Third, it is evident that the fourth kingdom is the last of the Gentile world-powers, and that it will exist in its tenfold state at the end of the times of the Gentiles. We observed this above in the case of the image, from the fact that the stone, symbolising the kingdom of Christ, smote the image upon its toes. So now, in the vision of the four beasts, it is the fourth beast that is slain, his body destroyed, and given to be burned (Dan. 7. 11). The Personal Agent of this destruction is here made known: "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of Heaven One like unto a son of man, and He came even to the Ancient of Days, ... and there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, 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" (vv. 13, 14). The finality of the fourth kingdom is clearer still from the interpretation given in the remainder of the chapter. The final world-ruler is, of course, prominent in this vision; in his destruction is involved the destruction of his kingdom; his power and aggression are terminated when the Ancient of Days comes (v. 22); then it is that "the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him" (vv. 26, 27). Similarly, again, in Revelation 13 and 17, in the corresponding visions of the beast and its ten horns, the ten kings and their federal head, ruling at the time of the end, "shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with Him, called and chosen and faithful" (Rev. 17. 14).
The crushing of the image by the stone, the slaying of the fourth beast before the Ancient of Days, and the conquest of the ten kings and their chief by the Lamb, are therefore different views of the same event. The tenfold division of the fourth kingdom is obviously still future, and marks the condition of the world-government at the close of the times of the Gentiles, and immediately prior to the kingdom of Christ.
The Testimony of Early Christian Writers.
That the Roman Empire would in its final form be divided into ten kingdoms was held by Christian writers of the earliest post-apostolic times. Their opinions are here given, not as forming any basis of exposition, but as expressions of early Christian conception of the Scriptures under consideration.
What is known as "The Epistle of Barnabas," probably written early in the second century A.D., quotes from Daniel concerning the ten kingdoms to show that they would exist at the consummation of the present age. Irenæus (circa A.D. 120-202), a disciple of Polycarp, who had been a companion of the apostle John, observes that "the ten toes are ten kings, among whom the kingdom will be divided." Tertullian, a contemporary of Irenæus, remarks that "the disintegration and dispersion of the Roman State among the ten kings will produce Antichrist, and then shall be revealed that Wicked One, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the brightness of His manifestation." Hippolytus, who was a follower of Irenæus, and flourished in the first half of the third century, makes similar reference to the ultimate division. Lactantius, of the latter half of the third and the early part of the fourth centuries, writes as follows: "The Empire will be sub-divided, and the powers of government, after being frittered away and shared among many, will be undermined. Civil discords will then ensue, nor will there be respite from destructive wars, until ten kings arise at once, who will divide the world among themselves to consume rather than to govern it." Cyril (circa 315-386), who became bishop of Jerusalem in 350, quoting from Daniel, and speaking of the Empire and its future division, implies that teaching on the subject was customary in the churches. Jerome (342-420) observes that "at the end of the world, when the kingdom of the Romans is to be destroyed, there will be ten kings to divide the Roman world among themselves." Similarly writes Theodoret in the fifth century, and others of that time make more or less direct reference to the subject. While the views of these writers differ considerably on other points of detail, all are unanimous as to the eventual division of the Empire among ten contemporaneous potentates.
Processes at Work Since the Twofold Division.
The mediæval and modern history of the lands originally constituting the Roman Empire is a history of the formation of independent states in such a way as to point to the eventual revival of the Empire in the tenfold division we have been considering. The process has been a long and involved one, for the counsels of God have had a far wider range than the mere shaping of national destiny. It has been the Divine pleasure, for instance, that the Gospel should be spread among all nations for the purpose of taking out from among them a people for the Name of Christ, and for the formation thereby of His Church. In contradistinction to this, and from the standpoint of the world itself, which, though under God's control, remains in alienation from Him, there has been a gradual development of the political, social, and religious principles which are ultimately to permeate the nations.