Summary: History has unpacked Daniel 2 with four great kingdoms as the imagery foretold when Daniel was a youth taken captive by Babylon circa 606 BC. He foretold its conquest by Medo-Persia in Daniel 5 (538 BC) and projected their defeat by “the 1st king of Grecia” (Alexander the Great, 331 BC) in Daniel 8:21 with Rome (unnamed but shown as the Iron kingdom) in Daniel 2. Since then there have been no world conquests in spite of Napoleon and Hitler, yet DC politicians seem eager for NWO.
The image that Daniel described in Daniel 2 had a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, thighs of brass and legs of iron. Daniel 7 reveals four beasts of prey, also representing the nature of worldly governments. A lion, bear, leopard and dragon illustrated Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia and Rome. Out of the dragon grew 10 horns representing the 10 tribes that roamed Europe after Rome fell, and a “little horn” became very great and persecuted the saints. Protestant reformers saw the description in Daniel 7:25 as fitting the papacy that grew out of the Roman Empire.
But Daniel is sealed till the time of the end, Daniel 12:4. The time of the end is defined in Daniel 8:17 as the vision of the ram and goat which was the Medes and Persians, but today those areas are Iraq and Iran. This implies a double application of the book of Daniel.
A double application is supported by the four horns in Daniel 8:8 “toward the four winds” of Daniel 7 where four beasts “shall arise out of the earth,” verse 17, but in the first application, the four beasts came out of the sea. So what could the imagery mean?
The lion is currently a symbol of the United Kingdom and having eagles wings suggests an alliance of the UK with the US. The bear has been used for decades to represent Russia. The leopard with four heads could be an Asian alliance of China, Japan, Korea and Thailand? The dragon could again represent Europe—the European Union and the papacy could again be expected to be a little horn emerging to become great in the end-time as supported by the book of Revelation.
In the first application, those powers succeeded one another, but in the effort for a New World Order, it's possible they co-exist with the UK/US as the cultural or governmental aspect, Russia with military dominance, China having economic control and Europe with the papacy being the religious element.
But a stone breaks the image of those kingdoms in pieces. Speaking of the stone, Daniel said, “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and...it shall break in pieces and consume these other kingdoms.” Daniel 2:44. There is a Judgment scene in Daniel 7:9-14 where Christ receives His kingdom and we take dominion from the four beasts!
When Christians think “kingdom,” they think, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3. But that's not what takes the dominion from the beast kingdoms. There's a second aspect to kingdom that Bible believers worldwide need to see. When Christ was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples asked, Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? They weren't looking for internal qualities of Christ's dominion (meekness, etc.) They were looking for an external kingdom.
Christ's reply supports an external kingdom linked to the “times and seasons,” (Acts 1:7; Daniel 2:21) and Paul said those “times and seasons” occur in the end-time when“the day of the Lord comes with sudden destruction...as travail on a woman with child.” 1Thessalonians 5:1-6. This refers to God's act of liberating Israel (destruction on Egypt) as Israel became God's firstborn, Exodus 4:22. At Sinai He said, “If you will keep my covenant, you will be to me a kingdom.” This is how history repeats for us!
Paul included the Exodus in “All those things happened to them for examples...ends of the world,” 1Corinthians 10:1,11. When God afflicted Egypt (as He will America) sudden destruction came on Egypt and Israel covenanted at Sinai to be God's kingdom AND His bride—He later said, “I am married to you,” Jeremiah 3:14.
That's how WE marry Christ by making a covenant when “the Bridegroom comes,” Matthew 25:6. It's not about His visible return in the sky as a comparative study of the wedding parables shows at http://TheBridegroomComes.com It's about readiness for a sudden calamity that will fit biblical timing because God won't do anything without revealing it (Amos 3:7) and we have misunderstood the clues, but Paul says we “know the times and seasons perfectly.”
The stone kingdom in Daniel 2 is also represented by the white horse in Revelation 6. The reader may appreciate further understanding from an ebook on this topic, Behold a White Horse, available free on Tuesday, August 12 at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IC8E64I
Dr. Richard Ruhling is a retired physician with a special interest in Bible prophecy and the wedding parables as reflected by the above website and ebook offer.