The Next Prophetic Road Signs?

Related Topics

Blindness, Deception, Apostasy, Redemption | The Next Prophetic Road Signs? | Dusk Before the Day of the Lord

Synopsis

Daniel loved God and his people Israel and his faith in God’s promises to them and his desire for understanding led to some of the greatest interpretations of dreams and visions laying out the timeline of God’s prophetic plan for His people. Israel is at the center of events in the prophetic narrative as God woos them back to a relationship with Him out of their blindness. The foundational prophecy related to Israel is the seventy weeks determined for Israel and Jerusalem that lays out the time of Israel in the land from the return from the Babylonian captivity to the Messiah, leaving one final period of seven years set to begin with the confirmation, or strengthening, of the covenant.

But it is the prophecies in Daniel 7 and 11, paired with John’s vision on the Island of Patmos, that give us the most definitive layout of the time of the end and events that play out during this week and tie in with all the other prophecies about the end of the age and transition to the Messianic Kingdom.

These prophecies have obviously been studied heavily throughout history since their writing, but I believe their understanding has been sealed until the time of the end. For those who take God’s Word seriously, accepting it as true, the pieces of the puzzle written here a little and there a little throughout scripture in time by the Holy Spirit through the prophets is becoming clearer. The promise that God’s people would not be in darkness about what He is going to do will be kept, and I think that by logical examination and allowing the scripture to interpret itself, we gain the insights intended to prepare us for the difficult times to come and bring us peace.

Fear of the unknown chaos breeds anxiety and panic, but we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 This study is intended to walk through the logical examination of what is to come, taking God at His Word. And it gives us prophetic road signs to watch for as the end develops more clearly. The end is not yet, but when we understand how it develops, fear is replaced by understanding and the knowledge that God is in control to the smallest detail and that we are in good hands.

The Next Prophetic Road Signs?

Eschatology, the study of the end of the present age, has been likened to traveling down the road of time where certain events foretold in scripture act as road signs, or signs of the times. Many times, an inaccurate interpretation of what God’s Word says about how our future will unfold have meant some of those signs give the wrong impression about where we are at in the journey. The church is full of those weary of hype and let down, of alarms that the end is now only for the next day to come with things being the same.

I believe if we trust God’s Word, meaning we accept He says what He means and means what He says, and use a logical mind and the guidance of the Holy Spirit through His Word, we can understand what signs to pay close attention to and what signs lack the Biblical foundation and distract or mislead us. This is not obviously cut and dry and there are many things we won’t fully understand. I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers, but my goal is to walk through the logical thoughts evoked from the text to share how I’ve arrived at the understanding of the signs of the times. However, it is up to each of us to study God’s Word for ourselves to see which things are true. And so I share this for your consideration and in hopes that it brings you into His Word to study for yourself and strengthens your trust in that Word while bringing you closer to Yeshua, the center and spirit of all prophecy.

Revelation 19:10b
…worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

In the fall of 2023 I began a study of the visions of Daniel and John, approaching each individually and separately from the overall narrative of Bible prophecy as much as I could. Some important distinctions stood out that I had not previously recognized during that time which clarified some things. Of course nothing exists in a vacuum and while I have a curse and blessing of poor memory, I’m sure many aspects of what I’m presenting here have come from various other teachers. I know Chris White has been a great influence in how I think from different perspectives and many ideas have taken root from those studies.

In Blindness, Deception, Apostasy, Redemption, the paradigm was introduced of a blinded Israel with faith in God’s Word and how their blindness can be used by the Dragon in sheep’s clothing to bring about a great deception meant to lure the sheep of the flock to their destruction. As with all great deceptions, it would be wrapped in the truth of God’s Word, yet twisted to place the man of sin in place of Yeshua and lead Israel into apostasy and harlotry going after a false god. This paradigm is important in viewing the narrative of Bible prophecy because Israel is at the center of most of that narrative. With that in mind, some of the road signs we will look at become more clear.

I won’t include the full text here, but I recommend reading through Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 and I will share my thoughts of what I think these prophecies point to and if it resonates with you, continue searching the scriptures to see if it is so.

The connection that Daniel 7 has with Revelation 13 is evident in the combined mention of the four beasts, the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the dreadful ten-horned beast. But I embarked on the study of each of Daniel’s visions and interpretations a little differently than I had previously in that I approached each as its own separate vision and left any potential connections to others until examining each. I do think it is important as much as possible to approach the text with fresh eyes, and for a moment setting accepted paradigms aside to look at the text in its own context. I’ve had many paradigms, or eschatological frameworks, upon which my understanding was founded. Some of these I let go of as I studied God’s Word for myself, accepting every piece as true while looking from different angles when those pieces appeared at first to collide with each other.

It’s like that scene in the movie Contact when the signal from space is decoded, revealing all these pieces that look like engineering schematics, but none of the pieces connect or fit together completely. It isn’t until they take these two dimensional pieces and lay them out in three dimensions that their connections become apparent. In this same way, I’ve come to understand that there is a consistent truth in acceptance of each piece of prophecy being true, but they must all be true together and sometimes it is just a matter of perspective to see how the pieces truly fit together. For me, taking each bit of terminology or prophecy and understanding it on its own in isolation and in context before trying to fit the pieces together has helped immensely in gaining that different perspective. But as we will see, many of these visions are most definitely connected, just maybe not in the most common ways accepted today.

I believe Daniel’s vision in chapter 7 contains several insights on the next major road signs following the fig tree putting forth it’s leaves in the rebirth of Israel as a nation. I have come to understand it as a vision of the state of the world leading up to and during the first half of the 70th week of years determined for Israel and connects to John’s vision on the Island of Patmos regarding what must soon come to pass in the second half of the 70th week.

