The Fourth Kingdom of Daniel Chapter 7 — Rome
In this article, I hope to show that the “fourth beast” also called the “fourth kingdom” of Daniel 7 continues to this very day, and to suggest it is ruling the world covertly through agents of the Roman Catholic Church, also known as the “Holy See”.
Daniel 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes (the Pope), and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
All good Bible scholars agree that the Fourth Beast or Kingdom is ROME!
This beast with the “great iron teeth” corresponds to the legs of iron in the Daniel 2 image and is, of course, Rome. This great and terrible beast of force and power “devoured and brake in pieces” all the known, civilized world of its day. And yet so magnificent was the Roman concept of law, so noble their ideas and ideals, so learned their language and literature, that they were to influence all cultures and civilizations to come. This truly diverse beast literally “stamped the residue” of civilizations with the imprint of its culture!
The 10 horns are the final 10 kingdoms that evolve out of, or from the breakup of the Roman Empire, and are just the same as the 10 toes of the image.
Nobody denies that Western Civilization comes from Rome and Roman law and its traditions.
Daniel 7:22 makes it crystal clear that the Fourth Kingdom continues, “Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom”.
In other words, the Fourth Kingdom continues to the very end until the coming of Jesus Christ to rule on earth. We know from history that though the Roman Empire seemed to die with the invasion of the barbarians from Germany, it again revived and became the “Holy Roman Empire” under the Popes. Could the revival of the Roman empire under the Popes be one interpretation of “his deadly wound was healed” of Revelation 13? And though Rome lost most of its temporal power when Pope Pius VI was attacked in 1798 (Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_and_the_Catholic_Church#Papal_confinement ) , do you think it is outside of the realm of possibility that the Popes and Rome have slowly and covertly regained that temporal power since then? They had over 200 years to do it! If the Vatican did indeed regain its temporal power over the world, wouldn’t it be yet another fulfillment of the prophecy “his deadly wound was healed”? I believe it is.
Several people have told me, “Not Rome!” even though Daniel 7 and other Scriptures make it clear that the 4th and final kingdom of man continues to the very second coming of Jesus. If the Fourth Kingdom is Rome and the Fourth Kingdom continues to the very end until Jesus returns to take over and rule the earth, the Fourth Kingdom must be ruling the world today! So the only question that remains is, what represents the Fourth Kingdom today? I believe it’s still Rome, the Vatican, that is ruling the world covertly. Though most contemporary Christian leaders would not agree with that, all the Protestant reformers of the 16th and 17th centuries did. I can prove that from their writings. What I am trying to teach is no different from what the Protestant reformers already thought about the Roman Catholic church. You can read their books on this website.
Also see The Vatican, The Pope, The Jesuit Order & Their Quest For Global Governance