‘Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast’, the Roman Empire. The fourth beast was ‘diverse’, different in kind and in behaviour from the other three, and this was what made Daniel ask particularly about it.
In the early centuries you see the rise of the Church of Rome, Satan's chosen channel to oppose the church. Justification by works is promoted, and the grand authority of clergy, and a new priesthood, all claiming authority over souls, an authority to devise doctrine and ceremonies, and taking people away from the pure gospel and persecuting those who proclaim it. But the dangerous part of it was the contradiction of the gracious doctrine of the New Testament. Then as time goes on, you get the enlightenment and human reason is exalted above revealed truth, the revelation of God, and the doctrine of the word of God. It gets into the churches themselves. Then more blatant attacks: the rise of science and the seizing hold of science by Satan, to deploy it, if he can, to deceive minds and suggest rational explanations for the universe and for life.
Verse 21 is on the surface so depressing. Look at our nation. Believers are all third-rate citizens. Here we are in a minority, fighting to get our word out, unrecognised, suppressed where possible. The mighty broadcasting authorities won’t let us in. Nobody will let our message into the marketplace of the world today. Antichrist has blinded everybody's mind and we are suppressed. However, by the power of the Spirit we witness and we preach the gospel, and God continues to save his elect. But judged on a superficial level, we are a repressed community, the true church, the proclaimers of the gospel. And so it is through the gospel age. There are times like the mighty Reformation when God makes bare his arm, when just a handful of monks who left the Church of Rome and rebelled against the tyranny, were able to spread the light of the gospel through the entire civilised world in their day, and to push back all the superstition of Rome, the nonsense, the darkness and the spiritual ignorance. There are times of awakening. We have had them in this country, when thousands upon thousands, even millions, have been converted and it has made a tremendous impression upon the whole land, and even governments have had to pause and take their breath, and respect the gospel of Christ. But then Satan and antichrist strike back, and we see the rise of Darwinism and Freudianism and so on. By and large through the gospel age, we see the triumph of Christ in the conversion of millions of individuals, but you look at nations, and you see the repression of the church. In just a few words Daniel has covered there the gospel age, the return of Christ, the day of judgment, the marriage supper of the Lamb, the ushering in of the eternal glory.
Why is the antichrist a little horn? Probably because antichrist doesn't manifest itself in military power, in physical might and strength. It isn't powerful in that way as the conquering nations or empires were. Words are its main tool. Antichrist is operating with cunning, with teaching, contradicting, tearing down truth. False ideologies and words are our great enemy. Yes, we do have violence against us. Satan does inspire violence from time to time, and in different parts of the world, but words are the key thing.