2025-03-23 - - Daniel 2:31-35 (4)

From Crisis to Clarity

Intro:

Link:

Review:

Last week we talked about how God is:

Sovereign

Definition of Sovereign in relation to God: The sovereignty of God refers to His absolute authority, power, and control over all creation—everything in heaven, earth, and history. It means God is the supreme ruler, answerable to no one, and His will ultimately prevails over all things. Nothing happens outside His permission or purpose, and He works all events, from the grand sweep of empires to the smallest details of life, according to His perfect plan.

Ultimately God is in complete control of all things, though He may choose to let certain events happen according to natural laws that He has ordained.

Charles Caldwell Ryrie

Also Last week we talked about how Daniel was:

Bold

He stood before the king, he told the king his dream.

Today were going to see the interpretation of the dream.

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2. Daniel’s Divine Interpretation (Daniel 2:36–43)

Interpretation:

Daniel 2:36–43 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. 39 But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

So Daniel starts to interpret his dream

But notice first that Daniel said in vs. 36, “Now ‘WE’ will tell the interpretation.” Who is the We?

There are differing ideas, like Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, as Daniel earlier asked them to pray with him.

Giving God the credit as well.

But several scholors believe that it is a way of linguistics, how words were used and said in foreign lands. Daniels use of “WE” could be seen as a way to avoid, sounding boastful. Even though he is the only one delivering the interpretation. This woudl align with the humility we see from Daniel in other portions of his book.

Lets look at the Statue

Head of Gold: Babylonian Empire. 606-539 BC (Daniel 2:37–38).

The Babylonian Empire fell to the Medo-Persians in 539 BC when King Cyrus the Great of Persia diverted the Euphrates River and entered the city of Babylon through its dried riverbed. The city was taken in one night without a prolonged battle, fulfilling Daniel 5:30-31, where King Belshazzar was killed that very night. 📖 Source: Herodotus, Histories (Book 1, 191-192); Xenophon, Cyropaedia (Book 7.5.26-32); Daniel 5:30-31.

Silver: Medo-Persian Empire, inferior to Babylon. 539-331 BC (Daniel 2:39a).

The Persian Empire fell to Alexander the Great at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. Alexander’s forces overwhelmed King Darius III’s army, and Darius fled but was later assassinated. The decisive battle lasted one day, though Alexander had been campaigning against Persia for several years prior. 📖 Source: Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander (Book 3.11-15); Plutarch, Life of Alexander (31-33).

Brass: Greece under Alexander the Great. Greek Empire 331-146 BC (Daniel 2:39b).

The Greek Empire, after Alexander’s death, fractured into multiple kingdoms. The Roman Republic defeated the Greek Antigonid Kingdom (the last major Greek power) at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC. The battle itself was decided in a single day, though Rome gradually absorbed Greece over the following decades. 📖 Source: Polybius, Histories (Book 29.17-19); Livy, History of Rome (Book 44.41-43).

Iron: Rome, strong and crushing. Roman Empire. 146 BC - AD 476 (Daniel 2:40).

The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD when the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposed Emperor Romulus Augustulus. Unlike the previous empires, Rome’s collapse was gradual, spanning several decades, due to internal corruption, economic decline, and repeated barbarian invasions. The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) continued until 1453 AD. 📖 Source: Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Chapters 35-36); Procopius, Wars of Justinian (Book 3).

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Before we get into what the Iron and Clay may represent here is an interesting fact:

As we go down the statue, the metals become:

Less valuable

Less dense

Stronger, excluding the clay.

Gold: 1 cm³ of gold = 19.32 grams.

Silver: 1 cm³ of silver = 10.36 grams.

Bronze: 1 cm³ of bronze = ~8.73 grams (depending on the alloy).

Iron: 1 cm³ of iron = 7.87 grams.

Conclusion here is the statue is TOP HEAVY.

Its prone to falling apart, its prone to falling over. The nations get stronger as they go along, except the final revived Roman Empire when it mixes with the clay.

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Iron and Clay: A future ten-nation confederation. This is a divided kingdom of ten (Daniel 2:41–43).

