Глава 7

1–8. Vision of four animals. 9–14. Divine judgment over them and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. 15–28. Explanation of the vision by a celestial. Daniel 7:1. In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and prophetic visions of his head on his bed. Then he wrote down this dream, outlining the essence of the matter. Like the dream of Nebuchadnezzar (chap. 2), the vision of ch. 7. reveals the idea of ​​the successive succession of four earthly monarchies and the establishment of the eternal Kingdom of God over them after the divine judgment. United in their main idea, they differ primarily in terms of the images that embody it. In chapter two, these latter are borrowed from the realm of inanimate material objects, in chapter seven - from the realm of living beings. Such a difference in images serves as an expression of two unequal points of view on the Kingdom of God and the earthly one. For the pagan Nebuchadnezzar, the power of the world was a shiny metal, and the Kingdom of God was a worthless stone: the kingdoms of the earth seemed to him incomparably superior to the Kingdom of God. Daniel, on the contrary, clearly understands the superiority of this latter over the former, and therefore it is represented under the image of its head - the Son of Man, and the earthly creatures - under the image of various animals: man is superior to animals. In addition, the vision of ch. 7. is distinguished by greater completeness and content - he speaks, albeit covertly, about the fate of the Kingdom of God associated with the appearance of the Antichrist. Dan.7:2. Having begun his speech, Daniel said: I saw in my vision at night, and behold, the four winds of heaven fought on the great sea, Dan.7:3. and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. In accordance with the words of Art. 23. of this chapter (Dan.7:23): “the fourth beast - the fourth kingdom will be on earth, different from all kingdoms,” each of the four beasts seen by the prophet is a symbol of a known kingdom. Their representation as animals corresponds to both biblical Old Testament symbolism, in which the leaders of armies, princes, and supreme rulers of nations are depicted under the guise of animals (Is. 34:6–8; Ezek. 39:18), and extra-biblical. In Zendavesta, for example, the guardian spirit of the Persian kingdom is represented as a ram with pointed horns. Beasts emerge from the sea, kingdoms arise from the depths of the pagan world. Dan.7:4. The first is like a lion, but he has eagle wings; I watched until his wings were torn out, and he was lifted up from the ground, and stood on his feet like a man, and a human heart was given to him. As the head is among the members, and gold is among the metals (Dan. 2:32), so the lion, the first among animals, and the eagle, first among birds, indicate the royal place of the first monarchy among further others. Under the symbol of a lion and an eagle, the prophets close in time to Daniel depict the kingdom of Babylon (Jer.2:15; Jer.4:7; Jer.5:6; Jer.48:40, etc.; Hab.1:8). Accordingly, the lion with eagle wings in Daniel's vision symbolizes the same monarchy. At the beginning, powerful, it loses its original strength over time - the lion's eagle wings are torn out, and turns into an ordinary human kingdom - the lion is given a human heart. Dan.7:5. And here was another beast, a second one, like a bear, standing on one side, and three fangs in its mouth, between its teeth; He was told this: “Get up, eat a lot of meat!” The symbol of the second kingdom is the bear. The ferocity and gluttony (“get up, eat a lot of meat!”) of this beast quite clearly indicate the Medo-Persian monarchy following the Babylonian one, insatiable, as history testifies, in its conquests. They began under Cyrus with the subjugation of Bactria, small Asia Minor nations that recognized the power of Croesus of Lydia, Lydia, the Greek Asia Minor colonies - Aeolia, Ionia and Babylon allied with Lydia, continued under Cyrus' son Cambyses with the capture of Egypt and ended under Darius Hystaspes and Xerxes, who extended the power of the Persians to the entire almost historical east (Esth. 1:1). The three fangs in the bear's mouth indicate Babylonia, Media and Persia, united under the rule of Cyrus and his successors. Dan.7:6. Then I saw another beast, like a leopard; on his back were four wings of a bird, and this beast had four heads, and power was given to him. The third kingdom is represented by the image of a leopard with four bird wings and four heads. The bloodthirstiness of this beast and its extraordinary speed in capturing prey quite accurately characterize the Greco-Macedonian empire, which was rapid in its conquests. It spread to the ends of the earth under Alexander the Great (1 Mac. 1:1–4) due not only to its strength, but also to decisive, quick actions against enemies (for more details, see the interpretation of Dan. 8:5–7). The spread of the Macedonian empire throughout all four countries of the world, its dominance “over regions and peoples and rulers”, “over all the earth” (1 Mac. 1: 3–4) is indicated in the vision by four wings, and the disintegration after the death of Alexander the Great into four parts - the states of Thracian, Macedonian, Syrian and Egyptian - by four heads. Dan.7:7. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, terrible and terrible and very strong; he has large iron teeth; he devours and crushes, and tramples the remains underfoot; he was different from all the previous beasts, and he had ten horns. According to the heavenly interlocutor of the prophet Daniel, the fourth beast means a kingdom different from all previous ones (Dan.7:23). Its features lie in its terrible all-destructive force, symbolized by huge iron fangs, and in its outstanding greed for destruction and extermination: “it (the beast) devours and crushes, and tramples the remains underfoot.” Such an all-destroying kingdom, devouring the whole earth (Dan.7:23) and destroying the obstacles that stood in the way of taking over the world was the kingdom of Rome. This feature was already noted by ancient historians. Thus, Herodion notes “that there is no country under the vault of heaven over which the Romans would not extend their power.” Dionysius of Halicarnassus, comparing the Roman empire with previous ones, says: “the kingdoms of the Chaldeans, Persians and Greeks are the most glorious of all that have existed before our time, but Rome extends its dominance to all countries and seas that are accessible to man. With his immense dominion he embraces the entire East and the entire West.” The ten horns on the head of the beast are ten kings (Dan.7:24). Dan.7:8. I looked at these horns, and behold, another small horn came out between them, and three of the former horns were uprooted in front of it, and behold, in this horn there were eyes like human eyes, and lips that spoke arrogantly. Like the first ten horns, the new horn that grew on the head of the fourth beast also means a king, only sharply different from the first. And indeed, if the human eyes given to him and the arrogantly speaking lips indicate a human being of special cunning - outstanding knowledge (cf. Gen. 3:5), pride, then the explanations of the celestial being indicate that these properties are imbued with a character of exceptional hostility to God. The eleventh horn will use its power to fight the saints of the Most High, whom it will defeat for a time, times and half a time, trying to abolish their holidays and the law, and will show its arrogance in proud words against the Most High (Dan. 7:21-25). Dan.7:9. I saw at last that thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days sat down; His robe was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wave; His throne is like a flame of fire, His wheels are like blazing fire. Dan.7:10. A river of fire came out and passed before Him; thousands upon thousands served Him, and darkness stood before Him; the judges sat down and the books were opened. The life and work of the eleventh horn ends with its trial. The majestic appearance of the Judge - the Lord, the appearance of the Elder, testifies to the reverence He inspires; The perfect purity and holiness of His being is evidenced by the white clothes that clothe Him and His hair, pure as a wave (Is. 1:18). 8 His holy zeal is symbolized by the fiery appearance of the throne, and its action extending to all living things is symbolized by the river flowing from under the throne. Surrounded by countless hosts of Angels called to participate in the trial, the Judge sat on the throne, and “the books were opened” - the cases of the defendants, not hidden from the omniscience of God, were revealed and discussed. Dan.7:11. I saw then that for uttering the arrogant words that the horn spoke, the beast was killed in my eyes, and its body was crushed and given over to be burned with fire. Dan.7:12. And their power was taken away from other animals, and the continuation of life was given to them only for a time and for a period. The result of the trial was the complete destruction of the hostile power embodied in the fourth beast - he was killed, and his body was given over to be burned with fire (cf. Is. 66:24). The first three beasts also lost their power. They died earlier, each at their own time determined by God. Dan.7:13. I saw in the night visions, behold, like the Son of Man walked with the clouds of heaven, came to the Ancient of Days and was brought to Him. Dan.7:14. And to Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all nations, nations, and languages ​​should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed. The judgment of the fourth beast contemplated by the prophet culminated in the opening of the universal, eternal and glorious Kingdom of the saints of the Most High (Dan. 7:27), headed by the Son of Man. In the vision, He appears as a separate personality from the society of the saints of the Most High. The latter was revealed before His appearance: the eleventh horn wages war with the saints, overcomes them until the Ancient of Days comes, carries out judgment, after which the Son of Man appears in the clouds (Dan. 7:21–22). Secondly, he is a higher personality, for this is the meaning of the words: “walking on the clouds of heaven” (Dan.7:13; cf. Ps.103:3; Is.19:1; Nahum.1:3; Matt.24:30; Rev.1:7). The hostile activity of the eleventh horn, its duration and its fate are outlined in Daniel’s vision not only similar, but quite identical with the activity of the last and greatest enemy of the Christian Church - the Antichrist. And this last one was given a mouth that spoke proudly and blasphemously, and was given the right to wage war with the saints. “And he opened his mouth, says the Apocalypse, to blaspheme God, ... and it was given to him to make war with the saints and to defeat them” (Rev. 13:6–7), but, like a horn, he was thrown “into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone” (Rev. 19:20). The death of the 11th horn is followed by the opening of the universal Kingdom of saints. This gives reason to understand the eleventh horn as the fourth beast, the Antichrist. His death will be followed by the opening of the kingdom of glory with the subjection of nations, tribes and languages ​​to the Son of Man (Dan. 7:14). Likewise, the New Testament says that at the world judgment and with the opening of the kingdom of the Word, every knee will bow to Christ (Rom. 14:11). As a matter of fact, wave - in Slavic - sheep wool, processed and bleached. Note ed. You might be interested in: