Daniel Chapter 7 Verses 15-16

15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious and the visions of my head alarmed me. 16 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made known to me the interpretation of the things.

Luckily, Daniel was just as curious as we are, so he asks someone standing in the court what the vision meant, and he receives the interpretation.

Be very wary of any commentary whose interpretation of this passage disagrees with what we are about to read!

At this point we might pause to consider why Daniel was given this vision.

A cursory reading of Isaiah might have led some to conclude that the Messiah would appear immediately following the Babylonian captivity.

In fact, liberals today believe that Zerubbabel was a disappointing Messiah figure.

Daniel’s vision says NO. The Messiah will not come until two other kingdoms have come and gone. The Messiah, Daniel will say, will come during the fourth kingdom (Rome).

Paul dealt with a similar problem in 2 Thessalonians. There some had quit working to await what they felt would be the immediate return of Christ. Paul told them that Christ would not return until the man of perdition was destroyed. I think the man of perdition is the little horn from Daniel 7, and Paul was simply saying that Jesus could not return until all that God had prophesied in Daniel had come to pass.

Some say that the New Testament authors were under the mistaken impression that Jesus’ return was imminent. That is just not so. Paul said just the opposite in 2 Thessalonians. While we say (correctly) that Jesus can return at any moment, that was not true in the first century before all of the events in Daniel had come to pass.

Please visitThyWordIsTruth.comforfree audio lessons on Revelation, for aunique daily Bible reading calendar, to read aboutGod's plan of salvation, to read theanswers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.

Daniel Chapter 7 Verses 13-14

13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

At the end of this remarkable judgment scene, Daniel sees “one like a son of man” come to the Ancient of Days to be presented before him.

This son of man is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and in fact this is where the Messianic title “the Son of Man” came from. Why the Son of Man? Jesus was saying that he was the son of man who was mentioned in Daniel 7! He was taking a Messianic title familiar to every Jew and applying it to himself.

Jesus as the representative of his people comes to receive the kingdom. What does this mean?

In verse 22 and 27, it is the saints who receive the kingdom.

Like we mentioned in our study of Revelation, Jesus did not receive something here that he did not already have.

This part of the judgment scene depicts a public reaffirmation of something that had been true all along. God has removed and judged a great enemy of his people and he wants everyone to be aware of the outcome.

In Revelation 1:9, John made it very clear that the kingdom had been established. Yet in Revelation 12:10 we read that “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.” What is meant by this? It is simply a public reaffirmation and display of what was already true!

Is it still appropriate to pray “Thy kingdom come” as the apostles’ were instructed to do in the Lord’s prayer? Yes. Although the kingdom was established on the Day of Pentecost after the Lord’s ascension, God’s kingdom continues to come anytime and anywhere the Lord and his church are victorious over their enemies.

Please visitThyWordIsTruth.comforfree audio lessons on Revelation, for aunique daily Bible reading calendar, to read aboutGod's plan of salvation, to read theanswers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.

Daniel Chapter 7 Verses 11-12

11 I looked then because of the sound of the great words which the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

The judgment of the court is that the fourth beast be destroyed, which is thus pictured in verse 11. The beast is burned with fire and utterly destroyed.

The other three beasts have lost their power (their dominion was taken away), but they are pictured as still being around waiting to hear their fate as well.

These three beasts lived on in the fourth beast. They had the same ungodly ways and aims.

We saw this in chapter 2, where all four kingdoms were denoted by a single giant statue.

What did they have in common? They were all earthly kingdoms that were trying to take the place of or destroy the one true heavenly kingdom of God.

We also see this in John’s description of Rome found in Revelation 13.

Revelation 13:1-2 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

In Revelation 13, the beast (Rome) is like a leopard, a bear, and a lion.

Where have we seen these three animals before?

In Daniel 7, we just saw a lion, a bear, and a leopard (in that order).

In Revelation, John mentions a leopard, a bear, and a lion (in the reverse order).

Daniel and John are both looking at the same three kingdoms, but Daniel is looking FORWARD through time whereas John is looking BACKWARD through time!

Please visitThyWordIsTruth.comforfree audio lessons on Revelation, for aunique daily Bible reading calendar, to read aboutGod's plan of salvation, to read theanswers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.

Daniel Chapter 7 Verses 9-10

9 As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was ancient of days took his seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire. 10 A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

Here we have a judgment scene in which the ancient of days sits at the head of an enormous court in which the books are opened and judgment in rendered.

Which judgment does this refer to? There are many different judgments in the Bible.

The two leading candidates are the judgment of Rome and the judgment of the world at the end of time. Which choice fits better with the context? Clearly the judgment of Rome does.

This is the judgment of the fourth beast, and the fourth beast is Rome.

Verse 11 tells us that after this judgment the fourth beast is slain and burned with fire.

Verses 21–22 tell us that this judgment was against the little horn who was waging war against the saints.

Verse 26 tells us that this court would take the dominion away from the little horn.

Revelation 20 contains another great judgment scene similar to what we see here. (It also contains thrones, books, and fire.)

John said that the judgment in Revelation 20 would come to pass soon after the book was written. (Revelation 1:1;1:3;10:6;22:6;22:10)

Revelation was written during the Roman persecution.

