Daniel 2:31-43
Forward to the Past
In my opinion, Daniel is "the Foundation to End Time Prophecy,"
meaning that if you do not get Daniel correct, you probably will not
get much of the end time prophecies correct
Let me share with you a truth about prophecy - We cannot know for
certain that our interpretation of prophecy is correct until the
prophecy is fulfilled. I know some would disagree with that
statement, but it is true anyway. The religious leaders in Jesus’
day, missed Jesus mainly because they thought they knew what was
going to happen and they knew nothing at all.
What we must do—what I pray that I am doing—is to examine as many
valid interpretations as we can, then eliminate the false views
until we are left with the one that is most likely correct. Even so,
it is possible that as time progresses, what was impossible may
become possible and what was possible may become impossible.
The first 25 verses of this chapter gives us another great passage on
Daniel’s character and what our character as a Christian should be
like. Under great duress and threat of death, Daniel and his three
companions pray and God reveals to Daniel what another man dreamed.
That’s pretty impressive! But it is the dream that we want to focus
on for it gives us understanding concerning the end times.
I. The dream dealt with five kingdoms.
A. \\#31-33\\ What these two men dreamed was of a giant image
with a head of gold, chest of silver, belly and thighs of
brass, and legs of iron.
1. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the four metals represent
four kingdoms.
Daniel 2:38 … Thou art this head of gold.
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.
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.
2. Notice the use of the word "kingdom."
a. These kingdoms are world kingdoms, like Babylon, the
first one mentioned.
b. These kingdoms are sequential, that is, they are
listed in the order they will come. That is obvious
by the phrase "And after thee" \\#39\\ along with the
numbers that given (i.e. third and fourth).
c. Each kingdom lessened in glory as is indicated by the
metals used to describe the kingdoms.
(1) Gold is more glorious [valuable] than silver.
Silver is more glorious than brass. Brass is
more glorious than iron.
(2) This could refer to lesser culture, lesser
education, lesser civility, or perhaps any
number of other things.
(3) But I think it refers to their relationship with
God.
(a) Nebuchadnezzar gets saved.
(b) Darius has Daniel.
(c) Alexander had no one.
(d) Rome crucified Jesus, cast the Jews out of
their land, and persecuted the Christian.
(e) There is a lessening in their fear and
respect of God.
d. Yet, each kingdom gained in strength as indicated by
the increasing strength of the metals.
(1) Gold is weaker than silver. Silver is weaker than
brass. Brass is weaker than iron.
(2) Perhaps by having a longer rule, perhaps by
having a greater reach, perhaps having more
people under its control, perhaps by leaving a
greater influence in its wake.
B. The big question then is who are the four kingdoms.
1. We know the first one. It was Babylon because Daniel told
Nebuchadnezzar he was the head of gold \\#37-38\\
2. I cannot take the time this morning to prove to you who I
believe these kingdoms are.
a. There are some hints given in the book of Daniel.
b. I believe history bears out who they were.
c. Let me just give them to you:
(1) Head of gold - Babylon
(2) Breast of silver - Persian
(3) Belly and thighs of brass - Greece
(4) The legs of iron - Rome
3. Of the four, history tells us that Rome was the largest,
most powerful empire in world history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire
a. In the opinion of those who know history, Rome would
have to be the kingdom of Rome because iron is the
strongest of metals.
b. These are and have been the most likely fulfillments
of these kingdoms. If something happens that changes
that, we can adjust our interpretation; but for now,
most Bible believers accept this as the most likely
interpretation of the first four kingdoms.
C. What about the fifth kingdom?
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.
1. \\#44\\ The fifth kingdom is clearly identified as God’s
kingdom.
a. \\#44\\ It will last forever.
b. \\#45\\ It is called a kingdom made "without hands"
implying it does not originate from man.
c. God’s kingdom breaks into pieces of all man’s attempts
to rule.
2. This is the kingdom that God has promised both the Jews
and the Gentiles.
a. Today, Christians most often refer to it as the
millennial reign of Christ.
b. Just to help keep things in order, we believe the
millennial reign of Jesus comes after the rapture and
and the seven years of tribulation.
c. It is obvious, if our interpretation of end time
prophecy is correct that every vision and passage
does not detail everything.
II. Let’s Summarize and see a problem.
A. Daniel describes four world powers arising that will rule
until Jesus comes to establish His worldly kingdom.
B. Brother Hall says that the first four have already come:
1. Babylon, 605-562 BC
2. Persian, 550-336 BC
3. Greek, 334-31 BC
4. Rome,31 BC to 476 AD
5. (The dates are not exact because these kingdoms existed
before and after their empires. When they became and
ceased to be "the" world empire is subjective.)
C. The Catcher - The Bible speaks of only four world empires
1. Together they form the single image.
2. But Daniel said the image would stand until the Jesus sets
up His kingdom.
3. In fact, Jesus’ kingdom destroys the image, the combined
four kingdoms.
D. Problem - If there are only four kingdoms and they have
already come and gone, how can the image still be standing
when Jesus sets up His kingdom?
1. Doesn’t that last kingdom still have to be around when
Jesus sets up His kingdom?
2. The short answer is YES.
3. How do we answer this?
a. If you do not believe the Bible is true, it can’t and
you just got more evidence as to why no one should
believe the Bible.
b. If you do believe the Bible is true, you will conclude
that God is not finished with that fourth kingdom
yet.
(1) You might come to the same conclusion that many
others have come to, namely, that God is going
to revive the Roman empire again.
(2) This revived Roman empire is described in the
dream.
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.
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.
(a) \\#41\\ Notice that the feet and toes are
still part of the fourth kingdom, but that
kingdom is divided into 2 parts, one when
it is pure iron and one when it is iron
mixed with clay.
(b) The iron represented the strength of the
fourth kingdom but there is no
interpretation for the clay except that it
is weak.
(c) The word used for clay indicates a baked
clay, dried and brittle.
(d) Daniel did not interpret the meaning of the
ten toes at all.
i. He only mentioned them.
ii. However, 10 will be mentioned later and
it will refer to the number of leaders
in the kingdom. (Dan 7, Rev 12, 13,
Rev 17)
c. My beliefs.
(1) I firmly believe in the "Revived" Roman Empire,
that God is going to create a government from
the same region of the world as the Roman Empire
with so many similarities to the original Roman
Empire that it will shock you.
(2) I believe it will begin with ten leaders or
perhaps 10 nations or even 10 zones of nations.
(3) It will begin with the inherit weakness of every
one of the ten leaders having an equal voice,
but that will change as a single leader rises
from their midst to take the helm.
(a) That leader is not even hinted at in this
prophecy so I will not mention him, yet.
(b) But that leader will return to the strength
of Rome to empire by governing like Rome
did, ruthlessly and will great power.
(4) We are seeing this happen today.
(a) America, who has been the world political
leader for at least 100 years, is losing
its influence.
(b) The dollar, which has been the world’s
currency for as long or longer than that,
is rapidly losing its value.
(c) The economies of many nations are weak and
becoming weaker as they abandon sound
fiscal standards and move toward socialism.
(d) 10 years after our last economic crash and
the world continues to titer on the next
one.
(e) Eventually, there will be a restructuring of
the world economy and the world map.
(f) While some of this may seem impossible
today, wait for the tomorrows will prove
it to be so.
(5) In fact, it is interesting to me that Rome was
never conquered.
(a) It just kind of disintegrated.
(b) I believe God is going to put it back
together again.
(c) Why? In part because of this dream’s
interpretation as given by Daniel.
III. What does this mean for us today?
A. It means there have been a lot of futile wars. There will be
only FOUR world empires, yet many more have attempted it.
1. The many Turkish empires
2. Napoleon in 1800
3. Germany and Japan 1930s and 40s
4. Islam has it as a goal today.
5. All of the death and destruction could have been avoided.
6. There will be only four.
B. It means that we, the church, is not in this.
1. What is happening now, at the end of the church age, is
that God is setting things back to the way it was before
there was a church.
2. Hence, the title of the message, "Forward to the Past."
3. Look at a few of the ways we are recreating the past.
a. Israel existed when Jesus died, then it did not, now
it does again.
b. The Jewish language was spoken when Jesus died, the it
did not, now it does again.
c. The Jews lived in the land of Israel when Jesus died,
then they did not, and now they do again.
d. The church did not exist when Jesus died, it has, but
it will be removed and then God will deal with Israel
again.
(1) That is another of the reasons why I believe in
the premillennial, pretribulational return of
Jesus for the church.
(2) God stopped the Jewish clock when the Jews
rejected and killed His Son.
(3) God will remove the church and its influence
before He starts that clock back again. (If you
do not know what I mean by the "Jewish clock,"
hang around and I will get to it.)
(4) So you and I are living in the falling away
\\#2Thess 2:3\\. That is the period in which
the church’s influence wanes and diminishes.
Can I prove everything that I believe? No. But this passage does
say that there will be only four world kingdoms and that their
combined presence will be destroyed by Jesus.
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