The Daniel Hermeneutic of Prophecy

6th Semester / Week 7

What principles of interpreting prophecy can we learn from the book of Daniel, and what specific historical events were foretold?

[The list of principles can be found at the end of this study]

The overall theme of Daniel is:

DON’T FEAR, GOD IS IN CONTROL OF THE NATIONS

Because most of the prophecies within Daniel have already been fulfilled, it’s an ideal book to turn to in order to learn how God communicates His predictions and to see their corresponding fulfillments. We should also recognize that it’s critical to have a solid grasp of all of the Old Testament before ever attempting to understand something as complicated and highly symbolic as Revelation. Therefore, specifically in Daniel, how are we to understand how God communicates His prophecies: how were they fulfilled, when were they fulfilled, what symbols were used, and was everything always completely fulfilled within the specific time frame? In other words, were prophetic time periods like a light bulb that was fully turned on the very first day, and then completely and entirely shut off on the last day?

Because the book of Daniel shares so many of the exact same symbols and time references as Revelation, we should seek to understand the “Daniel Hermeneutic of Prophecy” in order to properly understand Revelation. In other words, the way that we should attempt to understand Revelation is by applying the principles of interpretation that we learn from Daniel, and Revelation very well could’ve been called Daniel part two since they both contain so many similar components. In Daniel, we find symbols given, which we now recognize to be foretelling many centuries worth of world history, even including events that weren’t directly about God’s Old Covenant nation (such as events fulfilled by Alexander the Great and the Seleucid Empire in Daniel 8 and 11).

In preparing to understand Revelation, we should note the prophecies in Daniel were predictions of events that were future from the standpoint of the author, took place over several centuries and wouldn’t have been understood by the generation that received the message, yet it’s also generally understood that the majority of those prophecies are NOT future to our current generation. All of that is unlike what’s taught by Preterists (that nearly all of Revelation supposedly had to be immediately fulfilled and supposedly needed to be comprehended by the generation that received it) or Futurists (nearly all of Revelation as well as much of Daniel has to be fulfilled at the end of this age). In Daniel, we learn that even events referred to as “the time of the end” (such as Daniel 8:17) weren’t really about the end of the world, but rather, as countless theologians have pointed out, were instead the end of something else, such as the end of that particular prophecy or the end of the Old Covenant nation. The interpretations given with the visions indicate that the prophecies predicted very specific mundane events, sometimes described in great detail, and not merely symbolic principles applied in a generic way to the course of the future (unlike what’s taught by Idealists who assume Revelation isn’t about anything specific). The prophesied events within Daniel were presented in a sequential manner, beginning at a fixed point in history and leading up to some significant event, such as the 1st Advent of Christ. As we’ve previously seen, our ancestors recognized that the book of Revelation is the exact same, beginning with events “which must shortly take place” (Revelation 1:1) immediately after 96 AD, then describing the overall history of the Church in advance, which will likewise conclude with Christ’s (final) Advent, followed by His Judgment Day and establishment of the New Heaven and Earth.

Prophecy is particularly profitable to those who can look back on its fulfillment, which should inspire awe within us at God’s amazingly accurate foreknowledge and should comfort us in seeing how His hand has been guiding the nations to fulfill His will. Yet note again that the prophecies in Daniel didn’t primarily foretell events that would be fulfilled during Daniel’s lifetime, or the lifetime of his audience, or his “generation.” Biblical prophecy as a whole was very seldomly fulfilled in the lifetime of those who received it (unlike Preterist’s interpretation of Revelation).

In looking further into fulfillment, we should note that timeframes of prophecies weren’t like a light bulb that was entirely in full force on day one and then completely and entirely switched off on the last day of the prophesied time period. In prophecies such as Daniel 9 which began with Israel having been punished and sent off into Babylonian captivity for 70 years (originally foretold in Jeremiah 25 and 29), it turns out there never was any exact and precise “70 year period” where they were all gone one day and then all fully reinstated in their homeland by the last day of that 70 year period. Instead, there were several phases where Israelites were taken captive as well as several phases where they left their captivity over a time period much longer than 70 years, even though God’s intended plan was for 70 years of banishment. Yet back then, Daniel was able to accurately realize that it had almost been 70 years and that specific prophecy would soon reach its conclusion. We can now look back and say there were at least 70 years when they were banished, but those precise dates can be debatable. Theologians still to this day have had great difficulty in pinpointing an exclusive 70 years, which have led some into postulating possibly three overlapping but distinct 70-year prophecies.

