What is the vision in Daniel 7 about?
Daniel's vision concerns coming historical events, depicting an empire arising from the sea of humanity and headed by the man of sin. It uses beast imagery—leopard, bear, lion—and shows Satan giving power, throne, and authority, representing the culmination of satanic power.
Les explains that Daniel is describing a vision he had, which is looking forward down the times of coming historical events. The sea, in symbolic language, is the sea of humanity, the masses of people around the globe. Out of this mass of humanity will come this empire that has been dead, and it is going to be headed up by this one man of sin. The beast Daniel saw was like a leopard, with feet as the feet of a bear and mouth as the mouth of a lion, and the dragon—Satan—gave him his power, his throne, and his authority. Les stresses that the whole thing is the culmination of satanic power, and that when studying Daniel we must also look at Revelation and Matthew 24 and 25, and vice versa, with repetition being the mother of learning.
More Questions
How does Daniel's vision of beast empires compare to Nebuchadnezzar's dream of metal empires?
Les explains that Daniel's vision of Gentile empires in animal form portrays the same unfolding of human history that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream of gold, silver, brass, and other metals.