Today, I am reading and commenting on  Daniel 7-8.

My lovely wife married me 22 years ago on the 23rd of this month.  So I am going to wish her Happy Anniversary every day from now until then.

Happy Anniversary, Darling!

Today’s passage contains Daniel’s vision of four beasts and his vision of the ram and the goat.  Traditionally, the four beasts are understood to be the same empires as those in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which Daniel interpreted at the beginning of this book.  According to that interpretation, the beast like a lion is Babylon, the beast like a bear is Persia, the beast like a leopard with four heads is the Greek empire(s) established by Alexander, and the fourth beast would be the Roman empire (there is some debate about the fourth empire).  I am not convinced of this interpretation because when the fourth beast is slain and destroyed the other three are allowed to live for some time after that. It reads to me as if all four beasts existed at the same time.  I am not sure that the traditional interpretation is not correct, it just seems to me that it misses something.  I cannot, however, come up with a better interpretation.  What I do see in this vision is that someone who was “like a human being” (see translation notes) came before the throne of the Ancient of Days and was given authority and power over all of the earth in place of the four beasts.  I read the wording of the vision to suggest that the four beasts had incomplete authority over the earth, but that the One who was to come would have, does have, complete authority.  The various governments which arise over different parts of the world have authority for a time, but that authority is limited in scope.  While Jesus has authority for eternity and His authority is not limited in scope.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.