Daniel 7:2-14
Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 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. 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.

We can take from the overall vision that Daniel is shown symbolic beasts with various descriptions that point to the rule of men in the earth. These remain until their thrones are cast down and Yeshua takes His rightful place as King of the whole world from that time forward. And this proud little horn speaking great things is cast into the lake of fire and the beast he represents is destroyed, completing the transition of the day of the Lord from God’s wrath to His kingdom on earth. This skims over a lot of detail provided elsewhere in scripture about this transition, but that is for another time. For now let’s focus on how the kingdoms of men are consumed by the Dragon and what we can gain in understanding of the next prophetic road sign we are given in scripture.

The Four Kingdoms

The first point is very clearly stated, that there are four beasts. I won’t speculate beyond the clear statement of the types of animals representing these beasts because I believe it is too subjective. There is some prophecy that is only fully understood after it has come to pass and speculation on these details can easily lead down wrong paths. However, what is clear is that these beasts are represented by a lion, bear, leopard, and eleven-horned dreadful beast. But we are not left to our own interpretations as to what these beasts symbolize prophetically.

Daniel 7:17
These great beasts, which are four, [are] four kings, [which] shall arise out of the earth.

So it is determined that the beasts represent kings that come from the earth, kingdoms of men. At this point I would encourage you not to think about all the connections to other visions and interpretations of Daniel contained within the rest of his book that you may have already studied. It is easy to see four kingdoms or a little horn and jump to connections elsewhere, but let’s first focus on what we can understand from this singular vision itself. We will look both there and in Revelation shortly to define terms and make some obvious connections, but sometimes existing paradigms can blind one to noticing important details, and these details are very important to understanding the wider framework of the end of the age. These details also distinguish Daniel 7 from many of the more common interpretive connections made.

Daniel 7:3
And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

Daniel 7:7b
…it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it[H6925]; and it had ten horns.

This may seem obvious, but it becomes a critical foundational piece of the text in the interpretation of its meaning. These four beasts, or kings of kingdoms of men, are diverse from each other in this vision. The lion is not the other three and likewise with the other beasts. In the interpretation of these beasts representing kings, each of the four are not part of the other and are kings of their own kingdoms distinct from each other. At the point of this vision, one king does not control the others. It’s also not as though they’ve always been there, but they come to prominence, come up from the sea together, at the time of the vision. As we will see, this is yet future at the end of the age.

The next important point is the Hebrew word transliterated qŏḏām [H6925], meaning before. Now there are two ways one could take this reading the English translation, either temporally or spatially. These beasts existed in an order one before the next in time or these beasts existed together at the same time and were before each other in the same place. This is a case where interpretations built on one seemingly simple word can lead in two very different directions and ending up in two very different understandings of the same prophecy. Given that these four beasts are introduced in an order, it’s very easy to assume a temporal connection for this word, that the other three beasts were before the fourth beast in terms of time. This with the fact that there are four leads many to immediately tie Daniel 7 to other visions.

I think it is important to look not just at the definition of the word, but also at context and other use in scripture to build understanding of the meaning of terminology and interpretation of the underlying Hebrew and Greek text of scripture. Now I’m not a scholar, but I think if you examine how this Hebrew word is used everywhere else in scripture, especially in the context of Daniel’s writings, it becomes overwhelmingly clear that qŏḏām holds a spacial meaning and not a temporal one. This word is used 46 times in 38 verses of the Old Testament and here are a couple examples.

Ezra 4:23
Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter [was] read before[H6925] Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.

Ezra 7:19
The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, [those] deliver thou before[H6925] the God of Jerusalem.

Daniel 4:6
Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise [men] of Babylon before me,[H6925] that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.

Daniel 7:8, 20
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom[H6925] 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. ... And of the ten horns that [were] in his head, and [of] the other which came up, and before whom[H6925] 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.

I encourage you to examine each of the 46 usages and answer for yourself if any use of this word in context represent one thing happening before another in time. Even in other examples from this same chapter and vision, verses 8, 10, 13, 20, before holds a spacial meaning, not a temporal one. What this means is that when stating that the fourth beast was diverse from the other three before it, the kings are not gone as if consumed by the next kings after them as in other visions, but it is diverse from the other three kings coexisting with it at the time of the end and therefore cannot be connected to historical fulfillment. The whole of Daniel’s vision in chapter 7 is yet to be fulfilled in our future.

Daniel 7:12
As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

In agreement with this we are told that in the destruction of the fourth king and its little horn, that the first three beasts have their dominion taken away yet their lives are prolonged. This again points to the coexistence of these four beasts at the same point in history, not a sequential progression from the first king to the fourth, because when the fourth king is destroyed, the other three remain without power as kings. The depiction of the defeat of the beast at Yeshua’s return to establish His kingdom is in Revelation 19:20-21. And why do these remain? Because Yeshua will have returned and taken the kingdoms of the earth to rule from Jerusalem in the Messianic Kingdom. They become subservient to Him and are no longer kings because Yeshua is King.

This seems very clear to me that in Daniel’s vision on the eschatological road of time, this sign points to four contemporaneous kings from the earth ruling over four distinct kingdoms over which their kings have full sovereignty. Now there are aspects such as the eagle’s wings on the lion or the four heads of the leopard that could more distinctly identify these four kingdoms, but again that is too subjective for me to do at this time.

Global Governance

There is detail here that highlights these four kings are not in the sense we normally think of where there is one king ruling over one people in one land. Rather some of these beast’s depictions hint at more of a kind of multi-tiered governance such that each beast, or king, may represent an alliance of kingdoms that are tied together by treaty or law. We see this idea in the United States of America, a collection of 50 states that are tied to one federal government, or a more relevant example might be the European Union comprised of many countries with their own sovereignty that have given up aspects of that sovereignty to be part of a union of nations tied together as one by law.

