134 - Three of the Four Beasts

Daniel's Prophecy Starts

The last chapter ended with Darius the king of Babylon rejoicing that Daniel had not been eaten by the lions.  

This chapter takes us back to the reign of Belshazzar (from chapter five) who was the last king of Babylon before Darius' army defeated Babylon.  

Why this step backwards? Because the historical part of the Book of Daniel ended in chapter 6, with Daniel's dramatic deliverance from the lions, and the prophetic part begins in chapter 7 about Belshazzar (from Chapter 5) in a dream Daniel had.

Daniel had a dream and visions of his head on his bed. 7:1.  This is the introduction to chapters 7-12.

Daniel spoke and said, In my vision by night I was looking: and in my vision by night ... the four winds of the heavens were stirring up the Great Sea. 7:2.  In the Bible, the Mediterranean Sea is often referred to as the Great Sea. Here may be meant the whole world, and the kingdoms and nations of it, because of its largeness, inconstancy, instability, and disquietude. Gill.

Armies on the move or masses of agitated people are spoken of as large bodies of troubled waters.  

1. Note: therefore, behold, the Lord brings on them the waters of the River, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory (his army). Isaiah 8:7.  
2. The waters which you saw ... are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. Rev. 17:15.  
3. We can surely see that these days the people of the world are agitated, stirred up, ready to rebel at the smallest irritation. 
4. This is one of the predicted signs of the last days before the return of Christ.  Upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roar of the sea and rolling waves (hordes of people in distress). Luke 21:25.

A Repeat of a Dream

Even though the picture is different, there is a strong resemblance to Nebuchadnezzar's dream (ch. 2) and Daniels dream (chapter 7).  For a review of the king's dream in ch. 2 see: http://spaceshiptheology.blogspot.com/2016/07/130-kings-historic-dream.htm

The thought occurs to me that Daniel had this dream because a number of years earlier he had explained the meaning of the king's dream to the king, and it had such a strong influence on Daniel that he could not put it out of his mind.  So his mind replayed the dream.

In dreams anything is possible, and having a lion with wings is not at all unthinkable, especially considering that Shedu (a male lion with wings) in Sumerian, Akkadian, Persian, and Iranian tribes mythology was depicted as a winged lion. Wikipedia

Here is Daniels dream:

Four great beasts (four kingdoms) came up from the sea (a multitude of people), different from one another. 

1. Babylon - the golden head in chapter 2.   The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. this is said to be like a "lion" for its strength and power, for its greatness, dignity, and majesty; the same with the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Gill.

I watched until its wings were plucked, after Nebuchadnezzar's reign the kings became much less aggressive; the kingdom of Babylon quit expanding.  The lion could no longer fly like an eagle; its wings were plucked.  The Concordant Version of the Old Testament uses the word vulture in place of eagle.

and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man. And a man's heart was given to it.  Babylon's kings were no longer "the king of beasts" but much more human-like.  Notice, again, the humanness of Belshazzar in chapter five.

2. Medo-Persia - the chest and arms in chapter 2. behold another beast, a second, like a bear. The Medes and Persians are compared to a bear on account of their cruelty and thirst after blood, a bear being a most voracious and cruel animal. Clarke.  

And it raised itself up on one side.  This may refer to one side of the bear (the Median contingent), raising himself (namely Cyrus) up on one side. (He became the predominate army general). Gill.

and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.  It is best ... to understand by them Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt; which countries were ground and oppressed by the Medes and Persians, as the ribs of any creature are ground in the mouth of a bear: Gill.

And they (perhaps Darius and his adviser's, rulers over Cyrus), said this to it (Cyrus - the bear): Arise, eat up much flesh (go and destroy many other nations).

3. The Grecian army - the belly and thighs in chapter 2.  After this I saw, and lo, another, like a leopard, (known for its swiftness) which had four wings of a bird on its back (even faster than the lion with two wings). Guzik. 

The beast also had four heads;  Signifying the empire after the death of Alexander, divided between his four generals. Cassander reigning over Macedon and Greece; Lysimachus, over Thrace and Bithynia; Ptolemy, over Egypt; and Seleucus, over Syria. Clarke.

and rulership was given to it (the leopard; the Grecian empire).

How could Daniel know that the next world empire would be like a leopard in its rise and prominence, and that it would be divided into four parts? This shows a plain principle: God knows the future, and reveals certain details of the future through His prophets. ... The proof of fulfilled prophecy is exceptionally persuasive; no wonder Peter says "we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Peter 1:19). Guzik.

Or, on the other hand, one can also surmise that the Book of Daniel was written after Rome had defeated Greece.

This post will be too long if I don't take a break now, but the plan is that we will continue with this dream in the next post.