Daniel published his book with the narratives in the first half, and the prophecies in the second. Thus, for chapter 7 we drop back in time a bit to that first year when Belshazzar sat on the throne of Babylon. Daniel recounts the experience as a dream vision. Daniel's vision here is not as murky as many would make it out to be, provided we adopt the Hebraic perspective. The biggest mistake is assuming things are relentlessly chronological. Demanding we find a one-to-one relationship between every detail of the vision as representing some discrete, physical reality is childish, flat out wrong. Fuzzy logic is irritating to modern Western thinkers, but is exactly the sort of logic inherent in Scripture, particularly in visions.
We begin with the Four Winds, described as servants of God, the standard image of wind or breath representing spirit. These four spirits are stirring the Great Sea, symbolic of fallen humanity as a whole. Arising from the world-wide mass of humanity we see a series of beasts, which we are told represent kings. Even here, it is not meant literally -- the kings are not people, but roles. Each represents a known historical empire. The first is Babylon, under which Daniel serves at the time of the vision. The sequence shows this as a powerful and noble empire, with a very human intellect at the helm in the guise of Nebuchadnezzar. The next is Medo-Persia, seen as a bear with a paw raise to strike. With an insatiable appetite, they were marked by greed in devouring other nations. Third comes the Greek Empire, swift as a winged predator already too fast. The Macedonian conquest was swifter than any would have imagined possible. The four heads represented the four generals who inherited the empire at Alexander's death. Each of these three beasts maintained something recognizable to humans.
The final empire is Rome. It was an indescribable beast of massive power. However, Rome itself is a symbol of all governments following her. From the biblical perspective, Rome started something evil, something which made it completely foreign to nature, particularly human nature. This monstrosity bore features which no government ever should have. Rome pioneered making government altogether impersonal. In the process, it was by far the most dehumanizing, the most brutal, utterly lacking in grandeur and nobility. This sort of government is smothering, overwhelming in poking into every detail of human life. It is total rule, down to the last detail of human existence. The seeds of this sort of government eventually yield the rule of impersonal committees, ordinary people without a sense of greatness, arrogantly replacing the natural order. Oddly, in our modern Western pretense to a rule of law as the foundation of democratic political theory, we promote that very thing.
Horns always represent power and authority. These horns do not represent any particular list of rulers, nor any known confederation or other inheritors of this awful legacy. Rather, the number ten represents the complete range of human power throughout human history. The three uprooted are those last three empires already seen in the previous beasts. Their legacy is wiped away by the last, new horn. This represents a particular success Satan has in creating this whole new type of total government. It boasts of things far greater than even the self-proclaimed "divine" monarchs.
It is this which sets the stage for Last Things -- that is, these Last Days in which we live today. When the final manifestation of this evil form of government comes to power, Heaven prepares the Final Judgment on sin in the Cross. Eventually, this beastly last government will be destroyed in a spiritual sense. Other governments had their time, but the memory of their grandeur is not forgotten. Finally, in proper logical order comes the Son to take up His inheritance, Who will assume His rule from Heaven over His people. The Kingdom of Heaven is established, and all human authority is subject to Him, at least in the hearts of His people. In the guise of the Roman Empire, human government forfeited it's claim on the loyalty of God's children. Christians now submit directly to Christ, who lives inside their very persons. He is the ultimate Ruler, and all the demands of human government are mere background noise.
Daniel found this whole thing utterly shocking, distressing. Daniel wasn't just being polite when he spoke highly of the Babylonian Imperial glory as symbolized by the golden head of the great statue (chapter 2). Brutal and ugly Babylon may have been, but there was in that reign something which was noble and stirring in holy hearts. It was a grand fulfillment of the Noahic Covenant of human civil government. The vision in chapter 2 and chapter 7 are much the same, but the latter shows Daniel something of the nature of things from the spiritual viewpoint, while the former was granted as an understanding to fallen, pagan men -- in this case, Nebuchadnezzar. Thus, the Lord built on top of that a spiritual understanding for Daniel and those of his nation who would have spiritual wisdom.
It becomes painfully clear to Daniel Israel would never be free again, but would find herself under each of these. The brief independence in the period of the Maccabees was of no real significance viewed from this angle. What independence Judea held then was not a blessing from God, but merely a setting for turmoil in which the temptation to seek Rome's support would be the final trap. Under Rome, Israel would end as a nation among men, forever. It would be displaced by a purely spiritual kingdom. The joy of that latter revelation could not comfort him from the sorrow of his nation's demise.
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Ed Hurst
Updated 29 November 2007
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