Samuel Whitefield – Understanding the Fourth Kingdom of Daniel 2 and 7 – Part 2

pdf-icon-128x128-process-s64x64 PDF: Samuel Whitefield – The Fourth Kingdom of Daniel 2 and 7 – Part 2

  1. INTRODUCTION
    1. In the first session, we looked at the specific details that Daniel gives in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 about a fourth and final world empire. In that part we only considered what is written in the book of Daniel. The book of Revelation also has a significant amount of information about this fourth kingdom and the dreadful individual that animates that kingdom, so it is important to understand what Revelation says about this kingdom and how it relates to Daniel 2 and Daniel 7.
    2. It’s important to see that, as both Daniel and Revelation focus on a coming evil empire, they ultimately end up focusing even more specifically on the individual that gives that empire its horrific nature. He is the one that is ultimately the focus, both in Daniel and Revelation.
  2. DANIEL’S FOURTH KINGDOM IS THE EIGHTH KINGDOM OF REVELATION 17
    1. Interestingly, while Daniel emphasizes four kingdoms in Daniel 2 and 7, Revelation lists eight in Revelation 17. We have already seen that Rome is not emphasized in Daniel’s description of the fourth kingdom, but it is included in Revelation’s list of kingdoms in Revelation 17:10 where John is told that one of the seven kingdoms “is.” Rome is identified as the sixth kingdom in a list of eight.There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. (Revelation 17:10 NKJV)
      Discrepancy exists with the transformation of ‘kings’ to ‘kingdoms’ in Revelation 17.  Our perspective is that these represent kings, or Caesars, of Rome, and hence, the king who ‘is’ is “Vespasian, shortly before the fall of Jerusalem.  Rome itself is the beast, which is the best indicator of our position.  Since these heads are part of a beast, apparently of Revelation 13, and since this corresponds to the Fourth Beast of Daniel 7, the heads of this beast must not be ‘kingdoms’, but merely ‘kings’.  This beast is not composed of seven plus one sub-kingdoms.  This will be the basis for the majority of disagreement with this position.
    2. While the mention of Rome in Revelation is important, Revelation simply gives a different, more detailed, list of kingdoms than Daniel does. Revelation includes twice as many kingdoms as Daniel therefore Rome’s mention in Revelation does not require that it is also included in Daniel.
      1. The list of empires in Revelation is more comprehensive and generally interpreted to cover the Egyptian Empire, the Assyrian Empire, the Babylon Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, the Roman Empire, a Seventh Empire (possibly the Islamic Caliphate), and the Beast’s Empire (Daniel’s fourth empire). Daniel’s vision is not as comprehensive and instead focuses on four specific empires out of Revelation’s list of eight.  Domitian is seen as our beast.  The events of 70 AD do not meet the requirements of the Book, but the events surrounding and following it do.
      2. Some commentators have thought that the mention of Rome in Revelation 17 is an emphasis that should lead us to believe that the Roman Empire will be “resurrected” as the Antichrist’s kingdom. However, there is no such emphasis in the book of Revelation or in Daniel.  Ancient Rome is indeed the Fourth Kingdom.  The ‘seven’ heads are the Seven Caesars before Domitian, not counting the three that fell in a single year.  As these presumably did not rule in Judea, they can be overlooked.  Or, if one would rather, on the same basis for disregarding Rome in Daniel’s list of four kingdoms, these three kings can be plainly overlooked as insignificant to the Revelation of John.  The same grounds for interpreting the one would apply to the other, if desired.
    3. Revelation 17 does tells us that the eighth kingdom, the Antichrist’s empire, is a resurrection of a “beast” that was one of the seven previous kingdoms. However, it is important to notice exactly how this prophecy is worded to John.The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is… The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. (Revelation 17:8, 11 NKJV)  Again, Domitian was the eighth Caesar, not counting the three who ruled for for a very short time, and apparently not in Judea.  Vespasian would have been Caesar in the time we take for the writing of the book, shortly before Jerusalem’s fall, and Titus, the seventh, remained only a little over two years. The eighth, Domitian, was also Vespasian’s son, and so he was “of the seven”, even as Titus was.  This fits perfectly with Daniel’s 10 horns, which doesn’t omit the three others.
      1. The prophecy emphasizes to John twice that the “beast” who would be resurrected in the form of the eighth empire “was.” In other words, the plan language actually places the beast before John’s time or before the Roman Empire.
      2. Therefore the kingdom that provides the prototype for the beast seems to be a kingdom previous to the Roman Empire. At first glance, this would be the Seleucid Empire because the angel also tells Daniel that a “latter” stage of an empire like the Seleucid one will give rise to the antichrist.And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes. (Daniel 8:23 NKJV)
      3. Of course, the fact that the beast “was” raises a number of questions that are not clearly answered in Revelation 17, and we do not know exactly how similar the antichrist’s kingdom will be to a previous kingdom so we should be careful of premature conclusions. The primary point though is that this phrase does not emphasize Rome in any way, but instead seems to deemphasize Rome as a potential option.  The mysteries here are not hard.  Nero killed himself with a head-wound, a sword to the neck.  The people regarded Domitian as Nero back from the dead, or pit.  Domitian set up emperor worship, demanding a pinch of incense be burned to him.  In response, people were given a piece of paper to allow buying and selling called the “emperor’s mark”.  Additionally, a 25′ statue of him was erected in Ephesus, and the cult of the Emperor mandated his veneration.  If this doesn’t speak strongly for the case for Domitian, what else is there?  Of course, his name in gematria is 666, and he made war against the Christians just as Nero had.  And, the fact that the kings of both Daniel and Revelation seem to point directly to him is a substantial body of proof for only a cursory study.
    4. Some commentators interpret Revelation 17:8 and 11 to be a statement the angel is making in the future. In other words, John is in a future vision and the angel’s chronology related to the resurrection of the beast should be placed in a future time period. However, this does not seem to fit the text and is even more problematic for a Rome centered view of Revelation 17.  Agreed, this appears to be a wrong reading of the text.  The reasons provided are sufficient.
      1. First, there is nothing in the flow of Revelation 17 that indicates that the angel has transitioned to speaking from a future perspective. The most natural flow of the passage puts the angel’s words to John in relation to timing in John’s present.
      2. Secondly, Rome’s presence in Revelation 17 is established based on the fact that the angel tells John that the fifth kingdom “is” (Revelation 17:10). If the angel is making timing based statements from a future point then we cannot even be certain that this statement applies to Rome. Therefore when you take the view that the angel’s statements of the beast’s resurrection are being stated from some future point in time, you actually remove Rome entirely from the passage.
      3. If the angel’s statements are being made from a future vantage point, then it does not given any indicator which “beast” is being resurrected. It could be any of the seven – there is nothing in the text emphasizing Rome.
      4. All of this points to one simply conclusion. The timing in Revelation 17 does not indicate anything about a “resurrection” of a Roman Empire if we take the text at face value. John is simply told that Rome is the fifth kingdom in a list of eight.
    5. Daniel and Revelation both end in the same place with the same emphasis. Just as Daniel emphasizes the fourth and its unusual nature, in Revelation 17 the eighth kingdom is set apart from the list of the seven other kingdoms and emphasizes as totally different. Daniel’s fourth kingdom is the eighth kingdom of Revelation 17.  The parallel is unnecessary, and, ultimately, not very meaningful.
      1. This means that if you divide Daniel’s fourth kingdom into two stages, separated by thousands of years, you have to do the same thing to the eight kingdom of Revelation 17.
      2. Of course, no commentator divides the eighth kingdom in Revelation into two phases and it follows that this division should not be inserted into Daniel either as he describes this same kingdom.
    6. Some commentators have tried to use the resurrection event of Revelation 17 to prove that Daniel’s fourth kingdom must have two different stages. This is most often used to try to prove that Revelation 17 identifies the antichrist empire as a revived Roman Empire and therefore Daniel 2 and 7 encompass a two staged empire – an ancient Roman Empire and a final, revived version of that empire. There are a number of reasons this interpretation does not work.  We read “kings” as “kings”, not “kingdoms”.
      1. First, in the first session, we looked at several reasons why Daniel’s description of the fourth kingdom is a reference to a specific, final kingdom. This does not exclude the possibility that the antichrist’s kingdom may appear to arise from some “resurrected” form of an ancient empire, but Daniel uses specific language that can only apply to one, final kingdom and does not seem to encompass multiple iterations of a kingdom.
