Empires in Prophecy
From Daniel chapers 2 and 7
Over six hundred years before Christ, an ancient power was rousing itself in the Middle East. Babylon, the fountain head of idolatrous worship and occult “mystery religions”, with its eyes on Egypt, started pushing west from its base in an area within what we now call Iraq towards the areas now known as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. It was rising up to become a strong empire that ultimately would encompass all the lands from Israel to the eastern parts of Persia (Iran). Pushing first into Assyria and then down into Israel, it was set to fulfill the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning a power that God would raise up against Israel.
Then the LORD said to me:
“Out of the north calamity shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. For behold I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says the LORD;
“They shall come and each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. (Jer 1:14-15)
By around 606BC the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II, brought Jerusalem into submission by way of a military siege and took captive back to Babylon a number of the finest Hebrew teenagers to be trained for service in his royal court. Amongst these was Daniel who became the author of the book of Daniel.
Daniel and three of his friends were notable for maintaining their Hebrew faith even in the very tempting environment of elite Babylonian society. They chose to avoid the king’s meat, in all likelihood because the animals were commonly sacrificed to idols. They also did not drink the king’s wine. Because they kept themselves pure and followed God with their whole heart, God used these men as chosen vessels of gold to serve him. To Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego God gave miraculous deliverance from the fiery furnace, which became a testimony to the whole empire (Ch.3). To Daniel God gave wisdom, understanding and visions concerning many events that would take place from his time and into the future. Some of his visions extend even beyond the first coming of Jesus to the last days on earth before the greatest day in biblical prophecy, the day of the Lord, often referred to by Christians as “the second coming of Christ”.
Yet the first prophecies in the book of Daniel were not given to Daniel directly, but through that great king, Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar received the prophecy in a dream, but when he awoke, although he perceived that it had been a prophetic dream it slipped out of his mind and he couldn't remember it. This was how it came about that he gave the incredible command that the wise men of Babylon had to tell him the dream, and explain it to him, or else be put to death. Of course they all complained loudly that no king had ever asked such a thing and that no magician or wise man could know what another person had dreamt. Daniel and his friends also knew that this was outside the power of man, so they set to praying earnestly that God would reveal it to them. God answered their prayers by appearing to Daniel in a night vision, showing him the king’s dream and the interpretation of it.
The dream was of a great statue, exceedingly bright but also terrifying. It's head was of gold, it's chest and arms of silver, it's belly and thighs of brass, it's legs were made of iron and its feet of a mix of iron and clay (perhaps like pottery). In the vision a stone was cut out without hands and struck the great statue on the feet smashing them. Then the whole statue disintegrated into tiny pieces that the wind blew away, and the rock carved out without hands became a great mountain that filled the whole earth. Daniel explained to the king that the statue represented four world empires, of which his empire was the first, the head of gold. He then tells the king that after his empire would come another empire, inferior in some way to the empire of Nebuchadnezzar. This was represented by the chest and arms of silver. This second empire actually comes into being later in the book of Daniel during the time when Nebuchadnezzar's son Belshazzar is on the throne. We read in chapter five of the book of Daniel that Belshazzar threw a great party and decided to use the holy cups stolen from God's temple in Jerusalem to drink wine out of. But then suddenly, during his party, Belshazzar saw a ghostly hand write on the wall and with his face pale and his knees knocking he called for someone to interpret it. None of his magicians or wise men could, however the queen suggested he call Daniel, for she said that in the time of Belshazzar's father the wisdom of the gods was found in him. Daniel was then called and interprets the writing as saying that God has numbered Belshazzar’s kingdom and finished it, and that Belshazzar himself has been judged and found lacking. The writing also said that his kingdom had been given to the Medes and the Persians. History tells us that during that night the armies of the Medes and Persians, who had been camped far up river, finally succeeded in diverting much of the flow of the huge river Euphrates that's normal course took it under the walls of the city of Babylon. This meant that their soldiers were able to come into the city by walking through the lowered river under the walls. The walls of Babylon were about 300 feet high and 80 feet thick, so until then no one thought it would be possible for an army to break into the city. Nevertheless they did and the armies of the Medes and Persians conquered not just the city but also the whole Babylonian empire. The first king of the new empire was Darius the Mede, and the second was Cyrus the Persian. The area of Persia is roughly modern day Iran; in fact people in Iran still refer to themselves as Persians. Although Daniel said that the empire that came after Babylon would be inferior, it was actually larger in size. The inferiority may therefore have referred to the power of the king. For whereas Nebuchadnezzar had total power, we find out in the story of Daniel and the lion’s den that king Darius could not change his commandment once he had signed it. If you know the story, you may remember that once he realized that his decree meant throwing Daniel to the lions he was very sorry about having made it and wanted to change his mind, yet was unable to do so. We see in this that in the Persian Empire, even the emperor had some restrictions on what he could do due to a form of constitutional law called ‘the law of the Medes and Persians’. So it’s probably in this respect that the power of the latter empire was inferior to the absolute power of Nebuchadnezzar.
