THE HISTORY OF EMPIRES IN DANIEL 2 AND 7

 

 

Introduction

 

            The Book of Daniel is a fascinating book. It is one of those books of the Bible that has come under considerable attack from its enemies due to its amazingly accurate prophecies which were written down by a man named Daniel somewhere between 606 and 536 BC. Though Daniel is given credit for writing down the prophecies contained in his book, even Daniel himself tells of where these prophecies originated, namely, from the Spirit of God. Daniel gives more intricate details about the coming world empires and future history than any other prophetic writer in the Bible. His prophecies are so accurate critics of the book claim that they were written down after the fact by person only claiming to be Daniel.

            In this essay, Daniel’s prophecies concerning the four world empires will be explored. He writes of these empires initially while interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams in chapter two. Daniel later expounds on these dreams while he himself receives a vision from God in chapter seven. Both chapters reveal five world empires that are to rule over the earth, and they give their importance with regard to what it means to humankind and all who read Daniel’s account.

 

The Prophecies of Chapters 2 and 7

 

            In chapter two King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that frightened him. He called to him the wise men of the kingdom to not only interpret the dream for him but tell him the contents of the dream as well. There was no one who could do this impossible task, so the king ordered all wise men to be put to death. Daniel, however, prayed to God for the contents of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream so that his life could be spared, and the Lord saw fit to give Daniel the dream and the interpretation. Here is what Daniel told the king in vv. 31-35:

You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

 

            In chapter 7, approximately 550 BC (50+ years after the dream in chapter 2), Daniel had

 

visions while he was laying in bed, and he wrote them down. Verses 2-14 reveal what he saw:

 

I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, Arise, devour much meat! After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts. I kept looking Until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened. Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time. I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

            So the question now, and the purpose of this essay, is who are these kingdoms that Daniel speaks of in these two specific chapters? Though Daniel gives the interpretation of the visions in both chapters immediately following, even he did not know the specifics concerning the identities of these kingdoms. The identities, however, have been revealed today through the course of history, and their identities line up precisely with what Daniel’s wrote.

 

The Babylonian Empire

 

“The head of that statue was made of fine gold...” (Dan. 2:32a). “The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it” (Dan. 7:4).

            In chapter 2 Daniel gives the interpretation of the head of gold, he says this is Nebuchadnezzar (2:36) who was the king of Babylonia from 605 to 562 BC. In chapter 7 this vision is equal with that of chapter 2 because it is prophesying the next four kingdoms which are to come -- though it is a different vision. Both liberal and conservative scholars agree that these two chapters are speaking of the same four empires. In the same manner, both groups also believe that the first empire spoken of is the Babylonian empire.

            In 626, when Assyria was in somewhat of a turmoil, a Chaldean named Nabopolassar (626-605 BC) proclaimed himself king of Babylonia. He was a former general in the Assyrian army, but seeing his opportunity to seize control, he allied himself with the Medes, and they destroyed Assyrian might. Now with Assyria no longer the dominant power, Egypt began to torment Palestine and Syria attempting to gain control. Nabopolassar’s son, Nebuchadnezzar II, marched against the Egyptians and defeated them at Carchemish. Nebuchadnezzar, following the death of his father, then began to extend Babylonian political control over most of Mesopotamia. He reconstructed Babylon, his capital, in elaborate style and restored many temples throughout Babylonia.

            The Babylonian empire, however, did not endure for long. After Nebuchadnezzar's death in 562 BC, a struggle for power apparently went on among various parties and individuals for several years. In 556 BC Nabonidus, one of Nebuchadnezzar's governors, became king of Babylonia (556-539 BC). A very ambiguous figure, he in some way antagonized the influential priestly class of Babylon. He then left the control of the city of Babylon to his son Belshazzar and lived for a while in the city of Harran and later in the oasis of Teima, in the Arabian Desert. In 539 BC the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian king Cyrus the Great, who had previously defeated Media. Nabonidus was captured at Sippar (near modern Baghdad, Iraq), and the Persians entered Babylon without resistance. Babylonia was then annexed to Persia and lost its independence for all time.