The lion and the bear seem fairly single in their depictions, but the leopard is depicted with four heads. In John’s vision of Revelation 17, we see a depiction of eight heads of the Dragon representing kings through time. Is this likewise hinting that the leopard representing one king is actually comprised of four kings in a kind of shared governance or treaty that effectively binds them as one kingdom? I can’t say definitively, but it is something to consider.

A king without a kingdom is no king at all, but just a mad man with delusions of grandeur. A king must have subjects and a land upon which those subjects live to have any power as a king. But we also see in the focus of the vision on the fourth kingdom that this king is not quite what it would seem. The fourth king from the earth was identified most prominently by its horns which, distinctive in number, are clearly tied to John’s vision and are interpreted for us there and in Daniel as representing ten kings without a kingdom, yet receiving power as kings from the head of the Dragon. So it seems possible that these four beasts, or kings, are not in the traditional sense, but would possibly represent human government over the four corners of the earth at the prophetic time of Daniel’s vision in our future. And this explains why the first three beasts would lose their dominion but have their lives prolonged. It is the fourth beast that is destroyed at Yeshua’s coming, representing just 1/4 of the earth centered in Jerusalem where He will reign from. His kingdom will consume the fourth to establish His, but the rest of the world will submit to His reign.

In terms of the modern political climate of the world, these then would seem to be four contemporaneous and diverse bodies of governance ruling the people of the world at a particular time before the end. It represents the state of global politics just before and/or during the first half of the 70th week of Daniel. This will become clearer when we examine the connection to John’s vision and leads into the next detail of this prophecy that is both a distinct identifier of the fourth beast, or king, and also highlights further details about that kingdom being more than just one king over one land.

The Symbolic Horn

In Hebrew, qeren [H7161], is in its most literal form, is a horn protruding from an animal’s head. In this form, it was used for many purposes such as the shofar, or trumpet, from a hollowed out ram’s horn. The conquest of Jericho is heavily tied to the blowing of the shofar to signal the great shout of the people to bring the walls of Jericho down. It was also used as a container, such as that holding the anointing oil for the king as seen with David in 1 Samuel 16:1, 13 and Solomon in 1 Kings 1:39. This connection of the anointing of king David and Solomon with the anointing oil stored in the horn that we will see also tied to representing kings in the prophetic narrative is interesting. We see Hanna rejoice in her son Samuel’s birth. She speaks both of her horn being exalted in the Lord and a prophetic exalting of the horn of God’s anointed. The prophet Samuel would anoint king David at God’s command, who was a foreshadow of the Messiah from the root of Jesse and the ultimate anointed King over Israel and humanity.

1 Samuel 2:1, 10
And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn[H7161] is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. ... The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn[H7161] of his anointed.

This same word is used in God’s direction for placing horn protrusions from various temple instruments that would be used in the ministering at the temple. On the four corners of the bronze altar were to be horns made of wood and overlaid with bronze. Likewise the altar of incense in the temple was to have horns on the four corners overlaid with pure gold. It was on these horns that the blood of the sacrifice was to be smeared as part of the sacrificial system to purify sacred space. This would seem to be a foreshadow of the blood of an innocent sacrifice tied to the strength represented by the horns and the strength and power of God to save by the blood of the Lamb of God. Only His blood was not a temporary provision of purity to enter God’s presence, but the forgiveness of moral sin to be united with God through His Son.

1 Kings 1:50-51
And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns[H7161] of the altar. And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns[H7161] of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.

Adonijah sought to be king of Israel following David, but when he learned that Zadok the priest had already anointed Solomon king of Israel, he feared for his life. We can learn a little of what the horns on the altar represented by his actions. When he sought salvation from death, the horns of the altar was where he went to cling to.

2 Samuel 22:1-3
And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day [that] the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: And he said, The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: [he is] my shield, and the horn[H7161] of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

Figuratively it represented strength or power as observing how animals used their horns in shows of their power and strength. The primitive root qāran [H7160] is used both as the idea of pushing with the horn and also used as radiate as in Exodus 34:29-35 when Moses face shone after coming down from talking to God.

Psalm 132:13-18
For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired [it] for his habitation. This [is] my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn[H7161] of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.

Psalm 148:13-14
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory [is] above the earth and heaven. He also exalteth the horn[H7161] of his people, the praise of all his saints; [even] of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.

In all this the symbolism of the horn is like a representation of a person, their standard, their voice. They can be perceived as strong or weak, and in the case of an anointed king, it represents both the king and the people he represents in his rule. In the case of Israel, when they were walking with God and exalting Him, their horn was likewise exalted by God as a standard that the world was to see. And so in the prophetic symbolism of the horns we will see this symbolic representation of kings and their kingdoms in a kind of play of our future.

The Eleven Horns

Daniel 7:23-27
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. 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. 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. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy [it] unto the end. 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.

This fourth beast is comprised of eleven horns, ten similar horns and one little horn that comes up after the ten. It is explicitly interpreted for us that these eleven horns represent kings. In this we can see confirmation that the symbolic fourth beast itself represents a king and under that king are eleven more kings. This is not a traditional kingdom representing one land and one people headed by their king. This is something a little different. And as we look at John’s vision of the end of the age, this point becomes key in showing the transition of all power to the man of sin, the false christ.

There is another place in prophecy where the horns representing kings are compared to other horns by size. It’s important to recognize these comparisons in size of the horns as a comparison of the size of the kingdoms that the kings lead.

Daniel 8:3, 20
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. ... The ram which thou sawest having [two] horns [are] the kings of Media and Persia.

“At its greatest extent, in c. 500 B.C., the Achaemenid Empire, under Darius I, was 5.5 square megameters. Just as Alexander did for his empire, so the Achaemenids had earlier taken over the pre-existing Median empire. The Median Empire had reached its peak of 2.8 square megameters in about 585 B.C. — the largest empire to date, which the Achaemenids took less than a century to almost double.” | ThoughtCo.

So we see in the historically fulfilled prophecy of Daniel 8, that the Median Empire came first and was smaller in size than the Persian Empire that came after and consumed it and grew greater, yet these horns together represented the one kingdom represented by the ram, the Achaemenid Empire. The Persian Empire started out smaller, but were stronger than the Medes, growing their combined empire. We see this represented in another group of ten horns and a little horn that come out of the fourth kingdom here in Daniel 7.

It should be noted that Daniel 8 also speaks of a little horn, which some use as a connection to Daniel 7 because of that similarity. However, an examination of chapter 8 reveals it to be fully fulfilled historically and the little horn representing Antiochus IV Epiphanes is related to that of chapter 7 only in its foreshadowing and connecting the dots of the abomination of desolation Yeshua referred us to Daniel to understand. While both little horns come from a fourth kingdom, that of Daniel 8 is clearly historical and the Seleucid Empire from which the little horn arose existed in history, not our future.

Daniel 8 also lacks any of the other connecting elements like the ten horns and the lion, bear, and leopard, as well as having different origins. One paradigm states that the little horn comes from the fourth horn after Alexander in Daniel 8, which is connected to the little horn on the fourth beast in chapter 7. However, in this paradigm Daniel 2 is also often connected to the four beasts of Daniel 7 connecting the first three beasts to Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, the last revived at the end. These can’t both be accurate connections because the four horns from which the little horn arises come from Alexander the Great, Greece. In fact, the words of Daniel 2 limit the extent of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision to the slow death of Rome in our history, well before the time of the end yet future.

The clear tying together in time of the four kings, within the context of the vision in chapter 7 itself, confirms that all four kingdoms of Daniel 7 are explicitly tied to future prophecy and all four of those kingdoms will exist when Yeshua returns to establish His Messianic Kingdom during the day of the Lord. The four kingdoms depicted in Daniel 2 are dead and gone and it is said of the statue of that vision:

Daniel 2:35
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.

Back to Daniel 7, given the figurative representation of horns as strength and power, one might think that the little horn of Daniel 7 representing the false christ in the future speaks to his strength being less than that of the ten larger horns he comes up amongst. However, I think the vision reveals a very interesting bit of information that can help us understand Daniel’s dream.

Daniel 7:8, 20, 24
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. ... 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. 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.

Not only does the little horn show himself to be stronger than one of the larger horns after which he came to power, but he shows himself to be stronger than three of them. These three kings are plucked and fall before the little horn. This doesn’t speak to the size of the horn being related to his strength, in fact it seems contrary to that interpretation. Rather, similar to the comparison to the Median and Persian Empires, what I believe this speaks to is the size of the kingdoms the horns represent. In the context of this prophecy we have ten similarly large kingdoms amongst which a relatively smaller kingdom arises after their existence. We know the little horn is after the ten because Daniel states, “there came up among them another little horn” and he would “rise after them.”

So Daniel’s vision is depicting a time where the four corners of the earth are governed by kings of kings, a consolidation of power through global governance, and in one corner of the earth there are ten kingdoms allied together or associated somehow. Out of this time, a new smaller kingdom arises amongst them that clearly causes some political upheaval because three of those ten larger kings are defeated by the smaller king.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

We’ve already seen this little horn has a mouth speaking great things and we know that the false christ will make the seat of his authority in the temple of God on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. If we are to look at the populations of nations in the Middle East, might we see a general representation of one nation being smaller than its neighbors? I should note that I do believe the current status of the Middle East is likely to change in the coming times, but looking at World Population Review today, Israel’s 9.5M population (74% Jewish, 21% Arab) is larger than Lebanon’s 5.8M and Palestine’s 5.6M, but smaller than Jordan’s 11.5M, Syria’s 25.6M, Iraq’s 47M, Saudi Arabia’s 34.6M, Turkey’s 87.7M, Yemen’s 41.8M, Egypt’s 118.4M, UAE’s 11.3M, and Iran’s 92.4M.

An examination of the population sizes, cultures, and religious beliefs reveals the same kind of ten to one relationship the Middle East has today. And while it is true that culturally and religiously not all the surrounding Muslim kingdoms are on the same page, this might actually explain why three of these ten kings fall before the little horn. None of the ten horns would appear to like the little horn, yet they recognized their powerlessness to stop him and it would seem that the example of these three make that point. While it seems difficult to think of these surrounding nations giving over their power to a smaller kingdom, it seems God is involved in their doing so. With God all things are possible.

Revelation 17:16-18
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

But can we trust that these ten horns in Revelation are the same that are depicted in Daniel’s vision?

The Vision of John

Aside from the fourth beast’s clear dominion over the whole earth, the ten horns distinguish the identity of this beast and allow use to make connections elsewhere in scripture to identify the beast. Besides Daniel 7, the only other place where we see these ten horns is in John’s vision on the Island of Patmos in the book of Revelation regarding the time of the end.

Revelation 12:3, 7-9
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. ... And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

I think it is important to first point out that what John’s vision describes as a beast is in fact the great Dragon and serpent that deceives the world. What Daniel describes as “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” has the same ten horns that John sees on the head of the Dragon. But we have an even more solid connection between the visions of Daniel and John by the clear descriptions given by each.

