Daniel Chapter 7

Background

Daniel received the vision recorded in Daniel 7 about 50 years after the events recorded in Daniel 2. It is the next prophetic chapter in Daniel, and it builds on and expands the prophecy in Daniel 2.

The Dream

Daniel had a vision during the night in which he saw the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different, came up out of the sea.

	The first beast was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. Daniel watched until its wings were torn off and it was lift from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.
	The second beast looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told to get up and eat its fill.
	The third beast looked like a leopard. On its back it had four wings like a bird's. It also had four heads and was given authority to rule.
	The fourth beast was terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth. It crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the previous beasts, and had ten horns.
	A little horn came up among the ten horns, uprooting three of them. This horn had a man's eyes, and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

As Daniel watched thrones were put in place and the Ancient of Days took his seat. The court was seated, and books were opened.

Daniel continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. He watched until the beast was killed and its body thrown into the blazing fire.

Daniel then saw before him a person like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. This person approached the Ancient of Days and was taken into his presence. He was given authority, glory and power. Everyone worshipped him. His authority will last forever, and his kingdom will never be destroyed.

The Meaning

Daniel was troubled by the dream. So he approached one of the beings in the dream and asked for the true meaning of what he has seen.

He was told that the four great beasts are four great kingdoms that will arise. But the saints of the most high will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever.

Daniel then wanted to know about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others. He wanted to know about the ten horns on its head. Also about the little horn that came up later, the one that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully, and that uprooted three of the horns.

Daniel had seen this horn wage war against the saints. It defeated them until the Ancient of Days pronounced judgement in favour of the saints, and the saints took possession of the kingdom.

It was explained to Daniel that the fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it (Daniel 7:23).

The ten horns are ten kings (or kingdoms) who will come from this kingdom. After them another king (or kingdom) will arise, different from the earlier ones. It will subdue three of the ten kingdoms (Daniel 7:24).

This new power will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times, and half a time (or for a year, two years, and half a year) (Daniel 7:25).

But the court will sit and his power will be taken away and he will be completely destroyed forever (Daniel 7:26).

Then the authority, power, and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the most high.

The chapter concludes with Daniel admitting he was deeply troubled by his thoughts.

Interpretation

Notice that we are being shown four kingdoms, with the fourth beast representing the fourth kingdom. From this we see that these are the same four kingdoms we were shown in Daniel 2. However in Daniel 7 the focus is on the fourth world kingdom and its horns, which represent kings or kingdoms that arise from it.

These two chapters are therefore presenting the same information in different ways, however chapter 7 adds more detail about the fourth kingdom.

In chapter 2 Babylon was represented by the head of gold, but here by the lion with two wings. The "man's heart" symbolises Babylon's change of character after Nebuchadnezzar's death.

Medo-Persia was represented in chapter 2 by the breast and arms of silver, and here by a bear with three ribs in its mouth. The three ribs in the bear's mouth can be seen as the three main powers conquered by Medo-Persia, which were Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt.

Greece was the belly and thighs of brass in chapter 2 and here it is represented by the leopard with four wings and four heads. When someone travels rapidly, we say they have wings. Similarly the four wings on the leopard denote the speed with which Alexander the Great conquered the world. After Alexander's death his empire was divided into four parts, each ruled by one of his former generals. This is depicted by the four heads of the leopard. Confirmation of this interpretation will be given when we look at Daniel 8.

Finally, the legs of iron represented the Roman Empire in chapter 2, which is represented here as a terrifying beast with ten horns and iron teeth that trampled and crushed.

In chapter two the legs of iron became feet of iron and clay with ten toes. Here the terrifying beast has ten horns, identifying that the beast will be divided into ten kingdoms. But now we find that three of these kingdoms are replaced by an eleventh kingdom that is different from the rest because it has eyes and a mouth and speaks boastful words.

The Ten Kingdoms

The division of the Roman Empire occurred between AD 351 and 476. There is a difference of opinion among historians on the precise time each kingdom arose, but there is general agreement that ten separate kingdoms were ultimately established.

The ten kingdoms most instrumental in breaking up the Roman Empire, and which at some time held territory as separate and independent kingdoms are:

• Huns (some historians name the Alamanni, or Germans, instead of the Huns);
• Ostrogoths;
• Visigoths;
• Franks;
• Vandals;
• Suevi;
• Burgundians;
• Heruli;
• Anglo-Saxons; and
• Lombards.

The three kingdoms that disappeared after the rise of the eleventh (Little Horn) power were the Heruls (493 AD), Vandals (534 AD), Ostrogoths (538 AD).

The Little Horn

Daniel was particularly interested in the fourth beast, and the little horn with the eyes and mouth of a man. Here are nine marks to help us identify the little horn power:

1. It arose from the fourth beast (Daniel 7:8 and 24), that is the Roman Empire.
2. It came after the ten other horns (Daniel 7:24), that is after the break up of the Rome Empire.
3. It was different to the other ten, that is it was not just a political power.
4. It started little but became greater than the other horns (Daniel 7:8 and 20).
5. It replaced three horns, or kingdoms (Daniel 7:8 and 24), so it had the ability to make war.
6. It had eyes like a man (a symbol of intelligence) and it boasted (Daniel 7:8 and 25).
7. It was to oppress the saints (Daniel 7:25).
8. It would try to change times and the laws (Daniel 7:25).
9. It was allowed special powers for "a time, times, and half a time (Daniel 7:25).

Time of the Little Horn

Daniel 7 says that the saints will be handed over to him [the little horn] for a time, times, and half a time. A margin note in some translations identifies this as a year, two years, and half a year.

In the Bible a year is 360 days. So:
one year + two years + half a year = 360 + (2 x 360) + (half of 360).
This is 360+720+180 = 1260 days.

In Bible prophecy one day represents one actual year. So 1,260 prophetic days represents 1,260 years (see Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34).

This provides us with another identifying characteristic of the little horn power. It not only arises from the Roman Empire after the fall of that empire, but it will rule for 1,260 years before losing its power.

The last of the three kingdoms to disappear after the rise of the Little Horn power was the Ostrogoths in 538 AD. Hence we can date the start of the Little Horn's power from this date. Add 1,260 years for the period it will rule and we come to 1798 AD.