Daniel (Belteshazzar) was one of the prophets' whom God chose to reveal many of the end-time events to. However, Daniel himself did not understand much of what he received. The reason given was that these divine messages were for "thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days." What we are told is that most of these revelations involved the principal governments and rulers that would one day come forth to rule and reign over the Earth. In other places in the Bible we find that God calls the "last day" system of governments "Mystery, Babylon the great," of which America is the "great city" thereof. The mystery being that God equates America as the main end-time personification of ancient Babylon. She alone has the power to manipulate all things globally. Revelation say it this way:
"For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." Revelation 18:3
The very last ruler (the little horn/eleventh horn/Antichrist) who comes forth at the end of the Church age, will ultimately destroy this unified Babylonish worldwide governmental and religious system. In its place he will proclaim himself as supreme leader of what remains of not only the world's religions, but the world's governments as well. I believe this one man will ultimately be possessed by Satan himself and be used to hunt down Christians using Gog's military might (Eze 38; Rev 13:12). I further believe he will be the presiding Pope (thus the "False Prophet" title) at that time, and will rise up shortly after Gog and the ten horns/toes go forth destroying the nations.
It's plain to see that all these visions and dreams seemed to concentrate on the last of these governments, and in particular the last of these rulers who is to rule over a rebellious and GOD hating world. In other words, men will have become completely given over to their beastly/soulish natures (666: the number of man to his fullness, i.e., 6+6+6) by the time the last of these kingdoms is fully "setup" (Dan 12:11). It seems GOD even began to show some of these end-time truths to king "Nebuchadnezzar," and as such, Nebuchadnezzar's dream is included with Daniel's visions in this very brief but informative study concerning the last-day government(s) of mankind.
Dream #1: The Image of Gold, Silver, Brass, Iron, and Clay Mixed
In Daniel chapter two, King Nebuchadnezzar was given a dream that was very similar to the two visions GOD gave to Daniel shortly thereafter. The reader will notice that these dreams and visions were all showing the same situation, yet each used different perspectives and types to relay the same messages. One of the reasons for the apparent anonymity of this revelation has to do more with keeping these things "sealed till the time of the end" (Dan 12:9). Therefore, if we believe we are now at that time in biblical history, we must also believe or expect GOD to loose the meanings of these dreams and visions in their fullness to "those upon whom the ends of the world (age) are come." For it seems we are now at 2-seconds before spiritual "midnight" bursts forth upon the earth.
The first image that king Nebuchadnezzar saw consisted of four parts, each of which represented one of four diverse kingdoms and the rulers that were to rule the Earth at some later point in time. Since the first three of these four governments have already been expounded on greatly throughout the years (those being the kingdoms of ancient Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece), this study will only concentrate on the fourth, and in particular the leader of that fourth kingdom referred to as "the little horn with eyes and a mouth" that is spoken of in Daniel 7:8. Howbeit, once we actually get to Revelation 13, this "little horn" metaphor is later referred to as the 2nd beast (Rev 13:11) from "the earth." In essence this one leader will be a hybrid of both political/militaristic and religious powers. When he becomes the eighth horn he removes three of the first Ten Horns. In Revelation 16:13 he is called "the False Prophet," which emphasizes his religious attributes.
"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 man, and a mouth speaking great things." Daniel 7:8
In Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream reveals that the fourth kingdom would begin as a "divided kingdom." This kingdom which was actually conceived in Rome, became divided (the start of the image's two legs) when Constantine defeated the Roman emperor Licinius, after which he began his own dynasty in Byzantium later renamed Nova Roma (New Rome). This was then subsequently renamed Constantinople or what we call present day Istanbul in Turkey. This battle effectively split Rome into what was called back then "the two cities built on seven hills," or more commonly, the "Eastern" and "Western" empires. This war (in type) began to manifest the image's two legs of iron, and from that point on the descendants of these two "east-west" camps continued to form the two legs of the image.
These legs are presently manifesting the feet kingdoms of the image. Next will follow the ten toes (ten horns/kings), which will at some future point agree to unite their power and governments as one super united world power during the great tribulation. However, we are told that ultimately one man with political and religious attributes will control what becomes Gog's confederacy (Eze 38) through "great wonders," "lying signs," and even super natural miracles (Rev 16:13-14).
