The Book of Daniel is filled with prophecy- so far we've read through six chapters of Daniel and we've learned the following-
1. Daniel, a young Jewish man was taken captive along with others when Jerusalem was besieged by Babylonian forces.
2. The king of Babylon had a dream that bothered him and only Daniel could tell him the dream and its meaning because God gave the knowledge to him.
3. The dream and its meaning were prophetic and meant for ALL OF US.
4. The dream depicted history until Christ's return.
5. Babylon, Medes-Perisa, Greece, Rome, Rome divided, and Christ's return.
6. Rome divided into ten kingdoms and there would never be another huge kingdom in that area, it would forever remain divided until Christ's second coming.
7. We live in the kingdoms divided.
8. All the kingdoms came to pass- PREDICTED before they did so. NOTHING will stop the entire prophecy from coming to pass. NOTHING.
9. We learned that God would protect His chosen as a testament to HIS Glory and Power over all others that were perceived as gods as long as those who are His keep their faith in Him.
10. We learned that God gave warning prophecies to kings and the prophecies came to pass as they were told they would.
All the above is PROOF to those who have studied, that GOD is in control! God thus far has given prophecies for US, and He doesn’t stop at that one general prophetic time piece of a statue, but He goes into great depths of prophecies even more detailed about time, until not only Christ appears, but Christ returns. We will be studying these prophecies as we continue on with the book of Daniel. May God bless us with full comprehension of all we need to know to be wholly His in faith!
This is a study of Daniel Chapter Seven READ Daniel 7:1 -'In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed; then be wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.'
This is the same Belshazzar mentioned in chapter five Remember- Daniel 5:1 -'Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.' This is right after Chapter four in which King Nebuchadnezzar died at the end.
Chronologically this chapter PRECEDES chapter five; but chronological order has been disregarded in order that the historical part of the book might stand by itself, and the prophetic part, which were studying now might not be interrupted by writings of that sort. So bear this in mind as we continue please.
READ Daniel 7:2,3 -'Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great (1)______ came up from the sea, diverse one from another.'
Daniel is talking about his own vision here. Remember all Scripture is to be taken literally, unless there exists some good reason for supposing it to be figurative; and all that is figurative is to be interpreted by that which is literal. The language here used is symbolic, is evident from verse 17, which reads, "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth." And to show that kingdoms are intended, and not merely individual kings, the angel continues, "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom." And further, in the explanation of verse 23, the angel said, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth."
These beasts are therefore symbols of four great kingdoms and the circumstances under which they arose, and the means by which they were established, as depicted in prophecy, are symbolic also. The symbols introduced are, the A) four winds, B) the sea, C) four great beasts, D) ten horns, and E) another horn which had eyes and a mouth, and rose up in war against God and his people. We have now to inquire what they each mean, what each symbol stands for.
A) Winds-- in symbolic language, winds denote strife, political commotion, and war. READ Jer. 25: 31, 32, 33: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth." Here the prophet speaks of a controversy which the Lord is to have with all nations, when the wicked shall be given to the sword, and the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth to the other; and the strife and commotion which produces all this destruction is called a great whirlwind.
That (2)_____ are a symbol for strife and war is further evident from a consideration of the vision itself, for as the result of the striving of the winds, kingdoms arise and fall; and these events are accomplished through political strife. It makes sense.
The Bible definition of sea, or waters-- when used as a symbol-- is peoples, and nations, and tongues. In proof of this, READ Rev. 17:15, where it is without a doubt declared.
READ Rev. 17:15- 'And he saith unto me, The (3) ______ which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.'
The definition of the symbol of the four beasts is given to Daniel at the close of the vision.
READ Dan. 7:17- "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth." The scope of the vision is definitely opened before us. Let's continue-- Remember Dan. 7:3- 'And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.'
I'm interjecting here for a moment just to say all of this can be overwhelming at first, and very confusing. The tendency to shrug it off as something you're incapable of comprehending is going to be one of Satan's urgings to keep you from truth. It is a lot. It is strange. We aren't Bible scholars but simple people, with simple educations, with ordinary minds and this takes actual studying, not just a casual reading over. Will it stick in your memory right off? Chances are it won't. It's more likely that you may need to study and read this over and over and you many never have it memorized. Because we aren't able to memorize something doesn't make it unimportant. There are many very important things in our lives we don't have memorized, but that doesn't mean we don't have a rudimentary ability to recall some of it, and to know the truth behind what we can't memorize word for word. As mentioned above, Satan doesn't want us comprehending truth found in prophecy, he wants it to remain a closed book for all time. He would have us believe lies not truth, and he would have us not study it for ourselves but let others study it for us and tell us what they think we should know. We need to dig into this ourselves. We need the experience of others knowledge but with that we need our own thoughts, our own prayers, our understanding and the wisdom from God to know truth from error. With prophecy- history reveals truth and we need to study it all. No, we aren't Bible scholars and we aren't historians, but we are Christians seeking truth that God would have us know. Let us continue, and if it gets overwhelming, take a break, say a prayer, go back and reread things, look up Bible verses and historical truth, let God guide you through the Holy Spirit's leading.
