Daniel 7

Vision of the 4 beasts

Beast 1

• The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I watched until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man. And a man's heart was given to it.

Beast 2

• like a bear. And it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said this to it: Arise, eat up much flesh

Beast 3

• like a leopard, which had four wings of a bird on its back. The beast also had four heads; and rulership was given to it

Beast 4

• frightening and terrifying, and very strong. And it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet. And it was different from all the beasts before it; and it had ten horns.

What the Bible says

• Dan 7:17 These four great beasts are four kings; they shall arise out of the earth.

• OK… Question:– Which kingdoms are represented by each

beast ???

Daniel’s vision of the 4 beasts

Dan 7:17 These four great beasts are four kings; they shall arise out of the earth.Prophecy jargon: king = kingdom

The Traditional Interpretation

• Daniel’s 7 vision of the 4 beasts is the same as Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (statue)

Babylon

Greece

Roman

Persian

Islam

The Traditional Interpretation

• The lion fitly symbolized Babylon

• The Babylonian Empire is indeed very well known for its Lion Symbol

• Wings plugged symbolizes God strking Nebucadnessar with madness

The Traditional Interpretation

• The bear can be none other than Medo-Persia. • Its raising itself on one side denotes the Persians

soon becoming the dominant power• The "three ribs... between the teeth of it" probably

symbolize three prominent territories that the Medo-Persian power conquered– Lydia, – Babylonia, and – Egypt.

The Traditional Interpretation

• The leopard, symbolizing Grecia,

• Four wings: speed - an appropriate picture of the great speed of its conquests.

• The four heads indicate the division of Alexander's empire among his generals and their successors following his untimely death

The Traditional Interpretation

• The fourth kingdom is Rome

• It has two distinct phases.

• The nondescript beast symbolizes the fourth kingdom in its first phase as a mighty power that would come to dominate the then-known world after the Greek empire. – Historians have commonly termed this first phase as Pagan Rome.

• The second phase is symbolized in chapter 7 by a “Little Horn” growing out of the head of the fourth beast. – The little horn is a new feature in this vision.

Objections against traditional interpretation

• The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I watched until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man. And a man's heart was given to it.

Babylonian Empire

What does it mean that a man’s heart given to the Babylonian Empire ?

Why are the wings plucked away ??

Objections against traditional interpretation

• like a bear. And it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said this to it: Arise, eat up much flesh

Persian Empire did not particularly “eat much more flesh” than the Roman empire

Persian EmpireWhat is “raised itself up on one side” ??

Objections against traditional interpretation

• like a leopard, which had four wings of a bird on its back. The beast also had four heads; and rulership was given to it

Greek Empire

Alexander conquered the world – nobody GAVE him the rulership… He TOOK POWER himself !!!

Objections against traditional interpretation

• The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time

• While the 4th beast is destroyed !!!

• Seems to me that:– The other 3 beasts (empires) exist

while the 4th beast exists !!!– Otherwise, other beasts cannot be

allowed to live for a period of time AFTER the 4th beast is destroyed !!

My interpretation the 4 beasts• Key: the vision is given to Daniel (God’s prophet)

• The 4 beasts are 4 kingdoms that will play an important role in the history of Israel

• The vision is for the End Time

• Look for 4 kingdoms near the End Time that have profound influence in the course of Israel’s history !

• Crucial Events of Israel:– 1918: Signing of the Belfour Declaration (establishment of a national

home for the Jewish people in Palestine)

– 1942: Holocaust

– ????: Peace Treaty; give up control of Jerusalem

– ????: Destruction of Jewish State (Jacob’s trouble)

My Interpretation: Beast 1

• The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I watched until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man. And a man's heart was given to it.

Great Britain started the process of establishing a HOME LAND for the Jews. For this, a man’s heart was given to it.

Great Britain USA

My Interpretation: Beast 2• like a bear.

And it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said this to it: Arise, eat up much flesh

Holocaust

The Third Reich

Germany !!!

Beast 2

• like a bear ?• Why is Nazi Germany

described with a bear ???

City emblem of Berlin is the Brown Bear !!!

My Interpretation: Beast 3

• like a leopard, which had four wings of a bird on its back. The beast also had four heads; and rulership was given to it

My Interpretation: Beast 3

• like a leopard, which had four wings of a bird on its back. The beast also had four heads; and rulership was given to it

My Interpretation: Beast 4

• frightening and terrifying, and very strong. And it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet. And it was different from all the beasts before it; and it had ten horns.

Islamic Caliphate under Islam’s Messiah – “Mahdi”

My Interpretation: Beast 4

(Imam Mahdi)

Why I believe Beast 4 is Islam

See Videos in C:\Islam\+Islam-in-their-own-words-FoxNews

What will Beast 4 do

• Dan 7:23 … The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth, and shall trample it and crush it. – Sura 2:191: "Slay them wherever you find them. Drive them out of

the places from which they drove you. Idolatry is more grievous than bloodshed.

– Sura 2:193: "Fight against them (non-Muslims) until idolatry is no more and God's religion (Islam) reigns supreme.

– Sura 2:216: "Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it. But you may hate a thing although it is good for you, and love a thing although it is bad for you. God knows, but you know not."

What will Beast 4 do• Dan 7:8 I was thinking about the horns, and

behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom three of the first horns were uprooted. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

• Dan 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise. And another shall arise after them. And he shall be different from the first, and he shall humble three kings.– The little horn is the Mahdi– When he appears, not all Islamic leaders will follow him– He will depose 3 Islamic leaders

What will Beast 4 do

• Dan 7:25 And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and plot to change times and laws. And they (= the saints) shall be given into his hand until a time and times and one-half time. – The Mahdi will proclaim Allah as the true god and denounce Jehovah

– The Mahdi will persecute Christians for 3 ½ years

– When Islam conquers a territory, it will change the law to Sharia (Islamic) law and the calendar to the Islamic calendar (12 lunar months)

What will Beast 4 do

• Dan 7:11 …. I watched until the beast (=Beast 4) was slain, and his body was destroyed and given to the burning flame.

• Dan 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his rulership, to cut off and to destroy until the end.

• Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet doing signs before it, (by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast), and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire burning with brimstone. – The Mahdi will only be defeated by Jesus when He returns (and

rescue His people (Jews)– After defeating the Mahdi, he (and the false Jesus who helps

the Mahdi) will be tossed into the Lake of Fire (= the 2nd death)

What happens afterwards…• Dan 7:12 And the rest of the beasts, their

dominion was taken away. Yet their lives were made longer for a season and time. – The other kingdoms are spared, and will be ruled by Jesus

• Dan 7:14 And dominion and glory was given Him, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages, should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. – Jesus establish God’s kingdom on Earth– God dwells with men forever– (Rev 20: after one more fight, heaven will come down to

earth)