse 13, "I was watching in the night visions. Behold, one likened to the Son of Man." Now, who would that be? Jesus, "Coming with the clouds of heaven." A-ha, we've got the second coming of Christ, right? Jesus is coming with clouds. No, no, no, this is not the second coming of Christ, although Jesus does come with clouds.
Notice where he is going. Look at verse 13, "I was watching in the night vision. Behold, one likened to the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, he came to the Ancient of Days." So this is not Jesus coming to the earth, but this is Jesus entering in before his Father in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. It says, "They brought Him near before Him."
Who do you think that they are? Well, that would be the angels, so I want you to imagine the scene. God the Father, sometime after 1798, moves from the Holy Place into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. He is seated, the books are opened, judgment is about to begin, and then the angels escort Jesus and He enters into the Most Holy Place. He's standing before the Father. There is a judgment taking place. Why does Jesus enter in before His Father? Because He's our advocate. He is our representative before the Father, right? And if we're going to be judged from the books, our representative needs to be there. Our advocate Jesus is there standing before the Father.
Now, after this judgment takes place, look at verse 14. It says, "Then to Him was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all people, and nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away; His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." Has that happened? Has the kingdoms of this earth become the kingdoms of Christ? Has that happened yet? Not yet. When does that happen? At the second coming when Jesus comes again.
So notice that this judgment that's described here in Daniel chapter 7 takes place in heaven before Jesus comes. And after the judgment is finished, then the kingdoms of this earth become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever. Then Jesus comes.
So here's the sequence that we see laid out for us in Daniel chapter 7. The first is the lion with eagle's wings. That's Babylon. The next is a bear, symbolized Medo Persia. The next is the leopard with four wings and four heads, symbolizing Greece. Then you have the dragon-like beast, which represents Pagan Rome. Then you have the little horn power that rules for 1,260 years, representing the papacy. And it brings you right up 'til 1798. And then after 1798, there is this judgment described in heaven. And after the judgment is finished, then Jesus comes as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Now, we haven't been told when this judgment begins in heaven. We know it's sometime after 1798, but we don't have a specific date. We'll get the answer to that next week in Daniel chapter 8. But we're living today during this time of judgment, and soon the work will be finished in heaven and then Jesus will say, "He that is holy, let him be holy still. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still." The judgment ends, probation closes, and Jesus comes back as King of kings and Lord of lords. So the great panorama of history from the time of Babylon all the way to the judgment and the second coming is revealed to us in Daniel chapter 7. No wonder it's such an important passage of Scripture. The time period is given for the judgment in Daniel chapter 8.
Now, just to kind of put this together, remember we spoke about God the Father going from the Holy Place into the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary? We also mentioned that in the first part of Revelation, the scene is in the first compartment by the seven-branched candlesticks. And God the Father, the Son, that's sort of the description of where they are. But then the Father moves to the Most Holy Place. Jesus then follows the Father into the Most Holy Place. Do we have a description of this in Revelation? Yes, we do.
If you have your Bibles with you, turn to Revelation chapter 11, verse 15, and we'll be closing with this passage. This is an amazing passage. Revelation chapter 11, verse 15. This is the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The sounding of the seventh trumpet. So this brings you right up 'til the time close to the second coming. Revelation chapter 11, and I'm looking at verse 15. Revelation 11, verse 15. It says, "Then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever.'"
Notice the similarity between what's happening in heaven described in Revelation chapter 11 and what we just read in Daniel chapter 7 about the Son of Man coming before the Father and he receives the kingdoms of the earth. Verse 16, Revelation 11:16, "And the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces worshiping God," verse 17, "saying, 'We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is, who was, and who is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned."' Verse 18 says, what's happening on the earth during this time? "The nations were angry."
So is this before or after the second coming? Must be before, why? Because the nations are angry on the earth, right? It says, "The nations are angry. Your wrath has come." Now, what is the wrath of God as described in Revelation. It's the seven last plagues. So this is during a time now when the seven last plagues are about to fall. "And the time of the dead that they should be judged and you should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those who fear your name small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth."
When are the saints rewarded? At the second coming. When are the wicked destroyed? At the second coming. Now, look at verse 19, "Then the temple of God was opened in heaven." And what is seen in the temple? Verse 19, "The Ark of His Covenant is seen in the temple and there were lightning, noises, thundering, earthquake, and great hail." So the events described here under the sounding of the seventh trumpet take place in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary, there where the Ark of the Covenant is.
So in the book of Revelation, you can see Jesus moving from the Holy into the Most Holy Place. And so during the time of Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece, Rome, Pagan Rome, and then Jesus comes, Christ ascends to heaven after the resurrection. He's our High Priest, ministering in the first compartment of the heavenly sanctuary until the end of that 1,260-year time period in 1798 when the little horn power loses its political influence.
Then sometime after that, God the Father moves into the Most Holy Place. Jesus comes into the Most Holy Place for the final judgment. At the end of the judgment, the kingdoms of this earth become His and Jesus now comes as King of kings and Lord of lords to reap the harvest of the earth.
