Daniel’s vision of the four beasts, signifying four kingdoms: of God
sitting on his throne: and of the opposite kingdoms of Christ and
Antichrist.
7:1. In the first year of Baltasar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a
dream: and the vision of his head was upon his bed: and writing the
dream, he comprehended it in a few words: and relating the sum of it in
short, he said:
7:2. I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of the
heaven strove upon the great sea.
7:3. And four great beasts, different one from another, came up out of
the sea.
Four great beasts.... Viz., the Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and Roman
empires. But some rather choose to understand the fourth beast of the
successors of Alexander the Great, more especially of them that reigned
in Asia and Syria.
7:4. The first was like a lioness, and had the wings of an eagle: I
beheld till her wings were plucked off, and she was lifted up from the
earth, and stood upon her feet as a man, and the heart of a man was
given to her.
7:5. And behold another beast, like a bear, stood up on one side: and
there were three rows in the mouth thereof, and in the teeth thereof,
and thus they said to it: Arise, devour much flesh.
7:6. After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, and it had
upon it four wings, as of a fowl, and the beast had four heads, and
power was given to it.
7:7. After this I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, a fourth
beast, terrible and wonderful, and exceeding strong, it had great iron
teeth, eating and breaking in pieces, and treading down the rest with
its feet: and it was unlike to the other beasts which I had seen before
it, and had ten horns.
Ten horns.... That is, ten kingdoms, (as Apoc. 17.12,) among which the
empire of the fourth beast shall be parcelled. Or ten kings of the
number of the successors of Alexander; as figures of such as shall be
about the time of Antichrist.
7:8. I considered the horns, and behold another little horn sprung out
of the midst of them: and three of the first horns were plucked up at
the presence thereof: and behold eyes like the eyes of a man were in
this horn, and a mouth speaking great things.
Another little horn.... This is commonly understood of Antichrist. It
may also be applied to that great persecutor Antiochus Epiphanes, as a
figure of Antichrist.
7:9. I beheld till thrones were placed, and the ancient of days sat:
his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean
wool: his throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a burning
fire.
7:10. A swift stream of fire issued forth from before him: thousands of
thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand
stood before him: the judgment sat, and the books were opened.
7:11. I beheld, because of the voice of the great words which that horn
spoke: and I saw that the beast was slain, and the body thereof was
destroyed, and given to the fire to be burnt:
7:12. And that the power of the other beasts was taken away: and that
times of life were appointed them for a time, and a time.
7:13. I beheld, therefore, in the vision of the night, and lo, one like
the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the
ancient of days: and they presented him before him.
7:14. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples,
tribes, and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power
that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be
destroyed.
7:15. My spirit trembled; I, Daniel, was affrighted at these things,
and the visions of my head troubled me.
7:16. I went near to one of them that stood by, and asked the truth of
him concerning all these things, and he told me the interpretation of
the words, and instructed me:
7:17. These four great beasts, are four kingdoms, which shall arise out
of the earth.
7:18. But the saints of the most high God shall take the kingdom: and
they shall possess the kingdom for ever and ever.
7:19. After this I would diligently learn concerning the fourth beast,
which was very different from all, and exceeding terrible: his teeth
and claws were of iron: he devoured and broke in pieces, and the rest
he stamped upon with his feet:
7:20. And concerning the ten horns that he had on his head: and
concerning the other that came up, before which three horns fell: and
of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and was
greater than the rest.
7:21. I beheld, and lo, that horn made war against the saints, and
prevailed over them,
7:22. Till the ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of
the most High, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom.
7:23. And thus he said: The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom
upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall
devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in
pieces.
7:24. And the ten horns of the same kingdom, shall be ten kings: and
another shall rise up after them, and he shall be mightier than the
former, and he shall bring down three kings.
7:25. And he shall speak words against the High One, and shall crush
the saints of the most High: and he shall think himself able to change
times and laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time,
and times, and half a time.
A time, and times, and half a time.... That is, three years and a half;
which is supposed to be the length of the duration of the persecution
of Antichrist.
7:26. And a judgment shall sit, that his power may be taken away, and
be broken in pieces, and perish even to the end.
7:27. And that the kingdom, and power, and the greatness of the
kingdom, under the whole heaven, may be given to the people of the
saints of the most High: whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and
all kings shall serve him, and shall obey him.
7:28. Hitherto is the end of the word. I, Daniel, was much troubled
with my thoughts, and my countenance was changed in me: but I kept the
word in my heart.