Daniel 8 and Daniel 11 do not deal with Babylon, because Babylon has already come to an end. Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 deal with Babylon. Daniel 11 deals with Medo-Persia, then Greece, and then Rome. There is a tremendous amount of detail in Daniel 11 and 12.
Daniel 11
I love to study Daniel 11 and 12. Understanding of these chapters provides historical anchors for everything that Adventists believe. Daniel 11 has some amazing detail. For instance, in just a few words in Daniel 11 is an amazingly detailed history of the life of Julius Caesar. It is astonishing! I have taken a history book and followed down each point. Each point was fulfilled in the life of Julius Caesar in detail, exactly the way it was written.
The people who are opponents of Adventism—the liberal theologians—say that Daniel was written in the second century b.c. The Bible says it was written in the sixth century b.c. If it was written in the second century b.c., how did Daniel know, over a hundred years in advance, the detail? If he was a liar and a fraud, how did he know, over a hundred years in advance, the exact description of the life history of Julius Caesar? What is even more, after Julius Caesar, Daniel points out in detail the life history of Augustus Caesar. Every single thing mentioned there exactly came to pass. From the manuscript written in Daniel, I can point out from the history book how it was fulfilled exactly, on every detail. Even more amazing is that it points out in detail the life history and the career of Tiberius Caesar. It tells, in verse 22, that at the time of Tiberius Caesar the prince of the covenant would be broken. Who was the Caesar when Jesus was crucified? Tiberius Caesar. Amazing!
Messiah Timeline
Daniel 11 shows in great detail the history of these earthly powers. It points out the history of three of the most well-known Caesars. The reason that is done is so we have an historical anchor with the Messiah.
We know exactly when the Messiah was to be crucified from both Daniel 9 and Daniel 11. If the Jews had studied Bible prophecy, they would have known—as soon as Tiberius Caesar became the Caesar—that during the reign of this Caesar the Messiah would be crucified. If they had studied Daniel 9 carefully, they would have known the exact year when Jesus would be crucified! They would have known the exact month and the exact day, because the Messiah was to die as our sacrifice on the Passover Day in the middle of the seventieth week. Not only that, if they had really studied carefully, they would have known the exact hour of the day when Jesus would die on the cross. They would have been right, because He died at the time of the evening sacrifice. They would have known the Caesar that would be reigning. They would have known the year. They would have known the month and the day. They would have known the hour of the day when the Messiah would be crucified. That is how specific Old Testament prophecy was about the Messiah.
Does it ever alarm you when you read that Ellen White said that the history has been pointed out to us just as clearly as it was pointed out to them? “The students of God’s word may, then, confidently expect to find the most stupendous event to take place in human history clearly pointed out in the Scriptures of truth.” The Great Controversy, 324.
Have you ever prayed, “Lord, help me to understand prophecy so that I will not be taken by surprise”? We need to be students of prophecy, and when we read these prophecies, we need to pray and ask the Lord to help us to understand what we read.
One Prophecy
Daniel 11 and 12 are all one prophecy. There is not even a sentence break at the end of Daniel 11. In Daniel 11, there are given the earthly powers. Then, in Daniel 11 and 12, there is a Divine intervention. Daniel 11:44–12:2 says, “Reports from the east will cause him to tremble, and from the north. And he will go out with great fury to destroy and to kill many, and he will plant the tents of his citadel [or his palaces] between the seas and the glorious holy mountain. But he shall come to his end and no one will be helping him, and in that time Michael will stand up, the great Prince who stands for the sons of your people, and there will be a time of distress [a time of trouble], which has not been since there was a nation, even to that same time. And in that time your people shall be delivered; all who shall be found written in the book. And many who sleep in the dust of the ground will wake up, these to life everlasting and these to reproach and abhorrence everlasting.”
Did that happen during the days of Antiochus Epiphanes? Of course not! Here in the last part of Daniel 11 and the first part of Daniel 12, are the very same things as were given in the earlier prophecies, only with greater detail. There are 1) earthly powers. Then 2) there is a Divine intervention. Michael stands up and the result is that 3) all the earthly powers come to an end. And then Daniel is going to stand in his inheritance; he is going to stand in his lot.
Let us go into a little bit more detail. We went through the whole book of Daniel with a real simple outline. Now, we will amplify our outline. It is good to start simple. It helps us to understand what we are talking about. There are accusations that Seventh-day Adventists do not know who the little horn is, so we will go into a little bit more detail.
