THOUGHTS ON DANIEL by Uriah Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 29, 1881

THOUGHTS ON DANIEL.

By Uriah Smith

BY ELD. U. SMITH.

CHAPTER VII.—THE FOUR BEASTS.

VERSE 1. In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed; then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

This is the same Belshazzar mentioned in chapter 5. Chronologically, therefore, this chapter follows chapter 5. But chronological order has been disregarded, in order that the historical part of the book might stand by itself, and the prophetical part, on which we now enter, might not be interrupted by writings of that nature.

VERSE 2. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

All scripture language is to be taken literally, unless there exists some good reason for supposing it to be figurative; and all that is figurative is to be interpreted by that which is literal. That the language here used is symbolic, is evident from verse 17, which reads, "These great beasts which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth." And to show that these are not kings simply, but kingdoms, the angel continues, "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom." And further, in the explanation in verse 23, the angel said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth. These beasts are therefore symbols of four great kingdoms; and the circumstances under which they arise, and the means by which their elevation was accomplished, as represented in prophecy, are symbolic also. The symbols introduced are, the four winds, the sea, four great beasts, ten horns, and another horn which had eyes and a mouth and rose up in war against God and his people. We have now to inquire what they denote.

Winds, in symbolic language, denotes strife, political commotion, and war. Jer. 25:31, 32, 33. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth." Here the prophet speaks of a controversy which the Lord is to have with all nations when the wicked shall be given to the sword, and the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth to the other; and the strife and commotion which produces all this destruction is called a great whirlwind.

That winds denote strife and war is further evident from a consideration of the vision itself; for as the result of the striving of the winds, kingdoms arise and fall; and these events are accomplished through political strife.

The Bible definition of sea, or waters, when used as a symbol, is peoples, and nations, and tongues. In proof of this, we have only to read Rev. 17:15, where it is expressly so declared.

The definition of the symbol of the four beasts is given to Daniel ere the close of the vision. Verse 17: "These great beasts which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth." The field of the vision is thus definitely opened before us.

VERSE 4. The first was like a lion, and had eagles' 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.

As these beasts denote four kings, or kingdoms, we inquire, What four? Where shall we commence to enumerate? These beasts do not rise all at once, but consecutively, as they are spoken of as first, second, etc.; and the last one is in existence when all earthly scenes are brought to an end by the final Judgment. Now, from the time of Daniel to the end of this world's history, we learn from Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the great image in chapter 2, Daniel was still living under the same kingdom which he had declared in his interpretation of the king's dream, about forty-eight years before, to be the head of gold. The first beast of this vision must, therefore, denote the same as the head of gold of the great image, namely, the kingdom of Babylon, and the other beasts the succeeding kingdoms as shown by that image. But if this vision covers essentially the same ground as the image of chapter 2, the query may arise why it is given; why was not the vision of chapter 2 sufficient? We answer, The ground is passed over again and again, that additional characteristics may be brought out, and additional facts and features may be presented. It is thus that we have line upon line. Here earthly governments are represented as viewed in the light of Heaven. Their true character is shown by the symbols of wild and ravenous beasts.

At first the lion had eagles' wings, denoting the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquest under Nebuchadnezzar. When this vision was given, a change had taken place. Its wings had been plucked. It no longer flew like an eagle upon its prey. The boldness and spirit of the lion were gone. A man's heart, weak, timorous, and faint, had taken its place. Such was emphatically the case in the person of the imbecile and pusillanimous Belshazzar, who in the weakness and fear shut himself up in the city of Babylon, and with whom the Babylonian kingdom came to an end, B. C. 538.

VERSE 5. 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.

As in the great image of chapter 2, so in this series of symbols, a marked deterioration will be noticed as we descend from one kingdom to another. The breast and arms of silver were inferior to the head of gold. The bear was inferior to the lion. Medo-Persia fell short of Babylon in wealth and magnificence, and the brilliancy of its career. And now we come to additional particulars respecting this power. The bear raised itself up on one side. This kingdom was composed of two nationalities, the Medes and Persians. The same fact is represented by the two horns of the ram of chapter 8, of which it is said, the higher came up last. This illustrates the same thing as the bear's rising up on one side, that is, the Persian element came up last, but attained the higher eminence, becoming the leading division of the kingdom. The three ribs perhaps signify the three provinces of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, which were especially ground down and oppressed by this power. Their saying unto it, "Arise and devour much flesh," is thought by some to refer to the stimulus given to the Medes and Persians, by the overthrow of these provinces, to plan and enter upon extensive conquests.

The character of the power is well represented by a bear. The Medes and Persians were cruel and rapacious,—robbers and spoilers of the people. As already noticed in the exposition of chapter 2, it dated from the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus, B. C. 538, and continued to the battle of Arbela, B. C. 331, a period of 207 years.

VERSE 6. 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.

The third kingdom, Grecia, is represented by this symbol. If wings upon the lion signified rapidity of conquest, they would signify the same here. The leopard itself is a swift-footed beast, but this was not enough; it must have wings in addition. Two wings, the number the lion had, were not sufficient; it must have four. If we are correct in the application, this must denote unparalleled celerity of movement; and this we find to be historically true of the Grecian kingdom. The conquests of Grecia, especially under Alexander, for suddenness and rapidity have no parallel in historic annals.

Rollin, Ancient Hist., B. 15, sec. 2, gives the following brief synopsis of Alexander's marches:—

"From Macedonia to the Ganges, which river Alexander nearly approached, is computed at least eleven hundred leagues. Add to this the various turnings in Alexander's marches; first, from the extremity of Cilicia, where the battle of Issus was fought, to the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya; and his returning from thence to Tyre, a journey of three hundred leagues at least, and as much space at least for the windings of his route in different places; we shall find that Alexander, in less than eight years, marched his army upwards of seventeen hundred leagues [or more than fifty-one hundred miles], without including his return to Babylon."

"The beast had also four heads." The Grecian empire maintained its unity only during the life of Alexander. When his brilliant career ended in a drunken debauch, the empire was shortly divided between his four leading generals. Cassander had Macedon and Greece in the west; Lysimachus had Thrace and the parts of Asia on the Hellespont and Bosphorus, in the north; Ptolemy received Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Cœlo-Syria, in the south; and Seleucus had Syria and all the rest of Alexander's dominions in the east.

Thus accurately were the words of the prophet fulfilled. As Alexander left no available successor, why did the huge empire break up into countless petty fragments? Why just four parts and no more? Because the prophecy had said that there should be four. The leopard was to have four heads, the rough goat four horns, the kingdom four divisions; and thus it was. See on chapter 8.

VERSE 7. 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 from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Inspiration finds no beast in nature which it can make even the basis of a symbol to represent the power here illustrated. No addition of hoofs, heads, wings, scales, or horns, to any beast found in nature would answer. The power was diverse from all others, and the symbol wholly nondescript.

VERSE 8. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

The foundation for a volume is laid in verses 7 and 8 just quoted; and we are disposed to treat them the more briefly here, because anything like a full exposition is entirely beyond the space that can be allowed in these brief thoughts. This beast of course corresponds to the fourth division of the great image,—the legs of iron. Under chapter 2, verse 40, are given some reasons for supposing this power to be Rome. The same are applicable to the present prophecy. How accurately Rome answered to the iron division of the image! How accurately it answers to the beast before us! In the dread and terror which it inspired, and in its exceeding strength, the world never has seen its equal. It devoured, as with iron teeth, and brake in pieces; and it ground the nations into the very dust, beneath its brazen feet. It had ten horns, which are explained in verse 24 to be ten kings or kingdoms which should arise out of this empire. As already noticed, Rome was divided into ten kingdoms, enumerated by Machiavel as follows: 1. The Huns; 2. The Ostrogoths; 3. The Visigoths; 4. The Franks; 5. The Vandals; 6. The Suevi; 7. The Burgundians; 8. The Heruli; 9. The Anglo-Saxons; 10. The Lombards. These divisions have ever since been spoken of as the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire. See on chap. 2:41, 42.

Daniel considered the horns. Indications of a strange movement appeared among them. A little horn (at first little, but afterward more stout than its fellows), thrust itself up among them. It was not content to quietly find a place of its own, and fill it; it must thrust aside some of the others, and usurp their places. Three kingdoms were plucked up before it. This little horn, as we shall have occasion to notice more fully hereafter, was the Papacy. The three horns plucked up before it, were the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals. Not that these kingdoms were destroyed; this was not necessary; but they must retire from the field before the arrogant claims of the Papacy, and seek their territorial limits in other quarters.

And "in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things,"—the eyes a fit emblem of the shrewdness, penetration, cunning, and foresight of the papal hierarchy; and the mouth speaking great things a fit symbol of the arrogant claims of the bishops of Rome.