Daniel 7:7

Most conservative scholars believe that the fourth beast represents the Roman Empire, but critical scholars interpret it as referring to Greece. Walvoord called the identification of the fourth beast in chapter 7 "the crucial issue in the interpretation of the entire book of Daniel." [Note: Ibid., p. 159.]

In contrast to Greece, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire was slow. It began in 241 B.C. with the occupation of Sicily. Gradually it expanded throughout the whole Mediterranean world: western Europe including Britain, Gaul, and Spain; and western Asia as far east as the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. It formally ended in the Western Roman Empire in A.D. 410 when the Visigoths sacked Rome. However, its governmental influence persisted as late as A.D. 1453, when the last Roman ruler died in battle in Constantinople. [Note: For a brief history of Rome, see idem, The Nations . . ., pp. 83-87. For a longer one, see C. E. Van Sickle, A Political and Cultural History of the Ancient World, vol. 2. The standard and most exhaustive ancient history is the 12-volume Cambridge Ancient History, edited by Bury, Cook, and Adcock.]

Daniel did not compare the fourth beast that he saw to any known animal. It was unique. It was dreadful, terrifying, and extremely strong. Its large iron teeth chewed up what it attacked, and its feet crushed and trampled everything left by the former beasts.

". . . the Roman empire was ruthless in its destruction of civilizations and peoples, killing captives by the thousands and selling them into slavery by the hundreds of thousands." [Note: Walvoord, Daniel . . ., p. 161.]

"Rome had no interest in raising the conquered nations to any high level of development. All her designs were imperial; let the nations be crushed and stamped underfoot." [Note: Leupold, pp. 297-98.]

The identification of the 10 horns of this beast is more difficult. There is some obvious similarity between these 10 horns and the (10, by inference) toes of the image in chapter 2. They apparently represent 10 contemporaneous rulers (Daniel 7:17). Horns pictured strength and rulers in ancient Near Eastern iconography, yet scholars have not been able to agree on the identification of 10 outstanding rulers of the Roman Empire who ruled simultaneously.

There are two basic views about the identity of the 10 horns. First, some scholars spiritualize the number 10 as well as the number three (Daniel 7:8). That is, they do not take them literally. Almost all interpreters in this camp are amillennial. "Amillennial" refers to the belief that Jesus Christ will not reign on the earth for one thousand years in any literal sense. Of these interpreters, some believe these Numbers , 10 and three, refer to past rulers even though we cannot identify them. Young took the number 10 as figuratively indicating completeness. [Note: Young, pp. 148-50.] Others believe these 10 refer to future rulers who will appear at the second coming of Jesus Christ. [Note: Leupold, p. 308.] Still others believe the number refers generally to those who will reign with Christ in the future in heaven.

Second, some scholars believe we should take the Numbers 10 and three literally, since that is how we take most other numbers in the book. [Note: E.g., Walvoord, Archer, Pentecost, Wood, Feinberg, Campbell, Ironside, and Culver.] There is no clue in the text that we should interpret these numbers non-literally. This more consistent method of interpretation is what characterizes premillennialism. Premillennialists believe that prophecy, if interpreted literally, teaches that Jesus Christ will rule on the earth for 1,000 years following his Second Coming. Even amillennialists acknowledge that if one interprets prophecy consistently literally he or she will come out a premillennialist. They do not do so, however, because they believe that such a literal interpretation yields fanciful results. Consequently, they argue, we should adopt a different hermeneutic (method of interpretation) when reading prophecy, namely, a less literal one.

Most premillenarians believe that the 10 horns describe 10 rulers who will arise in the future and reign simultaneously. This obviously seems unlikely, since the Roman Empire is no longer in existence. However, there seem to be indications in Daniel and elsewhere in the Bible, which I will point out later, that God will revive or reestablish the Roman Empire in the future.