The lessons that we have studied thus far have all presented a broad view of the historical events leading into Daniel's seventieth week and the Great Tribulation. Before we move on to studying the specifics of the events of the future, there are two other "panoramic," prophetic visions that also need to be understood. The first, a dream that Daniel interpreted for the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, presents the end-time events from the viewpoint of authority. This lesson will cover that vision. The second vision that we will study in the next lesson is a vision that John recorded in the fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation that presents the end-time events from the viewpoint of redemption. Both provide additional information about the future of humanity.

In Daniel 2:1-30, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, had dreamt a dream from God but the next morning he could not remember the details of the dream. The king called in all of his magicians and so called "spiritual advisors" and asked them to first tell him what the dream was and then the interpretation. These pretenders, of course, could not tell him the dream and so Nebuchadnezzar ordered all of the men who claimed to be advisors to him in future events to be killed. When the men came to collect Daniel and told him that he was going to die, Daniel was told the story of what had happened. Daniel asked the king for time to seek the face of his true, living God and promised that his God was the one that had given the dream and also knew the interpretation. God did reveal to Daniel the dream and the interpretation and, as a result, Daniel and his Hebrew friends were elevated to higher positions in the government. Of course, all of the "spiritual advisors" who would have been killed were spared making Daniel, at least temporarily, a popular guy! Let's look at the dream itself:

The king had seen a tremendous statue of a man in his dream. The statue shown with a bright light and was very powerful looking to behold. The image's head was of pure gold; the chest and arms were made of silver; the belly and thighs were made of brass; the legs were made of iron; the feet were a strange mixture of iron and clay.

In the dream, a stone that was cut out of rock "without hands" rolled into the image shattering it into thousands of fragments. The pieces and fragments of the statue were blown away by the wind so that no visible remains of the image was left, and then the stone became a great mountain that "filled the whole earth."

Luckily, we do not have to guess at the meaning of the image as Daniel gives us the correct interpretation. As we go through, notice the similarity between the initial fulfillment of the four beasts of Daniel chapter 7.

Nebuchadnezzar had been given dominion over the known world unlike any other ruler had ever had. So Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom of Babylon was represented by the head of gold.

The second kingdom that arose after the Babylonian empire that ruled "over all the earth," was the Medes and the Persians. Babylon fell to the Persians around 539 B.C. So the silver chest and arms represented the Medes and the Persians.

When Alexander the Great began conquering the world with the Grecian army, one of the empires that he attacked was the Medes and Persian empire. He defeated it completely in 331 B.C. Alexander the Great also ruled the entire known world and was thus the fulfillment of the belly and thighs of brass.

There are great similarities between Daniel's interpretation of the fourth kingdom here and the fourth beast that Daniel saw in Daniel 7:7, 23-24. Both are described as "strong" and both are said to "break in pieces" the earth. The next world power that conquered the Grecians was the Roman empire. The Romans began conquering the world around 63 B.C. and are the fulfillment of the legs of iron.

The parallel with Daniel's four beasts and the first four kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's dream is obvious, but notice the parallel of the last kingdom symbolized by the feet of iron and clay and the great beast that John saw in Revelation chapter 13. Daniel makes a point to mention the toes of the image, and even though the scriptures do not give the number, the normal ten toes are implied. These correspond perfectly to the ten heads of John's beast. That beast represented a one-world government from which the Antichrist would arise and here we are given additional information. The kingdom would be divided in the way that iron and clay can be mixed but never completely unite together, therefore the kingdom would be somewhat strong but also partly broken.

Here we have the interpretation of the clay: it represents a human element. The iron represented the Roman Empire. So the kingdom that is represented here is a curious, unstable mixture of the Roman Empire and the desires of men.

In history there is a kingdom that arose after the Roman Empire that matches perfectly with this description. It is called the "Holy Roman Empire." Although their names are similar, there is a vast difference between the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was primarily a political and military empire. It's cohesiveness and military unity fell around A.D. 300. The emperor after this fall, Constantinople, realized that he needed more than military might to hold his kingdom together and began to try to initiate a national "church" with a common creed. The Roman Catholic church (by definition "Catholic" literally means "universal) can trace it's roots and beginnings to the many church councils throughout this time of history (for more information see Dispensation Bible Study Lesson # 36). Unfortunately, much of the Apostolic doctrine was changed throughout this era because the majority of ministers cared more for establishing a creed that everyone could agree to, than for interpreting the Word of God correctly. This period of time marked a time of transition from the Roman Empire to the Holy Roman Empire and as the Catholic pope grew in power, it became increasingly obvious to the rulers of the day that they needed the support of the Catholic church to be able to rule their kingdom.

