1. FOUR WINDS, FOUR BEASTS Sun, Apr 19

a. When did Daniel receive his first prophetic vision, and how did he respond to it? Daniel 7:1, 15, 16 (first part). “Shortly before the fall of Babylon, when Daniel was meditating on these prophecies 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.”—Prophets and Kings, p. 553. b. What was represented by the natural elements seen? Daniel 7:2; Revelation 17:15; Jeremiah 25:31–33. c. How did the angel explain the meaning of the four great beasts which arose? Daniel 7:3, 16 (last part), 17. “The great kingdoms that have ruled the world were presented to the prophet Daniel as beasts of prey.”—The Great Controversy, pp. 439, 440.

---

2. SUCCEEDING EMPIRES Mon, Apr 20

a. What was the first of the four beasts, and what empire did it represent? Daniel 7:4; Jeremiah 50:17; Habakkuk 1:6–8. “[Babylon] did not fulfil God’s purpose; and when His time had come, this kingdom of pride and power, ruled by men of the highest intellect, was broken, shattered, helpless. Christ has declared, ‘Without me ye can do nothing.’ The illustrious statesmen of Babylon did not regard themselves as dependent on God. They thought that they had created all their grandeur and exaltation. But when God spoke, they were as the grass that withereth, and the flower of the grass that fadeth away. The word and will of God alone endure forever.”—The Youth’s Instructor, September 29, 1903. b. How was the second beast described, and what empire did it represent? Daniel 7:5. “Every nation that has come upon the stage of action has been permitted to occupy its place on the earth, that it might be seen whether it would fulfill the purpose of ‘the Watcher and the Holy One.’ Prophecy has traced the rise and fall of the world’s great empires—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. With each of these, as with nations of less power, history repeated itself. Each had its period of test, each failed, its glory faded, its power departed, and its place was occupied by another.“While the nations rejected God’s principles, and in this rejection wrought their own ruin, it was still manifest that the divine, overruling purpose was working through all their movements.”—Education, pp. 176, 177. c. What peculiar elements characterized the third beast, representing the Grecian empire? Daniel 7:6. “If these several kingdoms had kept the fear of the Lord always before them, they would have been given wisdom and power, which would have bound them together and kept them strong. But the rulers of the kingdoms of the world made God their strength only when harassed and perplexed. . . . They were forced to appeal to those whose minds were illuminated by heavenly light, for an explanation of the mysteries they could not comprehend.”—The Youth’s Instructor, September 29, 1903.

---

3. ROME, THE FOURTH EMPIRE Tue, Apr 21

a. What made the fourth beast so difficult to describe in natural terms? Daniel 7:7. “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, p. 77.“The cross was associated with the power of Rome. It was the instrument of the most cruel and humiliating form of death. The lowest criminals were required to bear the cross to the place of execution; and often as it was about to be laid upon their shoulders, they resisted with desperate violence, until they were overpowered, and the instrument of torture was bound upon them.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 416, 417. b. What was seen among the horns of the fourth beast? Daniel 7:8. “In the sixth century the papacy had become firmly established. Its seat of power was fixed in the imperial city, and the bishop of Rome was declared to be the head over the entire church. Paganism had given place to the papacy. The dragon had given to the beast ‘his power, and his seat, and great authority.’ Revelation 13:2. And now began the 1260 years of papal oppression foretold in the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:5–7. Christians were forced to choose either to yield their integrity and accept the papal ceremonies and worship, or to wear away their lives in dungeons or suffer death by the rack, the fagot, or the headsman’s ax. Now were fulfilled the words of Jesus: ‘Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake.’ Luke 21:16, 17. Persecution opened upon the faithful with greater fury than ever before, and the world became a vast battlefield. For hundreds of years the church of Christ found refuge in seclusion and obscurity. Thus says the prophet: ‘The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three-score days.’ Revelation 12:6.”—The Great Controversy, pp. 54, 55. c. What did Daniel want to know after seeing the vision? Daniel 7:19, 20.

---

4. THE LITTLE HORN Wed, Apr 22

a. What did the angel explain regarding the terrible fourth beast, representing the Roman Empire? Daniel 7:23. b. What was revealed about the little horn? Daniel 7:24. “The vast empire of Rome crumbled to pieces, and from its ruins rose that mighty power, the Roman Catholic Church. This church boasts of her infallibility and her hereditary religion. But this religion is a horror to all who are acquainted with the secrets of the mystery of iniquity. The priests of this church maintain their ascendency by keeping the people in ignorance of God’s will, as revealed in the Scriptures.”—The Youth’s Instructor, September 22, 1903. c. Against whom would the ire of the little horn power be directed? Daniel 7:21, 25. “The accession of the Roman Church to power marked the beginning of the Dark Ages. As her power increased, the darkness deepened. Faith was transferred from Christ, the true foundation, to the pope of Rome. Instead of trusting in the Son of God for forgiveness of sins and for eternal salvation, the people looked to the pope, and to the priests and prelates to whom he delegated authority. They were taught that the pope was their earthly mediator and that none could approach God except through him; and, further, that he stood in the place of God to them and was therefore to be implicitly obeyed. A deviation from his requirements was sufficient cause for the severest punishment to be visited upon the bodies and souls of the offenders. Thus the minds of the people were turned away from God to fallible, erring, and cruel men, nay, more, to the prince of darkness himself, who exercised his power through them. Sin was disguised in a garb of sanctity. When the Scriptures are suppressed, and man comes to regard himself as supreme, we need look only for fraud, deception, and debasing iniquity. With the elevation of human laws and traditions was manifest the corruption that ever results from setting aside the law of God.“Those were days of peril for the church of Christ. The faithful standard-bearers were few indeed. Though the truth was not left without witnesses, yet at times it seemed that error and superstition would wholly prevail, and true religion would be banished from the earth. The gospel was lost sight of, but the forms of religion were multiplied, and the people were burdened with rigorous exactions.”—The Great Controversy, p. 55.

---

5. THE JUDGMENT Thu, Apr 23

a. What would happen to bring an end to the power of the little horn? Daniel 7:26. “The forty and two months [of Revelation 13:5] are the same as the ‘time and times and the dividing of time,’ three years and a half, or 1260 days, of Daniel 7—the time during which the papal power was to oppress God’s people. This period. . . began with the supremacy of the papacy, ᴀ.ᴅ. 538, and terminated in 1798. At that time the pope was made captive by the French army, the papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled, ‘He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.’”—The Great Controversy, p. 439. b. How is the sitting of the judgment described? Daniel 7:9, 10, 13. “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.”—Ibid., p. 480. c. What would be the result of the judgment? Daniel 7:11, 14, 18, 22, 26, 27. “The great plan of redemption results in fully bringing back the world into God’s favor. All that was lost by sin is restored. Not only man but the earth is redeemed, to be the eternal abode of the obedient. For six thousand years Satan has struggled to maintain possession of the earth. Now God’s original purpose in its creation is accomplished. ‘The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’ Daniel 7:18.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 342.

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS Fri, Apr 24

1. Describe the four beasts which Daniel saw rising out of the sea. 2. Name the empires the beasts typified, and how their features were fulfilled. 3. What made the little horn power different from the other powers shown? 4. What were the “great” words of the little horn power? 5. To whom will the judgment award rule of the earth, and when?