“Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four beasts came up from the sea, diverse from one another.”

Daniel 7:2-3

Last week, I published a post on my blog (www.comfortoneanother.com) called “Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream & Today’s World” on Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream regarding a mighty image he saw:

“This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.”

Daniel 2:32-33

In this God-directed interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, Daniel told him that his kingdom, the Babylonian Empire, while the “head of gold”, would not last forever and would be eventually replaced by four others in sequential order (Medo-Persian, Greek, Roman and a yet unknown Final Days empire ruled by the anti-christ). It was this knowledge and explanation that brought Daniel to the forefront of key advisors to King Nebuchadnezzar and ultimately gave him great ruling power over not only a large part of the Babylonian Empire, but the Medo-Persian empire afterwards as well. Having continually been undermined for decades by jealous, non-Jewish advisors to the king, Daniel proceeded to decipher other visions throughout the Book of Daniel, even surviving God-protected through a night in the lion’s den (Daniel chapter 6) after King Darius was tricked into  ordering him to be executed because he continued to pray to his God in violation of a decree the king signed with misguidance from those seeking to undermine Daniel.

“And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse from one another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.”

Daniel 7:3-4

As Daniel interpreted the dream God gave to him, it was clear that God was showing him the ultimate destiny of the earth and the final four kingdoms rising out of the sea (Mediterranean?) that would be “diverse” (different) from each other, ruling the world just prior to Christ’s return. To better comprehend this prophecy, I believe we must first understand that many countries on the earth today have an animal as a symbol of their statehood. For example, most of us living in the U.S. know that the eagle represents the United States of America. How many people know that the lion is the symbolic animal of…Great Britain?!! Here you have a prophecy written 2600 years ago that identifies a country as a lion with eagle’s wings but at some time later the wings were “plucked” and then the country with wings like an eagle stood on its own!!! In 1776 the U.S. declared their independence from Great Britain and have stood upon their feet as a man (nation) ever since. Have you also noticed that Uncle Sam (a man with a heart) is also recognized throughout the world as representative of the United States of America? Incredible!

“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.”

Daniel 7:5

If the lion represents Great Britain and the eagle the U.S., what country today regards the bear as their symbol of statehood? Russia! Living in the world today does this surprise you Russia would be a country of power in the Last Days? The country where communism arose and took over many parts of the world (like China) regards the bear as its symbol  and easily matches the description of an animal that has killed many tens of millions of people with its ideology and power. In the same way that Great Britain regards the lion as their symbol, it is possible that other Commonwealth countries aligned with Great Britain helped her expand her ruling influence over the world. The U.S. was part of the Commonwealth UNTIL the wings of the eagle were plucked and then it stood as a separate man. In this way, those countries formally aligned with Russia today could very well be included with this beast, the beast of the bear.

“After this I beheld, and lo 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.”

Daniel 7:6

Germany! Yep, Germany views the leopard as their national symbol. What are the four heads on the leopard? Interestingly, most of us have heard of the Third Reich under Hitler. Did you know there was also a First Reich and a Second Reich? Obviously, the Fourth Reich will be in existence during the Last Days. Throughout Germany’s history they have been very anti-Jewish (like the Final Solution – the holocaust that sought to kill all the Jews in Europe) and starting BOTH World War I and World War II. It should not be surprising that Germany is listed with Russia and Great Britain (British Commonwealth) as ruling a large part of the world in the Last Days..

Hopefully, in another validation of God’s accurate prophecies to Daniel, He earlier also showed Daniel a vision regarding the destruction of one of the empires Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The second part of the image (chest) was made up of silver and when Daniel later said that it was like a ram (Medo-Persia) whose horn would be broken off by the empire of a goat with belly and thighs of brass (see Daniel 8:20-21), it raised the question of what country regards itself as a goat? Greece! Historically, the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great, which overthrew the Medo-Persian Empire, was later destroyed by the Roman Empire. So, many, many years ago before these countries were even known or powerful, Daniel saw four beasts rising on the world stage with animal similarities that are today recognized by most scholars (and even Wikipedia) as symbolic of their countries.

“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 (different) from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.”

Daniel 7:7

Please allow me a little poetic license. Daniel 7:7 is stunning in its description of the LAST world government before Jesus’s triumphant Second Coming at Armageddon. First, he describes it as being exceedingly strong, breaking up all resistance to it and stamping it to pieces underfoot. Secondly, it will be very different from ANY and ALL governments preceding it. Finally, it has ten horns which almost all prophetic scholars believe are ten countries/governments that will have sworn their allegiance to this fourth beast, the government of the anti-christ. Many thought the European Union would be this group until it exceeded 10 countries as members. Very interesting to me with the recent Brexit vote (Great Britain voted to leave the EU) and other countries also now showing an interest in exiting, the EU may very well end up being the ten “countries” or horns aligned with the anti-christ in the Last Days!

Later, after receiving Divine understanding of these various prophecies, Daniel asked specifically “And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the WORDS ARE CLOSED UP AND SEALED TILL THE TIME OF THE END (capitals mine).” – Daniel 12:8-9. In other words, it was not up to Daniel to understand the timing of these prophecies, but rather to put them into the Book of Daniel for those of us in the Last Days to understand when they become unsealed at the “…time of the end.” 

Now, we could leave it with that except IF we are living in the Last Days, then God will give us the knowledge to better understand the meaning of these prophecies. Absolutely amazing, and the real gist of this post, is that in the VERY last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, we are given many things which will happen in the Last Days. Would it surprise you IF the Book of Daniel was revisited and clarified (unsealed) by John in the Book of Revelation?

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard (Germany?), and his feet were as the feet of a bear (Russia?), and his mouth as the mouth of a lion (Great Britain?): and the dragon (Satan) gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

Revelation 13:1-2

This was John on Patmos, not Daniel in Babylon, seeing this! So, we finally see where Satan has given his power to the fourth beast (the government of the anti-christ) who appears to be made up of the SAME beasts listed by Daniel in his vision. with one HUGE exception. Where is the eagle??? Apparently, the USA is NOT going to be part of the anti-christ’s one world government. Yeah!! Actually, if you go back a chapter to Revelation 12:13-14, I believe you will see the plan God has for America. “And when the dragon (Satan) saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman (Israel) which brought forth the man child (Jesus). And to the woman were given two wings of a great EAGLE (capitals mine), that she might fly unto the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time (one year), and times (two years), and half a time (6 months – a total of 3 1/2 years, after the Abomination of Desolation and before the Second Coming of Christ at Armageddon)  from the face of the serpent.” Maybe, just maybe, God had a pre-destined plan for the U.S. when its wings were plucked from the lion!

While the Rapture of the true believers will alter the moral make-up of many nations, we also know that there will be a great Christian revival during the Tribulation period that will see many turn to Christ. With the Blessings God has given to the U.S. since its founding in 1492, it is very comforting to know that our country’s role may not be finished simply because many of us will be Raptured beforehand. It is my hope that those who come to know Christ after the Rapture will take comfort in knowing they will be fulfilling a number of prophecies in both the Old and New Testaments. It is with this comfort of prophetic pre-knowledge we should ALL continue to “…comfort one another with these words.”

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