Ribs that speak? Yes, they’re right in Daniel 7:5.
Speaking ribs shouldn’t be too strange of a concept. If you’re like me when visiting your favorite BBQ restaurant it’s the baby back ribs that do all the talking. They say to me, “Mark, eat us!” Brisket, beef ribs, chicken, and pulled pork all take second place.
These three ribs are talking to me. Are they talking to you? Three ribs spoke to the bear in Daniel 7:5.
It was a couple weeks ago I was reading and studying Daniel again and something else popped out of the text. I have typically used the NIV 1984 for Daniel 7, but the NIV, like all translations, have their weaknesses. The NIV presents the Bible texts by idea, while the NKJV and NASB are word-by-word translations.
So there I was reading Daniel 8 in the NASB, and then went back to Daniel 7, still reading the NASB. The talking ribs jumped out at me. I checked my Aramaic/English text of Daniel and there it was!
Speaking of the second beast, the bear, the NIV 1984 translates Daniel 7:5 as:
It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, “Get up and eat your fill of flesh!”
As I wrote in Daniel Revisited, the bear was commanded to devour and gorge on many animals. The bear, being Iran, is being told here to ravage many countries across the Middle East—in the three directions that the Persian ram is to run in Daniel 8. This is the Second Signpost.
However, the NASB says of the bear,
And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, “Arise, devour much meat!” [emphasis added]
Well, that adds another dimension to the second beast of the vision. The bear is told not just to gorge, but is told to do so by the ribs!
The three ribs are not only a reflection of the three directions the ram is to run in Daniel 8:4, but they are also a representation of the countries that Iran will devour, where all that is left are some chewed-on bones from the carcasses.
Thinking and praying about this nuance about the ribs, it became obvious to me that it is the countries themselves—Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Yemen, Jordan, and eastern Turkey—that are all telling Iran, “Come, and devour and ravage us!”
I apologize to my readers. I missed this little extra in Daniel 7. Though I feel the material presented in DR makes a good enough case for the fulfillment of the Second Signpost, it still makes for a nice little surprise. This nuance goes right along with the fulfillment of the rest of Daniel 7:5 and 8:4.
The regime wants to spread their Shia revolution to the Sunni Muslim countries in the area. They have wanted this since 1979. The countries themselves beckon Iran. It’s almost as if the countries are saying, “Look how vulnerable we are!” “You can invade and occupy us now!”
The ribs also represent the three paths to be taken by the Iranian military—the Basij and IRGC.
Today, I would say the countries are about to call out. When the strategic military situation in all these countries is in Iran’s favor that they will call out to the bear higher on one side, in a loud voice: “Arise, devour much meat!”
It will be time to eat. The ram will charge. The second horseman will allow men to butcher one another.
Categories: Signpost #2: Iran, Signpost Theology
THE FOUR SIGNPOSTS 
Why would these Sunni countries cry out to be overtaken? And do you think they are all equally vulnerable?
Blessings.
Ahaa, I was thinking around the same lines Mark, as I read out of the NASB also. Only difference was I was thinking maybe they represented three countries already invaded and persuaded if you will, to run with the bear and devour much flesh.
Carol,
In the minds of the regime the Sunni countries are crying out.
Thomas,
In my new book I show the 3 ribs and the 3 directions are one and the same.
If that doesn’t whet your appetite for more bible study nothing will.
“In the minds of the regime the Sunni countries are crying out.”
Mark,
What, exactly, are those countries doing that would lead Iran to think that? What is the basis for Iran’s perception?
The Jordanian Prime Minister has stepped down amid violent protests!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-middle-east-44358039
Jeanne,
I wrote about this topic in both Daniel Revisited and Iran’s Great Invasion. The regime wants to spread its version of Shiism to all of the Muslim Middle East countries. When the strategic situation has opened the path for the IRGC, Basij, and militias to invade and occupy, then those countries will be calling out.
Notice that there are three small Shia dominated areas (or cells) located outside of Iran that are currently very much supported by Iran. These are the Shia of Iraq, the Alawhites of Syria, and the Houthi rebels of Yemen. I call these cells or even more generically chambers because that is the Hebrew word used to describe these enclosed areas in a key verse I will mention later. In fact, this same Hebrew word “ala” was inappropriately translated as “rib” for the Adam’s rib that was miraculously genetically engineered into Eve by God in the Garden of Eden. Other examples include the use of “ala” as a side chamber in the Jewish Temple. Ladies and Gentlemen today we know that God would not start with Adam’s rib (which is a side part of him but not really a chamber). Rather God would start with a cell from Adam to form Eve which is a task well beyond our current modern genetic engineering capabilities, but not God’s genetic engineering abilities.
SO WHY AM I TALKING ABOUT RIBS, CELLS, AND CHAMBERS?
“And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs (ala) were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ (Dan. 7:5 NAS)
James,
Yes, that’s right. The three areas coincide with the two of the three directions the ram will run. Check out this post’s second map. The areas you call out are marked in red.