Bible Study Guides – “The Judgment was Set”

August 11, 2001 – August 17, 2001

MEMORY VERSE: “Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth.” Psalm 76:8, 9.

STUDY HELP: Great Controversy, 424–431.

Introduction: “To Daniel was given a vision of fierce beasts, representing thepowers of the earth. But the ensign of the Messiah’s kingdom is a lamb. While earthly kingdoms rule by the ascendancy of physical power, Christ is to banish every carnal weapon, every instrument of coercion. His kingdom was to be established to uplift and ennoble fallen humanity.” God’s Amazing Grace, 15.

“The Four Winds of Heaven Strove Upon the Great Sea”

1 When was Daniel’s dream given to him and what did he first see? Daniel 7:1–3. Compare Revelation 17:15; Isaiah 8:7; Isaiah 17:12; Isaiah 57:20. See also Jeremiah 49:36; Ezekiel 37:9; Daniel 8:8; Daniel 11:4; Zechariah 2:6; Matthew 24:31; Revelation 7:1.

NOTE: It would appear that the four winds are connected with God’s judgments upon mankind.

“The great kingdoms that have ruled the world were presented to the prophet Daniel as beasts of prey, rising when ‘the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.’ Daniel 7:2. In Revelation 17, an angel explained that waters represent ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.’ Revelation 17:15. Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds of heaven striving upon the great sea represent the terrible scenes of conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have attained to power.” Great Controversy, 439, 440.

2 What did these beasts represent? Daniel 7:16, 17.

NOTE: “Earthly governments prevail by physical force; they maintain their dominion by war; but the founder of the new kingdom is the Prince of Peace. The Holy Spirit represents worldly kingdoms under the symbol of fierce beasts of prey; but Christ is ‘the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ John 1:29. In His plan of government there is no employment of brute force to compel the conscience.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 77.

“Four Great Beasts Came Up from the Sea”

3 How was the first of these beasts described? Daniel 7:4.

NOTE: “At first the lion had eagle’s wings, denoting the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchadnezzar. At this point in the vision a change had taken place; its wings had been plucked. It no longer flew like an eagle upon its prey. The boldness and spirit of the lion were gone. A man’s heart, weak, timorous and faint, had taken its place. Such was emphatically the case with the nation during the closing years of its history, when it had become enfeebled and effeminate through wealth and luxury.” Smith, Daniel and the Revelation, 1912 ed., 127.

4 What was the appearance of the second beast? Daniel 7:5.

NOTE: Liberal scholars claim that the second and third beasts represent Media and Persia respectively. Two arguments may be given to disprove this view. First, history does not record a Median empire, which overthrew Babylon and was then overthrown by a Persian empire. Second, the Bible consistently links the two into a joint kingdom. See Esther 1:19, Daniel 5:28, Daniel 6:8, 12, 15.

“The second kingdom is represented by a bear that is raised up on one side. The bear’s bi-form nature is of major importance in properly identifying the kingdom represented because it establishes a parallel with the symbol of the ram in chapter 8. The bear raised up on one side in chapter 7 is mirrored in chapter 8 by the symbol of a ram with two horns, one of which is higher—some Bible versions say ‘ longer’—than the other (verse 3). Verse 20 clearly identifies this ram as representing the dual kingdom of Media and Persia. Thus the bear of chapter 7 also represents the combined Medo-Persian kingdom.” Shea, Daniel 7-12, 37.

“This kingdom was composed of two nationalities, the Medes and the Persians.…It is said…of the bear that it raised itself up on one side; and this was fulfilled by the Persian division of the kingdom, which came up last but attained the higher eminence, becoming the controlling influence in the nation. The three ribs perhaps signify the three provinces of Babylon, Lydia and Egypt, which were especially ground down and oppressed by this power.…The character of this power is well represented by a bear. The Medes and Persians were cruel and rapacious, robbers and spoilers of the people.” Smith, Daniel and the Revelation,1912 ed., 128.

5 What did Daniel notice about the third beast? Daniel 7:6.

NOTE: “To picture the incredible speed of Alexander’s conquests and soaring ambitions, the Spirit added ‘four wings of a bird’ to the spotted feline. The Babylonian lion had one pair of wings, while the Greek leopard had two! With incredible rapidity this small but ferocious marauder seized dominion from the Danube to the Indus and from Persia to Egypt.…The leopard’s ‘four heads’ represent the kingdoms which followed Alexander’s death and the end of his unified control.…The four generals who finally took charge have been identified as Ptolemy who ruled Egypt, Palestine and part of Syria; Cassander who held Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus who controlled Thrace and part of Asia Minor; and Seleucus who mastered other portions of Asia Minor, northern Syria and Mesopotamia.” Hardinge, Jesus Is My Judge, 141.

“Dreadful and Terrible”

6 What were the characteristics of the fourth beast? Daniel 7:7, 23.

NOTE: The iron teeth should remind us of the iron of the legs and feet of the great image of chapter 2.

“Since there were to be only four empires of worldwide authority (Daniel 2:26–45) and since this fourth beast was to be the fourth kingdom to have worldwide authority (Daniel 7:23), this fourth beast must be the same as the fourth [kingdom] of Daniel 2, which represented the Roman Empire. As in Daniel 2, this fourth empire was not to be followed by another world empire, but ten kings were to develop out of it.” Grosboll, God Predicts Your Future, 22.

