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"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6 |
Study of Daniel 7
Daniel 7 builds on what Daniel 2 has revealed, using different symbols to portray the first four empires and adding details about the behavior of each of these powers. The power of the little horn is introduced here in Daniel 7.
Daniel 7:1 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. He wrote down the substance of his dream.
2 Daniel said: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea.
3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.
What do seas represent in Scripture? A look at Revelation 17:15 gives us the answer: Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages."
In Daniel 2, we found that beasts represent kingdoms. It is no different in Daniel 7. A basic rule of Bible study is to let the Bible interpret itself. Look at Daniel 7:17 The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. We have seen on previous pages that animals represent kingdoms. In Daniel 2 the four kingdoms were represented by a great image: the head of gold, Babylon; the breast and arms of brass, Greece; the legs of iron, Rome; the feet part of iron and part of clay, the ten divisions of the Roman Empire.
Now to continue with Daniel:
Daniel 7:3 "And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things".
NOTE: Let's remember that a new power, a little horn, is introduced here. Also remember that this little horn is given human characteristics; eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. Now let's continue with this analysis.
Daniel 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. Just as gold represented Babylon in Daniel 2, so the lion, the king of beasts, represents Babylon in Daniel 7. The prophecy begins with Daniel's time, and it is logical to believe that the lion, then, is Babylon. The winged lion was a common inscription on Babylonian objects of art. The winged lion is often pictured in battle against Marduk, the patron god of the city of Babylonian. The lion as the king of beasts and the eagle as the king of birds is fitting for Babylon. Under Nebuchadnezzar's rule, Babylon encompassed the area from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, from Asia Minor to Egypt. As opposed to being lion-hearted, a man's heart indicates that in its waning years Babylon became weak through luxury and wealth, and fell prey to the Medo-Persian Empire. Let's move on to the second empire.
Daniel 7:5 "And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh". The Persian, or Medo-Persian Empire, was inferior to Babylon, just as the bear is inferior to the lion. The bear is cruel and hungry, and history tells us that this could describe Medo-Persia. The three ribs are not explained directly from the Bible, but Medo-Persia did conquer three major powers-Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt. Now, let's move on to the next beast.
Daniel 7:6 "After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." The leopard is fierce and swift. The power that did succeed the Persian Empire was exactly that. In Dan 8:21 this power is identified as Greece. "Grecia" was the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great. In 336 B.C. Alexander the Great succeeded to the throne of Macedonia. With only 35,000 men, Alexander went into Persia in 334 B.C. He went down into Egypt without a defeat. Then, he went up through Mesopotamia, with the Persians taking a final stand at Arbela, where they lost to Alexander. At 25 years old, Alexander had vast riches. He went into Samarkand, in what today is called Turkistan. In 323 B.C., he made his capital in Babylon. In the same year, after a round of hard drinking, Alexander died of "swamp fever" (probably malaria). In less than 10 years, Alexander claimed the biggest empire the world had yet known. No other king of the time could be described as swift and fierce besides Alexander. Without providing for an orderly succession, there was turmoil for years after Alexander's death, until four generals, Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy divided the territory up amongst themselves, thus fulfilling the prophecy concerning the four heads. Alexander's empire, even under these four generals, was still a continuation of the Greco-Macedonian-Asiatic world of diverse peoples united by Greek language, thought and civilization. It was a single beast at this time with multiple heads.
Daniel 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. History tells us that the next empire was that of Rome. Does the description in this chapter bear out under scrutiny?
There is no definitive date to begin the Roman Empire, but nobody can say that this empire did not stomp out other kingdoms in their conquests. Look at Daniel 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; A better description of Rome's conquests could not be written! By 200 B.C., Rome owned the western Mediterranean area. By the time of Christ, Rome had conquered Carthage, defeated Macedonia, took the Seleucid territory as far east as the Taurus Mountains, and had virtually taken over all of Alexander the Great's areas of conquest.
The iron teeth signify cruelty and strength. Whole cities were destroyed, as in the case of Corinth in 146 B.C. Where they didn't destroy, they used the people as slaves. They certainly "stamped the residue" of the places they conquered.
Ten horns. Vs 24 indicates ten kings. If the "four kings" of vs 17 represent four kingdoms, then the ten horns here represent ten kingdoms as well. Out of the crumbling Roman Empire, ten kingdoms did emerge. Historians generally agree that they are the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Alamanni, Anglo-Saxons, Heruli, Lombards, and Burgundians.
NOTE: Here it is important to ask ourselves another question. Do we want to know what the Bible meaning of these verses is, or do we want to continue in our own preconceived ideas? Nothing written here is meant to hurt or demean anyone. Truth is truth, and sometimes it leads us into areas that make us challenge our own ideas and beliefs. Let each of us pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us.
8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. Another type of government began here, different than the rest. The verse also says three of the first horns were plucked up. What do history books tell us? (A.C. Flick, The Rise of the Mediaeval Church, 1900, p. 150). "Out of the ruins of political Rome, arose the great moral Empire in the 'giant form' of the Catholic Church."
"Under the Roman Empire the popes had no temporal powers. But when the Roman Empire had disintegrated and its place had been taken by a number of rude, barbarous kingdoms, the Roman Catholic church not only became independent of the states in religious affairs but dominated secular affairs as well. At times, under such rulers as Charlemagne (768-814), Otto the Great (936-73), and Henry III (1039-56), the civil power controlled the church to some extent; but in general, under the weak political system of feudalism, the well-organized, unified, and centralized church, with the pope at its head, was not only independent in ecclesiastical affairs but also controlled civil affairs".
In fact, three of the ten kingdoms did disappear completely from the map after the Roman power began to emerge. They were the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths. These three tribes were Arian, and eventually all were vanquished by Roman generals. After long military campaigns, the Roman general Belisarius eliminated the last of the kingdoms, the Ostrogoths. The Ostrogoths laid seige to Rome in 537 A.D. The seige lasted for a full year, but in 538 A.D. the Emperor Justinian landed another army in Italy, and in March, 538 A.D. the Ostrogoths abandoned their seige. That ended the power of the Ostrogoths forever, and the prophecy was fulfilled that the Roman power would pluck up three kings.
Very important in this period are other actions of the Emperor Justinian. Justinian gathered together the laws of the Empire, and he issued some new edicts himself. These laws, or edicts, were binding throughout the realm. One of them made the bishop of Rome the "head of all the holy churches" and "head of all the holy priests of God" (Code of Justinian, book 1, title 1). He also made one of the pope's activities the "corrector of heretics".
This little horn power, then, is none other than the Roman Catholic Church. The military victory in 538 A.D. made it possible for these civil and religious edicts to be made. 538 A.D. is a very important date to remember for future discussion of the fulfillment of prophecy.
From a historical point of view, this information is sufficient to establish the identity of the little horn power. But, there is a correlation between Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 which needs to be explored to further reinforce this truth. To continue this study, go to the menu at the top of the page and click on the Prophecy tab and then click on "Little Horn Power".
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