Four Beastly Regimes - Vision
SYNOPSIS – Next, Daniel saw a vision of four beastly creatures ascending from a chaotic sea - Daniel 7:1-6.
The seventh chapter of Daniel is
transitional - It concludes the first half of the book and introduces the main
subjects of the last half. Verbal links are included in the vision to Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream of the “great image,” as well as to the visions of the next several
chapters.
- (Daniel 7:1) – “In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel beheld a dream and visions of his head upon his bed — then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters” – (The Emphasized Bible).
The great image envisioned by Nebuchadnezzar had
a “head of fine gold,” which represented his reign. Each of its four components
signified a different kingdom, beginning with Babylon. Likewise, in Daniel’s
dream-vision, Babylon was the first of the four “beasts” he saw “ascending
from the sea.”
Daniel had identified the “head of gold”
as Nebuchadnezzar, but he did not identify the three subsequent kingdoms. And the
pictorial clues given in his interpretation were too few and ambiguous to link
them to any known historical empires. Likewise, in chapter 7, the identities of
the second, third and fourth beasts are allusive, although more details are
provided - (Daniel 2:37).
Presumably,
since the four kingdoms appear to be in historical sequence, the last three kingdoms
followed Babylon sequentially. If so, there are three plausible
scenarios as to their identities:
- The “Medes and Persians,” Greece, and Rome.
- The Medes, Persia, and Greece.
- The “Medes and Persians,” Greece, and the Seleucid empire.
The “first year of Belshazzar”
means that Daniel received the dream-vision when Babylon was still the dominant
power in the Near East. Belshazzar was the regent who governed the city for his
father, King Nabonidus (556-539 B.C.). Belshazzar was killed when the city fell
to the “Medes and Persians” in October 539 B.C.
“Daniel beheld a dream and visions of his head
upon his bed.” The description is not for stylistic purposes but
provides a verbal link to the earlier dream of Nebuchadnezzar, as follows:
- (Daniel 2:28-29) – “There is a God in heaven that reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed are these; as for you, O king, your thoughts came upon your bed, what should come to pass hereafter.”
The verbal link is deliberate. The four
beasts “ascending from the sea” correspond to the four metallic parts of
king Nebuchadnezzar’s “great image,” and in both dream-visions, the four
parts represent four sequential kingdoms.
- (Daniel 7:2-6) – “I was looking in my vision in the night when, lo, the four winds of the heavens bursting forth upon the great sea; and four large beasts ascending from the sea, diverse one from another. The first like a lion, having the wings of an eagle. I looked until the wings were torn out and it was lifted up from the earth, and stood upon its feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. And, lo, another beast, a second, resembling a bear, and on one side was it raised up with three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth, and thus were they saying to it, Rise, devour much flesh! After that, I was looking, and lo, another like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon its back, and four heads had the beast, and dominion was given to it.”
“The four winds of heaven” were
agitating the surface of the sea, which symbolized restive nations and peoples.
The Aramaic text describes the winds as “bursting forth upon the great sea.”
That is, it was the turbulence that caused the beasts to emerge from the sea.
The verb rendered “ascending” is an
active participle, which denotes action in progress –
Here, a process of “ascending.” The beasts were “ascending” out
of the sea in quick succession - (Daniel 7:17, 8:8, 11:14, Revelation
7:1-3, 17:15).
The beasts were unnatural, composite
creatures with characteristics from disparate species, for example, a lion with
eagle wings. Each creature was driven by animalistic voracity to seize
territory.
The “winged lion” corresponds to the “head
of gold” in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. It represents the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Daniel was familiar with the writings of Jeremiah who also used lions and
eagles to symbolize Babylon, a swift and voracious conqueror - (Jeremiah
4:13, 25:9-14, 49:19-22, Daniel 9:1-2).
In its art and architecture, lions represented
the glory and might of Babylon. One of its most important deities was Ishtar, the
goddess of love and war. She corresponded to the Canaanite deity Ashtoreth (Astarte), and to the Greek god Aphrodite. Her
symbols included the lion. Ishtar was linked to the planet Venus, and Old
Testament references to the “Queen of Heaven” have her in mind - (Jeremiah
7:18, 44:18).
The lion was a powerful predator. Its wings
points to rapidity of movement, and their removal to the curtailment of movement.
Nebuchadnezzar conquered vast territories in only a few short years; however, this
period of rapid expansion ceased after his death.
The lion was “lifted up from the earth,
made to stand,” and it was “given” a human heart. The Aramaic
verb qûm that is rendered “stand” is the same verb that
was applied to Yahweh, the One who “removes and sets up”
kings. Likewise, God caused the “lion” to achieve dominion, and later curtailed
its expansion - (Daniel 2:21, 2:44, 4:17).
The receipt of a human heart parallels the earlier
loss of reason by Nebuchadnezzar and his downfall recorded in chapter 4, and subsequently, his
recovery of a “human heart” - (Daniel 4:16, 4:34-37).
 |
| Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash |
The second beast is likened to a bear with one side raised higher than the other. It corresponds to the silver portion of the earlier image - The torso and two arms that was “inferior” to the head of “fine gold.”
A bear is as strong as a lion but lacks its
agility, being a more ponderous animal. Its two sides correspond to the two
arms of the silver torso and may suggest a divided kingdom. The image is not of
a bear rearing up on its hind legs, but one that elevates its feet on either side
as it steps forward - (Daniel 2:32, 2:39).
The bear grips “three ribs in its teeth”
- prey seized by the ravenous animal. The ribs may represent nations subjugated
by the “bear.” Whether the number “three” is literal or symbolic is
not clear. The bear was commanded to “rise and consume much flesh,” a
summons to further conquests. A bear poised to strike while gripping three ribs
suggests an insatiable appetite.
The third beast resembles a leopard with four
wings and four heads. The “dominion given to it” is a link to the third
or bronze section of Nebuchadnezzar’s image that was destined to “rule over
all the earth” - (Daniel 2:39).
A leopard is also an agile predator, and again,
wings suggest speed. Wings normally occur in pairs; however, the number “four”
means this creature has two pairs of wings. The number “four”
may point to motion in the four directions of the compass.
The four “heads” of the leopard
are not connected to its four wings. Elsewhere in the book, “heads”
represent kings and their realms. The four heads are grouped together,
suggesting they are contemporaneous, not consecutive - A fourfold division of the
kingdom represented by the leopard - (Daniel 2:32-38, 7:20).
In the book of Revelation, the vision
of four “beasts ascending from the sea” is modified - The four creatures
become a single beast summoned
by the “Dragon” to “ascend from the sea.” It includes the same features from the animal
world possessed by the four “beasts from the sea.” However, in Revelation,
the characteristics are listed in reverse order.
The information
provided on the first three beats is minimal and allusive. As will become
apparent, the focus of the vision and its interpretation is on the fourth “beast,”
and especially on its “little horn with a mouth speaking great things.”
Comments
Post a Comment
We encourage free discussions on the commenting system provided by the Google Blogger platform, with the stipulation that conversations remain civil. Comments voicing dissenting views are encouraged.