Daniel 2 & 7, parallels, pt. 1
Study:
"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. This image’s head was of (1) fine gold, his breast and his arms of (2) silver, his belly and his thighs of (3) brass, His legs of (4) iron, his feet part of iron and part of..." Daniel 2:31-33
"This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee (1) a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise (2) another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 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." Daniel 2:36-40
"And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo (3) another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it;..." Daniel 7:3-7
"I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth." Daniel 7:16,17
"Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." Daniel 7:23
Notice now... From these verses:
(4 metals)
(4 Earthly Kingdoms)
(4 beasts)
- the king's metal
Kingly Kingdom!
lion - king of beast;
eagle - king of birds
Iron Kingdom!
with iron teeth
But that is not all there is! Something new is introduced in the 4th kingdom!
"... his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands,..." Daniel 2:33,34
"And whereas thou sawest the feet and [10] toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided;... 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,... Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands,..." Daniel 2:41,44,45
"...and behold a fourth beast, ... and had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, ... and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. ... I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Daniel 7:7-14
"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:..." Daniel 7:24
Notice now... From these additional verses:
(An idol made of 4 metals)
(5 Kingdoms)
(4 unclean beasts)
& brass
& leopard
4th Earthly
divided
I think this is all obvious. Just in case though, note the following things:
- the four metals/beasts are earthly kingdoms as we are told that the four beasts are "four kings, which shall arise out of the earth" and that the fourth beast is "the fourth kingdom upon earth" while the "stone cut out of the mountain" is the heavenly kingdom as we are told of it that "shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom ... Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands", furthermore it parallels the heavenly judgment scene of Daniel 7 in which we see the Son of Man receive the kingdom,
- the 10 toes and the 10 horns,
- the iron in the legs and feet and the iron teeth of the non-descript beast (though you should have seen this earlier), and
- Daniel 2 calls the feet and toes "a divided kingdom" while Daniel 7 calls the ten horns of the non-descript beast, "10 kings" or kingdoms (See "The king is kingdom" to see this equivalence in the Hebrew mind.).
Is Non-Metal / Human the Church?
Since God's kingdom only consists of non-metal / human it is logical then that these two types should symbolize the church while the 4 metals making up an idol and unclean beasts should symbolize the state. Recall that the state rules by force while God's church, uncorrupted, rules, like Christ, by love.
Is it certain that "clay" and "eyes of a man and a mouth speaking" symbolize the church? How can we be sure?
To be continued...
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