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Thus Say The Prophets
Prophet Daniel

7:1 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and a vision of his mind in bed; afterward he wrote down the dream. Beginning the account,

This chapter is different. Here, Daniel shares his own dream instead of interpreting for the Royals. This dream came to Daniel himself, thus establishing him as a prophet despite the Talmudic opinion. The dream was revealed to Daniel during the reign of King Belshazzar, so before that of King Darius (of the previous chapter). However, The text implies that Daniel may have written the dream down sometime after receiving it. His experiences under Darius may have reminded him of this dream. We are not told.

7:2 Daniel related the following:

"In my vision at night, I saw the four winds of the heavens stirring up the great sea."

In the Talmud, Sage Malbim notes that Daniel's vision occurred in the night, indicating great hardships and unrighteousness, and then connects Daniel's vision with the following from Zechariah. The "Great Sea" in prophecy generally refers to the Sea of Humanity as it appears when viewed from the Merkaba Throne of Adonai above the heavens as described in Ezekiel chapter one and as we've discussed elsewhere. The "Four Winds" of the heavens represent four Powers that are at enmity with homo sapiens humanity and that seek our destruction. These 'winds' stem from the Globalist Nephilim that have been actively opposing humanity's redemption since the days of Nimrod and Semiriamis. It behooves us at this point to consider Prophet Zechariah's words:

Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, this word of Adonai came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo:

Zechariah 1:2 Adonai was very angry with your ancestors, so say to them further:

Zechariah 1:3 Thus said Adonai Tzevaot: Turn back to me—says Adonai Tzevaot—and I will turn back to you—said Adonai Tzevaot.

Zechariah 1:4 Do not be like your ancestors! For when the earlier prophets called to them, "Thus says Adonai Tzevaot: Come, turn back from your evil ways and your evil deeds, they did not obey or give heed to Me—declares Adonai.

Zechariah 1:5 Where are your ancestors now? And did the prophets live forever?

Zechariah 1:6 But the warnings and the decrees with which I charged My servants the prophets overtook your ancestors—did they not?—and in the end they had to admit, 'Adonai Tzevaot purposed to deal with us according to our ways and our deeds; that is just what has been done to us.'"

Zechariah 1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the second year of Darius—the month of Shevat, this word of Adonai came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo:

Zechariah 1:8 In the night, I had a vision. I saw a figure, mounted on a bay horse, standing among the myrtles in the Deep, and behind him were bay, sorrel, and white horses.

Zechariah 1:9 I asked, "What are those, my lord?" And the angel who talked with me answered, "I will let you know what they are."

Zechariah 1:10 Then the figure who was standing among the myrtles spoke up and said, "These were sent out by Adonai to roam the earth."

Zechariah 1:11 And in fact, they reported to the angel of Adonai who was standing among the myrtles, "We have roamed the earth, and have found all the earth dwelling in tranquility."

Zechariah 1:12 Thereupon the angel of Adonai exclaimed, "O Adonai Tzevaot! How long will You withhold pardon from Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, which You placed under a curse seventy years ago?"

Zechariah 1:13 Adonai replied with kind, comforting words to the angel who talked with me.

Zechariah 1:14 Then the angel who talked with me said to me: "Proclaim! Thus said Adonai Tzevaot: I am very jealous for Jerusalem—for Zion—

Zechariah 1:15 and I am very angry with those nations that are at ease; for I was only angry a little, but they overdid the punishment.

Zechariah 1:16 Assuredly, thus says Adonai: I graciously return to Jerusalem. My House shall be built in her—declares Adonai Tzevaot—the measuring line is being applied to Jerusalem.

Zechariah 1:17 Proclaim further: Thus says Adonai Tzevaot: My towns shall yet overflow with bounty. For Adonai will again comfort Zion—and will again choose Jerusalem."

Zechariah 2:1 I looked up, and I saw four horns.

Zechariah 2:2 I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these?" "Those," he replied, "are the horns that tossed Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

Zechariah 2:3 Then Adonai showed me four smiths.

Zechariah 2:4 "What are they coming to do?" I asked. The angel replied: "Those are the horns that tossed Judah, so that nobody at all could raise their head; and these [smiths] have come to throw them into a panic, to cut down the horns [powers] of the nations that raise a horn against the land of Judah, to toss it."

Zechariah 2:5 I looked up, and I saw a figure holding a measuring line.

Zechariah 2:6 "Where are you going?" I asked. "To measure Jerusalem," he replied, "to see how long and wide it is to be."

Zechariah 2:7 But the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him.

Zechariah 2:8 The former said to him, "Run to that agent and tell him: "Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls, so many shall be the people and cattle it contains.

Zechariah 2:9 And I Myself—declares Adonai—will be a wall of fire all around it, and I will be a glory inside it.

Zechariah 2:10 "Away, away! Flee from the land of the north—says Adonai —though I swept you [there] like the four winds of heaven—declares Adonai."

Zechariah 2:11 Away, escape, O Zion, you who dwell in Fair Babylon!

Zechariah 2:12 For thus says Adonai Tzevaot—who sent me after glory —concerning the nations that have taken you as spoil: "Whoever touches you touches the pupil of their own eye.

Zechariah 2:13 For I will lift My hand against them, and they shall be spoil for those they enslaved." Then you shall know that I was sent by Adonai Tzevaot.

Zechariah 2:14 Shout for joy, Fair Zion! For lo, I come; and I will dwell in your midst—declares Adonai.

Zechariah 2:15 In that day many nations will attach themselves to Adonai and become Adonai's people, and Adonai will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that I was sent to you by Adonai Tzevaot.

Zechariah 2:16 Adonai will claim Judah as a special portion in the Holy Land and will choose Jerusalem once more.

Zechariah 2:17 Be silent, all flesh, before Adonai! For [Adonai] is roused from the Holy Habitation.

Daniel is witnessing and describing the same process: Israel's inevitable Redemption. Everything that has taken place has demonstrated that HaShem alone is the Master of All.

Vision of the Four Planetary Superpowers

Daniel 7:3 Four mighty beasts different from each other emerged from the sea.

God reveals to Daniel that there will be four planet-ruling governments, beginning with Babylonia, during human history. These planet-ruling Gentile powers—likened to beasts—will arise from among the Great Sea of homo sapiens. But they will be misguided by the Nephilim with the ultimate goal of replacing homo sapiens, created in God's divine image, with a new species created in their own, in the labs of the Nephilim Bavarian Illuminati. With a tip of the hat to the Tower of Nimrod's Babel, they call this new species homo deus, but in reality, they are homo diablos. This rebellious Globalization process will reach the point of near fulfillment. Still, its ultimate victory will be interrupted by the coming of Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David because HaShem has declared that He will never allow Am Y'israel (People Israel) to be destroyed (Malachi 3:6, etc.).

Jeremiah 31:35,36 Thus says Adonai
Who established the sun for light by day,
the laws of the moon and stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea into roaring waves,
Whose name is Adonai Tzavuot:
If I ever annulled these laws, declares GOD, only then would the offspring of Israel cease to be a nation before Me for all time.

To save Israel from Genocide HaShem will intervene in human affairs. We continue with Daniel:

7:4 The first was like a lion but had eagles' wings. As I looked on, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted off the ground and set on its feet like a man and given the mind of a man.

7:5 Then I saw a second, different beast, which was like a bear. It raised on one side and with the three fangs in its mouth, among its teeth, it was told, 'Arise, eat much meat!'

7:6 After that, as I watched, there was another one, like a leopard, and it had on its back four wings like those of a bird; this beast had four heads and dominion was given to it.

7:7 After that, I saw in the night vision, there was a fourth beast that was fearsome, dreadful, and very powerful, with great iron teeth. It devoured, crushed, and stamped the remains with its feet. It was different from all the other beasts which had gone before it, and it had ten horns.

