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 The King Dreams of World Empires

Verse 1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams,
wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.

The Course Of Empires

With unerring accuracy, the pen of prophecy has traced the course of history down to our day.
Daniel was carried into captivity in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. For three years he was placed under
instructors, during which time he would not of course be reckoned among the wise men of the kingdom,
nor take part in public affairs. Yet in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar, the transactions recorded in this
chapter took place. How, then, could Daniel be brought in to interpret the king's dream in his second year?
The explanation lies in the fact that Nebuchadnezzar reigned for two years conjointly with his father,
Nabopolassar. From this point the Jews reckoned, while the Chaldeans reckoned from the time he began
to reign alone on the death of his father. Hence, the year here mentioned was the second year of his reign
according to the Chaldean reckoning, but the fourth according to the Jewish. [1] It thus appears that the
next year after Daniel had completed his preparation to participate in the affairs of the Chaldean empire,
the providence of God brought him into sudden and remarkable prominence throughout the kingdom.

Verse 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the
Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
The King's Wise Men Fail Him. The magicians practiced magic, using the term in its bad sense;
that is, they employed all the superstitious rites and ceremonies of fortunetellers, and casters of nativities,
and the like. Astrologers were men who pretended to foretell events by the study of the stars. The science,
or the superstition, of astrology was extensively cultivated by the Eastern nations of antiquity. Sorcerers
were such as pretended to hold communication with the dead. In this sense, we believe, the word
"sorcerer" is always used in the Scriptures. The Chaldeans here mentioned were a sect of philosophers
similar to the magicians and astrologers, who made natural science and divinations their study. All these
sects or professions abounded in Babylon. The result desired by each was the same the explaining of
mysteries and foretelling of events the principal difference between them being the means by which they
sought to accomplish their object. The king's difficulty lay equally within the province of each to explain;
hence he summoned them all. With the king it was an important matter. He was greatly troubled, and
therefore concentrated upon the solution of his perplexity the wisdom of his realm.

Verse 3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the
dream. 4 Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live forever: tell thy servants the dream, and we
will show the interpretation.

In whatever else the ancient magicians and astrologers may have been efficient, they seem to have
been thoroughly schooled in the art of drawing out sufficient information to form a basis for some shrewd
calculation, or of framing their answers in such an ambiguous manner that they would be applicable
whichever way the events turned. In the present case, true to their cunning instincts, they called upon the
king to make known to them his dream. If they could get full information respecting this, they could easily
agree on some interpretation which would not endanger their reputation. They addressed themselves to the
king in Syriac, a dialect of the Chaldean language which was used by the educated and cultured classes.
From this point to the end of Daniel 7, the record continues in Chaldaic, the language spoken by the king.
Verse 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if you will not make
known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be
made a dunghill. 6 But if you show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, you shall receive of me gifts and
rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. 7 They answered again
and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it. 8 The king answered
and said, I know of certainty that you would gain the time, because you see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if
you will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for you have prepared lying and
corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you
can show me the interpretation thereof. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man
upon the earth that can show 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 show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12 For this cause the
king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 And the decree went
forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
These verses contain the record of the desperate struggle between the wise men and the king. The
former sought some avenue of escape, since they were caught on their own ground. The king was
determined that they should make known his dream, which was no more than should be expected from
their profession.

Some have severely censured Nebuchadnezzar in this matter, as acting the part of a heartless,
unreasonable tyrant. But what did these magicians profess to be able to do? To reveal hidden things, to
foretell events, to make known mysteries entirely beyond human foresight and penetration, and to do this
by the aid of supernatural agencies. There was therefore nothing unjust in Nebuchadnezzar's demand that
they should make known his dream. When they declared that none but the gods whose dwelling was not
with flesh could make known the king's matter, it was a tacit acknowledgment that they had no
communication with these gods, and knew nothing beyond what human wisdom and discernment could
reveal. "For this cause the king was angry and very furious."

He saw that he and all his people were being made the victims of deception. While we cannot
justify the extreme measures to which he resorted, dooming them to death, and their houses to destruction,
we cannot but feel a hearty sympathy with him in his condemnation of a class of miserable imposters. The
king would be no party to dishonesty or deception.

Verse 14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard,
which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: 15 he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why
is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in, and
desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. 17 Then
Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 that
they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not
perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel to the Rescue. In this narrative we see the providence of God working in several
remarkable particulars. It was providential that the dream of the king should leave such a powerful
impression upon his mind as to raise him to the greatest height of anxiety, and yet the thing itself be held
from his recollection. This led to the complete exposure of the false system of the magicians and other
pagan teachers. When put to the test to make known the dream, they were unable to do what they
professed was entirely within their power.

It was remarkable that Daniel and his companions, so lately pronounced by the king ten times
better than all his magicians and astrologers, should not have been consulted in this matter. But there was
a providence in this. Just as the dream was held from the king, so he was unaccountably restrained from
appealing to Daniel for a solution of the mystery. Had he called Daniel at the first to make known the
matter, the magicians would not have been brought to the test. But God would give the heathen systems of
the Chaldeans the first chance. He would let them try and ignominiously fail, and then confess their utter
incompetency, ever under the penalty of death, that they might be the better prepared to acknowledge His
intervention when He should finally manifest His power in behalf of His captive servants, and for the
honor of His name.

It appears that the first intimation Daniel had of the matter was the presence of the executioners,
come for his arrest. His own life being thus at stake, he was led to seek the Lord with all his heart until He
should work for the deliverance of His servants. Daniel gained his request of the king for time to consider
the matter a privilege which probably none of the magicians could have obtained, as the king had already
accused them of preparing false and corrupt words, and of seeking to gain time for this very purpose.
Daniel at once went to his three companions, and asked them to unite with him in desiring mercy of the

God of heaven concerning this secret. He could have prayed alone, and doubtless would have been heard.
But then, as now, in the union of God's people there is prevailing power. The promise of the
accomplishment of that which is asked, is to the two or three who shall agree concerning it. (Matthew 18:
19, 20.)

Verse 19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of
heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever: for wisdom and might are
His: 21 And He changes the times and the seasons: He removes kings, and sets up kings: He gives wisdom unto
the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He reveals the deep and secret things: He knows
what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. 23 I thank Thee, and praise Thee, O Thou God of my
fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has made known unto me now what we desired of Thee: for
Thou has now made known unto us the king's matter.

Whether or not the answer came while Daniel and his companions were yet offering up their
petitions, we are not informed. It was in a night vision that God revealed Himself in their behalf. The
words "night vision" mean anything that is seen, whether through dreams or visions.
Daniel immediately offered up praise to God for His gracious dealing with them, and while his
prayer is not preserved, his responsive thanksgiving is fully recorded. God is honored by our praise to Him
for the things He has done for us, as well as by our petitions to Him for help. Let Daniel's course be our
example in this respect. Let no mercy from the hand of God fail of its due return of thanksgiving and
praise. In the days of Christ's ministry on earth, did He not cleanse ten lepers, and only one returned to
give Him thanks? "But where," asks Christ sorrowfully, "are the nine?" Luke 17: 17.

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 Rome Sacked By The Vandals

The great "iron empire" of Rome crumbled under the violent attacks of invading hordes from the
north. The image of Daniel 2 is exactly parallel with the four beasts in the vision of Daniel 7. The fourth
beast represents the same kingdom as do the iron legs of the image. The ten horns of the beast correspond
naturally to the ten toes of the image. These horns are plainly declared to be ten kings which should arise.
They are as much independent kingdoms as are the beasts themselves, for the beasts are spoken of in
precisely the same manner as "four kings, which shall arise." Daniel 7: 17. They do not denote a line of
successive kings, but kings or kingdoms which existed contemporaneously, for three of them were
plucked up by the little horn. The ten horns, beyond controversy, represent the ten kingdoms into which
Rome was divided.

We have seen that in Daniel's interpretation of the image he uses the words "king" and kingdom"
interchangeably, the former denoting the same as the latter. In verse 44 he says that "in the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom." This shows that at the time the kingdom of God is set
up, there will exist a plurality of kings. It cannot refer to the four preceding kingdoms; for it would be
absurd to use such language in reference to a line of successive kings, since it would be in the days of the
last king only, not in the days of any of the preceding, that the kingdom of God would be set up.
The Ten Kingdoms. Here, then, is a division presented; and what have we in the symbol to indicate it?
Nothing but the toes of the image. Unless they do, we are left utterly in the dark on the nature and extent
of the division which the prophecy shows did exist. To suppose this would be to cast a serious imputation
upon the prophecy itself. We are therefore held to the conclusion that the ten toes of the image denote the
ten parts into which the Roman Empire was divided.

