Nuggets from "Judgment Day: Islam, Israel, and the Nations" by Dave Hunt

Nuggets from “Judgment Day: Islam, Israel, and the Nations” by Dave Hunt

God gave Nebuchadnezzar, emperor of Babylon and the first man in history who could be called a “world ruler,” a vision of the four world empires that would exist in the history of mankind. The vision took the form of a huge image of a man with a “head of fine gold…breast and arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet part of iron and part of clay.” Daniel first revealed to Nebuchadnezzar the dream that he had forgotten, then by inspiration of god interpreted it for him:

“Thou, O king, art a king of kings…thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom [Medo-Persian], which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron [Roman]…. 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 the strength of iron” (Daniel:2:31-43 [31] 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. [32] This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, [33] His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. [34] Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. [35] Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. [36] This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. [37] Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. [38] 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. [39] And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. [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. [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. [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. [43] 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.
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As the image foretold (by its two legs), the Roman Empire was divided into two parts. This happened politically and militarily when its emperor, Constantine, established Constantinople (today’s Istanbul) as his new imperial capital, leaving the Bishop of Rome in charge in the West. Politically and militarily it deteriorated but was held together religiously by the world Church of its day, the Roman Catholic Church. It was divided religiously in 1054 when, in a dispute over who should be in charge of the Church, Pope Leo IX in Rome excommunicated Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, dividing Roman Catholicism in the West from Orthodoxy in the East, a division that exists to this day….

The ten toes of the image indicate a revival of the Roman Empire, which was divided but never destroyed, and has lain dormant for centuries. The ten toes, Daniel explains, are “ten kings” who can only arise in the last days because their destruction very clearly comes from the Messiah in the process of setting up His eternal kingdom (Daniel:2:34-35 [34] Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. [35] Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
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