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Seven Empires |
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The Four Beasts |
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DANIEL 7 |
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The four beasts of Daniel 7 tell of the final division of the Islamic Empire into four main prophetic groups. We have already seen Islam described as divided feet and toes which certainly makes this concept possible. In Daniel 7 the four winds of Heaven stir up the Great Sea. Four beasts, each one different from the other, were driven up. Daniel saw; |
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Four Simultaneous Kingdoms, Not Consecutive Kingdoms |
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Others have noted that kings or kingdoms can be represented by the four beasts in verses 17 and 23 of Daniel 7, the meaning is interchangeable. Daniel describes these beast-kingdoms as the first, a second, and the fourth. This has led some to believe they arose from the Sea one after the other (suggesting consecutive empires). However in Revelation 4:6-7 the Apostle John described four heavenly creatures in a similar way—first, second, third and fourth—and we know he saw all four at the same time, not one after the other. Describing visionary creatures as first, second, third and fourth does not suggest a sequence, it only means Daniel cannot describe four objects at once, like John or any other human being. In Daniel 7:7 we are told that the fourth terrible beast was different from all the beasts which were before it. It might be assumed that this means earlier in time, but throughout the book of Daniel, including this passage, the original Aramaic word for before actually speaks of spatial orientation. In other words, one object in front of another, with both existing at the same time. So the four beasts signify four simultaneous realms just before the coming of God's Kingdom. The four
end-time kingdoms actually arise at the same time when the four winds break
on the Great Sea. In a similar way, two other passages in Daniel say the
Greek Empire was divided into four kingdoms towards the four winds of Heaven,
Daniel 8:8, 11:3-4. The point is this; the beasts do not symbolize four
successive kingdoms, but four simultaneous divisions of the biblical world
near the end of the age, just as the Greek Empire was divided into four (map 13). |
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No Revived Roman Empire |
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This means
the usual teaching about the fourth terrible beast cannot be true. It is
regularly equated by both Jewish and Christian commentators with the fourth
empire in the sequence of the Statue of Daniel 2, i.e. the ancient Roman
Empire. Christian expositors furthermore propose it to relate to a
"revived Roman Empire" now believed to be the fifteen (?) member
European Community. |
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Simultaneous Dominion, Simultaneous Rule |
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However,
Daniel 7:11-12 says after the fourth beast is destroyed the other three
beasts have their dominion taken away. This means all four rule at the same
time until their authority is taken away. Their dominion is not removed
sequentially, one beast after another, but all three at once, after the
destruction of the fourth beast. This vision cannot speak of Babylon,
Medo-Persia, For a short
time the fourth realm will devastate |
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Locating the Four Kingdoms |
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Where are
these four kingdoms located in the modern Middle East? The ten horns of the
fourth beast are located largely in the territory corresponding with the
Seleucid division of the Greek Empire (maps 13-15). Today the predominant
Islamic state in this region is Only one of
the other four beasts may tentatively be identified at this time. The lion
with wings which stands up like a man may possibly represent |
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