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Particulars
of Christianity:
314
End Times Prophecy (Eschatology)
Prophetic
Symbols: Daniel 7 (Part 1)
Prophetic Symbols: Introduction
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 2
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 7 (Part
1)
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 7 (Part
2)
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 8 (Part
1)
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 8 (Part
2)
Articles 7-12
Articles 13-18
Articles 19-25
Articles 26-29
Daniel 7 records a vision seen by Daniel. This vision comes
during the reign of Belshazzar king of Babylon, who according
to chapter 5:30-31 was the last Babylonian king and after
him his kingdom passed to Darius the Mede.
Daniel 7:2 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. 7 After this I saw in the night
visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible,
and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured
and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet
of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before
it; and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and, behold,
there came up among them another little horn, before whom
there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots:
and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man,
and a mouth speaking great things. 9 I beheld till the thrones
were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment
was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure
wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels
as burning fire. 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from
before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten
thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment
was set, and the books were opened. 11 I beheld then because
of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld
even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and
given to the burning flame. 12 As concerning the rest of the
beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives
were prolonged for a season and time. 13 I saw in the night
visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they
brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages,
should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall
not be destroyed.
In the vision, Daniel sees four beasts arise out of the great
sea. Let's note several details before we begin our examination
of these beasts. First, in verse 3, Daniel states that these
beasts arise out of the sea, but in verse 17, he states that
these beasts are four kings, which "arise out of the earth."
Daniel 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are
four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
Therefore, Daniel uses the terms "out of the sea" and "out
of the earth" somewhat interchangeably. Consequently, when
we later examine Revelation 13 and find one beast coming up
"out of the sea" and a second beast coming up "out of the
earth," we should not attach a great deal of significance
to those descriptions.
Second, notice from verses 11-14 that just as in Daniel 2,
this vision concludes and these beasts' power comes to an
end when "13 ...one like the Son of man came with the clouds
of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought
him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages,
should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall
not be destroyed." So, we see there is consistency in the
two visions. In both Nebuchadnezzar's dream and Daniel's vision
here, the last thing depicted is the coming of Jesus Christ
to assume the dominion formerly held by Gentile empires.
Now we will turn to our examination of these four beasts.
Of primary significance is that verse 3 specifically states
that these four beasts are "diverse one from another." Similarly,
verse 7 states specifically of the fourth beast that "it was
diverse from all the beasts that were before it." The reason
we point this out is that we are constructing a map legend
of sorts for deciphering the symbols in prophetic passages.
As we have said, the goal is to use precedent from earlier
passages to build a proper interpretation of symbols, which
can be used in later passages such as Revelation. It is appropriate
at this point to state that many interpret the first beast
of Revelation 13 to be the same as the fourth beast described
here in Daniel 7, particularly because both have 10 horns.
Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea,
and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads
and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon
his heads the name of blasphemy.
In fact, most people interpret both beasts as representations
of the Roman Empire. However, it is impossible for the fourth
beast of Daniel 7 to be the same beast as the first beast
of Revelation 13 because the beasts of Daniel 7 are all specifically
described as being "diverse from one another." And the fourth
beast is specifically described as being "diverse from all
the beasts that were before it." Conversely, Revelation 13
goes on to describe the seven-headed beast in the following
way.
Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea,
and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads
and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon
his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which
I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet
of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion:
and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great
authority.
While the fourth beast of Daniel 7 is diverse from all the
