The Great Image of Daniel chapter 2

[onewithhim]

Daniel's chapter about the great image (chapter 2) is very significant within any discussion of the end times and when God's Kingdom comes (Matt.6:9,10). After perusing this chapter, and perhaps viewing this image on other websites, what is your understanding of the meaning of this image and its being hit by a rock from the mountain?

[onewithhim]

Daniel's chapter about the great image (chapter 2) is very significant within any discussion of the end times and when God's Kingdom comes (Matt.6:9,10). After perusing this chapter, and perhaps viewing this image on other websites, what is your understanding of the meaning of this image and its being hit by a rock from the mountain?

Relevant Scripture from Daniel 2:

26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”

27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner, can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about,
28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.

The dream:

Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:

29 As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.

30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

31 Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.
32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.

34 While you were watching, a stone(rock) was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold, were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the stone(rock) that had struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

The interpretation:

36 That was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.

37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory;
38 in your hands He has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, He has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

39 After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.

40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom...

44 In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

45 This is the meaning of the vision of the stone(rock) cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a stone(rock) that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.

1). The stone(rock):

Without any doubt, this has to be Jesus of Nazareth He is the Anointed One sent by God to further His kingdom purposes, including dealing a fatal blow to His enemies.

"The stone" is proinent in Bible prophecies that speak of him.

For example, see how Peter applies some of them:

1 Peter 2:

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house a to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6 For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.” (Isaiah 28:16)

7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,” (Psalm 118:22)

8 and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.” (Isaiah 8:14)

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

Jesus would have included such passages, as he talked with his disciples after his resurrection. See Luke 24:25-27, 32.

Indeed, Yes. Jesus is the main figure in this "rock" or "stone" that crushes the great image. He is the King of that Kingdom which the stone stands for. As King he directs the Kingdom to do away with all man-made governments and set up his Kingdom (government) over the newly cleansed Earth.

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[JehovahsWitness]

What distinguishes this Kingdom from earthly governments is that its seat of power is not found on earth but in heaven.

I totally agree. God has a government. Its based not in Washngton in the whitehouse but in heaven, (in the Fathers house). It has citizens on earth.


But what about it destroying the image. ? Are there not still earthly human governments in existence? When will the government's of the statue be completely destroyed so not even the dust of them can be seen on the earth? When will the heavenly government be the only one in existence as Daniel prophesied ?

[onewithhim]

Very good, BJs1, but for two things, in my humble estimation. Could you elaborate on the feet of clay and iron and just how the Roman empire was divided?

I fear this requires a greater invest of time then I currently have. You can find ample resources on the history of the Roman Empire if you are interested. Just recognize that this is the kind of thing that requires an entire book, not just a web site.

I can explain it in a few paragraphs. Starting with Rome, the power that crushed like a beast of iron.....the legs of iron.....which pictured not only the Roman Empire but its political outgrowth. Check out these words at Revelation 17:10: "There are 7 kings (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece), one is (Rome, at the time when Revelation was written), the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while (250 years is 'short')." The 8th king was also to fall (the sixth king of Nebuchadnezzar's dream). The king after Rome---the 7th king of the dream---would arise from one of Rome's captured territories. What would that be?

Britain was once a northwestern part of the Roman Empire. By the year 1763 it had become the British Empire, that "ruled the 7 seas." By 1776 its American colonies had declared their independence and set up the United States of America. In later years Britain and the United States became partners in war and peace. Thus, the Anglo-American world power came into existence as the 7th world power of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The iron legs of the dream image thus include both the Roman Empire and the Anglo-American dual world power."

More later, on the feet and toes.

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[onewithhim]

Continuation of discussion.....Feet and Toes of the Image


Daniel next told the king, "whereas you beheld the feet and the toes to be partly of clay and partly of iron, the kingdom itself will prove to be divided, but somewhat of the hardness of iron will prove to be in it, forasmuch as you beheld the iron mixed with moist clay. And as for the toes of the feet being partly of iron and partly of clay, the kingdom will partly prove to be strong and will partly prove to be fragile. The iron, or the authoritarian governments, will not mix with clay-like mankind that will constantly rise up in protest against the governments. (Daniel 2:41-43)

Logically, the feet and toes of "iron mixed with moist clay" would symbolize the final manifestation of human rule that would exist during the time of the end (Daniel 12:4). I believe we are today in the toes of the feet.

More on the 7th world power. At the beginning of the 20th century, the British Empire ruled over every 4th person on Earth. WWI resulted in the emergence of groups of nations in place of "empires." Then after WWII this trend accelerated. As nationalism developed further, the number of nations grew dramatically. The 10 toes of the image represent ALL such coexisting powers, for in the Bible the number 10 at times signifies earthly completeness. (See Exodus 34:28; Matthew 25:1; Revelation 2:10.)

More on the toes....