Revelation 13:1-7
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. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

We know this is the same Dragon, now called a beast, by the seven heads and ten horns. Yet a distinction is still made between the Dragon and the beast in that the Dragon gives the beast his power, seat, and great authority. This points to the Dragon being the beast, but the little horn of Daniel used to show the relationship with the ten horns in the transition of power is seen fully transferred here. Now instead of a little horn that plucks three of the ten horns, the king has moved to be symbolized by the head of the Dragon upon which the ten horns are rooted. Note that the head bears the horns and not the other way around. What Daniel saw in the rise of the little horn, John sees as the complete domination of the fourth kingdom when the little horn becomes the head that bears all the other horns and directs where the Dragon goes.

Daniel 7:25
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.

Further making the connection, both Daniel and John describe the little horn and head respectively have a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and wear out, or make war with, the saints for 3.5 years, or 42 months. This ties the translation of the little horn to the head of the beast in John’s vision.

In similar symbology to the horn, the seven heads are said to be seven kings in Revelation 17. At the time of John’s vision of Revelation in 95 AD, five of those seven were fallen and one was, presumably Rome. That meant the seventh head that would come after would represent the false christ, the voice of the Dragon and the head that leads it. This also means that what John describes as a seven headed beast only has seven heads in representing the Dragon through time. At the time of the end, the Dragon has only one head with ten horns because the previous six have fallen.

Revelation 17:9-11
And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Recall that in Daniel’s vision the same dreadful beast with ten horns is diverse from the other three, but in John’s vision something has changed because now the same lion, bear, and leopard that represented the first three beasts introduced are now depicted as part of the Dragon itself, not diverse from it. That these once diverse beasts are now part of the Dragon should not be any great wonder because it also states that following the healing of the deadly wound, all the world wondered after the Dragon beast and worshipped the Dragon and the beast.

Revelation 13:3-4
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

They recognize that nobody can defeat the beast and so they give their power to him, just as the ten horns had done earlier in his rise to power when they realized they were powerless against him. This is symbolized in the once diverse representation of the kingdoms of men in the form of four diverse beasts is now seen as one Dragon with aspects of the other three beasts integrated into it, they have given the Dragon what he always desired, their power and worship.

Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 are the only two places where the lion, bear, leopard, and ten-horned beast are all mentioned together. In Daniel 7 they are diverse and separate from each other and in Revelation 13 they are all part of the Dragon because they have given over their power to him. Additionally, what was represented as four now being one is tied in to the statement that “all the world wondered after the beast.”

What Daniel saw as a little horn speaking great things and blasphemies as a king among kings in one corner of the earth, morphs in John’s vision of the end to the head of the dragon that has consumed all the power of earth to itself and continues to speak great things and blasphemies as the king of the whole world.

There are very clear connections between these chapters in the animal types, the ten horns, and the actions of both the little horn and the head of the Dragon. Both the little horn and the seventh head of the Dragon have a mouth speaking great things, blasphemies, and go overcome the saints for 3.5 years, or 42 months. The symbolism is interpreted within the visions themselves leaving little wiggle room from the plain reading. The seat of the false christ is tied to the temple of God on Mount Zion, the mount of congregation that the Dragon has been seeking to be worshipped from. The rise of the little horn compared to the ten larger horns all points to the fourth beast encompassing a unique place in the world. So what does this mean in regards to the next road signs to watch for?

Watching The Middle East

I think that focusing on watching the evolution of global power in the first three beasts of Daniel 7 is too speculative at this point, but one should keep an ear to the ground for changes in global power structures. Given all the wars and rumors of wars, financial uncertainty, and various other elements that cause political instability, who knows how things can change to unveil what we’ve been told will happen. Remember for almost 2,000 years many of those trying to understand Bible prophecy had to allegorize scripture because of the lack of the nation of Israel, but as it turned out the first nation to be born from the dust of history did exactly that because they are central to God’s plan of redemption of His people from their blindness. As it turns out, the impossible was possible and Israel is a nation again, born in a day. And this reality makes the point that there is one area at the very heart of the prophetic narrative of what is coming that should have our focus, the Middle East.

Since its founding, Israel has been a secular nation with an underlying foundation of religious tradition tying them to their ancient roots. Their laws are structured more like those of the world than their roots, but according to scripture their hearts will be turned back to the God of their fathers, indeed it’s one of the prophetic expectations of Elijah’s coming to prepare the way for the Messiah to turn their hearts back to God.

Malachi 4:4-6
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, [with] the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

As difficult as it must have been for those before 1948 to imagine the rebirth of Israel in the land, it may now be difficult to imagine the nation of Israel changing their national laws to return to the Mosaic Covenant and their times to observe God’s appointed times and ministry at His temple. A minority of Orthodox Jews have kept the dream alive, even preparing the temple instruments and training the priests according to the Torah and they fully expect prophecy of the Messiah to be fulfilled.

October 7, 2023 caused a shift in the hearts and minds of many in Israel and since that time the State of Israel has become more firm in their fight against those trying to destroy them from the earth. Amazingly the vocal minority of the world turned against them in the time following and Israel has felt more isolated and hated than ever. Yet they still desire peace and cooperation with their neighbors, though trust is a hard thing to build when the history of her people in the diaspora and since her founding has been filled with their neighbors attempting to destroy them.

In the prophecy, the fourth kingdom would seem to cover the Middle East region given Jerusalem’s centrality to the little horn, beast, or false christ’s seat of power. But the ten horns seem to stand out as separate from the little horn in that he rises up amongst them, after theirs is established. Some of them clearly don’t like this because three of these kings are plucked and fall before the little horn. Yet even so there are still ten horns on the head when they, and the world, give their power over to the little horn when he becomes the head of the Dragon.

