Verse by verse teaching - Daniel 7:8 "Consider the Horns"

With that said, we'll go ahead and be here now in the book of Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7, and God willing will be expounding verse 8 this morning. Daniel chapter 7 verse 8. Now we, someone brought, who brought this? Jonathan brought this. Jonathan brought that's a a ram's huh? Goat horn? A goat horn. Is this from one of y'all's goats? How about that? A horn from one of his goats. Brought it up here in case I wanted to use it as a sermon illustration. So here it is. Thank you, Jonathan, for bringing that. The title of the message this morning is Consider the Horns. So here we go. We'll consider the horns this morning. And the past couple of months, we've been studying the prophetic. Amazing dream that God gave the prophet Daniel back during the reign of the Babylonian Empire. And in this dream, we've seen that four great beasts rose from the great sea of fallen men. Don't get hung up. on the description of these beasts and think that it has to be static, that they have to look exactly like this in the future. Or that these are the only four beasts that there are, because they're not. These are principles that we're learning that are going to be applied later in the book of the Revelation. And in our future. So we're learning principles this morning. And these four beasts we've learned are four Kingdoms, right? Kingdoms, ungodly kingdoms, beastly kingdoms, meaning they're not led by the Spirit of God. They're more like animals than like. Godly men. And so the first beast we learned represented which empire? The Babylonian empire. Very good. Who said that? Very good. The second beast represented which empire? Medo-Persian Empire. Very good. Heard several on that. The third beast represented which empire? Greece. Very good. And the fourth beast represented which empire? Rome. Man, I love that. I love that. So. The Roman Empire, we learn, was the last empire that was in power when Christ came the first time. Okay? We still have a lot more. To discuss about that, which we won't get into today, but as we continue going through this book of Daniel, we'll get deeper and deeper into it. Good Lord willing. But it was the last empire that rose to power when Jesus came the first time. It was still in power when Jesus came the first time. Speaking of the Roman Empire, Daniel said in Daniel 7:7. Which is where we left off last week. Daniel said, After this, now remember those words, after this, we'll get into that later. I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth. Beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. That's where we left off last week. We've learned that the four beasts, the number four, represents the earth, and these are four beastly empires. And it's amazing because when you get to the book of the Revelation, you know what? You find four beasts again. These four beasts ended up worshiping God. Isn't that wonderful? Which shows a great conversion happening at the end of this world. Thank the Lord for that. It had ten horns, this beast did. And we learned last week that this Roman Empire was the kingdom And being the kingdom that ruled when Christ came the first time, it then becomes a prophetic picture of the kingdom that will rule when Christ comes the second and last time. And if you haven't been keeping up with these messages, then I invite you to tune into No I'm Saved Bible Teaching Podcast. And begin with Daniel 7, verse 1. If you don't begin with chapter 1, verse 1, at least begin with Daniel 7, 1 to catch up to where we are this morning, because we've covered a great deal of Bible truth. So far. Now, at the end of verse 7 last week, we read where the fourth beast had ten horns, and we learned that a horn in Bible prophecy is speaking about a king. For the horn is the power of the nation. It's the power of an animal. If that goat's going to come get you, they're going to try to get you with that. horn and jab that horn in you, right? But it's the power of a nation or of a beast. On whose throne that horn sits, right? The king sits on the throne of a particular empire. And so the horn sits on the throne of particular beasts. Make sense? And so, speaking of the empire or the beast that will be ruling the earth when Christ comes again, Revelation 17:12 says, And the ten horns, oh, see there's ten horns again. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet. But receive power as kings, that's the horn, the power as kings, one hour with the beast. Now keep that in mind. As we move forward to Daniel 7, 8 now, where Daniel says, I considered the horns. That's what we're going to do this morning. We're going to consider the horns as well. So, if Daniel considered the horns, then we need to. And by God's grace, we're going to pause and consider these horns this morning. For God revealed these horns to us for our knowledge and for his glory. Now remember what Daniel said in verse 7 about the fourth beast. He said it was. Diverse from all the beasts that were before it. So that means it's not like the other three beasts The beast was a historical empire, Rome, that's true. But this fourth beast is also a future empire to come. before Jesus comes again. And I believe this is where many Bible teachers get these passages of scripture wrong. As I said last week, there are many things about Bible prophecy that won't be understood until they happen. So, we're not going to teach what we don't know this morning. We're not going to make giant leaps into the unknown and try to act like we're some great authority. I'm no authority on anything, but I know where the authority is and who has it. Grace, where He speaks, we're going to speak, Brother Doug. Amen. So, so we're not going to teach what we don't know, but we must teach what God has revealed to us in His Word. And I believe. The Bible is clear that the fourth beast is a past empire that represents a future empire to come. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your precious word, and we pray this morning that all eyes will be on you. You'll fill us with your Holy Spirit, open the eyes of our understanding, and help us to know your word. To understand it clearly and to obey it fully, we ask it in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Now again, I believe the Bible is clear that the fourth beast is a past empire that represents a future empire yet to come. And I believe if we'll consider these horns this morning, we're going to see just that. There are many Bible teachers. who believe that the fourth beast has come and gone. And thus they believe it does not represent future prophecy. They believe it represents fulfilled prophecy. They also believe that what you read in the book of the Revelation has already happened. Those people are called Preterists. Y'all ever heard of Preterism? They're called Brother Shepherd has. If you hadn't studied a lot of theology, then maybe you haven't, but. They're called preterist. You've got full preterist. You've got partial preterist. Man, I don't want to be called anything but a Bible believer, okay? I don't like anyone putting me in a box. Say, Brother Richard, what are you? I am a preacher of God's word. I'm going to believe it like it's written. If I ever find out I'm wrong, I'm going to change it. I'm going to teach it the way God showed me. But there are a lot of people who believe that. If you were to read Daniel or the book of Revelation in commentaries, popular Bible commentaries. You will read a lot of those from a preterised viewpoint, as things that have already taken place. And if you do, I believe you're going to get a very bad explanation of those passages of Scripture. And so we're going to talk about that. This morning. There's some who believe the beast in the book of the Revelation, and all that's written in Revelation has already come to pass, and it's all history. And they believe Jesus has already come. They believe the resurrection has already happened and that Jesus has already made a new heaven and a new earth, and we're living in it right now. And I'm here to tell you, thank God, that those people are wrong. Listen, if this is the new heaven and new earth that we're in right now, there's going to be a whole lot of disappointed Christians, and I'm going to be one of them. Okay? If this is the new heaven and the new earth, why are the mosquitoes still biting us? Why are the thorns still pricking us? Why are the people still sinning? Why are people still dying? Why are dead people still voting? And why are the lost men still ruling? They believe these ten horns, these ten kings, have already lived and died with the old Roman Empire. And you can go look online, and I'm going to say almost every single Bible interpreter of these ten horns is going to do this. They believe that these ten horns have come and gone, and I don't believe these ten kings have yet come to power. Now, I want you to listen again to the wording in Revelation 17, 12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings. Now, y'all say these words with me. Which have received no kingdom as yet. That's very important. And they'll say, well, at that time they hadn't, but just a few years later they did. That means just within a few years, that Roman Empire didn't last a whole long time. A few years after this was written, before the Roman Empire fell. That ten kings come to pass, and everything written about them comes to pass in that short time. You know what the beautiful thing is about the Roman Empire? We know a lot about it. The history, I mean, you can still go walk on some of the roads that the Romans built back then. You can still go look at the ruins of the Roman Empire. We have a lot of remaining history of that ancient Roman Empire. And there are no historical records of the things that we're looking at. Or some of the things that we're looking at here. But it says, they have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings. Say those two words with me, one hour. With the beast. Listen now. These ten horns have not received a kingdom as yet, but they will receive. Power as kings one hour with the beast Those who believe these ten kings have already come and gone claim Rome divided into ten subdivisions shortly after this revelation was written. Y'all ever seen that before? Ever seen anyone believe that before? Most all your Bible teachers that are going to interpret that that way. I believe they're making a mistake when they do. But they cite ten fragmentations and they say, well, this could be the British Empire here, and this could be this over here, and this could be this over here. And they say, when Rome was beginning to fall. When Rome was starting to lose its power, it fragmented into ten different Unrecognized, unofficial fragmentations. And I don't deny that there were fragmentations when the empire began to fall. But listen now to what Revelation 17, 13 and 14 says about these ten kings. Revelation 17, 13 through 14. It says, These have one mind. Now, does that sound like a fragmentation of power? These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These have one mind, and in that one mind, completely in agreement, they give all their power and strength to that empire, to that beast. Now, having one mind, And collectively giving your power and strength unto the empire is not the fragmentation of a falling empire, that's the unification of a rising empire. And what will these ten kings do? Revelation 17, 14 says, Thee shall make war with the Lamb. That's Jesus Christ. And the Lamb shall overcome them. For he is Lord of lords and king of kings, and they that are with him, that's us, thank God, are called and chosen and faithful. Church, the Lamb has yet to overcome the beast, okay? If the beast has been overcome, then why are Christians still being persecuted and slain around the world? If the beast has been overcome, how come someone in Dearborn, Michigan Can't exercise their freedom of Christianity without having problems there. Listen now as we go back in John's Revelation to Revelation 13, verses 11 through 16. John said, And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. It's another figure. of this beast. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him. And causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast. saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their Foreheads. Church, these things have not happened yet. I was reading from one Bible scholar who I greatly admire. And trying to make these things happen already, he stretched the scriptures. And he said, perhaps. The marks on their foreheads or in their hands could have been the Jewish phylacteries that were they Have y'all ever seen the Jews? They'll wrap like a little leather. They have a little piece of scripture in there. And they say, well, maybe that's the Jewish phylacteries, where they it says all people had to, not just the Jews. There has never been anything like this where someone's had power to give life into an image, not even in the book of Daniel, where a great image was made, did they have power to give life to that image? And so And that was an image of the beast of Babylon back in the first part of Daniel with King Nebuchadnezzar when he had that image built. That is a foreshadowing of what's going to happen in the future. And this has never happened where all the world has had to receive a mark and has come together to collectively worship A false religious system. These things have not happened. As the book of Revelation says, these horns have received no kingdom as yet, but they will. Sometime in the future, there's going to be, in my estimation, a unified Ten Kingdom Confederacy. That will give their allegiance to the coming world empire. And as Daniel and John both saw, this is going to take place. And many other things than this are going to happen. But this is what these ten horns represent. Revelation 17, 12 again. Revelation 17, 12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings which have received no kingdom as yet. that received power as kings one hour with the beast. Now that hour Is speaking about a particular period in time that's going to come in the future. It's talking about an occasion. When you see that word hour, it's not talking about 60 minutes. It's talking about a particular Period in time as you move from the second hour on the clock to the third hour on the clock. It's just a particular moment in time that you finally arrive at. John chapter 8 verse 20, the Gospel of John chapter 8 verse 20 says, These words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple. And no man laid hands on him, for his hour was not yet come. Now Jesus was on the cross for six hours. Jesus was arrested, tried, and scourged and then crucified many hours. But it's referred to as one hour because it's talking about a particular period in time. When it says his hour was not yet come, it means it wasn't Time for that to happen yet. It wasn't time for Jesus to be arrested yet and killed yet. And these 10 kings will rise, but it's not time for that to happen yet. And if anything like that, such as the fragmentation has happened in the past, that does not negate what will happen in the future. So John said he was thinking, I'm sorry, Daniel said he was thinking about these ten horns, these ten kings. That will rise up on this earthly beast, the kingdom. And while he was thinking about them, he said, Look back in your text. And behold, there came up among them another Little horn. Maybe it was little like this one. Boy, it's not big like those big old long horns, you know, that we have on the cattle. But it was a little horn that came up. Smaller than the other horn, yeah, much smaller than the other ten horns that were on there. And that means that this 11th king. now emerges on the scene. Some type of power figure emerges on the scene. And I want you to notice it says, there came up among them another little horn. When we first read in Daniel 7, 7, it says, after these things, right? Or after this, this particular thing happens, but not here. This is different from the four beasts rising from the sea, for they came up after the others rose, and then they defeated them, and letting us know that they existed. In a period of sequence, one after the other, but this little horn came up among the others, letting us know that they existed and apparently ruled at the same time. Having their own territorial control in this beastly kingdom. And it will be this little horn that we're looking at here: this little horn that pops up. From such humble beginnings, so small, seems so harmless, and it will be the one that ends up gaining our attention in the end. It'll be the one spoken about in the book of the Revelation. But for now, just understand that this little horn rises. And when this little horn rises, three horns fall. Daniel said, look back in your text, before whom, that is before this little horn, that doesn't mean. Before it, but it means in the face of it, as if you stood before someone. Before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. Pull completely out of the beast. They lose their position. They lose their power. So this little horn will enter a Ten King Confederacy. And then three kings are removed, changing the political structure of this beastly empire. Look back in your text. And behold, in this horn. In the horn, John said, were eyes like the eyes of a man. Boy, this is creepy sounding, isn't it? But all of this are figures of speech. Explaining things to us in this horn that comes up, it has the eyes of a man. I was looking at a photo many years back. It was a photo of a dog, and somebody had taken human eyes and set human eyes inside that dog. And that's the only thing that was changed about the photo. And just putting human eyes in that dog made that dog look So much different. And the caption on there said, When this dog stares at me, it really bothers me. It's like he knows