Chapter 7
First year of Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar's son...so we have gone backwards from Darius and the Medes to the King before that. MSB says a flashback to 553 BC, 14 years before the handwriting on the wall and the feast. 7,8 really come after 4 but before 5.
Daniel has a vision while in his bed and writes it down. Four beasts come up out of the sea. This sea would be the Gentiles I believe, in this case, not "politics".
2023 - No. Based on what I see now in Revelation, I believe beasts from the sea are angels. Some angels followed Satan in his rebellion. Some did not. So these four beasts, as I see it, are subjects of Satan, chosen to rule over one or several of the 7 dominions. Satan gives them power, and they "infect/control/empower a man or men to do the bidding of Satan in the world. This is important to understand. Satan bestows some of his power on these who function at his bidding to bring evil into the world of men and in whatever way possible prevent Satan's ultimate defeat. These fight against prophecy. But the big deal is that they are demons, spiritual beings, who "channel" the power of Satan through mortal men. Later...I see that I have already included this information in the next 2022 note below.
First, a lion with eagles wings. Wings were plucked and then it stood on two feet. Second is a bear. Had three ribs in its mouth. It was told to devour much flesh. Third, a leopard with four wings. This one has four heads and is given dominion. Fourth, a beast terrifying, dreadful, and exceedingly strong. Very destructive of things in that it "broke in pieces and stamped and stamped what was left. Different from all the others that came first. It had 10 horns. Then another horn - small - comes up, and pulls three of the original horns up by the roots. This horn has eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth "speaking great things".
2022 - All these 2022 notes are based on the Judgment study. I am still going to try and fill them in here, verse by verse as I go, because I am already seeing more here than I did during the Judgment study.
Vs 2, Four winds of heaven stirring up the sea. This tells us that Daniel's vision is of the spiritual world, not the world of men. The winds are about contention in heaven between Lucifer and God and Christ. Lucifer has recruited some very powerful angels to his service, and one at a time, he runs them at the earth. Each of the four beasts is an angelic follower of Satan, sent as "overlord" or "warlord" who is charged with overthrowing, extinguishing, or undoing God's redemptive plan on earth, because if that can be accomplished, then Lucifer can avoid the fate that is in store for him. The sea is where spiritual beings come from. And so the future, so far as the spiritual realm, is now laid out.
2022-2, 5/17, as I get back to the judgment study. I believe Daniel's vision is of events on earth, of future earthly events. Perhaps I am right about the symbolism of the winds stirring up the sea - the source of angels - perhaps not. But the beasts are angels.
First beast - wings plucked, raised up onto two feet. Remember this is an angel. Wings plucked might mean his immortal attributes were removed, and he changed from a creature who looks similar to the great dragon to a creature who looked like a man. He was perhaps "demoted" by Satan into this other form. Perhaps Satan saw this as a new strategy. An angel in man's clothing. Perhaps too this is why Neb is so often called God's servant, God's man. Perhaps when this angel became a man, he was far more subject to the will of God, could no longer follow Satan's commands independently of God's wishes. Maybe this is why Neb was so very powerful. What a complete and total refutation by God of the strategy Satan employed with the first beast. Note that it never says anything like this happened again. Hmm....if we go with this, then when Neb is turned to a wild animal, he is described as "ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagle's feathers, and his nails were like birds claws". Sounds a bit similar to a great red dragon, but not as powerful doesn't it? As Satan had turned an angel to a man to rule the world, God turns a man into a beast that looks like the original angel as a way of humbling this thing before him. So that this man who was a beast chooses to honor God, and not Satan. What a monumental mistake in judgment this was for Satan.
2026 - Satan raises up what was an animal and somehow gives him the mind of man and then makes him a great ruler. This former beast on all fours not only has the mind of man but gets arrogant and makes himself the greatest of men, and credits himself with "creation" of his kingdom and all that he surveys. So God reminds him of what he really is. God turns him back into a beast, takes away his human mind and for seven years he lives as he once did - as an animal. And th en God changes him back, NOT Satan, and therefore from that point on Neb is "God's own man". Notice back in 4:33 that he was out in the fields until "his hair had grown like eagle's feathers".