Ultimately, significant things nonetheless still happened “after” Jeremiah’s 70 years, which is also the case with Daniel’s 490 year prophecy. Therefore, when we get to that prophecy towards the end of Daniel 9, we see that not everything was entirely fulfilled within that period either, because although Jerusalem and its obsolete Temple had been predicted to be made desolate, that ultimately occurred within that generation, that is, within 40 years “after” the 490 year time period had ended. Therefore, we learn there can still be relevant events that can take place after God’s timeframe had ended, and His predictions weren’t like a lightbulb that was in full force on day one and then fully off on the last day. Those facts are helpful when studying timeframes within Revelation, and realizing the possibility that it might be debatable which specific date was the precise beginning and which date was the ultimate end, however, those timeframes did exist and were significant for what occurred during that time.

This knowledge of timeframes and their fulfillment will be especially applicable to the prophesied “1,260 days,” which was something that’s been obvious to many theologians who’ve realized that God had a certain specific timeframe, yet not all was completely and entirely fulfilled within that time, nor did everything start in full force at the beginning of that prophetic time period. Nonetheless, something very dramatic still happened within those years.

Beginning with the Old Testament prophets, Scripture had always given God’s people at least a vague idea of what was going to happen before it occurred, and only after those events took place did the prophecies become clear, displaying the accurate fulfillment of exactly what God had predicted. Within the book of Daniel, that roadmap continued with the most comprehensive and detailed description of world history written in advance, with the most notable being the “statue” of Empires found in Daniel 2, as well as the already fulfilled historical events from Daniel chapter 8 through 12, which included the monumental and completely fulfilled Christ-centered prophecy in Daniel 9. Many of those events took place during the 400 years before Christ was born, which was the time period after the book of Malachi was written, when Israel had been left without any prophets, yet they still had amazingly precise predictions of what was going to be occurring during those centuries. Similarly, even though we too no longer have prophets that foretell the future, our ancestors who utilized their Traditional Interpretation of Revelation were able to accurately see the roadmap of events that were to occur during the Church age. Even though they were brutally persecuted, they were greatly encouraged with the knowledge of how God has been fighting for His Church and fulfilling His prophecies one by one. By knowing precisely where they were at on God’s timeline, they were able to accurately know what was going to happen next.

While many theologians have noted that we no longer have prophets that “foretell” future events (ours can’t predict events, but instead can only “forthtell” God’s message for us, such as guidance, correction, or encouragement), we’ve still been able to know what was going to begin happening “shortly” after Revelation had been written, because Revelation is history written in advance, and most by now has already been fulfilled. Just like believers who used the roadmap given by God’s Old Testament prophets as they waited for the “First” Advent of Jesus and were able to recognize just how much had already been fulfilled, we too have a similar roadmap in Revelation as we wait for the “Second” Advent of Jesus, and we should also be able to recognize just how much has already been fulfilled, especially since it’s what our ancestors so thoroughly documented for us.

The predictions within the book of Daniel were so accurate that skeptics of the Bible claim that Daniel must’ve been written “after” the prophesied events had transpired. The reason they do so is that the accuracy of the detailed prophecies, such as in Daniel 8 and Daniel 11, are so spectacular that even the most hardened skeptic is simply unable to deny the accuracy of the description (a commentary on Daniel 11 can be found here, which shows how verses 36-45 weren’t about a future antichrist, but were instead about Herod the Great, “the king” of Judea when Jesus was born, also see this full study by Philip Mauro, chapter 9, starting on page 67). Fortunately, rather than it being deceptively written after the events had transpired, there’s abundant literary, historical, and biblical evidence that points to the book of Daniel being written in the sixth century BC, which is well before those events took place.

Quite interestingly, it’s often possible for us to find the interpretation of Scripture somewhere within in Scripture itself. An exceedingly important concept we’ll continue to repeat throughout our upcoming studies is that “Scripture interprets Scripture.” God had a plan for revealing His prophecies, and He helps show us His plan throughout His Word. For one example which was just briefly mentioned, Daniel 11 starts with kings from different directions, yet when we get to verse 36 we’re suddenly told about “the king,” which leads us to look back towards Judea rather than those different directions, and by allowing “Scripture to interpret Scripture,” it shows us that Herod the Great is the only one who is called “the king of Judea” in the Gospels, such as in Luke 1:5. He was the significant leader who killed all male boys under the age of two in Bethlehem in order to attempt to kill the Messiah whom he thought might’ve threatened his own kingship. All of which fulfilled the prophecy in Jeremiah 31:15 according to Matthew 2:17-18. It just makes much better sense to see that Daniel 11:36-45 was referring to the next important leader, Herod the Great, rather than jumping to the end of time and supposedly describing a future antichrist. Rather than being like dispensationalists who seem to instinctively anticipate breaks in prophecies that then supposedly jump to describing a future End Time antichrist, we must instead first see if there had instead been a continuous historical narrative. Fortunately, that’s exactly what we find in certain chapters in Daniel: a continuous historical narrative of already fulfilled prophecies without incongruous breaks. Everything was fulfilled right on time.