Just as some more Orthodox Jews have an expectation of an Elijah and Messiah coming to turn Israel back to God, so too do certain sects of Islam expect a Mahdi to establish a Caliphate to stand against Israel at the time of the end. It is perhaps this alliance of the Muslim kingdoms in expectation of the end that defines the relationship of the ten horns in the future. There are also elements of both sides working toward a more cooperative Middle East as highlighted by the Abraham Accords. Perhaps it is out of this shaky alliance that some break ranks, time will tell.

Rise of the Little Horn

There’s another prophecy in Daniel that may speak to this time of the rise of the little horn, the reaction of his neighbors, and the fall of the three horns. Daniel 11 is a fascinating chapter that many believe was written well after the time of Daniel because of how well it depicts the time after the death of Alexander the Great to Antiochus IV. There are depictions of the battles between the kings of the Ptolemaic Empire to the South of Israel and the Seleucid Empire to the North leaving Israel caught in the middle.

A transition in the narrative happens where the actions of Antiochus against Israel suddenly shift to a similar yet distinctly different character than the historical Antiochus IV and the abomination of desolation he caused. It’s almost as if the prophecy takes the historical foreshadow and connects it to the ultimate fulfillment at the end. Verses 36-39 parallels 2 Thessalonians 2:4 in exalting himself above every god, something Antiochus IV did not do.

Daniel 11:36-44
And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge [and] increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many [countries] shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, [even] Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians [shall be] at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.

We are told in verse 40 that what is being discussed is at the time of the end and a subtle language change happens that distinguishes what is said from the previous verses in the chapter. Note that a king that does according to his will is introduced in verse 36 and in verse 40 instead of the kings of the North and South fighting each other, now they are coming at “him.” Who is this him? It would seem to be that king introduced just before, the little horn that exalts himself above God.

Now the kingdoms represented by the North and South no longer exist as the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms now or in the future, but there are modern nations to the North and South of Israel that both inhabit the same land and hold animosity toward Israel in much the same way as their ancient counterparts. What we see is this proud king is attacked and what follows is a campaign of conquering in the Middle East. Recall the three horns that fell before the little horn and note that there are three depictions in the defeat of Egypt, the area of the Ptolemaic Empire, a threat from the North and a threat from the East that causes him to go and destroy with great fury. We aren’t given names, but there is no shortage of kingdoms in those directions that hate Israel and would attack her.

Revelation 6:2
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

The first seal is broken by Yeshua on the scroll written on both sides. Note that a crown is given to the rider of the white horse, a sign of him being anointed as king. He didn’t forcibly take the crown, it was willingly given to him. Seemingly connected to his being anointed as king, he begins to conquer. Given what Daniel 11:40-44 depicts in the king of the North and South initiating war, it would seem that his appointment as king is tied to this war beginning. On October 7, 2023, what was termed the “Al Aqsa Flood” attack was stated by Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida to be partially a response to the Jews “bringing red cows.” CBS News

There is a tension in the Middle East tied to the expectation of the Orthodox Jews and sects of Islam of an anointed king in Israel and their return to the Mosaic Covenant, requiring the return of the temple and sacrificial system. One side expects this anointed king to defeat their enemies and return them to following the statutes of God given them at Sinai while the other expects to fight against this king according to their own version of eschatology. That these two eschatological views are in direct opposition to each other and expect this very kind of conflict fits very well with the same ten horns to one little horn in the Middle East and Daniel’s vision of the little horn’s victory leading to the subservience of the ten after three are defeated.

John’s vision of the seals being broken lines up with this time of war as we see from the first to the fourth seal the conquering king, war, death, and hell.

Revelation 6:8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Is it a coincidence that Daniel sees a quartering of the kingdoms of the earth and John sees death and hell given power over a quarter of the earth? This would be the same region of the Middle East that would be at war during this time.

Transition of the Beast

Daniel 11:45
And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

Following his conquering of his enemies, he plants his tabernacles in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea where he comes to his end. This is where an interesting parallel can be seen when we first recognize that chapter and verse separations were not originally in scripture. What happens next is a time of trouble unparalleled in all of history, which I will cover that in a future post, Dusk Before the Day of the Lord. This coming to his end is not disconnected from John’s vision of the end and is the transition of the little horn from one king among ten to the head upon which they all exist.

Revelation 13:3
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Revelation 17:8, 11-13
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. ... And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

There is only one place where no matter what direction you go you are walking South. Likewise, there is only one place where a pit has no bottom. There is another who died, went to the bottomless pit, and rose again after three days and three nights.

Matthew 12:40
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Psalm 30:2-3
O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Isaiah 14:12-15
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

The bottomless pit spiritually is the realm of the dead, sheol, and ascension from it speaks of resurrection from the dead.

Revelation 13:3
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

In John’s vision of the Dragon it is the death of the seventh head, which then becomes the eighth in its resurrection, that causes the world to wonder and worship the beast. This is the transition from Daniel’s vision of the diverse beasts representing the governance of the world before the end to the combining of all beasts in the one, headed by the false christ after his resurrection from the dead. And what is it that happens immediately after this death in Daniel 11:45?

Daniel 12:1
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Matthew 24:15-16, 21-25
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:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: ... For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. 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: [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

First note that apostasy, falling away from or rejection of the truth, is tied to the revealing of the man of sin, the little horn, the beast that will be destroyed at Yeshua’s return. It is clearly stated these come before Yeshua’s return and our gathering to Him. Is it a coincidence that the warning of deception and going after one that comes in the name or authority of the anointed Messiah would be tied to this idolatry and falling away from truth?