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
However, he will first have to defeat most of the freedom loving present day democratic (modern day Babylonian) governments to do that. Governments that still incorporate the peoples religious beliefs into their laws. The horns or ten kings will then yield their newly achieved power over to this "Little Horn"/"King of Fierce Continence"/"Vile Person"/"Falling Star" (Rev 9:1)/Antichrist/"Beast from the Earth" (Rev 13:11)/"False Prophet"/"Man of Sin"/"Son of Perdition," whom Satan will physically possess and work his power and authority through. Historically, these two opposing leg camps (east & west) began to form their own political, spiritual, and economic alliances as they developed throughout the centuries. Whereas today, we can broadly group these two camps into some more recognizable alliances using historical records and names we would probably all be a little more familiar with:
Western vs. Eastern legs of the image (listed down to the toes): |
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Presently we find ourselves in the time of the intermingled feet kingdoms, and what we see happening in the world is what was prophesied to come. Countries like the United States, Great Britain, Canada, France, Spain, etc., are all linked by their Christian heritages regardless of their present day politics. These nations along with others, represent at least symbolically part of the potter's clay in the foot of the western alliance. Although very soon some of these clay neighbors are going to side with the iron (communist) counties for both political and financial gain. Now if some of you Americans are wondering why I have also colored the western references brown, it's because "the West" has so perverted her doings as of late that I see she is just as cardinally minded in the things of GOD as those who believe they are commanded by god (Allah) to cut off our heads.
So what does "clay" represent in the Bible? Well, we know clay is known to be soft, pliable, moldable, impressionable, and very flexible. In essence, clay type nations allow certain freedoms and liberties that other forms of iron curtain nations would never tolerate. The Bible even refers to Christians as "the clay in the potter's hands." In contrast, we see the communistic and Islamic faith nations symbolically represented by the "iron" in the image's feet, as nations of hardness, intolerance, unyielding rigidness, and inflexible Christian hating legalists. Therefore, nations like Iran, Syria, N. Korea, Cuba, Libya, Russia, China, etc., represent some of the iron in the eastern foot alliance. Then you have nations like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and other democracy leaning iron type countries that represent some of the iron in the western foot alliance. Presently we see some of these iron type governments trying to join with their western clay neighbors to help defeat the hard-line radicals in their midst; the soon to be Gog camp. Those who are even now threatening world peace with their nuclear and biological aspirations for world dominance. Nevertheless, the Bible tells us these present day alliances will not last for long because they just do not mix very well (Dan 2:43).
Currently we see many of these multinational kingdoms starting to unite in both the East and the West camps for the sole purpose of eliminating or controlling the other's actions (i.e., "nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom"). After some of these lesser battles have taken place even during midnight, is when the great tribulation actually begins. This is when the "ten toes" (kings/kingdoms) will become fully formed (Mat 24:7-28; Rev 17:12; see the Great Tribulation period page). At the same time that these ten toes/horns are beginning to unite, which takes place during the "midnight" time period, it says an eleventh (the little horn spoken of in Daniel 7:8) will arise but does not come forth yet. As stated earlier, I believe this horn/person can only be whoever is the Catholic Pope at that time because of the administrations he performs ("lying signs and wonders": 2-Thess 2:9), commanding worship of the beast/Satan (Rev 13:12), and attacking the true saints of GOD (Rev 13:15). There is also the historical past of the Catholic church one must look at where they felt it was their duty to murder millions of so called "heretics"/true saints (Rev 17:6) not only during the Inquisition, but during its inception in ancient Rome as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bartholomew%27s_Day_massacre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition#Roman_Inquisition
The 10-toes/horns/lesser world leaders are present day leaders who have at least some level of political or governmental authority, yet they will not be appointed to "rule" (as subordinates) in Gog's confederacy until the last head/ruler/beast leader arrives (see link). I believe each of these horns is listed in Ezekiel 38 as, Meshech & Tubal (Turkey), Persia (Iran), Ethiopia (Ethiopia), Libya (Libya, Egypt), Gomer (Germany & eastern Europe), Togarmah (Armenia), and the three that are removed (Dan 7:8; 7:20; Eze 38:13) would be Sheba (Yemen, Oman), Dedan (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Dubai), and the merchants of Tarshish (Spain). Apparently the guilt and or nationalistic pride of these last three nations, including their wealth, will prevent them from swearing over their total allegiance to the little horn, so they shall be removed (taken over and robbed). It would also seem that if this "little horn" who is merged into the 2nd beast in Revelation 13:11, is to start his whole-sale slaughter of Christians, Jews, and anyone else that would stand in his way, he would most certainly need to remove any conscientious objectors to such wholesale slaughter.
