How does Daniel's vision in Daniel 7 compare with Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the metallic empires?
Daniel's vision parallels Nebuchadnezzar's dream, presenting the same unfolding of Gentile empires in animal form rather than metals. Daniel saw a lion, bear, leopard, and an indescribable fourth beast, which was the Roman Empire, corresponding to the gold, silver, brass, and following metallic kingdoms.
Les explains that Daniel chapter 7 shows the same unfolding of human history in all the Gentile empires, but in animal form, just as Nebuchadnezzar dreamed it in the metals: gold, silver, brass, and so forth. Daniel saw the empires as a lion, a bear, a leopard, and then a beast that could not be explained, which was the Roman Empire. In verse 7, the semicolon after the fourth beast was described as diverse or different from all the beasts before it, and then the verse ended with it having ten horns. Les points out that semicolon represents 2,000 years as we reckon time, though in God's way of reckoning it is no longer than a semicolon.