An overview of Daniel shows there would be four kingdoms that would rule over Israel: the Babylonian Empire, followed by the Medo-Persian Empire, then the Greek Empire, and finally the fourth which was in power during the ministry of Jesus: the exceedingly powerful Roman Empire which even ruled over Jerusalem. That’s all part of the well established “Traditional Interpretation.” That’s the majority view which had always been obvious even going all the way back to Jewish commentaries. Only someone with an agenda would dare attempt to imply otherwise. Those were the four kingdoms, and the fifth is the Kingdom of King Jesus which is in its inaugural form that will someday be replaced by the final consummated form in the New Heaven and Earth.

Because that order of kingdoms plays such a large role in Daniel, and we know Revelation contains many similarities with what’s found in Daniel, then we should naturally expect to find the same narrative of Empires that started in Daniel to carry over into Revelation, just as our ancestors had documented for us. It’s a consistent order, rather than randomly being rearranged. Since this order of Empires is so important, it’s now time to begin examining its introduction in Daniel 2, and we should especially note the vast usage of symbolism that God used throughout the book of Daniel to predict those already fulfilled events.

This is the dream and it’s interpretation that Daniel gave to Nebuchadnezzar:

“This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet… and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

“Now we will tell the interpretation… the God of heaven has given you a kingdom… you are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided… so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile… they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed… it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms…,” (Daniel 2:31-44).

The order of the kingdoms clearly started with Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian Empire, and then “the hand writing on the wall” informed Belshazzar that his kingdom was about to end:

“Your KINGDOM has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians,” (Daniel 5:28).

Therefore, according to that passage, the Babylonian Empire was replaced by the “Medes and Persians,” and it was a combined kingdom.

For the identification of the next phase which was the Greek Empire that overtook the Medo-Persian Empire, especially notice the symbolism utilized, rather than straightforward descriptions:

“… a male goat came from the west… Then he came to the ram that had two horns… and ran at him with furious power… The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are THE KINGS OF MEDIA AND PERSIA. And the male goat is THE KINGDOM OF GREECE,” (Daniel 8:5-6, 20-21).

First, notice that the terms “kings” and “kingdom” were used interchangeably in those two passages (“kings” of Medo-Persia and the “kingdom” of Greece), and we’ll soon see how that particular symbolism continues throughout the Bible where the use of the name “king” can actually refer to a “kingdom” rather than a single individual. Next, rather than referring to a literal goat or ram, we’ll notice that the “two” horned ram was representative for the divided Medo-Persian Empire and the goat was from the kingdom of Greece and had represented Alexander the Great.

In the prophecies about this third phase, the Greek Empire, it’s been obvious to historians that Alexander the Great quickly and powerfully conquered the Persians in a brilliant series of battles. Alexander mysteriously died at the young age of 32, and after his death his empire was divided into “FOUR” dynasties. Alexander’s top FOUR GENERALS, as part of the Diadochi, fought for control. Ptolemy, Antigonus, Cassander, and Seleucus were the last remaining at the end of “the Wars of the Successors” who ended up forging four dynasties in Egypt, Asia-Minor, Macedonia and Persia, which lasted several centuries.

Here’s another passage that predicted those historical events:

“Then a mighty king shall arise [Alexander the Great], who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided TOWARD THE FOUR WINDS of heaven, BUT NOT AMONG HIS POSTERITY…,” (Daniel 11:3-4).

That’s what happened to Alexander the Great: “…divided .. not among his posterity,” which means it wouldn’t go to any of his descendants. It instead went to four generals as we just saw, and we’ll continue to see in this next passage that they were also identified as the “four notable ones:”

“Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it FOUR NOTABLE ONES came up TOWARD THE FOUR WINDS of heaven. And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great…” (Daniel 8:8-9).

That’s still exactly what happened. From one of the four generals arose what’s described as a “little horn.” That’s what countless commentaries prove, and one of many is this from Joseph Benson:

“The reader will be pleased particularly to observe this, as being a key to the right interpretation of the subsequent prophecy. The little horn proceeded from one of the four kingdoms just mentioned, into which Alexander’s empire was divided after his death: therefore to look for it elsewhere, or to interpret it of any power, king, or kingdom, which had not its origin in one of them, must be a misinterpretation of the prophecy. From one of the four successors of Alexander, namely, from Antiochus the Great, came forth Antiochus, afterward called Epiphanes.”

A “horn” is a fairly frequent Biblical symbol denoting the wielding of power. So the image of a horn growing out of “notable horns” would imply a power developing out of a greater power. The interpretation is that the four horns were dynasties, and the lesser horn was a member of one of those dynasties, the diabolical Antiochus Epiphanes.

