The Fourth Kingdom Shall be Strong as Iron

Rome

168 B.C. - 351 A.D.

A Short History Of The Ancient Roman Empire

Of the first three beasts of this series, Daniel had so clear an understanding that he had no trouble in reference to them. But he was astonished at this fourth beast, so unnatural and dreadful; for the further we come down the stream of time, the further it is necessary to depart from nature in forming symbols to represent accurately the degenerating governments of this earth. The lion is a production of nature; but it must have the unnatural addition of two wings to represent the kingdom of Babylon. The bear we also find in nature; but as a symbol of Medo-Persia an unnatural ferocity must be denoted by the insertion of three ribs into its mouth. So the leopard is a beast of nature; but fitly to represent Grecia there is a departure from nature in respect to wings, and the number of heads. But nature furnishes no symbol which can fitly illustrate the fourth kingdom. A beast the likeness of which never was seen, is taken; a beast dreadful and terrible, with nails of brass, and teeth of iron, so cruel, rapacious, and fierce that from mere love of oppression it devoured, and brake in pieces, and trampled its victims beneath its feet. Thoughts On Daniel And The Revelation, Uriah Smith, pg. 138.

"At the opening of the Christian era this empire [the iron monarchy of Rome] took in the whole south of Europe, France, England and the greater part of the Netherlands, Switzerland and the south of Germany, Hungary, Turkey and Greece, not to speak of it's possessions in Asia and Africa. Well therefore, may Gibbon say of it:

It will also be noticed that at first the kingdom is described unqualifiedly as strong as iron. This was the period of it's strength during which it has been likened to a mighty colossus bestriding the nations, conquering everything and giving laws to the world. But this was not to continue." Uriah Smith, Daniel And The Revelation

Rome ruled with teeth of iron. This means that she made laws that ruled the people. The people were there only for the government to rule. It was not a government of the people, for the people and by the people but a government over the people. She ruled with absolute power in tyranny. She ruled the people in their own homes with the help of the system of information that she set up. She stole the peoples lands in her greed. She went right into the consciences of the people and there set up her throne. These are the priciples of a pagan government and they are further delineated below. Read on and see if you can find any similarities to any governing body of the present day.

• Absolutism In Government
• The Information System
• Accumulation Of Lands
• Nero
• Corruption And Terrorism From Within
• Ultimate Paganism
• For Such A Time As This
• Christianity Comes On The Scene
• Laws Of The Same Character As Babylon
• What The Law Says Is Right
• The Individual Absorbed By The State
• Christ Put A Difference Between The State And God
• Supremacy Of The Individual Conscience
• Romes Assertions Vs. Gods' Way
• The States Proper God Given Place
• Blending Of Christianity And Paganism
• New Theology
• Apostate Christianity
• Birth Of Ecumenism
• Pagan Rome Becomes Papal Rome

A More Indepth History Of The Ancient Roman Empire

Augustus died at the age of seventy-six, August 19, 14 A.D., and was succeeded by Tiberius.

Absolutism In Government - Tyranny

Forty-three years of the sole authority of Augustus had established the principle of absolutism in government, but "the critical moment for a government is that of its founder's death." It was now to be discovered whether that principle was firmly fixed; but Tiberius was fifty-six years old, and had been a careful student of Augustus, and though at his accession the new principle of government was put to its severest test, Tiberius made Augustus his model in all things; "continued his hypocritical moderation, and made it, so to speak, the rule of the imperial government." Duruy "History of Rome".

One man being now the State, and that one man being "divine," high treason -- violated majesty -- became the most common crime. Duruy "History of Rome".

The Information System

More than this, as the emperor was the embodiment of the divinity of the Roman State, this divinity was likewise supposed to be reflected in the statues and images of him. Any disrespect, any slight, an indifference, and carelessness, intentional or otherwise, shown toward any such statue, or image, or picture, was considered as referring to him, was violative of his majesty, and was high treason. Yet more than this, in all cases of high treason when the accused was found guilty, one fourth of his estate was by law made sure to the informer. "Thus the informers, a description of men called into existence to prey upon the vitals of society, and never sufficiently restrained even by penalties, were now encouraged by rewards." Tacitus. "Annals," book iv.

Bearing these facts in mind, it is easy to understand the force of that political turn which the priests and Pharisees of Jerusalem took upon Pilate in their charges against Christ: "If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." On account of the furious jealousy of Tiberius, and his readiness to welcome the reports of informers, the priests and Pharisees knew full well, and so did Pilate, that if a deputation should be sent to Rome accusing him of high treason in sanctioning the kingship of a Jew, Pilate would be called to Rome and beheaded.

