While the first half of the book of Daniel is mostly practical the 2nd half is mostly prophecy. Some people are scared by prophecy, as it can be difficult to understand, however, we have to try and look at it as Daniel would have, for he understood the message given to him. The pictures would have meant more to Daniel because of the time he was living in, than they do to us, as we naturally try and interpret them by the time we live in, not his time.

So with that in mind let us start at the beginning of Daniel 7. Note from verse 1 that we are in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon so chronologically we are in between chapters 4 and 5 of Daniel. There are four beasts, we will for this month just look at the first three, and then next month look at the extra details given about the fourth. We learn in verse 17 that each beast represents a king. We saw back in our study of Daniel 3 four kingdoms, and it is safe to assume these are the same four kingdoms.

Babylon is the lion with eagle wings. The Babylonian empire like a lion was fierce, courageous and strong, it also conquered at speed like an eagle. However, it had its power plucked from it and a 2nd empire took its place. The bear represents the alliance of the Medo-Persians, raised up. The 3 ribs may well represent the fact they did not take over all the nations in the Babylonian empire. The next beast is a leopard denoting the great speed of the Grecian empire led by Alexander the Great. The four heads represent the four captains that took over after Alexander's death. Note that dominion was given to it, a reminder that God gives dominion to those He sees fit, man may think they have gained it, but it has been to them by God.

So we have seen how the 3 beasts represent the 3 kingdoms, next month we shall God willing look at the fourth kingdom.

If you have any comments or questions about this article then please e-mail me at a.wood@assemblyyouth.net

Spending time in the Scriptures Habakkuk	Next month: The fourth kingdom.	Wilderness years the unequal yoke
	Dare to be a Daniel
	Last month: The Lion's den.

All quotes are from the English Standard version of the Bible unless otherwise specified.