Today we’re going to continue our study on the book of Daniel starting with Chapter 7. God gave Daniel many dreams and visions he didn’t understand. In this chapter, he dreamed of four beasts, which represented four kingdoms of the world (remember King Nebby’s dream of the statue…Daniel also dreamt about these four ruling kingdoms ). In that same dream, Daniel saw a ram and a goat, which spoke of two of those kingdoms in greater detail. Overall, the visions Daniel had, revealed that the Messiah of a spiritual kingdom will overrule and overshadow every earthly kingdom.
This book is amazing! It reveals God’s plan for the world…it started with the rule of Babylon, and it continues to the end of the age. Chapters 1-6 present history, and the last six chapters are visions mainly relating to the future. It’s dramatic! It gives us a preview of God’s redemption, and we see how He has been controlling the destinies of people ever since Babylon. So when we hear news of impending doom and gloom of our economy, news reports, or personal stress, we don’t need to worry about hopeless things… we know by reading the Word, that God is in control! As we read Daniel together, watch God work and find security in His sovereignty!
My Bible commentary says the visions God gave to Daniel also gave the Israelite captives the confidence that their God is in control of history. They were a way of telling the captives to wait patiently in faith and not to worship the gods of Babylon, or accept that society’s way of life. We in the 21st century can look at this and know that evil will be overcome, and we too need to wait patiently, and not give in to the pressures of our society.
“In my vision that night, I Daniel, saw a great storm churning the surface of a great sea, with strong winds blowing from every direction. Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.
The first beast was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off, and it was left standing with its two hind feet on the ground, like a human being. And it was given a human mind.
Then I saw a second beast, and it looked like a bear. It was rearing up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And I heard a voice saying to it, ‘Get up! Devour the flesh of many people!’
Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard. It had four birds wings on its back, and it had four heads. Great authority was given to this beast.
Then in my vision that night, I saw a fourth beast—terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts, and it had ten horns. As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.” Daniel 7: 2-8
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream covered the political aspects of the four ruling empires; Daniel’s described what their moral characteristics were. The lion with eagles’ wings represents Babylon with its swift conquests (statues of winged lions have been recovered from Babylon’s ruins—Babylon is in Iraq). The bear that ravaged the lion is Medo-Persia. The three ribs in its mouth represent the conquests of three major enemies. The leopard is Greece. Its wings show the swiftness of Alexander the Great’s campaign as he conquered much of the civilized world in four years (334—330 B.C.). The leopard’s four heads are the four divisions of the Greek Empire after Alexander’s death.
So is this interesting or what?
This is all coming from the NLT Commentary. I am not a history scholar (LOL). The fourth beast points to both Rome and the end times. Many Bible scholars believe that the horns correspond to ten kings who will reign shortly before God sets up His everlasting kingdom. These ten kings had still not come to power at the time of John’s vision recorded in the Book of Revelation. The little horn is a future human ruler or the Antichrist… let’s look at 2 Thessalonians 2: 3-4…
“Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.”
Whoever the ten kings are, they will give their power to the Antichrist and will make war against Christ and His followers. More to come…