This division was accomplished between AD 351 and 476. The era of this dissolution thus
covered a hundred and twenty-five years, from about the middle of the fourth century to the last quarter of
the fifth. No historians of whom we are aware, place the beginning of this work of the dismemberment of
the Roman Empire earlier than AD 351, and there is general agreement in assigning its close in AD 476.
Concerning the intermediate dates, that is, the precise time from which each of the ten kingdoms that arose
on the ruins of the Roman Empire is to be dated, there is some difference of views among historians. Nor
does this seem strange, when we consider that there was an ear of great confusion, that the map of the
Roman Empire during that time underwent many sudden and violent changes, and that paths of hostile
nations charging upon its territory crossed and recrossed each other in a labyrinth of confusion. But all
historians agree in this, that out of the territory of Western Rome, ten separate kingdoms were ultimately
established, and we may safely assign them to the time between the dates above named; namely AD 351
and 476.

The ten nations which were most instrumental in breaking up the Roman Empire, and which at
some time in their history held respectively portions of Roman territory as separate and independent
kingdoms, may be enumerated (without respect to the time of their establishment) as follows: Huns,
Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards. [*]
The connection between these and some of the modern nations of Europe, is still traceable in the names,
as England, Burgundy, Lombardy, France, etc.

But it may be asked, Why not suppose the two legs denote division as well as the toes? Would it
not be as inconsistent to say that the toes denote division and the legs do not, as to say that the legs denote
division and the toes do not? We answer that the prophecy itself must govern our conclusions in this
matter; for though it says nothing of division in connection with the legs, it does introduce the subject of
division as we come to the feet and toes. The record says, "Whereas thou saw the feet and toes, part of
potters' clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided." No division could take place, or at least none
is said to have taken place, until the weakening element of the clay is introduced; and we do not find this
until we come to the feet and toes. But we are not to understand that the clay denotes one division and the
iron the other; for after the long-existing unity of the kingdom was broken, no one of the fragments was
broken, no one of the fragments was a strong as the original iron, but all were in a state of weakness
denoted by the mixture of iron and clay.

The conclusion is inevitable, therefore, that the prophet has here stated the cause for the effect.
The introduction of the weakness of the clay element, as we come to the feet, resulted in the division of
the kingdom into ten parts, as represented by the ten toes; and this result, or division, is more than
intimated in the sudden mention of a plurality of contemporaneous kings. Therefore, while we find no
evidence that the legs denote division, but serious objections against such a view, we do find good reason
for supposing that the toes denote division, as here claimed.

Furthermore, each of the four monarchies had its own particular territory, which was the kingdom
proper, and where we are to look for the chief events in its history shadowed forth by the symbol. We are
not, therefore, to look for the divisions of the Roman Empire in the territory formerly occupied by
Babylon, or Persia, or Greece, but in the territory proper of the Roman kingdom, which was finally known
as the Western Empire. Rome conquered the world, but the kingdom of Rome proper lay west of Greece.
That is what was represented by the legs of iron. There, then, we look for the ten kingdoms, and there we
find them. We are not obliged to mutilate or deform the symbol to make it a fit and accurate representation
of historical events.

Verse 43 And whereas thou saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of
men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Rome the Last Universal Empire. With Rome fell the last of the world's universal empires.
Heretofore it was possible for one nation, rising superior to its neighbors in prowess, bravery, and the
science of war, to consolidate them into one vast empire. But when Rome fell, such possibilities forever
passed away. The iron was mixed with clay, and lost the power of cohesion. No man or combination of
men can again consolidate the fragments. This point is so well set forth by another that we quote his
words:

"From this, its divided state, the first strength of the empire departed but not as that of the others
had done. No other kingdom was to succeed it, as it had the three which went before it. It was to continue,
in this tenfold division, until the kingdom of the stone smote it, upon its feet; broke them in pieces, and
scattered them as the wind does 'the chaff of the summer threshing-floor!' Yet, through all this time, a
portion of tis strength was to remain. And so the prophet say, '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. Verse 42. . . . Time and again
men have dreamed of rearing on these dominions one mighty kingdom. Charlemagne tried it. Charles V
tried it. Louis XIV tried it. Napoleon tried it. But neither succeeded. A single verse of prophecy was
stronger than all their host. . . 'Partly strong, and partly broken,' was the prophetic description. And such,
too, has been the historic fact concerning them. . . . Ten kingdoms were formed out of it; and 'broken,' as
then it was, it still continues i.e., 'partly broken.' . . . It is 'partly strong' i.e., it retains, even in its broken
state, enough of its iron strength to resist all attempts to mold its part together. 'This shall not be,' says the
word of God. 'This has not been,' replies the book of history.