"GOG'S (first) CONFEDERACY"
(Ancient Placements)
(Enlarge view for detail)
GOG: RUSSIA
"The Ten Horns"
(Ezekiel 38)
1. Meshech….(Turkey)
2. Tubal……….(Turkey)
3. Persia………(Iran)
4. Ethiopia…..(Ethiopia)
5. Libya………..(Libya, Egypt)
6. Gomer……(Germany; eastern Europe)
7. Togarmah..(Armenia)
"…and three of the first horns were plucked up..." Daniel 7:8 (p.p. Ezekiel 38:13)
8. Sheba……….(Yemen, Oman)
9. Dedan…..….(Saudi Arabia, UAE, Dubai)
10. Tarshish…..(Spain)
Now by chance did you happen to notice how many of Gog’s confederates mentioned in Ezekiel 38 above come from the descendants of Noah? That's a trick question you know. Historically, Genesis chapter ten contains what is known as The Table of Nations, which shows the genealogies of Noah's sons: Japheth, Ham, and Shem. You know it is really ironic—no shocking—to think that all these godless nations who will agree to attract Israel in these latter days, come forth from the same group of people God once considered righteous enough to save from the flood. "Oh how the mighty have fallen," again, and again, and again, and it looks like this pattern of falling is going to continue right up until the White Throne Judgment, henceforth to be known as the "WTJ." This is why we must understand that total sanctification is the Christian's only true deliverance from deception. You see it is not going to be enough to just make it into this next dispensation, for the Bible tells us that many ("as the sand of the sea": Rev 20:8) are going to forsake their salvation by the end of the next millennium.
We are told that most of Gog's confederate iron curtain Islamic nations will begin their assault on the State of Israel and God’s people during the great tribulation, which must include first attacking Israel’s guardian nation: the USA; the great whore that rides the beast during the "midnight" time period. Amazingly though, we find out it is GOD who actually sends these aggressor nations to fight against His people.
"And thou [Gog] shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days [Joel 2:2], and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified [set apart as a tool of judgment] in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee [Gog] against them." Ezekiel 38:16-17
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Vision #1: The Four Great Beasts
Here again the four great beasts spoken of in Daniel chapter 7 are actually showing the same thing Nebuchadnezzar's dream revealed only using different typologies. As previously stated, we are only concerned with the fourth beast (the fourth kingdom), and more specifically with Gog/Russia and its ten horns (world leaders) and the "eleventh" (the Antichrist) that comes up afterwards. It should be mentioned here for those who do not know that when the Bible speaks of "horns," it is speaking of power and authority in one form or another; usually governmental, militaristic, or even religious. Of course one will find that behind every person in power there is a prince of a pality in high places. The Bible says in Daniel 7:7 that this last "beast" will be unlike any the world has ever seen. That is because these ten leaders will not only unite to accomplish their objectives, but they will abolish their individual sovereignties in order to submit to Gog, who then as one confederacy, submits to the Little Horn/False Prophet. Thus, the Bible tells us this last ruling entity will not contain individual sovereign nations as was always in the past, but they (the Gog + ten horn nations + the possessed False Prophet) will collectively wield their power as one new super-power that seeks to enslave the peoples of the world. Its first goal (appointed from GOD) even before the 42-months of Great Tribulation start, is to destroy what Revelation 17 calls "Mystery, Babylon the Great," THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." This is primarily backslidden America including backslidden and apostate Christians world-wide. Later, after the Two Witness brethren are taken up, during the indignation/vial judgments and into Armageddon, natural Israel will receive of this same type of Judgement for much of the same reason America got it [read all of Eze 16], for she too has turned her back to GOD and has the blood of prophets and of saints in her too.
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets." Matthew 23:29-31
"And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."
