Ancient or Modern? Daniel’s First Three Beasts

Could long held beliefs around the identity of Daniel 7’s four beasts be largely wrong? Most “scholars” repeat the inherited notion that God was simply repeating Himself by re-envisioning the kingdoms He already symbolized in Daniel 2.

But He already gave Daniel the interpretation of the kingdoms symbolized in the statue of Dan 2. That mystery was fully decoded for him and for us. Why have men simply assumed Daniel’s chapter 7 vision was a rehash? Daniel clearly didn’t think so and the five kingdoms of Dan 2 certainly do not parallel the four of Daniel 7. Something deeper must be hidden here.

  • 15 “I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 
  • 16 I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. 

If Daniel made the same assumption as our modern scholars have then why would he be asking what the visions meant? He had the interpretation of the great statue in Dan 2 yet this troubled him greatly. So, despite earlier revelation, he did not regard this one as a simple redramatization. Dan 2’s 5 kingdoms don’t even agree in basic number with Dan 7’s 4 kingdoms. Yet, for centuries we’ve been told by many (if not all) commentators that there is nothing to see here, at least not where the first 3 beasts are concerned, because they’re all long dead empires of ancient history. They lived and died eons before the Bible was even available in print for the common man. Whatever might have been learned from those stupendous prophecies expired void with no one benefiting. Is that how God works? Does He give prophecy only to tease and then let it lapse worthless with no one ever understanding it or profiting from its advance warnings? Amos 3:7 would refute that. So, is it true that those first three beasts are just as irrelevant now as they would have been to the people of those supposed ancient kingdoms who were left in the dark about their own fates?

Let’s try something really unorthodox and let Daniel speak for himself. That is to say, let the Word speak for Himself. After all, if Daniel were here, relating to us his visions and we cut him off after verse 8 saying “Oh, I know, I know what you’re saying! Let me inform you.” even before he finished his account, just how rude and presumptuous would that be? So, let’s take a step back, put aside presumptuous commentaries and hear Daniel himself. First he describes a heavenly court preparing to pronounce judgment:

  • 9 “I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;
  • 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.

The court is presided over by God Himself. A sentence of death is issued against the 4th beast, the one with the pompous horn. Christ Himself is the one who slays that 4th beast at His return.

  • 11 “I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

But notice what happened to the first three; their lives were spared. How could these beasts be long dead empires when they are still alive when Christ returns? Not only are they alive when the 4th beast is slain but they go on living after Christ’s return for a year or so. In this grace period their lives are spared but they suffer the loss of their dominions. What long dead, world dominating kingdom would not only still be alive but also be exercising dominion (power and authority) when Christ returns? Not ancient Greece or Media or Persia, that’s for certain. It should be clear, by Daniel’s plain words, that all four of these beasts are end time contemporaries.

Taken together with the vision of Dan 2, Dan 7’s 4 beasts are not simply a rehash of that which was already explained to Daniel. Rather, the two visions form first an overview of the mightiest kingdoms that would arise throughout human history, right up to the end of days, and then Dan 7 zooms in on the era of the ten toes for a closer view of how that final kingdom comes to be. The details of those end time kingdoms remained shrouded from understanding until those living in the last days see those beast kingdoms before their eyes and can understand their latter day symbols. We see how each one plays its role in troubling the earth until all are subsumed into a single, global empire, led by satan, whose destiny is destruction at the hand of the Lamb of the Most High.

All four are alive today, in this very end time. This is also key to why we are able to see them now when past generations of commentators were groping in hopeless darkness. At the conclusion of Daniel’s visions, there remained many unexplained prophecies. Although he sought to know what they meant, and was very troubled by the mysteries, he was told to move on, that what was unexplained would remain unknowable through the ages until the very end times.

  • 8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?”
  • 9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 
  • 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.

So, it simply wasn’t possible for men to understand the mysteries of Daniel until these end times. It didn’t stop people from trying, even assuming they could unseal what God had sealed, but we can be sure they did not and could not know. Now, one might say perhaps we’re still not in the end times and that we can’t know yet either. Taken without the full weight of scripture which gives us the signs by which we can know the end times, that could be said. But it would still mean that the opinions propagated by men since Daniel was published are without understanding.

Let’s also take careful note of who will understand. Simply being in the end times is no guarantee of it. Even then, only those who are being purified and who are wise will understand. The truth is staring us in the face right now but how many will understand?