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Daniel’s Second Vision (Daniel 7)

Many years after interpreting the vision which Nebuchadnezzar had seen, Daniel experiences an extraordinary vision of his own in which he watches four powerful animals — a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a terrible, non-descript beast boasting ten horns — rise up from the sea amidst the blowing of mighty, boisterous winds. However, it very quickly becomes apparent that this vision, too, must be taken symbolically because a literal meaning would be impossible and non-sensical.

Accordingly, we note first that the passage, Daniel 7:17, stipulates that these four “great beasts” are four great kingdoms which “shall arise out of the earth.” A more accurate translation, however, such as Young’s Literal Translation Of The Bible, translates this verse as: “These great beasts, that are four, are four kings, they rise up from the earth...” Furthermore, a consultation with Strong’s Hebrew-Greek Dictionary confirms that Young was correct in rendering this passage to read as “rise” rather than “shall arise.” The proper translation in this case is important because some have tried to say that all four beasts can appear only after the time of Daniel and Babylon since Daniel was told that all four beasts “shall arise” — which, by implication, supposedly means sometime after the Babylonian Empire ceased to exist. If this were true, it might possibly be easier to argue that the first beast could not represent Babylon — although we would still have to explain why Babylon was also the first of several empires portrayed in Daniel’s first vision. However, a more accurate translation eliminates any such concern by allowing us to harmonize and correlate all of the elements portrayed in the first three visions that were given to Daniel or interpreted by him.

It is important to note, also, that some parts of Daniel’s visions which were futuristic for Daniel are now fulfilled history from our perspective. God (wisely) launched into prophecies concerning the “last days” from the springboard of “empire-history” in order to give us a time-space-historical reference point from which we could properly interpret the end-time prophecies. Furthermore, a complete understanding of all the visions in their entirety was reserved for the “end-times.” (Dan. 8:17-19, 26; 12:4, 9). That is why Daniel was confused by the second and third prophecies when they added important details and information not found in the first vision. However, this practice of gradual or progressive revelation is quite typical of how God operated in biblical times. For instance, God’s plan of salvation through Christ increasingly was revealed to us down through the centuries of time, starting with Adam and Eve with their very limited knowledge, to the epistles and Revelation with their sophisticated and comprehensive view of things.

Daniel 7:1-7
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

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. (KJV)

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