DANIEL'S DREAM OF FOUR BEASTS DANIEL 7: 1 - 8

DANIEL'S DREAM OF FOUR BEASTS

DANIEL 7:  1 - 8

   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.

   (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 man, and the heart of a man 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  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 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.   (NIV)

 

H.A. IRONSIDE'S COMMENTARY

   Dr. Ironside  tells us that chapter 7  covers practically the same ground as chapter 2  with one difference:  the first six chapters is told from a human viewpoint; chapter 7 from God's viewpoint.  Here is a quote from Dr Ironside's Commentary of the Book of Daniel:

   "If you read history as viewed simply by the natural man, you will find that a great deal of space is given to congratulating humanity upon their marvelous exploits; and one would suppose that we have now almost reached perfection, so far as human government or political economy is concerned.  Civilization and the progress of the race are presumably at the zenith of their glory.  

   But if one reads history in the light of Holy Scripture, with the Spirit of God illuminating the page, it gives one a very different impression indeed.  We then begin to realize that the things that are most highly esteemed among men are abominations in the sight of God; and, concerning the great ones of the earth who wield power over the nations, we are reminded of what is written in Psalm 49: 12,  'Man being in honor abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish."

LIFE APPLICATION STUDY BIBLE COMMENTARY

   Chronically, this chapter takes place before chapter 5.  At this time, Belshazzar had just been given a position of authority and Daniel was probably in his late 60's.

   The lion with an eagle's wings represents Babylon with her swift conquests.  The bear that ravaged the lion is Medo-Persia.  The three ribs its mouth represents the conquests of three major enemies.  The leopard is Greece.  Its wings show the swiftness of Alexander the Great's campaign as he conquered much of the civilized world in four years. (That is already 219 years from when Belshazzar was given the position of authority.)  The leopard's four heads are the four divisions of the Greek empire after Alexander's death.

   The fourth beast points to both Rome and the end times.  God is illustrating the final end of all worldly kingdoms in contrast to His eternal Kingdom.  Bible scholars believe that the horns correspond to the kings who will reign shortly before God sets up His everlasting Kingdom.  These ten kings still had not come to power when the Apostle John recorded his vision in the book of Revelations.  The little horn is a future human ruler or the antichrist.  (2 Thessalonians 2: 3,4)

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