      2. Secondly, we have already seen that Revelation 17 does not identify the antichrist’s empire as a revived Roman Empire. Regardless of how the antichrist’s empire may emerge, it is not clearly identified as a reemergence of Rome in Revelation 17.
      3. Thirdly, Daniel’s language specifically matches John’s language of the eighth kingdom. Even though Revelation 17 refers to the resurrection of a “beast,” it also describes the eighth kingdom with specific language that does not apply to the “beast’s” previous rule, but can only be identified with his final kingdom. Daniel uses the exact same language because, like Revelation, he is focusing on the final kingdom and not any ancient prototypes.
      4. There is nothing in Daniel that indicates he expects us to insert the “resurrection” mentioned in Revelation 17 into the middle of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. We have already seen in the first session how the legs and feet of Daniel 2 form one kingdom, why the toes of Daniel 2 are identified separately, and Daniel 7 does not provide any indication of a two-staged beast only a final, unequalled one.
    7. It is also important to notice that the language the angel uses to describe the resurrection or reemergence of the beast on the world stage is extremely personal. It seems to focus more on an individual than on a kingdom. The language highlights something or someone emerging from the abyss. This language is hinting that this is something more than the reemergence of a previous political empire. This is the resurrection of someone and when it happens the entire world will “marvel” (Revelation 17:8). When the angel tells John the world will marvel in Revelation 17:8, he is referring to Revelation 13:3 where John was already been told that the entire world will marvel at the apparent resurrection of a beast who is described as an individual in Revelation 13. This means that the “resurrection” of Revelation 17 must be viewed through the lens of Revelation 13.And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. (Revelation 13:3 NKJV)The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is…The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. (Revelation 17:8, 11 NKJV)  The resurrection, of course, was Domitian, seen as Nero back from the dead.
  3. THE BEAST OF REVELATION 13
    1. It is important to see that Revelation 17 introduces seven different kingdoms, but then focuses in on seven individual kings. Though kingdoms are referenced in Revelation 17 as mountains, the focus in Revelation 17 becomes the individual just as Daniel 7 introduces a beast but then focuses in on a “little horn” that dominates and animates the beast.
      Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. (Revelation 17:9-10 NASB95).  Starting with Augustus, Nero was fifth.  Vespasian was the one during the presumed time of writing, before the fall of Jerusalem, and, not counting the first three in the year of four emperors, would have been sixth.  Titus followed him as the seventh, and only lasted a little while of two years and three months, followed by Domitian, his brother, ‘of the seven’.
      Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. (Daniel 7:19-20 NKJV)
    2. Note that when Revelation 17:8-9 describes the resurrected beast, John is given a very specific phrase related to the proper interpretation of the beast.
      The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. (Revelation 17:8-9 NKJV)

      1. John is told that the interpretation of the beast requires a “mind which has wisdom” (Revelation 17:9). This phrase is intended to remind John to interpret the beast of Revelation 17 in light of Revelation 13.
      2. “Wisdom” is given to John in Revelation 13:18. That wisdom is to understand the beast as a man. This is the explicit conclusion of Revelation 13, a chapter in which the beast is described repeatedly as though he appears to be a real man on the stage of history. The beast is not simply an animating power in the background or a representation of an empire, the beast will appear as a man on the stage of history.Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:18 NKJV)
    3. Therefore, Revelation 17 is focused primarily on the resurrection of a specific king, not a kingdom. Domitian. It is certainly possible that a kingdom may seem to reemerge on the stage of history and then go on to develop into the unique form of the antichrist’s empire, but Revelation 17 is primarily referencing the resurrected beast of Revelation 13.
      Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. (Revelation 13:1-7 NKJV)

      1. This dreadful beast is clearly the same as the fourth beast of Daniel 7 because Revelation 13 describes him using the same language that Daniel used.
        1. He is described in language that is a composite of all the beasts of Daniel 7. He is the personification of the evil that has animated all evil empires. Therefore when he is crushed, all evil empires are (Daniel 2:35, 44).  False, see Part 1.
        2. He is a beast unlike any other – “who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him” – (Daniel 7:7, 19, 23, 24).
