This opening verse of the prophecies of Daniel has a resounding similarity to the opening verses of most of the preceding chapters of the book of Daniel. Like them, it places the vision in a context, we are shown the point of our regeneration at which the Lord is directing us: the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon.

In the internal sense, time is an indication of state. This means that the events and prophecies of Daniel do not follow in a strict chronological order, but rather happen on different levels at the same time. While Nebuchadnezzar is king of Babylon, representing selfishness in our inner self, Belshazzar rules our outer self. The work of overcoming selfish motives has to go hand in hand with the removal of that very selfishness in our external—otherwise the exercise is purely intellectual. Daniel’s visions in the last six chapters of the book, indicate the process by which we become aware of the effects of selfishness in our daily lives: when Belshazzar is king.

In spiritual development, we sometimes delude ourselves that change follows effort without delay. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our habits are very powerful—often we are not even aware that we have them. Yet "regeneration" literally means "re-birth," which entails casting out each and every obstacle in the path of our spiritual development. This can only be done by examining the exterior motives in our lives, and getting to the very bottom or root of our behaviors.

Daniel’s vision traces this exploration for us. Each of the four beasts he saw rising up from the sea depict the states of an evil life in us, with the added twist in their relationship to the religious principles a person purports to hold. Each must be examined and rejected. Every detail of the vision, therefore is important.

As with all numbers in the Word, the number "four" has a special meaning vitally important to the exposition. "Four" represents a joining together, and so has the same meaning as the number "two," (Arcana Coelestia 1686, 9103, 9601) which is obvious since "four" is the result of two multiplied into itself.

In a general sense, when the term "four winds" is mentioned in the Word, it means "all things of good and of truth, thus all things of heaven and of the church" (Arcana Coelestia 9642:10) flowing into a person, for "wind" means the influx of life from the Lord (Apocalypse Revealed 343). Thus the Lord breathed life into Adam in the Garden of Eden, and again on His disciples, filling them with the Holy Spirit. In an ideal situation, the presence of the Lord, both in our will and our understanding, in equal measure, indicates a state of regeneration. In that state, we are as "four-square" as the New Jerusalem.

As in so many cases in the book of Daniel, the symbolism needs to be reversed in order to see its full meaning. Daniel is in Babylon, a servant to the king, and thus anything usually relating to the Lord is inverted to relate to the king of Babylon, as selfishness: the opposite of love to the Lord.

The influx then is not goodness and truth, but evil and falsity, specifically love of self and control over others. The "sea" in this vision depicts the great restless tide of selfishness controlling our external being. The book of Daniel is a picture of a person whose conscience is restricted to thoughts and feelings, yet whose behavior, attitudes, and habits still reflect the old states of selfishness (Apocalypse Explained 316). Babylon reigns. In the vision that follows, the states and their effects are revealed.

The vision of the four beasts coming up from the sea tells our story when we cynically misuse truth to live selfishly, until evil completely takes over and would destroy us (Apocalypse Explained 556, Apocalypse Revealed 574). Evil will succeed unless the power of the truth, in our conscience, overcomes evil and allows us to reject it.

The first of these beasts was like a lion with eagle’s wings. Lions are mentioned many times in the Word, and usually describe the power of truth to destroy falsity and evil (Apocalypse Explained 556). But in this vision, describing Babylon, the lion takes on the opposite meaning: the lion represents the power of the love of self (Arcana Coelestia 6367), and the power of falsity to destroy truths.

The eagle's wings, representing human reason, were taken away from the lion, and he was made to stand on his two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to him. A person engrossed in selfishness loses their ability to appreciate religion, and weighted down by their own contrary thoughts, find themselves alienated from the truth.

Next, Daniel saw a bear raised up on one side. This posture indicates our eagerness to misinterpret the Word to suit our own means (Arcana Coelestia 781). This a vision of the human state when self love (Nebuchadnezzar) rules our internal being, and the expression of that selfishness (Belshazzar) controls our daily actions. The bear is the pleasure of justifying evil with our own 'superior' reasoning.

It is easy to be kind, while manipulating other people for our own benefit. It is easy to present oneself as a spiritual being in order to deceive other people. In such a life, charity is a dead form. Thus the bear had three ribs hanging from its mouth.

Daniel never tells who commanded the bear to 'arise, and devour more flesh,' but perhaps the urging comes from deeper states of selfishness which control our external actions. Whatever its origin, these words give voice to the heart of a person misusing the Word for his or her own gain.

A leopard is "a ferocious beast" which loves to "kill harmless animals." Its very appearance, black spots on white, illustrates the effect of falsity on truth (Apocalypse Revealed 57). But the leopard in Daniel also had four wings like a bird. As in the case of the lion which had the wings of an eagle, the wings here also signify our intellect destroying the truth. The four wings on the leopard depict "confirmations of what is false" (Apocalypse Revealed 574).

The leopard not only had four wings, but also four heads. This is a depiction of human degradation when falsity rules. It is a state of spiritual insanity, for when a selfish internal acts with a falsified external, there is nothing to prevent a person engaging in all kinds evil (Arcana Coelestia 1944:3). In this state, the conscience is enslaved, powerless to stop the madness.

The fourth beast, whose appearance is not described, signifies the "destruction of truth and good" (Apocalypse Revealed 574). Once a person reaches this state of degeneration, they stop at nothing to destroy any restraining influences. Falsity is used to destroy truth through denial or twisting it to suit one’s own ends. This process is described as "teeth like iron" devouring and breaking in pieces (see ¹ explanation of Daniel 2 for a description of 'iron')(Apocalypse Revealed 556).

'A horn' is usually a symbol of power, and in the highest sense, the power of truth against falsity. But again, in this story the opposite sense applies, and the power here is of falsity for evil (Apocalypse Explained 316). These ten horns depict the complete power falsity has over the way we act.

The whole sordid description of the four beasts culminates on a little horn. This is the complete perversion of anything good and true drawn from the Word, and so represents the final profanation. If there was no counter-balancing conscience, a person would be irrevocably in hell.

The casting out of the three horns depicts the power of evil and falsity to destroy and remove the truths of the Word (Apocalypse Explained 316). The number "three" represents fullness or completeness, and thus the power of evil when brought into action to destroy all truths. Hence, the old saying 'when you break one of the Commandments, you break them all,' takes on a more powerful meaning.

The next image shifts: we see the thrones "cast down" signifying the falsities (Arcana Coelestia 8215) from the beasts, judged by the truths of the Word forming our conscience. All judgment begins with truth, for truth provides the balances upon which our lives are measured.

In the image of God’s throne, symbolizing judgment, it is important to remember that His judgment is always a product of love and mercy. But the Lord’s love should not be confused with license: just because He loves the human race, individually and collectively, this does not mean evil is permissible. Evil interferes with a person’s reception of the Lord, putting barriers between Him and ourselves. For the most part, the Lord permits evils, but does not will them, because they are useful reminding us to turn away from them (Divine Providence 275, 278). Yet there are times when human beings overstep the mark.

The judgment in this chapter must be seen in its context, which is in the reign of Belshazzar. It is the story of both the beasts and the fact that Belshazzar was weighed in the balances, found wanting, and killed by Darius. That in essence is a judgment on the external’s of our lives, on our behavior. and attitudes which have their origin in the Nebuchadnezzar states of our inner being.

Here, however, we see the origin of truth as "the Ancient of Days," sitting on the throne of judgment, heralding the destruction of one state and the beginning of another (Apocalypse Revealed 574). The "Ancient of Days" is an image of the love of the Lord (Arcana Coelestia 9470), and in a sense is the Divine counterpart to the love we are led to by means of truth. The object of all truth is to lead one to a love of God, and a love of the neighbor, and a life expressive of both. Our love for God is a reflection of His love for us.

