Tonight we are going to look at Daniel 7:1-14. Chapter 7 as a whole is probably the most important chapter dealing with end time prophecy in the Old Testament. In this chapter, the very course of future events was laid out for Daniel and his generation. Some of the events have already been fulfilled in the rise and fall of world empires, such as the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires. But several of the major events predicted in this chapter have not yet been fulfilled. These events are the:
-Rise of the Antichrist and the ten nation coalition that will strongly support hthe antichrist’s worldwide rule.
-The fiery judgment of God that will fall upon the Antichrist and all the wicked of this earth.
-And the return of Christ, the very Son of Man Himself, to establish God's Kingdom on earth. These predictions that are mentioned in chapter 7 have not yet been fulfilled.
Keep in mind that what we will look at in this chapter are prophecies. At the time Daniel received this prophecy none of these events had occurred yet. As mentioned some of them have now taken place and yet there are some that have not. If you have been in any of the four studies we have had over the past 25 years of the Book of Revelation, you will see a lot of resemblance between that Book and what we will look at tonight.
Daniel 7:1. This might be a little confusing at first because we have already studied that Belshazzar was killed. This chapter begins by telling us that Daniel's vision occurred in the first year of King Belshazzar's reign. To date this, Belshazzar was ruling with his father Nabonidus from approximately 553-539 B.C. So, this vision was given to Daniel around 553 B.C.
That means that this event that we are looking at tonight actually occurred before the events of chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5 dealt with the supernatural handwriting on the wall, which predicted Belshazzar's death and the fall of the Babylonian empire that that very night. Chapter 6 detailed Daniel's experience in the lion's den and God's miraculous deliverance of him.
It's believed that Daniel's reason for presenting these events in this order was probably to group his own personal visions together which occur in chapter 7-12.
So we back up in events and discuss these events that occurred before chapters 5 and 6. Daniel would have been about 67 or 68 years old when he received this vision. Daniel must have realized the importance of this vision and so he recorded it in great detail.
It may take us a while to get through this chapter. A lot of what I will tell you in this chapter is not actually seen in this chapter but is a part of biblical history that scholars have compared to show that some of these events have actually already occurred. I don't expect you to remember everything that I tell you in this. But I think it is important for me to give you the actual historical data so that you can see the reality of Daniel's prophecy. Let’s get into the prophecy.
Daniel 7:2-3. In his vision, Daniel saw the four winds of heaven churning up the Great Sea. Now don't let me lose you here. The turbulent sea represents the mass of evil people and nations, or kingdoms of the world. In Revelation 7:1 and 9:14-15 we have studied that it tells us that Angels control the four winds and that one day they will set the winds loose to execute God's judgment on earth. So, Daniel's vision here was of God's judgment churning up the Great Sea of corrupt humanity and the corrupt nations of the world. Daniel also saw in his vision the Sea of humanity give rise to four fearsome beasts. These beasts represent empires. Let’s look at those.
Daniel 7:4. The first beast was like a lion with eagle’s wings. This beast represented the Babylonian empire when Nebuchadnezzar had the dream of the statue. (Daniel chapter 2:37-38) Remember that the head of the statue was of gold and Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that it represented him. In Daniel's vision, the lion was injured because it's wings were torn off. This is a clear symbol of Nebuchadnezzar's insanity and loss of power due to his sinful pride and refusal to acknowledge the Lord as sovereign God of the universe.
But in Daniel's vision he saw the lion lifted from the ground and standing up right like a man, and he saw the heart of a man given to it. This was a picture of Nebuchadnezzar being healed and restored to the throne and given a human, more compassionate heart. But despite Nebuchadnezzar's restoration to the thrown and his great rule over Babylon, the empire eventually fell. But we have already studied that in chapter 5. (Does anyone need any clarification of this?)
Daniel 4:5. The second beast looked like a bear. Like the silver chest and arms of the great statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream (2:32), this bear represented the Medo-Persian empire that conquered Babylon. Daniel saw three notable features of the bear:
-this bear was ferocious and raised up on one side, suggesting that the empire was an alliance of two major powers with one dominating the other. The Persians were far more powerful than the Medes.
-the bear was devouring three ribs or kingdoms, which represented the three major conquests of the Persian empire: The conquest of Lydia (546 B.C.) The conquest of Babylon(539 B.C.), and the conquest of Egypt.(525 B.C.).
-the bear was encouraged to devour many people, which probably refers to the fact that God allowed the Persians to conquer more territory than any other empire up until that time. (Does anyone need any clarification of this?)
Daniel 7:6. The third beast that arose out of the sea of humanity looks like a leopard. But it was a strange looking leopard in that it had four wings and four heads. From the description it is clear that the leopard represented Greece, as did the bronze belly and thighs of the great statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The four wings symbolized the swift conquest of nations by Alexander the Great and the rapid expansion of the Grecian empire that he achieved.
Within a period of just 10 years, Alexander the Great conquered the entire empire of Medo-Persia. The four heads of the leopard symbolized the division of Alexander's empire into four kingdoms after his death. Alexander had no heir to succeed him. Because of this, an internal struggle arose among his army commanders to lay claim to as much territory as possible. Eventually the four major commanders divided the empire. These four divisions of the Grecian empire will be noted in chapter 8. (Does anyone need any clarification of this?)
Daniel 7:7. The fourth beast did not look like any creature Daniel had ever seen. He could only describe it as terrifying and powerful, far more ferocious than the other beasts or empires. This beast represented the Roman empire. Daniel saw three significant features about this beast.
1. The beast had huge iron teeth that were used to crush its victims. The idea is that Rome would be far more cruel and vicious in it's treatment of the victims it conquered.
2. The beast would trample underfoot many more nations than any empire that had preceded it. As Roman armies swept across the world, the military would subdue and exploit the nations more than any of the other empires.
3. The beast had 10 horns, which symbolize a federation of nations in the last days of human history. Throughout Scripture, horns often symbolize kings, rulers, kingdoms, or Royal authority. We will see later in this chapter that the angel who later explained the vision to Daniel definitely identified the horns as kingdoms.
The horns sit up on the head of the fourth beast. This suggests that the horns or confederation of states are a mere extensions of the beast which is the Roman empire. Also, the horns are used to gore its victims as it conquers the nations of the world. Also keep in mind that these horns correspond to the legs and ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's dream back in chapter 2. (Any questions on this?)
STOP HERE FOR TONIGHT DUE TO LIMITED TIME. We’ll pick it up in verse 8 next time.
