Daniel Chapter 7

The Times of the Gentiles – The Earthly Scene

 

By I Gordon

  

Introduction
 

Thank God for the visions and dreams given in the book of Daniel! Only God can declare the end from the beginning and that is what He has done in this wonderful book. You will probably know that the book of Daniel consists of both history and prophecy. You could say it has history past and history future! Chapters 1-6, which we have already looked at, were largely historical and chronological. Chapters 7-12 are prophetic.

 

In chapter 7 we are presented with an amazing God given vision of all the kingdoms that would dominate planet earth. Every major player is revealed right up until the time that the mystery of God is finally revealed and Jesus’ kingdom is set up. Now, chapter 7 is split up into an earthly and a heavenly scene. We get to see what man is doing on earth and we get to see what God is doing in Heaven! This study will revolve around the earthly scene. I should also say that the recipe for this study is 9 parts Bible prophecy lightly mixed with 1 part conspiracy theory. Hope you’re ok with that!

 

Mmmm… Four mighty fine looking beasts!

 

Dan 7:1-6 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

 

So we see that Daniel was given a prophetic dream that consisted of four beasts[1] arising out of the sea. Now, if you know your prophecy and you know your types, then you will also know that the "sea" or "waters" are used prophetically in the Bible to speak of the gentile nations (see Isa 17:12-13, Rev 17:1,15). So this vision is of four kingdoms that would arise from out of, and dominate, the gentile nations. Now, if you’re saying ‘I think I’ve seen these nations before’ then you would be correct. The same four kingdoms were presented to us in Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel Chapter 2. The link between chapters 2 and 7 can be seen in the following table:

 

Chapter 2 Image	Chapter 7 Image	Interpretation
Head of Gold	Lion with eagles wings	Babylonian Empire (606-538 BC) - Known for its use of gold and the swiftness of its conquests (eagles wings) until its wings were torn off and the heart of a man was given to it (Nebuchadnezzar's conversion).
Silver Chest and Arms	Bear raised up on one side	Medes and Persian Empire (538-331 BC) - The Persians were more powerful than the Medes and were known for their use of silver
Thighs of Bronze	Leopard with four wings and four heads	Greek Empire (331-168 BC) - Emphasizing it's swift conquests and the split between four generals after the death of Alexander.
Legs of Iron	Powerful beast with iron teeth	Roman Empire (168 BC - 476 AD) - Known for their use of iron and the iron represented their immense strength

 

The fourth beast comes in two stages!

 

Vs 7-8 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

 

Now, Daniel focuses most of his attention on the fourth beast. It is said to be terrifying and very powerful.[2] You may remember from chapter 2 that the legs of iron represented the Roman Empire, but there was also a final stage - the ten toes! Well we see the exact same thing here in chapter 7. While the Roman Empire officially ended in 476 AD, the Bible clearly shows that there will be a revival of the Roman Empire in the last days.

 

Chapter 2 Image	Chapter 7 Image	Interpretation
10 toes of iron and clay	Beast with iron teeth and ten heads	Revived Roman Empire - Still to come!

This ten division stage of the Roman Empire is also pictured in the book of Revelation, again represented by ten horns[3] -

 

Rev 17:3, 12-13 “I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns... The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.

 

Now note how Revelation says that these ten kings (the revived Roman Empire) will give their authority to another. This corresponds exactly with the Daniel passage above that states that a ‘little horn’ will come up among the other ten and will take control. Also note a key characteristic of this man… he will be a big mouth! He will be one who rules with great boasting and blasphemy. We'll see more about this man later in this chapter. Now verses 9-14 give a vision of the heavenly scene while this is going on down on Earth. That will be the subject of our next study. But for now, let’s have a look at the interpretation of this vision that Daniel is given.
 

Daniel zeroes in on the fourth beast…

15-28 “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this. “So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’ Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.

 

We shouldn’t take these things lightly for the vision that Daniel saw greatly alarmed him. It is fair to say that what Daniel saw was pretty full on! But it is a good thing for us that what perplexed Daniel the most, and what he now zeroes in on, is the kingdom that is the most relevant to us. Daniel asks to know more about this fourth beast – and specifically he wants to know more about the 10 horns and the 11^th horn that was even more imposing and frightening.

 

The interpretation revealed (plus a little conspiracy theory!)

 

Daniel 7:23-28 “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. ”‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’ “This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.”

 

This passage is important for it gives us more clues concerning this fourth beast. We read above that this last kingdom will be different from the others and will devour the whole earth. Out of this kingdom will come 10 kings and finally a last king will arise that will overpower the saints of God.

 

So we can see that the fourth Kingdom comes in different phases. All of the different kingdoms, including the different phases of the fourth kingdom, can be seen in the following taken from Arnold Fructenbaum's book "The footsteps of the Messiah".

 

Kingdom	Stages
1. The Babylonian Empire
2. The Medo-Persian Empire
3. The Hellinistic (Greek) Empire	a) The United Stage b) The four Division Stage
4. The Fourth Empire	a) The United Stage (vs 23a) b) The One World Government Stage (vs 23b) c) The Ten Division Stage (vs 24b) d) The Antichrist Stage (vs 24b - 26)
5. The Messianic Kingdom

 

It is interesting that the Bible says that this fourth kingdom will devour the whole earth before the 10 king division stage. Fructembaum points out that this was never fulfilled in the Roman empire of 2000 years ago and its fulfilment will be seen in the last days before Jesus’ return. Not that we should be surprised at this for the world leaders are already talking about a global or one world government[4]. All that is needed according to some is just the right ‘crisis’ to bring it in![5]

 

Now after the 10 division stage[6], we read above that ‘another king’ will arise. This king will hate God, hate God’s people and will radically change the laws to bring about a global persecution of God’s people. This ruler is the Antichrist and his rule will last for a "time, times, and half a time" - that is, a year, two years plus 1/2 a year (3 1/2 years). There are several other passages that confirm this length of time for his rule (see Daniel 9:27, 12:11, Rev 12:6).

 

So the passage above shows that the Antichrist will arise at the time of the fourth beast (the revised Roman Empire still to come in the last days.) But this terrifying last worldly kingdom ruled by the antichrist will come to an end. For while we have been looking at what mankind is plotting on earth, there is a whole different plan being hatched in heaven and the schemes of the antichrist are soon to be dramatically interrupted by the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

 

And that is what we shall look at in the next study!

  

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