DANIEL 7 - THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS
This chapter goes back in time from where chapter 6 had reached in Daniel’s life. He had served three kings, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Darius, and this vision is dated at the beginning of Belshazzar’s reign. Daniel was established as a leading member of the kingdom but his influence was declining, as the new king did not fear God, as did Nebuchadnezzar. It was a disturbing time for Daniel, as the influence for good that Nebuchadnezzar had in his last years following his restoration to his kingdom was now being lost. The gold of his kingdom was rapidly being devalued. The dreadful images of this dream would do nothing to change Daniel’s thinking that things had taken a turn for the worse.
What a strange dream Daniel had, full of frightening images. To some extent the dream was a repetition of the vision of the four great world-empires which had been given at an earlier date to Nebuchadnezzar. There, the emphasis had been on the glory of these kingdoms, symbolized by a great image. But in this second view they take the form of fierce, wild beasts who lived up to their reputation in destruction and violence. People who fondly believe that mankind is improving as time goes on, expecting utopia around the corner, are deluding themselves. It is true, knowledge has increased, and mankind is exploiting resources previously undreamed of. Although the human race sometimes takes a step forward, all too often it is followed by two steps backwards. We shall see this demonstrated as the vision unfolds, with the political systems deteriorating and wickedness increasing as the end of the age draws near.
The chapter is divided in two: Daniel speaks of the dream he had, and then he goes on to tell of the interpretation that was given to him. The vision is portrayed on the background of a great sea which was being lashed into fury by the four winds of heaven. The troubled waters of the sea are used in Scripture as a symbol of the restless nations of the world, but as we shall see, it is God’s world, and he is ultimately in charge. The first beast that rises from the sea is:
THE LION
This beast, although like a lion, had eagle’s wings but the odd thing was that they were plucked off while Daniel was looking. The winged lion has been found in excavations made in cities of ancient Babylon, and would symbolize Nebuchadnezzar’s might and the rapidity of his conquests. But suddenly he was halted in his tracks and he became more tolerant and humane. This is seen as a reflection of his humiliation when he lost his sanity for seven years and then was restored to health for his last years. The vision suggests this in the reference to the lion being stood on its feet as a man and a man’s heart given to it (4). When Daniel spoke the vision of the lion, the kingdom it symbolized, had already been overtaken by its successor, portrayed by:
THE BEAR
This was a formidable beast, strong, cruel and cunning, but not so majestic as the lion. It is a fitting symbol of the Medo-Persian Empire, being inferior to the Babylonian in power, civilization and nobility. The strange feature described by Daniel was that there were three ribs in the bear’s mouth between its teeth - not a pleasant sight! This depicts the empire feeding on its captive nations in cruelty and inhumanity. When we think back over the wars of this century, nothing has changed. After the bear, Daniel saw:
THE LEOPARD
This was a curious animal, with the wings of a bird and four heads. It is an appropriate image for the Grecian Empire. Alexander the Great, its founder, extended its territory with lightning-like rapidity, reaching India in his conquests. Just as the leopard is an elegant beast, the Greeks were renowned for their culture. The leopard had four heads, and this is taken as referring to the division of the kingdom into four on Alexander’s early death when his generals divided the empire into quarters.
We have seen the first three beasts of the vision, the Lion, the Bear and the Leopard. There is a reference to these animals in Hosea (13:7,8), an earlier prophet, who told the sinful people of Israel that Jehovah would act towards them in the same way as these fearful animals because of their backsliding. The lesson of history must surely be that God does not make idle threats which are not carried out. But there is still worse to come. As the whole fearful drama played before Daniel’s eyes, horror mounted, as each succeeding beast became crueler and more monster-like than its predecessor. We come now to:
THE FOURTH BEAST
It was not given a name, only a description - terrifying and frightening and very powerful, with large iron teeth. The behaviour of this beast became so cruel and savage that it could not be compared with any known animal. Here was a formidable and frightening creature, truly appalling in its tremendous power. With its great iron teeth it devoured and broke in pieces its victims, crushing under foot whatever was left. What a picture of an evil empire! That is what President Reagan used to call the Soviet Union. Daniel used the imagery of his day to describe it - I wonder what he would have used today? Perhaps a beast with eyes sending out laser beams and its mouth breathing out nuclear poison, its limbs dispatching intercontinental ballistic missiles. Nothing changes for the better as mankind progresses in knowledge - pagans merely become educated pagans.
The dream had a disturbing effect on Daniel. He was troubled in his spirit, but instead of trying to puzzle it out for himself as we might have done, he turned to the angelic messenger for help. We can easily get out of our depth in the problems of life if we rely on our own resources - how much better, like Daniel to turn to heavenly wisdom, to God who knows the end from the beginning. He was told not to worry, "the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever" (18). We now turn to:
THE INTERPRETATION
Daniel does not seem to have been interested in the second and third beasts, but only in the last one, and he made a special request to his heavenly source of information. Sometimes our prayers for guidance are only partially answered and we need to persist in making our requests. Jesus taught his disciples to do this through the parable of the unjust judge to whom a woman made repeated petitions and eventually was rewarded. It is not that God is deaf to our requests, but wants us to show that we mean business with him.
As we seek a meaning to this vision we should follow the example of Daniel himself. When he saw the four beasts he made a fairly general inquiry about only one of them. Perhaps this indicates that we should not be too concerned about the exact significance of details but to see the big picture for what it is, a great series of movements that are finally to usher in the end of this age. It is a matter of keeping the right perspective - in God’s own good time, the detail will be filled in, and with hindsight we shall be able to match the symbol with the substance, the shadow with the reality. The same thing has already happened with the first coming of the Lord Jesus - all the shadowy types and prophetic symbolism in the Old Testament were gloriously fulfilled, and without doubt the same will take place at his Second Coming. Perhaps the most intriguing feature of the vision is:
THE HORNS OF THE FOURTH BEAST
It had ten horns, but the odd thing was that another horn, a little horn, sprang up and tore three of the original ones up by the roots, and what is more, seemed to have a personality of its own, with eyes and a mouth. No wonder Daniel was puzzled! And he is not the only one, as this beast and its horns have had a great deal of imagination lavished on deciding which kings or powers they represent - of who did what to who. It does seem probable that the rise of the beast can be identified with the Roman period, but then the problem becomes more specific in fitting in the sub-plot of the ten horns and the little horn.
Only time will tell what is the real solution to the exact historical identities of these strange symbols. They can equally be understood as being a typical example of the kind of empire and the kind of satellite power that can and will arise, here and there, now and then, in the field of human history under various different circumstances as time moves on to the fulfillment of God’s great purposes for mankind. It may well be that the Lord of prophecy gave these pictures as principles, as something of a guide to his people.
The big question in the minds of prophetic students who like to get to detailed interpretation is: who are the ten horns and in particular, who is the little horn? This is of great importance to students of prophecy because if the horns can be identified, they are then the key figures at the end of the church age. At the time when Napoleon was strutting the stage of Europe, he was clearly a candidate for one of the major players and much ingenuity was used to fit him and his contemporaries into the scenario pictured so graphically by Daniel over 2,000 years before. However, the Lord has seen fit to continue the age of grace to the ruin of many a prophetic theory. This has happened time and time again, with Hitler and Stalin as other villains billed for the star role, not to mention the European Common Market when it was going to include ten members. A retired minister was candid enough to tell me that recent events in the Middle East had made him revise his thinking on prophecy! Dogmatism in these matters is a hazardous pursuit and can leave those who undertake it with red faces! This is especially true in connection with:
THE LITTLE HORN
It seems to have prominent place in the vision. Its role is that of persecuting the people of God, the saints, and what is more was defeating them. Persecution has been the lot of the people of God in every dispensation. Such was the persecution of the Jews in the time of the Grecian empire that many interpreters of Daniel identified the little horn with Antiochus Epiphanes who tried to extinguish the Jews in the second century before the coming of Jesus. His savagery has been copied many times over the centuries, even in the lifetime of some of us, by Hitler. But who are the saints of the Most High that the Little Horn persecuted? They encompass both the Old and the New Testament believers. Jesus told his disciples they could expect it, "In this world you will have trouble" (John 16:33).
