World Kingdoms Foretold

Written around 600 BC, the book of Daniel gives us an outline of
the world to come. This all takes place in an area we know today as
Iraq. Babylon, which lies between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, is
just north of where the Garden of Eden once was. The King of
Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream where he saw an awe
inspiring image that perplexed him, so He called together all his
soothsayers, magicians, and fortune tellers to explain the dream to
him. He had great concern, and for good reason, that all these people
on his payroll were fake, so he made them tell him what the dream
was about. No one in his kingdom could tell him of his dream except
for a little Jewish boy named Daniel so for this reason the king
became very angry and had all the wise men in Babylon destroyed.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah,
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged
it. Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to
bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s
descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there
was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing
knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the
king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature
of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision
of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three
years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they
might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of
Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them the
chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the
name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and
to Azariah, Abed-Nego. As for these four young men, God gave
them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel
had understanding in all visions and dreams.1

Through prayer, the king’s dream was revealed to Daniel, so he
went before the king and told him what his dream was and what it
meant. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of
silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of
iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut
out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay
and broke them in pieces. He has given them into your hand and has
made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. And in the
days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which
shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand forever.

Now the Fullness of the Gentiles is the period known as the
Church Age where God is calling out a people to His own name. This
is the time in which you and I are now living and will end when God
removes the church from earth and takes it to heaven. However, the
time of the Gentiles is slightly different; whereas the fullness of the
Gentiles concludes at the rapture, the time of the Gentiles continues
until Christ returns to the earth to establish His kingdom. The time of
the Gentiles begins with the golden head of the Babylonian kingdom
where Nebuchadnezzar lays siege on Jerusalem, destroying the city
and taking its inhabitants hostage. Nebuchadnezzar was the first to
destroy Jerusalem after David was the king of Judah, and please note
that the four hundred years they were slaves in Egypt is not included
in the vision. The Assyrian empire was not included either when they
laid hold of Jerusalem in 700 BC. Isaiah 37 tells of the deliverance of
Judah where not a single Assyrian arrow was shot into the city.
The scepter of world rulership was transferred from Judah to
Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, which begins the time of the
Gentiles. This was 2,500 years ago, and the scepter remains in Gentile
hands. To this very day there has not been a kingdom greater than the
Babylonians, and later we will hear about Babylon the Great, the final
kingdom that reigns when Christ returns. Babylon the Great is a
mysterious kingdom that comes to power through the might of
another country that is only to be revealed at the end of times.

After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then
another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the
earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as
iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that
crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly
of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall
be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the
toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom
shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with
ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not
adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.3

God has given us the entire rundown of kings that will rule in the
future and the way to the return of Christ. He has given us the course
of history prior to its making. And they will fall by the edge of the
sword and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be
trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.4
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream describes the Babylonian, Media-Persian,
Greek, and Roman empires, each one becoming a little stronger and a
little bigger than the other, but each becoming a little less prominent
than the one before it.

The Media-Persian empire was in Asia where Iran now sits and
dazzled the world with its riches and splendor and is described as the
chest and arms of the image. Then the third kingdom of bronze was
the Grecian empire that was led by Alexander the Great who in just a
span of eleven years conquered the world. He was unable to hang
onto his kingdom, and at the age of thirty-two he died. His empire
was divided between four generals. Now the scepter is handed to the
kingdom of iron inasmuch as it breaks into pieces everything it meets.
The Media-Persian empire is also represented by the ram with two
horns, one of which was higher than the other but the last to grow,
and then the Grecian empire is represented by a goat with a single
horn between the eyes, which was broken and replaced by four horns
that represent the four generals who took over the empire at
Alexander’s death. Out of one of these horns came forth the little
horn, representing a king who should become infamous as a
blasphemer of God and a persecutor of His people. Antiochus
Epiphanes fulfilled this prophecy in a special way, but its ultimate
fulfillment is yet in the future because the events described are to be
in “the last days” of indignation, which is to be during the time of the
tribulation.

Rome was a brutal empire that introduced us to the crucifixion
and crushed all others with its dominant power. The Media-Persian
empire ruled from Hellespont to the coral strands of India, from the
top of the Euphrates River down to the Persian Gulf. Rome comes
along and builds a highway system to transport their army.
Conquering the then known world, it makes its way to the coast of
Scotland and to the sands of the Sahara, all the way from Gibraltar to
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

God shows there will be deterioration as one empire leads to the
next, and it is symbolized by the type of material that is described in
the image. First there was gold, then silver, then bronze, and now
iron, so you see the world is not getting better it is getting worse. God
makes it clear that even though the areas of the kingdoms are greater,
in their succession is found inferiority. Rome is the last worldwide
kingdom, and that was over fifteen hundred years ago. Many have
tried but failed because they were not included in God’s schedule.
There were the Muslims, the Turks, Napoleon, and the Nazis—all
tried but failed to obtain world dominance.

In the end the Roman Empire will be revived and is described as
the ten toes, which will be part iron and part potter’s clay. The
kingdom shall be divided, yet it will have the strength of iron mixed
with ceramic clay so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly
fragile. The ten toes will represent a ten-nation confederation that will
be put together at the end of the age. At this day and time, we are
somewhere near the feet of the image, and the beginning of the end to
the time of the Gentiles is at hand.

Now going back to the dream, we read, You watched while a
stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of
iron and clay and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the
bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and
became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried
them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that
struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.5
This stone, which comes from outside the image, is without human
origin or motivation and will pulverize the image and turn it into dust.
A wind will blow, and the image will disappear, and this Stone cut
without hands will fill the earth and take the place of the image.
The Stone is none other than Jesus Christ returning to earth to take
back what belongs to Him. The end to the time of the Gentiles will
conclude in almost complete destruction of the world. The
cataclysmic return of Jesus Christ will put down the rule of the
Gentiles and the scepter will be passed to the King of kings, and Lord
of lords. This Stone has yet to strike the earth because the last part of
prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. The Antichrist will appear, and the
final world power will revive the old Roman Empire to take the
nations into destruction.

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The
stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you
and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this
stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to
powder.”6

There is hope for every one of us through Christ. If we will but
fall upon the Stone, we can obtain mercy and we will be saved from
this yet future onslaught of worldly destruction. He who believes in
the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.7

1.) Daniel 1:1, 3-7, 17
2.) Daniel 2:32-44
3.) Daniel 4:39-43
4.) Luke 21:24
5.) Daniel 2:34-35
6.) Matthew 21:42-44
7.) John 3:36