Daniel 7 is a vital chapter that confirms what was said in Daniel 2, as well as adding to our understanding of Revelation. Without this passage, we would be harder to see what God is telling us about the Last Days. And, in case you are wondering…
Yes, we are living – right now – during the time of the Fourth Beast.
When we are done, hopefully you’ll have a better understanding of what this beast is, both now and in the future. And, we really want a better understanding of our future.
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A Biblical Overview Of Daniel – Part 5
This is the vision of the Four Beasts. And, we will be able to match what is said here to Daniel 2 and Revelation 13. We can match all the kingdoms, and when we get to later chapters in Daniel we’ll be able to take what we learn here and understand what later visions are saying.
NOTE: As always, nothing said here should be considered ‘holy writ’. I get things wrong. This should only act as a way of assisting you in your own research into these things. The Bible was not written for the unwary. (See Isaiah 28:9-13)
We’ll also see proof of the Millennium and that we are living during the time of the Beast System, but not the Antichrist. And, we’ll see that the Beast and the Antichrist are two different entities.
And just like you and me, Daniel was extremely concerned about the Fourth Beast.
The First Three Beasts
So, let’s begin our overview of Daniel 7…
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.
2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’
6 “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
Here is the imagery that we see:
- Four Winds of Heaven (NOTE: wind and spirit are the same in Hebrew)
- Great Sea
- All four beasts come out of the sea
- Lion with eagle’s wings, which are plucked, before standing on two feet and given the heart of a man
- Bear with three ribs in its mouth
- Leopard with four wings and four heads
Where do we see similar imagery of Four Winds and/or the first three beasts?
In Revelation 7 we see the four winds commanded to be still until 12 thousand from each tribe of Israel is sealed. We also have this important verse in Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 37:9 – Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”
God is speaking here about the spiritual resurrection and salvation of Israel. And, when it says ‘O breath’ the word is הרוח (haRoo-ach, ch as in Bach) – which means ‘the spirit’ and NOT breath. In fact, I believe that it should be capitalized: The Spirit.
We will also see reference to the four winds in a different way in Daniel 8.
Where else do we sea a beast or beasts rising from a sea?
Only in Revelation 13. But, it is only one beast that rises, but notice the similarities:
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.
– Revelation 13:1-2 (KJV)
So, not only do we have a beast rising out of the sea, it also has the same physical characteristics as the three beasts that have been described before. But, there’s one addition that we haven’t looked at. And that is the fourth beast, where we get the ten horns. But let’s stop for a moment and compare the three beasts to the image that we saw in Daniel 2.
We also saw four kingdoms. The golden head was Nebuchadnezzar, which would coincide with the lion. The chest and arms of silver is Persia and coincides with the Bear. The belly and thighs are bronze, which is Alexander’s empire which broke into for pieces – hence the Leopard with four heads. And, the fourth kingdom with legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay coincides with the fourth beast that we haven’t talked about yet. However, we have some additional information in Daniel 7.
Let’s look at verse four again and what happens to the lion:
7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
When Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon, the empire was swift and powerful. But, as we saw in Daniel 5, those that came after Nebuchadnezzar allowed the empire to fail through really bad decisions.
The Bear had three ribs in its mouth and was commanded to devour much flesh. And, it certainly did devour everything in its path. In modern terms, the Persian empire, at its height, ruled Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Pakistan Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and bits of Greece, Libya, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. That’s a LOT.
By contrast, the Lion – Babylon – ruled a fraction of what the Bear – Persia – ruled. So, the Bear did devour much flesh. But, you’ll also notice that the bear didn’t have wings.
Why?
Because it grew more slowly than the Babylonian and Alexandrian empires. Nebuchadnezzar had two wings. But, the next beast had four.
The Leopard was different for two important reasons. It had four wings, so it moved fast. It had four heads… and well …that will require some explanation.
