Daniel's Prophecy

One of the most impressive things about the Bible (for me, at least) is its record of fulfilled prophecy.  The fulfilled prophecies in the book of Daniel are especially intriguing.

The World Mission Society Church of God uses Daniel's prophecies to amaze their new or potential converts.  What's wrong with this?

First, to the uninformed person, it sounds as if the WMSCOG is sharing a spectacular revelation.  The hearer may think, "Wow!  If the WMSCOG can reveal something so amazing, what else can they tell me about the Bible?  Maybe I should listen to them."  What the hearer may not realize is that this is NOT a revelation that originated with the WMSCOG.  Bible scholars for ages have written about Daniels fulfilled prophecies.

Second, the WMSCOG takes the fulfillment of these prophecies a step too far.  They have withheld the true facts of history in order to force the appearance of a fulfilled prophecy, and the WMSCOG is not the only group who has made this error.

I've already examined this at length regarding the claim that the Papacy is the Antichrist.  But with the WMSCOG's "Evidence Book" in my hand, the errors are so glaring at me that I believe it needs to be revisited.

Many Bible scholars agree that the four kingdoms of Daniel are:

• the Babylonian Empire (head of gold)
• the Medo-Persian Empire (chest and arms of silver)
• the Greek Empire (belly and thighs of copper)
• the Roman Empire (legs of iron)

Note that some identify the four beasts of Daniel 7 the same way, but others divide the Medes and Persians for the second and third beasts, making the Greek Empire the fourth beast.  You can read about that here.  If you need to refresh your memory, here's where you can read Daniel 2 (the dream of the statue) and Daniel 7 (the vision of the four beasts).

It's when we get to the statue's feet and toes partly of iron and partly of clay, and the ten horns of the fourth beast, with the little horn that comes up to subdue three horns... that's where you see a few more differences among the Bible scholars, and that's where the WMSCOG takes a definite wrong turn.

Let's take a look into their "Evidence Book."

On page 154, it says,

Rome exercised its power politically and religiously.  It was divided into ten countries until 476 A.D.
Lombards (Italy)
Franks (France)
Burgundians (Switzerland)
Visigoths (Spain)
Suevi (Portugal)
Alemanni (Germany)
Anglo-Saxons (England)
Vandals, Heruli, and Ostrogoths.

The Lombards did not cross the Danube into Roman territory until the 540s, and did not enter Italy until 568.  (My links for you are from Wikipedia for your convenience, but you can look up this information in any printed history book also.  I can refer you to some if you need it.)

This list of "ten countries" also ignores other tribal groups such as the Bretons, the Bavarians, and the Basques, who show up in various history books and maps, and does not mention that the eastern part of the Roman Empire was still alive and well.  So these "ten countries" are not as clear as they are presented to be.

Then moving on to page 158, we read,

After Rome was divided into ten countries from 351 to 476 A.D., Heruli was destroyed by the Papacy in 493 A.D., Vandals in 534 and Ostrogoths in 538.  The Papacy was established in 538 A.D.  The Papacy fell in 1798 A.D. (Pius VI was forced into exile when French troupes invaded the Vatican.)

The Evidence Book gives paragraphs of information about the end of the Heruli and the Vandals, but only one sentence about the Ostrogoths, on page 159.  It happens to be the line taken from the Wikipedia page about the year 538.

Why didn't they say any more about the Ostrogoths?  Because they were NOT destroyed in 538.  Read about the Gothic War and you'll see that the Ostrogoths put up a fierce and long resistance, and their last king wasn't killed until 553.

Also, the Papacy was NOT "established" in 538, which you can read about here.  There is more information about the dates of 538 and 1798, and their error and misuse, here and here.

One last page to look at, page 175.

This page says that the remaining seven kingdoms accepted Catholicism and swore allegiance to the Pope.  What they haven't told us is that:

• The Anglo-Saxons did not convert to Christianity until the 7th century.
• The Alemanni were conquered and incorporated into the Frankish kingdom in 496, and also did not convert to Christianity until the 7th century.
• The Lombards did not secure their kingdom in Italy until 572.
• The Burgundians were destroyed in 534, and were mostly Catholic by the time they were conquered.
• The Suevi were also eventually conquered in 585, after they had converted to Catholicism.

Therefore, by the time the Ostrogoths were destroyed (in 553, not 538), there were 5 kingdoms conquered, not 3, and one more if you extend the time to 585.

Then near the bottom of the page, under the title "The Dark Ages," they tell us there was the "slaughtering of numerous saints."  According to the WMSCOG's own doctrine, this is impossible because they claim there were no saints during that time.

They also put the development of Protestantism after the supposed fall of the Papacy in 1798.  Protestantism, which began with the Reformation in 1517, was already well developed by then.

I know I've gone over all this in previous posts, but I thought you would like to see it with the pages from the Evidence Book for comparison.

It's quite interesting to study what Bible scholars have to say about this part of Daniel's prophecy.  But do not make the mistake of studying the false 'facts' of the World Mission Society Church of God.