        3. He has a boastful mouth (Daniel 7:8, 11, 20, 25).
        4. He is given the right to rule for 3 ½ years (Daniel 7:25).
        5. He is given the right to prevail over the saints and makes war on them (Daniel 7:21, 25).
        6. He comes up with 10 horns or kings (Daniel 7:7, 8).  Domitian was the 11th horn of Daniel, the 8th of Revelation.
        7. His kingdom only lasts for a relatively brief period of time (Daniel 2:44; 7:25;Revelation 17:12).
        8. The beast has 10 horns, which Daniel and John both tell us are 10 kings (Daniel 7:24; Revelation 17:12). John also sees 7 heads because John is told that 7 kings that precede this beast. Though Daniel only saw 3 kings before the beast, the message is the same: This beast has animated all previous wicked empires. In the same way that Daniel described the destruction of the final kingdom as the destruction of the other 3 kingdoms that he saw (Daniel 2:44), John sees that this beast as the ultimate result of the 7 previous kings that he refers to in Revelation 17.
      2. Just as Revelation 17:10 identifies the beast as a king, Revelation 13:18 confirms that this beast will also be a man. Though the beast represents his kingdom, Revelation 13 also repeatedly describes the beast as a specific individual in history. The beast, though it has a kingdom, is also an individual who will stand on the stage of history. This is the same picture that Daniel 7 gives of the “different” beast and then the “different” horn.
        Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:2-8 NKJV)
        Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:18 NKJV)
    4. The beast of Revelation 13 is clearly the eighth king of Revelation 17. In Revelation 11 and 17 we are told that this individual will actually comes up out of the abyss in order to become the eighth king. The “abyss” or “bottomless pit” here is equivalent to the Hebrew word Sheol. It is the place of the dead.  Agreed.
      When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. (Revelation 11:7 NKJV)
      The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8 NKJV)
      The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. (Revelation 17:11 NKJV)
    5. Revelation 13 tells us plainly with more detail what happens as this beast comes up from the abyss to become the eighth king. The beast appears to experience a mortal wound, but is resurrected. This event causes all the nations to marvel and follow this eighth king. His dominion over the earth, and rise from a “little horn” to the terrible ruler of Daniel 7 is directly connected to this event. This is why Daniel 7 describes him as a supernatural being (“in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man” – Daniel 7:8) as he commands a kingdom, and subjects the entire earth to his rule.
      Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name…And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. (Revelation 13:1, 3 NKJV)

      1. Revelation 13 describes this mortal wound as a wound inflicted by a sword, further personifying the beast and his mortal wound.And he deceives those who dwell on the earth–by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. (Revelation 13:14 NKJV)  Nero killed himself in this way.
      2. The beast that John sees come up from the dead is so horrible and dreadful that John has to be assured twice in Revelation that he will go to perdition before the angel will give him more information about his kingdom.
        The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition… (Revelation 17:8 NKJV)
        The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. (Revelation 17:11 NKJV)
      3. In the same way, the angel had to assure Daniel of the judgment of the beast before he gave him more details about him.
        I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me…But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’ (Daniel 7:15, 18 NKJV)
        ‘But the court shall be seated, And they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever. (Daniel 7:26 NKJV)
    6. It is also important to see that the resurrection event of Revelation 13 occurs at a specific point in the storyline of the book. Revelation 13 is the direct outcome of the events of Revelation 12.  And, happened in the First Century.
      So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him…And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ…Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. (Revelation 12:9, 17; 13:1 NKJV)

      1. In Revelation 12 the dragon, satan, is cast out of heaven to the earth, becomes enraged, and goes out to make war on all who obey God. This event is the clear trigger for Revelation 13:1 where John sees the dragon standing on the stage of history as a terrible beast ready to make war on God’s people (Revelation 12:17; 13:7).
      2. We know that this dislodging of satan is a future event because he is described as the one who has been deceiving the world (Revelation 12: 9) and accusing the saints (Revelation 12:10). He is also thrown down to the earth for a “short time” (Revelation 12:12).
      3. Revelation 13 describes the same final 3½ year rule of terror that Daniel describes (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:5), and notice that this time period begins with the resurrection of the beast (Revelation 13:3).  The 3 1/2 year time period is by no means a limiting factor.  The times of the Jewish calendar were divided into groups of seven, so to see that subdivided is no surprise, nor is it proof positive of all correlations.
      4. This means that the resurrection event described by Revelation 13 and 17 occurs as the final 3 ½ years are beginning. This is another indicator that this cannot refer to the resurrection of a kingdom because the fourth kingdom that the antichrist emerges from is already in place by this time. The 10 kings and the “little horn” that becomes the antichrist – key identifiers of the fourth kingdom – are all in place before Revelation 13 begins.
