3.2.8. Four BeastsKings

Daniel sees these four beasts in his night vision in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar (Dan. Dan. 7:1-28). Daniel’s vision pertains to the future, not the past, and so the first of the four beasts he is shown represents Babylon, the kingdom within which he found himself captive at the time of the vision. Daniel is shown a sequence of beasts with differing characteristics culminating in a unique and particularly terrible final fourth beast. The four beasts of Daniel’s vision appear to represent four major kingdoms which dominate the history of the Jews from Daniel’s day until the time Messiah sets up His kingdom (Dan. Dan. 2:34-35, Dan. 2:44-45). The four beasts are said to originate from the sea ^[#2-#8] (Dan. Dan. 7:2). They are also said to be four kings which arise out of the earth ^[#3-#8] (Dan. Dan. 7:17). Each king represents a kingdom. The four beasts of Daniel’s night vision correspond to the four metals of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. Dan. 2:32-45). The four beasts Daniel sees are a subset of the seven heads which John sees throughout Revelation (Rev. Rev. 12:3+; Rev. 13:1+; Rev. 17:3+, Rev. 17:7+, Rev. 17:9+). Three of the beasts/kings shown to Daniel had already fallen by the time John saw his vision. These three beasts/kings, along with two other kings which predate Daniel’s vision, form the five fallen kings shown John (Rev. Rev. 17:10+). See #9 - Lion Beast, #10 - Bear Beast, #11 - Leopard Beast, and #12 - Terrible Beast. See Symbols of Kingdoms.