Chapter 7 Four great beasts
Chapter 7
Four great beasts
Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.(Dan 7:27)
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.(Psalms 145:13)
Objective: To understand that world empires are cruel and terrible like wild beasts and look for the eternal, righteous and peaceful kingdom of God.
Description of the dream
Four divers beasts came up from the great sea (Mediterranean sea) when four wings blew upon it from four directions. The first beast appeared like a lion with eagle's wings.
As Daniel was looking, its wings came off and the beast stood up like a man. The second beast looked like a bear. It was holding three ribs in the mouth between its teeth. The beast was commanded to eat much flesh. The third beast was like a leopard. It had four heads and four wings. It was dreadful and terrible and had big iron teeth.It devoured and destroyed and had ten horns. As Daniel was watching, a little horn came up in the midst of other horns and three of the old horns were uprooted. The little horn had the eyes like man's eyes and a mouth speaking great things. Then the Ancient of Days sat on the judgment throne and books were open. The beast was killed because of the big sound of the words spoken by the horn and its body was consumed by fire. Daniel saw the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven and establishing an everlasting kingdom.
Meaning of the dream
The four beasts represent four empires which had domination around the Mediterranean sea. Nebuchadnezzar's dream pointed to the external nature of the four world empires. But Daniel got the vision of their inner character. The beasts show the destroying nature of the empires. They kill and consume. World kingdoms cannot provide good and peaceful governance because of their violent nature. Prophecies about the empires were literally fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar's image and Daniel's beasts represent the same world empires. While the gentile king sees the outward glory of the empires, Daniel, the man of God, finds them cruel and destructive.
1. Lion: The beast like a lion and with wings of an eagle is the Babylonian empire. It is the same as the golden head of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The beast stands for the pride, glory, and cruelty of the empire. The eagle's wings point to the speed with which Nebuchadnezzar's army moved. The loss of wings shows how the army became weak when the conqueror Nebuchadnezzar turned mad. The fall of Babylon after 70 years of power and glory was prophesied by Isaiah and Jeremiah.
A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2 Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
shout to them;
beckon to them
to enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded those I prepared for battle;
I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—
those who rejoice in my triumph.
4 Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together!
The Lord Almighty is mustering
an army for war.
5 They come from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens—
the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—
to destroy the whole country.
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[a]
7 Because of this, all hands will go limp,
every heart will melt with fear.
8 Terror will seize them,
pain and anguish will grip them;
they will writhe like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
their faces aflame.
9 See, the day of the Lord is coming
—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it.
10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
12 I will make people scarcer than pure gold,
more rare than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,
in the day of his burning anger.
14 Like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd,
they will all return to their own people,
they will flee to their native land.
15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
all who are caught will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be looted and their wives violated.
17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
who do not care for silver
and have no delight in gold.
18 Their bows will strike down the young men;
they will have no mercy on infants,
nor will they look with compassion on children.
19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
the pride and glory of the Babylonians,[b]
will be overthrown by God
like Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 She will never be inhabited
or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads will pitch their tents,
there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
21 But desert creatures will lie there,
jackals will fill her houses;
there the owls will dwell,
and there the wild goats will leap about.
22 Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds,
jackals her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,
and her days will not be prolonged. (Isaiah 13)
36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“See, I will defend your cause
and avenge you;
I will dry up her sea
and make her springs dry.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,
a place where no one lives.
38 Her people all roar like young lions,
they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever and not awake,”
declares the Lord.(Jeremiah 51:36-39)
2. Bear: This beast point to the Medo-Persian empire represented by the silver chest and hands of Nebuchadnezzar's image. This kingdom is also depicted as a ram with two horns in Daniel chapter 8. Although this empire was not as glorious and powerful as Babylon, it was no less cruel or fierce. The number of people that this empire killed is beyond description. The command, 'Get up and eat the flesh' summarizes the cruelties of this empire. One side of the bear was seen as higher than the other. This appearance points to the higher status that the Persians enjoyed in the joint rule. The three ribs in the mouth of the beast represent Babylon, Libya, and Egypt which were captured by Medo-Persians. As the Persian king, Cyrus showed kindness to Israel, God allowed the empire to remain a power for more than 200 years from B.C.536-331. The army of Alexander defeated the Medo-Persian army in B.C.331.
3. Leopard: The brass belly and thighs of Nebuchadnezzar's image is pictured as a leopard in Daniel's vision and point to the Greek empire. The same empire is pictured in chapter 8 as a rough goat with a horn between its eyes representing the first emperor Alexander. Even though brass is less valuable than gold and silver, it is quite stronger than them. In a similar fashion, leopard is quite powerful and violent in nature as compared to lion and bear. The wings on the back of the leopard show the speed with which Alexander conquered other nations. He conquered all the then-known nations in the short span of 13 culture. The spots on its body point to the different groups of people in the Greek empire. The leopard had four heads and four wings. The empire was divided into four kingdoms after the death of Alexander. The same occurrence os predicted in chapter 8 as four horns appearing in the place of one on the head of the goat. The Greek empire lasted for about 180 years from B.C.330 to 150. The following four divisions came into being after Alexander:
1. Asia Minor - Lecimacus
2. Macedon ( Greece) - Cassandra
3. Egypt - Ptolemy
4. Syria - Celucius
Palestine was under Syria in the beginning. Later in B.C. 301, it came under Egypt's rule. Under Egyptian rule, Jews lived quite peacefully. In B.C. 198, Syrian ruler Antiochus conquered Palestine and brought it under him. Antiochus Epiphanes who ruled Syria from B.C. 175 to 164 desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem and destroyed the city. He stands as a shadow of Antichrist.
4. The dreadful and terrible beast: The unnamed fourth beast symbolizes the Roman empire. We have already learned that the iron legs and the iron/clay mixed feet of Nebuchadnezzar's image stand for the Roman empire and the democratic governments that follow it. The iron teeth of the beast show the power of the Roman empire. Iron/clay mixture is the mixture of autocratic and democratic rules. Roman government was such a mixed type. The empire which came into power in B.C. 150 grew stronger and conquered Jerusalem in B.C. 63. The earthly ministry of Jesus happened when the Romans were ruling. The Romans became most powerful by first century A.D. The empire was divided into two as the Western empire and Eastern empire in the fourth century. The Western empire ceased to exist in the fifth century. The Eastern Empire continued in power till A.D. 1453 when Ottoman (Turkey) empire conquered Constantinople and converted the famous Sophia cathedral into a Muslim mosque. The ten horns of the beast and the ten toes of the feet of the image represent the nations that followed the Roman empire. Book of Revelation describes how a ten-horned beast will emerge out of the sea of humanity and how it will be destroyed by Jesus Christ who will establish His kingdom. The beast points to the emergence of Antichrist. "And another shall rise after them" in Dan.7:24 is a reference to Antichrist. After he is destroyed, kingdom and dominion will be with "the saints of the most high" (Dan. 7:27).
All the world empires and finally Antichrist will be subjected to the judgment of God and come to an end. Let us wait earnestly for an everlasting kingdom.
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