In A.D. 800, Pope Leo III crowned a man named Charlemagne and proclaimed him to be the "first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire." What this meant was that the emperor and the pope would rule in tandem, with Charlemagne being the governmental leader and the pope being the spiritual leader. In modern terms, it was supposed to be a perfect blend of "church and state." So the difference between the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire is that the Roman Empire was primarily a secular government based upon political agendas and military might with one leader, but the Holy Roman Empire was a union of two leaders: the current pope and the current emperor. In theory, the pope was to use his spiritual influence to reinforce the emperor and the emperor was to use his political influence to reinforce the desires of the pope. Symbolically speaking it was a union of iron and clay. They were somewhat mixed and yet it never really worked.

The concept of the Holy Roman Empire sounded good in theory but always failed after a period of time. Eventually, the political desires of the emperor would outweigh the pope and the church would become extremely political in nature, or the pope's agendas would outweigh the emperor's desires and the government would begin to enforce religious beliefs through might. The Middles Ages (A.D. 600- A.D. 1500) were characterized by the rise and fall of the Holy Roman Empire. At the time of writing of this bible study, it has not yet been revived.

The last stone represented the kingdom of God that would be set up and never destroyed! The coming kingdom of God will break down and rule all of the other kingdoms and will stand forever!

The stone that was "cut out of the mountain without hands" represents Jesus Christ. Genesis 49:20 prophesied that the Messiah would the shepherd, the "stone of Israel." Psalms 118:22, I Peter 2:4-8 refer to Jesus Christ as the chief "corner stone." Jesus referred to Himself this way in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, and Luke 20:17. Peter also applied the concept of the "stone" being represented by Jesus Christ in Acts 4:11. That the stone refers to the kingdom of Jesus Christ is undeniable! That the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands represents the fact that it is spiritual (see II Corinthians 5:1). Daniel also said that the stone would rise up into a mountain that would fill the earth. Notice the similarity between this prophecy and the following one in Isaiah:

There are hundreds of other scriptures that bear out the fact that the last kingdom to be established on earth will be the Lord's kingdom! Hallelujah! We are on the winning side! We will study this coming kingdom when we get to the Millennial Reign.

The interesting point of this dream is that the Holy Roman Empire will be the kingdom in power immediately before Jesus Christ returns the second time to set up His kingdom. For that to be true, it would mean that the Holy Roman Empire will rise again in some form. In Lesson #4, we studied the first ten verses of Revelation chapter 13 and how that they had described the Antichrist's rise to power through a one-world government. Now that we understand the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, let's go back and cover the last few verses of the chapter.

A second person rose in leadership along with the Antichrist. Notice that this is "another beast." The two main characteristics of this person was that he had "horns like a lamb" and yet "he spake as a dragon." The contrast in symbolism should be fairly obvious to anyone who is familiar with the scriptures, for the lamb in the Old Testament was a common sacrifice which foreshadowed Jesus Christ, the lamb of God (John 1:29). The dragon, as we learned in the previous chapter, represents Satan. In every vision that we have studied, horns have represented authority and kings. This man appeared to look as if he had authority with Jesus Christ, but in actuality spoke with the voice of Satan!

The rise of the Antichrist and this second "false prophet," coincides with the Holy Roman Empire perfectly! The one world-government will have two leaders working in tandem, one a political leader and one a spiritual leader. They will use each other's gifts to support the other. This explains how that the Holy Roman Empire will be the last kingdom ruling the earth when Jesus Christ comes again to set up His kingdom: the one-world government of the Antichrist will be a revived "Holy Roman Empire" with a blend of church and state. The first time the Holy Roman Empire began the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church was the "spiritual leader." It is very probable that whoever is the Pope at this time will also be the "false prophet" that appears to have the authority of Jesus Christ, but in fact speaks for the dragon! It is also interesting that many well-known Catholic prophecy writers predict a future evil Pope (see the many books of Malachi Martin if you are interested in this studying this subject further).

