Episode 2: Daniel’s vision
In Daniel 2, God revealed the rise and fall of four powerful world empires. But Daniel is not finished. In Daniel 7, he goes on to describe the four kingdoms of the great image with incredible detail and reveals their historical significance.
Dan7:17 ‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. “
The first beast was
- Like a lion with eagle’s wings
- The wings plucked later”
- Stood on two feet like a man; it is Babylon that appeared the kingdom of gold in Dan2.
A lion is the king of beasts and an eagle is the king of birds flying in the sky. The Babylon Empire was greatly developed in all aspects like science and culture. It was also the most superior empire yet his splendid glory did not last long.
“the wings plucked later”-the eagle cant fly in the sky; no more king of birds.
“stood on two feet like a man”- it’s just a lion tries to act cute at the circus; no more king of beasts.
The second beast was
- Like a bear
- Raised up on its side
- Had 3 ribs in its mouth; it’s Medo-Persia that appeared as the kingdom of silver in Dan2
On the night Medo-Persia overtook Babylon
Babylon was a city that was surrounded by triple walls. The combined armies of the Medes and Persians got into the walls and diverted the waters of the Euphrates river. The Euphrates River meandered through Babylon, much like the Thames through London. The army was able to divert the water by building a canal upstream. The canal diverting the course of the river so that the water level was going through the city. It dropped very low and the soldiers were able to slip underneath the water gate into the city while the inhabitants were having fun. It was the last moment of Babylon, the most superior empire, and Medo-Persia became an emerging power in the world.
“Raised up on its side”- the Medo-Persia was a united empire of Median empire and the Persian Empire. However, the Persian people were always superior to the Median people in all aspects such as politics, economy, and culture. The superiority is described as the bear being raised up on one of its sides.
Dan 8:20 … that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia”
“Had 3 ribs in its mouth” – Medo-Persian destroyed three kingdoms: Lydia in the north, Egypt in the south and Babylon in the west.
The third beast was
- Like a leopard
- With four fowl’s wings
- Had four heads; it’s Greece that appeared as the kingdom of bronze in Dan2.
A leopard is a very fast animal on the ground. When he runs, he reaches speeds of up to 120km/n(75mph). Plus, the fast beast even had the wings of a bird. When Alexander the great conquered vast territories from Macedonia to India, it took only 8 years. He ran without touching the ground as if he was flying. When he was 25, he started to conquer the world and finished when he was only 33. So, the leopard is a very apt description for Greece Empire.
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Alexander the great was the first European to establish an Empire that stretched from the Mediterranean to the end of the known world. Fame on the battlefield was dearer to him than his own life and this man, the shining light of ancient Greece could not escape his own destiny. Alexander fell ill from what was probably malaria during the preparation for a new voyage to Arabia. He died at the age of thirty-three on June 10th, 323 B.C. Although Alexander died when he was very young, he spread Greek culture over three continents, all the way to India, and he was the first European world ruler in history who changed the world.
Battles for throne
” It had four heads “
Alexander left no plans for his successor and his generals soon began fighting among themselves to carve out their own empires. In the wars of the successors, Alexander’s widow and his young son were murdered. The empire he ruled finally broke apart into fourths by the four generals within a few decades. The four generals are Cassander, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Ptolemy. It was just four, no more, no less.
Dan 8:21,22″ The king of Greece, and the large horn is the first king. The four horns represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power”
Some of the successor kingdoms to his great empire were short-lived, others endured for centuries but a new ambitious power was growing in the west. Perhaps, this was a divine moment where God was deciding another empire was going to take over.
The fourth beast was
- The exceedingly dreadful, terrible beast
- Iron teeth, brass nails
- Had ten horns
- A little horn, which plucked 3 horns
The fourth kingdom is very interesting. Daniel devoted more time to this kingdom than any of other kingdoms. One characteristic is that it had large iron teeth and ten horns on its head. This is a really strange animal which can not be found on the earth. It will be extremely strong, extremely potent and extremely powerful. Symbolized by iron, it will crush in pieces and break all of these other kingdoms. Only one kingdom would fit it. The Roman Empire that referred to as the kingdom of iron on the statue in Dan 2. The Roman Empire was an empire known as a military empire with well-trained armies for its tenacity, for its organization. There will not be a conquering of this fourth iron kingdom but a division of it.
Dan 7:24 “The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom”
Amazingly, history affirms the Bible account that the Rome was not overtaken by a single dominant empire, but was divided up into sections. Due to Germanic tribal migration which continued from A.D 351-A.D 476, the border areas of Rome began to be attacked and finally Rome was divided into ten kingdoms. In Dan 2, there were ten toes, and in Dan 7, though the appearance has changed, the horns are ten. The Roman Empire was divided into exactly ten kingdoms. In world history, there is no such a single empire that has been divided into ten except the Roman Empire.
Three countries were plucked by the Papacy
Incredibly, history reveals even this detailed part of the prophecy is accurate. Among the ten kingdoms, three were disappeared from history. They were Heruli in 493, Vandals in 534 and Ostrogoths in 538. The Bible’s predictions have always come to pass and will never fail. That’s amazing.
So far, you’ve seen how an ancient Bible prophecy predicts 2,500 years of history in advance. The book of Daniel was written in the 6th century B.C. Skeptics have tried to discredit this book by placing the date of its writing at a later time, but archaeological evidence such as the dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls helps to show that the book of Daniel was indeed written during the time that the Bible claims.
