Lions and Leopards and Bears - Oh My!
Just as Dorothy and her troop fearfully imagined all the beasts they would encounter on their journey to the Emerald City, the modern Christian church nervously anticipates the arrival of horrible beasts, world powers, and antichrists on their journey to the Streets of Gold.
Daniel 7 is a prophetic passage chronicling a series of major world events that would occur from the time of Daniel until the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The major world powers that would rise and fall before Jesus took the throne of the Kingdom are pictured as beasts. As in Daniel 2, the prophecy chronicles four Kingdoms that would rise before Jesus is crowned as King. (For more on my views of Daniel 2, see Thy Kingdom Come Or Thy Kingdom Came?) During the reign of the fourth beast, the Ancient of Days sits in judgment and Jesus is given "dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed." (Dan. 7: 14) A proper identification of what nation each beast represents is crucial to understanding the timing of the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
While there is some disagreement on the identification of the beasts in Daniel 7, the historically prevalent view (first put forth by St. Jerome in 407 AD) is as following:
BEAST ONE - a Lion with wings. This is representative of the Babylonian Empire in which Daniel was a servant at the time of his vision. Babylon was also referred to as a lion in Jeremiah 4:5-7. Of further note is the fact that the lion was a typical image used to represent the king of Babylon in Babylonian sculpture. The identity of the first beast is reinforced when we compare this vision to Daniel 2. In the vision of the statue, the head of gold - representative of the first of four kingdoms that will exist before the coming of the Kingdom of God - was specifically said to represent the Babylonian Empire (Daniel 2:38).
BEAST TWO - a Bear raised up on one side with three ribs in its mouth. This is representative of the Medo-Persian Empire. The bear in the vision is apparently lopsided, which is supported by the fact that the Persian empire was the dominant entity in this merged empire. The three ribs could represent the three kingdoms conquered by the Medo-Persian empire during its rise to power: Lydia, Egypt, and Babylon.
BEAST THREE - a Leopard with four heads and four wings. This is representative of the Greek Empire which conquered the Medo-Persian empire. After Alexander the Great's swift conquest, the empire was divided amongst his four generals - represented by by the four heads.
BEAST FOUR - a dreadfully strong beast with large iron teeth (no specific animal is referenced). This is representative of the Roman Empire that succeeded the Greek Empire. It became the largest empire this world has ever seen. The imagery of iron teeth is reminiscent of the legs of iron in Daniel 2, which were also representative of the Roman Empire. When St. Jerome wrote his commentary on Daniel, the Roman Empire was still in power. St. Jerome imagined that the end of the Roman Empire would also mark the end of the world - a time when Jesus ushers in his eternal Kingdom. Certainly St. Jerome would have been surprised to see that the end of the Roman Empire did not usher in the end of the world.
Since the fall of the Roman Empire, Bible scholars have sought to figure out how the fourth beast might remain "alive" in some form - or how it could be "resurrected" at a later point in order for this prophecy to make sense. According to the prevailing futurist interpretation of Daniel 7, the Roman Empire needs to exist in order for Jesus to be crowned King and usher in his eternal Kingdom. Both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 strongly suggest that Jesus establishes His Kingdom during the time of the Roman Empire. I explored some of the difficulties in extending the Roman Empire into the future in my examination of Daniel 2 (here).
When we examine the scene in Daniel 7:13 where Jesus receives the Kingdom, there are some key phrases that give us a clue as to the timing of this event:
"I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom..."
This scene is interpreted by futurists to be the second coming of Christ. In Acts 1:11
after Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud, an angel told the disciples that Jesus "will come in just the same way as you watched Him go into heaven." However, does the
event in Daniel describe Jesus' second coming or his ascension? What direction does
Jesus go?
Daniel 7:13 describes Jesus coming "up" to the Ancient of Days, not coming "down" to earth. This scene is depicted in Hebrews 9 when Jesus entered the heavenly tabernacle after his ascension into heaven and presented His sacrifice before the Father. Daniel 7:13 describes Jesus being presented before the Ancient of Days.
Hebrews 9:23 speaks of Jesus entering "heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."
