Daniel Chapter 7: Daniel Vision Of The Four Beasts (Part 1)

In the first year of King Belshazzar, Daniel received a vision that describes the world powers that existed from his time in Babylon until the end.

🔸The links between Daniel 2 and Daniel 7

- God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar earlier in a dream using an idol, which he, as an idol worshiper, could understand. Daniel 2 parallels this prophecy in Daniel 7, but it provides more information and detail. All of Daniel’s prophecies span the same future time period and work on the principle of repeating and enlarging.

- Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 have the same number of basic elements. Daniel 2 has four metals and Daniel 7 has four beasts.

- In both chapters, Iron characterizes the fourth kingdom in fourth place. In Daniel 2, the legs are made of iron, and in Daniel 7, the dragon beast has great teeth made of iron.

- Daniel 2:44-45 and Daniel 7:14 describe the last kingdom (the everlasting kingdom)

🔸Structure of Daniel 7

•Vision: Daniel 7:1-14: The full vision in its chronological sequence.

•Explanation: Daniel 7:15-18: Daniel wants to know the meaning of the vision and is given the explanation

•Inquiry: Daniel 7:19-22: Daniel desires to know about the fourth beast, the ten horns, the little horn and the everlasting kingdom.

•Explanation: Daniel 7:23-27: The angel provides the final and fullest explanation of the fourth beast, the ten horns, the little horn and the everlasting kingdom.

🔸Daniel 7 portrays a sequence of powers.

•Babylon (605-539 BC)

•Medes and Persians (539-331 BC)

•Greece (331-168 BC)

•Rome (168 BC – 476 AD)

•Divisions of Rome (476-538 AD)

•Little horn (538 AD – 1798 AD ‘eyes like a man’)

Daniel 7 verse 1 to 6

1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.

3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

🔸“Four winds…beasts…sea”

- Winds’ represent strife, war, bloodshed and destruction (Jeremiah 25:31-33)

- The sea represents people and nations (Isaiah 17:12) 

- Beasts represent kings and kingdoms, religious and secular (Dan 7:17,23; Revelation 17:15).

🔸“First beast”

The lion-beast represents Babylon, which soars high like an eagle in its pride and power, but the wings of Babylon during the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign were plucked, and he was humbled before God. "A man's heart was given to it" represents his conversion, since he is no longer a beast.

🔸“Second beast”

A bear is very vicious, ferocious, and blood thirsty. But this one is raised up on one side showing that one side is being favoured, thus being weaker.

This is a very good description of the Medo-Persian Empire. They were cruel and vicious. (Isaiah 13:15-19), but they were partly strong and partly weak.

The bear-beast represents Medo-Persia, where Persia, with Cyrus the Great as king, was stronger than the Medes, the shoulder was higher on the one side. This coalition of powers conquered a vast area of the known world, the three main “ribs” or powers were Libya, Egypt and Babylon.

1) Lydia (ancient Turkey/Anatolia) was conquered in 547 B.C.

2) Babylon, was overcome in 539 B.C.

3) Egypt, was forced to submit in 525 B.C.

🔸“Third beast”

A leopard is very good at catching its prey off guard, particularly by ambushing it. It has a reasonable amount of speed, but this type of leopard has four wings to assist it in gaining more speed. 

Greece, under Alexander the Great, was good at catching their prey off guard because of the speed at which they moved. To demonstrate this, we need only examine how long it took to conquer the then-known world. It took Alexander and his army about 12 years to take over the world. In that time, he marched his army over 8364 kilometers, which took them from Macedonia all the way to India and down through Libya and Egypt in the south. The end of the Medo-Persian kingdom was at the Battle of Arbela in 331 B.C., where Darius the Third was defeated.

The wings of a fowl were on this beast. A fowl's flight is one of speed while ascending, but it expires very quickly at its peak. This was the case in Greece. Alexander rose very quickly to power, but at the peak of his rise, he died in a drunken debauch at the age of 31 in 323 B.C. 

🔸“Four heads of third beast”

As Alexander was dying, his generals asked who was to take the kingdom and rule. Alexander’s reply was “to the strongest.” Through much fighting the kingdom was divided amongst the four remaining generals and hence the four heads. The decisive battle was the battle of Ipsus in 301 B.C. where Antigonus was killed and thus the four divisions as follows;

1. Cassander - Macedonia and Greece.

2. Lysimachus - Thrace, parts of Asia, Hellespont and Bosporus in the north.

3. Ptolemy - Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria in the south.

4. Seleucus - Syria eastward.

The Grecian empire reigned from 331-168 B.C.

Next: Daniel Chapter 7: Daniel Vision Of The Four Beasts (Part 2)

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