These four great beasts are akin to the four metals discussed in the statue described to Daniel by King Nebuchadnezzar earlier. While Nebuchadnezzar conceived of these powers in terms of wealth (the metals), God showed them to Daniel in terms of their beastly behavior.

Hence the Lion (Babylon) devours by brute force, the Bear (Medo-Persia) crushes, the Leopard (Greece) springs upon its victim and sucks its blood. But, the character of the Fourth Wild Beast (Rome) is such that no beast of nature can be compared to it, as we will see.

These beastly characteristics are often reflected in their national emblems, such as the British Lion, the Russian Bear, the American Eagle, the Chinese Dragon, the Persian Ram, the Macedonian Goat, etc. By their nature, human governments rule by force and violence, like wild beasts. Each nation has a unique beastly nature.

The First Beast (Babylonia): Babylonia was like an unstoppable lion with eagle's wings, but the Unseen Divine Hand clipped its wings, lifted it mockingly before throwing it to the ground, revealing its mortal puniness as HaShem did to both Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Daniel was quite familiar with this imagery. All over Babylon, there were huge stone-winged lions, sometimes with human faces. The first beast then is Nebuchadnezzar, the "Head of gold" as in the statue dream of 2:31.

The Second Beast (Cyrus the Great's Medo-Persia): Then I saw a second, different beast, which was like a bear but raised on one side. It had three fangs in its mouth among its teeth, and the Unheard Voice told it to, 'Arise, eat much flesh!' The bear is the strongest beast after the lion. It lacks the lion's speed and agility; it's rather awkward, but once it has its victim, victory is all but assured. The Medo-Persian Empire under Darius and Cyrus was like a bear. It took the world the Babylonian Lion had subdued and consumed it by sheer force. The Medes and Persians were not so sophisticated militarily, but their tenacity and brute force made up for it. The Mede and Persian warriors would hurl their vast masses of troops upon their enemies to overpower them. Consider Xerxes' expedition against Greece. He had 2,500,000 fighting men who won by "falling" on the Greeks and crushing them. With enormous numbers of men, the Medes, like a giant bear, would "devour much flesh."

The side of the "Bear" that rose represents the Persian aspect of the Dual Empire. Persia was stronger and more aggressive than Medes. Persia corresponds to the "right shoulder and arm" of chapter two's "image" of Daniel's writings. The "Three Ribs" between its teeth represent the three Kingdoms of Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt that challenged Medo-Persian power and were eventually destroyed by it. Just as a "Bear" is an inferior animal to a "Lion," the Medo-Persian Empire was inferior to Babylonia. To its credit, the Medo-Persian Empire, through Zoroastrianism, advanced spiritual evolution with a form of monotheism in opposition to the abominations of Babel.

The Third Beast (Alexander the Great's Greece): After that, as I looked on, there was another beast, like a leopard, and it had on its back four wings like those of a bird; this beast had four heads, and the Unseen Arm granted it great dominion. The leopard is agile and graceful, somewhat like the Babylonian lion, but not as strong by brute force as the Persian bear. With the rise of Alexander, the Greeks sped across the known world, conquering everything swiftly—in about ten years—and did so effectively. Their unprecedented success resulted from their "four wings," but those were the wings of lesser fowl, not those of mighty eagles. Much of their power was psychologically empowered by their cultural paradigms (seductive Hellenism), which altered everything and partially restored the essential Babylonian humanism the Medes and Persians had worked against, but without the strength of the former Babylonian system. But Alexander's charisma could only carry the empire so far. His empire had four "heads," those being Thrace, Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt.

Regarding the "Beasts" example and the "image," Greece corresponds to the abdomen and thigh (hips) of the "image. Daniel indicates that the "Grecian Empire" would be divided into four parts as it fell, which is what happened. Thus 'the visions of his head' troubled him (verse 15), and his countenance was changed by his "cogitations," Verse 28. With this third then-future empire, questions remained that Daniel would not understand for two years—until he received his vision of the "Ram and the He-Goat." Nonetheless, the identity of the third beast is certainly Alexander's Greece.

Then there was the Fourth Beast: This beast was unlike any other. After that, as I looked on in the night vision, there was a fourth beast—fearsome, dreadful, and mighty, with great iron teeth—that devoured, crushed, and stamped the remains with its feet. It was different from all the other beasts that had gone before it and had ten horns. No animal existed for Daniel to draw upon as a simile to this beast. It was hideous, monstrous. Its description is terrifying. The creature had great iron teeth that devoured everything. It had ten horns, indicating it to be all-powerful, iron legs that never tired, and ten toes, like a human, as in the statue image that Daniel continues gaining insights into. This Beast is the Roman Republic turned Empire. Never was there an empire like Rome! Unlike the other three Globalist empires whose fall Daniel foretold, this one would survive its own death. As Rome began to 'fall,' the Eastern and Western empires would divide the empire, as shown by its two legs. As its apparent fall continued, the empire would further divide into ten 'toes' and continue to exist through the nations that would rise from it. As usual in Scripture, the number ten suggests that 'all' the future military powers would draw their strength from Rome so that Rome would continue to exist through the nations of Europe into which it morphs. Although this would seem like a good place to mention the United States, a great power that arose from Europe, there is no reference to the United States in Scripture. The obvious reason for this is that Daniel charts the future of the fourth beast until the End of the Age when it will be restored. The US will no longer be a significant power during the final period of the age when Rome returns to the world stage as the superpower. No single planetary empire would rise after Rome until the End of Days. Then, for a brief time, Rome will be restored through the 'man crueler than Haman,' pictured as the mysterious "Little Horn" that sprouts from between the eyes of the final beast. Through this Little Horn—that will grow from the penial gland of the Roman Beast—the glory of the Four Beasts combined, and their origin, Babel of Nimrod, will continue to viciously rule the earth until God Himself intervenes to save the Jews by hurling a 'Stone' that will shatter this beastly system! But we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

7:8 While I was watching, upon these horns a new little horn sprouted up among them; three of the older horns were uprooted to make room for it. There were eyes in this horn like those of a man, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly.

The first three kingdoms, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, and Greece, are superseded by the fourth, Rome, which will achieve the ultimate Nephilim expression in the coming world despot warned about in the Talmud and elsewhere:

Sanhedrin Folio 97a: ...Thus has Rabbi Yochanan said: in the generation when the son of David [i.e. HaMessiah] will come, scholars will be few in number, and as for the rest, their eyes will fail through sorrow and grief. Multitudes of trouble and evil decrees will be promulgated anew, each new evil coming with haste before the other has ended.'

Sanhedrin 97b: ... Rab said: All the predestined dates [for our redemption] have passed, and the matter [now] depends only on repentance and good deeds... Rabbi Eliezer said: If Israel repents, they will be redeemed. If they do not, they will not be redeemed. Rabbi Yoshua said to him: If they do not repent, will they not be redeemed [i.e., that's not so]? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, will set up a king over them, whose decrees shall be as cruel as Haman's, whereby Israel shall engage in repentance, and He will thus bring them back to the right path.

This despot, crueler than Haman, is the Little Horn described by Daniel and others as the Son of Perdition.

7:9 As I looked on,
Thrones were set in place,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat.
His garment was like white snow,
And the hair of His head was like lamb's wool.
His throne was tongues of flame;
Its wheels were blazing fire.

7:10 A river of fire streamed forth before Him;
Thousands upon thousands served Him;
Myriads upon myriads attended Him;
The court sat, and the books were opened.

7:11 I looked on. Then, because of the arrogant words that the horn spoke, the beast was killed as I looked on; its body was destroyed, and it was consigned to the flames.

7:12 The dominion of the other beasts was taken away, but an extension of life was given to them for a time and season.

