So important is it that we understand the events leading on to the end,
that repeatedly the "sure word of prophecy" outlines the course of this
world's history, and sets up waymarks along the highway to the
everlasting kingdom.
In the light of prophecy we see the hand of God guiding and overruling
through all history, shaping events for the carrying out of His purpose
to end the reign of sin and to bring in the reign of eternal
righteousness. His prophetic word foretells events of history, that we
may know that He is the living God over all, and that we may understand
that the divine purpose will surely be fulfilled. Above a wicked world
there is a God in heaven, waiting only the appointed time for the
accomplishment of His purposes.
"I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the
beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.... I have
spoken it, I also will bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also
do it.... My salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in
Zion." Isa. 46:9-13.
In the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, recorded in the second chapter of
Daniel, the Lord revealed in brief but graphic outline the course of
history from the days of Babylon to the end of the world. The four great
universal monarchies,--Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome--were
represented by the various parts of the metallic image. That prophecy
described particularly the division of the Roman Empire into the
kingdoms of western Europe. "In the days of these kings," declared the
word of the Lord, the God of heaven was to set up His kingdom, bringing
an end to all earthly powers.
In the seventh chapter we are taken over the same course of history, in
Daniel's vision of the four beasts. Here also chief attention is devoted
to the fourth great kingdom; and especially to its divided state; for
the events taking place at this time are of the deepest eternal interest
to all men.
In this vision Daniel saw four universal empires represented by great
beasts. One after another the symbolic beasts arose, did their work, and
gave place to the next scenes in the history. The angel clearly
explained to Daniel the meaning of the vision:
"These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise
out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the
kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever."
Of necessity, then, it is a repetition of the story of the four
universal monarchies dealt with in the second chapter, and ending with
the setting up of the everlasting kingdom.
Let us place the view given the prophet in vision alongside the record
of history.
First, however, a word as to the manner in which the great beasts
appeared to the prophet:
"I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven
strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea,
diverse one from another."
Again and again, in the figurative language of Scripture, winds are used
as the symbol for wars; and the sea, or waters, for nations or peoples.
(See Jer. 25:31-33; Rev. 17:15.) The prophet saw the clashing of the
nations in war, and out of these conflicts arose the kingdoms described
in the prophecy.
[Illustration: THE FIRST BEAST
"The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings." Dan. 7:4.]
Babylon
Note the prophetic picture of the prophecy and the corresponding
representation in history.
_Prophecy._--"The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld
till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the
earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was
given to it."
_History._--As the lion is king of beasts, it was a fitting symbol of
Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms." Isa. 13:19. The eagle's wings suggest
rapidity of movement and far-reaching conquest. The prophet Habakkuk
said of it, "Their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the
eagle." This was the characteristic of Babylon under the earlier kings,
but especially under Nebuchadnezzar. Berosus, the ancient Chaldean
historian, wrote of him:
"This Babylonian king conquered Egypt, and Syria, and Phenicia,
and Arabia; and exceeded in his exploits all that had reigned
before him in Babylon." (See Flavius Josephus "Against Apion,"
book 1, par. 19.)
[Illustration: THE SECOND BEAST
"And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear." Dan. 7:5.]
But now, at the time of Daniel's vision, degeneracy had come; the empire
was tottering. The lion heart was gone, the eagle's wings were plucked,
and within three years from the time the vision was given, Babylon was
overthrown.
Medo-Persia
As the dominion passed from Babylon to the next great power, the prophet
says:
_Prophecy._--"Behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it
raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it
between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much
flesh."
_History._--The Medes and Persians overthrew Babylon. Medo-Persia was a
dual kingdom, lifting itself up on one side, first the Median branch the
stronger, then the Persian, under Cyrus and his successors, rising
higher. This two-sided characteristic, noted as a distinguishing mark in
the prophecy, was emphasized by the ancient writers also. Æschylus, the
Greek poet, who lived in the time of Persia, wrote:
"Asia's brave host,
A Mede first led. The virtues of his son
Fixed firm the empire....
... Cyrus third, by fortune graced,
Adorned the throne."
--"_Persoe._"
The word spoken in the vision, "Arise, devour much flesh," describes the
history from the time when the Persian side rose uppermost. Rawlinson
says, "Cyrus proceeded with scarcely a pause on a long career of
conquest."
An alliance against Persia was formed by Lydia, Egypt, and Babylon
(Herodotus 1:77); and as these three great provinces were subdued, they
may well be represented by the three ribs in the mouth of the
Medo-Persian bear.
Grecia
Yet another kingdom was to follow, and strikingly the symbol pictures
the characteristics of the Greek conquest.
_Prophecy._--"After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which
had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; and the beast had also
four heads; and dominion was given to it."
_History._--The third kingdom was Grecia. Under Alexander the Great, the
Greeks swept into Asia with the quickness of the leopard's spring. And
the four wings on the leopard must represent astonishing fleetness.
Plutarch speaks of the "incredible swiftness" of Alexander's conquests.
Appian wrote:
"The empire of Alexander was splendid in its magnitude, in its
armies, in the success and rapidity of its conquests, and it
wanted little of being boundless and unexampled, yet in its
shortness of duration it was like a brilliant flash of
lightning. Although broken into several satrapies, even the
parts were splendid."--_"History of Rome," preface, par. 10._
[Illustration: THE THIRD BEAST
"After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard." Dan. 7:6.]
Thus the ancient Roman writer pictured the career of Grecia just as
represented by the prophetic symbol--the fleetness, the great dominion
given it, the division of the empire into satrapies, as suggested by the
four heads of the leopard. Out of the conflicts following Alexander's
death, there came the fourfold headship of the empire. Rawlinson says,
"A quadripartite division of Alexander's domain was recognized." (See
"Sixth Monarchy," chap. 3.) The real situation is best represented, as
Dr. Albert Barnes says, by "one animal with four heads," just as the
prophetic symbol described it centuries before.
Thus the course of empire followed the outline of the "sure word of
prophecy" from age to age.
"Armies were ranged in battle's dread array:
They fought--their glory withered in its bud;
They perished--with them ceased their tyrants' sway;
New wars, new heroes came--their story passed away."
There was to be no abiding kingdom till the time came for God's glorious
kingdom to be set up.
[Illustration: THE FOURTH BEAST
"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast,
dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly." Dan. 7:7.]
Rome
As the prophet watched the moving panorama of history, foretold in
symbols, he said:
_Prophecy._--"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. I considered the horns, and, behold,
there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were
three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this
horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great
things."
[Illustration: ROME ON THE TIBER
The palace of the Cæsars appears high on the hill at the left.]
_History._--As the iron of the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream fitly
represented the "iron monarchy of Rome," so here the dreadful beast,
with its iron teeth, can be none other than Rome, which followed Grecia
in world dominion. It was the most powerful, the most dominating, of all
the beasts in the prophetic series. A Roman Catholic writer, Cardinal
Manning, compresses into a paragraph the correspondence of history to
the likeness of the prophecy:
[Illustration: BATTLE OF ZAMA, B.C. 202
By which Rome broke the power of Carthage, its rival, and "began the
conquest of the world."]
"The legions of Rome occupied the circumference of the world.
The military roads which sprang from Rome traversed all the
earth; the whole world was, as it were, held in peace and in
tranquillity by the universal presence of this mighty heathen
empire. It was 'exceedingly terrible,' according to the
prophecies of Daniel; it was as it were of iron, beating down
and subduing the nations."--_"The Temporal Power of the Pope"
(London, 1862), p. 122._
Thus far every symbol of the prophet's vision finds its exact and clear
counterpart in history. A writer living in the third century, in the
days of imperial Rome, rejoiced to see how exactly the prophecy was
being fulfilled. Hippolytus (counted a saint by the Catholic Church)
wrote:
"Rejoice, blessed Daniel! thou hast not been in error! All
these things have come to pass. After this again thou hast told
us of the beast, dreadful and terrible. It has iron teeth and
claws of brass; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped
the residue with the feet of it. Already the iron rules;
already it subdues and breaks all in pieces; already it brings
all the unwilling into subjection; already we see these things
ourselves. Now we glorify God, being instructed by
thee."--_"Treatise on Christ and Antichrist," sec. 33._
Now the prophetic outline comes to the time of the division of the Roman
Empire, introducing events of deepest personal interest to us today.