Tiberius died March 16, 37 A.D., in the seventy-eighth year of his age and the twenty-third year of his reign, leaving "the subject peoples of the empire in a condition of prosperity such as they had never known before and never knew again," and was succeeded by Caligula.

Accumulation Of Lands

He was now twenty-five years old, and had been with Tiberius for the last five years. "Closely aping Tiberius, he put on the same dress as he did from day to day, and in his language differed little from him. Having spent all the money, though an enormous sum, that had been laid up by Tiberius, it became necessary to raise funds sufficient for his extravagance, and to do so he employed "every mode of false accusation, confiscation, and taxation that could be invented." He commanded that the people should make their wills in his favor. He even cause this rule to date back as far as the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, and from that time forward any centurion of the first rank who had not made Tiberius or Caligula his heir, his will was annulled, and all his property was confiscated.

He was succeeded by Claudius. This is the Claudius mentioned in Acts 18:2, who commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. As the Christians were not yet distinguished from the Jews, the decree of banishment likewise made no distinction, and when he commanded all Jews to depart from Rome, Christians were among them.

Nero

Agrippina, Caligula’s sister, the niece of Claudius was Nero’ s mother. "Whatever there was of possible affection in the tigress nature of Agrippina was now absorbed in the person of her child. For that child, from its cradle to her own death by his means, she toiled and sinned. The fury of her own ambition, inextricably linked with the uncontrollable fierceness of her love for this only son, henceforth directed every action of her life. Destiny had made her the sister of one emperor; intrigue elevated her into the wife of another; her own crimes made her the mother of a third."

By the horrible crimes and fearful sinning of Agrippina, Nero became emperor of Rome, A.D. 57, at the age of seventeen. As in the account already given there is enough to show what the Roman monarchy really was, and as that is the purpose of this chapter, it is not necessary any further to portray the frightful enormities of individual emperors. It is sufficient to say of Nero that in degrading vices, shameful licentiousness, and horrid cruelty, he transcended all who had been before him.

Corruption And Terrorism From Within

"An evil day is approaching when it becomes recognized in a community that the only standard of social distinction is wealth. That day was soon followed in Rome by its unavoidable consequence, a government founded upon two domestic elements, -- corruption and terrorism. No language can describe the state of that capital after the civil wars. The accumulation of power and wealth gave rise to a universal depravity. Law ceased to be of any value. A suitor must deposit a bribe before a trial could be had. The social fabric was a festering mass of rottenness. The people had become a populace; the aristocracy was demoniac; the city was a hell. No crime that the annals of human wickedness can show was left unperpetrated: remorseless murders; the betrayal of parents, husbands, wives, friends; poisoning reduced to a system; adultery degenerating into incests and crimes that can not be written.

Ultimate Paganism

When this scripture was read by the Christians at Rome, they knew from daily observation that it was but a faithful description of Roman society as it was. And Roman society as it was, was but the resultant of pagan civilization, and the logic, in its last analysis, of the pagan religion. Roman society as it was, was Ultimate Paganism.

For Such A Time As This

Into that world of iniquity, Jesus Christ sent, as sheep among wolves, a little band of disciples carrying hope to the despairing, joy to the sorrowing, comfort to the afflicted, relief to the distressed, peace to the perplexed, and to all a message of merciful forgiveness of sins, of the gift of the righteousness of God, and of a purity and power which would cleanse the soul from all righteousness of heart and life, and plant there instead the perfect purity of the life of the Son of God and courage of an everlasting joy. This gospel of peace and of the power of God unto salvation they were commanded to go into all the world and preach to every creature.

Christianity Comes On The Scene

The separation of Christianity from the rest of the world. when Christianity had spread among the Gentiles, and a clear distinction was made and recognized between the Christians and the Jews by all parties, and Christianity appeared as a new religion not recognized by the Roman law, then came the persecution of Christians by the Romans.

The controversy between the Christians and the Romans was not a dispute between individuals, nor a contention between sects or parties. It was a contest between antagonistic principles. It was, therefore, a contest between Christianity and Rome, rather than between Christians and Romans. On the part of Christianity it was the proclamation of the principle of genuine liberty; on the part of Rome it was the assertion of the principle of genuine despotism. On the part of Christianity it was the assertion of the principle of the rights of conscience and of the individual; on the part of Rome it was the assertion of the principle of the absolute absorption of the individual, and his total enslavement to the State in all things, divine as well as human, religious as well as civil.

It will be seen at once that for any man to profess the principles and the name of Christ was virtually to set himself against the Roman Empire. For him to recognize God as revealed in Jesus Christ as the highest good, was but treason against the Roman State. It was not looked upon by Rome as anything else than high treason; because, as the Roman State represented to the Roman the highest idea of good, for any man to assert that there was a higher good, was to make Rome itself subordinate. And this would not be looked upon in any other light by Roman pride than as a direct blow at the dignity of Rome, and subversive of the Roman State. Consequently the Christians were not only called "atheists," because they denied the gods, but the accusation against them before the tribunals was of the crime of "high treason," because they denied the right of the State to interfere with men's relations to God. The common accusation against them was that they were "irreverent to the Caesars, and enemies of the Caesars and of the Roman people."

To the Christian, the word of God asserted with absolute authority: "Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12:13 To him, obedience to this word through faith in Christ was eternal life. This to him was the conduct which showed his allegiance to God as the highest good, -- a good as much higher than that of the Roman State as the government of God is greater than was the government of Rome. .

Laws Of The Same Character As Babylon

The Roman government was no different than the previous pagan governments that existed. The principles of paganism remain the same i.e. a fundamental maxim of Roman legislation was, "No man shall have for himself particular gods of his own; no man shall worship by himself any new or foreign gods, unless they are recognized by the public laws." Cicero - Quoted in Neander's "History of the Christian Religion and Church,"

What The Law Says Is Right

The United States was indeed a republican government when she was born but this has since changed. Notice the similarities to the principles of paganism. Again: the Roman State being supreme deity, "the Senate and people' were but the organs through which its ideas were expressed; hence the maxim, Vox populi, vox dei, -- the voice of the people is the voice of God. As this voice gave expression to the will of the supreme deity, and consequently of the highest good, and as this will was expressed in the form of laws, hence again the Roman maxim, "What the law says is right."

The Individual Absorbed By The State

It is very evident that in such a system there was no place for individuality. The State was everything, and the majority was in fact the State. What the majority said should be, that was the voice of the State, that was the voice of God, that was the expression of the highest good, that was the expression of the highest conception of right; and everybody must assent to that or be considered a traitor to the State. The individual was but a part of the State. There was therefore no such thing as the rights of the people; the right of the State only was to be considered, and that was to be considered absolute. "The first principle of their law was the paramount right of the State over the citizen. Whether as head of a family, or as proprietor, he had no natural rights of his own; his privileges were created by the law as well as defined by it. Merivale "Romans under the Empire,"

It is also evident that in such a system there was no such thing as the rights of conscience; because as the State was supreme also in the realm of religion, all things religious were to be subordinated to the will of the State, which was but the will of the majority. And where the majority presumes to decide in matters of religion, there is no such thing as rights of religion or conscience. Against this whole system Christianity was diametrically opposed.

The principle of attaching divinity to the Caesars is still in effect today. We see this as we look toward the city of Rome. This began when the republic as represented by the Senate and the people of Rome was merged in the imperial power and the emperor became the embodiment of the State. Here is where divinity was attached to the Caesars.

Christ Put A Difference Between The State And God

Christianity was directly opposed to this, as shown by the word of Christ, who, when asked by the Pharisees and the Herodians whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not, answered: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." Mark 12:17. In this, Christ established a clear distinction between Caesar and God, and between religion and the State. He separated that which pertains to God from that which pertains to the State. Only that which was Caesar's was to be rendered to Caesar, while that which is God's was to be rendered to God, and with no reference whatever to Caesar.

The Supremacy Of The Individual Conscience

The State being divine, and the Caesar reflecting this divinity, whatever was God's was Caesar's. Therefore when Christ made this distinction between God and Caesar, separated that which pertains to God from that which pertains to Caesar, and commanded men to render to God that which is God's, and to Caesar only that which is Caesar's. He at once stripped Caesar -- the State -- of every attribute of divinity. And in doing this He declared the supremacy of the individual conscience; because it rests with the individual to decide what things they are which pertain to God.

Rome's Assertions vs. God's Way

Thus Christianity proclaimed the right of the individual to worship according to the dictates of his own conscience; Rome asserted the duty of every man to worship according to the dictates of the State. Christianity asserted the supremacy of God; Rome asserted the supremacy of the State. Christianity set forth God as manifested in Jesus Christ as the chief good; Rome held the State as the be the highest good. Christianity set forth the law of God as the expression of the highest conception of right; Rome held the law of the State to be the expression of the highest idea of right. Christianity taught that the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments is the whole duty of man; Rome taught that to be the obedient servant of the State is the whole duty of man. Christianity preached Christ as the sole possess of power in heaven and in earth; Rome declared the State to be the highest power. Christianity separated that which is God's from that which is Caesar's; Rome maintained that that which is God's is Caesar's.

