Daniel’s Dream of Four Beasts
7 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visionspassed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.
2 Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.4 “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 human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.
5 “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!’
6 “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.
7 “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.
8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a littleone, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
9 “As I looked,
“thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.
10 A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened.
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.
10 A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened.
11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking.I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)
13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a]coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
During the first year of Belshazzar Daniel had a dream. Chronologically this came before the events in Daniel 5. When he awoke, Daniel wrote down what he had seen in the dream. Daniel saw four different beasts come up out of the sea. As we had discussed in Revelation, the sea represented the gentile nations.
The first beast was a lion that had eagles wings. The lion represented Babylon and the wings represented the speed in which Nebuchadnezzar conquered his kingdom. The wings are ripped off and the lion is made to stand on two feet and is given the mind of a man. We see this fulfilled in Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar is arrogant; because of his arrogance God strikes him with insanity and he lives like an animal for seven years. At the end of that time, Nebuchadnezzar humbles himself before God and gives God praise and is restored to his throne.
The second beast looked like a Bear and had three ribs in its teeth. The bear represents Medo-Persia. It is told to "get up and eat its fill of flesh". The three ribs may represent the nations that were conquered by the Bear; Egypt, Lydia and Babylon.
The third beast is a leopard with four wings and four heads and was given authority to rule. This beast represents Greece under Alexander the Great. The wings represent speed and Alexander conquered the known world in seven years. After Alexander died, the kingdom was divided into four parts represented by the four heads of the leopard.
The fourth beast was not identified with any animal, but was described as powerful and terrifying with iron teeth that devoured its victims. This beast is Rome and the iron teeth represent its cruelty. The ten horns represent ten kings that will arise out of the Roman empire, which possibly represent kings that will arise out of the revived Roman Empire. The little horn represents a man that will rise up through the revived Roman Empire and destroy three of the other horns or kings. He is represented by a little horn because he is not the ruler of a kingdom as the other horns are, but he rises up among them and usurps three of the kings. This little horn is the Antichrist that will arise from obscurity and control the world.
At this point while Daniel is contemplating the little horn his attention is drawn to the heavenly throne room. God takes His seat on a fiery throne representing judgment. God is clothed in white with white hair representing holiness and purity and wisdom. Thousands attended him, probably angels and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him waiting to be judged. The beast was slain and its body thrown into the fire, this could mean that the revived Roman Empire led by the Antichrist was destroyed and the Antichrist was thrown into the fire. The other rulers of the revived Roman Empire are allowed to live for a period of time.
Then Daniel sees Jesus described as one like the son of man approach God. He is given authority over all the nations, his dominion will be everlasting and his kingdom will never be destroyed.
The Interpretation of the Dream
15 “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this.“So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. 18 But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’
19 “Then I wanted to know the 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. 20 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.21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.
23 “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. 24 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. 25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.[b]
26 “‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. 27 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.’
28 “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.”
After Daniel's vision he was troubled. He approached an angel? possibly and asked for clarification of his vision. The angel? tells him that the four beasts represent four kings that will arise but after these the holy people will receive their kingdom and possess it forever. Daniel is most concerned about the fourth beast because it was so different than the others. He saw the little horn waging war against God's people until the time of judgment. The angel tells Daniel that the fourth beast will conquer the whole world and the ten horns are ten kings that will arise out of this kingdom. At a later time another king that is different than the first ten will arise and subdue three kings. He will speak against God and persecute God's people. This will be allowed for a time, times and half a time which is commonly thought to represent three and a half years of 1260 days. This would be the period after the Antichrist is killed and rises indwelt by Satan; he enters the holy of Holies and proclaims himself God. After this the second half of the Tribulation will occur or the Great Tribulation that will last 1260 days. After this time power will be taken from him by God and the holy people of God will have an everlasting kingdom.
Daniel was deeply troubled but kept this knowledge to himself. I can empathize with Daniel, he must have been in shock knowing the horrors that would come. He had to have some measure of reassurance that in the end God would prevail and God's people would live in his everlasting kingdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment