The End of History—Messiah Conspiracy

CHAPTER 22—Rome Resurrected

“The Bible clearly tells us that God is in control. There is hope. The world is racing towards a climax. But instead of a disastrous catastrophe, it will be Christ’s dynamic return to earth to set up a thousand year reign of peace....Daniel has become a focal point of critics’ attacks upon the Old Testament prophecies because it contains detailed, accurately fulfilled predictions which demonstrate their divine inspiration. Because of Daniel’s devotion to God and his great concern for the Jewish people...the Lord seems to have given him a special understanding of what the future held for his people. These prophetic insights extend even to the end time of Hebrew history and the destiny of other nations of the world.”¹ Josh McDowell

“Jesus Christ regarded the book as a prophetic preview of future history, and, indeed, of the divine program for a future that still lies ahead (Matthew 24:4 ff., Mark 13:5 ff., Luke 21:8 ff.). If He is wrong in His interpretation of the book then He must be less than an omniscient, inerrant God incarnate. On the other hand, if His appraisal is right, then we cannot question His claim to deity in this regard.”²

Bruce Waltke, professor of Semitics and Old Testament at
Dallas Theological Seminary, Ph.D. from Harvard University

“If the keys of the Bible, up to the book of Psalms, hang on Moses’ books, those of the rest of the Bible, through Revelation, hang on Daniel; and indeed very many of the prophetic Psalms fail to open to us till we see their solution in the wonderful visions of the faithful seer of the captivity.”³ William R. Newell

22
ROME RESURRECTED

The book of Daniel is the most controversial book in the Old Testament. The rabbis have often warned their students not to read it because it “tells the time of Messiah.” The Jews in Israel have difficulty with chapters 2:4 - 7:28, which describe the end time in detail, because they are written in Aramaic, the language of Babylon. The Babylonians captured the prophet Daniel as a boy, and held him and his people for seventy years, an occurrence predicted by the prophet Jeremiah.

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LIBERAL DISAPPROVAL OF DANIEL

Most contemporary liberal scholars avoid Daniel’s book altogether due to the supernatural element of future-telling. Daniel foretold the future of the Gentile nations. His predictions about the rise and fall of world empires can only be explained by divine inspiration. However, for this explanation to be palatable, we of course would need to believe in the divine. Many who like to teach the Bible do not. This is where the conflict of Daniel’s dream comes into play. Daniel provided the king with answers when no one else could, through God’s power. As it has been said: “Daniel answered before the king and said, ‘As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king’ ” (Dan. 2:27 NASB).
Daniel lived well into his nineties and his writings span a period of seventy-three years. He wrote his book in the first part of the sixth century BC, when Babylon was still the ruling world empire. In chapters 2 and 7 he describes the four major empires which would rule the world until the Messiah ushers in the eternal kingdom. Daniel’s prophecy is centered on the interpretation of a dream which God gave the Babylonian king. Significantly, none of the king’s astrologers, soothsayers or fortune tellers were able to interpret the king’s dream, which he had forgotten. Only Daniel was able to refresh the king’s memory. This is why the king recognized Daniel’s power.

Daniel 7 was written in the first year of Belteshazzar⁴ (553 BC), an incredible five and one-half centuries before the birth of Jesus. In
33 AD, Jesus presented His case before the Sanhedrin. He quoted the thirteenth verse of this chapter in His claim of Messiahship. “Again
the high priest asked him, and said unto him, ‘Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven’ ” (Mark 14:61-62 KJV).
As we mentioned, Daniel is a major source of Messianic prophecy, especially the time-frame of Jesus’ First Coming and the destruction of Jerusalem (Dan. 9:24-27). However, in keeping with the subject of this chapter, we will investigate certain portions of Daniel, which have remained cryptic or hidden for centuries.
Daniel himself had a dream, which he described in the seventh chapter of his work. The dream pertained not only to the future
empires and historical Rome but also to contemporary reality. The dream God allowed Daniel to have revealed major world empires prior to their actual appearance in history. The dream also exposed the current revival of the fourth empire, Rome. Daniel’s dream reads as follows: “...I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. The first
was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle....a second one, resembling a bear....and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts....I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: ‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth’....Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly...and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up...that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and which was larger in appearance than its associates. I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings [ten nations of the end times] will arise; and another [Antichrist—false Messiah] will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones....And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will he given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time’ ” (Dan. 7:2-8, 16-17, 19-25 NASB; [ ] mine).

The seven heads were ancient world kingdoms including Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome, which existed in John’s day. One is revived Rome, made up of ten nations which have not yet received a kingdom. However, they will receive a kingdom with the beast (Antichrist; Revelation 17:13), when the seven heads culminate in a New Rome.
Daniel 7:24 explains that the ten kings arise out of the fourth world empire,⁵ which he predicted, while Babylon (the first) still existed. History documents this fourth power as Rome, which was the strongest world power to that date. Daniel predicted that out of that kingdom, ten horns (nations) would come. We see the EEC (European Economic Community) as the power predicted by Daniel and John now being reassembled in its final ten-horned form.

Ancient Rome, by no coincidence, was known as the city of seven hills, which is verified throughout Roman literature and on their coins. Notice above, the woman is sitting upon seven hills etched on the coin.

