Daniel 7.3-Four Great Beasts Different From Each Other Come Up From the Great Sea
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday April 25, 2013
Daniel: Daniel 7:3-Four Great Beasts Different From Each Other Come Up From the Great Sea
Lesson # 202
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 7:1.
Daniel 7:1 During Belshazzar’s, Babylon’s king, first year, Daniel saw a dream specifically visions in his mind on his bed. Then, he wrote down the dream. He declares the beginning of the account. 2 Daniel began to speak and said, “I was in a trance like state, staring because of my vision during the night as behold the heaven’s four winds were blowing violently against the great sea.” (Author’s translation)
Daniel 7:3 “And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.” (NASB95)
This verse presents the next event that took place after the four winds of heaven in Daniel’s vision were blowing violently against the great sea, which is symbolic of Satan’s kingdom causing violent conflict among the nations.
“Four great beasts” is composed of the masculine singular number ʾǎr∙bǎʿ (אַרְבַּע) (ar-bah´), “four” which is modifying the feminine plural form of the noun ḥê∙wā(h) (חֵיוָה) (khay-vaw´), “beasts” and then we have the masculine singular adjective rǎḇ (רַב) (rab), “great.”
The noun ḥê∙wā(h) is in the plural and means “beasts, wild animals” in contrast to domesticated animals and is modified by the cardinal number ʾǎr∙bǎʿ, which means “four.”
This noun is also modified by the adjective rǎḇ, which means “great” in size and describes the immense size of the four beasts coming up out of the great sea in Daniel’s vision.
It denotes that these four beasts made a great impression on Daniel as evidenced by his desire to understand the meaning of these four beasts and in particular the last one.
This adjective describes the immense size of the four beasts as having the power to incite awe in Daniel.
“Were coming up” is the third person feminine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb selǎq (סְלַק) (sel-eek´), which means “to come up out of” something referring to linear movement indicating that Daniel saw four great beasts “coming up out of” the great sea in his vision.
“From the sea” is composed of the preposition min (מִן) (min), “from” and its object is the masculine singular noun yǎm (יַם) (yawm), “the sea.”
The noun yǎm means “sea, ocean” referring to a large body of salt water that covers much of the earth broadly as distinguished from the land and air.
It is the object of the preposition min, which is a marker of separation indicating the location or state from which something moves away indicating that these four great beasts which Daniel saw in his vision, were coming up “out of” the great sea.
This preposition is also a marker of source indicating the thing or location from which something originates indicating that these four great beasts not only came out of the sea but also emphasizes they originate from the sea.
“Different from one another” is composed of the feminine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb šenā(h) (שְׁנָה) (shen-aw´), “different” and then we have the feminine singular demonstrative pronoun dā(ʾ) (דָּא) (daw), “one” and then once again we have the preposition min (מִן) (min) and its object is the feminine singular demonstrative pronoun dā(ʾ) (דָּא) (daw), and together they are translated “from one another.”
The verb šenā(h) means “to be different” in the sense of being of another kind or class.
This would indicate that these four great beasts which Daniel saw in his vision were different from each other in the sense that each was a different species of beast from the other since one was like a lion, another like a bear, another like a leopard and the fourth was non-descript.
The demonstrative pronoun dā(ʾ) is employed twice.
The first time it occurs it literally means “one” and the second time it literally means “the other.”
The preposition min is joining the two and means “from” since it functions as a marker of separation.
Thus, this expression indicates that Daniel is describing the four great beasts in his vision as being different “one from the other.”
Daniel 7:3 Then, four great beasts, one different from the other, came up out from the sea. (My translation)
After seeing in his vision, the four winds of heaven blowing violently against the great sea, Daniel saw four great beasts, which were different from each other, coming up out from the sea.
These four beasts in Daniel chapter seven correspond to the enormous gold statue of a man in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision recorded in Daniel chapter two.
Daniel 7:17 tells us that these four great beasts are kings.
The ancient Orientals regarded kings and kingdoms synonymously.
In Scripture, heathen nations are often depicted by wild beasts in order to express the animal like character of these nations which are unregenerate and deceived by sin and Satan.
Here in Daniel chapter seven the Holy Spirit is depicting the unregenerate heathen nations as wild animals in order to convey to the reader God’s viewpoint of these nations.
