Disciples Global Network

The identities of the second and third beasts  are found by comparing the vision of Chapter 7 with the Book’s other visions.  In his vision, Daniel saw “ four beasts ascending ” from the sea. The first three featured characteristics of certain animals - the winged lion, the bear, and the leopard with two pairs of wings. The fourth beast did not resemble any known species of animal. It was a horrifying monstrosity with “ great iron teeth ,” “ ten horns ,” and another “ little horn, with a mouth speaking great things .”

In response to threats from the high priests, the young church was filled with great boldness of speech by the Spirit  – Acts 4:5-31.  After healing a lame man, Peter and Joh n were confronted by the priestly authorities. They were disturbed because the apostles were “ proclaiming the resurrection ,” and the Sadducees rejected belief in the resurrection of the dead. But the church claimed that the resurrection takes place “ in Jesus ,” and that made its resurrection doctrine especially distinct.

After contemplating  Jeremiah’s prophecy , Daniel began to pray and repent for the nation’s sins. He did not seek revelation into the meaning of the prophecy since he understood its prediction (“ I understood by the writings the number of the years ”). Instead, he confessed Israel’s sins as Jeremiah had instructed.

Daniel received the revelation about the “ seventy weeks ” in the “ first year ” of Darius the Mede, shortly after the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the “ Medes and Persians .” And his inquiry and prayer indicate that the events in chapter 9 occurred before the return of the first Jewish exiles to Jerusalem after the decree of Cyrus the Great.

The period of “ seventy weeks ” concludes with several unanswered questions, but the prophecy is not the end of the matter. Clear verbal links connect it to the visions of chapters 7 and 8, and to the subsequent vision in chapter 11. It is one part of a larger whole. The complete picture becomes clear only when all the visions of Daniel are considered.