The Fourth Kingdom

 

Part 28

 

Greece was the belly of brass

 

 

 

The Greecian Empire Emerged (331 - 168 B.C.)

 

 

  Historically, Alexander the Great became the king of Greece in 336 B.C., being himself twenty years of age.  He began his conquest of the Persian empire shortly thereafter.  Alexander died at the age of thirty-three of marsh fever, after having successfully conquered the greater portions of the then known world. 

 

After his death, his kingdom was divided between his four generals,

 

Gassander (assuming rule in Macedonia and the western parts of the kingdom),

Lysimachus (assuming rule in Thrace and the northern parts of the kingdom),

Seleucus (assuming rule in Syria and the eastern parts of the kingdom),

and Ptolemy (assuming rule in Egypt and the southern parts of the kingdom). 

 

 

This four fold division of the Grecian kingdom, is not visibly represented within the vision of Nebuchadnezzar's great image, but as we can see from the visions of the leopard having his four heads, and the goat having his four horns  that the future of this Grecian kingdom was completely and perfectly foretold.[1]

 

Greece was also the four headed leopard

 

 

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.  --  Dan 7:6 (KJV)

 

 

 

Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.  --  Dan 8:22 (KJV)

 

 We know from Daniel's own interpretation of this kingdom that this beast represents the Grecian empire and conquest of Alexander the Great, while the four heads might easily be identified as Thrace, Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt.  Remnants of this Grecian kingdom existed from the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.), falling one by one until the final conquest of Egypt by the Romans (30 B.C.).

 

 

And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.  --  Dan 8:23 (KJV)

 

 

And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.  --  Dan 8:24 (KJV)

 

And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.  --  Dan 8:25 (KJV)

 

 

 

And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.  --  Dan 8:26 (KJV)

 

And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.  --  Dan 8:27 (KJV)

 

Antiochus Epiphanes the king of Syria desecrated the Temple but was he the final fulfillment of prophecy ? (168 B.C.)

 

 The next part of this prophecy is extremely significant to us as it not only refers to Antiochus Epiphanes, whom himself ruled over Syria until 164 B.C., severely persecuting the Jews, but also is a prophecy concerning the Antichrist, who shall be the eighth head of John's beast in the revelation. 

 

We shall take note that Antiochus is a type of the Antichrist, and the very things that he does, the son of Satan shall likewise do, not to the Jew only, but his kingdom shall extend to cover the entire earth.  His power will not be limited to political and military strength, but he shall also have great supernatural powers at his command.  

 

 

 

                             On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year 145

                             the king built the appalling abomination

                             on top of the altar of burnt offering

 

                                                          (1 Macc. 1:54 NJB )

 

                                    And he shall confirm the covenant with many

                                    for one week: and in the midst of the week he

                                    shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,

                                    and for the over spreading of abominations he shall

                                    make it desolate, even until the consummation,

                                    and that determined shall be poured upon the

                                    desolate.

                                                                                                Dan 9:27 (KJV)

 

 This appalling abomination has been described as the altar of the Olympian Zeus erected upon the Jewish altar of burnt offering[2] or the statue of Zeus himself set up in Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes.[3]  A third possibility is that it refers to three meteorite cult-stones (massebot), which were said to have been representative of  the God of the Jews, the Queen of Heaven, and their divine son, Dionysus.[4]  In either case we have the sin of syncretizm; that of the sun god cult with Judaism.  The persecution of the faithful included even their young babies being tortured to death.

 

 This so called appalling abomination, was believed by the Jews at that time, to be the literal fulfillment of these prophecies of Daniel. 

 

 

                                    And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute

                                    the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily

                                    sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that

                                    maketh desolate. 

                                                                                                Dan 11:31 (KJV)

 

 Although we must admit that the previous prophecies seem to have had their literal fulfillment in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, but this however could not have been the final fulfillment of these prophecies, for Jesus himself spoke of a much later date concerning the abomination of desolation.

 

                                    When ye therefore shall see the abomination of

                                    desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand

                                    in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 

 

                                                                                                Mat 24:15 (KJV)

 

 The Jewish persecution within the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, is to be taken more as an approximation or type of the eventual persecution to come.  And if such horrors and crimes against God's people were committed in that day, what is to be the extent of these horrors when the son of Satan himself takes up residence upon his earthly throne?

 

  It has been suggested by some that Antiochus Epiphanes did not truly intend on forcing the Jews to change their God, but rather to worship that same God now under a new and different name.  The dedication of the Jerusalem sanctuary to the Olympian Zeus, was not meant to introduce the Jews to the Greek god, but rather to give the Jewish god a Greek name. 