In the Word, a garment corresponds to truth one knows and which forms a part of a person’s mind. Thus the garment of the Ancient of Days represents the truth veiling over the Divine Good. This truth is truth in our minds, in our conscious minds (Arcana Coelestia 9470, Apocalypse Explained 67). These garments were as white as snow to show us the quality of the intelligence and wisdom we can have from the Lord (Apocalypse Explained 195:18).

'Hair' means the most external parts of our lives—the natural thoughts and feelings we have which prompt us into action, all perfectly conscious. While we are in this world, this very external part of us seems to be vitally important, but in fact it is only driven by the inner things. If these are from the Lord, then our external will also appear as virgin wool.

The fire of the throne is the appearance of the Lord's love. The wheels represents the wisdom and intelligence we have from the Lord, which are full of love and so are described as "burning."

All judgment is done by the Lord. The Lord’s birth in Bethlehem was the beginning of a last judgment on the ancient churches, and that judgment from love by means of wisdom, came about through the life and death of Jesus Christ, the Divine Human of the Lord.

In Daniel’s vision, there is a similar relationship between the Ancient of Days, seated on His throne, and the Son of Man to whom was given all power. The Ancient of Days represents the Lord, and in that vision we saw the unity of the Divine love and Divine wisdom in the fiery throne upon which He sat.

Once the presence of the Lord has been established in us by the overthrow of evil and falsity, we will continue to develop in goodness and truth. This spiritual growth is described in the words that 'the Son of Man was given an everlasting dominion,' a theme repeated in verses 18 and 27. The kingdom of the Son of Man extended over "all peoples, nations and tongues," representing the different states of the human mind which will be made subject to truth from the Word. "Peoples" are the truths of doctrine—in this case, the false ideas which affect our behavior to be judged against the truth introduced into our minds by the conscience. "Nations" mean the evils of life, overthrown in the process of judgment (Apocalypse Revealed 483, Apocalypse Explained 175, 455). Thus in the process of judgment, both our habitual thoughts and feelings will be confronted by truth, and replaced by feelings drawn from the goodness and truth of the Lord. Finally, "tongues" signify the actions drawn from evil feelings and false thoughts—these too will be brought down in our personal "last judgment."

The "time, times, and half a time" are the states of temptation and combat we need to go through in order to regenerate. Yet each minute of that combat is a temptation, and temptation only takes place within the framework or regeneration. Thus a person being tempted, who resists the evil, sits in judgment on that evil, and from the power of the Lord will eventually prevail over it.

These final verses are a vision of things yet to come. This is before our entrance into the Lord’s kingdom, before the power of falsity is broken. We still have growing to do. There are still states we need to face and overcome. Even with this marvelous promise of ultimate victory, Daniel found that his thoughts still troubled him.

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131. These things saith He that hath the sharp two-edged sword, signifies the Lord, who alone combats in temptation. This is evident from the signification of "long sword" or "sword [romphaeae seu gladii]," as meaning truth combating against falsity, and in the opposite sense, falsity combating against truth. It is said to be "sharp two-edged," because it pierces on both sides. Because this is signified by "the long sword," dispersion of falsities is also signified by it, and also temptation. That it signifies dispersion of falsities, see above (n. 73). It signifies temptation, because in what is written to the angel of this church temptations are treated of. Moreover, "the long sword" also signifies temptation, because temptation is a combat of truth against falsity and of falsity against truth. (That spiritual temptation is such combat, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 187-201) By "these things saith He that hath the sharp long sword with two edges" is meant that the Lord alone combats in temptations, because in the preceding chapter (verse 16) it was said that:

Out of the mouth of the Son of man, walking in the midst of the seven lampstands, a sharp two-edged long sword was seen going forth (Revelation 1:16).

and by the "Son of man" is meant the Lord in respect to Divine truth (as may be seen above, n. 63. That the Lord alone combats in temptations, and not man at all, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 195-200.) By "long sword" or by "sword [romphaeam seu gladium]" is signified the combat of truth against falsity, and of falsity against truth, because by "wars" in the Word are signified spiritual wars, and spiritual wars are wars of truths against falsities and of falsities against truths; and as "wars" in the Word have such a signification, all weapons of war, as "sword," "spear," "bow," "arrows," "shield," and many others, signify each some special thing pertaining to spiritual combat; especially the "sword," because in wars they fight with swords. (That "wars" signify spiritual combats, see Arcana Coelestia 1659, 1664, 8295, 10455; consequently that each weapon of war signifies something pertaining to spiritual combat, see n. 1788, 2686)

