Daniel 7:16
I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.
Daniel drew near to one of the heavenly attendants standing by the throne and asked for the truth of all that he had seen in the vision, and that attendant told him and made known to him the interpretation of the things. He was able to receive this as God's ambassador to whom were given revelations of the mysteries of ages to come. This understanding was given him in all visions and dreams as God's blessing and approval upon his firmness, self-denial, and purity of motive, fulfilling the promise that God honors those who honor Him.
As he clung to God with unwavering trust the spirit of prophetic power came upon him, teaching him to read the mysteries of the future and to record in figures and symbols for coming generations the events covering the history of this world till the close of time. Even so the wonderful prophecies recorded in chapters seven to twelve were not fully understood even by Daniel himself, for it was not given him to understand all that God had revealed of the divine purpose. The words of his prophetic writings were to be shut up and sealed even to the time of the end, with the assurance that at the end of the days, in the closing period of this world's history, he would rest and then stand in his lot and place.
The prophecy to which this asking belongs is to be diligently studied and correctly applied, for it presents events in order as a figurative outline leading toward the close of earth's history. The four beasts of the vision are the successive empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The beast of Revelation 13 bears the characteristics of those four beasts and inherits the power they held in succession. The little horn in this chapter is the Roman Church, even before it possessed civil power.
The vision Daniel saw and asked to have explained stands as a warning whose significance is reflected in the judgments witnessed in San Francisco and other places. Those warnings call for spiritual cleansing and may lead people to be warned and converted.