DANIEL CHAPTER TWO

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to understanding Daniel Chapter 2 is given at the end of the Chapter and in Chapters 7, 8 and 10.  That these other Chapters are supporting the same vision of Chapter two will be clearly seen as we study along.  Here is one reason why.  Persia and Greece are specifically identified as the Second and Third kingdoms <B>in each Chapter</B>.</div> <bR> <div> There is a clear reference to how God works, which is given to us in Daniel's opening statement after he received the interpretation to the dream, but not yet in the kings presence:  “Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever:  for wisdom and might are His:  And He changeth the times and the seasons:  <B>He removeth kings, and setteth up kings</B>,” Dan. 2:20-21.  Then Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar <B>when</B> these events, which are real - not your ordinary dream - will take place:  “<B>in the latter days</B>,” verse 28;  “what should come to pass <B>hereafter</B>,” verse 29.  Daniel then instructs king Nebuchadnezzar, and the world (us), that “what should come to pass hereafter,” verse 29, involves a succession of <B>kingdoms</B> (verses 38-40).  Remember, “<B>He removeth kings, and setteth up kings.</B>”</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto: heislord@teacher.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto: heislord@teacher.com"><U><IMG SRC="2b864640.gif" border=0 width="100" height="100" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> That God is teaching all of us that there would be a succession of <B>four</B> Kingdoms to come is clearly given to Daniel in Chapter 7 verses 15-17:  “I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.  I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this.  So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.  These great beasts, <B>which are four</B>, <B>are four kings</B>, which shall arise out of the earth.”  Almost all theologians agree as to the identification of these first four kingdoms.  Therefore, let's take a look at them, and positively identify them, both Biblically and Historically.  Here is our figures:</div> <bR> <div> <B>Chapter 2</B> - Head = Gold (Babylon);  Breast and Arms = Silver (Persia);  Belly and Thighs = Brass (Greece); Legs = Iron (Rome); Feet = Iron (mixed with) Clay (ten kingdoms not discussed here);  Stone (Christ).  <B>Chapter 7</B> - Lion = Babylon;  Bear = Persia;  Leopard =Greece;  Dreadful and Terrible (Iron Teeth) = Rome;  Ten Horns = Rome divided into ten kingdoms;  little horn (Papal Rome);  Most High = Christ.</div> <div> <B>Chapter 8</B> - First beast is already conquered (Babylon); Ram = Persia;  Goat =Greece;  king of fierce countenance = Rome;  Prince of princes = Christ.</div> <div> <B>Chapter 10</B> - Persia; Grecia.</div> <div> <B>Chapter 11</B> - Persia;  Grecia;  mighty king =Rome.  Notice that each Chapter gives us a little more information upon each kingdom, even speaking about some that the others did not identify.  Notice also that the progression is always the same:  Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Rome divided into ten kingdoms, Papal Rome, Christ's Second Coming.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mailto: heislord@teacher.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto: heislord@teacher.com"><U><IMG SRC="2b9a0780.gif" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <B>POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF THE FIRST KINGDOM:</B></div> <bR> <div> In <B>Chapter 2 verse 38</B> we read:  “Thou art this head of gold.”  Now Daniel was speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, but we must also understand reasonably that Nebuchadnezzar represented <B>Babylon</B>, since he was the head of it.  This Biblical truth becomes even more clear as we continue on to verse 39:  “after thee [Babylon] shall arise another kingdom inferior.”  All good students of History know that after <B>Babylon</B> came the <B>Second Kingdom</B> of <B>Medio-Persia</B>.</div> <bR> <div> <B>POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF THE SECOND KINGDOM:</B></div> <bR> <div> If we go to <B>Dan. 5:28</B> we read:  “Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the <B>Medes and Persians</B>.”  Here we are directly told who succeeded Babylon.  And in <B>Dan. 8:20</B> we read:  “The <B>ram</B> which thou sawest having <B>two horns</B> are the kings of <B>Media and Persia</B>.”  Here is a positive identification and a good representation of two kingdoms (two horns), yet ruling as one (the ram).  And in Dan. 10:20 we read:  “Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee?  and now will I return to fight with the prince of <B>Persia</B>:  and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of <B>Grecia shall come</B>.”  