The Four Kingdoms

Daniel 7:1-28

THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS

Daniel 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.”

Daniel 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.”

Daniel 7:3: “And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse" [Different] "one from another.”

Daniel 7:4: “The first" [Beast] "was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I" [Daniel] "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.” Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians, see 1 Esdras 1:39-41, 52-57.

Daniel 7:5: “And behold another beast, a second, 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.” Cyrus king of Persia and Media, see 1 Esdras 1:57 and 1 Esdras 2:3.

Daniel 7:6: “After this I" [Daniel] "beheld, and lo another," [The third beast] "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.” Alexander king of the Greeks, see 1 Maccabees 1:1, 5-9.

Daniel 7:7: “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" [Different] "from all the beasts that were before it;" [The Babylonians (The Lion), Persia / Media (The Bear) and the Greeks (The Leopard)] "and it" [The fourth beast] "had ten horns.”

Daniel 7:8: “I" [Daniel] "considered the horns," [The ten horns] "and, behold, there came up among them another little horn,” [The False Prophet/the beast with two horns like a lamb, see Revelation 13:11] “before whom there were three of the first" [Ten] "horns plucked up by the roots:” [See verse 24] “and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” See verse 25 and Revelation 13:14, 16-17.

JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS FROM GOD

Daniel 7:9: “I" [Daniel] "beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose" [The Most High's] "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.”

Daniel 7:10: “A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand” [Angels] “stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”

Daniel 7:11: “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake:” [See verse 25 and Revelation 13:11, 14, 16-17] “I beheld even till the beast" [The Fourth Kingdom/Roman Empire] "was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” See 2 Esdras 11:43-45, 2 Esdras 12:32-33 and 2 Esdras 12:3.

Daniel 7:12: “As concerning the rest of the beasts,” [The Babylonians (The Lion), Persia / Media (The Bear) and the Greeks (The Leopard)] “they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.”

Daniel 7:13: “I" [Daniel] "saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days," [The Most High, see verse 9] "and they" [The angels] "brought him" [Christ] "near before him.” See Matthew 24:30, Revelation 18:16-19 and Revelation 19:1-5.

Daniel 7:14: “And there was given him" [Christ] "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” See Matthew 25:31, Revelation 20:4 and Revelation 22:3-5.

THE ANGEL EXPLAINS DANIEL'S VISION

Daniel 7:15: “I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.”

Daniel 7:16: “I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him" [The angel] "the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.”

Daniel 7:17: “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians, Cyrus king of Persia and Media, Alexander king of the Greeks and the Little Horn (The False Prophet/the beast with two horns like a lamb).

Daniel 7:18: “But the saints of the most High” [The 144,000/Servants of God] “shall take the kingdom," [See Matthew 24:29-30, 1 Thessalonians 3:13 and Revelation 14:1] "and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” See verse 27

Daniel 7:19: “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse" [Different] "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;” See 2 Esdras 11:5-6.

Daniel 7:20: “And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up,” [The Little Horn/The False Prophet spoken of in Revelation] “and before whom three" [Of the ten horns/kings] "fell; even of that horn" [The Little Horn/The False Prophet] "that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.” See verses 8, 24-25.

Daniel 7:21: “I beheld, and the same horn" [The False Prophet] "made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;” See Daniel 12:1.

Daniel 7:22: “Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High;" [See Matthew 24:36] "and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” See verse 26 and Revelation 20:4.

Daniel 7:23: “Thus he" [The angel] "said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,” [The Roman Empire] “which shall be diverse" [Different] "from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth,” [Conquer all nations] “and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.” See 2 Esdras 11:1-2, 5-6 and 2 Esdras 12:11-12.

Daniel 7:24: “And the ten horns out of this kingdom” [The Fourth Kingdom/Roman Empire] “are ten kings that shall arise:” [See Revelation 13:1 and Revelation 17:3, 12] “and another” [The Little Horn/The False Prophet] “shall rise after them;” [The ten horns/kings] “and he" [The Little Horn] "shall be diverse" [Different] "from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.” See verse 8.

Daniel 7:25: “And he" [The Little Horn/The False Prophet] "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:" [See Revelation 13:11-15] "and they" [The 144,000/Servants of God] "shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” A time (1) and times (2) and the dividing of time (½), or 3 ½ years, the time period of The Great Tribulation, see Time, Times and an Half (3 ½ Years).

Daniel 7:26: “But the judgment shall sit, and they" [Christ and the Saints/The 144,000] "shall take away his" [The Little Horn/The False Prophet's] "dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” See Matthew 24:29-30 and Revelation 19:11-15.

Daniel 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.” The Ancient of days, see verse 22.

Daniel 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.”