In my vision in the night i looked, and suddenly the four winds of heaven were churning up the great sea. The 4 beasts seen in daniel dream is god revealing to a believer, daniel, the world timeline and governments to come in a godly perspective. The seventhday adventist church shares the traditional view that the four kingdoms of daniel, as paralleled in chapters 2 and 7, correspond to the neobabylonian empire, the medopersian empire, the greek empire and the roman empire. In internet travels i have had folks try to suggest that a beast is defined in daniel as a kingdom, or a king, in an effort to advance their belief in john darbys the antichrist is the beast of revelation, actually switching the identity between verse 1 and 5. The book of daniel the anchor yale bible commentaries. Each of these beasts represents a biblical world kingdom. The mysterious image of daniel, the four beasts vision, and the book of revelation reveal a new, startling dimension to the ageold prophecy in the light of current world events. Di lella, professor of old testament, and the late louis f. As daniel watches, four great beasts, each different from the others, emerge from the dark waters verse 3. Lion babylonian empire bear medopersian empire leopard greek empire 4th beast roman empire this explanation of the four beasts prophecy is easily derived. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
A beast like a bear, raised up on one side, with three ribs between its teeth. The vision of the four beasts and the little horn found in daniel 7 reveals more information about the same four empires that are first described in nebuchadnezzars dream of a great image. Daniel saw four winds stirring the mediterranean sea, bringing upheaval to the nations 7. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted up from the ground. And looking at the kjv verse above does give one pause. Daniel spake and said, i saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
The lion was symbolic of the kingdom of babylon and the mans heart was that of its most notable king, nebuchadnezzar, who is written about considerably in the first four chapters of daniel. In chapter 7 of his book, daniel has a vision of four beasts coming up from the sea 7. This fact will become obvious as we continue our study of the beasts, and the other identities. In verse 17 we are told, those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. The contemporaneous beasts view of daniel 7 by chris white daniel 7 is considered by some to be the most important chapter in the book of daniel, others even consider it the most important chapter in the entire old testament for reasons which we will get into later, but certainly one of those reasons is because of its prophetic significance. There are four beasts in chapter 7a lion, bear, leopard, and a dragon. Daniels image, the four beasts and the king of assyria a great deal of new insight is being revealed concerning biblical prophecy for the end of days. These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth emphasis mine. In chapter 7, god gave daniel a vision of four beasts. Daniels four beasts bible symbols in the prophecy of daniel. As daniel watches, the wings are torn off the beast, and the creature stands erect like a man and a human mind is given to it.
I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. Four wings indicate the expansion of the empire of alexander the great, and four heads show its subsequent fourfold division under four of his generals. The fourth beast was darius i the great, who founded the darian dynasty composed of ten kings. In daniel 7 the prophet records a night vision that god gave him concerning four world empires, symbolized as four beasts daniel 7. Therefore, since this vision was given to daniel in the time of babylonian kingdom, the first beast can not be the babylon because the word shall implies future, and so on.
A fresh perspective on the 4 beasts vision of daniel chapter 7. Daniel, distressed by the dream, seeks the help of a nearby angel for an answer to what he has seen. As with nebuchadnezzars dream, the theme of this vision is the rise and fall of gentile world power. The bald eagle is a national symbol of the united states of america. Bible commentators have long agreed that daniels four beasts are the babylonian, persian, greek and roman empires. In fact, several popular bible editions actually interpret daniel 7 in their margin notes as the same four kingdoms mentioned in daniel 2. Daniel 78 new international version niv daniels dream of four beasts. The truth about daniels four beasts visit sydney australia.
The prophecy in daniel 7 is rich in biblical symbolism, which is the key to its unraveling. In daniel 7, the prophet daniel saw a series of four beasts rising from the sea, the last of whom had ten horns dan. An angelic guide interprets the beasts as kingdoms and kings, the last of whom will make war on the holy ones of god, but he will be destroyed and the holy ones will be given eternal dominion and power. The 4 beasts vision of daniel chapter 7 are commonly explained as follows. Living in the times of the fourth beast servants news. In about 165 bce, an anonymous jew composed the book of daniel. In chapter 7, daniel has a vision of four beasts coming up out of the sea, and is told that they represent four kingdoms. He saw visions as he was lying on his bed, and he wrote down what he had dreamed. Daniels beasts and the beasts of revelation, chapter from. Reformer john calvin was familiar with the works of other scholars and declared in his commentaries on the book of daniel, volume 2, it is clear that the four monarchies are here depicted. Here, the four beasts arise out of the sea, symbolizing maybe chaos. What is the meaning of the four beasts in daniel 7. The four beasts represented the kingdoms of babylon, medopersia, greece, and rome. The great image and the four beasts 6 the four kingdoms of men now we come to the interpretation of the dream.