2026 - Then look at Daniel's first beast. A lion, WITH EAGLES WINGS, So when Neb was turned back into a beast he "re-assumed" the characteristics he'd had before. His nails were like bird's claws. Which, except for size, look a lot like lion's clams.
Second beast - We would expect Satan to try something very different with this beast. Like a bear this time, but raised up on one side? One side in the realm of men, one side still in the spiritual realm? No, probably not. We also think the ram with two horns - one bigger than the other, is about the Medes and Persians, who had two kings, but one of them was more powerful than the other. That's what this might mean - remembering that what is happening on earth under the reign of this beast will reflect what is happening spiritually. Could it be that Lucifer decided to put two angels in charge with this new strategy, giving one greater authority than the other? Three ribs in its mouth? The Medo-Persians conquered Babylon, Medea, and Persia perhaps? It was a larger empire than Babylon alone had been, and ruled heavily over these three kingdoms. These three kingdoms might have been subservient to the King of the Medes and the King of the Persians - three still lesser beasts, not mentioned specifically. Devour much flesh? Perhaps this was a very brutal, very violent, very bloody kingdom. I do not know enough about it to say.
2026 - The bear raised up on one side is the Medo-Persian empire, with one side being the stronger. The three ribs are Belshazzar's Babylon, in three districts. All of that empire is conquered by the Medes and Persians. The bear eats a lot of meat - means that the old Babylon and it's kingdom all falls by conquest, and is thoroughly and completely incorporated into the Medo-Persian.
Third beast - Leopard, with four birds wings. This one has four heads. Last one also represented as a Ram with two horns. Perhaps this time we have four angels trying to get it right? Each angel has a territory. All are combined under one kingdom, with one ruler - corresponding to Alexander - but when the earthly counterpart dies, perhaps what really happened is that the four heads combine and overcome the one to whom they'd answered? When Alexander's kingdom broke apart, indeed, four kings arose. From those, we have the ever smaller, ever less powerful nations, right down to the present time. After 3 strikes, Satan did not try world conquest again as a way to overcome the angels of God and His plan for mankind. He has given up until the fourth beast. Much about the fourth beast in the Judgment study. Not going into it here. Running out of time.
2022-2, The four wings are the four parts of the Kingdom of Alexander the great. That's all they symbolize, as the ribs were a symbol of Medes, Persians, and Babylonians. Or maybe Medes, Persians, and the west. My guess is that the Medo-Persian Kingdom had three administrative regions,
(2025 - Oh my! We know it had three regions because Daniel was one of the three administrators that Darius put over it all! This ought to lock down what the bear with three ribs symbolizes!) and that either the Medes or Persians was the stronger part of the kingdom by a good margin. So these first three are the history of the world from the Babylonian captivity to the break-up of the Kingdom of Alexander - which would have been roughly about 350 BC. From there, there was never really another kingdom like those that came before. This is saying that the Romans were not ruled by a beast "assembled" and sent by Satan to dominate the world. He tried three times and failed three times, and now, during the church age, he waits. Hitler then, was not a beast.
2026 - Alexander's Kingdom is divided into four, one of which is Rome. That is why Rome does not have its own "beast". It is just a subset of the Leopard. And as time marches on, each of the four breaks into smaller and smaller kingdoms, some led by "non-nobility". Then toes, but even the toes are made of multiple kingdoms, some of the basest form of clay, some of potter's clay, and some of iron. This corresponds to the original vision of Neb.
2026 - During the church/Gentile age, kingdoms get smaller. Conquest changes from "the whole world" to the neighbor next door. That is how things are still going. But hat fourth beast is still coming. I believe that fourth one is the 1st beast, rising from the sea. He is not the Dragon. The Dragon has been here all along.
2023 - The first idea about the Leopard seems to be off. I am still good with the first and second. These demonic beings ruled THROUGH men on the earth. Men over which they had great influence, almost total control. And I believe each beast represents a different strategy of Satan, all of which failed.
2020 - I feel sure that last beast is the Antichrist. Also sure the leopard is Alexander the Great. So straight from Alex to end times. No Rome, no Hitler. Unless A-E is a near version of AC, and this will ALL repeat?
2023 - The no Rome, no Hitler part is because Jesus showed up during Rome, and the church age began. I don't believe Daniel was informed about the church age. So yes, he would "skip" from the four kings who succeeded Alexander the great all the way to the 70th week - the last week.
