Is America Represented In Daniel 7:4?

Biblegems #244

Question: Does Daniel 7:4 indicate a prophetic role for America, as represented by the eagle, and as represented by the chapter / verse designation 7:4 (analogous to July 4: Independence Day)?

Daniel 7:4 reads:   “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.”

The Eagle

The lion with the eagle’s wings in Daniel 7:4 represents Babylon, not America. Here’s why:

Daniel 7 re-introduces the prophecy of four great empires from Daniel chapter two. The rise and fall of these empires is represented by four “beasts,” beginning with Babylon, where Daniel lived as a Jewish exile. Babylon is followed by Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome (Dan. 7:16-17). The Roman empire in Daniel’s prophecy is revived in the form of a ten-nation confederacy ruled by the Antichrist in the Last Days, until the coming of the Son of Man (Dan. 7:19-22).

The lion in Daniel’s vision was the symbol of Babylon under king Nebuchadnezzar, and for centuries later. The Ishtar Gate entrance in Babylon was decorated on both sides with a long procession of yellow lions carved in high relief on blue-glazed brick. The eagle’s wings plucked from the lion’s side symbolized how powerful king Nebuchadnezzar had been humbled by his seven-year period of insanity for not acknowledging the sovereignty of God (Dan. 4).

Chapter seven, verse four

Finding a prophetic connection between a particular Bible chapter and verse number and a particular calendar event (or whatever) is simply bad biblical interpretation on so many levels. Here are just a few reasons why:

• Chapter and verse separation was not part of the inspiration process, but a study aid added long after the canon of Scripture as God’s inspired Word was completed. The Old Testament chapter and verse system was developed by a Jewish rabbi in 1448 A.D., and the New Testament equivalent was completed by Stephanus in 1555 A.D.

That means that for more than 1500 years the prophetic meaning of Daniel 7:4 would have held no meaning—because there was no Daniel 7:4 chapter and verse number!

It also means that interpreting chapter and verse numbers is not biblical interpretation at all…it is interpreting a Bible study system!

• Even if it were argued that God accounted for the chapter and verse study system in advance, who is to say that 7:4 must refer to America’s Independence Day? July 4 is also National Country Music Day and Sidewalk Egg Frying Day.

In fact, who’s to say 7 / 4 refers to a date at all? Perhaps it refers to the seventh planet (Uranus) and its fourth moon (Cressida), or perhaps it refers to England’s seventh King (Eadwig) and the fourth year of his reign (963 A.D.).

There is no biblical reason for interpreting 7:4 as July 4^th (American Independence Day).

Correctly interpreting the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15) recognizes that the Bible is the revelation of God’s will to mankind, not a mysterious puzzle to solve or code to break. We are not left to relying upon our own imaginations. The Bible means what it says and says what it means. Even when highly symbolic language is used, God supplies the meaning of those symbols in His Word, so that Scripture interprets Scripture.

Who Won't Taste Death?

Biblegems #33

In Matthew 16:28 Jesus makes the surprising statement: I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

The question is: Just who and when is Jesus talking about? Who standing there won't taste death; and when will they see Him coming in His kingdom?

It is a very reasonable question, especially considering the context immediately preceding this verse. Jesus had just been explaining to His disciples and the surrounding crowd that He was about to go to Jerusalem where He would be arrested by the religious authorities, killed, and then be raised from the dead (Matt. 16:21). He warned them that following Him would require self-sacrifice, but that God would reward such sacrifice at the appearing of the Son of Man in glory (Matt. 16:22-27). Immediately afterward He makes the claim that some in that very crowd would “not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

It is the following verses, however, where Jesus’ puzzling prediction finds its fulfillment. It’s helpful to remember that when the Gospels were first written they did not have chapter and verse separations. Those were added as study aids centuries later. So for us today, coming to end of a chapter has the affect of concluding one scene and moving on to an entirely new scene in the next chapter.

Yet, for the readers of this Gospel prior to the addition of chapter and verse, Jesus’ statement about the Son of Man coming in glory would have merged seamlessly into the next verse. There, Jesus took Peter, James and John up a high mountain where He was transfigured before them (17:1-8). These three disciples were the ones Jesus had prophesied about six days earlier. Not only did they get to see the Son of Man in His Kingdom glory, shining brighter than the midday sun, they also witnessed a conversation in the heavenly realms between Jesus, Moses and Elijah, followed by the voice of God Himself! The experience was so overwhelming, all three disciples collapsed in terror (Matt. 17:6).

We tend to associate the coming of the Son of Man in glory with the Return of Jesus at the end of the age (Matthew 24: 30-31). But the coming of the Kingdom actually began with Jesus’ Incarnation. As Jesus Himself announced, “But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28).

Jesus’ Transfiguration reminds us that the Kingdom of God cannot be reduced to a timeline. Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you” (Lk. 17:20-21).