We will be posting a series of articles based on Nebuchadnezzar’s Image, found in Daniel chapter 2, and how it relates to the end times that we are now in, and the 2,600 year history from that time until now.
Part 2: Part 1 below:
Part 2, Nebuchadnezzar’s Image of a Man:
Daniel the prophet went into captivity about 606 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar began his rule in 605 B.C. In 603 B.C. two years into his reign, the king had a vision of an image of a man having a head of gold, a chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, feet and toes of iron mixed with clay, and the last stage is iron mixed with miry clay. Here we Christian’s stand with God living in the final years of iron and miry clay.
What is miry clay? Its an unworkable, unusable clay. No potter in his right mind would have any use for it, and neither does our Lord.
As we enter into the final years of the Babylonian empire (the head of gold.) King Nabonidus who came to the throne about 555 B.C.; was the father of Belshazzar, who is spoken of in Daniel 5.
King Belshazzar of Babylon was co-regent with his father, and entrusted with the major part of the army. According to Daniel, famine and economic setbacks occurred late in his reign.
Belshazzar was holding a great feast with thousands of his lords. As they were drinking wine, he saw the hand of God write on a wall the following words in Aramaic: “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.” Interpreted is,
“God has numbered the kingdom, and finished it: He wrote with his finger on the wall the following message for this fallen king and his kingdom, “you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” That very night Oct/12/539 B.C. the King of the Chaldeans was slain.
The Persian general Gobyras took the city without resistance, 17 days before Cyrus 2ed entered the city.
Now we move from Babylon to the Medio-Persian empire:
Daniel 2:32, “And his (Nebuchadnezzar’s image of a man) breast and his arms were of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass.”
This part of Daniel’s prophesy brings us to the future empire of the Medes and Persians, which is also known as the Achaemenid Empire; it lasted from 550 to 330 B.C., some 220 years. It was founded by Cyrus the great, and is also known as the first Persian empire.
The 4 kings of the Medio-Persian empire we are concerned with are Cyrus the 1st: Cyrus the 2ed: Darius and Artaxerxes.
Cyrus the Great was a towering figure: born in 600 B.C. died 530 B.C. He is called the father of the Iranian nation, and the first to ever be called “Great.” He is credited with founding the first world empire, and generally more admired as a liberator than a conqueror. But he had many victories on the field of battle included the Medes, Lydia, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Isaiah wrote of Cyrus some 100 + years before his birth. He is mentioned twenty-two times in the Old Testament, and is unconditionally praised.
Isaiah 44:28, “Thus said of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, you shalt be built; and to the temple, thy foundation shall be laid.”
Isaiah 45:1, “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 (double doors) and the gates shall not be shut.”
As “being a shepherd” Isaiah speaks of Cyrus as a type of a Messiah. Compare type, anti-type.
Psalms 40:11, “He (speaking of Jesus) shall feed his flock like a shepherd:”
God also said in the verse concerning Cyrus, that he “shall perform all my pleasure.” Again he representing a type of Messiah, compare,
Isaiah 53:10, “And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his (Jesus) hand.”
In Isaiah 45:1 Cyrus (a type) is referred to as the LORD’S anointed, as is the Lord Jesus Christ (the anti-type). Cyrus was set apart by God to fulfil his purposes. As King, he would liberate the Jews from Babylon in 539 B.C. and would also give support to 40,000 Jews who would return to Israel, thus fulfilling Bible prophesy and God’s will for the Jewish people. Cyrus would also fund the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Now we can move on to Darius 1, King of Persia. He was born about 550 B.C. died in 486 B.C. Darius and his son Xerxes are associated with the Greco-Persian wars.
Darius made a decree to search the house of the rolls where the treasures of his conquest were laid up. He found a roll decreed by Cyrus the Great concerning the house of God at Jerusalem. The account can be read from Daniel 5:31; 9; and chapter 11. Also, Ezekiel chapters 4-5-6.
Now we come to the decree of King Artaxerxes 1, who ruled from 465 B.C. to 424 B.C. In the seventh year of Artaxerxes I rule,
We read in Daniel 9:26, “And after threescore and two weeks (434 years, beginning in the year 457 B.C. when Artaxerxes signed his 3ed decree shall Messiah (Jesus) be cut off (crucified in 27 A.D.) but not for himself (for the future church): and the people (nation) of the prince (Jesus who is the prince of the kings of the earth) that shall come (Roman armies sent by the Lord) shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (Temple); and the end (the fulfillment of prophesy) thereof shall be with a flood (sweeping army) and unto the end (until all of Israel’s enemies are destroyed) of the war (with Satan and his people) desolations (on Israel and the people) are determined (decreed).” Thus, the first 69 weeks of Daniel’s prophesy had been fulfilled at the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross, with one period remaining, 7 years.
Darius 3ed ruled from 336 to 330 B.C. and was the last king of the Achaemenid Dynasty. He was defeated by Alexander the Great in the battle of Gaugamela in 330 B.C.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com
Nebuchadnezzar’s Image part 1.
The book of Daniel was written some 2600 years ago. Following is a brief history of Kings and empires before we come to Nebuchadnezzar.
We have the Akkadian Empire which lasted between 2334 to 2154 B.C. Sargon of Akkad united all the Akkadian and Sumerian speaking peoples of Mesopotamia including the Assyrians under one rule. This was followed by the Assyrians who emerged in the 21 century B.C.
