18Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns.
19So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these?" And he answered me, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem."
20Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
21I said, "What are these coming to do?" And he said, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to terrify them, to throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it."
The four horns are commonly understood as the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians since this was mentioned during the time of the Persian Empire. The Babylonians defeated the Assyrians, the Persians defeated the Babylonians, the Greeks defeated the Persians, and the Romans defeated the Greeks thus making them the four craftsmen. However, I'm not as sure here. How can the Babylonians and the Persians be both the horn and the craftsman? Perhaps the craftsman involve two other historical forces. The Ottoman Empire was another terrifying group that ravaged the Middle East and North Africa. Also the United States (since World War II) has been another terrifying country to those that have dared to threaten Israel including the countries that make up the former Persians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Egyptians (Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt). Maybe, just maybe, America really is in the Bible. I'm probably making a leap, but how would that change our perspective if America was in Biblical prophecy?
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)
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