7 What did Daniel then see happening to the fourth beast? Daniel 7:8, 24. Compare Daniel 2:41–43.

NOTE: “As the Roman Empire became weaker in the third and fourth centuries, a period of barbarian invasions occurred. The Alamanni coalition invaded Italy in the third century and finally in the fourth century it established itself permanently in central Europe. Then the Franks, the Burgundians, the Suevi, the Vandals, the West Goths (Visigoths), the Saxons, the East Goths (Ostrogoths) and a score or more of barbarian tribes struggled for territory. When we look at the territory of the Western Roman Empire when the empire was completely dissolved in ad 476 by Odoacer, we find that the Western Roman Empire was at that time divided into exactly ten separate barbarian kingdoms.” Grosboll, God Predicts Your Future, 23, 24.

“The Visions of My Head Troubled Me”

8 How did Daniel react to his dream? Daniel 7:15. Compare verse 28.

NOTE: “Shortly before the fall of Babylon, when Daniel was meditating on these prophecies [of Jeremiah, see Jeremiah 25:11-12] and seeking God for an understanding of the times, a series of visions was given him concerning the rise and fall of kingdoms. With the first vision, as recorded in the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel, an interpretation was given; yet not all was made clear to the prophet. ‘My cogitations much troubled me,’ he wrote of his experience at the time, ‘and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.’” Prophets and Kings, 553, 554.

9 What part of the dream especially troubled Daniel? Daniel 7:19, 20.

10 What was it about this part of the dream that had troubled Daniel? Daniel 7:21. Compare Revelation 13:7.

NOTE: “Of the leopardlike beast it is declared: ‘There was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. . . . And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.’ This prophecy, which is nearly identical with the description of the little horn of Daniel 7, unquestionably points to the papacy.” Great Controversy, 439.

‘He Shall Speak Great Words’

11 What was Daniel told about the ten horns and the little horn that followed them? Daniel 7:24.

NOTE: The little horn power was to be ‘diverse from the first,’ ‘diverse from all the beasts that were before it’ (verse 7), a different kind of power from those that preceded it. Out of Rome’s divisions, following the overthrow of the three barbarian kingdoms, the pope assumed the title of the Caesars, ‘Pontifex Maximus’, and combined spiritual authority with temporal power. A hybrid, such as God had expressly forbidden, was born. Compare John 18:36. Those who claimed to be the church of Christ set up an earthly kingdom.

12 What was Daniel shown about the activities of this little horn? Daniel 7:25.

NOTE: A three-fold accusation is made by heaven against this power, blasphemous claims (compare Mark 2:7; Matthew 12:31; John 10:33) persecution of God’s people, and a claim to have the right to change God’s law and sacred times.

Blasphemy. The claim of the papal priesthood to be able to forgive sins is repeated daily in the confessional. The claim of the popes to be the vicars of Christ, thus usurping the role of the Holy Spirit, is likewise blasphemy. See John 14:16–18. Finally the claims of the popes to be actually God are found in: The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 6 p.48, which describes the pope as: “not a mere man, but as it were God and the vicar of God.” Pope Leo XIII in one of his encyclical letters wrote: “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Pope Innocent III wrote: “The pope is not simply a man but rather God on earth.” He also wrote: “The pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ but he is Jesus Christ Himself hidden under the veil of flesh.”

Persecution. The Western Watchman, a Roman Catholic periodical (December 24, 1908) stated: “The church has persecuted. Only a tyro in history will deny that . . . Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots and the Spanish Inquisition.” Dr J. Dowling, History of Romanism, 541, 542, states: “From the birth of Popery in 606, to the present time, it is estimated by careful and credible historians, that more than fifty millions of the human family have been slaughtered for the crime of heresy by popish persecutors, an average of more than forty thousand murders for every year of the existence of Popery.”

Claim to change God’s times and law. Catholic literature consistently moves from the first of the Ten Commandments to the third, which is counted as number two. The Second Commandment, forbidding idolatry, is not found in the Roman Catholic catechism. For many years, the consistent teaching of the Roman Catholic Church was that Sabbath was changed to Sunday by the action of the Catholic Church. e.g. Geiermann: Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,1946 ed. 50. “The church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her. . . . The Third [sic] Commandment commands us to sanctify Sunday as the Lord’s Day.”

“The Judgment Shall Sit”

13 What was the final stage of Daniel’s dream? Daniel 7:9–14.

NOTE: “Thus was presented to the prophet’s vision the great and solemn day when the characters and the lives of men should pass in review before the Judge of all the earth, and to every man should be rendered ‘according to his works.’ The Ancient of Days is God the Father. Says the psalmist: ‘Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.’ Psalm 90:2. It is He, the source of all being, and the fountain of all law, that is to preside in the judgment. And holy angels as ministers and witnesses, in number ‘ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,’ attend this great tribunal. ‘And, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away.’ Daniel 7:13, 14. The coming of Christ here described is not His second coming to the earth. He comes to the Ancient of Days in heaven to receive dominion and glory and a kingdom, which will be given Him at the close of His work as a mediator.” Great Controversy, 479, 480.

14 What was to be the outcome of these things? Daniel 7:18, 22, 26, 27. Compare Matthew 25:31–46.

NOTE: “Here are the conditions upon which every soul will be elected to eternal life. Your obedience to God’s commandments will prove your right to an inheritance with the saints in light. God has elected a certain excellence of character; and every one who, through the grace of Christ, shall reach the standard of His requirement, will have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of glory. All who would reach this standard of character, will have to employ the means that God has provided to this end. If you would inherit the rest that remaineth for the children of God, you must become a co-laborer with God. You are elected to wear the yoke of Christ—to bear His burden, to lift His cross. You are to be diligent ‘to make your calling and election sure.’ Search the Scriptures, and you will see that not a son or a daughter of Adam is elected to be saved in disobedience to God’s law. The world makes void the law of God; but Christians are chosen to sanctification through obedience to the truth. They are elected to bear the cross, if they would wear the crown.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 125.