Daniel 7:1-14

7:2-6 | Daniel, first prophesies of ancient kingdoms here, then in 7:7 and beyond, he fast forwards to the time when the Lord will come again, mentioning the 10 horns of a future confederation of nations. More than 2,000 years separate the ancient rulers referenced in this passage from the figures in 7:7 – the king, the Antichrist, and the Son of Man.

7:2 | In his dream, Daniel stands by the Great Sea (the Mediterranean) as winds from all four points of the compass blow in, churning up the water. This portrays the world’s chaotic conditions.

7:3-8 | Throughout history, animals have often been used as symbols of kingdoms or governments. The four great beasts that come up out of the sea in Daniel’s vision are the same nations in the same sequence as Daniel 2 – only this time, the viewpoint is God’s. Where Nebuchadnezzar saw a monument to human achievement and national conquest (symbolized by the precious metals of the statue in his dream), Daniel saw animalistic kingdoms headed for destruction.

7:4 | The lion and eagle are the king of beasts and the king of birds, respectively. The symbol of the Babylonian Empire was a winged lion, symbolized by the head of gold in Daniel 2. The head of gold has become a lion in God’s eyes. The wings indicate the swift conquest of a strong and cruel kingdom.

7:5 | The second animal is a bear, representing the Medo-Persian Empire. Bears are mentioned 13 times in the Bible – all of them in reference to ferocious, violent behavior. God grants this second kingdom the authority to subjugate many nations. Historians tell us that Medo-Persia conquered Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt.

7:6 | The leopard – known in the animal kingdom as swift and cunning, with an insatiable appetite for blood – symbolizes Greece. The four wings on the back of the Leopard speak of conquest and of its ability to strike fast, an accurate picture of Alexander the Great and his swift capture of an entire region. After he died in 323 BC, his kingdom was divided among his four generals – perfectly fitting the picture of the leopard’s four heads.

7:7-8 |The fourth beast, with huge iron teeth signifying its ferocity and fierceness, can be compared to no animal. This is cruel, imperialistic Rome, where crucifixion was invented. Rome hung Jesus and Peter on crosses, beheaded Paul, banished John, and burned Christians. The horns are 10 kingdoms that will rule simultaneously. From them will arise one little horn who will conquer the others, dominate the entire empire, and eventually become world dictator – the Antichrist. There has never been a 10-part Roman Empire, so this must speak of the future.

7:9-10 | This is the only place in the Bible that refers to God the Father as the Ancient of Days – a picture of Him in huma form. The term literally means “the elderly One, the One who has been around forever, the One who never had a beginning.”

7:11-12 | The beast is the Antichrist who rises up as part of the fourth dynasty. He will reign over the earth for seven years as the ruler of Satan’s evil enterprise, and then the Supreme Judge of the whole world will destroy him. The prefix anti means “against,” but in the Greek language, it also means “instead of.” The Antichrist is someone who is both against Christ and imitate Christ in an effort to put himself in the place where Christ belongs.