Here again we are directly told who the <B>Second Kingdom</B> is - Persia (the Medes were conquered at this time).  The prophecy is interpreted for us.  We are even told who the <B>Third Kingdom</B> is - “Grecia.”  Daniel Chapter 7 gives us even more evidence that we have correctly identified this <B>Second Kingdom</B> by stating:  “And behold another beast, a second, like to a <B>bear</B>, and it <B>raised up itself on one side</B>, and it had <B>three ribs</B> in the mouth of it between the teeth of it:  and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.”  The Historical fact that the Persians were stronger than the Medes is irrefutable.  The Bible thus showing this fact by stating “raised up itself on one side.”  And the “three ribs in” its “mouth” are confirmed in History also, being that Media-Persia conquered Lydia, Egypt, and Babylon.  Even Isaiah prophesied in Chapter 13 that Babylon (see verse one) would be succeeded by “the Medes,” verse 17.</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto: heislord@teacher.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto: heislord@teacher.com"><U><IMG SRC="2ba3c3c0.gif" border=0 width="60" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <B>POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF THE THIRD KINGDOM:</B></div> <bR> <div> The T<B>hird Kingdom</B> is also freely give to us in God's Word as <B>Greece</B> in <B>Dan. 8:21</B>:  “And the rough goat is the king of <B>Grecia</B>.”  Also in <B>Dan. 10:20</B> we are clearly given the identification of the third beast again as noted above:  “the prince of <B>Grecia</B> shall come.”  All students of History know that without the leadership of Alexander the Great, Greece would not have covered the territory that it did.  Students of the Bible know Alexander the Great as the “great horn” of Dan. 8:8.  This is shown more clearly by continuing to read verse 8:  “the <B>great horn</B> was broken (Alexander the Great dies);  and for it came up <B>four notable ones</B> toward the four winds of heaven.”  After Alexander the Great died, four of his Generals received ruler-ship, divided in four parts, over part of his kingdom.  These Generals are confirmed and known in History as Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy.  Daniel 7:6 identifies the four generals as the “four heads.”  Now let's read Daniel 8:21-22:  “21  And the rough goat is the king of <B>Grecia</B> [positive identification]:  and the great horn [Alexander the Great] that is between his eyes is the first king. (22) Now that being broken [Alexander the Great dies], whereas four stood up [his four Generals] for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.</div> <bR> <div> We are now ready for the fourth kingdom.  Daniel 11:2 puts it this way:  “Behold, there shall stand up yet <B>three kings in Persia</B>;  and the fourth shall be far richer than they all.”  Since Persia is the second kingdom, then three more (counting Persia) brings us to the fourth kingdom.</div> <bR> <div> <B>POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF THE FOURTH KINGDOM:</B></div> <bR> <div> If we remain students of History, we know that after <B>Greece</B> came the <B>fourth</B> major <B>kingdom</B> to rule the world - <B>Rome</B>.  God's Word will speak to us in parabolic form, if in specifically mentioning a particular ruling class, it will make it such that unbearable persecution may result from directly identifying it.  Jesus Christ Himself shows this principle in dealing with the identification of the Pharisees indirectly through parables.  Thus God's Word never specifically names the fourth kingdom as <B>Rome</B> directly.</div> <bR> <div> In <B>Daniel the Second Chapter verse 40</B>, we are told that the “fourth kingdom” is as “strong as <B>iron</B>.”  That <B>Rome</B> is known as the kingdom for inventing and using “iron” is well documented but not enough by itself to establish that this makes it the fourth kingdom.  If we look into <B>Daniel Chapter 7 verses 7,19 and 23</B>, we can see this identification come to fruition.  (7) “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great <B>iron</B> teeth:  it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it:  and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it;  and it had ten horns.”  (19) Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of <B>iron</B>, and his nails of brass;  which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet.”  (23) “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.”</div> <bR> <div> <B>POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF THE FIFTH KINGDOM:</B></div> <bR> <div> Both History and the Bible agree totally as to the succession of the four great universal empires.  We now venture into what is both History and Bible prophecy - the “part of iron and part of clay,” Dan. 2:33.  