THE BOOK OF DANIEL
Lesson 5
Chapters 7-8
The Visions of the Four Beasts, the One Most Venerable, and the Son of Man
The Vision of the Ram and He-goat
Holy and Eternal Lord,
Your deep love for us cloaks us in Your divine protection when we submit our lives to You on our earthly journey. You protect us from the stains of sin and corruption in both body and soul, and like the Blessed Virgin Mary, we can declare: "The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name" (Luke 1:49). It was a profession of gratitude and devotion Daniel could make as You guided him in service to pagan kings while maintaining his faith and obedience to You. You gave him visions that revealed Your plan for Your covenant people and for humanity that would be realized in the coming of one who looked like a son of man but was Your divine Son. Send Your Holy Spirit to guide us in our lesson; we pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Does not Daniel allude to this very truth when he says that he who received the eternal kingdom is "as a Son of man"? The words "as a Son of man" indicate that he would become man and appear as such but that he would not be born of a human seed. Daniel states the same truth figuratively when he calls Christ "a stone cut out without hands," for, to affirm that he was cut out without hands signifies that he was not the product of human activity but of the will of God, the Father of all, who brought him forth.
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 76
A review of the five succeeding kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the composite statue from Chapter 2:
Chapter 7
Chapter 7 is the beginning of the second half of the three major divisions in the book:
This part of the book continues to record Daniel's experiences during the reigns of pagan kings (as the ancient's counted):
Chapter 7:1-28 is the end of the part of the Book of Daniel written in Aramaic that began in Chapter 2. The chapter is in two parts:
Unlike chapters 2-6 where Daniel has been the interpreter of the dreams and visions of pagan kings, his dreams and visions are now interpreted for him by an angelic being. The angel sent by Yahweh will explain:
In 2:28, Daniel announced to King Nebuchadnezzar that God in Heaven had shown the king the "final days" as part of the interpretation of the king's dream. In the second part of the book, Daniel discovers when those final days will take place (12:5-12), and he uses his wisdom from God to comprehend a revelation concerning the unfolding of human history and its meaning. Daniel was not only a prophet to his generation but future generations.
Daniel 7:1-8 ~ The Vision of the Four Beasts
1 In the first
year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions that passed
through his head as he lay in bed. He wrote the dream down, and this is how the
narrative began: 2 Daniel said, "I
have been seeing visions in the night. I saw that the four winds of heaven were
stirring up the Great Sea; 3 four
great beasts emerged from the sea, each different from the others. 4 The first was
like a lion* with eagle's wings and, as I looked, its wings were torn off, and
it was lifted off the ground and set standing on its feet like a human; and it
was given a human heart. 5 And
there before me was a second beast, like a bear, rearing up on one side, with
three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth. Up!' came the command. Eat
quantities of flesh!' 6 After this
I looked; and there before me was another beast, like a leopard, and with four
bird's wings on its flanks; it had four heads and was granted authority. 7 Next, in the visions of the night, I saw
another vision: there before me was a fourth beast, fearful, terrifying, very
strong; it had great iron teeth, and it ate its victims, crushed them, and
trampled their remains underfoot. It was different from the previous beasts and
had ten horns. 8 While I was
looking at these horns, I saw another horn sprouting among them, a little one;
three of the original horns were pulled out by the roots to make way for it;
and in this horn I saw eyes like human eyes, and a mouth full of boasting." *The
Greek Septuagint reads "lioness."
There are two scenes in the vision of Chapter 7:
1 In the first
year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions that passed
through his head as he lay in bed.
According to the verse 1, the vision Daniel receives takes place "in
the first year of Belshazzar" and probably refers to the year his father,
Nabonidus, made him co-ruler in about 550 BC, ten years (as the ancients
counted) before the episode with Belshazzar in Chapter 6. To adjust for this
lack of continuity between Chapters 6 and 7, the
ancient Chester Beatty papyrus Codex 967 avoids the confusion by placing
Chapters 7-8 before Chapters 5-6. Usually, Scripture distinguishes dreams from
visions: dreams take place at night while asleep, and visions occur while one
is awake. The third type of direct communication from God is an oracle which is
something the prophet hears but does not see. However, in this case, Daniel
describes his experience as a dream that contained visions, perhaps because the
images were so vivid that it seemed he was awake.
He wrote the dream down, and this is how the narrative
began:
It is a revelation Daniel commits to writing from verse 1
to 28 so it will be a source of comfort and hope for the covenant people in
exile.
2 Daniel said, "I have been
seeing visions in the night. I saw that the four winds of heaven were stirring
up the Great Sea..."
Some commentators believe the Great Sea is the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean
Sea will be the direction from which both the Greeks and the Romans will invade
Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and the Levant, but the Babylonians and Medo-Persians
invaded by land. It is for that reason that other commentators see the "great
sea" as a symbol of chaos on earth and the "four winds of heaven" that stir up
the great sea as suggesting the God of Heaven ordained these events, and His
angels oversaw the impact on the nations of the earth. See the same
expression, "four winds," appears in Daniel 8:8; 11:4. In Matthew 24:31, Jesus
refers to the working of God's will associated with the four winds and angels,
saying, And he will send out his angels with a trumpet blast, and they will
gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other (repeated
in Mk 13:27). And the same connection appears in Revelation 7:1 that
reads: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the
earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on
land or sea or against any tree (NAB).
3 four great beasts emerged
from the sea, each different from the others. 4 The first was like a lion with eagle's wings
and, as I looked, its wings were torn off, and it was lifted off the ground and
set standing on its feet like a human; and it was given a human heart.
It was not uncommon for prophets to use animals as symbols for empires:
Saints Jerome and Hippolytus believed the four winds of Heaven mentioned in verse 2 represented angelic powers while the four beasts symbolized the same four successive kingdoms that will dominate the history of the region and the covenant people from Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Chapter 2: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
5 And there before me was a second beast, like a bear, rearing up on one side, with three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth. Up!' came the command. Eat quantities of flesh!' 6 After this I looked; and there before me was another beast, like a leopard, and with four bird's wings on its flanks; it had four heads and was granted authority. 7 Next, in the visions of the night, I saw another vision: there before me was a fourth beast, fearful, terrifying, very strong; it had great iron teeth, and it ate its victims, crushed them, and trampled their remains underfoot. It was different from the previous beasts and had ten horns.
The four beasts of Daniel's vision:
8 While I was looking at these
horns, I saw another horn sprouting among them, a little one; three of the
original horns were pulled out by the roots to make way for it; and in this horn
I saw eyes like human eyes, and a mouth full of boasting."
In Scripture the image of a horn represents power (Ps 18:2; 89:24;
132:17; 148:14; Jer 48:25; Mic 4:13; Zec 2:1/1:21) and in this case represent
powerful people. The "little horn" of 7:8 is a person appearing in context
with the fourth kingdom of Rome, although Biblical scholars both ancient and
modern dispute what individual it represents. Some maintain it refers to one
of the Caesars; others suggest the reference is to the Greek Seleucid ruler
Antiochus IV, and there are those who believe that it is a reference to one in
the spirit of antichrist or the Antichrist who rules over a Roman Empire of the
future. Protestants like to picture the "little horn" as an evil Pope of the
Catholic Church. The problem with this interpretation is that the Church is not
an earthly kingdom but an eternal, spiritual kingdom, and all the other "horns"
in Chapters 7 and 8 refer to leaders of earthly kingdoms. That the "horn" is "little"
probably refers to his power lasting only a short time.
Daniel 7:9-14 ~ The Vision of the Messianic King
9 While I
was watching, thrones were set in place and one most venerable [Ancient of
Days] took his seat. His robe was white as snow, the hair of his head as pure
as wool. His throne was a blaze of flames, its wheels were a burning fire. 10 A stream of fire poured out, issuing
from his presence. A thousand thousand waited on him, ten thousand times ten
thousand stood before him. The court was in session and the books lay open. 11 I
went on watching: then, because of the noise made by the boastings of the horn,
as I watched, the beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and committed
to the flames. 12 The other
beasts were deprived of their empire, but received a lease of life for a season
and a time. 13 I was gazing into the visions of the night, when I saw,
coming on the clouds of heaven, as it were a son of man. He came to the One
most venerable and was led into his presence. 14 On him was conferred rule, honor and
kingship, and all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His rule
is an everlasting rule which will never pass away, and his kingship will never
come to an end. [...] = IBHE, vol. III, page 2057.
Next, Daniel's dream turns into a prophetic vision of the divine judicial proceeding convened against humanity in the heavenly Sanctuary when the Book of Life and the Books of Deeds are opened to present evidence for and against humanity. The same scene appears in the Book of Revelation 20:11-15 when St. John sees a large white throne and the one who was sitting on it as scrolls were opened containing the deeds of all men and women and a second scroll was opened that was the book of life as the dead were judged according to their deeds (Rev 20:12).
The "Most Venerable" is God the Father who sits upon a flaming chariot-throne like the one witnessed by the prophets Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel (2 Kng 2:11; Ez 1:4-28). St. John witnessed the same heavenly court in the Book of Revelation Chapters 4-7 and had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne (Rev 7:9). The vision of God the Father that Daniel witnessed in verses 9-10 recalls Israel's theophany of God in His glory at Mount Sinai (Ex 19:18-19; also see Ps 50:3 and Rev 5:11).
11 I went on watching:
then, because of the noise made by the boastings of the horn, as I watched, the
beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and committed to the flames. 12 The other beasts were deprived of
their empire, but received a lease of life for a season and a time.
The "horn" who is a beast-person and a persecutor of God's people is
judged by God to be worthy of eternal death. God will allow the other "beasts"
deprived of their world empires to continue for a designated time before they
receive their divine judgments. This could be a reference to Sheol, the abode
of the dead to which the righteous and wicked before Christ descended to Sheol
to liberate the righteous who entered the gates of Heaven but those who refused
His gift of salvation condemned themselves to the Hell of Satan and his demons
(Apostles' Creed; 1 Pt 3:18-20; 4:6).
13a I was
gazing into the visions of the night, when I saw, coming on the clouds of
heaven, as it were a son of man.
The title "son of man" in Scripture usually means a human being, God
applies the title 92 times to Ezekiel (see for example Ez 2:2-3) and once to
Daniel (Dan 8:17). "Son of Man" was Jesus' favorite title for Himself.(2)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus uses the title "Son of man" for Himself 32 times;
in the Gospels of Mark and John, He uses the title 14 times, and in the Gospel
of Luke Jesus uses the title for Himself 25 times. However, when Jesus uses
the title for Himself, He uses it not only in the sense of His humanity but as
the Messiah-King in Daniel's vision. His intentional use of the title in this
way becomes clear at Jesus' trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin when He uses the
title "Son of Man" for Himself the last time. Jesus tells the High Priest, "But,
I tell you that from this time onward you will see the Son of man seated at the
right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the
high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has blasphemed. What need of
witnesses have we now?" (Mt 26:64-65). It was Jesus' use of "Son of man"
in His statement, quoting from Daniel 7:13, that caused the Sanhedrin to
condemn Jesus to death for blasphemy because they clearly understood that He
was claiming to be the divine Messianic king of Daniel's vision (Mt 26:64-66;
Mk 14:62-64; Lk 22:69-71).
13b He
came to the One most venerable and was led into his presence. 14 On him was conferred rule, honor and
kingship, and all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His rule
is an everlasting rule which will never pass away, and his kingship will never
come to an end.
The "one like a Son of Man" is the Messianic King who looks like a
human being. Daniel received this vision in the 6th century BC, but
the event in the vision would not take place until the beginning of the
Messianic Age when the victorious Messiah-King ascended to God the Father and
received divine authority over all the earth in 30 AD.
Question: The term "Son of Man" refers to one who is a human being,
but what is unique about the one who looks like a "son of man" in Daniel's
vision?
Answer: In this vision, the "Son of Man" is not a normal human
being. He is the Messiah, and the Glory-Cloud carries Him into the heavenly
court of Yahweh where God confers on him kingship over all the nations of the
earth and promises an everlasting kingdom that will never pass away.
Question: When was this part of Daniel's vision, observed by
Daniel from the vantage point of the heavenly court, also seen by Jesus'
Apostles and disciples from an earthly perspective? Quote the significant verse
from Acts Chapter 1.
Answer: The Apostles and disciples witnessed this event on the
day Jesus ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives, forty days after His
Resurrection: as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took
him from their sight (Acts 1:9 NAB).
What the Apostles and disciples of Jesus couldn't see in Acts 1:9 was what took place next. The Glory Cloud carried Jesus into Heaven and presented the Son of God to God the Father in verse 14 of Daniel's vision. Jesus, the Messiah-King, received as a reward, for His victory over sin and death, dominion over the earth and all its creatures. His Kingdom of the Church, both on earth and in Heaven, is an indestructible, everlasting kingdom (prophesied in Dan 2:44), and all Christians are the Messiah-King's faithful subjects who serve His Kingdom and await His glorious return.
What Daniel witnessed took place c. 580 years before it happened in earthly time (as we count from 550 BC to AD 30 (with Jesus' ministry beginning when He was 30 years old in the 15th year of Emperor Tiberius in AD 28). Other visions of the heavenly throne room appear in Isaiah 6:1-7 and St. John's vision in the Book of Revelation. Compare Daniel's vision with St. John's visions in Revelation:
| Daniel 7:9a | ...and I saw a throne standing in heaven, and the One who was sitting on the throne, and the One sitting there looked like a diamond and a ruby...Flashes of lightning were coming from the throne, and the sound of peals of thunder (Rev 4:3-5a). |
| Daniel 7:9b | His head and his hair were white with the whiteness of wool, like snow, his eyes like a burning flame (Rev 1:14). |
| Daniel 7:10a | In my vision, I hard the sound of an immense number of angels gathered round the throne... there were ten thousand times ten thousand of them and thousands upon thousands (Rev 5:11). |
| Daniel 7:10b | Then I saw a great white throne and the One who was sitting on it. In his presence earth and sky vanished, leaving no trace. I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing in front of his throne while the books lay opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life, and the dead were judged from what was written in the books, as their deeds deserved (Rev 20:11-12). |
| Daniel 7:11 | But the beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had worked miracles on the beast's behalf... These two were hurled alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur (Rev 19:20). |
Jesus will make two significant references to Daniel 7:13a ~ I was gazing into the visions of the night, when I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, as it were a son of man... It is a vision Daniel witnesses from the heavenly throne room, but the Apostles and disciples witnessed from the perspective of the earth in Acts 1:9. Alluding to Daniel's vision of the divine Messiah who looked like a man:
| Matthew 24:30-31 | Jesus said, referring to His Second Advent: "And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven; then, too, all the peoples of the earth will beat their breasts; and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet to gather is elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." |
| Matthew 26:64 | Jesus said, at His trial before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin: "...you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has blasphemed. What need of witnesses have we now? There! You have just heard the blasphemy. What is your opinion?" They answered, "He deserves to die." |
Daniel 7:15-28 ~ The Interpretation of the Vision
15 "I, Daniel, was deeply
disturbed and the visions that passed through my head alarmed me. 16 So I approached
one of those who were standing by and asked him about all this. And in reply he
revealed to me what these things meant. 17 "These four great beasts are four kings who
will rise up from the earth. 18 Those
who receive royal power are the holy ones of the Most High, and kingship will
be theirs forever, forever and ever." 19 Then
I asked about the fourth beast, different from all the rest, very terrifying,
with iron teeth and bronze claws; it ate its victims, crushed them, and
trampled their remains underfoot; 20 and
about the ten horns on its head, and why the other horn sprouted and the three
original horns fell, and why this horn had eyes and a mouth full of boasting,
and why it looked more impressive than its fellows. 21 This was the horn I had watched making war on
the holy ones and proving the stronger, 22
until the coming of the One most venerable who gave judgment in favor of
the holy ones of the Most High, when the time came for the holy ones to assume
kingship. 23 This
is what he said: "The fourth beast is to be a fourth kingdom on earth,
different from all other kingdoms. It will devour the whole world, trample it
underfoot and crush it. 24 As
for the ten horns: from this kingdom will rise ten kings, and another after
them; this one will be different from the previous ones and will bring down
three kings; 25 he will insult the Most
High, and torment the holy ones of the Most High. He will plan to alter the
seasons and the Law, and the Saints will be handed over to him for a time, two
times, and half a time. 26 But the
court will sit, and he will be stripped of his royal authority which will be
finally destroyed and reduced to nothing. 27 And kingship and rule and the splendors of all the kingdoms
under heaven will be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High,
whose royal power is an eternal power, whom every empire will serve and obey." 28 Here the narrative ends. "I, Daniel, was
greatly disturbed in mind, and I grew pale; but I kept these things to myself."
16 So I approached one of those
who were standing by and asked him about all this. And in reply he revealed to
me what these things meant.
One of those "standing by" in the heavenly court was an angelic being
who revealed the meaning of the vision to Daniel. This event is the beginning
of Daniel's conversations with angels.
17 "These four great beasts are
four kings who will rise up from the earth.
The vision doesn't represent only four kingdoms but four kings. Church
Fathers Hippolytus, Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Jerome, and
others agree that the image of the lion/lioness in 7:4 (lioness from the Greek
Septuagint) refers to King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire. A lion-like
creature with wings was the symbolic emblem of Babylon and her king, and Daniel
told Nebuchadnezzar that he was the "golden head" of the first part of the composite
statue (Dan 2:38).
The Church Fathers suggested that tearing off the wings of the first beast followed by its restoration with a human heart may refer to Nebuchadnezzar's judgment for his pride followed by his repentance and restoration in Chapter 4. Hippolytus wrote: "He said that a lioness came up from the sea,' and by that he meant the kingdom of the Babylonians in the world, which also was the head of gold on the image. In saying that it had wings as of an eagle,' he meant that Nebuchadnezzar the king was lifted up and was exalted against God. Then he says, the wings were plucked,' that is to say, his glory was destroyed; for he was driven out of his kingdom. And the words a man's heart was given to it, and it was made to stand on the feet as a man,' refer to the fact that he repented and recognized himself to be only a man and gave the glory to God" (Hippolytus, On the Antichrist, 23).
A winged lion-like beast relief from the ancient city of Babylon:
These same ancient scholars agree that the bear-like second beast refers to Cyrus and the Medo-Persians with the three ribs representing the three ruling ministers of the Persian Empire (Dan 5:29; 6:2-3) or the major divisions of the Persian Empire being Babylon, Media, and Persia.
Concerning the three ribs protruding from the mouth of the bear-like beast standing erect, St. Jerome wrote: "But as for the three rows or ranks that were in his mouth and between his teeth, one authority has interpreted this to mean that allusion was made to the fact that the Persian kingdom was divided up among three princes, just as we read in the sections dealing with Belshazzar and with Darius that there were three princes who were in charge of the 120 satraps....therefore the three rows in the mouth of the Persian kingdom of the Babylonians, the Medes, and the Persians, all of which were reduced to a single realm (Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, 7.5 referring to Daniel 5:29 and 6:2-5).
The Church Fathers agree that the third beast that looked like a leopard with four wings and four heads and granted authority refers to Alexander the Great. They say the wings symbolized the four quarters of the known world that he conquered with the aid of his four generals directing his swift advance in overcoming foreign nations. The heads granted authority refer to his four generals who founded four Greek kingdoms after his death.
They also agree that the fourth beast refers to the Romans. Chapter 7 mentions that the fourth beast is different from the other beasts five times (7:3, 7, 19, 23, 24). It has ten horns and is unrecognizable to Daniel in comparison to any other animal. Since the images concern kings, the ten horns may represent the rulers of the ten Roman provinces or the ten Roman rulers from Julius Caesar to Vespasian and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD.(1)
20 and about the ten horns on
its head, and why the other horn sprouted and the three original horns fell,
and why this horn had eyes and a mouth full of boasting, and why it looked more
impressive than its fellows. 21 This
was the horn I had watched making war on the holy ones and proving the
stronger, 22 until the coming of
the One most venerable who gave judgment in favor of the holy ones of the Most
High, when the time came for the holy ones to assume kingship. 23 This is what he said: "The fourth beast is
to be a fourth kingdom on earth, different from all other kingdoms. It will
devour the whole world, trample it underfoot and crush it. 24 As for the ten horns: from this kingdom will
rise ten kings, and another after them; this one will be different from the
previous ones and will bring down three kings; 25 he will insult the Most High, and torment the holy ones of the
Most High. He will plan to alter the seasons and the Law, and the Saints will
be handed over to him for a time, two times, and half a time. 26 But the court will sit, and he will be
stripped of his royal authority which will be finally destroyed and reduced to
nothing.
It is possible that the 10 toes of the fourth beast represent ten Roman
rulers, but there were also 10 Roman provinces ruled by Roman vassals; in
either case, the reference could be to Rome. After Julius Caesar's death in
44 BC, and the ascension of his great-nephew as the first Roman Emperor in 29
BC until the rule of Vespasian in 68 BC and the destruction of the Temple in
Jerusalem in AD 70 (during Vespasian's reign) there were 10 Roman rulers:
In any event, the prophecies of Daniel received appear to fit the Roman Empire as the fourth empire, and there is a link to the serpent and the beast in the Book of Revelation. For more on the Revelation passages, see the Revelation study Chapter 12 and Chapter 13.
The visions in the Book of Daniel accurately predicted the rise and fall of men and the world powers that would exercise control over the people of God from the Babylonians, to the Persians, to the conquest of Alexander the Great, and the Greeks, to the rise and dominance of the Roman Empire over all the other empires. Rome will dominate Judah, which will be renamed the Roman province of Judea [jew-day'-uh] from 63 BC until the Jewish rebellion against Rome in the revolt of 66 AD. The Jewish Rebellion destroyed Judea, Jerusalem, and the Jerusalem Temple and the final collapse of the last of the Jewish defenders at Masada in 73 AD. At the time Jerusalem and the Second Temple was destroyed [9th of Av, AD 70], the Romans deported almost a million people sold into slavery, and the nation of Judea ceased to exist. The land became the Roman Province of Syria-Palestine, and the Romans renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina. It is significant that the prophecy says all these world empires will be crushed and brought to ruin, but God reveals to Daniel that in their place will arise a promised fifth Kingdom. These "final days" to which Daniel refers are the days that will signal the coming of the Messiah and the Final Age of humanity.
Question: How do you compare the parts of the composite statue in
Chapter 2 with the images of the four beasts in Daniel 7:2-7? What are the
similarities and what are the differences?
Answer: The dream of the image in Chapter 2 and the vision of
the four beasts in Chapter 7 both refer to four successive Gentile empires
under which God's people would live: Babylon, Medo-Persian, Alexander the
Great /Greece empires of Egypt and Syria, and Rome.
The angel describes the "little horn of boasting": 25 he will insult the Most High, and torment the
holy ones of the Most High. He will plan to alter the seasons and the Law, and
the Saints will be handed over to him for a time, two times, and half a time. 26 But the court will sit, and he will be
stripped of his royal authority which will be finally destroyed and reduced to
nothing.
If the reference to the "little horn" of "boasting" is to one of the ten
Caesars, it is possible that the "little horn" is Nero Caesar; he whose name
yields the Hebrew letter-number equivalent of 666 in the Book of Revelation (Rev 13:18). The "plucked out" horns may refer to (1) Roman Emperor Tiberius who was
likely murdered during an illness to be succeeded by his relative Caligula. (2)
Caligula was in turn assassinated and replaced by (3) Claudius who most
historians believe was murdered by poison administered by his wife, Agrippina,
to advance her son, Nero, as Claudius' successor in October, 54 AD. Three of
the "original horns" were pulled out by the roots to make way for" Nero who
boasted that he was a god. He was the first Gentile persecutor of Christians
beginning in 64 AD. Nero condemned hundreds of Christian men, women, and
children to death by burning, crucifixion, beheading, and by being eaten by
wild animals, including Saints Peter and Paul. He persecuted the Saints for a
short time before God intervened in his destruction. Threatened with death by
the Roman Senate, Nero committed suicide in 68 AD when he was 30 years old.
It helps to sort out these fantastic images by charting and comparing them with other prophecies in the Book of Daniel and St. John's visions in the Book of Revelation. They are all concerned with the time of the rule of the Gentile nations over Israel/Judah:
| The Vision | Book of Daniel | Book of Revelation |
| The Lion, the Bear, and the Leopard | Chapter 7:4-6 | Chapter 13:2 |
| The ten horns | Chapter 7:8 | Chapters 12:3, 13:1; 17:3, 8 |
| The Beast mouthing boasting and blasphemies | Chapter 7:8, 11 | Chapter 13:5 |
| The Throne of God, worship of the multitude, and the Son of Man coming on the Glory-Cloud to receive power and dominion | Chapter 7:13-14 | Chapter 1:7; 4-5; 14:14 |
| The war against the Saints | Chapter 7:21 | Chapter 13:7 |
Chapter 8: The Vision of the Ram and the He-Goat
Chapter 8 is in Hebrew. The Hebrew text continues into Chapters 9-12. Chapter 10 explains the visions in Chapter 9, and Chapter 12 explains Chapter 11. These visions deal with the experiences of God's people under the rule of the Medo-Persians, represented by the ram (a ram has two horns), and under the Greeks represented by the goat with one large horn.
The vision in Chapter 8 takes place in the third year of Belshazzar's reign (548 BC) when Daniel is transported spiritually to the city of Susa in the Babylonian province of Elam. The vision is in three parts:
Daniel 8:1-14 ~ The Vision of the Ram and the He-Goat
1 In the third
year of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had
originally appeared to me. 2 I
gazed at the vision, and as I gazed I found myself in Susa, the citadel in the
province of Elam; gazing at the vision, I found myself at the Ulai Gate. 3 I raised my eyes to look, and I saw a ram
standing in front of the gate. It had two horns; both were tall, but one taller
than the other, and the one that rose the higher was the second. 4 I saw the ram butting westwards, northwards
and southwards. No animal could stand up to it, nothing could escape its power.
It did as it pleased and became strong. 5 This is what I observed: a he-goat from the
west, encroaching over the entire surface of the world though never touching
the ground, and between its eyes the goat had one majestic horn. 6 It advanced on
the two-horned ram, which I had seen standing in front of the gate, and charged
at it in the full force of its fury. <7
I saw it reach the ram; it was enraged with the ram and struck it,
breaking both its horns, so that the ram was not strong enough to hold its
ground; it threw it to the ground and trampled it underfoot; no one was there
to rescue the ram. 8 The he-goat
then grew more powerful than ever; but at the height of its strength the great
horn snapped, and in its place sprouted four majestic horns, pointing to the
four winds of heaven. 9 From one of these, the small one, sprang a horn which grew to
great size towards south and east and towards the Land of Splendor. 10 It grew right up to the armies of
heaven and flung armies and stars to the ground and trampled them underfoot. 11 It even challenged the power of the Prince of
the army; it abolished the perpetual sacrifice and overthrew the foundation of
his sanctuary, 12 and the army too;
over the sacrifice it installed iniquity and flung truth to the ground; the
horn was active and successful. 13 I
heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one say to the speaker, "How long
is this vision to be of perpetual sacrifice, of horrifying iniquity, of
sanctuary and army trampled underfoot?" 14
The first replied, "Until two thousand three hundred evenings and
mornings have gone by: then the sanctuary will have its rights restored."
Belshazzar's father made him co-ruler in c. 550 BC. Since he served as co-ruler, there was no ascension year, and therefore the third year, counting 550 as year one, was 548 BC. 550 BC, the year Belshazzar became co-ruler of Babylon, was same the year Cyrus overthrew his grandfather and acquired his Median kingdom.
Daniel's vision spiritually transports him to Susa (Shushan in Hebrew), the capital of the Kingdom of Elam, located in the lower Zagros Mountains about 160 miles (250 km) east of the Tigris River, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers. Elam was a vassal kingdom of Babylon, and Susa was where Nehemiah lived during the Babylonian captivity (Neh 1:1). The city was also the setting for the Book of Esther. Cyrus of Persia conquered Susa in 540/539 BC. Alexander the Great conquered the city in 331 BC and arranged for a mass wedding there between Persians and Macedonians in 324 BC.
gazing at the vision, I found myself at the Ulai Gate.
There was a river in Elam called the Ulai (the Hebrew name for one of the major rivers of Elam).
The road from that gate probably led to the Ulai River.
3 I raised my
eyes to look, and I saw a ram standing in front of the gate. It had two horns;
both were tall, but one taller than the other, and the one that rose the higher
was the second.
The ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire with the
larger horn representing Persia and the shorter horn Media (see 8:20).
4 I saw the ram
butting westwards, northwards and southwards. No animal could stand up to it,
nothing could escape its power. It did as it pleased and became strong.
