20151218 Friday, December 18 2015
Daniel 07: The Beasts And The Little Big Horn

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another ... 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"

Daniel's vision of four prophetic "beasts" restated what the LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour) had revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in a dream (see Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Of The World To Come) years earlier.

"2:36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

2:37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 2:38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee i.e. the Persian Empire; see The Prophecies Of Cyrus of Persia and The Prophet Daniel: The Hand Writing On The Wall], and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth [i.e. the Greek Empire; see A History Of Jerusalem: Greeks, Ptolemies, Seleucids and The Prophet Daniel: The Ram and The He Goat].

2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise [i.e. the Roman Empire; see A History Of Jerusalem: Pompey And The Caesars and Constantine's Crusades In History And Prophecy].

2:41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay [i.e. end-time "Rome"; see The Holy Roman Empire Of The German Nation'. 2:42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever [see The First And Last Nation and When The Church Will Become The Kingdom].

2:45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain [see The Mountain Of The LORD'S House Prophecies] without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." (Daniel 2:36-45 KJV)

The "beasts" version was not simply a later repetition. The "beasts" of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome provided more detailed - and even identified the Roman Papacy as it originated as a "little horn" of the Roman empire. The prophecy was given to Daniel in the time of King Belshazzar of the Babylonian Empire, before it fell to Persia (see The Hand Writing On The Wall).

"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.

7:2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings [i.e. Babylon; see The Prophet Daniel: A Child Of The Exile]: 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.

7:5 And behold another beast, a second [i.e. Persia; see Daniel In The Den Of Lions], 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.

7:6 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 [see The Prophet Daniel: The Ram and The He Goat and A History Of Jerusalem: Greeks, Ptolemies, Seleucids]; and dominion was given to it.

7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast [i.e. Rome; see the Fact Finder question below], 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.

7:8 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 [see the Fact Finder question below]: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit [see The Ancient of Days], whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened [see What Happens After The Messiah Returns?].

7:11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame [see Revelation 19:19-21 and The Battle Of The End-Time Prophets]. 7:12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven [see and What Happened When The Messiah Arrived In Heaven?], and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him [see The Coming World Dictator]: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:1-14 KJV)

The meaning of the revelation was then given to Daniel by the LORD. As with the earlier prophecy, it spanned the time from Babylonian Empire to the yet-future coming of the Kingdom of God on Earth (see What Gospel Did Jesus Preach? and The First And Last Nation).

"7:15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 7:16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this.

So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 7:18 But the saints [see Can You See The Church? and The Church In The End Time] of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 7:20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

7:23 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. 7:24 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 [see the Fact Finder question below]. 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him [see The Church: Mission Accomplished].

7:28 Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart." (Daniel 7:15-28 KJV)

Fact Finder: (a) By what means did Rome grow from a city-state to the empire that was the fourth beast of Daniel's vision? (b) How did the "little horn" of the Roman Empire originate?
(a) See The Cleopatra Connection and A History Of Jerusalem: Pompey And The Caesars
(b) See Constantine's Crusades In History And Prophecy and The Little Big Horn