hotcoffee
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Daniel 7:7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.
8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
This fourth beast gives all the commentaries a fit. As a matter of fact, it seems to give Bible study teachers a fit as well. I've even run into problems with posting this. I was well into a post with some pretty hefty quotes and hit a wrong button and erased it all and had to start all over again. [I hate it when that happens!]
The first three beasts had animal shapes, sort of. We can all understand lion, bear, and leopard. We have an image to put with it. But there is no animal description for this beast. One of the commentaries suggested that the ten horns on this beast were the tips of antlers.
Different people picture this different ways. Some suggest that the ten horns were actually two five-pointed antlers, rather than ten separate horns.
That doesn't make sense because when I think of antlers, I think of Bambi. Bambi is not terrifying, frightening or very powerful. I've seen this beast drawn as a dragon. These verses don't say anything about a dragon. Daniel only mentions the crushing teeth, the trampling feet, and the horns.
The previous beasts could be neatly tied to the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's first dream. The lion was the head, the bear the torso, and the leopard was associated with the belly and thighs. If this beast is the legs of iron then that leaves out the feet all together. I did find one commentary that addresses that issue.
In the vision in the second chapter of the Book of Daniel, there was a gigantic man and the head was gold, the arms were of silver, the thighs were of brass, and the legs were of iron. And the feet of course, iron and clay, the ten toes and then the consummation of the age; the coming of Christ that struck the image on the ten toes. That is the whole story of history until Jesus comes again. The Babylonian Empire, the two arms—the Medo-Persian Empire, the brass thighs—the Greeks were the first to use brass as armor and brass shields, the brazen Greeks. Then the iron legs of the Eastern and Western Roman Empire and then the ten toes, the breaking up of the kingdom unto the coming of Christ; the whole sweep of history.
So if Daniel was so preoccupied with the horns that he didn't describe the animal, the horns must hold more information than the body of the beast. Unfortunately, the commentaries are a little askew on what the horns represent. Most agree that the ten horns represent the Roman Empire. One, however, suggests that Syria is represented.
The learned are not agreed concerning this anonymous beast; some make it to be the Roman empire, which, when it was in its glory, comprehended ten kingdoms, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Britain, Sarmatia, Pannonia, Asia, Greece, and Egypt; and then the little horn which rose by the fall of three of the other horns (v. 8) they make to be the Turkish empire, which rose in the room of Asia, Greece, and Egypt. Others make this fourth beast to be the kingdom of Syria, the family of the Seleucidae, which was very cruel and oppressive to the people of the Jews, as we find in Josephus and the history of the Maccabees. And herein that empire was diverse from those which went before, that none of the preceding powers compelled the Jews to renounce their religion, but the kings of Syria did, and used them barbarously. Their armies and commanders were the great iron teeth with which they devoured and broke in pieces the people of God, and they trampled upon the residue of them.
That same commentary also explains the three horns that are replaced by one horn.
The ten horns are then supposed to be ten kings that reigned successively in Syria; and then the little horn is Antiochus Epiphanes, the last of the ten, who by one means or other undermined three of the kings, and got the government. He was a man of great ingenuity, and therefore is said to have eyes like the eyes of a man; and he was very bold and daring, had a mouth speaking great things. We shall meet with him again in these prophecies.
That little horn is the topic of a commentary by David Guzik. I depend on his commentaries a lot.
Another horn, a little one . . . a mouth speaking pompous words: Among the ten horns, three are replaced by one horn that was conspicuous for its dominance (before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots), intelligence (eyes like the eyes of a man), and its boastful talk (speaking pompous words).
It appears we're going to learn more about this beast in the verses that follow. Daniel is, after all, terrified of this beast, more so than the others. So I'm going to leave it here.
