God gave King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon a very important prophetic dream. Part of that dream is about our modern times.
This story reminds me of the story of Joseph, who stood before Pharaoh in Egypt. The great Egyptian ruler had dreamed a dream that disturbed him greatly. Because of a gift from God, Joseph had a reputation for being able to interpret dreams, so he was brought before Pharaoh to interpret his dream.
Like the Egyptian Pharaoh, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon also dreamed a dream that he could not remember. The Jewish Prophet Daniel was called upon to reveal and interpret the dream, because Daniel also possessed a divine gift, like Joseph.
In both stories, God was working profoundly to place a Hebrew into a strategic position of power within a pagan government. There he would play a divine role that would serve the purpose of God for Israel and other nations in his day. In the long term, Daniel's roles in Babylon and Persia left an eternal testimony for all the nations of the world, and for all of time to come.
God used both Joseph and Daniel to speak to the most powerful heathen powers of their day, to give a witness that the One True LORD and GOD is in control over ALL the affairs of men, and that He sets kings and kingdoms in order. Both kings eventually recognized the miraculous power of Jehovah and worshipped Him from their thrones.
In the end, we can see that God sent the dreams to Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar. God also sent the interpreters, Joseph and Daniel. It was all divinely orchestrated for the glory of God.
"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.
Nebuchadnezzar could not remember the dreams that troubled him, so he demanded his magicians, astrologers and sorcerers to reveal and interpret them. Naturally, they could not, so Nebuchadnezzar ordered them all to be put to death.
But Daniel intervened. He begged for time to show the answer. "Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ...That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret." (Here is a great lesson: Fortify your prayers with strong desire!)
They Desired Mercies Of The God Of Heaven
Daniel 2:19 - "Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. ...what we desired of thee."
God Sets Up And Removes Kings
Daniel had the keenest awareness that everything going on in Babylon, including everything going on with Nebuchadnezzar, was under the perfect control of Almighty God. That truth is the heart and soul of Bible prophecy. Prophecy is simply the declaration of what God is going to do. Never doubt that God has EVERYTHING under control, and it is ALL working for HIS good. You should want to be perfectly allied with Him.
Daniel 2:20-21 - "Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: ...he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings."
Don't Forget To Give Thanks
None of King Nebuchadnezzar's counselors could reveal his troubling dreams to him, so he ordered them all to be killed. But by intercessory prayer, Daniel obtained a revelation from God which answered the King's wishes, and saved the lives of Daniel and his companions. Daniel immediately gave thanks and praise to God.
Daniel 2:23 - "I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter."
God Reveals Secrets Of The Latter Days
The wisest men in Babylon had no clues about the future. Nebuchadnezzar would have killed them for their ignorance. But all wisdom and knowledge comes from the LORD, and wise men of God like Daniel save many lives. God knows EVERYTHING. Daniel saw things 2500 years in the future.
Daniel 2:27-28 - "Daniel answered... The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days."
God Tutored Nebuchadnezzar, A Pagan King
When all else had failed, the man of God, Daniel, had the answers that Nebuchadnezzar could find nowhere else. Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man on earth in his day, ruling over the sprawling Babylonian Empire. But he did not have a clue about the future. God decided to teach him a few things.
Daniel 2:29 - "As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass....Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image."
Nebuchadnezzar's Image
God gave the dream to Nebuchadnezzar. He saw a great statue of a man. It was bright, excellent and terrible, and foretold the sequence of coming world empires. Its golden head represented the current Babylonian Empire; its silver breast and arms represented the successor Medo-Persian Empire. Brass thighs prophesied of Greece. Iron legs foresaw the Roman Empire; iron and clay feet, the Holy Roman Empire.
Jesus Christ Will Come And Crush The Iron And Clay Feet
Daniel 2:45 - "...the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and... brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold"
God Of Gods, Lord Of Kings
Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and worshipped Daniel for his ability to describe the dream he had forgotten, and to interpret it. He ordered his officers to offer an oblation and sweet odors to Daniel. He made him a great man, gave him many great gifts, made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors. People can recognize that our God is the greatest.
Daniel 2:47 - "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret."
The great statue depicted successive world kingdoms.
These are the empires that have successively dominated the Eur-Asian-Mideast region for 2500 years. As such, these empires have had profound, even dramatic effects on the "diaspora" - the dispersed Jews that descended from ancient Israel. Bible prophecies rarely have any comment on world events that do not have some association with the nation and people of Israel. These are the empires that most affected the people and/or land of Israel since ancient times.
Babylon was the head of gold.
Medo-Persia was the silver arms and chest.
Greece was the brass belly and thighs.
Rome was the iron legs.
The Roman Empire collapsed around 300 A.D. and the next and last world empire before Jesus Christ returns was illustrated by iron and clay feet.
Notice that Europe appears three times in Daniel’s statue –
First, Europe appears in the east, as the brass thighs of Greece. Alexander the Great took it to its zenith.
Second, Europe is seen as the iron legs of the Roman Empire, under powerful men like Caesar Augustus.
Thirdly, it appears as the iron and clay feet:
Finally, he saw iron and clay feet on the great statue in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
The Coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III, Christmas, 800AD
“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. 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.” (Daniel 2:41,42)
The stone struck and destroyed the iron and clay feet.
What do the iron and clay feet represent?
1. An empire with a dual nature: Religion & Politics, Church & State.
2. The politics of the defunct Roman Empire, revived under the careful manipulation of the Roman Catholic Church.
Why should we assume that the clay in this image symbolizes the Roman Catholic Church? There are several reasons.
Pope Leo III of the Roman Catholic Church crowned Charlemagne on Christmas Day, 800 AD in Rome, saying, “I crown you Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.” In this single epic event, the collapsed Roman Empire came back to life, but was renamed “the Holy Roman Empire.” With the anointing of the Roman Catholic Church, Charlemagne instantly carried the most powerful endorsement of his day. As a devout Roman Catholic, Charlemagne would always be at the beck and call of the Pope. Every subsequent emperor of the Holy Roman Empire for about 1000 years was also a Roman Catholic.
Charlemagne set about to consolidate Europe as never before. He would come to be known as “the Father of Europe.” The combined forces of Roman church and state would change Europe for all time. Roman pontiffs crowned almost all the kings of the Holy Roman Empire for a thousand years. The Cathedral of Kings in Frankfurt is today a monument to that notable tradition, and the Hall of Kaisers (Caesars) there displays the portraits of each emperor with his crown and “apple” – a golden ornament depicting a cross mounted on top of a globe. It symbolized the domination of the Roman Catholic Church over the world via the anointed kings. The RCC controlled the world empire through its earthly kings.
Charlemagne ruled from Germany. Nevertheless, Rome exerted powerful influence on German politics. The German Kaisers derived their names from the Roman Caesars. For a while, Charlemagne was buried in the sarcophagus of Augustus Caesar. For all practical purposes, the Holy Roman Empire was built upon ancient Roman law.
Even in modern times, plenty of writers believe that Pope Pius XII was complicit with Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich. Today, Roman Catholicism can still be seen exercising its influence in high political places.
For a more complete explanation of the Iron and Clay Feet,
continue to the next article:
The Iron and Clay Feet and the Four-Headed Leopard
The Four Beasts Of Daniel 7
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Ken Raggio
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