The Four Beasts approaching Daniel.
The Four Beasts of Daniel, or the Four Kingdoms of Daniel, are four kingdoms which, according to the Book of Daniel, precede the "end-times" and the "Kingdom of God". They appeared before Daniel in a vision given to him by God as four great and terrible empires or kings in the form of fearsome beasts.
Overview[]
Daniel’s vision of the four beasts begins with a windy night and a troubled sea: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea”. As Daniel watches, “four great beasts,” each different from the others, emerge from the dark waters.
Description[]
First Beast[]
The first of Daniel’s four beasts is “like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle”. As Daniel watches, the wings are torn off the beast, and the creature stands erect like a man and a human mind is given to it. Later, the angel who interprets the dream tells Daniel, “The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth”. This first beast is representative of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Its rise to human-like status reflects Nebuchadnezzar’s deliverance from a beastly existence and his insight into the true nature of God.
Second Beast[]
The second beast in Daniel’s vision is “like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth”. A voice tells the second beast to devour flesh until it is satisfied. This beast represents the Medo-Persian Empire; the raising up of one side of the creature indicates that one of the kingdom’s parts (Persia) would be dominant. The three ribs in the creature’s mouth symbolize nations that were “devoured” by the Medes and the Persians. These three conquered nations are known to be Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.
Third Beast[]
The third of the four beasts is “like a leopard,” except it has four bird-like wings on its back and four heads (Daniel 7:6). This beast is given authority to rule. The third beast represents Greece, an empire known for the swiftness of its conquests. The four heads are predictive of the four-way division of the empire following Alexander the Great’s death. Daniel’s vision of the ram and the goat gives further details of the second and third kingdoms (see Daniel 8).
Fourth Beast[]
The final beast that Daniel sees rising from the sea is the most dreadful—“terrifying and frightening and very powerful”. This fourth beast has “bronze claws” and “large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left” totally annihilating its prey. The fourth beast has ten horns. This creature represents the Roman Empire, a mighty kingdom that indeed crushed all its foes.
The Antichrist's Kingdom from the Fourth Beast[]
Daniel’s attention is drawn to the destructive fourth beast, and he ponders the meaning of its ten horns. Then, a smaller horn begins to grow from the midst of the ten. As the little horn emerges from the beast, three of the original horns are plucked out by the roots. Daniel sees that the little horn has “eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully”. The proud, boastful words of the little horn continue until the Ancient of Days sets up a day of judgment. At that time, “the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire”. This is in contrast to the fate of the other three beasts, who lost their authority but were not immediately destroyed.
As the interpretation of the vision is given to Daniel, the prophet asks specifically about the fourth beast and its horns. The angel explains: the beast’s ten horns are ten kings who will arise from that kingdom. The little, imposing horn with the eyes and mouth of a human represents a later king; before him three of the original kings will be subdued. This evil king “will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people”. He will seek to change times and laws, and he will exert oppressive power over God’s people for three and a half years. This world leader that Daniel saw is the Antichrist, the “ruler who will come” who sets up the abomination.
Given the fact that the Antichrist emerges from the fourth beast leads us to surmise that, in the end times, there will be a “revival” of the Roman Empire, featuring a coalition of ten world leaders. The Antichrist will take his position of leadership at the expense of three of those leaders, and he will eventually wield global authority. A true tyrant, the Antichrist will demand worship and seek to control all aspects of life.
The little horn of Daniel 7 is the first beast of Revelation 13. Notice that the beast in Revelation also has ten horns, and John describes it as resembling “a leopard, but [it] had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion”. In other words, the beast of Revelation contains elements of all of Daniel’s beasts. Like Daniel’s fourth beast, John’s beast speaks proudly and oppresses God’s people for three and a half years.