Also see this commentary from Albert Barnes which makes a contrasting comparison to the other “little horn” of Daniel 7 that was to arise from among the 10 kingdoms:

“And out of one of them, came forth a little horn – Emblematic of new power that should spring up. Compare the notes at Daniel 7:8. This little horn sprang up out of one of the others; it did not spring up in the midst of the others as the little horn in Daniel 7:8 did AMONG THE TEN OTHERS. This seemed to grow out of one of the four, and the meaning cannot be misunderstood. From one of the four powers or kingdoms into which the empire of Alexander would be divided, there would spring up this ambitions and persecuting power… Which became exceedingly powerful. It was comparatively small at first, but ultimately became mighty. There can be no doubt that Antiochus Epiphanes is denoted here.”

As just mentioned, Antiochus Epiphanies was the “little horn” of Daniel 8, whereas there’s also a different “little horn” in Daniel 7. It’s critical to see that the book of Daniel contains two different “little horns.” Daniel 8 describes a horn which came out of the Greek Empire, the diabolical Antiochus Epiphanies who persecuted God’s people, which led to the Maccabean Revolt, and the defeat of Antiochus is still celebrated during Hanukkah (a brief five part study of Daniel 8 can be found here).

Regarding the other “little horn” found in Daniel 7, it’s important to recognize that this horn rose up out from “AMONG” the 10 others that had formerly been a part of the Roman Empire (see Daniel 7:7-8 which we’ll evaluate below). That horn was unlike the “little horn” of Daniel 8 which rose up out of the Greek Empire. Those most definitely were two different “little horns” from two different time periods. One horn was Greek and the other horn was Roman.

It’s now time to look further into the important 7th chapter of Daniel. The sequence of kingdoms in Daniel 2 portrayed the four Empires as metals which were part of a statue, yet this sequence in Daniel 7 portrays those same Empires as “beasts” (and the first three “beasts” are then repeated in Revelation 13 to describe the culmination of what preceded the fourth Empire). This description of “beasts” is simply another similar way of portraying those exact same four Empires.

As we saw earlier, in Biblical prophecy, the symbol of a “king” actually refers to a “kingdom” (see Daniel 7:17-23):

“Those great BEASTS, which are four, are four KINGS which arise out of the earth,” (Daniel 7:17).

“The fourth BEAST shall be a fourth KINGDOM on earth,” (Daniel 7:23).

Did you see that? The four “beasts” were described as being “kings,” yet the next representation in verse 23 explicitly tells us that the fourth “beast” which had previously been called a “king” is actually a “KINGDOM.” Therefore, because Biblical prophecy is known to contain a large amount of symbolism, when we see a “king” mentioned, it’s actually a symbol which refers to a “kingdom,” and that fact will be very important to appreciate when we get to Revelation. Preterists typically miss that symbolism and assume it was literal “kings,” however, many Futurists are able to recognize that in prophecies a “king” refers to “kingdoms.”

Knowing all of this, when examining Daniel 7, obviously the first “beast” was the Babylonian Empire, the second “beast” was the Medo-Persian Empire, the third “beast” was the Greek Empire, and the fourth “beast” was the Roman Empire which is noted as containing “10 horns.”

Theologians have noted how these “beasts” are precisely the same four Empires from the statue in Daniel 2, but how exactly does God describe these “beasts?” Again notice that those same “beasts” were also used in Revelation 13, and it’s impressive and noteworthy that the Bible stays consistent in its description of those same exact kingdoms. So how exactly does God describe to us the things which have literally happen throughout history?

“…behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it,” (Daniel 7:2-4).

Later, the angel who interprets the dream tells Daniel,

“The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth” (verse 17).

Since we now know that a “king” is the symbol for a “kingdom,” therefore, this first beast is representative of the “kingdom” of Babylon, and from out of that beast arises Nebuchadnezzar who was given “a man’s heart” and able to stand on “two feet.” Even though it’s a site that teaches dispensational Futurism, see these quotes from gotquestions.org which prove that it’s still quite obvious even to them the precise identities of those four kingdoms:

“…Its rise to human-like status reflects Nebuchadnezzar’s deliverance from a beastly existence and his insight into the true nature of God (Daniel 4:34-35). The second beast in Daniel’s vision is ‘like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth’ (Daniel 7:5). A voice tells the second beast to devour flesh until it is satisfied. This beast represents the Medo-Persian Empire; the raising up of one side of the creature indicates that one of the kingdom’s parts (Persia) would be dominant. The three ribs in the creature’s mouth symbolize nations that were ‘devoured’ by the Medes and the Persians. These three conquered nations are known to be Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.”

“The third of the four beasts is ‘like a leopard,’ except it has four bird-like wings on its back and four heads (Daniel 7:6). This beast is given authority to rule. The third beast represents Greece, an empire known for the swiftness of its conquests [the use of the “leopard” and “wings” are the perfect symbols to describe the swiftness of this kingdom]. The four heads are predictive of the four-way division of the empire following Alexander the Great’s death. Daniel’s vision of the ram and the goat gives further details of the second and third kingdoms (see Daniel 8).”