Babylon
Is Babylon the first world kingdom that is given to us in Daniel 2? Oh, you cannot mistake it. Daniel 2, remember, is the image, and it starts with the head of gold, then the breasts and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and the legs of iron. Then there are feet. The feet, clear down to the toes, are partly iron. The iron goes clear to the ends of the toes, but at the bottom there is some clay with it. That is important to remember.
People say Babylon meant this or it meant that, but when you are studying Daniel 2, how many things could Babylon mean? Have you ever thought about that? Can you say you could interpret it this way or that way? Can you really say that? I cannot. When I read, in verse 38, that Daniel declares, “You [Nebuchadnezzar] are this head of gold,” I do not know any other way to interpret that except that this head of gold refers to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar’s empire. So, Babylon is the first kingdom.
In verse 39, Daniel continues with the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, saying, “After you, there is going to arise another kingdom inferior to you.” What kingdom overthrew Babylon? The Medes and the Persians.
Then Daniel said, “As you saw the belly and the thighs of brass, after the second kingdom there is going to be still a third kingdom that rules over all the earth.” Who was that kingdom? Greece.
Please do not get upset if we are going through some rather elementary points. You will soon see that every single point we are looking at now is going to become very, very important in understanding Daniel 7 and 8.
Fourth Kingdom Unnamed
After the third kingdom, Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, in verse 40, that there was going to be a fourth kingdom! Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece are all mentioned by name in Daniel. The fourth kingdom is never mentioned by name in Daniel. Because this fourth kingdom is never mentioned by name, there has been argument about it for 2,000 years. Our theological opponents are always mixed up about this.
Let me ask you a question. If Babylon is clearly defined as the first kingdom, should you know who Babylon is? Yes. If you next have Medo-Persia, should you know who that kingdom is? Then you have the worldwide kingdom of Greece. This kingdom had such an influence on the ancient world that the whole world spoke Greek in the time of Christ. The New Testament was not written in Hebrew and Aramaic like the Old Testament. The New Testament was written in Greek, because of the influence of this nation on the world.
Then, if you say that after this and this and this, there is going to be a fourth kingdom that will rule over all the world, do you think that a person should be able to figure out who this kingdom might be? This nation is called an iron kingdom.
Identifying Features
Notice five things about this fourth kingdom. These five things will be true whether studying in Daniel 2, 7, 8, or 11. They will be true every single time, but we will stay in Daniel 2 right now. Five things about the fourth kingdom are identified in Daniel 2. The reason we need to concentrate on this is because in Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 11 there is more time spent on the fourth kingdom than on the other three kingdoms put together.
If a writer spends more time on this one kingdom than on all the other three kingdoms put together, do you think we should spend more time studying this one, even if it is not named? Everything that God does is intelligent, not arbitrary. There is a very intelligent reason why this fourth kingdom was not named, but we will not go into that now. You can begin trying to figure that out. Let us look at a few details about this fourth kingdom.
First, were the first three kingdoms worldwide empires? Yes. Is the fourth kingdom a worldwide empire? Yes, it is a worldwide empire. You cannot say that about Antiochus Epiphanes.
Second, this fourth power will be a powerful, violent kingdom or entity. (See verse 40.)
Third—this should be so obvious, but we have to point it out—does the fourth kingdom arise after the third kingdom in Daniel 2? Yes, it does. We have to point this out since our theological opponents, in an attempt to reinterpret prophecy, have confused the time sequence.
Fourth, look at Daniel 2 carefully now, because many Seventh-day Adventists are confused since they have not understood this. This fourth kingdom extends until the end of time. Do not let anyone confuse you about that. This fourth kingdom arises after the third kingdom. That locks it into a specific time of arising, and it is going to extend until the end of time. At the last, there is going to be some clay mixed with the iron, but the iron goes to the end of time. That is very important to understand.
Fifth, this fourth kingdom, at the end of time, will be destroyed without hand. In other words, there will be a Divine intervention that will destroy this fourth kingdom. Now, if the fourth kingdom arose after the Greek kingdom and if the iron is going to go clear down until it gets struck with a rock, has this image been struck by the rock yet? No. When it is struck by the rock, all earthly kingdoms are going to come to their end. (Verses 44, 45.) Has the rock struck yet? No, because we still have earthly kingdoms.
What we have just reviewed proves that this fourth kingdom still has to be in existence, because this fourth kingdom is going to go on until it is struck on the feet. It is going to change. Daniel 7 will give you some more detail about this so that it will be clear to you. If all we had was Daniel 2, we would have a difficult time figuring that all out, but in Daniel 7, we have the very same sequence with much more added detail.