The False Prophet, as we will call him, uses all of the political power of the Antichrist and decrees that all of the earth should worship him! In this way, the Antichrist will use the Roman Catholic Church to cause the world to worship him. Many people will not be fooled just because a political leader were to call himself God, but if the Pope agrees with him, millions of people who trust in the Catholic church will be deceived!

Even more convincing, the False Prophet will be able to perform great miracles and wonders from heaven, even calling down fire from heaven in public! Remember at first the Antichrist will come in peace for three and a half years. Many people will not be able to resist a supposed man of peace who is supported by a miracle working prophet! But the true church of God will not be deceived, because they will know that any man that exalts himself as God, is of Satan!

The false prophet will use his power to convince people to listen to him and then tell them that they should make an idol replica of the Antichrist. Idolatry is in direct rebellion to the teachings of scripture (Exodus 20:3-6; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 27:15; I Corinthians 6:9-10; 10:7, 20; I John 5:21; Revelation 21:8; 22:15 are just a few of the many scripture that forbid idol worship). The Catholic Church has made the worship of saints and idols so common place today, that few people will realize the seriousness of what they are doing! The false doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church are paving the way and desensitizing people to the doctrine of the Antichrist which is to come!

Not only will the False Prophet lead the people into idolatry, but he will be able to cause the image to come to life and speak! Not only that, but he will use the political power of the Antichrist that those who refuse to worship him or his image will be killed! Interestingly, severe persecution against those who did agree with the Catholic church's ideology was the same result of the last Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages! (see Dispensation Bible Study Lesson # 36 or study the time of the Inquisition in European history).

In addition to a one-world government and religion, the Antichrist will also try to set up a universal money system. Only those who are willing to receive the "mark" of this economic system will be able to buy or sell! Before we discuss this system, remember that although it will be the will of the Antichrist for everyone in the world to receive this mark and worship him, we have seen in previous lessons that he is not in complete control of the entire world. There, no doubt, will be individuals and possibly even nations that refuse to receive the system.

There has been much speculation about what the "mark of the beast" will be. Keep in mind a couple of points as we give suggestions: it will take more than seven years to register the entire world (six billion people plus) into an integrated economic system; the system will have to make logical sense for people to cooperate; anyone who takes the mark will also have to worship and pledge allegiance to the Antichrist as we just studied.

The interpretation of the "mark of the beast" that makes the most sense is an imbedded computer chip system that carries all pertinent information about an individual including bank accounts, birth information, and medical history. Because the chip would have to be able to be scanned through the skin, it would need to be placed in an area where the skin is relatively thin and both the back of the hand and the forehead are such places. Even today, chips are already being injected into pets such as registered dogs to identify their pedigree and owners. There are several companies that have experimented with implanting chips within humans, but the idea has not yet been fully implemented. Today, most people use a "debit card" which with a simple scan will deduct the money from one's account electronically and many credit card companies are beginning to use "smart cards" with an imbedded chip on the card with financial information and credit histories of the consumer. The military for years has used such a card and chip on it's identification cards to keep track of soldier's medical histories, drug allergies, and personal information such as next of kin. After the tragedy of the World Trade Towers, many articles appeared throughout the country expressing the need for people to have such chips implanted. "The bodies would have been so much easier to identify," was the way that one article put it. These things in themselves are not the "mark of the beast," but show that we are undoubtedly getting closer and closer to such a system. The technology is now available and the idea of a cashless society makes perfect sense, in that it will eliminate tax fraud, money laundering, bad checks, and severely hamper drug sales.

Our only other clue to this system is that the "number of the beast" will be the "number of a man" and will be 666. I have heard many wild theories as to what is the fulfillment of this number. Rather than try to give you a list of wild theories of how somebody's name has three names of six letters, let me give you my opinion:

