Why four metals, beasts, etc. in Daniel?
Study:
"Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay." Daniel 2:31-33
Why four metals? What is the significance of four?
Let's trace the number "four" through Daniel.
"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 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. 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. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns." Daniel 7:2-7
So, not surprisingly, we have four beasts (and four kings/kingdoms) AND "the four winds of heaven" (a clue?) and the leopard has four wings and four heads.
"Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Daniel 8:8,9
We have four horns AND, once again, "the four winds of heaven"... our only clue as to the significance of four metals/beasts/horns/etc. so far!
Note: because the "four horns" parallel the "four heads" of the leopard, we know that the "four heads" are toward "the four winds of heaven."
"And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those." Daniel 11:4
As in Daniel 8, we have "the four winds of heaven"... our only clue!
So why four metals, four beasts, etc.?
Our only clue is "the four winds of heaven" or the four directions, symbolically... universal. Is that enough? Yes!
Recall that the metals of Daniel 2 parallel the beasts of Daniel 7.
feet of iron and clay
Thus an image or man equals four beasts or creatures.
Does this remind you of anything? Yes!
(king)
(servant/sacrifice)
(man)
(God)
Now recall that these four creatures are symbolic directions in the wilderness camp of Israel.
Eagle
Bull
Lion
Man
Putting all of this together.
eagle
(God)
calf
(serv./sacr.)
Jesus Christ
lion
(king)
man
(God)
non-descript beast
leopard
Babylon
lion
bear
Note: the statue of Daniel 2 is called "Babylon" because we recognize individuals by their head (or face and not their breast, arms, belly, thighs, legs, or feet), and the statue's head is Babylon.
Note: the placement of the four beasts of Daniel 7 is haphazard except for the lion of Babylon and the fourth non-descript beast.
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