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Particulars
of Christianity:
314
End Times Prophecy (Eschatology)
Prophetic
Symbols: Daniel 2
Prophetic Symbols: Introduction
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 2
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 7 (Part
1)
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 7 (Part
2)
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 8 (Part
1)
Prophetic Symbols: Daniel 8 (Part
2)
Articles 7-12
Articles 13-18
Articles 19-25
Articles 26-29
Before we move into Daniel itself, let's take a few seconds
to look at Daniel's situation so that we can understand his
place in both Biblical and human history.
Until approximately 721 BC God's people were living as two
kingdoms, Israel and Judah. In 721 BC, Israel, the northern
kingdom, was conquered and exiled by the Assyrians. In approximately
586 BC Judah, the southern kingdom, was conquered and exiled
by the Babylonians.
During this second exile of God's people, many of the youth
of Judah were taken away to Babylon. Among these youth was
a young man name Daniel who was taken to serve in the king's
palace. Through a miraculous series of events Daniel eventually
rose to a place of prominence in Babylon beginning with his
ability to interpret a dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. It is
this dream and its interpretation that will serve as the start
of our study.
In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream, which he cannot
remember. So, Nebuchadnezzar calls for the astrologers, wisemen,
and magicians of Babylon, but they cannot interpret the dream
for him. The wisemen explain that since the king cannot tell
them the dream, not only is it impossible for anyone to interpret
the dream but it is also even more impossible for anyone to
tell the king what the dream itself was.
The finer details of this exchange between the king and the
wisemen of Babylon are quite significant to a later portion
of our study. But for now, what is significant to note is
that in anger, Nebuchadnezzar orders the death of all the
wisemen in the kingdom. But before that can occur, Daniel
prays that God would reveal to him both the dream and the
interpretation of it. God answers Daniel's prayer and Daniel
goes before Nebuchadnezzar to tell him the dream and its interpretation.
Daniel 2:31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great
image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood
before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image's
head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver,
his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his
feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that
a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon
his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and
the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff
of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away,
that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote
the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation
thereof before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings:
for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and
strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men
dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven
hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over
them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after thee shall
arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch
as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as
iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and
bruise. 41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part
of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided;
but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch
as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the
toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the
kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43 And
whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall
mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not
cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven
set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break
in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut
out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces
the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the
great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass
hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation
thereof sure.
As Daniel explains to the king, the dream was of a great statue
and the statue was in the image of a man. The head of the
statue was of gold. The arms and chest were of silver. The
belly and thighs were of brass. The legs were of iron. And
the feet and toes were made of iron and clay.
Of fundamental importance is that this statue is divided into
5 sections of the anatomy and likewise, is comprised of 5
substances. The five divisions of the anatomy are 1)
the head 2) the chest and arms 3) the belly
and thighs 4) the legs, and 5) the feet and
toes. As we shall see, each division in the anatomy represents
a different era in an unfolding timeline. They are not contemporaries.
The 5 substances are 1) gold 2) silver 3)
brass 4) iron, and 5) clay. Each substance represents
some characteristic of the national governments to whom the
imperial dominion passes, starting first with the Babylonians.
The gold represents the "superiority" of the Babylonians,
just as verses 38-39 state of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian
kingdom "Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall
arise another kingdom inferior to thee." Just as silver is
inferior to gold, the second kingdom will be inferior in some
respect to the Babylonians. Likewise, the third kingdom is
brass, which is inferior to silver. So, we know that the third
kingdom will be inferior both to the Babylonians and their
successors. The fourth kingdom is represented by iron, which
Daniel 2:40 tells us represents the strength and brutality
of that kingdom. Lastly, there is the clay. What exactly the
clay represents is not stated, other than it does not mix
well with the iron. It is possible that the phrase "potter's
clay" (verse 41) may refer to the common people in some respect
and that conversely the precious metals could represent the
royalty of the first three kingdoms. However, this is just
speculation, because the text itself does not tell us exactly
what these substances represent about these governments and
peoples.
Let's now establish both of those two points using the text
of Daniel. First, how do we know that each division of the
statue represents a further progression forward in time (rather
than contemporary kingdoms)? And how do we know that the anatomy
of the statue is divided into 5 sections?
How do we know that these kingdoms are not contemporaries?
Well, first, Daniel 2:34 states, "Thou sawest till that a
stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon
his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces."