Daniel 7
In Daniel 7, there is the first kingdom, Babylon, again—a lion this time. We have the second kingdom again—a bear this time. We have the third kingdom again—a leopard this time. And we have the fourth kingdom again—a great and terrible beast, so awful that there is nothing in the natural world with which to compare it.
If you look carefully in Daniel 7, you will see something very interesting. This fourth beast has a latter-day development that is very intriguing. Out of this fourth beast, eventually grow ten horns. Where are the ten horns? They are on the fourth beast; do not ever forget that. And the fourth beast goes until it is destroyed without hand. There is a Divine intervention that destroys the fourth beast. But this fourth beast, in time, has some interesting developments. Ten horns grow out of it. After the ten horns grow out of it, we are told, another horn comes up—an eleventh horn, a little horn—and as it comes up, it destroys three of the first horns.
As you read Daniel 7, you see that this fourth kingdom has several phases. There is the beast; then there are the horns that grow up out of it, and eventually there is one little horn that becomes greater than all the rest of them. Where does the little horn come up? What does it come out of? It comes out of the fourth beast.
Rome
This fourth beast was called Rome. Have you heard of any entity in the world today that is still called by that name? It is called Roman; that is the first word of its name. It is the Roman kingdom, and it is going to go right on until the end of time, and then it is going to be destroyed without hand. No human being is going to destroy it. Human beings have tried to destroy this power many times. They cannot.
Remember that the little horn comes out of the Roman kingdom. It grows out of that kingdom, and it is that kingdom. It is still Roman today. Do you know the official title of the leading personage of the Roman kingdom? Pontifex Maximus. They refer to his rule as his pontificate, and he makes pontifical announcements.
Daniel 8
By the time of Daniel 8, we are not dealing with the nation of Babylon anymore, just as with Daniel 11. We start with Medo-Persia followed by Greece. That is the ram and the he-goat. There are some details about the first horn that was broken into four horns and the little horn that developed out of one of them.
Let us look at seven facts about the little horn in Daniel 8. 1) This is the same symbol as is used in Daniel 7. 2) The little horn in Daniel 7 and the little horn in Daniel 8 engage in similar actions. 3) In Daniel 7 and in Daniel 8, the very same thing happens. When this horn comes up, it is little, but it becomes greater than everybody else. 4) In both Daniel 7 and Daniel 8, this little horn power is a blasphemous power. 5) In both Daniel 7 and Daniel 8, the little horn persecutes the saints. 6) In both Daniel 7 and Daniel 8, the little horn power endures for a protracted period of time—a long time. 7) In both Daniel 7 and Daniel 8, the little horn power suffers the same fate. It is destroyed without hand.
Now concentrate on this little horn power. In Daniel 8, Persia, which is the ram, is called great. Let us be sure we understand what we are talking about. How large a nation was Persia? It was vaster than Nebuchadnezzar’s empire. It was a worldwide empire. Although Nebuchadnezzar’s empire was a worldwide empire, he did not control as much territory. He had worldwide influence, but he did not physically rule over every city. They all paid allegiance to him; they sent tribute to him. But Persia was even bigger than Babylon.
Greece, the he-goat with the horn, is exceedingly great. Greece had more territory than did Medo-Persia. It had a greater effect on the world. The whole world adopted the Greek language, as a result of the influence of Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire.
Little Horn
But then we come to this little horn. Remember what opponents of Adventism say. They say that the little horn is Antiochus Epiphanes and that Seventh-day Adventists are confused and deluded. I have done a lot of studying on this subject, because I wanted to be sure I knew what the Hebrew said. Daniel uses the same word, great, but then adds another word, the Hebrew word yether. There are various ways to translate that word. In this context, it would be translated above and beyond, or some lexicons would say beyond measure.
It is like the apostle Paul. The apostle Paul uses such superlative terms that you cannot translate them. You have to use a number of superlative words to try to explain how it is something that is far beyond super abounding. How do you express something like that? That is the situation relating to the little horn. First there is Medo-Persia, and it is great, but then there is the he-goat, and it is great exceedingly. Then there is the little horn, and it is great beyond measure. It is so great that Daniel cannot find a word to describe it so he uses the word yether, which means above and beyond.
The prophecy said that after Alexander the Great died, his kingdom would be divided into four parts. The prophecy in Daniel 11 reveals that those four parts would be divided so that there were just two parts, and there would be the king of the north and the king of the south. Antiochus Epiphanes was one of those kings of the north. He was the eighth of about twenty Seleucid kings.
