Daniel and His Dreams and Visions (Part 1)
Dan. 7: 1 –8
Introduction
This chapter begins the second, or mainly the prophetical section of the Book of Daniel. Chapter 7 parallels chapter 2 by giving another overview of the “times of the Gentiles”, but from a different perspective. In Daniel Chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream presents the Gentile nations from man’s point of view-magnificent in splendour, power and wealth.
Here in Daniel Chapter 7, we see the same kingdoms, only this time from God’s point of view-vicious beasts using brute force to maintain their supremacy.
Today, many great nations are still symbolized by wild animals- the American Eagle, the British Lion, the Russian Bear, the Chinese Dragon, etc.
I. Dreams and Visions
A. The dream refers to his being asleep, and the visions refer to what he saw while dreaming.
B. Sometimes, however, a person had a vision while he was awake (Dan. 9:23). Because of the great significance of Daniel’s dream, he immediately wrote down a summary of it.
II. Vision Introduced
A. The Prelude of the Vision (vs. 2-3)- there are three things to observe:
1. The Four Winds of Heaven (v. 2). There are a number of possible meanings here:
a. The Four Winds symbolize the Providence of God – His unseen hand working behind the scenes to accomplish His sovereign purpose (Ps. 75:7 this would be in keeping with the overall theme of Daniel – (Dan. 2:28; 4:25).
b. The four winds symbolize the influence and ministry of spiritual beings (angels) engaged in the affairs of men – this would be in keeping with Dan. 10.
c. The four winds symbolize the power of the air- the evil, Satanic influences behind the world rulers. (Dan. 10:13; Eph. 2:2; 6:12). The fact that these winds are striving indicates spiritual warfare is taking place.
2. The Great Sea (v. 2)
a. This is an OT name for the Mediterranean Sea (Jos. 1:4). This sea is located at the geographical center of the Biblical world, and the four Gentile empires (as well as Palestine) are connected with it.
b. In scripture, sea symbolizes the restless mass of humanity. Verses in Isa. 17:12,13; 57:20; Rev. 13:1; 17:1, 15. Dan. 7:17 would support this interpretation.
3. The Four Beasts (v. 3) – These become the focus of the greater part of Daniel’s vision.
4. The extent of the Vision- this vision of Daniel’s may be outlined as follows:
a. The Great Beasts
b. The Great Judgment
c. The Great Kingdom
III. The Great Beasts and their Interpretation
A. The First Beast- Lion with Eagle’s wings (v. 4)
1. This beast represents the empire of Babylon.
2. The Lion is the “King of the Beasts” the Eagle is the “King of the Birds.” (Isa.13:19a).
3. This beast symbolizes the absolute monarchy established by Nebuchadnezzar and his conquering flight over the nations (Ezek. 17:3, 7, 12.)
a. Jer. 4:7 – Judah’s attacker is compared to a lion
b. Ezek. 17:2-3, 12 – Babylon was compared to an eagle (Deut. 28:49; Jer. 48:40; 49:22)
4. Archaeologists have discovered numerous winged lions’ sphinxes among monuments of ancient Babylon.
5. The plucked wings symbolized either: Nebuchadnezzar for his building a magnificent city or his beast like insanity.
6. The beast’s standing as a man may refer to Nebuchadnezzar’s. Humanitarian pursuits.
7. A man’s heart given to the beast could well be a reference to the conversion of the king. Certainly, in the latter years of nebuchadnezzar’s reign, his kingdom become less cruel.
B. The Second Beast – Bear (v. 5)
1. This beast represents the Medo-Persian Empire
2. The bear is awkward and ponderous, killing with brute force and sheer strength. The Medo-Persian armies were slow moving, but crushed their opposition through weight of number. In the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis against the Greeks (480 B.C.). Xerxes (486-465 B.C.) used over 100,000 troops, and 1,000 ships. He had a standing army of 2 ½ million.
3. The bear raised – on one side indicates the dominance of Persia in the Mede-Persian confederacy. Media was the older of the two nations.
4. The three ribs represent the 3 crucial conquests of Mede-Persia under King Cyrus
a. Lydia (western Asia Minor) in 546 B.C.
b. Babylon in 539 B.C.
c. Egypt, acquired by Cambyses in 525 B.C.
