Studying the Time Prophecies of Daniel & Revelation

[DarylFawcett]

The studying the time prophecies of Daniel & Revelation was very instrumental in my coming into the SDA Church, therefore, I would like for those who are interested to do a review of these time prophecies beginning with Nebuchadnezzar's dream of Daniel 2.

 

[DarylFawcett]

Daniel not only told Nebuchadnezzar about his own dream that he had forgotten. but also interpreted that dream, which is what I want to focus on.

 

[DarylFawcett]

First the dream in a nutshell.

Dan 2:31 You, O king, saw, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and the form thereof was terrible.
Dan 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
Dan 2:33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Dan 2:34 You saw till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image on his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces.
Dan 2:35 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 threshing floors; 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 2:36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

 

[DarylFawcett]

Next is the interpretation by Daniel, as revealed to him by God.

Dan 2:37 You, O king, are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
Dan 2:38 And wherever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven has he given into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.

As Nebuchadnezzar was the king that Daniel was talking to, Nebuchadnezzar is the head of God.

As Nebuchadnezzar is the king of Babylon, it obviously begins with the Babylonian Empire.

 

[BobRyan]

Daryl - glad to hear your testimony about joining the Seventh-day Adventist church. Some things in those Bible timelines are admitted to by a lot of non-SDA Bible scholars. But other details are not as clear in those other groups as in ours.

A number of Bible commentaries point out that Daniel 2 provides an outline of world history going all the way to the second coming.

For example - Matthew Henry

Daniel 2 - Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Bible Commentaries - StudyLight.org

31-45 This image represented the kingdoms of the earth, that should successively rule the nations, and influence the affairs of the Jewish church. 1. The head of gold signified the Chaldean empire, then in being. 2. The breast and arms of silver signified the empire of the Medes and Persians. 3. The belly and thighs of brass signified the Grecian empire, founded by Alexander. 4. The legs and feet of iron signified the Roman empire. The Roman empire branched into ten kingdoms, as the toes of these feet. Some were weak as clay, others strong as iron. Endeavours have often been used to unite them, for strengthening the empire, but in vain. The stone cut out without hands, represented the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ,​

Matthew Henry misses the detail in Dan 2 - that all the kingdoms of the world are wiped out by Christ

 

[DarylFawcett]

This was the time period of the Babylonian Empire.

 

[DarylFawcett]

Next came the following as stated in Daniel 2:39 "And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you,....."

 

[DarylFawcett]

Isaiah 45:1 says, "Thus said the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;"

 

[BobRyan]

hey thanks.

How about the pics for brass and for Iron? I like those pics.

 

[DarylFawcett]

Daniel 2:39 also talked about the third kingdom:

Daniel 2:39 "...and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth."

 

[DarylFawcett]

Daniel 2:40 "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: for as much as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise."

The 4th kingdom was the Roman Empire. Christ was born in a manger during the time of this empire.

 

[BobRyan]

Thank you sir! got any "feet and toes"??

and maybe a big whopping asteroid at the end??

 

[DarylFawcett]

Before I get to the feet and toes, we went through the prophecy regarding 4 world empires.

Does the prophecy predict a 5th world empire replacing the Roman Empire?

 

[DarylFawcett]

Before I get to the feet and toes, we went through the prophecy regarding 4 world empires.

Does the prophecy predict a 5th world empire replacing the Roman Empire?

The answer to my own question is "No."

There will be a 5th world empire, however, the feet and the toes are not the result of any new empire.

Daniel 2:41 says "And whereas you saw 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, for as much as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay."

There is any prediction of any world empire overthrowing the Roman Empire, but instead of a division of that empire.

 

[Walk together]

The feet are holding up the weight of the past and yet the feet are fragile and fragmented. The feet represent the last days of a sosiaty that is combined with the strength of iron and the brittleness of clay the iron represents authority and the clay represents the general public but note the iron is supported by the clay and the clay is supported by the iron they can not survive alone. When the weight of the past bears down on the feet the clay will burst and the iron will be fully exposed having nothing to sustain it this will be the total demise of all that was left only anarchy can result for all and it will be time for the Lord Jesus to return. The total loss of control by the world governments will be the marking of the Lord's return. The feet have already started to crack and they will shatter very fast and very soon just like a thief in the dark.

 

[BobRyan]

The feet are holding up the weight of the past and yet the feet are fragile and fragmented. The feet represent the last days of a sosiaty that is combined with the strength of iron and the brittleness of clay the iron represents authority and the clay represents the general public but note the iron is supported by the clay and the clay is supported by the iron they can not survive alone. When the weight of the past bears down on the feet the clay will burst and the iron will be fully exposed having nothing to sustain it this will be the total demise of all that was left only anarchy can result for all and it will be time for the Lord Jesus to return. The total loss of control by the world governments will be the marking of the Lord's return. The feet have already started to crack and they will shatter very fast and very soon just like a thief in the dark.

In Daniel 2 there is no mention of the weight of the statue being an issue. Rather in Dan 2 it is the massive stone that come flying down out of heaven that destroys the image.

 

[Walk together]

In Daniel 2 there is no mention of the weight of the statue being an issue. Rather in Dan 2 it is the massive stone that come flying down out of heaven that destroys the image.

Well the statue is a representation of the timeline, not a literal statue made from the materials mentioned the head is the timeline of Babilon the first great civilization to rise after the great flood. The empire of Babilon was corrupted nothing new as corruption has been with us ever since the beginning of the creation of man. The head of the statue is made of gold so it represents the highest point and is very heavy when the feet give way and crumble to dust the gold head will fall with the force from heaven this is my original example of society destructing under the weight of the past. It is always the past that man dwells on and makes him resort to corruption and violence it is this relentless attitude of man that leads to the fall of modern civilization and the lack of direction and tru wisdom from the world powers will end in total chaos and destruction so this is the stone the head falling and the feet crumbling is us letting it fall by failing to stand on righteous feet. So the statue is a Symbol for the past that we dwell on and we let the past determine our future willingly rather than making new rules that work to benefit us all so we will fall with the full weight of our past landing on our heads this is the fall of mankind and the end days that we all know is coming very soon and it will indeed consist of all the horrors that we can imagine like nuclear war financial collapse starvation murder pillaging and the list goes on maybe even the asteroid that you have mentioned is all part of the deal of Gods wrath on the world. But the good news is that all this will usher in Jesus and Jesus will take over and rule the new world the way we should have in the first place. We can clearly see that the past few years have weakened the feet to the point of certain collapse.

 

[DarylFawcett]

The answer to my own question is "No."

There will be a 5th world empire, however, the feet and the toes are not the result of any new empire.
View attachment 318268
Daniel 2:41 says "And whereas you saw 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, for as much as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay."

There is any prediction of any world empire overthrowing the Roman Empire, but instead of a division of that empire.

It says here that the Roman Empire will be divided.

 

[DarylFawcett]

And they were divided as follows:

 

[DarylFawcett]

Here is another way of looking at it: