Chapter 3

The Reign of the Son and the Saints

"Another horn, a little one..."

The times of the Gentiles is covered by the metalic image in the second chapter of Daniel; the same period is covered by the vision of the four strange beasts in the seventh chapter. The first presents the picture as a Gentile king would perceive it and the second as a prophet of God would loolc upon world-empires maintained apart from God. In the vision Daniel saw, "Four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another." The first was Wke a lion with eagle wings; the second was like a bear; the third was like a leopard; the fourth was a strange nameless beast which had ten horns.

The fourth beast was "terrible and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. . . And, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things." This strange last little horn with eyes and big mouth was a later development. It came up from among the ten. By comparing the reading and the chart it will be seen that the dream-image and the beast-vision follow the same pattern, except at the very last. The image ended in the ten-toe division; the beast-vision ended with the strange beast with ten horns, plus the little horn. This additional feature is an important one.

"The same horn made war with the saints..."

This eleventh horn is the utmost ruler in the lease of dominion granted to the Gentiles. In the vision this horn is called "the beast," and the puppet rulers with him are called "the rest of the beasts" (Dan. 7:1112). They are in power when the judgment falls. On the chart you will observe these words, "10 horns plus 1 and then THE REIGN OF THE SON AND THE SAINTS." That this order is correct may be seen in the following quotation of Scripture.

Daniel wanted to know the truth about "the horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 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." Whatever forms of government may develop out of this Fourth great Beast-power, and regardless of what changes may take place, the last form will be a federation of ten powers with another dominating, persecuting power. After this the Reign of Christ.

"Authority to continue forty and two months..."

This little, last, eleventh horn of Daniel seven is there said to operate for a period of "a time and times and half a time." Without doubt this is explained as a period of three and a half years (Dan. 7:23-27). A later revelation of "the beast" is found in Revelation thirteen. The time of his operaton is said to be for forty and two months. This period is also three and a half years. There is a period of seven years, cut into two equal portions, scheduled to conclude this present age; such period will be studied more fully at a later time in this series. During the last half of the seven years "the beast" — known also as "the antichrist" and "the man of sin" — will be the world dictator. A further and concluding revelation of this world-ruler, and his relation with the ten kings, may be seen in Revelation 17:11-17. The ten kings prove to be puppet-kings. Revelation 19:11-21 shows how he meets his doom at Christ's coming.

"The truth concerning the fourth beast..."

We do not have to go out of the book of Daniel to understand clearly what kingdoms the first, second, and third beasts represent. They are, in order, Babylon, Media-Persia, and Greece; the last is also called by many the Mascedonian Empire. These as world-powers succeeded each other and are named in Daniel's prophecies. The fourth strange beast is also a world-power. By turning to Luke 2:1 you will find a power ordering all the world to be enrolled for the purpose of taxation: that was Rome. The Roman Empire according to prophecy, will reach to and conclude, the Gentile lease of power. The Gentiles are still in power and some form of the Roman Empire must exist. Of this beast it is said that he should "be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." The last word describes our present state. The world is now broken "IN PIECES." That is in Daniel 7:23 Verse twenty-four begins the information about the ten horns. Revelation shows the re-empowerment of this world-power for the end-time

"The saints . . . shall receive the kingdom..."

In Daniel 7:13 and 14 one "like unto the Son of man" comes from heaven to take the dominion of the earth, just after the judgment on the beast (Dan. 7:9-12). This is nor other than Christ, the Son of God. In verse eighteen the saints of the Most High receive the kingdom and possess it for ever. In verse twenty-two the Ancient of days comes, and at that time the saints possess the kingdom. In verse twenty-seven the kingdom and dominion is given to the saints and "all dominions shall serve and obey him." Our title true to Scripture — The Reign of the Son and the Saints.