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Chapters 2 and 7 of Daniel both describe, through the medium of vivid dreams, the empires of the world – ones that relate in one way or another specifically to the Middle East. The first three empires are explained in the Bible as the Babylonian, Mede & Persian, and Greek (Daniel 8) empires. We see the final beast of Daniel 7, which many consider to be the Roman Empire (though this is contested), having ten horns.

We also see Nebuchadnezzar’s statue having toes; presumably ten. The interpretation that I imbibed unthinkingly when younger was that these ten horns and toes were the ten founding countries of the EU. Yet to me, this didn’t make much sense; What of all of history between then and now – one and a half millennia – entirely ignored? Even if we just think of it affecting the Middle East, what about the Ottoman Empire, and even the British Empire, which held considerable swathes on a temporary basis following the First World War.

The Roman Empire and its aftermath

So, the question arises – what if these ten horns and toes have already come and gone?

The ten horns and toes are what then became a significant number of empires, with their bases predominantly in what was the Roman world, most of which overlapped in time, and expanded to cover the vast majority of the globe.

The Roman Empire, which extended over a massive area in its heyday, split in two, with the Western half under Rome, and the Eastern part becoming what is known as the Byzantine Empire. These two formed the initial two legs of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. Now, from these developed many strong countries (many, though not all, speaking languages derived from Latin – the language of Rome).

For a long time, following the fall of Rome, the separate countries on the Western side were to a degree strongly linked through the Catholic Church and the rather loose concept that was the ‘Holy Roman Empire’ – Christendom. The Eastern half, in distinction, endured as an empire for more than a thousand years after the fragmentation of its Western counterpart, but its capital, Constantinople, eventually fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Therefore, the Roman Empire, in one way or another, held sway until the 1400s.

In my understanding, the ten horns and toes are what then became a significant number of empires, with their bases predominantly in what was the Roman world, most of which overlapped in time, and expanded to cover the vast majority of the globe.

Empires covered the globe

It was shortly before the fall of the Byzantine Empire that the new age of empire began, beginning with Portugal’s conquest of Ceuta in 1415. In 1492, Christopher Columbus ‘discovered’ the Americas, and Spain swiftly colonised much of Central and South America, with the exception of Brazil, which belonged to the Portuguese Empire.

The British Empire, of course, was spread right across the globe, for good and for ill, from Australia to Canada and including India and much of Africa, and, for a while, what became the United States of America. The Dutch claimed much of what is now Indonesia, as well as South Africa. France, Italy, Belgium and Germany colonised much of Africa in the 19th century, in the parts that the British didn’t already rule. Eastern Europe was not exempt from the concept of empire but didn’t spread across the globe in the same way. Yet the Austro-Hungarian Empire covered a significant swathe of Eastern Europe until the First World War, and Russia pushed outwards in the same way, controlling much of Ukraine, Finland and the Baltic States – expanding ever further as the Iron Curtain extended after World War 2.

Also in the East, still covering vast areas that had been conquered by the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire ruled for centuries. Cases could be made for other empires being included among the ten horns – e.g., Prussia and Poland – as over time empires grew and faded. And whether ten is a literal or symbolic number would depend on several factors – not least the each one’s direct relation to the old Roman Empire, and also possibly to Israel and the Jewish people.

This is a brief and very potted history; much more detail is available, and the ten empires very much ebbed and flowed. Nevertheless, this highlights the large number of eventually concurrent empires that grew from the area of the Roman Empire – the ten horns that grew from this scary beast.

Iron mixed with clayThe feet and toes in Nebuchadnezzars dream, Revelation TV - FreeBibleimages.org

Curiously, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream shows the feet and toes being of a mixture of clay and iron. Daniel interprets it like this: “And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay” (Dan 2:43). To my mind, this will encompass both the huge geographical spread of these empires, but also the significant variation in ethnicity, as they encompassed most of the world.

The little horn

Whilst Nebuchadnezzar’s dream stops at the ten toes in world terms, leading to the kingdom of God, Daniel 7:8 tells us a little more through Daniel’s dream: “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.”

Hitler, (the German empire having been lost in the First World War), began the Second World War by invading the parts of Czechoslovakia that hadn’t already been appeased to him, followed by Poland. Early in 1940, this “little horn” then invaded and swiftly conquered three horns of empire – Belgium, the Netherlands and France (as well as Luxembourg), which impacted on their colonies at the same time. Mussolini’s Italy then sided with him voluntarily – as did parts of the former Ottoman Empire, which shared with Hitler his hatred of the Jews. Spain and Portugal remained mostly neutral.

Early in 1940, this “little horn” then invaded and swiftly conquered three horns of empire – Belgium, the Netherlands and France.

Only the British and Russian Empires actively fought against the Fuhrer. Eventually, he was defeated (Dan 7:11), and then the other beasts – horns or empires – were stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time (Dan 7:12). We can see the outworking of this: after the Second World War we saw the gradual disintegration of all of the empires, with only small pockets remaining – Russia’s being the last to fall (in the main) when the Iron Curtain came down.

The horn and the holocaust

There is another reason to believe that Hitler was this “little horn”. These prophecies were ones that directly impacted Israel and the Jewish people – which is why it doesn’t cover empires such as the Aztecs or the Mongols. But there was a major episode in the history of Israel only 70 years ago. Let’s look at the further explanation of Daniel’s dream, which he wrote down. We hear of the little horn “waging war against the holy people and defeating them, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favour of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom” (Dan 7:21-22). Hitler indeed was hell-bent on destroying the “holy people” – the saints – which in Daniel’s time meant the Jews– God’s covenant people. Others, of course, including Christians, Gyspies and homosexuals, were destroyed in this time, too, but the Jews bore the brunt of this horrific crime.

However, note the timing: for three-and-a-half years the holy people would be delivered into his hands – “a time, times and half a time” (Dan 7:25b). This was almost exactly how long the gas chambers were operational, murdering in cold blood six million of the people that God chose to represent himself to the world. In doing so, Hitler, under the influence of Satan, was attempting to block the creation of the modern nation of Israel – trying to change God’s set times in history – and his laws – the biblical prophecies and promises to the Jews (Dan 7:25a).

For three-and-a-half years the holy people would be delivered into his hands – “a time, times and half a time” (Dan 7:25b). This was almost exactly how long the gas chambers were operational.

The restoration of Israel, and the future kingdom

At that time, the “Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favour of the holy people of the Most High”, and the time came “when they possessed the kingdom” (Dan 7:22), as the State of Israel was created shortly after. There is now only a little left in these two prophecies, and signs are that the time is near, when “the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.” (Dan 7:27). How exactly this will play out is not the scope of this study – feel free to understand it in either a pre-millennial or post-millennial context.

The end of empire

I wrote last week about how these passages led me to conclude that Russia will probably not succeed in its attempt to conquer Ukraine. Russia’s main motivation is to reclaim their lost empire (which is also connected with the idea of Moscow being the Third Rome – and defender of the Orthodox faith), as Putin was devastated by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Yet there will, according to this particular understanding of Daniel 7, be no more large empires in the traditional sense. The empires, or horns, were allowed to live a while, whilst being stripped of their authority following the destruction of the little horn (Dan 7:12). And that is what we have seen – since World War 2, gradually, country by country, the empires have dissolved as nations have reclaimed their independence (the British empire is now a Commonwealth). There remains in place an international consensus that border changes should only be achieved democratically – which Russia has clearly violated.

The empires, or horns, were allowed to live a while, whilst being stripped of their authority following the destruction of the little horn (Dan 7:12)... since World War 2, gradually, country by country, the empires have dissolved as nations have reclaimed their independence.

That’s not to say that countries can’t still inflict extreme damage on one another, of course, as we’re seeing in Ukraine, and there remains the possibility of nuclear war (as may possibly be predicted in Isaiah 24). There’s also the possibility that my interpretation is utterly wrong.

Neither is this to say that the antichrist has definitely been and gone. Hitler was certainly an antichrist, and to my mind the ‘little horn’. There have been other antichrists, and there may yet be another final one to come, which would relate to other prophecies. A one world system, if this is to come, will not be conquered militarily, as in an empire, but will likely constitute nations working together in the face of adversity.

The prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7 are, to my mind, not about that, but about a vast sweep of history, and are almost fulfilled, with just the climax of the ages to come, as God’s kingdom comes in its fullness.