Daniel explains this as meaning “whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, <B><U>the kingdom shall be divided</U></B>;  but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay,” Dan. 2:41.  Or as he also puts it in verse 43:  “they shall not cleave one to another.”</div> <bR> <div> Daniel 2:41 tell us of the “toes of the feet.”  If we consider that we each have “ten” toes, than we can go to Daniel 7:7, where we learn that “it had ten horns” (see Dan. 7:20 also).  History teaches us that Rome was divided into “ten” kingdoms after its demise.  The ten kingdoms equal:  Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Alamanni, Anglo-Saxons, Heruli, Lombards, Burgundians.</div> <bR> <div> Now Daniel states that he “considered the horns,” Dan. 7:8.  What he saw was, “behold, there came up among them another <B>little horn</B>, before whom there were <B>three of the first horns plucked up</B> by the roots.”  If you take any plant “up by the roots,” you will kill it.  This is exactly how Papal Rome came to power.  It conquered the Heruli, Vandals and Ostrogoths.  No one should question the fact that Papal Rome was the power after Rome itself, for even Kings came and paid acquiescence to her.  However, we must positively identify the “little horn” as being this power.</div> <bR> <div> Positive Identification of the “little horn” as Papal Rome:  1) It came up among the “ten horns” placing it geographically in Western Europe.  2) It arouse after the “ten horns” because it “came up among them,” thus it would be establishing itself after (about) 476 AD when the “ten horns” (Rome “divided” Dan. 2:41) established themselves.  3) It uproots “three of the first horns” (Dan. 7:8) as history shows (7 of those 10 tribes still in existence today), and history also shows that Papal Rome conquered the Heruli, Vandals and Burgundians when it came into power.  4) “...he shall be diverse from the first” (Dan. 7:24), this indicates that it would be different than all of the other purely politically based powers that preceded it.  What is different?  It is a political as well as a religious power.  5) It has “a mouth speaking great things (Dan. 7:8), in that “he shall speak great words against the most High” (Dan. 7:25).  Rev. 13:5 in identifying this power states it thus, “speaking great things and blasphemies.”  Quickly, Biblical blasphemy is claiming to be one with God, Mat. 26:63-65; Mark 14:61-64; John 10:30-36 (The Pope claims to be “The Vicar of Christ”), claiming to forgive sins, Mat. 9:2-3; Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21 (a Roman Church “god given right”), and to commit a trespass against God by breaking His law, Eze. 20:27; Rom. 2:23-24 (accomplished by the changing of God's law i.e. Sabbath to Sunday), which brings us to:  6) He “shall think to change times and laws.”  No better application of prophecy can adequately apply than Rome's change of (time) the weekly cycled Sabbath (in God's law) from Saturday to Sunday.  7) He “shall wear out the saints of the most High.”  This tells us that the “little horn” is a persecuting power (has the Papacy been a persecuting power?) and will “make war” (Rev. 13:17) against God's people and will (“wear out”) put them to death.  Finally 8) they shall “be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time,” equaling 1260 years of which the Papal reign fits exactly (538 AD - 1798 AD).</div> <bR> <div> <B>POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF THE SIXTH KINGDOM:</B></div> <bR> <div> Daniel continues with this statement in Daniel 2:34:  “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.”  And Daniel 2:44-45:  “but It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, <B>and It shall stand for ever</B>.  (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.”  Daniel 8:25 puts it this way:  “but he shall be broken without hand.”</div> <bR> <div> The only kingdom that will “<B>stand for ever” </B>is the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Therefore, this Stone that “brake them to pieces,” is the <B>Second Coming</B> of Christ with His judgment against these vial Nations.  Because, according to Daniel 7:26-27:  “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.  And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be <B>given to the people of the saints of the most High</B>, whose kingdom is <B>an everlasting kingdom</B>, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”  Only God's Kingdom is “everlasting” and one which “the saints of the most High” would <B>want</B> to possess.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mailto: heislord@teacher.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto: heislord@teacher.com"><U><IMG SRC="2bb37640.gif" border=0 width="55" height="100" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>