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The Little Horn

In vision, the prophet Daniel saw four great beasts which symbolized four kingdoms that
were to rule the earth (Daniel 7).

1/. The first beast was like a lion with eagle's wings, but the wings were to be plucked off
(Daniel 7:4). Even as the lion is king among the animals of the forest, so the empire which held
first position in the vision was Babylon. In due time its "wings" were plucked off and mighty
Babylon fell from its exalted position.

2/. The second beast was like a bear and it had three ribs in its mouth (Daniel 7:5). Even
as a bear is less courageous (as well as less noble) than the lion, the second kingdom, Medo-
Persia, was less in glory. It fell short of Babylon in wealth, magnificence, and brilliance. the men-
tion of "three ribs" in the mouth -- between the teeth where a bear crushes its prey -- is a reference
to the fact that Medo-Persia crushed the three provinces that made up the Babylonian kingdom --
Babylon, Lydia and Egypt.

3/. The third beast was like a leopard with four wings and four heads (Daniel 7:6). The
third kingdom, the Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great, was symbolized by the leopard which
is noted for its quick movements and remarkable swiftness by which it springs upon its prey. In a
similar fashion, the conquests of Alexander were amazingly rapid. At the age of 32, it is recorded,
he had conquered the world and wept because there were no more worlds to conquer.

The four heads on this leopard beast symbolized the four kings who ruled after the death of
Alexander: (1) Cassander ruled over Greece and the surrounding country, (2) Lysimachus ruled
over Asia Minor, (3) Selecus ruled over Syria and Babylon, and (4) Ptolemy ruled over Egypt.

4/. The fourth beast that Daniel saw was "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" (Daniel 7:7).
The fourth world kingdom was the Roman Empire. As the prophecy said, it was dreadful, terri-
ble, and strong; it did indeed tear down the whole earth; and it stands out as quite diverse from the
other empires of history. The meaning of the ten horns on this beast is explained in verse 24:
"These ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings [or kingdoms] that shall arise." It should be
noted that in Daniel 7 the words "kings" and "kingdoms" are used interchangeably. The prophecy
speaks of four kings (verse 17) and goes on to speak of these as four kingdoms (verse 23). There
is no contradiction here -- if there is a king, there is of necessity a kingdom.

Macchiavelli, the Roman historian, described the Empire as being divided among the vari-
ous Gothic tribes -- their number being TEN: Heruli, Suevi, Burgundians, Huns, Ostrogoths, Visig-
oths, Vandals, Lombards, Franks, and Anglo-Saxons. These have ever since been spoken of as the
ten kingdoms that rose out of the Roman Empire.

"I considered the horns," continues Daniel, "and, behold, there came up among them an-
other 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 a man, and a mouth speaking great things"
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