The lion, the bear, the leopard, the beast

The opening words of this chapter take us back to the first year of Belshazzar's reign. This chapter must have been 62 years after Nebuchadnezzar had his dream of the "Golden Headed Image."

The scene of this vision was on the shore of the "Great Sea". This is an important statement. For In the Bible the term "Great Sea" stands for the Mediterranean Sea. To note further the "sea" In the scriptures is a type of the nations. (Rev. 17:15, Isa. 17:12,13).

All commentators agree that the beast of (Dan. 7) relate to and are associated with the Image of Dan. 2. The only difficulty that is presented is: In what order do they relate? Most line up the lion with Babylon and then go straight down in a chronological order. The problem then is which one do you leave out? For there are only 4 beast in (Dan. 7) but 5 parts to the image in (Dan. 2).

We need to keep in mind that (Dan. 7) takes place at the conclusion of the Babylonian Empire and the visions are future In consideration (Dan. 7:17). Therefore the proper order would be to align the lion with Persia and then start downward. There seems to be a double application given to each one of the beasts that would extend into the church age, notice the vision Is seen by night, which Is a picture of the church age.



The lion with eagle's wings

Daniel 7:3-4 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: 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.

Daniel 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

Many have attempted to line this first beast as pertaining to the Babylonian Kingdom. That appears to be highly unlikely because of Daniel 7:17 – “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” The person that Daniel is speaking to is King Belshazzar. Chronologically speaking, Daniel chapters seven and eight occur before chapter six. King Belshazzar is the last king reigning in Babylon before being overthrown by the Medes and Persians. The beasts of chapter seven that shall arise must point to other kingdoms that occur after Babylon is fallen. I believe that this lion represents two different kingdoms. One spiritually before the first coming of Jesus Christ and a literal kingdom before the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The four kingdoms can be spiritualized to be the kingdoms before the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and literal kingdoms before the second advent. Daniel chapter seven deals with kingdoms leading up to the Antichrist, his defeat, the White Throne Judgment and the saints reigning with Jesus Christ in eternity.

The kingdom that the lion with eagle’s wings spiritualizes would be the Medes and the Persians. This kingdom lines up with the chest and arms of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The winged lion creature can be found in Babylon and Persia as well. Archaeologists have found numerous carvings and sculptures of winged lion creatures that were throughout the Medes and Persian empire around 600 to 300 B.C. The Medes and Persians are the first empire after the Babylonian Empire and therefore the lion with eagle’s wings must pertain to the Medes and Persian Empire prior to the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.



The bear with three ribs

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.

Many have attempted to line this second beast in Daniel 7 as pertaining to the Medo-Persian empire that overthrew Babylon. I have already shown the Medo-Persian empire to be the Lion and therefore is not represented by the Bear with three ribs. The bear, like the lion, represents two different kingdoms.

The kingdom that the bear spiritualizes would be the kingdom under Alexander the Great. This kingdom lines up with the belly and thighs of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The grizzly bear is one of the most ferocious of bears. He has no fear of man and will attack whenever he feels like it. He is able to kill by his weight alone. Alexander the Great was victorious over King Darius III at the battle of Gaugamela on the Persian plains. King Darius III was prepared for this battle after being defeated in a previous conquest at Issus two years earlier. He chose the location of the flat plains so his chariots would give him the advantage over the Alexandrian army. The Persians also vastly outnumbered the Greeks. However at the end of the battle it was Alexander who was victorious with King Darius III again fleeing for his life. The bear even though outnumbered in the wilderness is able to overcome its prey by its power and strength. This was the case at Gaugamela. While we know the bear is Alexander the Great, we do not know who the ribs are. It is matter of historical fact that after the death of Alexander the Great, his kingdom was broken up into territories ruled by the generals of Alexander’s armies. They all claimed to be successors in their territories. The main three areas that were split up encompassed the areas of Egypt in Africa, The Middle East all the way to India, and the European branch of Macedonia and Thrace. So the ribs could very well represent the rulers of these three regions. The devour much flesh would be the wars and conflicts between them.



The leopard with four wings and four heads

Daniel 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; and dominion was given to it.

This leopard is a special character. It has four wings of a fowl, it also has four heads. Scholars have attributed this beast to Alexander the Great and mention the four generals who took over after his death. The next Empire on the scene is Rome making the Leopard with four heads and four wings a spiritualized representation of Rome.

Rome was in power at the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was in power after the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rome has many attributes to it. Rome was ruled by Caesar who was the head of the Senate. So the dominate political force of Rome was the senate itself. One became a senator of Rome by being elected or appointed to one of four offices. These offices consisted of the quaestorship, the praetorship, the consulship and the censorship. So one was not voted to the senate. He became part of the senate by becoming part of one of the four offices. These four offices could represent the four heads of Rome. The four wings could represent the influence that Rome had throughout Europe, Asia Minor, Africa, and The British Isles. Simply put Rome influenced areas to the North, South, East, and West. The leopard would represent the mixture of the peoples of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, coming together to form a vast empire.






The fourth beast, dreadful and terrible

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 from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

This fourth beast has ten horns. It lines up with the toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s image. A little horn appears, and three previous horns are plucked up. This little horn that comes up will be the Antichrist. This little horn has eyes like the eyes of man and has a mouth speaking great things. His kingdom will be diverse from the other kingdoms. He will rule with ten kings. Things are unfolding today that show the arrival of the Antichrist is near. The Antichrist will desecrate the temple in the middle of the tribulation and go after the Jews the last three and one half years of the tribulation.




IV. The Beast

This beast seems to be a combination of all the above. (Rev. 13:1,2; Hos. 13:7). This last beast will then be an integrated power, move In dominion like a bear, and speak English. The ten horns parallel the ten toes of (Dan. 2) and the horns of (Rev. 17:10-12).