2022-2, The description of the fourth beast and his kingdom:
"7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things." [Dan 7:7-8 ESV]
2022-2, In Daniel, the fourth beast rises from the sea. In Rev 13:1, the beast rises from the sea. Both beasts have 10 horns. I think this unarguably ties Dan 7:7-8 to Rev 13. These two are about the same beast. We know from Rev that the 7 seals are all opened before Rev 13, so the appearance of this beast comes during/after those seals. This beast establishes a world with 10 kingdoms/nations. This is all accomplished, and somehow this beast rules the 10 nations. But then...the 11th horn rises. The horns are men. Earthly rulers. An 11th arises and "plucks up by the roots" three of the previous horns. Surely this means they are killed, removed completely, disappeared. They are not demoted, they are removed, and this new horn takes over. There were ten, three are removed leaving 7, and this new horn rules over the consolidated 8th. This little horn is characterized by eyes like a man's eyes and a mouth speaking great things. Perhaps this speaks to great discernment and great persuasion. He sees through intrigue and he draws loyalty to himself.
All these references from Revelation to seven heads with ten horns.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. [Rev 12:3 ESV]
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. [Rev 13:1 ESV]
3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. ... 7 But the angel said to me, "Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ... 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; [Rev 17:3, 7, 9 ESV]
So...A pretty good idea who this fourth beast is. MSB says the fourth is Rome, eventually broken apart and becoming Europe. Someday it will be restored under 10 kings and then the Antichrist will arise and take it over. This is all MSB. I think Daniel covers Rome under the leopard, which breaks up into four kingdoms, one of which eventually becomes Rome, another Egypt, and all that Antony and Cleopatra stuff. More of the same, until end times.
Then a new scene is set. A different vision, sequel to the four beasts. After them. Thrones are set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. I believe Ancient of Days is a reference to God Himself. His throne is fiery flame, its "wheels" burning fire. NASB also says wheels. So does NKJV. These verses:
10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. [Dan 7:10 ESV] Angels serve him. This appears to be a picture of the second death. Here is a similar picture of the Great White Throne Judgement, at the end of the Millennial:
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. [Rev 20:12 ESV]
2022 - I spent a lot of time on this in the judgment study. Reading it now...I'm not sure I have any of it right. Perhaps...oh my!!!!...Is this the bema seat judgment, in heaven, in the spiritual realm, right after the rapture!!!??? It could be! The fire is there to test the works. The books are there to say "Yes, though he has no reward, his name is here". The dead here are the resurrected dead! The scene is heaven, not earth, where the S&G and the GWT will take place. In Rom 14:10 it is ho bema ho theos. And that certainly correlates to this scene in Daniel. Why would Paul refer to the same scene as ho bema ho Christos in 2Co 5:10? If I can work out wh....In Romans, Paul was envisioning the scene as it takes place in heaven, spiritually. In 2Co, he is seeing it as the judgment of mankind.
Could be...if the visions are taken as chronological, this judgement will take place after the kingdom of AC is gone. But is it Great White Throne or sheep and goats? I think maybe, on 2/1/22, I finally have my answer, I have the scene of the judgment of believers for their works, I see where it is, and chronologically when it is. I think I have found it!
Still 2022 - This is incredible, now that I see it. Notice in 7:8 that there is a mouth speaking great things. This is the last ruler on earth, proclaiming himself God. When he does this, we know from Thess, that the rapture will occur. This man will be recognized - by his words! - and then the church will be raptured out. Right after that, the raptured will be judged in heaven. It fits perfectly, right down to the supernatural fire that will try the works done in his name. Then next, in vss 11, 12, Christ will defeat this beast at his second coming, and Satan and his earthly demonic and human forces will be shut away for a thousand years. It matches right up.
2022-2, I think this is pretty clear now. We have the appearance, in Dan 7:8, of the Son of Perdition, the Man of Lawlessness. I am hesitant to call him Antichrist for the reasons Bobby Kelly gave us. This is the one speaking great things. He will be the one who deposes three rulers. This will be a public event. These verses: "3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God." [2Th 2:3-4 ESV]. This rebellion may be an uprising against the regions where the three kings rule. They may be particularly heinous, and the man of lawlessness promises leniency and peace. OR, these three may be trying to maintain Christianity and/or Judaism and keep it safe, and that is the twisted justification of the M of L. In any case, it seems to me that he will lead a revolt. This will NOT be a worldwide apostasy, but a local revolt that puts the M of L on the seat of power, from which he will ultimately rule the planet. We know from Mark/Matthew/Luke that once he is on the throne, a time of great persecution will come, and it will be shortened by the rapture. So all this comes together here. All these verses. And then, the raptured will be judged before theos at the throne of heaven. Those books have our deeds in them. That is not THE book of life, because if you were raptured, your salvation is a given. It's the book of deeds. I think it has ALL our deeds, both good and evil. Reward will be increased by the good, decreased by the sins. They will count for the rewards, but they will not count for condemnation. "1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." [Rom 8:1 ESV]. What condemns us? Our sins, if we are not in Christ. Nothing at all can condemn us if we are in him.
The so-called, very inappropriately named bema judgment is the bema ho theos. The saved will be judged by the Ancient of Days, not by the Son. The Son will act as our advocate at this judgment, dismissing the sins in the book as already covered.
In Revelation, we see this same scene here: "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"" [Rev 7:9-10 ESV]. NOTICE that the throne and the Lamb are mentioned as separate. There is a throne, on which God will be sitting, and the Lamb will be right there. What is described in Revelation 7 is the scene immediately after that judgment, and those saved who are killed during the great persecution of the M of L and those who did manage to survive to the rapture, are given special honor.
I think this is SOLID to right here. But then what does the rest mean?
2023 - There is still one very glaring problem with this. The question of whether or not Revelation is entirely chronological, or alternates in point of view from earth to heaven and back. If the first, if it is chronological, then we cannot have the MoL not showing up at all until Chapter 13 of Revelation when the rapture took place back in 6. The MoL will be recognized on earth BEFORE the rapture occurs. So what I must find time to do is pin down the POV's throughout the book of Revelation. What that would do is make what John is seeing on earth in Revelation 6 correspond in time to what is going on in the spiritual realm during that same period. I ought to be able to print things out and lay them atop each other and see whether it will work that way at all. If not, then I will be out of ideas and have to start over.
vs 11...A continuation, or a look back?
2022 - Continuation
11 "I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. [Dan 7:11-12 ESV]
(2022 - The beast destroyed is the beast from the sea. This is the death of an angel. This is why the body must be burned. It won't decay.)
(2026 - But...where is this "death" in Revelation? The beast and the false prophet are thrown alive into the pit, right? Here is that verse...looking down below I have gotten this far before:
20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. [Rev 19:20 ESV]
2026 - Ahhh! See the bolded underlined below and 2Thes 2:8. I think the best way to read this is that the MAN of Lawlessness is the "beast" of Dan 7:11 that gets burned. As I read it today, in 2026, the MoL who has been king of all the earth during the 70th week, will be leading the forces of sinful man at the Battle of Armageddon. No one will have to fight that battle because Jesus will kill them all with his breath. Among those killed in this burning fire will be the MoL - the actor on behalf of the first beast from the sea. It will be a man who dies here. Then, in Rev. 19:19-20, it is the spiritual beings behind the MoL and the false prophet, who are thrown into the pit.)
2022-2, Vss 11, 12 summarize the rest of the seven years. Down through 10 gets us past the rapture and the judgment of those in Christ. Here is a problem though...would Daniel, who was an OT prophet and didn't really understand the church age, give us this kind of detail about the bema seat if ONLY church age souls will be there? Or is his inclusion of this judgment a proof text that OT saints will also be raptured, and perhaps that accounts for the huge numbers that will be present?
2022-2, So what do we see in 11,12? First, the horn continues to speak. The rapture does NOT come at the end of the 7 years, because the M of L continues to do his thing AFTER the rapture. Things go on, as Revelation tells us. The horn is speaking until the beast is killed. What beast is killed? Here is what happens at the second coming:
"19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur." [Rev 19:19-20 ESV]. So I don't think Daniel is telling us about this. No beast is killed in Rev 19. UNLESS John is telling us here about the beasts from the earth, which are in fact men.
