Deeper Reflection
In his exposition of Daniel 7, Bible scholar and pastor, Gordon Wong, focuses on leaders and leadership, which he entitled, “When ‘Monsters’ Rule. ”sup>10 Daniel 7 “begins by relating a vision of four kinds of leaders, four kinds of kings” (vv.4-8), and “we are meant to recognise in these figures the different kinds of kings or kingdoms, leaders and governments, which rule on earth”¹¹ . These are human beings, but they are portrayed as animal-like figures: “lion”, “bear” and “leopard” (vv.4-6) that are “morphed into mystical monsters”¹² . And the “fourth beast” is not even likened to any other animal (vv.7-8). These are human beings who become beastly leaders, with some being more monstrous than others.The number of beasts – “four” (v.3) – represents “a symbol of completeness rather than a particular number of world empires”¹³ . The number “four” symbolises “all” the superpowers in history. The message of Daniel 7 is that “life in this present age will always be this way until the end of the age. It is striking that the superpowers of our own age still customarily represent themselves by predatory animals, such as the Russian bear, the Chinese dragon and the American eagle. The beasts of this present world order may change their shape as the centuries pass, but their violence and lust for power continues”¹⁴ .Daniel 7 shows us how to look at and live in our contemporary geopolitical situations. The “four great beasts” come up from the sea when “the four winds of heaven” stir up the sea (vv.2-3). The “four winds” come from “Heaven that rules” (Dan 4:26).

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¹⁰ Gordon Wong, Faithful to the End: The Message of Daniel for Life in the Real World (Genesis, 2006), 92 ¹¹ Gordon Wong, 92 ¹² Christopher J. H. Wright, 156 ¹³ Iain M. Duguid, Daniel, Reformed Expository Commentary (P&R, 2008), 111 ¹⁴ Iain M. Duguid, 111