Daniel 7:1 - Meaning and Application

The date of this chapter puts it before chapter 5, which was in Belshazzar’s last year, and before chapter 6, which was in Darius’s first year. Daniel received these visions in Belshazzar’s first year, when the Jewish captivity in Babylon was nearing its end. Belshazzar’s name is spelled differently here in Hebrew than it was before. The earlier form means, “Bel keeps and stores up riches,” while this one means, “Bel is set on fire by the enemy.” Bel was the Chaldean god. He had once seemed to prosper, but now he was to be destroyed.

These verses give Daniel’s vision of the four kingdoms that oppressed the Jews. Notice the setting of the vision. Daniel had already interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and now God gave him similar revelations of his own (Daniel 7:1). He saw visions in his mind while he was in bed and asleep. God sometimes revealed himself and his purposes to people in deep sleep (Job 33:15), because when we are most withdrawn from the world and least distracted by our senses, we are best prepared for fellowship with God.

When Daniel woke, he wrote down the dream for himself so he would not forget it. He also told the main points to his fellow Jews for their benefit, and put it in writing so people far away could hear of it too. He wanted it preserved for their children, who would later see these things fulfilled. The Jews had misunderstood some prophecies from Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and they had comforted themselves with the hope that once they returned to their land, they would enjoy perfect peace. God used this prophet to warn them not to deceive themselves in that way. Their troubles would not end so quickly, and disappointment would make their suffering even heavier. The promised blessing would come in the spiritual gifts of the kingdom of grace. Christ later told his disciples to expect persecution, while the promises they relied on would be fully kept in the eternal blessings of the kingdom of glory.

Daniel both wrote these things and spoke them, showing that the church should be taught both by Scripture and by ministers’ preaching, by the written word and by spoken word. Ministers, in their preaching, are to explain the main points already written down.

The vision itself foretells the changes of government in the nations under which the Jewish church would live in later years. Daniel saw the four winds struggling on the great sea (Daniel 7:2). They fought for the strongest blast, and at last for the only power. This pictures rival princes contending for empire, and the shaking of nations that comes from their struggles. The great monarchies Daniel was about to see all rose out of such conflict. One strong wind can stir the sea greatly, but what turmoil must come when all four winds battle for control? That is what the kings of the earth are often really fighting for in war. Their wars are loud and violent, like winds in conflict, while the poor sea is tossed, torn, and shattered by their rage. This world is like a stormy sea, because proud and ambitious spirits keep disturbing it.

Then Daniel saw four great beasts rising from the sea, from those troubled waters where ambitious minds love to hunt. The monarchies are shown as beasts because they are so often built up and held together by savage force and tyranny. These beasts were different from one another (Daniel 7:3), showing the different character of the nations they represented.

The first beast was like a lion (Daniel 7:4). This was the Chaldean empire, fierce and strong, and it made kings act as absolute rulers. It had eagle’s wings, which pictures how quickly Nebuchadnezzar conquered kingdoms. But Daniel soon saw the wings torn off, showing that their victorious progress was suddenly stopped. Some countries that had paid them tribute rebelled and stood against them. So this strange creature, a winged lion, was made to stand on its feet like a man, and a human heart was given to it. It lost the bold heart of a lion, for which it had once been known. It became weak, fearful, and unable to act. They were forced to learn that they were only men. Sometimes a nation’s courage drops so low that what once led the nations later becomes their tail.

The second beast was like a bear (Daniel 7:5). This was the Persian empire, not as noble as the first, but still very greedy and destructive. It rose up on one side against the lion and soon overpowered it. It rose up one dominion, as some read it. Persia and Media, which in Nebuchadnezzar’s image were the two arms joined to one body, now formed a shared rule. The bear had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, the remains of the nations it had eaten. These showed both its hunger and the fact that, though it had devoured much, it could not devour everything. Some ribs were still stuck in its teeth, which it could not crush. Then it was told, “Arise and eat much flesh.” In other words, its rulers would stir up kings and people alike to keep conquering and to let nothing stand in their way. Note that unjust conquest is like the work of beasts of prey. In one way it is even worse, because wild beasts do not attack their own kind, while wicked and unreasonable people often do.

The third beast was like a leopard (Daniel 7:6). This was the Greek empire, founded by Alexander the Great. Like a leopard, it was quick, crafty, and cruel. It had four wings, and the lion had only two, showing that Alexander moved even faster in conquest than Nebuchadnezzar had done. In six years he gained the whole Persian empire, much of Asia besides, and made himself master of Syria, Egypt, India, and other lands. This beast had four heads because after Alexander’s death his empire was divided among his four chief generals. Seleucus Nicanor received Asia the Great. Perdiccas, and later Antigonus, received Asia the Less. Cassander received Macedonia. Ptolemy received Egypt. Dominion was given to this beast, and it was given by God, from whom all promotion comes.

The fourth beast was even more fierce, frightening, and harmful than the others. It was unlike all the rest, and there was no beast among them that could truly compare with it (Daniel 7:7).

Scholars do not agree about this unnamed beast. Some take it to mean the Roman Empire, which in its greatest power included ten kingdoms, such as Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Britain, Sarmatia, Pannonia, Asia, Greece, and Egypt. On that view, the little horn that rose after three of the other horns fell (Daniel 7:8) is the Turkish Empire, which arose in the place of Asia, Greece, and Egypt.

Others understand the fourth beast to be the kingdom of Syria, the line of the Seleucids. That kingdom was very cruel and harsh toward the Jews, as Josephus and the history of the Maccabees show. In that respect, it was unlike the powers before it, because none of those earlier empires forced the Jews to give up their religion. The kings of Syria did press them to do that, and they treated them with great brutality.

Their armies and commanders were the great iron teeth with which they devoured and broke in pieces God’s people, and they trampled on the rest. The ten horns are then taken to mean ten kings who ruled one after another in Syria. The little horn would be Antiochus Epiphanes, the last of the ten, who by one means or another pushed aside three kings and took the rule.

He was a man of great cleverness, which is why he is said to have eyes like a man’s eyes. He was also very bold and reckless, with a mouth speaking great things. We will meet him again later in these prophecies.