Like a Leopard - Daniel 7:6

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, 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 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”, and in chapter seven and verse six of his book Daniel shared how he saw, “another, like a leopard” where we read,

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.

The verse reads, “After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl;” Daniel began with the words, “after this I beheld” or “following the observance of the bear like animal, I, Daniel, observed and noticed”, “and lo another” which means “and look one other large animal”, “like a leopard” or “similar and in likeness to a leopard animal”, “which had upon the back of it” which means “that possessed upon it’s backside” “four wings of a fowl” or “four wings like that of a bird”. Daniel shared how he observed another large animal that appeared after the bear like creature, and this one was similar to a “leopard” that had “four wings” like a bird attached to it’s back.

The verse goes on to say, “the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.” Daniel continued with the words, “the beast” or “the large animal, the leopard” “had also four heads” which means “possessed even and indeed four physical heads which stood for chiefs”; “and dominion was given to it” or “and sovereignty was granted, bestowed and assigned to it, the leopard with four wings and four heads”. Daniel shared how the “leopard like animal” also possessed “four heads” and sovereignty was assigned to it.

When we mediate upon Daniel’s words in this verse, we discover how he observed a third large animal similar to a “leopard”. This was a verse strange animal in that it possessed “four wings like a bird” upon it’s backside, and also had “four heads”. Sovereignty was granted to this “beast”, and we shall see what that means in future verses. All of these sightings by Daniel in his “dream” were leading to the birth of God’s Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the grave after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to help us follow His desire for our lives while He operates in the spiritual world that is unknown to us. 

Next time Daniel shares how he saw, “a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly”, 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".