In this dream (Daniel 7:2-14) we get more details. Here Daniel sees four beasts; a lion with two eagle’s wings; a bear with three ribs in its mouth that raises himself up on one side; a leopard with four wings and four heads; and then a beast with ten horns, on which a little horn comes up later. After these beasts the kingdom of God is established. In the explanation of the dream (Daniel 7:17-27) we can read that these beasts represent kingdoms as well.

The first beast is a lion with eagle’s wings. The wings of eagles represent speed (Deuteronomy 28:49, Jeremiah 4:13, Habakkuk 1:6-8). The Babylonian armies were quick in the conquering mission. Then we have the lion beast. What does a lion represent? We don’t need to guess; the Bible tells us which kingdom is represented as a lion too, namely Babylon (Jeremiah 4:7; 50:17; 50;43,44).

The next beast is the bear with three ribs who raised itself up from one side. This beast represents Mede-Persia. The three ribs here represent the three principal powers conquered; Lydia, Babylon and Egypt. The empire consisted -as seen in the name- out of two groups, the Medes -coming up first, and the Persians -coming up later. This is illustrated by that the bear is raising itself up on one side.

The leopard with four heads and four wings represents Greece. As we have seen, wings represent speed. The kingdom of Greece conquered with incredible speed. No army was as quick as they were. Later, this kingdom got divided into four kingdoms – Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy and Seleucus- that were ruled by four generals. This is symbolized by the four heads.

Then we have the beast with ten horns representing pagan Rome. Between 351-476 AD the Roman empire was split into ten barbarian kingdoms of which seven have developed into the countries of modern Western Europe (Visigoths-Spain, Anglo Saxons-England, Franks-France, Alemani-Germany, Burgundians-Switzerland, Lombards-Italy, Suevi-Portugal). The three other kingdoms where uprooted because of the Roman Catholic Church.