July 11: PROPHETIC PARALLEL #2

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. Daniel 7:19

Another close look at the end of Daniel and Revelation 13 reveals that both of these prophetic passages focus on the fourth – and last – power in the succession of kingdoms. Both of these sections focus on Rome in its final stage which spreads its influence over the entire world. In earlier chapters, we saw that the fourth beast, the one that conquered Greece, was Rome. Christ was crucified in 31AD, during the years of pagan Rome’s dominion (phase one).

We have already seen that chapters 2 and 7 of Daniel provide a lineup of the four powers that directly impact the people of God: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Daniel’s vision in chapter 8 comes after Babylon has been overthrown. Therefore Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome are brought into view. After the mention of Greece (8:8), Daniel’s vision here moves directly into Rome’s second phase: papal Rome of the Dark Ages (8:9-17). Then verses 23-25 of chapter 8 prophesy of papal Rome in the latter time, after the healing of the deadly wound to one of its heads (Revelation 13:3). This is Rome’s third and final stage.

In the simple outlines of Daniel 2 and 7, the fourth kingdom is shown to exist until the return of the Lord, and it is the Lord Himself who brings about its end (see 2:34,44; 7:11,22). Again in chapter 9, we are told that the fourth beast shall be broken without human means (9:25).  Daniel’s last vision confirms: he shall come to his end, and no one will help him (11:45b).

When John was describing the beast out of the sea (Revelation 13:1), he was describing the very kingdom which had its iron foot on the neck of Israel throughout his lifetime. John did not dare use the name “Rome” in Revelation. As he looked back in vision across the centuries, he saw the influence of the previous kingdoms in the shaping of Rome. Starting with the most recent influence: Greek philosophy, symbolized by the leopard; going further back to cultural elements from the Medes and the Persians (feet like the feet of a bear); then all the way back to: and his mouth like the mouth of a lion, which was the symbol of ancient Babylon.

Satan had worked through pagan Rome to try to kill the baby Jesus (see Matthew 2:16; Revelation 12:4), and thought he had achieved his goal when Christ was nailed to a Roman cross. And now, as papal Rome is rising up out of the sea (13:1), we find Satan at work again to empower his “front man”: The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority (v.2).

The identity of Rome as the fourth beast in Daniel and the beast out of the sea in Revelation gives us parallel #2. Before the end of the first century AD, persecuted Christians cryptically referred to Rome as “Babylon” due to spiritual confusion and worship of many gods. Peter wrote from Rome to encourage the Diaspora, and he sent greetings from the believers there:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour… She [the church] who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. 1 Peter 5:8, 13-14