| Every predition given by God always concerns the people of Israel (God's chosen people) |
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3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.
4 "The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. 5 "And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, 'Get up and eat your fill of flesh!' 6 "After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. 7 "After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast - terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. 8 "While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully. |
| Daniel 7:17 'The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth.' |
| The end-time ruler (what people generally called ``Anti-Christ'') will come from the 4th kingdom ("beast") |
Next, I will discuss why the "traditional" interpretation is wrong and offer my own interpretation/identification of the beast.
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BTW, I have my reasons to doubt on this interpretation (for one, the text book explanation is very old and the angel did say that we will only be able to unlock the vision when the end time is near).
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Dan 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea,
different from one another.
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Dan 7:4 The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings.
I watched until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up
from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man.
And a man's heart was given to it.
The lion is a symbol of Babylon:
Now we still need to explain those ``wings of eagle'' - what do they represent and why were they plucked away ? Some explained that the wings of eagle represented Nebucannesar and the "plucking away" of the wings was his loosing his kingship when he was insane... (Personally, I think the wing-explanation is a bit of a stretch... And why is it given a man's heart ?) | |
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Dan 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like a bear.
And it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs in
its mouth between its teeth. And they said this to it:
Arise, eat up much flesh.
The bear is supposed to represent the fierceness of the Persian Empire and this empire was supposedly brutal to their conquered nations... The three ribs supposedly represent the territories of the 3 empires that the Persian Empire conquered:
(I believe that the vision mainly concerns the Jewish people. So my question is: did Persia "eat much flesh" of the people of Israel ??? I.e., did the Persians killed many Jews ? I seriously doubt this fact. Furthermore, it was a Persian king that allowed the Jews to return to their land... How fierce could the Persians be to the Jews ?) | |
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Dan 7:6 After this I saw, and lo, another, like a leopard,
which had four wings of a bird on its back.
The beast also had four heads; and rulership was given to it.
The leopard is fast and supposedly represents the speed in which Alexander conquered the world. The 4 heads and 4 wings represents the 4 empires that were established after Alexander's death (by his generals):
(My main problem with this explanation is why did the vision tell us that rulership was given to it ? Alexander was not ``given'' any rulership... He took power... just like any ruler in his days... The description rulership was given to it does not make any sense... ) | |
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Dan 7:7 After this I looked in the night visions, and behold,
a fourth beast, frightening and terrifying, and very strong.
And it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces,
and stamped the rest with its feet. And it was different
from all the beasts before it; and it had ten horns.
(My problem is with this interpretation is that the Roman Empire did not "stamped the rest with its feet" - as memntioned in my notes on Daniel 2 ( click here), the Roman Empire did not conquer Parthia which was part of the Persian Empire)
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12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) |
These verses imply that the 4th kingdom is destroyed (by God) but also that the first 3 kingdoms will remain !!!
Now, if that is the case, how can the Babylonian Empire, Persian Empire, and the Greek Empire continue to exist when the (revived) Roman Empire is destroyed ?
If the Roman Empire crushed all other empires, the other empires are destroyed already...
This makes no sense...
This is what I believe what the 4 beasts mean:
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Dan 7:4 The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings.
I watched until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up
from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man.
And a man's heart was given to it.
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Dan 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like a bear.
And it raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs in
its mouth between its teeth. And they said this to it:
Arise, eat up much flesh.
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Dan 7:6 After this I saw, and lo, another, like a leopard,
which had four wings of a bird on its back.
The beast also had four heads; and rulership was given to it.
Since the Holocaust, not a single nation had much impact on the people of Israel. So I believe this event is yet in the future. From the daily headlines, the most important development in Israel is a land-for-peace treaty. This peace treaty is championed by 4 kingdoms:
Together, they are called the quartet: click here
The 4 heads and 4 wings represents the quartet. "rulership was given to it":
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Dan 7:7 After this I looked in the night visions, and behold,
a fourth beast, frightening and terrifying, and very strong.
And it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces,
and stamped the rest with its feet. And it was different
from all the beasts before it; and it had ten horns.
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Now, the following verses are comprehensible with my interpretation:
12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) |
The (future) Islamic Empire will be destroyed by God, and the other kingdoms (US, England, etc) are allowed to exist (in the Millenium reign of Jesus).
In contrast, with the traditional interpretation, (1st beast Babylon, 2nd beast Persia, 3rd beast Greece, 4th Roman Empire), Daniel 12 is simply incomprehensible, because:
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The news article is here: click here
Let me finish describing my interpretation of the end time vision in Daniel 7:
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Dan 7:8 I was thinking about the horns, and behold,
there came up among them another
little horn,
before whom
three of the first horns were uprooted.
And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man,
and a mouth speaking great things.
This fact is supported by the prediction in
Daniel 8:
This puts the origin of the Anti-Christ to the
EAST of Israel...
The obvious origin of his location Iran
Dan 7:9 I watched until the thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days sat, whose robe was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool. His throne was like flames of fire, and His wheels like burning fire. Dan 7:10 A stream of fire went out and came out from before Him. A thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The judgment was set, and the books were opened. Dan 7:11 Then I was looking because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke. I watched until the beast was slain, and his body was destroyed and given to the burning flame.
Dan 7:12 And the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away. Yet their lives were made longer for a season and time.
Dan 7:13 I 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, and they brought Him near before Him. Dan 7:14 And dominion and glory was given Him, and a kingdom, that all peoples, 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.
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