Will Terrorism Factor in Daniel’s Last World Empire Made of Iron?

Will Terrorism Factor in Daniel’s Last World Empire Made of Iron? June 1, 2017

What tNebuchadnezzarDreamImagehe world calls “terrorism” is difficult to stop. Islamic radicals conduct what they believe is jihad (struggle) by committing murdering atrocities that often include their own suicide. They do the latter because of belief their martyrdom with result in them receiving rewards in heaven. Many of the people they kill are totally innocent, including women and children and oftentimes Muslims. What a barbaric travesty on human nature.

How can this terrorism be stopped? I believe it likely will only happen to some degree and by governments taking extremely tough security measures. As governments in Europe and the Middle East do so, it may partially fulfill Bible prophecy about this world’s last empire.

The book of Daniel is the most apocalyptic book in the Old Testament. It records dreams and visions which foretell the future, mostly about great empires. The first is that Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which Daniel interpreted. It was a statue of a man, with its head made of golf, its arms and chest made of silver, its torso made of bronze, its hips and legs made of iron, and its feet and toes made of iron mixed with clay (Daniel 2.32-33).

Daniel 7 foretells a dream its author had about four beasts that symbolize great empires. The elements of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and this dream by Daniel obviously correspond. Thus, both the head of gold and “the first” beast, which “was like a lion” (v. 4 NRSV), refer to the Neo-Babylonian Empire of the sixth century BCE. Both the silver silver and the “second” beast, “that looked like a bear” (v. 5), symbolize the Media-Persian Empire of the 5th century. Both the bronze torso and the third beast, which “appeared, like a leopard” (v. 6), indicate the Greek Empire of the 4th century. Both the iron hips and legs in Daniel 2 and the fourth beast in Daniel 7 refer to the Roman Empire. This interpretation means almost all of this prophecy has been fulfilled in the past.

Notice that each succeeding metal in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a human image decreases in value but increases in strength, all of which characterizes those historical empires cited above. Thus, the Roman Empire, symbolized by iron, was militarily stronger than the three empires that preceded it. That is well known in history. Then, I believe the king’s dream lays out a timeline and in which we presently live during the time indicated by the iron feet of this human image. It’s toes symbolize what still remains for us as future, so that it has not yet been fulfilled.

Daniel says of this fourth beast in his dream, “After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, when another horn appeared, a little one coming up among them;… There were eyes like human eyes in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly” (Daniel 7.7-8). This little horn symbolizes the final Antichrist, who has not yet appeared and of whom the Bible predicts much.

So, the ten toes in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream correspond with the ten horns on the fourth beast in Daniel’s dream. All of this indicates that in the future there will be a sort of geo-political revival of the Roman Empire that will consist of ten kingdoms. I believe they will be located in all of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. (For this, see my book Warrior from Heaven.) We read, “As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle” (Daniel 2.42). This last empire in our Gentile-dominated world will be strong, yet its democracy, indicating by the iron mixed with clay, will make it brittle.

Will today’s increasing terrorism be one factor that will cause the world’s last empire to form and be strong as iron in order to stamp out terrorism?


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