Daniel chapter seven shows us a geopolitical map that will exist around the Mediterranean Sea in the last days, at the time of the second coming and is to be understood with that fact in mind, verse 12 clearly says, that three kingdoms will continue to rule within their borders for a season after the Lords return.
We can only speculate as to why their rule is prolonged, the best guess is that the existing law and order apparatus will provide a measure of civility until a Theocracy can take its place.
In no way should a student view this passage of scripture as a chronological history of empires, on the contrary it is a picture of that regions geopolitical order at the second coming.
We proceed to interpret these verses with great postulation, influenced by the realities of the modern world order coupled with much prayer for guidance.
“I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea, and four great Beasts came up from the sea diverse one from another.
The first Beast;
“The first [was] like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon the feet as a man and a man’s heart was given to it ”
This Lion that at one time had eagles wings, is Western Power in general but Greece may emerge as a figurehead, we can easily see the parallelisms to western Europe and the Americas.
While Greece boasts of the appellation “the father of democracy” others begat the Magna Carta and the Bill of rights, nevertheless Greece is the epitome of democracy. Also we consider its connection to the great sea which we see as a necessary common thread with all of the four Beasts, and considering the realities of the relationships in modern Mideast politics Greece with the backing of its western neighbors gets the nod here. (NATO, EU, etc.)
Their nanny state mentality combined with political politeness has brought them to a point of no return, this beast unable to exhibit power any longer because of the plucked wings and its sympathetic heart, has become a fit representation of all ageing democracies including America, these all being elected by a majority of degenerates with no cohesion in civil thought nor common ethic of morality, they are doomed to failure, just as their own philosopher Socrates predicted.
Though once powerful and majestic the removing of the feathers, (bible in public discourse) from the wings makes this beast impotent. The Good Spirit no longer has the wherewithal to lift it above the problems inherent with ruling a nation, combined that with a sympathetic human heart instead of the beast like qualities needed to function efficiently, it has become a nursemaid institution with scant resources in a dog eat dog world. [addendum] With the recent decoupling between America and the EU. we speculate it this is not the ‘plucking of the wings’]. (03/30/2025).
The second Beast;
“ And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and [it had] three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh”
Russia’s conquest of the Crimea along with its sovereign port on the Syrian coastline gives it the required great sea presence.
The Crimea, along with the Donetsk and Luhansk republics appear (could be) at this time to be the 3 ribs in its mouth, but regardless there are still many candidates any of whom could easily be overrun, without much local opposition, (something being discussed in the headlines today) and with the power vacuums being created by the drawdown of American troops from the Mideast, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are just a few nations among all the ethnic groups that may come to welcome the security Russia can provide.
Russia is the largest colonizing power the world has ever known, much more so than Great Britain who at one time sported about the adage “the sun never sets on the British empire”.
This Beast with the three ribs already in its mouth when the vision begins is told to “rise devour much flesh” who's going to stop them.
The rising up on one side reflects its interest in and its westward movement and this in no way should be construed as a continuation of earlier descriptions in Daniel 2 of the Medes and/or Persians.
Does the command to ‘rise and devour much flesh’ mean for the regime to kill many men, acquire much land or both, is a good question, the word used in the text [Hebrew-basir] means literal flesh unless it’s being used in a idiom.
* 1/20/2024- This Russian army has become a very powerful fighting machine as a result of the Ukrainian conflict.
The third Beast;
“After this I beheld, and another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it ”
Iran with its four branches of government, is one of four countries that call themselves a Islamic republic, and with an unclean spirit, (the prince of Persia) in the four wings upon its back, which is indicative of its prowess, and due to the makeup of its government the leadership has much independence from political pressures, the four heads of the leopard seem to be Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis of Yemen and Iran proper, however Iraq could come under their control with the diminishing American presence.
We believe Iran and the controversy surrounding the economic sanctions is the ‘base’ spoken of in Zech. 13:3, for more information see the article, Zechariah 13:3 Iranian Sanctions in the Bible.
The dreadful forth beast;
“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns, I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things”
Daniel wanted to know more about this one because it is in his backyard. It is the emerging Neo Ottoman/Mohammedan empire with headquarters in modern day Turkey, and at its head the Antichrist, the leader and champion of the Muslims, with their religious fervor and its designs on Jerusalem, the place where Jesus Christ intends to set up His government. It will be this conflict that consummates in a battle for the streets of Jerusalem, half the city will be captured, the houses rifled and the woman raped, see Zach.14, half the population will be taken prisoner and it’s at this point that Jesus Christ will appear on the Mount of Olives and deliver the Jewish people from this horror.
This Little Horn of Daniel 7:8 will be the leader of the other horns who are a product of the so called Muslim spring states, (cf. Dan. 2 the toes).
This beast though the cohesion of the Islamic religion will have tentacles around the globe, the strong horses and chariots of Zechariah 6:7 are dispatched to limit its advance.
This regime will be totally destroyed by Jesus Christ at his appearing while the other three will have their lives prolonged for a little season, (cf. Dan. 7:12).
There is much more that can be said of these beasts, especially the forth one, how that it will run roughshod over Israel for three and a half years. And how it will pluck up three of the ten horns by the roots.
Also, we know from other scriptures that Egypt is decimated during this period with the Nile having dried mostly up making them a threat to nobody.
We know also and to their credit, some political entities will make an attempt to stop the fourth beast see Micah 5:5 and that the king of the north (Russia) will come against him, also the king of the south (Saudi Arabia) will push at him, (cf. Dan. 11:40).
The Israeli Defense force seems to be in need of help when Jesus Christ Himself shows up, and they look upon Him whom they pierced.
By studying other references in the bible, such a Deut. 32:26 and following, one has to assume that the power structure of the world will change dramatically from what it is now, with the only reference to America, and that being ambiguous, is in the “ships from Kittim” quote from Daniel 11:30 and Nums.24:24 where it says in the Hebrew language “ships from the direction of the west” or possibly Micah 5:5, the seven shepherds and eight principled men, also the young lions of Exe. 38:13 may reference America.
To better understand these end time passages one has to conclude that Daniel 11:21 and following is future prophecy, most don’t and therefore will always be confused and unable to see how the revelations God has provided us paints a very through and easy to be understood picture.
Any student of the bible who believes that the Roman empire is to be found in the last days will not be able to put the prophecies together. It would help if that student would replace the Roman Empire in their thinking with the Ottoman Empire (Mohammedans).
I don’t want to get far from the subject, but will add one more thing, it may help some to understand that the “raiser of taxes” in Daniel 11:20 was Abu Bakr the first Caliphate in 634 AD. I realize that that’s a hard pill to swallow for most end time booksellers and with most if not all bible commentaries, but it is a fact that has collaborating secular history. Also note that the next sovereign to rise will be the Antichrist circa. 1400 years later.
toby lee