Wings

Two of the beasts described in Daniel 7 had wings, one of an eagle, the other of a foul. They were never defined as meaning anything in particular and I’ve not been able to find a definition for wings in any other prophecy. Wings are used at times to paint a picture of speedy transport and at other times as protection, but this is the only place that I know of where wings are used in the description of prophetic kingdoms. The only conclusion I can come to on this is that the wings describe the particular kingdoms and are meaningful only to those kingdoms. So the meaning of these wings will become clear when the prophecy comes to pass.

Some say that the lion with eagle wings represents ancient Babylon and equate the beasts with his dream of the statue in chapter 2. However, that would mean that the kingdoms described in Daniel 7 are past kingdoms. Daniel indicates the beasts (other than the ten-horned beast) are allowed to remain after the kingdom of Christ is set up, although with their dominion taken away.

Daniel 7:9-12

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

So the beast kingdoms of Daniel 7 must be present at the return of Christ. That, in itself, doesn’t rule out this beast being Babylon since God often uses ancient kingdoms to identify modern-day areas, as we’ll see in another section, but it can’t be the literal true-to-fact ancient Babylon. They also conjecture that the bear is Medio-Persia and the leopard is Greece, with the four heads being the division of his empire to his four generals. As we’ve seen before, the Word of God uses heads as incarnations of a kingdom, not a division. God uses horns in Daniel 8 to describe the division. If we play fast and loose with the symbolism that God himself defines in His Word, yes, we can make it say anything. Does Greece have four heads as we’ve seen God define heads? Were there four different incarnations of the nation of Greece? I don’t know the answer to that and it may be worth future study. However, we’ve already looked at Daniel 8 where God identifies Medio-Persia with a ram and Greece with a rough goat. Why would the symbolism change abruptly when God is so consistent elsewhere? This, more than anything, defeats the theory that the winged lion is Babylon. The conclusion to the matter is, since God didn’t reveal the identities of these beasts (and that in itself is another argument against them being ancient kingdoms), conjecture on their identities before the time of fulfillment is futile and beyond the scope of this work. Without God himself revealing their identities to you, the most you could say is, “IF the Lord comes during our lifetime, these beasts MAY represent such and such present-day nations”.