Good Morning! - Daniel 7:5 - The Bear with Three Ribs in His Mouth - 2009.11.20

And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh (Daniel 7:5).

The bear was a symbol of the kingdom of Medo-Persia. It's another way of picturing the arms of silver of Nebuchadnezzar's image. The three ribs in bear's mouth are the three kingdoms devoured by Medo-Persia: Babylon, Egypt and Lydia. This invasion included the rest of the territories ruled by Babylon.

McGee points out: "There are no wings on this bear, but it was told, "Arise, devour much flesh." The army of the Medo-Persians moved like a great, lumbering, and rumbling bear—they even took their families along with them. It was Xerxes who led about 300,000 men and three hundred ships against Greece at Thermopylae and was defeated. His fleet was destroyed by a storm because God did not intend the East to control the West at that particular time."

"Just as there is a deterioration of quality in the component metals in the image in chapter 2, so this same difference is indicated between the lion and the bear. The bear is without doubt slower and less regal than the lion, nevertheless the lion eventually was overpowered just as the head of gold surrendered to the breast and arms of silver." "The large lumbering bear is an apt description of a hugh, slow-moving but mighty force. The conquests of the MedoPersian Empire were frightfully destructive. (Strauss)

Students of this period in history tell us that the Medo-Persians hurled great masses of troops upon its enemies. Xerxes' expedition against Greece was undertaken with 2,500,000 fighting men. It is easy to be seen that the movement of such enormous bodies of men would 'devour much flesh,' not merely related to the lack of food but also death by exposure and disease as well as in battle. (Condensed from Larkin) The huge, slow moving bear was an tremendous force that could not be reckoned with. And yet it would be reckoned with in God's time.

We would do well to remember that history is His Story and that in spite of all the things about the world that we cannot understand, God is truly in charge. Someone has said that the wheels of God turn exceedingly slow but they also grind exceedingly fine. Our God is an awesome God! Have you bowed before Him and given your heart to Him to serve Him the rest of your life? God's son paid your sin debt when he died on the cross and rose from the grave to die no more. He is your only hope of getting out of the box that is going to be buried with your remains in it…sealed up under six feet of earth.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16-18)

Memory Verse for this week:

(Hebrews 3:12,13) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, indeparting from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12,13).

Digging Deeper

Exhort one another daily. We think of exhorting or urging toward God as the preacher's job. A preacher who stands behind a piece of wood furniture we call a pulpit. But that is only part of God's plan. God clearly intends for His people to be faithful in watching out for one another and in this case: to exhort or urge one another against departing from the living God because of a heart of unbelief. There are several "one another" references in the Bible. This one in Hebrews 3:12,13 is a good illustration of God's assigning to us the duty of ministering to one another.