Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Chapter 7
9
I looked and saw the following: Some thrones were in place, and One of Great Age took his seat: His robe was as white as snow, and his hair was as white as washed wool. His throne was made of flames of fire with wheels of blazing fire.
10
A river of fire sprang forth and flowed before him. Thousands upon thousands served him, and a countless multitude stood before him. Those in the tribunal took their seats and opened the book.
13
I kept watching the night vision: One like a son of man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into his presence.
14
Dominion, honor, and kingship were granted to him, and all peoples and nations of every language served him. His dominion is eternal and will never pass away; his kingdom will never be destroyed.
Commentaries
The Visions.
In this second part of the book, the story shifts back to the time of Babylonian rule. Now, the narrator is Daniel himself, whose dreams and visions reflect a distinct apocalyptic style. Apocalypticism is a literary device often used during periods of persecution. Through symbolic and complex images, God’s intervention in history is depicted to comfort and reassure His “saints,” referring to those who remain faithful to the Lord and the Covenant amid all the suffering and challenges they face (cf. Rev 1:1-8).
First: The Four Beasts.
The four winds stir up the ocean, from whose depths four beasts emerge. As in chapter 2, four empires follow one another, now represented by the four beasts that, with their military power (winds), stir up the earth and dominate it in all its extent (the four cardinal points): the lion symbolizes Babylon; the bear, Media; the leopard, Persia; and the beast, Alexander the Great. The horns represent destructive power, and the little horn in v. 8 introduces Antiochus IV. The climax of the vision is the arrival of the fifth and final Kingdom of God, symbolized by the “human figure” to whom “the old man” grants all power over the nations (13-14). In apocalyptic literature, symbolic images are used as a means of expression to convey spiritual and invisible realities that permeate the physical world.