Alexander the Great inherited a well trained, battle-hardened army with extremely high morale. He also realized that the Persian Empire was weakening with soldiers on the frontier lacking in fighting spirit and being often drunk. This presented a fantastic opportunity to roll up the Persian Empire. So, he did, in just five years.
The problem is that he died a very early death. In Babylon, in the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar. The suspicion is that he died of poisoning, but it might have been disease. It’s a bit unclear. What is clear, is the war among his generals that resulted in his empire splitting into four parts – the four heads.
The Fourth Beast
All of this brings us to the Fourth Beast and the Fourth Kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar’s image. And, it’s this beast that Daniel is most concerned about, because of its incredible power.
7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.
Daniel is completely perplexed by this beast and goes to ask someone:
15 “I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16 I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’
Then, like all of us, Daniel wants to know about the Antichrist:
19 “Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; 20 and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.
21 “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.
23 “Thus he said:
‘The fourth beast shall be
A fourth kingdom on earth,
Which shall be different from all other kingdoms,
And shall devour the whole earth,
Trample it and break it in pieces.
24 The ten horns are ten kings
Who shall arise from this kingdom.
And another shall rise after them;
He shall be different from the first ones,
And shall subdue three kings.
25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,
And shall intend to change times and law.
Then the saints shall be given into his hand
For a time and times and half a time.
26 ‘But the court shall be seated,
And they shall take away his dominion,
To consume and destroy it forever.
27 Then the kingdom and dominion,
And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’
Now, what is this fourth beast in Daniel 2?
Well, when we look at the image in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, this is clearly the Fourth Kingdom of Iron. Here’s the description:
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
What comes after this Fourth Kingdom?
Well, Daniel 2:35 says this:
…And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Is the Iron Mixed With Clay a Fifth Kingdom?
Nope. The fifth kingdom is the mountain that fills the whole earth. That’s God’s Millennial reign. And, you can see the same for the Fourth Beast of Daniel 7. There is no fifth beast.
This also means that we are living in the Fourth Kingdom and the Fourth Beast.
Again, there’s no fifth kingdom or fifth beast. So let me repeat that this can only mean that we are living in the Fourth Kingdom and the Fourth Beast. There can be no other explanation that I can see. Others have tried to make up other interpretations, but they just don’t work.
We are – you and I – in the Fourth Beast that has crushed every empire on earth. And, when you look at the history books, it’s clear that our current civilization has done that. Not one kingdom or empire has survived the Fourth Beast. They’ve all been crushed by this Euro-American ‘beast’.
The Antichrist: The Eleventh Horn
But wait, what are the ten – actually eleven – horns?
Here is what was told to Daniel in verse 24 of chapter 7:
The ten horns are ten kings
Who shall arise from this kingdom.
Where have we seen these Ten Horns?
Well, Revelation 12 refers to the dragon as having ten horns, but that’s not the image we are looking for. Remember that we are looking for as good a match as possible. And, we find it here:
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.
– Revelation 13:1 (KJV)
And, as we said before, this beast that rises from the sea, is mix of the four beasts of Daniel 7. But, that still doesn’t tell us who the horns are…
Well the guy speaking to Daniel says that they are ten kings. But then, in the rest of verse 24, he says this:
…And another shall rise after them;
He shall be different from the first ones,
And shall subdue three kings.
And, to clarify who this eleventh horn is, let’s look at verse 25 again:
25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,
And shall intend to change times and law.
Then the saints shall be given into his hand
For a time and times and half a time.
That’s right, the eleventh horn in Daniel 7 is the Antichrist, and we – the saints – will be persecuted by this horn for three and a half years.
And, what happens after this three and a half years?
Verse 26:
‘But the court shall be seated,
And they shall take away his dominion,
To consume and destroy it forever.
Also, earlier in the chapter, here:
11 “I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.
Yeah, the Fourth Beast and the Eleventh Horn is destroyed forever and cast into Hell. We can see that here:
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
– Revelation 19:19-20 (KJV)
I call that a perfect match. But, I have a question:
Are the ten toes in Daniel 2, also the ten horns in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13?