This was the contest, and these were the reasons of it, between Christianity and the Roman Empire.

The States Proper God-Given Place

Yet in all this, Christianity did not deny to Caesar a place; it did not propose to undo the State. It only taught to the State its proper place, and proposed to have the State take that place and keep it. Christianity did not dispute the right of the Roman State to be; it only denied the right of that State to be in the place of God. In the very words in which He separated between that which is Caesar's and that which is God's, Christ recognized the rightfulness of Caesar's existence; and that there were things that rightfully belong to Caesar, and which were to be rendered to him by Christians. He said, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." In these words He certainly recognized that Caesar had jurisdiction in certain things, and that within that jurisdiction he was to be respected. As Caesar represented the State, in this scripture the phrase represents the State, whether it be the State of Rome or any other State on earth. This is simply the statement of the right of civil government to be; that there are certain things over which civil government has jurisdiction; and that in these things the authority of civil government is to be respected.

All this subjected the Christians to universal hatred, and as the laws positively forbade everything that the Christians taught, both with reference to the gods and to the State, the forms of law furnished a ready channel through which this hatred found vent. This was the open way for the fury of the populace to spend itself upon the "deniers of the gods, and enemies of the Caesars and of the Roman people." And this was the source of the
persecution of Christianity by pagan Rome. [editor's note: History repeats itself. Ecclesiastes 1:9 - "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." As I see the things that God has brought His people through I am filled with astonishment, and increased confidence in Christ as my leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.]

The Blending Of Christianity And Paganism

No sooner were the apostles removed from the stage of action, no sooner was their watchful attention gone and their apostolic authority removed, than …certain bishops, in order to make easier the conversion of the heathen, to multiply disciples, and by this increase their own influence and authority, began to adopt heathen customs and forms.

New Theology

When the canon of Scripture was closed, and the last of the apostles was dead, the first century was gone; and within twenty years of that time the perversion of the truth of Christ had become wide-spread. In the history of this century and of this subject the record is,

And the reason of this is stated to be that,

In view of these things it will readily be seen that between paganism and this kind of Christianity it soon became difficult to distinguish, and the third century only went to make an distinction still more difficult to be discerned.

Apostate Christianity

In the time of Diocletian, that which was known as paganism was so far different from the original paganism of Rome, that Milman plainly designates it as the "new paganism." This new paganism was so little removed from the apostate form of Christianity which we have traced, as really to differ from it only in name.

Birth Of Ecumenism

Diocletian himself contemplated the fusion of all religions into one, with the sun as the one great universal deity. Then came Constantine, the best imperial representative of the new paganism, and the most devout worshiper of the sun as the supreme and universal deity, with the avowed purpose, as expressed in his own words, "First to bring the diverse judgments formed by all nations respecting the Deity to a condition, as it were, of settled uniformity."

Pagan Rome Becomes Papal Rome

Therefore, "the reign of Constantine the Great forms one of the epochs in the history of the world. It is the era of the dissolution of the Roman Empire; the commencement, or rather consolidation, of a kind of Eastern despotism, with a new capital, a new patriciate, a new constitution, a new financial system, a new, though as yet imperfect, jurisprudence, and, finally, a new religion."

The epoch thus formed was the epoch of the papacy; and the new religion thus created was the Papal Religion. Taken from A. T. Jones' Empires Of Prophecy pages 324 - 395.

Constantine was the first to declare the first National Sunday Law in 321 A.D. To learn more, here are two valuable books:

This first one by A. T. Jones was written in 1889 as a response to the proposed Sunday legislation of that day called the Blair Ammendment. The National Sunday Law, by A.T. Jones 1889

This book, written about 100 years later goes into detail explaining what the Bible says about the future and Sunday Legislation. It is only 70 pages and very well documented. It will take you only a few hours to read.
National Sunday Law, by A. J. Marcussen
There are over 25 million of these in print in 52 languages. They are very helpful.

Here is a website that will give you some information on this and also on some current events taking place here in the US with regard to the soon coming National Sunday Law. This is according to Bible prophecy that you will find in Revelation 13.

The system that holds the principles outlined in this reading and the one on persecution will ever attempt to restrict the conscience of man formed in the image of God. It is because this system is riding the beast of Revelation 13. This same beast is described in Revelation 12:9 as “that old serpent called the devil and satan.”