DANIEL 7
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. 2 Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. – Daniel 7:1-8
DANIEL 7 FOUR BEASTS IN DANIEL’S DREAM
This account narrates the dream that troubled Daniel concerning the four great beasts. The dream started with the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea and it was from it that the four great beasts came out of. The first beast was described as a lion that had eagles’ wings which were plucked off and it was lifted up from the ground and stood on two feet like a man and was given a man’s mind. The second beast was like a bear and was raised up on one side with three ribs in its mouth between its teeth and was told to come out and eat a lot of flesh. The third was like a leopard with four wings on its back and had four heads and dominion was given to it. The fourth beast, the most horrific one, had great iron teeth and devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what’s left with its feet. It had ten horns that had eyes in each horn and a mouth speaking great things.
The dream greatly worried Daniel and we won’t know its meaning until the next verse in 15-17 where an angel will interpret his dream.
REFLECTION
· Why do you think Daniel was worried and bothered by his dream?