[2] That "sword" in the Word signifies truth combating against falsity, and falsity against truth, and therefore the dispersion of falsities, and also spiritual temptation, can be seen from very many passages, of which I will introduce here only a few by way of confirmation. Thus in Matthew:

Jesus said that He came not to send peace on earth, but a sword (Matthew 10:34).

Here by "sword" is meant the combat of temptation. It was so said, because men at that time were in falsities, and the Lord uncovered interior truths, and only by combats from such truths can falsities be cast out.

[3] In Luke:

Jesus said to His disciples, Now he that hath a purse let him take it, likewise a wallet; and he that hath no sword let him sell his garments and buy one (Luke 22:35-38).

By "purse" and "wallet" spiritual knowledges, thus truths, are signified; "garments" signify what is their own; and by "sword" combat is signified.

[4] In Jeremiah:

A sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her chiefs, and against her wise men. A sword against liars that they may become foolish; a sword against her mighty men that they may be dismayed; a sword against her horses and against her chariots; a sword against her treasures that they may be spoiled; a drought upon her waters that they may be dried up (Jeremiah 50:35-38).

By "sword" here dispersion and vastation of truth are signified; by each in particular against which the sword shall be, as the "Chaldeans," the "inhabitants of Babylon," her "chiefs" and "her wise men," "liars," "mighty men," "horses," "chariots," and "treasures," are signified the persons or things that will be vastated: as by "horses," things intellectual; by "chariots," doctrinals; and by "treasures," knowledges; it is said, therefore, "a drought upon her waters, that they may be dried up," for "waters" are the truths of the church, and "a drought that they may be dried up" is vastation. (That "drought" and "drying up" are where there is no truth, see Arcana Coelestia 8185; that "waters" are truths of the church, see above, n. 71; that "treasures" are knowledges, Arcana Coelestia, 1694, 4508, 10227; that "horses" are things intellectual, and "chariots" doctrinals, see White Horse 2-5.)

[5] In Isaiah:

Jehovah will plead, and with His sword with all flesh, and the slain of Jehovah shall be multiplied (Isaiah 66:16).

In Jeremiah:

Upon all the heights in the desert the devastators are come, because the sword of Jehovah devoureth from the end of the land even to the end of the land (Jeremiah 12:12).

In Ezekiel:

Prophesy and say, a sword sharpened and also furbished, it is sharpened to slay a slaughter, it is furbished that it may have luster; let the sword be doubled for the third time; the sword of the slain, the sword of great slaughter entering into the secret chambers that the heart may melt, and stumblings be multiplied; against all their gates will I set the point of the sword: Ah! It is made into lightning (Ezekiel 21:9-15, 28).

In Isaiah:

Bring waters to meet him that is thirsty, with bread prevent him that wandereth; for before the sword shall they wander, before the drawn sword, and before the bended bow, and for the grievousness of war (Isaiah 21:14, 15).

In Ezekiel:

They shall quake with fear when I shall make my sword to fly before their faces, that they may tremble every moment, a man for his own soul; by the swords of the mighty casting down their multitude (Ezekiel 32:10-12).

In David:

Let the saints exult in glory; let them sing upon their beds. Let the exaltations of God be in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand (Psalms 149:5, 6).

In the same:

Gird thy sword upon the thigh, O mighty one, in thy honor ascend the chariot, ride on the Word of truth, thy right hand shall teach thee wonderful things. Thine arrows are sharp (Psalms 45:3-5).

In Revelation:

There was given unto him that sat on the red horse a great sword (Revelation 6:4).

In another place:

Out of the mouth of him that sat on the white horse went forth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. The rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse (Revelation 19:15, 21).

By "sword" in these passages is signified truth combating and destroying; this destruction is especially apparent in the spiritual world; there those that are in falsities cannot sustain the truth; when they come into the sphere of light, that is, where Divine truth is, they are in anguish, like those who are struggling with death; and thus also they are deprived of truths and are vastated.

[6] As most expressions in the Word have also a contrary sense, so also has "sword;" in that sense it signifies falsity combating against truth and destroying it. The vastations of the church, which take place when there are no longer any truths, but only falsities, are described in the Word by a "sword," as in the following passages:

They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all nations; Jerusalem shall finally be trodden down by all nations, until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

The consummation of the age, which is here treated of, is the last time of the church, when falsities are to prevail. "To fall by the edge of the sword" denotes that truth will be destroyed by falsity; "nations" here are evils and "Jerusalem" is the church.

[7] In Isaiah:

I will make a man more rare than fine gold. Everyone that is found shall be thrust through; and everyone gathered in shall fall by the sword (Isaiah 13:12, 15).

"A man who is rare" for those that are in truths; "to be thrust through" and "to fall by the sword" means to be consumed by falsity.

[8] In the same:

In that day they shall cast away every man the idols of his silver and the idols of his gold, which your own hands have made unto you. Then shall Asshur fall by the sword, not of a man [viri]; and the sword not of a man [hominis] shall devour him; but he who fleeth for himself before the sword, his young man shall be for tribute (Isaiah 31:7, 8).

"The idols which the hands have made" are falsities from self-intelligence; "Asshur" is the rational by which [per quod]. "To fall by the sword not of a man" [viri], and "not of a man" [hominis], is not to be destroyed by any combat of truth against falsity. "He who fleeth for himself before the sword, his young man shall be for tribute," means that the truth which is not destroyed shall be subservient to falsities. That this is the meaning of these words does not appear in the sense of the letter, which shows how far distant the spiritual sense is from the sense of the letter.

[9] In Jeremiah:

In vain I have smitten your sons; they accepted not correction; your own sword hath devoured your prophets (Jeremiah 2:30).

Behold, the prophet say, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine. By sword and by famine shall the prophets be consumed. If I go forth into the field, behold the slain with the sword; and if I enter into the city, then behold the sickness of famine (Jeremiah 14:13-18).

Both these passages treat of the vastation of the church in respect to truth; "prophets" are those who teach truths; and "the sword that consumes them" is falsity combating and destroying; "the field" is the church; "the city" is doctrine; "the slain with the sword in the field" are those in the church with whom truths are destroyed; "the famine" that is in the city is dearth of all truth in doctrine.

[10] In the same:

They have denied Jehovah when they have said, It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword and famine (Jeremiah 5:12).

In the same:

The young men shall die by the sword; and their sons and their daughters shall die by famine (Jeremiah 11:22).

"Young men" are those who are in truths, and in the abstract, truths themselves; "to die by the sword" is to be destroyed by falsities; "sons and daughters" are the knowledges of truth and good; "famine" is a dearth of these.

[11] In Lamentations:

We get our bread with peril of our souls, because of the sword of the wilderness (Lamentations 5:9).

"The wilderness" is where there is no good because there is no truth; its "sword" is the destruction of truth; "bread" is good, which is got with "peril of souls," because all good is implanted in man by means of truth.

[12] In Ezekiel:

The sword is without, and pestilence and famine within; he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him (Ezekiel 7:15).

"The sword" is the destruction of truth; "pestilence" consequent extermination; and "famine" complete dearth. Similarly in other places (as in Jeremiah 21:7; 29:17, 18; 34:17).

[13] In Zechariah:

Woe to the shepherd of nought forsaking the flock; a sword upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm in drying up shall dry up, and his right eye in growing dim shall grow dim (Jeremiah 11:17).

"A sword upon the arm" is the destruction of the voluntary in respect to good; "a sword upon the right eye" is the destruction of the intellectual in respect to truth; that all good and all truth are to perish is signified by "the arm in drying up shall dry up; and the right eye in growing dim shall grow dim."