And God Himself sends a strong delusion that they would believe a lie. What is that lie? Is there a need to depart from the context of the passage itself? The lie is that the false christ declares himself to be God in God’s temple in Jerusalem. That some believe this lie is the cause of the falling away. This deception is especially potent for Jews in Israel, who may have started out following the One True God and His statutes for them, but blindness, rejection of Yeshua, and desire to finally have their conquering king will pull many away from God into apostasy as that false king lures them away from God.

And what is the strong delusion God sends? If the lie is that the false messiah is the real messiah and the reason the world wonders after and worships the beast is that he was killed and lived again, then it is my contention that the resurrection is that strong delusion. It is not until the beast ascends from the bottomless pit, or resurrects from the dead, that the deadly wound is healed, that the whole world wonders after the beast. It is this transition that brings the world to their knees to worship the beast and the Dragon that gave power to the beast.

The focus is on Judea and Jerusalem where the false christ declares himself God in God’s temple. He sets himself up as an idol to be worshipped echoing in fulfillment the actions of the other little horn, Antiochus IV who set an idol of Zeus in the temple to be worshipped. The supposed anointed king has died and come to life again, something only one other truly anointed Messiah has done before in history. However, this is before the eyes of the whole modern world and the other time is ancient history, disputed by many.

And this leads to the second of three warnings by Yeshua in the Olivet Discourse about this time of the end, not to be deceived by any man coming in the name, or authority, of Christ, the anointed, the Messiah. It should be clear at this point that Yeshua and Israel are the center of prophecies about the end. The Jewish and Gentile church has their Messiah, Yeshua, from Israel and are told how He will return from heaven in great glory as lightning from East to West. Islam has their anointed prophet expected to unite them against a false messiah in Israel. The Jews have been blinded to the Messiah of the Tanakh, relying on the interpretations of the Oral Law to the exclusion of the reading of the Word itself in many cases.

However, the Messiah for both Jews and Christians come from the very same prophecies in the very same Tanakh, it just depends on the paradigm in which you read them in. The best deceptions come wrapped in a little truth and there are many who miss the Dragon in sheep’s clothing because of it. If you don’t understand the truth, how can you tell the counterfeit? A time of testing is coming on the whole world when God will allow mankind’s accuser to play out the designs of the mystery of iniquity already at work in the world and insert himself as an object of worship using a great deception.

If the deception will come wrapped in truth, it will not come on the scene as an obvious evil controlling an Orwellian state. It will come with a spiritual leader pointing Israel back to God, a return to the Mosaic Covenant as directed by God at Sinai for their people, a confirming of a covenant relationship that will turn secular Israel into a kingdom more representative of ancient Israel. It will see a righteous response to the attacks of a hateful and evil enemy attempting to wipe Israel from existence. And when Israel’s new king proves capable of defending her against all odds, the whispers of Messiah will become shouts and many of the prophecies fulfilled by Yeshua, and some that have not yet been, will be attributed to this king who will come to his end at Jerusalem and rise from the dead to declare himself to be God.

The deception will play into expectations, pulling people into that deception until this defining event either solidifies acceptance of the lie or pushes to reject it. And isn’t it interesting that the actual fulfillment in Yeshua led to Him dying for our iniquities to become our King and Priest while the deception plays on that same prophetic narrative. As the Dragon attempts to copy the truth to enact his deception, we likewise see his false christ die and come to life. 

Daniel 9:27
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 overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

And so we see in the encapsulation of the final seven years appointed for Israel and Jerusalem, both the reason behind the confirmation of the covenant and it’s ceasing. This return to the statutes of God for Israel is not a bad thing. If you read the statutes given to Israel, how many times are they said to be kept throughout their generations? Have the generations of Israel ceased? If not, should they cease from fulfilling those statutes? Does God mean what He says?

And the sacrifices were never able to take away sins, only Yeshua can do that. Hebrews 10:3-5 Rather, the sacrifices were part of ritual purity necessary to enter sacred space to commune with God. This is likely why we see temple ministry continue in the Messianic Kingdom when Yeshua is ruling from Jerusalem.

From God’s perspective, this false christ is a false idol, leading Israel into idolatry as she plays the harlot once again going after a false god. From the perspective of the deceived, the return to the Mosaic Covenant brought about the expected rebuilding of the temple by the messiah and a return to God’s statutes. It could be that the false christ plays upon the prophesied sacrifice of the messiah, and as such the introduction of his own new covenant unlike that of their fathers is established, eliminating the daily sacrifice because their god dwells with them and all know him.

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

When you look at the events from both paradigms, that of the blinded and that of those who can see, the same prophecies can be taken in very different ways. One of the biggest misunderstandings those who don’t accept Yeshua have is that He did not come as they expected. God’s design fulfills all the prophecies, just not all at once. Yeshua will indeed build the temple in His Messianic Kingdom as depicted in Ezekiel 40-48, but not before He allows the hour of temptation to come on the whole world to reveal the hearts of men. He did establish a new covenant with the house of Israel, but in their rejection it went next to the Gentiles and only in the end through a time of refining will the eyes be opened to understand.

Let us also not forget that it isn’t only unbelieving Israel that will be deceived, but the whole world that does not know the truth. It is not just unbelieving Israel that will have the spirit of antichrist, denying the Father and Son, but the whole world that follows after this little horn speaking great blasphemies against the Father and Son will drink from the golden cup of blasphemies. It is not one nation or people susceptible to this coming great deception with signs and wonders, but all of the world.

Mankind has spiritual enemies that desire our eternal destruction, to drag us down with them. While the great deception may start in Jerusalem, Judea, and Israel, it is only because actual truth is required to pull off the deception and Israel are God’s chosen people, picked from among the nations to be His portion and deliver His Word. That Word is truth and so the convincing corruption of it is the Dragon’s great deception.