“The final beast that Daniel sees rising from the sea is the most dreadful—‘terrifying and frightening and very powerful’ (Daniel 7:7). This fourth beast has ‘bronze claws’ (verse 19) and ‘large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left’ totally annihilating its prey (verse 7). The fourth beast has ten horns. This creature represents the Roman Empire, a mighty kingdom that indeed crushed all its foes.”

(End of quotations from gotquestions.org)

As we’ve seen, what came next after the Greek Empire was clearly the exceedingly powerful Roman Empire. Jesus was born during the reign of the Roman Empire, specifically during the height of “Pax Romana,” the roughly 200-year-long period identified as the golden age of Roman Imperialism, notable for relative peace, order, and prosperous stability, which was from 27 BC to 180 AD.

During the time of that forth kingdom, “in the days of these kings” (Daniel 2:44), God was to set up His Kingdom, the fifth kingdom, which would start out small like a mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32) and would grow to become a great mountain. What was left of the fourth kingdom would always exist, yet, “they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay,” (Daniel 2:43). During the reign of the fourth kingdom there was going to be a “stone,” which we now know was Jesus who was the “cornerstone” (1 Peter 2:4-8), who would eventually break and consume the remnants of the other kingdoms. We see that confirmed in Matthew 21:44:

“And whoever falls on this STONE will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

We learn in both Daniel 2 and 7 that the fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire, was going to become divided (Daniel 2:41). That division would end up with two halves, just like how the statue had two “legs,” and within that division there would be found 10 kingdoms, which could possibly be thought of as 10 toes of the statue. While Daniel 2 gives clues that there might be 10 kingdoms, it’s Daniel 7 that explicitly spells that out for us. Regarding the Roman Empire:

“It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns,” (Daniel 7:7).

The fact that the Roman Empire was going to break up into 10 kingdoms was blatantly obvious to the Early Church theologians who documented that for us in their commentaries. Therefore, because it fits so perfectly with what’s described in Daniel 7, we’ll now briefly look again at what the Early Church knew about 2 Thessalonians 2. As opposed to prophets who didn’t know the meaning of their prophecies, Paul on the other hand knew something very specific which he directly communicated to his audience:

“Do you not remember that when I was still with you I TOLD YOU THESE THINGS? And now YOU KNOW WHAT IS RESTRAINING,” (2 Thessalonians 2:5-6).

In that chapter we’re told: 

-there would be a falling away from the faith

-the man of sin would be revealed, “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he SITS AS GOD IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, showing himself that he is God.” (We also know that the Church is the Temple of God).

-“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed”

There was already a lawlessness at work back then, however, it was being held back by the “restrainer.” Only once the “restrainer” was removed could the lawless “man of sin” be revealed, and he would be found within the Temple of God. Therefore, since Paul explicitly told the Early Church the precise identity, the best authority to turn to for the identification of the “restrainer” would be our earliest theologians. This wasn’t an unknown mystery presented to the early Church for them to have to figure out. It wasn’t something they could’ve misunderstood with many different opinions. Instead, the early Church, the ones directly taught by Paul about the precise identity of the “restrainer,” clearly and consistently communicated to us who it was. As it turns out, the early Church consistently declared that the “restrainer” was THE PAGAN ROMAN EMPIRE with its emperors who restrained. They also wrote that when the Roman Empire fell (which happened in 476 AD as it broke into 10 kingdoms), a position of authority would rise up over the CHURCH, which is the “Temple” of God.

Let’s look again at this from Tertullian:

“‘For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now hinders must hinder, until he be taken out of the way.’ What obstacle is there but the ROMAN STATE, the falling away of which, by being SCATTERED INTO TEN KINGDOMS, shall introduce Antichrist.” (“On the Resurrection of the Flesh,” chapter 24; Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. III, p. 563).

It was blatantly obvious to the Early Church that these things were going to take place “after” 70 AD. It was going to occur “after” the Roman Empire fell. The Early Church theologians clearly communicated to us that the pagan Roman Empire was the “restrainer” who held back the “man of sin,” and they accurately knew it would fall and break up into “10 kingdoms.”

Look again at that passage in 2 Thessalonians. It says that the “restrainer” will restrain, but once the Roman Empire with its emperors were removed, then, and only then, could the “man of sin” be revealed. That conclusively and undeniably shows us that while the pagan Roman Empire still stood, the “man of sin” couldn’t have risen up, therefore there’s no way that Nero or any other Emperor could’ve been the predicted “man of sin.” That’s a major flaw of Preterism.