The results of Jesus sacrifice are spoken of in Hebrews 10:12,13 "but He, having
offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting
from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet." The
"right hand of God" refers to a position of equal power and authority with
God. It is a position of Kingdom rule. The verse alluded to in this Hebrews passage
is Psalm 110:1 "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your
feet." This passage is largely understood to speak of the Kingdom reign of the
Messiah. This Psalm goes on to say "The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from
Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies." Jesus exaltation to the right hand of
God was the initiation of His rule as King over all. This was an event that took place
during the time of the original Roman Empire. There is no need to suppose that we
need a future Roman Empire in order for Jesus to be crowned as King.
Psalm 110:1 is also quoted in Acts 2 in conjunction with Jesus' resurrection and
ascension. "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. For it was
not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: 'The LORD said to my
Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'
Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both
Lord and Christ." (vs. 32-36) Peter affirmed that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of a coming messiah and king. One of these prophecies was made to David, in I Chronicles 17 that God would raise up one of David's descendants and establish his kingdom forever. In Luke 1:32-33, Gabriel announced that Jesus would fulfill this promise, "and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His Kingdom will have no end."
The futurist who sees the Kingdom of God as a still future happening holds that this prophecy of Jesus will not be fulfilled until Jesus is sitting on a literal throne in Jerusalem, reigning over Israel just like David did. However, in I Chronicles 29:22-23, we see that the throne of David is representative of God's delegated authority to rule over the people of God. "And they made Solomon the son of David king, and they anointed him as ruler for the Lord...Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father." The throne of the King of Israel was symbolic of the throne of the Lord. The King was delegated authority to rule God's people in God's place. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he ascended to the right hand of the throne in heaven--the position of authority over God's people. We do not need to wait for a physical fulfillment of Jesus sitting on David's throne. David's throne was merely a physical symbol of God's throne.
In Acts 2:30-31, Peter links the fulfillment of God's promise to David with Jesus' resurrection and ascension. "Therefore, [David] being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses...being exalted to the right hand of God..."
Ephesians 1:20-22 goes into more detail on what transpired when Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven. "[God] raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church..." This clearly indicates that Jesus is now the Lord over everything. His Kingdom has been established.
The futurist may retort that if Jesus has truly established his Kingdom and is reigning over everything, then why does there seem to be so much in this world that is not under his control? Hebrews 2:8 addresses this question "'You have put all things in subjection under His feet. For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him." Jesus Kingdom is a heavenly reality that is becoming an earthly reality. The Kingdom of God is spreading. Isaiah 9:7 says Jesus' Kingdom rule will continually increase. Daniel 2 describes the Kingdom as starting out like a stone, but growing to fill the whole earth. When people rebel against the King, this does not negate the fact that the King is in charge. Just because Jesus has not executed judgement against the rebellion within his dominion, it doesn't mean he is not in control. According to 2 Peter 3:9, Jesus is demonstrating patience with the rebellious because he wants people to have the chance to repent and not to come under judgement.
Jesus' Kingdom rule involves a process of subduing his enemies. I Corinthians 15:24-26,28 declares that when Jesus physically returns to earth "then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death...and when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all."
The dispensational futurist position is that when Jesus returns to earth (during the reign of a future fourth beast) then He will establish His Kingdom on earth. He will begin his rule by slaying every wicked person. Then He will reign from David's throne in Israel for a thousand years. After the thousand years, there will be one more resurgence of evil, which will lead to the final judgement--after which death is finally done away with. (see Revelation 20)
According to this view, when Jesus returns there will be immediate destruction of evil, and then a thousand years of righteousness reigning, and then death will be abolished. According to the passage above, Jesus' reign is not marked by the absence of evil, but the process of conquering evil. According to the passage above, Jesus returns to earth AFTER His enemies are completely defeated, and then comes the "end" when death is defeated--not one thousand more years and then the end. Jesus does not begin reigning when he returns to earth. According to I Corinthians 15:24, when Jesus returns he hands over the reign of the Kingdom to the Father. In order for this to be true, Jesus must be reigning as King right now. His Kingdom began with His ascension to the right hand of the throne of God and will ultimately culminate when He returns to earth to hand over the Kingdom to the Father.
