As we read in Revelation 13, the beast has been described in terms of the characteristics of animals. The major book of these days is Daniel. But, even within Daniel there is much confusion and controversy. While we may not come to a complete agreement in these areas, we should agree on what God has said. Daniel’s prophecies begin with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2.
Daniel 2:27 Daniel answered before the king and said, The secret which the king has demanded cannot be shown to the king by the wise men, the conjurers, the horoscopists, or the fortune-tellers. 2:28 But there is a God in Heaven who reveals secrets and makes known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed are these. 2:29 As for you, O king, your thoughts came on your bed, what should happen after this. And He who reveals secrets makes known to you what shall happen. 2:30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living man, but so that the meaning might be known to the king, and that you might know the thoughts of your heart.
Daniel humbly begins where we should always begin, that is, only God knows the future, plans the future, and is totally sovereign over the future.
2:31 You, O king, were seeing. And, behold! A great image! That great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you. And its form was dreadful. This image's head was of fine gold; his breast and his arms were of silver; his belly and his thighs were of bronze; 2:33 his legs were of iron; his feet were part of iron and part of clay. 2:34 You watched until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image upon its feet which were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. 2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken to pieces together. And they became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Imagery is often used in prophecy and especially in the last days. Thankfully, Daniel is given a very definite starting point.
2:36 This is the dream. And we will tell its meaning before the king. 2:37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of Heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 2:38 And wherever the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens live, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.
Now we have a very definite starting point for our study. This kingdom historically covered the time of 612-539 BC.
2:39 And after you shall arise another kingdom lower than you, and another third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron. Since iron crushes and smashes all things; and as the iron that shatters all these, it will crush and shatter. 2:41 And as to that which you saw: the feet and toes, part of potters' clay and part of iron; the kingdom shall be divided. But there shall be in it the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay. 2:42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 2:43 And as you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mix themselves with the seed of men. But they shall not cling to one another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
So each of these other parts of this image are also kingdoms and are progressing from strength to weakness and ultimate defeat.
2:44 And in the days of these kings, the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other peoples, but it shall crush and destroy all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
This explanation ends with Jesus’ final complete victory and the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom.
2:45 Because you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it crushes the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what shall occur after this. And the dream is certain, and its meaning is sure.
Daniel is 100% convinced of the truth and certainty of this prophecy, as should we.
Now that we know this is all about the kingdoms that will come and go as the end of the world comes near, we must try to discern where we are today in this timeline.
While great certainty and accuracy cannot be assume, Jesus Himself said we should be able to discern signs and seasons. We will go to Daniel 7 to study further next time.