Daniel Chapter 2 is an amazing chapter of prophecy that provides the outline for all other Armageddon ("End Time") prophecies to follow, both his own and those of his successors. It is a simple, easy to understand prophecy because Daniel was given the interpretation of it - so we don't need to guess at its meaning! This also lays down the "ground rules" for understanding other prophecy symbolism throughout the scriptures so it is well worth paying attention to what Daniel is told about this vision.

This chapter opens with the King having a troubling dream. He knows that it is important, but he cannot remember the dream. He calls together all the magicians, sorcerers, Chaldean, and astrologers to tell him what he dreamed but they cannot. For all their claimed wisdom and connection with the spiritual realm, the king realizes they are charlatans and tells them to either tell him the dream and its meaning or he will cut them all into pieces. These men claimed to be in contact with the gods, yet they admitted that none of them could do this thing and the king recognized that they were full of corruption and lies. This was one smart king who would not be made a fool!

Daniel heard of what happened and being of the Chaldean, he too was going to be put to death with the others, so he petitioned the king to give him another day. He then asked his friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, to pray to YHWH to make this thing known to them so that the four of them would not be killed with the others. Hearing their prayers, the God of Heaven made known to Daniel the dream and the interpretation of it. Daniel blessed the God of Heaven (a distinction to be made between his God and those of the other "wise" men in Babylon) and returned to King Nebuchadnezzar. He used this opportunity to show the King that no man can do this thing, but that there is a God in Heaven who reveals secrets that that he had revealed to the King what would happen in the latter days (or until the end of time).

The Kings Vision Described

The kings saw a great image (or splendid statue) standing before him and it was awesome! The head was made of pure gold, his chest and arms of silver, his belly and things of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet of part iron and party clay. The king stood looking at this image until a stone was cut out without hands and struck the images feet of iron and clay, breaking them into pieces. The whole statue was broken into pieces and became like chaff on the threshing floor and the wind carried them away and there was no place found for them (they never stopped being carried away). The stone then became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

The Kings Vision Interpreted

Daniel then revealed to the King that he, Nebuchadnezzar, was the head of gold. At this point, it becomes obvious that the vision is a prophecy of times to come. The chest and arms of silver were to be another kingdom that would replace him, but it would be inferior. A third kingdom would follow, then a fourth that would be as strong as iron, breaking and crushing all the kingdoms before it. Then that kingdom of iron would be divided but the strength of the iron would remain in it, making it partly strong and partly brittle. In these days would the kingdom of the God of Heaven be established, but not by men, and it would crush and remove all kingdoms before it and stand for eternity.

"Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate (or in the court) of the king."

This put Daniel and his friends as the rulers and governors of Babylon, subject only to King Nebuchadnezzar. From slaves to rulers - what an awesome God!

There is much to the prophecy that we need to understand clearly. This prophecy is the outline of all the worlds major kingdoms that will exist until God establishes his kingdom on the earth so it is important to understand it.

Nebuchadnezzar II is arguably one the greatest king to ever rule on this planet. He incorporated much of the Egyptian mysteries into his kingdom and a study of Babylonian theology will show that the religions (although pagan) are very similar to Egypt and are the basis for all religions we are most familiar with today (Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, Wicca, Protestantism, Freemasonry/Mormon, etc.). All are based on sun worship whether the vast majority of believers know it or not. For this very reason, it can be said that all the world has followed in the footsteps of ancient Babylon and the kingdoms of Egypt that came before it. This is clearly why Babylon is considered the head of the image, which to the Hebrews was an idol. This indicates that to the God of Heaven, this is a system of idolatry - an abomination - and it would stay in place until he personally came to destroy that system (the rock).

The Head of Gold - Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar

King Nebuchadnezzar conquered the then-known civilized world. In addition to his conquest of territory, he also re-educated the princes and rulers of the conquered, bolstering his own courts with the smartest and best of all the nations. As a result, the kingdom also incorporated the neighboring traditions and probably religions.

Nebuchadnezzar was a great builder. He claims to have overseen the construction of the great city of Babylon, a claim stamped into 99% of all the clay-bricks used to construct the city and its wonders. One of Nebuchadnezzars construct, the Hanging Gardens, were considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Actually, the cities very walls were also considered part of the Wonders. It was said that 4-horse chariots could easily pass one another atop the great walls of Babylon. They were glazed with tile and the openings were fitted with magnificent brass gates. No city walls or gardens constructed before or after would ever compare to those built by Nebuchadnezzar.

In addition to this great construction, Babylon also boasted hot & cold running water, indoor toilets, and brick streets overlain with asphalt similar to modern paved roadways. Concrete, tar, and asphalt were all familiar building materials in Babylon. Babylon, like modern day paganism, the religion and wisdom was one of sun worship.

The wealth of Babylon was not to last although the system of civilization that Nebuchadnezzar designed would (represented by the statue as one figure). In 539 BC, Cyrus conquered Babylon by walking through the river gate after diverting the cities river. The Medo-Persian monetary system was based upon silver and all taxes were to be paid in silver.

The conquest of Babylon by Cyrus (who wasn't even born) was foretold by the prophet Isaiah around 740-701 BC. He also alluded to how Cyrus would conquer Babylon in Isaiah 44, verse 27 ..."I will dry up your rivers" which is exactly how Cyrus walked into Babylon, along the dry river bed after diverting the Gyndes River. Verse 28 of the prophecy states, "Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’ This prophecy was also fulfilled when Cyrus freed all the Judean slaves and decreed the reconstruction of Jerusalem in 538 BC (a very important proclamation for other prophecies).

But I digress! History shows us that the Medes and Persians were the chest and arms of silver - two arms for the two kingdoms united under the rule of Cyrus. They constructed a highway system to unit the empire and absorbed the local gods and practices of those they conquered, almost all sun-worship (although diety names differed). The Persians would become a greater empire than the Medes over time, but that is for another prophecy.

The next great empire to adopt the Babylonian system was Greece. Oddly enough, the Greeks used a tremendous amount of Bronze in their society. They also adopted the Babylonian and Medo-Persian philosophies and cultures and added to them their own systems of Democracy. The deities once again had different names, but many of the same aspects of sun worship.

The system of idolatry continued through the Greek era and temples to the gods of the Greeks were probably magnificent. The Mysteries, the philosophy, and the economic ideas of the Greeks greatly influenced the next empire.....

The Roman Empire! History of the rise and fall of the Roman empire is well documented with many books and films on the subject. There is little I can say about the Romans except that were well known for incredible brutality in their tactics. Crucifixion was one method of a torturous death that the Romans perfected, and where we get the term "excruciating". The Roman legions conquered Greece and others primarily because of their weapons and armor made of iron. They crushed anyone who stood in their way.

By the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, it had divided into two empires - East and West. Suffice it to say that the two legs of iron accurately represent the two branches of the Roman Empire - but that empire would never disappear until God himself returned (the rock)! It would be found amongst and within the feet of clay, right down to the toes where the rock would strike.

The Roman Emporer Constantine declared himself a Christian and made Christianity the official religion of Rome. Afterwards, the pagan rituals and symbols began to creep into the Christian church. The political power of the Roman Empire ended around 476 AD and Europe was divided among 10 major tribes. There are other prophecies that give many more specifics about this that I'll save for later - this is just an outline (or overview). From that point onwards, the Emporer or Rome would be the Emporer of the Church only - but that church has never disappeared.

Is the Roman Empire still with us today, intermixed with the kingdoms of brittle clay? It most definitely is, although it has changed its form! We now call it the Holy Roman Catholic Church and it is present within every nation on earth, whether obviously as a religion or secretly through its Jesuit agents and their control of secret societies.

We are living in the time of the feet. The worlds kingdoms and empires are fragile, yet they are often bound together by treatise and influences of the Catholic church.

Make no mistake about it - Rome has never disappeared and will never disappear until Jesus Christ returns to destroy it along with the rest of the world who is mixed up with it. It is not the people God despises - he is calling us out of her idolatry - it is the system! It's a system that came down from Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome to be what we have in the world today. A system of governance, finance, and religion that is unholy - a system of slavery (by taxation you might say) and sun worship (veneration of the sun - or Sunday). A system that refuses to recognize the Deity of Jesus Christ as our only salvation (no Priest can save you, no good deeds, no Mary, nothing else).

This can only be the return of Jesus Christ. His Kingdom will destroy all other systems before it and it will be left to no one. It will be an eternal Kingdom and will rule the whole earth. This is not a kingdom that whisks away a part of the statue while the rest crumbles gradually - it crushes it completely!

Some make a mistake by placing this prophecy in the past and saying that the Stone striking the statue was Jesus of history, but this is a dreadful mistake. The stone does not strike the thighs or legs of the statue - when the Roman Empire was in full power as it was in his day. It strikes the feet - when the Iron is only mixed with clay (fragile kingdoms).

God will reestablish his justice in this world and he is returning to claim his own - those who hold fast to a faith in Jesus and who keep his Commandments. This system in which we are ALL now living must be destroyed. None of us can do it so God will do it himself when he returns. That time is not far in the future but Revelation and Daniel tell us that a few more world systems must be in place before he will pronounce his final judgement. Don't wait for it, be ready now because tomorrow you may die.