Daniel 7 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application

Daniel 7 Bible Study

TIMELINE:

• The Book of Daniel opens in the 3rd year of the reign of King Jehoiakim, 606 BC. Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel in Babylon. Daniel was taken to Babylon about 14 years before Ezekiel was called by God to be a prophet (Ezekiel 1-2).

• Daniel 1:21 informs us Daniel was in the palace of Babylon until the first year of King Cyrus (539 BC).

• Daniel saw a vision, which he recorded in this chapter, in the 1st year of King Belshazzar of Babylon. Belshazzar’s reign started sometime around 555 BC.

WHAT WE'VE STUDIED SO FAR IN DANIEL:

• Daniel 1 – Daniel and his friends are taken to Babylon and educated for 3 years to work in the king’s court. Daniel requests to be exempted from eating the king’s food in order to keep God’s dietary laws.

• Daniel 2 – Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a great image made of 5 different materials. Daniel interprets the dream for him, telling him about an everlasting kingdom that God would set up in the latter days.

• Daniel 3 – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold and were thrown into the fiery furnace. God miraculously saved them from the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar praised God and honored Him throughout the kingdom.

• Daniel 4 – Nebuchadnezzar praised God as the Most High and the Eternal King. He recounted how God humbled him by turning him into an animal-like being that lived outside and ate grass like an ox.

• Daniel 5 – The city of Babylon falls to the Medes and Persians after Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall at Belshazzar’s drunken feast.

• Daniel 6 – Daniel’s enemies hatch a plot to prevent him from being promoted in the kingdom. Daniel is thrown into a den of lions, but God protects him and keeps the lions from killing him.

OUTLINE:

• THE 4 BEASTS OF DANIEL’S VISION (7:1-8):

  • In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a night vision.

  • He saw 4 beasts rising out of the sea.

  • The 1st beast looked like a lion with wings. The wings were plucked off and the lion was lifted and made to stand on two feet. The mind of a man was given to it.

  • The 2nd beast was like a bear. It had 3 ribs in its mouth, and it was told to “Arise, devour much flesh” (7:5).

  • The 3rd beast was like a leopard with four wings. It had four heads and “dominion was given to it.”

  • The 4th beast was unique, more terrifying and stronger than the others. It had iron teeth and ten horns. As Daniel observed, he saw three of the horns removed, and in their place a little horn full of eyes and with a mouth “speaking great things” (7:7-8). The little horn “made war with the saints and prevailed over them” (7:21).

• THE ANCIENT OF DAYS AND ONE LIKE A SON OF MAN (7:9-14):

  • Next, Daniel saw thrones being set in place and the “Ancient of Days” (God) took His seat. His hair was like pure wool, His clothes white as snow, His throne of fiery flames, and its wheel burning fire.

  • He was served by “thousands of thousands” and “ten thousand times ten thousand” stood in front of Him.

  • “The court sat in judgement, and the books were opened” (7:10).

  • The 4th beast, with its little horn, was killed, and the power of the other beasts was stripped from them, although they were permitted to remain alive for “a season and a time” (7:12).

  • Then Daniel saw “one like a son of man” (Jesus) coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was given “dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (7:14).

• THE MEANING OF THE VISION (7:15-28):

  • Daniel approached one of the people in the vision and asked about its interpretation.

  • The 4 beasts represented 4 kings or kingdoms. But their power would be thrown down and the saints, under the reign of the “one like a son of man,” would reign in a kingdom “forever and ever.”

  • Daniel asked specifically about the unique 4th beast that made war on God’s people.

  • He was told that the 4th beast represented a powerful kingdom, different from the others, that would devour the earth, trample it down, and break it into pieces. Its 10 horns represented 10 kings. The little horn represented a king that would displace 3 other kings.

  • The king represented by the little horn would speak against God, persecute His saints, and would have authority for “a time, times, and half a time” (7:25).

  • Ultimately, God would destroy this king and kingdom, and dominion would be given to the Most High and His people to reign in an everlasting kingdom.

APPLICATION:

• Notice the similarities between the vision in chapter 7 with the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2.

• In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the image was made of 4 materials that represented 4 kingdoms. In the days of the 4th kingdom, God promised to set up an everlasting kingdom that would reign forever.

• In Daniel 7, we read about 4 beasts which represent 4 kingdoms. God promised to kill the 4th beast and the kingdom represented by it to set up an eternal kingdom.

• These similarities are important to keep in mind when working on interpreting the text and looking for potential fulfillments.