The Four Beasts that Lead to the Final Beast

Daniel 7:1 (ESV) In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and summarized the matter.

The first verse of the second half of Daniel shows us this book is not chronological from chapter 1 to the end. These visions Daniel receives here are before the events of chapter 5 in the kingdom of Babylon. The vision Daniel receives is a different perspective on the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream from Daniel 2. Where Nebuchadnezzar saw succeeding empires as part of a massive statue, Daniel is given a vision of beasts rising from the sea. 

Daniel 7:3–7 (ESV) And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

We have a lesson here. Man sees the world as a significant development through nations, the ambitions of mankind in successive order. God sees them as beasts seeking to dominate and rule. Such has been the complex history of the world that wars and conquests remain the status quo, even in the modern age. 

If you're anxious about the turmoil of war, consider that Daniel, in beholding these things well before they happened, was as well:

Daniel 7:15 (ESV) “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me.

Daniel is told these beasts are four kingdoms:

Daniel 7:17 (ESV) ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.

The lion with eagle's wings represents Babylon. The loss of its wings reminds us of how God humbled Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4. He was also made to stand like a man and think clearly after encountering God's discipline. 

The bear that stood raised on one side is a picture of the Medes and Persians. The Persians represent the elevated side of the beast as they were stronger than the Medes. The bones in its mouth most likely refer to the nations they conquered, Lydia, Egypt, and Babylon.

The leopard could only be the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great, who swept across the world in speedy conquest. History shows that when Alexander died, his kingdom was divided into two, and two pairs of his generals ruled each: the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires. 

The dreadful beast is Rome, the strongest of the four. Rome conquered or absorbed everything around it. This last beast disturbs Daniel greatly due to the 10 horns on its head and the little horn which devoured three of the 10 horns. 

Daniel 7:19–20 (ESV) “Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, 20 and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions.

The extent of this vision was fulfilled long after Daniel was gone, and his attention was captivated by this fourth beast from which would spring a little horn that seemed to dominate the world. 

Commentators say this little horn is a picture of the antichrist as Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians 2. 

Daniel 7:8 (ESV) I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

Paul writes of the antichrist as a man of lawlessness...

2 Thessalonians 2:4 (ESV) who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

The last and most dangerous empire in world history before Christ's coming is that of a religious empire demanding worship from men. This beast contains elements of the historic empires: Babylon's glory, the Medo-Persian conquest, and the Roman absorption of all other peoples. This religious system will seek to dominate through absorption all people and even claim to be god. 

As Christians, we are not to be caught off guard as the signs of these events draw near. The world is flatter than ever, with AI becoming a connecting bridge through which these things could take place quickly. May God give us grace and wisdom to resist and discern the times so that we are not absorbed but stand apart!