First, there is absolutely NO book in the bible that is more difficult and almost impossible to interpret and unpack than Daniel. And I say that at this time because one MUST focus on what Daniel is telling us, NOT what Daniel might be telling us by looking into Revelation. It doesn't work that way. Daniel was first written for His people before He would arrive on the first day of the last week of the 70 weeks of years prophecy. Daniel and Revelation will never contradict each other but it is ONLY Daniel that will allow us to properly interpret Revelation.Daniel 8
21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
The little horn comes out of the Grecian empire.
The reason I jumped to Revelation is because of the ten horns and 7 heads which we see described in Daniel 7.
Daniel 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.
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.
We can see this final world empire described in Revelation.
Revelation 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.
The Beast of the Sea is the king of Babylon and the Assyrian described in Isaiah 14
So, you began to identify the little horn by jumping to Daniel 8.... however, the little horn is first introduced to us in chapter 7 and there, God does not skimp on identifying his actions, the timing of his coming, and his nasty characteristics. And because he is such an evil one, God will continue to speak about this little horn in chapter 8 - making sure no one can miss him - although EVERYONE HAS! But that too has been prophecized in Revelation.
So, if you do not mind, let's go back to chapter 7 and discuss the introduction of the little horn (and please understand, there is ONLY ONE little horn).
7“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking [c]pompous words.
1) So, who is this fourth beast?
2) Do you agree that God has purposefully identified the 4 and ONLY 4 beast kingdoms that will come out of the sea? In chapter 2, do you agree the 4 kingdoms are Babylon, Medes-Persia, Greece and Rome?
3) Do you agree the little horn comes out of the 4th beast?
4) Do you agree the little horn will have eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous words?
Well, this should be a nice start..... look forward to your response... and as you can see, the answers are not to be found in Revelation - only in Daniel will we find the answers to these questions.