Well, those ten toes are the final-final part of the image in Daniel 2. And, from the description of the ten horns, they are also the final-final part of the Fourth Beast. So, it looks like the image in Daniel 2 might grow an eleventh toe.
Does this help us understand who the Antichrist is in Revelation?
Yeah, I think so. It looks like the Antichrist is one of the horns of the Beast rising out of the Sea in Revelation 13. However, since he’s actually the eleventh horn, that muddies the water a bit. So, I can’t be dogmatic about the toes in Daniel 2, and adding to the Book of Revelation is a pretty scary business (see Rev 22:18). So, I’ll be a little careful about that.
The Millennium
But wait. I said something at the beginning about the Millennium. And, since we’ve seen the Fourth Beast destroyed and cast into Hell, that’s obviously Armageddon. And, Revelation speaks of the Millennium coming after that, in Revelation 20.
Where do we see the Millennium in Daniel 7?
It’s right here, in verse 12 and the verse that explains it, 27:
12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
– and –
27 Then the kingdom and dominion,
And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’
That’s right. They continue on, but without any power.
Why don’t they have any power?
Because Jesus rules and reigns over them for a thousand years.
To back this up, it looks like the first part of verse 14 also refers to the Millennium:
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him…
AND, we have confirmation here in Zechariah 14:
16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
That’s right there are unsaved people, who do not (or cannot) take the Mark of the Beast, but survive to go into the Millennium. So, all of this is absolute confirmation of a physical Millennium on planet Earth – even in Daniel 7.
So, What Did We Miss?
So, we’ve identified the Fourth Beast – our current civilization – and we’ve figured out who the Antichrist is – the Eleventh Horn. We have also seen a glimpse of the Millennium.
Did we miss anything?
Well, remember these two verses that the person talking to Daniel uses to explain what he saw:
26 ‘But the court shall be seated,
And they shall take away his dominion,
To consume and destroy it forever.
27 Then the kingdom and dominion,
And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’
Those two verses explain this part of the vision that occurs immediately after the appearance of the Fourth Beast.
9 “I watched till thrones were put in place,
And the Ancient of Days was seated;
His garment was white as snow,
And the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame,
Its wheels a burning fire;
10 A fiery stream issued
And came forth from before Him.
A thousand thousands ministered to Him;
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.
The court was seated,
And the books were opened.
11 “I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
13 “I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
What does all of that sound like?
THE BOOK OF REVELATION!
(Specifically, from chapter four onward.)
What are the books that are opened?
Well, we know what one of them is, the one that is sealed with Seven Seals. Only after THAT book is opened are the Seven Trumpets and then the Seven Bowls poured out. The Great Tribulation cannot start until AFTER all Seven Seals have been opened.
For more on all that, go here:
A Biblical Overview Of Revelation
In Conclusion
This is what I consider to be the best explanation that fits other key passages of the Bible, and with what we know about history. Daniel was writing at the time when the First Beast was losing its wings. And, we really do appear to be sitting at the time of the Fourth Beast. But, I don’t think that we’ve seen the horns yet.
There’s still a lot of uncertainty here. And, there are a few things that are yet to happen – such as Gog and Magog – before things get clearer. Unfortunately, Gog and Magog comes with Ezekiel’s Fire, and you will excuse me if I’m not sure that I want to go through that.
In the end, we are left with many of the same troubled thoughts as Daniel describes in the last verse:
28 “This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart.”
Yeah. That’s me too.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
שאלו שלום ירושלים
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My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you… Hosea 4:6
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Keep this ministry alive with a donation.
Subscribe for free to Revelation Six and receive my articles in your inbox:
https://revelationsix.substack.com/subscribe
And, read my two books:
I created five Android Apps that will help you read through the Bible in a Year. You can find them here:
https://revelationsix.com/android-apps/
If you miss my rantings about geopolitics, idiocy, resource collapse and incompetent globalism, follow me on Twitter.
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