Christians have suffered terrible persecution at the hands of atheistic governments and now by the fundamentalist Muslim authorities. It is likely that this will intensify as the end of the age draws near. The apostle Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians (2:1-12) refers to “the man of lawlessness” and the apostle John to “antichrists” both in his letter (1John 2:18) and in Revelation (13:1-18), identical in wickedness to the little horn. Daniel makes a mysterious reference to "the saints will be handed over to the little horn for a time, times and half a time" (25). This may well refer to the Great Tribulation that Jesus spoke of. So terrible would be the suffering that unless it was shortened, no flesh would be saved (Matt 24:22). If the vision had ended with the description of the little horn wielding great power over other nations and speaking out his blasphemies it would have spelt utter doom for the people of God, but suddenly the scene changes. Daniel is transported to where the real power resides, heaven itself. It is there he finds the key to all this misery. It is:
THE ANCIENT OF DAYS
Here he finds the Lord of history, "the Ancient of Days" and gives a wonderful description of one who has lived from eternity, all-powerful and all-knowing. Daniel sees the thrones of a heavenly tribunal with the Supreme Judge in his place. It is an awe-inspiring scene. The occupant of the throne has an innumerable host waiting to carry out his instructions. God is the supreme power of the universe. Daniel is being given a preview of:
THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT
He describes the scene, "The court was seated, and the books were opened" (10). This is a way of saying there will be absolute justice, every factor will be taken into account on this day of reckoning. The book of Revelation gives an identical account of the judgement of all, both great and small, the living and the dead "standing before the throne, and books were opened" (20:12). As the writer to the Hebrews put it, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (10:31). Judgement now fell. The beast-kingdoms, the powers of darkness have had their day. God has his timetable in place. His purposes steadily come to fruition and when the precise moment has arrived, which only he knows; nothing in this world will frustrate his plan of action. The forces of sin and Satan will be overthrown. Daniel tells us who was to conquer - it was:
THE SON OF MAN
You will remember that Nebuchadnezzar’s image was suddenly smashed by a stone cut without hands. This vision is really a re-telling of the same story. It all centres around "one like a son of man" (13). Who can this be other than the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus often used the title of the Son of Man in his earthly ministry no doubt confirming that he believed himself to be that key figure mentioned by Daniel "coming with the clouds of heaven" (13).
Some Christians of New Testament time expected to see the kingdom of God coming with power in their own day and Christ reigning over all. That expectation was wrong. The writer to the Hebrews had to correct this by stating "we do not yet see everything in subjection to him" (2:8). Evil rulers were prospering, the godly were persecuted, and the "beast" was rampant, still able to wreak havoc and tragedy upon the earth. "But", he adds, "we see Jesus ... crowned with glory and honour." Jesus had risen! Jesus is Lord! - and this was a sufficient sign that already he reigns at the right hand of the Father and waits the completion of the faithful, for his second appearing in great glory.
The day of the Lord will surely come. It will also be the day of his people. Daniel said, "The sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High" (26). Jesus taught his disciples that he was the vine and they were the branches, they were part of the vine. We, as Christians, are part of the Body of Christ; we are "in Christ". We shall reign with him. The beast-kingdoms held sway over the earth for a few thousand years; as Daniel put it "they were allowed ... for a period of time" - it was a limited duration only. The kingdom that God handed over to his Son, and with him, his saints, was "a everlasting dominion that will not pass away" (14). His kingdom shall stretch from shore to shore. Every knee shall bow to him and every tongue confess him as Lord. What can we say but, in the final words of the book of Revelation, "Even so come, Lord Jesus" (22:20).
The vision and its interpretation ended and surprisingly. Daniel confesses that he "was deeply troubled by my thoughts" (28). There is no idea of triumphalism here. It may be that Daniel was still living in the time long before the first coming of Jesus and his triumph over evil on the cross, when what he had prophesied would become a great deal clearer. But perhaps his heart was saddened as the prospect of so much suffering that, in the mysteries of the Divine will, was to precede the glory that would ultimately come. This is a reminder that while we rejoice in the glorious hope that is before us, we must never forget that we are still living in the age of spiritual warfare. As Jesus told his sleepy disciples, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation " (Mark 14:38). That is a word for the Christian of today.
