“Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, _the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea_.” Verse 2. 5. What was the result of this strife? “And _four great beasts came up from the sea_, diverse one from another.” Verse 3. [Illustration.] The Four Beasts Of Daniel 7. "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth." Dan. 7:17. 6. What did these four beasts represent? “These great beasts, which are four, are _four kings, which shall arise out of the earth_.” Verse 17. NOTE.—The word kings here, as in Dan. 2:44, denotes kingdoms, as explained in verses 23 and 24 of the seventh chapter, the two words being used interchangeably in this prophecy. 7. In symbolic language, what is represented by winds? Strife, war, commotion. See Jer. 25:31-33; 49:36, 37. NOTE.—That winds denote strife and war is evident from the vision itself. As a result of the striving of the winds, kingdoms rise and fall. 8. What, in prophecy, is symbolized by waters? “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest ... are _peoples_, and _multitudes_, and _nations_, and _tongues_.” Rev. 17:15. NOTE.—In the second chapter of Daniel, under the figure of an image of man, the mere political outline of the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms is given, preceding the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom. In the seventh chapter, earthly governments, are represented as viewed in the light of Heaven,—under the symbols of wild and ferocious beasts,—the last, in particular, oppressing and persecuting the saints of the Most High. Hence the change in the symbols used to represent these kingdoms. 9. What was the first beast like? “_The first was like a lion_, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.” Dan. 7:4. NOTE.—The lion, the first of these four great beasts, like the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, represents the Babylonian monarchy; the lion, the king of beasts, standing at the head of his kind, as gold does of metals. The eagle’s wings doubtless denote the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned from B.C. 604 to B.C. 561. This kingdom was overthrown by the Medes and Persians in B.C. 538. 10. By what was the second kingdom symbolized? “And behold another beast, _a second, like to a bear_, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.” Verse 5.