As we read further in our chapter it becomes clear that the sea, set in motion by the winds, represents the history of the world in which the nations are constantly changing. We see the fluctuation of world empires all the time, one following after another. Daniel sees four animals in succession, rising out of the wind-blown sea. This does not happen accidentally. It is not only that the Lord knows in advance what is going to happen, he is not just the God who knows how the reels of history will play out. No, the Lord also shows Daniel how his plan of world history will unfold. God is both involved in history and reveals the future to Daniel. He is the one who makes the winds blow – winds that will irresistibly unfold all of history according to his plan.
When we pay close attention, we see that the succession of empires in Daniel’s dream is similar to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar found in Daniel 2:1–49. Yet there is also a very clear difference between Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. In Daniel 2, the Lord points out mainly that the world empires will have great power and glory but that this will lessen as history progresses. No matter how great and powerful these empires are, Christ will return at the end of history and on that occasion he will destroy all human power. The empires of the world will be unable to resist him, as he then assumes all power forever. He dethrones for all eternity the human empires with his great glory. Daniel’s vision is about the same empires in the exact same order, but in Daniel 7, the focus is more on the fact that the world powers represent a threat to Christ’s church and the life of faith. This holds true especially for the latter part of world history. It is the last horn that wages war against the saints and is victorious. How does history unfold to this moment? In order to grasp this, we will initially pay detailed attention to the first three empires.
3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.