The third empire described by Daniel is the one of brass, which from history we know was even bigger again, ruling over the Middle East, most of Europe, the top of Africa and the areas we now call Afghanistan and Pakistan. This was the Grecian empire established by Alexander the Great. Alexander became king of Macedonia when he was only 20 years old and during the following thirteen years conquered the whole Persian Empire and some territories beyond. Shortly after, at only 33 years of age, Alexander died and his kingdom was divided among his top four generals. Thus for most of its history the Grecian empire existed as four separate regions (which often warred one with another).
The next kingdom to arise and conquer the territories belonging first to Babylonia, then Persia then Greece, was the Roman Empire, which was still quite new in its existence when Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of the first Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus. Of this fourth kingdom Daniel says that it would be as strong as iron but that its feet and toes would be iron mixed with clay, suggesting perhaps something hard but weak or brittle in some way. The latter form of the fourth kingdom, represented by the toes made of iron mixed with clay, would appear to be yet future, because it is at the time of this last kingdom that according to the prophetic dream of the king, 'the stone carved out without hands' strikes the statue on the feet and destroys it. Daniel again gives the interpretation, which is that God will destroy the last kingdom of man and establish his own kingdom that will rule over all the earth. One thing that is quite clear is that God has not yet destroyed the corrupt and violent governments of man, nor has he yet established his own government of peace and equity over the earth.
These prophecies, based on the kings vision of the great statue, span from about 600BC to the time of Christ and also a future time represented by the kingdom of iron mixed with clay. It is worth remembering that the Roman Empire was never really defeated. It broke up due to a combination of external attacks and internal rebellions and successions. Although the religious authority of popery became known as "The Holy Roman Empire", this was not really an empire in the true sense as it did not actually govern the lands over which it exercised influence. Today the countries that came out of the Roman empire include the UK to the far west, France, Germany, Italy and most of the other countries of Europe as well as Turkey, most of the middle eastern nations and parts of northern African nations such as Libya and Egypt. Since the disintegration of the Roman Empire there has been no overarching political empire over all of these parts of the world. However the cultural influences of the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian and Roman empires is still very strong, especially in western society.
So the prophecy of the great image (idol) spans prophetically significant kingdoms from the time of Daniel through to the end of the kingdoms of man. Another passage of similar scope is found in Daniel chapter seven, which picks up the same theme, but deals with it from a slightly different angle.
I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.
“And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.” (Daniel 7:2-3)
‘Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings1 which arise out of the earth. (Daniel 7:17)
This vision, like Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the Great Image in Daniel chapter two, covers the four prophetically significant world empires. Of particular importance here though is that it provides the vital connection between these prophecies in Daniel, and the prophecies of the final beast in Revelation. It also zeros in on the “different” and “exceedingly dreadful” beast that has teeth of iron and nails of bronze.
The first three empires in the prophecy are in this passage given the characteristics of animals. Babylon is like a lion with eagle’s wings, but its wings are plucked off and it is made to stand on its feet and a man’s heart is given to it. Most commentators believe the last part of this relates to Daniel chapter four, which is sometimes subtitled “The conversion of Nebuchadnezzar”. Chapter four is actually a transcript of a letter written to the whole kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar and it is his testimony of the signs and wonders that the Most High God had worked towards him. That the description may refer to Nebuchadnezzar raises a very important point, which is that time and again in prophecy it seems hard to draw a clear line between when prophecy is referring to a king, and when it is referring to their kingdom. It seems as though these are so closely associated in a spiritual sense that the two are often quite intertwined. The passage goes on to characterize the Persian Empire as being like a bear, and the Grecian Empire like a Leopard with four wings on its back and four heads. This Leopard with four wings may speak of the remarkable speed of its conquest, while the four heads almost undoubtedly speaks of how it split into four regions, each with its own king, after Alexander’s death.
Lastly a fourth beast arises:
“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the other beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:7)
…I watched until the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. (Daniel 7:11)
Daniel is greatly troubled by this vision and seeks to know the truth about the fourth beast that was different from all the others (7:19). The beginning of the answer is:
‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces.’ (Daniel 7:23)
Drawing on what we know of the four kingdoms laid out in Daniel chapter two, the fourth beast is clearly the Roman Empire; therefore we have reason to believe that the Roman Empire has two phases, the latter of which is yet to come into being. While the Roman Empire of Jesus’ day may fulfill aspects of the prophecy, these references would seem to be primarily concerning a latter form of the Roman Empire. The fact that it is destroyed and its dominion taken away (7:26), and that it is replaced by God’s everlasting kingdom (7:27), makes this pretty compelling. Daniel says that it was different from all the other kingdoms. Why was it different? Unlike the other kingdoms, which have animal characteristics, this beast has teeth of iron and nails of bronze and devours the whole earth. Do these metal parts speak of the modern technological age, and its devouring of the whole earth?
The important link between Daniel seven and the beast spoken of in Revelation is that in both cases the term is used to describe an empire rising up. Also, in both cases the beasts have ten horns, which Daniel describes as “ten kings who each receive power one hour with the beast” (7:24). Both are ultimately judged and destroyed by God who then establishes his own government over the earth. In all respects they would seem to be the same kingdom.
We currently live in an age of increasing “Globalization”. How far are we from a new world empire and how much would it take to bring it into being? In the next chapter we see that the final world empire, like all those before it, is brought into being by war.
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