Episode 30 begins the discussion of major Biblical prophecies that predict the coming of the superhuman kingdom of God. It begins with Daniel’s amazing interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

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Transcript
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The Future of the Teachings of Jesus
Daniel 2–The Great Image
Three Great Conclusions (Ep. 30)

 

Turn to Biblical prophecy. Jesus taught and emphasized “the kingdom within,” the rule of God in the heart of the individual believer. This is the necessary first phase of the kingdom of God. He also taught a later phase of that kingdom which would come at a future time. This is “the kingdom without,” an outward political kingdom and external rule in contrast to the inner rule of God in the hearts and minds of believers. The story of the coming of this outer kingdom, the destruction of the kingdoms of men, and their replacement by the kingdom of God, is foretold in numerous Biblical prophecies. We will now turn to these prophecies.

The teachings of Biblical prophecy–Daniel. The book of Daniel and especially Chapter 2, is an excellent place to begin the study of Biblical prophecy. It depicts the entire sweep of world history in an unbroken timeline from the days of Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century before Christ down to modern times and beyond to the coming of the kingdom of God to rule the earth. I love the story of Daniel presented in Chapters 1 and 2. He was born into an upper-class Jewish family around 622 BC, and lived his childhood and early teen years in Judea. When Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, first attacked Jerusalem in 605 BC he carried away a number of carefully selected Jewish youths. These youths included Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; they were to be trained to serve in the king’s palace.

King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. One night Nebuchadnezzar had a vivid dream that greatly disturbed him. He called together his “wise men” and demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed and what it meant. The king reasoned that he could only be certain of the dream’s interpretation if the wise men could tell him what he actually dreamed. When the wise men said they could only interpret the dream if the king would first reveal the dream, the king was furious, and ordered that all the wise men be executed. Daniel and his friends were to be included in this order so he requested that the king give him some time and he would interpret the dream. He prayed to God for the answer and then came before the great king saying, “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to king Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.” (Dan. 2:28; my italics)

Daniel reveals the dream of the great image. Daniel then proceeds to tell the king his dream:

31You saw, O King, and behold a great image….  32The head of this image was of fine goal, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partially of iron and partially of clay. 34As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces;… and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. (Dan 2:31-35)

 

Daniel interprets the dream. Daniel then begins the interpretation of the dream.

37You O king…are the head of gold…. 39After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40And there shall be a fourth kingdom strong as iron because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things…. 41And as you saw the feet and toes partially of potter’s clay and partially of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom…. 43As you saw the iron mixed with miry clay so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together…. 44And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall it sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever;… 45A great God has made known to the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain and its interpretation sure. (Dan 2:37-41, 43-44; my bold)

 

The historical record confirms the dream. When we observe the historical record it becomes clear that the great image represents the history of the great empires of the Western world. It begins with Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon (606-538 BC) represented by “the head of fine gold,” which was then conquered by Cyrus’s Persia (538-331 BC) represented by “its breast and arms of silver.” Persia fell to Alexander’s Greek empire (331-146 BC BC) represented by “its belly and thighs of bronze.” This Greek empire was then conquered by Rome (146 BC-476 AD) which was symbolized by the “legs of iron.” The decreasing value of the metals in the image represent the decreasing unity of the empires beginning with the absolute and highly unified rule of Nebuchadnezzar and ending with Rome which was a divided empire that eventually fragmented into its various provinces.

The meaning of “the feet and toes partially of iron and partially of clay.” Rome’s lack of unity is represented by the fifth element of the great image, “the feet and toes partially of iron and partially of clay.”  Daniel interprets the meaning of the fifth element as signifying that Rome “shall be a divided kingdom.” (Dan 2:41) History tells us that in 395 AD the Roman empire was divided into a Western and an Eastern half. The Western empire continued the Roman legacy and heritage while the Eastern empire increasingly adhered to the legacy of Greek culture.  The Western empire gradually divided up into its constituent provinces, which were conquered by various barbaric tribes. These former Roman provinces then gradually evolved into the modern nation-states of Western Europe. These nations continued to follow their Roman heritage in such things as Romance languages, culture, legal system, government, architecture and the Christian religion. The Eastern half continued in the inherited legacy and traditions of Greek culture brought by the conquest of Alexander the Great.

The meaning of the stone cut out by no human hand.” Daniel then interprets the meaning of the stone that “was cut out by no human hand” which “smote the image on its feet of iron and clay” (Dan 2:34) and then “became a great mountain that filled the whole earth.” (Dan 2:35) Daniel states that “in the days of those kings the God of heaven we will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.” (Dan 2:44)

Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction. When the king heard all this he said to Daniel: 47Truly your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery. 48Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. (Dan 2:47-48)

 

Three great conclusions. What conclusions may we draw from Daniel’s interpretation of the great image?

The unjust and coercive kingdoms of men are to be destroyed forever. First, the nations of Western Europe that evolved out of the territory of the Western Roman empire, along with the imperialistic legacy of the four great empires, the coercive and semi-totalitarian rule of men over one another, is to be destroyed. As Daniel states, The stone “shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end….” (Dan 2:44) The imperialistic and freedom denying governments of men will not gradually and peacefully evolve into better political systems. They will be destroyed by God forever.

The kingdoms of men will be replaced by the kingdom of God. Second, the national governments of these political states will come under the rule of a God instituted divine world government. And this freedom affirming world government will rule the earth forever! As Daniel states, “…it shall stand forever.” (Dan 2:44)

The Great Image is an unbroken timeline of the history of the Western world. To grasp the third great conclusion, we must remember that the great image actually pictures an unbroken timeline that depicts the history of the Western world, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire. It then runs forward through the empires of Persia, Greece and Rome, and continues on through dissolution of Rome and its eventual evolution into the modern nation-states of Western Europe.

We are now living in the time immediately preceding the coming of the kingdom of God. This divided Roman empire, which evolved into the present-day nations of Western Europe, is represented in the image by the feet and toes of iron and clay. And it is the feet that are struck by the divine stone! This leads to the third great conclusion of the prophetic dream: we are now living in the time preceding the destruction of human governments and the coming of the kingdom of God to rule over the nations of the world. As Daniel states in the conclusion of the dream: “In the days of those kings,” which refers to the modern-day rulers of the nations of Western Europe, “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.” (Dan 2: 44)

 

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