 

To Antiochus and the other Jewish hellenizers in Jerusalem, this might have been deemed a very reasonable request, and for that reason the penalty was stiff against the rebellious.   Rebellion on the Egyptian borders was considered a very dangerous threat and could never be tolerated.  At that time it was believed by many that, whether the god be called by the name Zeus, Baal Shamin, or Yahweh was irrelevant, for the same god of gods was intended to be worshipped.  In essence Antiochus had been attempting to conform the worship in Jerusalem to that of the rest of the world.[5] 

 

 What is remarkable here is how that Rome was able to somehow accomplish this very same goal by the introducing of  common pagan practices into Christianity.  The Jews gave their lives to prevent the joining of common pagan religious practices to the one true God.  The Roman Church, as well as many of her daughters, prides themselves in these very same false customs that the Jews gave their lives to try to prevent.   Like it or not the Church is saturated with pagan apostasy and false customs such as Easter, Christmas, Priesthood's, Relic worship, etc.

 

                        Shortly afterwards, the king sent Gerontes the Athenian to

                        force the Jews to violate their ancestral customs and live

                        no longer by the laws of God; and to profane the Temple in

                        Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and the one on

                        Mount Gerizim to Zeus, Patron of Strangers, as the inhabitants

                        of the later place had requested.   The advent of these evils

                        was painfully hard for all the people to bear.  The Temple was

                        filled with reveling and debauchery by the gentiles, who took

                        their pleasure with prostitutes and had intercourse with women

                        in the sacred precincts, introducing other indecencies besides. 

                        The altar of sacrifice was loaded with victims proscribed by the

                        law as profane.  No one might either keep the Sabbath or observe

                        the traditional feasts, or so much as admit to being a Jew.  People

                        were driven by harsh compulsion to take part in the monthly ritual

                        meal commemorating the king's birthday; and when a feast of

                        Dionysus occurred, they were forced to wear ivy wreaths and walk in

                        the Dionysiac procession.

                                                                                                            2 Maccabees 6:1-7

 

 The Ivy branch was especially distinctive to the worship of Bacchus or Dionysus.  One would surely expect to find the emblem of the ivy branch wherever a religious rite or orgy was celebrated in his name. 

 

Usually his most faithful subjects carried the ivy leaf in their hands or wore them around their heads, but some who were truly committed, had the ivy leaf stamped or tattooed upon their bodies.[6] 

 

Ptolemy Philopator went so far as to brand the Jews with the ivy leaf of Dionysus upon their foreheads (3 Mac. 2:29). [7]

 

Such a practice of tattooing the flesh was a clear violation of the law of Moses who wrote "you  will not tattoo yourselves, I am Yahweh" (Lev. 19:28). [8]  One is reminded how the beast of Revelation will cause all to receive a tattoo in their heads or hands to demonstrate their loyalty to his lordship over them.

 

                       

 

   While it is true that Antiochus Epiphanes seems to be a partial fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the Antichrist, evidently he could not have been that "little horn" that was to become "exceedingly great".  This Antiochus had never truly achieved such greatness, although we must all agree that he did desecrate the temple and as such did at least in type fulfill the prophecy.  It must be noted however that the Maccabees were also able to restore temple worship, proving that Antiochus could not have been the exceedingly great one who was to come. For Persia is called great and Greece is called exceeding great.  But this little horn that was to  come forth must wax exceeding great, which is to say that he must exceed both Persia and Greece.  So we see how absurd it would be to allow such a weak interpretation or fulfillment to this prophecy of Daniel.

 

Rome was the legs of Iron

 

 

 The next kingdom that shall come forth is Rome, the fourth beast.

 

                                    This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and

                                    his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

                                    His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

                                     

                                                                                    Dan 2:32-33 (KJV)

 

Rome become divided into two equal parts,

the Western division having Rome as it's Capital,

and the Eastern division having Constantinople as it's Capital  (A.D. 364).

                       

Rome is also the Dreadful 4th Beast

 

 

 

The Roman Empire Emerged (168 B.C. )

 

 

 

 During the days of Christ and the formation of the New Testament Church, the kingdom of Rome encompassed the entire area of Southern Europe, France, England, stretching into the Netherlands and Switzerland, incorporating the Southern parts of Germany, into Hungary, Turkey, and even swallowing up Greece.  It even extended itself into Asia and Africa.  It might be said that the Roman kingdom once filled the entire then known earth.  Although the kingdom is described as being exceedingly strong as iron, it eventually became weakened from within primarily due to moral degeneration and luxurious living.

                                   

 

 

The final kingdom is represented by the feet and toes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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;  --  Dan 7:19 (KJV)

 

 

 

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, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.  --  Dan 7:20 (KJV)

 

 

 

 

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;  --  Dan 7:21 (KJV)

 

 

 

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.  --  Dan 7:22 (KJV)

 

 

 The division of Rome, which was the beginning of the erosion of that entire kingdom, is spread over a period of one hundred and twenty-five years, from 351 A.D. to 476 A.D.  The breaking up of the Roman kingdom was primarily accomplished by the Germans, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards. [9]

              

 

The ten divisions of the Roman Kingdom

from 351 A.D. to 476 A.D

 

 

Remember we talked many weeks ago about the early conflict in the Church between Arianism and Roman Christianity which would eventually become Catholicism. 

 

At the time when the kingdom of Rome began to fall and be divided into its ten parts, some of these tribes had already been somewhat christianized however many did not agree with the Roman form of christianity. 

 

When the Arian Ostrogoths under Theodoric took over Italy in the year 493, they considerablt limited the power of the Roman Bishop or what some would regard as the Pope of that day.  Around 523 Theodoric carried off the Roman Bishop bringing him to Constantinople on a mission attempting to persuade the Roman emperor to stop persecuting the Arians who were under his dominion.

 

The Roman emperors of the eastern portion of the empire,

 

      

 

would begin strategically working with the Roman Bishops to attempt to eliminate the Arian tribes. 

 

 

 

 

Pergamos means Married

 

          Constantine's marriage of imperial Rome with the Church

 

 

          1.  Movement of throne from Rome to Constantinople

The second Rome at Byzantium

 

          2.  Conversion of Constantine

 

 

Remember Constantine's Vision

 

           

 

The ten divisions of the Roman Kingdom

from 351 A.D. to 476 A.D

( Germans, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards.)

 

 

The Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno (474-491) was growing increasingly fearful of the Arian Ostrogoths who were encamped in a reserve not far from Constantinople where they were becomming increasingly restless.  At the same time Zeno had been deeply concerned about the Arian Heruls in Italy, whose leader, Odovacar, in 476 had removed the last of the Western Roman Emperors and had proclaimed himself as king.  (According to many, this incident marks the fall of the Western Roman Empire )

 

In 487 Zeno officially commissioned Theodoric, the leader of the Ostogoths to march to Italy to dispose of the Heruls which ultimately resulted in the eradication of the kingdom of the Arian Heruls in 493.  Zeno had schemed that this action would relive Constantinople of their ferocious neighbors.

 

 Zeno concluded that he really couldn't lose.   It mattered little to him which tribe would win the battle as he himself would have one less Arian tribe left to contend with.  Within five short years the Ostrogoths had fulfilled their mission and had also succeeded in wiping the Heruls from history.  In this way the Roman emperor had succeeded in uprooting one of the Arian horns.

 

 

great dissension and lack of unity

 

And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.  --  Dan 2:41 (KJV)

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.  --  Dan 2:42 (KJV)

And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.  --  Dan 2:43 (KJV)

 

 

 

After Theodoric died (526), Justinian became the emperor in the Eastern Empire.  Although deeply committed to religious affairs, their was a great dissension and lack of unity throughout the citizens of his empire.  He ruled over basically three different kinds of christians.  There were the Arians of the West who believed that Jesus was basically human, the Monophysites throughout the East who believed that Jesus was totally divine, and then there were the Catholics who insisted that Jesus was both human and divine.    Justinian cited strongly with the Catholics and in 533 officially stated that the Bishop of Rome was the head over all of the christian churches thereby honoring him as the Pope.  He spent his entire reign attempting to either convert or eliminate everyone who refused to honor the Roman bishop as head of Christ's church.

 

 

The ten divisions of the Roman Kingdom

from 351 A.D. to 476 A.D

( Germans, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards.)

 

 

In the 530s, Justinian launched a holy war against the Arian Vandals and the Arian Ostrogoths.  Justinain commissioned his general Belisarius to sail with an army from Constantinople to North Africa and destroy the Vandals.  After the crucial battle of Tricamarum, the Vandals in 534 "disappeared like a mist" according to the "Shorter Cambridge Medieval History".

 

Belisarius, obeying the orders, then turned north against the Arian Ostrogoths in Italy.  He took Palermo on the island of Sicily by using the masts of his ships to raise boatloads of soldiers to the top of the city walls.  In December 536 he marched unopposed into Rome with a mere 5000 men.  The Ostrogoths counterattacked by surrounding Rome with 150,000 men making Belisarius a prisoner inside the city he had hoped to liberate.

 

The Goths then foolishly cuth the fourteen aqueducts leading into Rome in the hope of driving Belisarius to surrender from lack of water.  But the torrents that poured from the broken aqueducts created a quagmire that bread malarial mosquitoes and caused great epidemics.  The large Gothic army was so grievously reduced by disease that in March 538 Belisarius with a small force was able to defeat them.

 

Skimishes and small battles continued here and there for a few years until eventually General Narses of the Roman empire annihilated all but a couple of thousand Ostrogoths, and the Ostrogoths, like the Heruls and Vandals before them, had finally also disappeared from history.  In this way three horns were uprooted by the Roman emperor.  One could say that these three horns were therefore literally plucked out by the roots to allow for the emergence of the New Holy Roman Empire and Papacy.

