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Greetings fellow prophecy students, Our esteemed learned scholar, Marilyn from Australia, has promoted this interpretation on some threads, but I don't recall one single thread discussing just this, so here goes. First off, let me copy and paste the relevant scripture from Daniel 7 so we can refer back to it: 2Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. 4“The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. 5“And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ 6“After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. 7“After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. 8“While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. Spock's musings: The reason why I believe Marilyn is right and the traditional interpretation that repeats Daniel 2 is wrong begins in verse 2: 3Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea." It definitely seems to me that these four beasts came up out of the sea at the same time, not consecutively as Daniel 2 suggests. Now, check this out. In Rev 13, the first beast out of the sea has 7 heads and 10 horns, right. Guess how many heads and horns come out of these 4 beasts in Daniel 7? You guessed it- 7 heads and 10 horns. (Lion -1 head, no horns; bear 1 head, no horns; leopard, 4 heads, no horns; 4th beast with no animal description- 1 head, 10 horns) Oh, and Rev 13 also says the beast out of the sea resembles a lion, bear, and leopard. Guess what beasts are used to describe Daniel 7 beasts? You guessed it- Lion, bear, and Leopard. Okay, moving on. Now that you are open to seeing these beasts as being same time contemporary nations that arise out of the sea, who are they? That is THE question! Lion (plus Eagles' wings)- Great Britain is obvious choice, with wings like an eagle screams USA, but any other alternatives? Bear- why Russia of course, but any other alternatives? Leopard- I have no clue. Do you know? The fourth beast- seems to be the 10 nations that will rise up and unite with the other 3 beasts to give the antichrist (little horn) its allegiance. Not sure who these may be. They don't have an animal to describe them so that doesn't help. okay friends, your turn. What can you add to this discussion to get us all thinking? Thanks, Spock