“I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. (Daniel 7:11-12 NKJV)
It is our belief that the four beasts represent the same four metals of Daniel 2. Therefore, as Daniel 2:35 indicates that they are all broken “together” or “at the same time”, we see the parallel here. In Daniel 2, the outward glory and majesty of the kingdoms are destroyed simultaneously, but here, Daniel is seeing the spiritual power behind these kingdoms. As such, the spiritual principality that governed and ruled Rome was destroyed instantly, but the principalities that animated the other three kingdoms, while they remained in existence during the subsequent reigns, were not immediately destroyed. This means, naturally, that humanly run yet demonically controlled kingdoms will continue after this time, but with their world-wide, one-world governmental dominion stripped from them. This is, indeed, what we see. At the first coming of Jesus, and the events of the First Century, the power of Rome was broken and completely destroyed. The visible glory of the then existing empire was “broken small” and “scattered” and “no place was found for them”. As such, the spiritual powers of Babylon, Media-Persia, and Greece continue in existence today, which we see in the attempt to cultivate and resurrect them in governmental centers such as Washington DC, and elsewhere. Literally, these powers are attempting, through ungodly means such as the Masonic lodges and other influences, to re-establish some sort of dominance and control over the affairs of men. But, as yet, there has not yet come a power, since the fall of Rome, that had the dominion to rule over the entire Earth. Biblically, we see no case for one in the future, as the four metals and beasts of Daniel are completely fulfilled historically. The context for the establishment of it was the false prophet Hananiah in Jeremiah 28, who broke the wooden yoke off of Jeremiah. In it’s place was the iron yoke placed, according to the word of the Lord, and this resulted in the world-wide dominion of Nebuchadnezzar over even the beasts of the Earth. This dominion, according to Daniel 2, lasted for almost 1000 years, from the founding of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, to the end of Rome, either in the Third Century, or the Fifth, depending on when you reckon it (the principate ended at the Crisis of the Third Century, some time around 270 AD, although the last emperor is recorded in 476 AD). Regardless, the world-wide dominating power that originated with Babylon ended with Rome, as it is clear that, beginning with the Middle Ages, no great beasts ruled over all the affairs of men (what secular history calls “Western Civilization”).
Daniel 7:12 raises an interesting question: why is the beast (the antichrist) destroyed suddenly while the lives of the rest of the beasts are prolonged? Because most commentators interpret the other three beasts Daniel 7 as a list of historical kingdoms (Babylon, Persia, and Greece), this verse is particularly perplexing because the “lives” of those beasts have already ended [The lives of the first three and that of Rome coincided. That a larger power ruled, according to the passage, it indicates that all four were in existence at the end. The final overthrow of the fourth beast included the power of the previous, since the subsequent kingdoms conquered each other. So, the final overthrow of the fourth was the defeat of Rome, and the other powers of the kingdoms were allowed to continue to exist, in the form of human kingdoms and governments. ] and the final beast has not yet appeared For those who take the view that Daniel 7 describes 4 kingdoms at the end of the age, the verse is also perplexing because it does not seem to follow that the Lord would destroy the antichrist and his empire and yet preserve the lives of the other beast kingdoms. Thankfully, when we look at the verse more closely, we find that there is a very specific emphasis in this verse that can resolve the question.
One thing that is important to note is that verse 12 does not have to follow verse 11 chronologically. This is a a convenient interpretation, obviously, and does not derive textually, really. While the verses may appear, at first glance, to be describing chronological events, the verses do not require that we read it that way. Instead we can see that the verses are simply making a comparison. The antichrist is destroyed suddenly and cast alive into the burning flame (Daniel 7:11; Revelation 19:20), while the other beast empires were allowed to live on for a season after the end of their kingdoms. This is absolutely not true. The verse clearly depicts the fourth being destroyed, while the others continue. This is fanciful speculation, and wishful thinking. The contrast is plain in the text, that the fourth is destroyed while the other three are allowed to live, but stripped of their power. The author requires this conclusion because of his need for the end of human time to come at the destruction of the fourth beast. It is a contrast in the way the “beasts” are destroyed, not a timeline telling us when they were destroyed. On the contrary, any parallel between Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 requires this to be the case. Daniel 2:35 says that four materials (or five) were broken together. Here, we see the spiritual powers of each of these are broken, through the breaking of the last beast. The others were already stripped of their power, either by the successive beast, or the final overthrow, but the text does not make real allowance for this exception, by our understanding. For example, when we look at the fall of Babylon, Persia, or Greece we see that after each empire “fell” there was a period of time when the remnants of the empire lived on and in some cases had significant influence in subsequent empires. Again, what is in view here is the spiritual power, the principality, of the system. It empowered the rulers, but it itself was a distinct power in the heavenly realms. The overthrow of the beasts concurrently, but the final destruction of the first three beasts will come later. However, the destruction of the antichrist’s empire will not happen this way.
Daniel’s primary point is the sudden and complete destruction of the final beast. This beast is not judged like other empires. Untrue. The first three beasts were most likely stripped of their authority by the coming of the next beast. Their outward glory was destroyed all at the same time, Daniel 2:35, but the spiritual powers behind those kingdoms, now unable to rule the world, was stripped. The language in the verse does not make suitable allowance for this conclusion. The whole passage is a chronological procession. Attempting to subvert that here is a perversion of the text. If one arbitrarily removes this from the obvious context of “Then… Then…”, what is to stop this from being applied to any part of the passage. No, the flow of the text clearly indicates something else, and the author here, by needs of his overall interpretation only, replaces the plain meaning of the text with something else that fits his perspective. Something about the beast is so different that God’s answer to rise of this beast is to seat the heavenly court for judgment and put the Son of Man in place to judge the nations of the earth (Daniel 7:1-8). This apocalyptic judgment highlights just how personal the judgment of this beast is to God. He does not send an invading army that gradually conquers and dismantles the final beast; instead He personally, suddenly, and completely judges the final beast.
This beast is completely unique in the way it challenges God, therefore it faces a unique judgement, and this is the emphasis of Daniel 7:11-12 and one of the main themes of the book of Daniel: there is a wicked ruler that is coming who is completely different (Daniel 7:3, 7, 19, 23, 24) from every other empire in history. He is so different that his reign of terror is not answered by another human empire, but by a direct judgment from God’s own Son and this is the emphasis of Daniel 7. All other empires in history will lose their power but then gradually fade away for a time as they are absorbed by another empire. Not so with this beast. God will judge him suddenly and decisively because he is different, both in his reign and his destruction, from all the rest. So different that God Himself will step on the stage of history and personally and suddenly destroy the final beast. He will not leave that task to the armies of men because this beast is something more than a man.
Again, this is all speculation. From the other writings of this author, it is clear that he expects a future antichrist who is satan incarnate. This is not supported by the Biblical text, in our opinion. For a further development of our understanding, including the proofs of our own, please see out wider body of study.