The Little Horn

Daniel was an incredible prophet. He saw and recorded intriguing visions of great importance. One of his visions (Daniel 7) is a vision of four beasts, representing four kingdoms who would rule the world, but particularly his own people, God’s chosen people, the Jews. Those four nations would prove to be Babylonia (the lion), Medo-Persia (the bear), Greece (the leopard), and Rome (a terrifying, frightening, and powerful beast). The last beast had ten horns on its head, then another little horn that came up in their midst and destroyed three of the horns. When Daniel asked for an interpretation of the vision he was most curious about the fourth beast and the little horn (7:19-21). The angel, obligingly, elaborated on those two aspects of the vision (7:23-25).

The purpose of this article is to try to understand the meaning of some interesting statements about the little horn in verse 25. “He will wear down the saints and his intention will be to change set times and laws.” “What in the world could that mean?”, I have often asked myself.

Before explaining this comment about the little horn, we need to understand who the little horn is. Many ask the question, “Is America mentioned in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation?” The answer is yes. Many scholars believe that this little horn is America. And a growing number are beginning to see that the seventh manifestation of the beast, in Revelation 13, is speaking of America, as well. Consider these historical facts to verify this. The ten horns are on the head of the fourth beast, Rome. These represent ten European nations who arose out of the Roman Empire. Those ten nations crossed the Atlantic, colonizing a new land and eventually forming a new nation (consider Rev 13:1). This new nation was populated by thousands upon thousands of European immigrants. America is essentially a “revived” Roman empire, across the sea. Furthermore, the little horn rose up and conquered three of the ten horns. That is exactly what happened. America had to subdue three European nations – England, France, and Spain – in order to establish itself as an independent nation. If that is true then we must understand that the end of the age is very near, right at the door, and the prophecies are being fulfilled before our very eyes. Including the little horn. You see, history interprets prophecy, not conjecture or speculation.

So just what is it that the boastful, pompous, oppressive little horn does to change the set times and laws? This does not mean something bigger than life – like changing the axis of the earth to change the four seasons, or writing a constitution to govern the world. No, it’s much more subtle. Let me offer examples of the fulfillment of this prophecy, things that I have observed just in my life time. The list is not exhaustive, by any means, and I may add to it once I stir the imagination of readers.

Some of the more obvious changes are abortion, euthanasia, and LBGT. Yes, these concerns have been around through the history of the world, perhaps, but not until recently have their acceptance and dominance been prescribed upon society. Never before have we needed nuclear treaties to help control the fear of nuclear warfare. We now have the DEQ, in America, to control nuclear waste, toxins, fuels, emissions, and abysmal air quality. We have the FDA to regulate ever increasing development of medical drugs, while opioids destroy lives all around us. With the fear of child predators and child abuse children can no longer play at the park or ride their bike out of sight and supervision of their parents. And mommy can get arrested nowadays for leaving little sleeping junior locked up in the car while she runs in to get a gallon of milk. Then there is stem cell research, unrelenting gun violence, and genetically modified foods. With the advent of computers and ever-increasing internet technology we have new concerns and laws – hacking, identity theft, spam, surveillance, digital identity… not to mention the social disfunctions stemming from the predominance of social media.

Consider the little horn changing “times”, or perhaps “sacred festivals” (as some would translate).  It used to take days, weeks, or months to send mail, to travel, to transact business. That is all done instantly now. What about Sundays, which used to be a “holy” day. No longer. In fact, the NFL now owns Sundays. Christmas used to be about Christ. But now it is Xmas trees, decorations, Happy Holidays, Black Friday, Cyber Monday. And Easter is now all about eggs, candy and chocolate bunnies. And sadly, the church is “worn down” and oppressed by all of this. Subtly and deceptively the holy ones of God go along with society, only just 10 or 20 years behind. Some say that the divorce rate is higher in the church than in society. Self-indulgence, personal rights, modesty, egalitarianism, elitism – we, the church, are right there with the world.

You may not think that America, as the little horn is pompous and oppressive. You may be one of those whose words echo in my ears, “America is so blessed (whatever that means). And God blesses the whole world through America.” Since WWII, when America came into dominance as the leading world power, we have carried out military interventions (not wars, they say) in countless countries. We try to force democracy on countries that we try to transform. We have military bases in everyone’s backyard, on every continent. America exports nearly 90% of the internet pornography that infects the hearts and minds of the world. We exploit cheap oil, cheap labor, and cheap natural resources from the poor, then we turn around and call them “third world” countries.

Okay, on the bright side. While all this is going on the church in America has been seeking to evangelize, to send missionaries, to translate Scriptures for unreached peoples, to win doctrinal debates, and to build great big, beautiful, expensive “cathedrals”. Some good endeavors, some not so good. Kind of like wheat and tares, I guess.

Wake up, church. Let the world know that Jesus’ return is near. The exponential changes of the last generation are not normal, not innocent, nor sustainable. They are prophetic.

Dave Eymann, author of Right At The Door, available on Amazon.com