Revelation 18:24
The new world order ("the daughter of Babylon," Jer 50:42), which will have been the unrepentant sinners' only hope, and Israel's, will begin to fall apart at the seams once Gog (so ordered by the False Prophet) finishes killing the true Christians. I believe at first "the vile person" (aka, "the beast out of the earth": Rev 13:11) in Daniel 11:21, will pretend he too wants the new world order to work, but inwardly he will begin to change things very quickly for the worse. Study Hitler's early years if you want to see how this works. You know it is really amazing how some of the world's evilest leaders actually started off as little nobodies. Hitler was a little nobody in a world that saw little or no use for him in his early years. And just as Hitler started with an obscure past (as far as the world scene was concerned), it seems this may be what is meant when the eleventh horn is referred to as "a little horn" (meaning small in power or of little current authority). The Vatican is also the smallest country in the world.
The final Ten horn government (the 1st Beast from the sea: Gog, in Rev 13 + horns) will more than likely be kept in the shadows by Satan until the last minute. Although, the little horn ruler (the king of fierce countenance: the man of sin/Antichrist) will more than likely end up being the main force controlling the world during the 42-months (because Satan will have to enter into him), and that which immediately follows: the "Indignation"/"vials": the 43rd-month. Additionally, the Bible gives him the allegoric title of "The False Prophet" (the 2nd individual Beast in Rev 13), because he will be able to control the religious masses through false miracles, lying signs, and by proclaiming himself as God (Dan 11:36). Notice he's called the "false plumber."
As mentioned earlier, one of the places these two "beasts" are found is in Revelation Chapter 13. They are described as the beast from "the sea," and the beast that comes up from out of "the earth" (Satan: Rev 11:7) with "two horns like a Lamb." To understand this all we have to do is to look at what Yeshua's "two horns" of power would have represented: the "Spirit" & the "Word." In other words this "false prophet" beast will even try to proclaim that he is the true "Lamb of God," but this one will "speak as a dragon" because he will be possessed by Satan. It may even be that the other seven remaining horns yield their authority to this 2nd beast because he is able to, and has the means to, control the masses through false fire (satanic anointing) and great wealth. Remember, it is this 2nd beast out of the earth that is given the power to force all people great and small "to worship the first beast" (Satan's nature: carnality)—or die! Basically, when this religious beast forces people to "make an image of the beast," he is forcing them to forsake the true God and create in their hearts a nature of flesh; pure humanity (666), a heart void of God. Finally we need to look at the chronology shown in Daniel 7, since it seems to contain such a major element of the dreams in Daniel.
"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; UNTIL the Ancient of days came [Armageddon: Dan 7:11-12; Rev 19], and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Daniel 7:21-22
"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand UNTIL a time and times and the dividing of time [1+2+1/2 years: 3.5-years; "a time"= 1-year in the Bible: Dan 12:7]. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." Daniel 7:25-26
This means there is coming approximately a "three and one half year period" (Rev 12:14: the last half of Daniel's seventieth week which Jesus left for the people to come) in which some of the saints (those who followed the Lamb...) will be given the power to bring forth a certain measure of judgment upon wickedness, and to expose the beasts of the earth and the Babylonish system for what it is, although it says in Daniel 8:25 that he (the king of fierce countenance) shall be broken without hands [Rev 19:20], which tells me that GOD Himself will have the honor of destroying this destroyer of nations. I believe the Bible tells us the Pope and the Ten toes/horns will suffer the same fate as "Korah" and his lackies did.
"But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation." Numbers 16:30-33
"And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood [invading armies: Gog: Is 28:2] after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." Revelation 12:15-16
"And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." Revelation 16:18-19
"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast [the ten horns] was taken, and with him the false prophet [the Pope] 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 19:19-20
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Vision #2: The Ram & The He (rough)-Goat
Once again, the vision Daniel had concerning "the ram," "the he-goat," and "the little horn," seems to mirror the other two symbolic renderings found in the book of Daniel for this same prophetic time period. Only this time we are given a little more detail concerning the timing of certain events. Actually there are many specific times given in Daniel and Revelation that relate to many of the prophetic end-time judgments that are about to come upon the world. Daniel himself was very interested in knowing the timing of these events and it seems the messengers in his visions were authorized to give Daniel a few of those answers. It appears most of the references in the book of Daniel point to that which is called "the great tribulation" and the time "immediately after the tribulation of those days," which again is thoroughly discussed in the seventh millennium PDF download. Please go to The Great Tribulation Period page to see these time periods laid out in greater detail.
Related links: Daniel's Seventieth Week Messiah be cut off...