7:13 As I looked on, in the night vision,
One like a human being
Came with the clouds of heaven;
He reached the Ancient of Days
And was presented to Him.

7:14 Dominion, glory, and kingship were given to him;
All peoples and nations of every language must serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away.
His kingship will never be destroyed.

7:15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was disturbed within me, and the vision of my mind alarmed me.

Some people take the verse, "the Ancient of Days took His seat," to imply that the Messiah, who will take his seat on the throne of David, will be an incarnation of God. The Pagans conceive such things but not the Torah. Read on: HaMashiach, our coming king, will be called to the throne room of the Ancient of Days in the Merkaba (described in Ezekiel 1), where he will be presented before God to receive his anointing. Witnessing the abominations of the Little Horn and his intention to genocide the Jews (see verse 21), HaShem will call this righteous human being and anoint ('mashiach') him as king of the Jews. In other words, he is not the Ancient of Days.

7:16 I approached one of the attendants and asked him the true meaning of all this. He gave me this interpretation of the matter:

7:17 'These great beasts, four in number [Babylon through the Roman Empire] four kingdoms that will arise out of the earth;

7:18 then holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and will possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.'

7:19 Then I wanted to ascertain the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from them all, very fearsome, with teeth of iron, claws of bronze, that devoured and crushed, and stamped the remains;

7:20 and of the ten horns on its head; and of the new one that sprouted, to make room for which three fell—the horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, and which was more conspicuous than its fellows.

7:21 (I watched as that horn made war with the holy ones and overcame them,

7:22 until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was rendered in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, for the time had come, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom.)

7:23 His reply was: 'The fourth beast [means] there will be a fourth kingdom upon the earth that will be different from all the preceding kingdoms; it will devour the whole earth, tread it down, and crush it.

7:24 And the ten horns [mean that] from that kingdom, ten kings will arise, and after them, another will arise. He will be different from the former ones, bringing down three kings.

7:25 He will speak words against the Most High and will harass the holy ones of the Most High [the Jews]. He will seek to change the times and laws, and they [i.e., the Jews] will be delivered into his power for a time, times, and half a time.

HaShem will allow the Little Horn, a pivotal figure in this prophecy, to unleash chaos across the earth for a specific period known as 'a time, times, and a half a time.' We are now stepping into the section of Daniel that instilled fear in the Rabbinic hierarchy, a fear so profound that it led to the Book of Daniel being reclassified from the biblical Navaim (Prophecies) to the Ketuvim (Writings). They were apprehensive that Daniel's future timeline was too explicit, a caution that merely adds a layer of intrigue to our understanding of this prophecy. What did they fear we might discover?

As mentioned in chapter six of this study as well as in my commentary of The Antiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus identified this Little Horn as Antiochus Epiphenes, whose armies desecrated the Jerusalem Temple and led to the Maccabean revolt that began in 167 BCE against his Seleucid Empire. Such an interpretation would seem to relegate our current concern about the Little Horn to ancient history. However, as we understand, history does and is repeating. This dual prophecy warns that a planetary Little Horn will one day rule for "a time, times, and a half a time" as 'the one more cruel than Haman,' known prophetically as the Son of Perdition and other names. What is meant by this obscure statement? Rashi seeks to bring clarity as follows:

As we approach the end of this section, we encounter an enigmatic conclusion, much like the one Daniel received (12:4): 'And you, Daniel, close up the words and seal the book.' The early commentators offered their interpretations, each one unique, but their various proposed ends have now passed [as stated in Sanhedrin 97b, as we discussed above]. Yet, we can still interpret it, as I saw written in the name of Rav Saadia Gaon, that these are the 1,335 years mentioned at the end of the Book (12:12): '(From the time the regular offering is abolished and an appalling abomination is set up—it will be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Happy is the one who waits and reaches one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.).'

