Exile · c. 553–551 BC
Chapter 11
Four Beasts
“I watched until thrones were placed,and one who was Ancient of Days sat.His clothing was white as snow,and the hair of his head like pure wool.His throne was fiery flames,and its wheels burning fire.A fiery stream issued and came out from before him.Thousands of thousands ministered to him.Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.The judgment was set.The books were opened.
For parents
This chapter tells two of Daniel’s visions, and they are frightening: an animal with iron teeth devours and tramples and is then killed and burned, a horn makes war on the saints, a goat tramples a ram, and Gabriel speaks of a king who will destroy the mighty ones and the holy people (Daniel 7:7–11, 21; 8:7, 24–25). Nothing is gory, but the visions leave Daniel troubled, and the second leaves him sick for days (7:28; 8:27).
In the first year that was king of , had a dream. He saw visions in his head as he lay on his bed. Afterward he wrote the dream down and told the main things in it.
Daniel told what he saw. In his vision that night, the four winds of the sky burst out over the great sea. Four great animals came up out of the sea, each one different from the others.
The first was like a lion, and it had an eagle’s wings. Daniel watched until its wings were plucked off. Then it was lifted off the ground and set up on two feet, the way a man stands, and a man’s heart was given to it.
Then there was a second animal, like a bear. One side of it was raised up, and it held three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth. And they told it, “Get up! Devour flesh, and plenty of it!”
After this Daniel saw another one, like a leopard. On its back it had four wings, the wings of a bird. This animal had four heads, and it was given power to rule.
After that, in the visions of the night, Daniel saw a fourth animal. It was dreadful and powerful and terribly strong, and it had big iron teeth. It devoured and broke things to pieces, and it stamped on whatever was left. It was different from all the animals that came before it, and it had ten horns.
While Daniel was studying the horns, another horn came up among them, a little one, and three of the first horns were pulled up by the roots in front of it. This horn had eyes like a man’s eyes, and a mouth that spoke proud words.
Daniel described what happened next:
I watched as thrones were set up,and one who was sat down.His clothing was as white as snow,and the hair of his head was like pure wool.His throne was flames of fire,and its wheels were burning fire.A fiery stream came flowing out from in front of him.Thousands of thousands were serving him.Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.The judgment was set,and the books were opened.
At that time Daniel kept watching, because of the sound of the proud words the horn was speaking. He watched until the animal was killed. Its body was destroyed and given to the fire to burn.
The rest of the animals had their power to rule taken away, but they were given longer to live, for a season and a time.
Daniel told the next part in these words: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be destroyed.”
Daniel was sick at heart, and the visions in his head troubled him.
He went up to one of those who stood by and asked him what all this really meant. So the one he asked explained it to him.
“These four great animals are four kings who will rise up out of the earth. But the of will receive the kingdom, and the kingdom will be theirs forever, forever and ever.”
Then Daniel wanted to know the truth about the fourth animal, which was different from all of them and so terrible. Its teeth were iron and its claws were bronze. It devoured and broke things to pieces, and it stamped on whatever was left. He also wanted to know the truth about the ten horns on its head, and about that other horn that came up. Three horns fell in front of it. That horn had eyes, and a mouth that spoke proud words, and it looked mightier than the others.
As Daniel watched, that same horn made war on the saints and overpowered them, until the Ancient of Days came. Then judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to take the kingdom as their own.
The one standing by answered, “The fourth animal will be a fourth kingdom on earth, unlike every other kingdom. It will devour the whole earth, trampling it and smashing it to pieces.
“As for the ten horns, ten kings will rise up out of this kingdom. After them another will rise, different from the ones before him, and he will bring down three kings. He will speak words against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Most High. He will plan to change the times and the law, and they will be put in his hands until a time and times and half a time.
“But the judgment will be set, and they will take away his power to rule, to wipe it out and destroy it to the end. The kingdom and the power to rule, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole sky, will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is a kingdom that lasts forever, and every power will serve and obey him.”
That was the end of the matter. Daniel’s thoughts troubled him greatly, and the look on his face changed, but he kept the matter in his heart.
In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, Daniel saw another vision, after the one he had seen the first time. When he saw it, he was in the fortress of , which is in the province of . In the vision, he was by the river .
He looked up, and there in front of the river stood a ram with two horns. Both horns were tall, but one was taller than the other, and the taller one came up last. Daniel watched the ram push his way west, north and south. No animal could stand up to him, and no one could rescue anyone from his grip. He did whatever he liked and made himself great.
While Daniel was thinking it over, a male goat came from the west over the whole earth, and he never touched the ground. Between his eyes the goat had a horn that stood out.
He came up to the ram with the two horns, the one Daniel had seen standing in front of the river, and ran at him with furious strength. Daniel watched him close in on the ram. The goat was full of anger against him. He struck the ram and broke both his horns, and the ram had no strength to stand up to him. He threw the ram down and trampled on him, and no one could rescue the ram from his grip.
The male goat made himself very great. But when he had grown strong, the great horn was broken, and four horns that stood out came up in its place, toward the four winds of the sky.
Out of one of them came a little horn. It grew very great, southward and eastward and toward the glorious land. It grew great, reaching all the way to the army of the sky, and it threw some of the army and of the stars down to the ground and trampled on them.
It made itself great, even up to the prince of the army. It took away from him the that was made every day, and the place of his was thrown down. Through disobedience, the army was handed over to it, along with the daily burnt offering. It threw truth to the ground. It did whatever it pleased, and it prospered.
Then Daniel heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one asked the one who was speaking, “How long will this vision go on: the vision about the daily burnt offering, and the disobedience that brings ruin, and the sanctuary and the army handed over to be trampled underfoot?”
He said to Daniel, “Two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings. After that, the sanctuary will be made clean.”
Daniel had seen the vision, and he was trying to understand it. Then someone who looked like a man was standing in front of him.
And Daniel heard a man’s voice calling from between the banks of the Ulai: “, make this man understand the vision.”
So Gabriel came near the place where Daniel stood. When he came, Daniel was terrified and fell down with his face to the ground. But Gabriel said to him, “Understand, son of man: the vision is about the time of the end.”
While Gabriel was speaking with him, Daniel fell into a deep sleep, with his face toward the ground. But Gabriel touched him and stood him upright.
“Listen,” he said. “I will let you know what is coming in the later part of the time of anger, because it belongs to the appointed time of the end.
“The ram you saw, the one with the two horns: they are the kings of and . The rough male goat is the king of . The great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. And as for the broken horn, and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms will rise up out of the nation, but not with his power.
“In the later part of their rule, when the wrongdoers have run their full course, a king with a fierce face, who understands riddles, will rise up. His power will be great, but not by his own power. The ruin he brings will be dreadful, and he will prosper in what he does. He will destroy the mighty ones and the holy people. His scheming will make deceit prosper in his hands. In his heart he will think of himself as great, and he will destroy many while they feel safe. He will also stand up against the prince of princes. But he will be broken, and no human hand will do it.
“What has been told in the vision of the evenings and mornings is true. But seal up the vision, because it belongs to many days still to come.”
Daniel fainted and was sick for some days. Then he got up and did the king’s work. He was astonished at the vision, but no one understood it.