What is the Little Horn in Daniel?

By Rev. D. Earl Cripe, Ph.D.

The secret to the understanding of this passage in Daniel vests in the fact that Daniel was told to keep this vision and prophecy to himself and not to teach it to any of the children of Israel because it was not relevant to them. It had to do with the time of the end. On the other hand, St. John was told not to seal up this vision and prophecy because the times predicted by the angel Gabriel to Daniel had now come.

Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

In Daniel we see the prophetic prediction for the ten horns:

Dan 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Dan 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

Revelation gives us a better explanation of this ten-horned, seven-headed monster so that we can better understand what this is all about:

Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

In Daniel, the prediction is made that God will destroy this ten-horned monster by the fires of His judgment when the time has come.

Dan 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

Dan 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

Verse 10 of Daniel 7 takes us up to the 20th chapter of Revelation when judgment is held in the books are opened.

In Revelation, a fuller and more understandable version of the war between Christ and the Dragon, and the eventual outcome, is given to us:

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

The Dragon works through his agencies of the Beast (which is secular humanism) and the False Prophet (which is religious humanism). Daniel touches on the great words of vanity that this creature speaks of the world:

Dan 7:11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

Dan 7:12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

Revelation again is more specific and more informative and is the place where we go to understand these mysteries. It is counterproductive and regressive to go to Daniel for this information, when Revelation is to the Church and is in so much more complete a form and is in the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, where our minds are capable of understanding:

Rev. 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Daniel predicts the time when the war will be over and God and his Saints will take over the eternal kingdom forever:

Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Dan 7:15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

Dan 7:16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

Dan 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

Dan 7:18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

Dan 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;

Dan 7:20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

Dan 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

Dan 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Dan 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Daniel was in no position to differentiate the unholy trinity, the 666, the Dragon, the Beast and the False Prophet, just as the ancient prophets were not in a position to speak with knowledge and definition about the Holy Trinity. But St. John in the book of Revelation is, and so he gives us this more definitive breakdown on the operation of the Little Horn:

Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Rev 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

At the end of the book of Daniel, the prophet is told that all of the things being shown to him are for another time and another era, and he is not to try to understand further or to make others understand. That is why men who seek to get their prophecy from the Old Testament do not understand what is going on, and will never understand. If the prophet Daniel, one of God’s favorites in the Old Testament, did not understand what he was prophesying, how in the world do men today think that they can?

Daniel tells us how long this Little Horn will strut about in his vain efforts to overthrow God. Take note of the connection between what Daniel says and what Revelation says:

Dan 12:7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished [everything will be finished and the end of the world will come].

Daniel wanted to know how all of this was going to end, but the Angel Gabriel told him that it was not for him to know:

Dan 12:8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?

Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Clearly, the last 3½ years of Daniel's 70th week are identified in both Daniel 12 and Revelation 13:

Dan 12:8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?

Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Dan 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Dan 12:13 But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Revelation verifies this prophetic and symbolic timeframe:

Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Daniel’s prophecy was sealed up until the time of the end. The prophecy given to St. John is the time of the end spoken of by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 12, and the prophecy is now to be opened and revealed to the people of God:

Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

In conclusion, the little horn is an ancient prophetic prediction of the Dragon taking over the kingdom of darkness in this last and greatest dispensation, ruling with an iron hand over the kingdoms of this earth that are identified by the ten horns and seven crowns. 10 is the worldwide kingdom and 7 is the complete authority over the unregenerate realm by Satan, who is the god of this world. Satan (the Dragon) and the Beast of secular humanism and the Second Beast of false religion comprise the identity and the operation of the Little Horn.

It is fair to want to know who and what the little horn of Daniel is, but it is not wise to try to pursue the prophetic meaning and understanding from the Book of Daniel when we have this open, unsealed (the Lamb took the Seals off) and comprehensive Revelation of Jesus Christ given from the Throne by God Himself to the Church.

God's Point of View