“The first one was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I kept on beholding until its wings were plucked out, and it was lifted up from the earth and was made to stand up on two feet just like a man, and there was given to it the heart of a man.

8. What did those three beasts symbolize, for how long?

⁸ Those three huge beasts out of the windswept sea pictured three rulerships. They pictured the same rulerships as represented in the gold head, the silver breasts and arms, the copper belly and thighs of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream image, namely, the Babylonian World Power, the Medo-Persian World Power and the Grecian World Power.