Daniel's vision takes place during Cyrus' army moving to
the west, north, and south, conquering every kingdom it came across. He
captured Lycia, Cilicia, and Phoenicia, ending his conquest of the area in 542
BC and returned to Persia. Cyrus didn't conquer the Kingdom of Elam and its
capital city, Susa, until 540 BC.
5 This is what I
observed: a he-goat from the west, encroaching over the entire surface of the world
though never touching the ground, and between its eyes the goat had one
majestic horn.
Daniel sees far into the future when he sees the he-goat
from the west who represents the third kingdom of the Greeks. Alexander the
Great is the one majestic horn. Alexander was born in 356 BC. He became king
of Macedonia in 336 BC. First, he conquered all of Greece, and then he began
his conquest of Asia in 334 BC (see 8:21-22).
6 It advanced on
the two-horned ram, which I had seen standing in front of the gate, and charged
at it in the full force of its fury. 7 I
saw it reach the ram; it was enraged with the ram and struck it, breaking both
its horns, so that the ram was not strong enough to hold its ground; it threw
it to the ground and trampled it underfoot; no one was there to rescue the ram.
The he-goat, Alexander the Great, conquered the Persian two-horned ram
in 332 BC.
8 The he-goat
then grew more powerful than ever; but at the height of its strength the great
horn snapped, and in its place sprouted four majestic horns, pointing to the
four winds of heaven.
Alexander the Great died at the age of 33 in 323 BC. Alexander's four
most powerful generals divided his empire; they are the "four majestic horns" of
Daniel 8:8.
The Four Main Divisions of Alexander the Great's Empire After His death:
**Egypt dominated Judah only until the Battle of Panim in 198 BC when Egypt lost the Levant to the Seleucids of Syria.
9 From one of these, the small one,
sprang a horn which grew to great size towards south and east and towards the
Land of Splendor.
Initially, the Greek Kingdom of Egypt controlled the nations of Judah
built by the Jews when Cyrus decreed their return to their homeland in 539-8
BC. But the Greek kingdom of Egypt and the Greek kingdom of Syria went to war
with the Greek Syrians become the victors and taking possession of "the Land of
Splendor" that is Judah.
10 It grew right up
to the armies of heaven and flung armies and stars to the ground and trampled
them underfoot. 11 It even
challenged the power of the Prince of the army [Prince of the Host]; it
abolished the perpetual sacrifice and overthrew the foundation of his sanctuary,
12 and the army too; over the sacrifice
it installed iniquity and flung truth to the ground; the horn was active and
successful.
Many scholars, ancient and modern, believe the "little horn" of 8:9
must represent Antiochus IV (175-163 BC), a descendant of Alexander's general
Seleucid Nicator who founded the Seleucid dynasty of Syria. Antiochus
desecrated the temple in Jerusalem in December of 167 BC. He vandalized the
Temple, erected a pagan idol on the altar, desecrating its holiness with pig
blood, and ended the daily liturgy of the Tamid sacrifice. He decreed that
studying the Torah, observing the Sabbath, and circumcising Jewish boys were
crimes punishable by death. Antiochus' attempt to impose paganism and
Hellenistic culture on the Jews caused the revolt of the Maccabees that began in
166 BC. The two books of the Maccabees record the wicked abuses of Antiochus
IV.
13 I heard a holy
one speaking, and another holy one say to the speaker, "How long is this vision
to be of perpetual sacrifice, of horrifying iniquity, of sanctuary and army
trampled underfoot?" 14 The first
replied, "Until two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings have gone by:
then the sanctuary will have its rights restored."
Daniel hears the voice of a second angel asking how long
the horrors inflicted by the "small horn" is destined to continue. It is
difficult to calculate the time that must pass from this verse. Do we count
evenings and mornings separately or as one day? It may mean 1,150 days (about
3 ½ lunar years) on which 1,150 evening Tamid sacrifices and 1,150 morning
Tamid sacrifices should have been offered on Yahweh sacrificial altar.(3)
Notice that since the day for the Jews began and ended at sunset that the
evening (literally the afternoon) sacrifice comes before the morning. The time
may refer to the passage of time between the desecration of the Temple and the
defeat of the Seleucid Greeks in the Maccabean revolt and the cleansing and
rededication of the Jerusalem Temple. The revolt began in 166 BC, and in three
years the Maccabees cleared the way back to the Temple Mount. They cleansed
the Temple, dismantled the defiled sacrificial altar, and constructed a new one
in its place. Three years to the day after Antiochus' desecration (Kislev 25,
165), the Jewish Maccabees held a dedication (hanukkah in Hebrew) of the
Temple, restored the daily Tamid sacrifice, and rekindled the golden menorah
that miraculously burned continuously for eight days.
The time periods in Daniel Chapters 7, 8, and 9 represent a period of intense persecution permitted by God for a limited time, after which there will be relief for the covenant faithful. Also see similar time periods of distress in Luke 4:25; James 5:17; Revelation 11:2-3; 12:14 and 13:5.
The question of "how long" will the suffering last recalls the oracle God gave his prophet Habakkuk who was a contemporary of Daniel (Dan 14:33-39). Habakkuk's work dates to sometime between the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, after which the Babylonians took Daniel into captivity, and the invasion of Judah by the Babylonians in 597 BC, that resulted in the second forced exile (the third was after the destruction in 587/6 BC). After Habakkuk asked God how long the wicked will continue to persecute the upright with impunity (Hab 1:12-2:1), God gives him an oracle of assurance. Yahweh told him although the prophet may not live to see it, God's justice will be done in the end, and the upright person must live by faith in His divine word: Then Yahweh answered me and said, "Write the vision down, inscribe it on tablets to be easily read. For the vision is for its appointed time, it hastens towards its end, and it will not lie; although it may take some time, wait for it, for come it certainly will before too long. You see, anyone whose heart is not upright will succumb, but the upright will live through faithfulness (Hab 2:2-4).
