Question:  Dear Greg,

            What do you think of this interpretation of the beasts of Daniel 7?

            Lion with eagle’s wings—Great Britain with the U.S. coming out from her

            Bear—Russia

            Leopard—Germany (with its 3 past Reichs and one still to come)

            Fourth Beast—(dreadful and powerful)—Coming Beast Power

            I have heard this interpretation on more than one occasion and tend to believe it.  This chapter seems to indicate that these nations would be on the earth at the return of our Lord, as all these nations are.  The animal symbols given in the chapter also resemble the symbols used by these modern nations as well.

            Jeff

Answer:  Dear Jeff,

            While there has been enormous interest and fascination about the beasts of Daniel 7 in our generation, we should also realize that other generations have had the same interest.  Of course, the nations whose identities they attached to these beasts did not wind up being the correct interpretation.

            Those who favor interpreting this passage, along with the book of Revelation, in the manner you describe are called dispensationalists.  We have more on our web site about dispensationalism—simply type in the word under the feature, “search our site”.  Such folks tend to view this passage much like a windshield on a car, through which we can understand where we are going, the future.  But this passage can also be a rear-view mirror to aid our “spiritual vision.”

            This passage may well be more important to us in understanding the many historical empires and powers that have arisen under differing kinds of circumstances.  If such a view is the foundation, there is no end to the number of ways that we might gain insight from this passage.  Of course, such a view does not give us the excitement of “knowing the future”—but then, neither does dispensationalism, for it has fostered many different predictions of the Second Coming of Christ.  Of course, everyone has been wrong so far.  That would translate to a batting average of .000.

            The passage in Daniel is written in a apocalyptic style—like Revelation, that is actually called “the apocalypse.”  You might gain some insight from looking into the features of this writing style, and how we can gain understanding.  Once again, you could start by typing in “apocalyptic literature” under “search our site”—we should have information for you.  We also have a booklet called “Understanding the Word” that gives more details.

            Before accepting the interpretation you give below, and the implications it brings, you would be well served to do some more study.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht