Daniel and Revelation: The Six Beasts

There are several possible interpretations concerning the four beasts in Daniel 7 as they correlate to the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2.  There are four beasts associated with the four metals—gold head, silver chest, bronze torso, and iron legs—but some may not address the iron mixed with clay in the feet and toes.  Most scholars will agree that the stone cut from not human hands is Jesus Christ, establishing his kingdom.  Some will relate that to his first coming, and others to his second coming.

The Catholic Church does not have a firm stance on the specific interpretation.  She only requires it to be an interpretation that corresponds to Catholic teachings.  My personal interpretation does not discount other interpretations, as Catholics are not required to believe “this or that,” but can interpret something as “this and that.”  One can be a typology of the other.  On the other hand, one cannot proclaim an interpretation to fit his own needs; even the devil does that, as he does during the temptation of Christ.  Additionally, when one proclaims what he knows to be a false interpretation, he becomes the deceiver, the liar, the anti-Christ.

Moving from first to last can lead down the wrong path, as the smallest error can change everything that follows.  There are two givens:  Babylon is the head of gold and the first beast in Daniel, and Jesus Christ smashes the statue—hence, all worldly kingdoms—and establishes his own kingdom.  To conclude which coming this takes place, one must consider whether Jesus has already established his kingdom on earth.  The fullness of heaven is also the fullness of the kingdom.  Yet, that does not mean there is no kingdom outside of the heavenly realm.  If the kingdom is not on earth, then we are not under Christ, as his jurisdiction would only exist in the heavenly realm.  However, if the kingdom is on earth, we are subject to Christ as Lord and King.  Since we are under Christ, it suggests that his kingdom does extend to earth.  We can then work backwards in interpreting the statue and the beasts.

Most statements about the kingdom are ambiguous concerning starting point, but there are times when the kingdom is mentioned in the present tense.  Perhaps one of the most convincing statements that Jesus made was when he addressed his apostles, proclaiming, “as my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you (Lk 22:29).”  Not only does Jesus announced that the Father had already appointed the kingdom for the Son, but Jesus in turn also appoints the kingdom to his apostles.  This corresponds well with the stone that destroys the statue and the kingdom spreading over the entire earth is at Christ’s first coming. The apostles were assigned to spread the kingdom at the great commissioning, when Christ instructed to preach to all nations and to baptize.

Since the statue has been destroyed, we can look at the bottom of the statue and analyze the powers at the time Jesus Christ’s kingdom was ushered in.  There are two elements in the feet and toes: the iron and the clay.  Clay can also be considered earth or coming from the earth.  It is mixed with iron, which would be considered a different kingdom.  In the dream interpretation, it was considered a divided kingdom.  The two kingdoms that fit best would be Rome and Israel.  The two feet could be considered the two tribes of the south (Judea and Benjamin) and the ten toes the scattered tribes of the north.  The clay—or earth, or land—is reference to Israel.  This also conforms to the second beast in Revelation, the impersonator of the Lamb, the false prophet.  Coinciding with this, we have the first beast in Revelation that had ten horns that also relate to the ten toes.  The first beast is like all the beasts from Daniel, which means it is a fifth beast, while the second beast in Revelation is the sixth beast.  The fourth beast in Daniel is unlike the previous beasts; therefore, the fourth beast in Daniel and the first beast in Revelation are different beasts, and thus different kingdoms.

With Rome already being the first beast in Revelation, the fourth beast in Daniel would be Greece, although the same element in the statue.  Rome took over Jerusalem in 63 BC, but Greece had not been completely defeated by Rome until the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, as Octavian as Rome’s leader.  Octavian changed his name to Augustus, and was the Ceasar of Rome at the time of Christ’s birth.  Therefore, the last beast in Daniel finally fell in the generation leading up to the establishment of Christ’s kingdom, keeping the prophecy in Daniel 2 intact.

Moving backwards, the bronze of the statue and the third beast correspond to Persia.  The four heads of the leopard beast would correlate to the four kings of Persia mentioned in Daniel 11:2. The four kings do not necessarily have to relate to the four powers that came out of Greece and Alexander the Great.  Moving backwards more, the Median empire would be the silver and the second beast, the inferior kingdom.  Although a divided kingdom, Media and Persia were still two different kingdoms.  As stated earlier concerning the divided kingdoms of Rome and Israel, they would still require two different elements and two different beasts.  Since the kingdom first transferred to Darius the Mede from the Babylonians, this interpretation keeps the lineage in order.

Going back to the first beast in Daniel, and the head of gold, it is explicitly mentioned that these two are Babylon, with Nebuchadnezzar as its ruler.

With this interpretation, the statue becomes as such:  the gold is Babylon, the silver is Media, the bronze is Persia, the iron legs are Greece, and the iron/clay mixture is Rome/Israel.  The six beasts of Daniel and Revelation correspond as Babylon being the first beast, Media the second, Persia the third, Greece as the fourth and great beast, while Rome is the first beast in Revelation and Israel as the second beast.  Daniel 8 speaks of the lamb with two horns out of one animal (or beast), and the goat with one horn trampling over the lamb.  A little horn erupts out of the goat, and that only happens in Daniel 7 with the fourth/great beast.  The goat in Daniel 8 is explicitly related to Greece; therefore, the fourth/great beast would logically also be Greece.

This is my private interpretation of the statue and the six beasts.  It logically makes sense and corresponds to history.  However, I also know that there are typologies throughout Scripture, and can point to other aspects, particularly during the related times in the New Testament/Covenant.  We are currently living in the New Testament/Covenant era; let us not trust in princes and their kingdoms, but rather in God and his kingdom.  The kingdom is on earth as in heaven, and at the end, Jesus Christ will deliver “the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power (1 Cor 15:24).”

Regardless of which nations are applied to which elements of the statue or to which beast is really a moot point.  The kingdom of God—which is already established--is what matters and what should be focused on.  Manipulating history to fit a desired theology or philosophy equals following a lie.  The truth is what matters.