[14] In Isaiah:

Thus shall ye say to your lord, Fear not for the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the lads of the king of Asshur have blasphemed Jehovah. Behold, I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. And Senacherib, king of Asshur, returned; and it came to pass, when he bowed himself in the house of Nisroch his god, his two sons smote him with the sword (Isaiah 37:6, 7, 37, 38).

As it is the rational that acknowledges and that denies the Divine, and when it denies seizes upon every falsity instead of truth, and thus perishes, there was this representative occurrence, namely, that the king of Asshur, because he blasphemed Jehovah, was smitten with the sword by his sons, in the house of Nisroch his god. "Asshur" signifies the rational in either sense (Arcana Coelestia, n. 119, 1186); the "sons" of that king signify falsities, and the "sword" signifies destruction by falsities.

[15] In Moses:

[It was commanded that] the city that worshiped other gods should be smitten with the sword, and burned up with fire (Deuteronomy 13:12-16).

This was decreed because at that time all things were representative; "to worship other gods" is to worship from falsities; "to be smitten with the sword" is to perish by falsity; and "to be burned up with fire" is to perish by the evil of falsity.

[16] In the same:

Whosoever in the field toucheth one that is slain with the sword shall be unclean (Numbers 19:16, 18, 19).

"One in the field slain with the sword" represented those within the church who destroyed truths with themselves; "the field" here is the church.

[17] That "sword" signifies falsity destroying truth is manifest in David:

The sons of man are set on fire; their teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword (Psalms 57:4).

Behold, they belch out with their mouth, swords are in their lips (Psalms 59:7).

Workers of iniquity sharpen their tongues like a sword; they hurl their arrow with a bitter word (Psalms 64:3).

From this it is clear what is signified by the Lord's words to Peter:

All they that take the sword shall perish by the sword (Matthew 26:51-52);

namely, that those who believe falsities will perish by falsities.

[18] From this it is now evident what is signified in the Word by "the long sword," "the short sword," or the "sword" [romphaea, macharera, seu gladius] in both senses. Such things are signified by "sword" by reason also of appearance in the spiritual world. When spiritual combats take place there, which are combats of truth against falsity and of falsity against truth, various weapons of war, as swords, spears, shields, and the like are seen; not that the combats are maintained by these, but they are mere appearances, representative of spiritual combats. When falsities are fiercely combating truths, there sometimes appears from heaven the brightness or flashing of a sword vibrating every way, and causing great terror, by which those who are combating from falsities are dispersed.

[19] This makes clear what is meant by these words in Ezekiel:

They shall be horribly afraid when I shall brandish My sword before their faces, that they may tremble every moment for their soul (Ezekiel 32:10-12).

And in the same:

Prophesy and say, a sword, it is sharpened and also furbished, that it may have luster, that the heart may melt. Ah! It is made into lightning (Ezekiel 21:9-10, 15).

The sword causes so great terror because "iron," of which a sword is made, signifies truth in ultimates, and the brightness and flashing are from the light of heaven and from vibration of this light upon the sword. The light of heaven is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. Divine truth thus falling upon those who are in falsities strikes terror.

[20] This also makes clear what is signified by this, that:

Cherubim, after Adam had been driven out, were made to dwell at the east of Eden, and the flame of a sword turning and vibrating every way, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24).

By the "tree of life" is signified celestial love, which is love to the Lord; by "cherubim" a guard; by the "flame of a sword turning every way" the terrific driving off and rejecting of all who are in falsities; the "east of Eden" is where the Lord's presence is in celestial love; by these words, therefore, is signified that every approach to the acknowledgement of the Lord alone is closed to him who does not live a life of love. That "sword" signifies falsity is clearly evident in Ezekiel, where it is said of the prince of Tyre:

They shall unsheathe the swords upon the beauty of thy wisdom (Ezekiel 28:7).

"The prince of Tyre" signifies intelligence from the knowledges of truth; because that is extinguished by falsities it is said that they should unsheathe their swords "upon wisdom," which could not have been said unless by "swords" falsities were meant.