Elements of Daniel's Dream | Significance | Notes |
The sea (7:2-3) | Symbol for wickedness | cf. Rev. 13 |
A lion with the wings of an eagle; its wings were plucked off, it stood on two feet, and was given a human mind (7:3-4) | Babylon | The wings that are torn off represents Nebuchadnezzar's insanity, while the lion being given a human mind represents his restoration. |
A bear with three ribs in its mouth (7:5). | Medo-Persia | The ribs may depict military triumphs or an insatiable appetite for war. |
A leopard-like creature with four wings, four heads, that boasted dominion (7:6) | Greece | The four heads represent the four kingdoms that were led by Alexander's four generals when he died in 323 B.C. |
A powerful beast with iron teeth and ten horns (7:7-8) | Rome | The ten horns represent kingdoms that would arise out of the Old Roman Empire. |
A little horn with human eyes and a blasphemous mouth that will pluck out three horns from the fourth beast (7:8) | The antichrist | The antichrist will defeat three of the ten kingdoms, then dominate all of them. |
The Ancient of Days (7:9-10, 13-14) | God the Father | God the Father will give dominion to the Son of Man. |
The Son of Man (7:13) | Jesus the Messiah | The Messiah will receive dominion over the entire world and defeat the antichrist. |
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Understanding the Symbolism of Daniel 7:2-13: A Chart
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Regarding the little horn who “three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it.”
ReplyDeleteThe Preterist view: The little horn is an eleventh, “another horn” that comes up (Dan. 7:8, 20, 24). The vision isn’t the exact same as the beast in Rev. 13 and 17. The first horn is Pompey. Although he wasn’t emperor, he was the first single leader of Rome, and he was the one responsible for bringing Israel under the yoke of Rome. He was one of the Triumvirate with Julius and Crassus. Julius took his army to Gaul, and then Crassus was killed in battle. Pompey was elected sole consul from 52 to 49 BC until Caesar returned and defeated him in battle. (1) Pompey, (2) Julius, (3) Augustus, (4) Tiberius, (5) Caligula, (6) Claudius, (7) Nero. Then (8) Galba, (9) Otho, and (10) Vitellius ruled for a year and a half and the empire almost died, when (11) Vespasian arises and defeats them and then destroys Israel. Vespasian was an Emperor, like Nero, the first antichrist.
The Historicist view: The western empire was divided into ten regions when Rome fell: The (1) Vandals, (2) Suevi, (3) Ostrogoths, (4) Visigoths, (5) Lombards, (6) Heruli, (7) Franks, (8) Huns, (9) Allemani, and (10) Burgundians. Then the Papacy (the antichrist) rises to power (a revived or reformed Rome), and subdues the Vandals, Visigoths and Lombards (from 533 to 752).
It is interesting that both little horns fulfilled the wearing out of the saints, etc. I believe that these two fulfillments are a type of the ultimate fulfillment that will occur in the future.