7:1-14 · The Dream: In the first year of Belshazzar (ca. 553/2 BC), Daniel has a vision, whose message parallels that of the first dream of Nebuchadnezzar (chap. 2). Four beasts, symbolic of the nations (cf. Ps. 65:7), come out of “the great sea.” The appearance of the beasts in each vision has both familiar and unusual features.

The lion with the wings of an eagle resembles the cherub, protecting the kingship of God above the ark. As it consolidated power, this kingdom believed that it was destined for eternity. But its power being human, it is forcibly removed: “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” (7:4). Though it appeared to be the kingdom of the gods, the kingdom was as fra…