Prophecy
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There before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. The other horn that came up, the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. This horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, The ten horns are ten kings. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the festivals and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. “But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. (Compilation of all the scriptures in Daniel 7 describing the "Little Horn". )
This is a prophetic study of the word of God, historical facts and the writings of important church fathers. One of the conclusions reached is nothing new. The little horn in Daniel 7 was (is) the Papal throne (Papacy). But in writing that I realized something, I have not seen addressed before. In the eyes of God the Catholic Church is separate from the Papacy.
It is unlikely God would put an earthly kingdom (especially one like the Papacy) and a church on the same footing. Especially a church with faithful beginnings. Lost on many is the fact that the Catholic church was built upon the spilled blood of those Christians who died faithfully while being slaughtered for Roman entertainment. Who hid in the catacombs so they could serve Christ faithfully.
If God was willing to include animals in the reason he spared Ninevah and was willing to spare Sodom if Abraham could prove a handful of faithful, how much more would he do for Catholic Christians who remained and remain faithful despite their surroundings.
The Papal Throne was permitted to have authority over God’s people and the kings of the earth until its dominion was destroyed in 1798.
In Daniel 7the writer was told the Little Horn would be judged by a heavenly court and never have dominion over God’s people or the nations again. Many recenct writers have mentioned that the Papacy will resurrect from this judgement and that the Little Horn is a future Papal anti-Christ. Many places in Revelation do talk about a type of evil resurrection. But a wound is mentioned in those scriptures.The language used in Daniel 7:26 (NASB) is extreme. No wound or even a body will be left behind.
1. Dominion taken away
2. Annihilation
3. Destruction
4. Forever
This language speaks of complete destruction. A permanent and total removal, without possibility of reappearance later. A judgment by a heavenly court with God the father sitting as the presiding judge would seem to leave no possibility a legal or illegal reversal.
Isn't this the same type of language we trust in for satan's final destruction? Also for the removal of our sins and it’s power.
God sought to give room for the Catholic Church's repentance and surgically remove the earthly throne (Papacy) that it was attached to. God waits to see if the Catholic Church repents from its disobedience and unfaithfulness and returns to its faithful roots.
I am sure many painful trials lay ahead. With God nothing is impossible, in the scriptures the Lord has numerous times redeemed women with compromised pasts it is his nature to do so again.
At this writing the current pope is riding a tide of popular support. This is problematic since I am sure that a component of the Catholic Church's return to Christ would have to do with the removal of the Vatican's authority over all the churches.
The events depicted in the closing verses of Daniel 7 mention nothing about the return of Christ but do show Christ taking dominion over the kingdoms of the earth and allowing His people to elect and determine it’s own leadership. The fulfillment of Daniel 7 has already occurred. We see on the world political scene that for the most part all of the people who lived under the dominion of the fourth beast (Rome and the Little Horn) now live in democratic societies and have no monarchy in place.
In stating these conclusions I need to be clear that I believe in the future rapture of the church, that overcoming Christians will not see the tribulation, that there will be a future anti-Christ, that he will rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and that Christ will return physically and have a millennial rule in the future. I just believe that the events in Daniel 7 do not depict any of these events.
ON WHAT BASIS DO WE ESTABLISH THE TRUTH OF THE IDENTITY OF THE LITTLE HORN
Matthew 7:16"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
Daniel 9:2 During the first year of Darius’ (his) reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the LORD, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years
God’s faithful have a long history of looking to the foundational past for answers to Biblical & Eschatological questions. This has always served us well. So what qualifies a person to establish the truth of God’s word?
In Daniel 9:2 the prophet Daniel has questions about what the future held for God’s people, this lead him to study the writings of a predecessor namely Jeremiah. Jeremiah although not fully accepted during much of his ministry was without peer in his accuracy in predicting future events. Those that followed Jeremiah’s advice lived a long life. Those that disregarded his warnings perished. So Daniel held faith in his predictions not as predictions but as facts.
So when we look to eschatological events we must do what Daniel did, look to our spiritual foundations for the truth. One of the most important and fruitful events in the past 500 years of Church history was the Protestant Reformation.