            The biblical imagery in Daniel 7:4 concerning Babylonia is most significant. The beast Daniel saw is compared to a lion with eagle’s wings. The lion is the king of beasts, the eagle king of the birds of the air. The lion was a representation of royal power (cf. 1 Kings 10:20; 2 Chronicles 9:19), and it was none other than winged lions that guarded the gates of the royal palace of the Babylonians.[1] In Ezekiel 17:3,7, a great eagle is used as a picture first of Babylon then of Egypt. When Daniel speaks of the wings being plucked and the lion standing up as a man with a man’s heart given to it, he is no doubt referring to the events which occurred to Nebuchadnezzar in chapter four when he was banished from his kingdom by God due to his pride. It was here that he realized he was nothing more than a man, and that his great power was given to him by God. Leupold says, “The incident signifies that, as nearly as it is possible for a beast to become like a man, so nearly did Babylon lose its beastlike nature.”[2]

 

The Medo-Persian Empire

 

And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, Arise, devour much meat! Dan. 7:5.

 

            Daniel 7:5 speaks of a second beast, and it corresponds to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in 2:32 speaking of the section of the statue with a silver chest and arms. This second beast is a second kingdom rising up not only to defeat the first beast, Babylon, but to take its place as the dominant world power. God reveals a vision to Daniel, and history supports this second kingdom -- the kingdom of Medo-Persia.

            When Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Assyrian empire and began to dominate the world beginning in 605 BC, he allowed the kingdom of the Medes (Media) to share power with him in Assyria.[3] Mentioned as Japhethites in Genesis 10:2 (Aryans), the Medes were closely allied in descent, language and religion with the Persians, and in secular history preceded their appearance by some centuries.

            Not long after Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 BC and was succeeded by another king (Nabonidus, circa 555 BC), the Persians began to gain control of neighboring lands, and they overthrew the Medes in Assyria. The king of the Medes at that time, Astyages, was defeated by his own grandson Cyrus.[4] Cyrus attacked in 553 BC and in 549 captured Astyages, plundered Ecbatana, and became king of the Medes. Previously, Astyages, a Mede, had given his daughter to a Persian by the name of Cambyses, and they begat Cyrus, thus making him both Mede and

Persian.[5] Once Cyrus captured the Median capital, he banished his grandfather and combined the two kingdoms of Media and Persia into one kingdom -- the Medo-Persian empire.[6]

            Though of Persian descent, Cyrus did not, apparently, begin to reign in Persia till 546 BC. Thus there was no Median empire distinguished from the Persian nor is any such mentioned in Daniel. Due to the fact that the Medes preceded the Persians and were far more advanced, the Greek historians mainly referred to the entire kingdom as “the Medes” long after Cyrus took control. Only much later are the Persians spoken of as the predominant partners.[7] The Persians are not mentioned in the Bible until the exilic books (2 Chr 36:20,22-23; Ezra 1:1-2,8; 3:7; Esth 1:19, Dan 5:28; 6:8,12,15,28), being previously included under the Medes (Gen 10:2).

            Cyrus’ exploits began the following year with the overthrew of the Sute across the Tigris. He was then invited by a large party in Babylonia to come to their help against the usurper Nabunahid, whose religious zeal had led him to collect as many as possible of the idols from other parts of Babylonia and remove them to Babylon, thereby increasing the sacredness and magnificence of that city but inflicting injury on neighboring and more ancient sanctuaries. Defeating Nabunahid’s army and capturing the king, Cyrus sent his own forces under Gobryas (Gubaru, Gaubaruva) to take possession of Babylon. This he did in June, 538, “without opposition and without a battle.” The citadel, however, where Belshazzar “the king’s son” was in command, held out for some months, and was then taken in a night attack in which “the king’s son” was slain. Cyrus made Gobryas viceroy of Chaldaea, and he appointed governors in Babylonia. When Gobryas died within the year, Cyrus’ son Cambyses (also the name of Cyrus’ Persian father) was made viceroy of the country, which had now become a province of the Persian empire. Cyrus restored the gods to their sanctuaries, and this doubtless led to permission being given to the Jews to return to Jerusalem, taking with them their sacred vessels, and to rebuild their temple. Cyrus was killed in battle against some frontier tribe (accounts differ where) in 529 BC. His tomb at Murghab, near the ruins of Pasargadae, is still standing.

            There were many successors to the throne following Cyrus, and the kingdom of Medo-Persia stood for over 200 years. There was much infighting and jockeying for position within the kingdom by the successors to the throne. Darius I, who ascended to the throne in 521 BC, once he established his rule in the kingdom, divided the empire into satrapies, or provinces, of which there were at first 23 and ultimately at least 29. Over these he placed satraps of noble Persian or Median descent, instead of representatives of their ancient kings. Darius pushed the Persian borders as far eastward as the Indus River, had a canal constructed from the Nile to the Red Sea, and reorganized the entire empire, earning the title Darius the Great. From 499 to 493 BC he engaged in crushing a revolt of the Ionian Greeks living under Persian rule in Asia, and then launched a punitive campaign against the European Greeks for supporting the rebels. His forces were disastrously defeated by the Greeks at the historic Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Darius died while preparing a new expedition against the Greeks; his son and successor, Xerxes I, attempted to fulfill his plan but met defeat in the great sea engagement the Battle of Salamís in 480 BC and in two successive land battles in the following year.[8]

            Xerxes I, who succeeded his father, regained Egypt, but his failure in his attempts to conquer Greece largely exhausted his empire. In 464 BC he was murdered. His son Artaxerxes I succeeded him, being himself succeeded in 424 BC by his son Xerxes II, who was murdered the following year. The final king, Darius, was completely overthrown by Alexander the Great in the battle of Gaugamela or Arbela, 331 BC, and shortly after fell by an assassin’s hand. This ended the Persian empire of the Achaemenides, the whole of the lands composing it becoming part of the empire of Macedon.[9]

            As for the biblical imagery used by Daniel, the Medo-Persian empire is compared to a bear that raises up on one side and has three ribs in its mouth. It is also the silver portion of the statue in chapter 2. The bear is an animal of formidable strength. It is known from history that the Medo-Persian Empire was very strong and fierce (Isaiah 13:15-18). But unlike the lion, which possesses a royal grace, the bear is ponderous and ungainly in its movements. It is in this sense that this kingdom was inferior to Babylon. The fact that the bear was lopsided is most likely indicative of the fact that though Media existed before Persia, Persia rose up later and became stronger and more powerful than the Medes. The Medes were eventually absorbed into the Persian Empire.

 

The Grecian Empire

 

“After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it” (Dan. 7:6).

            The vision of Daniel in 7:6 corresponds directly with Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the great statue with a belly and thighs of bronze in Daniel 2:32. Who is this? Well, the history of Alexander the great lines up so well with this prophecy that it is almost impossible not to see the striking similarities. Though some see this kingdom as Persia and the second kingdom as Media, there is nothing in this prophecy that even remotely corresponds to the four headed beast resembling a leopard as seen by Daniel. The fact that history reveals Alexander’s kingdom immediately followed the Medo-Persian kingdom, and that it lines up so accurately with what Daniel spoke, shows beyond a doubt that this third kingdom was Greece.

            Though the prophecy of the third kingdom is like a leopard, a leopard is an animal with much speed. The wings on its back signify even more speed, which corresponds the speed at which Alexander conquered the world, and the four heads of the beast signify the fact that Alexander’s kingdom was split four ways following his early death at the age of 33.

            Following the reign of Darius III in Persia, many revolts took place in the next century; the final blow was struck by Alexander the Great, who added the Persian Empire to his own Mediterranean realm by defeating the troops of Darius in a series of battles between 334 and 331 BC. The apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees says, “And it came to pass, after that Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, who came out of the land of Chittim, and smote Darius, king of the Persians and Medes, it came to pass, after he had smitten him, that he reigned in his stead, in former time, over Greece. And he fought many battles, and won many strongholds...”

            Alexander, of Macedon, commonly called “the Great” (born 356 BC), was the son of Philip, king of Macedon, and of Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemos, an Epeirote king. In 1 Maccabees 1:1 he is expressly named as the overthrow of the Persian empire, and the founder of that of the Greeks.

            A pupil of Aristotle, Alexander was introduced early in his life into the cares of government and the practice of war. While his father Philip was engaged in the siege of Byzantium he sent his son to replace Antipater in the regency; during his occupancy of this post, Alexander, then only a youth of sixteen, had to undertake a campaign against the Illyrians. Two years later Alexander commanded the feudal cavalry of Macedon, the “Companions.” He not only saved his father’s life, but by his timely and vehement charge materially contributed to the victory.

            When all his plans for the invasion of Persia were complete, and a portion of his troops was already across the Hellespont, Philip was assassinated. Having secured his succession, Alexander proceeded to Corinth, where he was confirmed in his father's position of leader of Hellas against Darius. He invaded Thrace with his army and overthrew the Triballi, then crossed the Danube and inflicted a defeat on the Getae.

            Having thus secured his rear, Alexander collected his army at Pella to cross the Hellespont, that he might exact the vengeance of Greece on Persia for indignities suffered at the hands of Xerxes, who “by his strength through his riches” had stirred, up “all against the realm of Greece” (Dan 11:2). Alexander advanced southward and encountered the Persian forces at the Granicus. The Persian army was dispersed with great slaughter. Before proceeding farther into Persia, by rapid marches and vigorously pressed sieges, he completed the conquest of Asia Minor.

            Alexander later learned that Darius had collected an immense army and was coming to meet him. Warlike speed was Alexander's great characteristic as evidenced by the leopard with wings in Dan. 7:6. The two armies met in the relatively narrow plain of Issus, where the Persians lost many warriors and were defeated in a great slaughter. Alexander began his march southward along the seacoast of Syria toward Egypt. He then proceeded now to invade India and conquered everything until he reached the Sutlej; at this point his Macedonian veterans refused to follow him farther.

            Thus compelled to give up hopes of conquests in the farther East, he returned to Babylon, which he purposed to make the supreme capital of his empire, and set himself, with all his superabundant energy, to organize his dominions, and fit Babylon for its new destiny. While engaged in this work he was seized with malaria, which, aggravated by his recklessness in eating and drinking, which killed him at the age of 33.[10]

            Following Alexander’s death, there was a long struggle among his generals for the throne. It is no accident that the dictatorship was split into four different kingdoms in fulfillment of the Daniel 7:6 prophecy. The disagreements arising from this division resulted in a series of wars from 322 to 275 BC, many of which took place in Greece. Thus, one of the characteristics of the Hellenistic period, which lasted from the death of Alexander until the acquisition of Greece as a Roman province in 146 BC, was the deterioration of the Greek city-states as political entities and the gradual decline of Greek political independence as a whole.

            Four of Alexander’s generals took possession of various parts of the Grecian kingdom. Seleucus took Syria and Babylon, Ptolemy took Egypt, Palestine and Arabia, Cassander took Macedonia and Greece, and Lysimachus took Bithynia and Thrace.[11] Of these four kingdoms Syria and Egypt were the most important with regard to Bible prophecy and the land of Palestine.

            During the time of these two dominant kingdoms, Syria and Egypt, Rome was growing in

 

power. Consequently, the Grecian empire was reduced to nothing around 146 BC. For 60 years

 

after 146 BC, Greece was competently administered by Rome. Some cities, such as Athens and

 

Sparta, even retained their free status.[12]

 

 

The Roman Empire

 

“After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts” (Daniel 7:7-8).

 

            The fourth beast here mentioned by Daniel corresponds to the fourth section of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in 2:33. This beast, according to Daniel, is unlike any other beast he can relate to, so he just calls it “dreadful” and “terrifying.” This is Rome, and history shows that it immediately follows the Greek Empire. The foundation of Rome traditionally dates from 753 BC, and it takes its name, according to Cicero, from the name of its founder, Romulus.

            Rome’s dominion began with the occupation of Sicily in 241 BC as a result of victory in the first Punic conflict. The Punic Wars took place between 264 and 146 BC, resulting in the destruction of Carthage in 146 and domination of the western basin of the Mediterranean. Between 200 and 146 Rome destroyed Macedonia and defeated the Seleucids, annexing Greece and dominating the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. Pompey added Palestine in 63 BC.

            For numerous complex reasons Rome endured a period of civil war during much of the first century BC Julius Caesar (who had conquered Gaul) fought it out with Pompey and made himself dictator. When Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, Brutus and Cassius and others responsible were dispatched by Mark Antony and Octavian, who subsequently fought each other for control of the empire. Octavian won at the battle of Actium in 31 BC, added Egypt to the territory he controlled, and terminated the Republic and instituted the empire. As Augustus he then ruled until AD 14. He was the first of the Julio-Claudian line, which lasted until AD 68. In the first century Rome was a sprawling metropolis of more than one million people.[13]

            During the next few decades, Rome extended control to southern Britain, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany west of the Rhine river. The Roman Empire, in contrast with the three previous empires, grew steadily for the next four hundred years, reaching its peak in AD 117. It began its decline in the third century AD and was sacked in the fifth century by the Visigoths.[14] Not until 1453, however, did the last vestige of Rome disappear when Mohammed II conquered Constantinople.

            The biblical imagery of this vision regarding Rome is fascinating. It had “teeth of iron,” “devoured and broke in pieces,” and “trampled under feet.” Leupold says that these terms must surely signify a singularly voracious, cruel, and vindictive world power. He says, “Rome could never get enough of conquest. Rome had no interest in raising the conquered nations to any high level of development. All her designs were imperial; let the nations be crushed and stamped under foot. And the adequate means for achieving such results were in the well-trained Roman legions.”[15]

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

            The Book of Daniel is, as Walvoord titles his book, the key to prophetic revelation. Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream regarding these world empires back in the seventh century BC. Furthermore, his imagery in chapter 7 regarding his own vision of the coming world powers lines up with great accuracy to the kingdoms outlined in this brief essay. God was speaking to Daniel, and He gave him great insight into the future. As time has passed, history has shown what God predicted to be astonishingly accurate. Daniel had insight into the future times, but modern man has seen far more than Daniel recorded in his book. God has revealed Himself in history, and though these kingdoms were not God-fearing, God used them to accomplish His purpose.

            The fourth beast in chapter seven had ten horns -- and this part of Daniel’s prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. This beast will be a revived Roman empire that will also serve God’s purpose in meting out His judgments. The framework, however, of the kingdoms outlined above should give the reader of Daniel sufficient insight into Daniel’s prophecy and cause him/her to take God’s Word seriously. If God has already fulfilled so much of His revelatory prophecy in a literal manner, then what is to stop Him from also fulfilling those prophecies, like the latter half of Daniel seven, in a literal way as well?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WORKS CITED

 

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Electronic Database Copyright (C) 1996 by Biblesoft.

 

Keller, W. , 1965. The Bible As History. Bantam Books: New York.

 

Leupold, H.C., 1949. Exposition of Daniel. Baker Book House: Grand Rapids.

 

Microsoft Encarta, 1998.

 

New Unger’s Bible Dictionary.

 

Walvoord, J., 1971. Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation. Moody Bible Institute: Chicago.