  4. CONCLUSION
    1. It is clear from the language of Revelation 13 and 17 that the language of resurrection is focused on a resurrected king and not a resurrected kingdom. Daniel 7 has language that specifically refers to this individual, and even hints of his resurrection, but nothing that mentions a resurrected kingdom.
      1. The kingdom that both John and Daniel describe is a final kingdom whose rule is relatively brief (Revelation 17:12), and Daniel’s details on the timing and duration of the kingdom do not give any indication of the kingdom being divided into two stages though Daniel’s prophecy does allow for gaps between the different kingdoms (i.e. between the third and fourth).  According to the commentator.
      2. It is certainly possible in God’s divine poetry that the fourth kingdom does appear to begin as a “resurrection” of a previous empire, but that is not the emphasis of Revelation and that possibility should not be used to divide Daniel’s fourth kingdom into two just as you would not use that possibility to divide Revelation 17’s eighth kingdom into two.
    2. It is this dramatic transformation of the king who rules it that accounts for the dramatic “totally different” nature of the final beast empire. The three previous empires, and many other empires in history have been horrific, but this one is completely different because the “horn” who leads it is completely different. Any empire that is not let by the totally different horn is not capable of being “completely different” enough to satisfy what Daniel saw, nor achieve the dominion that Daniel saw in Daniel 7:23.
      Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth, Which shall be different from all other kingdoms, And shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces…The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings. (Daniel 7:23, 24 NKJV)
      And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:3-4 NKJV)
      The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8 NKJV)

      1. It is significant that Revelation associates the dominion and rule of the beast with his resurrection as the eighth king. This is what enables his dominion and the unusual trampling, breaking, and devouring ability of the fourth kingdom. His resurrection is what turns him into the beast of Daniel 7, the one capable of leading the fourth kingdom.  This was historic Rome.
      2. The fourth kingdom is made so exceedingly dreadful primarily because a resurrected man leads it, not because it is a resurrected empire. He is not just a wicked ruler who is going to perdition (Revelation 17:8, 11), he is the one who has come up from the abyss or the place of the dead (Revelation 17:8).
        1. Just as the resurrected Jesus is the perfection of man in God’s image, so this man is the perfection of evil in human form. He literally comes up from hell to begin his reign of terror.
        2. Just as Jesus arose untainted by sin and corruption, this man arises untainted by goodness and morality.
        3. One man is resurrected as the revelation of the mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16) and the other is resurrected as the revelation of the mystery of iniquity (2 Thessalonians 2:7). The end of the age is the battle of two resurrected men.
      3. We are unable to conceive what happens when a man is resurrected by satan and comes up out of the abyss, and yet this is what gives this kingdom it’s essence. This is why Daniel was in grief and pain (Daniel 7:28) and why what he saw was “dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong” as it “devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled” (Daniel 7:7, 19, 23). The transformation that happens to this individual is why Daniel 7 never calls the “little horn” a king. He’s so different from the others that Daniel, and the angel only mentioned as being “different” (Daniel 7:24) and “greater” (Daniel 7:20) than the others.
      4. Because it is the resurrected king that makes the fourth kingdom so dreadful, it is only the kingdom lead by the resurrected beast that qualifies to match Daniel’s fourth kingdom. Any similarity to a previous kingdom is not even in view in Daniel because the eighth king, the resurrected beast has to rule over a kingdom to make it the great and terrible kingdom that Daniel sees.
    3. Much more could be said about how Revelation describes the beast and his rule as the antichrist. However, it is important to understand how Revelation 17 relates directly to Daniel 2 and 7, particularly because some commentators use Revelation 17 to interpret Daniel 2 and 7 as a twostaged kingdom.
      1. In session one, we saw that Daniel’s description of the fourth kingdom does not describe multiple stages, and after looking at how Revelation 17 and 13 relate to Daniel, we can see that there is nothing in Revelation that demands we separate Daniel 2 and 7 into a two-staged kingdom.
      2. What Revelation 17 does tell us is that the eighth kingdom – equivalent to the fourth kingdom of Daniel 2 and 7 – is separate and distinct from any of the previous kingdoms that may serve as its prototype.