2026 - But see above, 2026 - Ahhh! The men are burned in the Battle of Armageddon, and the angels of Satan that empowered them are thrown into the pit for a thousand years. In this way Daniel 7 lines up with Revelation.
2026 - Here is what cinches it, when the interpretation is made known to Daniel later in Dan 7. This verse: 17 'These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. [Dan 7:17 ESV], In Daniel's vision, the beasts are men. Earthly Kings. We know this. Nebuchadnezzar, Darius the Mede, Alexander the Great. Three MEN depicted as beasts because in Daniel we are being told about a night vision. That fourth beast is also a man, the MoL, through whom Satan executes his doomed plans.
2026 - Further corroboration is in Dan 7:21:
21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, [Dan 7:21 ESV].
Reads a lot like this:
A possibility is that Daniel is here speaking about the fourth beast, from the sea, that we saw earlier. We know that the fourth beast represents a fourth strategy of Satan to overcome the Lamb. The first three failed, and now this one also fails. And this one went so far that rather than being merely defeated, this angel is put to death. This fourth beast - an immortal angel - is killed, showing all the rest of the evil angels just how much more powerful than Satan is the God of heaven. The beast from the sea is killed, and the two beasts from the earth are thrown alive into hell.
These verses from Revelation are, in my opinion, the beast referred to:
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. [Rev 13:1-2 ESV]
But the false prophet is also called a beast. (beasts of the earth vs beasts of the sea. This is how the confusion can be unraveled.)
And at the end of the pre-Millennial battle, there is this:
20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. [Rev 19:20 ESV]
This verse says "thrown alive into the lake", so NOT the same reference as Dan 7.11, where the beast was killed.
Could be the man, Antichrist, killed and his soul thrown into hell. This verse:
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. [2Th 2:8 ESV] The man, the final Antichrist, will be killed by the Lord Jesus. He will die.
The beasts lives were prolonged...so during the Millennial, those who oppose Christ and his Kingdom will persist, but they won't have any power. Until at the end of the Millennial, and then the final battle. Or...is this the first battle...or both, telescoped together.
Getting way bogged down on this one spot. Continue....
2020-I really don't understand verses 11, 12. The beast killed almost has to be the human Antichrist, but not Satan who possesses him. Satan will abandon that man. Perhaps there were also beasts in charge of the Chaldeans, the Medo-Persians, and the Greeks, defeated but still marking time? Or perhaps these kingdoms will all come again before the end and the second time with demonic help? How long is a season and a time?
2022 - In the section above, you have to keep straight whether we are talking about a beast from the sea or a beast from the earth. It all straightens itself out in that way. These verses in Daniel are still moving through the book of Revelation chronologically.
2022-2, Dan 7:12. The "rest" of the beasts lose their dominion. Since vs 11 was speaking of a beast from the sea, the fourth beast, that dies, I think we must read this verse as talking about other angels of Satan. Other evil beasts from the sea. Perhaps this is about the seven spiritual dominions. The fourth beast was given power over all seven, with 10 subsets. When the fourth beast dies, the demons who served him are also defeated, removed. It is these who are removed by theos. Then....
Vs 13 is a vision, still of that throne with the Ancient of Days seated. Authority is given to one like a son of man. His dominion is everlasting. This is Jesus.
2023 - This is Jesus, after he presents to the Father those whom the Father sent him to save. Oh my...this is like the end of the redemption process. All is accomplished at this judgment in heaven. As to honor the Son, the Father gives all dominion to the him, and this dominion lasts forever. No more games, no more power at all in Satan's hands.
2022 - Vss 13 and 14 show God handing over dominion to Jesus, who will then come to earth, after the earthly ruler has ruled another 3 1/2 years or so, and wipe him out, and establish his kingdom on earth. There is no discrepancy here. It finally all fits together, as I KNEW IT MUST!!! While there may truly be mysteries yet to be revealed in the Word, I think more often we just fail to dig out what is already revealed! This is it. This is what I have been looking for since last November. Three judgments, 1 in heaven, 2 on the earth. Why would I not have expected 3!?!?!?
2022-2, Dan 7:13,14 correspond precisely to this verse: "15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become [the kingdoms] of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"" [Rev 11:15 NKJV]. This is the seventh trumpet.