"But then, men may say, 'Another plan remains. If force cannot avail, diplomacy and reasons of
state may we will try them. And so the prophecy foreshadows this when it says, 'They shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men' i.e., marriages shall be formed, in hope thus to consolidate their power,
Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith and, in the end, to unite these divided kingdoms into one.
"And shall this device succeed? No. The prophet answers: 'They shall not cleave one to another,
even as iron is not mixed with clay.' And the history of Europe, is but a running commentary on the exact
fulfillment of these words. From the time of Canute until the present age, it has been the policy of the
reigning monarchs, the beaten path which they have trodden, in order to reach a mightier scepter and a
wider sway. . . . Napoleon . . . sought to reach by alliance, what he could not gain by force, i.e., to build up
one mighty, consolidated empire. And did he succeed? Nay. The very power with which he was allied,
proved his destruction, in the troops of Blucher,on the field of Waterloo! The iron would not mingle with
clay."[10]

But Napoleon was not the last to try the experiment. Numerous European wars followed the
efforts of the Little Corporal. To avert future conflicts, benevolent rulers resorted to the expedient of
intermarriage to ensure peace, until by the opening of the twentieth century it was asserted that every
ranking hereditary ruler of Europe was related to the British royal family. World War I showed the futility
of these attempts.

Out of the horrors of that titanic struggle was born an ideal expressed by President Woodrow
Wilson, who exclaimed, "The world has been made safe for democracy!" With the conviction that a war
had been fought which would end war came the announced inherent rights of minorities, and the
principles of self-determination, ensured by a world league of nations which would restrain dictators and
punish aggressors.

Yet under the very shadow of the League of Nations' palace arose leaders who would destroy
world peace and shatter the ideal of world union, while preaching a new social revolution. They vainly
promised the triumph of culture and a union born of racial superiority ensuring the "partly strong" and
"partly broken" nations of Europe "a thousand years of tranquility."

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 The Kingdom Shall Be Divided

Thus the prophetic word foretold the breaking up of the mighty Roman Empire. Out of the welter
of confusion, the wreck of nations, the destruction of institutions, the sacrifice of treasure resultant from
centuries of frugality, through eyes grief-dimmed by the loss of the flower of its young manhood, the
ravishment of its womanhood, the slaughter of infancy and age, through clouds of smoking human blood a
distraught world looks anxiously for its signs of surcease. Will the elusive mirage of world peace based
upon a trust in European solidarity, the result of wishful thinking, again cause men to forget the counsel of
the word of God, "They shall not cleave one to another"?

Alliances may come, and it may appear that the iron and miry clay of the feet and toes of the great
image have finally fused, but God said, "They shall not cleave one to another." It may seem that old
animosities have disappeared and that the "ten kings" have gone the way of all the earth, but "the Scripture
cannot be broken." John 10: 35.

We conclude with a word by William Newton: "And yet if, as the result of these alliances, or of
other causes, that number is sometimes disturbed, it need not surprise us. The iron was 'mixed with clay.'
For a season, in the image, you might not distinguish between them. But they would not remain so. 'They
shall not cleave one to another.' The nature of the substances forbids them to do so in the one case; the
word of prophecy in the other. Yet there was to be the attempt to mingle nay, more, there was an approach
at mingling in both cases. But it was to be abortive. And how marked the emphasis with which history
affirms this declaration of the word of God!" [11]
Verse 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 saw 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.

The God of Heaven to Set Up a Kingdom. We here reach the climax of this stupendous prophecy.
Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith When Time in his onward flight shall bring us to the sublime scene here predicted, we shall have reached
the end of human history. The kingdom of God! Grand provision for a new and glorious dispensation, in
which His people shall find a happy terminus of this world's sad, degenerate, and changing career.
Transporting change for all the righteous, from gloom to glory, from strife to peace, from a sinful to a holy
world, from death to life, from tyranny and oppression to the happy freedom and blessed privileges of a
heavenly kingdom! Glorious transition, from weakness to strength, from the changing and decaying to the
immutable and eternal!

But when is this kingdom to be established? May we hope for an answer to an inquiry of such
momentous concern to our race? These are the very questions on which the word of God does not leave us
in ignorance, and herein is seen the surpassing value of this heavenly boon.
The Bible plainly declares that the kingdom of God was still future at the time of our Lord's last
Passover. (Matthew 26: 29.) Christ did not set up the kingdom before His ascension. (Acts 1: 6.) It states
further that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god. (1 Corinthians 15: 50.) It is a matter of
promise to the apostles, and to all those who love God. (James 2: 5.) It is promised in the future to the
little flock. (Luke 12: 32.) Through much tribulation the saints are to enter the coming kingdom. (Acts 14:
22.) It is to be set up when Christ shall judge the living and the dead. (2 Timothy 4: 1.) This is to be when
He shall come in His glory with all His holy angels. (Matthew 25: 31-34.).)

We do not say that the exact time is revealed (we emphasize the fact that it is not) in this prophecy
of Daniel 2 or in any other prophecy; but so near an approximation is given that the generation which is to
see the establishment of this kingdom may mark its approach unerringly, and make that preparation which
will entitle the children of God to share in all its glories.

Time has fully developed this great image in all its parts. Most accurately does it represent the
important political events it was designed to symbolize. It has stood complete for more than fourteen
centuries. It waits to be smitten upon the feet by the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, that is,
the kingdom of Christ. This is to be accomplished when the Lord shall be revealed in flaming fire, "taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2
Thessalonians 1: 8. (See also Psalm 2: 8, 9.) In the days of these kings the God of heaven is to set up a
kingdom. We have been in the days of these kings for many centuries, and we are still in their days. So far
as this prophecy is concerned, the very next event is the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom. Other
prophecies and innumerable signs show unmistakably that the coming of Christ is near at hand.
The early Christian church interpreted the prophecies of Daniel 2, 7, and 8 as we do now.
Hippolytus, who lived AD 160-236, and is thought to have been a disciple of Irenaeus, one of the four
greatest theologians of his age, says in his exposition of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7:
"The golden head of the image and lioness denoted the Babylonians; the shoulders and arms of
silver, and the bear, represented the Persians and Medes; the belly and thighs of brass, and the leopard,
meant the Greeks, who held the sovereignty from Alexander's time; the legs of iron, and the beast dreadful
and terrible, expressed the Romans, who hold the sovereignty at present; the toes of the feet which were
part clay and part iron, and the ten horns, were emblems of the kingdoms that are yet to rise; the other
little horn that grows up among them meant the Antichrist in their midst; the stone that smites the earth
and brings judgment upon the world was Christ." [12]

A Stone Smote The Image Upon His Feet

The last act in the drama of world events will be the establishment of Christ's kingdom in the
earth. "Speak with me, O blessed Daniel. Give me full assurance, I beseech thee. Thou does prophesy
concerning the lioness in Babylon; for thou was a captive there. Thou has unfolded the future regarding
the bear; for thou was still in the world, and did see the things come to pass. Then thou spoke to me of the
leopard; and whence can thou know this, for thou art already gone to thy rest? Who instructed thee to
announce these things, but He who formed thee in (from) thy mother's womb? That is God, thou said.
Thou has spoken indeed, and that not falsely. The leopard has arisen; the he-goat is come; he hath broken
Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith his horns in pieces; he hath stamped upon him with his feet. He has been exalted by his fall; (the) four
horns have come up from under that one. Rejoice, blessed Daniel! Thou has not been in error: all these
things have come to pass.

"After this again thou has told me of the beast dreadful and terrible. 'It had iron teeth and claws of
brass: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it.' Already the iron rules;
already it subdues and breaks all in pieces; already it brings all the unwilling into subjection; already we
see these things ourselves. Now we glorify God, being instructed by thee." [13]
The part of the prophecy that had been fulfilled at that time was clear to the early Christians. They
saw also that there would develop ten kingdoms out of the Roman Empire, and that the Antichrist would
appear among them. They looked forward with hope to the grand consummation, when the Second
Coming of Christ would bring an end to all earthly kingdoms, and the kingdom of righteousness would be
set up.

The coming kingdom! This ought to be the all-absorbing topic with the present generation.
Reader, are you ready for the issue? He who enters this kingdom shall dwell in it not merely for such a
lifetime as men live in this present state. He shall not see it degenerate, or be overthrown by a succeeding
and more powerful kingdom. No, he enters it to participate in all its privileges and blessings, and to share
its glories forever, for this kingdom is not to "be left to other people."
Again we ask you, Are you ready? The terms of heir ship are most liberal: "If you be Christ's, then
are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3: 29. Are you on terms of
friendship with Christ, the coming King? Do you love His character? Are you trying to walk humbly in
His footsteps, and obey His teachings? If not, read your fate in the cases of those in the parable, of whom
it was said, "But those Mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and
slay them before Me." Luke 19: 27. There is to be no rival kingdom where you can find an asylum if you
remain an enemy to this, for God's kingdom is to occupy all the territory ever possessed by any and all of
the kingdoms of this world, past or present. It is to fill the whole earth. Happy they to whom the rightful
Sovereign, the all-conquering King, at last can say, "Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25: 34.