Just as Dorothy and her troop fearfully imagined all the beasts they would encounter on their journey to the Emerald City, the modern Christian church nervously anticipates the arrival of horrible beasts, world powers, and antichrists on their journey to the Streets of Gold.
Daniel 7 is a prophetic passage chronicling a series of major world events that would occur from the time of Daniel until the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The major world powers that would rise and fall before Jesus took the throne of the Kingdom are pictured as beasts. As in Daniel 2, the prophecy chronicles four Kingdoms that would rise before Jesus is crowned as King. (For more on my views of Daniel 2, see Thy Kingdom Come Or Thy Kingdom Came?) During the reign of the fourth beast, the Ancient of Days sits in judgment and Jesus is given "dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed." (Dan. 7: 14) A proper identification of what nation each beast represents is crucial to understanding the timing of the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
While there is some disagreement on the identification of the beasts in Daniel 7, the historically prevalent view (first put forth by St. Jerome in 407 AD) is as following:
BEAST ONE - a Lion with wings. This is representative of the Babylonian Empire in which Daniel was a servant at the time of his vision. Babylon was also referred to as a lion in Jeremiah 4:5-7. Of further note is the fact that the lion was a typical image used to represent the king of Babylon in Babylonian sculpture. The identity of the first beast is reinforced when we compare this vision to Daniel 2. In the vision of the statue, the head of gold - representative of the first of four kingdoms that will exist before the coming of the Kingdom of God - was specifically said to represent the Babylonian Empire (Daniel 2:38).
BEAST TWO - a Bear raised up on one side with three ribs in its mouth. This is representative of the Medo-Persian Empire. The bear in the vision is apparently lopsided, which is supported by the fact that the Persian empire was the dominant entity in this merged empire. The three ribs could represent the three kingdoms conquered by the Medo-Persian empire during its rise to power: Lydia, Egypt, and Babylon.
BEAST THREE - a Leopard with four heads and four wings. This is representative of the Greek Empire which conquered the Medo-Persian empire. After Alexander the Great's swift conquest, the empire was divided amongst his four generals - represented by by the four heads.
BEAST FOUR - a dreadfully strong beast with large iron teeth (no specific animal is referenced). This is representative of the Roman Empire that succeeded the Greek Empire. It became the largest empire this world has ever seen. The imagery of iron teeth is reminiscent of the legs of iron in Daniel 2, which were also representative of the Roman Empire. When St. Jerome wrote his commentary on Daniel, the Roman Empire was still in power. St. Jerome imagined that the end of the Roman Empire would also mark the end of the world - a time when Jesus ushers in his eternal Kingdom. Certainly St. Jerome would have been surprised to see that the end of the Roman Empire did not usher in the end of the world.
Since the fall of the Roman Empire, Bible scholars have sought to figure out how the fourth beast might remain "alive" in some form - or how it could be "resurrected" at a later point in order for this prophecy to make sense. According to the prevailing futurist interpretation of Daniel 7, the Roman Empire needs to exist in order for Jesus to be crowned King and usher in his eternal Kingdom. Both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 strongly suggest that Jesus establishes His Kingdom during the time of the Roman Empire. I explored some of the difficulties in extending the Roman Empire into the future in my examination of Daniel 2 (here).
When we examine the scene in Daniel 7:13 where Jesus receives the Kingdom, there are some key phrases that give us a clue as to the timing of this event:
"I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom..."
This scene is interpreted by futurists to be the second coming of Christ. In Acts 1:11
after Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud, an angel told the disciples that Jesus "will come in just the same way as you watched Him go into heaven." However, does the
event in Daniel describe Jesus' second coming or his ascension? What direction does
Jesus go?
Daniel 7:13 describes Jesus coming "up" to the Ancient of Days, not coming "down" to earth. This scene is depicted in Hebrews 9 when Jesus entered the heavenly tabernacle after his ascension into heaven and presented His sacrifice before the Father. Daniel 7:13 describes Jesus being presented before the Ancient of Days.
Hebrews 9:23 speaks of Jesus entering "heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."
The results of Jesus sacrifice are spoken of in Hebrews 10:12,13 "but He, having
offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting
from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet." The
"right hand of God" refers to a position of equal power and authority with
God. It is a position of Kingdom rule. The verse alluded to in this Hebrews passage
is Psalm 110:1 "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your
feet." This passage is largely understood to speak of the Kingdom reign of the
Messiah. This Psalm goes on to say "The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from
Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies." Jesus exaltation to the right hand of
God was the initiation of His rule as King over all. This was an event that took place
during the time of the original Roman Empire. There is no need to suppose that we
need a future Roman Empire in order for Jesus to be crowned as King.
Psalm 110:1 is also quoted in Acts 2 in conjunction with Jesus' resurrection and
ascension. "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. For it was
not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: 'The LORD said to my
Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'
Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both
Lord and Christ." (vs. 32-36) Peter affirmed that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of a coming messiah and king. One of these prophecies was made to David, in I Chronicles 17 that God would raise up one of David's descendants and establish his kingdom forever. In Luke 1:32-33, Gabriel announced that Jesus would fulfill this promise, "and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His Kingdom will have no end."
The futurist who sees the Kingdom of God as a still future happening holds that this prophecy of Jesus will not be fulfilled until Jesus is sitting on a literal throne in Jerusalem, reigning over Israel just like David did. However, in I Chronicles 29:22-23, we see that the throne of David is representative of God's delegated authority to rule over the people of God. "And they made Solomon the son of David king, and they anointed him as ruler for the Lord...Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father." The throne of the King of Israel was symbolic of the throne of the Lord. The King was delegated authority to rule God's people in God's place. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he ascended to the right hand of the throne in heaven--the position of authority over God's people. We do not need to wait for a physical fulfillment of Jesus sitting on David's throne. David's throne was merely a physical symbol of God's throne.
In Acts 2:30-31, Peter links the fulfillment of God's promise to David with Jesus' resurrection and ascension. "Therefore, [David] being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses...being exalted to the right hand of God..."
Ephesians 1:20-22 goes into more detail on what transpired when Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven. "[God] raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church..." This clearly indicates that Jesus is now the Lord over everything. His Kingdom has been established.
The futurist may retort that if Jesus has truly established his Kingdom and is reigning over everything, then why does there seem to be so much in this world that is not under his control? Hebrews 2:8 addresses this question "'You have put all things in subjection under His feet. For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him." Jesus Kingdom is a heavenly reality that is becoming an earthly reality. The Kingdom of God is spreading. Isaiah 9:7 says Jesus' Kingdom rule will continually increase. Daniel 2 describes the Kingdom as starting out like a stone, but growing to fill the whole earth. When people rebel against the King, this does not negate the fact that the King is in charge. Just because Jesus has not executed judgement against the rebellion within his dominion, it doesn't mean he is not in control. According to 2 Peter 3:9, Jesus is demonstrating patience with the rebellious because he wants people to have the chance to repent and not to come under judgement.
Jesus' Kingdom rule involves a process of subduing his enemies. I Corinthians 15:24-26,28 declares that when Jesus physically returns to earth "then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death...and when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all."
The dispensational futurist position is that when Jesus returns to earth (during the reign of a future fourth beast) then He will establish His Kingdom on earth. He will begin his rule by slaying every wicked person. Then He will reign from David's throne in Israel for a thousand years. After the thousand years, there will be one more resurgence of evil, which will lead to the final judgement--after which death is finally done away with. (see Revelation 20)
According to this view, when Jesus returns there will be immediate destruction of evil, and then a thousand years of righteousness reigning, and then death will be abolished. According to the passage above, Jesus' reign is not marked by the absence of evil, but the process of conquering evil. According to the passage above, Jesus returns to earth AFTER His enemies are completely defeated, and then comes the "end" when death is defeated--not one thousand more years and then the end. Jesus does not begin reigning when he returns to earth. According to I Corinthians 15:24, when Jesus returns he hands over the reign of the Kingdom to the Father. In order for this to be true, Jesus must be reigning as King right now. His Kingdom began with His ascension to the right hand of the throne of God and will ultimately culminate when He returns to earth to hand over the Kingdom to the Father.
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