KingdomCommentaries on Prophecies in Daniel,...
Tablet Four
"The first was like a lion, and had eagle's 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." (Daniel 7:4)
<1>This first beast is the first king or Nebuchadnezzar. "Lion" is the symbol of kingship, and eagle's wings are the symbol of high ideals and also egotistical ambitions. <2>This first beast's wings would be plucked. It would be humbled, and its ego would be destroyed. After its wings were plucked, then it would be exalted and would be "lifted up." It would go to his higher nature from his lower nature ("earth"). <3>After it went to its higher self, he would be "made [to] stand upon the feet as a man." He would become a man with true higher human qualities, "and a man's heart would be given to it."
<4>This is a description of King Nebuchadnezzar, who also was the head of gold of the metal image. This first beast was humbled and was given a "man's heart" (his egoistical pursuance is described in chapter 3 of Daniel, and how he was humbled and eventually accepted the God of Daniel is told in chapter 4). <5>He overcame his lower nature and became a just king. As in the image he was the best part (head) from the best quality metal (gold), here also he is described as a beast with a heart of man and with good qualities.
"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." (Daniel 7:5)
<6>This second king also had a dominating characteristic as a bear, which is a great ruling animal in the forest and usually is not as blood-thirsty as the leopard (next beast). As the second kingdom in the image (from the spiritual-values point of view) was symbolized as silver which is inferior to gold, so is the bear to the lion.
<7>Also it did not have a "man's heart," but it was given authority to devour much flesh, "...and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." It was not "lifted up from the earth" as the first one, but "it raised up itself on one side." He never became as high as the first one, and he was much lower in nature.
"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." (Daniel 7:6)
<8>This third one was even more savage than the second, "like a leopard." In chapter 8 of the book of Daniel, he will have another vision in which it is revealed that the second and third kingdoms after the Chaldean Empire would be the Persian and Greco-Macedonian Empires.
<9>The Persian Empire is symbolized as a ram with two great horns (as two great kings), and the Grecian Empire is symbolized as "an he goat" with one "notable horn" as its first great king (Alexander the Great). <10>Also in the interpretation of that vision it is predicted that the Grecian Empire would be divided into four after Alexander.
<11>This third beast is also the third kingdom or the Grecian Empire. Here in this vision this division of the empire into four is symbolized by the "four wings" (symbol of the protective force) and "four heads" (symbol of kings or heads of state).
<12>All these things happened later on exactly as the vision said. Also it is important to notice that as the different parts of the image were different in quality and as the later kings arose, they lost their fineness (from gold until iron). <13>So these beasts also became more savage as the later kingdoms arose. This shows that they became more intellectualized and lost their fine qualities and intuitions.
"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." (Daniel 7:7)
<14>As the two legs of the image were from iron -- a symbol of losing all its spiritual values and becoming inflexible but strong and tough (like the intellect) -- this fourth beast also is more dreadful than all the previous three. It was "dreadful and terrible" and was "strong exceedingly," as iron is also stronger than gold, silver, and brass (used as the symbols for the three kingdoms preceding the fourth of iron in the case of the image of the dream of the king).
<15>"And it had great iron teeth": It was even stronger in destructive and savage qualities than the previous three beasts. "It devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it": All the spiritual values and greatness were taken away from this beast. It had no "man's heart." <16>It had its domination purely by its own strength. It destroyed whatever good had been left, "residue."
<17>As it was described, the first kingdom is the Chaldean Empire, the second the Persian, and the third the Greco-Macedonian. <18>Also as it was revealed in the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar about the image made of different metals, the fourth kingdom was symbolized by the two legs of the image, which means it would be divided. The great empire that came after the Greco-Macedonian and was divided into two can be none other than the Roman Empire which was divided, with Rome and Constantinople as the two capitals. So this fourth beast is also related to the Roman Empire.
<19>The Romans also were intellectually superior to the previous three. <20>Intellect in comparison to spiritual quality is like comparing iron to gold. Gold is precious and flexible like a true spiritual person, while iron is dry and inflexible, like intellectuals who want to find set rules and regulations, in order to fix everything and solve all problems or explain the unexplainable. <21>In fact, when spirituality becomes intellectualized, then it loses its flexibility and truth, and becomes a burden on humanity and a source of suffering.
<22>"And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it": As the other three previous kingdoms tried to dominate by their might, this one tried to dominate not only by its might but also by its mind. <23>The Roman Empire was the first to constitute a national assembly and senate, and brought democracy, which is from an intellectual mentality, as the Renaissance also was led by intellectuals.
<24>"And it had ten horns," as the image in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream had ten toes. As the toes emerged from the legs and feet, the horns also emerged from the head of the beast.
<25>So the ten horns or the last kingdom (fifth king) will have a very close relationship with this fourth kingdom (Roman Empire), or the last of this kind.