Advancing the Revelation of Truth

 

Nebuchadnezzar's vision 

[Daniel 2:27 to 47]

A common error of interpretation

 

Many Christians have come to accept that we are about to enter the last phase of the History of Nations defined in Nebuchadnezzar's dream image, as interpreted by Daniel the prophet. They assume that this prophesy refers particularly to those nations which took power from the beginning of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar in 607bc. They believe that most of this prophesy is now in the past, and that we are awaiting the fulfilment of the last period, that which is represented by its feet, being part of iron and part of clay. 

There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in The Last Days. Thy dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these. As for thee O king thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and He that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 

But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thine heart.

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,  His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 

Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron ad clay, and brake them to pieces.  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.  

Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.  And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.  

And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.  And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest 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 thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.  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.  And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 

And in the days of these kings 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 shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 

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: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.  [Daniel 2:28-45]

A careful reading of Daniel's interpretation however, tells us otherwise:

1 

All the kings and their nations represented by the various metals are in power at the time of their destruction in the Last Days. The interpretation that defines the ancient kings of  Babylon, Assyria, Greece and Rome as those powers, is faulted because each one followed one after the other. Daniel states: 'then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together'.

 Daniel

2:35
2

Also: 'In the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed', which implies that all the kings are living when their kingdoms are 'broken in pieces' together by 'the stone cut out without hands'. This is not possible unless they are living at a future time, the Last Days.

2:44
3

Daniel's interpretation defining Nebuchadnezzar as 'this head of gold' describes him in the following manner: 'wheresoever the children of men dwell....hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all'. This was certainly not true at that time.

2:38
4

Again, the 'third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth'. This kingdom is usually interpreted as that of Greece which certainly did not 'bear rule over all the earth'.

2:39
5

The fact that God names Nebuchadnezzar as 'this head of Gold' does not necessarily mean that the interpretation must be referring to that period before the birth of The Messiah. As with much interpretation of the O.T. Scriptures, resurrections in the coming period of The Last Days are not taken into account. This  prophesy of Daniel is a future happening, as are all The Last Days prophesies of the O.T. which commenced their fulfilment after the apostle Peter's recognition at Pentecost

 2:38

Do not be deceived. The Adversary, by the power of his deceptions will always seek to fulfil The Word of God to his advantage. The Scofield interpretation tells us that the present time is fulfilled in the last part of Nebuchadnezzar's 'image', thus The Kingdom of God, with Christ present as king over the whole world, is imminent. Would that it were so!  However, as you can perceive from the four points above, in the Last Days the nations will enter the benign future world government of a resurrected King Nebuchadnezzar, that 'Head of gold', and at some time during the LD, the resurrected King David will rule over a gathered Israel governed by God 'from Heaven'.
A careful study of the various elements of the prophesies of the Last Days shows that initially this Godly arrangement will prosper. Its deterioration is inevitable, as the fall in the quality of  Nebuchadnezzar's image indicates and many of The Last Days prophesies concerning Israel, tell us. Details of The Last Days are given here and here.

Finally it would be wise to recognise that the occupants of the present Israel State are a mixture of many nationalities including a people called Jews. The Zionist extremists who at present control this State are not Jews. The Scripture prophesies of The Gathering [Heb: qabats] refer only to those direct descendants of Israel, the son of Isaac, the grandson of Abraham. God will 'adjust' this situation when he gathers [Heb: qabats] His People back into their land. Where the Last Days prophesies refer to Israel, he is the true Israel gathered [Heb: qabats] in his land.

 So, to sum up. No matter how much the media might seek to persuade us, as of this date in 2007, the Last Days have yet to re-commence, probably in 2022ad.  All the conditions of the Apostle Paul's Last Days prophesy in his letter to Timothy have yet to be activated. The powers of the earth have yet to counterfeit 'a greater land with a gathered nation that will be named as Israel' as God has promised His People Israel, the true Zion. Plans for this counterfeit are published. Its complete fulfilment will end this present Administration of God's Grace by His promise that those who seek to usurp the birthright of Israel 'shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men', at which point, this present Administration of God's Grace will end, and the present day Christian Hope will be manifest:

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,  where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.      [Colossians 3:1-4]

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