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dream, this king had seen a vast
statue- larger than any image ever
built by man-so colossal it was
terrifying, even in a dream. Its
head was of fine gold, its breast
and arms of silver, the belly and
thighs of brass, legs of sol id iron,
feet a mixture of iron and clay.
There was a t ime element. Neb–
uchadnezzar had viewed it
until
a
supernatural STONE carne from
heaven, smashing the statue on its
feet. Then the whole of the statue
broke into small pieces, and was
actually blown away by the wind–
it disappeared! Then this STONE ex–
panded miraculously and quickly
became a great MOUNTAIN-SO
great it filled the whole earth!
What did it mean?
Did
it have
meaning? Yes, because this was
God's doing. Un like ordi nary
dreams, this one was caused by
God to convey t he message of
God's sovereignty to Nebuchad–
nezzar- and, because it is part of
the written Word of God, to us
today- to reveal important facts of
the TRUE GOSPEL!
"This is the dream," said Daniel
(verse 36), "and we will tell· the
interpretation thereof before the
king."
This, then, is Goo·s interpreta–
tion .
It
is decidedly
not
Herbert
W. Armstrong's interpretation.
Men ought never to
interpret
the
Bible. The Bible gives us Goo·s
OWN INTERPRETATION! Here it is:
"Thou, O king, art a king of
kings"- he was the first real
WORLD RULER over a world empire!
" ... for the God of heaven hath
given thee a kingdom, power, and
st rength, and glory." God was re–
vealing himself to this human
world-dictator as the MOST HIGH
Ruler over al/.
People today, like this Chaldean
king, seem not to think of God as
a RULER- as the Supreme One
who GOVERNS-as the Head of
GOVERNMENT. The Eterna] was re–
vealing himself through Daniel to
Nebuchadnezzar-and through the
Bible
to you and to me
TODAv- as
a SOVEREIGN, ALL POWERFUL,
GOVERNING
Goo who
is to be
obeyed!
"Thou," continued Daniel to this
human emperor, "art this head of
góld. And after thee shall arise an–
other KI 'NGDOM inferior to thee,
February 1986
and another third KINGDOM of
brass, which shall bear rule over all
the earth" (verses 37-39).
What IS a Kingdom?
Notice! This is speaking of KING–
DOMS. It is referring to kingdoms
that bear rule over the people on
earth.
It is speaking of GOVERN–
MENTS! It is not speaking of ethe–
real sentiments "set up in the
hearts of men." It is not speaking
of churches.
lt
is speaking of the
kind of GOVERNMENTS that bear
RULE and AUTHORITY over nations
of PEOPLE here on earth. It is lit–
eral.
It
is specific. There is no mis–
understanding, here, as to what is
meant by the word
kingdom.
There is no misunderstanding
the interpretation. Goo gives bis
own interpretation through the
propbet Daniel. Tbe great metallic
was to be
strong,
even as iron is
strong- st ronger militarily than its
predecessors. Yet, as silver is less
valuable than gold, brass than sil–
ver, iron than brass, thougb eacb
metal was barder and stronger, the
s u ccession wou ld deteriorate
morally and spiritually. The two
legs meant th e fourt h empire
would be divided.
After the Cha ldean Empire
carne the still larger Persian Ero–
pire, then Greece or the Greco–
Macedonian Empire, and fourth,
the Roman Empire. It was divided,
witb capitals at Rome and Con–
stantinople.
Now- verse 44! Read it! Get your
Bible. See it with your own eyes in
your own Bible. Here, in PLAIN
LANGUAGE. is God's explanation of
wbat tbe KINGDOM OF ÜOD IS:
"And in the days of tbese
Artist's view of Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar's court.
image represented national and in–
ternational GOVERNMENTS- real,
literal KINGDOMS.
It represented a
succession
of
world- ruling governments. First
was tbe bead of gold. Tbat repre–
sented Nebucbadnezzar and bis
kingdom-tbe Chaldean Empire.
After
him- later , in time se–
quence-was to come a second,
then a thi rd KINGDOM "which shall
bear RULE over al l the earth"–
wor/d empire!
Then, verse 40, tbe legs of iron
represent
afourth
world empire.
It
kings ... "-it is here speaking of
the ten toes, part of iron and part
of brittle clay. This, by connecting
the prophecy with Daniel 7, and
Revelation 13 and 17, is referring
to the new UN ITED STATES OF Eu–
ROPE tbat is
now forming,
out of
the European Common Market,
before your very eyes! Revelation
17: 12 makes plain the detail that it
shall be a union of TEN KINGS OR
KINGDOMS that (Rev. 17:8) shall
resurrect the old ROMAN EMPIRE.
So, mark carefully the
time e/e–
ment!
"In the days of these
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