In the book of Daniel, Daniel said, “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed” in which he saw “a lion” that “had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it”, and in chapter seven and verse seven of his book Daniel shared how he saw, “a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly” where we read,
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
The verse reads, “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth:” Daniel began with the words, “after this I saw” or “following observing the large animal which was like a leopard, I, Daniel, observed and noticed” “in the night visions” which means “within the nighttime appearances and sightings”, “and behold a fourth beast” or “and lo, look and consider a fourth large animal”, “dreadful and terrible” which means “formidable, fearful, mighty and awesome”, “and strong exceedingly” or “and pre-eminently, extremely and surpassingly mighty”; “and it had great iron teeth” which means “and it, the fourth beast, possessed domineering teeth which were made of iron metal”. Daniel shared how he observed a fourth large animal that was fearful, strong, awesome and surpassingly mighty, and it possesses teeth that were large in size and made of iron metal.
The verse continues, “it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.” Daniel added the words, “it devoured” or “it, the fourth beast, ate and consumed” “and broke in pieces” which means “and shattered into small particles”, “and stamped the residue” or “and tread and trampled upon the rest that remained” “with the feet of it” which means “by the use of the physical feet belonging to the fourth beast”: “and it was diverse” or “and it, the fourth beast, existed as altered and different” “from all the beasts that were before it” which means “from every one of the large animals which preceded the fourth beast”; “and it had ten horns” or “and it, the fourth beast, possessed ten cornets or protrusions”. Daniel shared how this “fourth beast” consumed, shattered into small particles and stomped on that which remained by the used of it’s feet, and this large animal was different from the previous ones and possessed “ten” protrusions.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel about this “fourth” large creature which was different from the previous three in that it was so powerful that it not only consumed what was in front of it, but it shattered it into pieces and stomped on it as well. This “beast” also had “ten horns” which we shall learn more about in later verses, but for now, let us consider this ominous sight that Daniel was given the opportunity to see. God is all-powerful, all-knowing and everywhere present, and although these sights may have been difficult for Daniel and certainly for us to understand, we can be assured that God was using all these “creatures” to show His dominion over the world and the people within it. He was giving to Daniel symbolic events that would lead to the revelation of His Son Jesus who was sent into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was resurrected from the grave after three days. When we yield to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us assurance through His Holy Spirit that regardless of how ominous any creature may be, He rules and reigns over them all.
Next time Daniel says, “I considered the horns”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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