As the Chapter opens we see that this prophecy takes place during the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.( The Babylonian Empire ruled with various kings from 606 to 538 BC ) The king had a dream and even under the threat of death no-one was able to give the king the dream as well as the interpretation. That was until Daniel was called. We will now see the dream and it's interpretation linked to it
vs28: depicts that the vision is for the "later days", and ....vs29: "what should come to pass hereafter". Our starting point is the Babylonian Empire. We are not concerned with the previous world empires of Egypt and Assyria as they are both gone at the time of this prophecy.
The dream : vs32: a head of GOLD, breast and arms of SILVER, belly and thighs of BRASS, legs of IRON, feet part Brass part Iron. Then a STONE came and crushed the image on it's feet.
The Interpretation : vs38:Daniel tells the king that he is the head of GOLD ( Babylon 606 - 538 BC ) vs39: another three kingdoms will come that will rule the earth. ( history already has recorded that the Babylonian Empire was defeated and taken over by the combination Medo-Persian Empire (538 - 333 BC ) who in turn lost power to Greece and it's victor Alexander"the great"( 333 - 44 BC ). The next Kingdom to arise, vs40:the fourth strong as iron, is the Roman Empire ( 44BC - 476AD ).
The Roman Empire was never defeated by any world power, but was first divided into East and West Rome and eventually just dissintegrated into pretty much what we have today...a mixture of democracies and dictatorships represented by the feet of part clay and part Iron. vs44: in the days of these kings ( the time of the mixed iron and clay governments ) shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom...vs45: forasmuch as thou sawest a STONE...break in pieces....( the millennial Kingdom of Christ ).
After this event, king Nebuchadnezzar was converted to God and elevated Daniel to a position of authority in the kingdom.
The vision of the Golden Head,
The arms and chest of Silver,
The belly and thighs of Brass,
The legs of Iron,
and the feet...a mixture of clay and Iron.
Now we are going to look at another of Daniel's prophecies. This one in chapter 7. This vision and prophecy cover essentially the same thing as chapter 2, although this time it was given directly to the prophet Daniel instead of via an earthly king. The time-line is the same although we will get to see in greater details what we have already seen in chapter two.
The dream :(part one - v2-4)
Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
The Interpretation : (part one explained)
" These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth." (V 17)
"The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." (V 23)
It is clear from this self-explaining prophecy that we are looking at kingdoms or governments represented here by ravenous and angry beasts.
History has already shown that the first beast was Babylon represented by the lion and having it's wings "plucked" representing Nebuchadnezzar's abasement for seven years as he ate straw like an ox, just prior to his conversion.
The dream :(part two - v 5)
"And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh."
The Interpretation : (part two explained)
As demonstarted previously, we know from history that the next kingdom was to be Medo/Persia, and so it is here represented as a bear raised a bit on one side showing how the Persian part of the coalition was a bit stronger than the Mede side. And the three ribs in it's mouth, the remnants of the three preceeding empires of Babylon, Assyria and Egypt respectively.
The dream :(part three - v 6)
" After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it."
The Interpretation : (part three explained)
Again following history we know that the next empire was that of Alexander the Great and Greece, represented here by the world's fastest animal, the leopard, and fittingly it only took Alexander 10 years to conquer and dominate the world empire of his predecessors the Medes and Persians. The four heads represent Alexander's four most trusted generals which were later to inherit the kingdom after Alexander's death.
The dream :(part four - v 7,23)
" After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns." (V 7)
"The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." (V 23)
The Interpretation : (part four explained)
Looking again at history for our "fourth kingdom" from the time of Daniel (Babylon) we see that it is the Roman Empire, also symbolized in chapter two by the legs of iron. The Roman Empire was to be different than the others in that it would stamp out all residue from the other preceeding empires and et up one language and culture that spanned the entire Empire. The fierceness and strength of the Roman Empire are legendary.
The ten horns are the same as the ten toes of chapter two, from which surfaces the final empire of the Anti-Christ, as we shall see.
In the following part of this vision and prophecy is where we see a little more detail than we have so far.
The dream :(part five - v 8)
"I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things."
A "little horn", out of the ten horns, and three would be destroyed, and this "little horn" would speak great things. Interesting. A little further down in the chapter Daniel wonders what all this meant until, in verses 23-25, it is self-explained.
"The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
The 4th beast is Rome, as we've already seen. The ten horns are ten kings. (governments). And after, another "king" will come and subdue three governments/kingdoms. He will then proceed to blaspheme God and to "wear out the saints" for "a time, times and the dividing of time", or, three and a half years, as we have seen in the previous lessons.
"And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;" (V 20-21) So, here we see this "little horn" making war with the saints and prevailing against them. This represents the soon-to-appear Anti-Christ, the devil-incarnte who will attempt to erradicate God's children in the period we have seen called "The Great Tribulation", that is situated at the halfway mark into the last seven years of man's history as we know it. The devil also will have his three and a half year "ministry" just like Jesus did, only his will not end in eternal life for his believers.
The dream :(part six - v 9-11)
" I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame."
The Interpretation : (part six explained)
This is when the final remnants f the worldly governments of man will be brought to account before God and the "beast" and it's "little horn" destroyed. The "books shall be opened" is when we shall all come and stand before God to give account of our life.
The dream :(part seven - v 13-14)
"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."
The Interpretation : (part seven explained)
The "Son of Man" (Jesus) and "the Ancient of Days" (God) arrive to set up a permanent Godly Empire that will be served and "not pass away or be destroyed", the marvelous Kingdom of God on Earth !
The dream :(part eight - v 26-27)
"But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."
The Interpretation : (part eight explained)
"The people of the saints of the Most High", an elite army of God's true believers will receive honour as participants in ruling this new Kingdom for all eternity.
***This concludes lesson five of our study on The EndTime. Be sure to have reviewed all the previous material before attempting to go on to lesson six.***