The Gospel Truth and Bible Prophecy

Chapter Five: Beasts In Our Midst

About 50 years after Daniel received the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2, he was given a vision of four beasts. Here, God is building on His prophetic structure and more keys are given to help unlock the puzzle.

Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. (2) And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. (3) 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. (4) And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up 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. (5) 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. (6) 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. (7) I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things (8) - (Daniel 7:3-8).

In this vision of Daniel's we find four beasts: the lion (with eagle's wings), the bear, the leopard, and the one with ten horns. We also see a little horn, which came up from the ten-horned beast.

First of all, we need to find out the meaning of the term "beast." For that, we only have to go a few more verses down in the chapter:

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth... (Daniel 7:17).

Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces (Daniel 7:23).

So, here we see that a "beast" represents kingdoms, or nations. And this fourth beast will be diverse from all other kingdoms. What about the horns?

And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings (Daniel 7:24).

The horns, then, represent kings, and here they represent the leaders of the kingdom of the fourth beast. And the small horn that arises from among them represents yet another king, who will subdue three of the ten kings of the fourth beast.

There are two commonly accepted interpretations of these four beasts. The traditional view states that these four beasts are the same as the kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's statue in Daniel 2. The more modern interpretation is that they represent present-day nations, most believing them to be England (Lion), America (Eagle), Russia (Bear), and Germany (Leopard).

Remember two of the key points in understanding Scripture:

1. Prophecies, especially those pertaining to the last days, are Middle East and Israel-centric. That area is the center of God's universe.

2. And, to interpret Scripture we must use Scripture.

In applying these two principles, I believe the Bible clearly indicates that the traditional interpretation is correct – the beasts of Daniel 7 are the same empires as the "metals" of Daniel 2. Let's look again at Daniel 7:2, 3 for confirmation:

Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. (2) And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. (3)