The four beasts-
READ Daniel 7:4 - 'The first was like a (4) ___ , 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.'
'The first was like a lion' - The Lion. As these beasts denote four kings, or kingdoms, we have to wonder, What four?
These beasts do not rise all at once, but consecutively, as they are spoken of as first, second, etc.; and the last one is in existence when all earthly scenes are brought to an end by the final Judgment.
Now, from the time of Daniel to the end of this world's history, there were to be but ____ major kingdoms, as we learn from Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great image in chapter 2. Daniel was still living under the same kingdom which he had declared, in his interpretation of the king's dream, about sixty-five years before, to be the head of gold.
The first beast of this vision must therefore denote the same as the head of gold of the great image, namely, the kingdom of Babylon, and the other beasts the succeeding kingdoms shown by that image. But if this vision covers essentially the same ground as the image of chapter 2, the question might arise why it is given; why was not the vision of chapter two sufficient? The possible answer, that as the same ground is passed over again and again additional characteristics might be brought out, and additional facts and features might be presented. It is here that we have "line upon line."
READ Isaiah 28:9, 10 'Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts. 28:10 For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little'
Here four earthly governments are viewed as heaven sees them. Their true character is shown by the symbol of wild and ravenous beasts. Four beasts.
At first the lion had eagle's wings, denoting the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchadnezzar.
At this point in the vision a change had taken place; its wings had been plucked. It no longer flew like an eagle upon its prey. The boldness and spirit of the lion were gone. A man's heart, weak compared to the heart of a lion, had taken its place. Such was emphatically the case in history with the nation of Babylon during the closing years of its history, when it had become enfeebled through wealth and luxury. History proves this to be the case.
(Quick synopsis) The FIRST beast, the FIRST kingdom, the head of gold, the lion with eagle wings, wings to be plucked, the lion made to assume an upright position unable to hunt, run, a lion whose strong heart was replaced by a much weaker human heart- Babylonian kingdom, strong and fierce eventually replaced as its rulership weakened, by the next kingdom. This is historically proven, historically realized as truth. This prophecy came to pass.
READ Daniel 7:5 'And behold another beast, a second, like to a (6)____, 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 Bear - again as in the great image of Daniel chapter two, so in this series of symbols a marked deterioration will be noticed as we descend from one kingdom to another. The silver of the breast and arms was inferior to the gold of the head. The bear was inferior to the lion. Medo-Persia fell short of Babylon in wealth and magnificence, and the brilliancy of its career.
And now we come to additional particulars respecting this power. The bear raised itself up on one side. This kingdom was composed of two nationalities, the Medes and Persians. The same fact is represented by the two horns of the ram of chapter 8. Of these horns it is said that the higher came up last; and of the bear that it raised itself up on one side; and this was fulfilled by the Persian division of the kingdom, which came up last, but attained the higher importance, becoming the controlling influence in the nation.
The three ribs perhaps signify the three provinces of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, which were especially ground down and oppressed by this power. Their saying unto it, "Arise, devour much flesh," would naturally refer to the stimulus given to the Medes and Persians, by the overthrow of these provinces, to plan and undertake more extensive conquests. The character of the power is well represented by a bear. The Medes and Persians were cruel and ravenous, robbers and spoilers of the people. As already noticed in the study of chapter two, this kingdom dated from the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus, B. C. 538, and continued to the battle of Arbela, B. C. 331, a period of 207 years.
(Quick synopsis) The SECOND beast, the SECOND kingdom- arms and chest of silver- Medo-Persia, a bear - raised up one side stronger than the other, three parts of this kingdom caught in the bear's teeth, historically Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt were brutalized as Persia rose up stronger than the Medes. Historically proven.
(1) beasts - Daniel 7:3
(2) winds
(3) waters - Revelation 17:15
(4) lion - Daniel 7:4
(5) four
(6) bear - Daniel 7:5
To be continued… There's so much to study and learn, let's take it slow. May God bless us and keep us in HIM always, letting us know HIS truth!