Daniel 2.44a-The God Ruling The Heavens Will Establish An Eternal Kingdom During The Days Of The Final Stage Of The Fourth Kingdom, Which Won't Be Left To Another Nation
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday May 3, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:44a-The God Ruling The Heavens Will Establish An Eternal Kingdom During The Days Of The Final Stage Of The Fourth Kingdom Which Won’t Be Left To Another Nation
Lesson # 69
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:31.
This evening we will begin a study of Daniel 2:44, which presents the interpretation of Daniel’s statements in Daniel 2:34-35.
Daniel 2:31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory. 38 And wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40 Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41 In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43 And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. 44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.” (NASB95)
In the original text, Daniel 2:44 begins with the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), which is not translated by the NASB95.
The conjunction wa is used in a transitional sense and means “now” since it is introducing a statement that marks a transition from a discussion of the four kingdoms mentioned in Daniel 2:37-43 to a discussion of the kingdom that God will establish on planet earth in Daniel 2:44-45.
“In the days of” is composed of the preposition bĕ (בְּ) (beth), “in” and its object is the masculine plural construct form of the noun yôm (יוֹם) (yome), “days” which is followed by the third person masculine plural pronominal suffix him∙mô (הִמֹּו) (him-mo´), which is not translated.
The noun yôm is in the plural and means “days” referring to a period of time, which in our context is Daniel’s Seventieth Week since the word is used in relation to the plural form of the noun mě∙lěḵ, “kings” which refers to the ten kings and kingdoms which will compose the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom.
This is indicated by the fact that the ten toes of the statue in Daniel 2:40-43 correspond to the ten horns mentioned in Daniel 7:7-8, 23-24, Revelation 13:1-10, and 17:8-10, which are ten kingdoms.
The noun yôm is the object of the preposition bĕ, which means “during” since it is a marker of an extent of time within a larger unit and thus denotes “during” the period of those kings.
Daniel’s Seventieth week refers to a seven-year period which begins sometime after the rapture of the church with Antichrist’s treaty with Israel and ends with the Second Advent of Christ and is concerned with the nation of Israel exclusively and will be the worst period in all of Israel’s and the world’s history.
This 7-year period is divided into two three and a half year periods with the first three and a half years characterized as a cold war (Matthew 24:6) whereas the last three and a half years are characterized as a hot war (Matthew 24:21-22).
A “week” in the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 refers to 7 prophetic years of 360 days; therefore, the prophecy of the 70 weeks of Daniel refers to 490 prophetic years of Israel’s history.
“Those kings” is composed of the particle dî (דִּי) (dee), which is also not translated and followed by the masculine plural form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “kings” and then we have the third person masculine plural demonstrative pronoun ʾin∙nûn (אִנּוּן) (in-noon´), “those.”
The plural form of the noun mě∙lěḵ means “kings” and refers to the ten kings and kingdoms which will compose the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom and will be under the authority of Antichrist during the Seventieth Week of Daniel.
This is indicated by the fact that the ten toes of the statue in Daniel 2:40-43 correspond to the ten horns mentioned in Daniel 7:7-8, 23-24, Revelation 13:1-10, and 17:8-10, which these verses describe as ten kingdoms.
“The God of heaven” is composed of the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “the God of” and then we have the masculine plural noun šemǎ∙yin (שְׁמַיִן) (shaw-mah´-yin), “heaven.”
The noun ʾělāh means “the God” and is employed with the plural form of the noun šemǎ∙yin, “heavens” and when the word is used with šemǎ∙yin, “heavens” in Daniel 2:18-19, it is a reference to the Father.
The noun šemǎ∙yin refers to the first, second and third heaven and is functioning as a genitive of subordination indicating that the inhabitants of the first, second and third heavens are under the Father’s dominion or subordinate to Him, which is a reminder to Nebuchadnezzar that he is under the authority of Daniel’s God.
“Will set up” is the third person masculine singular hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil stem) active imperfect form of the verb qûm (קוּם) (koom), which means “to establish” in the sense of bringing into existence and is used with the God ruling the heavens, i.e. the Father as its subject and His Son’s millennial kingdom as its object.
This indicates that God the Father “will establish” an everlasting kingdom during the period of those kings who will compose the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom during Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
“Kingdom” is the feminine singular form of the noun mǎl∙ḵûṯ (מַלְכוּת) (mal-kooth), which refers to God’s kingdom which will be manifested on the earth during His Son Jesus Christ’s millennial reign.