Daniel 8:15-27 ~ The Angel Gabriel Interprets the Vision
15 As I,
Daniel, gazed at the vision and tried to understand it, I saw someone standing
in front of me who looked like a man. 16 I
heard a human voice cry over the Ulai, "Gabriel, tell him the meaning of the
vision!" 17 He
approached the place where I was standing; as he approached, I was seized with
terror and fell prostrate on the ground. "Son of man," he said to me, "understand
this: the vision shows the time of the End." 18 He was still speaking, when I fainted,
face downwards on the ground. He touched me, however, and raised me to my feet.
19 "Come," he said, "I shall
tell you what is going to happen when the Retribution is over, about the final
times. 20 As for the ram
which you saw, its two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The hairy he-goat is the king of
Greece, the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The horn which snapped and the four
horns which sprouted in its place are four kingdoms rising from his nation but
not having his strength. 23 And
at the end of their reign, when the measure of their sins is full, a king will
arise, a proud-faced, ingenious-minded man. 24
His power will grow greater and greater, though not through any
power of his own; he will plot incredible schemes, he will succeed in whatever
he undertakes, he will destroy powerful men and the holy ones, God's people. 25 Such will be his resourcefulness of
mind that all his treacherous activities will succeed. He will grow arrogant of
heart and destroy many people by taking them unawares. He will challenge the
power of the Prince of princes but, without any human
intervention, he will be broken. 26 The vision of the evenings and the
mornings which has been revealed is true, but you must keep the vision secret,
for there are still many days to go." 27 At this I, Daniel, lost consciousness; I was ill for
several days. Then I got up to discharge my duties in the king's service,
keeping the vision a secret and still not understanding what it meant.
Daniel is either standing by the Ulai gate or by the river; Ezekiel had his first visions by a river (Ez 1:1-3:11). He sees an angelic being who looks like a man and hears a voice addressing the angel as "Gabriel" and telling him to reveal the meaning of the vision. The Hebrew name "Gabriel" means "strength of God" or "warrior of God." He is one of the three angles named in the Old Testament; also see Michael (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9 and Rev 12:7) and Raphael (Book of Tobit).
17 He
approached the place where I was standing; as he approached, I was seized with
terror and fell prostrate on the ground. "Son of man," he said to me, "understand
this: the vision shows the time of the End."
18 He was still speaking, when I fainted, face downwards on the
ground. He touched me, however, and raised me to my feet. 19 "Come," he said, "I shall tell you
what is going to happen when the Retribution is over, about the final times.
This verse is the only time "Son of man" is applied to
Daniel. The angel uses it is the sense of a human being or "son of Adam" and
makes the contrast between Daniel's physical form and the angel as a spiritual
being.
Question: What does the angel tell Daniel and how
does it relate to Daniel's word of knowledge in 2:28?
Answer: The visions concern the
"time of the end" or the "final days."
The "time of the end" or the "final days" does not refer to the end of the world as we know it but to the final days of the present age and the beginning of the final age of humanity in the Messianic Era that will come after a period of persecution during a last domination by the Gentiles.
When this same angel spoke to the priest Zechariah
concerning the miraculous birth of a son to his barren wife and commanded him
to name his son John, the elderly priest expressed disbelief and asked how he
was to know that when the angel told him was true.
Question: What was the unnamed angel's answer and
what revelation did his response have for Zechariah? See Luke 1:18-19.
Answer: When the angel revealed his name as
Gabriel, Zechariah knew from what Gabriel told Daniel in 8:17 that the birth
and mission of his son would usher in the "final days" and the beginning of the
Age of the Redeemer-Messiah.
20 As for
the ram which you saw, its two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The hairy he-goat is the king of
Greece, the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The horn which snapped and the four
horns which sprouted in its place are four kingdoms rising from his nation but
not having his strength.
Gabriel identifies the ram with two horns as the
Medo-Persian kings and the he-goat as a king of Greece, the large horn between
its eyes representing its first king, Alexander the Great. The four horns that
sprouted in its place are the four Greek kingdoms and their dynasties that
arose after Alexander's death, but not as strong.
The Greek ruler who fits the description in verses 22-26 is Antiochus IV (r. 175-164 BC). He persecuted the people of God (recounted in the Books of the Maccabees) and desecrated the holy Temple. There are two accounts of his death in 2 Maccabees 1:13-16 and 9:5-27. He was struck with a disease and died a miserable death, without any human intervention. The "prince of princes" may refer to the High Priest Onias III, assassinated in c 195/190 BC or another high priest during the time of Antiochus IV.
26 The
vision of the evenings and the mornings which has been revealed is true, but
you must keep the vision secret, for there are still many days to go.
The last phrase of this verse also appears in Ezekiel 12:27.
Gabriel tells Daniel not to reveal what he has seen in the vision or
heard concerning its interpretation probably because the fearful future would
dishearten the covenant people in exile.
27 At this
I, Daniel, lost consciousness; I was ill for several days. Then I got up to
discharge my duties in the king's service, keeping the vision a secret and
still not understanding what it meant.