(Side Note) Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans in 1973 B.C., his migration began in 1898 B.C. at the age of 75.
The Assyrians established a kingdom in northern Mesopotamia (Iraq today). They competed for dominance with the Hattians and Hurrians of Asia Minor, and the ancient Sumero-Akkadian city states such as Ur and later with Babylonia which was founded by Amorites four years after Abram’s departure in 1894 B.C. Eventually it fell under the control of the Amorites 1809 to 1776 B.C.
As the centuries passed, kings came and went, and eventually we come to Sargon 2ed who ruled from 721 to 705 B.C. He was commander-in-chief-of the army who quickly took Samaria, effectively ending the northern Kingdom of Israel, carrying 27,000 Jews away into captivity.
In 705 Sargon was killed in battle He was succeeded by his son Sennacherib who moved the capital to Nineveh and made the deported people work on improving Nineveh’s irrigation canals. He eventually defeated the Egyptians driving them from the region. He would march toward Jerusalem, destroying 46 towns and villages.
In Isaiah 10, Scriptures reveal to us that an angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers at Jerusalem after Hezekiah prayed in the temple.
As the years past the Assyrian Empire grew strong, however, the long struggles with Babylonia and Elam left them exhausted. Their wealth and manpower had been drained. I suppose losing 185,000 troops would weaken any army.
Nabopolassar, King of Babylonia was the father of King Nebuchadnezzar. He was a central figure in the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The death of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal around 627 BC resulted in political instability, and in 626 BC, a native dynasty arose under Nabopolassar made Babylon his capital and would rule for twenty years. He is credited with founding the Neo-Babylonian Empire. By 616 BC, the King had united the entire area under his reign.
His son, king Nebuchadnezzar’s began his reign in 605 and ended in 562 B.C., some 40 + years. Daniel wrote during the period beginning with his captivity in 605 B.C. and ending when captured in the 3ed year of Cyrus.
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king dreamed a dream around 603 B.C. Daniel 2. He called for his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans to tell him what his dream was, and to interpret it. The King warned them; if you cannot do this thing you will all be killed. This was a time when dreams were widely recognized in the ancient world. Now, we know, there was no way anyone could tell the king what his dream from God was; but, there was one man, a Jew called Daniel who could, and would.
Habakkuk writes concerning the nature of the Babylon people.
Habakkuk 1:6-8, “They are a bitter and hasty (impetuous) nation — they “will possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.” — “They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.” — “they shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.” – “The shall scoff at the kings, and the princes.”
This was the environment Daniel stood in. God gave him the key to unlock the mystery of the Kings dream in a night vision. He was summoned before the king; then commenced to interpret the dream and its meaning.
He said, Daniel 2:37, “Thou, O king, are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength and glory.”
God used Nebuchadnezzar as a conduit for future prophetic events, and, to bring Daniel into a position of great authority in Babylon. The dream went as followed.
Daniel 2: “This great image whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and the form of it was terrible (awesome.)” The images head was of fine gold, his breast (chest) 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.
This image would represent 4 future Gentile kingdoms, each being intertwined with Israel, Jerusalem, and the Jews. Daniel revealed to Nebuchadnezzar, your kingdom would be followed by a lesser kingdom, then a third and fourth, the fourth would follow; the last whose 2 legs were of iron.
The iron legs (secular Rome) would then evolve into feet and toes of an iron and clay (workable clay) mix, and lastly into an iron mixed with miry (unusable) clay. From secular Rome, would develop the Holy Roman empire ruled by the Catholic church and their Popes. From them would develop satellite states, France, Spain, Britain, Germany, the Muslims, the Ottomans etc. Here we stand today, 2020 A.D. as the feet and toes made of iron and miry clay mix. America was settled some 400 + years ago by Europeans from Spain, England, Germany, the Dutch etc. and can be argued to be today’s world power.
I suppose America can be thrown in this mix of children born of ancient Roman, the fourth beast;
Daniel 7:7, “dreadful and terrible and strong, having iron teeth and devouring and breaking to pieces and stamping the residue of their victims with the feet.”
Israel is America’s friend today, but, when the church is raptured, what remains will follow the devil whose goal is to destroy Israel.
Babylon in 605 B.C. is our start point for all future events covering 2600 years. Daniel indicates that Judah had been invaded in 605 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar, resulting in the prophet being taken to Babylon. A few years later, Daniel would interpret the kings dream, this about 602 or 603 B.C. Several years would pass until the King gathered his armies together in 599 B.C. He began his invasion of Jerusalem, which ended in 598 B.C. There were to be three deportations of the Jewish people, 598—587—584 B.C.
Other major events that took place in this period of Babylon reign. Jehoiakim would revolt from Babylon 602 B.C: Jerusalem would be destroyed 588 B.C: Zedekiah was made king over remnant of Judah 597 B.C. His eyes would be put out in 586 B.C: Solomon’s Temple would be destroyed in 586 B.C. B.C; and the King’s great grandson, King Belshazzar would be defeated by Cyrus the Great in the year 539 B.C. So, the head of gold had its beginning in 605 B.C. and ended in 539 B.C., some 66 years.
Daniel had told the king, “After you would arise another kingdom, the breast and arms of silver. This pointed directly to the Medes and Persian led by Cyrus the Great.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com