Daniel 2, 7 and 8, as well as Revelation 12, 13 and 17, speak of 8 empires (or heads/mountains). These 8 empires are metaphorically described in these chapters as metals and beasts. I will now show who these 8 empires are.
The four beasts of Daniel 7 represent four empires. The four beasts are another way of describing the four metals of Daniel 2. The four metals are therefore the same four empires as the four beasts. These four beasts appear united into a single beast in Revelation 13. Revelation 13 describes a beast from the sea that looks like a lion, a bear, and a leopard, and has seven heads and ten horns. This beast is the combination of the four beasts of Daniel 7, because if you add up the four beasts of Daniel 7, you get exactly seven heads and ten horns. The first beast, the lion, has one head, the second beast, the bear, has one head, the third beast, the leopard, has four heads, and the fourth beast has one head and ten horns. Like the beast from the sea in Revelation 13, the four beasts have a total of seven heads and ten horns, but the ten horns are all on one head, the seventh head (Dan 7:7).
Who is the first empire, the first beast/metal? Thankfully, the Bible gives us the answer: The first empire is the Neo-Babylonian Empire (Dan 2:38), not Egypt as some believe. The Bible also identifies the empire of the fourth head of the third beast. The fourth head of the third beast is logically the sixth head of the sea beast of Revelation 13. The four heads of the third beast represent four different empires, but they speak the same language, which is why they are all on one beast. The sixth head of the sea beast of Revelation 13 (the fourth head of the third beast) is the Roman Empire, for Revelation 17:10 says, “Five have fallen, one is there.” The empire that existed at the time of John was the Roman Empire. Since the Roman Empire is the sixth head and thus belongs to the third beast, it can’t be the fourth beast.
So we now know that the first empire, the first head of the first beast, the first metal, gold, is the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and we know that the sixth empire, the fourth head of the third beast, which belongs to the third metal, bronze, is the Roman Empire. This is a great help because now we can easily figure out which four empires ruled between these two empires and conquered Jerusalem. Jerusalem plays an important role here because Jerusalem is Babylon. All empires had to have possessed Jerusalem. The four empires that chronologically ruled between these two empires and conquered Jerusalem were the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Ptolemaic Empire, and the Seleucid Empire.
To find out who the seventh empire is, we must consider two requirements: 1. It must have destroyed the previous beast. The first beast was destroyed by the second beast, the second beast by the third. Therefore, the fourth beast must have destroyed the third. 2. It must have conquered Jerusalem after the Romans. All six conquered Jerusalem chronologically, which suggests that the seventh must have done so as well. With these two requirements, only one candidate remains: the Caliphate. Reason: After the Romans, the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 637 CE and finally destroyed the Roman Empire (the third beast) in 1453 CE. The Caliphate fell, was divided, and lost Jerusalem in 1917 CE. This fulfilled the prophecy of the Book of Revelation: “The seventh head will be severely wounded” (Rev 13:3). However, this is not the end of the seventh head, for the same verse states that it will be healed and return: the revived Caliphate.
You can see the summary below.
Dragon: Devil
Babylon: Jerusalem
666: Ευπορία
1st Empire: Neo-Babylon
- Metal: Gold
- Beast: Lion
- Torn & Lifted Wings: Fall & Rise of Nebuchadnezzar II (Dan 4)
- Language: Akkadian
- Religion: Babylonian
- With Jerusalem: 597 BCE-539 BCE
2nd Empire: Achaemenid
- Metal: Silver
- Beast: Bear
- Three Ribs: Neo-Babylon, Egypt, and Lydia
- Two-Horned Ram: Medes and Persians
- Language: Old Persian
- Religion: Zoroastrianism
- With Jerusalem: 539 BCE-332 BCE
3rd Empire: Macedonia
- Metal: Bronze
- Beast: Leopard, 1st Head
- One-Horned Goat: Alexander III of Macedon
- Four-Horned Goat: Generals of Alexander
- Language: Greek
- Religion: Hellenistic
- With Jerusalem: 332 BCE-306 BCE
4th Empire: Ptolemaic
- Metal: Bronze
- Beast: Leopard, 2nd Head
- Language: Greek
- Religion: Hellenistic
- With Jerusalem: 306 BCE-200 BCE
5th Empire: Seleucid
- Metal: Bronze
- Beast: Leopard, 3rd Head
- Little-Horned Goat: Antiochus IV Epiphanes
- Language: Greek
- Religion: Hellenistic
- With Jerusalem: 200 BCE-110 BCE
6th Empire: Roman
- Metal: Bronze
- Beast: Leopard, 4th Head
- Language: Greek
- Religion: Hellenistic
- With Jerusalem: 63 BCE-637 CE
7th Empire: Caliphate
- Metal: Iron
- Beast: 4th Beast
- Language: Arabic
- Religion: Islam
- With Jerusalem: 637 CE-1917 CE
8th Empire: Revived Caliphate
- Metal: Iron and Clay
- Beast: 4th Beast
- Little Horn/Earth Beast/False Prophet: Caliph
- Ten Horns: Alliance of Countries
- Language: Arabic
- Religion: Islam
- Reign: 2027 CE-2030 CE