Daniel chapter 7 begins with a vision of Satan's dominion on earth¹ in the ancient empire of Babylon,² which means confusion.³ This kingdom forcibly removed young Daniel⁴ from his Jerusalem home in 605 BC, and carried him captive into Babylon.⁵ In Daniel chapter 7, the symbol for ancient Babylon was a combined image of two monarchs from the animal kingdom.⁶ Daniel saw a composite image of a lion with the wings of an eagle.⁷ The lion and eagle were both recognized symbols⁸ for Babylon's deadly⁹ and lofty¹⁰ supremacy over all other political kingdoms.¹¹

Babylon was a world power, but more significantly it was a worldly power¹² that opposed all righteousness.¹³ Babylon repeatedly besieged¹⁴ and ultimately destroyed Jerusalem,¹⁵ the city of God,¹⁶ including the temple of Solomon.¹⁷ This Abomination of Desolation occurred in 587 BC.¹⁸ Ancient Babylon was the antithesis¹⁹ of the Holy City²⁰ and of God's Kingdom.²¹ This merciless attack on God's chosen people,²² together with Babylon's pride²³ and arrogance,²⁴ has made Babylon the universal symbol for wickedness in the modern world.²⁵ Today, Modern or Spiritual Babylon²⁶ is all things evil.²⁷ She is the great whore that sitteth upon many waters²⁸ and the great and abominable church.²⁹

Modern Babylon will spiritually fall during the future gathering of saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman³⁰ and this will be followed by her sudden physical fall at the Second Coming.³¹ The sudden physical fall of Modern Babylon is foreshadowed³² by the sudden fall of ancient Babylon during a single night in 538 BC.³³ Daniel foresaw the fall of ancient Babylon in Daniel 7:4, saying, "the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made [to] stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it."³⁴ This imagery means that the political kingdom of Babylon lost its power of flight³⁵ and the lion-like kingdom was made comparatively weak like unto a man,³⁶ with the heart of a man.³⁷ Some have suggested that this imagery refers to Nebuchadnezzar's madness toward the end of his life,³⁸ followed by a more pious temperament.³⁹ However, Daniel's vision pertains to Satan's dominion in Babylon,⁴⁰ not to any individual person or ruler, including Nebuchadnezzar.⁴¹ The political kingdom of Babylon fell as predicted by several prophets in Israel,⁴² but Satan's dominion only grew stronger in the Medo-Persian Empire that followed.⁴³