Now we come to Chapter 7, which is also linked back to a previous chapter, Chapter 2. Before I get into the specifics of Chapters 7 through 12, I must present a disclaimer. These chapters, full of Daniel’s vision of the future, have been controversial for centuries. Most scholars see direct connections between a lot of the specifics of Daniel’s visions and historical events that occurred after Daniel’s lifetime, but before the time of Christ. However, especially for Chapters 11 and 12, it cannot be denied that Daniel is speaking of events that have not yet been fulfilled. I have read many books and watched countless videos where modern preachers and teachers try to connect Daniel’s visions to specific events that have occurred recently, as in my lifetime, or as occurring in world history today for things that are happening now (like, as we speak!).
While some of these speculations are certainly interesting, I just cannot go there. The historical events that appear to have been predicted by Daniel that unfolded in the years between the Old and New Testaments seem pretty obvious, and most bible scholars see it that way. It’s possible that those passages also relate to events taking place in the 20th and 21st centuries, but there is very little consensus on that, and I feel it’s dangerous to dive too deeply into that realm. As I’ll try to explain briefly as we touch on each chapter, when there are other places in the Bible that also rely on Daniel’s visions as a prophetic window into the distant future, we can rely on that.
Otherwise, I think it’s best to leave such discussions to whoever wants to discuss that on their own. Like anything else that happens in the news, I don’t think God is ever surprised about these things, and He will have the final word on any such interpretation when we see Him face to face.
Chapter 7 takes place in “the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon,” (v. 1), which would have been around 553 B.C. This would have been during Daniel’s long period of silence discussed last week that occurred after Chapter 4. Therefore, the events of Chapter 7 precede the events of Chapter 5.
Chapter 7 is the centerpiece of the Book, and is tied to Chapter 2, and it is where we will see most of the thematic concepts of Daniel start to come together. Chapter 7 features another supernatural, prophetic dream, but this time, we have Daniel as the dreamer. In a bit of biblical irony, Daniel, who has always had the God-given power to interpret each of the king’s dreams, is unable to figure out what his own dream means. But, according to v. 15, while still in the midst of his dream, Daniel purposed to approach “one of those standing there and . . . asked him the meaning of all this.” Most scholars agree that the one “standing there” is an angel, who is able to interpret Daniel’s vision for him.
Daniel’s vision involves four beasts, each rising up out of the sea. The first is like a lion, the second like a bear, the third like a winged leopard, each symbolizing an arrogant kingdom. (We’ll get to Beast number 4 later).
Like the statue of Chapter 2, most scholars agree that the arrogant kingdoms represented by the beasts here in Chapter 7 correspond to the same kingdoms we saw represented in the statue in chapter 2. The lion (who has wings like an eagle) represents Babylon. The description in verse 4 about the beast’s wings being torn off, then it being lifted up to stand on two feet like a human and being given a human mind most likely represents what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar in Chapter 4.
Verse 5 describes the bear (which represents Persia) as being “raised up on one of its sides,” which indicates the dominant status of the Persian part of the Medeo-Persian Empire’s alliance. The three ribs “between its teeth” likely represent the Persian Empire’s three principal conquests (discussed last week); the land of the Medes, Lydia, and Babylon. But because the nature of the Medeo-Persian Empire came to feature the Medes as more of a “partner” in the imperial system as opposed to a conquered province (comparable perhaps to Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late 1800s), you could replace the rib representing the Medes with Egypt, which the Persians would conquer later in 525 BC.
Verse 6 describes the leopard (representing the Greek Empire) as having 4 wings and 4 heads. These wings signify the speed with which the Greek empire of Alexander the Great swept over the region and completely overwhelmed the vastness of the Persian Empire (Alexander completely subjugated all of the territory under Persian control and much more in only 4 years).
The four heads represent how the empire was carved up among Alexander’s chief generals into four separate regions after Alexander’s untimely death: Macedonia & Greece; Thrace & Asia Minor; Syria; and Egypt. Despite the breakup of Alexander’s empire in such a short time, verse 6 says that the beast with four heads was “given authority to rule,” and these 4 nations endured for hundreds of years and stamped the Greek culture across the region in such a manner so that its impact was at the center of life in the Middle East for centuries.
Finally, starting in verse 7, we see the coming of what can best be described as a “super beast,” “terrifying and frightening and very powerful.” The irresistible power of this uber-monster is greater than any of the beasts that preceded it and represents the Roman Empire. It is covered with a series of ten horns (“horns” whether on an animal or on a structure (like the altar in the Jerusalem temple) often represent kings or the concept of power in the Old Testament). There is one horn, smaller than the others, which has eyes like a person and a mouth that “spoke boastfully,” which represents a king who would exalt himself above God, and who uses his power to persecute the people of God. In turn, the people of God are personified in a figure referred to in v. 13 as the “Son of Man,” who represents God’s covenant people, and also their king, descended from the line David.
Just as the evil super beast is getting the upper hand, God the Father, identified as the “Ancient of Days,” takes his throne, destroys the super beast, and exalts the Son of Man, taking him into the clouds where he sits at God’s right hand to share in God’s rule over the nations.
We can pause here and see how the first 7 chapters fit together.
The three chapters that discuss the persecution of God’s people (Chapter 1’s narrative involving the young Hebrew men refusing to eat the King’s food, Chapter 3 involving Daniel’s friends being thrown into the furnace, and Chapter 6 discussing Daniel in the lion’s den) are linked together and present a unified concept of faithfulness despite persecution, encouraging hope for God’s suffering people dispersed among the nations of the world. This suffering has its origins in the stories linked together in Chapters 4 and 5, where people have intentionally rebelled against God and have descended into their sin so as to be like wild beasts, which connects back to the visions about the coming future empires told in Chapters 2 and 7, which encourages patience, and that God’s people need to wait on the Lord, who will eventually bring the reality of his kingdom to reign over the world and vindicate God’s suffering people.
But the question left unanswered in Chapters 1 through 7 is: When is God going to bring all this about? How long are we all going to have to wait? That is where the concepts of chapters 8 through 12 come into play.
