Daniel 7 – Kingdoms in Collision

In Daniel 7, the prophet outlines the rise and fall of kingdoms. These kingdoms battle for
world dominion. Armies fight for this earth’s throne. Potential leaders aspire to earthly
greatness. Kings and emperors wage war. The stakes are high; the rulership of this
world hangs in the balance. Finally, a religious-political superpower arises. This power
demands the total allegiance of its subjects. God’s faithful people, who refuse to give this
allegiance, are cruelly persecuted. The superpower changes God’s law, this power sets
up its own standard of right. The destiny of the world trembles in the balance.

Then the scene switches from earth to heaven. The Almighty declares that He is the
rightful ruler of all the world’s kingdoms. He pronounces judgment upon the would-be
usurpers of the throne. The kingdoms of the world are His. He created our planet, and
He redeemed it. “All peoples, nations, and languages” (Daniel 7:14, NKJV) serve and
praise Him forever.

Understanding Bible Prophecy: Questions 1-4

1. What scene does Daniel describe in his dream? What did he see? What did his
vision contain? Daniel 7:1-3.

Answer: A great storm. He saw four winds stir up the sea. Four beasts.

NOTE: Bible prophecy contains a variety of symbolic representations. Each of these

• A beast represents a kingdom (Daniel 7:17, 23).

2. What four beasts did Daniel see in his vision? Daniel 7:4, 5, 6, 7.

Answer: a. A lion with eagle’s wings. b. A bear with three ribs in its mouth. c. A
leopard with four heads and four wings. d. A very strong beast.

A lion, the first beast, is a fitting symbol of Babylon. The Old Testament prophets called
Babylon a lion. A lion with eagle’s wings was a prominent symbol on Babylonian coins
and on Babylon’s walls. The lion—the king of beasts—and an eagle—the chief of birds—
aptly describes the powerful rule of Babylon from 605 to 539 B.C.

The fierceness of the Medo-Persian soldiers is depicted in the bear of verse 5. When the
Medes and Persians overthrew Babylon, they also conquered Lydia and Egypt. The
three ribs in the bear’s mouth represent these three nations—Babylon, Lydia, and
Egypt. Medo-Persia ruled the Middle East from 539 to 331 B.C.

The leopard is an appropriate symbol of Alexander the Great’s empire, Greece. The
Greek king conquered with the swiftness of a leopard flying with eagle’s wings. Why
does this leopard have four heads? When Alexander died in a drunken stupor at age
thirty-three, his four generals—Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy—divided
up the empire. Bible prophecy is incredibly accurate. The Greeks ruled from 331 to 168
B.C.

The Roman empire, “as strong as iron,” conquered the world in 168 B.C. by defeating the
Greeks at the Battle of Pynda. Under the Caesars, the mighty Roman Empire ruled from
168 B.C. to 351 A.D.

NOTE: The image of Daniel 2 contains four metals—gold, silver, brass, and iron. There
are four beasts in chapter 7—a lion, bear, leopard, and a dragon. Just as the four metals
represent the four successive world kingdoms beginning with Babylon in Daniel’s day
and passing to Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, so the four beasts represent the same
four kingdoms. You might wonder why God uses metals in chapter 2 and beasts in
chapter 7. In the symbolism of the metals in chapter 2, God illustrates that no power on
earth can endure. The metals are transitory, but His kingdom—the rock cut out without
hands—is permanent.

In the fierceness of the four beasts in Daniel 7, God describes the vicious conflicts of
political kingdoms as they vie for world control.

3. How many horns did the fourth beast have? Daniel 7:7.

Answer: Ten horns.

In Daniel 2, the iron legs, representing the Roman Empire, ended in ten toes, depicting
the divisions of Rome. In Daniel 7, the fourth beast has ten horns, depicting the same ten
divisions of Rome. Rome was not conquered by a fifth world power. It was divided—
overrun by barbarian tribes from the north as it decayed from within from 351 to 476
A.D.

4. What new power arose in Daniel 7:8?

Answer: A little horn.

Identifying Characteristics of the Little Horn: Questions 5-13

5. Where did the little horn rise? Daniel 7:8.

Answer: It came up among the other horns.

Since the little horn rose among the ten horns, it must rise in western Europe, out of the
pagan Roman Empire.

6. Did the little horn rise before, or after, the division of the Roman Empire? Read
Daniel 7:8.

Answer: After

If the little horn rose among the ten divisions of Rome, it had to rise after Rome was
divided, or sometime after 476 A.D.
7. How did the prophet Daniel describe the eyes of this power? Daniel 7:8.

Answer: Like the eyes of a man.

In the Bible, eyes are a symbol of wisdom or understanding (Ephesians 1:18). This
earthly power, rising in the early centuries A.D., had human wisdom or understanding—
the eyes of a man, not God.

8. How did Daniel compare this little horn to the first ten horns? Daniel 7:24.

Answer: It was different from the first horns.

The divisions of Rome were predominantly political powers. This new power is
different, therefore it must not be a political power. It must be a religious power.

9. What three characteristics of this power did Daniel describe in verse 25?

Answer: a. Speak pompous words against the Most High. b. Shall intend to change
times and law.

This amazing prophecy predicts that a religious-political system would rise out of the
old Roman Empire in the early centuries A.D. Based on human wisdom, church councils
and man-made decrees, it would attempt to change the very law of God. The Bible
predicted that the early church would enter into a period of apostasy.

10. What warning did the apostle Paul give early Christians? Acts 20:28-31.

Answer: He warned them that people would attempt to destroy the church of God.

11. How did the apostle describe this apostasy in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4?

Answer: When man exalts himself above God.

12. What did Daniel declare would happen to truth? Daniel 8:12.

Answer: It would be cast to the ground.

13. How long would this power reign supreme? Daniel 7:25.

Answer: For a time, times and half a time.

This period of a time, times, and half a time, is also mentioned in Revelation 12:14.
According to Revelation 12:6, this time period equals 1,260 prophetic days.
Another way to calculate this period is this way.

In the Bible,

a time (year) = 360 prophetic days

1260 prophetic days

In Bible prophecy, one prophetic day equals one literal year (see Numbers 14:34;
Ezekiel 4:6). The little horn, or church-state power, would reign supreme for 1,260
years, or throughout the centuries of the Dark Ages. This Roman power—the Medieval
church—would substitute human tradition for God’s Word, man’s law for God’s law, and
penances and indulgences prescribed by the church for the forgiveness and repentance
prescribed by God. Many faithful Christians, who refused to yield to this church-state
union, would be persecuted.

Understanding Bible Prophecy: Questions 14-15

14. What is God’s answer to the battle for the throne on earth? Daniel 7:9, 10.

Answer: God opens the books so everyone can see why He is the rightful ruler.

In a magnificent judgment scene in heaven, God sets all things right. Wicked rulers are
condemned. Counterfeit systems are exposed. God’s name, alone, is exalted.

15. What phrases did Daniel use to tell us that God’s kingdom is permanent?
Daniel 7:14, 27.

Answer: His kingdom and dominion last forever.

God’s kingdom is eternal—it lasts forever. Human kingdoms rise and fall, but God’s
kingdom remains forever. Political leaders may attempt to destroy it, but it endures.
Counterfeit religious leaders may betray sacred purposes, but it remains. James Russell
Lowell put this truth in verse:

“Truth forever on the scaffold.

The kingdom of God opposed, oppressed, thwarted on every side, and attacked by the
enemy will finally, fully, completely triumph.