Daniel Chapter Two

Daniel 2: 31. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33. His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 36. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

Daniel 2: 37. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them All. Thou art this head of gold.

Babylon was a kingdom of great riches and splendor. The king of Babylon is here told that he is the head of Gold, the first in a succession of changing materials as we go down from the head to the toes themselves. David tells the king that all of the things he has, his power and might, his glory and riches, are gifts of God to keep him from pride, or seeing it as a personal honor that his kingdom was called one of gold. Daniel seems to use the terms Kingdom and King interchangeably in this chapter, as the kingdom of Babylon did not end with Nebuchadnezzar's reign, and as we will see in a mere moment, the next material signifies another kingdom, not simply another king of Babylon.

Daniel 2: 39. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

Here we are shown two kingdoms in rapid succession, little description to each and yet enough that they can be determined beyond a doubt.

The next kingdom to rise after that of Babylon was the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. They were not inferior to Babylon in strength, nor in land conquered, as their territory expanded far beyond what Babylon ever reached, however they were far inferior in wealth, in luxury, and in splendor, the very things that made Babylon a kingdom of Gold, its wealth and value. Note the statue had two arms, this would symbolize two kingdoms together, the Medes, and the Persians.

The third kingdom of Brass is described as ruling over all the Earth. Did the next kingdom after the Medes and the Persians fit this criteria? Beyond a doubt. The next kingdom to rule was that of Grecia, led by the well-known commander, Alexander the Great. Alexander quickly and precisely conquered the entire known world, as history more than well documents.

Daniel 2:40. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

The next kingdom onto the scene was that of Rome. Rome did indeed rule as Iron, conquering Greece and everything else in its path. It was Rome that not only conquered the world but placed it under laws, making travel safe and filling the world with its empire. They divided into two parts, East Rome and West Rome at one point, which is symbolized by two legs.

Daniel 2: 41. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 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 broken.

The iron rule of Rome was not to last. As we go down the statues form, to the feet we see the iron begins to be mixed with clay, weakened. Rome began to lose the ironfast grip they had, their respect and command as they began to give into luxury, degeneration and corruption. The iron had mixed with clay and was corroding.

This takes place in the feet as well as the toes. The toes were mentioned specifically, and as such this is not just an imaginative addition to the statue but one written by the author himself. The statue would have had 10 toes obviously, and did the Roman empire divide into 10 parts, as the foot does before reaching its end? Yes.

The empire of Rome found itself in 10 final divisions. These corrospond perfectly with the ten horns of the beast in Daniel 7, which are noted as "Ten kings which shall arise". Ten kingdoms had their own individual lands within the Roman empire, that were not of the Roman empire. These ten arose between a 125 year period from the middle fourth to late fifth century, all in Western Europe, the land not previously occupied by Greece or Babylon or Medo-Persia, but that seen as Rome proper, though Rome conquered the world. We look for this as the toes, the division, came forth from the weakened Iron empire, the legs and feet, and not from the Brass torso of Greece nor the Silver chest and arms of Medo-Persia.

Daniel 2: 43. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

Here ten kingdoms arose, and by these ten kingdoms Rome was conquered, divided among the ten kings. Rome was the last world empire. From this point, after being divided among the 10 kings of Western Europe, never would an empire hold rule over the world again. The ten kings would never cleave to one another. The ten toes would not mix with one another, even as Iron is not mixed with clay. They could mingle themselves with the seed of men (Indicating marriage, or diplomacy), but by force or by peace, they would not unite again until the coming of the Lord. Where is this told?

Daniel 2: 44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

We are told that in the time of those ten kings the kingdom of heaven would be set up. Three of the kings were uprooted and their governmental kingdoms destroyed, their land being absorbed into the others nearby by the Papacy, as we will see in a study on Daniel 7. However the time of the kings is still ongoing, as another world power has never existed that has conquered all. And prophecy says that there will not, until the kingdom of God returns. Napoleon tried it, Hitler tried it. But it could not happen.

What were the ten kingdoms? History tells us that they consisted of the Anglo Saxons, the Franks, the Alamanni, the Suevi, the Heruli, the Vandals, the Visigoths, the Lombards, the Burgundians, and the Ostragoths.

What *are* the ten kingdoms? The Anglo Saxons became England, the name of the Anglican (Church of England) Church's name still reflects this. The Franks became France, the Alamanni are now Germany, the Burgundians are now Switzerland, the Lombards - Italy, the Visigoths - Spanish, the Suevi are the Portuguese. The remaining three, as stated and foretold in Daniel 7, were completely uprooted.

The rest of the chapter tells of Nebuchadnezzar's honoring his initial promise to the wise men, Chaldeans and sorcerers, to Daniel instead, that they would receive gifts and great honor should the dream be made known to him, and its interpretation.