The little horn is great beyond measure. It is greater than Greece; it is far greater than Persia; . . . and some people want us to believe it refers to Antiochus Epiphanes? Wait a minute! I am not willing to lay my reason aside at the door. This could not possibly be Antiochus Epiphanes. Whoever or whatever this is has to be somebody or something that is greater than Persia, and it has to be greater than Alexander the Great.
Think this through. The world at large—everyone who has studied the most basic ancient history available—will tell you about the neo-Babylonian Empire and about Persia and about Greece and about Alexander the Great. Look, I just want to be sure you understand this. You should not have to have a high school education to figure out who the little horn represents, because whoever it is has to be greater than Persia and greater than Alexander the Great.
How many people walking down the street today, if asked, would know who Antiochus Epiphanes was? Was Antiochus Epiphanes greater than Alexander the Great? That is ludicrous! That is insane, as people would say, and it is a form of insanity. That is what opponents of Adventism want us to believe. Think this through.
No Gaps
There is one basic point that I want to be sure you understand so thoroughly that you will never forget it, even if you live to be 100 years old. This is important. It is important to understand the prophecies of Daniel and to understand where we live in the stream of time and what is about to happen.
There is Babylon; there is Medo-Persia; there is Greece; there is the fourth kingdom. This fourth kingdom has two phases. There is Divine intervention, and all earthly powers come to an end. Here is what I want you to think through. If you have never studied this before, go through Daniel 2 and then Daniel 7 and then Daniel 8 and then Daniel 11 and 12, and you will see it every single time. This is very important to understand, because the people who believe in the rapture are confused on this point. This is not complicated. It is so simple that if we did not have theological opposition, we would think that we were insulting each other’s intelligence by even bringing this up, but we need to make this clear because of what people believe.
People have been told, regarding the time prophecy of Daniel 8:14, that between week 69 and week 70 there is a gap of about 2,000 years. Some people believe the little horn power is Antiochus Epiphanes. Other people say that the little horn power is the antichrist power that is going to come at the end of time. It may be someone who is born right now. It may be some atheist dictator that is born in Israel—a Jewish, atheist dictator that will take control of the whole world at the end of time when there will be seven years of tribulation. Where do they get all of this?
Notice, from the study of Daniel, that whether you are reading Daniel 2, 7, 8, or 11 and 12, it will come out the same every single time. There is Babylon, then Medo-Persia, then Greece, and then a fourth kingdom. The fourth kingdom, in its later history, becomes divided, but remember that the iron goes all the way to the end. Then there is a Divine intervention, and all earthly powers are destroyed. This is something that goes from Babylon, from Nebuchadnezzar’s time, until the end of the world, and there are no gaps.
You cannot find a gap in the Book of Daniel. Can you find a gap in Daniel 2 between Babylon and when the stone is cut out? Can you find a gap anywhere? There is no gap. It is continuous. You will find the same thing in Daniel 7. In Daniel 7, the fourth kingdom arises after Greece, and this fourth kingdom has a further development into a different phase, but it goes all the way to the end, and then it is destroyed without hand. There are no gaps. It is continuous. The same is true in Daniel 8. In Daniel 8, there is Medo-Persia, Greece, and the development of a little horn power, and the little horn power goes all the way to the end. Then, in verse 25, we read that it will be destroyed without hand. The same thing is found in Daniel 11. Starting with Medo-Persia, there is then Greece, and more detail is given about Greece and how it would be divided. Then it tells about this fourth power developing, and describes a further development of this fourth power. It goes all the way to the end. Then there is the Divine intervention (Daniel 11:45; 12:1, 2), and all the earthly powers come to their end, and there is no gap.
There is no gap. That is very important to understand, because people today have been taught that there was a gap of about 2,000 years. They have been told that the prophets can only see certain high points and there were 2,000 years in between called the “church age,” and they could not understand that. Well, wait a minute. Do you believe that God means what He says and says what He means? In the Book of Daniel, there are no gaps. The fourth kingdom is the final earthly kingdom.
That final earthly kingdom is still here, and it is still all over the world. I have seen it everywhere I have traveled in the world, and I have traveled over a good share of this world. Do not ever think that you or I will ever destroy this final earthly kingdom of which we are now in the final stages. No human being is going to destroy it. God is going to destroy it when He comes. “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 11 Thessalonians 2:8.
It is my hope that this brief look at Daniel will stimulate you to study. I hope you will study these things and that you will know why you believe what you believe and know what the Bible says about it. Every single word in the prophecy of Daniel is important. If you do not know Greek or Hebrew and you are having trouble with some verses, get an interlinear Bible and some appropriate books and study it out. Know what the Bible says.
[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]
Pastor John Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.