2022 - The interpretation for Daniel, is of the earthly events that correspond to what he has seen in his vision of the spiritual. But this verse:
17 'These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. [Dan 7:17 ESV]
For each beast seen in heaven, there will be a corresponding king on the earth. But they'll all lose, and Christ will win. This is a very succinct interpretation that Daniel receives.
2020-Is this at his resurrection and ascension, or just before the second advent? Note the description of His kingdom, and how closely it matches the bookends Neb uses around his story. Use of that same phrasing makes God and Christ the very same.
Ahh...should have been patient. Daniel approaches one who stands there and asks what all this is about, and he gets an answer.
The four beasts are four kings - who arise from earth. Lucifer is from heaven. They will be overcome by the saints of the Most High, and he will receive this Kingdom, and rule it forever. 2020-Alexander was not defeated by saints? (2022 - Separate the spiritual from the earthly, and it makes sense!) So...future still? Battles during trib and great trib? Beasts supporting kingdoms ruled by horns? No....not if beasts are kings who arise from earth...
2022-2, The angel is clearly talking about men. The beasts from the earth are powerful men who become kings on earth. These are not like ordinary men. I believe that the four beasts who arose from the sea in vs 3 are four angels - demonic satanic angels - whose spiritual kingdoms correspond to the earthly kingdoms of the four beasts. There is a one to one correspondence here between the spiritual kingdom and the earthly. In the case of these four great earthly kings, it is highly likely that the ambitions of the kings correspond to the ambitions of the demons. Their purposes combine in a way that allows much conquest, much accomplishment, much assertion of power on the earth. So in vs 3, Daniel's vision was of things that would take place with respect to the spiritual realm. But when this angel begins to explain to Daniel what the vision is about, the angel describes the corresponding earthly events - concurrent in time with the spiritual events. This seems a good way to understand the difference between beasts from the sea and beasts from the earth, yet again. And I note that John in Revelation also makes this distinction about the source of some of the beasts there.
Daniel asks for more specifics about that fourth beast, different from all the rest.
(((2022 - As Daniel asks his question, he tells us a little more about the vision he had previously. Particularly, in 21, he tells us the horn made war on the saints and prevailed. We didn't see that back in vss 7,8, but he tells us about this detail now. This is about great trib. What he told us back in 7,8 was about trib, up until the beast is recognized. And in 21,22, he tells us what will happen during gt, until God gives Jesus dominion, and Jesus comes and conquers not only this beast, but the dragon himself.)))
The explanation in vs 23-27 seems to be that a Kingdom will arise. It will dominate the whole world. I would say that the whole world will be under a single government - a tyrannical and destructive government - and this world government will have 10 divisions, each with it's own king, or top official. AFTER this world government is established, Antichrist will rise, and he will take over three of those 10 divisions. He will be different, because Satan will possess him. He will then continue to rise in power, and will begin to speak against the Most High. His objective will be to change future history and avoid the ultimate fate of Satan and those who follow him. Antichrist will be trying to bend history to Satan's plan, and to stop the culmination of God's plan. Truly Satan will here try and overcome the Most High. This is the last 3 1/2 years. This is great tribulation. Ultimately, after the battle and events at the end of great trib, and after the Millennial, this beast will receive judgement also, at the Great White Throne. By God's own judgement he will be condemned. Then the earth will be remade, sin will be gone forever, and we will be with God forever.
(2022 - I think the above paragraph is pretty near correct. 25b describes great tribulation - 3.5 years. 26 is the setting of the scene of the GWT judgment. 27 is "for ever and ever". So amazing, so precise, so connected without discrepancy. You have to read it all. You have to let it sink in. You have to look again and again. But eventually, it is all here.)))
2022-2, Daniel asks his question in vss 19,20. He does not specify whether he is asking about spiritual events or earthly events. Can we discern it either from the details of his question of from the answer he gets? Several things indicate that Daniel is asking about the spiritual being. Men do not have iron teeth and bronze claws. Men do not have 10 horns on their heads...(Perhaps the horns on the demons head indicate that the demon has "control" of those 10 horns. Somehow, the horns are earthly kings under the influence of this one demonic spirit.)
2022-2, Vs 21 seems to be a continuation of the vision from earlier as regards the fourth beast. It is like the vision continues to advance, even as Daniel speaks to the angel. Like a movie playing in the background that Daniel can still see. This vs is about a time during which the "different horn" pursues the saints. Daniel knew nothing of the church age, so he does not distinguish for us whether this is pursuit of children of the woman - the Jews alive during the 7 years - or of Christians, or of both. So we have to deduce that in other ways. I think this verse in Dan 7 references precisely the same time as this vs from Mark: "19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days." [Mar 13:19-20 ESV]. I think this is the time between revelation of the M of L and the rapture. Mark, Luke, and Matthew ALL refer to this time of pursuit that would wipe out humanity if it were not cut short. But it is cut short by the rapture of the church, but continues with respect to the Jews. Daniel wouldn't distinguish between them as he had no knowledge of the church age. The "movie" continues with this verse:
"22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom." [Dan 7:22 ESV]. Here is a difficult interpretation. The rapture will see Jesus return and wait in the clouds as the saved go up to meet him in the air. Jesus, not the Ancient of Days. So is this just Daniel, unaware of the Trinity, referring to the one who comes as God? It could be that. The judgment that occurs - the bema judgment at ho bema ho theos - will be before God the Father, as the original vision showed in vs 9. The detailed physical description there is of the Father. Hmm...if this is the movie continuing, then that judgment is past, and this appearance of the Father and the judgment here could be either the pre-Millennial or the GWT. The saints first possess the kingdom at the Millennial. But it is Jesus on the throne at the Millennial isn't it? Or is it? This verse: "31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne." [Mat 25:31 ESV]. This is at the sheep and goat judgment, and it is clearly Jesus on the throne of judgment. Perhaps ho bema ho christos. This is a judgment of works. Books are opened. But the THE book is not mentioned. In that sense, this would be another look at ho bema ho theos.
Maybe...since in vss 13,14 dominion is given to one like a son of man, Daniel is in fact aware that there are two. He knows the Father when he sees Him in vision, and the two judgments Daniel describes are both conducted with the Father as Judge. And since we know from Mat 25:31 that it will be Jesus judging at the Sheep and Goat, the scene in 7:22 is indeed the GWT, the absolute and final judgment of all, after which the saints will rule and reign with Christ forever.
2022-2, Then in vs 23, we return to Daniel's present, and to the angel answering Daniel's question about the fourth beast. Vss 23-25, contextually, are a description of events on earth. This is consistent with the first part of the angel's answer about the fourth beast. The angel tells us that 10 kings - earthly heads - will rule the earth, and into that mix will come this very different kind of man, before whom three will fall. Vs 25 tells us that this is the M of L, that he will declare himself to be God, and he will have a strategy that seeks to change the end of time - to bring about an outcome different than what God has planned. For 3.5 years he will be in charge, with almost limitless power over the earth, and will use it to pursue first both Christian and Jew, and after the rapture, he will continue to try and kill ALL the Jews. Then this verse:
"26 But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end." [Dan 7:26 ESV]. The M of L loses his dominion at the end of the 7. So this angelic description is of the Sheep and Goat judgment, where the M 0f L is thrown alive into the lake of fire. This verse in Daniel corresponds to this verse in Revelation: "20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur." [Rev 19:20 ESV]. This occurs when Christ returns with his army. This is strictly about the Sheep and Goat. Then this summary by the angel:
"27 And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.'" [Dan 7:27 ESV]. Once Christ is on this throne, he is never unseated, never deposed, never usurped, and never seriously challenged.
So the only question that remains is, why, after all this, is it the Father who judges on the GWT? In Revelation, John does not describe the one seated on the GWT. He sees him, but does not describe him. Only this angel in Daniel 7 tells us that he is the Ancient of Days, and we have built a case that this is the GWT judgment, and to me it is the only interpretation that fits chronologically, but I cannot be positive about it.
You would think, though, that since Yahweh delivered the Ten in person to Israel, and they heard His voice, that at the GWT, when they are all judged, it would be the Ancient of Days that judged. It was His direct commandments that they were given, and this judgment will be for breaking those commandments. In that sense, it all fits.
What's new here for me is the rise of a world government that will be taken over by Antichrist, not formed by him in the first place. He won't pull it all together, he will rise to power through it.
All this alarms Daniel greatly, such that his "color changes". I would say he is pale and weak and fearful.