Verse 46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and
commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him. 47 The king answered unto
Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of
secrets, seeing thou could reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him
many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over
all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
We must return to the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, and to Daniel, as he stands in the presence of
the king. He has made known to the monarch the dream and its interpretation, while the courtiers and the
baffled soothsayers and astrologers waited in silent awe and wonder.
Nebuchadnezzar Exalts Daniel. In fulfillment of his promise of rewards the king made Daniel a
great man. There are two things which in this life are specially supposed to make a man great, and both
these Daniel received from the king: A man is considered great if he is a man of wealth; and we read that
the king gave him many and great gifts. If in conjunction with riches a man has power, certainly in
popular estimation he is considered a great man; and power was bestowed upon Daniel in abundant
measure. He was made ruler over the province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise
men of Babylon. Thus speedily and abundantly did Daniel begin to be rewarded for his fidelity to his own
conscience and requirements of God.

Daniel did not become bewildered or intoxicated by his signal victory and his wonderful
advancement. He first remembered the three who were companions with him in anxiety respecting the
king's matter. As they had helped him with their prayers, he determined that they should share his honors.
At his request they were placed over the affairs of Babylon, while Daniel himself sat in the gate of the
king. The gate was the place where councils were held and where matters of chief moment were
considered. The record is a simple declaration that Daniel became chief counselor to the king.

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Published: 05 October 2023

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Babylon's Crucial Hour

Cyrus the Persian, with his army, entered the golden city through unbarred gates. But all this
would have been in vain, had not the whole city given itself over on that eventful night to the most
abandoned carelessness and presumption, a state of things upon which Cyrus calculated largely for the
carrying out of his purpose. On each side of the river through the entire length of the city were walls of
great height, and of equal thickness with the outer walls. In these walls were huge gates of brass, which,
when closed and guarded, debarred all entrance from the river bed to any of the streets that crossed the
river. Had the gates been closed at this time, the soldiers of Cyrus might have marched into the city along
the river bed, and then marched out again, for all that they would have been able to accomplish toward the
subjugation of the place.

But in the drunken revelry of that fatal night, these river gates were left open, as had been foretold
by the prophet Isaiah years before in these words: "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." Isaiah 45: 1. The entrance of the Persian
soldiers was not perceived. Many a cheek would have paled with terror, had the sudden going down of the
river been noticed, and its fearful import understood. Many a tongue would have spread wild alarm
through the city, had the dark forms of armed foes been seen stealthily treading their way to the citadel of
their supposed security. But no one noticed the sudden subsidence of the waters of the river; no one saw
the entrance of the Persian warriors; no one cared for aught but to see how deeply and recklessly he could
plunge into the wild debauch. That night's dissipation cost the Babylonians their kingdom and their
freedom. They went into their brutish revelry subjects of the king of Babylon; they awoke from it slaves to
the king of Persia.

The soldiers of Cyrus first made known their presence in the city by falling upon the royal guards
in the vestibule of the palace of the king. Belshazzar soon became aware of the cause of the disturbance,
and died fighting for his life. This feast of Belshazzar is described in the fifth chapter of Daniel, and the
scene closes with the simple record, "In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And
Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old."
The historian Prideaux says: "Darius the Mede, that is Cyaxares, the uncle of Cyrus, took the
kingdom; for Cyrus allowed him the title of all his conquests as long as he lived." [6]
Thus the first empire, symbolized by the head of gold of the great image, came to an ignoble end.
It would naturally be supposed that the conqueror, becoming possessed of so noble a city as Babylon, far
surpassing anything else in the world, would have taken it as the seat of his empire, and maintained it in
its splendor. But God had said that that city should become a heap, and the habitation of the beasts of the
desert; that its houses should be full of doleful creatures; that the wild beasts of the islands should cry in
its desolate dwellings, and dragons in its pleasant palaces. (Isaiah 13: 19-22.) It must first be deserted.
Cyrus established a second capital at Susa, a celebrated city in the province of Elam, east from Babylon,
on the banks of the River Choaspes, a branch of the Tigris. This was probably done in the first year of his
sole reign.

