Like A Bear - Daniel 7:5

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: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and 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 in chapter seven and verse five of his book Daniel shared how he saw, “another beast, a second, like to a bear,” where we read,

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.

The verse reads, “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:” Daniel began with the words, “and behold another beast” or “and lo, look and consider another large animal”, “a second” which means “a second large animal” “like to a bear” or “similar and in likeness to a bear”, “and it raised up itself” which means “and it, the bear, lifted, stood and established it’s own self” “on one side” or “upon one side of the bear’s body”, “and it had three ribs” which means “and it, the bear, possessed three ribs of a body” “in the mouth of it” or “within the orifice in the face used for eating and drinking of the bear” “between the teeth of it” which means “among and in the midst of the teeth within the mouth of the bear”. Daniel shared how he observed a “second large animal” which was similar to a “bear”, and the “bear” lifted itself up upon one of it’s sides and had three “ribs” within it’s “mouth” and in the middle of it’s teeth.

The verse continues, “… and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.” Daniel added the words, “and they said” or “and they, those standing by the bear, uttered, declared and proclaimed” “thus unto it” which means “the following to the bear”. “Arise, devour much flesh” or “get up and be established and consume exceeding great amounts of bodily flesh”. Daniel shared how those surrounding the “bear” told it to get up and consume “flesh” from bodies.

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel about a “second” large animal that he observed in his “dream”. This time it was a “bear like creature” that lifted itself up on one of it’s side and had “three ribs” within it’s mouth and in the middle of it’s teeth. We shall see what this “bear like creature” means in the verses ahead, but for now let us take a moment to realize this is the way God chose to reveal what He was doing among mankind to bring about their salvation. All of these visions will lead to God sending His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of everyone, and when we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and teach us to trust Him by His Holy Spirit as He guides us into all truth and empowers us to live according to the truth we perceive. (See John 16:13; Acts 1:8) 

Next time Daniel shares how he saw, “another, like a leopard”, 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".