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FOR THE TRUTH
DANIEL’S
FIVE ENDTIME KINGDOMS. Part I.
Power
Blocks in a geographical world of Countries,
and Peoples in
Modern times.
Looking at two visions
reported by the prophet Daniel.
While this is an in depth study
of the Scriptures,
we are actually considering some serious
spiritual issues,
which we need to approach very
prayerfully,
as they will effect many people in sad and difficult
ways.
DIFFERENCES
of INTERPRETATION, of TWO CHAPTERS IN DANIEL’S BOOK.
Just
as almost every aspect of Eschatology has different interpretations
and even strongly held views, the very reason that there are
differing beliefs on these subjects seem to demand that we should
still consider them. As we have said elsewhere, the fact that we are
not given all the details we would like, perhaps means that we should
be even more dependant on God’s “Spirit of Truth…
He will guide you into all the Truth; for He will not speak on His
own initiative but will say only what He hears. He will also announce
to you the events of the future. He will glorify Me, because
He will receive what is Mine and announce it to you.”
These are Jesus’ own words in John 16: 13 & 14,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit agreeing!
[Thankyou Loving LORD, we
humbly accept Your faithful promise.]
(This may not be through
this article, though we trust it will give some
guide-lines.)
COMPARING &
SEPARATING THE TWO VISIONS,
OF DANIEL CHAPTERS 2 & 7.
[It
is best that you read these two chapters first, as they are rather
lengthy to retype here.] The well-known descriptions of the
idolatrous kingdoms of chapter 2: 31 – 45. [Please read the
whole of this chapter for yourself.]
These
are the main features.
1.
The head of Gold represented King Nebuchadnezzer and Babylonia,
around 605 BC
2.The chest of Silver
was for the Kingdom of the Medo-Persians 539 – 330 BC
3.
The thighs of brass depicted Alexander’s kingdom of Greece
–aprox. 330- 250 BC
4. The two
legs of iron were a good picture of the Roman empire holding
wide power over 3/4 of the previous Middle East kingdoms, from about
63B.C until the early part of the next millennium, 476 A.D. [See
www.historyonthenet.com/rome
]
5. The Kingdom of the Rock,
set up by the God of Heaven. We quote from 2: vs. 41.
“Just
as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and
partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. (42) As the
toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly
strong and partly brittle… so the people will be a mixture and
will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. In
the time of those kings, the God of Heaven will set up a
Kingdom that will never be destroyed nor will it be left to
other people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them
to an end. This is the meaning of the vision of The Rock cut
out of a mountain, but not by human hands – a Rock that broke
the iron the bronze, the silver and the gold to pieces.”
We
believe the first four, were all ‘ancient’, literal
kingdoms, yet while the fifth One is real, it is like ‘the
fifth column’ –in the Second World War, (‘under-ground’
- or almost invisible), in other words, very real, but largely
unseen!
The
‘Beasts’ of Daniel chapter 7. [Again it
is good to read the whole chapter.]
Note: “Daniel said;
‘In my vision at night, I looked and there before me were the
four winds of Heaven, [from all ‘corners’ of the Earth],
churning up the great sea, [of people]. Four great beasts, [monsters]
each different from the others, came up out of the sea.” Vs.3.
They were not called ‘kingdoms’ and are more likely
to be ‘Power Blocks’ of united countries or
associated states.
These are just the basic descriptions
–
1. “The first
was like a LION, and it had the wings of an EAGLE.” Vs.
4.
2. “There before me was a
second beast, which looked like a BEAR.” Vs.
5.
3. “… there before
me was another, [third] beast – one that
looked like a LEOPARD, .... and on it’s back it had four
wings, like those of a bird… it had four heads.”
Vs. 6.
4. “… there
before me was a fourth beast … it was DIFFERENT
from all the former beasts. Verse 7. We will be coming back to
inquire about each of these later.
5.
But note, the Fifth Kingdom also features in a special way in
this vision, as the ‘Kingdom of the Saints’ which is very
important for us to notice as we progress through this study. It is
not numbered as the fifth, but clearly is separated out for very
special mention, in verses 18 & 21-22, & 27 as the ‘Kingdom
of the saints’!
The need for us to compare the two sets
of descriptions.
It seems God never wastes words in the Bible.
There are so many places where we would long to have just
a few more words of explanation - (like what the risen Yeshua/ Jesus
talked about to the travellers on the road to Emmaus! Luke 28:13
–32.)
So we would find it difficult to believe (as many
people do), that these visions would be repeated in two places but
mean the same thing. We doubt if the four kingdoms in the visions
given to King Nebuchadnezzar, (of the Metal Statue) and interpreted
by Daniel’s God, for him, in Daniel chapter 2, are the same
as those (of the four ‘monsters’) described in
chapter 7.
Are they the same? We
believe they are not. When God repeats a message it is
almost exactly the same, and leaves no doubts. (See Ezekiel chapter 3
and 33.)
Perhaps the only things these chapters, (2 & 7) have
in common are that there were 4 kingdoms and four beasts, and
Daniel wrote about them both. However, both assure us of the
Victory of God’s Kingdom power, extent and
indestructibility!
This is what really matters, don’t
you think?
Praise the God of Heaven for His Kingdom, “Thy
Kingdom come” we pray!
But the differences between
chapters 2 and 7 are very significant.
SOME
INTRODUCTORY PERSPECTIVES ON THE TWO VISIONS.
The
circumstances are different. God allows no confusion or vagueness in
His Word.
The dream in chapter 2 was given to the
Gentile king, Nebuchadnezzar.
a.
The four kingdoms of chapter 2, (the Statue) are clearly documented,
and dated by reliable historians to have actually existed in the
order given, and in decreasing states of wealth and means of
influence, over the subsequent 800+ years.
None exist in a
similar form now except for remnants of idolatry. [See later
notes.]
b. Many people were
involved in the awareness of the dream, and the interpretation!
Vs.48; “The king… made [Daniel] ruler over the entire
province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise
men.”
The vision in chapter 7 was given to Daniel
alone and he told no one else of it. It affected him greatly, “I,
Daniel was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale
but I kept the matter to myself.” Vs 28. No wonder! As we
consider later, they were very significant for God’s people,
like us, and far-reaching in time!
The differences in
chapter 7 are clearly seen when considered carefully. It seems a
little insulting to Daniel’s God and presumptuous to assume
they are the same as chapter 2. There must be a reason for two
different ‘pictures’ in this inspired Word of God. There
are real differences in details given, or omitted. [See point c,
below.]
WHAT THE DIFFERENCES IN THE
ACTUAL VISIONS ARE.
a.
The lion with the eagle’s wings do not match Nebuchadnezzar's
Neo-Babylon kingdom, which was not ‘divided’ but eclipsed
by the Medo-Persian Empire with the silver chest and two arms.
b.
No ancient kingdom had the emblem of a bear, or of a leopard as far
as we can determine. Greece was depicted as a goat, and Medo-Persia
as a ram, in chapter 8: 3 -8 and all the details given in those
verses happened between 334 and 323 B.C. [See notes in the N.I.V.
study Bible for chapter 8, please or other commentaries.]
c.
Although Alexander the Great’s (Greek) kingdom was divided in 4
parts under 4 rulers, the picture of four heads and four wings would
seem to have a very different significance. This is
interesting when you go back and look at the dates of the 4
kingdoms of chapter 2, when there was several hundred years
between ‘the brass” kingdom,’ of Greece and the
next ‘iron’ kingdom of Rome. (323 – 63 BC)
As far as the Jews
were concerned that period between the ‘brass’ and
the ‘iron’ kingdoms was a time of very great trauma
for the Jews. This was especially after the ‘kingdom’
was divided into 4 parts, (from 325 –164) and the 8th
ruler of the ‘Syrian’ section who emerged, was the
infamous Antiochus IV ‘Epiphanies’ who tried so cruelly
to wipe out ‘Judaism’ and replace it with corrupt
‘Hellenism’, from 168 –164. (Antiochus IV is
usually seen as a ‘type’ or picture of the Endtime
‘Anti-christ’.)
You can compare the description
in the next vision in chapter 8: 8 –26, -
a long
description for a period of just 3 years, especially when compared
with the other periods of many years under the rulers of the ‘statue’
kingdoms. (But those years were a very significant time, like other
‘3 years’ of testing as in the time of Elijah.)
This
time under Antiochus IV was a time of great distress for the Jews,
including the stripping all the gold from Jerusalem, very cruel
persecution of faithful Jews, and the desecration of the sacred
Temple in a vile way, that they remember well!
This led to the
time of “the Maccabees” and the only time, for about 100
years that the Jews won some territorial freedom. The time of
restoration has since been remembered in the “Feast of
Hanukkah’, but life continued to be unsettled for Jews from
then on. Indeed the time of Roman rule was also a very cruel and
difficult time.
The
fact that this last period of time (that we have described) was
omitted in chapter 2 emphasises that Daniel 2 was about ‘world
kingdoms’ (not Israel), from God’s perspective!
God saw the future and even showed it to a wicked king.
When
studied, the description and roles and historical facts about the
legs of iron, (believed to be the Roman Empire) which spanned the
time before and after the birth of the Church, does not really match
the description of the ‘Fourth Beast’ of chapter 7. The
weakness, pictured in the mixture of the iron and clay does not match
either. We will see other important comparisons, as we study more.
[How can 10 toes equate with 10 horns as in Daniel 7: 7? ‘Ten’
in Scripture, means ‘completeness’ or a period of a time
of testing, which just may apply here but as separate periods
of testing.]
However there can be no doubt that the ‘Fifth
Kingdom’ – the Kingdom of Heaven was
established during the time of the Roman Empire! In fact as a
video narrated by Leonard Nemoy shows, it was the cataclysmic events
surrounding the “Fall of Jerusalem” climaxing in the
destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Roman Titus, that changed the
character of Judaism in a big way. But it also caused the
spread and growth of Christianity from that time. The outward
form of Christianity degenerated, but the true Body of the Messiah or
Christ, (to use the Greek form of His Yeshua/ Jesus’ title) has
become great in it’s mainly invisible form all over the world
ever since! Yeshua talked about the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’
many times!
THE
PURPOSES OF THE FIRST VISION OF THE STATUE in Daniel chapter 2.
The
first vision/dream was given to Nebuchadnezzar.
To
alert him to the fact that it was a great privilege to be a great
king. “The God of Heaven has given you dominion and
power and might and glory, in your hands He has placed mankind…”
(2:36) “God has made you a king…” Vs.
37.
To direct his attention to Daniel’s message;
“there is a God in Heaven Who reveals mysteries.”
(2: 28) It is important to read from there, and see that
eventually the king ‘got the message’. “The king
said to Daniel, ’Surely your God is the God of gods and the
Lord of kings and a Revealer of mysteries…’ “ (2:
47!)
It also could have been to honour Daniel (and his
three friends) for their very faithful stand for their God in an
evil, foreign court. (See verses 48 & 49). “The king
placed Daniel in a high position [and] at Daniel’s request the
king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators…”
Perhaps this also enabled Daniel to be able to ‘stand in’
and hold the court and kingdom together while the amazing events
recounted by Nebuchadnezzar himself, happened, (in the 37th verse of
chapter 4!) You see, it seems the king soon forgot the message of God
having given him the great kingdom, so God gave him the seven years
when he was driven away to live with the animals! It seems amazing
that he could be restored to his kingship, with no ‘take over
coups’ in those seven years! Was it because of godly Daniel and
His three ‘administrating’ friends? (2:49.)
To
Glorify the God of Heaven and of Israel! Eastern
religion was about ‘mysteries’. “There is a God
in Heaven Who reveals mysteries,” (Vs. 28) the only
One Who can!
And this in a land famed for its ‘magic’
and with hundreds of ‘Magicians’!
It
was a very gracious act of the God of Israel to communicate with
the very man who had taken God’s People from the Land of
Israel into captivity! (Daniel 1: 1.)
It
was God’s way of using faithful Daniel to declare
God’s messages to a powerful, despotic king, who in turn
relayed the story of his experiences to his entire kingdom!
Since then, the message of it has been preserved for our
encouragement in our Bibles for 2.500 years! God is the greatest
‘Communicator’.
It
was also to re-assure the prayerful, concerned Daniel that
his God had great Plans for His own People to be established
finally in the greatest Kingdom of them all! Serving a cruel,
wicked king faithfully, yet seeing the apparent prosperity of that
evil kingdom must have tested Daniel’s faith in God’s
promises in His Scriptures. No wonder Daniel read and thought a lot
about Jeremiah’s writings!
It
was an opportunity for Daniel and his three friends to prove again
that God answers prayer. (2: 17 – 23.) Daniel
became the great man of God he was through trials. We only have some
of the details of the cruel jealousy and tests that Daniel faced, not
only as a young captive, but later on yet through which he became the
wise prophet of God and great intercessor that we respect. (See
chapter 1, which included making the captives into eunuchs, which had
serious implications for Jewish men. See Isaiah 56: 4 & 5.) But
even as a much older man Daniel was subjected to ridicule and danger
in the lion’s den. (Daniel chapter 6.) Daniel’s faith
should be a great encouragement to us all but especially Believers in
important secular work, or exiled to another country! God will honour
you too!
WE CAN ONLY MARVEL AT THE
WAYS OF SUCH A GREAT GOD OF ISRAEL!
THE
PURPOSE AND MEANING OF DANIEL’S OWN VISION IN
CHAPTER 7.
A.
To prepare
God’s End Time Saints, both Jews and Non-Jews.
God
has always sent prophets to warn of times of trial ahead. A
separate study of the Prophetic books would show that God explained
through the whole of the Tanakh/O.T. that after a time of judgement
in the Exile, He would one day send a glorious Messiah to bring in
the reign of God on Earth.
Of course it was not all clearly seen
and understood until the New Testament times.
But just as the
glorious future for God’s people was envisaged, so also
the just punishment of all evil and those who caused the world
to suffer from evil powers would be described. These are the
predominant themes of the ancient prophets of Israel. We need to
think about them too. Only God could give such specific
warnings.
B. To
reassure God’s People of every age that God is Sovereign and
does condemn evil.
Daniel had a Statesman’s
clear awareness of the implications of the cruelty and domination of
Evil world powers. Their huge and grotesque statues were everywhere,
including the massive stone lion still in Iraq which represented the
proud concepts of strength and ferocity and cunning they believed
they had. We need to approach these facts very humbly, as we believe
Daniel did – looking for the spiritual challenges to a
consistent “faith that moves mountains” rather
than just an academic understanding of the details.
God gives us
enough information now to live and pray and work for Him, as we
should.
C.
Prophecy fulfilled, vindicates the greatness and integrity of our
Majestic God.
No other person or so-called ‘god’
ever has, or ever will accurately foretell the future, let alone
cause it to happen. [If there is a reader who is not sure whether the
Bible is true, could we encourage you to look at it this way? Most
special, perhaps are the 33 specific events in the Life and Death and
resurrection of Yeshua/ Jesus/ Messiah which all happened exactly
as described hundreds of years before!]
As we contemplate the
meanings of the Monsters in Daniel’s awful dream we need to
take them as clear messages to us to pray about, and prepare other
people as God helps us. God did not need to write them for Himself.
He wrote them for us, today!
D.
We cannot
stop these events and prophetic scenarios from happening.
Whether
we understand or believe the ‘pictures’ of Daniel 7 are
for these End Times, is not of great importance. We can still live
lives of humble trust and obedience. But as a nurse, I know that for
many people who have to face serious medical or surgical treatments,
it has been proved that when a person has some idea of the possible
course of events towards their treatments, they are then much better
able to come through it well.
We
believe that God is going to test the faith of End Time Believers
very seriously.
Daniel sees that too,
especially regarding the Fourth Beast and its ‘little horn’.
Verse 21 says,“as I watched, this horn was waging war
against the saints and defeating them –until… “ We
do not believe he will defeat all of them, but the pressures
will be very, very great. Our preparation in holy determination to
stand true to our Lord and Saviour now, is important. [This is
the burden of this web-site.]
PRESENTING
A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION OF WHAT THE 10 TOES OF THE STATUE,
(REPRESENTED IN DANIEL CHAPTER 2: 33 – 35), MIGHT MEAN.
“Its
legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While
you were watching, a Rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It
struck the stature on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were
broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a
threshing floor in the summer. The WIND swept them away without
leaving a trace. But the Rock that struck the statue became a
huge mountain and filled the whole Earth.” We cannot insult
your intelligence by emphasising the key words, except by underlining
them, as we have. It does seem to us that there was a finality
about the kingdoms of the great statue. So we can at least ask, what
did the 10 toes represent? We can refer you to the historical
situation of the Roman Empire, from 63 BC that you can read about in
various places, such as the History web-site:
www.historyonthenet.com/Rome.
For
some 70 years before A.D 1 and then following there was great unrest
among the Jews of Israel, which kept erupting in rebellious forays
until a General called Vespasian saw this as a stamping ground
towards becoming Caesar. (Rome, already corrupt, had 20 of its 23
emperors murdered in the fight to be ‘Caesar’.)
Ironically it was also the time that a rebel Jewish leader, Josephus,
when cornered, changed his ‘line’ and pretended to
prophecy that Vespasian would become a future Roman Emperor! Josephus
then became a Roman citizen and later wrote the respected history of
the time.
The fact is, that the general decline of the once
disciplined Empire, was used by God for the establishment of His
Kingdom! In times of distress people look to find real answers
which they did in large numbers as the good Roman roads helped to
spread the news of the Gospel, yet the cost of becoming a
Believer in Yeshua/ Jesus Messiah also nourished the fast growing
Kingdom. Persecution of believers was real. The truth that, “the
blood of the martyrs is the seed of the [true] Church”
was never more true than at that time! The persecution of the
Believers and the final destruction of the Temple by Vespian’s
son, Titus, forced both Judaism and Christianity into a new era, not
limited to one place! So the combination of factors, especially
the strength of the new Believers in Yeshua both Jews and Gentiles,
spelt the crushing demise of the Roman Empire, whose territory
reached across 10 large areas, (10 ‘toes’?) of most of
the then known world.
These can be seen on a map at
www.1way2god.net/im_re_800.gif
- or in maps in some Bibles.
They are: Hispainia, Gaul,
(including part of Britain), Italia, Illyricum, Macedonia,
Phrygia/Galatia, Mesopotamia, Syria (which included ‘Palestinia’),
Capadocia and Carthage (Nth Africa).
Of course these
geographical areas continued on, but not under the Roman Empire
We
simply offer these as an alternative to the later descriptions
we give of the 10 world power bocks (‘horns’),
that will be part of the “Fourth Beast” of Daniel 7.
In
closing this Part I study, we remind ourselves that God’s Word
is meant to
challenge us to a more total devotion to God,
and
comfort us in every circumstance.
This is far more important
than a ‘correct interpretation’ of the prophecies.
This
is the main reason for writing these studies –
even though
they offer a different understanding from
many other Bible
Teachers. God’s Kingdom WILL prevail!
Because we have
a great concern for many faithful Believers
to remain true to
their Saviour and God, even under bitter
persecution, we offer
these studies.
“When the Son of Man comes, will He find
faith [in Him] on the Earth?”
Our prayer is, that He
will, through readers like you!