DANIEL CHAPTER 2 AND 7 : ARE THEY THE SAME?

by Douglas Ecklund
(Florida)

Many hold to the interpretation that Daniel Chapter 2 and 7 both reflect the same kingdoms; that they are just a different way to express them, a different pictorial representation of the same kingdoms.
I am not saying this is incorrect, however, maybe we are making some assumptions to arrive at this view; maybe we are not strictly looking at what scripture says.

I am selecting Scriptures pertinent to the discussion.

First, Daniel 2:

Dan 2:38
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

Scripture clearly states that Nebuchadnezzar and therefore the kingdom of Babylon is the head of gold.

Dan 2:39
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

Most hold to the view that the next kingdom is Medo-Persia and the third kingdom is Greece.
Scripture does not specify.

Dan 2:40
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

The views differ here but most hold to the fourth kingdom being the Roman empire.
Scripture does not specify.

Dan 2:41
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

Many consider this the revived Roman empire.
Scripture does not specify.

Dan 2:44
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

The kingdom of Christ Jesus.

Next Daniel 7:

Dan 7:1
¶ In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

Note that this vision is in the first year of Belshazzar. This will be referred to later.

Dan 7:3
And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

The four beasts are described as arising from the sea with no indication of them being successive as in Daniel 2.
We are not told that they arise together either.

Dan 7:4
The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

While this could be another vision of Nebuchadnezzar as in Daniel 2, the description is not the same, nor does Scripture directly support applying these attributes to Nebuchadnezzar or Babylon.

Dan 7:5
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

Again we find a totally different description from Daniel 2.

Dan 7:6
After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

Another totally different description from Daniel 2.

Dan 7:7
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Here we find some similarity to Daniel 2 in the reference to iron.
Also is the same statement of this kingdom braking in pieces.
Diverse from all the beasts that were BEFORE it; the word before could mean as existing beforehand or it could mean laid out in front of.

Dan 7:15
¶ I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

They give us some trouble too.

Dan 7:17
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

Shall arise indicates future tense, so how could the first beast in Daniel 7 be Nebuchadnezzar if Daniel 2 specifies that Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold and by the time of this vision Belshazzar is king and Nebuchadnezzar is dead?
Nebuchadnezzar’s reign could not be a future event as indicated by this passage.

Dan 7:23
¶ Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

This fourth beast is identified by scripture as the end time kingdom.

Dan 7:24
And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

Scripture defines the ten horns as ten kings of the last day kingdom.

Dan 7:25
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Scripture details the horn that shall arise after.

Dan 7:28
Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

In conclusion;
To posit that the beasts in Daniel chapter 7 correspond to the kingdoms of chapter 2 might be proven the case by future events, but this is not obvious from scripture.
This view falls upon application of Daniel 7:17 wherein the four beasts are four kings which SHALL ARISE. The first beast in Daniel 7:4 would be Nebuchadnezzar. How could it be said that in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar, who has reigned and is dead, will arise as king?

There is a way to consider that the statue kingdoms of Daniel 2 could be reflected again in Daniel 7. If the beasts of Daniel 7 were all the newly revived entities of Daniel 2 incorporated into an amalgamated fourth beast kingdom.
Consider the following passages.

Rev 13:1
¶ And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Here we have the leopard of Daniel 7:6, the bear of 7:5 and the lion of 7:4
Could this beast be a revival of the kingdoms of Daniel 2 ?
Could all of the Daniel 2 kingdoms be incorporated under the umbrella of the fourth kingdom of the beast?

There is some Biblical support for this.

Dan 2:35
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

In this passage of Daniel 2 it can be seen that ALL the kingdoms of the statue are broken TOGETHER by the stone, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dan 2:44
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Here again in Daniel 2 God’s kingdom shall consume ALL these kingdoms. That is ALL the kingdoms described in Daniel 2 pictured by the statue.
How could ALL the kingdoms of the statue be consumed since they have vanished, unless they are reconstituted in the fourth beast. For them to be ALL be broken Together they must in some fashion have dominion again.

Comments for DANIEL CHAPTER 2 AND 7 : ARE THEY THE SAME?

Click here to add your own comments

Nov 15, 2014
Daniel 7:12
by: Doug

Thanks for your comments
I think the prolonging of the three other beasts lives substantiates the view that they are both future and contemporaneous kingdoms to the fourth kingdom.

Nov 14, 2014
I Think You Are On To Something!
by: Elle

You made this comment:
"There is a way to consider that the statue kingdoms of Daniel 2 could be reflected again in Daniel 7. If the beasts of Daniel 7 were all the newly revived entities of Daniel 2 incorporated into an amalgamated fourth beast kingdom."

I honestly believe you are onto something. In Daniel 7:12 it says:
"As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time."

I always took this part of scripture to mean that AFTER the 4th beast is destroyed, the other 3 kingdoms lives would be prolonged into the 1000 year reign of Christ. With your above comment, I think I now know where Daniel 7:12 fits into the timeline. These 4 kingdoms follow each other in rule. The first 3 lose their dominion, but the people who are the descendants of these 3 kingdoms lives are prolonged for a certain season and time in the future. These 3 past kingdom's descendants will make up the 4th future kingdom. Therefore you are probably right when you said: "If the beasts of Daniel 7 were all the newly revived entities of Daniel 2 incorporated into an amalgamated fourth beast kingdom." This amalgamation is probably Islam. This is the first thing that I have come across that makes sense, because I, like you, never bought that the lion with wings could be Babylon when Daniel was given this prophecy towards Babylon's end and the prophecy says SHALL ARISE, which is definitely future. I could accept that modern day Iraq (Babylon) will join with Iran (Persia) and whatever modern day nations were under Alexander's dominion to form the Beast kingdom for which their lives were prolonged for. The beheading passage in Revelation makes more sense now. Guess we will have to watch and see what unfolds.


Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Your Outlines.

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

© 2008-2028 - All rights reserved.

No content on preachology.com may be printed or

copied to any other site without permission.

The Preaching Ezine

Click Here!

Subscribe to my free newsletter for monthly sermons and get a free book right now. Just follow the link above and get the details!


Sermon Supply Ministry

Click Here!

Be ready for Sunday…before Saturday night!
Just follow the link above and get the details!


Manna Seminary

Click Here!

Did you ever want to start or finish your Ministry Training?
Just follow the link above and get the details!


YOUR PAGES:


Your Web Page:
Want your own sermon web page? You can have one!
Your Outlines:
Share YOUR skeleton outlines.
Your Illustrations:
Share YOUR Illustrations.
YOUR SERMONS:
Encourage other ministers
by sharing
YOUR great sermons!
Your Poems:
Encourage us all
by sharing
YOUR great poems!