The pride of the Babylonians being particularly provoked by this act, in the fifth year of Darius
Hystaspes, 517 BC, they rose in rebellion and brought upon themselves again the whole strength of the
Persian Empire. The city was once more taken by stratagem. Darius took away the brazen gates of the
city, and beat down the walls from two hundred cubits to fifty cubits. This was the beginning of its
destruction. By this act, it was left exposed to the ravages of every hostile band. Xerxes, on his return from
Greece, plundered the temple of Belus of its immense wealth, and then laid the lofty structure in ruins.
Alexander the Great endeavored to rebuild it, but after employing ten thousand men two months to clear
away the rubbish, he died from excessive drunkenness and debauchery, and the work was suspended. In
the year 294 BC, Seleucus Nicator built the city of New Babylon in the neighborhood of the old city, and
took much of the material and many of the inhabitants of the old city, to build up and people the new.
Now almost exhausted of inhabitants, neglect and decay were telling fearfully upon the ancient capital.
The violence of Parthian princes hastened its ruin. About the end of the fourth century, it was used by the
Persian kings as an enclosure for wild beasts. At the end of the twelfth century, according to a celebrated
traveler, the few remaining ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace were so full of serpents and venomous
reptiles that they could not be closely inspected without great danger. And today scarcely enough even of
the ruins is left to mark the spot where once stood the largest, richest, and proudest city of the ancient
world.

Thus the ruin of great Babylon shows us how accurately God fulfills His word, and makes the
doubts of skepticism appear like willful blindness. "After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to
thee."

The use of the word "kingdom" here, shows that kingdoms, and not particular kings, are
represented by the different parts of this image. Hence when it was said to Nebuchadnezzar, "Thou art this
head of gold," although the personal pronoun was used, the kingdom not the king himself was meant.

The Naval Battle Of Salamis

One of the most noted battles between the Greeks and the Persians was fought at Salamis in 480
BC. Medo-Persian Kingdom. The succeeding kingdom, Medo-Persia, answered to the breast and arms of
silver of the great image. It was to be inferior to the preceding kingdom. In what respect inferior? Not in
power, for it conquered Babylon. Not in extent, for Cyrus subdued all the East from the AEgean Sea to the
River Indus, and thus erected a more extensive empire. But it was inferior in wealth, luxury, and
magnificence.

Viewed from a Scriptural standpoint, the principal event under the Babylonian Empire was the
captivity of the children of Israel; under the Medo-Persian kingdom it was the restoration of Israel to their
own land. At the taking of Babylon Cyrus, as an act of courtesy assigned the first place in the kingdom to
his uncle, Darius, in 538 BC But two years afterward Darius died, leaving Cyrus sole monarch of the
empire. In this year, which closed Israel's seventy years of captivity, Cyrus issued his famous decree for
the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of their temple. This was the first installment of the great decree
for the restoration and building again of Jerusalem (Ezra 6: 14), which was completed in the seventh year
of the reign of Artaxerxes, 457 BC, a date of much importance, as will hereafter be shown.
After a reign of seven years, Cyrus left the kingdom to his son Cambyses, who reigned seven
years and five months, to 522 BC Eight monarchs reigned between this time and the year 336 BC The
year 335 BC is set down as the first of Darius Codomannus, the last of the line of the old Persian kings.
This man, according to Prideaux, was of noble stature, of goodly person, of the greatest personal valor,
and of a mild and generous disposition. It was his ill fortune to have to contend with one who was an
agent in the fulfillment of prophecy, and no qualifications, natural or acquired, could make him successful
in the unequal contest. Scarcely was he warm upon the throne, ere he found his formidable enemy,
Alexander, at the head of the Greek soldiers, preparing to dismount him from it.

The cause and the particulars of the contest between the Greeks and the Persians we leave to
histories especially devoted to such matters. Suffice it to say that the deciding point was reached on the
field of Arbela in 331 BC, where the Grecians, though only one to twenty in number as compared with the
Persians, won a decisive victory. Alexander became absolute lord of the Persian Empire to an extent never
attained by any of its own kings.

Grecian Empire.

"Another third kingdom of brass . . . shall bear rule over all the earth," the
prophet had said. Few and brief are the inspired words which involved in their fulfillment a succession in
world ruler ship. In the ever-changing political kaleidoscope, Greece came into the field of vision, to be
for a time the all-absorbing object of attention, as the third of what are called the universal empires of the
earth.

After the battle which decided the fate of the empire, Darius endeavored to rally the shattered
remnants of his army, and make a stand for his kingdom and his rights. But he could not gather out of all
the host of his recently so numerous and well-appointed army a force with which he deemed it prudent to
hazard another engagement with the victorious Grecians. Alexander pursued him on the wings of the
wind. Time after time Darius barely eluded the grasp of his swiftly following foe. At length three traitors,
Bessus, Nabarzanes, and Barsaentes, seized the unfortunate prince, shut him up in a close cart, and fled
with him as their prisoner toward Bactria. It was their purpose, if Alexander pursued them, to purchase
their own safety by delivering up their king. Hereupon Alexander, learning of the dangerous position of
Darius in the hands of the traitors, immediately put himself with the lightest part of his army upon a forced
pursuit. After several days hard march, he came up with the traitors. They urged Darius to mount on
horseback for a more speedy flight. Upon his refusing to do this, they gave him several mortal wounds,
and left him dying in the cart, while they mounted their steeds and rode away.