things about me or something that he shouldn't know, or I don't like him staring at me. And the dog with these human eyes, it gave the concept. That is not like a child. You know, you you can say things in front of a child goes right over their head. You can say things in front of a dog goes right over the over the head. But when the human eyes were set there, it made the dog appear as if the dog had human knowledge. Had human intellect, had human reasoning. This horn, this king, had the eyes of a man. just like me and you. The human reasoning, and also the human limitations. But not only did he have the eyes of the man, here's what we have to understand is its mouth. Was bigger than its eyes. Watch this. In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking. Great things. Now, the great things mean big things. This little horn has big ideas. This little horn has some big dreams it wants to fulfill. This little horn. Has a big mouth and is boasting and speaking of great things that it's going to do. Have you ever heard of someone, I know this has happened to me a few times, I know it's happened to you all a few times, and sometimes I take your plates up at the dinner on the grounds. But I know what's happened to me. You go in somewhere and your eyes are bigger than your stomach, right? You say, oh boy, that looks good. You dip all that out, then you go and you start eating it. And man, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. My stomach cannot eat everything that I saw and lusted after, right? It just can't do it. And so think of that concept when we're thinking about this. Little horn here. This person's mouth is going to be bigger than his eyes. This little horn will be ruling in the power of Satan himself. And he's going to boast of great or large things, much larger than that of a man, much larger than what he can accomplish. In fact, it appears that he's going to speak on behalf of the beast against Almighty God, as if he can over Throw God and His kingdom. This is not going to be the first time this happened. That had to have happened. When Satan rebelled against God in heaven, for Satan to have collected a third of the angels and rebelled against God and God's kingdom, he would have had to have put on a Wonderful campaign speech. He would have had to really sold those angels on what he could do. I'm going to take control here. We're going to overthrow God's kingdom. We're going to cast off all his rules. We're going to have a better kingdom and we'll be in power. Not him. And somehow he convinced those angels. But you know what? The devil's mouth was bigger than his eyes. The same thing's going to happen again, but this time in an earthly sense. I believe he's going to be speaking against Almighty God. And if you've been studying with us since the beginning, then you'll remember that I told you that all these beasts are really the one and same godless kingdom of the devil. Remember me telling you? That all these beasts you see rising up from the sea, they're the same kingdom. They're the kingdom of Antichrist. They're the kingdom of. Satan, the kingdom of the devil and his rebellion against God, and they just come up in different forms. And so all these beasts are really the one and same godless kingdom of the devil taking shape in different forms over time. And before this fourth beast, we have seen it take the form of a lion. A bear and a leopard, right? A lion, a bear, and a leopard. Now watch how all of this comes together in Revelation 13, verse 1 through 8. John said, And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea. Having seven heads and ten horns. There's the ten horns again. And where's the beast coming from? Out of the sea again. You're going to have this beast come up out of the sea, and you're going to have another beast come up later, and it's going to give power to the first beast. But watch this: this beast comes up out of the sea. Has seven heads, it has ten horns. And it goes on to say, and upon his horns, ten crowns. That's the kings. And upon his heads. The name of blasphemy. The coming empire at the end of this world is going to be an anti-God, anti-Christ empire. We are going to see government take a demonic form in a stance against the people of God. Does not mean it's not going to be religious. It will be, but it does mean that it's going to be anti-Christian. Okay? It will be anti-Christian. You watch James Tallarico? He is a Christian preacher who preaches against Christian truth. Isn't it amazing? That is the same spirit of Antichrist. That we're going to see come up in full power against the people of God in the end of time. But watch again. Look now, if you would. As we're looking here in Revelation 13, on his head is the name of blasphemy. Watch in verse 2. And the beast which I saw. Was like unto a, set with me, leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a, set with me, bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a what? Lion. You see anything about those three animals that we saw in Daniel? Same three animals. In other words, everything that we learned. In Daniel, with these godless kingdoms coming up, and then they being overpowered. We see now in the book of the Revelation that all it was was the same beast the whole time. It was a different beast, but then it wasn't a different beast. It's the same Anti-Christian, godless kingdom that comes up in a different form. So when we see the bare The lion and the leopard coming up in the book of the Revelation, we have to understand this is nothing new. This is just another empire with all the characteristics of the previous empire that will come. It will be Satan's final push. To establish his kingdom here on earth to overthrow God's kingdom in heaven. That is what Satan was trying to do when he took Jesus up on a high mountain. And he, remember, he said he offered him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. He said, if you'll just fall down and worship me. You see that? That