The Beast Empire—Daniel's Statue: Part 1

The book of Daniel is deep water, and I am not attempting to address every detail. That kind of mission would need much more attention and time than me and my little blog have (and probably much more understanding). But I love the book of Daniel and desire that others at least get the basics of the dreams and visions and how they relate to the end and to the book of Revelation.

I will also be linking Daniel's vision to John's vision in the book of Revelation, and will address many of the interpretations out there that I believe fall short of biblical accuracy. I’m not sure how many posts it will take to do this somewhat adequately, but at least eight or nine, I’m sure. And I will certainly get a chance to create some new charts that readers will either love or hate!

Daniel Chapter Two

In Daniel chapter two Daniel interprets king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He informs the king that the statue represents kingdoms, that the gold head of the statue represents the king and that there will be four more kingdoms after him.

Daniel said:
…You (king Nebuchadnezzar/Babylon) are the head of gold. After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you (Medo/Persian), then another third kingdom of bronze (Greece), which will rule over all the earth. (Dan. 2:38-39)

Now we come to the fourth kingdom. I recently read a book called Antichrist: Islam’s Awaited Messiah which presented a different beast scenario than the one I’m presenting. While I think that my conclusions have more merit, I admit that there are still details that I haven’t completely worked out yet, and I’m willing to say that I’m still thinking about Joel Richardson’s conclusions. At this point I’m not willing to be completely dogmatic about the fourth kingdom and whether it was Rome or Islamic, yet I will be writing from the perspective that it was Rome because it seems more logical to me. I would suggest that you compare my conclusions with your Bible, evaluate other end times scenarios and see what conclusions you come to after your own search.

The Fourth Kingdom

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. (Dan. 2:40)

The Antichrist’s Kingdom

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.

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.

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. (Dan. 2:41-43)

This final kingdom that is described as the feet and toes of the statue is the kingdom of the Antichrist, otherwise known as the “Little Horn” as he’s named in Daniel 7. As we continue we will find that these toes, or “kings,” are mentioned for a reason, and that the number of toes one’s feet has corresponds to the number of kings that give their power and authority to the Antichrist. These toes/kings will be seen again as we look into another vision of Daniel’s and into John’s vision in Revelation.

Click here to go to The Beast Empire—Daniel's Beasts: Part 2.

A Question About Daniel's Dream

Hi Dave, I have been studying the pre-wrath view for about 8 months now, and I have taken it to be the one true rapture timing view of the bible. I think your chart is one of the best and most concise I have seen.

Daniel 7:8-10 seems to relate the time of the antichrist's boasting with the opening of the “books.” I see this as the possible time of the opening of the 7 sealed scroll of Revelation at the midpoint of the week. Does this make sense?

Thank you for the great study resources,
Your brother in Christ,
Jake


Jake,

Thanks for the compliment of my chart, Jake. But I don't think that the verses within Daniel 7:9-10 are speaking of the midpoint. Yes, they are sandwiched in between mentioning what the Antichrist will do during the time of the Great Trib, but it seems clear that these verses are an interlude.

Notice Rev 20:12:

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

Though this passage is speaking of the Great White Throne judgment that will take place after the millennium, I believe a similar instance will take place after the 70th Week before the millennium at the Sheep and Goats Judgment.

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:31-34)

I would think that the books would be opened for the Sheep and Goats Judgment just as they would be during the Great White Throne Judgment, and I think this is probably what is being mentioned in Daniel 7:9-10. The scene in the throne room is showing us what is taking place as if they are getting ready for the judging that will be coming in their very near future.

Some might say that this interlude in verses 9-10 is flashing forward all the way to the end of the Millennium to the Great White Throne Judgment, but that seems awkward to me, especially when we consider and apply verses 13-14 to the scenario.

As for your conclusion that the scroll is opened at the midpoint of the seven years I will just have to say, “Maybe.” It’s not something that I will be dogmatic about.

Good question!

Dave

The Next Pres?

I'm not 100% sure of who I will vote for. I think I will just have to wait until it gets down to the line to see who's still standing, but this ad for Mike Huckabee is just too good. I wish there were more commercials like this one.

It's Official: John Hagee HAS Gone Mad!

Watch the video here. And make sure you scroll down a bit to the bottom of Alan's post to see the clear biblical passage that refutes what Hagee is claiming.

Future Topic

I’m going to try to give a brief overview of certain end time events as described by Daniel over the next couple of months. The main issues I will be addressing will be the beast empires, who they were/are, what will take place with the final empire and how Daniel’s vision correlates with Revelation concerning these beasts. I presently have a plan in my head but we will just have to wait and see what transpires in the coming months.

I’ve been very busy lately and may not be posting as much as I should, but have patience. I have not imminently disappeared.