Bible Hermeneutics (viii)

"1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts. 2 Daniel spoke, saying, "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 from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5 And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh!' 6 After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words."(Dan. 7: 1-8 nkjv)

This time the prophetic dream/vision was not dreamt or envisioned by the king of Babylon, but by Daniel himself. Again, figures and symbols were used in describing the foretold events and yet what they signified literally came to pass or will yet come to pass, for the prophecy has been partially fulfilled but not yet completely. Also, again the "interpretation" of the imagery was given to the prophet Daniel. Therefore, we are not left to our guesses as to what the beasts and the horns signify or represent. 

The four beasts correspond to the four major body parts of the image of a man in chapter two that had a head of gold, arms and breast of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron, and feet and toes of iron and clay. The ten toes of that image correspond to the ten horns, which are "ten kings" who replace the fourth beast and become the fifth empire, ruled over by "the little horn," which is said to be "a man," a literal man with a mouth, who defies the living God and persecutes the saints, and who has sovereignty over the whole earth. 

Fulfillment Of The Prophecy

"9 I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; 10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. 11 "I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 13 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. 15 "I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16 I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: 17 'Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.' 19 Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; 20 and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. 21 I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. 23 "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth, Which shall be different from all other kingdoms, And shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces. 24 The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings. 25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. 26 'But the court shall be seated, And they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever. 27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.' 28 "This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart." (7: 9-28 nkjv)

We see similar imagery in the Book of Revelation with a beast with ten horns and they being symbols of ten literal kings. So we read:

"The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast." (Rev. 17: 12 nkjv)

According to John, the ten kings (or ten toes, or ten horns of Daniel) "have received no kingdom as yet" (A.D. 95). And that being so, we can say that 1) they have not yet been destroyed by the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and 2) the kingdom of God has not yet been established under Christ and his saints for the text says "in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom," one that will not be destroyed.

"Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev. 11: 15 nkjv)

So, in conclusion, let us remind ourselves of the propositions we have been contending for.

First, prophecies like the one of the four beasts and ten toes and ten horns, and of the little horn, make use of symbols to depict a literal truth.

Second, when the prophet makes use of similitudes, the interpretation of the symbols will be often given.

Third, the reader is not left to his own imagination in determining what the imagery means, for either the symbols used are explained by the Lord through the prophet or by common sense and/or by common biblical usage so that the meaning of them is understood.

Fourth, the use of symbols, figures, or likenesses does not annul a literal fulfillment of what the symbols represent.

Fifth, numbers in prophecy are to be understood literally and cannot represent a different number. In other words, ten toes or ten kings literally mean ten, and not some other number.

Sixth, in the prophecies that make use of figures and symbols, literal or non-symbolic language is often interspersed with the non literal. This is true with what is called "apocalyptic" prophecies, as the prophecies of the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation are styled, that symbols are used, but that does not negate the fact that much of these prophecies have more literal language than figurative. So, we must have help in discerning which sections are figures and which are literal. We also must keep in mind that a symbolic representation does not equal a figurative fulfillment. 

Seventh, when reading prophecies we must ever keep in mind the rule that says "if the literal sense makes sense, seek no other sense."

Eight, some prophecies have a double fulfillment, or are instances where some aspects of the prophecy are fulfilled some time before the other aspects of it.

I have chosen not to comment at length about each of the prophecies referred to thus far because I am not preaching a sermon on any of the prophecies and detailing how each is, or will be, fulfilled. I am only citing those prophecies to bring out some points about how to interpret prophecies of the bible, particularly unfulfilled prophecies.

In the next concluding chapter or two we will notice a few of the prophecies of the Book of Revelation.