Daniel 7 new century version ncv daniels dream about four animals. Four beasts and the ancient of days daniel 7 youtube. This volume on the book of daniel has been prepared by two distinguished biblical scholars from the faculty of the catholic university of america. Daniels vision of the four beasts 2 daniel declared.
Furthermore, they hold the view that the ram and the goat correspond to the medopersian empire and the greek empire, respectively. The anchor bible series offers new, bookbybook translations of the old and new testament and the apocrypha, with commentary. The identities of the beasts in daniel and revelation rev. The seventh chapter of the book of daniel records an unusual vision that he received in the first year of the babylonian king belshazzar 555556 b.
Daniels four beasts nebuchadnezzar was not the only one to have a vision of the future course of world history. In fact it is so easily derived that anyone with a basic grasp of history could have easily reached this arrangement. The vision of the four beasts is found in chapter 7. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the. Daniel 7 the seventh chapter of the book of daniel tells of daniel s vision of four worldkingdoms replaced by the kingdom of god. Correlate the book of daniel in chapter 2 and chapter 7 8. The second beast its described to look like a bear. The four empires are the same as nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream in daniel 2, although in that dream they are pictured as various metals in a statue. The four beasts of daniel chapter 7 are four end time superpowers.
Only daniel could interpret the writing, a message of coming judgment from god. What are the four beasts or living creatures of revelation. In chapter 7 the lord tells us the fourth beast would dominate the kingdoms of this world right up until the return of jesus christ. Daniels great image, the four beasts and the king of. The first of daniels four beasts is like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle daniel 7. Are they the same as the cherubims or seraphims in isaiah 6 and ezekiel chapters 1 and 10. This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. Nebuchadnezzars dream is god revealing to a nonbeliever, nebuchadnezzar, the world timeline and governments to come in mans perspective. As with all of scripture, the book of daniel is profitable for our study 2 ti 3. The little horn that subdued three kings was alexander the great, who defeated darius iii. The book of revelation is a prophecy about romes persecution against the lords church.
The image of daniel 2 contains four metalsgold, silver, brass, and iron. Daniels vision begins with a raging, dark sea of ominous characterthe wind roaring upon it and the waves tossing with angry intent. Who are the four beasts of daniel 7 bible prophecy. The prophet daniel had a significant vision regarding the general course of history from his time to the ultimate victory of the messiah and his. The bible tells us in chapter 7 of the book of daniel, that god gave daniel a vision of four beasts rising from the sea. The main difference between the types of heavenly beings known as. In the seventh chapter of his book, daniel records how he had an unusual vision while he slept one night, many years after the kings original dream. 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. The book of daniel always associates the glory and magnificence of babylon with nebuchadnezzar, and it emphasizes his greatness again and again.
We have been studying the book of daniel and have been seeing how daniel sets an example for us to be christs ambassador as he was used by god to serve in babylon. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. In addition to very clearly depicting the modern nations of the world, daniel s vision also foretells of the events leading up to the return of jesus christ. Daniels vision of the four beasts not only foretold the creation of the worlds modern nations, but also warns believers of the development of a single world government. In daniels dream, he sees the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. The four beasts of daniel 7 were the first four kings of the medopersian achaemenid empire. The lion, the bear, the leopard, and the terrible beast. Daniel 7 the seventh chapter of the book of daniel tells of daniels vision of four worldkingdoms replaced by the kingdom of god. Four beasts come out of the sea, the ancient of days sits in judgement over them, and one like a son of man is given eternal kingship. Do the four animals in daniel 7 represent kingdoms. The first beast, a lion with eagles wings, is americanled nato the new world order. He wrote down the substance of his dream 2 daniel said. The nice thing about this book is that every time daniel has a vision, he then interprets the vision.
In my vision at night i looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Much conservative christian prophecy concerning the second coming of christ is based upon this book and in particular upon king nebuchadnezzars dream and daniels dream of 4 beasts. These four beasts, from daniels apocalyptic vision in chapter 7, are the same as the four empires represented in the statue nebuchadnezzar sees in his dream, except that dream was actually a relatively staid and buttoneddown one, compared to this vision. Just as the four metals represent the four successive world kingdoms beginning with babylon in daniels day and passing to medopersia, greece and rome, so the four beasts represent the. Jun 27, 2014 book of daniel four beasts thebookofdanielfourbeastsworldempiresofdanielsdream. Therefore, johns beast is the same as the fourth beast of.
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