And in the days of these Kings, saith Daniel, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; but it shall break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountains without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold.
CHAPTER 4.
OF THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS.
IN the next vision, which is of the four Beasts, the Prophecy of the four Empires is repeated, with several new additions; such as are the two wings of the Lion, the three ribs in the mouth of the Bear, the four wings and four heads of the Leopard, the eleven horns of the fourth Beast, and the son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven, to the Ancient of Days sitting in judgment.
The first Beast was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings, to denote the kingdoms of Babylonia and Media, which overthrew the Assyrian Empire, and divided it between them, and thereby became considerable, and grew into great Empires. In the former Prophecy, the Empire of Babylonia was represented by the head of gold; in this both Empires are represented together by the two wings of the lion. And I beheld, saith Daniel, till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it; that is, till it was humbled, and subdued, and made to know its human state.
The second Beast was like a bear, and represents the Empire which reigned next after the Babylonians, that is, the Empire of the Persians. Thy kingdom is divided, or broken, saith Daniel to the last King of Babylon, and given to the Medes and Persians, Daniel 5:28. This Beast raised itself up on one side; the Persians being under the Medes at the fall of Babylon, but presently rising up above them. And it had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it, to signify the kingdoms of Sardes, Babylon, and Egypt, which were conquered by it, but did not belong to its proper body.
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