we are looking for a beast that -
"
was diverse from all the beasts"
-
how can you not consider islam?
Of course my answer will confound you and you will go missing,but alas I will answer this in detail.
For starters, you do not take this verse into consideration AT ALL:
Daniel 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea,
diverse one from another.
So, as we see all of the Beasts were different from each other. So the contention that the Fourth Beast was different is NOT A SURPRISE at all, but what is a surprise is that you miss a major clue later on regarding this clue above about all the Beasts being different from each other.
Now lets look at Gabriel's interpretation of Daniels dream.
Daniel 7:23 Thus he said,
The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be
diverse from all kingdoms (Of course, they are ALL Different), and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and
another (Little Horn/Beast) shall rise after them; and
he (Little Horn) shall be diverse from the first (BOOM He will be different from THE FIRST, not All), and he shall subdue three kings.
There are two different Beasts mentioned in verses 23 and 24, its very clear. The Fourth Beast Rome, is different from ALL THE BEASTS just like verse 3 says, they were all different from each other. But in verse 24 it says the Little Horn was different from the FIRST BEAST, meaning the Little Horn that arises out of the Fourth Beast in the End Times, will be different from Rome. (WILL HE BE? Of course, Rome was a Long lasting, great empire, the Last Beast will be a Man, he will be the only King that starts an Empire/Kingdom/Beast Head and dies as the King that Falls.
Can we see these Five Beasts in Revelation chapter 13? Of course we can in verses 2 and 3.
Rev. 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a
leopard (Greece), and his feet were as the feet of a
bear (Persia), and his mouth as the mouth of a
lion (Babylon): and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw
one of his heads as it were wounded to death (ROME);
and his deadly wound was healed (Little Horn/Anti-Christ/Beast): and all the world wondered after the beast.
So what is a Beast according to Daniel chapter 7 ? It is a Kingdom that Conquers, Enslaves or Rules Israel in some capacity or another. We see that Revelation ch. 13 incorporates all of Daniels Beasts into it.
You have Babylon (the Lion), Persia (the Bear), Greece (the Leopard) and Rome (the fierce Beast [Head] who receives a Head Wound) and the Little Horn (Who is a revived Beast Head).
What does all of this mean? This can be understood by understanding Ezekiel's Prophecy of Dry Bones and putting it all together. The supposed "Gap Theories" are not in truth theories but FACTS. Ezekiel prophesied that Israel would be as Dead Men's Bones for a long period of time (close to 2000 in reality) and then all of the sudden those Bones would come alive again. (Son of Man, can these Bones LIVE AGAIN?)
There can be NO BEAST without Israel in the Land, thus the Beast suffered a Mortal Wound, figuratively speaking when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and dispersed the Jews all around the world circa 70 AD to 125 AD. Thus Rome though still a Great Kingdom, was not a BEAST....Remember, being a Great Kingdom doesn't make a Kingdom a Beast, else Great Britain, the USA, China, Ottoman Empire etc. would all be Beasts, but it is only a Kingdom or a Nation that is Ruling over Israel which is a Beast. So Rome ceased being a Beast when they dispersed Israel around the world and Israel was a Dead Men's Bones for almost 2000 years.
Then 1948 happened and Israel was Reborn/Revived, the Bones came alive again !! Now and only now can we have the Last Beast come forth. When this Anti-Christ Conquers Jerusalem he will become the BEAST for 42 Months. Thus the Mortal Wound of this figurative Beast will be HEALED !!
So why do we have Seven Heads instead of Five? Because this is a Beast that runs the WHOLE LIFE SPAN of Israel. Not just from Daniel forth. The Seven Heads includes Egypt, Assyria, Babylon Persia, Greece, Rome and the Little Horn/Anti-Christ.
Now to the "Gap Theories". We are painted a picture of Israel as pertaining to their WHOLE LIFE SPAN in the bible. The Daniel 2 Statue covers Israel's LIFE SPAN from Babylon on !! The Beasts cover Israel's WHOLE LIFE SPAN when we include the Revelation Seven Headed Beast. The Daniel 70th Week Decree takes into account that Israel would be as Dead Men's Bones for almost 2000 years also.
So the Statue goes like this, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome......2000 year SKIP/Israel Dead......Little Horn and Ten Kings Arise together. That is your Statue.
Beasts = Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome.....Israel is no more, the BEAST is NO MORE...Little Horn/Anti-Christ/Last BEAST HEAD comes Forth, the BEAST is Revived. That is your Seven Headed Beast that the Woman (Harlot/False Religion)sits on or is co-mingled with throughout history.
Then the 70th Week Decree can be understood as well, there was no Israel, so they could not pay full PENANCE until the week of Jacobs Troubles.