The Fourth Beast
In Chapter 7 of the Book of Daniel, the fourth “Beast” that the Prophet saw “ascending from the sea” is presented in more detail than the first three. It is the center and primary concern of the vision. The three other “beasts” provided background information for the rise of the fourth kingdom. Unlike the first three, it had no analog in the animal kingdom. It was an unnatural and monstrous creature with “iron teeth” and “ten horns.”
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| [Acropolis Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash] |
The fourth Beast used its “iron teeth” and feet to “trample” its victims, a clause which parallels the fourth section of the “great image” in King Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier dream concerning a great image with a “golden head.” The legs and feet of that great image were “strong like iron” that “shatters and subdues all things”:
- (Daniel 7:7-8) – “After that, I was looking in the visions of the night, when, lo, a fourth beast, terrible and well-hipped and exceeding strong, and it had large teeth of iron, it devoured and broke in pieces, and the remnant with its feet it trampled down, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, when, lo, another horn, a little one came up among them, and three of the former horns were uprooted from before it, and, lo, eyes, like the eyes of a man in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things” – (Compare Daniel 2:40-43).
THE TEN HORNS
With its
feet, the fourth Beast “trampled the remnant with its feet.” The
identity of the “remnant” is not given in the immediate passage, but verbal
links connect the “trampling” by this creature to the next vision in
Chapter 8 when the “little horn” trampled “some of the stars
underfoot” - (Daniel 8:8-10).
The “ten
horns” may correspond to the toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier “great image,”
although neither his dream nor its interpretation mentioned the number of “toes.”
The “little horn” emerged from among the “ten horns,” three of which
were “uprooted.”
In the Aramaic text, the verb rendered “uprooted” is passive. That means the three horns are “removed” by someone or something - (Daniel 2:41).
The number
“ten” could be symbolic or literal. Elsewhere, “ten” symbolizes a
complete set of something. But the removal of three horns and their replacement
by an eleventh is quite specific, which makes it difficult to interpret the numbers
symbolically. More likely, this level of detail points to a known historical event
or events.
The “little
horn” had human eyes and “a mouth speaking great things,” suggesting
intelligence, arrogance, and perhaps something blasphemous.
DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY
Next, the Heavenly
Court reacted to the “Beast” and its blasphemous “horn.” We
are now presented with events from the perspective of God’s throne - (Daniel
7:9-14).
Daniel
gazed “until thrones are placed.” Here, the vision transitions to a
judgment scene (“judgment was set, and the books were opened”). The
image of “one seated on the throne” symbolizes the sovereignty of God over
historical events - (Daniel
12:1-4, Revelation
4:1-8, 20:11-15).
The other beings
who were sitting on the “thrones” are not identified in the text. Their plurality
may stress the majesty of the “Ancient of Days”; likewise, the picture
of “thousands upon thousands that serve him.”
The four
ravenous creatures “from the Sea” gave the impression that human
kingdoms are not under the control of the “God of Heaven.” Any such
notion is now set aside by events in the heavenly court.
The “fiery
wheels” indicate mobility. There is no place safe from the judicial reach
of the “Ancient of Days.” His rule is dynamic, and He determines
the course of empires. The “four beasts” can only exit the sea when He
permits, and He is the source of the forces that stir the surface of the sea, causing
them to ascend and march across the earth.
The fourth
“Beast” was “slain” for its arrogance. The impious nature of the
four “beasts” reached its most blasphemous height in the “mouth”
of the “little horn” that “spoke great things.” Consequently, the “fourth
Beast” was destroyed. But it was the “Beast” that was slain, NOT
its “little horn.” This points to the “death” of a regime but not necessarily
to the destruction of an individual ruler.
However, the
first three “beasts” reappear (“The rest of the beasts”). In the
historical record, each kingdom succeeded its predecessor. In the symbolic
world of the vision, the first three realms remain contemporaneous with the “little
horn.” All four regimes continue until they are destroyed collectively
by an act of divine judgment.
Likewise, in Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier vision, all four segments of the great image” were destroyed simultaneously in “later days” by the stone cut “without hands” - they were constituent parts of a single whole.
Each
kingdom was “given a lengthening of life until a time and season.” Each kingdom
continued in power for the time allotted by God, and each one lost dominion but
then received a duration of life for the appointed time. The final destruction of
the first three “beasts” is inextricably linked with the demise and
destruction of the “little horn.”
Thus, the
destruction of the fourth kingdom and its “little horn” will end the
entire structure of the World Empire, just as in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream when
the “stone” struck the “feet” of the “great image” and turned
the entire structure into dust.
And so, the
sovereignty of the World Empire passes successively from one kingdom to the
next, but each one exercises the same malevolent power. The form varies, but the nature
of each regime remains the same.
In the interpretation
of Daniel’s dream, the length of a “season and time” is not defined but constitutes
a link to Daniel’s earlier declaration that God “changes times and seasons; he
removes kings and sets up kings” - (Daniel
2:19-23).
The
lengthening of life means that each “beast” continues to exist in the subsequent
regimes. Nebuchadnezzar saw four individual kingdoms represented by one figure composed
of four sections. The World Empire has multiple incarnations but it is a
single entity. Its form may change but its nature does not.
Next, the “one
like a Son of Man” was seen approaching the “Ancient of Days,” but only
after the destruction of the fourth Beast. This figure is in sharp contrast to
the monstrous “beasts,” especially the “little horn speaking great
things.”
The nature
of this figure’s dominion differs markedly from the beastly nature of the World
Empire. Behind this image is the story of Adam. Yahweh made man in His “likeness”
and commanded him to take dominion over the earth. The “Son of Man” now receives
“dominion” and thus succeeds where Adam failed.
The “Son
of Man” did not receive the kingdom until judgment was given “for the
saints” and the “Beast” was slain. Recorded in the “books” were
the deeds of the four “beasts.”
The “Son
of Man” approached the “Ancient of Days” and received the kingdom.
This is another link to Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier dream in which he saw the “stone
cut out without hands” that became “a kingdom that will never be
destroyed” - (Daniel 2:44-45).
IN REVELATION
And in the
Book of Revelation, the vision of the four “beasts from the sea”
is modified. The four beasts become a single
beast summoned by the “Dragon” from the Sea. And that “Beast” possesses the same animalistic
features as Daniel’s four “beasts from the sea.”
This single “Beast from the Sea” also
has “ten horns” and a mouth “speaking great blasphemies.” It is
related to Daniel’s four beasts, but it is also something more, and presumably,
far worse.
In Daniel, the “little horn” waged
“war against the saints and prevailed over them.” In Revelation,
the “Beast from the sea” with the “mouth speaking great things” also
wages “war against the saints,” and he likewise overcomes them.
And in both Daniel and Revelation,
the saints do not take full possession of the kingdom until after their ordeal
at the hands of the “Beast.” But, in both cases, the victory is won
first by the “Son of Man” or the messianic “Son” – (Daniel 7:21,
Revelation 13:1-12).