So since the Reformation has been long established as a true movement of God the men that founded it can be relied upon especially when they all agree on one subject.
With this foundation in place I will name some of the reformation fathers that in their writings and recorded statements declared the identity of the Little Horn in Daniel 7 to be the Papal Throne in Rome.
John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Huss, John & Charles Wesley, William Tyndale, John Foxe, John Bunyan, John Knox, John Gill
This is only the short list many names could be added to it. Indeed whole denominations and creeds have stated that the Papal throne is the “Little Horn” in Daniel 7. So with this great multitude of church father’s bearing witness, I have no problem agreeing with them.
SO WHY IS THIS TRUTH NO LONGER ACCEPTED BY THE CHURCH TODAY?
Daniel 7:26-27 But the court will sit, and his (the Little Horn’s) power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’
The reasons these truths are no longer accepted or taught are threefold and listed below:
1. The Little Horn was supposed to be completely destroyed and the Roman Catholic Church continues and is even relevant today hundreds of years after it was first declared as the little horn.
2. Spiritual alarm bells went off when Christ loving Protestants tried to attach an anti-Christ label on Christ loving Catholics. This Reformation truth was no longer taught and was allowed to fall out of favor so as not to cause further strife.
3. The destruction of the Little Horn’s power was connected to the Kingdom of Christ coming to earth. For obvious reasons this was assumed to be the physical return of Christ and we have not seen his return.
The heart of the 3 causes of rejection by the church today and end times writers is the seeming lack of fulfillment. Where is the promised judgement of the Catholic Church? To understand this we have to accept that in the eyes of God the Papacy (prior to 1798) was seen as a strange unnatural kingdom not a church. The Catholic Church was seen by God as a different a separate entity. Jesus just destroyed the earthly dominion of the Papacy but left the church intact leaving a time period for repentance. This is why the Catholic Church still continues and will continue until Christ returns if she repents.
The History books and the church have looked at the Papacy and the Catholic Church as one entity. In 1798 God allowed the malignancy of the Papacy to be surgically removed from the church and destroyed this was the fulfillment of Daniel 7:26. Not just the Protestant believers but all believers benefited. But why not just destroy the disobedient Catholic Church and the unnatural throne together since they were both causing harm. It is because certain spiritual principles apply to the church that can never apply to any earthly kingdom.
Romans 11:16 If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Matthew 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus declared that Satan will not be victorious over the church. Because Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end. Without a doubt the roots (the beginning) of the Catholic Church were holy it will be holy again in the end of things (the branches) if it repents.
So Christians are not without scriptural and spiritual reasons when they back away from declaring the Catholic Church as unholy. Believers who are expecting a springing up of the Papal Throne from the Catholic Church and it’s later full destruction need to have an adjustment of the heart and pray for the restoration of Christ loving Catholics and the congregations they gather with.
I do not always write in absolutes, especially the light of what is said in many passages in Revelation. But the languages is so strong in Daniel I cant see the possibility that the Papacy will ever be restored or be given any earthly dominion again.“His power will be taken away and completely destroyed” (Daniel 7:26)
Behold, with the clouds of heaven,One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.“And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom,That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him.His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed. But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.’ The Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of thesaints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’ (Compilation of every scripture in Daniel 7 pertaining to the son of man)
To address the third aspect as to why the eschatology of the Reformation fathers is no longer accepted. The time allotted by God for the Little Horn’s destruction passed and Christ did not return. If we examine the scriptures in Daniel 7 no place does it mention the return of Christ in any form.
After the ascension of Christ in the book of Acts (1:9-11) it was clearly stated that Christ will return the same way he ascended upon the clouds physically visible. But Christ is not mentioned as coming to earth on the clouds or in any manner in Daniel 7. He is mentioned as coming on the clouds of heaven to be presented to the “Ancient of Days” (God the Father).
This time before the Father was for an empowering from heaven of Christ. Not a return to the earth. God made a judgment he gave Christ His own earthly Kingdom and gave him Dominion over the rulers of the earth. At that time the Little Horn was judged and the saints belonging to Christ were given all of the authority that was previously possessed by the last kingdom and those described as horns. So we see that there is more than ample room to Describe Daniel 7 as being fulfilled.