5. The devouring of much flesh refers to the expansion of the empire through conquest
C. The Third Beast – Leopard (v. 6)
1. This beast represents the empire of the Greeks.
2. Leopard is one of the swiftest and most agile of wild animals. The conquest of Alexander the Great (332-323 B.C.) are noted for their swiftness. He conquered the known world in 13 years.
3. The 4 wings emphasized the speed of the Greek conquest.
4. The 4 heads represent the 4-fold division of the Greek empire following the untimely death of Alexander the Great. Alexander’s 4 generals divided the kingdom into Thrace, Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt.
D. The Fourth Beast – dreadful, terrible, strong & diverse. (v. 7)-
1. This beast symbolizes the Roman Empire.
2. The last semicolon of v. 7 is important. It represents the “Great Parenthesis” of this present age and separates the Rome of Ancient times from the future (revived) Roman Empire.
3. The phrase “…it has ten horns.” corresponds to the ten toes of Dan. 2:41-44, and along with verse 8 is still future.
4. The diversity of the beast (vs. 19, 23) may mean it was a conglomerate of the previous empires- (Rev. 13:2). Rome often incorporated the cultures it conquered into its own, exhibiting all the glory of Babylon, the relentlessness of Persian, and the brilliance of Greece.
E. The Little horn (v. 8).
1. As noted above, this verse speaks of a yet future time.
2. This “little horn” is a king (vs. 24-25) goes further to suggest it is a particular person.
3. The “little horn” represents the antichrist.
4. This verse adds further information to that given in Dan. 2. No mention is made of the Antichrist in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
5. Three statements are made about the antichrist in v.8
a. He is powerful- he will destroy three kings in his rise
b. He is intelligent – eyes like man.
c. He is blasphemous- speaking of great things against God (v. 25)
6. More descriptions about the antichrist.
a. He will think to change times and laws (Dan. 7:25). He will make whatever laws he wants, economic laws, social laws, religious laws.
b. He will persecute the saints (Dan. 7:21, 25). The Antichrist will persecute and kill multitudes of converted Jews and their converts. (Rev. 6:9-10; 7:14;
11:7-10; 13:7, 15; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24.
c. He will rule for a specific period (Dan. 7:25).
(1) His time is set by God. The devil is a great dragon and a roaring lion,
but his power is finite and he is under God’s control.
(2) A “time, times, and dividing of time” is three and a half years.
Revelation 13:5 tells us this will be 42 months or the final half (3.5 years) of
Daniel’s 70th Week (Dan. 9:27).
d. His dominion will be short-lived and the end of his kingdom will be destruction (Dan. 7:26).
(1) For a brief time the Antichrist will rule over all the world (Dan. 7:23; Re.
13:7). He will rule all people, nations, religions (Rev. 13:14-15) and control a
global economy (Rev. 13:16-17). His rule will break down quickly, though,
and the last years of his kingdom will be characterized by turmoil and
destruction.
(2) He will be opposed by various powers. (Daniel 11:40).
(3) His kingdom will suffer judgments from God. There will be the seven
trumpet judgments: the third part of the vegetation burned up (Re. 8:7),
the third part of the sea becomes blood (Rev. 8:8-9), the third part of the
waters turn to wormwood (Rev. 8:10-11), the third part of the light from
heaven darkened (Rev. 8:12), the locust demons from the pit that will
torment the citizens of the Antichrist kingdom (Rev. 9:1-11), the army of
200 million that will kill one-third of mankind (Rev. 9:13-19). The seven
trumpet judgments will be followed by the seven vial plagues: grievous
sores on those who take the Antichrist’s mark (Rev. 16:1-2), the sea becomes blood (Rev. 16:3), the rivers and fountains become blood (Rev. 16:4), men
scorched by a superheated sun (Re. 16:8-9), darkness (Rev. 16:10), the army
from the east and the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:12-16), history’s
greatest earthquake and 100-pound hailstones (Rev. 16:18-20). (WOL by David Cloud).
IV. Conclusion:
This chapter is the prophetic chapter of this book which tells about the times of the Gentiles. The Gentile nations are presented as vicious beasts in the eyes of the Lord but in man’s point of view in Chapter 2, it is magnificent, wealthy. The beasts are all identified as the empire of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Roman Empire. The Little horn is the antichrist.