Look again at what was documented by Cyril of Jerusalem:

“But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the ROMAN EMPIRE shall have been fulfilled… There shall rise up together TEN KINGS [Kingdoms] OF THE ROMANS, reigning in different parts perhaps, but ALL ABOUT THE SAME TIME; and after those an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the ROMAN POWER; and of the kings [kingdoms] who reigned before him, ‘THREE HE SHALL HUMBLE.’” (“Catechetical Lectures,” section 15, on II Thessalonians 2:4; Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. VII, p. 108).

Interestingly, they knew that not only would the pagan Roman Empire fall and break up into “10 kingdoms,” but as Cyril and many others pointed out, 3 of those kingdoms would then be crushed by a certain position of authority. As it turns out, that’s exactly what happened.

But from where did the Early Church get the idea that three of those kingdoms would be removed? It’s from Daniel 7:

“…behold, a FOURTH BEAST [the Roman Empire], dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom THREE of the first horns were PLUCKED OUT BY THE ROOTS. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words,” (Daniel 7:7-8).

“Then I wished to know the truth about the FOURTH BEAST, which was different from all the others… and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which THREE FELL, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows,” (Daniel 7:19-20).

“The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and SHALL SUBDUE THREE KINGS,” (Daniel 7:24).

We again must notice that prophetic “kings” are a symbol which refers to “kingdoms,” yet for any dispensational Futurists who still expect literal “kings,” even one of the chief proponents of dispensationalism had this to say, “…in Daniel’s vision the ten horns come out of the Roman Empire and the ten are KINGDOMS, not economic unions,” (John F. Walvoord, End Times, p. 106). Many Futurists believe the Roman Empire has to be rebuilt again in order for it to break up into 10 “kingdoms” and for three of those “kingdoms” to be crushed. However, our ancestors boldly declared that nothing could ever come along to fulfill again what had already been perfectly fulfilled the first time. Therefore, let’s see what happened when the Roman Empire fell the first time.

The Roman Empire ended up dividing into the Western and Eastern halves of the Roman Empire, which could possibly be depicted as the two legs of the statue. Yet remember that the previous kingdom of Greece had been depicted as the “thighs,” even though it wasn’t literally two separate kingdoms. While it could’ve been possible for each foot to have had 5 toes, it turned out that all of 10 kingdoms from the prophecy were actually to be found within the Western half. Technically, the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD can be referred to as the fall of the “Western” Roman Empire, or simply “the fall of Rome.” It was the loss of central political control within the Western Roman Empire when the ability to enforce its rule ended and its vast territory divided.

Regarding the question of how literally we’re to interpret the body parts of the image, and whether ten toes might appear on one foot:

“We read in Daniel 7:12 that the three earlier beasts did not cease to be when the fourth arose. ‘Their dominion was taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.’ That is, the three first empires are said to co-exist with the fourth after their dominion has ended. This proves that they are regarded as distinct in place as well as in time. They continue to be recognized as territorial divisions of the earth after the disappearance of their political supremacy. Now the Eastern Empire of Rome occupied precisely the same territory as the Grecian Empire, or ‘thighs of brass.’ It cannot therefore be one of the legs of iron, or be regarded as forming any part of the empire proper and peculiar to Rome. The ten horns of the fourth empire must none of them be sought in the realms of the third, second, or first, but exclusively in the realm of the fourth, or in the territory peculiar to Rome, and which had never formed part either of the Grecian, Medo-Persian, or Babylonian empires. The master mind of Sir Isaac Newton perceived this long ago! He says: ‘Seeing the body of the third beast is confined to the nations on this side the Euphrates, and the body of the fourth beast is confined to the nations on this side of Greece, we are to look for all the four heads of the third beast among the nations on this side the Euphrates, and for all the eleven horns of the fourth beast among the nations on this side of Greece. Therefore we do not reckon the Greek Empire seated at Constantinople among the horns of the fourth beast, because it belonged to the body of the third,’” (Fallacies of Futurism, p.16-17, Guinness).

Daniel 7:24 tells us that the 10 kingdoms are said to “arise from” the fourth kingdom, not necessarily out of the whole area it ever covered, but simply from it. We see those 10 kingdoms (not only Daniel but also in Revelation) aren’t to be found from the widest area of the Roman Empire, but instead only from the western part which had never been controlled by Greece, because what is know as the Eastern Roman Empire is actually Greek.

