II. WHO IS THE ANTICHRIST?
(Daniel 7)
Daniel 7 presents one of the Bible's most important prophetic visions. Through symbolic language, God revealed to Daniel the rise and fall of the world's great empires from Babylon to the establishment of God's everlasting kingdom. The chapter also introduces the "little horn" power, commonly called the Antichrist, making it a central subject in the study of Bible prophecy.
1. What vision did God give Daniel?
"In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed... And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another."
Daniel 7:1–8
Daniel saw:
Four winds striving upon the great sea.
Four great beasts rising from the sea.
The fourth beast possessing ten horns.
A little horn arising among the ten horns, before whom three horns were uprooted.
Note: Each beast represents a successive world empire. The little horn becomes the primary focus of the prophecy because of its unique characteristics and influence.
2. What three prophetic symbols did Daniel see?
Daniel saw:
The sea
The four winds
The four beasts
3. What do the winds represent?
Read Jeremiah 49:35–37 and Jeremiah 51:1, 11.
Answer: In Bible prophecy, winds symbolize war, political strife, and national conflict.
Note: Kingdoms rise and fall amid wars and political upheaval.
4. What does the sea represent?
"The waters which thou sawest... are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."
Revelation 17:15
Read also Isaiah 17:12–13.
Answer: The sea symbolizes densely populated nations and peoples.
5. What do the four beasts represent?
"These great beasts, which are four, are four kings... The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth."
Daniel 7:17, 23
The four beasts represent the same four world empires shown in Daniel 2:
Beast
Empire
Lion
Babylon
Bear
Medo-Persia
Leopard
Greece
Terrible Beast
Rome
6. What do the ten horns represent?
"The ten horns... are ten kings that shall arise."
Daniel 7:24
Note: In prophecy, these ten kings represent ten kingdoms that arose from the breakup of the Western Roman Empire.
These divisions included:
Alemanni
Franks
Visigoths
Suevi
Burgundians
Anglo-Saxons
Lombards
Heruli
Vandals
Ostrogoths
7. What does the lion represent?
According to Daniel 7:4, the first beast was a lion with eagle's wings.
The wings symbolize Babylon's rapid military conquests (see Deuteronomy 28:49).
When Babylon fell during Belshazzar's feast (Daniel 5), the king's courage failed, symbolized by the lion receiving "a man's heart."
8. What does the bear represent?
According to Daniel 7:5, the bear had three ribs in its mouth.
These symbolize the three principal conquests of the Medo-Persian Empire:
Babylon
Lydia
Egypt
9. What does the leopard represent?
According to Daniel 7:6, the leopard had:
Four wings, representing the rapid conquests of Alexander the Great.
Four heads, representing the division of Greece after Alexander's death among his four generals:
Cassander
Lysimachus
Ptolemy
Seleucus
10. What does the fourth beast represent?
Daniel describes the fourth beast as:
Dreadful
Terrible
Exceedingly strong
Having great iron teeth
Possessing ten horns
This beast represents the Roman Empire, the same kingdom symbolized by the iron legs in Daniel 2.
Its ten horns represent the ten kingdoms that emerged after the collapse of Western Rome.
11. What arose among the ten horns?
"There came up among them another little horn."
Daniel 7:8, 24
The prophecy describes this little horn as:
Different from the previous kingdoms.
Uprooting three kingdoms.
Having eyes like the eyes of a man.
Speaking great things.
According to the interpretation presented in this study, the little horn represents the Papacy, which arose after the fall of Rome.
The three kingdoms removed before its rise were:
Heruli (A.D. 493)
Vandals (A.D. 534)
Ostrogoths (A.D. 538)
Unlike the other kingdoms, this power combined religious authority with political influence.
12. What four identifying marks are given for the little horn?
"He shall speak great words against the most High, shall wear out the saints of the most High, think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
Daniel 7:25
The prophecy identifies this power by four characteristics:
It speaks great words against God.
It persecutes God's saints.
It attempts to change God's times and laws.
It exercises authority for "a time, times, and half a time."
Note: The prophecy places the rise of this power after the breakup of the Western Roman Empire (A.D. 476) and among the nations of Western Europe, providing both historical time and geographical location.
13. Has the Papacy fulfilled these prophetic characteristics?
According to this study, the prophecy applies these identifying marks to the Papacy.
Examples cited include:
a. Speaking great words against the Most High
The study states that the Papacy has claimed titles and authority that belong to God alone.
Historical quotations are often presented by proponents of this interpretation to support this claim.
Conclusion
Daniel 7 builds upon the prophecy of Daniel 2 by revealing not only the succession of world empires but also the rise of a religious-political power symbolized by the little horn. The prophecy provides identifying characteristics by which this power may be recognized in history.
Above all, Daniel's vision points beyond earthly kingdoms to God's everlasting kingdom. The central lesson is not merely to identify prophetic powers, but to remain faithful to Christ, whose kingdom alone "shall never be destroyed" (Daniel 7:14, 27). Believers are encouraged to study the Scriptures carefully, remain loyal to God's truth, and place their confidence in the eternal reign of Jesus Christ.