The Four Beasts of Daniel 7 – Urgent Prophecy Revealed (Part 1)

The book of Daniel is packed with amazing prophecies that are very relevant in our world right now.  God gives Daniel some mind-blowing visions about the end times that are starting to come to pass.

It’s amazing just how accurate Daniel’s visions are, and I think it is exciting we are the generation that gets the opportunity to be eyewitnesses to the fulfillment of these prophesies.

Daniel 7 is a particularly important vision because God reveals to Daniel the nations that are dominant powers during the last days leading up to the second coming of Jesus.

This prophecy is urgent for us today because three of these beasts are already among us, and we are witnessing the birth of the dreadful fourth beast.

If you are not familiar with Daniel chapter 7, don’t worry, we will explore in depth every aspect of Daniel’s four beast prophecy in this 4 part series.

Here is exactly what we will dive into:

Overview of the Daniel 7 Prophecy

Before we dive into this prophecy, it is important to establish an overview of these scriptures so we have a good foundational understanding of this particular chapter.

Here is the first part of Daniel 7 starting at verse 2:

2 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 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.

I want to focus our attention on the four beasts…

Daniel said these beasts were:

=> A lion with eagle’s wings

=> Bear

=> Four headed leopard with four wings of a fowl

=> Ten horned beast

It’s also important to note that Daniel stated these four beasts were all different, meaning they represent 4 different things (which we will look at shortly).

What Do These Beasts Represent Exactly?

Thankfully we don’t have to guess, Daniel 7:16-17 gives us the answer:

16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

They are four kings, which represent four kingdoms, or four countries.

But which four countries do the beasts represent? To answer that, I think we should first look at what they aren’t…

The Big Misconception Concerning the Four Beasts

The biggest misconception concerning the identity of these four beasts is the idea they are the same countries in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, found in Daniel 2.

In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a statue that represents five dominant kingdoms/nations:

-Babylon

-Media-Persia

-Greece

-Rome

-The iron mingled with clay kingdom

So many articles and books I have read on Daniel 7 make the inaccurate assumption that the lion, bear, leopard, and ten horned beast represent Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

Where Did This Belief Originate?

I’m not exactly sure where this teaching first began, but I was able to trace it all the way back to a commentary written by a Roman Catholic named Jerome, who lived from about 342-420 AD.

He taught this belief that Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome were the identity of the Daniel 7 beasts.  Here is a link to his Daniel commentary so you can look for yourself: Daniel Commentary

This teaching continues to be one of the main interpretations of this scripture by many of the mainstream religions. However, problems present themselves with this view on Daniel 7.

The Daniel 12:4 & 9 Problem

For anyone perpetuating the viewpoint of the Daniel 7 beasts representing ancient civilizations that no longer exist, they have a huge problem…

In Daniel chapter 12:4, Daniel is instructed to “shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

Then in verse 9 Daniel is told, “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.”

The meaning of these two verses are very clear, especially with verse 9: full understanding of the book of Daniel won’t be unlocked until the end time.

That means the people living in the end time would be the ones who could fully understand Daniel’s end time visions.

What am I saying?

A theologian from the 4^th century will not be able to interpret Daniel’s visions correctly.  So, it is a waste of time to base an interpretation of Daniel 7 from early church scholars or theologians.  They wouldn’t have had a clue.

That alone should be all we need to debunk the ancient civilization view of Daniel 7; but wait there is more…

The Daniel Chapter 7 & 2 Comparison is A Big Assumption

Daniel 7 never makes mention of the Nebuchadnezzar dream of Daniel 2.  In fact, many commentators will tell you in their writing that they make this assumption. 

I think one author from prewrathrapture.com says it best:

It has long been assumed by most conservatives and some liberals that Daniel 2 and Daniel 7

detail the history of four kingdoms: (1) Babylon; (2) Medo-Persia; (3) Greece; and (4) Rome.

To reach this conclusion, most must base it on similarities between these two chapters, because there is no explicit basis for this claim. This is very important.

Daniel does not explicitly state that the same four kingdoms are represented in both chapters. The reader needs to know that there are truly significant differences between these two chapters.

So what are the differences between Daniel 7 and Daniel 2?

The Two Major Differences

Daniel 2 represents successive kingdoms, but Daniel 7 represents kingdoms that are dominant powers at the same time.

In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a statue that represented five kingdoms: Babylon, Medes & Persia, Greece, Rome, and the ten king nation that hasn’t manifested it self yet. 

In reading Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream it’s clear these nations rise one after another.

Babylon would be overtaken by the Median Persian empire.  The Median Persian empire would be dominant until the Greece empire rose up and took them over.  Then Rome rose to power and put down the Greece empire.

This also bears itself out in Daniel 8 with the vision of the ram and goat.  The ram represented the Median Persian empire, and the goat represented the kingdom of Greece.  Daniel’s vision gave the accurate account of Greece defeating the Median Persian empire.

Notice how only one nation/kingdom had major dominance of that region at one time.  However, this isn’t the case with the nations in Daniel 7.

Read Daniel 7:11-12

I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

This is the portion of scripture where Jesus destroys the fourth beast upon his return.  I want you to take a close look at verse 12…

When Jesus returns he destroys the 4^th beast and takes away the dominion of the other beasts.  What does that mean?

All four nations are present and are dominant when Jesus returns to rule the world.  It’s not one nation falling and another rising like in Daniel 2.

All the nations represented in Daniel 7 are present when Jesus takes dominion over the world (Daniel 7:14).

What about Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome? Are they super powers right now? Not even close.

Babylon lays in ruins, Media-Persia is gone, Greece is just a nice city to visit in Italy, and Rome is as well.  Needless to say, these once dominant nations are not the nations represented by Daniel’s vision in chapter 7.

There is only one common thread found in both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7: the ten horned beast.  In fact, the book of Daniel spends more time on this last beast than any of the others, which we will examine shortly.

What Do These Beasts Represent?

Now that we know which nations these beasts don’t represent, it’s time to postulate which nations these beasts most likely represent.

However, to keep this article from becoming a book, you will have to wait for part two of this Daniel 7 study to find out which nations these four beasts most likely represent.