 

 

 

 

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.  --  Dan 7:23 (KJV)

 

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.  --  Dan 7:24 (KJV)

 

The New Holy Empire

 

Charles Martel (The Hammer) and the Christian Knights (732)

   

Saint Boniface,  (675-754)

Slaughter of the Celtic Christians (British Church [not English]   Irish and Scottish)

            Saint Boniface,  (675-754),  known as the Apostle of Germany.

            Pope Gregory III named him archbishop and primate of all Germany, with power

            to establish bishoprics.

 

 

 

Holy Roman Empire (800 A.D)

        Charles the Great

 

Charlemagne, in Latin Carolus Magnus (Charles the Great) (742-814), king of the Franks (768-814) and Emperor of the Romans (800-14)

 

In the Saxon campaigns he imposed baptism by the sword, and he retaliated against rebels with merciless slaughter.   

 

In other words, he continued the slaughter of christians who opposed the papacy.

 

Tens of thousands massacred in the name of Christian Evangelism

   this method of Roman Catholic evangelism which made Europe a Christian world.

 

 

Crusades  1010 A.D.

 

 

 

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.  --  Dan 7:25 (KJV)

 

But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.  --  Dan 7:26 (KJV)

 

And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.  --  Dan 7:27 (KJV)

 

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.  --  Dan 7:13 (KJV)

 

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.  --  Dan 7:14 (KJV)

 

Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.  --  Dan 7:28 (KJV)

 

The Roman Emperor

 

Remember Nebuchadnezzar's image ?

 

Daniel's beasts correspond to Nebuchadnezzar's image

 

 

 

Greece was the belly of brass

 

The Antichrist Arises out of the Old Greecian Empire

Most Likely Syria

 

 

Gassander      took Macedonia and the Western part

Lysimachus    took Thrace and the Northern part

Ptolemy          took Egypt and the Southern part

Seleucus          took Syria and the Eastern part

 

The Antichrist Arises out of the Old Roman Empire

 

 

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.  --  Dan 7:23 (KJV)

 

 

The Roman Empire Emerged (168 B.C. )

 

 

 

The Beast of Rev. 13 - 666

 

 

 

 

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.  --  Rev 13:1 (KJV)

 

Daniel's final kingdom had the Ten Horns

 

Daniel's final kingdom also had ten toes

 

 

 

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard,  --  Rev 13:2 (KJV)

 

Greece was represented as a four headed leopard

 

 

--  Dan 7:6 (KJV)

 

 

and his feet were as the feet of a bear, --  Rev 13:2 (KJV)

 

Persia was represented as a Bear

 

.  --  Dan 7:5 (KJV)

 

 

and his mouth as the mouth of a lion:  --  Rev 13:2 (KJV)

 

Babylon was represented as a Lion

 

  --  Dan 7:4 (KJV)

 

So John's Beast is a composite of Daniel's

 

 

 

 

Satan is described as a Seven Headed Dragon

 

 

 

 

and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.  --  Rev 13:2 (KJV)

 

 

 

Satan's Seat is located at Pergamos

 

I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.  --  Rev 2:13 (KJV)

 

 

Note that when Attalus III, king of Pergamum died (133 B.C.), he officially bequeathed his kindom to the Romans.  Out of this kingdom they were able to organize the province of Asia.  Wars continued however in the East until Pompey completed his conquest of Syria (63 B.C.) and afterwards annexed Judea (58-57 B.C.)

 

Pergamos is located at Thrace or Turkey

 

 

Remember the Syrian horn of Greece swallowed Thrace

 

 

 

 

 

Who is the King of the South ?

 

 

Who is the King of the North ?

 

 

 

 

 

John's composite Beast represents Rome

Rome swallowed

Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Syria

Babylon, Media,

 

 

 

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.  --  Rev 13:1 (KJV)

 

 

When did Rome become the Beast ?

 

 In 63 B.C. Pompey had gained Syria as a province, and Judea had finally been annexed for Rome as well.   This newly formed Roman empire continually faced great threats of civil disturbance within, as various of her leaders fought against each other to gain exclusive control over the empire's military power.  Eventually, the supposed shared power of the Roman senate gave way to the enthroning of  the first Roman emperor, Augustus.[10]

 

The Roman Imperial Cult

The Roman Imperial Cult declared that the Roman emperor was divine, that is to say, the emperor was a god.  Many of these emperors enforced their subjects to acknowledge them and worship them as gods.

 

 

The 7 Heads of the Roman Beast

1.   Augustus (27 B.C. - 14 A.D.)  instituded the Roman Imperial Cult

Throughout the empire the emperor himself was worshipped as

Dominus et Deus  which means "Lord and God"