It’s Fulfillment is:
1. The destruction of the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope’s sway over the Kings of the earth.
2. The coming of the saints of God to Plymouth and establishing a government and nation where the power of rule is invested in the people not the king.
3. The doing away with Monarchy as a viable form of government
4. The preeminence of democracy and self-determination as the primary form of governmental rule on the nations mentioned as the 4rth beast and horns in Daniel 7.
5. The freedom of the peoples in the nations that were under the dominion of the Papal Empire to follow Christ in freedom. To offer free will prayers and worship without fear of persecution.
So where did the impression come from that Daniel 7 described the return of Christ? It came from Daniel 2 where a stone was tossed at the feet of the statue. The impression was always that the stone represented Christ. The shattering of the statue was the return of Christ. But Christ could not return until he received His earthly kingdom. The rock that the stone was carved from was Christ. The hands belonging to the “Ancient of Days”. The stone was the dispensing of His authority to the saints of the most high. When Christ returns he will not be hurled by God at the feet of the kingdoms of the earth. That is our job to be weapons in the hands of the Lord.
The main point of Daniel 7 was this : That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him (Christ).Until the statue was shattered that could not happen. The statue represents the idolatry that has and will always exist when people are under the dominion of an earthly king.This principle was made clear in the Book of Samuel. God considered it a rejection of His Lordship when the people asked for a king. The peoples of the earth could not fully serve a heavenly authority while an overbearing earthly authority existed. By nature man service and attention was given to the king creating a hindrance to fully serving God.
In the closing this article I would like to note that I do not consider myself a prophet or an apostle by any measure. This article is built by common wisdom upon the structure laid by our Reformation fathers some of which paid for their words with their own blood. They built upon the foundation which is Christ. Those that are willing to declare something different than they have written must be sure that they have carried the crosses they did and born the fruit they did. A popular recent teaching has been that the little horn represents a future ruler that will spring up from a resurgent Roman empire and that we will see a once again a Caesar like anti-Christ ruling Europe and other parts.
Again I am aware of the scriptures in Revelation and I do not want to speak in absolutes, but that teaching completely disregards what has been written before by great men of God. It also disregards what was written by the prophet Daniel “I kept watching until the fourth beast was killed and its body was destroyed by fire”.
A special provision was made by God that was not made for any other previous beast. It was not just a killing but also a destruction by fire. A killing and a disintegration was ordered. When God orders something to be killed and burned it is not without good purpose. I cannot imagine God changing His mind and allowing what he has ordered destroyed to have any life or even any semblance of life .
I know that the world will see “The Anti-Christ” and he will rebuild the temple, but he cannot be found in these passages (Daniel 7 & 2) of that I am sure. In saying that his nature is reflected in the Papacy as well as the in the Pharisees both persecuted and killed Christ’s followers and both used their positions in the kingdom of God for their own purposes.
Daniel 2 & 7 both end on an ominous note. An unnatural growing mountain filling the earth and a pale faced fearful Daniel are not good signs for what lies ahead for God’s people. I have written on these subjects in other places.
Of this you can be sure and I include myself in this statement. The freedoms we now enjoy were not given to us to indulge in our own pleasures. They are a gift from God. We were created to serve Him and do His good works. That freedom is being squandered every day in the church and in our lives. If serving the king ahead of God brought His wrath upon them, who will God be angry at if we serve ourselves? Even now we have an opportunity to stop resisting the word of God and the urging of the Holy Spirit and do God’s will even if it means doing things that we do not want to do.
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I never heard him do Day-year, like many historicists falsely apply.
Most of Daniel is fulfilled and if someone listened to the parts in which he discusses Daniel 12, I think it would change your mind.
If the little horn = the Pope (papacy) then maybe the 10 horns are the reformation fathers,
John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Huss, John & Charles Wesley, William Tyndale, John Foxe, John Bunyan, John Knox, John Gill.
Maybe Martin Luther, John Knox and John Calvin are the three horns subdued by the little horn.
Careful reading of all the prophesies reveals that the Anti-Christ will be the leader of a One World Govt, Daniel 11:21, Rev 17:12
Any Catholic who believes in Jesus and keeps His commandments will be saved.