A remnant of Israel will not bow the knee to this false god and will go through unparalleled tribulation for it, yet they will be saved out of it. And just as with the first Exodus, they will be taken out of spiritual Egypt where the Lord was crucified and brought on wings of an eagle into the wilderness, their enemies swallowed up by the earth, echoing the first Exodus where their enemies were swallowed by the sea. This remnant of Israel will be comforted in the wilderness as Yeshua judges the world at the beginning of the day of the Lord.

The Coming Times

A lot has been covered here, and in reality there is more than these prophetic road signs that we’ve gone over, some out of order. So given what has been covered here, I wanted to present this list in order of what I’m expecting to see based on how I believe the Bible interprets the visions of Daniel and John.

1. Global politics will consolidate power through laws and treaties into four main areas of control of the people of the world under those laws. The remaining road signs are focused on the Middle East.
2. Ten kingdoms will ally together through some kind of agreement in the Middle East region.
3. One kingdom will come to power as something new in the existing dynamic of the region. A new king will be anointed and trigger some of his neighbors to attack his kingdom. The likely cause for this trigger is this king’s message to his people to confirm the Mosaic Covenant and return to God and rebuild His temple in Jerusalem.
4. The new king will respond to these evil attacks with great power and fury, utterly defeating all that come against him. Three of the ten kings will take action against this new king and will fail. This will be a time of great war in the Middle East where the king of the little kingdom will show he cannot be defeated and it will cause the world to take notice. I believe this is depicted in Daniel 11:40-44 and result in the second, third, and fourth seals being broken in Revelation 6:3-8.
5. About 3.5 years into the reign of this new king, he will return to Jerusalem where he will be killed somehow. It is likely that a seeming Gog/Magog fulfillment in an attack on Jerusalem will lead to this as he defends his people.
6. He will then come back to life and shock the world. In his pride he will enter the temple and declare himself to be God and establish a new covenant that doesn’t require the daily sacrifice.
7. The three fallen kingdoms will remain distinct, but will have had the kings replaced with those willing to give their power to the new kingdom and all ten will be given power as kings over their kingdoms according to the dictates of the new king.
8. The world will fall under the spell of this new king and he will rule the world for 3.5 years until Yeshua returns in glory to cast him into the lake of fire and establish the true Messianic Kingdom from Jerusalem for the next 1,000 years.

There is a lot of detail left out of the short list of road signs here, but that detail was not covered here. These seem the most explicitly discernable points to be reasoned from scripture prior to the events transitioning to the false messiah’s reign from Jerusalem. In Dusk Before the Day of the Lord, I will focus on the transition to the time of great tribulation in the second half of the 70th week of Daniel, which I believe has likewise been misunderstood by many. Because the creation account had each day start with evening, so too does each day begin at dusk. The time of great tribulation is that time of dusk before the day of the Lord and the scriptures lay out, here a little and there a little, how this time will unfold.

Important Takeaways

• Daniel’s visions expound primarily on prophecy both historical and future to us while John’s visions are primarily on prophecy future to us.
  • Daniel connects the historical abomination of desolation and its little horn to the future one.
  • Daniel seems to describe the rise of the little horn, false christ, while John sees him after he has declared himself God. The abomination of desolation is the dividing line between the rise of the false messiah and his declaration of deity and establishment of his kingdom, the time of great tribulation.
  • That John ties the breaking of the first seal to anointing a king followed by war would seem to match up with Daniel’s 70th week beginning with the confirmation of the covenant.
• In Daniel 7 the four beasts, or kings from the earth, are contemporaneous at the time of the end yet future. They represent kingdoms of people.
  • The four beasts are contemporaneous because the first three are before, in front and in the presence of, the fourth beast. They are introduced in an order, but they are together at one time.
  • The four beasts of Daniel 7 are diverse from each other. The only other place where the lion, bear, leopard, and ten-horned beast are mentioned together is Revelation 13. Only here the lion (mouth), bear (feet), and leopard (body) are parts of the fourth beast.
  • Daniel’s vision in chapter 7 takes place at the end of the age because the beast’s body is destroyed and cast into the flame. However, the other three beasts lose their dominion, but their lives are prolonged. This confirms all four beasts are contemporaneous at the time of the end.
  • The four kingdoms are not necessarily your typical single king ruling over people. In the case of the fourth beast, there are 10 kings that are part of the fourth beast/king.
  • In John’s vision, the beasts representing four diverse kings that Daniel saw are now seen combined as aspects of the Dragon, no longer diverse from each other. The only place in scripture where a lion, bear, leopard and 10 horns coexist are Daniel 7 and Revelation. Revelation is about the time of the end, and so therefore is Daniel 7.
• The ten horns, or kings, are all part of the fourth beast/king/kingdom. The little horn represents the false christ who takes his seat of power in the temple in Jerusalem. This makes the fourth beast representative of the Middle Eastern “corner” of the earth.
  • Both the little horn of Daniel 7 and the beast of Revelation 13 have a mouth speaking great things, blasphemies, and go after the saints for 3.5 years, or 42 months.
  • The ten horns on the fourth beast pre-exist the little horn that comes up amongst them.
  • The size of the horn representing the king can relate to his strength, power, and influence, but in several cases it seems to point more toward the size of the kingdom.
  • There is a ratio of ten to one in terms of size, culture, and religion in the Middle East.
  • Three of the ten horns fall before the little horn.
  • After failing to defeat the little horn, the ten horns give their power to him because God puts it in their hearts to fulfill His will. They will later destroy the harlot riding the beast representing Jerusalem once God’s will is fulfilled.