Daniel 7, Judgment & Kingdom

Summary so far

It is now time to wrap up Daniel 7 and bring it to a conclusion. So far in Daniel we have seen in beastly symbols the rise and fall of empires outlining the history of the world. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, with Rome fragmenting with the rise of the ten barbarian kingdoms represented by ten horns coming out of the 4th beast. And at the last we saw another “little horn�?rise up among the other ten, uprooting three of those ten in the process. A “little horn�?that in time would grow to be greater than any of the other ten. A “little horn�?that, once unleashed, would with its new found greatness make war on and persecute the true saints of God for a “time, times and the dividing of times.�?/FONT>

The Ancient of Days

At this point the focus of the prophecy suddenly shifts from the events happening on earth to events happening in heaven. Daniel’s attention is directed upward, and he sees thrones being place in preparation for the judgment. And One who is “the Ancient of Days,�?who can be none other than God the Father, is seated and the books are opened.

Daniel 7:21 "I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, 22 "until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

Daniel7:26 'But the court shall be seated, And they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever. 27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. �?

Two dimensions of divine judgment, one positive and one negative is expressed in these verses. The judgment is pronounced “in favor of the saints of the Most High�?(verse 22) on one hand, and against their enemies on the other. A negative judgment against the little horn, and a positive judgment for the saints.

His attention turned to earth, Daniel is permitted to see the final end of the beast and of the little horn. He saw that as the result of the judgment they were to be cast into the fire, consumed and destroyed forever. He was also permitted to see the final salvation of God’s oppressed and persecuted saint as they receive the kingdom.

Revelation 13 again; The Amalgamated Beast

But after speaking of how the fourth beast would be “given to the burning flame�?in verse 11, Daniel goes on to make a statement that clears up a mystery in Revelation. He says:

We have already noted in previous postings how the beasts of Daniel 7 and this beast in Revelation 13 had similar origins, coming up out of the sea. But note the description of this beast in Revelation.

Going backwards from the fourth unnamed beast in Daniel 7, we have a leopard, a bear, and a lion. This beast in Revelation is like a LEOPARD, had the feet of a BEAR, and the mouth of a LION.

But that is not all. If you count the heads of the four beasts of Daniel 7 -- How many do you have? The lion, the bear, and the fourth beast each had one head. The leopard had four, for a total of seven heads. How many heads does the beast in Revelation 13 have? Seven. And how many horns? Of all the beasts In Daniel 7, only the fourth beast had any horns and it had ten of them. How many horns does this beast in Revelation 13 have? Ten.

These similarities between the four beasts in Daniel 7 and this beast in Revelation 13 are not accidental. The vision of Daniel 7 and that of Revelation 13 are related. Daniel and John are both given a view of the same thing. Only one is looking at it from a different historical perspective than the other. What Daniel sees as four separate beasts, John sees as one. An amalgamation of Daniel’s four.

But how can this be? Daniel 7:12 tells us.

Speaking of the first three beasts, Daniel writes: “Their dominion�?was “taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.�?The territory and subjects and culture of the Babylonian kingdom still existed, though made subject to the Persians. So with the Persians kingdom in respect to Greece, and Greece in respect to Rome.

And so the lion was merged into the bear, and the bear into the leopard, and the leopard into the fourth beast. But the fourth beast does not merely have its dominion taken away, it is slain. It’s career ends in the lake of fire. There is no successor beast to the 4th beast. It is the last in the line. And so while in a manner of speaking each of the proceeding three beasts lived on in their successors, it all terminates with the 4th beast.

And by the way, lest you put a too narrow definition on the fourth beast as Rome; remember the ten horns of this beast are also part of the beast. They do not exist independently of it. Rome is represented here in its two phases: first as a single united empire, and second as a divided empire -- but both phases are of the same beast.

Some visible examples of this amalgamation -- The 60 seconds that make up a minute. The 60 minutes that make up an hour, The 24 hours that make up a day are all Babylonian influences in our lives today - remnants of their base 60 numerical system. And the New Age movement; it is nothing more than a modern day repackaging of the mystics arts and sciences of the Babylonian wise men. Likewise Persia and Greece have left their mark on our present day world.

And so in Revelation 13 we find this beast made up of bits and pieces of all these other beasts that are now gone, and yet which in a manner of speaking, live on.

“the Son of Man�?/STRONG>