What does Daniel 7:9 mean?
During Daniel's prophetic dream (Daniel 7:1), he has seen four animal-like creatures which represent nations from the Mediterranean region (Daniel 7:17). These are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (Daniel 7:2–7). From the last beast, Daniel sees the emergence of a unique horn. This "horn" exhibits intelligence and speech (Daniel 7:8). Here, Daniel's attention shifts from imagery on earth to imagery in heaven. What he sees implies that God is judging these kingdoms. This is especially appropriate, as the dreamer's Hebrew name, Daniye'l, literally means "God is my judge."The focus of this new vision is "the Ancient of Days." This is a reference to the Lord God, the Creator (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 90:2). This title is appropriate because God is eternal. Ezekiel also portrays God seated upon His throne in dazzling splendor (Ezekiel 1:26–28). Revelation chapter 4 also describes the Lord on His throne. Revelation 1:14 describes the glorified Son of God as having hair as white, like white wool.
In Daniel's dream, God's throne is made of flame with wheels of fire. It's hard to know exactly what it was Daniel was seeing—these words are his best effort to describe something that was likely impossible to capture in words. Fire is often used in Scripture to indicate judgment. Ezekiel's vision also associated fire with God on His throne (Ezekiel 1:26–27), and Revelation 4:5 says, "From the throne came flashes of lightning…and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire."