The 70 year Captivity of the Children of Jacob/Israel
Daniel, a Prince of the Children of Jacob/Israel, from the tribe of Judah, was a captive of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon. He was chosen to be a participant in a very exclusive school created to provide young, intelligent, charismatic, advisors to the king.
Daniel 1:3-6 - "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; 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. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. 1:6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:"
King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
During Daniel's training King Nebuchadnezzar had a very troubling dream, which he could not recall. He called together his magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers to tell him what his dream was and what it meant. Try as they might they came up with nothing and this made Nebuchadnezzar so angry he commanded that all his wise men be put to death.
Daniel went to the king and told him that if he spared the lives of all concerned, he, Daniel would not only tell him what is dream was but also what it meant.
The Great Image of the Future
God provided Daniel with the answer and Daniel told the King:
Daniel 2:31-35 - "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 fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay."
The image was made of 5 different materials, starting with the most expensive and durable, gold, as the head and ending with the cheapest and least durable as the feet, clay.
The image represents the earthly kingdoms of the world who, in the order given here, had control over God's special city - Jerusalem - from Nebuchadnezzar to Jesus. This is part of God's Plan which was formulated before the foundation of the world and presented accurately before it happened.
Isaiah 46:9-10 - "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"
Daniel's Interpretation of the Dream
The Coming Kingdoms that Will Control God's favorite City, Jerusalem
That's a future (forward looking) statement for Daniel and a historical (backward looking) statement for us.
1st Kingdom, BABYLON, the head of gold:
Daniel 2:37-38 - "Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee 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."
According to historical research Nebuchadnezzar was born in 630 BC. He became the King of Babylon in 605 BC at age 25 and he died in 561 BC at age 69. The dream occurred in the 2nd year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel was present throughout the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, as well as Evil-Merodach and Belshshazzar (son and grandson of Nebuchadnezzar). He was there when the Medes and Persians defeated Babylon.
Daniel was the one that translated the handwriting that appeared on the wall at Belshazzar's drunken orgy.
Daniel 5:26-28 - "This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
Daniel 5:29-31 - "Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 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 histories and times of these kingdoms are all over the Internet. New archeological finds and technological discoveries bring new information to light on an ongoing basis. Each piece of new knowledge only proves that God's plan is accurate and complete.
Oh, and just for informational purposes - King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon wrote Daniel, Chapter 4.
2nd Kingdom, MEDO-PERSIA, breast and arms of silver:
Daniel 2:39 - "And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee ..."
Inferior does not mean of lesser quality. It means the next or following.
Daniel 8:3-4 - "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great."
Daniel 8:20-21 - "The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king {Alexander the Great}."
Daniel lived through the Babylonian Empire and into the Empire of the Medes and Persians. He talked with both King Darius and King Cyrus.
Daniel 9:1-2 - "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem."
3rd Kingdom, Greece (Macadonia), belly and thighs of brass:
Daniel 2:39 - "... and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth."
Daniel 8:21 - "And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king {Alexander the Great}. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power."
4th Kingdom, ROME, legs of iron:
Daniel 2:40 - "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."
While the 4th (Roman) Empire was collapsing, the children of Jacob/Israel were migrating across Europe to their 'wilderness' place (Revelation 12:6) far to the west of 'the world' of the Bible. All during this western migration they had split into smaller and smaller groups. Each establishing its own forms of government, defence, and economy. To make a very long story shorter, they 'sort of' merged back together in the British Isles (between 460 and 1066 AD) and became the beginnings of the British Empire. Splitting again and again for various reasons to establish different 'countries' all over the world - United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Denmark, Switzerland, etc.
Rulership of the dispersed children of Jacob/Israel during their migration to the wilderness changed from politics to religion. In the above paragraph the 9 or so groups traveling west adopted their own political systems but retained their family religious beliefs.
Politics was about to change to religion because the strongest remaining part of the failing Roman Empire was the Roman Catholic Church which grabbed at the wandering groups of the children of Jacob/Israel as they went drifting by
5th Kingdom, Ten Toes of Iron and Clay (The Church):
Daniel 2:41 - "And whereas thou sawest 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 sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 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. And whereas thou sawest 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."
The church - splits into Protestant (the beast) and Catholic (the false prophet)
6th Kingdom - The First Beast (United Nations)
Revelation 13:1-8 - "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
This 6th Kingdom was set up by Satan. It exists. It is not an empire. Its purpose is global. To work, it needs to gain control over every nation, people, and tongue. It is doing just that. It needs to enforce its will over the 5 pillars of society - family, education, Politics, economy, and religion. Today it is called the United Nations.
It is not hiding. It brags about what it has done and what it intends to do. Future goals are written ou and published. You can read all about it. It started ou being called Agenda 21 but the name has changed because it didn't meet its goal of world domination by 2021. There are groups in every state and big city in the United States.
7th Kingdom - False Christ
Revelatiion 13:11-18 - "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. "
This 7th Kingdom came into being when Satan himself took over the 6th Kingdom of the first beast and the false prophet. He became the False Christ wanting people to believe that he was the real Messiah and pretending to be so (Revelation 13:13-18).
8th Kingdom - False Christ - AGAIN
Daniel 8:23-25 - "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."
Revelation 17:10b-13 - "... and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. "
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9th Kingdom, The Kingdom of God
The 7th trumpet sounded in Revelation 11:15 signaling the coming of the real King.
The false Christ (Satan, the Devil, the beast, the dragon)
Revelation 19:11-14 - "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean."
Revelation 17:12-14 - "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
Revelation 19:19-20 - "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."
Revelation 21:1-7 - "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."
Revelation 22:1-5 - "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever."