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Does the Great Image/Statue prophecy of Daniel chapter two really represent
a progression of Gentile kingdoms?
THE GREAT IMAGE / STATUE
'GENTILE KINGDOMS' or 'ISRAEL'
  
Was the message really as simple as:
Head = GOLD = BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
Chest & Arms = SILVER = MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE
Belly & Thighs = BRONZE = GREEK EMPIRE
Legs = IRON = ROMAN EMPIRE
It seems no one has realized the true meaning of the great statue prophecy
lies not in the surface meaning, but that it is being used to represent
another more biblically important entity.
This great image was in the form of a man, because it portrayed an entity
which carried the name of a man. The nation Israel (firstly in its physical
form and then in its spiritual form), which carries the name of the man
'Israel' (previously known as 'Jacob').
It should be noted that the life span of the so called 'Gentile Kingdoms
Man', was quite short. Using modern dating only about 1,100 years.
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BABYLON
(From 626 BC)
MEDO-PERSIA
(From 539 BC)
GREECE
(From 331 BC)
ROME
(146 BC - 476 AD)
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The Gentile Kingdom version of the Great Image fails to reach until the
biblical end-time. To overcome this shortfall some introduce a time gap
and others emphasize the various resurrections of the Roman Empire, but
the reality is this so called 'man' has long since died. It is important
to notice that the 'so called' description is appropriate, as there is no
symbolic 'man' or entity title that can reasonably be said to compose
these particular four quite separate kingdoms.
The problem with Daniel 2 is that people have consistently failed to fully
appreciate the symbolic nature of this Gentile statue. Failed to perceive
the existence of a second symbolic entity, the man/nation 'Israel'.
For the first stage of the growth of 'Israel' it was a literal nation ruled
by God, then it was ruled by human kings, then it became a priesthood based
entity (the Jewish faith) and finally it became a clergy led faith manifest
in many different forms (Christianity).
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GOD IS KING - 3,500 BT
(From Exodus)
HUMAN KINGS - 3,100 BT
(From Saul)
JEWISH
PRIESTHOOD - 2,520 BT
(After Captivity)
CHRISTIAN
CHURCH LEADERS - 2,000 BT
(After Pentecost)
'BT' = Before Tribulation
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The life span of this Israel is 3,500 years or 70 Jubilees.
Recall the verse associating the life of man to 'threescore and ten'.
(Psalms 90:10.)
This man spent 30 Jubilees under 'Law', which acted as a 'tutor'. As
he entered full adulthood, he was placed under the 'Law of Liberty'.
James 1:25,2:12.
Gal 3:24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us
to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
:25 But after faith has come, we are no longer
under a tutor.
* NOTES *
1) Prior to the appointment of the first human king, God was the
king of Israel!
1Sam 12:12 ... 'No, but a king shall reign over us',
when the LORD your God was your king.
2) The Gold/Silver transformation occurred at 62 Jubilees.
The value of 62 jubilees is most clearly defined by the correct
understanding of the seventy weeks prophecy.
However, the connection to the gold/silver transformation is
also through the seemingly irrelevant historical comment,
Dan 5:31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom,
being about sixty-two years old.
The transfer between the Babylonian and the Medo-Persian empires
occurred when Darius the Mede was 62 years old. Scripture by
recording this unimportant fact manages to subtly connect the
transfer between the first two metals with the number 62.
3) The Silver/Bronze division is clarified by the teaching of the
prophecy in Daniel chapter 4. The metals bronze and iron are
connected to the time during which the great tree was reduced
to a stump, refer Daniel 4:15. This period is defined as the
period of "seven times". This period is 7 x 360 = 2,520 years,
a time linked to the release of the Jews from captivity.
4) The bronze/iron difference represents a major change in the
work of God. The modification of the applicable belief system;
from emphasis upon physical laws to emphasis upon faith and
grace.
THE STONE AND THE FEET
THE STONE STRIKES THE FEET
In the end-time we observe the stone striking the feet of the image.
 
THE ORIGIN OF THE STONE
The 'stone' is described in Dan 2:45 as having been cut out of a mountain.
However, in the earlier description of the vision (verses 31-35) we do
not encounter any mention of a pre-existing mountain. Why?
Verse 40 indicates the iron of the fourth kingdom crushes all the other
elements, but verse 45 states that the stone is what crushes the elements
of the statue. Which is correct?
The answer to these questions lies in understanding the stone was cut
from the fourth kingdom. (In much the same way as the apostles were
initially cut out of the Jewish faith, so will those who compose the
stone be cut out of Christianity.)
THE STONE - THE GODLY KINGDOM
When the stone is cut out, without human hands, the initial form of the
Godly kingdom will have come into existence, verse 44.