beasts that were before it, this first beast of Revelation
13 has characteristics of all four of Daniel 7's beasts. It
has the mouth of a lion and the feet of a bear. It is like
a leopard. And it has 10 horns, just as the fourth beast of
Daniel 7 has 10 horns.
And, additionally, while Daniel 7:6 is careful to inform us
that the leopard has four heads, Daniel's description of the
fourth beast does not include multiple heads. Given the fact
that Daniel's fourth beast is by far the most detailed in
its description, we can be sure that if this fourth beast
had seven heads, Daniel would have told us so. Thus, the first
beast of Revelation 13 differs from the fourth beast of Daniel
7 in that the first beast of Revelation 13 has the peculiar
feature of 7 heads while the fourth beast of Daniel 7 apparently
has only 1 head.
So, we must conclude that the fourth beast of Daniel 7 is
not the same beast as the first beast of Revelation 13. In
fact, the first beast of Revelation 13 is actually a composite
of the four beasts of Daniel, but we will get more into that
later on in our study.
Now, with regard to the beasts themselves, which we find in
Daniel 7, the first is like a lion. The second is said to
be like a bear but having raised itself up on one side. The
third beast is said to be like a leopard having four heads
and four wings. Based upon these characteristics, Daniel 8
will help us greatly to identify what nations these second
and third beasts represent. So, having made note of these
traits here, we will hold off further identification of these
beasts until we obtain more corroborating information from
chapter 8.
The fourth beast of Daniel 7 is said to have "iron teeth"
(verse 7) and "brass nails" (verse 19.) The use of these two
particular metals may help to connect the identity of this
fourth beast with the nations represented by those metals
on the statue of Nebuchadnezzar's vision in chapter 2.
Additionally, this fourth beast is said to have 10 horns.
Verse 24 tells us that these 10 horns are 10 kings. It must
be clarified that these 10 kings are contemporary figures
who rule at the same time and not a succession of kings who
rule one after another. There are four reasons that we know
this is true. First, verse 8 tells us that the "little horn"
comes up "among them." This indicates that the other 10 kings
are all there when the "little horn" comes up, for he comes
up "among them."
Second, verses 8 and 24 both tell us that this "little horn"
will "pluck up" or "subdue" 3 of those kings. This tells us
that those 3 kings exist simultaneously for they are plucked
up or subdued by the rising of the "little horn." Conversely,
given that the other 7 horns are not "subdued" or "plucked
up" indicates that those other 7 kings continue to exist after
the arrival of the "little horn" among them. And additionally,
the "little horn" is said to have a "look more stout than
his fellows" in chapter 8:20. This term "fellows" is the Hebrew
word "chabrah," (Strong's No. 02273), which means "associate,
fellow, companion" and, therefore, further indicates that
the other 10 horns are not only contemporaries of each other,
but also exist contemporaneously with the "little horn" who
comes up after them.
Third, as we will see, Daniel 8 depicts a goat out of which
grow four horns. Daniel 8 actually identifies what country
that goat represents. And from history, we know that those
four horns represent contemporary kingdoms that arose out
of that country.
Fourth, whenever a horn (king) arises after another horn (king),
Daniel 7:8 and 24 as well as Daniel 8:8 and 9 specifically
tell us that is the case. Daniel 7:8 and 24 tells us that
a "little horn" rises up among the 10 horns. Daniel 8:8 and
9 tell us that the four horns rise after the first horn is
broken and that out of one of those four horns will eventually
come a "little horn." So, as is evidenced by Daniel 7:8, 24
and Daniel 8:8, 9, whenever the horns or kings are not contemporaries,
the text will specifically tell us that is the case. This
in turn tells us that, unless it is specifically stated that
a horn rises up "after," we should assume horns represent
contemporary figures. Likewise, Revelation 17:12-13 also depicts
10 horns who all receive a kingdom at the same time.
Therefore, Daniel 8 and Revelation 17 provide insight that,
unless otherwise stated, horns represent contemporary kings,
not a succession.
Additionally, for the purposes of constructing our map legend
for prophetic symbols, we see plainly from Daniel 7:17, 23
that a "beast" represents a king AND his kingdom.
Daniel 7:17 These great beasts, which are four,
are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall
be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse
from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and
shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Not only is it significant because it establishes a clear
precedent for how to interpret the symbol of a beast, but
it is also significant because it uses a single symbol (a
beast) to represent two items jointly (the king and his kingdom.)
And this second precedent will become significant as we examine
Revelation 17 later on.
The last precedent that we can apply to our symbolic map legend
is that horns represent kings, which is plainly stated in
verse 24.
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Related
Images


Historic Map Series
(Maps 1-12)


Additional
Relevant Maps


Lexicon Excerpts


Apocalyptic
Comparison Chart


7 Heads of the
Beast Chart


Illustrations of
Symbols Series
(Illustrations 1-7)


Correspondence of
Visions Diagram
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