Many Scholars believe this is the “last days”, the Feet of Iron and Clay represent A final conglomerate of nations. Mankind, “The Seed”, puts weak and strong leaders together to form the 10 kings, but despite mans trying, it fails and falls apart.

But “Some believe that the Rock coming down and smashing it was a prophecy already fulfilled, I don’t see it that way, b/c of what the Bible teaches us”

Some believe this was already fulfilled in a spiritual way, Jesus coming and conquering Rome via the cross. They say His kingdom came this way.

BUT I ASK

1. If the first 4 sections of the statue were literal kingdoms, why would the last one not be?

2. If His Kingdom came with the conclusion of the cross, what happened to the feet of Iron Clay Mixture?

For these and other reasons I take this as literal, especially since we see in Revelation where Jesus is going to physically come down from the sky, crushing the final conglomerate Kingdom to set up his own to rule and reign here for 1,000 years before continuing to rule and reign throughout all eternity.

Simply Put, At FBC, we believe in a literal return of Christ based on the Bible.

Many that take to a Premillennial View, such as FBC, which is a literal view, believe the stone is a representation of Christ Second Coming.

Those who hold to an Amillennial View, interpret the rock as as Spiritual, that Christ first coming and continues through the church.

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Let me explain these two views a bit more:

Amillennialism holds that there is no literal thousand-year reign of Christ on Earth (1&2). Instead, amillennialists interpret Christ's millennial reign in a spiritual sense, believing it began during His earthly ministry or at His resurrection and continues in the present age (2). They view the binding of Satan and resurrection mentioned in Revelation 20 as spiritual events, relating to Christ's victory on the cross and the new birth of believers. (2) (A problem I see here is, its been 2,000 years since Christ came, not 1,000. But they would say its symbolic.)

(1) J. B. Hixson and Mark Fontecchio, What Lies Ahead: A Biblical Overview of the End Times (Brenham, TX: Lucid Books, 2013), 188–189.

(2) Mark J. Keown, Discovering the New Testament: An Introduction to Its Background, Theology, and Themes: General Letters & Revelation (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022), 283.

Premillennialism teaches that Christ will physically return to Earth before the Millennium to establish a literal thousand-year kingdom(1&3). Premillennialists interpret Revelation 20 more literally, expecting Christ to reign visibly on Earth for a thousand years before the final judgment (3&4).

(1) J. B. Hixson and Mark Fontecchio, What Lies Ahead: A Biblical Overview of the End Times (Brenham, TX: Lucid Books, 2013), 188–189.

(3) Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Millennium,” in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988) 1460.

The Moody Bible Commentary 6. Daniel’s Revelation and Interpretation before the King (2:25–45)

The evidence that there will be a literal, earthly, end-of-days kingdom of God and not merely the Church spiritually overtaking human governments is, (1) that all the previous kingdoms depicted in the statue were earthly; (2) that there was no coalition of conquered kings or kingdoms as described in 2:41–42 in the Roman Empire at the Messiah’s first advent as would be required if the Church were the kingdom; (3) that the stone, which represents the kingdom of God, destroys earthly kingdoms, yet the Lord Jesus did not do this at His first advent; (4) that the advent of the kingdom of God is described as a sudden overturn of earthly kingdoms, not the gradual transformation through the influence of the Church, and (5) that this vision is parallel to the four beasts described in chap. 7. All agree that in chap. 7 the kingdom arrives with the return of Jesus the Messiah—so should it be the same with the coming of the kingdom of God here in chap. 2

The other Millennial viewpoint is Postmillenialism. We live through the Millennium which is now and the world gradually improves as God’s spiritual kingdom spreads through the church.

Key Differences:

Pre-Mil, sees the millenium as a Literal 1,000 years, Before the Millennium, the world gets worse.

Believes in a physical rapture of the chruch. (Viewpoint on timing varries.)

A-Mil, sees the millenium purely as Symbolic (its now in the church age) It happens after our current age. The world has both good and evil until the end.

Tends not to believe in a physical rapture of the church, just Jesus comes back and we are with him.

