
Originally Posted by
Victor
Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. - Daniel 7:2,3
The four Gospels are a thematic template that structures the body of Scripture in many ways. In this thread we’ll find that there is a one-to-one thematic correspondence between the distinctive characteristics of four beasts envisioned by Daniel in chapter 7 of his book and the four Gospels together with the four corresponding Spokes on the Bible Wheel. (Spokes 18-21, Tzaddi to Shin) The following is a summary of the evidence.
Outstanding post Victor!
You are absolutely correct, there is a lot more to discover here. You had noted the 4 beasts in Daniel fit the 3 + 1 pattern like the 4 Gospels. But you had not mentioned that this fact is explicitly stated in the text:Daniel 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
Thus we have an explicit statement of the 3 + 1 pattern!
Furthermore, the same pattern fits the four kingdoms of Daniel 2. The fourth beast is the fourth kingdom:Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
It seems pretty clear that we are given different symbolic representations of the course of history leading up to the Fifth Kingdom of Messiah here on Spoke 5. The 4 kingdoms represented by the Image in Daniel 2 (Gold, Silver, Brass, Iron) are represented again in the 4 Beasts of Daniel 7. Note that the first Kingdom is represented by a Gold (Dan 2) and a Lion (Dan 7). These naturally cohere. And the last kingdom/beast is associated with Iron in both cases.
And there is another very interesting fact I noticed while studying this. The metals representing the 4 earthly kingdoms are mentioned again in an entirely different context:Daniel 5:2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. 3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
It seems impossible to miss the implications. The gods they worshiped correspond to the metals of the four earthly kingdoms.
These are just a few notes as I study the correlations with the Kingdoms, the Beasts, the Gospels, the Hebrew Alphabet, and the large-scale structure of God's Word. Thanks for leading the way on this!
Richard
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