[onewithhim]

More on the Toes:


WE are in "the time of the end," and we have reached the feet of the image. Some of the governments pictured by the image's feet and toes of iron mixed with clay are iron-like---authoritarian or tyrannical. Others are clay-like. How? Well, Daniel associated the clay with "the offspring of mankind" (Daniel 2:43). Despite the fragile nature of clay, of which the offspring of mankind are made, traditional ironlike rulerships have been obliged to listen more and more to the common people, who want their say in the governments ruling over them (Job 10:9). But there is no sticking together of authoritarian rule and the common people, no more than there would be a uniting of iron and clay. When the image is destroyed, the world will be politically fragmented.

This is actually unprecedented. The situation is such that there has never been anything quite like what we see today, around the globe. Since we're in the toes, so to speak, what next? I guess we have to concentrate on what the stone cut out of the mountain means, since that will destroy all existing worldly governments.

There is the explanation for Rome's division and what the feet and toes mean. It doesn't take a whole book. The details would, but not an over-all explanation.


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[onewithhim]

Secondly, allegiance to Christ's Kingdom is necessary, but you went a bit too far in referring to Jesus as "God."

I quoted the Apostle Thomas as recorded by the inspired scriptures (John 20:28). My meaning was the same as his.

Since the Apostle Thomas seemed to be going against everything else written in the Gospel of John, perhaps his meaning has actually escaped most of us. Surely he saw Jesus in serious prayer with his sweat dripping blood in the Garden....praying to God. How could Thomas have turned on a dime and uttered such blasphemy as Jesus being God? He must've known that Jesus wasn't praying to himself. I believe that this one odd exclamation out of the whole gospel was none other than an exclamation that we might make today when we realize something that we didn't know before....."OMG!" That is it. Thomas wasn't saying that Jesus was God, and no one can say that he was. We weren't there. And since John writes after that that Jesus was---not God--- but God's Son, either John didn't take Thomas as saying Jesus was God or he was correcting the foolish error. John said: "But these have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that, because of believing, you may have life by means of his name." (John 20:31) It was a perfect time to declare Jesus to be God, if that was what they believed, but John didn't. And just a few verses before that John wrote down that Jesus said he was returning to "my God!" (John 20:17) No, Thomas wasn't stupid enough to say something like you say he said.

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[onewithhim]

It is a different kind of government. It is a “kingdom not of this world.” There are billions of people who have pledged their allegiance first to “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” They accept his rule in their lives and give him authority over earthly kingdoms. What distinguishes this Kingdom from earthly governments is that its seat of power is not found on earth but in heaven.

You don't say what scripture you are citing when you say "our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." I know it to be Titus 2:13. Paul wrote of two individuals there. God AND the savior Jesus Christ. One version puts it this way: "while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of the Savior of us, Christ Jesus." Two Persons---God AND Jesus.

Haven't you paid attention to the other references in Paul's letters to God AND Jesus? Doesn't he say, for example, at Titus 1:4: "May there be [grace] and peace from God the Father AND Christ Jesus our Savior"? Didn't Paul repeatedly indicate that the Father alone was God and Jesus Christ was another individual? At I Corinthians 8: 4-6 he clearly delineates between God and Christ. "There is actually to us one God, the Father."


I deviated from the topic, but it was worth it to straighten out some twists and turns. I look forward to your comments on my posts concerning Rome, the legs of iron, and the feet and toes of the image.
.

[Checkpoint]

1). The stone(rock):

Without any doubt, this has to be Jesus of Nazareth ....

So, correct me if misunderstood but that means you conclude that...

The destruction of the image represents Jesus condemnation of the Pharisees
The fulfillment of the image happened in the first century

No, those are not my conclusions.

Those will become more evident from my future posts in response to the post that starts this thread.

I have some questions ...

The image represents what/who?
The mountain is what/who?
The feet of stone of said image what/who?

JW

The image represents the kingdoms of this world.

The mountain is the kingdom that is not of this world, in all its fullness, which is yet future.

There are no "feet of stone".

I do not know who or what the feet of said image are, other than what is revealed in the dream and its interpretation.

[onewithhim]

Checkpoint, I wonder if you read my posts on the legs and feet of the image. I think it's quite succinct and reasonable, what I wrote. I also asked you some questions that you haven't answered. I would appreciate your answers.

Thanks.

[tam]

Peace to you,

[Replying to Checkpoint in post #28]

I do not know who or what the feet of said image are, other than what is revealed in the dream and its interpretation.

I can share something about this part at least, since my Lord reminded me of this (when I read your words), and a sister had shared some time back as she had received about this.


The feet are part iron and part clay: part truth and part falsehood.

The Rock (as you acknowledge) is the Truth/Christ.

The Rock does not strike the head of the statue, of the kingdom. (That does not bring the statue down. Think "imperfect men excuse".)

Instead the Rock strikes the feet (which have some iron, but also some clay) upon which the statue stands. Take out the feet (the base), and the whole statue must come down.


**


That is as much as I can share, but I hope it helps.


Peace again to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy