Prophecy necessitates the resuscitation of the fourth or Latin empire and its distribution into ten kingdoms, and possessing a strong and powerful chief at its head; this it will have in the "little horn" of Dan. 7 This fourth monarchy is the fourth of the metals in the great image of Dan. 2 and the fourth beast of Dan. 7; there are also four distinct stages in its progress and history, as noted in Rev. 17:88The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8):- "The beast that thou sawest was," i.e., its imperial form in John's day; "and is not," i.e., its present broken up state as having no political existence; "and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit," i.e., will be revived by direct satanic origin; "and go into perdition," i.e., its future awful doom.
The seventy weeks of Daniel (Dan. 9) are weeks of years, and, when multiplied by seven, give us a period of 490 years. After 483 of these years had run out, Messiah was cut off, and, in consequence, the seven years necessary to complete the whole prophetic period was postponed, and is still future. Between, therefore, the close of the 69th week and the opening of the 70th, the present interval of grace to the world, and Israel's degradation come in, this latter is the subject of Dan. 9:2626And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:26) of the prophecy which, when complete, the 70th week or seven years will have their fulfillment. The various dates in Rev. 129If any man have an ear, let him hear. (Revelation 13:9); 13; Matt. 24:1515When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) (Matthew 24:15), and in Daniel, refer to the last part of this celebrated prophetic week. After the rapture of the church to heaven, the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, the temple rebuilt, antichrist accepted, and the Roman power revived, the last seven years will commence.
The Great Image (Dan. 2) and Wild Beasts (Dan. 7) represent the governmental powers on earth, transferred from Judah at the epoch of the Babylonian captivity, to the Gentiles. In the four metals composing the image and four wild beasts we have the four successive empires represented. In the decreasing inferiority and value of the several metals we have pictured the gradual departure from the source of all power, and the inferior character of each of the empires, not only from the gold, but from each other; while in the wild beasts we have those same powers represented, but as acting without conscience or feeling towards God.
The Silver,...... Persia.
The Leopard,...... Greece.
The dreadjul and terrible Beast,...... Rome.
The complete overthrow of the mighty and extensive Persian Empire; its destruction by Alexander the Great, and rapid growth of the Grecian power: its break-up and subsequent four-fold division, are all described with wonderful circumstantiality of detail in the prophet Daniel, 7:6; 8:1-8.
The awful condition of the Jews during the great siege of Jerusalem in the year 70, and the character of the Roman power, are minutely described by Moses more than a 1000 years before (Deut. 28:44-6744He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. 45Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: 46And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. 47Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; 48Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. 49The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; 50A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young: 51And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 52And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. 53And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: 54So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: 55So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. 56The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. 58If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 62And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God. 63And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. 64And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. 65And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: 67In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. (Deuteronomy 28:44‑67)).
The "little horn" of Dan. 7, is a power arising in the west, and to be distinguished from the "little horn" of Dan. 8, which arises in the east.
The following are the various names and titles applied to the future Antichrist in the Scriptures:-1, The King (Dan. 11:3636And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. (Daniel 11:36)); 2, The Idol Shepherd (Zech. 11:1717Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. (Zechariah 11:17)); 3, Bloody and Deceitful Man (Psa. 5:66Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. (Psalm 5:6)); 4, Antichrist (1 John 2:2222Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22)); 5, False Prophet (Rev. 19:2020And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20)); 6, Another Beast (Rev. 13:1111And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. (Revelation 13:11)); 7, Man of Sin (2 Thess. 2:33Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2 Thessalonians 2:3)); 8, Son of Perdition (2 Thess. 2:33Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2 Thessalonians 2:3)); 9, Wicked One (2 Thess. 2:88And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (2 Thessalonians 2:8)); 10, Come in his own Name (John 5:4343I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43)).
The seven heathen nations inhabiting the land of Canaan, and which God ordained to be exterminated root and branch, were: (1) the Canaanites, (2) the Perizzites, (3) the Hivites, (4) the Jebusites, (5) the Hittites, (6) the Gergashites, (7) the Amorites. Israel failed in driving out these nations, hence their descendants will once again inhabit the land of Palestine, but will be utterly destroyed by the Lord at His second coming; "And in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts " (Zech. 14:2121Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 14:21)).
The last prophetic book in the Old Testament is Malachi.
Interesting details as to the closing days are given us in the book of Zechariah.
A comprehensive outline of the prophetic outline is found in the book of Isaiah.
The religious and civil state of Israel during the millennium is given in the prophecy of Ezekiel.
The rise, course, and doom of the Gentile powers of the west is unfolded in the prophecy of Daniel.
The feelings, exercises, and sorrows of the Israel God-fearing remnant in the future crisis of her history, are fully detailed in the book of Psalms.
The judgment and ruin of the Edomites was prophetically foretold by Obadiah.
The judgment and ruin of the Assyrians was prophetically foretold by Nahum.
The judgment and ruin of the Chaldean was prophetically foretold by Habakkuk.