“HUMPTY DUMPTY” IS PUT BACK TOGETHER
AGAIN! ROME IS RESURRECTED

The children’s nursery rhyme containing the line, “They [all the king’s men] couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again,” was written, believe it or not, as a result of the many failed attempts to rebuild Rome. As one Bible teacher tells us: “By reconstructing a world government out of the ruins of the ancient Roman Empire, the Antichrist will have accomplished what no one else has been able to do since A.D. 476, the year the Roman Empire officially died. Charlemagne tried to put it together but failed. Napoleon did his best, but met his Waterloo! Bismarck dreamed of making Germany the capital of revived Rome, and did succeed in defeating France.
“Then Hitler came along. He envisioned the Mediterranean Sea as a German lake and the whole world as his empire. He saw himself as the caesar of the third Roman Empire—the ‘Third Reich.’ His efforts resulted in the downfall of his own nation.
“So fruitless were the efforts of men to reconstruct the Roman Empire that poets wrote sonnets about the futility of it…the children’s nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty was originally written about the
fallen Roman Empire and all of the attempts to put it back together again.”⁶

We believe that New Rome, which will soon be consolidated by the Antichrist, has already seen its primary reassembly, as Daniel predicted 2600 years ago in his famous Old Testament prophecy (Dan. 7:24). In the book of Revelation in the New Testament, John adds even more vivid details: “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, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy” (Rev. 13:1 KJV).
The ancient rabbinical writers adhered to the same interpretation of a ten nation revived Rome headed by an evil king who would
attempt to destroy Israel: “...Armilus...will rule over the entire world, and there will be nobody to stand up against him. And all those who
do not believe in him will die by his cruel sword. And he will come
to the land of Israel with ten kings, to Jerusalem....And then there
will be trouble in Israel the like of which never was in the world.
And they will flee in to crevices and caves in the deserts....And
these are...ten kings who will arise over the nations in those seven years.”⁷
We, as Bible believers and political spectators, see before our very eyes a group of countries known as the EEC (European Economic Community) or Common Market. We believe that they are soon to be consolidated into a final form,⁸ which will be the fulfillment of the prophecies contained in the ancient text of the Bible! This will be accomplished by the greatest evil leader who has ever lived. He will attempt to become a world caesar over a one-world government energized by Satan himself. This event, to take place shortly before the return of the Messiah, will be expanded upon in the next chapter.

The EEC’s original goal when it was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, was a confederacy numbering ten nations. More than twenty-five years ago, when the association consisted of only six nations, a Time magazine article entitled, “Europe’s Dreams of Unity Revived,” said: “Should all go according to the most optimistic schedules, the Common Market could someday expand into a ten-nation economic entity whose industrial might would far surpass that of the Soviet Union.”⁹
For many years, the nations in this group numbered fewer than ten: in 1958, they numbered six; in 1973, they numbered nine; and in 1981, they numbered ten—drawing Greece into the fold. In 1986, they included Spain and Portugal, bringing their total to twelve-fold, a number that could increase again. One day their numbers will decline again to precisely ten,¹⁰ as predicted in the Scriptures. However, it
may be possible that this may be more than twenty years away. It is also possible that one ancient nation may have covered the same area
as several modern countries. If we look at it from this perspective, current numbers would be meaningless (see our footnote below for
Rev. Chuck Smith’s observations). At that time, they will be used by the Antichrist to accomplish a counterfeit one-world Messianic Kingdom, which will be terminated by Armageddon. Only then will true peace be possible through the real Messiah.

ONE MIGHTY SUPERPOWER? WHERE IS
THE CONTEMPORARY EVIDENCE?

Is there any proof that these nations in the modern EEC have the ambition to become one mighty power, consolidated in a ten-nation confederacy of Europe? Dr. Walter Hallstein, former president of the EEC, wrote: “ ‘Three phases of the European unification are to be noted. First, the customs union, second, the economic union, third, the political union...what we have created on the way to uniting Europe is a mighty economic-political union of which nothing may be sacrificed for any reason. Its value exists not only in what it is, but more in what it promises to become....we may fully expect the great fusion of all economic, military, and political communities together into the United States of Europe.’ ”¹¹

BACK TO BABYLON AND ALEXANDER’S
PREDICTED CONQUEST

Babylon became an empire in 606 BC and was still in power when God began to give Daniel his famous visions. The second kingdom, “like a bear,” was Media-Persia (Dan. 8:20).
Around 530 BC, the Babylonians were conquered by the Medes and Persians, who replaced them as the world empire. Daniel predicted that the Greeks would rise and defeat Media-Persia. He recorded this in 530 BC. Did it occur? History records that in 331 BC, Alexander the Great conquered them! Interestingly enough, Dr. Louis Bauman noted: “It is said that Alexander the Great, when he marched his swift-moving columns into Palestine, entered the Temple in Jerusalem. While there, the high priest showed him the scroll of the prophet Daniel. Alexander was greatly interested in discovering that his own plans, as he thought they were, were the plans of the God of Israel, and were all written down by Daniel before he (Alexander) was born!”¹²

DANIEL’S PREDICTION OF GREEK DESTRUCTION

Daniel 8 predicted that the Greek Empire of Alexander would crumble into four separate parts when its king died abruptly. His prediction also said that four powers would divide his empire: “And I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power. Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven....And the shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. And the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power” (Dan. 8:7-8, 21-22 NASB).
History also bears witness to the fact that Alexander died of alcoholism at the age of thirty-three. On his deathbed, he was asked who would take over the empire. Traditionally, it had gone to the son; however, Alexander said, “Give it to the strongest.” The kingdom was then divided up amongst his four strongest generals: Lysymmacus, Casander, Selecus and Ptolemy. The divided Greek Empire was considerably weakened and in 68 BC, four hundred years after the rule of Alexander, it was overthrown by Rome, which became the greatest world power to date.

¹ Josh McDowell, Prophecy, Fact or Fiction?, pp. 4-5. McDowell works for Campus Crusade for Christ and has lectured at over five hundred college campuses in fifty-three countries, speaking to over five million students as of 1981. In his book, McDowell does a very good job of exposing liberal Bible critics who have attempted to discredit Daniel as a sixth century BC prophet. If you have friends who have doubts about Daniel, have them read McDowell! Then they will have no more doubts.