“The successive metal portions of the Great Image [from Daniel 2] denote successive additions of territory as each Empire is formed, and also a transfer of supreme power to the new Empire. Each metal as it attains supreme power rules also over the portions of the Image above it. Thus the silver portion denotes the fresh territory added by the Medo-Persian Empire to that of Babylon, and the transfer of power over both to the new Empire thus extended. So with the brass. Similarly the iron portion of the Image denotes the fresh territory of the Western Empire of Rome which was added to the Eastern territories symbolized by the previous metals; also that the supreme over of the whole was to be transferred to the new Empire of Rome. Hence it is clear that since the Ten Toes belong to the iron portion of the Image, the kingdoms they symbolize are to be sought, not in the Eastern territories of the previous portion, but only in that part of the Roman Empire which was not included in the Grecian brass, or the Medo-Persian silver, or the Babylonian gold; that is to say, only in the Western Roman Empire,” (The Visions of Daniel and Revelation Explained, E. P. Cachemaille, p. 432).

While its legitimacy lasted for centuries afterwards and its influence remains today, the Western Empire never had the strength to rise again and fully merge together, just as predicted:

“…they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay,” (Daniel 2:43).

Meanwhile, the Eastern or “Byzantine” Roman Empire survived and remained for centuries as an effective power, yet it too lessened in strength as had also been predicted. Interestingly, our ancestors noted that there were predictions of the decline of the Eastern Empire in Revelation, and they were able to accurately predict those events before they occurred.

In order to learn more about the fall of the pagan Roman Empire, and to do so free of any accusations of it being tainted by a Christian who might’ve been attempting to validate his views of prophecy and forcing events to fit into that narrative, we can fortunately turn to the influential secular historian Edward Gibbon. He was known for his polemical criticism of organized religion and wrote The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which had been criticized for its scathing view of the Christian church and for its antagonism toward Christian doctrine, which resulted in the banning of that book in several countries. All of that most definitely proves he wasn’t attempting to fit any view of Christian prophecy into his well researched documentation on the fall of the Roman Empire.

In that thoroughly researched account of history we learn that the Western Roman Empire divided into ten separate kingdoms: Alemanni, Franks, Burgundians, Suevi, Vandals, Visigoths, Anglo-Saxons, Ostrogoths, Lombards, and the Heruli. History is also unmistakable as to who uprooted the three exterminated kingdoms. It can be attributed to one power only, and that power was the “Little Horn” of Daniel 7 which is also synonymous with the “beast” in Revelation. That power was the position of authority that rose up over the Church which is the Temple of God. Quotes from Gibbon’s work regarding those ten kingdoms can be found here.

As for the debate of whether they’re merely ten consecutive literal “kings,” it should be noted that’s just not possible. It had said:

“…a little one, coming up AMONG them,” (Daniel 7:8).

In order for another king or kingdom to come up AMONG them, they all had to exist at the same time. We’ve already seen that Early Church theologians such as Cyril had noted that they were to reign “all about the same time.” That matches history perfectly; the kingdoms all existed at the same time. A certain position of authority over the Church (the Temple of God) then uprooted the Vandals, the Heruli and the Ostrogoths as they had opposed his authority. And now, as a result, none of those three kingdoms currently exists today.

Lastly, we’ll note that in both Daniel 7 and Revelation 13, the opportunity would be given for that position of authority over the Church to “persecute” and “wage war” against Christians for a length of time referred to as 42 months, which is the same as 3.5 years, which is also the same length of time as 1,260 days:

“I was watching; and the same horn was MAKING WAR AGAINST THE SAINTS, and prevailing against them… He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, SHALL PERSECUTE THE SAINTS of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand FOR A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME,” (Daniel 7:21, 25).

In anticipation of what we’re going to find in Revelation, please consider these verses in Daniel 7 which display the exact same details which are in Revelation 13, and it should be obvious that they’re both describing the exact same thing which arose from out of the fourth kingdom:

Regarding “making war against” and “persecuting” Christians “for time, times and half a time,” we all now know that “time” refers to a year, “times” would be two years, and half a “time” is half a year, which all together equals 3.5 years. That time period is exactly the same as 42 months, which is the same as 1,260 days (a Biblical “month” has 30 days and therefore 3.5 Biblical “years” has 1,260 days). To avoid confusion, the Bible had rephrased “time, times, and half a time” for us in those other passages which tell us that it’s actually 42 months or 1,260 days. It’s all referring to the exact same thing, and what it had referred to eventually became painfully obvious to our ancestors. Our ancestors recognized the Biblical “day for a year” principle of prophecy taught in Numbers 14:34, Ezekiel 4:6 and Daniel 9, therefore they knew that the persecution wouldn’t just be for 1,260 days, but rather, it would be 1,260 years which have by now already been fulfilled.

That specific time of persecution was to take place “after” the restrainer was removed, which means it would rise up and begin shortly after the fall of the pagan Roman Empire which fell in 476 AD. (For a glimpse of when it officially began, see this and this).

We’ve seen that Revelation wasn’t about the destruction of Jerusalem, but rather, it reveals what would occur “after” 70 AD. And any persecution that occurred before 70 AD pales in comparison to what occurred during these last 2,000 years of Church history, and especially what occurred during the foretold 1,260 years. It’s absolutely fascinating to learn what our ancestors recognized about Church history and recorded for us in their commentaries, which we’ll begin studying next.