In our society almost everyone has a social security number. It is the way that the IRS and the government keeps track of us. If a person does not have a social security number, then they cannot get a job, enroll in college, or get a loan. They officially do "not exist." The problem with the social security number is that the system is limited to how many people it can number. It is a system of 3-2-4, that is every number has three numbers followed by two numbers followed by four numbers. A typical social security number might be something like 513-34-6424. Even if alphabet letters are used, one day we will run out of numbers. The Antichrist will not believe that he will lose power in just seven years. In his mind, his kingdom will last forever so he will prepare a system that will be able to last much longer than a few thousand years. I think the economic system of the mark of the beast will be a numbering system that replaces the social security numbers which uses a 6 number - 6 number - 6 number system. In other words, a typical number might look like 534672-997331-833521. It will not need to be memorized as it will be stored on the implanted chip! It is the "number of a man" because it will be the number that identifies a person as a functioning member of the new-world society! To realize the importance of becoming a part of this system and taking this mark, we need only to fast forward to the fate of those who take it:

Everlasting damnation awaits those who take the mark and worship the beast! Even though it will sound harmless and even though the false prophet will be convincing, we must not be deceived! We must also take this knowledge and warn people against joining themselves to this system! The revived "Holy Roman Empire" will be anything but "holy" and will serve to usher in the will of Satan into the world!

Before we end this lesson, let's go back to Daniel chapter 7 and discuss the remaining verses. We learned about what the four beast represented and that the "little horn" represented the Antichrist. We ended at verse 21:

Notice the parallel here between the Rock that comes and destroys the Holy Roman Empire in Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the "Ancient of Days" which destroys the reign of the Antichrist! Both are references to the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ! Both Daniel chapter 2 and 7 are the same basic story with different details!

Again we are told that the Antichrist will arise out of this kingdom. Remember that the kingdom represented the Roman Empire, and what we are seeing is a portrait of the Holy Roman Empire!

The Antichrist will "speak great words against the most High" which literally means that he will "speak as if he were God." This harmonizes with the events of the Abomination of Desolation where he claims to be God! He shall also fight against and wear down the "saints of the most High!" As we have seen from Revelation chapter 12, this refers to both natural Israel and the Apostolic Church. The phrase "times and laws" here refers to religious ordinances and so it is obvious that the Antichrist will change religious rules and doctrines at will for, after all, he will claim to speak with the authority "of God!" All of this harmonizes with everything that we have learned about the Antichrist so far.

Notice how long the Antichrist will reign: "a time and times and the dividing of time." That is "a year and two years and half a year" or three and a half years! Once again we see the reference to the final three and half years of the Great Tribulation and without a shadow of a doubt see how all of these prophecies are slightly different views of the same story and period.

God's judgment and decision will be the final victor, and God has already determined that the Antichrist will not win but will be destroyed! This correlates with the Rock of Nebuchadnezzar's dream perfectly!

This is a direct reference to the future time of the Millennial Reign when Jesus Christ will set up a kingdom of righteousness upon the earth! The "saints of the most High" will be "given" the kingdom and we will rule and reign with Him! Almost every theologian and prophecy teacher will agree that the Apostolic Church will rule and reign upon the earth with Jesus Christ in the Millennial Reign and the term "saints" in this verse refers to the Church and not to natural Israel. But notice that in verse 21, the same word (it's the same even in the Hebrew), "saint," is used and it is stated that the Antichrist will fight against them! If the Rapture takes place before the Great Tribulation as so many believe, then how can the Antichrist fight against a church that is not here? This is one of many scriptural proofs that reveal the theory of a pre-tribulation Rapture of the church to be severely flawed and contradicting to scripture. Remember: there is a difference between the Great Tribulation and the Wrath of God. I am not saying that the church will go through judgment and wrath from God, but that it will go through persecution from the Antichrist! If the church is not still upon earth at this time, then how can he "wear out the saints of the most high?" If the church is not here at this three and a half year period of tribulation, then how will Satan turn and persecute those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17)?! As we will see, there are many scriptural fallacies in the doctrine of "pre-tribulation."

The angel then ended this particular vision, but the effect of seeing and hearing these vision "troubled" Daniel and forever changed him. One of the amazing things about Daniel is that he was able to stay faithful to God even living in evil kingdoms that did not fear God! I believe that one of the things that forever changed his life was the understanding of prophecy that God had given him! In short, Daniel had been shown the final events and knew that he wanted to be faithful to the winning side! We must remember in times of temptations and trials that Jesus Christ is the winning side who will reign forever! To give in to the pressure to conform to this world is to allow ourselves to be numbered with the eternal losers, Satan and his future government! No appeal of the world is worth losing out with God!