He [Rav Saadia Gaon] explains the 'appointed time' as being until 'the time of two times and a half time,' and he [Rav Saadia Gaon] said that these times are 480 [years], which is the time from the Exodus from Egypt until the Temple was built, and 410 [years], [which are] the days of the First Temple, totaling 890, and another half of this time, 445, totaling 1, 335. Figure these from when the daily sacrifice was discontinued until the daily sacrifice was restored to its place. It was discontinued six years before the destruction, and there is some support for this in this book [compare with Rashi at 8:14]. Others bring further proof to this computation, namely that (Deuteronomy 31:18): "And I, will hide My face," which adds up according to gematria to 1,335.

Here, Rashi presents a fascinating interpretation relevant to the upcoming chapters. As our journey continues, we will delve into this in more detail.

7:26 Then the [Divine] court will sit, and his [i.e., the Little Horn's] dominion will be taken away, to be destroyed and abolished for all time.

7:27 The kingship, dominion, and grandeur belonging to all the kingdoms under Heaven will be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High. Their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.'"

7:28 Here, the account ends. I, Daniel, was very alarmed by my thoughts, and my face darkened, and I could not put the matter out of my mind.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a historical despot who followed on the heels of Alexander the Great, left an indelible mark on history. His actions, which sought to destroy the Jewish people, achieved most of Daniel's Little Horn prophecy, a feat that is truly horrific and educational. However, the aftermath of his tyranny did not unfold as described in these final two verses. Israel only achieved independence briefly until, as Daniel foretold, HaShem allowed the Roman Empire, 'the Fourth Beast,' to conquer them due to their sins, sectarianism, and internal fighting. As the Chofetz Chaim explained:

Our Sages state: "Jerusalem was only destroyed because its inhabitants limited their decisions to the [letter of the] law of Torah" (Bava Metzia 30b). While this seems complicated, the Scripture records many sins of which that generation was guilty.
Our discussion sheds light on the matter. Had the people overlooked the wrongs caused them, HaShem would have also forgiven them. However, they were unrelenting toward each other, demanding from one another whatever they could extract according to the law—and Heaven judged them accordingly.

The Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire and Hellenistic (i.e., Greek philosophy) influence on Jewish life lasted from 167 to 160 BCE. During these seven years, the Jews fought admirably, and the Hand of HaShem was with them, as seen in the Chanukah miracles, but the time of the Redemption had not yet arrived. Contrary to common belief, the Seleucids won and continued to control Judea brutally. However, the conflict between the Maccabees, Hellenized Jews, and the Seleucids continued until 134 BCE, with the Maccabees eventually attaining independence with the short-lived help of the Roman Empire, which soon after ended Israeli independence, making Judea (renamed Palestina) a Roman occupied territory.

In verse 27, Daniel states that at the conclusion of the struggles with the Little Horn, "[Israel's] kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them." Such has yet to happen. For this and other reasons, we see this as a dual prophecy. The coming despot, the Rex Mundi, will be far more brutal on the Jews than Antiochus, and his power will be planetary. Due to his severe persecution and attempts to genocide the Jews, the few survivors of Israel will finally make teshuvah (repentance). Then Mashiach ben Yosef will come, and HaShem will restore all of our Land through him. Then will come Mashiach ben David, our rightful melech (human king), who will fulfill these two verses.

Rashi is not incorrect here but merely focused on the more recent fulfillment of his time. His reference to what HaShem told Daniel aside: But you, Daniel, keep the words secret, and seal the book until the time of the end.

Calculations of when these final things will occur frighten the Rabbinate, as discussed. What if the calculations are incorrect? What if a shyster uses the calculations to advance a false Mashiach? What if the Rabbinate disapproves of a given candidate for the post even though he seems to meet the criteria? An interpretation suggests that the Rabbinate will be deceived and proffer a false Mashiach. What if that man does not meet these requirements, according to Daniel? What is clear from Daniel's description is that the 'Little Horn' has yet come to reign, and therefore, Mashiach ben David has yet to come.

Continue to Chapter Eight

* © This series is by John of AllFaith, © April 12, 1997 (last updated June 019,2024)



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