what are the three ribs in the bear's mouth?

Understanding that the Beasts of Daniel 7 symbolize the four world powers that have oppressed God's people from the era of Babylon to the end of the world, let's now delve deeper into one specific Beast and uncover an interesting symbol.

According to Daniel 7:5, the prophet saw “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."

We remember that the symbol of the Bear here represents the Medo-Persian Empire. We also learned that the reason one side was higher than the other foretold of the time when the Persians would conquer the Medes. Despite all the information we know about this Beast, the one question that we must answer is—What do these ribs in Bear's mouth represent?

WHAT IS A RIB?

In order to derive at the most logical yet Biblical conclusion, we must understand where ribs originate from. One of the best examples of a rib’s origin can be seen in the story of our first parents—Adam and Eve. Notice how the Biblical record reveals what God used to create Adam’s wife:

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. Genesis 2:21:22

While this may seem like common knowledge, we must be careful to realize that ribs come from living creatures. Creatures like cows, pigs, sheep, whales, and yes, even humans. While science has determined that certain plants have rib-like features, we typically associate ribs with animals. Have you ever heard of anyone eating collard green ribs or potato ribs? Of course not! Ribs usually refer to the bones of an animal.

Knowing that ribs almost always refer to the bones of living creatures, we now ask the question— What is a creature called in Bible prophecy? Creatures in Bible prophecy are known as Beasts! If creatures are Beasts, then we take a second look at the bear in Daniel’s vision and conclude that these three ribs in the bear’s mouth must represent the bones of three beasts it had consumed!

A BEAST IS...

What is a Beast in Bible prophecy? We covered this in a previous study, but just in case you didn't read it, you should know that Daniel answers this question in the same chapter. “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth…” Daniel 7:23.

Tallying up what we know thus far, we see the Medo-Persian Empire with three ribs in its mouth. And knowing that ribs come from beasts and knowing beasts are nations, we now understand that Medo-Persia had the ribs of one or more kingdoms in its mouth. It should also be noted that the Scripture said that these three ribs were “in the mouth of it between the teeth of it.” This should make it obvious that the bear had already consumed the beasts and all that was left over were these ribs which were between its teeth.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE RIBS

Knowing that the ribs represent empires, we now must decipher how many nations are represented by these three ribs. While it's possible that these three ribs represent one nation, it seems out of character for the Scriptures to designate three ribs when referring to one nation. It seems likely that the Holy Spirit made sure Daniel not only mentioned the ribs but provided the specific amount that were in the Bear's mouth. Therefore, I conclude that the three ribs must refer to three different kingdoms.

Now the question is—What three nations are represented by these three ribs? In Uriah Smith’s book, Daniel and the Revelation, he says the following:

“The three ribs doubtless signify the three provinces of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, which were especially oppressed by Medo-Persia.” Daniel and the Revelation p. 109

According to Smith, Medo-Persia’s dominance of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt refer to the three ribs in the mouth of the Bear. And while I mostly agree with Smith’s stance, in studying this closely, I realized that one of these kingdoms doesn’t belong on this list. What kingdom, you ask? The answer is Lydia.

You may be wondering how I determined that Lydia doesn’t belong to this list. The way I came to this conclusion is rather simple. You see, once we do an analysis of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, we determine that whenever a Beast is referred to as a kingdom in Bible prophecy, whether a Lion, Goat, Ram, or even a Beast that looked like a lamb, they ALWAYS represent nations that were considered world powers.

Egypt and Babylon both ruled the world during their time on prophecy’s stage. However, Lydia, a strong regional power, was never a world-ruling empire. And because we’ve determined that the three ribs were ribs from three beasts, and a beast always refers to a world power, Lydia is disqualified as being one of the powers that was referenced by a rib in the bear’s mouth.

THE THREE RIBS REVEALED

In order to determine the three ribs (world ruling powers) that were consumed by the Medo-Persian Empire, we must look at history, and here’s what the historical record says:

1. The Persians toppled Egypt in 525 BC.
2. The Medes (assisted by the Babylonians) toppled the Assyrians in 615 BC.
3. The Medes and Persians toppled Babylon in 539 BC.

Now, it should be clear. The three ribs in the mouth of Medo-Persia represented three world-ruling empires. Uriah Smith was correct in naming Egypt and Babylon, however, because beasts always represent world-ruling empires, we now understand that the three ribs in the bear’s mouth must represent Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon—the three world-ruling empires that were consumed by Media and or Persia .