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Dan 2:31 You, O king, were seeing. And, behold! A great image!
That great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you.
And its form was dreadful.
Dan 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold; his breast and his arms were of silver; his belly and his thighs were of bronze; Dan 2:33 his legs were of iron; his feet were part of iron and part of clay. Dan 2:34 You watched until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image upon its feet which were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. Dan 2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken to pieces together. And they became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Dan 2:36 This is the dream. |
I present the traditional explanation for completeness sake.
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Dan 2:29 As for you, O king, your thoughts came on your bed,
what should happen after this. And He who reveals secrets
makes known to you what shall happen.
Dan 2:36 ....And we will tell its meaning before the king. Dan 2:37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of Heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. Dan 2:38 And wherever the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens live, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.
Dan 2:39 And after you shall arise another kingdom lower than you,
The silver part of the statue represents the Persian Empire. The two arms of the statue represents the 2 parts of the Persian-Medes Empire
Dan 2:39 (continued) and another third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
Alexander the Great ruled over almost the entire civilized world - "When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer." Clearly, the bronse part of the statue represents the Greek Empire
Dan 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron. Since iron crushes and smashes all things; and as the iron that shatters all these, it will crush and shatter.
The Greek Empire was "destroyed" by the
Roman Empire
(BTW, I put "detroyed" in quotes because
I don't believe that the fourth kingdom is
the Roman Empire because the Roman Empire did not conquer
Persia, which was part of the Greek Empire...)
Dan 2:41 And as to that which 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 the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay. Dan 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 brittle. Dan 2:43 And as you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mix themselves with the seed of men. But they shall not cling to one another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
The prophecy scholars believe that this is the revival of the Roman Empire (iron). The description of this nation is very misterious, partly iron; partly clay; does not mix; 10 toes (a confederacy of 10 nations - many prophecy "experts" think this is the European Union which represents the revived Roman Empire I used to think so, but after reviewing new evidence, I have abandoned this theory. There is a much better explanation (see below).
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings, the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other peoples, but it shall crush and destroy all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Dan 2:45 Because you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it crushes the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what shall occur after this. And the dream is certain, and its meaning is sure.
During the reign of terror by the revived Iron kingdom, Jesus will return and destroy this kingdom (crushes the iron).
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There is absolutely no room for doubt and every detail fits like a glove.
10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. |
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The iron will shatter all these
- what are "these" ?
In other words:
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Well, the territory of the Roman Empire ends in Syria:
It did not "shattered" the Persian Empire nor the Greek Empire - their territories extends all the way beyond Iran:
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Dan 2:29 As for you, O king, your thoughts came on your bed,
what should happen after this. And He who reveals secrets
makes known to you what shall happen.
Dan 2:36 ....And we will tell its meaning before the king. Dan 2:37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of Heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. Dan 2:38 And wherever the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens live, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.
The head of gold represents Babylon
Dan 2:39 And after you shall arise another kingdom lower than you,
The silver represents the Persian Empire.
Dan 2:39 (continued) and another third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
The bronse represents the Greek Empire
Dan 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron. Since iron crushes and smashes all things; and as the iron that shatters all these, it will crush and shatter.
The Greek Empire (Parthian Empire) was destroyed by the
Islamic Empire
As you can see, the territories of the
Islamic Empire
encompass
all the land occupied by
the gold,
silver and
bronse empires!
Therefore, the iron represents the
Islamic Empire
Dan 2:41 And as to that which 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 the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.
Dan 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 brittle. Dan 2:43 And as you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mix themselves with the seed of men. But they shall not cling to one another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
This kingdom is divided: there are moderate and fundamental Islamic nations. The fundamental Islamic nations (Iran, Syria) are the iron, while the moderate Islamic nations (Jordan, Egypt) are the clay.
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings, the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other peoples, but it shall crush and destroy all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Dan 2:45 Because you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it crushes the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what shall occur after this. And the dream is certain, and its meaning is sure.
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