Modifying the noun mǎl∙ḵûṯ, “kingdom” is the noun ʿā∙lǎm, which is not translated by the NASB95 and means “forever” and is the object of the preposition lĕ, which is used in a temporal sense as a marker of duration of time.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase means “eternal” indicating that the kingdom the Father will establish through His Son Jesus Christ at His Second Advent will be “eternal” or “everlasting.”
Amazingly, this prepositional phrase is not translated by the ESV, NASB95, LEB, NIV84, and NRSV but is translated by the NET Bible as “everlasting” and the GNB as “will never end.”
The Father will establish His kingdom on earth by means of His Son’s Second Advent when the Lord Jesus Christ will destroy the Tribulational armies and have Antichrist and the False Prophet thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:11-19).
He will imprison Satan for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3) and establish His millennial reign on planet earth (Rev. 20:4-6).
At that time, the Lord and His armies will orbit the earth before landing on the Mount of Olives, which was the site of His ascension (Acts. 1:9-11) and there will be a great earthquake when our Lord’s foot touches the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:1-8) and will be a unique day having neither day nor night (Zech. 14:7).
The chronology found in Daniel 2:34-35 and 2:44-45 teaches that the Second Advent establishes God’s kingdom on earth, which corresponds to what is taught in Revelation 19:11-20:6 and Zechariah 14:1-11.
At this point in Daniel 2:44, Daniel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is employing the figure of “asyndeton” in order to emphasize that the eternal kingdom which the Father will establish on earth through His Son Jesus Christ will never be destroyed by another kingdom.
The Holy Spirit wants not only Nebuchadnezzar to dwell or meditate upon this statement but also the reader to do so as well in order to acknowledge that God is sovereign over the nations of the earth.
“Which will never be destroyed” is composed of the negative particle lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), “never” which is negating the meaning of the third person feminine singular hitpaʿʿal (Hebrew: piel) middle imperfect form of the verb ḥǎḇǎl (חֲבַל) (khab-al´), “will be destroyed.”
The verb ḥǎḇǎl means “to destroy” in the sense of putting out of existence and its meaning is emphatically negated by the particle lā(ʾ), which is a marker of emphatic negation indicating that the Father will establish a kingdom during the days of the kings who will form the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom.
They denote the indestructibility of Jesus Christ’s millennial kingdom, which will be the Father’s kingdom on earth.
“And that kingdom will not be left for another people” is a result clause since the conjunction wa “and” is a marker of result meaning that it is introducing a statement which presents the result of the previous statements.
Therefore, this conjunction wa is teaching that the Father will establish an eternal kingdom at His Son’s Second Advent, which will never be destroyed “so that” or “with the result that” this eternal kingdom will never be left to another people or kingdom.
“Will not be left” is composed of the negative particle lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), “not” which is negating the meaning of the second person masculine singular hitpeʿel (Hebrew: qal) passive imperfect form of the verb šeḇǎq (שְׁבַק) (sheb-ak´), “will be left.”
The verb šeḇǎq means “to be left to another, to have control passed on to another.”
Here its subject is the eternal kingdom the Father will establish through His Son’s Second Advent during the days of those ten kings who will form the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom and the object of the verb is an unidentified nation.
The word’s meaning is emphatically negated by the particle lā(ʾ), which is a marker of emphatic negation.
Therefore, together, these two words denote that the eternal kingdom the Father will establish at His Son Jesus Christ’s Second Advent which will end Daniel’s Seventieth Week “will never be left to” another nation.
In other words, “the control” of the Father’s kingdom, which He will establish through His Son Jesus Christ’s Second Advent “will never be passed on to” another kingdom or nation.
“For another people” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed) and its object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʿǎm (עַם) (am), “people” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the adjective ʾā∙ḥǒrān (אָחֳרָן) (okh-or-awn´), “another.”
The noun ʿǎm means “people, nation” in the sense of a large group based on various cultural, physical and geographical ties and refers to those who are of the same stock and language.
It refers to a large group that is larger than a tribe or clan but smaller than a race.
The word is modified by the adjective ʾā∙ḥǒrān, which means “another” and is also the object of the preposition lĕ, which functions as a marker of advantage indicating that the Father’s kingdom will never be left “for the benefit of” another nation.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase indicates that the eternal kingdom the Father will establish during the days of those kings who will form the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom will never be left “for the benefit of another nation.”
