(Dan 7:7 KJV) 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
This matter has sparked division among scholars of biblical studies. To clarify this issue, it is practically essential to undertake an in-depth analysis of selected biblical passages pertaining to the fourth beast and their potential historical conformity with both the Roman and Islamic Empires.
In Daniel 2:38-40, the text elaborates on this sequence of kingdoms:
Dan 2:38-40 MKJV
(38) And wherever the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens live, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.
(39) And after you shall arise another kingdom lower than you, and another third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
(40) And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron. Since iron crushes and smashes all things; and as the iron that shatters all these, it will crush and shatter.
The reference to “all these” in the phrase “as the iron that shatters all these” (v40) is commonly interpreted as pertaining to the three preceding kingdoms: the gold, silver, and bronze kingdoms.
| 4th Beast as the Roman Empire | 4th Beast as the Islamic Empire |
| Throughout history, the Romans, be it the Roman Republic, Roman Empire, or Holy Roman Empire, never achieved complete conquest over any Persian empire, whether it be the Achaemenids, Parthian, or Sassanid empires. | During the expansion of Islam, Muslims effectively conquered the governments and territories controlled by the descendants of the first three beasts. |
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Back in Dan 7:7, it says that the fourth beast is “diverse from all the beasts that were before it.”
| 4th Beast as the Roman Empire | 4th Beast as the Islamic Empire |
| Yes, the Roman Empire was diverse from the Babylonian and Medo-Persian Empires. However, in contrast to the Greek Empire, the Romans shared notable similarities. There was even a time when the Romans and Greeks ruled the “known world” together – as the Western and Eastern Roman Empires | The Islamic Caliphates were strikingly different from the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Greek Empires in nearly every aspect. |
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Historically, it is well-documented that individuals of Greek origin held positions of authority within the Byzantine Empire while maintaining their Roman citizenship. This historical context raises an intriguing possibility: that this Eastern realm might be considered the dominion attributed to the third Beast in the Book of Daniel.
(Dan 7:6 YLT) ‘After this I was seeing, and lo, another like a leopard, and it hath four wings of a fowl on its back, and four heads hath the beast, and dominion is given to it.
ISA Interlinear Bible Daniel 7:6
(Read left to right)
Two significant facts should be noted:
- According to the word order, the another like a leopard was only granted jurisdiction/dominion AFTER it “got” four heads. Historically, it was after the death of Alexander the Great that his kingdom was divided into four regions.
- The jurisdiction/dominion was given not to the four heads or any one of them but to the beast itself. Over time, the four kingdoms established by Alexander’s generals faded into obscurity, as the Romans supplanted them in many regions. Eventually, the Romans granted dominion to the Greeks, facilitating their governance over the eastern sector of the Roman Empire. Importantly, the Greeks didn’t acquire this dominion through military conquest but through Roman concession, which is clearly in accordance with the prophetic phrasing and wording of the verse.
This raises a thought-provoking question: If we consider the Romans as the fourth Beast in Daniel’s vision, does this imply a scenario where the fourth Beast shared governance with the third Beast, the Greeks, as citizens of the Roman Empire? In such a case, we are compelled to examine what distinctions set the fourth Beast apart from the third Beast in this co-rule arrangement.
——- ——- === O === ——- ——-
(1Co 13:13 ISV) Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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Why are there only four beasts in this vision?
(Dan 2:28 KJV) But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream came to him to show him (and us) what shall be in the latter days; that includes our time. From his time up to our time, there were not a few strong kingdoms and empires that had arose and fell. It raises the question of why significant nations and empires like Mongolia, Spain, Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and ancient and modern China were not explicitly included in the dream. The explanation might lie in the symbolic context of where these four beasts emerged.
(Dan 7:3 KJV) And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
Symbolic heaven, earth, or sea represent many things. Most probably, in Daniel’s vision of the four beasts, the “sea” means nations, peoples, or actual places of nations or peoples.
In the prophetic and symbolic language of the Bible, various elements like heaven, earth, and the sea hold multifaceted meanings. It is plausible that, in Daniel’s vision depicting the four beasts, the term “sea” conveys a representation of nations, populations, or the geographic regions inhabited by these nations and their people.
Consider the following biblical examples:
- In Revelation 12:15–17, the “earth” is described as helping the Woman by swallowing a flood. This interpretation cannot be taken literally; rather, it signifies a people or peoples dwelling in a particular land.
- In verse 4 of the same chapter, there’s a word “heaven” mentioned, which can also be found in verses 1 and 3. From this heaven, a third of the stars were swept down and thrown to the earth by the tail of the Red Dragon. This figurative event couldn’t be the rebellion of Lucifer, for his rebellion happened even before Adam was created. One might recall the serpent’s role in deceiving and convincing Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
- In verses 1, 3, and 4, the term “heaven” symbolizes the dwelling place of the Woman or the Covenant People. In this symbolic context, the people of God are represented as the “stars,” a notion supported by references in Genesis 37:9–11 and Daniel 12:3. It’s important to recognize that within this symbolic framework, references to heaven, earth, or sea may at times signify a specific geographic location on our planet and/or the inhabitants dwelling in that place.
Conclusion
Returning to Daniel 7, it becomes conceivable that only those great kingdoms or empires that would come out of the metaphorical “sea” are what were intended to be revealed to Nebuchadnezzar. And the place of origin of Islam was well within the “sea,” from where it spread abroad. Thus, it is plausible to interpret the fourth beast as representing the Islamic empire, which is on its sixth “head” at the time of this writing.
Student of the Light 