Realization of Prophetic Visions
By
Philip Mark Ames
FOUR
BEASTS
The movement of world
history since the beginning of the fourth century of our common era was seen in
a dream more than five hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. The dream
was given by God to a man named Daniel, The vision so impressed Daniel that he
clearly remembered and wrote down its important details. (Dan. Chap. 7)
As Daniel began to dream, he
saw the four winds of heaven stirring up the vast sea. These four winds are
four very powerful, intelligent spirits or angels. They are identical with the
four spirits of Zechariah 6:1-8, as well as the four angels mentioned by the
Apostle John in Revelation 9:14, 15. The vast sea is the Biblical description
of the thought waves of emotion-filled mankind. (Rev. 17:15) The people of all
nations and languages are more passionate than rational. Their feelings
determine their actions. They are easily roused to religious fervor by the
heart-rending appeals of an eloquent orator. Just as the ocean may respond
violently to a strong wind moving across its surface, so also have peoples and
nations responded passionately to the inspiration of those four great wind-like
angels of heaven. But those four spirit beings were intent on creating more
than just an emotional storm. Out of that restless sea of human thought waves,
they would bring forth living creatures to do their bidding.
Therefore, after seeing the
sea being stirred up by the four winds, Daniel watches four huge beasts arise
from its depths, one at a time. Each beast is different from the others. In the
course of the dream, one of God's holy angels steps into Daniel's vision to
interpret its meaning. The angel tells Daniel that these beasts are four kings
who were going to arise on the earth. Later, the angel calls them not just
kings, but kingdoms, What Daniel saw, were actually the fifth-dimension
thought-creations of then future civilizations, Each beast would be a great
system of belief. Each would govern the actions of its adherents. Hence, the
four beasts would be four different ideological kingdoms. They were to capture
men's minds and hearts, not just their property and physical obedience.
Written by: Philip Mark Ames
- - - © 1975 Philip Mark Ames. All rights reserved.