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In our last study we looked at the first two world empires Daniel prophesied about. First was Babylon, then came Medo-Persia. Daniel would finish writing his book before he saw the next empire come to power. That next empire would be Greece.
This is where things get interesting. What I am going to share from the Bible is not going to be hard to understand, but it is going to be a lot more information than most people can handle at one time. So I am going to attempt to break it down into bite-sized pieces.
Just for reference, these were the prophecies given in Daniel chapters two, seven, and eight:
The Dream of Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel 2:32-35
32 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
The Dream of Four Great Beasts
Daniel 7:3-14
3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 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. 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. 6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast 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. 8 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. 9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. 11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
The Vision of the Ram and the Goat
Daniel 8:3-12
3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. 4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great. 5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. 7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. 8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. 9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. 10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. 11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. 12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
The Rise of Greece
After Medo-Persia, which we looked at in the last study, Daniel tells us Greece would become a world empire.
Daniel 2:32
32 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
Daniel 7:6
6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
Daniel 8:21
21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
Greece is represented in Daniel 2 by the bronze belly and thighs of the statue in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. In Daniel 7 it is represented as the leopard which had four wings and four heads. And in Daniel 8 it is represented by the goat with a great horn.
That great horn is known as Alexander the Great. He was known for his swift military victories and rapid expansion. Greece under Alexander was an unstoppable united force.
Daniel 8:22
22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
When he died, his kingdom did not remain united. There was no one who inherited the throne. Instead, four of his generals fought in what is called the Diadochi Wars. These wars divided the land into four kingdoms. The empire of Greece was divided roughly like this:
- Cassander — ruled Macedonia and Greece (west)
- Lysimachus — ruled Thrace and parts of Asia Minor (northwest)
- Seleucus — ruled Syria, Mesopotamia, and lands east (north of Israel)
- Ptolemy — ruled Egypt and lands south (south of Israel)
Over time, two of the four Greek kingdoms were absorbed into the growing power of the others and faded from prominence. From this point forward, prophecy no longer follows Greece as a single empire. Instead, it follows the ongoing struggle between these two rival kingdoms. Those were the north kingdom ruled by Seleucus and the south kingdom ruled by Ptolemy.
- Seleucus — ruled Syria and lands north of Israel
- Ptolemy — ruled Egypt and lands south of Israel
If you look at a map of the area, you will find Israel right in the middle between the two. So anytime they fought, Israel was stuck in the crossfire.
Again, we see a fulfillment of prophecy. In the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, Greece is represented as the brass belly, but it is also represented as the two brass thighs. The statue shows a division between them. Both the North and South kingdoms are what remained of the Greek world empire.
At this point, it is important to pause and understand what is happening. Up until Greece, the world empires in Daniel’s prophecies were unified powers. Babylon was one kingdom. Medo-Persia ruled together as a single empire. But Greece was different.
When Alexander died, the empire fractured. From that moment on, prophecy no longer follows Greece as a single power, but as regional kingdoms surrounding Israel. This is why Daniel begins to speak of the king of the north and the king of the south. These were still Greek territories, but now divided into two separate nations.
The Transition from Greece to Rome
There is another thing that needs to be made clear before we continue to the next world empire. Since every world empire before this ended when a new empire completely replaced it, we may subconsciously expect Greece to finish its part in the story before the next one begins.
But these two kingdoms, the North and the South, never came to an end in history or in prophecy. The next empire, Rome, did not erase Greece — it ruled over it. Greece lost its place as a world empire to Rome, but its north and south kingdoms never stopped existing.
That is why, as we continue our studies, we will see the north and south kingdoms of Greece play a major role in prophecy even while Rome has taken over as the world empire. Rome took over, but it did not eliminate them.
This is going to be important to know when we talk about the future antichrist, because the prophecies of Greece and Rome both include mentions of several horns, one of which we will learn is a symbol of the antichrist.
For now, though, we need to understand the progression of the world empires before getting into the specifics of what the horns in these prophecies mean. So in the next study, we will examine the final world empire before the Kingdom of God is set up on earth.
Continue To Unit 7:9 – The Prophecies of Daniel: A Timeline of World Empires (Part 3) OR
Return To Christianity 101 Unit 7 – The Latter Days – A Detailed Look