2.0- Daniel's Vision of the Four Beasts.
In Daniel 7, verses
1-8 we read:
“1 In the first year that Belshazzar was king
of Babylonia, I had a dream and saw a vision in the night. I wrote the dream
down, and this is the record 2 of what I saw that night: Winds were blowing
from all directions and lashing the surface of the ocean. 3 Four huge beasts
came up out of the ocean, each one different from the others. 4 The first one looked like a lion, but had
wings like an eagle. While I was watching, the wings were torn off. The beast
was lifted up and made to stand up straight. And then a human mind was given to
it.
5 The second beast looked like a bear standing
on its hind legs. It was holding three ribs between its teeth, and a voice said
to it, “Go on, eat as much meat as you can!”
6 While I was watching, another beast appeared.
It looked like a leopard, but on its back there were four wings, like the wings
of a bird, and it had four heads. It had a look of authority about it.
7 As I was watching, a fourth beast appeared.
It was powerful, horrible, terrifying. With its huge iron teeth it crushed its
victims, and
then it trampled on them. Unlike the other
beasts, it had ten horns.
8 While I was staring at the horns, I saw a
little horn coming up among the others. It tore out three of the horns that
were already there. This horn had human eyes and a mouth that was boasting
proudly”.