1. I saw the great sea in a turmoil as of being churned up by the four winds of heaven.
2. Out of the sea arose four great beasts, each different from the others.
3. The first looked like a lion but it had the wings of an eagle. While I pondered this, its wings were plucked, it stood up like a man and the mind of a man was given it.
4. A second beast appeared which resembled a bear. One side of the creature was higher than the other. It had three ribs in its mouth and a voice said to it, "Get up and eat your fill of flesh!"
5. After this I looked and saw before me another beast, one that looked like a leopard. This creature had four heads and four wings like a swift bird, and it was given great power to rule.
6. As my nightly vision continued I next saw before me a fourth beast, one terrible and frighteningly powerful.
7. It was vastly different from the other beasts that came before. It had ten horns and large iron teeth with which it devoured its victims and completely destroyed whatever remained.
8. As I was thinking about the horns I saw another one appear. It started small but grew and, as it did, uprooted three of its neighbors. This horn had eyes like a human being and a mouth speaking arrogantly.
9. This horn continue to speak boastfully until divine judgment had been pronounced against the beast and it was destroyed.
10. Daniel's dream concludes with a vision of the Messiah receiving great authority and the establishment of the everlasting dominion.
11. Click here for a comparative exposition of the prophecies in Daniel chapters 2, 7 and 8.

1. The Four Beasts: The images of beasts in prophetic dreams and visions symbolize the enemies of God's people Israel throughout its history. _{Deuteronomy 28:49, Jeremiah 4:7}
2. The Four Winds: The four cardinal directions. As a wind like that of a cyclonic storm _{Jeremiah 49:36, Revelation 7:1}
3. The Great Sea: The nations of the Middle East and Mediterranean _{Isaiah 17:12, Ezekiel 27:33}
4. Wings: Rapidity in movement, conquest or sudden destruction _{Isaiah 8:7-9, Jeremiah 49:22}
5. Heads: Branches or divisions of an entity, either contemporary or chronological _{Exodus 6:14, Numbers 1:16}
6. Horns: Power to do good or evil. Branches or divisions of an entity. _{1 Kings 22:11, Daniel 7:24}

1. The four great beasts Daniel sees arise out of the sea (the nations) are four kingdoms that will appear on earth.
2. The fourth beast that appeared - frightening and very powerful, was different from all the other beasts that came before.
3. The ten horns on the fourth beast are ten kingdoms that will come from this kingdom.
4. Another horn, little at first, that came up among the ten removing three as it did, is another kingdom that will appear.
5. This horn, with the eyes and a mouth of a human, kept uttering praise about itself while speaking words against God and persecuting the saints. They will be subjugated to him for a "time, times and half a time".This horn, by it's actions, is the antichrist.
6. It continued in this fashion until the Heavenly court is seated, judgment pronounced and his power destroyed forever.
7. Then the saints of the Most High shall receive the everlasting kingdom as promised.

1. Daniel sees a ram (a male sheep) having two horns. One of the horns was longer than the other. Daniel watched the ram charge toward the west, the north and the south.The ram succeeded and became great.
2. As Daniel pondered this another creature, a goat with a prominent horn, appeared charging rapidly from the west. It attacked the ram furiously, knocking it to the ground and shattering its two horns.
3. At the height of its power the large horn on the goat was broken and in its place four horns grew toward the four winds of heaven.
4. From one of these came another horn, small at first but grew powerfully toward the south, east, and toward the beautiful land. It exalted itself as high as the host of heaven, casting some of them down to the earth, trampling on them.
5. This horn exalted himself to be as great as the Prince of the host. He transgresses through deceit in which he succeeds. The host was given over to him and together they abolished the sanctuary service. This act is referred to in later chapters of Daniel as the abomination that causes desolation.

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The first king of Greece, represented above by the large horn on the goat, was Alexander the Great. After his death in 323 BCE, his empire was divided up among four of his generals. According to some historical sources these have been identified as follows:

1. Antigonus I - Asia Minor
2. Cassander - Macedonia & Greece
3. Ptolemy I Soter - Egypt
4. Seleucus I Nicator - India through Persia, Mesopotamia & Syria

1. Gabriel tells Daniel, "The vision concerns the time of the end."
2. The two horns on the ram are the kings of Media and Persia.
3. The goat is the kingdom of Greece and the large horn is its first king.
4. After the large horn is broken, four horns sprout from the stump. These are four kingdoms that emerge but not with the same power.
5. The horn that arises later from one of the four is a dark power who devises secret plots.
6. He becomes strong and his schemes succeed, but not by his own power.
7. He considers himself superior and by this deceives many to their own destruction.
8. This horn, as described, is similar to the horn that arose from the fourth beast of chapter 7. Therefore both can be said to be the antichrist.
9. He even stands in opposition to the Prince of princes but this results in his ultimate destruction.

Historical source: Ancient History Encyclopedia (Babylonian to Roman Empires):

• Neo-Babylonian empire, the starting point in the book of Daniel.
• Medo-Persian empire succeeds Babylonian.
• Greek empire succeeds Medo-Persian.
• Death of Alexander the Great. His empire divided.
• The Roman empire succeeds the Greek empire.
• The fall of Rome. The empire divided.