Daniel’s Beasts
Daniel’s vision of four beasts rising from the sea (Daniel 7:1-14) may strike us with a number of feelings: fear, interest, curiosity, confusion, excitement. These apocalyptic images of mythical monsters rising from the depths of the chaotic sea have puzzled generations of believers. Some have taken these monsters to be predictions of the end times, similar to how they see the beasts of Revelation. However, many scholars look to history to answer the riddle of these monsters.
According to this view, which is supported by the interpretation given to Daniel (7:17), each of the four beasts represents an empire working in ancient Mesopotamia. The first beast represents the Neo-Babylonian empire. The second beast represents the Medes who overthrew the Babylonians. The third beast represents the Persian empire. Finally, another beast is completely unlike the others but is particularly terrifying, devouring everything it sees. This final beast represents Alexander the Great’s conquest and the empires that followed. Its horns represent the kings of the Seleucid empire, one of the four successor states of Alexander’s conquered lands that was particularly disliked by more conservative Jews in the time Daniel was written.
This is all fascinating history for anyone who is interested, but while I encourage amateur historians to look into this themselves, I think there is something else in here that may be meaningful to everyone. In verse 17, we hear about four kings, or rather kingdoms, that will arise, but in verse 18, we are encouraged about a different kind of kingdom, one that is eternal. This can be seen as a story of two kingdoms, or perhaps more precisely, a story of two kinds of kingdoms.
The four beasts, kingdoms arising from the earth, share some important characteristics. First of all, they take their power. Whether by shrewd bargaining, marriage alliances, or military conquest, power is taken, never given. It is something that is to be claimed and wielded by only the greatest of men, men who can become the architects of their own destiny with wealth and power or forge their own legends on the field of battle. Power is something for the strong to use, sometimes on behalf of the poor, often against the poor, but always in the ways that the strong see fit. The struggle for power is the proving ground that determines who can truly call themselves great. These kingdoms dominated the world because they elevated men who learned that power and domination are high virtues. This didn’t mean that they couldn’t be benevolent, but their kindness was their choice. They could see themselves as gods, gracing those below them with their favor.
Because of the violent nature of their rise, these kingdoms were also hopelessly divided from each other. Alexander didn’t befriend Persia and combine territories. Alexander conquered Persia. The Medes and Persians conquered Babylon. Babylon conquered Assyria. The kingdoms of the earth don’t get along with each other. When power is something proven through fighting, peace becomes a distant dream. There will always be violence in the kingdoms of the world. As long as we strive for power, peace will always be out of reach.
Finally, they are all temporary. Each new kingdom replaced the last, and this pattern has continued throughout history to this day. As surely as Rome fell, and the British empire fell, the United States will not be the dominant power of the world forever. There is a limit to how long power can be projected onto the world before the world realizes that the power is a mask, a smokescreen to cover internal failings and insecurities. No earthly kingdom, no mighty empire, no enlightened state will last forever. All man made organizations will collapse beneath their own weight. No matter how hard we try, we are doomed like the four beasts to be replaced. Our glory cannot last forever.
The four beasts, representatives of the kingdoms of the world, all fall victim to their own way of doing things. In earthly kingdoms, power is taken, disunity results, and eventually, when the disorder exceeds the shadows cast by the symbols of domination, order imposed by power will dissolve and glorious kingdoms will be succeeded by the next young conqueror.
This doom, this eternal cycle of futility, is sharply contrasted with the kingdom that the holy ones receive from the Most High. First, the kingdom is received, not taken. Power is granted to the holy ones, not because they have earned it or taken it by force, but simply because God bestows it upon them. The heavenly kingdom is the opposite of worldly ones. We don’t seek to take power. We wait, and receive a greater power than any the world can muster.
While there are four devouring beasts representing earthly kingdoms, there is only one heavenly kingdom. There only needs to be one. The heavenly kingdom doesn’t fight against itself, and united under one God from whom we all receive power together, there are no alternate kingdoms to which we can swear our allegiance. The heavenly kingdom doesn’t fight. United in Christ, this kingdom transcends earthly boundaries crying out for peace and justice on earth.
Finally, the permanence of the kingdom is emphasized in Daniel. The holy ones will truly possess it forever. Kingdoms and empires rise and fall, but the kingdom of God continues forever, even beyond the ending of the world. In this kingdom we can see ourselves as part of a great company, going back thousands of years and going forward far beyond our imagining. United with loved ones past, heroes of the church, and those who will come after us, we can take comfort in being part of God’s kingdom, one that will not be relegated to a history book but will continue living and growing through all the generations of the world.
Unfortunately, God’s kingdom is invisible, and because it calls for peace, it is often dominated by those who seek power for their own means. Uncertain of the power and promises of God’s kingdom, we often turn away, seeking to rule whatever fragmentary earthly kingdoms we can possess. However, this vision in Daniel lays out two clear paths for us. As much as it may hurt our own selfish ambitions, the correct choice is clear. The heavenly kingdom is better. It always has been, and it always will be.
