The Fourth Beast: Daniel 7:19-28
God will have the last word. Besides being reminded about God’s love, I think those words are the most comforting words I ever hear. Living in this world can be difficult from time to time; it is helpful to know God will have the last say. On days when I feel particularly abused by the world, I enjoy knowing I will be a part of the Kingdom of God forever.
The concluding passage in Daniel 7 gives us information about the kingdoms that arise out of the fourth beast. This passage has great controversy about it. This section of scripture requires delicate work.
Some people see the beasts as the Babylonians (lion), Medes (bear), Persians (leopard), and Greeks (the fourth beast). The people who take this view assert the little horn is Antiochus Epiphanes, a particularly nasty leader opposed to the Hebrew people. He even built an altar to Zeus over the altar in Jerusalem. Interestingly, Antiochus Epiphanes was fourth in line to the throne, so three people had to be removed for him to rule.
Other people see this passage as the Babylonians (lion), Medes and Persians (bear), Greeks (leopard), and Romans (the fourth beast). These people interpret the passage this way because the bear is lopsided, indicating a dual kingdom whose power is not equally shared as the Medes and Persians had. The leopard’s wings indicate the speed of Alexander the Great’s conquest while the four heads represent the regions Alexander’s Empire was divided into after his death. The fourth beast then becomes Rome. The little horn is Nero, who was particularly vicious in his treatment of the Christians and Jews.
Still other people interpret this passage differently. Some people claim the same pattern of the beasts as the prior group except the ten horns are various kingdoms developing after Rome. The little horn, then, is a leader over a kingdom yet to come. These people claim the little horn is a world leader who will unite the world in antagonism against God’s people and even God Himself.
Which of these interpretations is true – perhaps even multiple interpretations are true – is not as important as the gleanable truth derived from Daniel’s vision. In the end, the world will fall under control of the powerful, influential, and proud. In the end, the world will be led into opposition of God. The God who created the world will see His world determined to come against Him.
As the world comes against Him, God’s people will be persecuted. Even more significantly, God will permit His people to be persecuted by the world. The saints of the Most High will be given into the hands of a world opposed to God.
That situation won’t last, though. God will be victorious. God’s saints may be under the world’s dominion for a short time, but in the eternal life to come God’s people will be given an eternal kingdom to become a part of. God will have the last word.
