Little Horn Power

Daniel was a young man in Babylon when God began to use him to interpret the king's dreams. Part of the visions of Daniel including what people call the "little horn power" in Daniel 7.

Daniel 7:8 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.
11 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.
20 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.
24 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.
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.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

Now let's take a more detailed look at these verses. When we examine these verses, we can find seven ways to identify the little horn power.

1.  Location - verse 8 says that the little horn would emerge from within the ten nations of Europe into which Rome divided.

2.  Time of Rise - verse 8, 20, 24 indicates that it would rise after the breakup of the Roman Empire-after the 5th century A.D. And, it would arise after three of the ten horns (kingdoms) had been uprooted. Three of the barbarian kingdoms that arose believed the views of Arius, who denied the divinity of Christ. The others accepted the Catholic faith. From 476 A.D. on, the three Arian powers dominated portions of the territory of Rome, but each met defeat. In 533 A.D. Justinian, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, legally recognized the bishop (pope) of Rome as the head of all the Christian churches. Because of the Arian domination of some of the Roman Empire by the barbarian tribes, this authority could not be exercised by the bishop of Rome. Finally, in 538 A.D., Belisarius, one of Justinian's generals routed the Ostrogoths, the last of the barbarian kingdoms, from the city of Rome. So, by the military intervention of the Eastern Roman Empire, the bishop of Rome became all-powerful throughout the area of the old Roman Empire. This military act in 538 A.D. freed the pope from the restraints of the three barbarian kingdoms, thus establishing his universal civil authority. This firmly establishes the year 538 A.D. in any calculations related to the papacy.

3.  Its nature - verses 7, 8, 20, 24 Compared to the other horns this little horn was different. It was "stout", or great. It was different because it exercised both civil and religous power.

4.  Attitude toward God - verse 8, 20, 25 The little horn would "speak great words" against God. (Compare Daniel 8:23; 11:36; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:5.)

5.  Attitude toward God's law - verse 25 It would view God's law as needing changes and would make changes in that law by its own authority. The Roman church did exactly that. The crowning mark of their apparent authority in the Christian world is the changing of the day of worship from the Sabbath to Sunday. There is no authority from God's Word for this change.

6.  Attitude toward God's people - verses 21 and 25 This system would persecute "the saints of the most High". Again, history records that millions were put to death for "heretical" crimes under this religiopolitical system. Church historian David Schaff said this about papal Rome's persecuting activities:
"Down to the very close of the Middle Ages, the pages of history were disfigured by the decrees of popes and synods, confirming death as the penalty for heresy, and for persons supposed to be possessed with witchcraft. The great council of Constance, 1415, did not get away from this atmosphere, and ordered heretics punished even by the flames,-puniantur ad ignem. And the bull of Leo X, 1520, condemning Luther, cursed as heresy the Reformer's liberal statement that the burning of heretics is contrary to the will of the Spirit" (History of the Christian Church, Vol. V, Part 1, p. 524).

7.  Length of time permitted to rule - verse 25 The little horn would rule a time and times and half a time". Revelation 12:14. As you can see by reviewing Revelation 13, the papacy fulfills this time prophecy to the letter. The papacy ruled supremely in Europe from 538 A.D. when the last of the Arian tribes was forced out of Rome and into oblivion, until 1798 A.D. when the French general Berthier took the pope captive. History records a period of 1,260 years!

Going through these details is not pleasant, but we need to understand exactly what the Bible says. When the Roman Empire fell apart, there were ten tribes in the geographical space of the old Roman Empire. The last of them was destroyed by Emperor Justinian in 538 A.D. This allowed the bishop of Rome to claim religious authority over all of the old Roman Empire. From that time on, the authority and power of the Catholic Church grew and grew. There were pockets of resistance; Huss, Jerome, and Wycliffe being prime examples, but the Protestant Reformation really began with Martin Luther.

Actually, in 1797 the French general Berthier came to Rome and did not subdue it. A year later, in 1798, Berthier took the pope prisoner, and took him back to France, where he died. Most people thought the papacy was dead. This was at the time of the French Revolution and the Age of Reason. Atheism and Man's reason was thought to be supreme. For this and other reasons, people started to flee to the recently populated United States. The United States became a refuge from political and religious persecution. A slogan in the United States that came out of this time period was "A country without a king, and a church without a pope!"

Remembering that there are several sections to this study, let us continue by clicking here or on the arrow to go to Revelation 13..