Many people have asked the question: Are the four empires represented in the statue of Daniel, chapter 2, the same as the four powers represented in the four animals of Daniel chapter 7? Here is one view on answering that question:
In Daniel, chapter 2, the great statue in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream represents four world powers. In Daniel, chapter 7, the four beasts that rise out of the sea also represent four world powers, but not the same powers as the statue.
When Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue in chapter 2, he tells the king that the golden head represents him (Nebuchadnezzar) and his Kingdom of Babylon. Then Daniel goes on to say that after the Kingdom of Babylon comes to an end, another Kingdom inferior to his will rise (Medo-Persia - the silver chest and arms of the statue). And after that, a third Kingdom is represented (Greece - the bronze belly). Following that, the fourth Kingdom is represented (Rome - the iron legs and feet, mixed with clay).
In chapter 7, Daniel himself has a dream, in which he see four huge animals rise out of a stormy ocean. The first was like a lion, with the wings of an eagle, but the wings were pulled out.
Some people would say this lion was Babylon, the same as the gold head of the statue, as the lion was a Babylonian symbol. But it cannot be Babylon, as Babylon was already the world power when Daniel saw the rise of the lion. So the lion represents some power in the future after Daniel’s time. We think it is England who has a lion for a national emblem. England by far was the strongest power to rise with the symbol of a lion since Babylon. The eagle’s wings on the lion represent the United States, whose emblem happens to be an eagle. The early settlers in the United States were English, and broke off from England, as the wings broke off from the lion. It is no coincidence the United States selected the eagle as its national emblem.
The second animal looked like a bear, with its paw raised ready to strike, and it was told by a voice to "Get up and devour many people!" The original thought was this bear was the same as the silver chest of the statue, Medo-Persia. But it can’t be Medo-Persia, it has to be a power later than Daniel’s time. The bear is the symbol of Russia. Russia has risen to be a great power along with England and the United States. And Russia has "devoured many people" through its former communistic government, which spread to quite a few countries. And although the bear seems to be taking its winter nap right now, we believe that it will some day wake up and attack Israel as in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.
The third animal is a leopard. The leopard being a swift animal led people to believe it was the Empire of Greece (the bronze belly of the statue). When the Greek army under Alexander the Great took over Persia and everything else up to India, his army did it with the swiftness of a leopard. But this leopard has to be a power in the future. There are two possibilities today. Germany uses the leopard as its symbol, and Germany, which is possibly Gomer in Ezekiel 38 and 39, may be marching with Russia in the Gog and Magog war. Or the leopard could represent a band of countries from Africa that may rise up after the Gog and Magog war. After Russia, Germany and a group of Muslim countries are weakened by the outcome of that war.
The fourth animal to rise out of the ocean according to Daniel was too terrible to describe, and incredibly strong. It was far more brutal and vicious than any of the other animals, and it had 10 horns. As Daniel was looking at these horns, another horn appeared, uprooting three of the first horns, and had a man’s eyes and a bragging mouth. This terrible animal has been compared to the old Roman Empire (the iron legs on the statue). But being a future power, it seems to be the revived Roman Empire that is forming today. The horns represent leaders of countries in this revived empire that will be allied to the anti-christ. And the horn that has a man’s eyes and bragging mouth, could be the anti-christ.
So the four sections of the statue in Daniel chapter 2, and the four animals in Daniel chapter 7, represent two different time periods of history. The statue represents the Empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome of the past. And the four animals might represent England coupled with the United States, Russia, Germany or Africa, and the revived Roman Empire of today and the future.
By George Konig
Christian Internet Forum
www.georgekonig.org
November 30, 2003
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