Part 3 of the Mark of the Beast Series

Did you know a pagan king wrote a chapter in the Bible? Wait, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about this king who saw the future. Most of this lesson will be taken from Dan 2:1-49.

Before we begin, I humbly ask you to pray, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and, to get a better context, read the second chapter of Daniel before reading this article. This is, arguably, one of the most important prophecies of the Bible for our time.

First, we will go over a prophecy which begins our story.

And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar[1] king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.

Jeremiah 21:7

Israel, although they had chosen to keep all of God’s Law (Exo 19:8), they still committed idolatry and kept breaking other Commandments. They eventually rebelled so much that God allowed them to be taken captive (Dan 1:1-2, Ezr 5:12, 2Ki 20:17, Hab 1:1-11) to teach them some important lessons. The most important one, in my opinion, being God was the only reason they were so prosperous and protected. 

Now, once they made it to Babylon, the Bible highlights a Hebrew boy named Daniel. Most people know about him because he chose not to eat meat. Ever heard of the “Daniel Fast”?  Well, there was a reason why he didn’t eat meat. It was because the Babylonians didn’t have the same dietary guidelines for clean and unclean animals as the Israelites did. Thus, the Bible says that he “purposed not to defile himself” (Dan 1:8).

Now, let’s talk about the king who captured Israel. This particular king was a fierce king. He was conquering the known world at that time and no one could stop him. King Nebuchadnezzar had a very interesting tactic when he would conquer a nation. He would take a certain portion of the populous and train them to be his consultants (the magicians, astrologers, the sorcerers, etc.)

3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; 4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans[2]

Dan 1:3-4

You can imagine, after conquering so many nations, the king had a good amount of consultants. He expected that these skillful and “wise” men would be able to advise and consult him on any matter beyond his ability. However, God had an interesting way of exposing their weakness.  One night, Nebuchadnezzar was thinking about the future (Dan 2:29). He probably dozed off during these thoughts and God then gave him a dream that troubled him. There was a problem, however. He couldn’t remember it! 

And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

Dan 2:3

He called his consultants and asked them to reveal the dream to him and, of course, they could not. In fact, they basically admitted that only a “god” could do something of that magnitude. 

10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

Dan 2:10-11

As you can imagine, he was pretty upset. He then decided to issue a death decree for the consultants (Dan 2:12). Some anger management classes could have been helpful. When they went to kill Daniel and his other Hebrew counterparts, he requested for some time to ask the true God of Heaven for a revelation (Dan 2:17-18). God, being ever faithful, revealed everything to Daniel (Dan 2:19). I just want to take a moment here and say that God will always be there for His servants who call on Him. This is just one of many examples of God being a deliverer. Here is Daniel’s prayer of gratitude.

20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

Dan 2:20-23

Ok, I think we have a sufficient enough backstory, let’s get to the good part. 

The Revelation of the Dream and its Interpretation

Daniel was then rushed to the king so he can reveal the dream and it is an interesting one indeed.

31 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. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 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.

Dan 2:31-35
In a nutshell, the king saw a statue. In this statue, we see different metals as the base for the different body parts. Now there are many things we can analyze from the dream alone. Let’s talk about four.
  1. We see that the statue resembles a man, there’s spiritual significance to that.
  2. We see that the metals degrade in value from head to toe.
  3. If we look closely, we see that the metals correlate with the different ages (Golden age, silver age, Bronze Age and the Iron Age).
  4. The carved image was destroyed by an uncarved rock.

Now, let’s read from Daniel’s own words the interpretation of the dream.

36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: … 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell … hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things … shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; … 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 broken. … 44 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. 45 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 2:36-45

Now, that’s a mouthful and it’s in Old English so let’s break this down. 

The Explanation of the Dream

  1. The first thing we must note is that the different portions of the statues represent different kings/kingdoms. 
  2. Secondly, there seems to be a succession of kingdoms. Immediately we see that the statue is a timeline!
    1. God revealed to this pagan king, who didn’t even believe in Him yet, what was to happen from the time of his rule (Dan 2:38) until God sets up His kingdom (Dan 2:44). This is incredible! We have just found a prophecy in the Bible that we can verify in history.
  • The first kingdom has been revealed to us plainly, it’s Babylon while Nebuchadnezzar was the king (Dan 2:38).
  • Daniel doesn’t seem to spend much time on the 2ndand 3rdkingdom (Dan 2:39). It’s actually only one verse.
  • Daniel seems to spend a lot of time describing the 4thKingdom (Dan 2:40-43).
  • This important kingdom is never actually destroyed, it is merely divided (Dan 2:41)
  • God’s kingdom, described as a stone cut without hands, destroys all other kingdoms and leaves no trace of them.

Now if we were to do some digging in history, we can find the major world powers that Daniel is Describing. Here are the kingdoms that are described in this prophecy written 2600+ years ago!

As we can see above, after Babylon came Medo-Persia (also known for silver). After Medo-Persia, Greece (also during Bronze Age) and, after Greece, Rome (Iron-age). Rome was never conquered. Rather, it was divided into 2 (Eastern and Western Roman Empire) and then into ten. The original name of the ten kingdoms that Rome Split up into are as follows:

  1. Alemani, which became, Germany
  2. Burgundians – Switzerland
  3. Franks – France
  4. Lombards – Italy
  5. Saxons – Britain
  6. Suevi – Portugal
  7. Visigots – Spain
  8. Vandals – Now Extinct
  9. Ostrogoths – Now Extinct
  10. Heruli – Now Extinct

Can you believe it?! The book of Daniel was written in 600 BC and it has accurately depicted the rise and fall of nations for over 2000 years. If this doesn’t prove to you that this amazing Book is inspired by God then I don’t know what will. Now, I know we’ve covered a lot so I’ll close soon. 

Remember that first line about Nebuchadnezzar? Well, he did, in fact, write chapter 4 of the book of Daniel. To make a long story short, after he heard this revelation from Daniel, the king started to honor the God of Daniel (Dan 2:47-48). Unfortunately, he started to get proud again and he built an all gold statue in defiance of the prophecy (Dan 3:1). He then issued a death decree again for anyone who wouldn’t bow down to it (Dan 3:3-6). Daniel’s Hebrew friends, sure enough, didn’t bow to it and were thrown into a fiery furnace (Dan 3:19-20). Jesus ended up visiting them in this furnace and kept them from burning (Dan 3:25). Once Nebuchadnezzar experienced this, as well as another humbling experience, he finally submitted to God and His authority and, thus, was inspired to write a whole chapter in the Bible! (Dan 4:1-37)

The last thing I’d like to note is this. If this story gives us a timeline, can we find our position in this timeline?

Where are we in time?

Well, we can. We are in the feet portion of the statue. Rome has long since been divided and the only major event to follow is the striking of the rock on the statue. If you are a well-studied student or teacher of the Bible, you will know that a rock normally represents Jesus Christ. (Matt 21:42 Eph 2:20)

My friends, Jesus is coming extremely soon!

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Revelation 1:3
What is Prophecy and Why is it Important? (Part 4)

[1]Interchangeable with Nebuchadrezzar in KJV

[2]Babylonians