I was reading your book about Daniel, and I wanted to ask some questions
about Daniel chapter 7 and your comment, because there were some things
which weren’t clear to me.

1) In the Roman Empire there weren’t just 11 kings, I mean after Domitian
came a lot of other kings in the Roman Empire who also persecuted the
church a lot. And also in the book of Daniel it says that the beast with
11 horns will be destroyed. But the Roman Empire wasn’t destroyed only
after 11 kings, i.e not after Domitian. It had a lot of other kings before
it was destroyed. Why does Daniel mention only 11 kings and then the
destruction?

AT THE TIME REVELATION WAS WRITTEN, DOMITIAN WAS EITHER THE CURRENT
EMPEROR OR WAS SOON TO BECOME EMPEROR (THE EXACT YEAR REVELATION WAS
WRITTEN IS DEBATED–SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ABOUT 70 AND 90 AD MORE OR LESS. I
FAVOR AN EARLIER DATE) DOMITIAN IS THE EIGHTH OR THE ELEVENTH KING,
DEPENDING ON WHETHER YOU COUNT GALBA, OTHO AND VITELLIUS. BECAUSE DOMITIAN
WAS THE FIRST TO BRING ABOUT SYSTEMATIC PERSECUTION OF THE DISCIPLES, GOD
POINTS TO HIM AS REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL THOSE AFTER HIM WHO PERSECUTED THE
CHRISTIANS. IT IS TRUE THERE WERE MORE THAN ELEVEN EMPERORS OF ROME, OF
COURSE, BUT GOD CHOOSES TO ALLOW DOMITIAN, THE FIRST PERSECUTOR AND THE
ELEVENTH EMPEROR TO REPRESENT THEM ALL. I PERSONALLY CANNOT THINK OF A
BETTER WAY GOD COULD HAVE PROPHETICALLY REPRESENTED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO
THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS IN THE DISTANT FUTURE THAN HOW HE CHOSE TO DO IT IN
DANIEL 7. GOD TOLD HIS PEOPLE THAT WITH THE ELEVENTH (EIGHTH IN
REVELATION) EMPEROR THE GREAT PERSECUTIONS WOULD BEGIN.

WHY DOES GOD DESCRIBE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ELEVENTH HORN AS IF DOMITIAN
WOULD BE DESTROYED AND THE ROMAN POWER WITH HIM? THAT IS A GOOD QUESTION.
I WOULD IMAGINE THAT IN GOD’S EYES, JUDGMENT AND THE DESTRUCTION OF
DOMITIAN AND THE PERSECUTING ROMAN POWER WAS DECIDED AT THAT TIME, BUT GOD
DID NOT CARRY OUT THAT JUDGMENT FOR ABOUT TWO HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THAT
TIME. THIS IS NOT UNIQUE IN BIBLICAL HISTORY. GOD PRONOUNCES JUDGMENT ON A
PERSON OR NATION AND IN HIS EYES IT IS A DONE DEAL, ALTHOUGH IN HUMAN
TERMS GOD MAY NOT CARRY OUT THAT JUDGMENT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, IN GOD’S
EYES, JUDGMENT HAS BEEN CARRIED OUT. IN ANY CASE, THE MESSAGE OF DANIEL
SEVEN AND OF REVELATION IS THAT THE PERSECUTION OF GOD’S PEOPLE WILL BE
TEMPORARY, BUT THAT THE JUDGMENT OF THOSE WHO PERSECUTE GOD’S PEOPLE WILL
BE ETERNAL. THEREFORE, GOD’S PEOPLE SHOULD STAY FAITHFUL. GOD IS IN
CONTROL.

2) After talking of the destruction of the 4-rth beast, Daniel says that
the other beasts were given some time to live after that. What does that
mean?

THE POWER OF THE FIRST BEAST, BABYLON, WAS TAKEN AWAY IN ABOUT 538 BC BY
CYRUS THE PERSIAN, THE POWER OF PERSIA WAS TAKEN AWAY IN ABOUT 332 BC BY
ALEXANDER AND THE POWER OF THE SUCCESSOR GREEK KINGDOMS WAS FINALLY ENDED
IN 27 BC WHEN ROME DESTROYED THE PTOLEMAIC DYNASTY (OCTAVIUS DEFEATED
CLEOPATRA/ANTONY). ALTHOUGH THE POWER OF THESE KINGDOMS WAS DESTROYED AT
THAT TIME, AS PROPHESIED BY DANIEL, THESE NATIONS DID CONTINUE TO EXIST
AFTER THAT TIME, BUT WITH REDUCED OR EVEN NO POWER. IN FACT, PERSIA, EGYPT
AND GREECE ARE ALL INDEPENDENT NATIONS EVEN TODAY.

3) In the book of Revelation, ch.17 it has the other 10 horns being
together in the fight, against the people of God, with the 11-th thorn. So
the other kings helped Dominitian (?)

THE TEN KINGS/HORNS ARE NOT THE SEVEN (OR EIGHT) HORNS. THEY ARE FUTURE
EMPERORS OF ROME WHO WILL PERSECUTE THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. (“THEY HAVE NOT
YET RECEIVED A KINGDOM) PREMILLENIALISTS HAVE INTERPRETED THE TEN KINGS AS
THE TEN NATIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WHICH IS NOW SOMEWHERE ABOVE TWENTY
COUNTRIES…. SO MUCH FOR THE PREMILLENIALIST DOCTRINE). I BELIEVE THE TEN
HORNS OF REVELATION 17 REPRESENT THE FUTURE EMPERORS OF ROME WHO WERE TO
PERSUCUTE THE CHURCH. THIS MAY IN PART ANSWER YOUR FIRST QUESTION.

John Oakes, PhD