Pastor Ron: Explanation on Daniel 2.

        We saw that in Daniel 2 the image that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about had a head of gold, and that this golden head represented the Babylonian empire (verses 38-39) which reigned from 605 to 539 BC. Friends, please realize that in the book of Daniel, one of the biblical books, we are looking at world history as shown to Daniel long before the events took place, way over a thousand years before the events took place.

        This should give us much confidence in God’s written Word, and we should be comforted to know that God is overall ruler of the world.  Now from verses 39-44 we read of other empires following the demise of Babylon.  Verses 31, 39 say that the next ‘silver’ empire will be inferior, but will conquer Babylon.  History tells us that Cyrus the Great defeated the Babylonians and that the Medio-Persian kingdom reigned from 539-331 BC. The same verses above tell us that another kingdom of Brass shall conquer the Persians and rule the earth.

        In history we find that this kingdom was actually Greece, led by Alexander the Great.  It lasted from 331-168 BC. Verse 40 tells us that the next kingdom, called the Iron kingdom, shall be strong as iron is strong and it shall subdue all nations, but that eventually it shall be broken into pieces. Historically, the empire that conquered the Greeks was the Roman empire, the Western and Eastern empire as the two legs portray.  Western Rome lasted from 168 BC to 476 AD.  History goes on to tell us that Rome actually collapsed into ten parts that made up the original ten parts of Western Europe.   And this is exactly what Daniel 2 tells us in verse 41a

        The Bible goes on to tell us that the feet were a mixture of clay and iron, meaning some parts were strong and others weak.  We saw the same situation in Europe, some of the kingdoms were strong and others were weak.  Another interesting fact is that Daniel 2tells us that these divided empires will ‘mingle’ with the seed of men, but that they will not ‘cleave’ with one another as iron and clay do not mix. This verse is saying that while the European nations will form marrital alliances with one another, they will fail to make Europe one united country under one government as the nations had done before.  Again, this is exactly what transpired in Europe.  There was a time, they tell us, when many, if not all, European leaders were actually related to each other through marriage, thus fulfilling the biblical passage on this detail.

       With all this unity among the leaders they still fought like spoilt children, and were never able to unite solidly together.  Although we have the European Union which is seeking for total unity, we find that they are not united fully yet.  We have just had Brexit when the UK voted to quit the Union; others are even thinking of doing the same. Many great statesmen have tried to unite Europe from Charlemange, Charles V, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm 11, Hitler, and now the European Union; all tried, and are trying today, to create a ‘United States of Europe.’  But God’s word says in Daniel 2: 42-3, that they will not cleave one to another. The Bible is accurate my friends; we can rest assured that that unity will not happen.  Next week we will continue on this prophecy for more startling news.

    May God bless you; please remember that He is worthy of your trust and adoration.  Pastor Ron Henderson is a retired Adventist pastor.  Reach him at ron.hende@gmail.com with your comments.