Daniel: Chapter 7 Timeline
The timeline for this chapter is built upon the timeline that was described in Daniel chapter 2. Daniel 7 is the first of the remaining chapters in this book on the subject of future prophecies that mainly affect Israel, but the nations are also addressed. Daniel had received dreams and visions, then sought understanding and interpretations of them. As each chapter is examined, the information will be layered upon this graphic to add a sense of time of the events revealed to Daniel; when they would start, the event’s duration, and concurrency with other events.
The following timeline is the same as the one above, except for the addition of the horizontal red line with an arrowhead on the right side. This ray represents the times of the Gentiles that God revealed through the dream King Nebuchadnezzar had, Daniel 2:1-2. God revealed to the king, and the world, that with the fall of the kings of Judah at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar, that the Jews, from that moment on, be under the rule and influence of the Gentiles, as one Gentile kingdom passed to the next, until the Lord Jesus Christ returned physically, literally, and visibly, to destroy the Gentile kingdoms. He would then establish His kingdom, sit on the King David’s throne (1Chronicles 17:10-14, Isaiah 9:7, Psalm 89:35-37), and then He would rule over the world, Daniel 2:43-45. The Gentile rule over the Jews will come to an abrupt end at the end of the seven years of tribulation.
In Daniel chapter 7, Daniel was greatly troubled by dream he had of the four beasts, especially the fourth beast and the little horn. Two viewpoints were provided on the interpretation of the beasts, the traditional view that is generally held by a vast majority of the commentators, and the alternate view, which is the preferred view for this website. The reasons for the latter interpretations are given in the alternate view link. The timeline below illustrates the traditional view, where the lion was associated with the gold head, the bear with the arms of silver, the leopard with the sides of brass, and the beast with the re-emergence of the Roman empire during the seven years of tribulation. The blue horizontal bars under the beast, show a shade change from left-to-right. This is to indicate the time required for the development of the restored Roman government, its military power, and growing influence abroad. Also, the smaller blue horizontal bar for the little horn, is only represented for the last half of the tribulation. The little horn, or the Antichrist, does not receive his full satanic power until the midtribulation, Revelation 13:2, after Satan is permanently kicked out of heaven, Revelation 12:7-9, and seeks to kill anyone testifying of the Lord Jesus Christ, Revelation 12:17, 13:5-7. The beast's and the little horn's existence come to an abrupt end, at the battle of Armageddon, Revelation 19:19-20. The red arrow showing the times of the Gentiles, was lifted from the bottom of the chart to the top. This is to make room for all the other information that will be drawn at the bottom half of the chart representing events in the latter chapters of Daniel.
In contrast to the above, the following timeline demonstrates the alternate view. As seen below, the first three beasts are contemporary with the fourth beast, and in confederation with the fourth beast. They would follow the orders of the little horn, the Antichrist. The prophetic passages concerning the return of Christ to establish His millennial reign centers upon Israel being a nation and Jerusalem her capital, Jeremiah 23:5-6. Therefore, the countries that were associated with the first three beasts would have to be modern countries who existed prior to Israel becoming a nation. Obviously, the United Kingdom, United States of America, and Russia pre-existed modern Israel, but so did the Muslim countries. Their borders were all established before the British left the land of Israel. In addition, all four beasts are shown in colors fading into a solid color at or before the beginning of the tribulation. Only the beast, the harlot, and the little horn have an abrupt end. The harlot is introduced here to show that before the Antichrist ascends into full power, the harlot, or religious Babylon, rules or has significant influence over the government of the beast for the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation. Thereafter, the harlot is immediately, and violently destroyed at midtribulation by the ten kings, Revelation 17:1-18. As mentioned above, the smaller blue horizontal bar for the little horn, is only represented for the last half of the tribulation. The little horn, or the Antichrist, does not receive his full satanic power and authority until the midtribulation, Revelation 13:2, after Satan is permanently kicked out of heaven, Revelation 12:7-9, and seeks to kill anyone testifying of the Lord Jesus Christ, Revelation 12:17, 13:5-7. The beast's and the little horn's existence come to an abrupt end, at the battle of Armageddon, Revelation 19:19-20. Only the lion, bear and leopard are allowed to continue on for a season. The following timeline will be the one used throughout this website.
In addition, there is a red star with a red ray pointing to the right, representing the start and end of the events concerning the beasts in Daniel 7, when they first attain their full power to rule with the Antichrist. As with the time of the Gentiles, both events terminate at the end of the tribulation.