To recap our study of Daniel:

-God’s prophecies utilized symbolism, and those symbols have been proven to have referred to very real, historical figures and events and not merely vague, nonspecific, generic concepts of good versus evil (in opposition to Idealism and in support of Historicism)

-God’s prophecies were often fulfilled over several centuries, after the lifetime of that generation, and prophecies as a whole were seldomly fulfilled in the lifetime of those who receive it (in opposition to Preterism and in support of Historicism)

-While some events began to “shortly take place” immediately after 96 AD, some incorrectly assume that all of Revelation had to have been a direct message to the original audience that received it, which supposedly had to be applicable and understood by that generation, however, Daniel’s generation wouldn’t have understood what was described to them, and only after several centuries of historical events had taken place could the prophecies be properly decoded (in opposition to Preterism and in support of Historicism)

-Most (or all) of the prophecies in Daniel aren’t future to our current generation (in opposition to Futurism and in support of Historicism)

-The prophecies were presented in a sequential manner as a continuous historical narrative, beginning at a fixed point in history and leading up to a culminating event. Therefore, we shouldn’t expect prophecies in Revelation to reveal unannounced, repetitious patterns of parallel symbols such as are often imposed by those who hold that the seals, trumpets, and bowl judgments might represent three parallel series of events (in opposition to Progressive Parallelism and in support of Historicism)

-We shouldn’t expect prophecies to randomly jump thousands of years into the future in order to describe a future antichrist. Instead, we’ve noted that Daniel 11:36-45 went directly from describing Antiochus Epiphanies to the next significant leader, Herod the Great, who was “the king” of Israel when Jesus was born, rather than switching to a future antichrist. Therefore, rather than being like dispensational Futurists who anticipate breaks in prophecies that supposedly jump to describing a future End Time antichrist, we must instead first see if there’s simply a continuous historical narrative (in opposition to Futurism and in support of Historicism)

-Even events referred to as “the time of the end” (Daniel 8:17) weren’t actually about the end of the world (in opposition to Futurism)

-Prophecies in Daniel include events which were to take place “AFTER” 70 AD, such as when the pagan Roman Empire fell and broke up into 10 kingdoms as predicted, which was documented in Early Church commentaries and have been confirmed by secular historians such as Edward Gibbon (in opposition to Preterism and in support of Historicism)

-The first “little horn” in Daniel 8 was Greek and was fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanies, yet the next “little horn” from Daniel 7 was to be Roman and was to rise up “AFTER” the fall of the pagan Roman Empire

-It was known by the Early Church that the pagan Roman Empire would fall (which occurred in 476 AD), and they knew there would be a position of authority referred to as a “little horn” that would rise up and crush three of the 10 resultant kingdoms, and would speak pompous and boastful words (in opposition to Preterism and in support of Historicism)

-It was blatantly obvious to our ancestors precisely what position of authority arose out of the “Roman” Empire who crushed those three kingdoms which were the now extinct Vandals, Heruli and the Ostrogoths (in support of Historicism)

-It was blatantly obvious to our ancestors what specific position of authority was speaking pompous and boastful words (in support of Historicism)

-It became painfully obvious to our ancestors that Daniel 7 taught that the position of authority based in “Rome” had been given the power to “wage war against” and “persecute” Christians (in support of Historicism)

-After a long period of persecuting Christians, it became blatantly and painfully obvious that the Bible had been using the “day for a year” principle of prophecy, and that position of authority based in “Rome” had been given 1,260 “years” to persecute Christians, during which time more than a million were killed and the Bible was trapped in the dead “Latin” language (which originated with the “Latins” who lived in Rome) and it was forbidden for anyone to translate the Bible into a common readable language, and any who dared do so were labeled as “heretics” and killed by that position of authority (in support of Historicism)

-Although Futurists think the Roman Empire has to be rebuilt to fulfill those prophecies, our ancestors instead confidently declared that it would be impossible for anything else to ever be able to come along to fulfill again what had already been perfectly fulfilled the first time (in opposition to Futurism and in support of Historicism)

As we’ve seen, the book of Daniel is history written in advance, it’s God’s story for us, it’s “His”-story, it’s “History.” The Bible’s detailed account of historical events is reliable and trustworthy, including not only the historical prophecies found in Daniel, but also many already fulfilled events from Revelation. It’s simply undeniable that the prophecies in Daniel were fulfilled in an identical manner as Historicists have interpreted Revelation. Rather than attempting to find a new way to interpret Revelation, we should interpret it the exact same way that we interpret the book of Daniel and we’ll see that Revelation symbolically described very real events that were to transpire over many, many centuries.