The Fourth Beast Explained
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The Roman Empire, which began in 31 BC, has existed and waned through a succession of historic resurrections. Starting from Rome, the empire slowly expanded until it had absorbed the four pieces of Alexander’s kingdom. In time, it became the largest and most powerful empire the world had ever seen. Eventually, it encompassed all of the regions of the three empires that preceded it, and more. (Thus, the characteristics of Babylon, Medo-Persia and the four Greco-Macedonian divisions of Alexander’s empire are reflected in an upcoming artist’s rendering within the composite Beast of Revelation 13:1-18—the Roman Empire. The nondescript other six heads of this Beast carry no special meaning, individually.)
Rome slowly took on the qualities of the kingdoms it replaced. It had the lightning-speed, cruelty and striking-power of Alexander’s small leopard-like army, which typically attacked like a World War II German blitzkrieg. But it also possessed the massive power of the Medo-Persian armies, which at a point boasted a standing army of over one million men. This is why God depicted the Medo-Persian Empire as having the tremendous power of a bear, and as the chest and arms of a man.
The city of Rome in particular, and the entire empire in general, also reflected and held much of the splendour that Babylon reflected, as the head of gold.
Rome embodied all the qualities of the bear, the lion and the leopard, yet was different in that it was unlike any other animal because it had “great iron teeth.” All of this is why John saw one beast, not four, in Revelation 13:1-18. The four beasts of Daniel 7:1-28 had a total of seven heads. This is why John’s one Beast also had seven heads.
The duration of the Roman Empire nearly covered the period of world dominance of the three kingdoms it succeeded put together!
The first period of the Roman Empire lasted from 31 BC to AD 476, when it collapsed after having been overrun by barbarians from the north.
If we are to be honest, and reject the nearly endless stream of human opinions and theories about the fourth beast being a church, a country, the pope or some mysterious final superman, then we are left to simply believe the Bible and the facts of history.
The fourth beast represents the Roman Empire from 31 BC to the present. All other theories collapse under the weight of Bible clues and facts, presented by God as proof to all minds that are truly open.
What Is the “Deadly Wound”?
Recall that John, in Revelation 13:1-18, said the Beast would receive a “deadly wound,” which would eventually be “healed.” After this healing, the Beast was prophesied “to continue forty and two months.” What did John mean? What was he speaking of? The answer lies in understanding what happened to the Roman Empire in AD 476.
John wrote that “one of his heads” was “wounded to death” (Jn 13:3). This has to be referring to the last of the seven heads of John’s Beast, which is the Roman Empire, because John was living in the time of the seventh head, when the Roman Empire ruled. Since the other three beasts had passed into history, there would have been no point in addressing them in a book intended to reveal the future. Recall that Daniel explained that the “ten horns” were 10 successive governments, which arose out of the Roman Empire and continue until the Second Coming of Christ. Daniel 7:24 stated, “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings [governments] that shall arise.”
Who are these 10 kings (governments)? And how do they fit with the wound that was healed? Start by recognizing that the kings must be successive, not contemporaneous, for how can they rule at the same time if they span a period from AD 476 until the time of Christ’s Return? Obviously, no single human being can live this long and neither has any single government, empowered by Rome, done this.
Let’s examine the first three (Daniel 7:1-28) horns of the Roman Empire, for they represent the period that encompasses the wound. The deadly wound was brought on the Roman Empire by barbaric tribes from the north. Three Germanic kingdoms from Northern Europe, called the Vandals, the Heruli and the Ostrogoths, conquered Rome in succession.
Some brief explanation of these tribes and their timing is helpful. In 455, the Vandals swept through Northern Africa, and eventually attacked and defeated the city of Rome itself. (This tribe was so barbaric and destructive that the modern term “vandalize” is derived from its name.) Twenty-one years later, in AD 476, the Heruli, under Odoacer, established an occupying government at Rome. Historians universally accept 476 as the official date of the fall of the Roman Empire.
The kingdom of the Ostrogoths, which lasted from AD 493 to AD 554, in turn, replaced the Heruli. Like the Vandals and Heruli, the Ostrogoths were eventually driven from Rome, and together they represented what has often been called the “transition age” of the Roman Empire. But it is important to understand that these three brief successions of Northern Tribes were not actually Roman governments, but were governments in Rome. Yet they were still part of the “ten horns.”
Recall that Daniel 7:8 said that these “three horns” were “plucked up by the roots.” In fact, these three tribes did completely disappear from history. However, seven more horns were prophesied to rule this empire after them, until Christ returned.
Beginning in AD 554, the Roman Empire became known as the Holy Roman Empire. Historians almost universally acknowledge that the pope’s crowning of Justinian, after he had defeated the Ostrogoths, signalled this change. Events in Europe, surrounding the Holy Roman Empire, rose and fell for many centuries. Periodically, new rulers appeared—Charlemagne (the Frankish head in AD 800)—Otto the Great (the German head crowned in AD 962)—followed by the Hapsburg Dynasty of Charles V (the Austrian head crowned in AD 1520)—which, in turn, was followed by Napoleon’s reign (the French head crowned in AD 1805)—with the sixth head being that of Garibaldi’s united Italian head from AD 1870-1945! This sixth resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire culminated in the defeat of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Mussolini, after signing a secret agreement (Concordat) with the Vatican in 1929, united Ethiopia, Eritrea and Italian Somaliland back to Italy in 1935. He declared this union to be the Roman Empire re-established!
A regathering of power under one man is foretold to happen one more time!
Understand! The Roman Empire had two capitals—in Rome and Constantinople. The 10 toes on the two feet of Daniel 2:1-49 represent 10 different nations or kingdoms in Eastern and Western Europe. This religious, political combine of nations (also the 10 horns of Rev. 17:1-18) will unite under one final powerful leader. Again, this united system is now quietly forming behind the world stage. Much more on this later.
Only the 10th horn of Daniel 7:7 (the same as all 10 toes of Daniel 2:1-49) is yet to appear. This will be the final great Beast of Revelation 17:1-18 that will explode upon an unsuspecting world with stunning speed and force (Rev. 17:12). With the 1989 collapse of the Iron Curtain and the reuniting of Germany, the final resurrection, consisting of countries and kingdoms throughout Central Europe, will soon appear, as a superpower United States of Europe. But we have already read how Christ will smash this union of kingdoms at His Coming!