When Alexander arrived, he beheld only the lifeless form of the Persian king, who but a few
months before was seated upon the throne of the universal empire. Disaster, overthrow, and desertion had
come suddenly upon Darius. His kingdom had been conquered, his treasure seized, and his family reduced
to captivity. Now, brutally slain by the hand of traitors, he lay a bloody corpse in a rude cart. The sight of
the melancholy spectacle drew tears from the eyes of even Alexander, familiar though he was with all the
horrible vicissitudes and bloody scenes of was. Throwing his cloak over the body, he commanded that it
be conveyed to the ladies of the Persian royal family who were captives at Susa, and furnished from his
own treasury the necessary means for a royal funeral.

When Darius died, Alexander saw the field cleared of his last formidable foe. Thenceforward he
could spend his time in his own manner, now in the enjoyment of rest and pleasure, and again in the
prosecution of some minor conquest. He entered upon a pompous campaign into India, because, according
to Grecian fable, Bacchus and Hercules, two sons of Jupiter, whose son he also claimed to be, had done
the same. With contemptible arrogance, he claimed for himself divine honors. He gave up conquered
cities, freely and unprovoked, to the mercy of his bloodthirsty and licentious soldiery. He often murdered
his friends and favorites in his drunken frenzies. He encouraged such excessive drinking among his
followers that on one occasion twenty of them died as the result of their carousal. At length, having sat
through one long drinking spree, he was immediately invited to another, when, after drinking to each of
the twenty guests present, he twice drank, says history, incredible as it may seem, the full Herculean cup
containing six of our quarts. He was seized with a violent fever, of which he died eleven days later, Jun
13, 323 BC, while yet he stood only at the threshold of mature life, in the thirty-second year of his age.
Verse 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and
subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
Iron Monarchy of Rome. Thus far in the application of this prophecy there is a general agreement
among expositors. That Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece are represented respectively by the head of
gold, the breast and arms of silver, and the sides of brass, is acknowledged by all. But with as little ground
for a diversity of views, there is strangely a difference of opinion as to what kingdom is symbolized by the
fourth division of the great image the legs of iron. What kingdom succeeded Greece in the empire of the
world, for the legs of iron denote the fourth kingdom in the series? The testimony of history is full and
explicit on this point. One kingdom did this, and one only, and that was Rome. It conquered Greece; it
subdued all things; like iron, it broke in pieces and bruised.

Says Bishop Newton: "The four different metals must signify four different nations: and as the
gold signified the Babylonians, and the silver the Persians, and the brass the Macedonians; so the iron
cannot signify the Macedonians again, but must necessarily denote some other nation: and we will venture
to say that there is not a nation upon earth, to which this description is applicable, but the Romans." [7]
Gibbon, following the symbolic imagery of Daniel, thus describes this empire:

"The arms of the Republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced
with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver,
or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron
monarchy of Rome." [8]

At the opening of the Christian Era, this empire took in the whole south of Europe, France,
England, the greater part of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the south of Germany, Hungary, Turkey,
and Greece, not to speak of its possessions in Asia and Africa. Well therefore may Gibbon say of it:
"The empire of the Romans filled the world, and when that empire fell into the hands of a single
person, the world became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies . . . To resist was fatal, and it was
impossible to fly." [9]

It will be noticed that at first the kingdom is described unqualifiedly as strong as iron. This was
the period of its strength, during which it has been likened to a mighty colossus bestriding the nations,
conquering everything, and giving laws to the world. But this was not to continue.
Verse 41 And whereas thou 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, forasmuch as thou saw the
iron mixed with miry clay. 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.

Rome Divided. The element of weakness symbolized by the clay, pertained to the feet as well as to the toes.
Rome, before its division into ten kingdoms, lost that iron vigor which it possessed to a superlative degree during the
first centuries of its career. Luxury, with its accompanying effeminacy and degeneracy, the destroyer of nations as
well as of individuals, began to corrode and weaken its iron sinews, and thus prepared the way for its disintegration
into ten kingdoms.

The iron legs of the image terminate in feet and toes. To the toes, of which there were of course
ten, our attention is called by the explicit mention of them in the prophecy. The kingdom represented by
that part of the image to which the toes belonged, was finally divided into ten parts. The question naturally
arises, Do the ten toes of the image represent the ten final divisions of the Roman Empire? We answer,
Yes.