Much of the Bible’s most famous prophetic text centers around a system of successive world-ruling Gentile kingdoms that precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. These successive “beasts,” as they are called, are discussed throughout the Bible, but especially in four prophetic chapters: Daniel 2 and 7, and Revelation 13 and 17. Studied in that order, each chapter adds a few more details to the one preceding it. Together, they build a complete and yet simple foundation for all Bible prophecy.
In Daniel 2, you will find the Bible’s best one-chapter overview of prophecy. God reveals through Daniel a vision of a great image representing these four successive kingdoms. History proves these to be the Chaldean Empire, followed by the Persian, then Greco-Macedonian, and finally the Roman Empire. These four were to continue in succession right up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
