Jun 15, 2014
In our previous study we were thinking about this long period of time in human history called the Times of the Gentiles. Please reference the Times of the Gentiles chart on page two of your notes. The Times of the Gentiles stretches from 586 B.C. to the end of the Tribulation. Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 reveal that from God’s prophetic perspective, four Gentile empires dominate Jerusalem over the course of the Times of the Gentiles.
We discovered that the first three Gentile empires - the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Hellenistic – were represented symbolically by animals – a lion, bear and leopard. The fourth Gentile empire, however, is so powerful and brutal, it is described as a beast that crushes. The fourth Gentile empire began with the Roman empire. The Roman empire came to an end but the fourth Gentile empire has not. The Roman empire was a stage of the fourth Gentile empire but is not the totality of the fourth Gentile empire. The fourth Gentile empire and the Roman empire are not one in the same. The fourth Gentile empire which began with the Roman empire continues to dominate Jerusalem until the end of the Tribulation.
So what is this fourth Gentile empire that began with the Roman empire but extends beyond it?