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Chapter
7 “I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk
beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will
tear open their breast…as a wild beast would rip them open.” Hosea 13:7-8 I. Introduction A. We jump to chapter 7
because we notice in chapter 5 that we are introduced to one who would be the
last Babylonian King, Belshazzar, at his last day. We see in chapters 7 and 8
that Daniel has visions in the first and third years of King Belshazzar and
it is good for us to become familiar with what Daniel saw and knew early in
the reign of this King before he approaches him on his last day as King in
chapter 5. B. The Kings of Babylon 1.
Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC) 43 years 2.
Evil-Merodach (562-560 BC) 2 years see
Jeremiah 52:31-34 3.
Nergal-Sharezer (560-556 BC) 4 years see Jeremiah 39:3, 13 4.
Labashi-Marduk (556 BC only) 9 months 5.
Nabonidus (556-539 BC) 17 years 5b. Belshazzar ( ?
-539 BC) second ruler see Daniel 5:16 II. Daniel
Chapter 7 A. Verses 1-8 The visions of the Kingdoms B. Verses 9-14 The visions of the Judgment and Ultimate
Ruler C.
Verses 15-27 The interpretation III. Key
verses and comparisons within the Scriptures of the first three kingdoms A. Verse 2 “four
winds of Heaven” – signifying the actions of God. See “Spirit” in Gen 1:2;
Gen. 8:1; Exodus 14:21; Psalm 104:4; Jeremiah 49:36; Ezekiel 37:9; Revelation
7:1 B. Verse 2 “great sea” – represents all of
humanity. See Psalm 98:7; Isaiah
8:7,8; 17:12,13; Jeremiah 51:42; Revelation 13:1; 17:1, 15 C. God is stirring up
the people and raising up Kings and kingdoms. Daniel 2:21; 4:17 D. Verses 3, 17, 23 “four great beasts” – are four great
kingdoms. E. Verse 4 The first kingdom is Babylon (Dan.
2:36-38). At first a lion, and then a man reminds us of what happened to
Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:16, 33 and then 34). F. Verses 5 and 6 These two beasts represent the
Medo-Persian empire and the Greek empire (Dan. 2:39) and will be looked at
more closely in chapter 8. G. Verse 5 “Arise, devour much flesh.” The call from
God to Cyrus, the first King of the Persian empire. Isaiah 45:1. H. Verse 6 The “leopard, with four wings” and “four
heads” indicates the great speed at which Alexander the Great conquered the
Persian empire (Dan. 8:5) and the four generals who ultimately divided up the
kingdom after his very early death (33 years of age). IV. The
Fourth Kingdom – Rome A. Daniel 7:7, 8, 19-21,
23-25 (see Daniel 2:40-43) compare to Revelation 13:1-7. B. The Beast is explained
in Revelation 17:8-13. The first 11 emperors of Rome under which Christ came,
established His Kingdom, destroyed Jerusalem and then judged Rome. 1. Daniel 7:8, 20, 24
says 11 kings with three uprooted leaving the 8 kings as mentioned in
Revelation 17:11. 2. As
for the timing, Revelation 17:10 declares it to be after the fifth king has
fallen (Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius), while one
is (Nero who reigned from 54 AD to 68 AD) and one was to come (Vespasian who
was sent by Nero to start the war with the Jews and who was after the three
“uprooted” kings of AD 69 in the Roman Civil War, thus making him the 7th king). Vespasian’s
son, Titus, who ultimately destroyed the Temple with fire on the same day of
the year in AD 70 as King Nebuchadnezzar did
in 586 BC, was the 8th king belonging to the seven. C. The purpose for the
Beast existing is explained in Revelation 17:14-17. D. The identity of the
woman: Rev. 17:18; 11:8; 12:1-5.
Jerusalem. V. Conclusion A.
Why is Daniel so far reaching in prophecy? Dan. 9:21-23; 8:19; 10:14 B. What, exactly, is Daniel ultimately
prophesying? Dan. 9:24-27; 11:31; 12:11 The final destruction of Jerusalem and
the time when the “Saints will possess the Kingdom” (Dan. 7:22). C. Jesus reminds His Disciples of this
impending Doom in Matthew 24:2, 4-31. D. What is the Ultimate end of all of
this? Daniel 2:44; 7:13-14; Rev. 11:15. |