Daniel 7 and the Little Horn

What does the little horn represent in Daniel 7?

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The Bible's Book of Daniel contains a prophecy that is revealed in the vision of Daniel 7. Daniel witnesses the appearance of four enormous creatures rising out of the water, each of which stands for a distinct kingdom or era in human history. Given that the "little horn" stands for a force that opposes God's people and grows among the ten horns, or kingdoms, it is especially important to look at what it meant in this lesson.

Many people discovered that the small horn symbolizes a religious and political force that rises from the Roman Empire. Is that accurate? Can we connect the small horn to the Roman Catholic Church's ascent to dominance as the pope? It is reported that the saints suffer persecution from the tiny horn for a time, times, and half a time. How do saints triumph in time of persecution?

1. 1.WHAT did Daniel see in vision?

   Bible⇒ Daniel 7 : 1-7 .

2. 2.What did these symbols mean ?

   Bible⇒

   1. " Wind " means strife. Jeremiah 49 : 36, 37
   2. " Waters " symbolize peoples. Revelation 17 : 15
   3. " Lion " symbolizes Babylon. Jeremiah 4 : 7 ; Habakkuk 1 : 6-9.
   4. " Bear " symbolizes Medo-Persia. Daniel 5 : 30, 31; Daniel 8 : 20.
   5. " Leopard ' symbolizes Grecia. Daniel 8 : 21, 22 .

      Within a few years after the death of Alexander the Great, the Grecian Empire was divided into four parts : Cassander had Macedon and Greece in the west ; Lysimachus had Thrace and parts of Asia in the north ; Ptolemy had Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria in the south ; Seleucus had Syria and the rest of the empire in the east.

   6. The " fourth beast " symbolizes Rome. Daniel 8 : 23-25; Luke 2 : 1.

3. 3.What was peculiar about the fourth beast?

   Bible⇒ Daniel 7: 7, 8 .

4. 4.What did the ten horns represent ?

   Bible⇒ Daniel 7 : 23,24.

5. 5.Name the kingdoms represented by the ten horns, as given in history

   The nations represented by the ten horns are as follows:

   1. Franks (French),
   2. Alemanni (Germans),
   3. Burgundians (Swiss),
   4. Suevi (Portuguese),
   5. Vandals (in Northern Africa),
   6. Visigoths (Spanish),
   7. Anglo-Saxons (English),
   8. Ostrogoths (Austrians),
   9. Loin bards (in part of Italy),
   10. and Heruli (also in a portion of Italy)
   .

6. 

   

   

7. 6.What came up in the midst of these ten?

   Bible⇒ Daniel 7 : 8 .

8. 7.How did it look ?

   Bible ⇉ Daniel 7 : 20.

9. 8.In what way was this power " diverse " from the others?

   Bible⇒ Daniel 7: 24 .

   Ans.- It was an ecclesiastical power ; the others were political.

10. 9. What would it do to make a place for itself?

    Bible⇒ Daniel 7: 24 .

11. 10. What three kingdoms were plucked up?

    1. Heruli, A. 0. 493 ;
    2. Vandals, A. D. 534 ;
    3. Ostrogoths, A. D. 538. These three Arian powers would not recognize the Bishop of Rome as the head of the church

12. 11. After this little horn was established, what words did he speak ?

    Bible⇒ Daniel 7 : 25 .

    Blasphemous Titles.— " The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God."
    " The Pope by reason of the excellence of his supreme dignity is called bishop of bishops. He is also called ordinary of ordinaries. He is likewise bishop of the universal church. He is likewise the divine monarch and supreme emperor, and king of kings. Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions."
    " We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty."— Pope Leo XIII.
    " Thou art the shepherd, thou art the physician, thou art the director, thou art the husbandman ; finally, thou art another God on earth." (See " Source Book," art. " Pope.")

13. 

14. 12. What else would this power do

    Bible⇒ Daniel 7 : 25 .

    For professing faith contrary to the teachings of the Church of Rome, history records the martyrdom of more than one hundred million people. A million Waldenses and Albigenses perished during a crusade proclaimed by Pope Innocent III in 1208 ; beginning from the establishment of the Jesuits in 1540 to 1580, nine hundred thousand were destroyed ; one hundred and fifty thousand perished by the Inquisition in thirty years ; within the space of thirty-eight years after the edict of Charles V against the Protestants, fifty thousand persons were hanged, beheaded, or burned alive for heresy ; eighteen thousand more perished during the administration of the Duke of Alva in five and a half years.

15. 13. What change has this power attempted to make in the law of God ?

    Bible⇒ Daniel 7 : 25 .

16. 14. What time is mentioned in God's law ?

    The seventh-day Sabbath

17. 15. What change does Rome claim to have made in the Sabbath?

    From the seventh day to the first day

18. 16. Has it really made any changes in God's law ?

    Bible⇒ No, it could only think to change it. Daniel 7: 25 .

    5.—" Ques.— Has the church power to make any alteration in the commandments of God?
    " Ans.— . . . Instead of the seventh day, and other festivals appointed by the old law, the church has prescribed the Sundays and holy days to be set apart for God's worship ; and these we are now obliged to keep in consequence of God's commandment, instead of the ancient Sabbath."—" The Catholic Christian Instructed," p. 211.
    " The Catholic church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the [ Sabbath] day from Saturday to Sunday."— The Catholic Mirror, Sept. 13, 1893.

19. 17. For how long would this power sway the world ?

    Bible⇒ Daniel 7:25 .

    (A " time " in symbolic language represents a year. See Daniel 11 : 13, margin ; Ezekiel 4 : 6 ; Numbers 14 : 34.)

20. 18. When did it end?

    - 1798. Adding 538 to 1260 years brings us to 1798.

21. 19. What happened this year to break its dominion completely ?

    Berthier, general of the French army, entered Rome and took the pope captive.

22. 20. What great work was to follow 1798?

    Bible⇒ Daniel 7: 26; Daniel 7: 9- 11 .

23. 21.Who will have a Dart in the kingdom of God?

    Bible⇒ Daniel 7: 13, 14; Daniel 7: 18; Daniel 7: 27. .

24. 22.Which power will you obey, the little-horn power or the God of heaven ?