Today, we are looking at the vision Daniel received from the Lord after being taken captive to Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar was not involved in this vision as he was in the dream he had of the Great Metal Man in Daniel 2.

This vision repeats much of what Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar saw in the vision of the metal man, but it greatly enlarges and gives more detail of future events. Again, it is a timeline of world kingdoms and events that God would orchestrate, by His authority, to take place over the coming millennia. Let's look at the text:

Daniel 7:1–12 : In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. Daniel said: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. (What do these "four winds" represent? According to Scripture they represent the wrath of God against nations. Each time God allows the "four winds" to blow on the "great sea," which represents people, one kingdom falls and another comes into power. Look at these verses:

Jeremiah 49:36–37: I will bring the four winds against Elam. I will bring them from all four directions. I will scatter Elam's people to the four winds. They will be taken away to every nation on earth. 37 I will use Elam's enemies to smash them. Those who are trying to take their lives will kill them. I will bring trouble on Elam's people. My anger will burn against them,"

"The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. (This first beast that looked like a lion had wings like an eagle with which it could swoop down and swiftly devour its prey. This beast represents the kingdom of Babylon just as the head of gold from Daniel 2 did – some repetition here. Over time the lion became pompous and disgusting in God's sight and God brought this kingdom to a close.

Timelines of Prophecy – Daniel 7, Part 1