The Roman Empire Will Be Reborn in the End Times
Daniel 7 shows that Rome’s final defeat happens at the return of Christ, which means its final form must rise again before the end.
In Daniel 7, the Bible predicts the character and rise of the historical Roman Empire. In that chapter, the Roman empire is depicted as a ferocious and terrifying beast. But did you know that the Roman Empire must be reborn in the end times, just prior to the return of Christ to earth?
The Roman Empire’s Defeat at the Hands of God
The fourth kingdom in Daniel 7 experiences a violent defeat at the hands of God when He sets up an eternal kingdom, led by the Messiah.
In his vision in chapter 7, Daniel sees a court room scene at God’s throne:
9 “I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His garment was white as snow,
And the hair of His head like pure wool.
His throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels were a burning fire.
10 A river of fire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
Thousands upon thousands were serving Him,
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The court convened,
And the books were opened. (Daniel 7:9-10 NASB)
This leads to the killing of the beast, which symbolizes the Roman empire, and its final ruler:
11 Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. (Daniel 7:11 NASB)
The angel later interprets this for Daniel, saying that the court’s verdict results in the defeat of the final ruler of the fourth kingdom:
26 But the court will convene for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. 27 Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the empires will serve and obey Him.’ (Daniel 7:26-27 NASB)
The Eternal Reign of the Son of Man
In the same vision, Daniel sees a human figure come up to God the Father, receiving the kingdom:
“I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a son of man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
14 And to Him was given dominion,
Honor, and a kingdom,
So that all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14 NASB)
Jesus clearly links this imagery when describing His Second Coming:
And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30 NASB)
In fact, “the Son of Man” is Jesus’ favorite title for Himself throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.1
Jesus clearly linked Himself to the Son of Man figure in Daniel at His trial. This resulted in the blasphemy charge against Him:
61 But He kept silent and did not offer any answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and *said to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 Tearing his clothes, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him as deserving of death. (Mark 14:61-64)
If Jesus was not God incarnate, this would be blasphemy, since the figure in Daniel 7 is “served” by people of every nation and language. The Aramaic word “serve” in Daniel refers to serving a deity, whether that be a true or false one.2 As a result, the NIV actually translates this as “worshiped.”3
The implication is the same. Jesus claimed to be the person who would be served as God by all the nations of the world. That, among other reasons, is why the High Priest accused Him of blasphemy. Obviously, it was not blasphemous, because Jesus really is God incarnate.
The Revived Roman Empire
These passages indicate that the Roman Empire is defeated by God at the Second Coming of Christ, not the First Coming of Christ. Yet this creates a problem. The western Roman Empire dissolved in 476 A.D.4 It was not violently destroyed by God, setting up an eternal kingdom in its place, as Daniel 7 describes. Instead, it dissolved gradually due to various internal and external causes.
Since the Roman Empire is defeated by God at the Second Coming of Christ, the Roman Empire must be reborn prior to that time, in order to be defeated by Jesus. This is why many theologians anticipate the “revival” of the Roman Empire. Here are a few examples:
“This means that the Roman Empire will be revived under the form of a ten-power confederacy.”
-John Ker Muno, 19395
“…the ancient Roman empire will be reconstructed into a kind of federated-kingdom form.”
-C.I. Schofield, 19506
“…the Roman Empire will some day be organized in ten states under a great dictator.”
-William K. Harrison, 19597
“…in the last days ten federated nations, emerging out of the area of the ancient Roman Empire (the iron legs of Daniel 2:33, 40), will arise.”
-Charles J. Woodbridge, 19628
“…the formation of a ten-kingdom confederation on the territory of the ancient Roman Empire.”
-Charles L. Feinberg, 19649
“…a crisis in the Mediterranean area leads to the formation of the revived Roman Empire composed of a ten-nation confederacy.”
-John F. Walvoord, 196710
“…there will be a time still future when the Roman Empire will be restored…”
-Leon. J. Wood, 197311
“The fourth kingdom is over, and we are now in a prophetic gap that will end when a ten-nation confederacy reconstitutes the Roman empire.”
-John H. Walton, 198612
“…the future Antichrist, who will be the leader of a confederation of states within the territory of the Roman Empire.”
-Kenneth L. Barker, 199313
“The final form of the Roman world power will be a confederation of 10 nations who will arise simultaneously in the tribulation days.”
-Charles Ryrie, 199514
“The power and authority of the revived Roman Empire (the ten kings) will be used to force the world to worship Satan…”
-Ronald M. Johnson, 200015
“…be the leader of the final phase of the Roman Empire…”
-Charles H. Ray, 200216
“He will come on the scene after the ten kings of the revived Roman Empire are on the scene.”
-Gary R. Gromacki, 201717
Similar Beliefs in the Early Church
This sort of thing is not a brand-new belief. Similar ideas have precedent in the early Church. People like Irenaeus and Hippolytus anticipated that the Roman Empire would collapse into ten parts. Then, the final ruler, the Antichrist, would rise among them and take control of the group.
For example, Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202 A.D.) says the following:
John and Daniel have predicted the dissolution and desolation of the Roman Empire, which shall precede the end of the world and the eternal Kingdom of Christ.
-Irenaeus of Lyons (130 - 202 A.D.)18
Later in the same book, Irenaeus elaborates on this, saying:
In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord’s disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned. He teaches us what the ten horns shall be which were seen by Daniel, ...
-Irenaeus of Lyons (130 - 202 A.D.)19
Hippolytus is more explicit in his commentary on Daniel, describing the fourth beast as “the Romans.”
Then he says: “A fourth beast, dreadful and terrible; it had iron teeth and claws of brass.” And who are these but the Romans? which (kingdom) is meant by the iron--the kingdom which is now established; for the legs of that (image) were of iron. And after this, what remains, beloved, but the toes of the feet of the image, in which part is iron and part clay, mixed together?
-Hippolytus of Rome (200’s A.D.)20
Later in the 4th Century, St. Cyril elaborates on how the Antichrist will rise to power once the times of the Roman Empire “shall have been fulfilled.” There he says:
But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is now drawing near. There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts perhaps, but all about the same time; and after these an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the Roman power; and of the kings who reigned before him, three he shall humble, and the remaining seven he shall keep in subjection to himself.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, (315-386 A.D.)21
Though they didn’t exactly believe in a fully developed “revived Roman Empire” concept, they held very similar views that are something of a prototype for what many theologians believe today.
Significance for Today
Those of us who are watching Christ’s return should take great interest in the rise of any political power that rises up on the Mediterranean Sea. This is especially true, since Israel exists as a nation. (Matthew 24:15-16 says that observant Jews will be living in Jerusalem and Judea in the end times.)
This means the European Union (EU) is the only game in town to qualify as the revived Roman Empire. In another post, I explain how Daniel 2 demonstrates that the EU meets all the key requirements for the second phase of the Roman Empire.
Tanner, J P. 2020. Daniel: Evangelical Exegetical Commentary. Edited by H W. House, and William D. Barrick. Bellingham, Washington: Logos Bible Software. (p. 443)
Woodbridge, Charles J. Phd. 1967. Bible Prophecy. 2nd ed. Chicago: Moody Bible Institute.
Wood, Leon J. 1973. A Commentary on Daniel. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers. (p. 187)
Ryrie, Charles C., ed. The Ryrie Study Bible, Expanded Edition: New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update. Chicago: The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1995. (p.1362 - note on Dan. 7:24)