Daniel's reaction to the vision and its revelation is
proof that he should not reveal what he knows about future events. We also
receive the information that Daniel is still active in Belshazzar's service
even though the king does not know him personally and will only learn about his
abilities on the last day of his reign in 539 BC.
|
Image from Chapter 2 |
Beasts from Chapter 7 |
Beasts from Chapter 8 |
World Kingdoms | |
|
T I M E of the G E N T I L E S |
Head of gold | Like a lion with eagle's wings |
Babylon 606/5-539 BC |
|
| Chest and arms of silver | Like a bear | Ram with two horns |
Medo-Persia 539-331 BC |
|
| Belly and thighs of bronze | Like a leopard with four wings and four heads | Male goat with one great horn, four horns, and a little horn |
Alexander the Great - Greece kingdoms 332-146 BC |
|
| Legs of iron, feet of iron and clay | Incomparable beast with ten horns and a little horn |
Rome and the domination of the Province Judea beginning in 63 BC |
||
|
Final Days/ Final Age |
The stone that becomes a great mountain | Messiah and Saints receive the Kingdom of God | 5th Kingdom = Kingdom of Jesus Christ* |
* THE CATHOLIC CHURCH "THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON EARTH
Both little horns of Chapters 7 and 8 are two persons. Several factors support this interpretation:
COMPARISON OF THE VISIONS OF THE LITTLE HORNS OF CHAPTERS 7 and 8
| LITTLE HORN OF CHAPTER 7 | LITTLE HORN OF CHAPTER 8 |
| Comes from (Rome) the 4th kingdom | Comes from (Greece) the 3rd kingdom |
| Will root up 3 of 10 horns | Will be a 5th horn, coming out of 1 of 4 |
| Persecutes God's people for 3 and one half years |
Persecutes God's people for 1,150 evenings and mornings or over 3 years |
History has fulfilled Daniel's prophecy of the ram, the goat, and the horns in the empires of the Persians, the Greek, and the Romans and their domination of the covenant people.
Questions for group discussion
Question: In the Creed, we recite at Mass every Lord's Day, we
say the words "And He shall come again to judge the living and the dead." What
do these words mean to you and how do they affect your daily life?
Answer: These words remind us that Jesus will return to collect
His Bride, the Church, and then will come the Final Judgment. Most of us don't
give a second thought to this major event, but we should. We should live each
day as though Christ was coming tomorrow!
Question: Daniel 7:10 warns of a Final Great Judgment: A
stream of fire poured out, issuing from his presence. A thousand thousand
waited on him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was
in session, and the books lay open. The Bible also tells us that there
will be two judgments as well as two births, two resurrections, and for some,
two deaths. What does this mean?
Answer: First there will be two births, two judgments, and two
resurrections. The first birth is our natural, physical birth. The second
occurs at our baptism when we are reborn into the family of God. Baptism is
also the first resurrection when we are raised to a new life in Christ. The
second resurrection will come at the End of Time when the just will receive
their glorified bodies. There are also two judgments. The first, at the time
of our physical death, is called the Individual or Particular Judgment (CCC
1021-22). We will stand before the judgment throne of God, and Jesus will
stand with us as our Advocate. The second judgment comes at the End of Time.
It is called the Final or Last Judgment (CCC 678, 681, 1038-41) and is a
general judgment that all humanity will face (also see Malachi 3:19; Mt 25:31-46; Mk 13:24-37). For some, there are also two deaths. The first is
physical death which we all will experience, but for those who reject Christ
there will be a second death; it is a spiritual death which will mean total and
eternal separation from God (see Rev 2:11; 21:8; CCC 1033-37).
Question: The Fathers of the Church often cautioned "Born once,
die twice; born twice; die once." What did the Church Fathers mean by this
statement? See Jn 3:5-6; Rev 2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:7-8 and CCC 846, 1257-61,
1277 for your answer.
Answer: In the sacrament of Baptism, we are reborn into eternal
life. We die with Jesus to sin and are resurrected to a "new life" in Christ.
It is what Jesus told Nicodemus in John Chapter 3. Our second birth gives us
the promise, if we are obedient and faithful and strive to remain free of the
stain of mortal sin, that we will only face a physical death at the end of our
journey of faith. However, without the sacramental union with the Most Holy
Trinity through baptism we run the risk of facing not only physical death but
also the second death, eternal death, which is eternal separation from God.
For Scripture passages on the second death, see Revelation 2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:8 and CCC# 1033-41.
| Revelation 2:11 | Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: for those who prove victorious will come to no harm from the second death. |
| Revelation 20:6 | Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection; the second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and reign with him for a thousand years. |
| Revelation 20:14 | Then Death and Hades were emptied of the dead that were in them; and every one was judged as his deeds deserved. Then Death and Hades were hurled into the burning lake. This burning lake is the second death; and anybody whose name could not be found written in the Book of Life was hurled into the burning lake. |
| Revelation 21:7-8 | Anyone who proves victorious will inherit these things; and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the legacy for cowards, for those who break their word, or worship obscenities, for murderers and the sexually immoral, and for sorcerers, worshippers of false gods or any other sort of liars, is the second death in the burning lake of sulfur. |
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Endnotes:
1 Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius,
Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. All these men, beginning with
Julius Caesar, were assassinated (or in the case of Tiberius helped to his
death) except for Augustus and Vespasian.
2. Daniel's vision in Daniel 7:9-14 is the Son of Man image to which
Jesus constantly refers and identifies Himself in the Gospels (see
Matthew 8:20; 9:6; 11:19; 12:8, 40; 13:41; 16:13, 27, 28; 17:9, 12, 22; 19:28; 20:18,
28, 24:27, 30, 30, 37, 39, 44; 25:31*; 26:2, 24, 45, 64;
Mark 2:10, 28;
8:31, 38; 9:9, 12, 31; 10:33, 45; 13:26; 14:21, 21, 41, 62;
Luke 5:24; 6:5, 22;
7:34; 9:22, 26, 44, 58; 11:30; 12:8, 10, 40; 17:22, 26; 18:8; 19:10; 21:27*;
22:22, 48, 69; 24:7;
John 3:13, 14; 5:12; 6:27, 53; 6:62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23,
34, 34; 13:31).
*= direct reference to Daniel 7:13-14.
3. The Tamid sacrifice was a single sacrifice in which an unblemished male lamb was offered every morning and another every afternoon, seven days a week in a liturgical worship service for the atonement and sanctification of the covenant people and the hoped-for salvation of all humanity. See the book "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice" at Amazon.
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Catechism references (* indicated Scripture quoted
or paraphrased in the citation):
7:10 (CCC 678*)
7:13 (CCC 440*)
7:14 (CCC 664)