And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. (Daniel 2:1)

I continue to study the prophecies of Daniel with varying degrees of success. The new Islamic surge into Europe and their brazen appropriation of civil governance within the areas of the Western Nations they have gained a majority has given me new insight that I wanted to work more.

Martin Luther (and all of the early Protestant reformers) thought that the prophecies of Daniel were so important, that once he had finished translating the New Testament into German, he began translating the Old Testament beginning with Daniel.

The Book of Daniel (and its prophesies) is one of the reasons why the Roman Catholic church did not want the Bible translated into the languages of the common people.

Daniel 2, 7, and 9 all illustrate what is to happen to the known world after the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. I am still fighting with the timeline of Daniel 9. The Hebrew Talmud cursed anyone who read and studied the timeline because it gave the time when the Messiah would appear. That time has come and gone so either the prophesy was false (unlikely) or Israel failed to recognize the Messiah when he arrived (100%).

The Catholic Church and Talmudic Judaism both don’t want me to read Daniel? Oh yeah, I’m gonna be all in that Book!

I wrote quite extensively on the prophesy of Daniel 7 (the Man of Sin – 2Thessalonians 21:10). I would recommend reading that after you finish this blog (I should have done this teaching first since the understanding of the prophecy of Daniel 7 assumes the understanding of the prophecy of Daniel 2).

Daniel 2 recounts Nebuchadnezzar’s troubling dream, the failure of his magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers to describe the king’s dreams (he refused to tell them the dream believing that if they had the power to interpret dreams that they should also have the power to see those dreams – Daniel 2:5-6) or to give an interpretation of those dreams, and Daniel’s description and interpretation of those dreams.

Most people are familiar with the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as well as the interpretation given by Daniel.  Not as many are familiar with the implications of the interpretation – especially in light of current events.

Before I get into the dream, I want to acknowledge that it is foolhardy to use current events to analyze prophesy, but it is also foolhardy to not let prophesy illuminate current events.  We must take care to not try to force a square peg in a round hole, but if prophesy looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we should not ignore that it might be a duck.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream had a vision of a huge figure that was made of five different elements (Daniel 2:32-33) and Daniel was given the interpretation from Yahweh so he could share it with the king (Daniel 2:36-45).

Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was the head of gold. It was very strong as illustrated by their ability to conquer Jerusalem. Many nations had tried to defeat Israel only to be thwarted by divine intervention. Yahweh allowed Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon to capture Jerusalem and carry His people into captivity.

The Babylonian Empire would give way to a different, conquering kingdom (Daniel was not told what that kingdom was, but in hindsight, we know that Cyrus the Great and the Medo-Persian Empire conquered the Babylonian Empire in 539BC). That silver kingdom (silver is stronger than gold) was depicted as a bear with three ribs (the nations it conquered – Babylon, Egypt, and Lydia) in its mouth in Daniel 7:5.

The Persian Empire gave way to Alexander the Great and Greece in 331BC. The brass kingdom was depicted as a leopard with four heads (Daniel 7:6) because Alexander’s Empire was divided into four regions upon his death (one region given to each of his four generals).

Greece was conquered by the Roman Empire in 146BC. The iron kingdom was the strongest of the four empires (as iron is much stronger than the other three metals mentioned) and ruled for many centuries. The two legs refer to the split of the Roman Empire into the Eastern (Byzantine – centered in Constantinople) and the Western Empire in Rome in 395AD.

Finally, the feet were described:

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. (Daniel 2:41-43)

The ten toes were the ten kingdoms that formed upon the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire tried, several times, to reclaim the lost territories of the former Roman Empire. The greatest success was by Justinian I, Emperor (527-565AD). He not only sought unity of the various European and African nations (achieving modest success) but he also sought unity within the church, suppressing heretics and declaring that the bishop of Rome was supreme over church and the empire itself in 538AD.

Under the Roman Empire the popes had no temporal powers. But when the Roman Empire had disintegrated and its place had been taken by a number of rude, barbarous kingdoms, the Roman Catholic church not only became independent of the states in religious affairs but dominated secular affairs as well. At times, under such rulers as Charlemagne (768-814), Otto the Great (936-73), and Henry III (1039-56), the civil power controlled the church to some extent; but in general, under the weak political system of feudalism, the well-organized, unified, and centralized church, with the pope at its head, was not only independent in ecclesiastical affairs but also controlled civil affairs. (The Papacy and World Affairs, Carl Eckhardt – 1937).

The feet are iron mixed with clay, so the iron (Rome) mingled with clay (seed of man – something very weak).

The seed of Genesis 3:15 (“her seed”) refers to the eventual Messiah – the Word made flesh (John 1:14), full of grace and truth. The seed of man is a weak substitute for Yahweh’s seed with the woman (Luke 1:26-38) – it is a faith that is man-centered rather than centered on Christ.

The faith that Christ calls us to was corrupted over time by the doctrines of men, which gave rise to the Catholic Church.  Roman Emperors (starting with Constantine in 312AD) used the church as another means of controlling its far-flung empire.

With the collapse of the Western Roman empire and Byzantine’s failure to reincorporate the former dominion, the Catholic Church began to fill the void – first, by working with the separate kingdoms to subjugate its citizens through religion, then, over time, by seizing temporal powers through its iron-fisted rule over the religious lives of all the kingdoms’ citizens.

Without having actual control over the lands of the ten kingdoms, the Holy Roman empire (as it began to call itself) exerted control over the rulers of these kingdoms, having the power to choose monarchs and to depose them (through intrigue with the noble class). The Vatican was even able to prompt these kingdoms to raise armies to punish its enemies and wage foreign wars (e.g., the Crusades).

Through syncretistic councils (the combining or merging of various distinct beliefs or schools of thought, particularly religious ones), the Catholic

Church is trying to bring all the seeds of man (Islam, Judaism, Protestantism, etc.) under its dominion (as they once did with the many pagan religions in the Roman empire) by stressing common beliefs within the many faiths and ignoring or changing customs and rites to make the differences less problematic.

The iron and clay will not cleave to one another completely, but increasing cooperation could bring about theocratic temporal power in more countries.  A modest union, that can be enforced by the secular governments, could give the Catholic Church the power it once wielded in the Middle Ages.

Thankfully, this kingdom of iron and clay will be obliterated by the Rock (Christ, not Dwayne Johnson):

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. (Daniel 2:44-45)

1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1Corinthians 10:1-4)

42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures [Psalm 118:22], The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. (Matthew 21:42-44)

31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; 33 As it is written [Isaiah 28:16], Behold, I lay in Sion [Zion – initially Jerusalem, but also, any “dwelling place of God”] a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (Romans 9:31-33)

Christ, the son of Yahweh, is the rock upon which the church of true faith will be built upon the debris of the man-made religions of the past:

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [Petros -G4074 – a piece of rock, a pebble], and upon this rock [Petra – G4073 – a (large mass of) rock. i.e., Christ, speaking of himself] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

Our hope is in Christ, not a man-made religion.  Look to Scripture and not to churches, that preach man-made fables, so you will not be crushed when the Rock returns to earth.