Daniel’s Dream
“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. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse from one another.” Daniel 6:1-3
Daniel knew that his dreams weren’t just some fanciful, incoherent mind pictures conjured up by a vivid imagination, but they were messages from God to foretell future events to serve as a warning to the ungodly and a hope to God’s people. His dreams consisted of symbols, thus in order to understand them is to let God’s word explain them through other passages. Jeremiah 25:31-33 uses the term “whirlwind” to describe destruction upon the nations. The four winds of which Daniel dreamed were not winds of nature, like we experience in a rainstorm, but rather symbolic of four monarchies which, at different times, strove against one another for dominion over the great sea, which is the symbol of mankind. The four monarchies were revealed in a dream which Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar’s father, had: Babylon, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, all four which dominated Israel at different times. The leaders of these monarchies were the great beasts who arose from the multitudes (the sea). Each had his own goals for ruling the world.
The first beast was like a lion that possessed eagle’s wings. Isaiah 5:29 and Jeremiah 4:7 refer to the kingdom which would overtake and capture Judah as a “lion”. This kingdom was Babylon, and in Jeremiah 48:40 and Ezekiel 17:3, Babylon was referred to as flying like a great eagle, indicative of the speed at which Nebuchadnezzar would subdue much of the known world. However, he would be humiliated until such time as he came to recognize the sovereign God. This portion of Daniel’s dream had already taken place while Daniel was a captive of Babylon, but it would be 14 or 15 years until Babylon would succumb to the second beast of Daniel’s dream.
The second beast appeared in Daniel’s dream, and it was like a bear, the symbol which represented the Medo-Persian empire. It conquered Babylon about 539 B.C. The bear was described as being “raised up on one side”, indicating that one of the two joined empires was stronger than the other. The stronger realm was the Persian empire. The bear was also described as having three ribs in its mouth, and voices commanded the bear to “Arise, and devour much flesh”, indicating that it would conquer other nations. The Medo-Persian empire grew to become larger than Babylon. The appearance of the third beast was very strange. It was like a leopard, but also had four bird’s wings sprouting from its back. It also had four heads. This leopard was symbolic of the Macedonian-Greek empire ruled by Alexander the great which conquered the Medo-Persian empire around 331 B.C. The leopard is known for its agility in attacking its prey. The four wings symbolized its ability to subdue other nations at an even greater speed than the Babylonians. The spots of the leopard indicate that Alexander the great conquered multitudes of nations, even more than the previous two empires. At his death, the Greek empire was divided among his four generals, hence the four heads. These four generals were Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. Greece ruled most of the known world for about 163 years.
The fourth beast was not like any member of the animal kingdom. Daniel described it as being dreadful, terrible, and exceedingly strong, with huge teeth of iron that could rip apart and devour its enemies, or it could crush its enemies with its feet. It was different that the first three beasts in Daniel’s dream. One might assume that it was the Roman empire, but it no longer exists. This fourth beast had ten horns. As Daniel considered those, one more appeared which was smaller than the ten but strong enough to eliminate three of the ten. It had eyes like a man and a mouth which uttered remarkable words. We know that the Romans controlled most of the known world including Israel at the time of Jesus’ sojourn on earth. The Roman empire was conquered by Germanic mercenaries and ceased to exist. Some scholars believe that the Roman Empire will be restored eventually and will be this fourth kingdom of Daniel’s dream at some time in the future. Others believe it will be a kingdom of Islamic countries.
The ten horns could be ten nations of Europe, a federation made up of various nations across the world, or perhaps Muslim nations of the Middle East because they have such a hatred of Israel. Most scholars believe the little horn represents the antichrist, but there are many ideas about who he will be. Some think he will come out of a revived Roman empire, a Gentile. Others believe he will be Jewish while others believe he will arise from the papacy. Some think he will be Muslim. Particular persons have even been suggested. One thing we can be sure of is that he will be of Satan or Satan himself. Perhaps, like Christ, he will be born in relative obscurity and live a rather uneventful life until the time of his destiny. Paul told us in II Thessalonians 2:3 that there would be a “falling away” or great rebellion against God, and then the “man of sin”, the antichrist, would be revealed. I originally wrote these notes in 2014. It seems that rebellion against God has increased significantly particularly over the last few years. The main concerns of Christians during these days of uncertainty are to live holy as Christ lived holy and to warn unbelievers of the need to be prepared because Jesus said in Matthew 25:13, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh”. Jesus’ return may or may not be immediate, but it is imminent.