Clarence Larkin writes “Why, you ask, should there be a repetition of the same revelation? The answer is, that men and God see the nations from a different standpoint. Man sees in them the concentration of wealth, majesty, and power, as seen in the “Golden Head Image.” God sees them as a set of rapacious wild beasts devouring one another. He sees them as bestial in character, and as maintaining their supremacy by brute force. The Lion devours, the Bear crushes, the Leopard springs upon its victim and sucks its blood, and the character of the ‘Fourth Wild Beast” is such that there is no beast in nature to which it can be compared. Unconsciously the nations affirm their beastly character by their national emblems, as the British Lion, the Russian Bear, the American Eagle, the Chinese Dragon, the Persian Ram, the Macedonian Goat, etc.”
The first empire symbolizes Babylon since the first beast corresponds to the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel chapter two, which Daniel identified as being Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon (See Daniel 2:37-38).
Further confirmation comes from history itself since both the lion and the eagle were both national symbols of Babylon (See Jeremiah 4:7, 13; Ezekiel 17:3).
The fact that this first beast was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man and was given a human mind indicates that this refers to Nebuchadnezzar after being humbled by God (Daniel 4).
The bear symbolizes Medo-Persia since she conquered Babylon and corresponds to the arms of silver in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel chapter two.
The fact that the bear was raised up on one side refers to the one-side merging of the Median and Persian empires in that over time Persia became more dominant over Media (Daniel 10:13).
The three ribs in the mouth of the bear represent the kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria and Babylon, which had preceded the empire, represented by the bear and were conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire.
The leopard represents Greece since it corresponds to the belly of bronze in Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel chapter two and was noted for its speed and cunning in attacking its prey, which characterized Alexander the Great’s conquests that were without precedent in the ancient world.
The four wings on this leopard emphasizes a speed beyond its capacity, which characterized Alexander the Great’s lightening fast conquest of the civilized world from Macedonia to Africa and eastward to India.
The four heads depict the four-fold division of Alexander’s empire after his death between four of his generals (Daniel 8:8, 22).
The fourth beast if you notice is not likened to some known animal but rather is simply called a beast and was more terrifying and powerful than the three preceding beasts and devoured, crushed and trampled down the other beasts, which characterized the Roman Empire.
Also, further confirming that the fourth beast represents the Roman Empire is that it corresponds to the legs of iron in the image that appeared in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel chapter two, which we noted represented the Roman Empire.
These four beasts in Daniel chapter seven correspond exactly to the four metals in the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision in Daniel chapter two.
Below is a chart produced by Tim Lahaye and Thomas Ice (Charting the End Times; page 88; Eugene Oregon; Harvest Publishers; 2001)
Image in Daniel 2 Four Beasts in Daniel 7 Nations Designated
Head of Gold Lion Babylon
Arms of Silver Bear Medo-Persia
Sides of Brass Leopard Greece
Legs of Iron Beast with Iron Teeth Rome
Donald Campbell writes “All the kingdoms can be identified by references within the Scriptures and are verified by secular history.”
Like the prophecy in Daniel chapter two, the prophecy that appears in Daniel chapter seven also deals with the Times of the Gentiles from God’s perspective.
“The times of the Gentiles” refers to an extended period of time when the Gentiles are the dominant world powers and Israel is subject to those powers and extends from the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar (586 B.C.) and continues through the Tribulation (Revelation 11:2).
This period of history includes the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the church age and the Tribulation period.
This phrase does not rule out temporary Jewish control of Jerusalem as has occurred in the past during the Maccabean era (164-63 B.C), the first Jewish revolt against Rome (A.D. 66-70), the second Jewish revolt (A.D. 132-135) and now since 1967 and the Six-Day War.
However, this control is only temporary because Revelation 11:1-2 predicts at least another three-and-one-half years of Gentile domination during the last half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, also known as the Tribulation.
Therefore, any Jewish takeover of the city of David before the Second Advent of Christ must be therefore viewed as a temporary one and does not mean that “the times of the Gentiles” has ended since it can only end with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which will forever stop Gentile powers waging war against Israel.
In Luke 21:24, the Lord Jesus Christ makes mention of “the times of the Gentiles” in relation to the Tribulation period in His Olivet Discourse.
There are two great prophecies that appear in Daniel chapter two and chapter seven, which present to us the prophetic outline of the Gentiles during the Times of the Gentiles.
The prophecy that appears in Daniel chapter two, views the Times of the Gentiles from the perspective of man whereas the prophecy in Daniel chapter seven, views it from God’s perspective.
These two prophecies will also reveal that there will be a revived form of the Roman Empire during the Tribulation period under Antichrist, which will be destroyed by the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.