Post-Mil, sees the millenium purely as Symbolic. In Postmillennialism, The Millennium (The 1,000 years is often seen as symbolic for a long period) is generally believed to have begun at Christ’s first coming and is progressing now. The key idea is that the Millennium is not a future event but rather a period of increasing Gospel influence leading to a Christianized world before Christ’s Second Coming.

Tends not to believe in a physical rapture of the church, just Jesus comes back and we are with him.

So Going back to the Feet and Toes based on a Premillenial View

The feet and toes in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:33, 41-43) represent a future kingdom that is partially strong (iron) and partially weak (clay), indicating a divided or unstable rule. Unlike the previous empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome), this kingdom is not entirely unified. The ten toes are often linked to ten rulers or ten divisions (cf. Daniel 7:24; Revelation 17:12).

There are several interpretations of what this final kingdom represents:

A Revived Roman Empire – Since the legs of iron represent Rome, many believe the feet and toes symbolize a future revived Roman Empire, possibly as a coalition of nations with both strong and weak elements.

Some suggest the European Union or another future federation could be its revival.

1948 Israel became a nation again after 2,000 years.

The prophetic time clock starts to tick again:

1951 The ECSC, European Coal & Steel community was formed amongst six nations.

1957 The Treaty of Rome created the EEC, Europon Common Market.

1958 The Treaty of Rome was implementd

1967 The merge of the ECSC, ECC and Euratom, atomic energy community.

1993 The Maastricht Treaty named and expanded the EEC into the EU.

Sources to: A REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE (from above).

Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Footsteps of the Messiah (1982) – Suggests a final ten-nation confederacy emerging from Rome.

Clarence Larkin, The Book of Daniel (1929) – Argues the ten toes are future rulers connected to Rome.

A Future Global Government with Ten Regional Divisions – Some view the ten toes as a global system where power is divided into ten regions.

This could include organizations like

the United Nations

Some have speculated recently they are not kingdoms but even Rich men or technocrats.

Even a mix of iron and clay to mean a mix of machines & humans, Iron & Clay.

Or other geopolitical alliances.

We don’t know for sure but what we know is, it will fall like the others did.

The Iron and Clay mix seems to indicate instability where some are stronger then others, leading to division and strife. (Not that we ever don’t get along)

Support: Revelation 17:12 speaks of ten kings ruling simultaneously before being destroyed.

Revelation 17:12 NKJV

12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.

Sources:

John Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation (1971) – Links the toes to future world powers.

Mark Hitchcock, The End (2012) – Suggests a final world order with ten regions.

Teaching: God’s sovereign plan governs the rise and fall of kingdoms; His word is trustworthy.

Application: So when something difficult comes against you, at work, could be a person, a diseas, death, etc. Trust God’s guidance and find peace in His control over all. Again in this we can find assurance in the unshakeable nature of God amidst all of life's chaos.

3. Kingdom of Christ Confirmed (Daniel 2:44–45)

The Stone:

Daniel 2:44-45 (NKJV): “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, a stone "cut without hands" smashes the feet and toes, bringing an end to all human kingdoms and establishing a new kingdom that lasts forever

Christological Focus: The stone is Jesus Christ, the Rock:

Matthew 21:42-44 (NKJV): “Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes”? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.’”

Fulfilling the prophecy with His eternal reign.

Big Idea: God’s sovereignty prevails through history, validated by prophecy, culminating in the eternal kingdom established by Christ.

Conclusion

Encouragement: Despite chaos and uncertainty, God’s plans unfold perfectly, offering believers peace and assurance through validated prophecy.

Challenge: Perhaps you may be currently facing a challenge, or one might come unexpectedly this week. Take it to Jesus and share it with a trusted Christian friend or the church so we can pray with you. Be BOLD in seeking God’s guidance, and be BOLD in following His direction as you address the challenge, trusting that He will guide you through it. And remember to give thanks to God throughout the process, keeping a heart of gratitude for all His help.

Saved: If you know Jesus as your Savior and someone approaches you for help, be BOLD. Pray with them and for them, and ask God how He wants you to assist them.

Unsaved: If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior and have never trusted in Him, know that His help is only guaranteed if you have a relationship with Him. There are many benefits to being His child—benefits that you won’t experience or be guaranteed if you don’t know Him as your Savior. Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

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