The fact that the stone strikes just the feet and not the
entire statue denotes that the sections of the anatomy are
not contemporary in time, but as we move down the anatomy
from head to toe, we move forward in time, until the time
when finally the stone strikes the statue on its feet, at
its end. As is evidenced by verse 44, this represents the
end of human dominion over the earth, particularly dominion
by Gentile nations (such as those represented by this statue)
and the passing of their imperial reign to Jesus Christ.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the
God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:
and the kingdom shall not be left to other people,
but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
and it shall stand for ever.
Notice two things from Daniel 2. First, the phrase "the God
of heaven [shall] set up a kingdom" is the origin of the two
phrases "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" as they appear
in the Gospels and throughout the New Testament. This is important
because it tells us that when Jesus or the New Testament authors
spoke of the "kingdom of God" and the "kingdom of heaven"
they were referring back to what is described here by Daniel.
Second, it is said that the kingdom of the God of heaven "shall
not be left to other people." This is in direct contrast to
what was formerly the case with the ruling Gentile nations
as depicted by the statue, in which, the imperial dominion
did, in fact, pass from one people to another people. Additionally,
the kingdom of the God of heaven "shall stand forever." This
description by Daniel is why some place in the New Testament
the kingdom of God/kingdom of heaven is also known as the
"everlasting kingdom" or "eternal kingdom."
All these phrases (kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, everlasting
kingdom, eternal kingdom) refer to the same thing, a concept
that Daniel describes very clearly here in this vision. The
kingdoms of the earth, formerly ruled by Gentile peoples such
as Babylon, will pass to Jesus Christ, just as Revelation
11:15 states, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms
of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever
and ever." The kingdom of God is the time in which Jesus Christ
replaces the Gentile powers as the ruling kingdom over the
earth, just as Daniel depicts here.
Furthermore, verse 39 also substantiates that the divisions
between the sections of the anatomy depict a moving forward
in time.
Daniel 2:37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings:
for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and
strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men
dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven
hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over
them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after
thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and
another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over
all the earth.
First, notice that Daniel plainly states that the Babylonian
kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold. Second, Daniel
states that the other kingdoms will arise "after" the Babylonians.
This also indicates that the divisions of the anatomy represent
progressive eras of time and not contemporaries.
And lastly, we have the preliminary statements of Nebuchadnezzar
and Daniel in verse 8 and 9 and verse 22. In his angry response
to the magicians, Nebuchadnezzar makes this statement to them
in verses 8 and 9.
Daniel 2:8 The king answered and said, I know of
certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see
the thing is gone from me. 9 But if ye will not make known
unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye
have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me,
till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream,
and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
First, in verse 8, Nebuchadnezzar accuses his wisemen of withholding
the information about the dream from him. The phrase "that
you would gain the time" means that Nebuchadnezzar believes
the wisemen are stalling. But stalling for what? In verse
9, Nebuchadnezzar tells us. He believes they are stalling
"till the time be changed." So, right from the outset, we
know that even though Nebuchadnezzar does not remember the
details of his dream, he has the lingering suspicion that
it had something to do with the changing of times. But what
does that phrase mean?
Having received from God the revelation of Nebuchadnezzar's
dream and it's interpretation, Daniel begins his address to
Nebuchadnezzar with the following introduction, which confirms
Nebuchadnezzar's apparent lingering suspicions about the dream's
content.
Daniel 2:20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the
name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth
kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the
wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Daniel begins by declaring to the king that God alone changes
the times. And what does he mean by that? He means the "removing
of kings and the setting up of kings." This is exactly what
Nebuchadnezzar feared for he believed that his wisemen were
withholding information and stalling until his kingdom was
removed and passed to another kingdom after him, just as verse
44 states that eventually the kingdom (or dominion) would
pass to Jesus Christ and would no longer pass to another people
after that point. So, the entire dream is about this changing
of times and the progression of dominion from one kingdom
or kingship to another, one people or nation to another.
From all this we can say with certainty that time moves forward
as we pass from one section of the anatomy to another, from
the head to the toes.
Our second question was "how do we know that the anatomy of
the statue is divided into 5 sections?"
Most people agree upon dividing the head from the chest and
arms, the chest and arms from the belly and thighs, and the
belly and thighs from the legs. That gives us four sections
of the anatomy. However, the key is whether or not the legs
should be divided from the feet and toes. If they should be
divided, that would give us 5 divisions in the anatomy, and
consequently, 5 eras of time depicted by the statue.
So, should we distinguish between the legs and the feet? Verse
34 tells us.
Daniel 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out
without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that
were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Verse 34 plainly tells us that the stone that becomes the
Messianic kingdom of Jesus Christ strikes the statue upon
the feet, or at the time of the feet. If the legs and feet
were meant to be a single time period then we would expect
that the stone would strike the legs and the feet. However,
since Daniel describes the stone striking only the feet, we
must conclude that the feet are to be distinguished from the
legs.
But perhaps the clearest and most obvious support for the
notion that the feet represent a fifth time period distinct
from the legs comes from Daniel description of the layout
of the statue itself.
Daniel 2:31Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great
image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood
before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image's
head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver,
his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron,
his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Notice that the clay is not in the legs. The legs are of iron.
It is not until the feet that we find the substance of clay
in the statue. What this plainly indicates is that there is
a duration of time of this unfolding history where there is
only iron and at some point after that duration of only iron,
clay is introduced into the statue. Therefore, we can clearly
distinguish between a period of time before there is clay
and a period of time after there is clay. Before the clay,
there is the period of the legs in which there is only iron.
After the clay there is a period of time in which the iron
and the clay exist simultaneously depicted in the statue as
the timeframe of the feet. Thus, we know that while the legs
represent the fourth timeframe depicted by the anatomy, the
feet represent a new timeframe distinct from the legs.
Therefore, as we have shown, there are five time periods depicted
in the dream and not four. The time 1) of the head,
2) the time of the arms and chest, 3) the time
of the belly and thighs, 4) the time of the legs, and
5) the time of the feet and toes.
Other reasons for dividing between the fourth and fifth time
periods will be provided as we compare this and other passages
from Daniel with those of Revelation in construct our composite
map legend.
Before we move on we will address a possible objection to
this interpretation that there are 5 divisions of time represented
by this statue. Some might argue that since the text refers
to a "fourth" kingdom, if there were indeed five kingdoms
or five time periods, then we should see the word "fifth"
somewhere in the text. Since we do not see the word "fifth"
in the text, they would argue that there are only four kingdoms
and four time periods.
However, we should note that there is also no appearance of
the word "first" or "second" in the text. The second kingdom
is simply described as "another" kingdom while there is no
such ordinal adjective given to the Babylonian kingdom. The
fact is, Daniel is not using the ordinal adjectives such as
"first, second, third, fourth, or fifth" consistently in this
passage. He uses them only on the third and fourth but not
for the first, second, or fifth. So, the absence of the ordinal
adjective "fifth" does not in any way negate that there are
five kingdoms or five time periods. Rather, the consistency
of the dual symbolism here (the sections of the anatomy and
the substances) indicates that there are both five substances
as well as five eras or "changes" of time (changes of dominion)
depicted by the statue, just as Daniel began by announcing
that God alone "changes the times" and "sets up and removes
kings."
So far, Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2 has shown us the
following, which will be important as we continue to build
our prophetic map legend and develop our understanding of
human history as foretold in God's Word:
1. A single, symbolic entity (the statue) represents
a collection of unfolding historic empires. Or in other words,
these individual Gentile empires are represented collectively
by a single symbol.
2. This empire system is destroyed by the coming of
the kingdom of God.
3. These empires or kingdoms are not contemporaries,
but a succession of kingdoms, as dominion passes from one
to another.
4. There are five time periods that are depicted by
the statue, which will precede the Messianic kingdom.
5. Given that Babylon is identified as the head of
gold we can identify the subsequent anatomical parts of the
statue by the kingdoms that followed Babylon in human history.
So, the following succession of historic empires are depicted
by the first four of five parts of the statue: Babylon, (the
head of gold), Media-Persia (the arms and chest of silver),
Greece (the belly and thighs of brass), Rome (the legs of
iron). As we will see, the historic identity of these kingdoms
is corroborated by later visions in Daniel.
6. A fifth and final time period takes place after
the Roman Empire.
7. This fifth and final time period will be divided
between two simultaneously existing national powers, Rome
(the iron) and another national power (the clay).
8. These two powers, which exist simultaneously in
the end times will attempt to combine, but will have difficulty.
9. During this last time period when Rome (iron) exists
again, but alongside another national power (clay), God will
set up the Messianic kingdom (the kingdom of God/kingdom of
heaven/everlasting kingdom), which will last forever, and
power will not pass from it to another kingdom.
10. The Messianic kingdom will consume and destroy
all of these other kingdoms. (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45)
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