Lion

Daniel 7

Babylon

These four Beasts in Daniel 7 parallel the four parts of the image in chapter two of Daniel

Daniel 7:1,2. Most prophetic symbols are used consistently throughout the Scriptures.  In Revelation 17:15 The WATERS is defined as meaning "peoples and nations", and such a meaning fits the context of Daniel's description here quite well.  The "winds" upon the sea  represents the strife that usually accompanies the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms.

LION-Daniel 7:4

Daniel 7:4  The lion fitly symbolized Babylon, and in fact, figures of this beast often pictured with eagle's wings, appear prominently on walls and monuments of excavated Babylonian ruins.  The lion like kingdom did lose its aggressiveness and become weak in its later years, as the picture of the loss of wings and change of character points out.

Daniel 7:4 - he first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

The Lion.--In the vision of Daniel 7, the first beast seen by the prophet was a lion. For the use of the lion as a symbol, read Jeremiah 4: 7; 50: 17, 43, 44. The lion as first seen in the vision before us had eagle's wings. The symbolic use of wings is impressively described in Habakkuk 1: 6-8, where it is said that the Chaldeans should "fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat."

Daniel 7:17 - These four beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.  (The first kingdom being Babylon)