Daniel 2b:

Reading #400  Clay and iron

We ended up last week with the introduction of the fourth (and last) global kingdom.  After that one the Spirit of God showed that the great empires would be split into many segments, never to be reunited again. 

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Daniel 2:

41 “And whereas you saw 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 you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

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Now is introduced a new element, for clay is not a metal and does not harmonise with them, yet the feet and the toes (not just the toes) are said to have this material in them.  What does the clay represent?  In this image of Satan’s kingdom it is a picture of his religions, for clay is used as a symbol of religion in the Bible, good or bad.  Speaking of His church, the Son of God says, “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? says the LORD.  Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.”   Jeremiah 18:6.  Miry clay is wet clay, and it is this property which allows religion and state to stick together for a while, but as the clay dries out, so they must separate. 

Note also that THE kingdom (Satan’s) is no longer united as one worldwide kingdom – in the end of time it is made up of many smaller portions having the same characteristics as the large empires, especially the strength of the last of the universal ones, but each is jealously guarding its independence (consider the United(?) Nations today!)  Thus through the clay the Spirit of God is telling us that in the last days religions will play a great part in the assemblies of the world.

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Daniel 2:

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 you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they [the religions] shall mingle themselves with the seed of men [the nations]: but they shall not cleave one to another [for ever], even as iron is not mixed with clay.

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Although the nations making up the statue of the fighting man are not named in the explanation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, they were identified in subsequent visions given to Daniel.  So we know from Inspiration that Babylon was followed by the twin kingdoms of Media and Persia (Daniel 8:20), which were in their turn overcome by the Greek nation under Alexander the great (Daniel 8:21). 

The shape of the human body is used to describe some of the characteristics of these kingdoms.  Although described as individual kingdoms they were really only parts of one overall system, which was designed by the enemy of God, and one which God describes in the form of fallen (fighting) humanity.  Babylon was shown as the head, full of worldly wisdom and knowledge.  The union of the Medes and Persians was clearly described in the two arms of the warrior.  One aspect of this union was the ruthlessness of the Persians, for they eventually became the dominant partner. 

Then the Greeks brought with them a universal language and a philosophy on the state of the soul which still affects an enormous proportion of the world’s population. After the death of Alexander at a relatively young age, his generals could not agree on a successor, so they fought among themselves.  Out of this confusion arose four distinct kings which, because they did not have the genius of Alexander, soon settled down into two, known to us in the Bible as the “king of the north” and “the king of the south” (east and west were absorbed).  This is reflected in the division of the body into two stems at the junction of the “belly and thighs”.

All this was clearly explained later.

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Daniel 8:

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History records for us that the kingdom which succeeded Greece was Pagan Rome about 168BC.  They came in with their weapons of iron and easily overran the people of the brass (bronze) age.  In line with the build of the human body which forms the basis of this dream, we should expect this kingdom to be divided in two also, just as the legs are separate.  But the split started with Alexander’s generals, as we have seen. 

In a statement that sets the pattern for us, the angel Gabriel explained:

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Daniel  11:

2 And now [the angel said] will I show you [Daniel] the truth.  Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece [he will attack that nation].

3 And a mighty king [Alexander] shall stand up [in Greece], that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will [he will beat the Persians]. 4 And when he shall stand up [at the height of his power], his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven [north, south, east and west]; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.

5 And [eventually] the king of the south shall be strong, and [so shall another] one of his [Alexander’s] princes [the king of the north]; and he [north] shall be strong above him [south], and have dominion; his [north’s] dominion shall be a great dominion.

6 And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement . . . [and so on in great detail which we’ll look at when get to that chapter.]

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The dividing of the kingdom into the kings of the north and the south came in the period of the Greek empire, the “thighs” of the statue, and was already well established by the time of the Roman dominion.  They came on the scene as a republic, which soon degenerated into a dictatorship and emperors who were worshipped as “gods”.  But Satan planted within it the religion that had moved to Rome from Babylon via Pergamos.  In the background at first, it was NOT a copy of the Babylonian system, but was made up of the successors of those priests and wise men who had left Babylon with their religion after its fall to Cyrus in 539BC. 

It is recorded that they moved at first to Pergamos the capital of Pergamum, a kingdom in what is now Turkey.  It later became the Roman “Asia”.  (In the early Christian times God described the city as still being a base for some of Satan’s activities. “And to the angel [the leader] of the church in Pergamos write; ‘These things says He which has the sharp sword with two edges; I know your works and where you dwell, even where Satan's seat is: and you hold fast My name, and have not denied My faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells’.” Revelation 2:12-13.)

When the last king of Pergamum died without an heir in 133BC, he left his kingdom to the nation of Rome which was establishing itself to some as a great and benevolent power in the world, as well as a ruthless conqueror to others, rather like the United States of America of today!  The religious establishment of Babylon then moved to Rome and quietly became part of the politics of the time.  (Julius Caesar became “Pontifex Maximus” or “Supreme Pontiff” of the Roman religion in 63BC, starting a fashion which the emperors followed, just as the Queen of England is the head of the Anglican church today.  Julius actually bought the position!)

After a period of about 400 years of ups and downs Satan made what he thought was a smart move and organised the merging of the professed Christian religion at Rome with the Pagan system and had it subsidised by the State of Rome under the emperor Constantine.  This occurred around 321AD. The title of Supreme Pontiff was taken by the bishop of Rome and the Papal side of Rome (the other leg) became active.  Rome was always “religious” which is why it is called “Pagan”.  Now it became professed Christian in place of its Paganism.

This was much more than a religion – it soon developed a voracious appetite for politics and when the Roman empire split in 395AD the bishop of the time set up his system as the “holy” Roman empire.  By 538AD it had ended up with its own army, its own city within Rome (the Vatican), and a controlling despotic power over the nations of western Europe. See end note.

So Rome became the Papal system for one thousand two hundred and sixty years, until 1798.  From that date on the dream concentrates on the area past the ankles, the feet and toes.  Here we find two feet because there are still two aspects of the nations and religions today.  There is the eastern and western ways of statehood, with their heathen religions and counterfeit Christianity.  Satan divides the world east and west, God divides it north and south.

After Babylon (605-539BC), Medo/Persia (539-331BC), Greece (331-168BC), and the two aspects of Rome, Pagan (168BC-538AD) and Papal (538-1798), God was advising that there would never be another worldwide ruling power. Each one of these had increased its borders until at the last the Papal system encompassed the whole globe, including the new worlds of the Americas and Asia.

BUT, that’s because the next section of the verse quoted above says, “and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast [the papal system is a state as well as a religion].”  Verse 4 continues: “And [then, in doing so] they worshipped the dragon [Satan, Revelation 12:9] which gave power to the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like to the beast?’”

And that’s where we are today.  Just over 200 years after the fall (in men's eyes) of Papal Rome the “clay” of Satan’s kingdom is “miry” (damp with spiritualism) and has great attraction for the governments and religions of the world.

Thankfully, God has said that one day the clay will dry out completely and there will be a falling out between the world’s religions and their states, and even between the religions.  In another prophecy which gives a lot of extra detail we read, “And the ten horns [the other religions of the world] which you saw upon the beast [Satan’s kingdom], these shall hate the whore [the Papal system], and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.  For God has put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom to the beast [for a while], until the words of God shall be fulfilled”.   Revelation 17:16-17.

[Horns are minor powers in Satan’s kingdom, while beasts (animals) are major players.]

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Daniel 2:

44 “And in the days of these kings [those who will first support, then attack Satan’s foremost religious way] 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 [as a stone] shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

45 Forasmuch as you saw that the stone [God’s kingdom] was cut out of the mountain without hands [2:34], and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold [and they were dispersed, 2:35]; the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure”.

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Since 1798 the creator God has been able to raise up a people who oppose Satan’s theory of evolution, and who are calling for the people of the world to worship again the living God.  As part of the explanation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream the Spirit has told us that this new “kingdom of God” will “break in pieces” the apparent unity of the feet and toes.  Then it shall “stand forever”. 

What most readers of this chapter miss is the fact that in the background of the dream there was a mountain.  Not until the end of the days does it come into prominence and that is because Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar both saw a “stone” (not a Rock) being cut out of it.  Neither of them saw how this was done for the Spirit of God works invisibly as the wind blows when He is producing Christians. (John 3:8.)  But produce them He does at that time and then they are used to smite the worldly kingdom where it is weakest – in its temporary unions of religion and state. 

What is this mountain?  It is a representation of Mount Zion, God’s church of the universe.  We are told to “Sing praises to the LORD, which dwells in Zion: declare among the people His doings.” Psalm 9:11.  Why is the stone shown as being cut out from it?  Because in the last days the people of the kingdom of heaven on earth are full brothers to those of the kingdom of heaven in the universe. 

No longer being overcome by the composite “beast” which speaks “great things and blasphemies” and which has made “war with the saints” for a specified period of time, and “overcome them” physically during that time, they, in full combination with their Saviour can be classed as victors as He was.  Revelation 13:1-9.  In that fact they will “destroy” Satan’s kingdoms here on earth.  His disguise of being a benevolent dictator in both church and state will be exposed, and all on earth “whose names are NOT written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” and who formerly thought he (Satan) was God will see him as he really is.  That will take away their support and his empire will disintegrate temporarily until the great Judgment Day described in Matthew 25:31-46 when they will be assembled again, but only to hear the result of their choice.

One final detail remains to be settled.  Daniel’s explanation included the fact that “the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth”.  Chapter 2:35.  So now there are two “mountains” standing where before there was a fighting man.  Here we see that the last generation of Christians who so unite with Christ that the whole scheme of things can be finished, “grow”.  They do this because the Son of God is now able to call the rest of the Christians from their dusty “beds” to be resurrected to ever be with their LORD.  Thus will be fulfilled the words of Jesus, “I am the resurrection, AND the life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live [in a resurrection]: and whosoever lives and believes in Me [in the last day] shall never die.  Believe you this?”  John 11:25-26.

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Daniel 2:   

46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours [sacrifice and burn incense] to him [God?]. 47 The king answered to Daniel, and said, “Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a LORD of kings, and a Revealer of secrets, seeing you could reveal this secret”. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king [as an official close to the king].

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So happy was Nebuchadnezzar at the truths he had been shown that he reacted in typical oriental fashion.  He was also a very practical man and promoted Daniel to be his chief adviser.  Daniel, in turn, did not forget those who had joined with him in their search for wisdom, and managed to get them good jobs also.  

What have we learned from all this? 

In the books of human history, the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as if dependent on the will and prowess of man; the shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice.  But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and through all the play and counterplay of human interest and power and passions, the agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.

He told the people of old what would happen, and it has occurred as He said it would.  We can look forward with confidence to the final events. Bless His name! 

Bye for now,  Ron

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http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0861755.html

 The history of the Vatican as a papal residence dates from the 5th cent., when, after Emperor Constantine I had built the basilica of St. Peter's, Pope Symmachus built a palace nearby. The pope usually resided in the Lateran Palace until the “Babylonian captivity” (14th cent.) in Avignon, France. After the return of the papacy to Rome (1377) the Vatican became the usual residence. The Renaissance popes, principally Sixtus IV, Innocent VIII, Alexander VI, Julius II, Leo X, and Clement VII, were great patrons of the arts, and it was they who began to assemble the great collections and to construct the wonderful galleries. Gregory XIII and Sixtus V spent huge sums on the Vatican and also began the Quirinal, a palace that served as the papal residence from the 17th to the 19th cent., [which] was the Italian royal palace from 1870 to 1946, and is now the home of the president of Italy. Back

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