The Book of Daniel, chapters 7 and 8
The Book of Daniel, chapter 7
The time of writing is 552 BC
4 beasts are four world empires that will replace the Babylonian kingdom.
Dan.7:4 describes the Roman Empire: “The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then, as I watched, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a human being; and a human mind was given to it.” The two wings are the Western and the Eastern Roman Empires; each of them has its rulers – “feathers” similar to the ones in Ezr.3. Both of them fell but adopted Christianity, as imply the words “a human mind was given to it.”
Dan.7:5 describes the Mongol Empire: “Another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, had three tusks in its mouth among its teeth and was told, “Arise, devour many bodies!” Even on the map, the Mongol Empire resembles a bear, which unlike the description in Dan.8:8 (“came up four prominent horns toward the four winds of heaven”), “was raised up on one side”, namely from the East. Besides, the empire included the largest contiguous territory in world history – from the Danube to the Sea of Japan and from Novgorod to Southeast Asia – with the largest percentage rate of its subjects to the population of the earth, which the words “devour many bodies” may refer to. The three tusks (“three tusks in its mouth among its teeth”) are probably, the Genghisids, the direct descendants of Genghis Khan: Chagatai, Ogedei, and Tolui. Only they and their descendants could inherit the supreme power in the state, and only their descendants had the right to the Genghisid family title. The “tusk” term is found in the revelations only once and by its hierarchy (the cone shape) resembles the “horn”. But unlike the horn, it probably primarily refers to the family nature of this hierarchy.
Dan.7:6 describes the European Empire: “After this, as I watched, another appeared, like a leopard. The beast had four wings of a bird on its back and four heads; and dominion was given to it.” The four wings are four governance systems with feathers representing particular rulers, and the four heads are the four centers of power or states. Presumably, it goes about England, Germany, France, and Russia. It can be assumed that they are compared with a “leopard” due to their rapid development and long legs, meaning the remote colonies subordinate to them.
Dan.7:7 describes the Contemporary Empire: “After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth.” Ten horns are ten states, and each has its own hierarchy: the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, England, China, Russia, Turkey and, highly likely, Saudi Arabia.
The fact that here it goes about the Contemporary Empire is supported by the words in Dan.7:19: “Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped what was left with its feet.”
The “teeth of iron” are two of the three heads of the beast from Ezr.11:1 – Russia and the USA: “On the second night I had a dream: I saw rising from the sea an eagle that had twelve feathered wings and three heads.” They are called iron because they were a part of or were formed by the ethnic groups of the states included in the European Empire that were shown as iron legs of the idol in Dan.2:40: England, Germany, France and Russia.
And the “claws of bronze” are the third head from Ezr.11:1 – China, which was an important part of the Mongol Empire and was shown as the idol’s bronze belly and hips in Dan.2:32.
The words in Dan.7:8 “another horn appeared, a little one coming up among them; to make room for it, three of the earlier horns were plucked up by the roots” probably refer to modern Israel, which appeared right after the World War II after Italy, Germany, and Japan surrended. All these countries are currently occupied by the USA.
The words in Dan.7:8 “There were eyes like human eyes in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly”, boviously refer to one of the horns of the false prophet, or the beast out of the earthmentioned in the Revelation of John the Divine, which refers to Israel and the European Union, as will be shown below: “Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.” (Rev.13:11).
This horn and the false prophet from the Revelation of John the Divine share the same fate: “I watched then because of the noise of the arrogant words that the horn was speaking. And as I watched, the beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.” (Dan.7:11-12).
The Book of Daniel, chapter 8
Dan 8:2,16 speaks of the place where Daniel saw the dream, so we understand that it will go about the fate of the Middle East: “In the vision I was looking and saw myself in Susa the capital, in the province of Elam, and I was by the river Ulai.” The Ulai is the river in the eastern city of Susa, which ancient geographers called Eulaus (currently known as Abidis). Near Basra, it flows into the Karun, a tributary of the Shatt al-Arab.
The ram with two horns is the Eastern civilization and its two kingdoms: the Babylonian (the golden head of the idol from Dan.2) and the Mongol (the second beast from Dan.7): “I looked up and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up second.” (Dan.8:3). The Mongol Empire appeared after the Babylonian Kingdom (“the longer one came up second”) and was certainly larger than it (“one was longer than the other”). “I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. All beasts were powerless to withstand it…” (Dan.8:4). So, it can be concluded that he himself was in the east.
The goat from the West is the European civilization and its three kingdoms: the Roman Empire, the European Empire, and the Contemporary Empire, which is here represented by the USA (the first, the third, and the fourth beasts from Dan.7): “As I was watching, a male goat appeared from the west, coming across the face of the whole earth without touching the ground. The goat had a horn between its eyes.” (Dan.8:5).
In Dan.8:8 we can read: “Then the male goat grew exceedingly great; but at the height of its power, the great horn was broken, and in its place there came up four prominent horns toward the four winds of heaven.” The great horn that was broken is the Roman Empire. The four horns that came up of it toward the four winds of heaven are the European Empire with four heads and four wings from Dan.7:6. Since this beast was turned toward the four winds of heaven, we can assume that these were England (west), Germany (north), France (south), and Russia (east).
The horn that came out of one of the previous four is the USA, which has widely spread its influence toward the south (South America), the east (Western Europe), and “toward the beautiful land” (the Middle East): “Out of one of them came another horn, a little one, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the beautiful land.” (Dan.8:9).
It is important to note that the words in Dan.8:11“Even against the prince of the host it acted arrogantly; it took the regular burnt offering away from him and overthrew the place of his sanctuary.” almost completely repeat the meaning of the words in Dan.11:31: “Forces sent by him shall occupy and profane the temple and fortress. They shall abolish the regular burnt offering and set up the abomination that makes desolate.” In the second case, as we will show further, these words refer to the state demonstratively rejecting the Christian faith and opposing the Muslim faith to it (the first woe in the Revelation of John the Divine). Hence, as far as the USA are concerned, it can be assumed that we are talking about the rejection of Christianity in favor of worshipping the state (the third grief in the Revelation of John the Divine).
We can find the “abomination that makes desolate” term in another part of the Book of Daniel: “He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall make sacrifice and offering cease; and in their place shall be an abomination that desolates, until the decreed end is poured out upon the desolator.” (Dan.9:27). Here it goes about the Old Testament Church rejecting the New Testament and, accordingly, desolating from the Grace of God. Thus, all three of the above-mentioned moments of “the abomination that makes desolate” refer to people’s ambition to replace the Covenant with something vain, to replace God’s central place in human life with the idol of worshipping humans: a state, a false prophet, or a hypocritical understanding of the Old Testament.
The prophet Isaiah confirms that the abomination is the idol: “Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, so that we may consider them, and that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be afraid and terrified. You, indeed, are nothing and your work is nothing at all; whoever chooses you is an abomination.” (Is.41:22-24).
Dan.8:13-14 explains the time covered by the dream: “Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one that spoke, “For how long is this vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled?” And he answered him, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.” Since the words in Dan.8:11 about “overthrowing the place of his sanctuary” refer to the USA, “the sanctuary shall be restored” from Dan.8:14 should be understood as the fall of the USA.
That is, from the moment of the clash of civilizations to the fall of the USA will pass 2300 years. By deducting 2023 years from 2,300 years, we get 277 BC. This year is the middle of the Pyrrhic War (280-275 BC) between the Greek states, the Romans, and Carthage, which resulted in the fall of Great Greece.
The words of Gabriel explaining the vision in Dan.8:16-23 don’t contradict this interpretation: “and I heard a human voice by the Ulai, calling, “Gabriel, help this man understand the vision.” So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I became frightened and fell prostrate. But he said to me, “Understand, O mortal, that the vision is for the time of the end.” As he was speaking to me, I fell into a trance, face to the ground; then he touched me and set me on my feet. He said, “Listen, and I will tell you what will take place later in the period of wrath; for it refers to the appointed time of the end. As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. The male goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn between its eyes is the first king. As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power. At the end of their rule, when the transgressions have reached their full measure, a king of bold countenance shall arise, skilled in intrigue.”
Most interpreters see the empire of Alexander the Great here and its division between Casander, Lysimachus, Selvek, and Ptolemy. However, further we will show that Alexander the Great just seized power in the Babylonian kingdom. The real clash between the Western and the Eastern civilizations happened only Rome raised, and the center of power was transferred from the Middle East to Rome. And the double message almost completely repeats that in Dan.4, when the obvious interpretation hides the true one.
First, this fact is supported by the words in Dan.8:17 “Understand, O mortal, that the vision is for the time of the end.”, where it is said that this vision extends to the end of time.
The second and even more important confirmation is the words in Dan.8:25 “By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall be great. Without warning he shall destroy many and shall even rise up against the Prince of princes. But he shall be broken, and not by human hands.” Probably, the words “shall be broken, and not by human hands” here have the same meaning as in Dan.2:34: “As you looked on, a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces.”, which, as we’ve shown before, describes the Kingdom of God crushing of the Contemporary empire.
The time of writing is 552 BC
4 beasts are four world empires that will replace the Babylonian kingdom.
Dan.7:4 describes the Roman Empire: “The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then, as I watched, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a human being; and a human mind was given to it.” The two wings are the Western and the Eastern Roman Empires; each of them has its rulers – “feathers” similar to the ones in Ezr.3. Both of them fell but adopted Christianity, as imply the words “a human mind was given to it.”
Dan.7:5 describes the Mongol Empire: “Another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, had three tusks in its mouth among its teeth and was told, “Arise, devour many bodies!” Even on the map, the Mongol Empire resembles a bear, which unlike the description in Dan.8:8 (“came up four prominent horns toward the four winds of heaven”), “was raised up on one side”, namely from the East. Besides, the empire included the largest contiguous territory in world history – from the Danube to the Sea of Japan and from Novgorod to Southeast Asia – with the largest percentage rate of its subjects to the population of the earth, which the words “devour many bodies” may refer to. The three tusks (“three tusks in its mouth among its teeth”) are probably, the Genghisids, the direct descendants of Genghis Khan: Chagatai, Ogedei, and Tolui. Only they and their descendants could inherit the supreme power in the state, and only their descendants had the right to the Genghisid family title. The “tusk” term is found in the revelations only once and by its hierarchy (the cone shape) resembles the “horn”. But unlike the horn, it probably primarily refers to the family nature of this hierarchy.
Dan.7:6 describes the European Empire: “After this, as I watched, another appeared, like a leopard. The beast had four wings of a bird on its back and four heads; and dominion was given to it.” The four wings are four governance systems with feathers representing particular rulers, and the four heads are the four centers of power or states. Presumably, it goes about England, Germany, France, and Russia. It can be assumed that they are compared with a “leopard” due to their rapid development and long legs, meaning the remote colonies subordinate to them.
Dan.7:7 describes the Contemporary Empire: “After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth.” Ten horns are ten states, and each has its own hierarchy: the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, England, China, Russia, Turkey and, highly likely, Saudi Arabia.
The fact that here it goes about the Contemporary Empire is supported by the words in Dan.7:19: “Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped what was left with its feet.”
The “teeth of iron” are two of the three heads of the beast from Ezr.11:1 – Russia and the USA: “On the second night I had a dream: I saw rising from the sea an eagle that had twelve feathered wings and three heads.” They are called iron because they were a part of or were formed by the ethnic groups of the states included in the European Empire that were shown as iron legs of the idol in Dan.2:40: England, Germany, France and Russia.
And the “claws of bronze” are the third head from Ezr.11:1 – China, which was an important part of the Mongol Empire and was shown as the idol’s bronze belly and hips in Dan.2:32.
The words in Dan.7:8 “another horn appeared, a little one coming up among them; to make room for it, three of the earlier horns were plucked up by the roots” probably refer to modern Israel, which appeared right after the World War II after Italy, Germany, and Japan surrended. All these countries are currently occupied by the USA.
The words in Dan.7:8 “There were eyes like human eyes in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly”, boviously refer to one of the horns of the false prophet, or the beast out of the earthmentioned in the Revelation of John the Divine, which refers to Israel and the European Union, as will be shown below: “Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.” (Rev.13:11).
This horn and the false prophet from the Revelation of John the Divine share the same fate: “I watched then because of the noise of the arrogant words that the horn was speaking. And as I watched, the beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.” (Dan.7:11-12).
The Book of Daniel, chapter 8
Dan 8:2,16 speaks of the place where Daniel saw the dream, so we understand that it will go about the fate of the Middle East: “In the vision I was looking and saw myself in Susa the capital, in the province of Elam, and I was by the river Ulai.” The Ulai is the river in the eastern city of Susa, which ancient geographers called Eulaus (currently known as Abidis). Near Basra, it flows into the Karun, a tributary of the Shatt al-Arab.
The ram with two horns is the Eastern civilization and its two kingdoms: the Babylonian (the golden head of the idol from Dan.2) and the Mongol (the second beast from Dan.7): “I looked up and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up second.” (Dan.8:3). The Mongol Empire appeared after the Babylonian Kingdom (“the longer one came up second”) and was certainly larger than it (“one was longer than the other”). “I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. All beasts were powerless to withstand it…” (Dan.8:4). So, it can be concluded that he himself was in the east.
The goat from the West is the European civilization and its three kingdoms: the Roman Empire, the European Empire, and the Contemporary Empire, which is here represented by the USA (the first, the third, and the fourth beasts from Dan.7): “As I was watching, a male goat appeared from the west, coming across the face of the whole earth without touching the ground. The goat had a horn between its eyes.” (Dan.8:5).
In Dan.8:8 we can read: “Then the male goat grew exceedingly great; but at the height of its power, the great horn was broken, and in its place there came up four prominent horns toward the four winds of heaven.” The great horn that was broken is the Roman Empire. The four horns that came up of it toward the four winds of heaven are the European Empire with four heads and four wings from Dan.7:6. Since this beast was turned toward the four winds of heaven, we can assume that these were England (west), Germany (north), France (south), and Russia (east).
The horn that came out of one of the previous four is the USA, which has widely spread its influence toward the south (South America), the east (Western Europe), and “toward the beautiful land” (the Middle East): “Out of one of them came another horn, a little one, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the beautiful land.” (Dan.8:9).
It is important to note that the words in Dan.8:11“Even against the prince of the host it acted arrogantly; it took the regular burnt offering away from him and overthrew the place of his sanctuary.” almost completely repeat the meaning of the words in Dan.11:31: “Forces sent by him shall occupy and profane the temple and fortress. They shall abolish the regular burnt offering and set up the abomination that makes desolate.” In the second case, as we will show further, these words refer to the state demonstratively rejecting the Christian faith and opposing the Muslim faith to it (the first woe in the Revelation of John the Divine). Hence, as far as the USA are concerned, it can be assumed that we are talking about the rejection of Christianity in favor of worshipping the state (the third grief in the Revelation of John the Divine).
We can find the “abomination that makes desolate” term in another part of the Book of Daniel: “He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall make sacrifice and offering cease; and in their place shall be an abomination that desolates, until the decreed end is poured out upon the desolator.” (Dan.9:27). Here it goes about the Old Testament Church rejecting the New Testament and, accordingly, desolating from the Grace of God. Thus, all three of the above-mentioned moments of “the abomination that makes desolate” refer to people’s ambition to replace the Covenant with something vain, to replace God’s central place in human life with the idol of worshipping humans: a state, a false prophet, or a hypocritical understanding of the Old Testament.
The prophet Isaiah confirms that the abomination is the idol: “Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, so that we may consider them, and that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be afraid and terrified. You, indeed, are nothing and your work is nothing at all; whoever chooses you is an abomination.” (Is.41:22-24).
Dan.8:13-14 explains the time covered by the dream: “Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one that spoke, “For how long is this vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled?” And he answered him, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.” Since the words in Dan.8:11 about “overthrowing the place of his sanctuary” refer to the USA, “the sanctuary shall be restored” from Dan.8:14 should be understood as the fall of the USA.
That is, from the moment of the clash of civilizations to the fall of the USA will pass 2300 years. By deducting 2023 years from 2,300 years, we get 277 BC. This year is the middle of the Pyrrhic War (280-275 BC) between the Greek states, the Romans, and Carthage, which resulted in the fall of Great Greece.
The words of Gabriel explaining the vision in Dan.8:16-23 don’t contradict this interpretation: “and I heard a human voice by the Ulai, calling, “Gabriel, help this man understand the vision.” So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I became frightened and fell prostrate. But he said to me, “Understand, O mortal, that the vision is for the time of the end.” As he was speaking to me, I fell into a trance, face to the ground; then he touched me and set me on my feet. He said, “Listen, and I will tell you what will take place later in the period of wrath; for it refers to the appointed time of the end. As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. The male goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn between its eyes is the first king. As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power. At the end of their rule, when the transgressions have reached their full measure, a king of bold countenance shall arise, skilled in intrigue.”
Most interpreters see the empire of Alexander the Great here and its division between Casander, Lysimachus, Selvek, and Ptolemy. However, further we will show that Alexander the Great just seized power in the Babylonian kingdom. The real clash between the Western and the Eastern civilizations happened only Rome raised, and the center of power was transferred from the Middle East to Rome. And the double message almost completely repeats that in Dan.4, when the obvious interpretation hides the true one.
First, this fact is supported by the words in Dan.8:17 “Understand, O mortal, that the vision is for the time of the end.”, where it is said that this vision extends to the end of time.
The second and even more important confirmation is the words in Dan.8:25 “By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall be great. Without warning he shall destroy many and shall even rise up against the Prince of princes. But he shall be broken, and not by human hands.” Probably, the words “shall be broken, and not by human hands” here have the same meaning as in Dan.2:34: “As you looked on, a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces.”, which, as we’ve shown before, describes the Kingdom of God crushing of the Contemporary empire.