You know, it's so exciting to have the Bible. We know how the story ends, amen? You know, I look at the discussion that's taking place in our world and the various political plans and ideas. And if you don't know the Bible, it's kind of a scary place because you don't know what's going to happen next. But based upon what the Bible says, we can have confidence because we know who's in charge. We know what's happening. We know that Jesus is soon to come and He's going to take away all pain, and sorrow, and death. He's going to make all things new. We know how the story ends.
Well, this has been just a great study of Daniel chapter 7. I'd like to thank those who joined us for our study today. Just wat to remind you that we do have the free offer, the little book that was mentioned, and we'll be happy to make that available to anyone who is watching. It's entitled, "Pending," it says, "Your Case in Court." Goes along with our study today. If you'd like to receive it, the number to call is 866-788-3966, and you can ask for offer number 192. Or you can download a free PDF of the book by simply texting the code SH050 to the number 40544, and you'll be able to read this great little book, goes along with our study today, "Pending: Your Case in Court." Again, we want to thank those for joining us. Hope you'll tune in next week when we study Daniel chapter 8.
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Announcer: "Amazing Facts: Changed Lives."
Male: I'd have to say that I had a wonderful childhood growing up. I went to a private school up until the seventh grade 'til junior high. I believe it was at that point in junior high that my life began to change. Going from a Christian education into a public school was a big difference. There was a lot of secular influence, peer pressure, and for me it was the music. I started listening to heavy metal music. Every concert that would come to town, I was there. That had a profound effect on me.
I started using marijuana probably age of 14. I started drinking, using a lot of cocaine, and that led to methamphetamine, and that completely changed my life. I dropped out of high school my sophomore year and went to work. I would get off of work and we'd go into the bar until 2 o'clock in the morning. I'd get back up at 5:00 and I'd go back at it again, six, seven days a week.
At the age of 20, I lost my dad to a heart attack. I didn't know how to handle the loss so I tried to mask my pain with alcohol and drugs. Got three DUIs in one year. Was arrested. They gave me a year in the county jail. And the moment I got out, I went back to doing the same thing, hanging with the same people, the same crowd. I was involved in a hit and run motorcycle accident and I was charged with a felony DUI. Even though at the time of the accident I was not under the influence, I still had methamphetamine in my system. At my sentencing day, I left the courtroom and I didn't come back, and that left me with a felony warrant.
I had fallen asleep in a park and I woke up to a park ranger knocking on my window. I knew I was wanted and I knew that I was not gonna just turn myself in. I turned to him and I made the comment, "Not today," and I took off. I led five different agencies on about a 35-minute chase. I realized at that point that I wasn't gonna get away and that this was gonna end up either me killing somebody or myself, and so I made a decision to pull over. At that point, everything that I had, I lost.
I was sentenced to two years in state prison, and it was there that God got ahold of me, and that was through Amazing Facts ministries. I remember listening on my radio to Pastor Doug Batchelor. I wanted to get to know the Bible. I wanted to know God, and so my Aunt Marilyn sent me the Amazing Facts study guides and it was there that my relationship with Christ began.
I had called home and I knew my mother wasn't doing well, but I didn't realize that she had cancer. She had about a 30% chance of making it through her surgery. She had told the doctors that she was not going to have chemo and she was not gonna have radiation, that if her God was going to save her, then he would save her. I remember hanging up the phone to what I thought was my last conversation with my mom. I turned around, I got down on my knees, and I prayed to God. I said, "God, if you're there, please save my mother. Wherever you lead me in life, whatever you want me to do, I am yours." And I had a feeling of such peace that I knew that my mother was gonna be okay and that my life was going to change.
There are no words that I can adequately express to "Amazing Facts" and to Pastor Doug to say thank you. To all those people who support the ministry, I am a product of your support. My life has changed because of this ministry and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Doug Batchelor: Hi, friends. This is Pastor Doug Bachelor. Would you like to hear an amazing fact? More and more of the world is turning now to natural forms of energy to try and find their power, and they're resorting to things like the wind farm that we have here in Jamaica at Wigton. You know, I remember years ago my wife and I going to visit the Big Island of Hawaii, and we were amazed at all the potential there for natural power, but they weren't using it.
There at the south part of the island, there was volcanic activity. You can make geothermal power there. If you went to Waimea, the wind was constantly blowing, but they had no windmills there. If you went over to Kona, the sun always shines, solar electric, but they didn't have very much solar electric there. And if you went to Hilo, it was always raining, hydro electric.
And in spite of all that potential for power there on the Big Island of Hawaii, they were powering the island back then with dirty diesel generators.
Made me think about how we sometimes waste the power of God's Spirit that he's making available to us, and each of us can have that Spirit if we simply ask. You can read in Zechariah chapter 10, what do we do? "Ask of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain, and he will send flashing clouds." Jesus also said in the book of Luke, "If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more with your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask?"
When you look in the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, it says there was a sound of a mighty, rushing wind, and that power that launched the church back then can still power your life today, friends. So why don't you ask Him?