This stands in direct contrast to Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, Medo-Persia, Alexander the Great’s Greek Empire and the Roman Empire since the conqueror of each of these civilizations incorporated much of their culture, language, laws and customs into their kingdoms.
The kingdoms represented on the different parts of the body of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream emphasize that each of these kingdoms would incorporate much of the language, laws, customs, culture and gods of the kingdoms preceding them.
Thus, each of these kingdoms in some sense was left to another kingdom.
However, Daniel 2:44 teaches that this will not be the case with God’s kingdom.
Daniel 2:44 “Now during those days of those kings, the God ruling the heavens will establish an eternal kingdom. It will never be destroyed. Therefore, this kingdom will never be left for the benefit of another nation. It will crush so that it will destroy each and every one of these kingdoms. However, it will endure throughout eternity.” (Author’s interpretive translation)
Daniel 2:44 contains five prophetic statements, which interpret Daniel 2:34-35 and is speaking of the kingdom of God which will be established on planet earth by the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Advent, which will bring to an end Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
The kingdom of God denotes that God is sovereign over Israel and over the whole earth (Psalm 47:7-8; cf. Exodus 15:18; 1 Samuel 12:12; 1 Chronicles 16:31; 28:5; 29:11-12; Psalm 9:7-8; 45:6; 93:1-2; 103:19; 145:11-13; Isaiah 37:16; Daniel 4:34-35).
The Scriptures express an expectation of the kingdom of God on earth (Isaiah 51:4-5; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:51; cf. Isaiah 2:2-4l; Micah 4:1-3; Isaiah 32:1; Jeremiah 3:17; Daniel 2:44; 7:18, 21-22, 27; Zechariah 8:22; 14:9; Mark 11:10).
The kingdom of God was central in the preaching of Jesus Christ and the apostles (Matthew 24:14; Luke 8:1; Acts 28:31; cf. Matthew 4:17,23; 9:35; 10:7; Mark 1:13-14; Luke 4:43; 9:2, 11; 10:9; Acts 1:3, 6-8; 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23).
The kingdom of God was manifested during the First Advent of Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:12; cf. Matthew 3:1-2; 4:17; 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-19; Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:20-21; Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27; 11:20; 16:16; 17:20-21).
The kingdom of God will come in its fulness only when Jesus Christ returns at His Second Advent (Luke 22:18; Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Matthew 6:10; Luke 11:2; Matthew 25:31, 34; Luke 22:16; 1 Corinthians 15:24; 2 Timothy 4:18; Revelation 11:15; 12:10).
Jesus Christ’s millennial kingdom is a heavenly kingdom and is not of this world (John 18:36; cf. Revelation 5:6; 7:10; 21:1, 3) and was given to Him by God the Father (Daniel 7:14; cf. Psalm 72:1; Daniel 2:44; Matthew 28:18; John 16:15).
The kingdom is His by right because of His voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross, which were in obedience to the Father’s will (Colossians 1:15-16; cf. Hebrews 1:8; Psalm 45:6; Revelation 22:13).
Pentecost commenting on the expression “the kingdom of God” states that “there is an eternal aspect as well as a temporal aspect; it has a universal nature as well as a local nature; or there is an immediate sense of the kingdom in which God rules directly, and a mediated sense of the kingdom in which God rules indirectly through appointed representatives.” (ibid, page 15).
He goes on to state that “the nature of the kingdom is derived from the person of God and is a reflection of what is found in Him.” (Thy Kingdom Come, page 15).
There are four essential truths that characterize its eternal aspect according to Pentecost: (1) It is timeless since God is eternal (Psalm 10:16; 74:12; 145:13; Jeremiah 10:10; Lamentations 5:19). (2) It is universal since God is omnipresent (1 Chronicles 29:11-12; Psalm 103:19; 139:7-10; Daniel 4:17, 25, 32; Amos 9:2). (3) It is administered through appointed representatives whom God deals sovereignly through men (Genesis 45:7-8; 50:20; Proverbs 21:1; Isaiah 10:5-6; 45:1-4; Jeremiah 25:8-12; 27:48; 51:11-24, 27). (4) It is miraculous in that God sometimes directly intervenes in the affairs of men (Exodus 7:3-5; Psalm 135:6-10). (Ibid, pages 15-19)