This stone is cut out in the end-time. Verse 44 advises us that this
occurs in the time of the days of the 'kings', ie in the time of the
10 toes.
This stone represents an entity which shall never be destroyed and which
is destined to fill the whole earth, i.e. the spiritual earth previously
dominated by the four Israelite forms.
( NB: The rendering of the NKJV in verses 40 & 44 can be a little
confusing, but it is the stone which causes the other parts
of the statue to be broken in pieces and crushed. The stone
itself does not break in pieces. )
THE CLAY
The feet portray the introduction of a fifth element. This
clay is said to represent a 'fragile' element. This being
in sharp contrast to the strong nature of iron.
Dan 2:42 And as the toes of the feet were partly
of iron and partly of clay, so the
kingdom shall be partly strong and
partly fragile.
More precisely this clay in the NKJV is described in verses
33-35, 41-43, 45 as 'clay', 'potter's clay' and 'ceramic clay'.
- 'clay' - H2635 - verses 33, 34, 35, 42, 43, 45.
- 'clay that of the potter' - H2635 H7168 H6353 - verse 41
- 'in clay of the mud' - H2635 H2917 - verse 41, 43. |
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This has been interpreted in various ways, but it is clear that the
clay represents an inferior element. A spiritually inappropriate
mixing is suggested.
Given that the iron is being defined as Christianity, the two obvious
candidates for the 'clay' would be 1) the Jews and 2) those completely
outside the arena of Old and New Covenant faith.
Non believers have always been present around the borders of Christianity.
In general they usually can be quite easy to spot. So there does not
appear to be any reason to emphasize them specifically in the latter era,
(the era of the feet).
So what does Scripture indicate may be distracting Christian leaders
from the end-time message of God.
Luke 14:16 Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a
great supper and invited many,
:17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to
those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are
now ready.'
:18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses.
The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of
ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have
me excused.'
:19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen,
and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me
excused.'
:20 Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and
therefore I cannot come.'
So, an important acquisition (or union) is being given as the reason why
the leaders of Christianity can not attend the end-time banquet that in
the parable was especially prepared for them.
The notion of marrying a wife - certainly hints of an end-time union
organised (or simply loosely agreed) between the leaderships of
Christianity and Judaism.
The following verse shows deliberate intent.
Dan 2:43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they
will mingle with the seed of men; but they will
not adhere to one another, ...
The verse is saying the leaderships of the iron will chose to associate
(i.e. 'mingle') themselves with others belonging to another entity.
An entity that represents the posterity ('seed') of presumably past
spiritual ancestors ('men').
It is interesting to notice that verse 45 mentions the substances broken
in the following order; iron, brass, clay, silver and gold. The 'clay'
is unexpectedly mentioned between the brass and silver. Hinting that the
clay has a connection to the Jewish brass and the latter Jewish silver
era.
One could ask, "Why clay? Why not a fifth type of metal?".
The purpose of the metals in the statue is to reflect a reducing quality
of leadership.
God - gold,
kings - silver,
priesthood - brass,
church leaderships - iron.
As the sequence of metals progress downward, we notice quality is being
exchanged for strength.
However, the clay while it is of lower quality than iron is simply not
representing an improvement in strength. As if this inclusion is not
as a consequence of the will of God, but rather a faulty decision of
the end-time 'iron' leadership.
THE FEET AND TOES
It is apparent that the feet and toes represent an end-time form of the
iron kingdom. However, the 10 toes also help identify the iron kingdom
as the spiritual house of Israel (ie Christianity). The historic form of
the house of Israel was composed of 10 tribes.
This end-time form of the kingdom would be weakened by the mixing with
the inferior clay element.
The 10 toes are said to represent 10 kings (verse 44) and each of these
10 toes are said to exhibit the iron/clay mixture.
STRUCK, SHATTERED, BLOWN AWAY
In the end-time the vulnerable feet will be struck by the stone, apparently
on the toes, refer verse 42 which emphasizes the fragile nature of the toes.
Following this all the elements of the statue would be crushed into powder
by the stone. Then the wind would blow away the crushed remnant.
The chosen ones of God, those carved out of Christianity, will strike and
grind, through their truthful witness, the corrupt establishment. (This
was typed in the past by Jesus Christ, and later by the apostles, who
opposed the religious hierarchy of their time.)
Then having been spiritually destroyed, by the witness of the stone, the
'wind' will be unleashed to remove completely what remains. This 'wind'
is probably the destroying east wind mentioned in Jer 51:1, Hos 13:15,
Ezek 17:10 and Jer 4:11. The wind is likely the great deception which
will be unleashed upon those who refuse to receive a love of the truth
(2Thes 2:10-12).
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