has been Satan's agenda this whole time. To take complete domination of the earth with his own godless kingdom With people worshiping him and him being a God here on earth instead of God. That's why Jesus taught us to pray, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. And that prayer that Jesus taught us to pray is an existence. Exact opposition to what Satan's trying to accomplish, which is why the people of God will be slain and persecuted when this fourth empire rises. Make sense? Watch now, it says, verse 2, and the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. Again, same three beasts we see in Daniel. And the dragon, now that dragon means a big snake, a big serpent, okay? Guess who that dragon is? That's the same serpent that was in the Garden of Eden. Trying to overthrow God's kingdom one last time. It says, and the dragon, that's the serpent of the devil, gave him, this beast, his power. And his seat and great authority. He tried to give Jesus this power. His seat in great authority. Jesus refused Satan's power so he could come back in the end and rule in the power of God the Father. But he'll have another taker. And someone else will come and say, I'll take that power. I'll rule in that power and authority, even though it's an unrighteous power and authority. And John said, and I saw in verse 3, I saw. One of his heads, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast: there's going to be a fall and a rise. Of this power, and they worshiped the dragon. I told you, it's going to be religious. There is going to be an adoration. Of the devil, but it won't look like the devil. The devil's going to be masqueraded, I believe, but the devil will be behind this beast. And they're going to be worshiping it. It says they worship the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worship the beast. Saying, who is likened to the beast? Who is able to make war with him? Now, have you noticed in the communism, whenever you have communists in That rise to power, they stamp out Christianity, they stamp out religion, and then what ends up getting the glory? The institution. The institution and the man behind it. Heil Hitler! Right? It's the institution and the man behind it. They're going to worship the dragon. They're going to worship the beast the dragon gives power to. It is going to be an anti-God. The institution will replace God's kingdom. The beast exercising this power will replace God. Make sense? And the world is going to head that direction, and everybody's going to fall for it except the people of God. And that's why they have to be persecuted. It says, worship the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? Man. No one can make war with us. We have all the power there is. We finally have peace and safety and dwell on the earth. We finally have an institution of man. That nobody can overthrow. And there was given unto him, watch now in verse 5. Are we there? And there was given unto him that is unto this beast a mouth. See where we're at now, how we're getting back to Daniel. He had eyes like a man, the horn did, but a mouth that spoke great things. Now, watch what happens here in Revelation. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things. It's the same thing we're reading about here in Daniel, and it's going to happen. Great things and blasphemies, you see. That tells us what the great things are that's going to be coming from this little horn's mouth here in Daniel. And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months, and he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name. And his tabernacle, that's Christianity, that's the gospel. Tabernacle is where the sacrifice was made, the propitiation was made on the mercy seat. All this is talking about. Is the big push against Christianity in the end time. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints. See that? And to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him. whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So, everybody who does not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, the Lamb of God, they are going to be the only ones excluded. From the worship of this beast, they're not going to belong to this beast because they belong to the lamb. They belong to another kingdom. And when you have two kingdoms residing with each other like that, there's going to be war. And when that happens, when this little horn begins to speak these great things and opens his mouth in blasphemy against God and against God's tabernacle and starts to make war with God's saints. That's going to be the final fulfillment of when Jesus told Satan in the Garden of Eden: I will put enmity between you and the woman. Between your seed and her seed. This is going to be the seed of the devil coming against the seed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't that amazing? And it says, it shall bruise your head. You shall bruise his heel. There's going to be a final bruising of the people of God. There's going to be a final crush of the serpent. And Jesus will win in the end, but that has not happened yet. His hour has not yet come. The spokesman for this world kingdom will boast to overcome God's people. Here on earth, this is what Daniel sang, and this is what must come before Jesus comes again. I see all the time people sending out warnings, warning this is going to happen, warning that's going to happen, and they're right. It will happen. But when these things come to pass, don't be afraid. Be assured. That since Jesus told us what would happen beforehand, that everything is going as God planned. Father, thank you so much for your precious word. We thank you, dear Lord God, that the little horn has a mouth bigger than his eyes. Father God, every word you speak. Shall surely come to pass. As Jesus said, the scripture cannot be broken, and that means your kingdom cannot be broken. We shall reign with Him forever and forever. And we thank you for that in Christ's precious name. Amen.