Thus, the context suggests that the judgment scene in Revelation 20 also applies to the judgment of the fourth beast from Daniel 7 –the Roman empire.

Thus, I believe that the judgment scene in Daniel 7 and the judgment scene in Revelation 20 both apply to the same judgment – the judgment of Rome.

Did Rome fall in the first century? Absolutely no. Was Rome judged and sentenced by God during the first century? Absolutely yes!

Please visitThyWordIsTruth.comforfree audio lessons on Revelation, for aunique daily Bible reading calendar, to read aboutGod's plan of salvation, to read theanswers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.

Daniel Chapter 7 Verse 8

8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

From among the ten horns arises an eleventh horn. This little horn (which we will later discover denotes an eleventh king) comes up only after three of the ten horns are plucked up.

Who is this little horn? We will discover that when we get to verses 24 and 25.

Please visitThyWordIsTruth.comforfree audio lessons on Revelation, for aunique daily Bible reading calendar, to read aboutGod's plan of salvation, to read theanswers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.

Daniel Chapter 7 Verse 7

7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible and dreadful and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

This fourth beast is Rome, which in chapter 2 was represented by the legs and feet of iron and clay on the giant statue.

Like Rome this beast is terrible and dreadful and exceedingly strong. And like Rome, it is different from the beasts that came before it.

This beast has ten horns, which we will discover in verse 24 denote 10 kings. (We will see which kings they are when we get to verse 24.)

Please visitThyWordIsTruth.comforfree audio lessons on Revelation, for aunique daily Bible reading calendar, to read aboutGod's plan of salvation, to read theanswers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.

Daniel Chapter 7 Verse 6

6 After this I looked, and lo, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back; and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it.

This third beast represents Greece, which in chapter 2 was denoted by the belly and thighs of brass on the giant statue.

This beast is a leopard, which like Greece, moved very fast.

This beast has four wings and four heads. Recall that after the death of Alexander, Greece was split into four pieces ruled by his four generals.

Note 1: This is an example where it seems most logical to interpret a number literally rather than figuratively even though the number appears in an apocalyptic section.

Note 2: Here in Daniel 7:6 Greece is depicted as a beast with four heads. Later in Daniel 8:8 Greece will be depicted as a goat with four horns. In Daniel 8:21–22 we will find out that those horns denote kings or kingdoms. Thus, heads and horns are sometimes used to denote the same thing – kings or their kingdoms. (This point will be useful to remember as we continue.)

The liberals would have us believe that this divided third kingdom is Persia, but Persia remained unified until its end when Alexander the Great conquered it. Who is mistaken? Daniel or his critics? I wonder…

The arrogance of these liberal critics is unbounded. Instead of admitting that they are mistaken, they insist that Daniel must have mistakenly thought that Persia would be split into four pieces!

Daniel Chapter 7 Verse 5

5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side; it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, `Arise, devour much flesh.’

This second beast is the combined Medo–Persia empire that both Daniel and secular history say followed the Babylonians. Recall that in chapter 2, Medo–Persia was represented by the breast and arms of silver on the giant statue.

Note that one side of the bear is higher than the other side. This stresses the point that in the Medo-Persian empire, the Persians were dominant.

This beast is like a bear and is told to continue eating even before it has finished its last meal. It is voracious and greedy.

The three ribs may simply add to the picture of the greedy starving bear, or they may depict the three major Medo-Persian conquests that occurred under Cyrus and his son Cambyses.

Lydian kingdom in 546 BC

Chaldean kingdom in 539 BC

Egypt in 525 BC

Please visitThyWordIsTruth.comforfree audio lessons on Revelation, for aunique daily Bible reading calendar, to read aboutGod's plan of salvation, to read theanswers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.

Daniel Chapter 7 Verse 4

4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand upon two feet like a man; and the mind of a man was given to it.

This first beast is Babylon – the same kingdom that was represented by the golden head of the statue we saw in chapter 2. (Chapter 7 parallels chapter 2 in many ways.)

A winged lion was a very common symbol for Babylon, especially during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. ALL commentators agree on this point.

Like Babylon, this beast was hindered and humiliated by God.

In historical fact, the king of Babylon was a man who was given the heart of a beast. In the vision, Babylon is pictured as a beast who is given the heart of a man.

Daniel Chapter 7 Verses 2-3

2 Daniel said, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.

The wind often denotes the action of God. Like God, the wind is invisible yet can have very dramatic effects.

Psalm 18:10 He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.

Hosea 13:15 Though he may flourish as the reed plant, the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come, rising from the wilderness; and his fountain shall dry up, his spring shall be parched; it shall strip his treasury of every precious thing.

The sea often denotes the restless nations of the world as they toss and churn.

Isaiah 17:12-13 Ah, the thunder of many peoples, they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations, they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! 13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.

Thus, the wind on the sea would denote the action of God on the restless nations of the world.

In verse 3 these four beasts come up from the sea. Later in verse 17 we will see that they also come up from the earth.

Coming from the sea means that these beasts will arise from the restless nations of the world.

Coming from the earth means that these beasts are of human origin.