2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.  

We have “a more sure word of prophecy” not uncertain that it could be this or it could be that – we want to know that its positively reliable.

Daniel 7:2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heavens strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

What are the four beasts?

Daniel 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

But more than just kings.

Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 

These four beasts are kingdoms.  In prophecy a beast is a symbol – a symbol of an earthly kingdom or an earthly government.  These beasts come up out of the sea. In prophecy sea represents people, nations and tongues.

Revelation 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes and nations and tongues.

These four great beasts are kingdoms.  In prophecy a beast is a symbol of an earthy kingdom or an earthly government and these beasts come up out of the sea.  The sea represents peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. These beasts arise from these struggling seas of peoples, nations and tongues. There are four winds mentioned which are striving upon this sea of people which represent the wars of conquest by which these beasts have gained their power.

The Beasts

The Lion Beast – Babylon Daniel 7:4 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.

This beast like a lion with eagles wings represents the kingdom of Babylon.

The Bear Beast – Medo-Persia

Daniel 7:5 And 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.

A Leopard Beast – Greece

Daniel 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, lie a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beat had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7 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.

This fourth beast is the Roman Empire which was exceedingly strong and broke in pieces whoever or whatever opposed it. This beast (Rome) has 10 horns – What do these horns represent? Daniel was given an interpretation.

Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kindom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces..24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten Kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

The 10 horns are 10 kings or kingdoms which come out of the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire came to its end, what came out of it?  When did the Roman empire come to its end?  476AD. In 476AD the Roman Empire came to its end in that year political control of the former Roman Empire was in whose hands? By the mid fourth century the Germanic groups were in political control of the Western Empire.  Gall came under the sway of the Franks, Italy became a Gothic kingdom and the Visigoths held Spain, The Vandals had conquered the provinces of North Africa. These Germanic groups gained full political control by the year 476AD when the last emperor was deposed by one of these Germanic groups.  The Germans took control of the Roman Empire and they had Kingdoms occupying the territory of Western Rome.  You find who they are specifically if you read in the history books. Where are the 10 horns today?  There are no Germanic people in France, Italy, Spain or Portugal – They’re not Germanic?  So where are the 10 horns?

The conquest of Gall by the Franks (one of the 10 horns) or of Italy by the Lombards (another of the 10) prove little more than a forcible settlement of one or the other among tributary subjects, who were destined in the long course of ages to absorb their conquerors.  French is the tongue not of the Frank but of the Gall whom he overcame and the fair hair or the Lombard is all but unknown in Lombardy (Italy). Ecclesiastical Empire p58 by A.T. Jones

These Germanic groups that took political control of the Roman Empire were absorbed into the cultures they conquered.  The Franks into the Gaelic culture of France and the Lombard and Visigoths were absorbed into the Latin cultures of Spain. Essentially the 10 horns out of the Roman Empire are still there in Europe although culturally altered.

Daniel 7:8 I considered the horns, (the 10 horns) and, behold, there came up among them another little horn (another little kingdom), 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.

This little horn must arise after the 10 horns, after 476AD.  So we are looking for a little kingdom to arise after 476AD.  In addition, before it arises four of these kingdoms must be subdued.  At this time in Italy the popes were growing in influence and power.  Although the popes did not have a kingdom they felt threatened by these Germanic kingdoms that were dominating Italy.  The popes in Rome sought the support of the Eastern Emperors over in Constantinople and the Eastern Emperors gave their support and subdued three kingdoms.

Three of the 10 kingdoms were subdued being the Virili in 493AD, the Vandals in 534AD and the Ostrogoth’s in 538AD.  These were subdued to give the Papacy some space to come up in prominence in Italy.  The little horn which is the papacy must come up when it has space and in 538AD the space had been made as the three kingdoms troubling Italy had been removed.  Space had been made for a little kingdom because a little kingdom is a little horn.

The destruction of the Ostragoths in 538Ad opened the way for.  This completely opened the way for the bishop of Rome (the Pope) to assert his authority over the estate of the church.  The district immediately surrounding Rome was called Roman Duchies.  (Duchy means little – and in prophecy we have a little horn).  And it was so largely occupied by the estates of the church that the Bishop of Rome claimed exclusive authority over it.  The pontiff exercised a definite authority within the Roman Duchy and claimed to have a voice in the appointment of the civil offices who administered the local Government.  The Pontiff (Pope) being by decree the decrees of the councils and the homage of the emperor made head of all Ecclesiastical and spiritual dominion on earth and now being possession of territory (this is what you need to have a kingdom – territory) and exerting a measure of civil authority therein in its territory the opportunity now fell to the ambition of the Pope to assert to exercise supreme authority in all things temporal as well as spiritual. Ecclesiastical Empire p207-208

Remember the little horn in prophecy boasting? In the year 538AD which marks the conquest of Italy for it to come up, the deliverance of Rome and the destruction of the kingdom of the Ostrogoth is the true date which marks the establishment of the temporal authority of the Papacy.  This is when the little horn began.  This prophecy is extremely definite. The Popes had a little kingdom in 538AD and not only were the Ostrogoth’s uprooted, it was the first time ever that the Popes had had a kingdom.  The Popes had authority to rule in the Papal duchy and that continued for centuries  as the Papal Duchy. That was the little horn speaking great things because the Pope was there in his little duchy claiming to have authority over all the other kingdoms, spiritual authority which gave him supremacy. He was boasting in that little kingdom.

What Would the Papacy Do?

Daniel 7:24 and another shall rise after them, and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue the three kings. 25 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.

This time and times and the dividing of time is a prophetic period in the bible 1260 years.  For 1260 years the papacy would continue to exercise power in its little duchy.  But I want to concentrate on something else here in this text that the papacy would do. If you read the text and what it says here — the papacy when it had come up it would think to change time and laws. What are the laws that the papacy would think to change?

Daniel 7:25 He shall think to change times and the law. RV He has though to change times and laws, the law says the Septuagint, the German and Danish translations pointing out the law of the most high.  So other translations of the bible point out the same thing as the Revised Version did.  That being he shall think to change the Law (the law of God).  Now when it says that the papacy thought to do this, it means the papacy though to do this INTENTIONALLY.  They deliberately or intentionally changed the law of God.  The Papacy though to do it although she had no authority to do it She thought to do it without any scriptural authority.  She thought to do it without the sanction of God.  But more specifically, do we know which Law of God the Papacy changed? The Biblical Institute p43.

If you look at the Ten Commandments as defined by the Papacy of their own definition, there is one of the ten laws that has been deliberately tampered with. If we read from a doctrinal Catholic catechism we find the following question and answer.

Quote from the Catholic Catechism: Question:  Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept Answer:  Had she not such power she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week for Saturday the seventh day of the week, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.

Here is a change to the law of God and the Catholic Church claims her own authority as the source of this deliberate change.  Because it is a change where there is no scriptural authority, the bible doesn’t’ sanction the change and their church does.  So if God doesn’t sanction it, is it correct? But how can this be so?  Many millions of people for many centuries have been keeping Sunday.  Are they all wrong to do that? During the protestant reformation, the reformers sought to base their doctrines upon the scriptural authority and upon scripture alone.  The issue at stake was the authority of the church above the scriptures or the authority of the church below the scriptures.  And the protestant reformers were saying the authority of the scriptures should be above and when these reformers came before Charles V who the Pope had crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire this great man.

The Protestants having reached the imperial palace at 8.00 O Clock they were made to wait an hour.  The Elector of Brandenburg then said to them in King Charles’s name “His Majesty is astonished beyond measure that you still maintain you doctrine to be based on the Holy Scriptures.  If you say the truth his majesties ancestors, so many kings and emperors and even the ancestors of the elector of Saxony were all heretics. History of the Reformation p592

So many emperors, so many kings, indeed the whole of Christendom – how can they all be so wrong?  The might King Charles V was too astonished to believe it. But it was true.  By departing from the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, the whole of Christendom had fallen into heresy.  That was the wonder of it. This principle has equal weight today.  Big majorities often fall into heresy but just because these majorities embrace error that doesn’t make it truth.  Neither is error made truth when for century upon century the fathers have believed that error for it is still not truth.  True doctrine needs to be substantiated from the scriptures.  Any doctrine that doesn’t bear its weight of evidence from the bible is error.  No matter how many centuries have past and no matter how many multitudes profess a certain doctrine, if it can’t be substantiated from the scriptures it is error.

Errors may be hoary with age but age does not make error truth nor truth error.  And when Christians look for an authority to sanction Sunday sacredness they find none in the scriptures and none with God they find their authority only with the boastful claims of the Catholic Church. 6T 142

The Protestant Reformers kept Sunday Holy didn’t they?  What about them?  Weren’t they also in error?

Great light was given to the reformers but many of them received the sophistry of error through misinterpretation of the scriptures.  These errors have come down though the centuries but although they be hoary with age yet they have not behind them a thus sayeth the Lord for the Lord hath said I will not enter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Fundamentals of Christian Education p450. Psalm 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

What thing has gone out of God’s lips?  What thing did he speak audibly from Mt Sinai? Whatever he spoke – it is not to be altered.  God spoke the Ten Commandments from Mt Sinai.

Deuteronomy 5:22 These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness with a great voice: and he added no more.  (And it was not to be altered) And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. The books of Daniel and the Revelation are one book.  The symbols used in both books are the same however in Revelation the symbols go into more detail. Bible Commentary Vol 7, p971 Revelation 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Here is some more symbolism. The child in this prophecy is Christ and there is a great red dragon represented as about to devour the child.  The great red dragon represents Rome and Herod the representative of Rome in Judea sought to destroy Christ as a child. The great red dragon was a symbol of Pagan Rome.

Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea , having seven heads and 10 horns, and upon his horns 10 crowns and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

He is a mongrel beast – partly this and partly that. The mongrel beast gave the great red dragon his seat and great authority.  Where is the seat of the great red dragon.  Where is the seat of the Roman Empire? The seat of the Roman Empire is the City of Rome.  To whom was this seat given up to?  To the Papacy. The seat of the Roman empire if you remember from history was removed to Constantinople.  The emperors of Rome moved there.  The capital was moved east to Constantinople while the city of Rome itself became the seat of the Popes. The dragon (emperors of Pagan Rome) gave him (The Papacy) his power and his seat.  And the popes ascended to power in the city of Rome.  Now great power was given them also there and this was done by the decree of Justinian.  Justinian gave the Popes supremacy in all things in 538AD.  And the pope became supreme there in spiritual and temporal things in the city of Rome.  Papal Rome is represented here as this mongrel beast.  The fact that it is a mongrel is very fitting because it represents the mongrel form of Christianity that comes from a mixture of paganism with Christianity. Notice what pagan and papal Rome, the Great Red Dragon in Revelation 12 and the mongrel beast in Revelation 13, have in common – 7 heads and 10 horns.  What are the heads?  What is the head of a beast (earthly kingdom)? What is the body of a kingdom?  The people and the territory.  The head would be the governing, decision making, thinking part.  This would be the heads of the beast. 7 heads = 7 types of government which appear in Rome both pagan and papal. What are these heads that have ruled Rome?

Revelation 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

One of the heads has a deadly wound that is healed – Who is that?

Revelation 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed.

Papal Government

The papal government was one of the heads that ruled Rome and there are seven of them if you remember rightly.  Kings, Emperors, Dictators, Consuls.  These are the governments that have ruled Rome.  The 10 horns from Daniel, what are they? 10 kingdoms.  These 10 kingdoms were not present in Revelation 12 when the Great Red Dragon was trying to devour the child Jesus.  They were not present because they came later on in the 400s.  In this prophecy the 10 horns the are there as identifying marks irrespective of time as with the heads.  They are simply there to identify that this is Rome and that there will be 10 heads out of that empire.  So we can know this is Rome and connect this with the other prophecies about Rome. Where are the crowns in Revelation 13? On the horns Where are the crowns in Revelation 12? On the heads What does a crown represent?  A crown represents civil power because that is what a king has. In Revelation 12 who had the power?  The emperors – they had the crowns upon their heads. In Revelation 13 there are no crowns on the heads because they shift to the horns.  This means that civil power has shifted to the horns.  Civil power to the 10 Kingdoms.

But wasn’t the papacy clothed with civil power?  Why don’t the heads still have the crowns?  What is the difference? The papacy was first a religious power before it was a civil power.  The papacy claims religious power first. What is written on the heads here?  And upon his heads the name of blasphemy. What does blasphemy have to do with?  It is a religious thing – it’s nothing to do with civil matters.  That is why we see blasphemy written on the heads because the papacy is religious before it’s civil.  The papacy is primarily religious whereas the 10 horns are primarily civil governments. (crowns have to do with civil governments). He was given his seat and great authority in the year 538.  How long would this power continue.

Revelation 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies (religious things), and power was given unto him to continue forty-and two months. (1260 years)

30 days in a month x 42 = 1260 years. From 538AD to the year 1798. What happened in the year 1798?

Revelation 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.  Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

On February 10, 1798 the pope was made captive and taken prisoner by Napoleon’s general Berthier and the pope died in captivity in 1798. All this detail was written down by an infinite mind (God) even before it ever happened. We have a more sure word of prophecy and many will never ever believe unless they hear this sure word of prophecy. Unless they can appreciate how sure it’s been in the past, how can they ever appreciate how sure it will be in the future?  Why have we been studying all this prophecy?

When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience. They will be given such glimpses of the open gates of heaven that heart and mind will be impressed with the character that all must develop in order to realize the blessedness which is to be the reward of the pure in heart. The Lord will bless all who will seek humbly and meekly to understand that which is revealed in the Revelation. This book contains so much that is large with immortality and full of glory that all who read and search it earnestly receive the blessing to those “that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein.” One thing will certainly be understood from the study of Revelation–that the connection between God and His people is close and decided.  {FLB 345.3} Let us give more time to the study of the Bible. We do not understand the Word as we should. The book of Revelation opens with an injunction to us to understand the instruction that it contains. . . . When we . . . understand what this book means to us, there will be seen among us a great revival.  {FLB 345.4}